If you were to ask me about my training, I would tell you my training is more than just adding in CrossFit workouts, it’s strategic and planned. From a distance, it may appear simple and constantly varied, but what I am doing is quite different than what you would gather without a closer look. My training is specific and strategic. All with only two end goals, staying healthy and improving for my sport. Every day has a purpose. Each day builds from the previous day.
As I mentioned last week, the right exercises, weight loads and volume (amount of time spent working out) is critical to the success of this program. Get these factors correct is what guves athletes an edge. What’s also important is planning. Weekly, Monthly and Annually. What’s the end goal? What are the appropriate training phases? How can you setup and time your workouts to enhance recovery? Making up days you miss or doubling up is not okay. It throws the whole plan off.
I struggled early on wanting to do everything every day and if I missed something, why not just push it to the next day? Triple up anyone? Turns out that my body didn’t respond very well to that type of thinking. It seemed as though the more I did, the worse I felt. I couldn’t take a day off and feel okay about it. In doing so, I was taking away from my goals rather than working towards them. I had no clue at the time. It took me over six months to figure it out and another year to truly except what was happening with my training.
That’s the point I want to make today. It takes time. Time to understand that less is actually more and that you don’t lose anything by taking a break. It takes a balance of different worlds to truly be fit and healthy. You can’t combine every type of exercise known to man to make this happen. Imagine you make a smoothie, deciding to throw in five or six different random healthy staples. You disregard all the amounts and just dump in how much of each you can at random. Will it come out delicious? No of course not. The amount is critical.
Every athlete I’ve ever worked with struggles wanting to do more at first. Its all too common, The world (marketing) promotes more miles and less recovery. It’s what the professionals do why can’t I? That’s an entire new blog post. Have a plan and stick to your plan. It should be individualized to meet your goals and not wreck your life. Restrain yourself from trying to do more. Above all, let yourself off the hook for a missed workout. It’s no big deal as long as you follow your plan.
Weekly Report
It felt good to wrap up week three of training, twenty-one days of no missed workouts is pretty strong. I’ve had to adjust a few different workouts and split up the sessions, but that means I’m human. Finding time to fit everything into the busy schedule has gone well, yet the bike still annoys me. I don’t mind the interval sessions, but the longer duration stamina stuff has been feeling monotonous. I’m getting there, remaining positive, and distracting the longer rides on the trainer with podcasts.
Sample Workout
Run: 14-16 x 300m R 60sec, holding pace and form
Results: 55-56sec for all splits
Purpose: VO2Max Development. Speed. Stamina.
Great workout to develop raw speed and stamina. 300m repeats are long enough to make you suffer, but short enough to rest just in time. Towards the end of this workout it was got tough! However, over the last three weeks, I progressed the number of intervals and dropped the initial paces by 3-4seconds. It’s absolutely critical that your splits decrease from week to week. Measuring progress from workout to workout is not always completely accurate, but over the long haul it’s pretty important to see steady improvements. Lookinf forward to more running. It’s my favorite!