Remember that the BLUE line represents my fitness. The PINK line represents my fatigue. The YELLOW line represents my "form" or my potential to have a great race.
This chart shows clearly how I was able to build fitness almost continuously. The exception occurred in late February when I did a mini-taper for the Birkie, then recovered from that effort. I love how this shows how races can seriously interrupt fitness building! Don't race too much this summer if you plan on an important "A" race in 3-4 months.
I was able to build my fitness up to the low 120's. This means that my average daily TSS (Training Stress Score) of my workouts was in the low 120's. As I tapered, I was careful to not lose too much fitness. Here, you can see that my blue line dipped by about 10 points or about 10-12%. This is a reasonable amount of fitness to lose for an "A" race. Simultaneously, you can see that my yellow "form" line climbed to its highest level of the year so far. This means that I was "peaking" for this race. And I did feel very strong on race day! :)
When I coach, everything that I do is geared towards having my athlete's peak high for their most important races. It is an art and a science to get that peak to happen on the right day - with a minimal loss of fitness.
Best wishes for a magical peak for your 2010 "A" races!
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