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How and Why to Train Through Races, Instead of Tapering

September 2, 2020

Ivan Vlasenko

As we head full on into race season, tapering is the topic on everyone’s mind. Should we taper for every race, how do we recover from the race, and how do we get back to productive training as soon as possible. The process of tapering I have talked about in previous articles. What I want to talk about here is the process of training through smaller, less important races that we use as stepping stones to our BIG races.

We can only really go through a full taper process 2 or 3 times per season without losing fitness—these tapers should ideally be a month or more apart.

For smaller races we do not maintain our full training schedule right up to the race either. Instead we have a mini refresh before the race and train as normal immediately following the race, essentially treating the event as an important training session.

RACE REFRESH

As we head through a training program at ironguides, we have our athletes training with a certain level of fatigue. This fatigue is an insurance policy against going too hard—it allows really good consistent training without the risk of going too hard as the body is too tired to do so!

When we have a small race coming up and we are in full training, the idea is to allow the body to freshen up without dropping all the fatigue and to not allow the body to change its hormonal state to one of deep recovery. With this, you are never going to be fully race sharp but you will be surprised at what you can do on a little fatigue.

I also use this to show athletes how hard they can push their bodies—tired body will not give you that top 5% speed but without that level you can’t blow up so you can really hammer away at your limit without fear of crawling home. This race suffering is a great lesson to take to your main races.

So how do we go about that freshening up?

I like to take the 3 days heading into the race as freshen-up time; any longer and we lose the training pattern and risk the body shutting down and going into deep recovery.

DAY 1: 3 days before the race

This is your day off, but I prefer it to be an active recovery day with just 1 training session, which is best done in a non-weight bearing sport so either swim or bike. The session should be all easy and 40 minutes is the maximum you should do. Listen to your body and just enjoy your training. I personally love to choose a route I know to be around 30 minutes and to not take a watch; BE FREE and feel your body. If you feel like a little more then go for it and if you feel terrible do not push through.

TRAINING

* easy 40-minute swim or bike

DAY 2 – 2 days before the race

This is an easy aerobic day, training the same hours as normal but the intensity is lower. This maintains fuel burning as normal within the body. This day would normally include a short run and a longer bike. The run would include a short period or set of moderate-pace intervals, while the bike includes a few 10 second ALL OUT sprints to make sure all muscle fibres are activated and kept in motion for the race. During a period of heavy training these 10-second sprints can really refresh the muscles very quickly—at the end of 10 seconds you get a short but intense burn throughout the muscles and this is exactly what is needed to produce a short secretion of growth hormone into the body to accelerate recovery.

TRAINING

* RUN – 30 minutes with 10 minutes of moderate pace intervals
* BIKE – 60-90 minutes easy with some 10-second sprints

DAY 3 – 1 day before the race

This is a short training day where we touch on all systems, so a little strength, a little speed and a little tolerance work. It is always good to do a little swim on this day and I prefer the bike also as it’s non-weight bearing and allows for faster recovery than a run session.

TRAINING

* SWIM – 20 minutes with some short accelerations to above race speed.
* BIKE – 40 minutes ride with some short all-out intervals and some moderate-paced strength intervals on a climb if possible.

RACE DAY

As we are still going to be a little fatigued heading into the race, a good warm-up is essential. This does not need to be fast but, just as in training, sometimes we need 20-30 minutes for the body to wake up, you should also be prepared to not feel great for the first part of the race, just keep positive and keep faith in the fact your body will come around.

POST-RACE RECOVERY

This is the important part to maintain consistent training; it is essential you do not stop as soon as you cross the finish line. It’s always tempting, but think that you would never do this after a hard session. Keep mobile, walk around a little or a small bike/ jog as you would after any hard session—remember, you have to think of the race as just a hard training session.

The next day you are right back into your training plan as though you had done a hard session, not a race. This style of training is the reason pro athletes can maintain such good shape all year despite racing almost every weekend; they do not taper for each race and they are straight back into training following the events.

Most ITU athletes will race Sunday, wake up sometimes crazy early on Monday morning to run before traveling home or to the next race. Running at airports etc is all part of the lifestyle to not allow the body to go into rest mode and then on Tuesday it’s back to the hard work. Typically these athletes are back to track intervals on Tuesday, training through the fatigue!

Alun “Woody” Woodward, Certified ironguides Coach – Europe

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Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

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5 Tips for Open Water Swim Newbies

July 27, 2020

Home, Training

Bang! The gunstart goes off and you rush to the open sea with hundred other triathletes in tow. You had practiced your stroke countless times in the pool. At least you knew you could swim. The technique is there. But 50 meters into the sea, you were swallowing water, you were gasping for air, and now, you are panicking! What have just happened? Next time you knew, you are hanging on to the swim line or buoy, or on your back…waving your arm to the nearest swim marshall.

You may have done the countless laps in the pool but you were not swimming with your fellow age-groupers who are lining up for the same position as you do. Someone is swimming over your left, the other side, and someone will also try to swim over you. And yes, where is the black line that keeps you straight?

And then there is the mental aspect of it, there is just the thought of swimming in an open sea that stress out beginners, and it can cause fear and anxiety. There are just the unknown aspect of openwater that is in sharp contrast to the calm and predictiveness of the lap pool.

However, with practice and a few tips and tricks you can boost your confidence in tackling open water swimming:

1. Practice in Open Water.
This is rather obvious. If you want to get comfortable swimming in open water, you must go out there and practice a lot in the open sea. Most open water swim failures happen when newbies sign up for the race, and their first experience in open water swim happens right there in the race. What usually happens, more often than not, is panic, and might ultimately lead to an early DNF.

Open water swim is a sensory experience. Sun in your eyes, waves and current, salty water, and the fish and seaweeds. The more you immerse yourself in that unpredictability, the more you become comfortable swimming in it. There is the sense that every time you hit the sea, you never know what it feels like, and that is the anxiety that comes before hand. Even veteran triathletes have this litte creep in their mind beforehand. But they are already familiar with the strangeness of that unpredictability that when they get their rhythm, they just swim through it.

It is also important to note never to swim alone in open water. Have that experienced swim buddy with you.

2. Mimic Washing Machine Starts in the Pool
While it is easy to get access to an open water and practice swimming, it will be very hard to tag along a group to simulate the frenzied, wrestling starts that happen in most triathlon races. You can simulate the starts in triathlon races by doing the drills with your swim group.

Share a lane with two other people and make them swim on your sides, with elbow contact and all. The more you do this often, the more you become comfortable being touched or hit while swimming.

While rolling starts are becoming the norm in most huge races, there is still the possibility of swimmers trying to get into a particular position at the same time (u-turns and corners). Be prepared for contact, practice it in the pool.

3. Position Yourself Appropriately
If you’re a strong swimmer, position yourself front and center. But you’re an open water newbie, so expect more contact with people who are aggressive and as fast as you. If swimming is not your strong suit, then seed yourself towards the back and off to the side.
If swimming in chaos is not your liking, you can go far off from the buoys and swim in clear water. You may lose some seconds, but you will get your rhythm faster. Finally, if you are a slower swimmer you can probably expect the faster athletes from the wave behind you to eventually catch up. Just continue with your stroke and expect some contact.
4. Start Slow
This is probably the same as run starts. The runners start off wildly, the faster runners’ pace brings along the crowd with them. After 200-300 meters into the road, your heart rate is beating fast and you are out of breath. You realize that you were running way beyond your regular pace. The only difference, is that you are on the road and walk to catch your breathe. Not in swimming though.

You are out of breathe, and you are swallowing water, and next time you know it, panic creeps in. So instead of starting like a madman, take it slow than your usual pace. When you get your rhythm in your stroke and you are rolling as you practiced, the pace will gradually increase.

5. Learn to Swim with Bilateral Breathing
While swimming in your most natural side is always the norm, there are advantages if you can breath in both sides. If you’ve become comfortable breathing to both sides, you can now choose a side to suit the direction of the swell or sun.
Breathing in both sides also lets you be prepared in whatever orientation the course maybe. Navigation and sighting will also be easier.

Another breathing technique that beginners must train in the pool is hypoxic swimming. It is not holding your breathe, rather it is controlling your exhale and becoming comfortable with not breathing every stroke. Learning this technique is another way to get more relaxed and more comfortable in swimming.

Mental Strength: Thinking about racing while training

June 26, 2020

Home, various

Visualisation: Thinking about racing while training

As your fitness improves and your big day draws nearer, race specific workouts are the perfect opportunity to “go there” in your head and visualise how best to handle yourself on the day. After all the hours spent beating your body into peak condition, it’s only wise to spend some time preparing your mind for the unique effort required to perform at your best on race day.

“Visualisation” sounds like a big word (and it may conjure up images of tranced-out pro athletes floating cross-legged in a zero gravity relaxation tanks, chanting mantras to themselves) but in actual fact, if you’ve ever wondered, “What are the winds like going to be in New Zealand?” or “How hot is it going to be in Philippines?”, then you’ve actually just dipped your toes into your very own weightless relaxation tank.

Instead of pulling your foot out quickly at the 1st thoughts of the pain and discomfort of race day, the next time you have such questions, I encourage you to hang around and let your imagination get the better of you for awhile. After all, once you’re locked into an all out 10 min big gear time trail in the last hour of your long training ride, what else are you going to do? (Come on, seriously, who actually enjoys the “scenery” for more than a few pedal strokes over 90km)

Studies have shown that envisioning a tough, painful race experience, compared to a lovely “perfect day” scenario actually goes along way more towards preparing you to push that All Out effort required from you at your A race. Going there in your head, prepares you to go there in your body.

In the last month of training leading up to Cobra 70.3, Philippines, I found myself spending an increasing amount of time, mentally matching different training intensities from different sessions, to various snapshot moments in the race. Time and again, I would catch myself thinking, “This is how I want to feel with 500m left in the swim/at 67km into the bike/ 3km into the run/”. I firmly believe that these intuitive moments were a crucial step in the mind-body process of building the best possible race day pacing strategy.

Here are some more weird and wonderful thoughts that came to me while sweating it out.

Swim

While pounding out the “all out” laps on the swim strength sets, I’d throw my arms out hard in front of me to ward off the invisible age groupers fighting for my piece of open water real estate. My furiously churning arms were “enter at your own risk” windmill blades that dared anyone to cut into my line. In fact, my paddles became lethal decapitating blades for those extra persistent irritants that simply refused to swim straight.
Sprinting 110% on the ALL OUT reps was the only way to break free of the washing machine mess at the swim start. And the easy laps after the hard ones were welcome relief after successfully sprinting up to the toes of a faster draft 10 meters ahead.

All this, swimming alone in a 30m pool one a quiet Sunday.

Bike

Turning right onto “The Hockey Stick”, a 1 hr out and back stretch, for the last hour of a race specific endurance ride, I was surrounded by rice paddy fields on Cam Sur’s village roads. School children, clutching colourful flags, had come out in droves to see what all the commotion was about. I kept my head down and focused on turning smooth powerful circles as I wacked the chain into the smallest cog. “This is when it counts,” I told myself, “…last 30ks of the bike, this is when NOT to fade.”

Even though it was a warm Singapore morning, I knew it would be hotter in the Philippines. How would I cope with a 5 degree increase in temperature? How would I change up my usual nutrition and hydration plan? In another A race, at the start of the season, I had not taken on enough fluids and suffered devastating cramps on the bike. As a result, I was unable to recover for the rest of the race and suffered badly. “Not going to happen this time…” I reminded myself, as I slowed down to a cruise, picked up an imaginary bottle of water from an imaginary aid station, took an imaginary gulp and emptied the rest down my neck and back. This little mental exercise left me feeling much more confident and well prepared.

Run

Race experience has taught me that it’s difficult to run with my legs still wobbly from the bike so I stride easy with small steps at a decent stride rate while munching on a salt tablet, patiently waiting for my legs to catch up. It’s a good idea to know how your body responds to what you’re planning to put in on race day- in this case, upwards of 4 Nunn rehydration tablets washed down with a bit of water.

“Building into” your long runs in training, progressively increasing the intensity/ perception of effort through the run, teaches you to start easy and finish strong. It is especially useful to cast your mind forward to race day and add the mental filters of suffering, discomfort and heat because this prepares you dig deep, stay calm and in control when the going gets tough on the big day. I believe that I’m generally able to tolerate the heat quite well, because in training, my mind is often running in far hotter places.

Conclusion

Practice fine tuning your mental grip during training teaches you how to manage the red line better while racing. Only by “going there” in training are you able to get familiar with the coping mechanisms that you can employ on race day. Shutting out the pain works only for awhile, soon you realise that the discomfort is very real. At this point, prepare a rock solid answer for when you ask yourself,” Why am I doing this?” What is it about this sport that gives it meaning?

Resign yourself to the fact that, for whatever reason you’re in it, you’ve come this far on your own terms and through your own ambitions and motivations. At this point, realise that embracing “good pain” will only make you stronger and allow your body to follow your brain into new psycho- physical limits over and over again in training. In doing so, you continuously and invariably redefine your pre-existing, self-imposed limits to performance.

So take the ceiling off your perceived best efforts and layer on the race day filters in your preparation to squeeze out every last drop on your big day.

Enjoy your training.

Shem Leong

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Shem Leong is our ironguides coach in Singapore. He has been hooked on triathlon ever since winning his age group in his first Olympic-distance race. Many top performances later, Shem still enjoys the challenges of training and racing at a high level, while balancing this with work and family. He is a firm believer in the benefits of an active lifestyle and loves being able to positively affect his athletes’ lives in this way. In the four years that Shem has worked as an ironguides coach so far, he has helped more than 60 athletes achieve their goals. They range from newbies hoping to complete their first sprint race, to 70.3 podium contenders, to seasoned Sub 10-hour Ironman athletes. Shem’s care for his athletes and his attention to detail set him apart. He completely understands the varied pull factors of life’s demands as well as the fiery motivations that drive everyday age groupers and is able to craft sustainable, effective training plans for their time-crunched schedules. An Honour’s Degree in Health Science has given Shem the knowledge to explain and expertly administer The Method. This, in turn, helps his athletes understand how each session contributes towards their ultimate goal; as a result, countless personal bests have been improved upon as his athletes continually get fitter and faster.

Speed up your Ironman Racing with Neuromuscular Resets

June 3, 2020

At ironguides we emphasize developing motor patterns in training, instead of the traditional focus on endurance development. We approach training this way to ensure specificity and reduce the risk of injury. The endurance element of training is still developed on the side – it’s just no longer the sole focus.

When I say motor pattern development I am talking about the brain’s control of movement. Every movement we make is controlled by the brain (motor). It must assign a portion (pattern) of our muscle fibres to perform the action we want, for example a pedal revolution in cycling.

At different speeds and over different types of terrain we use a different pattern of muscle fibres to perform the movement. In training we must focus on developing the patterns we will use on race day if we want to perform at the best of our abilities.

This process can seem very simple. For example, an elite track runner wanting to run a 4-minute mile has to prepare to run 4x400m in 60 seconds each. The athlete will do many, many repetitions at this speed to develop the necessary motor patterns. Then come race day this motor pattern is so engrained that the athlete can just do it.

This process, though, becomes a little more complicated as the duration of our event increases, especially in events lasting more than 45 minutes. With Ironman events taking between 8 and 17 hours to complete it is something we really need to think about.

What happens when we increase event duration?

As our event takes longer to complete we need to factor in neuromuscular (brain muscle link) fatigue. This is fatigue that stems from repeating the same action, over and over and over. To give an example, if we ride our bikes during the race at a cadence of 80 revolutions per minute (rpm) then over time our brain is going to tire because it will have repeatedly instructed a set of muscle fibres to perform this action.

As the brain fatigues it becomes sloppy and the messages sent to the muscles become less accurate. We start getting mixed signals and as a result see a breakdown in technique, slowing down in speed, etc. This is not the so-called wall. It’s not something we need to fight through – we simply need to reset the pathway.

A great example of this is the wall in marathon running, which is a phenomenon that seems to hit all runners at after about 18 to 22 miles of running in this event of 26.2 miles (or 42.2 kilometres). It has long been hypothesized that the wall is simply the moment when energy stores run out and the dead-legged feeling is the lack of energy as the body moves to fat-burning for fuel.

It is, however, very unlikely that this is the cause as athletes racing Ironman get this feeling at exactly the same time despite having already raced the 3.8km swim and the 180.1km bike prior to beginning the 42.2-km run leg. I would say that it is much more a relation to motor pattern fatigue

There would appear to be a limit in the number of steps at a set running stride rate where the pathway seriously deteriorates. This neuromuscular breakdown is not permanent and in fact can be reset pretty quickly, but to do so we need to stop or seriously change the demands on our brain for a period of time.

AID STATIONS – Perfect for a neuromuscular reset

In racing, aid stations may be our saving grace for more than just the opportunity to refuel. They give us a reason to stop or slow down for a short period of time. This, it appears, is enough time for a rest in neuromuscular patterns to occur. Many professional Ironman racers will walk through aid stations. This is simply because they have learned that after walking, taking on fuel is easier and they also feel better when they resume running. It seems to ward off fatigue.

Many athletes we work with see it as a sign of weakness to walk in the marathon but after some practice in training they realize that, instead, it is a secret weapon to improved performance. Having not tested this, we do not know the optimum time needed for an effective reset but somewhere in the 30-second range seems to work very well.

A great example of this neuromuscular reset process was shown by Torbjorn Sindballe in the 2007 Hawaii Ironman. Sindballe was in 3rd place at Hawaii in 2007 and fading towards the end of the run. He stopped at a porta potty when feeling bad and being caught by Tim DeBoom for 3rd place. However when he resumed running after this short break he felt amazing again and moved away from DeBoom to take a career highlight 3rd place.

Sindballe didn’t eat any magic food at this time, had no sudden energy boost. It was simply a neuromuscular reset that allowed him to run as his training had prepared him for.

Course Specificity and Neuromuscular Reset Strategy

Different courses present different challenges for the athlete. We typically assume a flat course is going to be the fastest and easiest (if there is such a thing as easy in Ironman) but this always the furthest from the truth.

Athletes go to renowned fast courses such as Ironman Austria and Challenge Roth expecting a flat and fast bike, and are shocked by the hills. However, hills are a saving grace for many on the bike as they create a natural shift in cadence and the way we ride. They force a neuromuscular reset on the athlete and as a result we tend to maintain better speed/ performance over the whole course.

On flat courses such as Ironman Florida there are no hills. You head out of T1, find your rhythm and are faced with 180kms of little change. It is in these events that we need to plan for neuromuscular resets along the way and it’s best to do so regularly. Don’t wait until your legs blow and then start the reset process!

Below are some common practices that have lead to improved performance in Ironman events

SWIM

During the swim neuromuscular fatigue can also set in and it’s good to have a range of stroke abilities so you can change it up to reset. You can also use the course for this, by swimming with longer, slower and more powerful strokes going with the current and a shorter choppy stroke when you’re swimming into the current.

BIKE

As I mentioned above, on hilly courses we are presented with an automatic reset due to the terrain so we do not need to plan so much for the bike. On flat courses, though, I recommend you do a reset every 30 minutes by putting your bike in the biggest gear and pushing a low cadence of less than 60 rpm for a period of 2 to 3 minutes before returning to our recommended 70 to 80 race cadence.

RUN

On the run, when we are facing already high levels of fatigue, the neuromuscular reset becomes even more important. A great strategy that we use is 9 minutes of running, followed by a 1-minute walk. This has helped a lot of athletes run up to one hour faster in Ironman compared with previous attempts to run all the way.

A lot of performance athletes will walk aid stations to produce this reset, maybe only walking 10 to 20 seconds which, done regularly, is extremely effective.

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Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

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

Shift your Training Perspective

May 5, 2020

Home, various

“There’s many ways to skin a cat” the saying goes…but in triathlon, there has been a strong shift to towards the false assumption that every workout needs to be all about the aerobic training benefit you receive, when in fact many other systems come into play to complete the perfect training plan.

All too often we see people training as if every workout was their only opportunity to develop a greater aerobic engine. The constant barrage of information in magazines, forums and websites is by and large focused on improving one’s aerobic fitness level. While this aspect of training is the most important, if you want to improve as an athlete you need to adopt a new perspective on your workouts because there’s more to it than just building up your aerobic capacity.

Age Group athletes especially need to ensure that each training session carries the maximum “bang for the buck” because training time is limited compared to professionals. Throw in family obligations and a full-time job and you may only have 6 – 10 hours a week to train. So how to improve your triathlon fitness on fewer hours of training?

Well, let’s start by making it clear that performing at your top end, to your fullest genetic potential is like creating an experiment in a vacuum tube. Almost no one, not even top professionals, performs to their fullest genetic potential. Far too many other factors come into play to offset performance, not the least of which are life circumstance and mental and emotional disposition to the goal.

As an Age Group athlete you should not seek a training plan or program that promises to deliver you race-winning performances on modest training volume. This does not exist. What you should seek is a training plan that provides better performances on the same volume of training as other plans. This is where making a shift in perspective on your training can be very useful.

Take two 40-minute run workouts on two separate training plans. One plan reads “40 minutes, Zone 2.” Out you go, run run run. End of story. What has the session delivered? 40 minutes of aerobic training and not much else. Workout 2 reads: “Treadmill 40min. Flat. Increase the effort to a pace that is just barely sustainable for the final 20min of the workout before cooling down.” Workout 2 generates aerobic conditioning, that’s a guarantee. But let’s take a closer look at what else this session delivers.

Without giving away details, you’re running on a flat treadmill for a reason. Running at the same aerobic intensity on land, you can’t run nearly as fast. On a flat treadmill you are able to run faster at a given aerobic effort, meaning your muscles trigger nerve signals at a faster rate. Translation: You are training your body biomechanically to run faster while getting the aerobic workout too. In short, both Workout 1 and Workout 2 train provide aerobic benefits, but through use of a treadmill Workout 2 teaches your body to run fast without additional aerobic strain on your system.

Similarly, you can create training sessions for swimming and cycling that will train you aerobically while also working other systems. When you structure your training, try to understand what other training effects your training sessions provide. Are there multiple dimensions of fitness being trained by your sessions? Or are they simply focused on aerobic training load?

The net benefit is that if you shift your focus from the aerobic benefits of training to an overall view on the benefits of each training session and how these complement each other during your weekly routine, you can structure a training plan to provide multiple training effects. That means you can accomplish more in your training time than simply following a zone-type program. Incorporating the right combination of workouts and recovery means more bang for your training buck. And that means you go faster on race day — with no additional training required
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Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

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

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

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ironguides 15% FTP increase Challenge to overcome Covid-19

April 20, 2020

While most races in 2020 are now cancelled, we want our athletes to stay motivated, healthy and improving.

The ironguides FTP Challenge will be a motivating way to have a goal for the next couple months, train safely and boost your fitness as a result. You also get our flashy bike jersey if you can achieve the 15% increase in your FTP test and most improved ironguides athlete will get a trisuit.

How it works:

Do a FTP test (20′ protocol) until May 1st or you can use an older from April 1st, share the result to your coach (AVG power & AVG HR). He will then build a FTP increase block for you

By June 30th, do another 20′ test, and you must have improved your FTP by 15+%

*Conditions:
-Must wear a HR monitor – AVG HR on test 2 must be within 8bpm from test 1
-Valid only for personalized coached athletes

3 Most Important Bike Sessions in Triathlon

March 31, 2020

cycling, Home

After nearly two decades of being involved with triathlon, both as an amateur triathlete, professional triathlete and coach, I had the opportunity to train and learn from the best coaches and athletes in the world.
Whenever I train with a renowned athlete or work alongside a coach with good results, I try to learn something and when possible add that information to the training I pass onto my athletes.

However, unlike any magic formulas or secret training sets, most sessions end up being very similar, with a certain structure that although is different in detail, ends up being part of one of the three workouts below.
As much as there are differences in the sessions of long and short course racing, some sets are the core of every distance at some point in the training plan, be it during a general or specific preparation.

Before we get to the specifics of the workouts, we need to understand the basic physiology of the event in which you will participate:

Short Course (Sprint or Olympic Distance)

Considered “short” races in triathlon, these events are still predominant, aerobic, but you’ll spend more time close to your anaerobic threshold, which means that a lot of your workouts need to be done at that intensity.

Ironman or Half Ironman

You spend most of your time on the bike in these long races, and cycling fitness is also a good base for a strong run split. Once you understand that cycling is also your run training, it will be clear that you need to spend a lot of time on your bike to build endurance in order to finish the bike leg relatively fresh to start the run.

Your cycling workouts will also have an impact during the race on race day.
Types of training

1) Endurance (Resistance)

Main physiological benefits:

>Conversion of fast-twitch muscle fibers to slow- twitch fibers

>Increases muscle glycogen storage

> Increases fat oxidation

Endurance sessions are mostly easy to moderate effort training which you can spend hours on without feeling too fatigued. Short course athletes should do in between two and three hours weekly, mostly at a very low intensity to also absorb all the hard work they do on the other days of the week.

Long course athletes should do between four and six hours, at a lower intensity in order to improve their endurance and efficiency of the use of fat as an energy source. Then as they get fitter, race specific sets should be added to these rides.

Workout Examples:

>Three hours negative split (first half easy, second half moderate)

>Five hours alternating between twenty minutes easy, forty minutes moderate
2) Anaerobic Threshold/VO2

Main physiological benefits:

>Increase blood plasma volume

>Increase anaerobic threshold tolerance

>Increase enzyme count in the muscle mitochondria

Anaerobic threshold or VO2 workouts are intensity workouts of the week, usually on a time trial format (individual or team), and ideally on hill repeats or on the indoor trainer. If on the roads, make sure it is safe and quiet so you can focus on the intensity.

It is advised that you often break the main set down in short repeats as these intervals help athletes to maintain a high intensity which would not be possible if they are a little fatigued from the accumulated training and do the training continuously as a one repeat set.

The combined volume of repetitions should be between fifteen minutes for VO2 sets, up to forty minutes to your anaerobic threshold. The ratio should be 1: 1(work: rest) to VO2 sets (eg: for each minute of work, you also get one minute rest) and the ratio of 2: 1 for the threshold set (eg: four minutes with two minutes rest).

Workout Examples:

>30 minutes alternating between three minutes maximum with three minutes of active rest (very slow)

>Ten reps of four strong minutes, with two minutes of rest
3) Strength

Main physiological benefits:

>Increased neuro muscular strength

Strength training is usually performed at a low cadence(between 30 and 60 rpm) or uphill, but short in time and high intensity. It is usually underlooked by most triathletes who train only based on heart rate zones, as during this type of training heart rate is irrelevant since the focus shifts to muscle load rather than aerobic load.

As explained before in previous articles published by ironguides, we favor a relatively low cadence or at least lower than the run cadence. We believe it is the most efficient way to race a triathlon event considering also the high aerobic load you get from swimming and running.

This strategy shifts the focus of cycling training, which should be largely related to strength training but bike specific. What are the best ways to improve strength on the bike? How to incorporate them into your week of training? Plus, what is the periodization during the year?

An easy way to explain the benefits of strength training for our triathletes is making an analogy with a sales strategy of “Pay for 1, take 2”, as when you work on strength on the bike, you will also improve your aerobic fitness and endurance.

Workout Examples:

>10 repeats with a maximum time of 30 seconds in low cadence, preferably up a hill with three minutes of rest

>30 to 60 minutes alternating between 1 minute hard in a low cadence with one minute rest
Periodization of your training cycle using the above training

In general, it is interesting to always schedule one workout of each of the systems described above for almost every week of the year. The only exceptions are race weeks, when you must consider the energy system to be used in that race as you don’t want to fatigue that same system too much on race week. If anything, just a quick recruitment session to keep it all firing is enough.
Short course athletes should avoid threshold/vo2max work during race week.

Long course athletes should avoid endurance training during race week.

Another important observation is in relation to the training details. The above examples show only the essence of each of the 3 important types of training, but your coach should adjust the amount of repetitions, length of them and intensity in your plan considering:

Your strengths and weaknesses
Experiencein the sport
Race day goals
Training goals for each training block

This way, you keep a little stimulus for all the main systems throughout the year, but you change the focus of your training and overload a specific system depending on the training goal for that program.
Enjoy your training!

Vinnie Santana

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Triathlon Off-season (part I): relax & recover

February 26, 2020

base & off-season, Home

Coach Alun ‘Woody’ Woodward talks about the importance of taking the time to relax and recover during the off-season. His includes lots of food with sushi and pig trotters stew high on the list this year.

Stroke Rate – Cadence – Stride Frequency

January 31, 2020