Changing Plans

I often write about the value of having a plan for how you approach your sporting goals, which provides you with direction and motivation. But a wiser person once said "When you go into battle, have a plan. But then expect the unexpected and be ready to change your plan."

While sports is not necessarily a "battle", as such, the sentiment quote holds well for sports both during preparation and execution of a race. Things rarely ever go perfectly to plan, so it is the people who see the opportunity in change that come out the best. At risk of overdoing the quotes in this article..."When the winds of change are blowing, some seek shelter. Others build windmills."

There's all kinds of reasons for changing plans, whether you do it on your own accord or it is "forced" upon you. In this article I'll look at the forced plan changes and some strategies for coping with them, whether it's because of family / work pressure, bad weather or an injury. While they are annoying there is usually something you can do to make the best of the situation.

Firstly, let's classify changes into micro (1-7 days impact/duration), moderate (1-4 weeks) and macro (more than 4 weeks). The reason for these groupings is that the approach you take will differ. What makes things trickier is when an interruption begins as micro and extends to moderate (or macro) - knowing the length of the interruption in advance helps a lot, otherwise you'll be changing plans blindly on the fly. This is often the case with injuries.

So let's look at each grouping and the kind of things you should consider:

Mirco
In the grand scheme of things, impacts of these nature are a blip on the radar. There's a golden rule of training that says if you miss a session to never try and make it up by slotting it in elsewhere, which is quite correct. However, if you're faced with missing 1 or more sessions in a week then it is possible to re-plan your week to re-prioritise the sessions you can do in order to get the key sessions done, which themselves may need to be re-designed depending on the nature of the sessions.

It's hard to describe in writing, but in essence top priority should still be your long ride / run (of some length) even if every other session is missed. After that, look to include the priority 2 sessions as identified by your coach, allowing adequate recovery between all sessions. The details of sessions may need to be changed (eg, shorter) to fit into the available time, or sometimes (depending on the circumstances) just training can be more important than the details. You're actually making successive mini-plans as circumstances allow.

Even if you miss a whole week of training the impact is greater in your head than on your body. In fact, a week off can be a blessing in disguise. The golden rule holds true, however, in not trying to double up sessions to fit in ones that you've missed...you should still view sessions in the context of week, and not individually.

Moderate
Interruptions of 1-4 weeks will, by necessity, have a bigger impact on your plans, and possibly your goals. During a longer interruption the key is to just do what you can, where the point about just training being more important than the details being even more relevant.

If your interruption is due to injury then look at the training options that you can do. Cross-train, do complementary core strength work, and more. Hopefully you'll have a timeline for return to training, and will need to adjust your training thereafter to allow for the break you've had, and your goals ahead. While injured you need to be very adaptive to the circumstances of your injury, what it allows you to do and when you're able to get back into routine.

If your interruption is due to other circumstances then the likely constraint will be time availability, and probably also training equipment and venue access. In this case your training plan will need to adapt to the scenario to do the best you can. If circumstances allow, try to keep some kind of routine and structure within the constraints or otherwise just train. Be conscious of the combined stress of everything you're dealing with, in combination with the physical training stress.

Following a moderate interruption you'll need to plan for your return to routine, and not just assume you'll pick up where you left off. This will depend on the circumstances of the interruption.

Macro
A long-term interruption requires a long-term view to the impact on your plans, in particular for things like planned events and the feasibility of doing them. Compared to a moderate interruption, on a macro scale the key difference is that you need to accept the situation and be patient about your return whereas often when you're out for 1-4 weeks your goal is to maintain what you've got in terms of fitness so your return is as swift as possible.

On a macro scale you accept that you're reasonably going back near to square 1 once you get going again, and thus your plans need to reflect that. This is not to mean that you can "let yourself go" during the interruption, but that you need to be prepared to invest significant time and patience into your return. It's a state of mind and perspective shift.


Changing plans is not a sign of failure in your plan, but rather than you're responding proactively to the scenario rather than working against the reasons for the change of plan. You need to work with it and not against it and realise that there are always multiple ways to deal with an interruption, and that the path you choose should be based on what is the best direction for you at that time. Just do the best you can in the circumstances.