Meat and Potatoes

After slogging through the “prep period”, I’m finally getting into the heavy part of the workout schedule, the “base period”. I’ve been following the training guide from Joe Friel, and so far no complaints. It’s odd, having trained myself for the past 3 years, to be following a coaching routine of sorts. I’ll admit, it is nice picking out the workouts at the beginning of the week, because then I don’t have to think about what I need to do each day. It also allows me to focus on why I’m doing the workout more specifically (do I need to get stronger? Faster? More endurance?).

My longest weeks so far have been in the neighborhood of 6-7 hours of training. As of today, that ramps up to 7.5 hours this week, 9 hours the next, and culminates with a 10 hour week before the end of February. Yay for periodization! The Base Period is generally the longest, most-endurance focused part of the season. Come April and May, I’ll be shortening the work outs a bit, but focusing more on intensity. Which means that as the weather gets nicer, I’ll have more time to be social. Of course, I probably won’t be able to walk. It's all about compromise, right?

The good news in all of this is that with such a structured approach to training, I should be able to target fitness goals throughout the season, so I’ll know exactly what kind of shape I’m in before the big races. I just need to be careful and methodical, and make sure my body doesn't fall apart or get injured during the next 8 weeks. Viva la revolucion!