This is the first fundamental building block of periodization. Having a solid plan for the next season will give the athlete a map to follow to get to the desired destination. Like any conquest, there should be a strategy. An athlete must be able to adapt to changes as the environment changes during the year. In general the annual plan stays intact, barring disaster, or huge changes in objectives. For the bumps and blips that can always be expected in a racing season, the shorter meso (month long blocks) and micro-cycles (week long blocks) may be adapted to the current state-of-affairs, while the basic template for the year stays rigid. Tools needed for the job: first you need goals for the next season. Second, you need a schedule of the races. At this time, it is not necessary to have exact dates. Count on races being at nearly the same time as this past season, but also be prepared to make changes as there is always some variability from year to year. The annual plan does not require razor accuracy because it is a rather long-term plan. For example if you know that one of your main goals is to come out smokin’ at Redlands and Sea Otter, regardless of the exact dates, you know that your training should be arranged to bring you to good form through the entire month of March and into April. An excellent tool for annual planning is a large dry erase calendar that shows a year. Select your priority races for the next season. Let me give you a tip. Good form should come in a block of at least four weeks. So when you are establishing your goals, keep in mind that you might want to isolate a block of races rather than just one. It is realistic and very likely that if you have prepared right, a good race at Redlands should provide some very solid results for Sea Otter and all the races in between as well. With the block idea in mind, be aware also that good form does not continue forever. So don’t try to extend form to unrealistic bounds. Doing so could leave you fatigued, fried, and frustrated. Be proactive and plan for the decline. Many times the form can be extended to six or eight weeks, but planning on that is risky and can be disappointing and have negative effects that stretch into the next block. If your form keeps rocking, you can make changes in your micro and meso-cycles so that the extended good fortune does not impede progress in the next phase. Start the year out with eight weeks of Base. This will immediately follow your one- month rest period this fall. Allow for one month of transition from low intensity base training to higher intensity building phases later in the winter. Plan at least one month for an initial build phase going into the racing season, and another month if you plan to peak early. This should bring you to spring with some very good form. After the first peak plan on a ten-day detraining period. Then factor another month to come to great form again. That is a two-peak system with a proven track record. If you do this right, you may actually be able to detrain and re-peak again in the fall, if your ENGINE is still up to the task (if you’re still hungry to race). If you are still hot in the fall, after a full season of racing and good peak performances in the other peak blocks, you are doing it right. I usually don’t plan for three peaks… I consider a third peak a bonus.
There are many different scenarios for the annual plan, depending on your goals. If you allow time for growth and recovery, and allow your ENGINE to recharge between peaks, you can carry out your annual plan out with consistency and predictability. The annual plan is how you take control of your fate. Otherwise randomness and chaos are the rulers. I guess some people like that, but I prefer my athletes to have more lucrative contracts each season.