Welcome to the BUILD PHASE

We officially transition phases as we glide into January, with the upcoming BUILD PHASE waiting to be tackled. Let’s take this opportunity to run through a brief overview of the upcoming training to set our mindset on the best path. Here is the quick hit list for you. 

Not TOO Much Changes!  

It is important to realize that a shift in phase doesn’t mean a massive shift in overall workload.  This isn’t a black to white transition, rather it is more of a steady transition in emphasis, and you should expect an uptick in work, but nothing daunting.  We will retain a very patient development of technical development, cautious ramp of load, and a transition to drive toward resilience and power.

We Move to Three-Week Cycles

Your training cycle will now become much more differentiated. We would highly encourage you to review the week summary videos imbedded into Today’s Plan, as well as the videos within the key sessions we identified, to truly grasp the focus of each week, as well as how to execute the critical sessions. 

• WORK WEEK ONE:  A heavy strength-focused week of riding, running resilience, and the short interval-based swim resilience, such as fast 25s.
• WORK WEEK TWO:  A focus on very strong ‘dream hill’ running repetitions as well as a progressive set of sustained strong riding with a variable cadence.
• TRANSITION WEEK:  A few days of recuperation into a touch of high speed and the artery bike and run sessions outlined below.

Introducing Artery Workouts 

We launch our season-long tracking sessions -- the Artery workouts.  These sessions are not assessments, but simple high-value familiar sessions that progress through each phase and across the focus of the season.  These are the sessions to discuss in your athlete community pages and truly capture metrics and subjective ratings within your plan and/or log. 

• ARTERY SWIM:  The 20s: We retain a theme of 20 intervals throughout the season — with an evolving emphasis aligned with the mission of the phase.
• ARTERY BIKE:  Six Sense:  Intervals of 6 minutes (*typically) that progressively ramp in challenge — the build phase is all about strength-endurance development.
• ARTERY RUN:  Heart Rate Pacer:  We ask you to run to an associated heart rate throughout the season — and track pace and perceived effort that aligns with the heart rate.

Additional Updates:

• Monday Swims:  Starting mid-January, you will notice that we have decided to push the initial swim of each week to a Monday. This isn’t an additional swim, but a simple transition of where the team drops the session into your weekly calendar.  This shift ensures that those choosing the ’time-starved view’ of under 12 hours weekly will never only see a single swim or standalone run during their week.
• Strength and Circuits: As mentioned last week, we have refreshed strength and conditioning for the Build Phase. We break it down as:
• PART ONE: Higher Load Post-Season Exercises: We ramp load and decrease repetitions for a tougher load and ramp in pure strength
• PART TWO: For the second half of the build phase we shift to more explosive exercises and a whole new pattern.
• You also now have access to stand-alone core workouts, mobility sessions, and more time-starved options in the form of the Treadmill-Strength Circuits.  You can find all of these in your Optional Workouts Library.

Finally — let’s chat!  Here is a quick overview of some do not miss sessions to launch 2020:

• Meeting with Matt: Monday, Jan. 13th at 6pm PDT: BUILD PHASE OVERVIEW
• Webinar with Matt: Thurday, Jan. 9th att 6pm PDT: 5 Essential Things to Nail in 2020
• Office Hours:
  • Monday, Jan. 6th at 6pm PDT - Strength Overview and Mission with Mike Olzinski and Matt Hurley
  • Monday, Jan. 20th at 6pm PDT - Fueling and Hydration During Training with Jacob White
  • Monday, Jan. 27th at 6pm PDT  - Newbie Squad Orientation with Liz Lindsay