I am looking for input from coaches and self-coached athletes, on a research project that I am working on.
When developing your annual training plans, do you follow Friel’s or Sleamaker & Browning’s basic periodization plans (The Triathlete’s/Cyclist’s Training Bibles, or SERIOUS Training) which begins with a set number of annual training hours and then backwards to fine-tune the number of minutes for each of the phases (i.e., MS/PE/ME/SM)?
Or do you have some other method for program develop which you have found to be successful with?
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I used to use Friel’s method. But I’ve kind of strayed from this quite a bit.
What I’ve started to do is to try and get a client to build a consistent routine during the course of the regular work week, and then use the weekends for the larger portion for training.
I have to be really careful as to how many miles the athlete is running or riding. Just using hours sometimes doesn’t work.
I also do a three week cycle vs. the four week version. Especially for my older clients. I don’t know about you, but in real life we usually get two good weeks in before the third week starts to fall apart due to life. Something always comes up during my third week, plus I need more recovery anyway.
I do work backwards though from the key ‘A’ race. Otherwise you’re shooting in the dark.
And I use Jack Daniels 6 week idea. After 6 weeks in one training zone (the focus on speed here) you start to get diminishing returns if you continue. I.e…10 weeks of repeat 800’s…
maffetone/allen esque. 3 months (at least) of total base building and not exceeding max aerobic hr. 6 weeks of anerobic work. short break. back to aerobic only, taper, race, repeat.
In theory, the “SERIOUS” approach of looking at the previous years training as a guide is as good as any. The problem, though lies in that oftentimes athletes have a very rudimentary logbook, and it is tough to tell how long they, in fact, trained.
Without a good log, I have found that it is sometimes easier to ask an athlete to write out their averge week, since I have found that a lot of folks have certain “old standby” workouts that they seem to do out of habit, irrespective of what the “plan” was. Then I get them to write out their hardest week, and then their easy week, and we go from there. More importantly, I try to find out how the person responded to these different weeks. In other words, were they “recovered” after some easy training, or did they end up feeling weaker/slower. Did their “hard” week leave them shattered for many days? Finally, you have them do some tests, to find out where they are now.
Also, you need to be sure to factor in injuries, when and why they happened.
Funnily enough, I actually have an article on this subject going up on my site tonight.
I’m in the middle of working on mine right now. I keep Friels periodization in the back of my mind as I plan. But my schedule can change dramatically from week to week so I tend to plan a month at a time more in the line of “what should I be focusing on this month?” and work from there. Right now I have a 2 month heavy on the gym and weights, with a couple of runs a week between 5-7miles and the bike being soley my short commute. Feburarury will add in the swim with running focusing on my annual ST Pats day 5k.
And so on, not very organized but anything more structured ends up being frustrating. I work 2 jobs, so no week ends off for me. Starting in May, tues. and thurs. I am taking off from the second job in order to have time to get ready for the Blue Devil full iron in Oct. I’ll be able to structure my training more then. It’s hard when you don’t have evenings or weekends and only scattered weekdays to train and those change every week and you don’t know how many or what you will get.
What worked best for me in the past was just doing the broad strokes and having set goals each month( both performance and fitness) that I would work towards. I found that, havinga rigid training prgram that is set up in detail could be problematic.
IMC or another mid late August race was my typical “A” goal race of the year was. I would count back 6 months from this and then look at a month to month program that made sure that I had two - three hard/big weeks and one very easy week each month. Various, running, bike time-trials, and multi-sport races along the way would be my gauge of where I was at. I would arrive at March 1st each year in moderatly good sdhape after 4 solid months of cross-country skiing. This plan worked well almost every year I did it.
I try to train 1-3 hours every morning of the week except during October, Nov and April when I take it easy. One weekends I go long, either on skis in the winter or on the bike/run in the spring/summer. I go hard once a week and take a rest day/active rest day once per week. I try to run three times per week for 45-60 minutes as a minimum all year. I eat well all year including holiday feasts and I try to get 8 hours sleep per nite. I call it the consistency plan. Just get out and put one foot in front of the other. From that, good things happen.
Where most athletes fail is that they have all these cool designer plans, but have no will power or consistency. At the sight of bad weather they pack in their training, and at the sight of good decadent food, they loose all self control and gain way too much weight especially in the off season.
Its all about discipline and being consistent. Plans are overrated. Usually I end up with over 700 hrs per year, >2500K running, >2000K XC skiiing and >7000K riding with no plan and post some good and some not so good race results. I don’t think having a real plan would result in anything different. There are too many variables in life that throw plans off and create undue stress. May as well work the training in around those variables instead.
Most of all, I make sure that every workout is fun. For example, if it rains, I run, when it is sunny, I ride, when my buddies are riding, I switch a run for a ride. I rarely swim in the pool (too boring), but take any opportunity possible to swim open water which is a pile of fun !
Started using Sleamaker’s approach, but over the past 10 yrs have evolved to my own approach which incorporates a little of everything. Whether it is SERIOUS or Training Bible approach, there are too many factors for each individual that need to be taken into consideration. For a self coached individual, either of these approaches would probably be a good place to start as a point of reference. Just make sure you keep good logs, so you can determine what works best for you individually.
As a template I use a Austrailian Institute of Sport Annual Plan consisting of macro / meso and micro cycles and volume & intensity cycles. The % training of each sport is athlete strength/weakness dependant as is the overall maximum training time based on work/life/exercise balance.
Furhter more the build/taper (e.g. 3:1) is also athlete dependent as some work better on a 2:1 or even 5:1.
It all looks a bit scary as a semi automated spreadsheet however scientifically based plans are only useful where a significant amount of skill can be applied in designing each individual training session to acheivement a specific learning/developmental point, hopefully thats the bit I do right!
Asking a cient how many hours per year they can spare - they have no idea. But break it down by week or by day and they have an idea. I found that we ended up getting how many hours they had per week and then multiplying by 50 to get total hours. So we went with by the week.
I figure out how many hours i have in a week available to train which won’t negatively affect my family, job, or sanity. If I feel strong i go fast if I’m tired I go slow. Favor frequency over length of workout.
No zones, moniters, coaches, written workouts …etc. I’ve tried that stuff and it seems that my current philosophy works better and is much much simpler.
The biggest reason is that training is much more enjoyable and that’s why I do it in the first place.
I use an amalgam of ideas culled from the various “canned” plans. Everyone’s background and scheduling demands are unique and you have to work within your personal constraints.
I start with the Gordo principle of establishing a “basic week” that I feel confident I can reproduce throughout the year - varying by season (ie. I expect to ride more with my bike club during the spring and summer. I expect to run more during the fall and winter.).
Then I look at my calendar year from an all-encompassing standpoint. When am I going to be involved in demanding projects at work? When is my family vacation scheduled? When are my soccer coaching obligations, or my son’s game schedule, going to interfere with my basic week? Taking all of those factors into consideration I choose my “A” events, then begin to plan my periodization - backing up from the key event dates.
Running is my current limiter, so run workouts take precedence in building my plan. I’m currently using Daniels to plan the periodization of my quality workouts, built on a base of frequency + volume.
Due to my current pool access situation, I only do maintenance swimming except during the 2-3 months leading to my “A” race, when I increase frequency and add some shorter/faster sets. I generally try to follow Bob Williams’ advice of trying to descend each set by negative splitting each swim within the set (eg. 4 x 400 as 300 moderate/100 hard, 200 moderate/200 hard, 100 moderate/300 hard, 400 hard), and reducing recovery intervals as event date approaches. I always focus on a pre-determined form point for the workout. This winter I’ve been focused on developing a good high-elbow catch.
The bike is my strong event and I know that I will get in all the quality I can stand simply by riding with my bike club 2 or 3 times per week during Daylight Savings Time (our group is comprised primarily of 40-55 yr. old ex-bike racers). From April thru August I compete in a time trial series at Lowe’s Motor Speedway for some short ITT work. For longer stuff, I build my weekend long rides from March thru June (due to coaching obligations my race season is early May thru mid July) and try to hang with the young roadies on a few metrics and a couple of centuries, at least a couple of which are in the mountains.
I am self coached, 4th year into a competitive phase. Did a 3 year plan 15 years ago and did other things for 10 years. I use S.E.R.I.O.U.S. as a guide to get the fringe efforts into training. But now I am tending more now towards devashish paul 's “consistency program” as I can work off a good base and focus on weaknesses without getting bound up in the complexity of “keeping score” of the training. I young kids and many other activities in life so flexibility and experience are key. I can’t imagine how anyone (with a life) can keep up with the permutations of Friel’s plans, though I have read all his stuff and it seems good. I race a lot for training, fun and for results, depending on the event. I have qualified for Kona last two years.
I’m a self-coached late 20’s athlete entering my third year of tris, prior to which I lived a sedentary life. I too follow more of a broad brush stroked, consistency based training program similar to Devashish Paul and Fleck. I incorporate events to stay focused and to gauge fitness throughout the year, things like half marathons, camps, challenging bike rides, sprint to half ironmans, etc. I’m very familiar with Friel, but don’t tend to follow his plans per se. I find that for me KISS (keep it simple stupid) is easier for me to handle than tempo this and lactate that. I know that if I hit my long run (1.5-2.5 hrs), long bike (3-6 hours depending on the season) and work on swim frequency and form throughout the year (and I mean EVERY week) I will perform well at IM distance. Typically do 2 workouts a day at around aerobic threshold (Friel Zone 2), and do almost every ride and run in lightly to moderately rolling terrain with small to large hills (HR will rise doing this, see little need to throw in structured tempo workouts). I find this typically allows me ample recovery time, and if I find myself blowed up, take a day off, easy for a few more. Other things will vary, since my training is dynamic and life throws wrenches in sometimes. Ideally, I add a second long bike, running every lunchtime during the week, and have many frequent bikes and swims, but that doesn’t always happen. Things that remain fixed are my diet, my key workouts, and consistency from week to week. I had good success my first two years, missing a Kona spot in '04 at my first IM by about 20 minutes - after work didn’t allow for 2-a-days through the entire summer (working 65+ hrs a week, but I did hit key workouts every week though). I think you can make it as complicated or as simple as you want and have success if you listen to your body.
I usually ask an athlete what they want to accomplish first. If they want to do 6 IM’s but can only train 1 hr per day and have to take Monday’s off then you have to be realistic.
I have the athlete tell me how many hours they can train then how many of those they actually want to train. After that I come up w/ a year overview of their races then back fill the hours. Why plan for 600 hours when the reality is 400 or 1000?
Also take into consideration your fitness levels and what you can curently comfortably do. Consistency is the best plan and any plan follow religiously is better than the best plan never followed.
Pm me if you want more info on the finer points of how I do it.
