This pandemic has required coaches to think a bit differently about how to best train athletes during a time of cancelled races. Although coaches often wear more than one hat, selecting which hat to wear at what moment has been tricky. Now more than ever before, we have had to be incredibly creative and flexible to keep our athletes engaged, motivated, emotionally well and physically healthy.
In lieu of races, our athletes have completed several different types of challenges since March. We started with a 10-day spring challenge and then a mini challenge in the early summer. Over the past few weeks (and into September), many of our athletes/team members are completing a 2-day summer challenge. We created a document for our athletes to select two of seven workout combinations (or they could create their own 2-day challenge) and to pick the dates for their challenge. We then provided the specific workouts within each set of workout challenges. For example, some athletes completed a 60-min swim, 4 hour bike and 75 minute run (on day 1) followed by a 3 hour bike and 30 min run on day 2. Every sport had a specific workout within the session. As for our athletes designing their own challenge - we have seen some creativity! Onee athlete choose a swim/run x3 challenge on day 1 (and swim/run on day 2) and another athlete choose to complete a modified Ironman distance spread over two days. It's been inspiring to see the team support from our coached athletes, alumni and educational team members on our private Trimarni team Facebook page and to see our athletes stepping outside of their comfort zone. The challenge is not designed to be easy but something that brings a bit of nerves, unknown and excitement. Even coach Joe, Karel and me completed our own challenge (more on that in a future blog).
I believe that there is no one right way to coach athletes through this time of cancelled races. Every athlete is impacted differently, we (as coaches) have never experienced this before and there continues to be great uncertainty in the world. However, I do believe that athletes need to be coached. While it's understandable that some athletes need to step away from training, I feel that continuing the training during this time of cancelled races is important.
As for the non-negotiables during this season of cancelled races, I don't feel the goals are much different than during a time of racing:
- Maintain joy for training without interfering with other life responsibilities.
- Maintain optimal physical and mental health.
- Finish the season/year with great mental, emotional and physical health.
- Continue to build athletic development.
- Workouts should have a clear purpose and focus.
- Athletes need accountability, motivation and direction from a coach.
I really hope that all athletes can emerge from this period in good health. While this is an extremely stressful time and no athlete is immune from anxiety, depression, frustration and sadness, it's important to take great care your mental and physical health. Exercise can serve as a wonderful form of stress-relief, it's essential for well-being and it provides a sense of control during this unpredictable time.
When training for a race, there comes a time in the season when you need to complete race-specific training. Well-prior to that phase, there are several stages of athletic development (periodization) to help you race at your best on a specific date. Without races, it can be difficult to maintain motivation when you don't have anything to work towards and you lack the instant feedback (from racing) to know what's working and what needs more attention in training.
This is no doubt a confusing time for athletes. Especially those who are accustomed to training for one race at a time. We don't prescribe to this strategy but instead, we believe in a long-term coaching relationship with our athletes as we help our athletes evolve season after season. In other words - goals are achieved over years, not in one season. Far too many athletes get themselves into really great fitness in the early season while preparing for the first race of the season, but it's incredibly difficult to maintain that fitness without burnout, injury or illness. As a reminder, you can't continue on the same training progression indefinitely. In other words, it's not effective to only build volume and intensity from one race to the next race.
I understand why many athletes feel that training isn't worth it if there are no races on the schedule. Even the most dedicated athletes have a limited mental and physical window where they can fully stay invested, focused and dedicated to training. But we must remember why periodization and long-term progression are so effective - athletic development occurs overtime, not in one season.
This is a challenging time and there is no one, right way to train. But a development, growth mindset is critically important for your mental and physical health as well as your longevity as an athlete.
In my next blog, I'll share some tips on how you can make the most of training without racing.