first meet not the best?

[Captain_Jack_Sparrow]

@syrus2001

I also tend to see these as classic periodization vs vertical integration styles. Athlete 1 has been doing repeat 200s at 27s for a few month. Athlete 2 has been following a CFTS type of design, so speed year round. When it comes time for their first race, Athlete 1 has either not even begun speed training or has just started. Athlete 2 has been doing it for a few months now. They run the same time. Athlete 1 is fully fresh in terms of speed training and is running on his natural talent. Athlete 2 is loaded with 600m of speed the same week he ran his opener. Come competition period, athlete 1 is in full swing of speed training and athlete 2 is maintaining and unloading, following 10 day tapers ect… Athlete 1’s performances stay the same or worsen under the fatigue effects of speed training while Athlete 2’s performances soar due to freshness and dminished fatigue. Even with a taper, Athlete 1’s performances improvements are tiny compared to Athlete 2, who has been loading speed for months compared to the relatively small training load of the classic periodization scheme of Athlete 1.

You are probably right, but I think that the elements which influence the season trend are much more than the type of periodization. For example my coach uses a classical periodization. In 2008 season, started the 1st of May, I ran my PB only in the last race, on July 11 on a very good track (wind + 0.5). In 2009 I ran my PB on the 1st of May, on an awful track (wind +0.0) and never improved anymore. Honestly, I never understood what causes the variation of my performance, in training and in race.