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Event Cancellation / Postponement Thread [Video Guidance Added]

Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
edited April 8, 2020 3:57PM in General Training Discussions

Folks,

Please help us in your teammates out by reporting in on the races that have been canceled and or postponed. For events that are being pushed back, having the new date here as well would be great. All hyperlinks are welcome.

We will be offering support to each and everyone of you as we handle these changes, the priority going to those of you who has events that are happening the soonest.

Thanks so much and advance for your teamwork and assistance!

https://endurancenation.wistia.com/medias/rt4juogbbm


Season Management Advice for 2020

Four Types of Users

  • Type 0 = Race is Late Season, Continue as You Were
  • Type 1 = Motivated, Race is up to 6-ish hours (70.3) in duration whose race is cancelled with 8 weeks or less to the big day. 
  • Type 2 = Motivated, Race is 7+ hours (or longer) race is cancelled with 8 weeks or less to the big day. 
  • Type 3 = Focusing LongTerm / Super Future


Type 0 = Race is Late Season, Continue as You Were

Given that your race is so late in the season, your job is to continue following the program as we have laid it out. With the exception of perhaps needing to find alternate swim workouts, almost everything else should be roughly the same. You should be able to run, cycle, etc. in order to prepare.

With your race being later in the year it only makes sense that you continue training as you are able. The only exception would be if you had some kind of health problem or conflict that we need to solve (reach out to Coach then!).

Type 1: How to Make Your Race Happen

As a type one athlete, you have already been following a season build up to your race. Even if your race has recently been canceled, we are counting on this early-season volume as part of your overall build. Taking the volume away in transitioning to a different plan is certainly an option. But it's important to note that there are hidden costs associated with that choice. For example, the volume is meant to be a counterpoint to the higher intensity work we do in the winter.

This midseason volume and subsequent recovery is an important step change tool to help you improve your overall race fitness and performance incrementally from year to year. Walking away from that volume now will jeopardize this overall process, we would only recommend this option in cases where sustaining your training is simply not possible.

We recommend that you continue with your training through the peak of your volume. Then you can taper is if you were racing and potentially, if you are able, hold your own DIY event. This allows you to "finished" this part of your season and move on to recovery and the rest of your year. 

Type 1 / Pick a Course:  

  • FOR CYCLING
  • In Zwift: There are two course options you can do in Watopia. Why Watopia? It’s always on! Flat Races go Tempus Fugit (link) and rolling races can do the Sand and Sequoias (link). In both instances, we suggest you choose the time trial bike to disable drafting for a true solo ride experience.
  • In Real Life: If you are going to be outside, then we want to make sure you are safe above all else. We recommend picking a course that's close to home able to stop in the safe environment refuel/self-care as needed. If you are doing a 56 mile bike ride, for example, you could do four consecutive 14 mile loops. Or 228 mile loops, depending on how safe you feel. 
  • Note: If you have yet to ride outside this year it's best to work in a few of those sessions before you conduct this time trial so that you have all of the issues worked out.
  • FOR RUNNING
  • Ideally you can do the run portion of this event outside as you had originally planned. Should the weather situation conspire against you, you can always head indoors to run on the treadmill or even run in swift. We strongly recommend that you pick flat to slightly rolling courses as this is an early season event. There's no sense in testing yourself this early on incredibly challenging terrain that could set you back.


Type 2: Adjusting Down From Mega Volume

This is for the athletes out there who have been training for the longer races, and frankly, are toast. Early season training is no joke and you are likely burned out. raining for an early season race of significant volume is no joke. It takes serious commitment and discipline, both of which you have undoubtedly been exercising for many months now. To lose that early-season race is both is a real blow.

Ideally you already have an alternate event on the calendar, whether it's a different race that you already have scheduled or a rescheduled race. This at least solves for the long-term motivation that we need, and now our job is to figure out what to do with you in the short term. Even if you don't have a race, here are the steps that we suggest.

Finish the week that you're in and then turn down the volume. If you are anywhere within the last 6 to 8 weeks of your race, your volume is already high for the year and we only need to go higher if we are picking for a race. There are costs associated with consistently high volume that makes sense to avoid without a race.

Give yourself 1 to 2 weeks of downtime. I'm not suggesting that you go completely rogue and don't train at all, but I do mean stop setting an alarm and stop training for hours every day. You can use a transition plan from our library or similar plan to give basic structure to your training. We essentially want you to stay active with room for your body to recover from the work you've been doing. 

Return to the key focus element of your season that will provide you success later in the year. Often referred to as a "critical success factor" this part of your fitness repertoire, when fixed or improved, will take you to the next level of performance. Essentially we are treating this change in plans as an opportunity to make you a better athlete. For many of you this will be either bike or run specific. 

  • Indoors? Use the Bike or Run OutSeason® Plans Weeks 6 to 14 depending on how many you need.
  • Outdoors? Use the Bike- or Run-Focus plans for volume. If you choose this option, we likely will need to work with you to add in other disciplines to the central focus of this plan. 

This will work out being anywhere from a 6 to 8 week transition after which we can reassess your fitness and decide on next steps. Even if you don't have another race on the calendar there we would likely transition you back to some more volume given the weather and hopefully improved situation.


Type 3: Focusing LongTerm / Super Future

For some of you, do you have affectively decided to unplug from the 2020 season. This could be a financial decision or a motivational decision or just the reality of the space you are in right now. Whatever it may be, you've had to step back from what is a "normal "year for you and instead pivot to something more long-term focused that is sustainable.

In many ways, this is a real opportunity for you. It's very rare that we have a significantly long period of time to affectively experiment with your training for greater results. More often than not our years are disrupted by Races and other challenges as dictated by external forces. This is your opportunity to reassert control on your athletic development.

While some people will choose to simply take this time off, we strongly discourage you from making that decision. Not only because exercise is good for your mental health, but a regular training schedule also gives you consistency in these difficult times. 

For those of you choosing this option, we recommend that you drop down to the basic building blocks of endurance training that will keep you focused, healthy and prepare you for the future. 

  • Step One: Durability: Inside Endurance Nation this process starts with our durability programs. There are three different types of plans each lasting a total of 12 weeks. They are divided into four blocks which allows you to do anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks of fundamental training. Each block bills from one to the next allowing you to increase your fitness incrementally while you are laying a three month foundation for the future. 
  • Step Two: OutSeason: Once you have completed your durability focus, we would move you to our OutSeason training. Again, this is very time focused and easy to achieve. The work gets harder but is easy to fit into your schedule whether you are indoors or out. This 14 week plan has three distinct phases which can be done in succession or divided as needed. The most important part of the outs season is the introduction of intensity to start building your "fast" before we add the far as part of your seasonal endurance build.

Combined these two plans could constitute anywhere from 10- to 26 weeks, a real evolution. Along the way you can use our community events, challenges and competitions to stay focused and motivated.


Conclusion

Of course, you can make all of these changes yourself using the guidance listed above and accessing our library of training plans inside final search. It's important for you to know that we are also here to support you along the way. You can reach out to us either in the forums or through your personal final search inbox to schedule a conversation or to run your thoughts by us. We are 100% committed to keeping you on track and engaged with the endurance lifestyle. Together we have built an amazing community, now is the time to tap into that energy and keep moving forward!

~ Coach P

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