Native Restoration Day and Periodization – BionicOldGuy

Tuesday’s trip was an extended onerous one so yesterday was a simple restoration day, simply over 90 minutes close to house. It was nice and my legs felt higher afterwards. The trip is right here on Strava

Periodization

Periodization is various your coaching in the course of the 12 months to emphasise various things. Now I’m coming into a section the place I’m growing my mileage, so it’s a good suggestion to compensate by reducing again on depth. On onerous biking days I used to be doing multiple sort of intervals, plus some sprints, plus “on-bike energy coaching“. I’m dropping the intervals for now and simply concentrating on cardio coaching with extra regular using. However this neglects the bigger fast-twitch muscle fibers in my legs, and at my age I can’t afford for them to atrophy. So I’m nonetheless doing the sprints and on-bike energy coaching, each of which goal fast-twitch muscle mass. After I’m completed in a few months or so with my longer distance challenges, I can change issues up once more by lowering quantity and including extra depth again in.

I seen one thing attention-grabbing again once I was working marathons. Main as much as the marathon I’d be closely targeted on growing the size of my runs in coaching, and lower manner again on every little thing else. After I’d run the race, I’d get well for a few weeks and once I’d resume coaching I’d emphasize velocity as a substitute of distance. Inside just a few weeks I might at all times set a private document in a 10K race. So the several-month interval of excessive quantity, decrease depth acted as a superb base, on which I may shortly add velocity. I didn’t invent any of this, it’s a traditional periodization idea going again to Arthur Lydiard, but it surely’s good to know one thing works for me personally. I’m hoping the identical concept will for me in biking. That is known as base coaching adopted by race-specific coaching, however I’ve by no means construct as excessive of a base as I’ll be doing within the subsequent couple of months.