Pre-Season Training Goals

You might have watched or heard about the record-breaking marathon times that have been set in the last few weeks. These records are the culmination of many years of training with incremental goals along the way.

These records did not fall by chance.

What does that mean for your training plans?

It means that not having a training plan, or an overall fitness goal, makes it very difficult to see long term progress.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association defines preseason training goals for endurance athletes as the following:

The athlete should focus on increasing intensity, maintaining or reducing duration, and incorporating all types of training into the program. The strengths and weaknesses of the individual athlete should determine the amount and frequency of each type of training.

NSCA

The most common mistakes.

Many people sign up for events because their friends are going, or it seemed like a good idea at the time. Others want to prove they can do it or do it better, and sign up for a measure of progress.

Neither reason is inherently good or bad, the problem lies in the results.

More specifically when you are disappointed in your results.

A personal example.

I ran the Victoria Half Marathon on Thanksgiving weekend. My results were going to give me a baseline. This is where I am starting from now. I had a goal, I wanted to be under a certain time (I’m not sharing because some of you will think “oh that is slow” and the rest of you will say “that is so fast I could never do that.” The purpose of this is not to compare me to you – never a good training goal – but to give a real-life example.)

My results were what I deserved. I haven’t focused on running or racing for a few years or trained consistently. The results were, thankfully, what I expected and now I have a starting line for the future.

This is the reason I signed up in the first place and this is important. You shouldn’t be disappointed with the results when you a) didn’t follow your training plan b) you didn’t have a plan.

You can’t expect to keep doing the same things and get fitter or do as little as possible and get stronger.

If you don’t have a training plan, or more importantly actually follow it, you can’t expect to have a personal best. Your training plan should build to an event, then once you complete it you can evaluate, make changes, work on weaknesses and build upon your strengths.

Multisport challenges and advantages.

For multisport endurance athletes, the off-season and pre-season can be very close together. My cross country ski season will generally start mid to late December. From Thanksgiving to Christmas I can rest, recover, build strength and plan for a new season as well as prepare for skiing.

The benefits of doing multisport endurance events are many. It prevents burnout, reduces the chances of injuries, improves motivation and focus. Seasonal changes to your routine make you stronger physically and mentally.

The challenge for a multisport endurance athlete is to get enough rest, to build strength, to avoid overtraining.

AND maybe even more important to actually focus on another sport. I can’t tell you how many times I have watched cyclists ride for hours in the worst winter weather, seen recreational cross country skiers out on their roller skis in July. This is counterproductive. I am assuming they do it because of the fear of losing their fitness gains, but it is more likely the results will be exactly what they are trying to avoid. Overtraining, fatigue, reduced performance and a lack of motivation when their actual season starts.

Pre-season plans

A pre-season plan should focus on these 3 goals:

Build strength and power.

Increase the intensity, but reduce the duration of activities.

Assess, measure and plan for the future.

And the most important aspect of a training plan? To have fun. Because if it’s not fun, why bother?

Getting fitter and faster is fun. Seeing improvements in strength and power is rewarding. Being able to do the same activities with less effort is motivating. All of these are possible with a long-term and short-term plan.

Marathon Records

The men’s and women’s fastest marathon times were broken in October, Eliud Kipchoge with the first sub 2-hour marathon, Brigid Kosgei with the first women’s 2:14, are motivating for more than their athletic accomplishments, Eliud’s states,

“I am happy to inspire somebody” 

Be inspired to be a little bit better every day. You don’t need to train harder or longer, just consistently better. Most of the time it only takes a few small changes to make a difference.

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla