Everyone knows it: the end of the season, the break in the season and then the plan for preparing for the next season begins. The individual parts vary in length from sport to sport and the blocks have different content. It is no different in triathlon. You have one last competition, after which you go on a well-earned break in the season. During this time you switch off and don't just think about the sport - as you do most of the time - but also about other things. Then comes the planning of the season and the setting of the highlights and competitions. From here on it gets interesting and the planning is a little different to that in competitive sports.
I like to set myself one or two A1 competitions that I focus on for almost the entire season. Then I look for other competitions that are well spaced out and in which I want to get equipment, food, train, develop routines and test my form. This means: I do three to six competitions a year. It all depends on when the A1 competition takes place. Once this basic framework is in place, I plan backwards from the A1 competition to the start of training and divide the whole thing into training blocks with different focuses. These are usually 6-8 weeks long and are characterized by explicit training content. In these blocks I try to trigger one system at a time, which was difficult at the beginning of the season due to university exams. Examples of "systems" are VO2max (maximum O2 uptake in ml/min) or VLAmax (maximum lactate formation rate in mmol/L/sec). After I got back into training, I started this season with a basic and VO2max block, which I would like to go into in more detail. I also decided, since I am a very light athlete (20.2.23: 72kg at 1.92m), to set a hypertrophy stimulus and see how I react to it:
GA (basic endurance)/VO2max :
In this phase of training, it is about completing a lot of time and kilometers in the GA1 (basic endurance area 1) area, i.e. in a very calm and relaxed area, and on the other hand completing very fast and hard units to increase VO2max. Examples of the GA area are a five-hour bike ride or increasing the weekly training time. In the VO2max area, I worked this year when running, for example, with 200m intervals on the track (3x(4x200m) at a certain pace with worthwhile breaks). Here is an example week:
|
Unit |
Hours |
note |
|
|
Monday |
Swimming (GA1) |
1:00 |
3km total with technical exercises |
|
Tuesday |
running (VO2max) Power |
1:15 2:00 |
main set: 3x(4x200m) 30sec./P=2-3min Hypertrophy (whole body) |
|
Wednesday |
Swimming (GA1 + VO2max) cycling (VO2max) |
1:00 1:00 |
1km time trial total 3km 6x(30sec-60sec-90sec) (380w-305w-240w) |
|
Thursday |
bike (GA1) run (GA1) |
2:00 1:00 |
/ / |
|
Friday |
Power |
2:00 |
hypertrophy |
|
Saturday |
bike (GA1) |
2:20 |
/ |
|
Sunday |
bike (GA1) |
2:05 |
/ |
|
In total: |
10 |
15:40 |
/ |
This season I followed a VO2max block with a KA (strength endurance) block. This has to do with the VLAmax and the physiological demands of my 1A competition this year. On August 6, 2023 I will be competing in the German long distance championships (1.9km swimming; 180km cycling; 42.195km running) in Glücksburg.
This was just a very small, quick and brief insight into my training. I would like to tell you more about my training and the different blocks and functions of these and answer questions. If you are interested, please take a look at Insta (@lovis.lrnz) and feel free to ask questions or suggestions. You can also find a blog of mine on Wittenseer.de, where I write about my competitions, the preparation and follow-up and my thoughts and concerns.
Maybe we'll hear from each other again. Until then, good training and best wishes for your sport!
Your Lovis