If you do some research on endurance training you are bound to come across statements about how training needs to reflect the demands of the upcoming race. A fancy word for this idea is specificity. Wow, five syllables. A mouthful. Use it and you will sound authoritative. Oh, another twenty five cent word!
When we look at long course triathlon – commonly referred to as Ironman distance, 70.3 or 140.6 – we see a bike segment that demands a long, steady pull at the highest effort the athlete can sustain and still run afterwards. Unlike mass start bike races there are no battles to set up a break. No sprint finishes. No alpine climbs. Hills, yes, but no surges. Overall, the demand is long, slow, and steady.
You might think that by applying the concept of specificity, Ironman bike training should only consist of long, slow rides. This might work for a young age-grouper, but it would be a bad idea for aging athletes. Here’s why.
A key determiner of an athlete’s performance – how hard they can go – is something called aerobic capacity, also known as VO2Max. This is a very intense effort, limited by how well the body processes oxygen. Keep in mind that the body is a marvelously complex thing, and that a high VO2Max does not necessarily translate to a better endurance performance. However, a lot of research shows that the higher an athlete’s VO2Max, the lower the demand placed on the body when performing a given amount of work, even down at the intensity used for an Ironman bike.
Let’s translate that into an admittedly simplified comparison. Take two athletes, one with a high VO2Max, one with a decent but lower VO2Max. Have them both exercise at a moderate effort, well below VO2Max. Same course, same speed. Riding side by side. That ride will feel easier to the athlete with the higher VO2Max. Again, there are so many other factors at play that this simple comparison is unrealistic, but the underlying concept still holds.
One of the biggest changes that impacts performance as we age is the loss of aerobic capacity. Some of that loss is inevitable, but most of it occurs because aging athletes tend to take it easy. Remember, though, that the lower the VO2Max, the harder a moderate effort will feel. Eventually there will come a time when that easy Saturday morning ride feels like a challenge.
The key to slowing down the aging process is high intensity work. It’s hard. Just thirty minutes, including a decent warm-up and cool-down, will leave you feeling tired for the rest of the day. Studies show that just one session per week will produce a significant response. Two will do a bit more, but at the expense of other training, so once per week should be ideal for most senior athletes. This is an interval session, with hard efforts lasting between thirty seconds to three minutes, with recoveries of the same duration. Aim for roughly fifteen minutes of work, say 7 x 2 minutes or 5 x 3 minutes. For a low dose workout you can do 10 x 30 seconds or 7 x 1 minute.
Incorporating these workouts into a training plan works best when the dose is adjusted according to the focus of the plan. For example, for a long course training plan, this type of workout should be done at high dose early in the plan, then gradually taper off. This will balance with the long work, which will start off at a low dose and gradually increase. Dose is adjusted by changing the total work duration, never the intensity.
There is one other form of high intensity workout that is just as important as aerobic capacity, and that is lactate threshold. Those should also be included in every senior’s weekly schedule, and for the same reasons. Use it, or lose it. I will go into these workouts in a future post. Meanwhile, just keep in mind that to hold onto performance as you age you want to do two high intensity workouts per week. I have found that what works best for me is aerobic capacity on Tuesday, lactate threshold of Thursday, long on Sunday. Everything else is very easy.
If you want some background into why I recommend high intensity workouts for the senior athlete, check out Joe Friel’s Fast After 50.