Reasoning

In an attempt to answer a few questions in one post, I present some of the reasoning behind my training plan.


Police & Emergency Services Games 2009: Training


Overall my plan is constructed to fit my life and not take over it. I call my weeks cycles because each one is between 6-10 days (usually 8-9). This is because I work rotating shift work and that's what fits best into my roster. Monday, Tuesday... etc doesn't mean much to me.


I table out the key training sessions only, and write a note about the other supplemental sessions in the overall plan. This is so I know which sessions I have to prioritise. The key sessions I will fit in. The extras I will fit in if I can. This works very well for me. I maintain much better training consistency doing it this way, rather than writing exactly what I should do each day. It does not work for everyone.


Training Phases are divided into Base (1 & 2), Threshold, Specific and Peak. It is a progressive, periodised plan with the objective of bringing me to peak fitness at the right time. As a result, there will be periods during the training that I will not be able to race or perform at my best. This is expected, as you cannot train hard and race at your best at the same time, but you can train hard then race at your best if you allow yourself to adapt to the hard training.

Aerobic Conditioning: Includes long and medium runs, shorter runs of 45-75min and cycling.

• Develops endurance
• Develops slow twitch muscle fibres
• Increases blood volumes
• Develops connective tissue
• Increased muscle storage of fuels (glycogen, triglycerides)
• Increased oxidative glycolytic and oxidative lipolytic enzymes
• Increased cappilary and mitochondrial density

Threshold: Steady-state training at around the lactate (anaerobic)/ventilatory threshold. The intensity where there is seen to be a substantial in shift towards anaerobic metabolism and there rise in lactate and hydrogen ions that continue to rise if exercise is continued.

• Further develops slow twitch fibres plus some fast twitch type IIa development
• Increases the ability of the heart to maintain or increase cardiac output through increase chamber size and myocardial contractility
• Inreased oxidative glycolytic enzymes
• Increase blood volume

Initially I approach this intensity through working slightly below the threshold through the base period (at around 80%HRmax). Once I move into the threshold phase the training will be right on or slightly above the threshold (up to 90%HRmax). When into the Specific phase I will then drop back to at or just below threshold to maintain and my abilities in the area, but allow further increases from the even higher intensity training.

Intensity: Runs falling under this label will be different in each phase of training. It doesn't really have an exact meaning except it signifies to me it is a run at above the base level of intensity. It could simply be a MAF test, some hill work where I push the level up a little bit, or it could be 1000m repeats run at 5000m race pace. Looking at my overall training template it should be noted that with each phase, there is an increase in the level of the intensity training.