Prep Phase

As I eluded to in my last post, Getting Back into the Groove, I wanted to walk through each phase of my plan and give a little context as to what they mean.  The first phase that my IM plan takes me through is Prep1 and Prep2.  These phases last 4 weeks each and will probably not have a recovery week built in because generally the volume is low, with a medium frequency, and low intensity.  Essentially these phases are designed to train your body to get ready to train. 

I would compare it to Dead Week in college, or at least what I did during Dead Week.  It's the time where you start to study, but don't do too much of it.  You get your schedule down of when your finals are, plan when you're going to study, and get in the mind frame of cramming all the information into your brain.  Not the best metaphor, but I think you get the idea.

With a family, work, PT and endurance clients, this is the time where I figure out from a scheduling perspective what works and what needs to be re-arranged to find a happy medium.  For me, it's going to be early morning training and later evening training and a heavier dose on the weekends with my 'long' and BT (break through) workouts scheduled at least 2 days apart for efficient recovery. 

Prep time is also the time to get back into the pool, lace up the running shoes, and hop back on the bike.  These training sessions shouldn't be very long or very intense.  Just enough to reacquaint yourself back to each discipline and start to work on building up your base.  This is also an excellent time to work on form.  Spend a lot of time working on swim drills, running form, and biking form so that you can hit the ground running when you begin "official" training.  Prep phase is also a great time to get your nutrition back on track with whole foods, adequate caloric intake, and many smaller meals throughout the day.

Getting Back in the Groove

I unofficially started my Ironman training on Monday, getting re-acclimated to the pool and bike and continuing to build my running volume for the Des Moines Half Marathon in mid October.  My official training won't start until 1 week after the half Mary, but I am getting back into the groove with a routine to make sure it will fit into my family's schedule and so I have some momentum going into training and can handle the training load without being completely wiped out after the first week.  I've already built a skeleton that includes:

Prep1 - 4 weeks
Prep2 - 4 weeks
Base1 - 4 weeks
Base2- 4 weeks
Base3 - 4 weeks
Build1 - 4 weeks
Build2 - 4 weeks
Wildflower 1/2
Recovery - 1 week
Build3 - 4 weeks
Peak - 2 weeks
IM CDA

Each block constitutes 3 weeks on and 1 week recovery with a reduction of volume by 25-35% to allow the body to heal and to rejuvenate yourself for the next block.  As I mentioned above this is a skeleton and will probably change based on how training progresses.  I'll delve into what each of these blocks represent in my next blog.  Thanks for reading

Consistency

When you look at people you admire, whether it be great athletes, inspirational business people, or those at the top of their game, one thing that they have in common is consistency.  They come to work with a proverbial hard hat and lunch pale every day, and in line with their goals, accomplish what they need to get done.  What separates them from the rest of the pack is they consistent every day.

From an athletic perspective, in order to get better you have to be consistent in training.  I'm sure this isn't a shocker that jumps out of the page at you.  Nevertheless, I believe that this is one of the biggest thing that the majority of the novice athletes need to improve.  Understandably, life obligations gets in the way of training due to family, kids, social obligations, and football season :). 

I've got a full plate now with a family, full time job, endurance athletes/personal training clients, and trying to fit in my own training time.  I've prioritized what's important to me and if I want to do well at IM CDA next year, then I'm going to have to be consistent in building up my endurance, improve my weakest link, and maximize my strongest asset.  Ironman training demands consistent training - without it, it's going to make for a long day and a performance that won't leave you satisfied at the end of the day.  In order to be consistent in my training I have get it done early in the morning and late at night.  This works best for me because it doesn't adversely effect family time, work, and my clients.

You need to find what works best for you on a consistent basis.  Here are some tips to get started:

1)  Plan your week ahead of time so you can be proactive in working around things that come up
2)  Create a rough draft of what your average week looks like and find times that make sense for training
3)  Make a schedule for the week and stick to it
4)  If the schedule doesn't work, make adjustements so it makes sense
5)  Prioritize - what is more important, watching 'The Office' or getting your run done for the day
6)  Some train in the morning, others at night - find out what works best for you.

Apply these principles to your goals and you'll get the results you want!