Peak

My original thought on peaking was that I'd put in a ton of hours and ramp the body up hard to take on my A race and follow on long race - the Bradenton 101. Of course, things change, as they always seem to do, and my idea of what a "Peak" is has also evolved.

After doing a little reading on the subject, I think (and I'm no coach, disclaimer, disclaimer...) that the peak is really more about intensity than volume. Personally, I'm at a point in my almost 2 year triathlon career that if I put in more than 10 - 12 hrs of total training in a week, something breaks. This level, this 10 - 12 hr level, is where I need to stay for a while and get my body used to it. Last year I averaged about 5 hrs of total training per week, so this is a good jump for me.

So I've been concentrating on adding intensity to every workout, more on some, less on other's so that I don't go "hard" on every workout. When I swim, I'll go 250 yds easy than really push hard for 250, and mix that up over 2k. Early in the week I pushed 1000 yds, then did 1000 mixed hard and easy. On the bike, I've been doing intervals - 37 miles with a 40k TT in there, or like yesterday with a 6.5 easy, 6.5 interval keeping it over 22mph x 4 for 50 miles. My shoulders and legs are really sore this week - these intervals are very different from steady state swimming and riding.

I haven't run in a week, so I really can't say how my calf is doing. It doesn't hurt during any activity other than running, and even then it takes a few miles, so we'll see this Sunday at the Clermont race - I'm thinking it will be fine. I'm looking forward to racing with Jetpack and Luke and hearing those damn cowbells ringing for the first time around the transition area. By the time I get back, our IMAZ racers will be either done or getting done with their marathons - I'm anxious to see how well everyone does.