Coach Carter

Coach has been hibernating this week – not because of the cold snap (although that was a good reason to stay indoors, brrr) but because I had a lot of paperwork to do: namely the writing of 10 lab test reports. Dan and I had been getting through November by chunking time down – lab testing week 1; workshop; lab testing week 2; in itself it felt like the typical training block! In theory, that makes this week the ‘recovery’ week...in practise, its one of the most mentally demanding weeks of my year. No complaints though, as its the kind of work that can be totally independent of anything else.  Each report was standalone, and I could work under my own steam. On Monday morning I set myself daily targets and blocked my time available accordingly. Two reports a day. Along with my daily file analysis, that made up my 3 discrete work tasks a day (although I also had a lecture to give to the University’s MSc course on Wednesday morning, so I fitted that in too!). I practised email disconnect, and only signed in to Skype when I was back on email too. This week let me check how well this scheduling works for me. Here on Friday, all done....hence why I have allowed myself to come out for a coffee and enjoy writing my blog post!

I thought I would use this blog post to explain the process I go through when I write each report – to give some background to those people who work with PBscience; and to help other athletes gain insight in to the benefits of lab testing and how it feeds in to the training process. The reports produced at this point in the training year are typically split in to

• Explanation of the components of endurance fitness and a description of the tests we performed to capture this information
• Summary list of the exercise test results, and a comparison of these values to previous testing. At this time of year, I like to add the data from 12 months ago – the best ‘like for like’ comparison as I will come back to later). There is also a comparison against normal values we would expect in other athletes
• The brief commentary on the results explains a little more of the physiology and what each landmark means to performance. In this section we also include a ‘radar plot’ – it looks a bit like a spider’s web, with the outer web being world class elite scores across the tests, and then the inner ‘rings’ being the athlete’s scores, and a final line giving them targets to hit. Dan and I like this way of presenting the data, as its more graphical – its easy to see the ‘gaps’ that need filling
• In the section on strengths and weaknesses, I talk through what I think are the areas we need to work on, and how we are going to do it. The main physiological landmarks singled out are the first lactate threshold, the second LT (FTP to many out there!), and the top end or VO2max / maximal minute power: these 3 explain the majority of cycling performance and we measure them all in Mobie. This breakdown really helps me explain the rationale behind the final section of the report....
• ...what I call the Periodization schedule. The final page is the draft of the overall training year. The post season questionnaire and our lab test meet up have enabled the athlete and I to have a preliminary ideas about the racing season ahead, and when they want to peak. I take the time in between now and then, splitting the blocks in to discrete chunks that help us ‘attack’ the weaknesses (if they are important for the chosen goals). Sometimes, I might see more value in working on the strengths – it really depends on the nature of the profile, the athlete’s circumstances and the chosen goals. The Excel spreadsheet is broken down into weeks; grouped in macrocycles, and arranged by phase. Each will have a training objective and a goal attached.
• Training Zones may be included if this is the first time we test an athlete – but because this info is so dynamic, we often just utilise the online diary system we use, Training Peaks and ensure zones are updated (and the zones are VERY dynamic at this time of the year as people resume training and heart rate for a given power settles).

I would say it takes approximately 30 minutes to analyse the lab test data; an hour to write the report; and another hour to periodize. Most of the time, the next training block needs to be posted on Training Peaks too, so its best for me to do this as part of the process – while the logic is at the forefront of my mind – so that may take another 30 minutes. So, from top to tail 2.5 to 3h per athlete. My favourite aspect is the periodization, and penning in the first block – whilst on Skype to Dan this week, we were both mid report writing – because its a pretty involved process it can become mind-numbing (staring at spreadsheets for hours at a time!). But I mentioned I was excited about the imminent getting my teeth in to Nic’s (our French rider) periodization. I was looking forward to seeing what volume he reached last year, how to take him up a notch over that this year. That is probably not something I made explicit – part of the process also has to involve going back over training records from last year – what worked, what didn’t; how can we turn up the gas, and when should we do it; what types of session really bought on fitness, which left people stale. In Nic’s case, the schedule we worked on last year worked pretty well – but our chat the other weekend when he was here in the UK highlighted some improvements we could make, so I made sure to implement them – the coach and athlete work as a team. My periodization schedule is a draft until the athlete gives me the nod; and of course, it has to be flexible.

A great example of the flexibility we must give comes from poor Chris’ case. The morning of the PBscience workshop, he came a cropper out on the group ride. It has been so frustrating for him – he had just started back on the training a week before. Although in many respects it is better than something like this happens now (when there is less fitness to lose) its a real pain in the neck (or side and back in this case). In our chats since, we have been focusing on the positives, and just being open to the plan changing week by week. In this case, I hope showing him the periodization has given him comfort – because he can see visibly where we have room for manoeuvre, and how much time we have to work on each component. Commiserations to you Chris, and speedy recovery.

At the other end of the emotional scale, Andy has just scaled new heights, literally! His training has been delayed not because of injury or illness, but through reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro - Congratulations to you Andy!

One thought to leave you with. A few of my athletes were disappointed that their results weren’t better than this time 12 months ago: and I can understand that, given the number of training hours completed. However, as I have explained, this first lab test is really for my purposes not for theirs. All Dan and I need from the athletes we test is the information on where their landmarks are now, and how that impacts on the heart rate / power relationship for training zones. Yes, in 16 weeks it will be nice to see the improvements from the intervening training; but for now, its about setting the right levels of training stress based on their system now. What an athlete must try and relax into is this test being snapshot of them at their very lowest point – most of them have only been back on the bike for 2 weeks or so: barely time to shake off the rust! In some ways, this represents their ‘genetic set point’, stripped back to their natural state. Rather than being at a new higher starting point each winter, the training they complete each season equips them with a higher potential come Spring. In otherwords, they may start from the same point, but they will climb higher due to a quicker rate of progression – they are more trainable. I’ve seen this year after year, so at least I can maintain that confidence and support the athlete with my experiences.

So, I guess what sums this time of year up is the duality of excitement and impatience. The possibilities ahead, but also the desire to push forward to a level the athlete knows they can attain. In the past week I have had to reign a few people in; eager beavers! Lets see how the coming winter and the promise of snow this weekend across the country goes down – just to rub it in, Nic is off to Perpignan and I have just had an email from Andy – he is off to lie on a beach in Zanzibar (how selfish not to invite Coach along?)