Here we go again…

And I say that in a happy way.  It feels good to be back into a training routine.  The first few days were a little painful.  Painful, in that, I felt like I was in a fog.  My body was grumpy and still coming out of hibernation.  The off-season was good.  I averaged less than 8 hours a week of “exercise” for 4 weeks in a row.  I felt pretty good after two weeks and I was ready to go after 3 but I gave myself 4 solid weeks just to make sure I was well rested.  For those of you keeping score, I did do some cross country running races in my off-season.  The first two were really painful.  The last two were much more enjoyable.  It was fun to race and not do much during the week.  I felt very recovered and strong when the next race rolled around.  They were just for fun.  The hard efforts added some speed to my legs so now it is time to really rebuild my base. 

I am into week 2 of my base training.  I like to call this the pre-season training phase.  I am feeling good and every session is very doable.  I get a little tired but I can easily handle the weeks load of training. 

As with the athlete’s I coach, base training starts out with simply laying down a schedule that I can maintain and handle any week.  Basically, I am just getting back into a routine and getting my body used to that routine.  Here is what that looks like right now:

M – S3k, B1hr, R30′

T- S3k, B1hr, R40′, W45′

W – off

Th – S3k, B2hr, R40′

F- S2.5k, R50′

Sa – B3hr, W45′

Sun – R1-2hr

That works out to about 15hr.  All of it is pretty much z1-2 work.  I push some big gears on the bike when I feel good or do some steep hills.  I run some solid hills and use paddles or pull sets in the pool.  But that is all muscular endurance work and I keep it all low-key.

The goal at the start of pre-season is to do very similiar weeks if not the same.  There are very gradual increases in distance and muscular endurance work.  It is really important not to overdo things early on.  You will get tired enough later in the year.  WHY? 

Well, because training is about improving fitness and performance.  When you start the season, it is very easy to get gains in performance.  So, there is no reason to build huge amounts of fatigue and risk early burnout or injuries brought on by aggressive training.  Build the foundation now so that you can train harder later on.

—Scott