Base II Review and Base III Preview

I finished up my Base II block which emphasized working on my swim.  I am pretty happy with the improvements made in the pool as a whole, despite 3 bouts of being sick for 2-3 days.  After doing some self-evaluation and consulting with other endurance athletes I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t taking in enough calories which depleted my immune system and caused me to get sick.  I’ve upped the amount of calories I’m taking in and things are going well.

This week I start my Base III block with an emphasis on the bike.  I’ve been kind of dreading this block because my riding will be primarily done inside on my trainer.  For those of you with experience riding on a trainer, it can be pretty boring and monotonous.  At the same time, it allows you to work on specific parts of your cycling technique due to a very controlled environment and can build some mental toughness.  My current bike fitness is really lacking now so I hope to be able to get outside to knock out a few 3 hour rides.  If not, I’ll have to suck it up on the trainer.  I will also work on some high cadence and big gear interval work which will improve my overall efficiency and my overall riding performance.  So, at a high level this is what we’re looking at for the next 4 weeks:

3 swims

3 runs

4 bikes (1 high cadence focused, 1 bike gear focused, 1 long, 1 mixed)

2 weight training sessions

My goal is to spend between 6-10 hours on the bike during this period.  Next task is to find some good movies to watch to pass the time :)

3 Pillars of Endurance Success

There are many things you can do to improve your endurance, but there are 3 keys things you MUST have to be the best you can be:

- Do the Work (Train)
- Nutrition
- Recovery

Let's detail them out a little more to get a better understanding:

1)  Do the Work - just as it says, you've got to put in the time and log the laps, miles, etc.  This is where you're building your endurance muscles, making nueromuscular improvements, and improving your endurance "engine".  Train right, train smart.  The other 2 pillars are going to support your training.

2)  Nutrition - nutrition is the fuel you need for your workout, and replenishes glycogen stores, feeds your muscles, and aids in recovery after your workout.  It's important to have ample "good" carbs before a workout, and carbs and protein immediately after a workout.  When I say "good carbs" I'm referring to whole grain, fruits, and vegetables.  Proteins can come from fish, turkey, chicken, beef, or nuts and legumes.

3)  Recovery - this is probably the most neglected pillar of the 3.  Athletes spend hours training and eating right, but they end up hurt, burn out, or over trained because they didn't spend ample time to recover.  Athletes tend to think that while they're recovering the competition is out training and getting the upper hand.  If that is the case, the competition will be watching you from the sideline.  You need at least 1 recovery day a week and 1 week after every 3 weeks where your volume/intensity is down ~50%.  This allows time for your body to absorb the training, muscles to repair/grow, and mind to refocus.  Sleeping is also a part of recovery and is crucial because when you're sleeping your body releases human growth hormone(HGH) to aid in muscle growth and repair.

Follow these 3 success tools and your will grow and produce better results.