Over my years in California I have witnessed some trends when it comes to performance of endurance athletes, weighted mostly toward triathletes, and in general they look like the following:
- Good to great fitness early in the year (Quarter 1) ... but have peak races in quarter 3 or 4
- A trail off of fitness, or at best a leveling of fitness, by June 1 - July 1
- Carrying too much fatigue early in the year to truly peak perform in second half of the year
- Targeting long races early in the year, every year, YET the key longer races that really mean the most to them are in mid summer, or later.
This theme has rung true for a few of the self guided athletes within our team over the last couple years. When I had the discussion with them, let them know I have seen the pattern(s), and proposed a solution, their responses were something like "hallelujah"!
Why Do We See These Trends?
-Race calendars overloaded with longer races that are overshadowing shorter races that could / SHOULD be an integral part of an athletes build to peak racing
-We can have really good winter weather at times here in NorCal (not as I write this ironically) that drives athletes outside to do too much long training (especially cycling) when it is not necessary (yeah sure it's fun, but poor performance later in the year doesn't feel so good)
-The tendency for athletes to think that if they are not training for a 70.3 or Ironman race then t's not "epic" or "important" enough.
-Using early season 70.3 OR Ironman races to get ready for later season 70.3 or Ironman races
-Athletes not racing enough shorter races because they feel pressured to get their longer training in.
What is the solution?
My exact words to an athlete were: "Just because there are early season 70.3 races does not mean you should do them. Because athletes start obsessing over getting their long training in they skip too much of the proper training progression to get properly fit over time and have their best races when it matters ... essentially, too much long stuff early in the year and not paced OR placed on the calendar appropriately."
Granted every athlete is different, but, IF you truly want to peak at a 70.3 OR Ironman race in quarter 3 or 4 of the year I don't see a lot of value in a long distance race (for an age grouper) in quarter 1 or early in quarter 2. The main reason is most athletes do the same training year round if they are consistently training for the same type of racing. After a period of time the body will not respond to getting the same key stimulus it has gotten all year, or for a majority of the year. In return you just get tired and race specific fitness fades.
What Do You Advise Coach?
Here is an example of what I would propose for an athlete doing a mid July 70.3 (Say, Vineman?):
- February or March ... 5k or 10k running race (establish some baseline pace numbers)
- Early to Mid April ... duathlon / sprint triathlon if available
- Mid May ... Olympic Distance Race ... NOW you are approximately 8 weeks to your 70.3 and can focus on training specifically for that race.
- Mid July ... 70.3 peak race ... FOLLOWED by a break!
- This leaves the back end of the season to adapt in whatever direction you want to take your racing.
The key is train specifically for the NEXT race ... not the race that is 4 months away. YES, by training for the next race you are also training for your longer race while NOT getting sucked in to doing the wrong training too soon.
There is so much to be gained by going through a variety of training phases. (physically, mentally, metabolically, physiologically) When you get the training progressions right, you'll be surprised how well your races go.
It's not too late in the year to re-think your schedule and re-shuffle the deck ...
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