The periodization schedule I am used to says that you build for 3 weeks and then have an active recovery week. Recently a coach said that (after establishing a base) they start with the heavy week and gradually reduce during the following two until they reach an active recovery week. Then they continue the schedule by going to the heavy week again. I’m not very comfortable with that sequence, but was wondering what everyone thinks about it.
One more thing … the same coach recommended (for the week of a 1/2 marathon) running on the Thursday before the race, take Friday off and then run the 1/2. I thought it was generally accepted to take off two days before a race and do a short run with some easy pickups the day before the event. Comments, anyone???
The second paragraph first…it all works. You can take 2 days off completely, or take the Thursday off, or take the Friday off, or take no days off. It’s all the cumulative training you’ve done up until the week that matters. I would focus more on getting good recovery the week post race for both injury prevention and to be ready for consistent work ahead.
For the first paragraph, there also many ways to structure a month’s worth of work and much depends on where this 4 weeks fits in your your yearly schedule, your fitness, and the meaning of “build”–could be more volume, more intensity, or both. If you feel good overall so far with your coach, give it a try for a month or two. If you are either exhausted and/or don’t feel like you’re progressing, then communicate that you would like to adapt.
As long as you’re consistently getting x sessions in per week as your schedule and body allows, are adding a bit of increasing training load (again, intensity or volume) over the season, there’s lots of flexibility for one kind of week structure or another. Keep things simple.