Panic Training , Let's Dive In Deeper To This Concept

Panic Training. This is a funny little phrase I use and picked up from my good friend Jesse Vondrecek. We have a good laugh on this one when we are facing a short period of time to get ourselves into race shape. Let's dive in past the jokes and talk about who this can work for, the risks and what this might actually mean.

It’s certainly not a concept for everyone to try. Who this may work for is few, and it does come with some risk. 

The athletes it does work for are athletes who have an enormous base in the sport and have good consistency over the year. We are talking more about getting into race shape, not going from a new athlete or off training completely to full gas.

Let’s use me and my last race as an example. I typically ride a consistent schedule that rolls between 14-16 hours per week, 250-300 miles, year round. For some weeks that fluctuates up to as high as 20 hours at 300-320miles and lowest it might ever drop is 12 hours around 150-200 miles. I do touch on most energy systems within a week consistently. Although it might not be racing specific I include some kind of hard riding most weeks. Down time comes naturally through busy work weeks, travel or life that just pops up. With that I’m not in bad shape, but I’m not in top shape for me either. I do a lot of other activities for fun as well.

 I’m a highly motivated athlete, I enjoy training, I don’t struggle to get out there because I truly love to train. I’ve been training in endurance sport for 26 years, 10 years of that was at a professional level. I’ve been training in some kind of sport my entire life. 

I have a lot of experience in what a very concentrated block of training can do, what it feels like and what to expect. I know that you can make big changes in your fitness in 2-5 weeks if you have the base to handle it. That doesn’t come without a lot of discomfort. Having the experience to know what that block feels like and what to expect is important. A lot of athletes might pull the plug through the block because what they experience might feel rough, scary, not good and they fear it’s doing harm or not working. It’s especially tough on the mind and ego through the block because of the things you’ll experience. Confidence and trust needs to be high in the process or it’s easy to pull the plug on it.

For my last race ( 200 mile road race Lotaja Classic where I placed 3rd in the professional women's race) 

I did a four week “Panic Training Block”. 

Week 1) 400 miles , 22 hours, no pressure on intensity

Week 2) 450 miles, 25 hours, no pressure on intensity

Week 3) 350 miles, 21 hours, brought up intensity but didn’t force it

Week 4) 300 miles, 18 hours,  push intensity but don’t dig a hole

Week 5) Race week taper.

The tricky part was I was also doing this in Tucson summer where temps were 100-115 deg F every day. Recovery for this was tougher due to these conditions. I did a lot of self care to recover as best I could. I slept a lot! I invested in more massage than normal. I really focused on hydration and changes in nutrition to try to support the training.

In those first two weeks I did “try” to ride hardish on certain days and in group rides. But I understood there would be no gas in the tank and that was just part of the process. I was consistently dropped from my normal group rides, I suffered a lot! Sleep was tough, I was a bit of a walking zombie in my day to day and my body was very sore. Concentration for anything was tough, my moods were affected. BUT, I know this is for one small window of time and temporary. Understanding these sensations and knowing it’s part of the process makes it possible to handle emotionally. 

I had set out a big goal for myself and I knew what it would take for me to have a chance to perform. I was willing to try something very challenging to see if I had the capacity to do it and risk that the outcome could go either way. I did have doubts during the block but did enjoy the challenge regardless. I had fun with the process and uncovering if I had what it took to see it through. This was fun for me.

If you are going to attempt a “panic training” approach to an event I think understanding the details, the risk, the process and there isn’t a guarantee is important. You have to want to enjoy trying this no matter what the outcome.

Have fun and don’t panic when you panic train!

Cheers,

M