“How do I improve my swim leg for triathlon?” – Also very applicable to Runners!

“How do I improve my swim leg for triathlon?” – Also very applicable to Runners! There are 3 go to tenets that should help you improve and certainly make you more efficient in that triathlon swim leg.

Be Consistent
: Consistency in training is the number one method to achieve success in all three disciplines of triathlon, especially swimming. Depending on background I encourage my athletes to maintain at least 3 training swims a week a solid structure and basis to each session. For some who do not have a swim background yet have lofty goals like a Kona qualification we may work up to 6 swims a week and 20km of swimming. Typically this would consist of four 4km sets and a couple of 2km recovery type sets that would follow other disciplines – so Sunday for example might be a longer run and later in the day a 2km recovery swim.

Understand Your Speed: 
You need to know how fast you are swimming your 100s so learn to read the Pace Clock or use some form of timing equipment, like your fancy Garmin 920 watch, or use a Finis Tempo Trainer. This skill is essential in order to measure improvement – you can’t measure improvement if you don’t know where you are starting from. Knowing what times you are swimming and the pace you are holding is central to improving your times. Having said that for a triathlon swimmer I’ll take efficiency over ultimate speed every day of the week. So I’d much rather you swam 1:15 in your Ironman efficiently than you swam 1:05 but it took a lot out of you. To achieve either result we still must understand our relative speed and the simplest way is to start reading that pace clock..

Build Sessions
 These work to prevent the common mistake of going off too hard. We see this error in all three disciplines in triathlon where an athlete starts a session or a race too fast. Try to break sets down into 3 where you build through the session. So if you were swimming a 2400m main set maybe as 12 x 200s think of the first 800m or 4 x 200m as easy, the middle 800m as steady and the last 800m as fast. This means getting faster, or at least trying harder, throughout the set. This not only applies to swimming but all disciplines in triathlon. This will allow you to be aware of your pace in a race and can teach you how to start fast but not too fast and then to build throughout the swim.

So in your next swim set why not try and put one of these latter two tips above into practice and over the next few weeks work to become more consistent in your training and soon you’ll reap the benefits.

How are You going to Approach your next Training Race?

XC

As I write this in November there is a good chance that your primary race for the year will be some months off. Perhaps you are aiming for a Spring Marathon or maybe a Summer Ironman and therefore any race that you conduct around this time in the season can be thought of as a Training Race or a C or perhaps B Focus event. As a runner you may have entered your local Cross Country (XC) series or some trail races or as a triathlete perhaps you are doing a Winter Duathlon or you have entered a Cyclocross race or you also are taking part in that same Cross Country league. So how are you going to approach this Training Race? By at least having an “approach” you can ensure that you get the most out of the experience either as a race, as a race simulation or as a solid training experience.First and foremost I think it is key just to have the approach or goal that you aim to get something out of the event. It doesn’t need to involve the totality of the event; perhaps you have been working your bike strength recently so in the Duathlon you want to focus on the bike, or you have been working on some run hill reps so you want to feel like you can push more than usual on the hills. Perhaps you have devised up a new warm up strategy, or if appropriate a new nutrition strategy or have some new kit you want to try out. What ever it is, make a point of noting it and understand that it is your rationale for the race.

One thing to consider is that you have paid money and taken time to enter the race and to get to the race venue so you do want to race and race hard! However in this phase of the season you do not want to forgo good training time by tapering for such an event - so incorporate it into your training volume. As a runner if you have a 10km XC race then perhaps do an easy 5km jog before breakfast then head out for the race and either as a cool down or later in the day do a 5km cool down jog so you make it a 20km run day with the middle 10km being at a hard race pace. Or as a triathlete, do a nice aerobic 4km swim set on the Friday and a long easy bike or possibly turbo session on the Saturday before entering the same XC race on the Sunday. In both cases run the race as hard as you can and it can be your hard session for the weekend. That way you get the competitive juices flowing, you run hard against others, your trial new strategies but you incorporate it all appropriately into your weekly training load.

After the event don’t forget to reflect and consider what went well and what went not so well. Look at the process and not the outcome. The outcome will be affected by the fact that for you this was a training day – for others this may be their goal for the year! So look at the process: how did that new warm up routine work, or that new kit or that race strategy? Consider it all and reflect such that when it comes time for your A race all of these things are second nature.

So take your training races seriouslybut remember their place within the bigger picture. Place them appropriately within your programme, go into them with a plan, race them hard and reflect upon them afterwards. That way you’ll be on your way to greater success when the main races in your season roll around

Have you tried this running trick?

When I trained as a youngster with the local athletics club the Coach had a stopwatch but none of us young athletes wore a watch. If we owned a watch, it’s only functions would have been to tell us the time and perhaps the date. It would have certainly been taken it off prior to the run. When we raced we would run as hard as we could for the distance; so if it was a 3 mile XC race we would race as fast as we could for 3 miles when we conducted a training session each interval was as fast as we could for the number of yards (yes it was yards back in the day) that the coach set. In the mid-1990s I did buy my first heart rate monitor and for full disclosure I do own a GPS watch. I no longer use the former and I do find the latter useful for some racing and in particular to hold my pace in the first few miles (yes even I go off too hard at times) if I am trying to even pace a race. I will also use the time facility if I am doing a timed fartlek or interval session and would use the GPS if I wanted to run a particular distance or a particular pace. However the absolute majority of my runs are conducted with no watch, no HRM and no GPS.

This morning’s run was a good example, I wanted to run about an hour at an easy pace with my Collie, Murphy but to be honest if it was 55 minutes or 65 minutes or it was 7:30 pace or 8:30 pace it didn’t matter as long as it felt easy. So I picked a route that I knew would take about an hour an off we went. Running this way will allow you to truly understand your body and understand how running at particular intensities actually feels.

This week in Athletics Weekly, Julia Bleasdale the British 10,000m runner was interviewed and stated that she too enjoys leaving the watch behind. Rather than paraphrase what Julia said I will quote it and if you want to read the full article please buy Athletics Weekly.

“With the training aids nowadays giving you your pace and distance, when you run along with your watch, you’re always going to have an emotional response,” she says. “Sometimes in training I don’t take a watch and I feel I’ve become very in tune with my body. I can sense whether I’m running at the right intensity but only by starting the process of sometimes leaving your watch behind can develop that real deeper self-awareness and having that self-awareness can really help athletes to get closer to fulfilling their potential because you’re really in tune with your body, sensing niggles and how hard to push rather than trying to fulfil what a piece of paper or your training aid is telling you.”

An interesting area here is that Julia talks about having an ‘emotional response’ when running with a GPS and as a Coach I believe that sometimes athletes will set a false ceiling. They may be going well and look at their GPS and think ‘I can’t run this fast’ and slow down. In some respects this may be the correct response as they may have actually gone off way too hard however on the other hand they may be having a breakthrough performance and should carry on. Again if they have conducted training without a watch then they will know whether they are going too hard. Regardless what your gadget is telling you if you feel like you are going too easy or too hard then you probably are.

So like Julia I would encourage you to start to leave the watch at home for some of your runs and begin to develop that self-awareness and sense the intensity you are running at.

Let us know how you get on.

Race Week Advice

So race week is upon us and for all my athletes the first thing they will notice is that they will see that we keep training quite similar to that they have been used to. There is no massive taper for the athletes; yes we reduce the volume and for some we keep a bit of intensity but overall we keep a nice consistent training rhythm going. As an athlete you aren't going to get fitter in these last few days but you also won't lose a lot of fitness so don't stress it if life takes over; after all you probably will have some travelling to do and prep for the races. If you have raced before you'll know there is a lot of pre race posturing that goes on, particularly in triathlon, but this counts for nothing when the gun goes off. As a Brit everyone else always seems to look better tanned, have better shaved legs, look more muscular, more lean, have better kit a better bike etc etc but this counts for nothing so don't let it affect you. However staying out of this environment is always worth while. I'd advise spending as little time around others that are racing as you can. Go and register, go to the race brief and check out the course as required and for triathlon the flow through transitions and all aspects you need to know but do all of that efficiently. I like to wear my iPod just to keep myself in my own world. You've been there though you know the routine and how to race but any physical or mental energy you can save here all helps.

As the training load is slightly lower than normal there is no real need to carbo load as you are not burning the calories as normal. Hence with your usual calorie intake from foods you in effect will already be loading up. I always advise athletes to miss any pre race pasta party - no need to go wild at the buffet!

During the race itself concentrate on the process and not the outcome. Try and quieten your mind and never give up. Just be the best YOU can be on race day.

Keep your mind still and just keep working mile after mile. Break the event down and don't let the totality of it overwhelm you; so in a run think of it as 5ks or 10k or look to the next aid station but don't concern yourself with mile 20 while you are still at mile 10. Lastly good luck; we all need it. Concentrate on the process and most of all enjoy the race!

Dublin 70.3 Race Report

Dublin 70.3 Race Report Last Sunday Beth and I raced the inaugral 70.3 in Dublin. After a race I like to be quite objective with my race reports in order that I and others can glean some information about the race, and learn from those things that worked well and those things that didn’t go quite to plan.

My objectives for this event

This was a build up race for us in our prep for IM Chattanooga in September but with most races I always aim to do as well as I can.

Swim – as ever try to be strong and get the swim done without it taking anything out of me

Bike – ride a solid bike leg aiming to put myself in a good position to run strongly

Run – aim was to run around 1:30 which I hoped would put me in sight of an age group podium

PRE RACE

On the Sunday before the race I had my last real hit out session with a run that included 20 x 3 min reps at 70.3 race pace with 1 min recovery jogs. After the session I felt like I had a bit of hayfever coming on but early hours of Monday I awoke with a sore throat. No excuses whatsoever but this developed into a cold then a chesty cough as the week went on. Come the Friday I made the decision I would race as I felt it was getting better and we spent the day sight seeing; which culminated in a great meal and a couple of pints of Guinness in a bar on O’Connell Street with some great live Irish music – the Guinness actually seemed to help my cold! Saturday was the usual racking of bikes, dropping of bags and race briefing all of which seemed to take forever as the swim start and T1 was an hours drive away from T2 and the brief.

SWIM

Race morning felt pretty nervous which I haven’t been since Vitoria last year and this is definitely something to continue to work on. The swim takes place in Scotsman’s Bay, Dun Laoghaire (pronounced Dun Leary) and the 1 lap anti clockwise swim was set off in rolling, wave starts; there is a nice video of the swim start here. We were split into gender and age group waves that set off at 10 min intervals but you entered in a very orderly fashion down a slipway into the Irish Sea with the timing mat at the bottom of the slip way so there way no drama of the mass start. The swim was un-dramatic, although was about 300m long! The water temperature was reported to be 14.9 degrees C and there was a bit of a swell running that made sighting awkward. I came out in 40:40 which was 13^th in my AG but as it turns out nicely placed with those who would be in the mix as you can see from the results below. The exit is steep but multiple helpers did a grand job pulling you out.

All the bike bags were on racks in a tent as is normal at these events and I found mine and pulled on a long sleeved skins top to keep me at a good temperature and protect from the” Irish sunshine” on the bike. I was away well and pleased with myself for a reasonably slick transition all things considered.

BIKE

The bike course is a beautiful relatively flat course where you cycle on closed roads firstly straight into and through Dublin city centre the out on a one lap route that ends in Phoenix Park. The road surface in the main is pretty ropey to be honest and there were some significant pot holes. There are also at least 30 to 40 speed bumps on the course with 22 of them in the last few miles coming into Phoenix Park. These coupled with the road conditions and the rain shower we had made for some crashes and also the usual bottles and bits of bikes littering the course. I felt like I cycled well and only remember a couple of guys passing me and came off the bike in good shape in 2:33.

RUN

This is my strength and I had high hopes of keeping to the 1:30 target I ghad set myself. The run course is three laps around Phoenix Park and is pretty much supported the whole way round. At the end of lap 1 I stopped to have a pee in a portaloo and this was a good move in terms of I ran much better afterwards but took a few precious seconds so perhaps I should have peed on the bike. Technique wise I tried to run light, using a heel strike and hold my hips high with high cadence. It’s never easy in a triathlon but I felt my technique stayed reasonable throughout although I could definitely have run with a higher cadence.

The crowd support on the run was fantastic enthusiastic! My first two laps were pretty much on target and I felt that I was accelerating as the race went on which on a multi lap course is a great mental boost as you spend the entire race overtaking people. I ran a 1:32 so was happy with that time and it gave me a finish time of 4:56:19 and 5^th in my AG. No World Championship slot for me although it rolled to 3rd place however Beth managed to bad a roll down slot and therefore we will be making the trek across to Mooloolaba in September 2016. Still time for me to join her racing though!

Summary

Swim – I stayed focused and got it done without it taking anything out of me

Bike – I’m in good and felt I rode reasonably strongly without it killing me for the run.

Run – A strong run, not as fast as some but I felt like I tried hard.

NUTRITION

Overall I went in with a plan and stuck to it and didn’t feel I needed anymore.

Breakfast:

We had breakfast in the hotel: cereal with some fruit and some homebaked Guinness Brown Bread with honey and almond butter. Yes all you Paleo people will be shouting at this.

Bike:

One bottle with 4 Overstims gels in it topped up with water.

One bottle with some Overstims carb drink

1 ½ Powerbars withy the whole bar cut in half.

1 x Double Expresso Clif Shot Gels (caffeinated)

Run:

1 x Double Expresso Clif Shot Gels (caffeinated)

2 x Overstims gels

Water

Plan was to eat half a bar every 20 mins on bike then take caffeinated gel at 1 hr 20 then drink from gel bottle every 20 mins to finish. On run it was 1 gel every 25 ish minutes.

OUTCOMES

Positives:

1. All my gear worked great and I did not get too hot or cold. Huub wetsuit, Cervelo P3, Adidas Tempo run shoes – I’ve run in Adidas Tempo since 2012 if it ain’t broke don’t try and fix it
2. I handled the mental side well once the race started but was nervous before. In the swim and the bike and raced my own race. Felt I ran strongly
3. Nutrition worked pretty well in terms of not bonking at all
4. Confident that if things go well I can put together a faster time

Negatives / Work On’s:

1. Race nerves pre race
2. Possibly nutrition. I need to think how to transfer this plan to Ironman
3. Push harder on swim and bike – however cognisant that “you run for dough” so don’t want to overcook it

All in all a great race and one I would certainly do again.

Are you Doing the Right Training Session?

“Hard training 100% of the time is not about going flat out for every session. Instead it is about the difficulty in doing the right session, at the right intensity, 100% of the time”. So said Glenn Cook. I know I have longevity as a Coach when I have to explain who Glenn Cook is but he was a triathlete who made a number of appearances in the British team between the mid 80’s and 90’s and who was a World silver medalist at the first ITU Triathlon World Championships in Avignon in 1989; the year that ITU was formed. For a bonus point can you name the other athlete in the photo? Cook was right of course and I think we are all guilty of doing what we like rather than what we need to do in training and further than that we are guilty of not making those easy sessions truly easy or making those hard sessions lung busting hard. However we can look to Cook’s quote and take some inspiration when designing our sessions. Taking a run example if we want to break 40 minutes for the 10km then we can break this time and distance down and train very specifically. A 40 minute 10k pace means running 25 x 400m at 96s per 400m. So initially we can do sessions where we build up to this; we may do for example 10 x 400m aiming to hit 96s for each 400m and take 30s rest in between them. We can progress this to sessions where we run the 400s but do a 200m “float” jog in between each and work this up until we can run the full twenty five 400s at our race pace.

Of course no one want 40:00 so running slightly faster and getting for you a magic 39 something instead of a 40 something is the way to go so you’ll want to be slightly faster than 96s. This often occurs on race day and hitting race pace in training is tough. However this type of training will give you the feel of what your goal pace is like and whilst not a ‘flat out’ session it certainly can be one of the right session in your build up. For the 40 min 10k runner these repeats will not feel like going 100% for the 400 as they are manageable and this can be, in Cook’s words, “the right session at the right intensity” for you to hit your goal.

Until the next time, heed the words of Glenn Cook and do the right session at the right intensity.

Rachel Qualifies for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii!

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Here is a great Blog post from one of my athletes who recently raced Ironman UK at Bolton. Rachel had the most audacious goal in that our only goal for this season was to win the 30-34 AG at IMUK and qualify for Kona. Coming out the water in 57 minutes, the fastest time in the AG, then riding the fastest time in the AG, 5:52, and finally running the fastest run split of 3:29 is certainly the way to achieve your goal! Rachel finished in 10:28 which won her AG by 32 minutes and gave her 6th female overall and 2nd age grouper so we were extremely pleased and have already started making our preps training wise for Kona. I'll be writing more about how we achieved this in due course but for now enjoy Rachel's report on her race.

How to Predict your Ironman Finish Time

As a Coach when I am chatting to my athletes it is not long before the subject of Personal Bests/Personal Records and prospective finish times for races comes up. Indeed it is a vital conversation as by having an idea of this information leads to appropriate pacing and very often it is the lack of appropriate pacing that causes races to awry and leads to those ‘explosions’ and statements such as ‘I was going ok until mile X’. If you are looking to estimate your finish time for a run race there are a number of online predictors and you could do a lot worse than to start with those. By entering a known finish time over a set distance these will calculate a prospective finish time for a variety of distance races one of favourites for the marathon was quoted by the late great Frank Horwill from Serpentine AC who stated that if you take you 10km time, multiply it by 5 and then subtract 10 minutes you will get your predicted marathon time. As a rule of thumb for the marathon this is surprisingly (or unsurprisingly if you knew Frank) accurate!

However in the world of multi sport the predictions made become more difficult. Not least that, in the case of triathlon, there are three sports involved and, in the case of Ironman triathlon, the extended duration of the event allows for the potential for more unexpected events or for the terrain/weather/fatigue etc to play a greater part and to make predictions difficult However that is exactly what scientists at the University of Zurich[1] did. They set out to assess whether physical characteristics, training, or pre race experience were related to performance in age group male Ironman triathletes and measured the results at Ironman Switzerland.

The findings show that speed in running during training, personal best marathon time, and personal best time in an Olympic distance triathlon were related to the Ironman race time. The results are not just saying that faster runners over the marathon and the faster an athlete is over the Olympic distance the faster the Ironman finish; they have created a relationship between the times. One of the major findings was related to pace in that the scientists discovered that the triathletes swam and cycled at much faster speeds that they did in training yet ran at significantly slower speeds. The equation that was developed for predicting your Ironman finish time based on Olympic distance triathlon and marathon finish times was:

Iron Distance Finish Time (mins) = 152.1 + [1.332 x (Marathon PB)] + [1.964 x (Olympic Distance PB)]

Whilst your Personal Bests may have been set on a different type of course than the Ironman and the results must be current results I do feel that this formula gives us a great starting point to predict finish times and as a result goals and training paces along with aspirations can be better understood and adhered to. Worthy of note in the research is that slowing down factor on the run and as always it is she or he who slows down least that will do well.

Test it out and let us know how you get on!

[1] BEAT KNECHTLE, ANDREA WIRTH, and THOMAS ROSEMANN (2010) PREDICTORS OF RACE TIME IN MALE IRONMAN TRIATHLETES: PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, TRAINING, OR PRERACE EXPERIENCE?. Perceptual and Motor Skills: Volume 111, Issue , pp. 437-446. doi: 10.2466/05.25.PMS.111.5.437-446

Triathlon Training Camp - Mallorca April 2015

We hope you enjoy this movie of our Performance Edge Triathlon Training Camp in Mallorca, April 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHBz9NyeVB4

Is your Training Camp making you Slower?

As we prepare to head out the door to host our April Triathlon Training Camp in Mallorca I wanted to give you some thoughts about the rationale of the camp and perhaps some things you might consider when choosing a triathlon training camp. Each Spring we see northern hemisphere age-group athletes go out in search of some sunshine and great training facilities with the sole intention of getting some big miles in the legs as well as the opportunity to eat, sleep and train with fellow athletes without the distraction of work and family ties. Sounds great right?

The problem is that on some of these training weeks the age group athlete will potentially quadruple the volume that they are used to (believe me I have been there) and this can lead to burn out and over use injuries (again, been there). Yet the true rationale for going on a camp is that we get a performance benefit down the line and actually get faster – isn’t it? So here at Performance Edge the rationale is slightly different. Yes we will train - after all we have great weather and all day to do it – we do not bring our athletes out for a Spa week - but we do not try and over work them to the point of ultimate fatigue as most of these athletes are only really starting to emerge from the Northern winter and this will be the first foray into the sunshine and some consistent volume.

Rather the aims of the camp are:

• To complete an appropriately increased volume of training with some great rides at an increased volume than they are conducting at home– after all they are not working and we have removed the distractions of home so we do have all day to train.
• To work on athletic development – so we conduct both run and swim video analysis as well as constantly watching for areas during run & swim sessions where we can improve the athletes efficiency
• To do all of this in a great location, with some great weather so the athletes can train and recover from both life stressors and the stress imposed by the training they are doing and
• To return them fitter and in better shape than they first arrived – not more tired and needing the following week off to recover

So at the end of next week I want to see a dozen refreshed, fit, tanned and better informed athletes returning home with a passion and an ability to progress towards their A Race of the season.

Are You Running Too Fast in Training?

We have all heard the argument that Speed Kills. A lot of our road safety campaigns are based on this premise and we often carry this mantra across to sport. There are certainly physiological and psychological advantages to be had by conducting speed work and I will certainly include appropriate amounts even in an ultra marathoner runners schedule, however when it comes to the multisport world and in particular the Ironman Triathlon distance how much is too much or how fast is too fast? I came across a nice paper by Vleck, VE, et al in the J Strength Cond Res 24(1): 30-36, 2010 looking at training and injury effects within triathlon distance specialization. Over a 5 year period the authors looked at training duration and training frequency, so how long and how often the athletes trained, as well as injury frequency and severity. For the Ironman Distance triathletes the number of overuse injury number went up with the duration of “speed run” and “speed bike” sessions. The authors also noted that cycle and run training may have a “cumulative stress” influence on injury risk. Therefore, the tendency of some triathletes or indeed Coaches to modify, rather than stop training when injured,-usually by increasing load in another discipline from that in which the injury first occurred may increase both their risk of injury recurrence and time to full rehabilitation. So perhaps in our Ironman Distance population “speed” really does kill.

Of course speed is a relative term and I feel that appropriate, evidence informed pace work (particularly race pace work) has a place in our schedules. The key is appropriate pace though. Our Tuesday evening club 1 km reps at sub 6 min per mile have little place for a triathlete that is in reality going to be running a 3:30 to 4 hour marathon off the bike at best. In the majority of Ironman races IF you can run 3:30, that is around 8 min per mile pace, you are going to do extremely well so our need to do the volume and duration of speed work, as observed by the authors may lead to a prevalence of overuse injury.

Remember Triathlon and in particular Ironman Triathlon and Marathon Running are Aerobic sports built on the pillar of Strength Endurance.

Want to improve your swimming? Try this.....

“People wish to learn to swim and at the same time to keep one foot on the ground” Marcel Proust 1871 -1922. I’m sure that Proust was not talking about triathlon when he made the above statement however it resonates deeply with many of those of us involved in coaching triathletes to improve their swim abilities. I’ll state it quite simply that there is no substitute for spending time in the water in order to improve your swimming ability. Spend some time just immersing (pun intended) yourself in swim training, increase your volume and you will improve. I know I will already be losing some readers who want the quick fix, the latest technique or technology to get faster with less effort and time. To those I will say please stay and read on as by doing so you truly will be on the road to a better swim split.

I consulted a couple of weighty tomes on my bookshelf to consider what volume is considered to be. Former national performance director of British Swimming, Bill Sweetenham and coach John Atkinson consider in Championship Swim Training that 40km a week is the starting point. The astounding thing here is there are not talking about swimmers they are talking about triathletes. When Sweetenham and Atkinson come to swimming per se they consider that swimming 8 hours a week offers “participation, fun, involvement and significant health benefits, but it is not competition swimming and never produces” what they call “a competitive result”. Bear in mind they are talking about competitive swimmers when they make this statement but it puts swim volume in perspective I believe. Again I may be starting to lose more readers who really don’t want to hear this but I’ve said it before; “I’ve not come across a good swimmer that hasn’t swum lots”, yet this is the one area of triathlon where it appears people are looking for the secret. For those of you still with me I am not saying go out and swim 40km or 8 hours a week what I am saying is that by spending some time training like a swimmer will improve your ability to swim in a triathlon.

If you were training a marathon runner you would probably have them build up to run a long run of around 20 -22 miles or 76 – 84% of race distance. Reading this across to swimming would mean an Ironman distance triathlete would build up to swim a constant 2900 – 3200m. No stopping, no drinks, just do the distance. The key here is to build up. Swimming has less impact on the joints hence you could quite easily go over distance, and in swimming you could do this a number of times whereas with running you would limit it.

So try turning up that volume and seeing how you get on.

Specificity - One of the Fundamental Principles of Training

I’m sure that even the most hardened of Sports Scientists will not have read a paper by DeLorme on the restoration of muscle power by heavy-resistance exercises[1] as it was published in the Journal of Bone Joint Surgery back in 1945. However this is where the term specificity was first suggested as being the method whereby an athlete is trained in a specific manner to produce a specific adaptation or training outcome. In other words you need to do the thing or at least replicate the thing that you are striving to improve at. That is because according to the “law of specificity’ the adaptation, for example being able to swim 3.8km efficiently in a wetsuit, matches the stimulus, which might be training by swimming something like 40 x 100m with some small paddles, pull buoy and band. Training for a specific event is therefore actually quite simple; from either a practical coaching or a science perspective you apply a stimulus and it is that stimulus that causes the body to adapt. The term specificity is often quoted interchangeably with the acronym SAID, which stands for specific adaptation to imposed demands. The principle here is that it is the type of demand that is placed on the body that dictates the type of adaptation that will occur. So let us go back to my swim set that many of you will have been horrified at. In this example I am not trying to give you a stimulus to adapt you to be a pool swimmer per se, I am trying in a pool situation to give you a stimulus that allows you to adapt to swimming in a wetsuit, or in the sea, or both with 2500 of your closest friends. So would swimming open water make you a better open water swimmer? Yes, because it is more specific – it is also quite tough to do all year long in most climates. So the example I have used here is one where I am trying to activate or recruit the same motor units required by your sport and by incorporating training that mimics the movement patterns of your sport as a Coach I increase the likelihood that muscles involved in the sport will be recruited.

You can apply specificity to the energy systems involved in your sport. In track and field athletics a sprint takes around about 10 seconds – in a triathlon a sprint takes about an hour. The former is an anaerobic event and if you want to be good at it you need to apply an aerobic sprint-training stimulus. If you want aerobic ability you apply an aerobic stimulus and you apply it to the very muscles that you plan to use for your desired performance. If a sprint triathlon is a predominately aerobic event then you can guess what an Olympic, 70.3 or Ironman distance event is. So ensure that you apply the principle of specificity to the event and the energy system. Don’t get me wrong, I get it that you love going to your athletics club on a Tuesday evening and smashing out 400s but ask yourself how applicable it is to the marathon at the end of the Ironman event you have signed up for and is now only 5 months away. Would it not be more appropriate for example to do an hour big gear turbo session and run at your race pace, which I guarantee will not be “smashing it” even if you are Sebastian Kienle, off the bike? So when you head out the door for your next training session, think of T.L. DeLorme and ask yourself – ‘is it specific’? Now where is that pull buoy…..

[1] DeLorme T.L. Restoration of muscle power by heavy-resistance exercises. J Bone Joint Surg 27:645. 1945

Swim Strength Session

Westonbirt Triathlon Club swim strength session preparing for the Westonbirt Triathlon 25 May 2015. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLhVX1Z_jRY[/embed]

Tumble - The Movie

This week the Westonbirt Tri Club began the road to perfecting the tumble turn - enjoy the movie we'll be posting more in the weeks and months to come!

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZevgkGkltg[/embed]

Swimming Tumble Turns

Following a great Coaching Session at Westonbirt Triathlon Club last night where we worked on perfecting the Tumble Turn I thought it was an ideal opportunity to cover the basics in a blog post. 1 Accelerate to the wall but do not lift head to look at wall.

One mistake we see often is swimmers slowing as they approach the wall. Swim fast in those last 5 metres and convert that forward momentum into a fast turn.

2 Don’t take a breath on the last stroke.

In order to keep that nice acceleration to the wall do not lose that streamline position, which would decrease your momentum.

3. Do not get too close to the wall.

With the knees in too bent a position you’ll restrict the power you can push off with so don’t get too close.

4 If possible do not breathe on your first stroke.

It’s sad but true that your fastest period of swimming in a length is just after the push off so the longer you can hold that streamlined, fluid dynamic position the quicker you will swim.

5 Tuck your knees in – a smaller ball will turn faster

Try doing an underwater flip turn – if your legs are straight, or body is not in a tucked position, you will see how much effort it takes to get the legs around and ready for push off.

6 Flip straight over – angle your feet at the wall and rotate body on the push off

The fastest way to get feet to the wall is with a flip straight over – chin to chest, knees tucked

7 Keep both arms straight by side/palms up –using abs to create the flip- hands and arms will be ready for a streamlined push off

8 Flip and Freeze – After executing a straight flip- with feet on wall, freeze to make sure your arms are straight, hand on top of hand ready for push off

9 Stay relaxed – exhale through nose to keep water out – and practice, practice, practice!!

Think you don't have what it takes to finish an Ironman? .....Read on.

Often in articles you read about how the Triathlon Pros train or what it takes to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kona but rarely do we read about what it takes to just finish an Ironman Triathlon. By just finish I really mean that; I don’t mean to set some arbitrary sub 12 or 13 or 14 hour goal but truly just to finish under that 17 hour deadline. I’m as guilty as anyone because I use terminology more akin to the world of performance sport and I often talk about my high performing athletes but I use this vocabulary correctly in that I apply it to all of my athletes and everyone I coach is referred to as an athlete – some are just faster than others. Whether they are like Rachel who’s aim is to qualify for Kona in 2015 or whether they are like Maite, a world renowned concert pianist who has just signed up for her first ever running race, the Brighton marathon, they are all athletes and the same principles of training apply to them all.  Trudy’s Challenge

 In 2013 I had the opportunity and the great pleasure to start working with a first time IMer, let’s call her Trudy – because that’s her name! The physical equation for Trudy’s attempt at an Ironman finish was a simple one – we had to get her aerobically fit + give her some sports specific strength + help her understand what was going to be required of her = finish in under 17 hours. One of the huge advantages Trudy had was that she is quite simply one of the most positive people I have ever met so the psychology aspect of getting her ready was relatively simple. Trudy was apprehensive but that trepidation offered genuine, unadulterated, motivation.

 Make no mistake, we both knew that this was, to use football parlance ‘a big ask’, as the Ironman distance offers no mercy for those who enter unprepared. Of course Trudy being Trudy she decided that if she was going to do an Ironman she might as well do a ‘proper’ race and therefore she entered a race not designed for the soft hearted - Ironman Wales.

 If like Trudy your aim is to ’merely’ cross that line (it should be noted that anyone that finishes an Ironman in under 17 hrs is extremely fit and would rank in the top 2% in terms of fitness within a population) then I want to look in more depth as to what is required to achieve that and what we put in place training wise for Trudy, and you, to achieve the goal.

 The Requirement

 So, what are the requirements for a 17hr finish?

 Well if we ignore transitions, not an easy job to do at IM Wales with the never ending run from the beach to T1 then we can assume a 2 hr swim, an 8.5hr bike and a 6.5hr marathon will get the job done. The output required does not look fearsome when written down; a 3 min per 100m swim, an average of just over 13mph on the bike, and a modest 14:45 min per mile run. In requirement terms, it sounds pretty easy, but try doing anything for 17 hours and you’ll find out that it isn’t as simple to operate for this length of time as it sounds.

 The Training

 We built Trudy’s training along the tenets of Consistency, Specificity and Strength Endurance. In other words we had to get her training, training by doing the right thing and that right thing was working on Strength Endurance. Trudy came to me having completed a number of events including a couple of Middle Distance events, notably the Cowman which she finished in 7 hours and 4 seconds and a 5hr 30min finish at the London Marathon. This was to be her first attempt at the IM Distance and the training was build on getting her efficient and strong in the swim so that it took nothing out of her so we worked on a lot of strength type sets with small paddles, a pull buoy and band. On the bike we mixed the traditional longer rides with some specific big gear turbo sessions, like 3 mins hard, 3 mins easy for an hour to get her strong and we looked at specific run and brick sessions to get her moving efficiently at and slightly faster than race pace.

 The Result

 It was a tough day at the office for all the competitors as the weather turning, well very Welsh towards the end, but I’m delighted to say that in 16 hours and 30 minutes Trudy heard the words “You are an Ironman!” The details were a 1hr 27min swim, an 8hr 39 minute bike and slipping under the 6 hr barrier with a 5hr 59 run.

 With the correct level of motivation, consistent training, appropriate pacing and a willingness to succeed you can achieve the same. I’m looking forward to helping Maite achieve her goal in 2015 and who knows perhaps an Ironman awaits…..

Your Twitter Nutrition Tip for the Age Group Triathlete

Inspired by a poll my good friend Gary Fegan (@Fegan) carried out - we asked a wide range of Professional Triathletes, Coaches, Nutritionists and Scientists: "In this world of differing diets, Paleo etc, what would you advise for working age group triathletes?" Many, many thanks to those that took the time to responded below, it truly demonstrates the fortunate contact we have to and with the professional triathlon community.

Brett Sutton @trisutto

Professional Triathlon Coach, Switzerland/Cozumel

As I tell all my women athletes, old school; meat, vegetables and fruit. For the men, if training hard add the pasta.

Rachel Joyce @rjoyce09

Professional Triathlete, London, England

Everyone's different but the approach I go for is everything fresh and no to processed foods.

Professor Tim Noakes @proftimnoakes

Exercise Science Professor, Cape Town, SA

If heavy and insulin resistant, Paleo would be advisable. Too early to say Paleo will work for all. Each an experiment of one.

Jozsef Major @krepster

Professional Triathlete, Lisbon, Portugal

I seriously follow, believe and recommend ‪@TheCoreDiet. It has its similarities w/ Paleo but it's more "performance driven. Not a paleo fan but everyone has to do that works the best for him/her. Eat 5-6 times/day. Focus on protein, carbs, good fat, less sugar.

Paul Burton @pablo_burt

Age Group Triathlete, London, England

I'm not going paleo/LCHF, but an active move towards a middle ground where I control refined carb intake. Lots more eggs/meat

 Early thoughts are that it really helps control energy levels - much More stable, no crashes. Tricky with a sweet tooth though. Must say I'm enjoying embracing eggs & steaks in my diet. Learning to cook properly is fun as well - better than boiling pasta

Belinda Granger @belinda_granger

Professional Triathlete, Noosa, Aus

‏‪I still live by the good old fashioned 'everything in moderation'. I eat gluten,meat, dairy, vege, chocolate, red wine, coffee

 I make sure I eat it all in moderation and cut down on the 'naughty stuff' when I need to...life is too short to miss out

Dr Philip Skiba @drphilipskiba

Programme Director of Sports Medicine, Chicago, USA

Eat a well balanced diet. Fad diets are for celebrities with more money than sense.

Daniel Hawksworth @hawky1

Professional Triathlete, Jersey, Channel Islands

I enjoy my food but eat healthy at the same time. Body needs fuel. Not in to dieting. If you are too heavy train harder.

Catherine Faux @catherinefaux

Age Group Triathlete, Sheffield, England

Keep it natural and unprocessed. If your granny would be perplexed (pot noodle?) then steer clear. And no 'never' foods.

It's a good rule of thumb. My granny introduced me to slow cooker: perfect for hot tasty goodness after long cold ride. Genius!

Caroline Steffen @caroline_xena

Professional Triathlete, Mooloolaba QLD / Spiez BE

Eat 'clean' food only. No processed products! If the list of ingredients on the backside is longer than 3words, stay away of it

Charlie Pennington @c_e_pennington

Age Group Triathlete, Surrey, England

I'm unusual (!) in that i don't get to control what I get offered to eat (limited choice in Mess): either I eat it or not. therefore I try to be sensible: I eat in moderation but don't particularly forego anything if I want it. I guess the key is that I don't want to burden my wife (does most of cooking when I'm home) with a diet. I eat with my kids :)

Richard Evershed @revershed

Age Group Triathlete, Cheltenham, England

Think it's bit of an AGer thing to subscribe to a type diet (paleo etc) Most pros I’ve read about just keep it simple & eat clean

Tom Lowe @tomalowe

Professional Triathlete, Bristol, England

Healthy, balanced, aspects of Paleo I'd adopt but certainly not all. Plenty of fruit & veg, carbs like oats/potatoes, grains.

Dirk Bockel @dirkbockel

Professional Triathlete, Luxembourg

Without knowing athletes history its hard to say. Heathy, organic (meat,eggs,milk) and mostly GF for sure. Low carb. Many colors

Gordo Byrn @gordo_68

Professional Triathlon Coach, Boulder, Co, USA

For performance ‪http://www.endurancecorner.com/Gordo_Byrn/nutrition_performance …

Brandon Marsh @brandonmarshtx

Professional Triathlete, Texas

Fuel the workouts. Eat smart outside of workouts. Stay away from 'diets'.

Paulo Sousa @pstriathlon

Professional Triathlon Coach, San Diego, Ca, USA

Not a fan of the term "diet" and all the baggage that carries. Eat in a balanced way, low on processed high on fresh food.

Victor Del Corral @victordelcorral

Professional Triathlete, Spain

No meat and no sugar added food products. Drink a lot of water!

Alan Couzens @alan_couzens

Professional Triathlon Coach, Boulder, Co, USA

Scale carbs with activity level. 40/30/30 is a good "middle ground" target for a serious AGer (15-20hrs/wk)

Gina Crawford @gina_crawford

Professional Triathlete, NZ

Eat as natural as possible, cut out the processed stuff. Proteins, fats good, but you still need carbs to fuel sessions.

 Scott Neyedii @scottneyedii

Professional Triathlete, Aberdeen, Scotland

High protein generally

Darren Smith @coachdaz

Professional Triathlon Coach, Morzine Fr (Sedona & Canberra)

Very balanced approach to nutrients eat real food! More smaller portions spaced thru day don't go overboard on protein-no need

Matt Dixon @purplepatch

Professional Triathlon Coach, San Francisco, USA

Avoid voodoo hype. Keep it simple. Eat real foods. Ensure you fuel following every workout. Frequent and small healthy meals.

Robbie Haywood @robinhaywood

Professional Triathlon Coach, Various Locations

Don't be scared of good fats, eat for long term health - can't train a sick body

Professor Paul Laursen @paulblaursen

Physiology Manager High Performance Sport, North Shore New Zealand

 Paleo or LCHF like this: ‪http://greatist.com/health/ultimate-guide-eating-paleo-infographic …, but periodised like this. ‪http://yelling-stop.blogspot.co.nz/2013/12/low-carb-athletes-world-record-ultra.html ….

 but need to warn them that at first they will likely feel like this... ‪http://www.runetics.com/index.php/blogmenu/2014posts/82-sugar-killed-the-running-man …

Emily Miazga @emspowercookies

Nutritionist & Coast to Coast Winner, New Zealand

Some ideals of Paleo are good like avoiding processed food. But I advocate whole food plant-based eating, no fad diets.

Meredith Kessler @mbkessler

Professional Triathlete, San Francisco, Ca, USA

Variety, moderation+normalcy=ideal. Eating wholesome + unprocessed foods in your fueling window @ right times - minimal focus on a #!!

Catriona Morrison @cat_morrison

Professional Triathlete, Broxburn, Scotland

Wide & varied, as unprocessed as poss. Prep & freeze for the week ahead. Treats mandatory.

Edith Niederfriniger @ironfrini

Professional Triathlete, Meran, Italy

Lots of vegetables, add more good protein if you are focusing on gaining strength, more carbs for high intense workouts

Chris McDonald @bigsexymcdonald

Professional Triathlete, Austin, Tx, USA

Everything in moderation! Remember EVERYTHING that goes in your mouth is your "diet".

Tyler Butterfield @tybutterfield

Professional Triathlete, Boulder, Co, USA

I tend to go with Healthy Balance Diet. Nothing crazy, just balance little bit everything. Carb, protein, healthy fats, etc.

Justin Daerr @justindaerr

Professional Triathlete, Boulder, Co, USA

Fuel yourself adequately during long training sessions to avoid overeating later.

Emma Davis @emmadavistri

Professional Triathlete, Various locations

My preference is paleo "for athletes". Paleo with some natural starches such as sweet potatoes etc around training when needed

Joe Beer @coachjoebeer

Professional Triathlon Coach, Braunton, Devon, England

One that is "balanced with your goals, budget, personal happiness and outcome realism" (ie.no diet makes a champ)

     Happy eating from Neil & Beth at Performance-Edge!

Triathlon Vitoria Race Report

Triathlon Vitoria Race Report My objectives for this event

▪ This was my A race of the season - aim was to come in around 10:30 ▪ Swim – be very focused and just get the swim done without it taking anything out of me ▪ Bike – ride a solid bike leg aiming for an average of 180W ▪ Run – aim was to run 3:30 (8 min per mile pace/5 min per km) this should put me in sight of an age group win

PRE RACE

The last few weeks leading into this race I’d missed a few training sessions as was busy with getting athletes sorted for their own races but I knew this training was the icing on the cake so I wasn’t that stressed – honest! The days leading into the race I felt good and relaxed but race morning felt pretty nervous which I haven’t done for some time but all being well I knew it would pass.

SWIM

Being Spain nothing happens that early so Elites head off at 08:00, the women are 5 mins later then at 08:10 the Half race starts and finally the Iron Distance at 08:20. Being an anti clockwise course I entered the start area from the right, and got away clean. This was probably the worst swim I’ve been in for getting smashed though, some of it has to do with the fact that I actually sight well so will swim pretty much on the buoys but you get pretty beat up at the turn. I was kicked in the throat on the first out leg, the guy meant to kick me which is just so dangerous and it’s not like we are going to win! I swam wide after that. It’s a 2-lap swim course so you have an “Aussie Exit” up and across the beach for about 30m then back in for lap two. Of course it had thinned out a lot in the second lap and I came out in 1:14 which I’m happy with. All the bike bags were on racks in an open transition area and I found mine and pulled on a long sleeved skins top to keep me at a good temperature and protect from the suns rays on the bike. I was away well and pleased with myself for a reasonably slick transition all things considered.

BIKE

The bike course is a beautiful undulating course where you cycle in some fantastic Basque rural countryside. Both the Iron and the Half courses do a short lap, which the Half then repeats but the Iron distance does a further two longer laps. I rode well although there was some huge peletons forming, it was difficult not to get caught up in these as some were 20 strong and 2 or 3 abreast. On the second lap I could see that I was riding with a couple of guys in my age group (funnily enough one was the eventual winner and I kept thinking I can smash you in the run!) and I stayed with this group until the end of the bike course.

I am a good climber but would drop off the pace to keep my power down but you could see the Spanish get very excited and smash it up every climb to ecstatic shouts of “Venga Venga, Animo, Vamos” from the extremely excitable spectators. I’d catch the bunch again on the descents and rolling flats, go past them and then realize that I was doing a “Tom Boonen” and pulling them all along so would sit up and settle off the back. I came off the bike with a 5:20 split and it felt good.

RUN

This is my strength and having come off a great run in the Honu 70.3 in Hawaii I had high hopes of keeping to the conservative 5 min per km pace however this was not to be. I have had an Achilles issue for about 5 weeks now but I knew that adrenaline would see me through so no excuses. Injury wise I can pretty much kill myself to finish a race. The run course is a 4-lap affair and is run within the streets and parks of Vitoria-Gastiez and again is extremely well supported. I went ‘old school’ and changed completely into my Bristol and West run vest and run shorts and wore compression socks (ok so not fully old school) to try and support my Achilles. Technique wise I tried to run light, using a gentle heel strike and hold my hips high. It’s never easy in an Ironman but I felt my technique stayed reasonable throughout.

The crowd support was fantastic and I genuinely do not think I have come across such enthusiastic supporters – which is quite annoying when you just want to walk! My first two laps were pretty much on target but by the end of the third lap I had strong waves of nausea and was starting to fatigue – I also had the onset of the “never again” feelings. The final lap was a death march I tried jogging between lamp posts, jogging for a count of 50, then 20 but pretty much walked most of the last 10k to finish the run in 4:15. It’s not my worst Iron Distance run but it is my most disappointing. My final time was 11:02. Incidentally the guy who I thought couldn’t run - he ran a 3:29 and came first in the AG. If I had run to plan I would have won.

Summary

Swim – I stayed focused and got it done without it taking anything out of me Bike – I’m in better shape than last year and I felt good and rode a sensible but reasonably quick bike leg keeping to the power I had aimed for Run – Not my slowest Iron Distance run but pretty disappointing. I’m better than this.

NUTRITION

Overall a bit less nutrition than normal but it worked pretty well for the most part and I had no issues on the bike. The run was a different story.

Breakfast:

▪ We always take our blender and I had a protein powder, fruit, coconut oil, almond butter shake with some granola sprinkled on top.

Bike:

▪ 7 serves Ucan ▪ 3 tablespoons MCT Oil ▪ 30 Master Amino Profile tablets crushed ▪ All of the above blended with ice and water and put in two bottles. ▪ 4 x Bonk Breaker Bites ▪ Water

Run:

▪ 2 x Double Expresso Clif Shot Gels (caffeinated) ▪ Water ▪ Some Coke ▪ Aimed to have more but stomach was rebelling badly by halfway

OUTCOMES

Positives:

1. All my gear worked great and I did not get too hot or burnt. Huub wetsuit, Cervelo P2C (This was it’s last outing as I’ve just bought a P3 – If you are interested in a 56 Cervelo P2C, Zipp 404, Q Rings, Rotor Cranks, QuarQ Powermeter then e mail me!!), Adidas Tempo run shoes. 2. I handled the mental side well in the swim and the bike and raced my own race. I was disappointed on the run and allowed negative thoughts to enter. 3. Nutrition worked pretty well in terms of not bonking at all on the bike – not sure about the run might need a rethink 4. Confident that if things go well I can put together a 3:30 or faster on the run

Negatives / Work On's:

1. My run was poor but this was not anything to do with running per se. 2. Possibly nutrition. I need to think about that for next race 3. Not being able to push on the run

All in all I’m pleased I finished – it is so easy not to.

ITU Old School Triathlon to the Modern Day

Here at Performance Edge we love a bit of Old School Triathlon so we'd thought we'd share a great video that goes along with the International Triathlon Union (ITU) announcement that they are creating a hall of fame.  There are some great footage from back in the day when speedos, crop tops, running vests were all the rage.  Not a carbon bike in view at the start of the video but there is some super fast racing!  For those who more enjoy the modern era it does chart the progress through the Olympics culminating with London 2012.  Enjoy!