I truely think that when you 'seriously' start to pursue triathlon, there is no 'correct' way. Each individual is basically human guinea pig that struggles to find out what works best for them. Some are more successful than others and having a coach to help you navigate those waters would be a big asset. I actually enjoy being self coached, there is a personal satisfaction in researching, following a protocol, laying out and following plan and having a modicum of success in doing so. A couch would tell you "Do this" and you'd do it. Personally, I want to know the why's - it's only through exploring the why we something - is when I believe or not it will work for me.
An example is the pyramid approach to training. Many athletes approach their training in a typical pyramid fashion. Big base building hours in the early season, followed by some shorter more intense session as the season progresses. In my mind, this makes most the sense. The base period helps establish an aerobic engine in which the body has time to adapt and strengthen. This will put in you a much better physical state for when the time comes to do the harder/intense sessions.
The upside pyramid approach basically flips this idea around. ie: Do your more intense/interval training early in the year and your longer type stuff in the mid/late season. From a northern climate perspective this can make alot of sense, the reduced day light hours and dealing with lousy weather can put a damper on the hours one wants to train. However, from a physical stand point, I tend to agree with the standard pyramid approach to training. Always be working on the aerobic engine, but do the fine tuning later in the season. You can always incorporate some 'steady' state stuff to help alleviate the boredom, but save the interval training for racing season.
No one approach is 'best'. It's a matter of figuring what works best for you. The one universal truth that matters is consistency. Be consistent in your training and make sure you get enough rest. Ok, I guess that's two truths.
Last weeks hours:
Run 61k ( must... run... more...)
Bike 7.5 hrs (nice!)
Cap it off with two wieghts/core session and my regular stretching and you have the makings of a decent week.
Cheers!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Darren,
Alton half is coming soon. I am looking forward to that.
There is a lot of talk about the upside pyramid of training. I don't think this is a fad as I suspect there are triathletes already doing this before ppl talk about it. Just interesting how everyone in the tri community is jumping on this band wangon as it is the next best thing in training.
Don't know...theory is one thing, but as I've often read elsewhere, it's better to be doing than talking about doing.
Bring on the Alton Half!
Post a Comment