Speedwork In February?
- By Paul Moore
- Published February 7, 2012
February might represent the early stages of the base phase of training, but it is also a good time to start thinking about speed (contrary to what other people might say).
Written By Matt Fitzgerald
Traditional methodology in endurance sports training forbids speed work during the “base phase” of training. Athletes are supposed to train exclusively at low intensities at this time and wait until the race season begins to start working on speed. But standard practices in speed training are evolving. Tim Crowley, Jarrod Shoemaker’s coach is part of the new guard.
“I believe that, with the exception of a week off or so following the last race of the season, some form of speed should be included in every training week, year- round,” Crowley says.
It is wintertime in New England. The lakes are frozen. It’s hard to even imagine doing a triathlon. Jarrod Shoemaker’s first race of the year is many weeks away, and yet here he is, sprinting full speed up a hill near his home in Maynard, Massachusetts.
The rationale is pretty simple: Triathletes need to develop speed to get the best possible results in races. When they remove speed training from their regimen in the winter, they lose the “snap” they gained over the summer, leaving them at square one when the next race season rolls around. Whereas if they keep speed training in their programme over the winter, they can actually build on the gains they made during the summer.
“Use it or lose it,” Crowley says.
But wait a minute. Isn’t this a recipe for burnout? After all, the reason endurance athletes have traditionally avoided speed work during base training is that high- intensity exercise is stressful, so athletes need a break from it now and then.
Crowley and other coaches in the new guard are not advocating a uniform approach to speed training throughout the year, however. Instead they have their athletes perform a very small amount of speed training during the winter that allows them to maintain their speed without the stress doled out by the challenging track workouts to come in the racing season.
“Off-season speed work for me is not the traditional speed training in which an athlete flogs himself at the track, for example running 16 times 400 metres,” says Cliff English, whose roster of elite triathletes includes Tim O’Donnell and T.J. Tollakson. “It’s more about keeping the nervous system and fast-twitch muscle fibres tuned up for quickness.”
FILED UNDER: All / Training TAGS: About / advice / Base / early / eason / Fartlek / phase / run / speed / Tips / Training
Paul Moore
Paul Moore is the Online Editor for Triathlete Europe. When not glued to a computer he can be found writing books - most recently Ultimate Triathlon: A complete training guide for long-distance triathletes which you can buy on Amazon
