What are you training for? Get SPECIFIC.
Why train with specificity? Can’t we just go out and train for the fun of it and still make progress? Well, it depends! What are you training for?
Piling on random miles can be fun, and sure, it checks a box. But sometimes we need to check the right box. Long easy miles can definitely benefit us in endurance racing. Time on the feet pays its dividends in marathoning and ultra distance races and time in the saddle will definitely ease the impact of a century on your body.
As multisport athletes we are often toggling between short and long distance racing as well as single sport racing. Sometimes if we’re mixing too many types of events into one training block, results can vary between them. The versatility is great - we always want to encourage athletes to explore a range of racing opportunities.
If we want to perform our BEST at different types of racing, though, specificity is needed! Easy example - switching from long course training to Sprint expertise. Sprints are not “just shorter” races with less training. To nail one, you need to be able to access that higher gear for a longer period of time. Training should contain more high intensity sessions, but it shouldn’t be ALL that - appropriate recovery days and proper timing is still needed.
There is also course specificity. If you live in a totally flat place but signed up for a race with a hefty amount of elevation, we’ll need to use low cadence drills and incline walking and running to make up for the lack of ability to specifically train on your home terrain. On the flip side, training for a fast flat course can be harder if you don’t have a lot of flat terrain to train on. A flat race isn’t necessarily just “easier” if you are used to hills! You have to train specifically for sustained flat pacing.
As you start to plan out your future seasons, think about goals in taking on new challenges. To complete it, you can likely do that within the training you have with some tweaks. To CRUSH it, you need to get specific!