Of all the items in our tool kit, we've found our views on Out-Season training—what you know as the “off season” are the most counter to what you've probably been told. Open a triathlon magazine or check your email between October and February and you'll be met with a constant stream of messages that have been recycled year after year, until they've become firmly woven into the very fabric of our sport. Messages such as:
| • | Go long and slow now so you can build a bigger engine—then make that engine faster when it matters: closer to the race. |
| • | High-intensity training is risky. You need to pay your dues, earn the right to get fast by being slow for a long time. |
Fitness is the ability to do work. We create and retain that ability by doing more work. Here are the tales of two athletes to illustrate our point: Waiting Walt and Get-faster-today Tom.
Waiting Walt
Walt begins October with a Functional Threshold Power (FTP) of 220 watts and a 10k pace of 8:00/mile. He throws a leg over his bike (or laces up his shoes) and does his training at the prescribed intensities preached in the latest triathlon magazine article. It's cold and dark outside so, while his frequency may be the same as in season, his intensity continues to be low (per the magazine) and his volume is low (cold and dark, remember?). He rides and runs precisely in zone 1 (maybe zone 2) confident that he is building his "engine" and will get faster when the time is right. However, let's look at the training math: frequency is held constant while volume and intensity both decrease. This means Walt does less work in the off-season and his body adapts to this decrease by becoming less fit. If you hit the gym and do fewer repetitions of a lighter weight less often then before, you will get weaker. You know this. Why should endurance training be any different?
Get-faster-today Tom
Tom’s game plan is much simpler. Like Walt, his FTP is also 220 watts and his 10k pace is 8:00. He is completely focused on watts/pace/speed at FTP or LTHR. On the bike, he might set himself of goal of X minutes per week at his FTP, increasing the watts he dials in on those sessions as he sees his FTP increasing. He does a similar thing on the run, using his 10k pace to calculate other training paces, but is much more cautious than on the bike. He knows that manipulating running intensity is more risky than cycling intensity. He still does it, he’s just careful.
At the end of 8-10 weeks, our two heroes meet for some field testing and then have a beer afterwards to discuss their training. Walt's FTP is 225 watts (maybe 230) and his 10k pace is 7:45-7:50. Tom, on the other hand, has lifted his FT to 235-240 watts and his 10k pace is closer to 7:30. However, as Walt and Tom enter the next phase of their training Tom has a 10-15 watts, :20-:30 seconds, and a virtual 15-20 minute race day head start on Walt. Walt has a lot of catching up to do. In our experience, even if Walt gets on board the Tom Train, Tom will continue to increase this output even more. Tom is not afraid to work and he has a significantly different perspective than Tom on what work truly is. Walt’s experience, when riding with Tom (mostly likely trying to hang onto his wheel) will be “What the #@!!”
So what happens now in this example? Both Tom and Walt now realize that they need to start putting in the volume to get ready for the race.
| • | Walt is now trying to build “fast” while simultaneously build “far.” He cannot manage the two stresses and spends his lunch time sleeping under his desk (believe us, we’ve been there). |
| • | Tom has built “fast” and has more flexibility to separate it from his “far” training. Tom can now consolidate his fast, focus on his far, and then introduce bits of fast training into the "far" workouts as he continually monitors his fitness and recovery. |
Out-Season Keys
The length of your Out-Season depends entirely on life and weather, although a 16-week window is optimal. If you are able to ride outside most of the year, this season should run from October to late February. Otherwise, November/December through March/April is optimal.
| • | Total focus on ROI: Weather, daylight, family, and, most importantly, the need to conserve your head across a long season, demand that you maximize your return on a minimum of time investement. In the Out-Season we build the “fast” that we will put the “far” under when we are closer to your race and you have more time available. |
| • | Get fast while the competition gets fat. In the previous chapter, we discussed our ideas of base training in contrast to our perspective of fitness as simply the ability to do more work, and that it's never too soon to start going fast. |
| • | No volume goals, whether weekly or by session. Workouts are usually described as “main set” only and the volume is up to you. The only exception is the long run, which has volume goals to support the half-marathon race focus (see below). |
Focus Points: |
|
Swim |
Make an individual, ROI decision. The logistical and mental cost of swimming often does not yield enough ROI to justify much time in the pool during the Out-Season. However, it’s always a good idea to attend a swim clinic and/or swim for technique and form, not fitness. |
Bike |
Build 40k bike fitness—ride hard, push the watts, get fast. Then repeat. There are no points for cycling volume—three to four hours per week is entirely common for our athletes. |
Run |
Build half-marathon fitness and speed through high-frequency running, tempo runs, and a long run that’s just long enough to support the half marathon goal. |
