Below are some frequently asked questions by attendees of our custom training plan clinics. Hopefully these questions and answers will help guide you while using the training plan you received after the clinic.
What if I get sick and miss a day in my plan?
This is a tough one. It depends on a lot of factors. This is one of those situations where a coach is a huge help. I’ll try to give some rules to follow. The main factors are:
- How sick are you? Is it in your lungs?
- Where in the training block are you? 1st week, 2nd , recovery week?
- How close to a race are you? Is it a big race?
If you are really sick then you need rest to heal so do not train until you start to feel close to full recovery. Once you feel like you’re getting over the sickness then easy spins on the bike trainer will be the place to start. Sometimes getting moving again will even help you feel better. The key is NO intensity and short duration spins, like 30-60 minutes, closer to 30 to start.
Where to pick up the training is the next issue. If you just miss a few days of training, I’d stick to the plan going forward and just ease into the first few workouts. Maybe cut the volume down and intensity down some.
If you miss a whole week then the simplest approach would be to start back up with the first week of the last training block you were doing. Just replace that first week for whatever week you are starting. Then keep everything else the same going forward.
What if I miss a week?
This is actually similar to the discussion above. If you miss a week and it happens to be your recovery week, then keep everything the same and just move forward.
Any other week missed, then replace your next week of training with the first week of the current. Keep everything else the same going forward.
What if I feel an injury coming?
When in doubt leave it out! Back it off til you feel “right.” If things don’t get better within a week or so go see someone.
What if I want to add other races in preparation?
Replace a workout with the race. The A race is the key so this added race is just training. NO tapering or change of plans is needed. Replace your brick workout with the race.
What if I have to cut a workout short?
If you have to cut your workout short and it is interval work, then get on warm up, do intervals, cool down 5-10 minutes get off.
If it’s a long endurance workout that you must cut short then increase intensity some to make the workout load about the same. Or replace the endurance training with an interval workout. A safe choice would be in the tempo (zone 3) zone.
What if I can’t get my h/r up into my zone?
If you are struggling to keep hr up you are most likely tired! Best to cut the workout short. Just spin easy for 30 minutes and get off and call it an extra recovery day.
What if I want to do group runs/rides or spin classes, zumba, yoga etc ?
Yoga, zumba are great, knock yourself out. If possible these workouts should be bonus training time and not substitutes. As for group runs and ride they have their place but they can not dominate your training. If they do you will most likely not train in the right zones enough of the time. It will probably be too high of an intensity or too much volume which will lead to either you being fit but NOT FAST or worse yet put into an over-trained state. If you are going to do ENDURANCE zone training in a group setting you MUST stick to your zones. it is best to do group training in place of high intensity interval workouts.
If I am fatigued and workouts are not feeling productive, what do I do?
If you feel fatigued then you my need to back off and take a few extra recovery days. The safe bet is to just do this.
A good example is if you start an interval workout feeling fatigued and can’t get into the proper training zone on the first interval, gut that interval out, recover and start the second interval. Sometimes you just need to blow your system open. If the second interval is not any better then STOP. Do a 15 min spin, get off and take next day or 2 off.