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.
Showing posts with label IM USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IM USA. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
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
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
Sunday, August 02, 2009
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.”
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.”
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