Triathlon Training: Missing a Workout
Pedalnorth.com triathlon editor and independent tri coach Nadezhda Pavlova is an inspiring and talented athlete, bringing a sense of simplicity and fun to training. In this article, Nadezhda talks about missing a training session and advises you on the best way to address your schedule gap.
Missed a workout? Don’t double it up to make up!
Consistency is a key in triathlon training, but sometimes, we all miss a workout and can’t follow the training plan due to illness, family circumstances, business trips. The most common mistake triathletes make is trying to squeeze two workouts in the next day -the missed one and the scheduled one. Double it up to make up is not the best strategy. Nothing will happen if you missed one day, but you can do more damage if you do two training sessions the next day trying to catch up. Triathlon training advice should be sensible and based on schedules that don’t harm your overall performance.
Working out more in a few days can lead to a potential breakdown, which results in a lot of stress, or even worse, burnout, and consequently, loss of training time! It’s not a big deal to miss a couple of workouts if it doesn’t happen very often. Be sensible with your triathlon training advice and stick to the plan.
A long break from training also can happen. If you missed more than a week, you have to step back into training and begin all over again. The lost of training time will lead to fitness loss and will result in less race readiness and performance. Unfortunately, you can’t miss workouts and have the same fitness level as if you don’t miss. This is how training works. How to best resolve the issue of missing workouts depends on many variables: what type of workout you missed, where you are in your training plan, and how much training you missed. Workouts in training plans are scheduled in particular order to achieve high-performing racing.
Some examples are: recovery from key training sessions, intentionally creating accumulated fatigue, mental recovery, progressive training load, specificity, working on your limited sports, working around an athlete’s personal life. I always encourage reaching out to your coach to implement the best strategy to keep you working toward your goals, keep you healthy, injury-free and engaged you in the sport over the long-term. Your coach will speak with you and if necessary, help to adjust your triathlon training advice and plan, enabling you to catch up at the right pace.
Working with your coach is always the best way forward, bringing expert and independent thinking to your triathlon training process. There’ll always be occasions when you simply cannot stick to the schedule… and the truth is that this is real life. Focus in the longer term is the goal, so remember – it’s a triathlon, not a sprint 😉
Nadezhda
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