May 2019 - ironguides.net

5 Most Common Mistakes on Race Month

There are so many ways to ruin a perfect performance on the weeks leading up to the race. Learn from others athlete’s mistakes, don’t repeat the same mistakes described below.

1) Tapering too early and too much:

I’ve written in a past article, why marathon tapering is different than the “conventional” tapering we keep hearing about. To sum it up, marathon, especially at the age group level, is all about fitness and not speed like the events that were the origin for taper (short course track or road) for that reason if you start cutting back on training 3-4 weeks out of race day, you will get to the start line feeling super fresh, but also very unfit!

Marathon taper should start no earlier than 2 weeks out and no later than 1 week, for most of the athletes. And you should cut down first on intensity, then on volume and last on workout frequency.

2) Letting the body shut down on race week:

Stay active! Stay loose! Once you get to race week, is a matter of getting a rest but not letting your systems shut down or you will feel just stale on race day. Do a lot of 20 to 40 minutes easy sessions, with a few fast strides here and there at race pace and race technique, that way you keep your muscles firing and familiar with the work that will come on race day, but keep those strides short so that won’t be long to take anything out of you for race day!

Avoid a day off the day before the race, two days out is better, do a little touch (10 minutes) the day before, just to get your rested legs going again.

3) Mental fatigue from race week hype:

Keep the hype under control. I often recommend my athletes to get to the race venue as late as possible, by doing that I know that the damage done to those who are easily caught by the hype, will be limited to a few days. If you can book your accommodation a few miles away from the race area, that really helps too.

Another great way to switch your mind off the event for a good few hours before race day is when you have a family member or friend with you. Although supportive (since that person is there with you anyways!), I’m sure that a conversation at dinner about something else than running, would be quite a relief for that person, this will help to put your mind at ease, relax and save your mental energy for the last 6 miles, where you will need to squeeze out every bit of mental strength to keep putting o foot in front of the other.

4) Physical fatigue from race week:

How many times have you gone to bed the night before a race and thought “ouch, my legs are tired, I shouldn’t have walked the expo for that long today”? Once again walking around the expo, standing around and talking to your buddies for hours is also part of the experience, but you should avoid those situations, especially if you are trying to improve your own PB or to perform at your best on race day.

Get one period of one day, best if 2 days out of race day to do all the socializing and shopping you want. For example if the race is on a Sunday, spend Friday morning at the expo, buy all the souvenirs you have, take as many photos you want, and catch up with all your friends on their training and racing expectations. Than this is it, avoid going back there.

5) Radical changes at your diet or sleep habits:

If you go to bed every day at mid night, is very likely you won’t be able to sleep by nine at the night before a marathon race. You will only frustrate yourself and make things even worse. For most of the athletes, if you get enough rest from a reduced training load and good sleep nights for the whole week before the race, the actual night before, doesn’t make a big difference. Same rule with your diet. Keep it simple, eat the same breakfast (or meal) you usually do before your training sessions. Diet alone won’t make you any faster on race day, but a different diet can sure cause your problems. The carbo-loading usually happens on race week anyways since you do get less training than the usual in the last few days before a race, so if you keep eating what you usually do, you will be eating more calories anyways, there is no reason to over eat the days before a race.

Some coffee drinkers try to stay away from coffee/tea on race week (or even weeks before that) to decrease caffeine tolerance, then once you have a double espresso on race morning the boost would be stronger. This can be a terrible idea since the lack of coffee will make you feel terrible, which can result in a worse than normal training session, feeling overly tired and might even play up with your confidence, which can result in bad choices. If coffee makes you feel good, keep drinking it up to race morning!

Stay fit, stay calm, tune out the noise, organize yourself and race fast!

Coach Vinnie Santana

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Treadmill as a Training Tool

The treadmill is a tool that is not explored as much as it should be. It has a reputation of being boring compared to running outside. As much as there is a good deal of truth to this, it also offers many benefits that can’t be replicated on the roads for athletes of all levels. Learn more about this excellent training tool in the article below.
More Efficient Biomechanics

Running on a treadmill with zero degree incline allows you to run faster than you would on the road, but with the same aerobic load, which means you can run faster for longer, thus developing the motor skills associated with that improved speed. Make sure you keep the treadmill completely flat (no incline) at 0% grade, not 1% as some coaches or articles recommend.
What does this mean? You have a greater benefit from the same workout. This is because the feeling and load when you run for example at 4’30″/ km on the treadmill is easier than the same pace when running outside, so in order to generate the same aerobic load you are able to increase the speed.

If you can run at 4’30″/ km for 5 km outside, it is likely that you can hold around 4’15” / km on the treadmill, at the same aerobic load, same heart rate and very similar perceived effort. However, you work your motor skills at a faster rate, and by doing it frequently, your muscles will be used to working and getting that rhythm and you end up running faster because you are training your legs at a faster rate than your aerobic system.
Fewer injuries and faster recovery is another benefit of treadmill running. While it is crucial, especially for long races, to get some pounding into the legs from the long runs, for most of the other run sessions, the impact on the legs from a treadmill is lower than running outside. This allows the athlete to train at a higher quality and volume without increasing the risk of injury.
Controlled variables

The treadmill allows you to better monitor your workout improvement and that gives you the opportunity to better understand how your body responds to external factors such as sleep, diet or stress. The more often you run on the treadmill with consistent variables, a feedback is generated on where you are in terms of fitness in relation to your recent training. This can also be a gauge for your fitness level without the need of entering a race very often.

This is only possible when factors that are variable outside, become controllable on the treadmill, such as gradient, wind speed and temperature.
As you get used to doing your running on the treadmill, you can simulate the reality of a triathlon race. You can use gradients, or combine with a spinning bike to simulate your race day needs. Depending on the gym, you can swim then run, or lift weights then run and that will teach you to run on tired legs. As long as you do every workout in order to run with the best technique, you will greatly improve your ability to run well in a triathlon.

Learn Pacing

One of the major limiting factors of every athlete is to run at an appropriate pace both in training and races.

The treadmill helps you learn to control your pace, because unlike running outside, if the pace is too fast and you need to slow down, you have to manually make this change in speed and slow the treadmill down, while out on the roads, your speed may drop without you noticing.

Each time this happens, it is a stimulus for you to try to maintain the next repeat or run at the same speed until the end.

This also simulates running with a strong training partner since when you run with a faster athlete, it is easier to stick to that faster pace compared to running alone. The motivation to run with a training partner helps you achieve new speeds and goals. The same can be done with the treadmill, because you need to make the decision manually, to “give up” when you slow the treadmill down, or compared to outside running, you decide to let your training partner go.

Convenience

For some athletes based in big cities, the commute to a park or a track can just take too long, while there is usually a gym close to home with a good treadmill (which reaches at least16km/ h). You have the benefits of finishing the workout at the gym, either before or after work, in addition to the always mild temperature, regardless if outside it is too hot or cold.

Safety is also another reason for treadmill training that should not be ignored. Some athletes only have the opportunity to train early in the morning or late in the evening. The treadmill allows athletes with non-traditional schedules to train safely at whatever the time they have to run, and it also keeps them safe from cars or bicycles.

Improves ability to stay focused

The main reason for most athletes to not use the treadmill is the mental part, we may all agree that a run on the treadmill without a challenging set can be relatively boring and it just won’t beat the fun of running outdoors, especially in a nice place with a group of friends or in nature.

Enjoying training is one of the reasons why we do this sport, and the lifestyle benefits. I had an athlete who once told me “I refuse to train indoors, I do triathlons to feel the wind blowing through my hair,” which is an understandable argument. But once you care a little about performing in races, or you find yourself in a situation and circumstances where you aren’t allowed to train in nice environments, try to structure your workouts into sets on the treadmill and it can become extremely fun and challenging.

Every athlete must also learn to understand the positive side of every situation, in addition to all the benefits already mentioned in this article, running on the treadmill makes you mentally stronger and not easily distracted. This has a great value in triathlons, as you will find yourself in a situation when you will need to focus on the effort you are doing, especially later in the run leg when you are getting fatigued.

Enjoy your training,

Coach Vinnie Santana