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.
