training phases - an overview

If you have been wondering how I train or if there even is a plan - there is.
I train in a 3:1 scheme. This means I increase the hours for 3 weeks and then cut back to a week where I only do about 6 hours, that's my recovery week.

For example, in week 1 I train 9 hours, in week 2 I train 11 hours, in week 3 I train 12,5 hours and in week 4 I train 6 hours and then it starts all over again.
Of course it depends on the phase I'm in. During a normal season I have the general preparation phase (Nov - Jan) where I do long, slow trainings so I normally get the most hours in during this phase. Then I have the specific preparation phase (Feb - Apr) where I add sprints, interval and all that stuff so I have more short trainings. In the competition phase (May - Sep) I normally don't train as much as in the preparation phases because I have races every weekend, but it's normally a mix between longer and short trainings. And then there's the recovery phase (Oct) where I only train about 6 hours a week.

I normally train about 10 times per week. At the moment on Mondays I train in the morning and evening, on Tuesdays I only train once, on Wendesdays I train in the morning and evening, on Thursdays I only train once, on Fridays I have my rest day and on Saturday and Sunday I train in the morning and evening.

For example, training last week looked like this:
Monday: morning running (35min), afternoon skating (1 h 10)
Tuesday: afternoon off-skate (1 h 15)
Wednesday: morning windtrainer (1 h 05), afternoon exercises (1 h 30)
Thursday: morning running (1 h 35)
Friday: rest day (40min stretching)
Saturday: morning power-workout (1 h 10), afternoon windtrainer (1 h 10)
Sunday: morning running interval (55min), afternoon exercises (1 h 30)
Total of 11 h 55 (without stretching)

So yeah, there's a lot of planning involved before I start a new phase. But it's good to have some sort of a plan. Like this, you can make sure you get all your training in, get a good mix between long, easy and short, hard trainings and rotate between all the different sports.

This year however, the phases are a bit different due to the opposite seasons they have here. At the moment I'm in my "competition phase" even though I only had one running race so far.
After the second race in July I'll take a break for a few weeks and start with the general preparation phase in August, with the specific preparation phase in October and the competition phase in December. At least that's the plan so far :). Aaaand I'm planning on running a half marathon after skating season is over. So that means that I'll train after a specific half marathon plan from April till June and run the half marathon at the end of June. I just hope this will work, but we'll see.