Off season…really?, 22 Nov 2023
My first ever triathlon was 3.5 years ago in May 2019. Since then, I’ve never had a (planned) off season:
2019/20: I had a series of illnesses that meant I could hardly train (numerous chest infections, pneumonia, ear infections and then probably Covid-19 before we could test for it)
2020/21: Covid-19 and lockdown(s) explains a lot of the unknown and uncertainty. I think I trained, but there hadn’t been a season to have an off-season from and but no one really knew anything about what future racing may (or may not) look like.
2021/22: stress fracture #1 - I was in a boot and only started running again in January 22.
2022/23: stress fracture #2 and more viruses. Training only really started in January 23.
So after my last race of the season at the end of October, I had “off season” in Training Peaks. But what was this? What did it mean?
Speaking to Tim kind of helped me understand that it was supposed to be a bit of time to be less structured, less intense and let the body recover. But I don’t respond well to unstructured anything. Take a fartlek session a few weeks ago in TP: I created a session for me to do in advance so I had something to structure the unstructured!
Off season Week 1: this looked pretty similar to any other training week. I did turbo sessions (mainly with z3/4 intervals), 60-75 minute run sessions and a three hour bike ride. I felt fine - ‘who needs a rest?’, I thought.
Week 2: and suddenly, my body gave up on me. I just had nothing and everything felt empty. I did nothing (except walking, which for me is nothing) for nearly 72 hours. This is unheard of. And more importantly I felt I actually listened to my body, for once. It felt good (kind of). Nothing ‘bad’ happened to me, I survived. My fears around having a day off (let alone three weeks of off-season ‘off’) is that I’ll start on a slippery slope to nothing being the norm. Now, I know this is grossly incorrect and and irrational way of thinking, but it holds a lot of truths for me.
When, after those 72 hours I did a weights S&C session, my body responded so well, I felt strong, had a smile on my face, and enjoyed every second of it.
Off season week 3: largely a return to ‘normal’. I’ve run, turbo-ed, swam, but tried to do so without the pressure and expectation of hitting numbers. I’ve struggled to be 100% happy or feel that I’m doing off-season ‘right’, but I’ve learnt a lot about myself and what is right for me.
The lessons I’ve learnt are:
There isn’t a one size fits all approach to off season.
Nothing catastrophic happened when I had more than one day doing nothing.
Being honest with yourself about what you need/feel comfortable with is crucial. There isn’t a rule about how to do off season right or wrong. My off season was more active than most/all, but I’m ok with that.
I’m not someone who is good at resting. I’ve always known this, and giving myself permission to be kind to myself is a work in progress.
Control, and feeling in control is important to me. More important than I probably realised.
Having goals is important to providing focus for an off season. I don’t know what will happen next season and this is quite anxiety-inducing, but I’m targeting 10k and half marathon PBs in the next couple of months. This has given my off season and next training blocks a bit more focus, and I’m hoping will be opportunities to practice allowing myself more rest and recovery to maximise performance.
Some people relish and enjoy off season. I fundamentally do not. I feel I’ve worked too hard and improved too much to let that slip. But at the same time, I understand the science and rationale behind an off season and its importance. I could have forced myself to have a ‘traditional’ off season of nothing, or very little. But the play off for me mentally would have been more detrimental. Having a coach (and a family) that understand that in me has been the support I’ve needed to get through what has been a mentally challenging few weeks.
Sarah Harding