Category : ironman

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Ironman Performance – When things go wrong

September 5, 2017

Home, ironman, Training

When training for performance in extreme endurance events such as ironman there is always the possibility of things going wrong. We are always pushing the envelope in training looking for peak performance and that brings risks of injury and sickness before the event but also so much can go wrong on race day.

On race day we can only control so much and there is always going to be the possibility of nutritional problems, mechanical breakdown on the bike and a host of other issues that could occur to derail all your best laid plans and either prevent you achieving goals or even not completing your chosen event.

With ironman likely being the major focus of your year it can be devastating when something like this happens and can leave you with a feeling of having wasted a years worth of training and all the sacrifices that come with that training. The knee-jerk reaction from most athletes is to completely stop at this point and contemplate time away from the sport or to enter another event right away. One of the best pieces of advice i ever heard was “Do not let emotions rule decisions in the days after an event”.

While it is very hard to not do any of the above – if something has occurred in your main event try to treat the days immediately after exactly as you would had you executed a perfect race, have your easy recovery days following the event, even if you did not make it through the whole event your body is not only recovering from the physical demands of the day but also the mental demands of the whole build up and this is so much more demanding on the body than most athletes think.

When you are a few days post event and everything had calmed down emotionally then start to think about what you want to do. You have great fitness and finding another event might be the direction to go, depending on availability you might get to use that fitness without having to really put too much training time in. If the only events are a little while away you need to consider how training might impact the weeks you had planned other activities such as holidays or family time.

If you decide to race again then the following are some things you need to think about

TIME FRAME

If you can find an event within 2-4 weeks from your race then you really do not need to be looking at gaining fitness rather just maintaining fitness, you need to resist the urge to train hard at this time as this will just leave you physically drained for your new race. If you completed your race just not to the expected level for whatever reason then you are going to gain fitness from the event for up to 3 weeks with very little work, you almost get a free race from your body at this time.

Finding a race 5-8 weeks away is going to mean a little more planning with training, you are going to have to put another block of endurance work in preceding this event. This time frame can be extremely successful or a complete disaster depending on planning. The issue with this time period is one of mental preparation and fatigue, with the event a decent time away motivation to get back to hard training is high and its all too easy to jump into hard training and this can feel amazing as fitness levels are so high. What tends to happen without correct planning is 2-3 weeks into a training block motivation levels dive and you start to question what your doing. I rarely see fitness being an issue in this circumstance and my focus would always be on having the athlete make sure they were mentally fresh and ready to race over trying to fit more fitness into there program.

For most of us there is only one time a year where we can put a sustained block of hard work into training for a major event. So if something goes wrong and we sign up for a second event then we need to consider this factor, we need to take things back a step from our previous training. This may mean just knocking watts back by a few percent, reducing long rides a touch and maybe one or two less sessions a week to allow more recovery and stay mentally fresh. Your mantra at this time should be one of maintenance, if you manage to dial back training a touch for this reason you will most likely actually find that performance rockets for race day.

EVENTS

It is not always going to be possible to find another ironman or even triathlon event that is accessible so you may be forced to look at alternate events and challenges. This can be an exciting prospect maybe there is an event that you have been keen to do for years but avoided due to possible injury risk or effect it may have on your triathlon performance. A great example of this may be a group bike race which certainly holds allure for many triathletes but the skills of pack riding and the inherent injury risk just prevent you from taking apart. If you decide to go this route make sure you develop those skills leading into the race and do not just focus on fitness.

Learning the skills to ride in a pack can only be learnt by riding in a pack so search out your local bike team and see if they have local group rides or criterium style training sessions. Ask around and find out if there is a rider locally who has a reputation for being a top technical rider and ask for lessons and advice.

Just remember riding in a group race at speed is not the same as an easy group long ride with friends!

The booming swim run sport Breca is taking the world by storm right now and maybe you can find a local event and discover something new but still using your triathlon skills. Plus the team side of this could add a new dimension to both training and competing to refresh you after a sole focus on triathlon.

Maybe you have have always had your eye on an ultra running events, whatever it is you are in a great position to jump into an event like this. Fitness levels should be peaking so a few weeks of specific preparation is all that would be needed to get ready for a new challenge.

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

So in conclusion if something has gone wrong and race day did not go to plan step back from the emotional response – carry on with recovery exactly as you would after a perfect race then a few days later see how your feeling and make plans!

Once you have your plan its very important that you listen to your body, if your tired and unmotivated do not push on with the training – take a step back and remember what your doing and why, remember fitness is these signs are a sign you need to take things easy not push harder – mental strength at this stage is the most important factor to a successful follow up event.

Enjoy your training

KABOOM – dont blow up on race day

August 16, 2017

cycling, Home, ironman, Training

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

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Ironman Performance – The mini taper

April 25, 2017

Home, ironman

Finally winter is coming to an end and the race season is rapidly approaching with a sprinkling of early season events already taking place. After months of hard training its exciting to finally get an opportunity to race and test your fitness.

When we are training hard we never really get to see our true fitness as its often hiding under a blanket of fatigue. It can be frustrating to train hard and not really see the progress taking place or feeling like every day is a struggle to get the work done, almost feeling unfit every day when in fact the complete opposite is true. When training for performance the reality is the only time we really see our true fitness and feel fit is race day! This level of fatigue in training is good and drives gains in fitness but when we want to test the fitness we do need to allow this fatigue to lift a little just to get a glimpse of the gains that have been made.

I see a lot of athletes take a full taper into their first events and often have amazing races then performance just trails off through the season as they repeatedly follow this taper process into every event as it worked so well the first time. The reason this happens is a full taper will bring the body to a peak of fitness and then from that point the only way is down, also the peak is related to the period of training banked before the taper, so tapering for every event from this point might mean only 2-3 weeks of training banked compared to maybe the 3-4 months before the first race.

Ideally we should be looking to taper just 1-2 times per year and for other races we simply train straight through using them as a training session or perform a mini taper or more a refresh of the system before the event.

While a full taper might be anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks long before your big race a mini taper needs to be just 2-3 days long and will not allow full recovery but it will give your body a little rest and give you more fire power for race day without effecting your training progression.

So a mini taper will tend to start around Thursday to Friday of race week given Sunday is your race day. I do like to put one very easy day into this where you may get out for a easy 20min bike session just to keep the body moving but this day is about doing as little as possible. On the other days training should resemble your regular plan in terms of what systems your training but with reduced volume.

THURSDAY

3 full days out from the race is a great time to have a very easy day, looking to do as little as possible on the day or even take a full rest day. I always prefer to take this day to start the mini taper and then train for 2-3 days into the event.

A simple 20min run is enough on this day but its important that you eat as normal on this day – the lack or training and regular eating protocol will lead to some carbo loading effect for race day.

FRIDAY

Friday i like to have fairly similar to your regular training day in terms of structure but maybe take a little of the volume out of the overall program. Lets say on this day you normally have a morning swim and evening ride, we want to hit both sessions and make sure that the same stimulus from the session is hit but without the same fatigue, below are examples of how we can do this

Regular swim main set – 16x100m hard on 2minutes with last 8 repeats using paddles

Adapted Main set – 16x50m hard on 60s – last 8 repeat with paddles

So we are swimming the same speed so the body does not miss out on the speed stimulus but the interval is only half of normal so we are not going to be producing the same levels of fatigue.

The same idea can be applied to any session, below if an example of a bike session
Regular bike set – 8x40s all out sprints with 3minutes easy recovery between

Adapted bike set – 8min @ 20s all out / 40s rest

This main set is much shorter but the 20s all out efforts will see the legs still get the speed and power stimulus but not the same amount of damage that would occur in a 40s sprint – also the short recoveries between sprints stop the athlete being able to push too hard on the 20s sprints to lead to muscle damage.

SATURDAY

In a mini taper i like to use the day before the race for some easy aerobic volume, the volume here is very individual and depends on your regular training volume and also i find female athletes perform very well of more volume on the day before a race when compared with male athletes.

For example a female athlete who regularly trains 16 hours a week might do an easy 4 hour ride on this day, time in the saddle being the focus not distance as i like this ride to be very easy so speed is going to be low. If we look at a female athlete training 12 hours per week then this ride would be maximum 3 hour long so staying at 25% of the weekly volume.

For male athletes this bike session would be a lot shorter topping out at 90min for athletes typically training up to 16 hours a week and looking towards 2.5-3hours for athletes training over this amount per week.

SUNDAY – RACE DAY

Race day should be treated as any race day, so aim to be awake at least 3 hours before your race start time in order to fully wake your body up before the start. Starting your day with a easy 10min jog before breakfast is a great way to accelerate this process and make sure your ready to go when the race starts.

MONDAY – Back to work

Once race day is done then its time to get back to training, yes you will be carrying some fatigue from the race but in general race day is less volume and easier than a training day on your body so you should be fine to jump straight back to your regular program. A well structured program should see Monday as a recovery day from a weekend of longer endurance work so this is not different and you should be all systems go by the time harder work commences on the Tuesday.

A mini taper is a great way to allow you a glimpse of your true fitness without compromising your training and progression towards your big races of the year. This is also a great way to boost confidence as you head into another block of hard training which will no doubt once again lead to performance levels hiding under that blanket of fatigue.

Enjoy your training
Alun Woodward

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Training for an Ironman? This race simulation workout is crucial on your preparation

March 17, 2017

Home, ironman

If you are training for an ironman, it’s very likely you are following a training plan that calls for a weekly long swim, long bike and long run, these are on separate days and the idea behind breaking the work down, you can train fresher, with better technique, faster, and recovery quicker from each of these, the day after a long bike or long run for example, you can easily do a high intensity swim workout and keep on adding fitness with no long recovery needed within your week.

However, beginner athletes, with zero to little experience in the ironman distance may benefit from a race simulation during their prep. The benefits are:

Confidence: The suggested distance is as long as your body can handle without requiring a long period of recovery. Anything longer than that and you may as well do the whole ironman distance in training. You can’t really simulate the back end of the ironman marathon while training, you are better by stopping just before that, recovering fast, then getting back to consistent training.

Specific Endurance Training: While you can acquire endurance by training each discipline separately and that has its benefits too, a long training day is as specific as it gets for your endurance, once you bounce back from the stress of this race simulation, you will find your fitness at a new level

Pacing strategy: You will be able to simulate, at least under a less stressful environment (no pre-race adrenalin), how well you can pace at this strange. You will see guidelines and goals for each segment of the simulation. On race day, pacing, along with nutrition, are the two biggest components that will impact your race, since there isn’t anything you can do about your fitness on that day. Failing to get the pacing right in training is a guaranteed recipe for disaster on race day.

Equipment testing: How many times have you done a long swim in your wetsuit? If you live in a warmer weather place, chances are you didn’t even have a wetsuit before signing up for your ironman overseas and the chafing some of these suits give is something you want to be aware of and be ready for on race day (with a lot of Vaseline). Make sure you also test all the equipment you plan to use on race day, wheels, helmet, shoes, anything that you keep on a race bag and only use when racing, should be tested on your race simulation day

Nutrition: The goal here is to test for any issues related to either your stomach not tolerating well your nutrition, or you just get sick of the gels and flavoring you first thought you would handle over the race. Keep in mind that race day will see additional stress on your stomach so your nutrition strategy has to be perfect in training, if you have small issues, these are likely to be much bigger come race day

Other weaknesses: Putting the body through enough stress can also show you a few weak links that a normal training day won’t. It can be a comfort issue on the bike for example, tight neck or back that without the swimming prior you don’t feel but in this simulation it will allow you to tweak details such as bike fit, core strength, flexibility, that would have slowed you down on race day.

Scheduling it within your training plan

Pick a weekend, 6 to 8 weeks out, that works for you. This will allow you plenty of time to fully recover then start the final and most specific training plan, including the lessons you learned on your race simulation and adjust your training to address any weakness shown at the simulation day.

Best day to do this is on a Saturday, as if the weather doesn’t cooperate you can push one day and this will also allow you to enjoy Sunday as a sleep in and rest day.

Requirements:

To be able to get this training done and recover from it relatively quick (within 1 week) you must have completed within 6 weeks of the session:

*4 long rides of at least 4 hours each
*4 long runs of at least 2 hours each
*4 swims of at least 1 hour each

If you can’t meet the above requirements, this race simulation will do more harm than good, you will be better off by just doing a normal weekend of long sessions and also work on your training consistency

Another requirement is to have done an official half distance race within the previous 12 months of race day. If you haven’t, book an event instead (these can be 4-10 weeks out), the pre-race adrenalin, traveling, dealing with the real world experience can’t be simulate on training. Race simulation works well for experienced racers who are stepping up to the full distance, but you need that half distance race in your legs before your full distance.

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The set up

Ideally, do this at a place you have access to a convenience store (your aid station for the day) or take a cooler with your fuel and leave inside your car. A course that you can do several laps is also required to track your pacing.

As swimming pool access can be far away from cycling venues, it is ok to drive after the swim to a more appropriate place to drive, just try to keep the transitions relatively short

SWIM: Duration = 1 hour

Pre-establish a swim distance before the session that will take you around 1 hour to cover, then break the swim in at least 2 equal parts with a short break in between, your goal is to swim the second half faster than the first

If wetsuit is allowed on race day, use it today, unless is an exceptionally hot day pool (over 27C) – additionally, if you are swimming in a wetsuit and you live in a hot weather country, break the distance down in even shorter repeats, take at least 2 bottles with you (1 of iced water to pour on our head, the other of sports drinks to sip through the workout)

TRANSITION 1: Duration =up to 30min

Here is the exception to the rule of “use everything planned on race day on your simulation day” – at transition 1, you want to have a small snack that includes both carbohydrate and protein (fat is optional) – this will help to reduce your recovery window. Logistically, a short drive from the pool to a bike and run venue is fine.

BIKE: Duration = 5 hours

Similar to the swim, you can pre-establish a distance on the course you will be doing and target to increase the pace in 3 different segments, for example up to 1h40, then you need to increase the pace a little until the 3h20 mark and the final 1h40 should be the fastest of them all. Stop every 100min or so to refill your water bottles

If possible, do the bike on a course that simulates race day, hills, technical descends, flats, find something that will get you mentally and physically ready for the big day.

TRANSITION 2: Duration =up to 20min

Transition two should be a lot quicker than the first one as it won’t require changing venues and you should also run on the same gear you plan to on race day, for many athletes that is a trisuit or two piece. Just put your bike in your car (or store somewhere) and head out for the run.

You also want to have a snack here, something easy to digest with plenty of water. Remember, your goal is to finish today’s session with your tank “half full”, this will make recovery a lot faster, slow down if you have to, to be able to process all the calories and liquids you are taking in today

RUN: Duration= 1 hour
While the swim and bike are quite close to race distance, a one hour run may be only a fourth or a fifth of the time you will be running on race day, why is that? Running requires a much longer recovery time compared to swimming and cycling due to the impact of running – that is the same reason why you should never do a marathon on your preparation. The goal here is to run enough to learn pacing, practice your nutrition, test your equipment, but stop before you dig too deep.

Do this preferably on a lap that won’t take you longer than around 30min to complete, this will allow you to track your splits, as the aim is to do the second lap faster than the first, and also provide you access to your nutrition and cooler half way into the run.

Take one quick break at the 30min mark to refuel, then bring it home the final 30min faster than the first. By the end of it you want to be feeling strong and feeling that you could have kept on going, if you don’t feel that way, this is a red flag that your pacing goals wasn’t appropriate for your current fitness level.

RECOVERY:

Have a snack, straight after the workout, then go home and another meal within 2 hours of finishing the session. Researches have shown better replenishing rates within 30 and 2 hours of exercising, this will allow you to get back to training faster and will also help your immune system to bounce back, avoiding any potential sickness in the week following the race simulation

Here is a suggested recovery guideline for the simulation on Saturday:

SUNDAY: 30-40min swimming, as 20-30min of easy 50m repeats with paddles/buoy + 10min easy kicking (25 or 50m) with board. Doing something today as an active recovery is far superior to a total day off, easy swim or easy spin on the trainer will get your blood pumping a little faster, help the muscles to heal and clean any lactic acid remaining in the muscles

MONDAY: Easy 30-40min spin on the bike trainer or gym bike

TUESDAY: DAY OFF – with 2 active rests days behind you, a total day off will boost your recovery even further

WEDNESDAY: 40min easy run

THURSDAY to SUNDAY: Get back on your training plan on both a reduced intensity by one notch and volume (cut it short by 25-33%)

Following week, back into the full plan

FINAL 5-7 WEEKS:

Once you are back in training, resist the temptation to do another race simulation day, remember that doing shorter and more frequent long workouts gets you fitter than big, race simulation days. Just adjust your training based on your performance on the race simulation day and stick to it until the final two weeks when you should star tapering

In this final block you should also avoid any type of racing as this will break training consistency once again. Keep on adding fitness without pushing it too hard

Enjoy your training,

Coach Vinnie Santana

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Performance in Ironman – small changes to success

March 14, 2017

Home, ironman, Training

When we stop seeing the challenge of Ironman as finishing and start looking at how fast we can get to the line the dynamic of our thinking and training changes.

The biggest challenge when we start thinking like this is accepting that failure or a long walk to the finish line is a BIG and real possibility. The training commitment and expense of the racing itself can make this too much of a risk for most of us especially when it is likely we can only commit to one Ironman race in a given year.

To have gotten to the stage where we are looking at times and performance we have likely been successful and performed well in previous races and have followed a plan to get there, the biggest mistake I see made is assume to get faster we need to be pushing much harder in training or doing much more training – both recipes for disaster!

First step in taking on this challenge is looking at previous training and races, have you steadily improved performance over a number of years with a similar training volume and intensity? If you can answer yes to this then you are still getting stimulus and adaption to this training load and there is no reason to increase as it would follow that the improvements will continue to come.

In this circumstance we want to look at our races and see if there are any small areas of weakness we may need to improve on, by this I mean if there are certain things that we always struggle with in races. For example we may tighten up or start cramping towards the end of the swim or we may find it hard to cope with small changes in gradient or accelerations during the bike section.

Once we highlight these points we can look to integrate fixes into our existing program – small changes in interval set up for example can elevate these issues in future race’s yet the stimulus from sessions is not too different and not risking a total change in stimulus. Let’s look at how we could fix the 2 issues highlighted above.

Tightening up or cramping towards the end of the swim

The Ironman swim is a long swim and places a big demand on the body that is very hard to replicate in a pool, we will all struggle to hold good technique for a full 3800m, small things we would not think about can lead to big determinations on technique when swimming open water. We all feel fatigue in shoulders and lats when swimming and assume the increase of this fatigue as the race goes on is simply due to fatigue in hugest muscles but our core strength or lack of it can be the real reason for increasing fatigue. Even though we are supported by the water to an extent we still need to have a strong core in order to hold an optimum position for an effective pull, as our core fatigues we lose this position and usually to a significant extent and this leads to more drag and the swimming muscles have to work much harder for the same speed hence the feeling of increased fatigue. As most of us can’t regularly swim open water we never get to see this fatigue come into play as the small rests we get as we turn in a pool are enough to prevent this fatigue kicking in.

The most common areas of cramping when swimming long distaste are gluteus muscles and hip flexors – the hips play a huge role in swimming and body position and if they are not strong problems will arise when racing. A small core routine incorporated into your weekly training can lead to a significant change in performance.

When I say set up a core routine to strengthen hips I am not talking about heading to the gym and spending an hour working out – a hip strengthening routine can be done at home or at the pool before or after a swim session or as a complement to your bike and run training, I find using the exercises as your warm up to be the most effective use of time.

HIP ROUTINE
HIP EXTENSION
PLANK
LUNGES
MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS

Go through the following exercises twice working for 30 seconds and resting for 15 seconds. See videos for how to do exercises.

Start adding this in now twice a week and you will feel the difference on the race day as you fatigue less at the end of your swim and also head out fresher and stronger into the bike!

Bike accelerations or gradient changes

In Ironman while drafting is not allowed riding legally paced groups is inevitable and even if we want to ride to our own effort or power we have to be aware of the group dynamic in order to avoid penalties and optimise our performance. One thing that always happens in such circumstances is the pace will suddenly increase or decrease and also the need to increase power for small inclines will be needed in order to maintain position and avoid penalties if riding in a large group. These small accelerations and spikes can really hurt your performance if you are not used to them as they can rapidly burn through fuel and if you can’t recover quickly and get back to normal heart rate your endurance will suffer.

If this is something you suffer from then we can change the dynamic of one of your interval bike sessions to incorporate a similar stress and allow the body to get used to going above comfort zone and then coming down again many times, the more we do this the more your body will get used to the stress and come back to normal faster.

Having looked at power meter data from athletes racing these small spikes in power tend to be between 20 and 60 seconds in duration so we want our sessions to be similar, an example of a session to simulate this is:

Warm up for 10-30mins easy

Perform the following routine 1-3 times through

1min very hard / 1min moderate x3

10min race effort

3min easy recovery and then repeat desired number if times.

The first times you attempt a session like this you will find it very tough and breathing will be stressed more than anything but you will find over a number of weeks breathing becomes more steady and recovers rapidly after the hard efforts.

This session would replace your normal race intensity session in your weekly plan, for example this could be the classic 2x20min hard session that is used by many athletes.

So if you have decided to see just how fast you can go and really race your next Ironman resist the temptation to increase volume and intensity rather look at the small changes needed to address your weakness when racing. When race day comes it is all about executing your fitness and taking the risk of blowing up!

Enjoy your training

Coach 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!

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

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

Video: 11 tips to qualify for the Ironman World Championships

December 14, 2016

Home, ironman

If you are already close to qualifying for the Ironman World Championships, these details may help you get there. Watch the video below:

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Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

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

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

Profile: Roberto Carfagno

March 28, 2014

DNR, Home, ironman, Training

Roberto – Congratulations! It’s a rare occurrence that an athlete finishes their maiden Ironman so close to 11 hours. I’d like to get into your head a little and draw out inspiration for the rest of us age- groupers out here.

1. First up – How did you feel crossing the line of your 1st IM in such an impressive time?

Strangely enough, I had my strongest emotions at the start of my second loop (out of three) on the run.

To understand the full picture we need to take into accounts a few details:

a) I had never ran a marathon before and I didn’t know what to expect (a wall? Walk-run? Just walk?)

b) Even though I had a goal to finish my 1^st ironman in 12 hours I didn’t know if I was going to be able to achieve it.

My plan was as follows- Swim plus transition time – 1:30/ Bike: 5:30/ Run 5:00

The swim part went well time-wise and I had gained a few minutes on my time table, but the strong wind, the rough tarmac and the hills took their toll on my bike leg: 5:41. So I went into the run with a lot of respect and just replayed the same mantra. in my head: “smooth and easy”.

My coach had also told me to “Treat it like a long jog”. This piece of advice proved to be the real key for my run.

When I started the second loop with 28km to go, I checked my watch and realized that not only would I make it within 12 hours but rather in a low 11h if not better. Somehow, knowing that everything depended on my run skills, whether I could keep this speed, whether I hit that famous wall on the marathon, and the fact that I really really wanted to make it, brought me so close to an outburst and cry. Don’t ask me why! In my mind all the run-related exercises and sweat went through like a movie and I told myself that nothing would stop me now to reach those low 11 hours. Guess I am an emotional person..!

On the last 3km I even found the strength to finish strong with a long sprint as I knew I had made it and by the time I crossed that line my emotions were already under control. Pity, actually…I even stopped a few steps before the ramp, took off my hat, “combed” my hair, zipped up my suit and bowed: we sure want to look good on the finisher pictures!

2. Briefly talk us through the race. High/ low points during the race. Standout thoughts at certain points in the race.

Waiting for swim start –

The walk from home to the race location was freezing cold. I felt excited and a bit anxious: I had never started a swim with so many people around me. And although I am a very confident swimmer, I had the worst of the starts one can imagine.

After 40-50m into the swim I simply felt I couldn’t breath. That “anxiety” was so strong that I stopped swimming with one hand and started to pull at my wet suit around my chest. This obviously made it worse as people behind me simply swam over me which made me swallow a lot of water. I was indeed SOOO close to withdraw from the race. And I presume I would have if not for the fact that if I had indeed stopped, I would have been overrun by at least 1’000 people behind me.

So I gathered myself and swam to the side of the bunch and that’s when it started to go well again. I guess that was my first panic-attack in my whole life and I still need to analyse it.

I followed my coach’s advice and kept drafting behind swimmers. As I found my confidence and rhythm in the open water, I found it quite fun to keep changing up to a quicker draft. In the end, it worked well and I arrived 15min ahead of schedule. This was a huge boost.

Mid way though the bike-

Based on my coach’s strategy to stay patient and conservative on the first 2/3’s of the bike I kept the whole first full loop “easy” and let people overtake me. The plan was to see how much I could push in the last 1.3 of the bike.

I started the second and last loop more aggressive. I knew that was when I had to attack as the wind was in favour and kept pushing it all the way through to the turnaround at km135. The last 45km, uphill and against the wind, were simply torture. With 25km to go, I knew that I wouldn’t manage to stay within schedule. This frustrated me and as a reaction I started to push harder. Man, that hurt!!!

Starting out on the run –

I started the run again very conservatively. Most of the athletes I had left behind on the swim and bike started to catch up and overtake me but that didn’t bother me. I was focused on being ready for the wall hence kept it at a steady pace. As described above, on the start of my second loop I had an emotional outbreak and that gave me the energy to keep going. I guess people are right when they say that nutrition is the 4^th leg in an Ironman. Once I reached km32 I simply started counting down the km and went up with my speed. No wall ever hit me! : )

Finishing up on the run-

I think that was the most fun part of the whole race: I started to run as fast as I possibly could at that moment and I think I overtook about 50 people on my last 2km of the race. Awesome!

3. How did your physical training prepare you to stay strong mentally throughout the race?

The last 2 months of the training depicted very well the mental conditions of the race. Although I had never rode 180km (160km was my max), and despite the fact that 180km ARE veeeery long, those long and lonely bike rides prepared me perfectly for race conditions.

Moreover, all the tough sessions I had leading to the race during the past 6 months helped me being confident that I can make it. If I had survived running up that hill for weeks and weeks and swim those laps till I was out of breath for months then I surely could do an Ironman!

4. At which point did you realize you could break your goal of 12h and where/ what did you draw your strength/ resolve/ focus from to dig deep and go for it.

That was my most emotional moment of the race. When I left T2, I was 5 mins behind my schedule with my ‘weakest’ discipline to go. Somehow I thought I wouldn’t make it within my goal of 12 hours. What I didn’t realize is that the clock showed the professional’s race time. They started 15min earlier than us and I actually 10 mins ahead of my race plan!

When I started my second loop and I realized I was much faster than I had anticipated all emotions broke loose. And this somehow gave me the kick to keep running at my pace when about midway I felt my legs becoming heavier. A big help came also from the most powerful legalized doping drink: coke!!! Amazing how it can push you!

5. Let’s talk about your training. Can you briefly describe your weekly training schedule. How and why that’s working for you.

My coach and I had first a thorough discussion on my life style. Each aspect was taken into account and based on those inputs he prepared a training schedule that perfectly fit my needs.

Being single obviously helps a lot in my training as I can be more flexible on my training hours, but then, my job requires me to travel quite often which makes it a challenge to fulfill all exercises. I have learnt, though, that it CAN be done.

Every single day a little session will bring you through an Ironman!

In the 180 days that I have been with Ironguides, I have only missed 17 days of training- despite Christmas (on my bike!) and New Year (long run!).

6. Please share with us the 2 most important ‘take home’ messages that you have learnt about endurance training that everyone needs to hear.

No doubt about the first one which is also rightly highlighted by Ironguides: Consistency is key! Do a little bit every day and you will be ready at the start of your Ironman!

The second lesson that I learnt is the incredible power of the human spirit to overcome adversity.

For example – the number of times I wanted to skip training with teasers from my friends to join them for drinks or movies. Or when I had the panic attack, at the swim start and I almost withdrew from the race or when I almost got off the bike as my legs burnt so badly uphill against the wind.

But “nothing is impossible to a willing mind!”

7. I always stress the importance of communication in the coach -athlete relationship. Your thoughts on this please.

With Shem I picked a winning lottery ticket.

We had an ongoing communication both with mails and face-to-face discussions. When going into your first Ironman there are many doubts, many anxieties, when starting for such a monumental endeavor there are various questions on the training and its effects, on how to pace yourself and what to take in as nutrition.

Communication and understanding from your coach is the second most important thing after…his training schedule!

8. What life lessons have you learnt on this journey to Ironman?

I learnt that with discipline and putting in the correct effort, I can achieve anything. I might not be the fastest and quickest, but I’ll be there at the end line, no matter what challenge I face.

9. What are the benefits of having a coach? What are the characteristics for a good coach to look out for?

A coach brings in all the essential missing parts an athlete needs: experience, motivation, control.

A good coach should explain how he works, what the benefit is behind each training session. He/ She should also be receptive to the athlete’s needs and be open to adapt to it when necessary. He or She should also be able to push the athlete to get over his “comfort zone” both physically and mentally.

It is also important that a coach check in on the athlete, to regularly access their level of motivation and fatigue.

Indeed, there are just 2 options when you choose to work with a coach: either you trust him completely or you don’t.

10. Think you can go faster?

At 1.93m and 88kg I have all but a perfect triathlete “frame”. With such height/mass I suffer the heat more than a skinnier and smaller person hence IM races like Cebu and Langkawi I registered for will see me most likely go slower. Moreover, the swim leg in NZ was with a wetsuit which gained me at least 10min.

On the other hand, I have gained experience, especially on the run part, and I will keep on training consistently.

I am thoroughly confident that in a race that suits me in terms of temperature and route I will get in under 11 hours. Who knows, I might even take it down to 10:30!

Roberto finished in 11:08′. This was an awesome result for his 1st attempt at the Ironman distance. The major improvement for Roberto came from the work that we did to improve his running gait and efficiency. While others may have questioned the rationale behind doing 15 x 100m running sprints for 12 weeks building up to an Ironman, Roberto didn’t bat an eyelid. He simply got his head down and did the work and came out a much improved runner after that block. His admirable work ethic and his ability to stay open and receptive to The Method were the perfect combination to achieving this goal!

Coach Shem Leong

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Gustavo Moniz: A life dedicated to triathlon

August 21, 2013

All, DNR, ironman, Training

By Vinnie Santana, ironguides.net

Over the past decade as a coach, I’ve worked with hundreds of athletes from all backgrounds and with all kinds of goals. Those who achieve success in this sport are neither the most talented athletes nor the ones who fully immerse themselves in training for a couple seasons. Instead, athletes winning your age group at all levels of races are likely to have adopted triathlon as a lifestyle, training consistent for many and many years, while also carrying a sustainable and balanced lifestyle with work and family commitments.

This article tells one of those stories. Gustavo Moniz is your typical age group triathlete: has a full-time job; has family and kids; lives in a big city (in Brazil); and deals with all the challenges of anyone of the same profile. But his passion for the sport and his consistency in training have made him one of Brazil’s strongest M45-49 age group triathletes

Background

Moniz started in triathlons in 1986, at age 18. He found the right balance of his teenager days with his new working career. Since then, he hasn’t ever been away from training for too long. There were times when training would take a back seat. Moniz shifted to “maintenance mode” for a couple years, when he started his business and had his child, while at other times training would pick up and he managed to find that balance for two decades, winning some local events, racing internationally and he also got to do some races as a pro.

Gustavo’s overall win in 1993, Vinnie watching the race

My first contact with him in triathlon was in 1993. At only ten years of age I was at a friend’s weekend house and inside the complex there was a triathlon event. We went to watch and the winner was this guy who ran barefoot due to blisters problems—that was Gustavo Moniz in action!

Fifteen years later we met via a mutual friend and started working together—the mission was clear and simple: to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

Ironman Hawaii and the 10-year anniversary

For Moniz, Ironman Hawaii is the pinnacle of triathlon. Aside from being the world championships and attracting the fittest triathletes, pros and amateurs alike, to the start line, the race also carries a huge story of this sport.

In 1999 his opportunity to race in Kona came with the lottery system. While it was his first Ironman and there wasn’t much of an expectation in terms of results, he did not consider the mission fully accomplished. Moniz wanted to go back to the island the proper way, qualifying as a top age grouper in the very competitive M40-44 division at one of the Ironman races around the world.

The Attack Plan

Before we started the training, we aimed to get him from 11h54-Ironman shape in 2006 to a Sub-10 performance. And while being a Sub-10 Ironman is already decent enough, it doesn’t guarantee Kona slot—we had to pick a race that would suit his strengths while not exposing his weakness.

For a combination of reasons, we decided to go for a fast course with cooler weather, preferably a wetsuit swim, and flat to rolling hills on the bike, followed by a flat and fast run course. Our strategy was to hit the swim and bike as fast as possible, saving just enough in the legs for a quick shuffle on the marathon. Getting him into the top places by T2, we knew that if he were virtually running inside the Kona-slot placing, he would not give up his spot easily—he wanted it more than others. One of those times when heart is more important than legs.

With the race plan in mind, training had to follow. We tailored his sessions to fit in those race day situations, including a fast swim start then settling in the pack, and a solid hard bike with several smaller time-trial sections especially later in the ride, when he would be making up, or gaining, most of the time on the competition.

Run training was also adapted to the strategy he would be the prey, rather than the predator, on race day. He had to be mentally ready to hang on and hang in there for the whole marathon knowing there were fast runners coming from behind trying to catch him and his Kona slot.

Anyone who has done an Ironman knows that, regardless of how you paced your race, the last third of the marathon will be very painful—and being in front is a mental advantage, while being virtually qualified for Kona also raises your pain threshold.

The Calendar

Ironman Austria 2008: 9h45 – 33rd place

We started with one of the fastest possible courses, which was also a very competitive event. Our goal was to learn how to race fast, pushed by fast athletes! A Sub-10 was also important for a confidence boost that he was now a new athlete racing in a different league.
We achieved these goals with a new PB and, while a bit down in the ranks, we knew the plan was coming together.

Ironman Arizona 2008: 9h55 – 13th place

Arizona was the first serious shot for the Kona slot. The race was almost perfect, except for a flat tyre. Moniz was ONE MINUTE from the so dreamed Kona slot, a huge disappointment, and the obvious “what if I hadn’t had a flat…” crossed his mind.

While very disappointed, we say we can only control the controllable, so after some time off to recover from the training and racing of 2008 and the mental effort of focusing on Kona qualification, we moved on to the 2009 season.

Ironman Brazil 2009: 9h50 – 5th place

The mental cost of being so close to Kona at Ironman Arizona was huge. We decided to shift our focus to the process, rather than the result, for our next race in Brazil. Instead of racing for the slot, he would be racing for the best executed day he could possibly do, and be happy with whatever outcome that would bring, be it a slow or fast day, a win or last place, Kona slot or not.

On a magical day, Moniz finished the event in 5th place and finally got his Kona slot—the dream was achieved, mission accomplished.

Ironman Hawaii 2009: 11h33

“Ten years later” was the motto for Ironman Hawaii, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary since he first took part in that event. While there were little expectations in terms of results, a slower-than-expected finish time didn’t go down so well, we left the island with a certain “unfinished business” feel.

Ironman Brazil 2011: 9h24 – 6th place

Two years after his last Ironman race, we shifted the focus again to Brazil. In a perfectly executed race Moniz earned his new PB that day and placed sixth, qualifying once again for Kona.
Ironman Hawaii 2011: 10h13

As a more experienced and confident athlete this time in Hawaii, he had a smoother race with very few mistakes. With a new PB by more than one hour, the mission was accomplished.

Gustavo riding in Kona 10 years his first Ironman on the island

What’s Next?

In his own words, “My motivation is to keep on improving both my own personal times and within the age group ranks. My goal is to be able to sustain some sort of training forever.”

Moniz is the perfect example of how dedication, consistency and patience are crucial to a long-term success in this sport.

Enjoy your training,
Vinnie Santana – ironguides Head Coach

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)