BUILDING THE FRAMEWORK FOR THE SEASON AHEAD
SUCCESS FOR TOMORROW STARTS TODAY:
The season that wasn’t is now, for most, in the rearview mirror, Thank God and that means it is now the perfect time to start thinking of next season. You along with your coach can design an annual training plan (ATP) detailing out next season’s goals by working backwards from your “A” race (or time frame). Why, you say should we be worrying about this now. Well the short answer is every journey needs a map and your ATP is that road map. Your ATP details each aspect of the plan, including races, training phases, tests, recovery weeks and a sports specific resistance training program.
REASONS FOR DESIGNING THE PLAN AT THE END OF THE SEASON:
Season is fresh in your mind
Can manage offseason breaks and holidays
Undergo a weight loss plan
Plan for Specific Resistance Training
1. FRESH IN YOUR MIND
While we may have not really had a 2020 race season, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take a step back and reflect on the season while it is still fresh in your mind. You will be able to know what has worked, what hasn’t and have a good understanding of a training schedule that works with your life’s schedule. Look back on this year’s training and look for trends. We use your Performance Manager Chart to track your CTL to TSB with peak power performances.
This example shows 2 years of work and an athlete that transitioned from short course racing to long course racing. We see, on the left side of the picture a lower volume of work with multiple builds and transitions into the off-season. Toward the middle to right side of the picture we see a steady build to the first race of the season, a slight mid-season break and then another big build to the A-Race of the year.
2. MANAGE OFFSEASON BREAKS AND HOLIDAYS
By designing your annual training plan now, you are going to be able to manage your offseason breaks better. How many weeks of unstructured training can you manage without a significant loss in fitness, can you manage to fit in multiple breaks, how do the holidays fit in? After this long and mentally taxing season the last thing you, the athlete will want to do is train more, rather you will want to train smarter. So we can plan a short season ending break, plan a fall into winter foundation program while riding weather is still nice and then plan a longer offseason break as the weather turns and daylight is cut way down. By doing this you can get a jump start on your next season. You can keep your CTL up a bit so you don’t have to scramble to get so much come January when it’s snowing. Plus it’s a great time to focus on strength, skills, your limiters and maybe even a weakness like properly fueling during your rides/runs.
3. WEIGHT LOSS PLAN
Weight loss or as I like to think of it, Body Composition changes: nearly all of us would benefit from such a plan. There is a good time for this and a bad time to try to institute this. You do not want to be cutting weight off as you are training hard and need the calories for recovery, think the Race Specific Phase but rather look to do this during the fall during the Preparation phase of the season. The Prep phase focuses your aerobic foundation and is perfect for fat burning and doing fasted workouts, as the overall caloric demand is low. If this is one of your goals, set target weights in your ATP to track your progress and manage your weight.
4. SPECIFIC RESISTANCE TRAINING PROGRAM
Most athletes always want to start coaching in January when racing can be only weeks away. This does not leave much time, if any at all for a specific resistance training program (you need a minimum of 8 weeks). Resistance Training needs to be completed in the early portion of the off season so that you still have time to put in a good base. The ultimate goal is to increase your power output! But, without a solid foundation of balance, mobility and flexibility that can be difficult and increase your risk of injury.By planning the resistance program in advance you will be able to make sure you have ample time to switch focus to base and intervals before the racing season.
WHAT CATALYST MULTISPORT RECOMMENDS FOR THE OFFSEASON?
If you are starting your off season in October, our recommendation is the 30 week off season plan. This plan includes the following:
Acclimation (4 weeks)
Preparation (8 weeks)
Progressive Power (8 weeks)
Sweet Spot and Tempo (12 weeks)
Race Specific- Your Race Season
Periodized Strength Training
After these 30 weeks you transition into the Race Specific phase which is specifically tailored to what you are training for! For example, a Sprint plan will be significantly different from an Ironman plan but also keep in mind that a hilly Ironman course will require a different training plan than will a flat course.
HOW TO START BUILDING YOUR ATP:
The best way to start building the ATP is by starting backwards from your goal and main target. In TrainingPeaks once you have put in your races making sure to label them, A, B or C you can automatically generate an ATP. Better yet, set a consultation with a coach to help you lay out your season to maximize aspects like overload and taper. Tapers are required 1- 2 weeks before your A race, but need to follow an overload period. An overload phase includes race specific intervals that match your goal and then you can go from there including intensity, base, resistance program, off season, fall foundation and end of season recovery period.
As noted, this can all be done by using the Automatic setting in Training Peaks, but for the best results it is ideal to speak with a coach.
For the month of November, Catalyst Multisport is offering 20% off our usual coaching consultation fee, so the cost of $79, you get the chance to pick the brain of a coach for 1 hour and set you up for success for the 2020 season.
To learn more about how Catalyst sets up a season along with other training, nutrition and lifestyle tidbits, simply click on the link below to be directed to the Catalyst Multisport 2021 Season Primer.
If you have any questions regarding this post or anything multisport in general, please feel free to contact us at:
Happy Training!