If you are a regular here on the 10Hours Blog, you know how I strongly advocate the use of Big Week Training by the time-challenged. I strongly believe that aerobic overload training has the ability to boost your race day potential when it’s used in small doses applied regularly throughout your season. You can read all of my explorations of this theme by clicking on the “big week” category on the right.
As a triathlon coach, however, my sample size is always small. Sure, my methodology works with my tiny family of athletes, but what will happen to other folks? To other athletes who have followed different training regimen? Working several IronCamp [www.ironcamp.com] events over the course of a year is kind of like having a new set of subjects to test. The latest group of “testees” were the participants in our IronCamp East Coast [http://ironcamp.com/eastcoast.html] adventure held up in Lake Placid, NY. 5 days / 5 nights; 300-400 miles of riding, 15-30 miles of running, swimming whenever folks still had energy.
Improved Nutrition is the first positive outcome from the epic training, and 80% of the time this change happens during the camp itself. Everyone shows up with their own favorite endurance potion and set of snack foods, and the camp is a great chance to put this to the test. You find out very quickly if your special cool-aid has the juice you need at the end of your ride on day two…or at the start of day three…etc. More than one camper had to rethink their nutrition protocol based on their body’s feedback. The best part is that there are 20+ other folks there, as well as Rich and I, so there are more than enough other ideas to try out.
Improved Fitness is a residual effect that usually takes a week to manifest itself. Athletes usually report improvements across the board:Â higher FTP values on their next 2×20 min test, faster swim times, lower HR for same (or better) long run pace. All of the benefits can be traced back to two things: (1) consistent training to prepare for the camp, and (2) quality training at the camp (and not hammer time). Of course, you’ll never notice the improved fitness unless you actually take some time off to recover!
It’s also important to note that athletes for whom this week represents a step up in training (ie. aren’t already training 20-25 hours a week) will see the most benefit. This is the subject of another post, but I am not a huge fan of consistently big training (20+ hours a week) unless someone is trying to change their body type (to become more triathletish) or trying to qualify for Kona (to become a stud) or both. Otherwise I think there is more important stuff you can do with your time.
Improved Recovery is another great habit learned during Big Week of training. Without adequate recovery, folks simply can’t bounce back and train again on the next day. Appropriate pacing also plays a role in this, after all if you hammer your body into the ground, no amount of recovery will make you good as new the next day. Learning to take the time to recover from each day’s efforts, and how to recover, is a skill. Sitting in a room full of bonking trigeeks trying to do the same thing is a great way to figure out what works for you. I prefer the standard “lie down with feet up” for 10-20 mins as I drink my recovery shake. Other folks prefer to do some very light stretching, some like to swim for 15-20 mins. A lot of folks gravitated towards the 20-45′ power nap…with more than a few eventually choosing the “I’m going to sleep until someone wakes me for dinner” option. Whatever you decide, having a good protocol for recovery can mean the difference between a good week of training and a great week of training.
Of course for some, the best part about IronCamp is the week after IronCamp. The week where you don’t really have to train (gotta recover!), your metabolism is high so you can eat what you want (waffles anyone?) and you can sleep in (snooze, baby!). Whatever your reasons for doing a Big Week, make sure you execute it properly and you’ll be well on your way to kicking butt on race day!
Happy Training!
Coach P
Hi, I'm Patrick McCrann. 
