Another Block Down
Posted by Zach Caldwell on September 28th, 2007Today marked the end of Kris’s 6th training block of the year. These are all roughly three week blocks followed by a week of recovery, although the exact number of days in each training and recovery block varies according to the specifics of the schedule. However you slice it, Kris is a little less than half way through the training year in a temporal sense, and a little more than half way through if you’re just counting training hours. He’s at 513 hours now, and he won’t see much more than 1000, if he even gets that much (which will depend on in-season training opportunities as dictated by travel and race schedules).
Today’s classic striding intervals went well. The day was colder and wetter than when he did the same session a week ago, but he was going at least as far, and in the end, farther up the hill. His heart rate response was more rapid than a week ago, which is good news. The note of caution is that there is still a cap on peak HR at about 172 bpm.
Kris now has five days easy (he’ll take one off and have light training of under two hours a day the other days) before his next Sunapee test. This is a big one. We need to see an improvement in his capacity in response to the intensity load of this past block. It’s almost impossible to conceive of there not being a capacity boost from such training, provided there is sufficient recovery. While he’s been on the edge for a little while now, all signs point to increasing recovery levels through this last block, and the coming week ought to be sufficient to have him feeling quite good. My hope and expectation for the test is for something on the order of 20:27, conditions allowing. It would be more reasonable to state that as “sub 20:30″, but I like to put a real number up there.
With the training that Kris has been doing, the only real question is whether he’s been able to absorb the load. There’s really no chance that he’s undertrained. So if he fails to show appropriate improvement it means that either the stimulus can provide no further adaptations, or he’s not recovering sufficiently. Given that he’s just turned the corner to an intensity stimulus, we’re down to one option.
September 29th, 2007 at 10:45 am
I’m just wondering why all of the goals for the sunapee test are exact seconds. (ie 20:27) I realize that you mention you like to put an exact number, but is it really a huge deal if the result turns out to be 10 or even 15 seconds off either way? Wouldn’t there many factors such as sleep, hydration, nutrition, mental factors etc.. that could throw the result off by 10-15 seconds and lead to a false interpretation that the training is not working as planned?
Great site also by the way!
September 29th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Hi Michael - There are a couple of reasons for putting the goals in exact numbers. And clearly, when the performance varies from expectation it’s necessary to weigh all the factors in analysis.
Maybe the best reason to put expectations down in terms of real-time is to leave very little wiggle-room for rationalization of poor results. Gord Jewett just posted a great commentary on this phenomenon on http://www.skifaster.net/. It’s important to identify and acknowledge the expected short-term outcome of any training stimulus, and to face the reality of the possibility that you’ve been wrong in your expectation. Many times the targeted improvement on a test like this is within the margin of error imposed by environmental conditions, so weighing the results can be a bit tricky. But when it comes to weighing the results, you need a starting point. It’s too easy to rationalize unsatisfactory results if you don’t state your expectation in pretty solid terms to start with.
Some of the factors that you’ve outlined are factors that we’re trying to control - sleep, hydration, nutrition, mental factors… All of these need to be in-line for any good performance. Sometimes we let things slide a bit - you can read back over the less successful Sunapee tests and identify many ways in which Kris may have shown up less than totally ready to go. But that’s part of the game, and one of the reasons we clearly state expectations is to place some pressure on Kris to show up ready to go. He wants to win medals, and that surely won’t happen if he can’t muster all the resources under his control.
Kris generally takes these tests seriously. One thing we have to consider is that, if he’s unable to bring the mental toughness required for an optimal performance to a test like this, it’s probably because of something related to his overall stress-load. He doesn’t ever show up to one of these tests to “see how it goes”. He’s out to set records, and if he’s unable to hurt himself because of mental or psychological constraints, then that’s a result of his training. Training and preparation are all-encompassing.
Finally, Kris likes a certain amount of precision. He doesn’t like to work with ranges of values. He’ll get impatient if I suggest that a training session be “five to six hours”. If I refuse to give him more precise instructions he’ll go with the high end of the range without fail. Many times I have to refuse to state a goal or expectation for weekly training hours if that number of going to distract from the more important specific training goals of the week. When we put a solid number on something it has a very specific meaning in terms of the way it engages Kris’s psychology. If we were to simply say that we want to see a new record on Sunapee, that wouldn’t sufficiently express our expectation of improvement in capacity. Based on the improvement curve over time, and the understanding that we need to see a sub-20 minute time to be confident in World Cup Podium capacity, I feel that the training from the past block needs to buy him 15 seconds or better. I’m confident that he can pick up another twenty five with additional anaerobic capacity work. 20:27 is an optimistic number describing what I hope he has been able to claim as a result of his training.
September 29th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Wow, what an answer. I have been checking this site daily since April and I have been very impressed by the way you control Kris’s training and have such a tight road map of the season. I am a middle of the pack master skier and my training path is more like a maze. I guess thats why I am buried in the pack. Good job, good luck, I hope you reach your destination.
September 29th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Thanks Gary. I need to insert one note on your comment though. I monitor and guide Kris’s training. The road map of the season is the product of three-way discussions between Kris, Pete and myself. I’m the guy who keeps an eye on the map and tries to ensure that everything is on-track. Sort of a navigator. Kris is the driver. He controls the training.
October 1st, 2007 at 1:29 pm
In Kris’s double pole sessions does he use hilly terrain to work on strength, as he dosnt appear to use the wieght room, or is it on flat roads to work mostly on his overdistance training? Looking forward to seeing Kris kick butt in the World Cups up here.
October 1st, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Kris double-poles over very hilly terrain. Even young juniors are capable of quickly developing the upper body strength and endurance to double-pole up hills as part of a basic endurance session. There is surly strength involved, and strength gains are made, but the training is still distance training (or overdistance if the session goes to depletion and beyond).
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:32 am
Hi Zach
Great site, nice to see a sharing of information like this. I have a few questions which have been bugging me for a while now. When you talk about Kris’s overdistance session you say he goes to or beyond depletion. Are you saying he “bonks” during these sessions? Does he eat/drink more than water during these sessions? Does his diabetes play any significant role in making this a more effective training technique for him than might otherwise be the case?
Thanks
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:32 pm
That’s a good question Kris, and by far the most common question I get regarding Kris’s training. I’m working on a stand-alone post on the subject, and it’s too big an answer for the comments section, and will likely generate its own comments…