For as long as I can remember Tuesdays and Thursdays have always been my “hard” days. What that means is a hard bike followed by a hard run.
What does that mean? That means either high power or high speed. For example, I may do either high watts or high cadence work on my trainer or hill repeats or a treadmill workout with the incline set at 6% or higher or a fast run.
In the past, I would occasionally find it hard to sleep Monday and Wednesday evenings because I knew what was in store for me Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Yes, they were that scary!
And to confirm how hard they were, if my legs weren’t absolutely quaking after the session I knew that I’d gone too easy. Whoo!
Then, to top that off, I generally do strength training Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Believe me, I slept a whole lot better Tuesday and Thursday nights.
Of course, Wednesdays and Fridays were always “recovery” days. And trust me, I recovered on those days, generally with an easy trainer and swim.
So, why make the hard days so hard if you’re doing a 70.3 or Ironman? Great question!
Generally, 70.3 and Ironman are done in your “aerobic” zone. In other words, not super intense (of course, some pros have shown us they’re anything BUT aerobic when they’re racing). But, for us mere mortals, we’re generally aerobic.
When we go “hard” we’re doing several things, including shocking our body. These “shocks” create certain adaptations that help us perform anaerobic and aerobic sessions better. That’s why you’ll see lots of Z2 as well as Z4, 5 and 6 in your TriDot training plan.
The moral of the story is to adhere to your training plan so you’re getting the right mixture of easy and hard – so, don’t forget the “hard.”
See you at the races!
Cheers!
Coach Ron Saetermoe
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