Work the Plan

Over the past couple of weeks, the time to workout has comprised mostly of lunchtime workout. This has been working great and not so great. By having a consistent uninterrupted time to workout, I no longer can put off workouts because of life getting in the way. So there goes that excuse. Next up is going to be, "I'm too tired" or "My knee hurts". These are all the excuses that I've used in the past and I am sure that I will use them in the future. I remember clearly during a sprint distance triathlon a couple of years ago, shortly after starting the swim, I said to myself "What am I doing here". Of coarse that year, I hadn't gotten a single swim in before the race and my workouts had been limited to once or twice a week. Basically, I had no plan and it showed in my attitude and ultimately the results. I finished dead last in my age group. That is not a fact that I tell people very often. The question now becomes how do I prevent that from happening again?

In the past, I almost always had a plan. But it was always a plan that even from the start was impossible for me to accomplish. Yes, there were A, B and C races, with stages along the way for peak performance coming just in time for the A race. But the hours that I planned we such that they could not be met without myself or my family having to sacrifice way too much. What is different this year? For starters, my races are marked on my calendar, my start point to peak just in time for my A race was marked. From there this years plan completely diverges from those of the past. This years plan only covers the next 4 weeks. No longer does it cover every day from now until the end, it is broken down into small manageable session. Why 4 weeks? As most of you know, periodization training is in 4 week blocks, 3 weeks of build and 1 week of rest.

The planned hours no long is a wish list of training time; it is an actual time that can be scheduled. Yes it is not the duration that most think that is needed, but it is the time that I as a husband and father have. How am I going to build endurance with limited time available? After doing some research, it looks like the endurance and fitness can be achieved through intervals. Once a base is built, intervals will be used to develop speed and add fitness. The question of the hour is, should my plan be to do base training for an additional month (which I have time for) or do I jump into the intervals and work on building my speed? I have another week or two to decide. To come to a decision, I will sit down and look at where my weaknesses are and where the focus needs to be.

Plan the work and work the plan