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The Corner: Absorbing a Training Camp
By Justin Daerr
3/3/2010 |
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In my last article I touched on how to approach an early season training camp (with a cycling emphasis). Now I would like to address what to do when the camp ends and you head home. Chances are; this is the area where you are most likely to make a mistake.
I would say that the average triathlete that attends a training camp typically trains about 8-12 hours/week in the early season; and if anything, it might be even less when averaged out. On the flipside, I would say the average training camp last 5-7 days and has a median training day length of 5 hours. Given this, you are looking at a 200% increase of volume for some athletes. Often times, achieving this increase in training is not that difficult to execute when you take away the normal daily (and weekly) occurrences of the working-athlete. However, when they/you get home, the challenges begin to present themselves again.
On the one hand, you want to allow yourself enough recovery from the camp before returning to normal training. On the other hand, the whole purpose of these camps is to get a boost in your fitness to use for further training and racing. You want enough recovery to absorb the camp, but you don’t want to fall off the wagon and negate the gains of the camp.
How much recovery should be taken? I think it depends on how big the camp was in relation to your average training load (for that time of year, not the whole season). A good rule of thumb is:
1) 1 day of recovery for every two training camp days (including travel days) if the camp was no more than a 50% increase of typical volume.
2) 1-1.5 days of recovery for two training camp days (including travel days) if the camp was 50-100% of your normal training load.
3) Equal amount of recovery days to training camps (including travel days) if the camp was over a 100% increase from your normal training volume.
To put this in practical terms: If the training camp ended Saturday, you traveled home Sunday and began recovery on Monday, you would either a) train easily until the weekend b) train easily for the entire week or c)you train easily until the middle of the following week.
If you trained an average of 10 hours per week, attended a 25-30 hour training camp, took a 5-7 hour recovery week and then managed to return to normal training, you would be looking at a very nice boost over the course of a two-week period. If you are taking 2, 3 or even more weeks to recover, then you are beginning to negate the benefits of the camp and you would have been better off stringing together 4-5 of your ‘normal’ training weeks instead.
The most successful training camps you do are the ones that allow you to return to normal as quickly as possible; only now your normal training loop is getting done a little faster than before. If you arrive home and don’t unpack your bike for a week then you might keep that in mind for future camps. Don’t cash in all your chips before the season even starts.
Happy Camping,
Justin
Justin Daerr is professional triathlete and coach. You can read more at www.justindaerr.com and www.endurancecorner.com.
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