Havent seen this asked or heard it on the podcast. If someone knows of a thread let me know, but I’ve started 70.3 MV base. My Tri isn’t until middle of summer and doesn’t line up perfectly with my weeks. Better to finish base do half a build and restart base build when the weeks line up, or cycle through build as many times as I can before starting specialty leading up to the race? Other options I’m not considering?
Thanks!
It depends. Long, long stretched of Base (like 24+ weeks) can result (no do, but can) in an athlete becoming “permafit” – you hit this plateau that then turns into training stagnation and regression.
The key is to keep changing the stimulus and disrupt homeostasis every 4-8 weeks during that long Base.
It’s a good idea to never take too much of a break from some Zone 5 and 6 – even for a long-course triathlete. You may not use zone 6 in a race, for instance, but there are neuromuscular benefits (and some small aerobic benefits, too) for that kind of work. So, my bias would be for Base – short Build – Base – pre-comp Build. Poke the intensity bear. Don’t let it sleep for too long.
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