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Ironguides Bangkok – Nov 2022 Updates

 

ironguides Bangkok newsletter: Stay updated on what our group is up to!

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Dear athletes, below the relevant updates for the upcoming month

* New run session venue (400m track) – starting November 2nd
* Khao Yai cycling day trip
* Race Report – More members qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships
* ironguides among biggest top 10 tri clubs at Ironman 70.3 Worlds this weekend
* Apparel Garage sale – Trisuit, Jerseys, Singlets. From 100THB
* ironguides social – Saturday 26th Nov
* End year holidays dates announced

Enjoy your training,

Visit ironguides Bangkok

The Warm Up (Head Coach Editorial)

Dear Members,

It feels like we are back to normal racing season. Our team members  are getting ready for both domestic events as well internationals, we even made the list as the Top 10 biggest tri clubs racing ironman 70.3 world champs this weekend.

The best news is the new running track, we will move there starting on our next run session and experiment for a while. If it works for us, we will maintain it in the future

The next month will be very busy with events every weekend. This weekend we have our Khao Yai outing as part of the cycling class, then the Tridash in a new course, followed by laguna Phuket and finally our end year social. Hope to see you there for a chat.

Enjoy your training,
Vinnie Santana
ironguides Head Coach

Race Report:  More members qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships

At ironman 70.3 Lombok, Andrea took 2nd overall, Francois was 4th in his AG with wife Sofie in 3rd. They have all guaranteed their slots for the 2023 Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Finland.

Photo: Andrea 1st triathlon (Tridash) in June 2019, with Francois in the background.
“It took them 3 years of hard work for overnight success”

ironguides among the Top 10 biggest Asian triathlon clubs at the Ironman 70.3 World Championships this weekend in St. George, USA – Don’t forget to add us as your triclub when registering for any Ironman event.

End of Year Social:

ironguides Social coming up ‍🥳! Lets celebrate the 2022 season with a few Margaritas & Tacos🌮!
Where: The Missing Burro (Thong Lor so 7)
When: Saturday 26th Nov @7.00pm
Who: members & friends

Apparel Garage Sale:

ironguides kit starting at 100THB 

Help us clear our inventory so we can design the new season kit. Prices below cost.

Garage sale at ironguides Social (26th Saturday @7pm, Missing Burro Restaurant)

Road to Ironman 70.3 Bangsaen:

Our Road To Ironman 70.3 Bangsaen plan:

Group Sessions
Long rides on open roads
Mid-week training tailored to the needs of Ironman 70.3 training

Training Plans
Specific Training plan for the Ironman 70.3
Personalized Coaching

Events
End of Year Challenge over the 2 weeks holidays
Training Camps & Race Simulation

End Year Holidays – dates announced:

We are taking a 2 weeks break during X-mas & New Year. All memberships will be credited accordingly.

Last Session of 2022: 21st December (Wednesday Track run)
First Session of 2023: 9th January (Monday Swim)

Cycling

Quarterly Sessions

Khao Yai Day Trip – REGISTER HERE
Where: Noen Homme Cafe (approx 2h30 drive from BKK)
When: October 30th @09.15am (leaving 9.30am)
Who: Free for Triathlon-Club Members & Personalized Coaching athletes.
Swim & Run members please contact info@ironguides.net if interested to upgrade to the tri-club membership and join the rides

Schedule:
0915-0930 – Ride Briefing
0930-1200 – 3 routes (beginner total = 67k, intermediate 83km, advanced 95km) meeting at the top for coffee break
1200-1230 – Coffee break
1230-1330 – Downhill to coffee shop
1330- Drive to BKK

What to Bring:
-Spare inner tube, pump, tyre levers
-Plenty of Water & Food
-Cash for park entrance & food


Swimming

Coached Sessions at Racquet club 

Cost:

  • Free for tri-club members, swim only members or 1-on-1 triathlon coached athletes
  • 600thb for drop in athletes (book & pay online, in advance)

Running 

NEW LOCATION!!! Starting November 2nd. 

Where

: Rajamangala University of Technology Krungthep (map) – 1.2km from Chong Nonsi bts
When: Wednesdays @18.30-20.00

Cost:

*Free for tri-club members, run only members or 1-on-1 triathlon coached athletes
*400thb for drop in athletes  (book & pay online, in advance)

Membership & Coaching Services

Drop in Sessions (book & pay online, in advance). Book your class here.

  • Cost: 400 THB running & velodrome sessions, 600 THB swimming sessions. Payment online, in advance (non-refundable)

Club Memberships – Purchase your membership here.: 

  • Run Sessions only: 2000 THB for 3-months or 1000 THB for 1-month
  • Triathlon Sessions: 5000 THB per 3 months or 2500 THB for 1-month
  • Swim Sessions only: 4000 THB per 3 months or 2000 THB for 1-month

Includes access to weekly sessions, ironguides member status (preferred pricing on events & apparel)

Personalized Coaching + Sessions:

Includes:

  • Access to all sessions
  • Customized training plan
  • Weekly communication with your coach
  • Member status

Starts at 5.900thb/month (more)

Sponsors & Discounts:

Free sample gels or Waffles one group session per month + Exclusive ironguides athlete discount 25% off (less than 1USD per gel!)

Products
Energy Gels
Energy Waffles


OTHER SPONSORS AND PARTNERS 

Find the discount codes at the members area of our website (login at the footer of ironguides.net)

OPTIMA BIKES

The exclusive prices for ironguides members – email info@ironguides.net for more information:

  • 20% off for Omega Frameset (Price 69,900) with free Aero caliper brakes (7500THB.)
  • 10% off for Carbon Wheels
  • 5% off for Omega Completed Bike

TRI-DASH THAILAND: 10% OFF at any event during 2022 – use our coupon code on the members area when registering for the race http://tridashthailand.com/

UJAMU: 10% OFF Ujamu herbal drinks – use our coupon code when checking ou https://ujamu.net/

XTERRA WETSUITS: 65% OFF most wetsuits – use our coupon code when checking out (you may need to ship via forwader such as myus.com) https://www.xterrawetsuits.com/products/mens-vector-pro-fullsuit-special

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ironguides Bangkok – November 2021 Updates


 

ironguides Bangkok newsletter: Stay updated on what our group is up to!

Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.



Dear athletes, below the relevant updates for the upcoming month

*25th October is a public holiday but swimming is on
*We have opened additional slots for our drafting triathlon races – 5 slots left for both days
*ironguides team swim race next weekend – registrations still open
*Swimming now starting at 6.30pm, 

*Swimming Mondays = Technique Focus + Conditioning. THURSDAY = Conditioning Focus + Technique

*End year break dates announced Dec 20th to Jan 9th

Enjoy your training,

Visit ironguides Bangkok

The Warm Up (Head Coach Notes)

Dear Members,

It was great to see you all back in training enjoying the relaunch of our group workouts in the new format.

For the upcoming month, only a few adjustments after the initial kick off. Starting with the swim, we are starting a bit earleir at 6.30pm (until 7.50pm) and the dynamics of each day is a slightly different with Monday being

 Technique Focus + Conditioning while THURSDAY is Conditioning Focus + Technique. As a member or coached athlete you are welcome to attend one swim per week. While monday the 25th is a public holiday, this month we are exceptionally training on all public holidays to gain some momentum back.

The other good news is that restrictions have eased in Phrachuap Kiri Khan, so we are opening an additional 10 slots for each of our races November 20-21. There are also slots available for our team open water swim race next weekend at Taco Lake, Bangkok.

We have also set the calendar at the end of the year, we are taking three weeks off training weeks of Dec 20th, 27th and Jan 3rd, training resumes on Monday the 10th. All memberships will be credited 3 weeks.

Enjoy your training,
Vinnie Santana
ironguides Head Coach

Members Updates: `Month 1 of the Relaunch in the bank`


Coach David Milziner on deck Mondays (Technique Focus + Conditioning)
&THURSDAY (Conditioning Focus + Technique)


Coach Champ at the track – 200m fast repeats to welcome the members back

ironguides Races Series

5 slots left for our draft legal race 20 & 21st November

The province of Prachuap Khiri Khan has now been downgraded to ‘red’, allowing mass gathering of up to 100 pax (from 25) – this means we can allow some more athletes in the ironguides draft legal club race.

Come race the sprint, the Olympic Distance or both (like most people)! Time Trial bikes are allowed. Drafting is legal.

You can download a PDF file with full information about our race as well as register on our website https://www.ironguides.net/camps/

30th October = ironguides Open Water swim team race 1.5km

There will be 2 teams with 12 athletes max per team. 2 races separate by level (12 athletes per race), your final ranking counts points for the team. Winning team get special prizes.

Team 1 has 6 athletes on the beginner race and experienced race
Team 2 has the same distribution.

1st place = 12 points
2nd place = 11 points
…10th place = 1 point

Slots limited to 20 swimmers, first come first served.
60 THB commitment fee for members (must still register entry time on google docs)
600 THB for drop in via our website then register entry time
Register now https://www.ironguides.net/camps/

Race Registration

Swimming

Coached Sessions at Racquet club 

IMPORTANT: OCT 25TH IS A HOLIDAY HOWEVER SESSION IS ON!

  • Where: Racquet Club (Map below).
  • Time: 18.30-19.50pm
  • MONDAY: Technique Focus + Conditioning.
  • THURSDAY: Conditioning Focus + Technique

Cost:

  • Free for coached athletes & club members (1x week only)
  • 600thb for drop in athletes (book & pay online, in advance)

Running 

Weekly Coached Sessions

Where: National stadium (warm up 200m blue track )
When: Wednesdays @18.30-20.00

Cost:

*Free for members & coached athletes
*400thb for drop in athletes  (book & pay online, in advance)

Cycling

We are planning quarterly sessions at the velodrome which is currently closed, meanwhile refer to your training plan for a structured workout, you can download the sessions to Zwift or Trainerroad and upload to the app folder, they will appear under Custom workouts. More instructions in the members area of our app


Download file from the ironguides app and move to zwift folder


You can now let zwift guide your ironguides training


Velodrome Session (real world zwift!) – Coming up

Membership & Coaching Services

Drop in Sessions (book & pay online, in advance)

  • Cost: 400 THB running sessions, 600 THB swimming sessions. Payment online, in advance (non-refundable)

3 Months – Sessions Only Membership: 2 options  

  • Run Sessions only: 2500 THB per 3 months
  • Run + Swim Sessions: 4500 THB per 3 months

Includes access to weekly sessions, ironguides member status (preferred pricing on events & apparel)

3 Months – Sessions + Training Plan + Coaching Access: 2 options  

  • Run Sessions only: 4500 THB per 3 months
  • Run + Swim Sessions: 6500 THB per 3 months

Includes access to training plans via app, quarterly email with Coach to structure your training plans, weekly sessions, ironguides member status (preferred pricing on events & apparel)

Personalized Coaching + Sessions:

Includes:

  • Access to all sessions
  • Customized training plan
  • Weekly communication with your coach
  • Member status

Starts at 5.900thb/month (more)

Members! We need to confirm your membership status

Regarding the time left on your membership, and you can track it following the steps in this video using your login access on our homepage footer (if you can’t retrieve yours, reply to this email).

We are offering our members 3 options – we need you to confirm via this form your preferred option:

a) Run Only Classes (+ bonus training plan and access to the ironguides app). This membership will run at a third of the usual rate (ie 20 days will be frozen monthly).

b) Swim + Run Classes (+ bonus training plan and access to the ironguides app). This membership will run at two third of the usual rate.

c) Maintain membership frozen until you are comfortable to come back to training

If you opt for option B, you will also need to select in the form one day to come swimming. Both days will offer the same workout, for now and all levels are welcome. Pick the day that best suits you.

if we dont hear from you, we will maintain the membership frozen by default  Here is the form 

Reactivate my Membership

ironguides APP – ALL in one place

With our new app we have 3 mains goals:

Provide you a training plan & coaching support

All Training Plans are available in 2 loads, high and low (# of hours and training days) as well as 3 levels of workouts (beginner, intermediate, advanced)

Plans available 
Ongoing Triathlon (short course & overall development)
Balanced Running (5, 10k & overall development)
16-weeks Ironman 70.3
20-weeks Ironman Full
Bike Development, Swim Run maintenance
Run Development, Swim Bike maintenance
Swim Development, Bike Run maintenance

How it works: Sign up for the plans package, fill in the questionnaire with goals & background, discuss with the coach your 3 month plan, start training. Watch our explainer video. 

Build an Online Community

The message board is more structure, a good place to find training buddies doing the same training plan and sessions as you on non-coached days. Organize trips to races or events. Stay updated on coaching announcements

The social wall is a casual place to exchange information such as racing opportunities, training photos, members updates.

Manage your Performance

A training log to manage and log your training information with special features such as performance calculators and training performance analysis


Desktop View of your training plan. Mobile version also available


Manage your Performance – Mobile Performance analysis


Online Community: Train together, Race together, share experiences online and offline

Watch App Explainer Video

Sponsors & Discounts:


OTHER SPONSORS AND PARTNERS 

Find the discount code at the message board of our app

TRI-DASH THAILAND: 10% OFF at any event during 2021 – use our coupon code on the members area when registering for the race http://tridashthailand.com/

UJAMU: 10% OFF at any event during 2021 – use our coupon code on the members area when registering for the race https://ujamu.net/

XTERRA WETSUITS: 65% OFF at any event during 2021 – use our coupon code on the members area when registering for the race https://www.xterrawetsuits.com/products/mens-vector-pro-fullsuit-special

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Facebook Facebook

Website Website

Instagram Instagram

Twitter Twitter

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Q & A: Fueling for the evening session

Can you suggest what & when we should be eating pre/post training sessions? Especially as many sessions are over dinner time.

Good Question – many athletes with regular (long) office hours find themselves in this situation and we need to do our best to balance our pre- training energy requirements with the post- training recovery needs, without overdoing the late night dinner.

avoid-over-eating

Pre – Training

1)     It depends a little on what you had for lunch. If you have had a full meal at lunch (ie – not grazing) then you may not need much at all. If you do feel hungry, make sure it’s not thirst you are feeling and sip away at a large glass of water or a zero carbohydrate electrolyte drink like Nunn. Choose the 2nd option – especially if you have trained in the morning.

2)     If you are peckish and feel like you need a little boost of energy before training, a few pieces of fruit is great. I like an apple or banana smeared with peanut butter. You can also try a small bag of Almonds / Trail Mix or a pot of yoghurt. Basically something that is small in volume and calorie dense that will not hang around in your tummy for ages.

3)     If you are starving and/ or hypoglycaemic, your best bet is go for something a little more substantial with a bit of fat in it, like a chocolate croissant or a Snickers bar, to fill you up and keep the hunger pangs away – and give you the energy you need to get you through your session.

4)     Stay away from caffeine in the early evening, even if you love the buzz that coffee gives you during a training session, because this will really mess with the sleep signals when it is time to turn in. This is what de-caf is for.

Post- Training

The main consideration is that you want the right mix of nutrients for recovery but not such a large quantity so that you are feeling too bloated to turn in at a reasonable time. With this in mind, you won’t be far off it you follow these principals.

1)     Eat as soon as possible after the session to give you as much time as possible to digest it. It’s a good idea to get a recovery drink in as soon as you finish your session to take care of the immediate replenishment. This will also help to moderate your appetite for when you get home and want to have some proper food.

2)     Ideally you’re looking for a meal that will fill you up (so you’re not hungry), is packed full of antioxidants and vitamins (for recovery) but is easily digested (so you can get to bed). For protein, I like fish over chicken over red meat at this time of night. I try to get a sizable portion of veggies – the more colourful the better – as this will fill me up nicely but not sit around in my stomach for ages. Veggies are nutrient dense and a source of carbs as well so this is a better option than filling up on refined carbs such as pasta and rice (that spike your insulin levels) alone. Get some oil/ fat in there as well (salad dressing/ butter/ cheese) to help aid digestion and absorption of fat soluble vitamins and to help you feel full.

If the cupboard is bare, I turn to 2 pieces of Vegemite on buttered toast, cheese and 2 half boiled eggs.

3)     Have just enough to cover your recovery needs. While at first this may sounds a little vague, if you pay attention to how your stomach feels relative to your activity levels for the rest of the night, you will get a good feel for what is just right for you. Work backwards from the time you want to get into bed and plan to have an emptyish feeling tummy by then.

4)     Lastly and most importantly – Beware the late night sugar craving! We often wreck our entire days’ worth of  good eating right at the end with the last and fatal grab for ‘just a taste of’ ice cream/ chocolate/ wine/ cereal/ muesli/ fruit. Don’t kid yourself; the last couple of options are sources of sugar as well!

What is happening is that while you are physically tired from a big day, and your body is telling you to start getting ready for bed, your brain on the other hand, especially if you’re plonked in front of the TV or Email or Facebook (low energy expenditure but high level mental stimulation) is active and needs more quick release energy to stay awake for longer. We tell ourselves that we’re ‘unwinding’ and we ‘deserve it’ and ‘it won’t make that much of a difference cos we’re training tomorrow’ as we reach for that late night nibble. All this time, the remnants of that sneaky little shot of coffee that I warned you about earlier, is still floating about in there urging you on.

This is the worst time to spike your blood glucose levels because it triggers a release of insulin which in turn switches your metabolism towards storing fat. The last thing you want is to go to bed with high levels of blood insulin. High insulin levels also signal the body to stop producing Human Growth Hormone (HGH) which is a desirable by-product from the solid strength session that you’ve just put in. HGH is a big player in the physiological adaptation and recovery of muscles and we want it to be at high levels as we go to sleep.

Essentially, there is a disconnect between body and brain and what is actually a signal to start the process of going to bed, is misinterpreted  as a sugar craving so that you can stay awake for longer. You must re- learn your response to this signal if you are looking to drop excess fat.

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All About Ice

ALL ABOUT ICE – Why, When, and How??
The practice of applying ice to an area has its origins with the early Greek and Roman physicians. Cold applications of snow and natural ice were used to treat a variety of medical ailments hundreds of years ago, but it was not until 1835 medical physicians began to routinely use ice compresses for aiding in wound healing. During the 1940s, icing athletic injuries and other musculoskeletal injuries began to be common practice, and this has continued to the present day.

When muscles and connective tissue are first injured, there are a few physiological processes that begin to happen.  First, the area may bleed a small amount, depending on the severity of the injury. The bleeding and damage to the tissue set off a cascade of chemical reactions, with the end result of edema or swelling. As the area swells, the blood and oxygen supply to the surrounding tissues becomes compromised. At this point, the cells in the immediate vicinity (although not injured in the original accident) become vulnerable to a process called secondary hypoxic injury, whereby they begin to die from a lack of oxygen due to the compromised blood supply.

Of course, the body has its own mechanisms for dealing with these processes, but applying an ice pack to the injured area is one of the best ways to help your body deal with an acute injury. By cooling damaged tissue, ice causes several reactions that help to speed healing. The rapid decrease in temperature causes the local blood vessels to constrict, and this decreases swelling. Less swelling means less pressure, and that equates to a decrease in pain sensation. The sensation of cold also helps to override the sensation of pain, and gives relief.

As the temperature of the tissues drops, so too does the metabolic rate of the cells that make up that tissue, with the result being that the cells require less of the already limited blood and oxygen supply they are receiving to stay alive. This limits the amount of tissue damage due to secondary hypoxic injury, and creates a healing-friendly environment as soon as possible.

A variety of methods exist for icing an injury, but whether it’s crushed ice, shaved ice, a commercial gel pack or (Mom’s old stand-by) a bag of frozen peas, the most crucial element is that the area gets put on ice soon after the injury occurs. If ice is going to make a difference with respect to recovery time, it needs to be applied within the first 48-72 hours after the injury takes place. To do this, lay a tea towel, t-shirt, or sock (depending on the area) over the injury site, and then apply the ice. Using a wrap to secure the ice in place is helpful for applying compression to the area, but be sure the wrap is loose to avoid stopping blood flow altogether. Elevating the area is also helpful for limiting swelling. Leave the ice on for 15-20 minutes, and then allow the tissues to warm up to normal temperature over the next hour, making a total treatment time about

80 minutes in total.

Placing a barrier (such as the tea towel mentioned above) between the ice pack and the skin helps to decrease the chances of frost nip or frost bite. It is a good idea not to use a wrap with a commercial gel/ice pack, as the gel is capable of becoming much colder than ice, and frostbite could be an issue. Limiting the “ice time” to 15 minutes is the best way to prevent the area from becoming too cold.

For those who want an alternative to the traditional ice pack, an ice bath is always an option. This depends, of course, on the body part needing to be cooled! With walkers, it’s usually a lower leg, ankle, or foot, and in this case start by filling a bucket with cold water, then add in the ice. Next, take a deep breath and plunge the foot into the cold water. Using this method, ten minutes should suffice to bring the foot temperature down. If you finish your walk near a river or lake that you’re comfortable putting your tootsies in, then roll up your pants and head into the water barefoot for up to 10 minutes. This is usually very refreshing even if you’re not dealing with an injury at the time.

If finding time to ice an injury is a problem, plan ahead and have the ice and other supplies waiting in the car at the end of a workout. Stretch out for 10 minutes, and then apply the ice for the drive home. That way arriving home means the workout is finished, and the injury has also been addressed.

An easy way to remember all the details of icing is to keep the word RICE in mind. It acts as an acronym for Rest, Ice (for 15-20 minutes, followed by a full hour of no ice), Compress (with a wrap) and Elevate (above the heart). These are the four key components to remember for the next time your body needs a hand with healing an injury.

ironguides is the leading Lifestyle Facilitation company for athletes of all abilities. We provide coaching and training services, plans and programs, as well training education, health and fitness products to help you learn and live a healthy lifestyle. Come get fit with one of our monthly training subscriptions, event-specific training plans, coaching services, or a triathlon training camp in an exotic location! ironguides also provides Corporate Health services including Corporate Triathlons, Healthy Living retreats and speaking engagements. At ironguides, your best is our business!

Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Ironman (USD145 for 20-week plan)

X-Terra (USD65 for 12-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

 

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Race Preparation: Half Ironman Taper Tips

 

tapersb

 

At this stage of preparation, with the months of hard work behind you and a mere 2 weeks until the big day, you should be at your fittest. You’ve done the late night track sessions, given up a social life for 5am bike rides, and rushed to the pool after work to get a swim in. Well Done! There’s not a lot more you can do to improve your fitness. But how do you handle race week so that you are feeling fantastic and raring to go on race day? Too much rest could see you feeling flat, lethargic and unmotivated, while too much training will not give your body a chance to freshen up. The taper is a period of reduced training load designed for your body to rest and repair while allowing the body’s natural physiological adoptions occur. You may have heard some athletes talk about “soaking up” all the hard work- this is what they are referring to.

When tapering after a long period of consistent training, our body’s transition from “fight” mode (training) into “heal” mode (tapering); the cardiovascular and muscular systems that are constantly being stressed for greater adaptation start to wind down and enter a state of deep rest. The hormonal balance in your body also changes as the hormones released to sustain the high levels of physical exertion during training drops, while the level of “restorative” hormones increases. Your muscles will also start to “gum up” as they lay down healing connective tissue. This is why it is important to keep moving and the reason that we don’t take extended periods totally off during a taper. Essentially, we want to do as little as possible (allowing for maximum rest) while still keeping the systems switched on and just ticking over in the background.

These changes translate to a sensation of fatigue and lethargy in the body that is often experienced in the 1st few days of your taper. Your body will feel sluggish as you have been used to a very high rate of oxygenation and movement of fluids. Your metabolism will be out of whack too because the amount of energy you are used to expending drops. Your digestion will feel a little off, your head foggy, and you feel all the little aches and pains that the season’s training brings with it. Knowing why it’s happening and expecting these changes to take place is important because it will help you stay cool and not freak out. In fact, what would be cause for concern would be if you didn’t feel these things at all!

DOs

1. Keep moving and stay loose. As a rule, cut down first on intensity (the most damaging), then volume and lastly, on training frequency. Tapering is not a period of complete rest. 10 days of doing nothing will see you very well rested but also feeling flat, lethargic and possibly carrying a few extra kilos.

Once you get to race week, it’s a matter of getting plenty of rest but not letting your systems shut down entirely. Maintain the same frequency as your regular weekly training cycle to keep the engine purring. Almost all sessions are done at the easy effort level for 50 – 30 mins in duration – with the only exception being a longer and very easy 90 min bike ride in the 1st half of the week.

Throw in a few short efforts in each of the disciplines to keep your muscles firing and familiar with the effort on race day. Short 5 min race pace efforts work well at the start of the week, while harder 30 – 90 sec bursts are good to fire up the legs/ arms towards the end of taper week. Keep everything else easy. You want to perform the sessions hard enough just to tease out the right physiological response to keep that system ticking over.

All the training sessions that you put in the last week should leave you hungry to do more. In a sense, you’re teasing your body to build energy levels up before the full race day effort. Do not hammer yourself on any sessions during this time to “test your fitness”. Trust in the many hours that you have already put in.

2. Travel days are stressful enough so you can take this day completely off or just strap on the shoes for a 20 min easy run after settling in- just to loosen up the legs.

 3. Adjust the size of your meals to account for the decreased activity levels. ) Watch what you eat during taper because your training load (and the subsequent calorific replacement rate) is significantly reduced. You won’t get away with stuffing your face after a short session, even though, out of habit, you may feel like it.

 4. Try to keep taper week free of stressful occurrences. Make sure everything is settled on the work and family front early. Mentally (and physically) you want to be in a relaxed place so that you can spend time rehearsing your race strategy and nutrition plan. Visualise different sections of the race and remind yourself of what to expect and how you want to be feeling and how you are going to react, in terms of pacing, motivation and nutrition, at each of these ‘check points’.

5. The fitter you are, the more susceptible you are to common bugs, colds and flus and the more easily we get sick (I’ll explain why in another article). Diet – wise, top up on loads fresh and colourful fruit and veg to make sure you’re getting the vitamins and anti-oxidants required to keep our immunity high. A daily multi-vit is also a good idea.

 DON’Ts

1. Don’t plan your family vacation before your race. A few relaxing days by the beach is fine, but a 2 week hiking tour in New Zealand/ Europe/ Canada/ USA is not a good idea.

2. Avoid taking a total day off the day before the race. If you feel like you need it, two days out is better. Do a little touch in each discipline the day before, just to get the engine warmed up.

3. Mental fatigue from the Ironman hype: While the Ironman “circus” is part of the experience, it doesn’t mean that you have to be breathing triathlon 24/7 for the entire week before the race. Being on your feet, swapping stories about racing and training, considering late equipment changes from the expo sale, etc etc… all that is going to zapp your energy big time.

4. Stay low-key – I recommend getting to the race venue as late as possible so that you have a limited time at to hang out at the Athlete Village. Limit yourself to one pass – buy all the souvenirs/ supplies you want, take photos of that new bike, go hassle some Pros, and catch up with all your friends on their training and racing. Then leave it, get out of there and avoid going back. Booking your accommodation a few miles away from the race area helps too.

 In conclusion, stay cool and level-headed and move smoothly through any last minute hiccups that you may encounter. All training sessions need to be conservative and should not incur any muscle damage/ fatigue at all. Save your energy, trust in your training and mentally prepare to ‘go there’ on race day.

Good Luck!

Image Post

Video – Technique Short Cuts

Training to perform is hard enough without poor technique getting in the way, poor technique costs us in efficiency  of movement but also costs us with increased injury risk. By working to improve technique we can gain time in our races and also make our training a lot more enjoyable.

A good step to starting any change in technique is by studying the top athletes in our sport,  if we want to mimic a style then we should be looking at someone doing our sport, by this i mean look at an ironman athletes run technique to copy rather than looking at a pure marathon runners technique. The same would hold true for biking, we want to look at top athletes in our sport and there position and cadence styles rather than looking at a position and cadence of a tour de france rider. We have to take into account the demands of our sport when looking for the best technique to follow.
From this stage we then need to look at our own technique and see what we are doing, the availability of video on phones and the booming sports video market with products such as the GoPro camera’s have made taking sports video very easy and accessible to us all. From this point we can watch video’s of the technique we wan to mimic and see what we need to change to achieve this.
I like to break the movement down to make 2-3 drills/ movements that need to be perfected in order to move from a bad technique to good technique. I am going to use running as an example for this.
If we look at a great runner in ironman i think Craig Alexander is a great example of good form. If we look at how Craig runs compared to your average runner the main thing i see is
  • Feet land always directly under centre of gravity
  • Leg is not driving forward from the hips
  • Movement is hamstring dominated
When i look at other runners i see them driving legs forward from the hip bringing the foot high in front of the body an landing in front of the body. They tend to run using quads and hip flexors and significantly over stride and runner with a lower cadence/ turnover than Craig.
So it is quite easy to highlight what needs to change now we just need to go about doing it, most of us are pretty impatient and want fast results, i have found it is possible to accelerate the learning process using resistance bands to ensure correct muscles are working an by performing small movements repeatedly. By doing this we build new muscle memory very quickly and can then go about putting this new memory to use in our sports.
One of the biggest errors i see with most runners is that they do not use the hamstring muscle as it should be used as the main driving force in running. Essentially our foot should impact the ground directly under centre of gravity and then rebound off the ground pulled by the hamstring directly under the body – the movement of the leg is controlled then simply by our forward movement through to the next impact.
A good test to do is stand 30cm away from a wall facing the wall with both legs together. Now try to pull one foot up directly under the body – this is what should be happening when we run. The foot should come up staying inline with the supporting leg, for most the foot will go straight forward into the wall as the hip flexors are the muscles used not the hamstrings.
So we want to develop the ability to pull the foot up under the body using the hamstring muscle. If we attach a short resistance band ( a great example of this is produced by Perform Better) around both feet we can add resistance to this movement which will allow more muscle fibers to be activated and accelerate the learning process. Using the band we can perform 3×30 pulls per foot to really get the muscles firing correctly. See video for exercise.
I always like to follow a drill with a short run so we can use the muscle in full sports specific motion, so maybe 3×30 pulls with one leg and then a short 50m run before repeating with the other leg.
To build a complete new run technique look at the other areas where changes need to be made and find how to get that movement drilled into the body and you will be running with a new and improved technique in no time!!
Enjoy your training!!
Alun Woodward – ironguides Coach, Austria.

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