Monthly Archives : August 2017

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Getting the job done

August 30, 2017

Triathlon training is very demanding on our time and even the best plan will create time issues when we have so many other at times uncontrollable issues to deal with such as family, jobs and general life!

 

I have talked before about the key to success in endurance sport being down to consistency of training over a prolonged period of time, looking back its quite uniform that if an athlete commits to a program and that program becomes part of life the level of performance will continue to rise until reaching a level beyond initial expectations at between 3-4 years.

 

You want to succeed in endurance sport you simply need to get the job done – its making sure the job is right that we need to focus on.

 

The initial process of setting up a plan is tough as we all want to maximize the number of hours available to train. We look at our lives and pick a number of hours that we feel is available to train. In general I will knock about 20% off this number and use this as a base for plans – this is a much more realistic number and a number the athlete is likely to hit long term week by week without suffering burnout.

 

When I say burnout I am not talking about over-training, simply mental fatigue from being in a constant rush from one thing to the next to fit everything into the day. There is only so long we can maintain that level of business without breaking down in some form and for athletes it gets to a point where training simply stops for a period of time.

 

So let’s say you think you can train 16 hours a week, take 20% off this and we are now at 12 hours a week – a good number and one that I have seen produce Kona qualifiers from athletes new to the sport within 3 years. So the goal is to set up a plan that fits around your life and will not have you feeling permanently rushed. Once set, it’s time to GET THE JOB DONE week after week after week!!

 

Now we come to the hard part and that is putting the training into your life list. We all make lists to some extent but some of us are really into our lists and if a task is added to the list IT HAS TO BE DONE and all is not right in the world if something is not done!!

 

I am certainly not saying you need to go to that extent to be successful but there are lessons from these individuals we can apply to make it easier to get the work done.

 

One of the first steps is knowing your plan and knowing what you have to do every day. Once we know that, we can go ahead and create our list. This is best done at night; spend 5 minutes reviewing the day and then writing out the list for the next day. With such busy lives the addition of triathlon training makes things even busier and being able to complete tasks early in the day is key to getting things done. If at all possible try to get training done early as this prevents thinking about training all day and building things up in your head.

 

Also if you have a family at home completing training before the rest of the house wakes up will free up your time to spend with the family and you will find you’re much more productive in the morning without any distractions.

 

So you have planned your morning training session to start the day, before going upstairs to sleep make sure you have everything you need for the session, if need be have a checklist at hand – very easy to put one of these together once you have your training plan put together.

 

As a coach I have seen so many little mishaps get in the way of training, for example turning up to the pool only to discover your swim trunks and towel are sitting on a radiator at home instead of in your swim bag – this one seems to be a regular occurrence! Another classic is going to the gym for a treadmill run only to discover you have forgotten trainings or as one of my athletes always seemed to be missing one shoe for such sessions, funny but at the same time the regular missing of sessions like this is why the performance level in races ends up being below expectation.

 

SWIM BAG – towel, goggle, swim suit, wetsuit if open water session, shampoo, work cloths if heading to work after.

 

BIKE

 

  • Check tires are inflated night before – nothing kills time like having to fix a flat
  • all kit for riding indoors and outdoors if necessary as weather is unpredictable
  • Watch, power meter, Di2 all charged if needed
  • if your riding to work do you have work cloths ready

 

RUN

 

  • Run shoes, run kit for weather possibilities
  • Watch charged
  • Work cloths ready for after session

 

Everyone’s lists will be a little different but you can see by being prepared you can maximize your time and limit reasons for not getting the training done.

 

Lastly learn to a little flexible, I mentioned above those athletes that simply have to get the list done or all is not right in the world – the major disadvantage of this mentality is that if something goes wrong this athlete can’t see past the session. So for example if the session was a 1 hour ride with 30minutes of intervals at race pace, what happens if you wake up and find your tire has burst overnight and requires fixing? This process might take 10minutes and so the window for training which you had at 1 hour might now be just 50 minutes – it is surprising how many athletes will simply see the session as lost and do nothing, always remember something is better than nothing, you may not be able to do the full session but you can still get a solid workout in and make sure the body gets some training stimulation.

 

So you want to make that next step in your training and up your performance levels, start creating your lists and spend a little time each evening making sure your set for the next day and you will make much better use of your time and end up missing less training sessions due to little mishaps!

 

Enjoy your training, plan and get the job done!!
Alun “Woody” Woodward
 

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. Atironguides, your best is our business!

More info at www.ironguides.net

 

– 

Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

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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Appropriate race day swim gear can make you swim faster

August 22, 2017

As the triathlon world has its eyes on the Ironman World Championships this weekend, in the warm waters of Hawaii, you will likely see most of the participants using a speedsuit for the swim leg of the Ironman.

The speedsuit is an option for non-wetsuit swims, and while it may look like an ordinary triathlon suit, it is very different and much faster.

The article below was written based on years of watching age group triathletes in South East Asian races, in which the wetsuit isn’t legal as the water is just too hot. You will learn the options that you have when it comes to race day gear for the swim portion.

You will also learn about the different in training needed in case of a wetsuit swim as it’s the case with many Ironman races done by Asian athletes since wetsuit swims is the normal rule in most triathlon races around the world other than South East Asia and some races in the Southern Hemisphere.

Most beginners may not be able to spot the different of a speedsuit to a standar trisuit as they look similar but perform very different in the water
Some beginners may not be able to spot the different of a speedsuit to a standard trisuit as they look similar but perform very different in the water
Benefits of a speedsuit

A speedsuit is a thik, tight and hydrodynamic layer that you use on the top of your trisuit or tritop/trishorts. It’s likely one of the best investments you can make towards a faster overall finish time, and it will also give you some more comfort and benefits on the bike and run, understand below why.

Hydrodynamic – Faster in the water

The fabric used on the speedsuit is water repellent, which means that it’s even faster than the human skin, and much, much faster than the lycra that is used by most of the triathlon suits these days. When it comes to numbers, the below is the average result of a test I ran with my training squad, please note that it does vary from athlete to athlete depending on their technique and also brands and models.

Speedsuit VS human skin (on a tight/race swimsuit) = 1sec/100m (15 seconds faster over 1500m swim)
Speedsuit VS a decent/shortcourse trisuit (no pockets) = 3sec/100m (60 seconds faster over 1500m swim)
Speedsuit VS a slow / long course trisuit or two pieces, both with exposed pockets = 5sec/100m (90 seconds faster over 1500m swim)

Now go and think how much you work you need to put in to improve 1min of our time in a 1.500mts swim race. This makes the speedsuit a great investment as you lost virtually no time to take it off in transition (should be no more than 5 seconds)

Benefits on the bike and run

The benefits don’t stop there. The speedsuit also allows you to race with your favourite trisuit or two-piece, especially on long course events that you may want to have pockets to stock up on gels and other things. It makes this combo the best of both worlds, fastest in the water and most comfortable out of the water

Strategy Benefits

For the very high performance athletes, it may be the difference of swimming “one pack ahead” which can be a decisive factor on who you will be riding with. Another way to see it is that you will be 1-2min ahead of your usual pack on the bike, so you can take that time to take it a bit easier early on the bike and wait until they come, you will be fresh and ready to go while they will have started the bike too fast. This will make a big difference for the rest of the day. Pacing off strong athletes on the bike isn’t anything new and every second on the swim counts.

Using a speedsuit, allows you to run with a two-piece underneath with no time penalty in the swim
Using a speedsuit, allows you to cycle and run with a two-piece underneath that may be superior in comfort and with no time penalty in the swim

How to train for a wetsuit race

Now that you understood the benefits of a speedsuit for non-wetsuit swims, which is the reality of most races in South East Asia, you need also to learn about the wetsuit, the rubberized equipment that is allowed and even compulsory in most other races, including East Asia and Australia, two popular racing destinations for Asia based triathletes

If you ever swam on a wetsuit before, you know that it can make your shoulders fatigue a lot earlier than the usual. This happens as a combination of a different body position & restricting shoulder movement, event the most advanced and flexible wetsuits aren’t as loose as a non-wetsuit swim stroke. The good news is that you can do something about it to improve that feel and make sure the swim won’t drain you more than it should:

Train with it:

Try to use your wetsuit once a week in the last 6 weeks leading into the race. If the pool water is too warm you can take 2 bottles of iced water and make yourself cooler by drinking it and pouring on your head on the intervals. If water temperature is over 26 degrees, then use the wetsuit only for the warm up or first half of the session, then add the pull gear as explained below. Alternative, do an extra swim session of 20-30min with the suit.

Tools that simulates it

Use pullbuoy/paddles/bands for your long swims even if your programme doesn’t say so. The pullbuoy will lift your body like the suits does, while the paddles will also add some strength load on your shoulders simulating the extra load of the suit. Ankle bands should only be used by experienced swimmers (faster than 1’50/100 on 1.5k), as you won’t need to kick much with the suit and you want to get used to swimming that way

Tips for race day

The neoprene absorbs and holds the water for ~24h and that makes it more flexible. Just like before your swim training with the suit, on race day you should also take your suit to the shower as it will be moist and way more flexible than if you just put it on and swim on race day.

Pull the arms all the way to the armpit for more comfort
Pull the legs all the way up to your groin
Let some water in before you swim, it will let the suit “settle” and also moist. Do it by pulling the suit collar in the water
Let some water in before you finish the swim. Just before you exit the water, pull the collar and let it it.. It will make transitions much faster
You may consider cutting your suit if its too long in the legs, the buoyancy gains there are minimal and they can get stuck on your feet in transition. The appropriate height is in the middle of your calf.
 
by Vinnie Santana – ironguides coach – Bangkok
vinnie2
 

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. Atironguides, your best is our business!

More info at www.ironguides.net

 

– 

Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

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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KABOOM – dont blow up on race day

August 16, 2017

You’re flying along enjoying your first Ironman then you hit 120km and KABOOM!!

How many athletes experience this at 120km in an Ironman ride, it’s amazing how often this happens and athletes have a very logical but false impression of how to prevent this. Our natural response is we do not have enough endurance and therefore need to do more long rides and runs!!

Ironman is a scary prospect and as such we all make damn sure we get the long rides and runs done in preparation to prevent the KABOOM moment but so many times it still happens. Most athletes will ride 5-6 hours for their long training rides or at least try to get one ride of 180km done in preparation so is this experience of blowing up really due to lack of long ride distance?

Then we have the athletes who cope fine with the bike and hit the run only to end up walking after 5km and start thinking they are lacking run endurance.

So what is going on and why do so many athletes experience this at 120km into an Ironman bike? To understand this we need to look at what happens and what training effect we get from our long easy rides.

The long weekly ride that is a fundamental of any training plan tends to end up being an easy ride focused on distance. When we ride all easy like this we end up training only a very small part of the muscle. If we look at how a muscle is made we can simplify things to say each muscle is made up of 100 fibers, to bring about a movement we need to activate a certain number of these fibers and our brains control this and brings about movement in the most efficient way possible. When we ride easy our brains will use maybe 20-30% of all the fibers as these are the most efficient and energy saving for this intensity.

What we have to think is our brain wants us to survive and does this by using as little energy as possible for everything we do. The more we train, the more our brains learn to use less energy so we become more energy efficient – a great adaption for endurance performance but in extreme examples like Ironman, we run into problems as once we hit that 120km point, those efficient fibers for endurance suddenly hit a point of fatigue and stop working forcing other fibers to have to take over the role. If we have not trained those other fibers once they come into play we will feel a little uncoordinated and then they fatigue so fast that we get that KABOOM moment as we have nowhere to go from there!!

So when looking at training endurance for Ironman, we need to look beyond the simple long endurance sessions in order to get through the race without that KABOOM moment and to optimize performance.

In order to do this we need to find a way to train more of the muscle fibers and share the workload over more fibers so that point of fatigue is pushed back and performance increases.

What we essentially need to do is trick the brain and force the body to switch on more muscle for a given task. This principle has been used very successfully in body building but is not really considered when looking at endurance training. In body building it is common to start a set of lifting heavy then reduce weight and increase reps to get a much bigger response. The first heavy lift forces the brain to activate all the muscle fibers and then the following lifts at reduced weight will still hit all the fibers but with more reps we get a more rounded training effect with enhanced strength and size in all the fibers.

So how do we apply this to bike training to enhance endurance?

Let’s look at 2 ways we can change the endurance bike day to bring about enhanced endurance adaption in a wider range of muscle fiber.

Firstly let’s look at a long endurance ride of 5 hours, I want to increase the endurance element but I do not want to extend the ride. I would do this by placing some low cadence high power work very early on in the ride to fully activate muscle fibre recruitment in the bike specific muscles and then later in the ride the focus would be on race cadence work, for example:

5hour ride to be ridden as

  • 30min easy warm up
  • 2x20min in biggest gear pushing hard against resistance with 10min easy between
  • 3hours easy
  • 30min hard effort @ race cadence
  • easy cool down

By setting the long weekly ride this way we get an endurance training effect in a much greater percentage of muscle fibres. The result being on race day we have more fibers trained to share the workload and therefore, increase endurance.

Another way we can get a similar training effect is to add a double bike day into a training week, these sessions only need to be short but can create a huge gain to both speed and endurance.

So let’s say you have an hour to train in the morning and the evening, this is one way you can set the sessions to enhance endurance.

Morning session – 1 hour including 30minute of hard intervals at low cadence

Evening session – 1 hour including 20 minutes of intervals at race cadence or above.

What we want to happen here is to totally fatigue the biking muscles in the morning session and then as we start the evening session we force the brain to activate more fibre to get the work done. A very unpleasant experience when you start as the evening session has your legs burning with very little speed gain for the effort but as you adapt and build fitness you will start to fly in the second session and really see a big change to both speed and endurance come race day.

Want to have a great ironman performance and avoid the 120k KABOOM – follow the advice above and rather than increase the duration of your endurance rides simply change the content to get a much bigger training effect that you will really feel come race day.

 

Enjoy your training.
Alun “Woody” Woodward
 

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. Atironguides, your best is our business!

More info at www.ironguides.net

Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

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 Day – Avoiding Mistakes

August 8, 2017
Getting to race day fit and ready to race is a hard task and a challenge to every athlete and coach. I would say as a coach those final 2 weeks before a race are the most stressful of an entire program, not so much in terms of the physical preparation and fitness its about all the little mistakes an athlete can make in those final days that can derail months of good consistent hard work and sacrifice.
It amazes me when athletes are in great shape yet report back to problems encountered on race day, cramping or bad back, nutritional issues or even mechanical issues. When we go through all the details something always comes up and it just shows how easily we are influenced and how we are easily drawn into others beliefs. A classic example is athletes complaining of a bad back yet never experienced in training then report to lowering front end as they saw pics in race magazine and everyone looked much lower than themselves therefore must be faster.
Peter Reid multiple time Hawaii champion even managed to make this rookie mistake at Challenge Roth – seeing the set up of the bikes of his competitors he changed to a behind the saddle water bottle before the race and had a little difficulty getting on his bike resulting in a few falls as he could not jump on his bike the way he had always done in training – it may look funny but could have resulted in a serious injury and ruined the event for Peter, luckily it did not effect Peter in this day.
Lets look at some regular mistakes athletes make in those final days or on the day itself and make sure you do not repeat these yourself and ruin all the work you have done to get race ready.
Hydration and cramping
This is one of the biggest issues I see and one of the biggest causes of mysterious race day cramping in athletes that never seem to experience cramps in training. Through media and the influence of sports drink manufactures we have been led to believe we need to hyper hydrate the day before a race and the morning of a race. At any event you will still see many athletes walking around with bottles and drinking every couple of minutes – you will normally see them standing outside the porta-loos flushing away all their body salts perfectly preparing them for major race day cramping.
Our bodies are very good at preserving salts but if you flood the body with huge amounts of water or even electrolyte drinks when its not needed you will leach body salts out of the muscle. If you want to increase salts and hydration it needs to be a long term gradual process during race week and make sure your taking the salts in during and immediately following any exercise which is when the body will be more likely to absorb.
If your easing off training before a race, your body needs less fluid and salts not more – think of it another way if you train 20 hours a week and suddenly drop to 8 your going to need a lot less food not a lot more – same goes with fluids.
Dead legs and sore feet
This is another common issue, athletes complaining of sore swollen feet the day before a race and a dead legged feeling on race day. This one is a very simple problem to solve, it comes from spending too much time on your feet the day/ days before the race cruising the expo and chatting with fellow athletes. Standing around allows all the blood to pool in your lower limbs and feet causing them to swell and become cramped and sore in shoes – not only are they sore but this excess blood and water retention leads to poorer muscle contractions on race day.
Try to save the expo and catch ups until after the race or meet in a cafe or for a meal where you can sit down. On the day before the race try to et as much done as possible on the morning and then get to your room and chill out watching a movie or reading a book with your legs elevated to a 45+ degree position to drain excess blood and fluid from the legs and have you feeling fresh and ready for race day. Its not a mystery as to where all the pro’s are the day before a race – they are not out training they are chilling out getting ready to battle!
Carbohydrate Loading
This practice is great and has been shown time and time again to boost endurance performance BUT we can very easily get it wrong. Carbohydrate loading should be done in the 2 days prior to the race not just the day before with 1 big meal.
Our bodies absorb carbs into the muscle most effectively immediately following exercise and more so following intense exercise. Following this knowledge our pre race big carbohydrate meal should be immediately after a training session with a little bit of intensity. I would suggest a session like this late morning on the day before a race including a short period of around 10 minutes at race pace – during this session take on board an energy drink containing calories not a electrolyte drink and then as soon as possible after the session get a good carb heavy meal consumed. It amazes me how athletes tend to do a session like this and then eat a salad and consume a big carbohydrate meal later at night.
Eating a carb rich meal late at night will increase blood sugar and trigger a stress response without the exercise, it will not lead to storage in the muscle but more a feeling of anxiety and make it very hard to sleep.
My tip here is a big carbohydrate lunch immediately after your final pre race training session then a lighter evening meal and try to add in some medium chain triglycerides for enhanced endurance performance on race day – coconut milk and cream are a good choice here!!
To make the most of your fitness and enjoy performing to your best on race day make sure you do not make little mistakes right before the race that will destroy your day. Planning before the event so you know exactly what routine to go through in race week and the final  preparations will make sure you stay on track and perform to your true potential.
Enjoy your fitness and get out there racing!!

 

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. Atironguides, your best is our business!

More info at www.ironguides.net

By Alun “Woody” Woodward

 

– 

Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

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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Ironman Performance – The Final 4 Weeks

August 2, 2017

The final weeks before your big race bring a lot of anxiety and its a time when athletes start to question their fitness and training.

When you get to this stage 4 weeks out from your big event the training has been done and you are not really going to increase your fitness before the race, though you can certainly damage that fitness in the final 4 weeks by chasing fitness or on the other side not doing enough training and losing fitness.

Ironman is an extreme endurance sport and events of this duration do not require the taper process that we commonly hear about for endurance events. In fact if we look at the history of the taper it was primarily used successfully for relatively short anaerobic events such as track running and swimming which physiologically are far removed from the demands of ironman. When looking for a similar sport we have to look at cycling or ultra running and athletes in these sports do not really use a conventional taper and rather build straight into the events with any significant rest taken a long way out from the event.

Ironman athletes who adapt the conventional 3 week taper process into events generally will go into the event with reduced fitness and not feel their best on race day.

On the other side i see triathletes who are always searching for more fitness and this almost becomes a panic in the final weeks before race, the need for one more long ride or run to test fitness is just what is needed to tip the athlete over the edge and lead to illness or injury which is inevitably going to lead to a sub par performance on race day.

So if we do not taper as conventional endurance athletes then what do we need to look at in the final 4 weeks before an event.

First and foremost is routine, we are creatures of habit, panic and uncertainly result from us not following our routines. This routine applies directly to training, the final 4 weeks of training should follow a very similar plan to that which the athlete has been following. If you have gone for weeks doing your long ride on a Saturday and long run Sunday then we want to maintain this pattern even if the training volume or prescription is slightly different.

Saying that we want to maintain routine we still want to incorporate some rest time – the amount of rest is very individual and depends on the athletes life and training levels leading into this period. An athlete who is very consistent with training is likely to be more mentally fatigued from the training and would benefit from more rest time but at the same time this athlete will need a period of regular training leading into the race to feel both normal and confident, this will be the athlete who does not believe tapers work for them!

With this athlete i would start to incorporate a very light period of training over a 5-10 day period and include maybe 1-2 rest days in this time, this period though would happen in the 3-4 weeks out from the race period so the athlete can have a good period of regular training again before the race.

For the athlete who is less consistent with training having a rest day or 2 in the final 10 days before the race is not going to effect them mentally or physically as they will be used to having days off here and there while training for whatever reasons be it family pressure work or just the need for a rest day.

Athletes need to know that rest in this final period before the race is not going to make them feel good and fresh, most of the time rest is going to make the athlete feel more fatigued and less fit as the body given this opportunity to ease off the gas pedal goes into a deeper recovery and regeneration phase then the mini regeneration phases we take on a normal day. An athlete not aware this is going to happen will panic and feel the need to go out and get fitter and train when they are supposed to be resting or they will constantly feel the need to test themselves while training and push harder than any given session requires.
Training during the final 4 weeks needs to take into account this rest period and how it fits best for different athletes. For any athlete i will have finished this rest period 10 days out from the race and the final 10 days will see the athletes follow a training plan very similar to one they will have used during their main preparation phase. In the days 7-10 days out from the race i will have athletes complete their regular long run and bike normally run 10 days out and bike 7 days out. Then in the final days before event once further longer ride is used 3 days out from the race to make sure the body is burning fuel as required for race day.

Again this is highly individual and through coaching specific athletes you will see some athletes lose endurance performance very quickly within a short number of days while others can do very little endurance training and never have an issue with the endurance side of the race.

For athletes who lose endurance capacity quickly then a longer easy paced ride as close as 2-3 days out from the race can see great performance gains on race day.

As we enter the final 4 weeks before our main race we need to ensure the plan is set for us individually and followed, we need to know what is to be expected with feelings in training and mentally and the obstacles that we will face as a result of this.

One final thing i like athletes to start to think about in these weeks is building energy for the race day, we should see this time as being like a caged animal, we can always want more training, we can always want to test our fitness but we have to keep this under wraps and just follow the plan. Athletes who follow this are buzzing race week as they can’t wait to get out there and explode, whereas on the other side the athlete who has constantly tested and pushed for more fitness just looks exhausted and down in race week and almost dreading the start rather than anticipating it.

Enjoy your fitness!

Alun “Woody” Woodward

 

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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