With the weather here in the UK getting colder and wetter, the days getting shorter and darker I decided it can only mean one thing..... training season!
I know it sounds like complete madness but stick with me.
For a very long time now I have been training roughly along the following cycle - cut, build, race, recovery - "The athlete cycle" if you will.
Here is a quick breakdown of what I'm actually talking about.
Imagine your year broken into 4 parts -
January to March
April to June
July to September
October to December
The end of the year triggers the "Cut". Ditch the crappy food choices, the alcohol and the lazing around. The focus is on dropping some weight, shaking the rust and dust off and getting back to a good workout routine.
January to March is probably a little too long but it's a great way to ease into the next phase, the "build".
Using the base level I've built since January I can start slowly upping the milage and calories and start looking for some nice races!
That leads us very neatly into the "race" phase. Providing the training has gone well and no injuries have popped up, I should be pretty much at the peak of my fitness for the year so it's time to go all in on my "A" race for the year.
As the weather turns and the race season drys up I slow things down and focus on "recovery".
What a neat and tidy year plan eh?!
Yeah you're right.....it hardly ever works like that! Life, weather and holidays all seem to collide during the "race" block so this year I've decided to flip my cycle!
I absolutely love the sun but I like to ENJOY the sun, not RACE in it so now the summer is going to be my "recovery" block. I'll still run but as and when it's not crazy hot or I'm just not doing something else! This way it means I can really enjoy the summer without feeling guilty that my training is eating up time with my family and friends. The moment the weather turns... which seems to be around August...I'm onto the "cut and build" phases.
Mentally I'm finding that it's keeping me motivated to get out in the dark, crappy weather, squishing through trails and braving the rain, rather than hiding in the warm. Maybe it's something in my DNA, I'm just programmed to enjoy awful weather?! Who knows!? What I do know is so far it's working. The only downside is I've picked a terrible time to be skinny!
It must be noted while I'm talking of phases, that I don't stick to this as a hard and fast rule, it's more of a guide. The phases will shift around a bit depending on the timing of the events that I want to do. Mostly as a reminder to get out of the door, speaking of which...the trails are calling!
Thanks for reading!
Cardiosaurus
