A lot of the initial planning and strategizing had been done by January’s end. The time had come for more action. My training at least was starting to phase change significantly. If you look back to parts 1 and 2 you will no doubt recall I talked a fair bit about how this training was going to be structured. Now that I’m well and truly into it I’ll delve a little bit deeper.
The first two months or so of training was so-called Base work. In essence, building a chassis that would be strong and endurant enough to handle the rigors of more intense training to follow. A large portion of this was long Z2 rides; working the aerobic system whilst protecting the knees. In addition I was doing trail running based maximum strength circuit sessions, PT exercises, and a variety of kettlebell centric conditioning exercises.
The next phase was about a month long where I started to transition to more time on my feet. Running, trail running, hiking, rucking, and just plain walking. The strength sessions, which by the way also included a ‘core’ section continued on a twice weekly basis. Cycling was reduced greatly, if for no reason other than to focus on more specific actions related to the R3. This period was going to be telling. Where the proverbial cheese could get binding so to speak. I would see if all my PT for my plantar fasciitis was going to pay off. Just last week we did a 15km hike / run that had about 740m of elevation gain. Granted I did way more hiking than running, but I did run on the more challenging sections. I was cautiously optimistic about the outcome. I performed well, felt good for the duration, and had zero soreness the following day.
On one of our calls we talked a lot about Time On Feet. A great acronym if I ever saw one… TOF. Also one that is very applicable to the youths. In my case it stands for Tough Old Fucker
Well… I can tell you… tough or not, I was pretty glad to have the transition period come to end in a Recovery week. I made it through it, but I always had this feeling of being one step away from disaster. The Recovery week is exactly that. It’s not a week off per se, but it is a week away from heavy training. Easy zone 2 locomotive stuff. Lots of mobility and stretching, and foam rolling. I still did my my PT, but only the stuff that had no impact loading. I also spent some time with cold immersion, and of course relaxation in the hot tub.
The next block of training is Intensity. As you would expect from the name the training is more intense. This doesn’t mean however that it replaces any Z2 work. There is still plenty of Z2 to go around. The intensity refers to Z3 and Z4 work that supplements and augments the other more aerobic training. It’s definitely a time of upmost importance and yet upmost caution as well. This is exactly the perfect opportunity to get hurt. The old runners adage ‘speed kills’ applies here.
Strides are something that can kill two rabbits with one arrow. They can definitely get the old ticker pumping away in the right zone. But even maybe more important is that they help increase leg turnover. That increases speed yes, but it also improves running efficiency, and that’s always a very good thing. I just need to ease into them.
Uphill sprints are pretty much the gold standard when it comes to relatively safe Z4 intensity work. My plan is to incorporate these mostly in a fartlek fashion on trail run days during the intensity weeks. My first foray into these had mixed results…
One thing for sure… is that I am very fortunate in where I live from a training perspective. I feel a bit guilty at times when I compare myself to the lads. Almost without exception my training days are sunny with brilliant blue skies, and terrain very similar to what we will be experiencing in the canyon. Additionally, with only a small amount of effort on my part, I can train at altitudes approaching 3,000m.
Stay tuned for more training fun…
