Endurance Sports: Building Your Training Plan for the Year

As you may have figured out by now, I have been sharing lots of information about training for women specifically in peri and post menopause. Historically they have been left out of research, access to sport and even consideration for inclusion not to mention no information on how to train when the body and hormones are changing. It's highly important for me to share this information as this group is in dire need of movement in all the ways they can get it. This blog entry however, is about general population plan building for endurance sport athletes. This is not to say peri and post menopause women can't use this information, it just means once you get through this, there will be need for further adjustments after you've completed your plan.

Selecting Races/Events, Understanding Limiters

When planning for endurance sports, there are so many irons in the fire we need to keep in balance it may seem nearly impossible to know how to build your plan. I like to start by having my athletes fill out a year calendar, plot out a few races or events they want to do, then sit back and think on it for a bit. Once my athletes are sure this is what they want, then we can start.

Next step is to decide what your priority/A race is, this is the race you really want to do and or do very well at. You may have a couple of these but not all of your races should be signified as an A race.

The race schedule is up, your priority race(s) are chosen. Now we need to talk about limiters. Limiters are goal-specific weaknesses that decrease the chances of accomplishing a race/season goal. An example would be; you want to place well at a race that is very hilly, but you don't climb hills well. However, not all weaknesses are limiters. Let's say your weakness is hill climbing, but your race is pancake flat, your weakness will not be a limiter for that race.

How do you know what your limiter is? You have a limiter when your weakness matches up with the demands of a race. Once you know your limiters, you will be able to plan workout types based on abilities required to make progress toward your goals.

Periodization

We now need to understand the different periods of the year, otherwise known as periodization. This is how you break up your training segments of the year. These segments are Prep, Base, Build, Peak &Race (Taper), and Transition or Offseason.

Prep lasting about a month, is the first step and it consists of doing light exercise for fun. Using this time to focus on other sports, and in addition building up a good foundation of strength and mobility.

Base can last 2 to 3 months and focusses on low intensity, high volume training to build your foundation of aerobic endurance and durability. This prepares the body for the next phase, Build, where higher-intensity work, focusing on heart rate, power and paces where you are kept just under lactate threshold happen. This is also a good time to plan in some skill work, and start looking at your fueling needs to start creating a nutrition plan.

Build can last another 2 to 3 months depending on the length of your event. Here the focus shifts from aerobic volume building to increasing intensity and working on your specific limiters. Early on the focus will be adding intervals near lactate threshold, and steady state tempo workouts. As this phase progresses, higher intensity intervals at suprathreshold to maximal intensity is added to improve force, power and anaerobic capacity. You should also focus on course specific training. For example, hill repeats for hills races. Lastly is dialing in your fueling here is critical, and shifting your strength training from strength and power building to maintenance.

Taper which is two phases Peak and Race usually happened about 2 weeks out from your event. This taper phase involves decreasing workout duration and total volume, by anywhere between 20 to 50 percent decrease per week leafing into your event. Race specific intensity should be maintained in your workouts, but putting a rest day or two between workouts is key to keeping you sharp and not overloaded before your event. You are trying to maintain the fitness and decrease fatigue in order to optimize race performance.

Transition/Offseason

What happens after your event/race? That depends. In general 5-7 days of pure recovery is necessary, with even longer at the end of your season. If the time between races is several months apart, move back through base and build periods according to your needs. You should focus more on base for longer races, and build for the shorter ones. And if that's it for your year, recover for several weeks, prepare for a pew more then begin the cycle again.

However you choose to break down the phases, periodization can help you build fitness, decrease the odds of burnout and injury, and maintain motivation. I hope these guidelines help you plan for your next race/event season.

Anxiety During Peri & Post Menopause

When I’m road cycling, I’ll find myself randomly braking on a long fast descent where I used to just bomb down it with gleeful excitement. During my commute home, the reckless driving I see others do will cause me to freak out and before I know it my heart rate is racing, my breath is short, and I feel like I’m about to have an anxiety attack.

If you’re like me, you may have started to notice more often a swift increase in heart rate, maybe some shortness of breath and that feeling of impending doom with just the slightest fear, or maybe it just came out of nowhere. Your mind starts circling about who knows what, but instead of calmly letting it go, you feel that anxious sensation you didn’t used to feel. You brush it off to a busy stressful life. But wait, did you know that is a symptom of changing hormone levels associated with peri and post-menopause?

“Women will say they just thought they couldn’t cope, or they were getting stressed, or they just started dropping balls. They don’t realize it’s menopause. They blame themselves and think it’s their fault. It’s not your fault,” according to Dr. Clare Spencer, Clinical Director of My Menopause Centre. Listen to her interview with Selene Yeager on the podcast Hit Play Not Pause.

First thing women need to understand about hormonal fluctuations, as happens in perimenopause, then the near absence of hormones in postmenopause, all manner of symptoms can crop up. Dr. Spencer explains how estrogen has a very important role in our brain chemistry as it helps coordinate the neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, GABA, and others that affect our mood. Before perimenopause, our ovaries produce estrogen each month, through a rising and falling system in combination with progesterone. However when our transition begins, aka perimenopause, estrogen fluctuates quite erratically between its highs and lows and can have a more pronounced high and more pronounced low. These changes can cause anxiety to hit you when you least expect it.

In addition to the estrogen dropping, cortisol, which is released at times of stress, can rise, and that keeps your body in a bit of a heightened state of excitement or anticipation. Research shows about half of women suffer from “unspecific anxiety” (meaning you don’t have a specific reason to be freaking out inside) during the menopause transition.


Can You Find Your Inner Calm Again?

First you have to understand that treating your anxiety isn’t going to look exactly like anyone else's treatment. Remember, if one treatment doesn’t work after enough time, try something else. You’ll notice there are many people talking about mindfulness, adaptogens and lifting heavy. These are all important and a great place to start, you don’t need a doctor's prescription for any of this and they all have a low cost of entry.

However, some of us may need a little more help to get through it. This is where Hormone Therapy (HT) comes in handy. First thing you need to know is your general practitioner, nor your OB-Gyn is knowledgeable in peri and postmenopausal symptom treatment. They received no more than a day's worth of training on it during their years in school. This is to say, you need to find a SPECIALIST, someone who has gone the extra step to learn about the physiological difference and requirements of women in the peri and post menopause stages of life.

Admittedly, the research is a bit mixed (due to lack of studies, poor studies, not enough money being set aside for this research, etc…) on what used to be called Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), now referred to as Hormone Therapy (HT). This is because we cannot replace the hormones lost. Instead we are trying to keep things at an even level, avoiding the massive peaks and valleys that can cause the nasty symptoms we all deal with to different degrees.

The hormones we are talking about are Estrogen, Progesterone and even Testosterone. I’m not going to get into what you would need, or even the best way to take it, oral, gel on skin, internal. That is up to you and your specialist. If you don’t have a specialist, I would highly recommend checking out Midi Health. I recently started going through them for my perimenopause symptom issues and in my fist 30 minute visit I got more out of it than years of talking with my GP.

Something to note is that testing your hormone levels isn’t useful either. The hormones in our bodies are literally fluctuating daily and hourly. What IS important is that you track your symptoms with as much detail as possible (time of day, length of symptom, food that may be associated with the spike, etc.). All these details will help your specialist create the right plan for you.

Mindfulness and Therapy Can Help

You may have heard of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It seems to be the go-to now for anxiety issues. Mindfulness can significantly lower stress, not just in the moment, but also can have long-term stress benefits when practiced daily. It can take some time, ranging from 6 to 9 months before you really notice a significant difference.

What About SSRIs?

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and/or serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) have been shown to help manage anxiety. SSRIs and SNRIs can also provide mild to moderate relief from night sweats and hot flashes. Knowing whether to utilize HT or SSRI is based on your symptoms. If your symptoms are more physiological in nature, hot flashes etc then HT would be the route. If your symptoms are of clinical anxiety and or depression then SSRI would be the way to go. Then there are the few of us who may need both.

Adaptogens?

Alternative therapy such as adaptogens like ashwagandha can help increase your durability, or put another way, your resilience to stress. When it comes to these types of herbal therapies, the research isn’t as solid as with western medicine studies. Though there is still some good evidence out there on this.

Though there is not the same level of hard research on herbal therapies as there is on pharmaceutical therapies, they are not without scientific evidence, and a February 2023 review on ashwagandha reports that studies suggest the adaptogen may help in the treatment of sleep disorders, improve stress resilience, and reduce anxiety. A side note from it, evidence also suggests it can be helpful for hypothyroidism, so you shouldn’t take it if you’re on thyroid medication.

As with any alternative therapies, it’s important to do your research to know what you’re getting. These industries are poorly regulated and you aren’t given the full details of what you are actually getting. Resources I use to find out whether a product is living up to its promises, are Labdoor.com and ConsumerLab.com. These resources are reputable, and do independently tested supplement brands.

Lifting Weights for Stress Relief

I know from first hand experience that when I do my strength training consistently and with good focus I feel a big difference in my mental and emotional happiness. Good news there is science here, to back this up as well.

Scientific Reports found that regular weight training substantially reduces anxiety. The study involved younger adults (of both genders) who were in good mental health, no specific anxiety disorders, and had positive results. The participants who lifted twice a week for eight weeks scored about 20 percent better on tests of anxiety than their peers who didn’t follow the weight training plan. While this study does focus on younger adults, I’m hopeful this will spur more age-specific studies.

Wrap Up

The best advice I can give, you shouldn’t be suffering. Try something, seek help, try multiple things. Don’t give up. There is something out there for everyone. Just remember what works for your friends might not work for you. Keep trying until you and your specialist have found what works for you.

Guide to Macro Nutrients & Timing for the Endurance Athlete

Events vary, as do athletes and your everyday health-conscious exerciser. So, it should be no surprise that one’s nutritional needs are not a one-size-fits-all solution. Factors to consider include weekly exercise expenditure requirements, body weight, environmental conditions, and nutrient timing. 

Each person will have different needs for different events. Finding the best solution may involve starting with basic nutrition recommendations. If they don’t supply the desired results, modify them as needed. Finding the best diet is often a trial-and-error process. 

Nutrition Basics:

1. Get most of your protein from animal sources (skinless chicken, turkey, and fish) unless you are vegan/vegetarian. If vegan/vegetarian you will need to increase your protein intake to make up for the incomplete protein molecules in vegetables from your diet. 

2. Timing: EAT Breakfast! Have ⅔ of your calories in the first ⅔ of your day. Dinner should be small but complete. Try to space out your food so you are having about 300-400 calories every 3 hours. For peri & menopausal women those needs are increased to 500+ calories per balanced meal 3x a day, plus nutrition before/after workouts.

3. Make sure to have Prot/Carb/Fat in each meal, and a big dose (30-40g for Women 40+, 20-25g for all others) of protein immediately post-workout. For women, adding EAA’s (especially Leucine 3-4g) and creatine (3-5g) to your daily intake is highly advised. 

4. Eat whole grains & Starchy vegetables: Quinoa, Whole Grain bread or crackers, cauliflower, broccoli, colorful potatoes, and lots of dark green leafy veggies. Eat your fruits, don’t drink them unless it’s during exercise/competition.

Macronutrients are the basic components of the food we eat. These are carbohydrates, protein, and fat. 

Eating macros in proper ratios fuels your endurance and strength training protocols. Healthy “adult” (aka college age men) eating includes ratios of, 45-65% of calories from carbs, 20-35% of calories from fat, and 10-35% of calories from protein.

Adjust these ratios based on the goal of the physical activity. For example, when training for endurance an athlete would increase their carb percentage to improve muscle glycogen stores. When training for strength, an athlete would consume a higher protein intake to help rebuild muscle fibers to better support more muscle mass. The numbers for most people would then look like 40% Carb, 30% Protein and 30% fat. 

Carbohydrates: 

Carbs come in different forms. Two to know are simple and complex carbs.

• Simple carbs, also known as simple sugars, have one to two sugar molecules. These include glucose*, dextrose, or fructose. Simple carbs break down quickly in the body. Foods with simple sugars include fruits (grapes, watermelon, stone fruits), milk, vegetables, table sugar, candy, and soft drinks. They supply energy but lack fiber, vitamins, and other key nutrients.

• Complex carbs have three or more sugar molecules. You'll find these in foods like beans, whole grains, whole-wheat pasta, colorful potatoes, corn, and legumes.

So, what kind of carbohydrate should you consume? Most carbs should come from complex sources and naturally occurring sugars. Processed carbs and refined sugars should be limited to racing and hard training sessions, or avoided if your body has trouble using it.

How many carbs should endurance athletes eat?

There will be some differences based on the type and duration of training. The general rule is to increase carbohydrate intake up to 70% of total daily calories. This helps support the high volume of glucose needed for that level of physical activity.

Endurance athletes should eat 8 to 10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram (kg) of body weight per day. This will depend on the duration of their endurance event. For endurance training lasting 4 to 5 hours, endurance athletes should consume 10 grams per kilogram of body weight, this is based on healthy young men and does not include recommendations for women, and especially peri& postmenopausal women. Instead, according to Dr. Stacy Sims, women should follow: 

For light days, rest days  or strength training days aim for 1.1 to 1.4 grams of carb per pound of body weight per day.

For Moderate to high-intensity training (60-120 minutes), you need 1.6 to 1.8 grams of cab per pound of body weight per day.

For endurance training of 2 to 5 hours of intense training per day, you need 2 to 2.7 grams of cab per pound of body weight per day.

For extreme training of 5 hours or more of intense training per day, you need 2.7 to 3.1 grams of carbs per pound of body weight per day.

How Much Protein Should Endurance Athletes Eat?

Many people focus only on carbs for endurance exercise. However, protein intake for endurance athletes is equally important. The purpose of protein is to build and replenish lean muscle tissue. Protein also acts as a source of energy in times of caloric deficits.

There are two different types of protein:

• Animal-based protein

• Plant-based protein

Animal-based protein, as the name implies, is a protein that comes from animals. It can come from the animal’s body, such as a cut of beef or fish filet. Or it may be a protein food they produce, like cow’s milk or an egg. This type of protein is considered a complete protein. It is complete because it contains all nine essential amino acids. 

Plant-based protein is a protein that comes from plants. This type of protein can come from the plant’s leaves and roots, or a fruit or nut produced by the plant. Plant-based protein is considered an incomplete protein. This isn't to say it is bad, it just doesn't have all essential amino acids. Plant-based protein sources include edamame, chickpeas, spinach, broccoli, chia seeds, quinoa, hemp seeds, and peanut butter. Endurance athletes on a plant-based diet will have an increased protein requirement. This is due to a plant-based diet consisting of incomplete proteins.

Protein has 4 calories per gram. How much protein do you need to eat?  Protein intake for a normal healthy adult (again these guidelines are based on research done solely on young males) is around 0.8 grams/kg/day. Endurance athletes should eat protein at 1.4 g/kg/day. Athletes taking part in longer endurance events need more protein than those running shorter distances. This is based on research done on healthy young men and does not include recommendations for women, and especially peri& postmenopausal women. Instead, according to Dr. Stacy Sims, women should follow: 

For strength/power phases of training, you need 1.0 to 1.2 grams of protein per pound per day.

For endurance phases of training, you need 0.8 to 1.0 grams of protein per pound per day.

For optimal recovery, try taking 35-40 grams of protein immediately post-workout, or within no more than 30 minutes after to take advantage of the non-insulin-dependent first phase of glycogen synthesis. In addition to the 35-40 grams of protein immediately after a workout, peri & postmenopause women need to make sure there are EAA’s (essential amino acids: Leucine, isoleucine, and valine) with a 3 to 4 gram content of Leucine, and creatine in a 3-5g amount.

 

How Much Fat Should Endurance Athletes Eat?

Endurance athletes need healthy fats in their diet. Roughly 30% of one’s daily calories should come from fat when involved with endurance exercise. 

Dietary fat has six major roles in the body: Supply energy; Help manufacture and balance hormones; Form cell membranes; Form the brain and nervous system, Transport fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K); Supply two fatty acids the body can't manufacture (linoleic acid and linolenic acid); There are many types of fat, some good and some not. The most significant types are triglycerides, fatty acids, phospholipids, and cholesterol. Of these, triglycerides are most commonly found in food. Fatty acids break down further into saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats. 

Endurance athletes need to minimize the amount of saturated fat consumed. Most fat calories should be in the form of monounsaturated fatty acids.

When adding fat to your diet to keep up with the demands of endurance training, focus your fat intake on healthy fats. This includes: Fatty fish - salmon, mackerel, or tuna; Avocado; Seeds - sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds all have healthy fats; Nuts - peanuts, walnuts, almonds, or cashews; Olive oil; Eggs; Ground flaxseed; Beans - kidney, navy, or soybeans.

Nutrition for Endurance: Bringing it All Together

Balancing one's nutrition is not an easy task, involves a lot of thought and trial and error. But when endurance athletes pay attention to the recommendations and figure out what methods work best for them, the outcome is improved athletic performance. This can translate to higher awards come race day.

Whether you are an elite athlete, a weekend warrior, or a personal trainer designing programs for athletes, it is important to fuel your body properly. Proper nutrients at the right time allow the body to perform at its highest level.

Mobility: Often misunderstood, yet it is the Building Block of Movement

Why are we talking about mobility so much lately? Some people lump it in with stretching/flexibility, or think it is stretching. That is only part of the equation. First let’s define flexibility, the ability to have an outside force applied to a part of your body and that force moves your body part into a position where you feel a stretch of your muscles. This is what we call a passive stretch. Whereas mobility is your ability to control and move your body/joints through a certain range of motion with strength, thus an active movement. In most cases we have more flexibility than we have mobility. Meaning we can be passively moved into a deeper range of motion than what we can control actively.

Why do we stretch? 

Most people believe it is to become more flexible. That depends on the reason you are stretching, and the process you are using. When done with mobility principles, stretching can change muscle length, joint strength and control, and neurologic control. When done with dynamic stretching principles, it can help prep the muscles for the activity you are about to take part in.

The Science

For quite some time stretches have been given on a basis of time, from 10-30 seconds. When we are talking mobility those stretches are going to need to be held much longer, up to 2 minutes. In general a stretch is going to activate either the muscle spindle or golgi tendon units. Wait what? I  know science terms. I’ll explain. The muscle spindle is within the muscle belly and sends signals to the brain about the length and changes in the length of a muscle. The Golgi tendon organ (GTO) is in the muscle-tendon junction and signals the amount of force being applied to a muscle back to the brain. 

When a muscle is rapidly stretched, the muscle spindle signals its muscle to contract to prevent it from going too far, too quickly. Ultimately, the muscle spindle functions to alert the brain that nearby joints and soft tissues are in danger of being stretched too far. These are important concepts in understanding body awareness (also known as proprioception and kinesthetic awareness).

GTOs sense muscular tension within muscles when they contract or are stretched. When the GTO is activated during stretching, it inhibits muscle spindle activity within the working muscle so a deeper stretch can be achieved. GTOs are sensitive to changes in tension and rate of tension and, because they are located in the musculotendinous junctions, they are responsible for sending information to the brain as soon as they sense an overload. Static stretching is one example of how muscle tension signals a GTO response. So, when you hold a low-force stretch for more than ten seconds, the increase in muscle tension activates the GTO, which temporarily inhibits muscle spindle activity thus reducing tension in the muscle, and allows for further stretching.

The Science Applied

Whew, we got through that. Now when we apply a stretch to a muscle, the first thing that happens is the muscle spindle reacts to the lengthening of the muscle and may cause a muscle contraction is the movement is too fast of too much pressure, once the stretch has been held for more than 10 or so seconds the GTO kicks in, relaxes the reflex muscle contraction and allows you to feel the muscle being stretched. This does not change the length of your muscle though. This only calms the nervous system to allow the muscle to relax, or a contract if you apply more force. These short stretch relaxes can help to calm the system down before starting an exercise program, but again do not change the length of the muscle or its firing pattern.

Now that we understand that stretching affects muscle control and allows you to start exercising without causing injury. Now let's talk about mobility. Again this is your controlled range of motion. In order to create more range of motion that you can control, those stretches need to be held for a much longer time, and be accompanied by active muscle contractions and passive muscle stretching. Some people have heard of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation. This is where the concept started. Over the last decade however, research has dove deeper and found that in order to make change to the muscle length you must hold the stretch for 2 minutes. 

Mobility and Functional Range Conditioning (FRC)

The principles of FRC are based on creating not only better flexibility, but also strength through that new range of motion. It does this by focussing on joint function. We start by assessing the joint's ability to be moved (flexibility), then compare it to the joint's active range of motion (mobility), then compare that to the requirements for the sport or activity you are looking to participate in.

Example of Mobility

Let's use the example of hip flexion in cycling. Cyclists need a significant amount of hip flexion in order to achieve the proper cycling motion without causing movement of the hips on the saddle. When we look at a hip joint the primary movement is rotation. Wait what you just said we were looking at hip flexion. Yes, but in order for a hip to be able to flex properly, it MUST be able to rotate to allow flexion and even extension to happen. In FRC we look to see if there is abnormal hip rotation and we address that FIRST. Once we have determined what the hip needs, we then work it. You can see in this video that working the mobility of hip rotation is a several minute process, but one that results both in increased joint range of motion and also your ability to create force, aka strength, at that new range. 

The amazing part of working mobility is that it also includes working your strength without the need for weights. You get to use your body's internal resistance to help build strength in your joints. The hip rotation is just one example of how to work hip mobility. Everyone’s needs are different and each person may need a different set up for this particular hip mobility exercise.

Offseason: What is it, and what should I be doing during it?

Whether you are a competitive triathlete, or just looking to maintain optimum health, your training needs to have what we call an “off-season.” This is a time to rest, refresh, plan and prepare for the next season. Give yourself both a physical and mental break. You may gain perspective on your prior training, or decide it’s time to switch things up completely. 

For multisport/endurance sports the end of the year/winter is considered offseason. This is the time between your last race of the year and the beginning of next year’s focused training plan. This can last anywhere from 3-4 months. 

Many driven individuals have a hard time taking time off, it’s seen as “I’m losing my fitness”, or some say, “I’m being lazy”. In actuality, the off-season is just the opposite. Time to allow your body the chance to recover from all the trauma (yes exercise to the extent we put it through is trauma), time to mentally recover, time to catch up with family and friends, and also time to plan for your next season.

Here are a few tips on how to make the most of your off-season.

1. REST: Easier said than done. It’s recommended to take as long as two weeks away from all workouts, followed by relatively light workouts to get you rolling. This leads me to the concept of periodization. Which is strategically planning your training calendar so you have various phases of training throughout the weeks and months of your in-season training. 

If you ended your season with major or minor injuries, rest is a good idea. This may be a good time to visit a physical therapist for help with your injuries, or a sports mobility coach for help with your mobility issues. 

2. Mix It Up: Cross-train. The occasional swim/bike or run doesn’t hurt, but the key is to break the routine of your in-season workouts. This is the best time to begin to incorporate weight training, especially heavy lifting and powerlifting into your routine.
   
   

3. Set Goals: There are two parts to goal setting, internally and externally driven. 

Internal: Look over your prior year’s performance, how pleased are you with your races and your injury status? You may realize that you want to dramatically improve your swim times, get fast on the bike, or that you have a nagging IT band issue that you need to address before hard training again. Or maybe this upcoming year is the year you jump up to a much longer distance, or a more competitive age group.

Improvements in your desired growth areas can become part of your goals for next season. Don’t forget to set a goal for how to take action on each line item goal. To become a better swimmer, maybe you need to join a local masters swim group, or even get one-on-one coaching to address that IT band issue. Perhaps you need to set a series of appointments with a therapist or rehab specialist.

External: Now let's look at the calendar. Find the races you are interested in participating in and place them on a calendar. Once on the calendar look to see how far apart they are spaced out. You may have some a few weeks apart, or others months apart. The important part now is to decide which ones are your “A” races, the ones you want to be in top shape for and maybe are hoping for a podium finish, or maybe an overall top finish. Then do the same with the rest of the races, labeling them B, C, and D of lesser importance or focus. Think about other likely family or work commitments too - it's not fun being in peak training mode right when you are taking your family on a trip to Europe. Whatever works for you, be intentional about your races so your training plan has a definition and focus.

4.Start Your Base Training

After a few weeks of resting your body, breaking out of old habits, and doing some cross-training, it’s time to begin base training. This base training is characterized by low-intensity but consistent training that allows your body to establish both a cardiovascular and muscular base of fitness before adding intensity and distance. That being said, now is the best time to be hitting the BIG weights, and working your power movements. Obviously, you need to build up to them, improving your mobility to get lower into your squat so you can engage the end-range muscle better and get a fuller range of strength. This practice of routine structured workouts will help your mental toughness later in the harder stages of training. 

Your off-season time is a great time to experiment with new techniques or training inputs. From looking at your nutrition and hydration options, to swimming or run form analysis, or maybe you haven't been up for power meter input yet. Now is the best time to start to play with these new modalities, instead of race week or even race day.

5.Find or Create a Plan

Some people like to wait until the offseason is over to start looking at the race/event calendar. I challenge you to look now. Use this time to see what events you might want to do, and see if they fit into your calendar, obviously working around family and work stuff. Once you have an idea of your events it’s time to sit down and look at whether these are feasible for you. Meaning, if you did these same events last year, but you never felt quite prepared, maybe you had too many events, or maybe you didn’t plan your training peak for the right time. These issues can cause some people stress. You don’t have to stress alone. Maybe this year it’s time for a coach. Coaches are there for more than just creating a program to follow. They provide feedback on your race calendar and can help you set up your plan of attack for the season/year. They can also help you figure out why last year you didn’t peak or peaked too soon. 

6.Check Your Gear

Your bike may have had a squeak or felt sluggish in the braking power, or your goggles are fogging up on all of your swims. Offseason can be a great time to do both maintenance and gear inventory. Doing this maintenance when you don’t have an urgent ride or race in just a few days away can be fun, and for sure much less stressful. You may even learn that you like certain parts of bike maintenance, and this can help save you time and stress during the season.

This time of year is also a good time to get discounts on all your gear as manufacturers are closing out on last year's models. Old models of gear work well, sometimes better than the first iteration on a new one where all the kinks have already been worked out. If you wait closer to the season there is a good chance that gear prices will go up as demand increases. Also really important:  make sure everything you use is in good working order. This goes for your bike, helmet, bike shoes, bike computer, running shoes, watch, glasses, wet suit, swimsuit and goggles. Perhaps your bike helmet is past its safety range and it’s time to replace it. Or maybe your tires were not as grippy or maybe too heavy for your liking, or just worn out, now is a good time to replace them.

This is the perfect time to make changes like going tubeless or switching to disk brakes. Switching in the offseason gives you time to learn some of the ins and outs of what these changes entail.

Use your offseason to recover from your prior racing/event season and also prepare for the next one. Just because it’s the offseason doesn’t mean you lose structure and discipline in your workouts, instead, it’s about consciously taking a break, and taking the time to evaluate and decide what routines to walk away from that don’t suit you, and replacing them with ones that help you thrive and enter your next season with proper goals for you, renewed health and even better base conditioning than last year.

Finally Completed my 50K Trail Run

On December 5th, I was in St. George, Utah for my 50K Trail race. That day started off fine, even the first lap (there were going to be 5 laps) went well. Unfortunately the day did not work out for me in a few ways and I ended up having to pull out of the race in the middle of lap 3. I was pretty bummed, and tried not to let it get me down for the duration of my time in St. George.

**A few pictures from out on the course in Utah. **

I knew however that I had some unfinished business I needed to attend to. I needed to get another 50K back on my schedule as soon as possible. I even tried to get it in the very next weekend. After chatting with my coach and coming down off my frustration horse, I was okay with scheduling it for December 27th. That gave me 3 more weeks to prepare, after not completing the first. 

**Here is a short video of the St. George, Utah race location. Take on lap 2 of 5 in the counter clockwise direction.**

Those last 3 weeks leading up to my second attempt, my main focus points were on keeping stress low, getting enough sleep and plenty of good healthy foods. Ugh that's hard around the holidays, but I managed. For sleep I was making sure to get 8 hours, which for me is normal, but I was extra careful not to stay up even 5 minutes later than planned. When it came to nutrition I cut out all alcohol, except on Christmas day, and made sure to get plenty of healthy proteins and veggies. Plus cannot forget my carbohydrates in the form of sweet potatoes, gluten free bread, and oatmeal.

The day of my event I had already packed most of my food the night before, but still had to fill my water bottles and eat breakfast. At 6am I sat down to eat my breakfast which consisted of homemade oatmeal (I usually use steel cut oats, but we only had rolled oats left) with cinnamon, raisins and maple syrup, a cup of coffee with oat milk, and a blueberry fig bar. For the food I would eat during my run I packed 4 blueberry fig bars (420 calories), 1.5 packages of Clif Blocks (135 calories plus caffeine), 2 homemade energy balls (440 calories), and 12 chicken nuggets (220 calories). Then for my fluids I took 1.5 liters of water plus Clif Hydration powder in each water bottle, this was to help my body absorb the water better than just plain water. If you want more information on hydration for the endurance athlete, read my blog on Hydration, How Much is Enough.    

I packed myself some dry cloths for after the run, and also a second pair of shoes and socks just in case it was wet and my feet needed to dry off. In addition to the cloths, I also packed my GoPro for a little extra fun while out on the trail. Now it was time to head off to the park.

Upon arrival at the park, I noticed there were less than half the parking spaces left and was a bit nervous about how many people I would come in contact with. So, I grabbed my handheld face covering (it's a chammy cloth the size of a washcloth) that I can easily hold in my hand to cover my nose and mouth while close to people but then take away from my face just as easily. 

It's now go time, I've got my backpack filled with everything I will need for my first 2 laps and my Garmin is on and ready to go. I pass through the gate at the parking lot to the start of the trail hit my start button and off I go. My plan is to start slow, as is always the case, and start by running around the small loop first then head off into the Lisa-Cottle Loop for my repeats. As I'm heading toward the first gate which is only a quarter mile from the car park, I notice a bunch of cows on the other side. Yay I pull out my GoPro for a little distraction and then off I go.

While making my way around the short loop I start running through my head my plan for the day. This plan involved several key items, pace, nutrition, fluids, fun, family. Pace needed to be kept slow, nutrition and fluid plan was to eat/drink early and often. I've had a few runs in the past that I started eating and drinking too late and ended up feeling exhausted, or getting leg cramps. I needed to stay ahead of it if I wanted to finish this run on my feet. 

The hills at Rancho San Vicente are not steep so my pace doesn't slow down much on the up hills, but my goal was to not go faster than a nine minute per mile pace, on the flats to keep it no faster than 8:20 pace, and on the down hills no faster than 7:20 pace. With my excitement of finally getting back out to give this distance another go, I kept going over my paces in the first lap. However I was much better at controlling my speed in lap two. 

Along the course this time I came across several cows on the trail. As I had never been so close to them before I did not know how to approach or pass them. Admittedly I was a bit afraid. I stopped, said hello to them and slowly, very slowly walked toward them. One by one they all started moving slowly off the trail until it was safe for me to pass. I had to do this 3 times in the first lap, once in the second lap and by the third lap they had all made their way up the trail to higher grazing ground. 

In my first and second lap I drank 300 milliliters of hydration fluids, and 250 calories of food each lap. This then allowed me to hop off the look and head back to my car after the second lap to refuel. I swapped out my water bottles, emptied my empty food wrappers, and grabbed more food. It was now time for some savory bites of yummy chicken nuggets, along with more homemade energy bites.

By the time I got back out to the start of the third lap I could feel my body getting tired, and it should be I was at mile 17 now. When I ate my first chicken nugget I noticed my mouth was not watering as much as it had earlier, this told me I hadn't had enough to drink, so I slowed down to a walk and got some hydration in me. At this point I knew I was going to need to step up my hydration game so now instead of drinking every 20 minutes I was sipping water every mile. This helped tremendously, because at mile 22 it was time to eat another energy bite and I was able to eat it without feeling like it was a dry rock in my mouth.  

Mile 24 was where I was starting to feel my legs getting very tired, I was having trouble lifting my toes or getting a good toe off. My hamstrings were starting to get irritated, and my calves were rocks attached to my tibias. I was able to keep the hamstring issue under control by focusing on the position of my pelvis as I was running. I noticed every time I would feel the hamstring straining that I was rolling into anterior rotation of my pelvis. This told me I was allowing my abdominals to get lazy and my lumbar muscles to tighten up, thus putting my hamstrings on stretch. Glad I knew what to do for that.

I hit the wall at mile 27. My whole body just said no more. I felt my heart rate go up for no reason, I was on the flats at that point. My legs wanted to seize, and it was taking all my might to not stop. Up to this point I have only ever run 26.2 miles at my longest. I think my body was saying hey, woman, what are you doing, you're all done now. Because it took all my energy to keep going I told myself I could walk for 3 to 5 minutes, then it's go time again. After 3 minutes I felt good enough to push on. After this point my pace had slowed down quite a lot, but I was just focused on finishing the mileage. 

With 0.9 miles to go to complete my 50k (31.1 miles), I realized I still had a little over two miles left to get back to the end of the trail. Ugh! The trail was mostly flat and about to start heading downhill to the finish so with a quick last swig of hydration, I shut out the pain and started running again. Those last 15 minutes seemed to fly by and before I knew it I hit mile 31.1 and was still running. With only 0.75 miles to go I'm headed downhill and can hear my coach shouting to me. Oh wow what a wonderful sound. He rode down to the finish where my wonderful wife and niece and nephew were waiting with a finishing tape. I think that last three quarter miles was my fastest on the day as all I wanted to do was be done. 

As I crossed the finish line, to the amazing cheers of my loved ones and my coach, I hit my stop watch and saw that I had completed 32.2 miles in 5 hours and 16 minutes. This felt so good to have finally completed my first 50K trail run. And I can now say I'm an Ultra Runner. 

**Here is my recap video from my completed 50k at Calero Reservoir.**

Thank you to my coach for all the amazing training you put me through to get me ready to run that distance. Thank you to the unwavering support of my wife, and thank you to my niece and nephew for your cheers.

This whole experience from the beginning of the training through to the completed event was so much work, and fun, but worth every moment. I've already decided that wasn't long enough and am planning on doing a 44 mile run for my birthday in 2021, and a 50 mile run by December 2021. Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed as much as I did.

Week 13, Training for 50K Trail Race

After Sunday's epic run my body was tired both physically and emotionally. I needed extra nutrition on Sunday and Monday, and extra rest and mobility exercises. By Tuesday I was feeling about 70% back to normal, and by Wednesday I hit homeostasis. 

 Week 13 Training Plan: (2nd - 11th November)

Monday: Rest and Recovery, Mobility 30+ minutes.

Tuesday: Rest and Recover, Core strength 30 minutes.

Wednesday: Run on flats 4 miles HR not to exceed 143, Strength 30 min.

Thursday:  Run 7 miles @ 8:15 pace with 1 mile @ 6:50 pace, Mobility 30 minutes.

Friday: Recovery day, CORE & Mobility 30 mins each.

Saturday: Go have fun and ride bike outside for 90 minutes. 

Sunday: Trail run 4 hours with 3000+ feet elevation gain.

The beginning of this week was great having both Monday and Tuesday set aside for rest days, then coming back with an easy run on Wednesday. Since it has been a while that I've done any speed work due to focussing on endurance of late it was time to hit a hard effort on Thursday.

Thursday was so much fun getting out and really pushing the pace. Since my focus for so many weeks has been on longer distances my pace has slowed down, so it was a bit hard to hit my fast 1 mile effort prescribed pace. I was able to maintain my elevated pace before the 1 mile effort and again after so I was happy with that. It is true you cannot trail well for both speed and endurance, one will suffer at the other ones gain. 

Friday was another rest day, so I spent the day trying to upload my videos from the last few weeks. My poor iPad is on it's way out, it knows I ordered a new one so it's giving me even more grief, thus the reason it's taking so long to get my videos out. Between attempts at uploading, I spent time working my mobility for my legs so that they would be all nice and happy for Sunday's big run.

Before we get to Sunday I had to go have fun on my bike Saturday. I bought new wheels a few months ago and it's taken me a while to get them set up. Tire and pump issues, but finally thought I had it resolved. I jumped on my bike and a very chilly Saturday afternoon only to turn around 3 minutes later due to brake and drivetrain issues. So frustrating especially since I'm a mechanic, but I don't have the tools to make the adjustments this time. Off the road bike and onto the Mountain Bike then. Off I got to hit some dirt near my house, but keeping it to the flats as much as possible.   

Saturday afternoon and evening meals were very important in preparing for Sunday's run. The goal was to get plenty of proper nutrition and hydration so that I will wake up feeling refreshed and ready to go. My lunch consisted of lean turkey burger with some yellow mustard, roasted broccoli, and buttered baguette. Then dinner was grilled asada chicken thigh with roasted cubed yams and butter, and a small kale salad (kale, lemon juice, shredded parmesan cheese, drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper). Oh yeah and about 60 ounces of water throughout the day on Saturday. 

I got to bed by 10pm Saturday and up by 6:30am Sunday.  My breakfast was a cup of coffee with oat milk, 2 slices of toast with butter, cinnamon and brown coconut sugar. Right before I started my run I ate one of my homemade no bake energy bites (super easy to make: banana, oats, peanut butter, shredded coconut, protein powder, chocolate chips/dried cranberries/dried blueberries/ect). Here is the recipe if you want to give it a try for yourself.

This week I stayed close to home for my route and headed to South San Jose near the reservoirs. I started at the new entrance for Calero Reservoir where all the mountain bikers start. There was an 8 mile loop that I did here, before meandering my way over to Almaden Quicksilver park at the Hacienda entrance. Once there I made my way through another loop taking Mine Hill trail to Cape Horn Pass, Hacienda trail, Virl O Norton trail and popped out at the Mockingbird hill entrance to Quicksilver. Dove back in to Hacienda where the trail had about 4 really steep nasty sections of which I walked all of these as they were too steep to try and run. Eventually Hacienda starts going back down hill and meets back up with Mine hill trail and I then ran down the road to the trail head back to the Calero trail system and finished my run. 

In all this was a really fun route. I brought a different backpack today (this one does not leak) and had a straw into the water reservoir, and I started my hydrating at about 20 minutes into the run instead of my usual 45 minutes. This made a HUGE difference as I did not feel any muscle cramping, my lips never got chapped and my mouth never felt dry. Plus when I was eating my nutrition I didn't need to drink my hydration to give me enough moisture in my mouth to help break it down. This run, in addition to my previous foods, I added chicken nuggets to the mix. OH WOW!!!! That was a treat. Most of my other foods are very carb centered and sweet tasting, but these being a bit more protein centered and savory, they actually made my mouth water when I ate them. Those are a definite for my event in December. 

In total my run was 4 hours on the nose, and this time I completed 25 miles and 3200 feet of elevation gain. This is the longest run I will do before the event now. Next week will be focused on recovery as it's been a solid 3 weeks of building up, my body needs a rest week. 

Thanks for reading.