Training Update IV (MCM): Finishing a cycle strong

78 days, 13 hours to go...

In a nutshell, this past week of training went well. In spite of a busy schedule, I felt strong almost everyday, and routes that gave me trouble before are a little easier now. This is really encouraging, and makes going out each day a bit more fun.

Today marks for me the end of a 3-week training-cycle. Some training theorists call this a micro-cycle. Several micro-cycles can make up a macro-cycle, which might encompass training for an entire competitive season, or indeed a year. Micro-cycles are useful because they mark off periods between new training stresses. Both Daniels (1998) and my training book from USATF suggest at least 3-weeks between new stresses, because that is about how long it takes for most peoples' bodies to fully adapt to a new stress. I'm not certain of the physiological reasons why this is so, but it may have to do with the fact that human muscle-cells are fully recycled every 21-28 days. That might be one reason why 3-weeks is recommended, but again I am unsure.

In any case, a common practice is to load mileage or intensity the first two weeks of a training cycle, then unload a portion of it during the final week. This is particularly true of long runs, such that one might do 90 minutes week 1, 100 minutes week 2, and 85 minutes week 3. I didn't quite do that this time around, but I did keep the volume and intensity relatively even.

For today's workout, I ran 6x800m and 1x400m. Earlier in the week, I thought about doing 7x800m, to build from last week's effort. After some reflection, however, I elected to hold back slightly, and finish the training cycle with some well consolidated gains.

The splits went as follows--3:20, 3:19, 3:18, 3:16, 3:13, 3:10, 88. I felt strong today, and the workout seemed to take much less effort than before. This is usually a good sign that your training is working. Pleased with the result, I decided to end the cycle with a faster 400m.

Not sure how I'll approach the next three weeks, though it might involve some tempo-running. We shall see.

In light of my dehydration observations, I started today's workout at 156 lbs, and ended at 153 lbs. That's a 2% change, which is less than last week's 2.3%. While the conditions were a bit different, I drank only about 150ml of water today, as opposed to about 350ml last week. In short, the sensation that today's workout took less effort is somewhat upheld by the lower dehydration level. This is good to know.

At any rate, very happy with how this training cycle has gone. 78 days, 13 hours to go...

Happy Friday, friends :)