Quantitative Improvement

Training and racing should first and foremost be fun, but what's more fun than improving? You don't have to wait till your race to find out if you're getting better. With structured training real and tangible results should be seen throughout the training cycles.

Repeating Workouts

Endurance sports are repetitive, and so is the training. It's important to spice the workouts up a bit to keep overwhelming monotany at bay, but by repeating workouts within training cycles, you can see the improvement and not have to wonder if training is going in the right direction.

Nelson Costa 6 Month Improvement - I started working with Nelson in late September and after an initial field test we did 3x15 at his calculated threshold, 230 watts. Over the course of 6 months we built his threshold by 50 watts! We never did another field test, but instead did sets working around his ranges. As an athlete builds time at specific powers and by comparing HR at those powers, it's easy enough to calculate their new threshold.
Also, notice how much smoother the power output is on the lower file (both of these workotus were done indoors). Intense and specific training not only increases fitness, but increases form as well. Some of Nelson's improvement comes from a better ability to produce controlled power in an uncomfortable setting.

Phil Royston 3 Week Improvement - I began working with Phil late in 2015. In April of 2016 we went into a block of threshold work, which I don't often prescribe, but it fit his situation, mostly his propencity for injuries. As you can see from the files, Phil went from 4x10 minutes @ 170 watts with an average HR of 160 for the later intervals to 3x20 @ an average HR of 153 for the interval!

Dave Smith 6 Run Week Improvement - I began working with Dave mid way through 2014. At the time, Dave had a long term run injury so we focused on getting him healthy. He had not had uninterupted injury free run training for several years, so we built the program around gradual improvements over the course of the next two years. To the right in an example of one of Dave's staple workouts, 5x5 and 6x5 min @ faster than 10k pace. It's a tough workout and one that we only do at specific times of the year. You can see that 6 weeks after starting to do this workout once every 7 - 10 days, he had dropped 20sec per mile.