I recall reading a study on the top Norwegian xc skiers a few years ago. They found that their performances started to drop off when yearly training volumes went over 900 - 1000 hours( 15 - 20 hrs/week). Over this amount, Injuries started to increase and There was more down time due to fatigue and illness.They came to the conclusion that training any more than this was a waste of time and training time was better spent focusing on race specific intensity training. Now, this was training for events lasting 2 hours or less and not 8 - 10 hr IM races.

Fleck

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

500km is not a recovery week for pros... it depends on the training approach..

if you do 500km a week at with 400km at IM pace and higher, this is a very tough week even though this may be only 13hrs of riding or so.
This is the kind of big week Olaf does when he is here. And it's tiring...

One aspect which is undeniable about Epic stuff is the mental edge you get (provided you don't leave all your mental strength on the ground while doing the camp)...

I saw an interesting show about the guys crossing the atlantic, going around the world, for races like route du rhum etc (sailing)...they manage to get microsleep like 3-4' periods and even flash sleep of a few seconds...I forgot the details but it was very interesting how they managed all this...could be interesting for those who think IM starts to early...you swim and manage some flash sleep on the bike :-)

audentia,

Things are looking more and more a go! :-) And probably I'll be bringing a couple of local guys that are training for IM Brasil as well, so you won't be alone :-)

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"Yeah, no one likes a smartass, but we all like stars" - Thom Yorke


smartasscoach.tri-oeiras.com

Joel quoted:

With all due repsect to Gordo et all, he had a revealing quote in his day ten report:

"Me? I was sleeping through much of this. I was tired and five days of near pointless training had worn me out a bit mentally and physically."



Oh man, had I posted here saying that Epic Camp training was "pointless training", Scott would be all over me! LOL

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"Yeah, no one likes a smartass, but we all like stars" - Thom Yorke


smartasscoach.tri-oeiras.com

I think he means pointless as in no points from the little competition they run ??

I don't know, I just read Scott's reports.

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"Yeah, no one likes a smartass, but we all like stars" - Thom Yorke


smartasscoach.tri-oeiras.com