Why Do You Need A Pre-Season?
Whether you prefer high volume training or the Endurance Nation Return on Investment, Quality-over-Quantity approach, we can all agree on one thing:
“If you aren’t rested and ready to start training,
your season will fall short of expectations.”
One of the biggest mistakes a triathlete can make is skipping the seasonal recovery process.
But don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that you need to sit on the sofa and watch television while you eat and gain weight (but if that’s what you want to do, cool).
In an effort to help triathletes everywhere raise their game to the next level, we have created a twenty-three page, 100% FREE Guide that you can use to prepare for your best season yet.
Now you can avoid the gray area between training too much and training too little. Follow the four-week training plan that’s included to consolidate your season of hard work…and set the stage for an even better year!
Why Free?
Our goal is to eliminate all excuses…if it’s FREE and available online, anyone can access it.
Why Now?
We are entering fall, when the triathlon season closes out between the championships in Vegas and Kona.
Why Do A PreSeason?
The Pre-Season serves several critical functions for the triathlete. Read on to learn more and decide if you want to download the full PDF using the forms located on this page.
Baseline Fitness
We also assume that entering the OutSeason® you have had 4 to 8 weeks of injury-free, consistent training. You don’t need to be doing intervals or killing yourself, but you do need to have some baseline fitness.
Many of you simply are coming down from the previous season, and as such can just take a two week transition and then get to work in the OS. But for those of you who have had a longer break, perhaps with minimal races, well you need to get back in the groove before you throw yourself fully into the OS.
Skill Development
This Pre-Season window is an opportunity to learn and focus on critical skill development, mainly because there are no volume or intensity demands. Most triathletes set aside time to work on skills during their Race Preparation cycle. Unfortunately multiple workouts and cumulative fatigue significantly reduce the body’s receptiveness to changes.
Fitness Benchmarking & Planning
Another critical function of the Pre-Season is to allow time to recap your previous year and make reasonable targets for the future. Many athletes move year to year chasing events, with minimal goals outside of “get faster at that race distance next time.” Such broad goals are hard to track in training, and can really only be measured on race day.
Instead, use the Pre-Season as a chance to review your progress over the last year by discipline. Then you can set future goals…for example:
- Swim Fitness — What was your best time-trial time? What changes did you make in your stroke this past year? Where can you further improve?
- Bike Fitness — What was your best test result? When did that happen? How was your bike fitness before your “A” race? What would you do differently next time? Where can you improve?
- Run Fitness — What was your best test result? When did that happen? How was your run fitness before your “A” race? What would you do differently next time? Where can you improve
- Body Composition — What was your race weight? What was your “best” weight during the season? How did you achieve it? What can you do differently next season?
- Equipment & Technology — What was new? What is really old? What held you back this year? What could bring the biggest gains for next year, and what’s your plan for obtaining it?
- Race Experience — How was your “A” race(s)? Why did/didn’t you race to your potential? What were your key lessons learned?
Nathalie
When I clicked the link I received in my confirmation email, I was directed to the “Bike Fit eBook” page.