ridecamp@endurance.net: Re: Linda's conditioning question

Re: Linda's conditioning question

lindavan.eqath@juno.com
Sat, 5 Apr 1997 21:30:34 PST

On Thu, 3 Apr 1997 13:57:13 -0500 (EST) Tivers@aol.com writes:
>Linda:
>
>No matter how you want to ride your ride, the best, safest performance
>is
>going to come from the tapered horse (at least a week--two weeks is
>more
>effective-- of gradualy tapering of workload volume and intensity).
>But, you
>have to look at your season as a whole. Despite what some folks might
>think,
>maintaining peak readiness in an athlete is difficult to do for three
>weeks
>and almost impossible for a longer period. Thus, you must maintain a
>conditioning pressure on the athlete throughout extended competitive
>seasons.
>A big taper triggers a big peak. That should happen only before the
>most
>important competition of the season--and hopefully, that's at the end
>of the
>season.
>
>ti
>
>
Thanks Tom,

So, in light of what you just said, when would you suggest starting back
the training schedule after a one day 100 miler given that your horse
has finished sound, with minimal overt symptoms of wear and tear? Would
you just start back at the same level you left off before competition?
When would you start your taper? Lets say your next competition is in 4
weeks and it is also a one day 100.

Using my current philosophy and training plan, here is what I would do.

After ~10 Days rest, pasture (days between numbered days below are also
rest)
--day 10 - Light aerobic work on the flat, 45 minutes
--day 12 - Easy intervals on the flat, alt walk, trot, gallop 45 minutes
--day 14or15 - 16-20 miles of tough mountain trail work, pushing for
higher HR where possible given terrain.
--day 17 - same as day 10
--day 19 - moderate hill intervals, 45 minutes
--day 22 - 16 miles with 3.5 mile tough interval hill which has 6 climbs
for maxing HR with walk/trot recovery between.
--day 24 - same as day 19
--day 26 - same as day 10
--day 27 - haul to ride
--day 28 - competition

If I understand your theory correctly, you would not give the initial 10
days off but start working on say day 4. Then, you'd put the tougher
works at the front end of this schedule and taper off from day 14 on.

Now since we can't keep our horse peaked for more than three weeks, when
do we need to let down and start the cycle over again? I think this is
where we use our competitions as training rides. That is, on selected
rides, we would not ask our horse for maximum effort and plan for a new
peak later on. How much rest would you suggest in those cases, since we
would not always be riding the wave of supercompensation?

Linda VanCeylon & crew
Buhni, Sunny, Rabbit, & Fiddler
lindavan.eqath@juno.com

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