Training Epiphany for an over-trainer
This is a very long posting...but I think for many it will be quite valuable...so hopefully a few people take the time to read this and add their thoughts.
So I was talking to a buddy yesterday at work. And after that discussion I read Chris G's posting on the November OS about how folks are feeling now that week 4 is gone. After reading the responses and talking to some people doing the EN OS plan I came to a sudden realization I wanted to share.
First, a little background on me. I swam in school and both HS and College coaches were oldskool. They were the pound you down and build you up type and as a result I became somewhat tough and immune to the beatings over time. We'd do crazy stuff like 5x100 fly with 5 gallon buckets tethered to our waist and dragged behind us. 5x1000's on some insane time I can't even remember. Puke sets. And it worked...I started swimming as a fat freshman and as a chubby senior I got to a 5:05. By the end of college I was swimming 4:45. so it worked.
Fastforward to the last few years and a lot of that attitude crept into my training. I would do these epic workouts like 3-4hour steady state rides at 85-90% FTP. And while that isn't crazy all by itself I'd follow it up with an hour hard run and intervals the next couple days plus running 6x per week and all stuff that goes with a classic over-trainer. There were MANY times I'd go and do my long ride at a pace that was simply too fast for me that would leave me wasted and needing a full day or two recovery. And that type of inconsistent training does not build a great athlete. A certain level of fatigue is expected...but walking around like the living dead is a little counter productive...and skipping workouts because you went too hard on the previous workout is not good at all.
What I've come to realize is that while my coaches were oldskool, they had a plan. Before I went and did crazy workouts they prepped me for it by building me up over time so that those workouts weren't as insane as I thought they were. And proper recovery was built in even if I didn't realize it. However left all by myself I never really had a plan. I'm not a schemer like RnP...I just do things. Like a dog chasing a car, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. 
As I said it was Chris's posting in the Nov OS that brought about my thought on this. I wanted to share as I think there may be many new people in my shoes who are keeping quiet.
Thought 1 - Many people think the OS is very hard...I think it is pretty easy. I said as much in my reply to Chris. I feel fine. I like the intervals, sure my legs get a bit heavy by Thursday, but not bad. I am ready to add another workout!!!
Thought 2 - Why am I different than most people who think following this plan is so challenging?
Thats when it hit me. The level of fatigue that I am currently feeling is exactly what I SHOULD be feeling as opposed to what I COULD be making myself feel like. I have no doubt that I, and the other over trainers COULD bury ourselves. It wouldn't take too much to send us over the edge with all the intervals we're currently doing. But the real question is what SHOULD we be doing.
I think we can all agree that consistent training is what builds faster triathletes. Getting the work done week in and week out is what gets your body to really adapt and get strong. Killing yourself one week and taking a couple days off the next week will build you to a point, but it will also injur you and burn you out.
My one and only point to all this rambling is this. If you are an over-trainer like me and used to a certain amount of crushing fatigue...it might take some time to get used to this. REMEMBER. The level of fatigue you currently feel is most likely the level of fatigue you SHOULD be feeling during a properly written training plan with an appropriate level of work and recovery.
It may feel easier than what you are used to like it does for me. But that does NOT mean you should automatically do more or make it harder. The plan builds up all by itself and will get harder...just like it should. It is more likely that you are at the appropriate level of training and fatigue and that is exactly what you should be aiming for.
Comments
I joined EN 6 weeks before IMFL so I only got half the EN IM training regimen. I was doing workouts like you where I'd ride my bike balls to walls for two hours of a four hour ride at an absurd pace and the last two hours of my workout would suffer or I would be totally fried for the run the next day or whatever. I just wasn't training super smart. Yes, I was getting in a heck of a workout but it came with consequences that I paid for later. I followed the last 6 weeks of the EN plan and R & P's advice during our IMFL pep talk and it helped govern my bike ride a little better but I ended up about 10 watts below the watts I wanted to average. Why? I think I used to ride like a yo-yo and I just tried to ride smoother that day and wasn't used to it. Looking forward to some better prep and execution as I use the EN plans.
The trick is that you're going to be consistently doing hard work 5 days a week for 20 weeks. That's where the benefit comes from. People in each OS group will hit a point where doing all that work 'catches up to them' at different points. Once it has caught up to you, and you find that you cant hit the targets in a workout, it's time for a day off.
The OS is absolutely as much about managing fatigue as it is about doing work. It sneaks up on you. last year, it absolutely toasted me, because I was going as balls-to-the-wall as I could for weeks on end. Then, i watched my FTP drop, and drop, and finally had to go into full on 'stand down' mode. It's not a fun place, and really sabotages the progress of a season.
I dont remember where i first heard this advice, but it always stood out to me. If youre doing intervals, and you feel like you could probably push hard and squeeze out one more, then it's time to stop. That way, you can come back the next day and have at it again.
WISE WORDS!
You will, however notice a bit of fatigue while doing the EN plans, just about 3-4 weeks before an IM (or 2-3 before an HIM). So if you're looking for that little feeling of endorphin over-indulgence, just wait...
Eric, thanks for posting.
Everyone, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Ready for it...here it comes...
Rich + Patrick + TeamEN know their shit. Period.
You might not know this but I'm a competitive m-f'er. I'll put that combination above up against any other coach, training plan or training system on the planet. Period. And don't even get me started on training partners...
Everyone one of the training plans you have access to, the OS plan we're talking about now, has been reworked and improved upon 1-2x per year since 2005. You're sitting in a team of athletes, for many of whom this is their fourth (4th) EN OS. That is a LOT of experience and a lot of "don't do the stupid stuff I used to do" advice. And I should say that the foundation of all of the plans is the stuff that PnI learned by doing stupid shit from '01-05 or so with our own trainining.
We basically took everything we learned NOT do from '01 to '05, created plans with it, and have improved those plans every year since based on the feedback of, litterally, thousands of athletes, many, many of whom are still here and available to help you stop doing stupid shit if you just ask them
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Kinda OT, but tis the season where I see boutique coaches and other jackasses out there, with a fraction of the experience of that equation above, trolling for athletes at $300-400/mo. Gets me fired up.
I'm here because everything that happens here - from plans, to advice, to challanges - all point in one direction. And from the looks of the talent in the Haus, it is the RIGHT direction. EN is THE place to be!
That revelation may have just saved your season. Maybe even your longevity at all of this. It may also prove to be just the insight that allows you to ascend to your highest levels of achievement in training that will then translate into best race performance. Some of us have learned this too many times the hard way by going to pieces mentally and physically unnecessarily. (Who me?) What's the saying? "Insantity is repeating the same thing and expecting a different outcome." Been there, done that. Now I've listened, learned, changed my ways, and have been all the better for it. (95' IM PR in '08--just sayin'....
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For me, the OS is a really fun treat (until about week 17). I love interval workouts and I love feeling spry and fresh and not completely spent an hour after finishing.
But in addition to the reduced physical demands in the OS, the reduced time and psychic demands are important. I'm a firm believer that your mind and life need a cyclical training schedule as much as your body. I really, really need tri training to take a backseat in my life for several months a year and the OS is the perfect time for that.
@Rich- Was Crucible a boutique? I kinda thought it had the feel of a good hardware store.
* The tri-world training speed limit is 50mph.
* RnP, after many years of driving, know to set cruise control at 59mph so as not to get busted.
* You can take our 59mph plan and go slower or faster, but YMMV.
EN = Almost breakin' the law (but not quite).