its the Off season... what the heck does that mean.

It’s the “Off Season” what do I … not do?
article one in our 3 part series.

I get this question often this time of yr. “how do you NOT train?” Especially for the competitive cyclist or triathlete who has been racing all summer, sometimes every weekend, not training hard and racing all the time can feel very strange.

The Off Season:
First off I want to stress the word “OFF” in off season. Off means Off! The first and most important aspect of your next season is being totally fresh and completely motivated for next season. Now is the time to start that process.
Less is better here. Catch up on work, family, and drop off the bike at the shop for a tune up. Have them check it over for cracks in the frame along with full safety check. Racing is very hard on your equipment. The key with this phase is to make sure you are 110% ready to start training come the start of your program. The under trained, over motivated athlete will beat the perfectly training under motivated athlete every time! Come the beginning of “base training” you should be itching to train. It should be all you think about, so when its 20 degrees and freezing rain, your pumped up and ready to put in a solid training effort! This is also the best time to sit down with your coach and/or teammates to discus what your goals will be for next year. How did you perform this year? What was good? What was bad? What will have to be different with your preparation for 20, etc


Here are three easy steps for an effective off season.
1. Off time: Take an extended time of ZERO training. This will be deferent for every one. 2 weeks for some, 2 months for others. How ever much time you need to be totally rested and motivated to train again.
2. Recovery: Any lagging injury’s? Bike not working quite right for the last 2 months, been wanting to get that nagging cough looked at. Do it!! Get a message go to the doctor, dentist, what ever you need to do to feel 110 percent physically and mentally for the next season. This is active recovery, taking aggressive action towards healing. These are the most important aspects of off season training.
3. Maintenance training: After this you may be ready to train but your program doesn’t start for another month. What to do? Many pro’s and age groupers alike will take part in “unstructured training”. Its best to make is something different than your primary sport, try something new. It will most likely improve some skills needed in your primary sports. Just stay active, (cross training) will maintain your base fitness and, depending on your activity, can address your weakness leaving you fit, motivated and with stronger limiters than you had last year. A perfect way to start your next season!!

4. Cross Train! Go Mt. biking , running, play basket ball, tennis what ever you like and have put off due to you strict cycling training. Cyclist are notorious for having weak abs and core muscles. Working on this will help keep you injury free next year.

5. Most important have fun! Do those old training rides you did when you first started riding. Plan a trip. I have done a few long rides with friends in the fall that have proved to be lots of fun and great endurance training.


Eric is a full time triathlon and cycling coach. He is the owner of EK Endurance Coaching and works with athletes of all levels. To learn more about Eric and what he can do for you, go to http://ekendurancecoaching.com

Off season Training article #2

Time to lay out the plans…

Your thinking “its the holidays! What could I possibly do for training??? Turkey Carving is some of the best deltoid training there is! This will make you more stable on the bike and resist fatigue longer! Don’t miss the opportunity. Actually I am kidding. Thanksgiving marks the beginning on the holidays and the beginning of the long difficult road to start training again. I myself, have fallen victim to the following scenario before. First its time to rest, then turkey day comes along, then Christmas, Hanukah, etc. which slams full speed into new years. Throw some travel for work in there, a vacation and maybe a wedding (went to a new years wedding a few years back. Best time ever) and the next thing you know its February, your turning 29. Again. And you are barely going to get in 6 weeks of base training before spring.

Sound familiar…

Its time to plan. The answer here is this is not the time to stress about training but to plan ahead. And before we can plan ahead one must look back at the past. Looking at your past year or more of racing and training can be the best thing you do in planning for the next season.

Here are some steeps to get you on the road to success.

1. Write down your general goals. Things that you want to focus on in general. Ie. Become a stronger runner, spend more time training on the bike.
2. Then write down specific training objectives: these can be precisely measured. Increase threshold wattage to 300. Run sub 30:30 minute 10k, etc.

3. Then write down your goals, “win the state championships”. For races write down there dates and rank them in priority.

4. Most importantly identify your weak areas.

Finding these can be harder than it seems. Here are a few methods for analyzing your season and finding your weakness to get you started right in 2009.

Step one: Analyze Your Season

Did you meet your racing goals and training objectives? Did you peak when you wanted to? Did you go as fast as you predicted? These should be pretty simple yes or no questions. Look then at your training objectives as stated above. . They should be measurable goals that are stair steps to you major goals. If you did not meet your major goals of the year the answer, or at least part of the answer, to why may be right there. As you keep looking into why you did or did not meet your goals look at everything: job, personal life, relationship, etc. Stress out side of the athletic world is the number cause of people under performing. If you’re a lawyer working 60+ hours a week and training 20 hours a week as well as being a mother or father, you may be setting out about things in the wrong manner. There are only so many hours in the day!

Note what worked for you and what did not. The things that worked you will want to keep in your bag of tricks as these things will likely work again. The things that didn’t work, get rid of them! We’ll come up with something better!

Step two: Finding Your Weakness

There are 2 ways to look at this. A good starting point is finding your weakness by the numbers. On the bike, the easiest way to do this is test your power profile. Test your maximum power out put for 5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes and your threshold power.

A power profile chart can show you where you are lacking. This is particularly good data for the rodie. Is this written in stone? Is this the end of the road? No, but it is a good starting point. A similar method would be to get tested in a lab. Even if you don’t “need” the areas you are weak in they may still be holding you back. For example, an ironman triathlete having a weak 5 sec. and 1 minute power. They don’t need that ability but if it is weak enough it is something that will hold your other abilities back. If it is an A race specific weakness (going to the Gila and your not climbing well) then you have work to do!

Part two of this is comparing your weakness to your competition? “But Eric I don’t race other people I race my self.” That’s great and I applaud that self motivation but if you want to improve the best place to look is to the people that are better than you. For example, in your triathlon results if you’re coming in 50^th on the swim 50^th on the bike and 450^th on the run time after time again working on your running would be a good place to start. If you’re getting dropped on short hills in bike races, short hills or 1 to 5 minute power outputs might be your weak point. Before you make the decision as to what your weakness is make sure you have more than one or two examples that show your weakness. Your ranked lowest in the run, you % loss is highest in the run,you’re your brick runs always feel “off” compared to fresh runs.

Look at this deeply. This is very important. Are you not running well because you’re and bad runner OR because your swim and bike are not up to par and you’re paying for it on the run/ at the end of the race? Are you getting dropped on the hills because you’re a bad climber or because the hills are at the end of the race and you have trouble there because your threshold power and endurance is not as good as your competition? Take some time with this, consult a coach and or trusted training partner or both.

All of this may look straight forward on paper but it’s harder to implement than it looks. Getting some one else to give you a good objective look at your self could be the best thing you do this fall.

Lets Put it to work!

Now you know where you want to go and have an idea on how to get there. You are now armed with essential tools for planning and training for your season.
1. You have you goal races down in the calendar.
2. You should know what key skill and abilities you will need to meet your goals at these events.
3. You should know what weakness you have, how severe they are and if they are specific to your main season goals.

Our next training article will address common week areas and discuss workouts to address them.

Happy holidays!

Off season training article #3

Putting it all to work.

By the time we rest get re-focused and on track again it’s winter. Don’t despair! Before we get to specifics lets go over a few points so we don’t get side tracked this winter.

We all have different ideas on winter training. For some it is a vital time of year, laying the foundation for a big race mid summer or tuning speed for the early season du-athlons/ Crits. For some, winter will be a success if we gain less than 10 pounds. What ever your motivations for this winter; balancing a structured plan with a good dose of spontaneity will get you in the best form ever, physically and mentally.

Out look:

If you live in the northern states or anywhere that snows in the winter, and you’re not a pro, you simply can’t train as much in the winter. With darkness coming around 4:30pm, fridged morning temps and icy roads it just not possible. We won’t even get into jobs, girl friends, kids, wives, the patriots game schedule, etc…

So now that we are at peace with the fact that we simply can’t put in as much time as we may want, We can focus on what to do with the time we have.

Getting started:

Find a routine. With cold temps, warm beds and stale indoor air it is easy to get “off track”. Try to find some kind of routine. This could be one workout or rendezvous with a friend per week. ie. “every Wednesday morning John and I run together, no matter what.” “Thursday night I do the spinning class at my gym.” This one appointment can be the back bone of your winter success. Find something that works with your schedule so it will be easy to keep this date and not get side tracked.

This can work for you in a great way if this one workout focuses on your weakness. I have known athletes to turn there swim that puts them 5 minutes down to 1 minute up, over the course of one winter!

The bike:

These time constraints really hit hard when trying to work on your bike, especially if you are training for an early season race that’s long. First thing to do is invest in the proper warm clothes. Water/wind proof booties and gloves. Warm tights, thermal cycling jacket, hat or helmet cover. Investing in proper cycling winter gear will make your cold rides more enjoyable, more effective, and maybe a bit longer. One trick for cold feet is to use shoes 1 size to big and put in two insoles. And don’t jam your feet in there with to many socks. You’ll restrict circulation and have lumps for wood for feet in less than an hour.

The trainer can be your worst enemy and your best ally all at once. If you are going to improve your riding regular visits to the trainer will be a must but they don’t have to be torture.

1. Don’t do the same thing day in day out. Mix it up with different workouts and the amount of time you spend on it. Try something new once every 2 weeks or so. Like watching football with your buddies 3- 4 hr’s with big gear climbs every commercial, sprints every field goal, and hard tempo every time your team is on offence would make even Mark Allan slump over the handle bars by the final 2 minute drill.

2. Keep your mind busy. When you’re not with your friends watch TV, listen to the radio, etc.

3. Stay focused. I have just given you ways to distract your self from your work but the best way I find to make time fly is to have specific workout and stick to it. To the second. Warm up, cool down, some 10 minute strength intervals, rest intervals. You’ll find that riding for less than an hour becomes pretty difficult.

Take care:

It is important that you take care of both your body and your equipment with the same care as you would in the summer months. Proper nutrition and stretching is vital to staying healthy and on the upward path. Care for your bike and trainer is also a must. Just because your not out in the rain and dirt doesn’t mean you can just get off your bike and be done with it. Salt will build up on your bike and trainer and will destroy both if you don’t clean them. They will surely fail you when you need them most.

Getting to you, training your limiters:

Now that you know what your weak areas are (from fall training article #2) we can get right to it! Trying to improve any weakness is not going to come easily or quickly so now is the time to start correcting them.

The key to training your limiters is two fold.

1. Break down the task at hand.

a. There is more to having great endurance than just pounding out the miles on the trainer or the swimming pool. Are you training at the optimal intensity? Make the workout Quality before Quantity.

b. Endurance (for example) has 2 parts being able to resist fatigue (pounding out the quality miles) and efficiency. How much of each pedal stroke is pushing the bike forward and how much is just moving your leg? If you are .001% more efficient per pedal stroke, x 90 RPM’s x 60 minutes in 1 hr. for a 5 hour bike leg or race. That’s 27 % more efficiency!

OK, there is some fussy math in there but you get the point. If endurance is some thing you’re working on you don’t necessarily have to ride the trainer until 11pm and swim until your whole body prunes. Incorporate drills into your training. Lots of drills.

To address this issue FP drills are key.

Workout #1: 3x5’ F.P. Pedal as fast as you can while still being in control. 110-120 is a great range .take 3’ rest. Build up to doing these at the end of your ride.

Notes: This will work your Neurological durability as well as your general “endurance” as most people think of it. Also when on the trainer realize you have no 0 time. In a bike race you may only avg. 70ish rpms per minute. And have 1/3 of your time at 0 watts or in a recovery zone! That allot! On the trainer doing the workout above you could avg. 100+ rpms and have 100% of your time in zone 2 and 3.

Recently I compared a team training ride with a ride a friend did the day before. “I only had 90’ to ride” he said in disappointment. After comparing his data with mine I noted that if you tock out the nearly 2 hours of 0 and recovery wattage time in my ride he had done the virtually same training as me! 90’ in zone 2 and 3. You could say mine was better because of the fatigue from the longer duration, or… one could say his was more effective because his effort was a continuous effort while mine had several “rest periods”… a topic for another time. This is a great example of maximizing your time.

Workout #2. Zone training. Do 45’ or more in zone 3 after a good warm up/at end of your ride. Build up to 90 minutes of zone 3 time.

Notes: Bump up the intensity! Do your “endurance” work in zone 3. Riding sub threshold has the same physiological adaptations as riding in zones 1-2 but they happen faster. The cost is greater fatigue and decreased reputability. But if you can’t do 3+ hours every day then do it up! The key to this is doing your Z3 work as one steady interval and staying in your zone(no coasting)! Having detailed and accurate training zones is vital for this. A power meter is king here. This will rack up your kilojoules (total work) must faster than riding in a group or doing zone 1-2 and will give you maximum return on your training time. By riding in your zone you could twice as much “work” in the time given than on along group ride. Two tips for ,making this work.

1. Don’t go out to hard

2. don’t spike your power on hills, when you stand, etc…

2. Stay true to the grand plan.

Lower intensity “endurance” training will most likely take up much of your training time in winter. So when training your limiter keep the intensity down! If you are working on your hill climbing go easy. Find a hill with a low grade so you can work on your climbing pedal stroke.

If you are working your sprinting power or anaerobic endurance, work the cadence aspect of it. Short, high cadence, spin ups are great for this. Make recoveries short but not to short. Let your HR drop to Z3 or Z2 and keep the gear easy. With will allow you to work the neurological and technical aspect of these skills with out the cost of excess muscle damage and lactate build up.

Eric has coached over 200 athletes of all levels in triathlon, cycling, mountain, biking, Cyclocross.

Find out more at, http://ekendurancecoaching.com

Surviving the Gila.

Intro: The Tour of the Gila stage race is one of, if not THE premiere amateur race in the US. Especially if you’re a category 2 rider. As it is one of the few races in the country with a cat 2 only race. Almost every category fills and every one brings there A game. Are you ready? This 5 stage event has something for everyone and has everything possible to make this one the hardest races you’ll ever do. Silver City, NM (the host city) sits the mountains of southern NM at about 5500 feet. If you hadn’t spent time training and living at that altitude you’ll know it. You may get away with a good ride on day one but you are sure to feel the low O2 crunch as the race goes on. Many of the roads are “chip seal” making them slow. The wind is always a factor and can change at a moments notice. And then there are the hills. We’ll get into those in a minute. Get to know this site. http://tourofthegila.com/index.html Neutral support was great I did the cat 2 , 07 edition of the race with no team support on the road side, plenty of good water bottles being handed out by volunteers at every feed zone Be sure to check details and bring enough food on each stage!

Stage one, Mogollon RR, up hill finish: This stage will cause some big time gaps. The road of the finishing climb is bumpy, steep and relentless. It also comes after relatively flat but many miles. 90 or so if you’re a cat 2, 1 or pro. 75 if any other category. Its enough to cause significant time gaps but the race is not over. Ideally plan to have some one pick you up or arrive a full day early so you can drop a car at the base of the finishing climb. its 75 miles out side of town! Leave food and water with the car, while there is some support at the finish, food and water, but there is no stores or anything really until you get back to town. There is an area to park, afe and there will be other cars there. Bring light wheels and a 25 or 27 tooth cog for the finishing climb it a beast!
Training: be sure to have a good power to weight ratio and feel comfortable going all out up hill. Also be sure you have a few races in the belt and are comfortable riding at a fast pace for miles on end. Hit the local group ride and finishes your self off with some hill repeats at your FT.

Stage two, Inner loop RR: One of the tougher 65 mile races you will do. Relatively straight forward. 2 Climbs back to back in the beginning and one big one towards the end. There is 5+ miles down hill and flat after the last climb so it will most likely come together. And the long flat road over the divide is a good rest for people under pressure. Areas of Note: the decent off of climb 2. is very steep and twisty. Tack caution. It ranks in the category of so dangerous that it becomes… really not that bad. Nothing sneaks up on you, and with so many turns you can’t quite get to mach 1. Just pay attention! The star and finish are at the same place. About 4 miles from town. Easy, quick drive.
Training: Again good pack riding and climbing FT power will get you the finish line. Want to win? The sprint in a long slightly up hill drag. Have some good 1’ power. Start finish are at the same location so check it out!

Stage three, TT 16 miles hilly: pre riding this course could be the best thing you do to prepare for the Gila! Wind can make or break your performance so get it dialed in if you’re riding for a personal best! 16 hilly, solo miles on stage 3 will create some big time gaps again. Depending on your category you’re looking at a 35-45 minute effort. Depending on the wind the last down hill 4 miles could be a 40+ mph affair or feel your still riding up hill! Bring the 54-11 gear combo or bigger! Bring the aero wheels but the disk may be to much of its windy. And it will be!
Training: Practice your Time trails! No secret there but this course is tough, up and down no flat road to speak of. Gauge your effort well. Don’t go out to hard. Easy to do on the gradual uphill start. Long FT intervals on your TT bike will get you ready.

Stage four, down town crit: The downtown crit has lots of fans and hug support! With a long wide finishing straight and wide turns it’s a safe, fast course. There are 2 short, steep rollers on the back side. Nothing major but again if the wind is blowing get to front and stay there. If you have to ride in the wind a few times and hammer the hills it could have you on the defensive. Training: Good anaerobic endurance and crit riding skills will make this a short sweet event and make your day more recovery than anything else which you will need! If your looking to finish well get to the front and stay there! With the wind and the rollers on the back moving up can be difficult. Some descending intervals, racing a few crits, and strength work will have you well prepared.

Stage five, the Gila monster, 100+ miles, sever course, up hill finish: This stage would make Lance Armstrong do a double take. Depending on your category you could be in for over 100 miles and 10,000 feet of climbing! The course also retraces some of stage 2 in the opposite direction. So don’t think your hallucinating, although you may be by the finish. Areas of Note: The final climb. It starts quickly. Its steep and twisty. (scary descent for day 2) get to the front! Trying to come around 50 people will put you in the red zone fast. The steep section gives way to some false flat for a long while. DO not think you are done! The course then dips and turns sharply for a few more miles. Pay attention here! One moment of lack of attention will have you closing gaps to what’s left on the peloton if not going off the road. By the time you start the final climb the lead group will be around 15 riders or so. Maybe smaller! The last climb is not hard but after 5 days and 10,000 feet of climbing that day if could break anyone. Arrange a ride for this finish. Its about 5 miles from town. I have ridden back but avoid it if you can. There is some water etc at the finish but not much food. There is however a restaurant. The best BBQ pulled pork sandwich you’ll ever have! Its worth carrying a 5 or 10 spot in a baggy if you don’t have the car. Bring the climbing wheels plenty of food and 27 cog for this beast of a ride.
Training: good climbing FT power again will do you well but make sure you can handle the volume of the day! long tempo rides (2-3hr of Z3 riding) in the hills is best but if you live in a flatter area nock out the tempo at your lower climbing cadence. Try to arrange to stay over that night. Traveling after a race like this can ruin your season, trust me I have seen it happen. Congratulations you made it!! Pat yourself on the back, but keep up the good recovery methods for a few days and take some time off! You need it.

Your first Triathlon

As mid summer approaches there are many of you about to take on your first triathlon. You might be apprehensive or simply downright nervous and there is no shame in that, it can be overwhelming at times. Swimming is fairly intimidating for many folks, especially when you add a few hundred other people getting in your way! Here we’ll discuss a few ways to keep your day in perspective and ways to avoid the mistakes that are so common and could ruin your day.
Over all strategy and pacing for your race day.
Even for the Elite athletes you will find that in triathlon there are far more things to do wrong then right. What I mean is whether you’re finishing your first triathlon or winning Kona its more about not messing up, not making a mistake rather than being supper tough or “pushing through the pain” or mustering up some magical effort on that day. So, let’s talk about the big picture.
Don’t do something you haven’t done before. You’ve probably seen a few people come off the bike into T-2 leave their shoes on the pedals, swing one leg back over the seat and hit the ground running right as they arrive at the dismount line all in, what looks like, a very easy, fluid motion. Stay away from this! Unless you’ve done this 100 times in your every day rides stay away!

Some other things to avoid include:
· don’t ride up a hill harder than you have in training
· don’t take a turn faster than you have before or are comfortable with.
· don’t grab your water bottle with a different hand.
· don’t eat or drink something you haven’t previously consumed during or before training.

Race day is about executing the skills you have on that day as well as possible, not thinking of something else at the spur of the moment. You will also notice that all of the things listed will not gain you much time. And if its your first time, don’t try to set any records.

Lets Break the race down.
Transitions/pre race: “You can’t win the race here but can certainly lose.” You’re not racing to win today but the same ideas apply here. Take your time, relax, catch your breath, try to recover a bit from the swim or the bike, and focus on not making mistakes. And most important of all, breath… before you leave do a double check. Is your helmet on and buckled? Got all your water, anything else you need? OK… you sure? Ok, now go.Keep things simple. Organize your gear by your bike in a small area. Less is more here. The less “stuff” you have to deal with, put on, take off, buckle, strap, flip over, the better.
I put the transitions section first because I see more errors and mistakes here than anywhere else. At every single race I hear about or see someone bolting out of transition to the run at mach 3 with their cycling helmet still on. Don’t be that person! And if you are its OK just laugh because it’s pretty funny.
Visualize: When you’re done with set up, walk down to the beach or wherever the swim start is, walk over to the swim exit, then walk up to the transition area (like you will in the race) take note of everything. How far is it? Look around, do some visualization. I am going to come out of the water, WALK up the beach, take the top of my wet suit off, into transition here and my bike is… ummm where’s my bike? See why we do this! Finding your bike is easy when there is no one else there and you’re right next to it. Finding it when you come into this huge transition area from another direction with hundreds of bikes around and water in your ears is a completely different animal.

Our 4 key tips for each section of the race:
Swim:
· If you’re a bit worried about everyone crawling over you start at the back.
· Go easy! The swim is designed to blow your race. Swiming is a hard full body sport. Relax, find a rhythm and go. You’re pumped up, you’re excited it’s the beginning of the race, you will likely go to hard. Try and relax. Swimming too hard will have you hyperventilating in 3 minutes or less. Focus on form and breathing.
· Keep moving. You’re going to contact other racers, they are going to contact you, and it’s ok, this is what happens when 100’s of people all need to get around the same buoy in the same few square feet. Just keep swimming.
· Look where you’re going every 3-5 strokes. If you get a good feel for going straight go longer (5-10 strokes) before looking.

Bike:
· Make sure it works and is safe. Are the tires in good shape and pumped up? Do the brakes work and is everything is tight and in order?
· Pay attention!! If another rider does something dumb and you crash down its still your fault and it’s your road rash. Take responsibility! Watch for Dirt on turns, other riders, glass in the road, cars, pot holes, rocks, and more. Just like you do every other ride. Take responsibility for yourself!
· Stay steady! YOU dictate your pace, not the road. Don’t ride too hard on hills and in head winds. These elements will be harder than the flats but stay steady. Conversely go easier on fast sections; down hills, tail winds, etc. and recover a bit. Keep your cadence up, use all the gear on that bike. Don’t sprint out of turns and up short hills.
· Fuel up! Remember, you still have to run. It’s easier to eat and drink on the bike and fluids are most important here. Just keep a steady, consistent flow in regards to fueling.

Run:
· Relax! The first few minutes will be the hardest. Your legs will take a few minutes to adjust. Go slow and stay positive. Find a sustainable rhythm. Find a pace you know you can finish. If the fastest 5k you have ever run is an 8 min/mile pace don’t start at 7:30’s. In fact don’t start at 8 min/ miles. You will likely lose 7%, maybe more on your run from a standalone running race.
· Focus on form. Keep your head up, smile, keep a short stride and quick cadence. Stay light on your feet. If you start plodding along and hammering the road you’ll just make it harder on yourself. Run forward, not up and down.
· Keep cool with water over your head, on the legs and in the system! You may be only a few miles from the finish but it’s going to take much longer than the last few miles on the bike, way longer! Stay hydrated and cool. Water in the system and over your head will help keep your core temperature down.
· Walk for 30 sec. -1 min. before you blow up completely. Don’t push yourself to the brink before you compromise your pace. Walking through feed zones is a common practice. Relax, get your water and/or calories with ease and less stress, catch your breath and then get back to work. You’re almost there!
So remember this is YOUR race, your day. Don’t get sucked into trying to catch the dude with the disk wheel on his/her bike. Don’t let a few people bumping into you on the swim ruin your whole day. Be ready for it. Stay relaxed but ready. Be in the Now. Look and think about where you are and where you’re heading in the next 30 seconds to a minute or so. If you’re on the bike, don’t worry about the run… yet.
Remember to have fun, smile, and enjoy your accomplishment. You’re doing it! Don’t forget that feeling. See you at your second race.

Training in Training Races...

It’s that time of year when we all start to race or think about it. For many of us some of these first races are non- priority races or “training races”. There are a few different ideas as to what a training race is and how it should be done. Some people think that it just means you don’t taper and “train through it” giving us a nice excuse for not doing well. In fact a training race is a prime opportunity to get great training, important experience and test our self’s in the exact environment that we are trying to excel in the first place. Here are a few key points to consider and plan out when doing your early season race’s and race simulation workouts.

1. Its still a Race: A training race is NOT a time to waist 100$ (or what ever) to swim, ride and run around in a circle with a bunch of other spandex clad freaks for the heck of it! It is an opportunity to really test your self, in the field and against your pears instead of your self. With this, aim for a specific, measurable goal. While this training race will not require a 3 week peeking phase you should take the few days before to make sure you are well rested and ready for a good effort, physically, mentally and with all your equipment working 100%! You have committed the money, time, energy, the sacrifice of getting up at, still dark out- thirty to meet at some random state park. Make it worth while!

2. Make a goal: If you have been working hard on your cycling all winter and spring, your first non-priority Tri of the year might be a good event to focus on the bike leg 100%. See how fast you can really go. How hard you can push your self, and how does that compare to your competition? If you know the course and/or the condition are very similar to last years race. See if you can beat that bike split of yours. Stay within 2’ of crazy Phil, the ex-Belgian pro road racer. Yes, the Bike leg is only 1 part of the whole triathlon conundrum but one step at a time, it’s a “training race” remember… On the other hand you and your coach, might be working on your cycling but aren’t to the point where you want to throw down yet. So focusing on a solid effort in the swim and/or run will be better suited, while your bike leg will be time to focus on being efficient and not extending your self too far as opposed to trying to break the sound barrier on the fast decent coming into T2. instead how fast/well can you run after riding steady smart and keeping your HR and/or wattage under a certain level?

3. Gain experience. Learn. A training race is a prim opportunity to learn. About your self, about your competition, your preparation, your fueling plan, your equipment, your warm up (or there lack of) if you run well in the wind, on the hills or down hills? How did you feel afterwards? Like you just parted the seas? Or do you feel recovered after 15’ of hanging out by the kiddy pool of Powerade and table of bananas, thinking “man I could have gone way harder?” The list goes on. Come the big race day you can’t afford to be caught off guard by something silly. A cross wind hitting your fancy new disc wheel, your cool new tri team tank top and tri shorts fitting right in your aero position, and how big are those pockets? Do they fit 1 or 2 cliff bars? Gaining as much experience about your self, and how your body works in a race situation will have you better prepared come the big day. This may not have you breaking any records but when the going gets tough the prepared shine trough. Anyone can post a personal best in there ideal conditions on there ideal terrain. You want a personal best in any conditions, on any terrain, on any decided day.

Make the most of your swim

Last week colleague Patrick McCrann wrote an article about why triathletes should NOT swim year round and even further, why it's only necessary when we get to race specific training 3-5 months out.

Its a very good article and all points are worth considering. This got me thinking however.
What if we are new to the game? have High goals or have decided to work on swimming, maybe a weak area...

How Do We make the Most of Our Swim Training Time
Swimming does cost us allot of time. most of us are swimming at a gym so there is getting there and home, changing, saying hi to overly friendly trainer, etc...
Make the most of your time:
we have seen big gains with minimal time in the pool. why? remember in school when you discovered that when you had a ton of work to do it some how got done faster? and you maybe even got better grades? I do. when your working on something as complex and dynamic as swimming and you do it a mere 1 hour a week total focus and concentration are required! For many Masters or your club swim is at way-to-early:30. if your gona get up that early and swim, put your game face on! work hard, get tech tips from the coach, work drills for your problems areas and keep swimming!! you will be surprised how much extra an easy 50 every time your waiting for the coach to give you the next set will add up to.
~And what about going to the gym. get your core work in, spinn class after swim, what else can you do to "Get Faster" and make the most of your trip?
~Make it part of your commute to work, miss traffic in the am or pm.
~Ask the coach, "what do i need work on?" my goal is XYZ, what are your thoughts? if i come alone what workout should i do? The Coaches are there for a reason use them! most will be happy you asked.

The Magic Workout:
when i lived in the Boston area some friends and I signed up for a 1/2 ironman. some of us were seasoned triathletes, some not and out of shape, some (me) had a whopping 4 weeks to prepare after the cycling season ended? I hadn't run in 3 years. it was my main worry but i had to swim some? right?
while training late in the summer we discovered what was referred to as the magic workout.
~30' ride to Walden pond
~30' swim. (across the pond and back)
~and a ride home. (sometimes the long way if time allowed)
my training partner quickly noted, "that is a kick a** workout!". It was but i was more impressed by its functionality and great use of time.
We got a ride in. A 30' swim (similar to the distance and time for our 1/2 ironman swim. he also finished a 1' or so before me allowing him to see my stroke and give a few pointers for the return trip). Swim cap and goggles fit nicely into our pocket and we got a the very key swim bike brick (more on that later)
2 sports, great workout, a brick effect, in 90 minutes!! you can't beat that with a kick board!
bottom line here, look for and explore all your resources, and use them!

Final thoughts:
Swimming is a large time commitment for little real time gains in the race but realize it's a tough, full body, very tech. sensitive sport which is first in the race. Meaning a "Better" swim might not mean time gained in the swim but later in the race...
Talk to your mentors, training partners, coach and swim coach. Make a well educated decision regarding your swimming needs and sch. accordingly.
Remember everyone is different. everyone's situation, resources, goals, fitness lever, goal race.
"Train YOU before you train the race."

Are sprint triathlons good training races for IM?

Racing is some of the best preparation one can do. Sometimes there is no better way to test yourself than to simply get in there and do it! In a previous article, I talked about how to maximize your time in races “Training in Training Races”. Follow the link for more information: http://ekendurancecoaching.com/articles.html

Many times IM athletes lean towards the longer ½ ironman races as their preferred events. However there are lots of reasons that the shorter sprint distance races can be just what you needed.

1. They are Cheap:
Triathlon entry fees cost a bit more than dinner at the local pub, but sprint triathlons are some of the least expensive triathlons you can enter. Register early and you can shave a few dollars off the price tag. This is good for the wallet and might allow you to rent those sweet pair of race wheels!

2. Local events:
Traveling can take a lot out of you. Assuming you are already going to take a few rest days before the event and maybe after, adding in a long car drive, some less than ideal road food, a hotel bed and you have the makings a week or more of stress and not the good kind. Not to mention, all of this stuff costs money, see number 1. Usually you can find many local sprint tri’s to compete in. That can leave you the afternoon to spend with the family, catch a movie, or even get in some more training…

3. Shorter rest/recovery period:
Even if you are looking to set the course on fire, two days of easier training can be enough to put down a solid effort. Also with the shorter distance, particularly in the run, your recovery time will be pretty low. You can get back to training after only one day for some athletes.

4. More opportunity for training after the race:
With the normal early tri starts and a race that only lasts an hour to 1.5 hours, there is plenty of time to get in some more training after the race. If it’s close enough, maybe you can ride home or even ride there and back. If not a quick cool down after the race, maybe a ride on the bike or swim might be in order. You can still make it home for lunch and still have a few hours for some more training of your choice. For example, last fall I did a sprint tri in Denver. The day basically boiled down to the following: 1+ hour drive, 1 hour race, 30’ cool down on bike before the awards ceremony, 1+ hour drive home and I still had time for 3 hour ride with time enough to make dinner for the wife. That’s over 4 hours of training and brownie points with the family. It doesn’t get any better!.

5. Great threshold workout and test of % loss:
Many triathletes, even IM athletes, are realizing the benefits of training their threshold. These races provide a great environment for this type of training. Sprint tri’s can vary in length, but generally you’re looking at some thing like: 750meter swim, 12-16 mile bike, and a 5k run. Depending on the course and conditions, it takes one hour for the speedy folks to1.5 hours or so.

I like to pace these efforts as a long hard threshold effort. Every “zone” you have should have a range. Your threshold on the bike may be 250 watts, however you threshold zone may be 235- 265, so you have some room to work with here. Go for your threshold-pace on the swim (1000m TT effort), a solid, normalized, threshold effort on the bike and then see what you’ve got for the run. If you can knock off a threshold pace for the run at the end of an hour+ race effort, you’re looking pretty good in my book! Not to mention, you just did a killer threshold training session. If you didn’t hit your threshold run pace you should start looking into why? Did you go to hard on the bike or swim? Too many spikes in power on the bike? Just got fatigued? If so, how far off your pace were you? This can be valuable information and data for future training and give you some clues to where your weaknesses may be.

6. Sprint tri’s will make your IM feel like slow motion:
Sprint triathlons are hard. Don’t let short distance and larger numbers of beginners fool you. Coming out of the water and getting right into a threshold effort on the bike is tough to execute. With the high intensity it is very easy to go to hard and blow up. On the other hand if you take too long to find your rhythm and “warm up” into any part of the race, you’ll lose a huge amount of time. That leg could be over by the time you get into the groove! Becoming efficient and comfortable at this will pay you back! Being able to blast through transition and find your pace and rhythm at these speeds and high intensities will make your IM feel like Sunday brunch. You will be far more “in control” minimizing the chance of making an error and maximizing your ability to execute your race to perfection.

You may not find that a training race is on the schedule and that’s fine. You may have spent the last 3 years doing short tri’s and now its time to try a longer one. It always depends on the individual. We are all different. We have different strengths and weaknesses, different backgrounds and resources. But next time you’re looking for some racing to do before the big one, give a local sprint triathlon a go, you’ll learn more about your self than you think.

Train hard, train safe!

By Eric Kenney
Coaching is not only Eric’s full-time job, it’s his pride and joy. “I take it personally. I am also a competitive athlete and I am as careful with my athletes as I am with myself.” He coaches athletes of all levels. This year alone the EK endurance coaching team has seen several wins including the 2009 4-man team at RAAm!! http://EKEnduranceCoaching.com

The Big Taper

Tapering (peaking)
Ahhhh… the big Taper. You finally get to relax. Skip the hill workout and the mega mileage brick on Saturday… Some people hate this time of training. I am one of them. It’s a scary time. The time when you can do very little to gain anything and do every thing to screw up months or even years of training. However it is necessary to achieve maximum potential. First off I prefer to use the term “Peaking”. Tapering promotes the idea of doing less and less, and this is not the complete story. Tapering makes me think of something getting smaller and smaller, and that’s not what we are trying to do. Peaking is the process in which we achieve maximum physical and mental performance potential. This can be a lot more complex than just cutting back your mileage.We will discuss this in general terms for a race or your big event. Peaking workouts and how much you do and don’t do, can and will vary a lot depending on your event, duration, and skill level.
First off the peaking phase duration will vary depending on the duration of your event. The longer the event the longer your peaking phase. For Iron distance events, stage races, etc. the longer the lead up of peaking. You might see over a month of decreased volume in some cases. In the weeks leading up to you’re A race the amount of aerobic fitness one can gain is minimal if any at all. So don’t kill your self! Skip the long ride and always, ALWAYS error on the side of doing less. As a general rule I like to decrease total volume by 40-60%. Endurance training can be cut back by the greater amounts. For those doing shorter distances where you may have quite a bit of intensity training here are a few key things to note.
Make sure you are fully rested before a hard workout. We are looking for maximum speed and performance now, not beating our selves up. This will also build confidence. You’ll be amazed at how fast/far you go on your threshold intervals after only a 30’ warm up and taking the day before off instead of the 3 hour ride or tough run.
Work your strengths. You will be racing your strengths so focus on them. Use them, race them. This will build further confidence and hone your skills for race day.
Make your workouts simulate race conditions. Use the aero bars more/ race bike (if you haven’t been) wear the clothes shoes, etc... Do a group swim in open water. Do a race sim day. Practice fueling and mental preparation. Make sure every thing works!
Race. Use a B race as prep. If your training for a long distance race a shorter race in the weeks leading up to it can really get the kinks out. It will allow you to use some racing strategy you are planning in a consequence free environment. Does the elastic band holding the shoes on the bike trick really work? Or is it not worth it?

In general: As we peak, decrease your overall volume. If you have been doing 3 hr rides and 4x 400 meters running on the track do 90 minutes in the saddle, and 2 or 3x300m intervals. You want to stay fresh and sharp but not worn down. Workouts should be short and sweet. They might burn but you should recover fast. By maintaining or even increasing your intensity your body thinks that training is still on full blast and your body will continue to adapt full blast. But… you have decreased the volume and by the time it realizes that you have actually done less your body has over compensated and your flying. Further hone this adaptation with race specific workouts in a race specific environment and you will be more ready on race day than you ever imagined.
While this decreased training time will be nice you should still treat your self well. Treat your self like your still training hard. Get that recovery drink even if you feel you don’t need it. Get plenty of sleep and keep up on stretching, etc…

The other item you will need to keep busy is your brain. Don’t think too much. Go over the race plan, make sure the tires on the bike are in good shape and just go. You have done this in training so you can do it in the race. Remember there is not much you can do to get faster in the week or three before the big race but you can do everything to blow it. So stay the course. Take care. Eat the extra pasta. Skip the morning swim if your feeling tired. And don’t be afraid to light it up a few times. Show your stuff, whether in a race or a short hard work out with the training partners. You have been looking at your heart Rate and power meter all season staying in “your zone”. Time to see how far you can push your self and start looking back the all the people your beating!
Stay safe and have fun!

http://ekendurancecoaching.com/

A closer look at IM USA

While EK Endurance Coaching will have many IM bound athletes this year. I feel this is a great example of training and racing execution for everyone to learn from.

Here is a look at what it tock one of our clients, Elisabeth Ryland, to complete her first Ironman.

Some background:
Lynn, as I call her, is an avid recreational athlete. Enjoying the out doors for many years in Boulder, CO. she has done several triathlons including a few ½ ironman’s.
A year or so ago her and her husband moved to the Philly area for a new job. After getting settled she decided to take on IM lake placid. After getting an entry we got to work on her training. During this time she had several weekend vacations and short work trips. She is a busy engineer working 50+ hours a week for GSK. Her and her husband are slowly making improvements to there new house. The pair had a week long CO ski vacation in Feb, a wedding in Bloomington, IN in May along with some other spur of the moment activities. Sound familiar…

Training and the race:
Lynn started her structured training on Jan 2nd. With winter being full on in the north east, daylight being short and jobs being demanding outside training is difficult at best for many. Lynn’s biggest weak area at this point was her swim with the bike being here strong point.
We set out with a swim focus for the winter months. This “focus” was more on consistency rather than huge volume or intensity. While there were specific workouts that were done most of her swimming was in a master class format. This format works very well as she was able to constantly get feedback and coaching on her tech. At winters end we decided on some one on one sessions with a coach as apposed to a very pricey weekend seminar. It turned out to be money well spent. She did a 1000 yard test early in the winter. Her pace (T-pace) was just shy of 2 minutes/ 100yards.
She improved to 1:50. by the end of the winter and swam (as she put it) a “very controlled” 1:19 at IM USA.
Lynn’s running was again based on consistency. Slowly building up her durability. She came into this raining with some good “base” fitness, as many call it.
This combined with limited time put us in position to develop Lynn’s upper aerobic engine and pacing ability. While she is strong on the bike she had the habit of pushing too hard when the conditions are slow/ tough and going to easy when there not. While this is what we lean towards while racing dynamically on the bike, years of this has lead to Lynn not being in control of her intensity. The road was in control. Not a good way to go into an IM. The winter was full of threshold intervals and occasional group rides with her team when the weather allowed. This combination of different length thresholds intervals, over under intervals and variable paced group rides gave her a much deeper sense of herself, the bike and how to ride “in control”. This was very important for Lynn as she did not train with or race with a power meter.
While only training a max of 10 hours per week she was more than ready when it came time for a big volume block in early march. She did just shy of 20 hr’s this week with class and control. This week was bike focused and included lots of time in Zones 2 and 3.

As spring came we focused on threshold intervals running. Lynn’s 10k pace improved about 15 sec. per mile. Less than I though but she commented on “feeling” better and better, like she had more control. This became apparent when ran at a crushing 9:10/mile pace in a very hilly ½ IM course in NY state. And later when she ran at a pace only 10sec./mile slower that here threshold pace at an Oly. distance a month out from IM USA. Her “long” runs consisted of many 1.5 hour runs. Our thinking here was that: 90’ is very doable and repeatable. 90’ is also past the critical 70’ mark for endurance adaptation. By doing 90’ runs we could do more running in total rather than suffering through 2+ hour runs and loosing out on training time while recovering. As it was Lynn did not get to complete as many of these 90’ runs as we would have liked. She did do one run of 2:08 three weeks out. she ran just under 10’ miles and felt great.
Lynn ran 9:39 miles in the race. we were aiming/ hoping for 10’ miles.

Over coming adversity:
As with all big goals and great journeys one can expect and must persevere tough times.
6 or 7 weeks out from IM USA Lynn was set to go to lake placid for a 3 day training camp. This training camp would give her irreplaceable knowledge of the bike course, venue, race simulation training and was the front end of another high volume block. The week of this training weekend she became ill. Very ill. Getting out of bed was tough let alone training. She did what most would do. Justified that while she would not be at her best and might have to not do as much training, “it would all be ok.” I let her tell me what she was thinking and then made the hard, brutal call.
“Lynn, your not going anywhere this weekend. I’m sorry but you’re staying home end of story”
This was a huge blow not only to her training but to her mental state. Knowing your course and venue can be the key to not making mistakes. It is huge for confidence and poise on race day. She would miss this opportunity.
We decided that she was fit, ready, being healthy and having a bit more “fire” in the belly would be better than one or two more long rides. She had many 3-4:30 hour rides in her legs. After some rest and being sure she didn’t over do it the next week she went to a planned Oly distance tri. It went very well running exceptionally quick after a steady and controlled bike leg. Her confidence was back.

Race execution:

Racing an IM is not about being a tough guy, it doesn’t matter how many crazy rides you did, how many people you dropped on the B2B ride or how you did at XYZ race 2 weeks ago. Racing an IM is about using the tools you have (your strengths) to over come the absence of tools you may be missing (your weaknesses) to get to the finish line as quickly as possible.
Lynn and I decided that she had 2 weak areas. The nice part about these 2 issues was that if she tock care of number 1 the 2nd weakness would already be halfway over come.
Weakness 1: While she made great progress in learning to pace her self and ride steady on the bike I was still worried she may go to hard to early and pay later. Keeping her first hour easy and her whole ride steady was very key. Lynn rode well. I checked about 20-25 other female riders on the race day tracking site and she was the only one who went faster on the second loop.
Weakness 2: The run: while great gains were made running many of Lynn’s long runs were missed or cut short because of life commitments. Sound familiar? I felt if she paced her bike well she would be half way home. Also, as with the bike, starting out easy and keeping pace would be key. She did this well and ran 9:39 miles

Lynn’s race execution was almost flawless,
Swim: 1:19 and 67th in her AG
Bike: 6:38 and moved up to 37th in AG
Run: 4:13 25th/AG at half way and 16th at the finish.

After the race Lynn said what almost every successful IM racer says. “I passed so any people in the last 15 miles of the bike. I couldn’t believe it.”

What it takes to survive Gila

Here is a quick analysis of day 1 and a little bit of day 2 of the cat 2 race at the tour of the Gila.
Chris Carr is one of the top racers in CO. despite just upgrading to cat 2 last summer he already shows great skill, mental toughness and some big numbers. lets take a look at Chris and the Gila’s tough first 2 stages.

Chris’s threshold power going into the race was 310-315. we soon discovered on stage 2 that he is now up to 325-230. Stage one offers everything one can ask for in a bike race. 95 hot, windy miles. Attacks that seem to never stop. Long periods of riding slower that slow and a grueling steep climb to the finish.
Chris did not have a great day. I have done this race 3 times now and to be honest I am not sure what a good one feels like??
Chris is 143lb’s his max power is around 1400 watts and is a very well rounded cyclist.

The raw numbers:
~Time 4:30/ 95 miles
~3052 kilojoules
~Avg. power 186
~Norm power 240
~30 spikes at or over 10 watts/ kg of body weight
~peak power
Max-1250
30” 572
1’ 450
5’ 308
30’ 237
60’ 230

Tough stuff for sure. Now, Chris missed the break of 7 or so riders that rode away at about 65 miles in. also his peak 30’ which was much lower than he is capable even fatigued was at the end of the race. You could up these longer mean max power numbers for those in the move. I was one of them but no power data on my bike that day.
Some speculation:
With myself being 155 lbs and in the break. We could say that a rider in my shoes would have to do 3500 kj’s on this day. I to did not have magic legs and was dropped by a 3 of my breakaway companions. I probably did 280’s on the 30 minute finishing climb. Again, at the end on my 3500 kj’s. pretty stout. This was good for 7th place on the day but still many minutes down.
Even without being in the breakaway Chris had 32’ in his Zone 5 and 6. 20’of that in Z6. an hour in Z4, with just over 90’ in Z1 or not pedaling. Judging by the way things played I could safely say our Z5-6 time was probably pretty equal. But my Z4 time would be quite a bit higher. Say 1:20- 1:30 in Z4. that is a beefy ride. I think we can see the cause of that “not so magic feeling”.
The biggest part of the cat 2 stage one at the Gila is both tactical and physical. One knowing what moves to get into, you can’t cover every move. And two being able to get into them with efficiency. Even the smartest rider will have to make several efforts off the front of the pack. And then ride a solid 30’ TT up the last climb. its steep, aside form the flat section after the first 5’ so of the real climb. so figure it’s an ITT effort.
So as you can see trying to mimic this in training can be done in a fairly straight forward manner. Rack up the kj’s preferably with a fast flat/rolling group ride, then straight to a steep 30’ climb and give it all you got!
Lets not be hasty though. Developing ALL of our zones, all of our “engines” and skills is v ital to success. Yes you have to be able to climb fast to do well on stage 1 but you have 90 hard aggressive miles to survive before you get there. Spend time on specific intervals and training!!

Day 2: Chris’s numbers were… off the charts. He was attacking in the first hour. He did a normalized power on 320 in the first hour. With the last 5’ being around 350. my legs hurt just talking about it. This caused a huge reaction from the field and with 2 climbs being involved in the first hour we dropped about a third of the field. This was finished off with the last windy 30’ climb, where, while sitting in our “peloton” of 15 riders by half way up, he was pushing upper Z3, 280’s. like I said, stout riding. this 3:30 hor stage required a norm. wattage of 256.
This stage is capped off with another 10 miles of windy riding to the finish. A long slight up hill sprint to the line.
As you can see to survive the Gila you have to be a very complete rider. You gotta be able to do it all!

maximize your time with this training tip

short on time? or maybe you would like to do 2 threshold workouts this week but that would cut into the "long ride" this weekend? what to do!
Maximize your time with one workout that has two effects!

With busy schedules, many athletes just don’t have enough time to work on all the aspects necessary to reach their full potential. Let alone the Triathlete who needs to be effective in “all four sports”
Because of this, it is of great value if one can combine workouts. I am not talking about a brick workout or double sessions either. I’m talking about maximizing your time. Even pro’s whom train for a living need to be effective with there time and training. Do you think lance logged any junk miles while training for the Tour? Don’t think so. A great way to do this is by focusing on more than one aspect of your training in one workout. By placing workouts within workouts one can get a double whammy effect out of his or her training. Consult your coach before concocting your own “double whammy” workouts. One of the best ways to do one of these is to place tech. drills or hard intervals into a longer endurance workout. For example: In your 3 hr. ride, focus on your technique while riding up hills. Keep pedal cadence high and concentrate on pedaling “perfectly”. Talk to your coach about that too. Alternate standing and sitting. Stand up on one hill; for the whole hill, sit on the next. Hone your skills. Do fast pedal drills in your long ride or strides in your long run. Another option is to do intervals or some kind of harder effort in your work out. If you are looking to increase your power or speed, do your intervals after a solid warm up. Cool down easily, hydrate and fuel up appropriately, then continue with a low intensity endurance workout.
Bike example: 20’ warm up. 3x10’ level 3-4. (rest 3’). 10’ cool down, continue cool down at level 2 for 2 hours.

Looking to focus on more endurance for that IM. Do the intervals after 2 hours of riding at level 2. BAMB! Two birds with one stone! Please consult a coach before doing any of these as they are a bit more taxing than your normal single aspect workouts that mere mortals do. There are some “double whammy” workouts that are a bad idea.
Example: working two different maximal effort zones in the same work out. Working long tempo, cooling down then doing 1minute intervals. Not effective training here. With proper planning there is no reason that anyone can’t finish that IM, be a contender in there age group, or win the big one. Happy training!

Silverman race report

This was really a fantastic weekend. I meet and hung out with some great people. the race was run very well, per usual, competition was high and the racing, epic. I could go on forever about all the non-race stuff but I’ll get right to it.
Race morning was the normal, are we really getting up this early?, deal. On the bus, down to lake mead to get thing organized. Plenty of time, stretching, food, hydrate. The Full athletes were out on course and I began my quick swim warm up 5’ before the start.
The weather was great when we got there… to good. As it got closer to go time the wind picked up, a lot. White caps formed, it hailed, rained and got sunny all at once. The kayakers were calling in saying they couldn’t see anything let alone help someone if need be. then we saw lightning. “everyone out of the water!” crap! I thought. This blows. A hour delay of huddling in the tent with a few hundred others. Mean while the full IM race was battling 4 foot waves and 30+ mph winds. The storm cell passed and we went for it. As I knelt down at the edge of the water to do my usual; set of hail Mary’s before a triathlon swim I looked out at the rough water and felt really good. “I am gona crush this swim!” my swimming had come along way in the 2 month prep. I was ready. the count down began as we all did the “creep”. Maca yelling “hold, hoooold” in Braveheart fashion with his huge smile gleaming out. Every one was happy, nervous and fired up to go. I lined up in fount, like normal, acting like I was the next Phelps, needing to get the best start possible. Hey… it only takes 1 sec. to lose. I found my rhythm quickly, a good sign and never really got into the burn phase. I felt strong and pushing into the head wind in the second half I was catching people. nice! Get me to my BIKE!!! I kept thinking…

T1. normal chaos. People trying to take my wet suit off, “are you Ok? Do you need anything? Are you cold, hypothermic? Cramping?” Dude! I have only been in the water for 33 minutes! I’m fine!
Off on the bike:

This year they added the relay to the half. This made it hard to figure out where I was. But I went with my normal motto. ABP. Always Be Passing. The roads were wet the sun was out an the tail wind in the first bit had me cruising nicely and kept my intensity down. A tip for you all, don’t ride in the gutter on race day! there is all kinds of “stuff” in there! Along with wet roads people were getting flats all over the place. I felt bad as I would never wish a flat on anyone but come on your kinda asking for it.
Approaching the turn around at mile 22 I counted the riders in front of me. It seemed that Maca had only about 10’ on me at this point. Less that last yr I thought. However there were still 16 people in front of me. Ok steady EK, lets dish out some rodie wattage! My alter racing ego “Chris” starting to wake up. From here to the finish was head wind, head wind and more head wind. Add in some hills and I was now passing people. Every time I did Chris would yell 15!, 14!, “sit down poser, 13!” Chris is a great racer, very knowledgeable, and knows me very well, of course, but the guy would knock a baby carriage over to beat you to end of the aisle in a grocery store.
The hills got bigger and I pushed harder. I was hurting but the watts kept coming. Up the 3 sisters (3 short, 18% hills back to back) I push more, harder, faster. I was passed by a relay guy about 15 miles from the finish. “are you a relay?” I said. “Yeah, I am. I think your 3rd right now?”
3rd!?! I’ll take that!. Chris chimed in. “3rd! you F#@** sally! That sucks, you gona settle for that!?! Lets get on it!!”
I push more coming into town. I tock every second I could. I scared one road marshal pretty good with the speed of one of my turns. I almost hit a cone in the road. Almost ran into a fence on one turn, went up on a side walk, and did a fair bit of drooling.
Stats:
257 avg. Power
269 norm
VI 1.05
Avg. Cadence 91
Time 2:46:00
Bike place, 1st amateur
avg. HR 172
effort on a 1-10 scale. 11

T2 was pretty smooth. Off pretty quick. I was glad to have Infinit this yr. on the run. so key. First mile was pretty chill. Flat to down hi. I clocked a 7:30 or 7:45 somthing. to fast but it was down hill and I was feeling good. I had to pee but didn’t want to stop then realized that I should tighten up my left shoe. My foot hurt. Mile 2 came, quick pee, forgot the shoe. My foot still hurts.
At mile 3 I was still under 8’ miles. Nice! I thought. HR was good. felt good. At mile 4 I was passed by, who was now, my AG leader. I held him at 30” for some time, a few miles. Right on 8’ miles now. Chris said, “that guy is going down! Hold him until the last ½ mile! There is no way he has a bigger VO2 than you. You will DESTROY HIM!” good plan. I kept pushing. Approaching half way I started feeling it, big time. That last mile or so of the long windy hills that are the Silverman run really got me. As I crested the last bit and turned onto mile 6 he was gone. No way I could get him. I fired down the last bit of my go-go mixture and kept yelling at my self. Finally to the down hills and I could let the legs go now. More, stronger, quicker, faster faster, FASTER!!! started grabbing Coke but decided I didn’t need it. The Infinit had me totally toped off. With 2 to go I was on full auto pilot, trying to not crack. Head up, big breaths. Comprehension was gone, I couldn’t understand anything anyone was saying. I grabbed some water as I passed a huge crowed a people yelling and parting like crazy at the last mile marker (a local bar throws a huge party, its get pretty rowdy there) around a corner water spilling out of my mouth, I was at top speed, this was it. I was passed by a relay guy. “I’m a relay” he said, “blah, blah, blah, he sounded like the teacher in Charlie Brown. “the next guy is REALY far back”. I was glad to hear that. I relaxed and ease up just a tad…
Yep, you got it Chris chimed in right away! “Hey! What the F%#** are you doing!! What does “really far back” mean? Who is that guy anyway? He doesn’t know you run like a injured walrus!” get on it! We don’t slow down just cause we can! This is a RACE remember! Go your own pace on your own time! This is MINE TIME!
As I said before Chris is smart. In the last half mile rounding a turn I looked back. And I’m glad I did. A tall figure wearing all back was there, hunting me down like a lion chasing that old or weak zebra, lagging at the back of the pack. You’ve seen it happen, you don’t want it to, you pray and yell for the under dog but you can see it in the hunters eyes. He gona get dinner. Its just a mater of time. For the hunter chasing me (a guy who beat me last year) time was running out, the finish was in site and I was now killing the pace. Longer strides EK, quicker, push more, knees up up UP!!
Down the chute, I was still clear.


Run:
7:57 miles, 1:44
164 avg HR
Very hard.

Over all:
4th amateur, 6th over all
http://www.silvermannv.com/downloads/08_RESULTS/SILVER08A-overall-half.TXT

I treated my self to a massage, a beer and a few rounds of food as I waited for my new friends to finish. Trading stories feeling pretty bad ass about my 4th place, over all, amateur effort we saw an “operation rebound” athlete finish. These are Guys and gals who have been injured in the line of duty. I Iraq mostly. Watching some one with 1 arm or no legs finish this race is humbling to say the least. Very humbling. When this guys came trough every one cleared a path. They all got the biggest applause, and everyone would walk by put there hand on there shoulder to say congratulations. As I left the venue I passed an operation rebound athlete. I put my hand out to shake his, he shock my hand without hesitation, “Thanks” I said, looking straight into his eyes. He nodded. I said nothing else, nothing else needed to be said.
On the way back to the hotel I instantly had a bus full of new friends. We shared stories of the race, the wind, the hills, we joked, laughed, complemented each other, you know, the whole deal.
The whole weekend was great. As I said I could write for ever. Getting lost in the hotel casino, going out in Vegas the night after, texting, the yoga class, “what is this bag for”, it goes on forever.
Thanks to all who supported me and every one else. The race directors and volunteers. Congrats to everyone who showed up and gave it 110%.

cyclocross training

Cyclocross as cross training?

Cyclocross is huge. Once participated in as training in the fall and winter months for fun it is now a huge international spectacle. Athletes are now focusing their whole year on cyclocross. Even for us Tri geeks and hard core all road all the time people cyclocorss is luring.

The question is coming up more and more; will racing cyclocross be a good option for training in the fall and early winter training?

First lets take a look at your year ahead and behind to answer a few questions.
Have you had enough time TOTALLY off after your last race/ training block? (I prescribe 2-6 weeks)
Will you have enough time to rest after your cross season and the start of Base training? (2 weeks)
How taxing was your summer season of racing and training?
How much other stressors will you encounter? ($$ for bike, race entry, travel, specific training, etc)
If you answer no and/or “pretty taxing to very taxing” I would seriously consider joining the yelling, full drinks in hand spectators on the side lines. Also, the last question, realize there are a lot of other factors that come into play with your race sch. There are only so many times you can “dig into the suitcase of courage” in your season. And while a cross race may be short in relation to road races and triathlons you normally train for they are hard. Really hard! One of the most important things to having a good training program that leads to a successful season is being rested, both physically and mentally. Be sure you can achieve enough total down time between your training phases.
If you feel after answering these questions you are in the clear move onto the next set of questions to ask yourself.

Does cyclocross address any of my weaknesses specific to my A race(s)?
Does cyclocross address any of my weaknesses not specific to my A race(s)?
Is you’re A race 5 months away or more after your last cyclocross race?

If cross addresses any of your weak areas it is worth considering. For some, like my self cross is every thing I am bad at on the road wrapped up into 1 hr with a punch in the jaw at the start! For athletes like me cross is a great and extremely fun way to train that weakness. (see my last article) However, and very importantly, the first set of questions are the most important. If you are to be at your best for your BIG event of the year being properly rested, having a good build up of systematic training trumps all. So consider your options carefully.
So now how do you use this “cross thing” to your advantage? Here are a few things to keep in mind.


The big picture: your a race is months and months away! Don’t get too caught up in your “cross training” this should be for fun! Leave the ego at home.
Focus your training on basic skills: You’re racing cyclocross because it is going to address some weak areas but don’t forget to spend time training the basics that got you to where you are now. For example, aerobic base, technique. and efficiency of movement in your primary sports, core strength and flexibility.
Check your mental state: Its early in the game for you. If you find yourself not pumped up for a muddy race or training ride in the cold rain stay home!! Like I said before being mentally rested and ready to go come time for the big day is the most important preparation you can do.

I think this can be best done with a training plan. This “transition training plan” has 2 options one with cross and one without. It also realizes that cyclocross is not our primary focus but the first step in our preparation. See sample below.
But what if you want to hit cyclocross full on! This is your priority.! Go back to the first set of questions and get a quick reality check. Then stay tuned there will be more Cyclocross preparation and training plans coming!!

Week 1
Mon: Off: stretching
Tue: 1hr. Level 1-2. pedaling drills and efficiency work.
Wed: 90' weakness day. (intervals or drills that address your weak areas. Nothing to intense. No anaerobic work!)
Thur: 1. Core strength and flexibility work
Fri: 90'-2hr. Level 1-2. pedaling drills, aerobic base and efficiency work.
Sat: 90' weakness day. (intervals or drills that address your weak areas. Nothing to intense. No anaerobic work!)
Sun: Long easy ride. 50-75% of the duration (time) of your longest A race

Week 2
Mon: Off. stretching
Tue: 1hr. Level 1-2. pedaling drills and efficiency work.
Wed: 90' weakness day. (intervals or drills that address your weak areas. Nothing to intense. No anaerobic work!)
Thur: 1. Core strength and flexibility work. 2.) 1hr recovery ride
Fri: 30' warm up ride. Go over your race day warm up. Getting ready for tomorrow.
Sat: Cross Race!
Sun: Long easy ride. 50-75% of the duration (time) of your longest A race.


Eric is a full time Cycling and Triathlon coach and founder of EK Endurance Coaching. For more details on this plan and other transition period plans contact Eric at: eric@Ekendurancecoaching.com
http://ekendurancecoaching.com/

Mt Evans Hill climb wattage dats and analysis.

Mt Evans stands over 14,000 feet in altitude and has the highest paved road in the country. So it only makes sense that we as athletes who ride bikes should race up it!!
On sat July 19 2008 I did the Mt Evans Hill climb. High altitude riding is not my specialty but it is the CO climbing championships, it’s a fantastic ride and I know that I am capable of doing well. Top 15 top 10 in the pro-1-2 field. as always it will depends on who shows up.
My preparation:
Nothing really crazy here. No knarly FTP workouts, no altitude tent that I slept in. I did get up to 10,000 feet once a week to do 1 or 2 x25’ intervals at what I perceived to be Threshold. I would normally lose about 15%. These were also not fresh as I had to ride up there!
See attached article at bottom on some past data form high altitude riding.

The Climb:
Ride: 27.3 miles
6,920 feet of climbing
Avg. grade: 4.5%
From 7500 feet elevation – 14,135 feet.
**Mass start race, not an ITT.

My Stats:
FTP 340ish...
Time 2:10 (very slow for me even with the wind we had)
Avg. watts: 275.
2253 kj’s
6’ above threshold
29’ Z4
85’ Z3
10’ Z1 and 2.

I was pretty happy with my numbers but with a dismal placing of 30th I new something was wrong. Something didn’t add up. every thing was perfect. The steady but firm pace as the bottom was a good warm up. I never had to accelerate, my bike supper light, etc… I was alone for much of the ride after it split up so no drafting there…

I did 303 watts for the first half , 250 for the second half and the last 20’ at 235. Between my loss for power from altitude and loss from fatigue I was thinking anything over 245 for the second half would have been good so I was pretty happy to see 250. I never cracked. I felt good the whole way. The few sections where we picked up the wind at our backs I was able to really get the bike moving.
Notes on training:
If you can’t sleep/ live at attitude the training AT altitude seemed to work well. At the very least the brain body connection will be lined up. You get some weird sensation riding all out above 12,000 feet! I can not speak on the cellular level on what adaptation occurs with this type of training but from what we do know about loss of power at increased elevation, this preparation seemed to put me one steep ahead of that curve.
Training at higher altitude tips:
1. Go by P.E. If you try and nail your normal watts you will quickly dig a whole for your self. Doing hard work at a significantly higher elevation takes allot out of you.
2. Take more recovery time than normal.
3. Keep the Iron intake up. Consult your doc. As your body tries to make more red blood cells it will need Iron. some people with handle the low O2 levels better than others but keep a healthy and divers diet coming, as always!!

So was everyone else just that much stronger? Is my FTP not 340? Was my power meter way off? What gives?
Here’s the deal I am normally about 70 kilograms, 155lbs. if I really get into it for a big stage race, etc. I can be 152 maybe lighter and feel strong, healthy, with energy to spare.
This year things have been very busy I have opted for more higher intensity training instead of the mega long tempo climbing workouts. This combined with a high frequency of dinner beers, I have been a bit heaver. Not so much to make me worry but a few lb’s. On Friday night I weighed myself 160 lbs!! I thought I was just retaining water maybe, a full belly? But, Sat. after the race when I got home I weighed in again, 160. so lets re-crunch the numbers.
Doing 275 watts at 70 kilo’s is 3.92 watts per kilogram, pretty good. talking with some friends after, ones that beat me, I figured they were in this area.
But 275 at 72.7 kilos is 3.78 big difference.
There are a few wattage calc. out there and even on a hill that is not that steep like Mt Evans, that extra weight comes out to 5-8 minutes!! Add in the fact that accelerating will have an exponential negative effect on a heaver person. And by “hanging onto” a group longer one can get more of a draft for more of the climb. That all adds up to a much, much faster ride and a better place.
Note on my % of loss. I lost 19% for the hole climb from my FTP. Realize that this is 2 hours not a not a threshold effort. In the 2nd half of the race I lost 26%. Which I figured is pretty normal. 20% from the extreme altitude change, 6% from fatigue from the first hour.

Some final thoughts on this. Yes, Threshold watts per kilo of body is important. And for a hill climb or hilly RR or stage race it’s very, very important! However, there were people that beat me that are significantly heaver. What’s there FTP? I don’t know. probably better than 4.6 watts/kilo. But, I know this. To reach your maximum potential nothing beats being healthy, happy and strong. In bike racing or any endurance sport simply being able to crush the power out put will pay off huge!!

~Here is some other data from training at altitude:

Here are some numbers and percentages of loss that I have so far. As you will see my data has not only the altitude but a varying amount of “work” before the high altitude intervals.
My FTP is about 340ish, 155lb’s
I live at 5500 feet
Normally, at my living altitude, I train that “late power” quite a bit. I lose about 8% after 2500-3000 kj’s of Z3-4 riding.

~Intervals at 10,000 feet: I push 290 watts (also after 1500kj’s) A loss of 14%

~My ride up trail ridge road. To 12,000 feet. (after 2500 kj’s, with 6’ above threshold) I did 235 for the last 30’ or so. A loss of 30%!!! Keep in mind there is also general fatigue acting here as well from early part of the ride. But even if we take out my usual 8% of loss thats still 22%!
Again these are all a bit tough to use because of the “work” that is done before the efforts None are “fresh TT efforts at altitude.

The tour of the Gila. Stage 4-5

The crit was... a crit. I attacked hard for a $200 prime but could not bridge to the solo leader at the time. Other wise it was a safe, steady, uneventful hour.
In the middle of the night before the last stage I awoke with some congestion. Not what your looking for hours before a 102 mile road race with 9000 feet of climbing. I grabbed me emergency Nyquil and went back to bed trying to not think about it. In the beginning of the race I felt good. Heck I felt great! However when the pressure was on I was instantly suffering.
A friend would later point out that I had most likely been riding with it the whole week. “Remember you said your throat felt wired on the drive down, you went and got Listerine…” “ohh yeah.” I said. Some times its hard to see the forest through the trees. This would explain my poor TT and lack of top end.
But onward, I realized that I would be in damage control mode for the last stage. This pattern continued. Feeling fine, but with the hammer down I was getting dropped. I had no middle gears. Just easy, or blowing up. As the finial climb approached I was up front and determined to give it my best. I was instantly dropped. After a bit I found a rhythm and told my self it would be ok. As the steep climb leveled I got into a group and we started working well. After what seemed like forever I was out of water and still 8 miles from the finish. However after a bit more work and preying for the finish we were catching the GC leaders group! I couldn’t believe it! With 4 miles to go and one last climb we caught on to the lead group minus 4 attackers up the road.
As the attacks came I did everything in my power to stay in contact. In the end I was 15th on the day and preserved my 13th over all.
I was lucky Danny (the GC leader) was playing things very conservative and not pushing the pace. this was the only reason my chase group was able to catch back on.
All in all I was happy with the effort. I hate the what if’s. What if I wasn’t sick, what if I went with that attack, what if…
What if I gave it 100%.... I did. In the end that is all we can do give 100% and never ever give up.