The Switch Up--What Happens at the End of a Season

End of Season
If you are an endurance athlete racing the normal summer season, you are probably coming to the end of your period of prolific racing. Normally we expect that if you have been training diligently and racing frequently, you will have built up a level of accumulated fatigue. This takes the form of reduced motivation, plateaued performance, and nagging joint issues.

You may have just a few races left; stay focused. Scale back on the total amount of training but keep the quality present. Take time for extra recovery activities (stretching, foam roller, ice, good nutrition) and you should be able to perform to expectations in your final races.

But when the formal racing season is over, it is time for The Switch-Up. That is, you cannot proceed with a business-as-usual training plan. It is neither wise, nor humanly possible to train the same all year round. This article discuss what needs to happen at the end of your racing season.

Recovery and Rest
After the end of a racing campaign, PLEASE be nice to your body. Scale back your training to as little as 25% of your "normal" level. Keep it easy and keep it fun. During this time you can relax your nutritional discipline and treat yourself to a few extra desserts or beers. Spend extra time with normal humans such as your spouse, children, and colleagues. Catch up on that stack of work you have been avoiding.

The main point here is what goes up must come down. You need at least two weeks of very low activity level to let your body recover, and a month is probably better. Don't worry about losing the fitness you have gained. If you DON'T do this, you will lose much more.

Off-season Focus
I have just made a case to take some time almost completely off from exercise after your season is over. Don't get too comfortable. You will need to perform the Switch-Up which is not necessarily easy to do. Fail to make this transition, and you may get stuck in a prolonged sedentary period and really lose your fitness.

The Switch Up consists of changing your volume, intensity, and nature of training, but continuing to train nonetheless. Here is an example of what NOT to do: Many newcomers to the sport of triathlon experience the exhilaration of dramatic improvement. After finishing the triathlon season, they set their sights on the next goal: a winter marathon. They never take a rest period, and they never perform the Switch-Up. The just keep training hard, racing hard, pushing their body without rest. It eventually breaks down.

They come to me months later, burned out, gained weight, injured, and completely frustrated. Don't let this be you.

The Switch-Up
The first component of The Switch-Up consists of an elevated focus on strength and stretch training. While in your hardcore endurance training you may do little or none of this kind of work. Now it becomes the number 1 priority. If you understand fitness you understand that endurance and speed are only one third of overall fitness: the other two components are strength and flexibility.

During this off-season period you will need to do this kind of training 3-5 x per week for 45-60 minutes for 3-4 months. You can do activities like free weights, machines, boot camp classes, kettle bells, yoga, pilates, and aerogility. Build this in as a central focus for 3-4 months of the year, from the period that you end your main racing season until the time you start your base training for the next season.

Benefits of this kind of training include feeling and looking better, reduced injury and joint problems, weight loss, leaner body comp, and improved performance next season. Make sure the program is correct for your endurance goals. You aren't trying to become Arnold....you are trying to become Lance, Phelps, or Chrissie.

Just because strength/stretch training goes from least important to most important focus does not mean that you quit all endurance training. In fact, you can make some huge gains during this period. But you can't train the way you have been the rest of the year.

If you are an multisport athlete, this is the time to go single-sport. When you are trying to juggle 3 sports, it is not possible to get big gains in any one area. Instead of 2-4 workouts in swim/bike/run, try doing 5-7 workouts in one area and 0-1 in the other areas. If you want to improve your swimming or running, this is the time to do it. The other areas will come right back, don't worry about hanging up your bike or avoiding the pool for a while.

Not only should you shift to a single-sport focus, you will also want to change modes too. If you are a road triathlete, then this is the time to get into some mountain biking or trail running. If you primarily swim freestyle, then it is time to learn other strokes, new drills, and actually do flip turns at practice (gasp!)

Smart Strategy = Long Term Results
As a veteran of 12 years triathlon and 20 years running, I can tell you that we are all creatures of habit. This advice is to get out of your comfort zone and Switch-Up your training. If you want to run a marathon, run a marathon. But you need to be sure to include some Recovery time off and also a Switch-Up as I've outlined above. I could recount of horror stories: injuries, burnout, frustration. Don't make the same pitfalls of so many highly motivated but poorly strategic folks.