Periodising A Busy Year
Years ago, the topic of periodising an athletic year was much simpler. In the Olympic version of the sport (ITU) we had a single day World Championships. In Long Course world we had Kona. In Age Group Long Course world we only really had one Ironman at the end of the season. The peak was clear and defined. We knew exactly what to aim for.
But now it’s different. World Triathlon now has the season long World Triathlon Championship Series which includes a Grand Final. The PTO now has the T100 series where contracted athletes have to race in minimum 6 events plus a Grand Final. In Ironman we still have a One Day World Championships but we also now have the Ironman Pro Series where athletes race for the Series Champion title and prizemoney.
Of course, all of this adds up to a huge challenge. How to construct a yearly training and racing schedule.
As an example, In HPT we have long course athletes racing to qualify for Kona or Nice in October. Those athletes may also be looking to qualify for 70.3 World Champs in December. It doesn’t end there but. Some of these athletes have also now qualified for the Townsville Multisport World Championships in August!
So how do we manage all this racing ? It comes down to good athlete management. Have a year long approach rather than an “aim at one big race” strategy.
Manage your training load. Peaking for so many events is never going to happen so you have to manage that by staying at a good level of fitness year round. That takes consistency. Don’t overdo it - don’t underdo it.
Stay physically healthy. The big races are now very close together. Staying healthy is key to success. Great nutrition and recovery practices. Not overdoing training. Having a healthy life balance.
Stay mentally fresh by not putting pressure on yourself to perform at your absolute peak year round. Time your run into a race so you haven’t spent all your mental energy in training and are fresh and ready to go on all start lines. Give yourself little training breaks of 3 to 5 days. Get away from the sport and watch movies or go surfing. It’s all about sustainability
Take a month that you will designate as your off-season. It will involve training of course but mentally knowing you have that 4 weeks to switch off a little helps a lot