#66: So you're going to the ragoo festival? Well, crank it up.....

Ok, if you're an Adam Sandler fan you might know the reference.....no? Well, don't worry, you're probably smarter for not knowing it....it's a pretty dumb skit that (not surprisingly perhaps) I found HILARIOUS the first several times I heard it.....OK, this has just about nothing to do with my blog or my training.......except that this week the objective was to increase the training volume some, and that makes me think of a line in the skit.  Crank it up....


Where was I going with this?  Oh yeah.....training volume......since February is largely over and the "preseason" right along with it, it's time to start increasing my total training time and intensity......so this week was about the transition to that point.....to ramp up from the 7-8 hr per week in training volume to the 12-14 hour per week volume (in pursuit of the peak 20-23 hour/wk at peak training....yikes).  To me, this jump is one of the harder ones, as it translates into 2 hours a day during the week (4 of 5 days) and 4+ on the weekends. This requires better fatigue-avoidance & recovery, better mental focus during the sessions and with the juggling that goes with a busy family, nearly perfect free-time management to find the "extra-extra" hour.

In general, it went pretty well.  I was able to get +/- 9 hours of total training time in and felt pretty decent in doing it.  I was able to get a bike heavy brick on Monday, a run & swim on Tuesday, some strength on Wed., a recovery day on Thursday, a short-burst trail run on Friday AM, a hard bike/run brick on Saturday and a double session (swim & run) today.


Overall, it was pretty uneventful, although I can definitely feel the increase in volume with some cranky knees/ankles/feet.....but nothing more than a little feedback really.  Whereas I was happy with the training time, the missing link was the dedication to recovery and nutrition.  I definitely fell short on caloric intake and the increase in volume will likely mean a little more icing and stretching than base-phase, but I suppose I should expect this.  The next step will be to move it up another few hours and be sure to take the time to recover some.

GRADES


PHYSIOLOGY

Move (Training Variables): A- Swim x2, Bike x 2, Run x 2, Brick x 2, Strength x1


Fuel (Nutrition & Hydration): B- Healthy & Decent, but just not enough to match the volume increase

Recover (Physiologic Stressors): B+ Considering the nearly 70% jump in volume this week, not terrible.....this is where the extra time that doesn't get factored in comes from.....extra recovery time for creaky feet/ankles/knees.


PSYCHOLOGY
Endure (Mindset): A- Sort of surprised actually, kind of thought I'd be scrambling some, but doing a little better at keeping it in perspective.  Need to keep it that way.


Connect: B+ It's funny how as the bar gets raised.....so does our ability to hit it.  It was really a crazy week of juggling, but we pulled it off.  Every time I don't think we can possible get it all juggled.....we do.


METHODOLOGY
Quality of effort: A- Some of the best quality sessions I've had in 2012.  

Scoring Key:
A+ = 5.5 A = 5.3 A- = 5.0
B+ = 4.5 B  = 4.3 B- = 4.0
C+ = 3.5 C = 3.3 C- = 3.0
D+ = 2.5 D = 2.3 D- = 2.0
F+ = 1.5 F = 1.3 F- = 1.0



B+ for the week.....best so far I think....so good stuff.


_____________________


So, if my delayed publishing is any indication of how close to the current max I am.....I'm glad it'll be several weeks before the next jump in volume.  Now to settle in and keep the quality and the focus up.


Moving on.


Mike E.