The Coronavirus is disrupting all our lives and triathlon plans too. Here’s how to keep progressing in the right direction during an unsettled season.
In the last few weeks, the rapid spread of the COVID-19 has affected the majority of the planet in some way and in addition to the tragic human cost, the sporting world has been turned upside down. While fans of spectator sports might be disappointed by cancelled fixtures, it’s another matter entirely for mass participation endurance sports such as triathlon where taking part is fundamental.
There’s no getting around the fact that pretty much every triathlete will have to contend with their best-laid plans for the triathlon season being thrown out the window. It’s only natural that this can lead to anxiety, listlessness or lack of direction as the event you’ve been planning towards – perhaps for a year or more – is cancelled or postponed.
Here are a few tips to deal with disruption to your race season and limit its effect on your triathlon progression.
Keep training
Just because your event is postponed or cancelled doesn’t mean training should stop. Many of us rely on the mental and physical benefits of triathlon training to maintain balance in our lives, so continuing to give ourselves this stimulation is important.
While big group sessions might become impossible, training indoors at home or running or cycling alone or with a partner means you’re isolated from crowds while still getting that endorphin fix.
Rethink your periodisation
Many of us set one or two main A races for the season, building up fitness specifically for these events. But when the calendar loses all certainty, it’s hard to continue with progressive training to an unknown date – in itself enough to create a confused training environment.
Instead of traditional periodisation or reverse periodisation, try taking a leaf out of super coach Joel Filliol’s playbook by maintaining solid consistency in your training all season, rather than peaking, so that you’re not overtrained and prepared for a final build once the date of your big race is finally set in stone.
Race your own race
If you’re already close to you your race at the point it’s been cancelled, don’t let your peak fitness go to waste. Instead, finalise your preparation towards a home-made event that will let you test yourself over a similar distance or duration. If you can learn to push yourself as close to your race intensity as possible when it’s just you against the distance, you’ll be in a great place mentally the next time you get to compete with other competitors on the course.
Following your solo event, ensure you take recovery seriously – your immune system will be low after a monumental effort so it’s probably best to stay away from gatherings and crowds for a couple of days while your body recharges.
Refocus your training
Perhaps your local pool has already closed, but rather than worrying about your freestyle form deteriorating, think what else you can do with the training time. Perhaps you’ve been putting off adding strength training to your routine or have been meaning to work more on your flexibility. Maybe you’ve been neglecting your foam roller or skipped a few core sessions.
There’s plenty to do outside of swim, bike and run that can improve you as an athlete, but if you’re going to replace swimming with cycling or running, take the opportunity to include some specific technique sessions or drills that you’d otherwise overlook.
Take a few recovery weeks
We would normally advocate a mid-season break – perhaps between A races to keep creeping fatigue at bay – but if Ironman’s recent postponements are anything to go by, we can all look forward to a tightly condensed race season nearer the end of the year. If these later-season races do indeed come to pass, building in a few easy weeks now could help you extend your training and racing performances until a time where you might normally be taking your end of season break.
Control the controllables
Concentrating upon the things that you have the power to influence has long been wise racing advice, but it certainly applies here too. With so much control taken away from us – from planning weekly sessions to booking events or training camps – it’s easy to become overwhelmed by negativity.
But just as being process-driven when you’re suffering in a race can help re-focus your mind on what you can actually do in the here and now to progress, this same mindset can help you find a new path amid the uncertainties affecting the world of triathlon. By doing what you can, you can keep as much control as possible over your triathlon trajectory.
More on Coronavirus
If you’d like to find out more about the Coronavirus, check out the World Health Organization’s Coronavirus homepage.
