"The best coaches are not the gurus who make athletes conform to
their ideas, but rather the thinkers who evaluate their athletes,
their progression, their strengths and weaknesses and who adjust the
training to fit the needs and capacity of the athlete."
- Fred Hatfield
Track racing events, whether they be mass start races, time trials or match sprints, can be broken down into smaller parts which can then be trained for maximum effectiveness. By training these constituent pieces, both weak and strong areas can be isolated without interference from the other areas.
We have many tools to train with. Examples of the ones I use, but not limited to are:
- motorpacing on the track and the road
- resistance work in the gym
- resistance work on the bike
- break point training
- video critique
- individual coaching
- small group clinics
- monthly training schedules
I'm also a huge proponent of well timed rest intervals, whether they be rest days during a training week or longer periods as part of training periodization. Physiology 101 - it's not the work that makes you strong or fast, it's the rest afterwards. Hard work + quality rest = great results!
And, last, but not least, the bottom line for all of this training is to race successfully. There's no training for racing, especially for the mass start events, like racing itself. I encourage all the athletes I coach to race as much as their schedule allows.
