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Wild Horse
Posts:3
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| 06/22/2008 9:54 AM |
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| How many hours are enough? The more the better, however, each of us has our own limit. This is based mostly on long course experience, life stressors, and ability to control efforts during training. At some point, we can not absorb more training and need a break. The best way to maximixe my training volume is consistency. I follow a standard weekly pattern and do not schedule "easy weeks." When I start struggling, I cut my volume in half for a few days, or skip a long run or bike. Obviously, the less often this happens, the better. I must accept my personal limitations. I have many family and work committments and find that they can require the same level of recovery as a long workout. Sometimes that means less volume that week. My biggest challenge is to control my efforts. Even a little "pressure" during a bike or run will require recovery. Unfortunately, races can also limit training. As the race approaches, I stop counting miles and focus on rehearsing for race day. Volume at this point will interfere with more important preparation. Race simulations are big day S/B/R bricks. I personally try to swim 2.4 miles, Bike 100 (at IM race pace with exact race nutrition simulation) and then run for an hour. I do these workouts alone, never closer than one month to the race. These are intended to teach bike effort and food/liquid intake discipline. I need to get up at 3am to eat a big breakfast, just like race day! The more of these the better, but remember that many athletes at the starting line are still recovering from their training. (Not good) These individuals were probably focusing on volume rather than specific preparation. One Race Sim is better than none. Be prepared and confident of your race plan. Things can go well for you on surprisingly low training volume (consistent 10-12 hours/wk). Patient, consistent training leads to patient, consistent performance on race day. I have found that I always go too fast on the bike given my training level. Best to find that out before the race (where I have to run a marathon). |
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