This summer I have events spaced roughly every 3 to 4 weeks:
Wings for Like, marathon run 5 May
IM 70.3 St Polten 26 May
IM 70.3 Elsinore 23 June
Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathon 6 July
IM Hamburg 27 July
ITU Worlds 1 Sep
IM 70.3 Nice 7 Sep (being a bit optimistic here)
After Wings for like, I just went into taper for St Polten. After st Polten I had 3 days off then went into windsurfing/training, currently on a fairly big week, planning a 2 week taper from next week
After Elsinore, I will probably take a lighter 2 weeks, and incorporate Great Kindrochit as a big training day, then go into a 3 week taper for Hamburg
I didn’t plan to have so many events this summer, but didn’t have the will power to resist @Jorgan for Hamburg and the temptation to have another go at NQ after such a near miss, means that I am at the limit of what I can do.
Do coaches or anyone who has had a similarly big season have any advice for the best way to handle the gaps between races?
Its difficult without seeing a full training breakdown and knowing more about how you handle the volume and racing. Typically though its not about resting, its about maintaining in season so do enough not to get lethargic but not enough to continue to add fatigue. All I can say is listen toy our body. Rest when tis tired, eat well, get enough sleep.
George kirkman is your man!
IMJ
HES races every week for 5? Weeks
Including 2 wins and 2 2 nds overall.
A 4:04 half, I think it was reduced
And a 9:40 full distance on the last race…!
He’s young but has a plan.
IMJ
HAS a few slower athletes but there’s 3-4 trying to get near to 9 hours…
Not aware of anyone of anyone on here with that kind of race schedule or brute speed.
In this respect, how good / accurate is training peaks. My aim is to keep my TSB somewhere around +20 leading up to races and 0 to -10 around 2 weeks before races, I expect my CTL to drop gradually, but I have a pretty good base that I built up over the winter
Several people told him a similar story.
Personally as long as he has long rest periods over the off season and knocks it back gradually fr now on he should be ok.
Actually getting a job, kids, house, wife should slow him down a bit…
Nice kid too.
Talking to him at Oulton, he got DQ!
He hardly looks like your typical podium athlete but huge engine and determination.
I started chatting to him in 2014 probably on IMJ as we were both doing Bastion (his first) and met up with him there. He dnf’d after a nightmare of mechanicals on bike. He used to be a very large kid and took up speed skating (on wheels) lost weight and iirc became British champ. You’re right just doesnt look athletic at all but has something in there
Think weight has been an issue with him but certainly shifting now.
Modest too and encourages decent level competitors and those looking at the cut offs too.
Lots of decent folk in this sport.
Still love it after all these years.
Racing… It’s why we all do it! But that’s a lot of big ticket events. They can’t all be your A race?
@Hammerer’s response is spot on. Assuming you’ve established a solid base, my instinct would be to train through and resist the urge to “go to the well” every single time.
The recovery required from completely emptying yourself, compounded by reduced training load as part of the following taper, will ultimately result in fitness becoming compromised over the course of the season. The trick is to maintain… Both fitness and motivation! You don’t want to lose your mojo / burn out.
Looks like you’ve got an awesome year ahead… Enjoy the ride!
You are absolutely right, they are not all my A races… My A race is now IM70.3 Elsinore in 2 weeks, and my A- race is IM Hamburg. Getting to Nice is the objective, if I do qualify I want to take part and enjoy the experience… As it is the World Championship I am not going to be near the podium, so does it matter if I am 40th or 80th in my AG.
Everything else is just part of training.
Running takes the most out of me, and requires longest recovery, so I am cutting run volume and speed. I will add more swimming, which is where I am weakest and it has less impact on me physically
Elsinore is in Denmark, 30 mins north of Copenhagen. It is a flat fast ride… I like to think of myself as a climber, I am not good on descents, while I seem to be pretty fast on the flat, so should be good for me
The swim is in the harbor and looks really complicated, with 14 turns. I had a look at other people’s Strava records from last year, and it is really easy to swim 100+ meters extra
These things are always tricky Matt. I would try and put yourself in a position where you do what a neural observer would recommend i.e. if you were advising yourself, what would you do? That’s a good way to avoid over-cooking it.
Except for perhaps the lead-in for Hamburg, you need to be on the gas up to Wed of race week, to keep yourself limber
Just remember that TP doesn’t account for non-training stress. Your schedule includes a lot of travelling, so that will add to your tiredness without increasing your fitness.
