A Second Chance

As an endurance coach I typically give an athlete a particular training objective for a given day with expectations of a range of output from their body in relation to the desired PE (perceived exertion) for that session, for that athlete. Included with the workout prescription is a range of expected output for which the goal for a given session will be met and for which it is therefore, prudent to proceed with the session. If the athlete is unable to reach the predetermined "lower limit" for the workout session, then they are given an alternate goal for the day...namely, recovery. The focus becomes recovery because if they are unable to "reach" this lower limit, something is wrong.

That thing that is wrong is typically that the athlete is under-rested, either due to my miscalculation of residual fatigue from prior training stimulus, or from an outside influence, such as, lack of sleep, illness or some other stressor. I've always favored this default shut-down for when an athlete has "bad legs" and it has always worked pretty well. Sometimes, we pass on a session, but we occassionally need to, as I am sure athletes I coach are tired of hearing "stand still when on a slippery slope to avoid sliding backwards". I am, however, going to be trying something a little different with some of these athletes the next time they have difficulty with a tough workout.

I've come to believe that what might be wrong is that the athlete was "blocked", or in need of an "opener" workout. This came to me because I've noticed a rather interesting phenomena recently while doing a bit of training myself. Twice in the last 6 weeks I have scheduled a training session that I was unable to reach the lower acceptable limit for my goal output for the desired PE. On both occassions, I cooled down, climbed off, went about my business, had something to eat and later gave myself a second chance. On both occassions, I returned to my bike and generated power at the upper end of the range I'd have hoped for upon originally scheduling that session. In other words, I believe that the earlier session had served to "open" my legs up for a break-through workout a short time later the same day.

As with any training protocol, I imagine that this will work for some athletes and not for others, but look forward to seeing how many of those sessions that typical leave me rescheduling the next day and possibly longer can be completed if given this second chance. Coaching is the artful application of science and each athlete is a unique experiment.

Cheers.