Recently someone asked me about off season training for endurance athletes. Some of our sports “gurus” say there is no off season for the endurance athlete. I say BUNK!

If you are done racing for the year now is the time to put aside all of the pressures associated with training. Does that mean not training? NO! It means simply putting away the strain of getting up at 4AM to swim, or getting to the track for speed workouts and making plans for the power ride. Now is the time to rest and rebuild your system. When I say system I mean your entire system. Training and racing has taken a toll on your body and life.

Any experienced coach will tell you that one of the keys to long term success in the sport is to be consistent with your weekly run volume. Consistent running builds the small muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the lower leg and ultimately enables you to increase volume and intensity in the future. In the off season cut down on the frequency of your runs. Instead of a 5 day week make it 3-4. Get to the track every now and then but just as a reminder to your body how to run fast. And of course do a long run of about 2 hours every other week.

Work on your cycling technique. Cold, snow and rain mean more time indoors on a trainer. This offers an excellent opportunity for isolated leg and spinning drills. It’s also a good time to get some quality swim instruction and spend a few sessions a week in the pool working on drills and improving your stroke, rather than trying to improve your swim fitness.

Do some strength training. Rebuild the muscles you have broken down during the racing season. Most importantly revitalize your mind and body by resting. Spend more quality time with the family or loved ones. Give yourself a well deserved mental and emotional break from training pressures. Combining off season easy workouts, relieveing yourself of training pressures and having some fun will get you fired up and ready to go when the new season begins.

Be Healthy, Train Smart, Have Fun

The Coach

coach@prsfit.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 at 4:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.