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  1. Adjusting your Marji Gesick training plan Part 1...

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    How to adjust your plan when the unexpected (or life) happens!

    Occasionally we will all miss a session or two: illness strikes, work takes over, or your long lost aunt Betty arrives to visit completely out of the blue. That's life and happens to all of us from time to time so the first thing to remember is that it's not the end of the world to miss a few sessions now and then (just try not to do it too often!) 

    The important question is how do we get back on track? Here are a few helpful guidelines for getting back to training after various derailments have happened. 

  2. How "peaking" works and how to prioritise our Race Calendar.

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    Most athletes I work with have never truly "peaked" for a race. They may plan their race season and prioritize their events (typically categorizing them as A, B, or C races), but few have actually taken the necessary steps to achieve peak performance on their most important day.

    Simply labelling a race as our "A" race is insufficient; effective training and preparation are essential to reach peak performance. A common mistake is designating too many races as "A" or "B," leading to a season where training is frequently interrupted by tapering and recovery periods.

    To peak for a race, we need two crucial components:

    1. Very high fitness.

    2. A taper, which involves training less in the lead-up to the race, allows for some loss of fitness in order to be fresh on race day.

    It’s important to note that during a taper, we will lose some fitness. If too many races are treated as equally important and we compete frequently, we will spend a significant amount of time losing fitness over the year. This is in direct conflict with the need for very high fitness to peak effectively.

    Based on my years of coaching, I have observed that most athletes can only achieve top-level performance peaks once a year. Even many professionals struggle with this. For the majority of athletes, especially those who are not genetically gifted (consider those with semi-professional status and low demands from work or family), I recommend the following race season planning:

    - 1 x A race: This is the event we focus on peaking for and where we aim for an exceptional performance. We spend the whole year focused on this mentally. We put all our commitments into this outcome. We base all decisions on this one race.

    - 2-4 x B races: For these, we only taper slightly but not as much as for the A race. Performance at these races will usually be good but not necessarily so. (Schedule 4 if they are close together or paired, or very near to the A race; limit to 2 if they are spaced out.)

    - Everything else should be considered a C race: These involve no taper and minimal recovery afterwards. Ideally, select races that fit this classification; for example, a solo 24-hour race, or a very hard 100 mile, would require significant recovery, so it shouldn't be classified as a C race. Anything that can't be recovered from and repeated a week later has to be category A or B if we are serious about our A race. 

  3. The importance of being "stoked"

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    I've seen many changes over the years in coaching and racing. Some changes have been positive, such as advancements in technology, the sharing of information, access to coaches, and improved equipment. However, one negative trend is the prevalence of unrealistic expectations, which has led to a reluctance—or even an inability—to celebrate our progress in sports.

    In my early days of racing, I set goals and ambitions based on a realistic understanding of my abilities as an athlete. I felt excited and grateful for any improvement I made. This mindset was common among my friends and the athletes I worked with, supported, or coached throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.