The Athlete’s Diet
Quinoa, the protein alternative
By Abby Ruby, CTS Coach
Last month we did a quick survey of the more popular sources of protein, lean meats, and that got us to thinking about alternative sources of protein for vegetarians. Beyond soy-based products such as tofu, we reminded ourselves that quinoa (pronounced KIN-wa) is an oft overlooked source of protein and a wealth of other nutrients. For over 7,000 years, this grain has been a staple in South American diets and no wonder. This unique grain from South America is a gluten-free, complete protein, meaning that it supplies the body with all the amino acids it needs just like meat and dairy.
But that’s not all this crunchy, curly, tiny grain can do. In addition to the protein it contains, it’s also high in fiber, iron, Vitamins E, B2, B6, magnesium and zinc. Like pasta it takes all of 12 minutes to prepare in boiling water which makes it an easy alternative to pastas and rice. You can eat it this nutritional powerhouse for breakfast prepared like oatmeal, use it as a stuffing for peppers or chicken, or add it to soups and salads in the place of rice.
As an athlete, quinoa makes a great recovery meal or meal eaten several hours before or after a workout. The reason is that it’s a low-glycemic food meaning that it’ll take a while for it to be digested into your body. Think of quinoa in your diet as a protein, as opposed to a grain when it comes to the timing of the implementation of quinoa in your diet. It is not a readily accessible source of energy, as it will take your body time to process the protein to make the energy available to your working muscles. In fact, quinoa is technically not a true grain, but instead a seed, which accounts for its high protein concentration. Enjoy this addition to your diet and try out this new recipe.
Abby’s Quinoa Salad
My favorite quinoa dish is a salad. It’s perfect for a summer meal or served as a side-dish at a holiday barbeque.
-One cup cooked quinoa, chilled
-1/2 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
-1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
-1 tablespoon balsamic vinaigrette
-1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional)
The Science behind the SportLegs- it’s not there
SportLegs, professes success with their performance enhancing pill but does not have the scientific research to support the claims. In fact the science thus far proves that the calcium, magnesium and vitamin D contained within the SportLegs pill has no effect on buffering lactic acid, and may instead lead to GI distress. SportLegs promises the secret to the pills affectivity is the physiological buffering and removal of lactic acid.
While SportLegs is correct that the accumulation of lactic acid is commonly understood as inhibiting performance, the increased acidity associated with the accumulation of hydrogen ions as they split from lactic acid to produce H+ and lactate (used as fuel in the cell) is actually the cause of muscle irritation. Swedish scientist Westerblad on the other hand attributes the major cause of muscle fatigue during activity to the break down of creatine phosphate and not lactic acid. Robergs, a scientist at the University of New Mexico argues that lactic acid is a byproduct and not a cause of muscle irritation. Whether it is lactic acid or creatine phosphate which limits performance, ingesting lactate does not mean that there is more lactate in the blood to neutralize and bind to hydrogen ions thus prolonging intense muscle contractions.
The research presented on SportLegs website concerning the lactate system is accurate up to the point where SportLegs claims that: “since “lactate removal is concentration-dependent; lactic acid needs to be raised to a higher level to force its removal”3, taking SportLegs™ before exercise can help prepare your body to increase its lactate removal” (http://www.sportlegs.com/how/how.asp). This is where the concept of the product breaks down. SportLegs cites Brooks 2000 as the scientific substantiation for this claim. Most recently (2006 ACSM conference) Brooks presented updated research concerning the lactate shuttle transport protein, Monocarboxylate (MCT). Brooks found that with training, MCT concentration increases up to 88%, a substantial increase in the bodies’ ability to oxidize and clear lactate from working muscle cells. So MCT is the key to lactate clearance, not the ingestion of lactate itself. Further scientific research challenges the affectivity of SportLegs.
Brouns et al found “A 3-week oral lactate supplementation did not result in differences in lactate disappearance.” (1995). Ingesting lactate thus did not reduce lactate concentrations. Triplett et al. concur with Brouns finding “In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that aspartates are not effective in reducing indices of fatigue associated with weight training exercise or significantly altering plasma ammonia concentrations.” (1990). A different study found that the salts may in fact have a performance enhancing effect, but they also have the potential to disrupt the GI track. “[It] Appears that bicarbonate salts taken at dosages of 0.3 g.kg-1 may improve performance during repeated sprints or at the end of a progressively more intense exercise test. [However] Athletes are advised of potential ill effects of bicarbonate ingestion, such as gastrointestinal distress.” (Horsewill)
So while SportLegs touts the success of multiple athletes who take SportLegs, the science doesn’t support the claims. SportLegs even seems to backpedal a bit in their final claim that “Depending on how competitive you are, you'll either think of SportLegs as a pain preventative, or a performance enhancer. Or maybe a little of both. Either way, you're going to love it(http://www.sportlegs.com/what/what.asp)” SportLegs is neither a pain pill, nor a performance pill, what it may do, however, is give you an upset stomach.
While SportLegs is correct that the accumulation of lactic acid is commonly understood as inhibiting performance, the increased acidity associated with the accumulation of hydrogen ions as they split from lactic acid to produce H+ and lactate (used as fuel in the cell) is actually the cause of muscle irritation. Swedish scientist Westerblad on the other hand attributes the major cause of muscle fatigue during activity to the break down of creatine phosphate and not lactic acid. Robergs, a scientist at the University of New Mexico argues that lactic acid is a byproduct and not a cause of muscle irritation. Whether it is lactic acid or creatine phosphate which limits performance, ingesting lactate does not mean that there is more lactate in the blood to neutralize and bind to hydrogen ions thus prolonging intense muscle contractions.
The research presented on SportLegs website concerning the lactate system is accurate up to the point where SportLegs claims that: “since “lactate removal is concentration-dependent; lactic acid needs to be raised to a higher level to force its removal”3, taking SportLegs™ before exercise can help prepare your body to increase its lactate removal” (http://www.sportlegs.com/how/how.asp). This is where the concept of the product breaks down. SportLegs cites Brooks 2000 as the scientific substantiation for this claim. Most recently (2006 ACSM conference) Brooks presented updated research concerning the lactate shuttle transport protein, Monocarboxylate (MCT). Brooks found that with training, MCT concentration increases up to 88%, a substantial increase in the bodies’ ability to oxidize and clear lactate from working muscle cells. So MCT is the key to lactate clearance, not the ingestion of lactate itself. Further scientific research challenges the affectivity of SportLegs.
Brouns et al found “A 3-week oral lactate supplementation did not result in differences in lactate disappearance.” (1995). Ingesting lactate thus did not reduce lactate concentrations. Triplett et al. concur with Brouns finding “In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that aspartates are not effective in reducing indices of fatigue associated with weight training exercise or significantly altering plasma ammonia concentrations.” (1990). A different study found that the salts may in fact have a performance enhancing effect, but they also have the potential to disrupt the GI track. “[It] Appears that bicarbonate salts taken at dosages of 0.3 g.kg-1 may improve performance during repeated sprints or at the end of a progressively more intense exercise test. [However] Athletes are advised of potential ill effects of bicarbonate ingestion, such as gastrointestinal distress.” (Horsewill)
So while SportLegs touts the success of multiple athletes who take SportLegs, the science doesn’t support the claims. SportLegs even seems to backpedal a bit in their final claim that “Depending on how competitive you are, you'll either think of SportLegs as a pain preventative, or a performance enhancer. Or maybe a little of both. Either way, you're going to love it(http://www.sportlegs.com/what/what.asp)” SportLegs is neither a pain pill, nor a performance pill, what it may do, however, is give you an upset stomach.
The daily grind
The daily grind:
To drink or not to drink, that is the question.
According to Dr. Armstrong of the University of Connecticut athletes can enjoy their cup of coffee, or caffeinated beverage of choice without fearing the “dehydrating” effects of caffeine. We all know from experience that after drinking a cup of coffee or a big gulp of coke we need to use the bathroom, and often more than once. The diuretic capabilities of caffeinated beverages are negligible according to Armstrong.
He found that increased urine output due to caffeine normalizes after 4 hours and leaves no net dehydrating effects on the body in a 24-hour period. So enjoy your cup of Joe, even re-hydrate with it if you want. Dr. Armstrong found that individuals who re-hydrated with water retained 86% of the fluid they ingested and individuals who re-hydrated with caffeinated fluid retained 84% of what they took in.
Tolerance does occur with caffeine intake. This tolerance is not the common notion that it takes two cups of coffee to wake up in the morning, where as a few months ago one left you jittery all day. Instead this tolerance is actually a decrease in urine output. Becoming tolerant to caffeine means that the substance no longer has the diuretic effect it once had- less trips to the bathroom.
So enjoy your cup of coffee, take in a PowerGel with caffeine, if you want, and rest assured that you are not sacrificing your state of hydration.
To drink or not to drink, that is the question.
According to Dr. Armstrong of the University of Connecticut athletes can enjoy their cup of coffee, or caffeinated beverage of choice without fearing the “dehydrating” effects of caffeine. We all know from experience that after drinking a cup of coffee or a big gulp of coke we need to use the bathroom, and often more than once. The diuretic capabilities of caffeinated beverages are negligible according to Armstrong.
He found that increased urine output due to caffeine normalizes after 4 hours and leaves no net dehydrating effects on the body in a 24-hour period. So enjoy your cup of Joe, even re-hydrate with it if you want. Dr. Armstrong found that individuals who re-hydrated with water retained 86% of the fluid they ingested and individuals who re-hydrated with caffeinated fluid retained 84% of what they took in.
Tolerance does occur with caffeine intake. This tolerance is not the common notion that it takes two cups of coffee to wake up in the morning, where as a few months ago one left you jittery all day. Instead this tolerance is actually a decrease in urine output. Becoming tolerant to caffeine means that the substance no longer has the diuretic effect it once had- less trips to the bathroom.
So enjoy your cup of coffee, take in a PowerGel with caffeine, if you want, and rest assured that you are not sacrificing your state of hydration.
Preparing for your second marathon of the season
So how long does the mere mortal need between marathons? We know that Dean Karnazes can run 50 back to back, but what about the rest of us? Whether on a quest to qualify for Boston or seeking to soak up the scene in warmer climates, back to back marathons are absolutely possible for the “average age-grouper.” To whom am I speaking? Triathletes maximizing the winter months to complete a run focus and improve on the third leg of their race, marathoners who travel the world- the US- or their local hot spots to cover the distance one greek soldier Pheidippides did back in 490 BC and everyone in between.
Think about your goals. Are your goals to accomplish as many marathons as possible? Are your goals to PR each one- if so you may need more time between efforts. The higher the intensity the more time needed to recover, so plan accordingly. 6-8 weeks between marathons is reasonable, however this varies on an individual basis. Once you have your goals outlined and an idea of the races you would like to attend- then what?
The game plan: Build your base! Doing back to back marathons are less taxing when you are used to pounding the pavement (or the treadmill) for 2-3 hours at a time. Allow approximately 8-12 weeks to build your mileage to where you can run 18-20 miles “comfortably.” I know your thinking, you’re crazy lady, 18-20 will never seem comfortable. What I mean by comfortable is that you are able to bounce back quickly. The clear indicator of comfort from a physiological standpoint is that you can come back in a day or two and hit it hard again- perform some tempo runs or another mid to long distance run without injury. Remember your first 18 miler? You might not have been able to move for days, it shouldn’t feel like this. You should get to the point when you can look at your schedule and say 10 is a short run, and 2-3 hours is standard and not “long.”
Once you have reached this level of base, you are ready to work on speed. The base you have built over the past 3 months will help you recover faster from your marathon effort- as you will be accustomed to the long miles and ready to hit another within a few weeks. After my last marathon- which was admittedly slow- I was back doing 18 within one week and feeling fine. This goes to show a few things 1) I am fairly fit and 2) I did not race the marathon.
The speed of the effort is what often leads to such a taxing of the muscle glycogen that molehills (or side walk curbs) really do seem like mountains. To minimize your post race soreness and to maximize your training between marathons hop in a pool. Find a pool at your hotel and do some deep water jogging the day after your marathon. Moving your muscles will bring blood flow to the area and help flush the metabolic waste (muscle breakdown) from your system. While it hurts, it is helping. A word of caution- there is good pain and bad pain, know the difference between the two and push the good pain to speed recovery, hold back on the bad pain (often the pain of an injury, a muscle strain or a tendonitis of sorts) fully heal and then dive back in. Those daunting curbs will not seem so high and the odd looks you get making your way “waddling” as my friends like to call it- will be kept to a minimum. Don’t forget your recovery drink immediately after your marathon- I put recovery powder in a water bottle and store it in bag check. Then at the finish line I grab an extra bottle of water and mix up my miracle drink- skipping this step is a bad idea and will just prolong your recovery time- eating into precious training days between efforts.
Another tip: a little goes a long way- what do I mean by this? 5 minutes in an ice bath will make you feel like a million bucks the day after a hard effort- be it the marathon or a hard training day.
After your base work and first marathon, focus on tempo and speed. Long tempo work- 10-12 miles at 15 seconds faster than your marathon pace is the goal workout for this block. Be sure to warm up, cool down and then hit the tempo hard and long. You can incorporate two of these workouts per week along with one longer (18-22) mile day and there you have it, your in between race workout plan.
Think about your goals. Are your goals to accomplish as many marathons as possible? Are your goals to PR each one- if so you may need more time between efforts. The higher the intensity the more time needed to recover, so plan accordingly. 6-8 weeks between marathons is reasonable, however this varies on an individual basis. Once you have your goals outlined and an idea of the races you would like to attend- then what?
The game plan: Build your base! Doing back to back marathons are less taxing when you are used to pounding the pavement (or the treadmill) for 2-3 hours at a time. Allow approximately 8-12 weeks to build your mileage to where you can run 18-20 miles “comfortably.” I know your thinking, you’re crazy lady, 18-20 will never seem comfortable. What I mean by comfortable is that you are able to bounce back quickly. The clear indicator of comfort from a physiological standpoint is that you can come back in a day or two and hit it hard again- perform some tempo runs or another mid to long distance run without injury. Remember your first 18 miler? You might not have been able to move for days, it shouldn’t feel like this. You should get to the point when you can look at your schedule and say 10 is a short run, and 2-3 hours is standard and not “long.”
Once you have reached this level of base, you are ready to work on speed. The base you have built over the past 3 months will help you recover faster from your marathon effort- as you will be accustomed to the long miles and ready to hit another within a few weeks. After my last marathon- which was admittedly slow- I was back doing 18 within one week and feeling fine. This goes to show a few things 1) I am fairly fit and 2) I did not race the marathon.
The speed of the effort is what often leads to such a taxing of the muscle glycogen that molehills (or side walk curbs) really do seem like mountains. To minimize your post race soreness and to maximize your training between marathons hop in a pool. Find a pool at your hotel and do some deep water jogging the day after your marathon. Moving your muscles will bring blood flow to the area and help flush the metabolic waste (muscle breakdown) from your system. While it hurts, it is helping. A word of caution- there is good pain and bad pain, know the difference between the two and push the good pain to speed recovery, hold back on the bad pain (often the pain of an injury, a muscle strain or a tendonitis of sorts) fully heal and then dive back in. Those daunting curbs will not seem so high and the odd looks you get making your way “waddling” as my friends like to call it- will be kept to a minimum. Don’t forget your recovery drink immediately after your marathon- I put recovery powder in a water bottle and store it in bag check. Then at the finish line I grab an extra bottle of water and mix up my miracle drink- skipping this step is a bad idea and will just prolong your recovery time- eating into precious training days between efforts.
Another tip: a little goes a long way- what do I mean by this? 5 minutes in an ice bath will make you feel like a million bucks the day after a hard effort- be it the marathon or a hard training day.
After your base work and first marathon, focus on tempo and speed. Long tempo work- 10-12 miles at 15 seconds faster than your marathon pace is the goal workout for this block. Be sure to warm up, cool down and then hit the tempo hard and long. You can incorporate two of these workouts per week along with one longer (18-22) mile day and there you have it, your in between race workout plan.
Lactatic Acid Friend or Foe?
The burning question lighting up our telephones and e-mail boxes this week is whether or not lactic acid is good or bad for you. This confusion was sparked by a May 16th article published in The New York Times titled “Lactic Acid Is Not Muscles’ Foe, It’s Fuel” by Times reporter Gina Kolata. In her story, she writes that lactic acid build-up in the muscles, a condition commonly associated with painful muscle contractions at a high level of exertion has been getting a bad rap and is really a source of energy to be maximized. While this assertion is partially correct, it is based on incomplete scientific information. The complete story is still unfolding as scientific research on lactic acid and “the burn” remains inconclusive even today. However, this does not prevent CTS coaches from training athletes with sound experiential and up-to-date scientific fact. Coaches and athletes know the “burn” exists; the physiological and chemical components responsible for the burn are as yet undetermined. Some components associated with the common conception of “the burn,” specifically lactate, do in fact provide a source of energy to working muscles, however this does not mean that members should be training at the highest possible intensity at all times to produce this result. While conflicting scientific theories exist about the burn, training different energy systems is still the best way to maximize performance results.
There’s “Lactate” and Then There’s “Lactic Acid”
The experts in Kolata’s story, George Brooks, a professor of integrative biology at UC, Berkeley and L. Bruce Gladden, a professor of health and human performance at Auburn University, explain how lactic acid is actually the fuel tapped by your muscles to power your performance and not the culprit behind fatigue and muscle soreness.
We have no problem with the Times’ assertion that lactic acid is muscle fuel. Our contention is with the story’s misleading claim that “lactic threshold training” as Ms. Kolata calls it, is “all wrong.” It is not all wrong, nor is her assertion based on sound scientific fact, but rather a partial understanding of the scientific literature. The problem is that the Times doesn’t differentiate between lactate and lactic acid. In reality, lactate is the actual fuel used by muscles while lactic acid is composed of lactate and hydrogen ions.
This confusion isn’t only relegated to Ms. Kolata. Indeed, a recent paper, “Lactate: Not Guilty as Charged” by Len Kraviz, Ph.D., of the University of New Mexico, points out that “most texts simply do not provide and explain the chemically balanced reactions occurring during metabolic acidosis. This incomplete description of acidosis has led to the acceptance of the misconceptions of lactate held by many fitness professionals and exercise scientists.”
Kravis goes on to explain how lactic acid is used as fuel and actually slows down the production of acid in an athlete’s muscles as glucose is turned into lactate and processed by those muscles:
In order to neutralize the soaring accumulation of pyruvate and protons from the splitting of ATP (the high-energy compound from which cells derive energy during vigorous exercise), each pyruvate molecule absorbs two protons into its structure, converting to lactate. Thus, lactate production is ACTUALLY A CONSEQUENCE of cellular acidosis and NOT the cause of the acidosis. More blatantly, lactate production actually RETARDS ACIDOSIS. Lactate is a temporary ‘neutralizer’ or ‘buffer’ to the cells’ elevated accumulation of (acidic) protons during high-intensity exercise.
Does the “Lactic-Acid Burn” Exist?
Between the lactate and hydrogen ions that make up lactic acid, one theory is that it’s the hydrogen ions that increase the acidity in muscle cells. This increased acidity inhibits muscle contractions due to the “stimulation of the free (and available) nerve endings in the muscle (which results) in the perception of pain.” (www.brainman.demon.co.uk/lactic). This pain is the “burn” which any athlete will recognize comes from working his or her muscles hard.
Still further investigation into the root causes of muscle fatigue, or the “burn,” has turned up another theory. A 2002 study published in News in Physiological Sciences cites the work of Drs. Håkan Westerblad, David G. Allen, and Jan Lännergren who theorize that “inorganic phosphate (not acidity), which increases during fatigue due to the breakdown of creatine phosphate, appears to be a major cause of muscle fatigue.”
Will Any of This Affect Training Protocols?
No. This evolving view of lactate and lactic acid by the scientific community only reinforces the training methodology that coaches and athletes have been using for years. In Brooks’ experience, athletic coaches understood this connection intuitively long before the sports scientists grasped it. Through trial and error, coaches and athletes realized that training helps the body better metabolize lactic acid, which then allows the body to perform at a higher intensity for a longer period of time. The goal is to push back the point at which the body is overwhelmed by lactic acid and performance starts to suffer. As Dr. Brooks rightly points out in the Times story, training boosts the production of mitochondria in the muscle cells thereby increasing the ability to absorb more lactate for fuel. The faster and more efficiently a body can process lactate, the stronger it can become. At CTS, we call this connection “lactate threshold training,” and it’s the lynchpin that we build our training programs around.
There’s “Lactate” and Then There’s “Lactic Acid”
The experts in Kolata’s story, George Brooks, a professor of integrative biology at UC, Berkeley and L. Bruce Gladden, a professor of health and human performance at Auburn University, explain how lactic acid is actually the fuel tapped by your muscles to power your performance and not the culprit behind fatigue and muscle soreness.
We have no problem with the Times’ assertion that lactic acid is muscle fuel. Our contention is with the story’s misleading claim that “lactic threshold training” as Ms. Kolata calls it, is “all wrong.” It is not all wrong, nor is her assertion based on sound scientific fact, but rather a partial understanding of the scientific literature. The problem is that the Times doesn’t differentiate between lactate and lactic acid. In reality, lactate is the actual fuel used by muscles while lactic acid is composed of lactate and hydrogen ions.
This confusion isn’t only relegated to Ms. Kolata. Indeed, a recent paper, “Lactate: Not Guilty as Charged” by Len Kraviz, Ph.D., of the University of New Mexico, points out that “most texts simply do not provide and explain the chemically balanced reactions occurring during metabolic acidosis. This incomplete description of acidosis has led to the acceptance of the misconceptions of lactate held by many fitness professionals and exercise scientists.”
Kravis goes on to explain how lactic acid is used as fuel and actually slows down the production of acid in an athlete’s muscles as glucose is turned into lactate and processed by those muscles:
In order to neutralize the soaring accumulation of pyruvate and protons from the splitting of ATP (the high-energy compound from which cells derive energy during vigorous exercise), each pyruvate molecule absorbs two protons into its structure, converting to lactate. Thus, lactate production is ACTUALLY A CONSEQUENCE of cellular acidosis and NOT the cause of the acidosis. More blatantly, lactate production actually RETARDS ACIDOSIS. Lactate is a temporary ‘neutralizer’ or ‘buffer’ to the cells’ elevated accumulation of (acidic) protons during high-intensity exercise.
Does the “Lactic-Acid Burn” Exist?
Between the lactate and hydrogen ions that make up lactic acid, one theory is that it’s the hydrogen ions that increase the acidity in muscle cells. This increased acidity inhibits muscle contractions due to the “stimulation of the free (and available) nerve endings in the muscle (which results) in the perception of pain.” (www.brainman.demon.co.uk/lactic). This pain is the “burn” which any athlete will recognize comes from working his or her muscles hard.
Still further investigation into the root causes of muscle fatigue, or the “burn,” has turned up another theory. A 2002 study published in News in Physiological Sciences cites the work of Drs. Håkan Westerblad, David G. Allen, and Jan Lännergren who theorize that “inorganic phosphate (not acidity), which increases during fatigue due to the breakdown of creatine phosphate, appears to be a major cause of muscle fatigue.”
Will Any of This Affect Training Protocols?
No. This evolving view of lactate and lactic acid by the scientific community only reinforces the training methodology that coaches and athletes have been using for years. In Brooks’ experience, athletic coaches understood this connection intuitively long before the sports scientists grasped it. Through trial and error, coaches and athletes realized that training helps the body better metabolize lactic acid, which then allows the body to perform at a higher intensity for a longer period of time. The goal is to push back the point at which the body is overwhelmed by lactic acid and performance starts to suffer. As Dr. Brooks rightly points out in the Times story, training boosts the production of mitochondria in the muscle cells thereby increasing the ability to absorb more lactate for fuel. The faster and more efficiently a body can process lactate, the stronger it can become. At CTS, we call this connection “lactate threshold training,” and it’s the lynchpin that we build our training programs around.
FRS
Free Radical Scavenger otherwise known as FRS, is an antioxidant product aimed at increasing athletic performance. FRS professes that their product can “help athletes boost energy during workouts, enhance performance and speed recovery.” Because when we workout we breath more, we take in more oxygen and increase our metabolic rate, more free radicals are produced in the body. FRS claims that their product neutralizes these free radicals, elements which have been linked with atherosclerosis, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. Free radicals are unstable elements as they have unpaired electrons.
FRS claims that their product blocks the negative effects of free radical production during exercise by binding with the free radicals and oxidizing the unstable elements. However, Powers et al (2004) conclude “To date, there is limited evidence that dietary supplementation with antioxidants will improve human performance.”
Dr. Powers in his keynote address at the 2006 American College of Sports Medicine conference proclaimed that free radicals (in low doses) actually help maintain vascular tone, are responsible for cell signaling, participate in muscle contraction and are involved in growth differentiation.
Cooper et al concur that the claims made by FRS are unscientifically founded. “High intensity exercise induces oxidative stress. There is no evidence that this affects sporting performance in the short term, although it may have long term, not detrimental, health consequences.” (Cooper, et al.)
The study that FRS cites on their website by MacRae has many flaws. Quercetin, the anti-oxidant that FRS touts as the key ingredient in FRS was never measured in tissue or blood samples. We do not know the absorption rate of Quercetin, nor do we know the bioavailability in the muscles or the blood. Measuring the amounts of Quercetin with a muscle biopsy would add to the increase in the cost of the experiment, however, if FRS is going to claim that it is Quercitin that is responsible for the ergogenic aids of FRS, then it is imperative to know how the body absorbs Quercetin, something as yet unmeasured.
There is no placebo in the study, the control group ingested FRS without Quercetin and still performed their training regiment. Vo2 was sited as the measurement to insure that training effects did not account for the effectivity of the FRS, however Vo2 is incredibly difficult to change. Rather lactate threshold levels are more of an indication of the effects of training, not vo2 peak. There were no training nor diet records kept or mentioned in the write up of the study. One further flaw is that the experimenters told the subjects their past TT time. Bettering a past performance is an extrinsic motivator and should have been kept from the athletes.
According to Max Shute, PhD and CTS coach, maintaining or boosting glutathione key to anti-oxidant performance enhancers, however the research isn’t there yet. As such FRS in theory is a sound product, but in practice it does not yet have the sound scientific evidence to prove its effectiveness.
FRS claims that their product blocks the negative effects of free radical production during exercise by binding with the free radicals and oxidizing the unstable elements. However, Powers et al (2004) conclude “To date, there is limited evidence that dietary supplementation with antioxidants will improve human performance.”
Dr. Powers in his keynote address at the 2006 American College of Sports Medicine conference proclaimed that free radicals (in low doses) actually help maintain vascular tone, are responsible for cell signaling, participate in muscle contraction and are involved in growth differentiation.
Cooper et al concur that the claims made by FRS are unscientifically founded. “High intensity exercise induces oxidative stress. There is no evidence that this affects sporting performance in the short term, although it may have long term, not detrimental, health consequences.” (Cooper, et al.)
The study that FRS cites on their website by MacRae has many flaws. Quercetin, the anti-oxidant that FRS touts as the key ingredient in FRS was never measured in tissue or blood samples. We do not know the absorption rate of Quercetin, nor do we know the bioavailability in the muscles or the blood. Measuring the amounts of Quercetin with a muscle biopsy would add to the increase in the cost of the experiment, however, if FRS is going to claim that it is Quercitin that is responsible for the ergogenic aids of FRS, then it is imperative to know how the body absorbs Quercetin, something as yet unmeasured.
There is no placebo in the study, the control group ingested FRS without Quercetin and still performed their training regiment. Vo2 was sited as the measurement to insure that training effects did not account for the effectivity of the FRS, however Vo2 is incredibly difficult to change. Rather lactate threshold levels are more of an indication of the effects of training, not vo2 peak. There were no training nor diet records kept or mentioned in the write up of the study. One further flaw is that the experimenters told the subjects their past TT time. Bettering a past performance is an extrinsic motivator and should have been kept from the athletes.
According to Max Shute, PhD and CTS coach, maintaining or boosting glutathione key to anti-oxidant performance enhancers, however the research isn’t there yet. As such FRS in theory is a sound product, but in practice it does not yet have the sound scientific evidence to prove its effectiveness.
Bonk Training
Bonk Training
On June 8,2006 Matt Fitzgerald published, “Should you bonk on purpose?” on Active.com. CTS received a number of questions concerning this publication. Fitzgerald sites “Signaling the muscles to adapt: Train low, compete high” Bente Pedersen’s presentation at the American College of Sports Medicine conference as the science behind his “bonk training.” Pedersen however, never does discuss “bonking” per se; rather, her focus is on muscle adaptation to exercise performed twice daily versus exercise performed once daily. Exercising in a glycogen depleted state is not the same thing as “bonk training,” something Fitzgerald overlooks.
University of Copenhagen scientist, Pedersen, discussed the merits of pushing the body beyond its limits by performing twice daily exercise bouts in order to improve the training effects. She reports on her most recent study in which she compared individuals who performed exercise twice daily every other day to a control group who exercised once everyday. The groups were controlled for time, meaning both groups performed the same amount of work over the length of the experiment- albeit dolled out differently. The group that exercised twice daily exercised with depleted glycogen stores in active muscle groups. Training with depleted glycogen stores increased adaptation effects compared to training bouts following replete glycogen stores. Training in this depleted state increases the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a cytokine secreted by T-Cells and a myokine released by contracting muscles.
IL-6 is associated with the immune response to burns, illness, injury and fevers. In addition Fitzgerald, a columnist and not a scientist claims that “IL-6 is believed to facilitate many of the body’s adaptations to exercise training, ranging from increased fat burning to greater resistance to muscle damage.” Fitzgerald does not site his sources and I was unable to confirm each one of his claims. Increased IL-6 levels are found increased in post marathon runners (Pedersen et al), weight lifters performing eccentric contractions (Bruunsgaard et al) and hypoxic individuals (Klausen et al). IL-6 is associated with exercise and muscle breakdown, but greater resistance to muscle damage and improved cognitive function is yet unsubstantiated.
IL-6 specifically “stimulates hepatic glucose output if blood glucose concentrations fall during exercise” (Robson 2003).
Enhancing fatty acid metabolism (fat oxidation) makes athletes more efficient aerobic machines, thus able to go longer and harder, a positive training effect.
Robson’s research, a biologist from South Africa hypothesizes that after one bout of hypoglycemia (bonking experience) a subsequent exposure of hypoglycemia will elicit an increased release of IL-6, thus increasing the rate of fatty acid break down and mimicking liver glycogen as a fuel source. This would theoretically produce a heightened training effect so that athletes can come back stronger, be more efficient fuel burners and prolong their time to exhaustion.
“Bonk Training” is actually a misnomer because Pedersen does not advocate the reduction of glucose in training, but rather performing exercise bouts with a depleted state of muscle glycogen. While, Pedersen has found that glucose and anti-oxidants prevent the release of IL-6, mitigating the positive lipolytic adaptation, muscle glycogen is not the same thing as glucose. Ingesting glucose does not translate immediately to muscle glycogen. While studies have shown that glucose ingestion does spare muscle glycogen, Pedersen is careful to clarify that her study examines the result of muscle glycogen depletion on adaptation and not the restriction of glucose on performance.
Over a 10-week experimental period max exertional effort did not change, but time to exhaustion was increased. Pedersen is cautious about the simple application of this preliminary research to training. She presents the topic as a question and a point of inquiry calling for more science before coaches and athletes alike adopt the practice. In fact Pedersen cautions against the very thing that Fitzgerald did in his article- immediately prescribe her practice (inaccurately as well) in exercising individuals by telling them not to eat during training. Pedersen instead has shown that exercising twice daily does prove to have positive adaptations due to increased IL-6 levels which in turn increases the bodies ability to burn fat. This is not the same thing as not eating during training, restricting glucose intake and exercising in a state of depleted muscle glycogen are different entities and it is fallible and potentially dangerous to confuse the two.
On June 8,2006 Matt Fitzgerald published, “Should you bonk on purpose?” on Active.com. CTS received a number of questions concerning this publication. Fitzgerald sites “Signaling the muscles to adapt: Train low, compete high” Bente Pedersen’s presentation at the American College of Sports Medicine conference as the science behind his “bonk training.” Pedersen however, never does discuss “bonking” per se; rather, her focus is on muscle adaptation to exercise performed twice daily versus exercise performed once daily. Exercising in a glycogen depleted state is not the same thing as “bonk training,” something Fitzgerald overlooks.
University of Copenhagen scientist, Pedersen, discussed the merits of pushing the body beyond its limits by performing twice daily exercise bouts in order to improve the training effects. She reports on her most recent study in which she compared individuals who performed exercise twice daily every other day to a control group who exercised once everyday. The groups were controlled for time, meaning both groups performed the same amount of work over the length of the experiment- albeit dolled out differently. The group that exercised twice daily exercised with depleted glycogen stores in active muscle groups. Training with depleted glycogen stores increased adaptation effects compared to training bouts following replete glycogen stores. Training in this depleted state increases the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a cytokine secreted by T-Cells and a myokine released by contracting muscles.
IL-6 is associated with the immune response to burns, illness, injury and fevers. In addition Fitzgerald, a columnist and not a scientist claims that “IL-6 is believed to facilitate many of the body’s adaptations to exercise training, ranging from increased fat burning to greater resistance to muscle damage.” Fitzgerald does not site his sources and I was unable to confirm each one of his claims. Increased IL-6 levels are found increased in post marathon runners (Pedersen et al), weight lifters performing eccentric contractions (Bruunsgaard et al) and hypoxic individuals (Klausen et al). IL-6 is associated with exercise and muscle breakdown, but greater resistance to muscle damage and improved cognitive function is yet unsubstantiated.
IL-6 specifically “stimulates hepatic glucose output if blood glucose concentrations fall during exercise” (Robson 2003).
Enhancing fatty acid metabolism (fat oxidation) makes athletes more efficient aerobic machines, thus able to go longer and harder, a positive training effect.
Robson’s research, a biologist from South Africa hypothesizes that after one bout of hypoglycemia (bonking experience) a subsequent exposure of hypoglycemia will elicit an increased release of IL-6, thus increasing the rate of fatty acid break down and mimicking liver glycogen as a fuel source. This would theoretically produce a heightened training effect so that athletes can come back stronger, be more efficient fuel burners and prolong their time to exhaustion.
“Bonk Training” is actually a misnomer because Pedersen does not advocate the reduction of glucose in training, but rather performing exercise bouts with a depleted state of muscle glycogen. While, Pedersen has found that glucose and anti-oxidants prevent the release of IL-6, mitigating the positive lipolytic adaptation, muscle glycogen is not the same thing as glucose. Ingesting glucose does not translate immediately to muscle glycogen. While studies have shown that glucose ingestion does spare muscle glycogen, Pedersen is careful to clarify that her study examines the result of muscle glycogen depletion on adaptation and not the restriction of glucose on performance.
Over a 10-week experimental period max exertional effort did not change, but time to exhaustion was increased. Pedersen is cautious about the simple application of this preliminary research to training. She presents the topic as a question and a point of inquiry calling for more science before coaches and athletes alike adopt the practice. In fact Pedersen cautions against the very thing that Fitzgerald did in his article- immediately prescribe her practice (inaccurately as well) in exercising individuals by telling them not to eat during training. Pedersen instead has shown that exercising twice daily does prove to have positive adaptations due to increased IL-6 levels which in turn increases the bodies ability to burn fat. This is not the same thing as not eating during training, restricting glucose intake and exercising in a state of depleted muscle glycogen are different entities and it is fallible and potentially dangerous to confuse the two.
Bonk Training
On June 8,2006 Matt Fitzgerald published, “Should you bonk on purpose?” on Active.com. CTS received a number of questions concerning this publication. Fitzgerald sites “Signaling the muscles to adapt: Train low, compete high” Bente Pedersen’s presentation at the American College of Sports Medicine conference as the science behind his “bonk training.” Pedersen however, never does discuss “bonking” per se; rather, her focus is on muscle adaptation to exercise performed twice daily versus exercise performed once daily. Exercising in a glycogen depleted state is not the same thing as “bonk training,” something Fitzgerald overlooks.
University of Copenhagen scientist, Pedersen, discussed the merits of pushing the body beyond its limits by performing twice daily exercise bouts in order to improve the training effects. She reports on her most recent study in which she compared individuals who performed exercise twice daily every other day to a control group who exercised once everyday. The groups were controlled for time, meaning both groups performed the same amount of work over the length of the experiment- albeit dolled out differently. The group that exercised twice daily exercised with depleted glycogen stores in active muscle groups. Training with depleted glycogen stores increased adaptation effects compared to training bouts following replete glycogen stores. Training in this depleted state increases the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a cytokine secreted by T-Cells and a myokine released by contracting muscles.
IL-6 is associated with the immune response to burns, illness, injury and fevers. In addition Fitzgerald, a columnist and not a scientist claims that “IL-6 is believed to facilitate many of the body’s adaptations to exercise training, ranging from increased fat burning to greater resistance to muscle damage.” Fitzgerald does not site his sources and I was unable to confirm each one of his claims. Increased IL-6 levels are found increased in post marathon runners (Pedersen et al), weight lifters performing eccentric contractions (Bruunsgaard et al) and hypoxic individuals (Klausen et al). IL-6 is associated with exercise and muscle breakdown, but greater resistance to muscle damage and improved cognitive function is yet unsubstantiated.
IL-6 specifically “stimulates hepatic glucose output if blood glucose concentrations fall during exercise” (Robson 2003).
Enhancing fatty acid metabolism (fat oxidation) makes athletes more efficient aerobic machines, thus able to go longer and harder, a positive training effect.
Robson’s research, a biologist from South Africa hypothesizes that after one bout of hypoglycemia (bonking experience) a subsequent exposure of hypoglycemia will elicit an increased release of IL-6, thus increasing the rate of fatty acid break down and mimicking liver glycogen as a fuel source. This would theoretically produce a heightened training effect so that athletes can come back stronger, be more efficient fuel burners and prolong their time to exhaustion.
“Bonk Training” is actually a misnomer because Pedersen does not advocate the reduction of glucose in training, but rather performing exercise bouts with a depleted state of muscle glycogen. While, Pedersen has found that glucose and anti-oxidants prevent the release of IL-6, mitigating the positive lipolytic adaptation, muscle glycogen is not the same thing as glucose. Ingesting glucose does not translate immediately to muscle glycogen. While studies have shown that glucose ingestion does spare muscle glycogen, Pedersen is careful to clarify that her study examines the result of muscle glycogen depletion on adaptation and not the restriction of glucose on performance.
Over a 10-week experimental period max exertional effort did not change, but time to exhaustion was increased. Pedersen is cautious about the simple application of this preliminary research to training. She presents the topic as a question and a point of inquiry calling for more science before coaches and athletes alike adopt the practice. In fact Pedersen cautions against the very thing that Fitzgerald did in his article- immediately prescribe her practice (inaccurately as well) in exercising individuals by telling them not to eat during training. Pedersen instead has shown that exercising twice daily does prove to have positive adaptations due to increased IL-6 levels which in turn increases the bodies ability to burn fat. This is not the same thing as not eating during training, restricting glucose intake and exercising in a state of depleted muscle glycogen are different entities and it is fallible and potentially dangerous to confuse the two.
University of Copenhagen scientist, Pedersen, discussed the merits of pushing the body beyond its limits by performing twice daily exercise bouts in order to improve the training effects. She reports on her most recent study in which she compared individuals who performed exercise twice daily every other day to a control group who exercised once everyday. The groups were controlled for time, meaning both groups performed the same amount of work over the length of the experiment- albeit dolled out differently. The group that exercised twice daily exercised with depleted glycogen stores in active muscle groups. Training with depleted glycogen stores increased adaptation effects compared to training bouts following replete glycogen stores. Training in this depleted state increases the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a cytokine secreted by T-Cells and a myokine released by contracting muscles.
IL-6 is associated with the immune response to burns, illness, injury and fevers. In addition Fitzgerald, a columnist and not a scientist claims that “IL-6 is believed to facilitate many of the body’s adaptations to exercise training, ranging from increased fat burning to greater resistance to muscle damage.” Fitzgerald does not site his sources and I was unable to confirm each one of his claims. Increased IL-6 levels are found increased in post marathon runners (Pedersen et al), weight lifters performing eccentric contractions (Bruunsgaard et al) and hypoxic individuals (Klausen et al). IL-6 is associated with exercise and muscle breakdown, but greater resistance to muscle damage and improved cognitive function is yet unsubstantiated.
IL-6 specifically “stimulates hepatic glucose output if blood glucose concentrations fall during exercise” (Robson 2003).
Enhancing fatty acid metabolism (fat oxidation) makes athletes more efficient aerobic machines, thus able to go longer and harder, a positive training effect.
Robson’s research, a biologist from South Africa hypothesizes that after one bout of hypoglycemia (bonking experience) a subsequent exposure of hypoglycemia will elicit an increased release of IL-6, thus increasing the rate of fatty acid break down and mimicking liver glycogen as a fuel source. This would theoretically produce a heightened training effect so that athletes can come back stronger, be more efficient fuel burners and prolong their time to exhaustion.
“Bonk Training” is actually a misnomer because Pedersen does not advocate the reduction of glucose in training, but rather performing exercise bouts with a depleted state of muscle glycogen. While, Pedersen has found that glucose and anti-oxidants prevent the release of IL-6, mitigating the positive lipolytic adaptation, muscle glycogen is not the same thing as glucose. Ingesting glucose does not translate immediately to muscle glycogen. While studies have shown that glucose ingestion does spare muscle glycogen, Pedersen is careful to clarify that her study examines the result of muscle glycogen depletion on adaptation and not the restriction of glucose on performance.
Over a 10-week experimental period max exertional effort did not change, but time to exhaustion was increased. Pedersen is cautious about the simple application of this preliminary research to training. She presents the topic as a question and a point of inquiry calling for more science before coaches and athletes alike adopt the practice. In fact Pedersen cautions against the very thing that Fitzgerald did in his article- immediately prescribe her practice (inaccurately as well) in exercising individuals by telling them not to eat during training. Pedersen instead has shown that exercising twice daily does prove to have positive adaptations due to increased IL-6 levels which in turn increases the bodies ability to burn fat. This is not the same thing as not eating during training, restricting glucose intake and exercising in a state of depleted muscle glycogen are different entities and it is fallible and potentially dangerous to confuse the two.
Swimming in the dead of winter, how to keep motivation up and boredom down.
When I was an undergraduate in New Hampshire, there were more than a few occasions when my swim workout ran a little long and I ended up rushing into class with frozen hair. Walking outside into the bitter cold with wet hair may not the most enjoyable part of triathlon training, but the winter is a very important time for making improvements to your swimming performance.
It’s very difficult to consistently work on improving your stroke while you’re also working on endurance and speed before and during the racing season. After the competition season is over, however, you can bring the intensity of your swim training down a notch and boost the focus on technique. The more efficient you are in the water, the less energy you’ll expend to swim fast, leaving more energy for the bike and the run. Developing your “feel” for the water, or learning to optimally position your body in the water is important for speed and efficiency, is a process of teaching your muscles and nerves to adapt by repeating specific actions over and over. The winter is the perfect time to work on these adaptations because they’ll be fully engrained when spring rolls around and it’s time to once again focus on developing speed for competition.
Think about babies just learning how to walk; they expend a lot of energy, flexing every muscle in their body (often including their faces - which makes for a great show) in order to figure out how to move their bodies in an upright position on two wobbly legs. Now picture that in the pool. When we first learn to swim, we muscle our way through the water, flexing everything, fighting against the liquid just to make it to the other wall. Now think about how easy it is for us to walk around as adults – you’ve come a long way baby. The same is true in swimming. The more we practice the fundamentals of the movements, the more refined they become, and the less we have to concentrate in order to perform them perfectly.
Take the time now to “re-learn” the task of swimming, to improve your technique, so you don’t even have to think about it when you are working on building your stamina and speed later in the season. The drills listed below will help, but first we have to address motivation – because drills won’t do you any good if you don’t go to the pool in the first place.
Keep your motivation up and boredom at bay this winter by:
1) Joining a masters club. Masters programs have swim meets as well. Make some personal time goals to focus your workouts and to keep yourself motivated during the off season.
2) Find a swim camp. Having someone watch your form from deck is very helpful, and you’ll walk away with a toolbox of new skills and drills to keep your progress moving. Having external feedback from a “bird’s eye view”, and/or underwater video is invaluable and will certainly drop your swim split come race season.
4) Organize a threesome. Get your mind out of the gutter… I’m talking about having two training partners instead of just one. That way, if one person can’t make it, there’s still another buddy waiting for you.
Whatever it takes, get yourself to the pool even in the blustery weather. It will pay off in the end!
Some Drill Ideas:
Count your strokes- Work on increasing the distance covered per stroke to increase feel for the water, strength and stroke efficiency. Take as few strokes as possible and try to elongate each one. If you are at 30 strokes or above for 25 meters try decreasing your stroke count by one or two per 25 each week. Decreased stroke count means increased efficiency, so a stroke count of 12-15 is far more efficient than a stroke count of 35.
Golf Drill: This is a fun drill to do with stroke count and speed. Count the number of strokes you take over 50 meters and add that number to your 50 meter split time. Now, as in golf, try to decrease your score by either swimming faster, or taking fewer strokes.
Rotate to breathe: Place a tennis ball under your chin. Swim freestyle but as you turn to breathe keep your head down and try not to let the tennis ball pop up. This drill is difficult, but very helpful emphasizing proper rotation and breathing technique. Keeping your head down in order to keep the tennis ball in place emphasizes proper head positioning particularly in the breathing phase of the stroke. Proper head alignment is key as our legs drop to counter balance a lifted head, ultimately creating more drag and a slower swim split. By keeping the tennis ball tucked securely under your chin you will ensure proper head positioning for the roll to breathe and minimize any leg drag associated with lifting your head to breathe.
Abby Ruby is an Expert Coach with Carmichael Training Systems, Inc. and an experienced triathlete who won her 19-24 year old age group in the 2003 Ironman Brazil. To find out what CTS can do for you, and to sign up for our nutrition and fitness newsletter, visit www.trainright.com/newsletter.
It’s very difficult to consistently work on improving your stroke while you’re also working on endurance and speed before and during the racing season. After the competition season is over, however, you can bring the intensity of your swim training down a notch and boost the focus on technique. The more efficient you are in the water, the less energy you’ll expend to swim fast, leaving more energy for the bike and the run. Developing your “feel” for the water, or learning to optimally position your body in the water is important for speed and efficiency, is a process of teaching your muscles and nerves to adapt by repeating specific actions over and over. The winter is the perfect time to work on these adaptations because they’ll be fully engrained when spring rolls around and it’s time to once again focus on developing speed for competition.
Think about babies just learning how to walk; they expend a lot of energy, flexing every muscle in their body (often including their faces - which makes for a great show) in order to figure out how to move their bodies in an upright position on two wobbly legs. Now picture that in the pool. When we first learn to swim, we muscle our way through the water, flexing everything, fighting against the liquid just to make it to the other wall. Now think about how easy it is for us to walk around as adults – you’ve come a long way baby. The same is true in swimming. The more we practice the fundamentals of the movements, the more refined they become, and the less we have to concentrate in order to perform them perfectly.
Take the time now to “re-learn” the task of swimming, to improve your technique, so you don’t even have to think about it when you are working on building your stamina and speed later in the season. The drills listed below will help, but first we have to address motivation – because drills won’t do you any good if you don’t go to the pool in the first place.
Keep your motivation up and boredom at bay this winter by:
1) Joining a masters club. Masters programs have swim meets as well. Make some personal time goals to focus your workouts and to keep yourself motivated during the off season.
2) Find a swim camp. Having someone watch your form from deck is very helpful, and you’ll walk away with a toolbox of new skills and drills to keep your progress moving. Having external feedback from a “bird’s eye view”, and/or underwater video is invaluable and will certainly drop your swim split come race season.
4) Organize a threesome. Get your mind out of the gutter… I’m talking about having two training partners instead of just one. That way, if one person can’t make it, there’s still another buddy waiting for you.
Whatever it takes, get yourself to the pool even in the blustery weather. It will pay off in the end!
Some Drill Ideas:
Count your strokes- Work on increasing the distance covered per stroke to increase feel for the water, strength and stroke efficiency. Take as few strokes as possible and try to elongate each one. If you are at 30 strokes or above for 25 meters try decreasing your stroke count by one or two per 25 each week. Decreased stroke count means increased efficiency, so a stroke count of 12-15 is far more efficient than a stroke count of 35.
Golf Drill: This is a fun drill to do with stroke count and speed. Count the number of strokes you take over 50 meters and add that number to your 50 meter split time. Now, as in golf, try to decrease your score by either swimming faster, or taking fewer strokes.
Rotate to breathe: Place a tennis ball under your chin. Swim freestyle but as you turn to breathe keep your head down and try not to let the tennis ball pop up. This drill is difficult, but very helpful emphasizing proper rotation and breathing technique. Keeping your head down in order to keep the tennis ball in place emphasizes proper head positioning particularly in the breathing phase of the stroke. Proper head alignment is key as our legs drop to counter balance a lifted head, ultimately creating more drag and a slower swim split. By keeping the tennis ball tucked securely under your chin you will ensure proper head positioning for the roll to breathe and minimize any leg drag associated with lifting your head to breathe.
Abby Ruby is an Expert Coach with Carmichael Training Systems, Inc. and an experienced triathlete who won her 19-24 year old age group in the 2003 Ironman Brazil. To find out what CTS can do for you, and to sign up for our nutrition and fitness newsletter, visit www.trainright.com/newsletter.
Cross Train to Complement Your Sport, Not Fight It
As a triathlete, I take the fall months to boost my running speed and endurance. After a long year of juggling cycling, swimming, and running, I relish the relative luxury to build myself into a stronger runner and then see how well I do in local 5k or marathon-distance events. But more than taking time off from my multi-sport training, I enjoy knowing that what I’m doing in the fall and winter is going to pay off next spring when I jump back into triathlon training full time.
My number one piece of advice when it comes to cross-training is make sure your workouts are interesting. You want to wake up each day and want to go do it. For me, trail runs with my dog do the trick. For other people though, interesting could be hiking one day, running with friends another day, mountain biking several days later, and so on.
My number two piece of advice: Cross-training doesn’t have to be about focusing on one goal like a Thanksgiving weekend turkey trot or early winter event ride in Arizona. The goal of cross training is to maintain your current level of fitness, offset some of the strain you may have put on your body throughout the summer, and give your mind a break from a rigid training calendar.
To help you decide what to do, check out the list below for a quick idea of sports that complement yours.
Running: Mountain biking, swimming, or yoga gives your joints a rest from the relentless pounding of running.
Cycling: Hiking, swimming, and skiing are good options to build up muscles that have been underutilized while you were spinning through those miles this summer.
Triathlon: In a sense, you’re already a dedicated cross trainer, but you can start mixing in trail running, mountain biking, cross country skiing and other sports to give you a mental break.
Any sport: Rock climbing, yoga, Pilates, league sports (basketball, indoor soccer, hockey, among others) and rowing are all excellent cross training activities for any and all athletes.
I do have one note of caution: Resist the urge to take your strong aerobic fitness and go out and be a superstar right off the bat. It takes time to learn new skills and time for your muscles to adapt to a new sport - sprinting after the ball at a soccer game could result in a pulled muscle and put you out of commission for weeks. Take it easy and enjoy the learning process. Done right, cross-training should be humbling and exciting all at the same time.
Abby Ruby is a Coach at Carmichael Training Systems in Colorado Springs. For more information on the latest in training, fitness, and nutrition go to www.trainright.com/newsletter.
My number one piece of advice when it comes to cross-training is make sure your workouts are interesting. You want to wake up each day and want to go do it. For me, trail runs with my dog do the trick. For other people though, interesting could be hiking one day, running with friends another day, mountain biking several days later, and so on.
My number two piece of advice: Cross-training doesn’t have to be about focusing on one goal like a Thanksgiving weekend turkey trot or early winter event ride in Arizona. The goal of cross training is to maintain your current level of fitness, offset some of the strain you may have put on your body throughout the summer, and give your mind a break from a rigid training calendar.
To help you decide what to do, check out the list below for a quick idea of sports that complement yours.
Running: Mountain biking, swimming, or yoga gives your joints a rest from the relentless pounding of running.
Cycling: Hiking, swimming, and skiing are good options to build up muscles that have been underutilized while you were spinning through those miles this summer.
Triathlon: In a sense, you’re already a dedicated cross trainer, but you can start mixing in trail running, mountain biking, cross country skiing and other sports to give you a mental break.
Any sport: Rock climbing, yoga, Pilates, league sports (basketball, indoor soccer, hockey, among others) and rowing are all excellent cross training activities for any and all athletes.
I do have one note of caution: Resist the urge to take your strong aerobic fitness and go out and be a superstar right off the bat. It takes time to learn new skills and time for your muscles to adapt to a new sport - sprinting after the ball at a soccer game could result in a pulled muscle and put you out of commission for weeks. Take it easy and enjoy the learning process. Done right, cross-training should be humbling and exciting all at the same time.
Abby Ruby is a Coach at Carmichael Training Systems in Colorado Springs. For more information on the latest in training, fitness, and nutrition go to www.trainright.com/newsletter.
A new kind of Brick
Make the most of your time in the pool this winter with this new type of brick workout. Aquajogging (deep water running) gets a bad wrap. We see the older folks in the pool doing it, and my injured athlete begrudgingly strap on the belt to wait out the time for their stress fractures to heel, but why should aquajogging be reserved for the elderly and injured? It shouldn’t. It’s a valuable workout and now its time to reap the benefits of it- young, old, injured or healthy.
This winter incorporate it into your swim session to both maximize your time in the pool, and save your legs (and mind) from pounding out the miles on the treadmill. You can maintain and even improve your fitness by working your cardiovascular system with deep water running. With the use of a heart rate monitor you can train your aerobic energy system just as you would on dry land.
How to do it: You can either use a deep water jogger belt, or you can go without. In the deep end of the pool run as you would on land. Be mindful not to just tread water (that’s cheating and you will have a harder time hitting your heart rate zones). Instead mimic your run gate, flex your ankles, knees and hips as you would while running. Your deep water run gait should look like your running stride on land- complete with arm swing and all. Depending on the space you have available (watch for divers here) you can either move across the pool or you can stay in one spot (or jog in small circles). The most important thing is that you are not out there watching the peaceful snow fall while mindlessly moving your legs, but rather I want you working. The run is an aerobic workout, you should be breathing hard (and even sweating).
For the tempo intensities- speed up your gate, just as you would on a track or on the treadmill when it came time for the tempo portion of your workout. Using a heart rate monitor will help orient you to maintaining that tempo intensity. If you know your tempo run zone, use it. If not to determine your tempo zone you need to do a little math. Your tempo zone should be 96% of your average heart rate for a 5k race (this is assuming your 5k race average heart rate is approximately your lactate threshold, depending on your level of fitness this might vary slightly). Your running tempo zone should be within 5 beats of the zone you are shooting for in the water. Deep water jogging is not an easy way out of a workout, instead it should be a tempo intensity workout in a more interesting and unique venue. After all, keeping workouts interesting throughout the long winter months is a challenge, and crucial to your spring and summer success.
The workout:
Warm up: 300 meter swim, 200 meter pull, 100 meter kick
Swim Set 1: 800 meter at race pace
Jog 1: 20 minutes: warm up- 2 min, set: 3 x 5:00 tempo intensity, 1 min recovery
Swim Set 2: 500 meters race pace
Jog 2: 15 minutes: 5 x 2 min hard, 1 min recovery
Swim Set 3: 3x250 race pace on 15 seconds rest
Jog 3: 10 minutes tempo
Cool down: 50 meters
Workout totals:
2700 meter swim
45 minutes jog with 35 minutes at tempo
Use this workout to spice up your winter swimming by breaking up the monotony of endless laps in the pool. It doubles as a low impact tempo day to keep you fit without pounding the pavement (or the treadmill as the case may be). As with any new activity deep water jogging will take some getting used to. It is easy to slack off with it and use it as a low intensity recovery, but that is not the purpose of this particular workout (there’s a time and place for everything). This workout is meant to be high intensity with low impact. Watching your heart rate monitor and sticking to your tempo zone (96% of you’re your lactate threshold or 5k race pace heart rate) will be the key to the successful completion of this workout.
After all who wants to go outside with wet-hair and not get the most out of their pool session?
This winter incorporate it into your swim session to both maximize your time in the pool, and save your legs (and mind) from pounding out the miles on the treadmill. You can maintain and even improve your fitness by working your cardiovascular system with deep water running. With the use of a heart rate monitor you can train your aerobic energy system just as you would on dry land.
How to do it: You can either use a deep water jogger belt, or you can go without. In the deep end of the pool run as you would on land. Be mindful not to just tread water (that’s cheating and you will have a harder time hitting your heart rate zones). Instead mimic your run gate, flex your ankles, knees and hips as you would while running. Your deep water run gait should look like your running stride on land- complete with arm swing and all. Depending on the space you have available (watch for divers here) you can either move across the pool or you can stay in one spot (or jog in small circles). The most important thing is that you are not out there watching the peaceful snow fall while mindlessly moving your legs, but rather I want you working. The run is an aerobic workout, you should be breathing hard (and even sweating).
For the tempo intensities- speed up your gate, just as you would on a track or on the treadmill when it came time for the tempo portion of your workout. Using a heart rate monitor will help orient you to maintaining that tempo intensity. If you know your tempo run zone, use it. If not to determine your tempo zone you need to do a little math. Your tempo zone should be 96% of your average heart rate for a 5k race (this is assuming your 5k race average heart rate is approximately your lactate threshold, depending on your level of fitness this might vary slightly). Your running tempo zone should be within 5 beats of the zone you are shooting for in the water. Deep water jogging is not an easy way out of a workout, instead it should be a tempo intensity workout in a more interesting and unique venue. After all, keeping workouts interesting throughout the long winter months is a challenge, and crucial to your spring and summer success.
The workout:
Warm up: 300 meter swim, 200 meter pull, 100 meter kick
Swim Set 1: 800 meter at race pace
Jog 1: 20 minutes: warm up- 2 min, set: 3 x 5:00 tempo intensity, 1 min recovery
Swim Set 2: 500 meters race pace
Jog 2: 15 minutes: 5 x 2 min hard, 1 min recovery
Swim Set 3: 3x250 race pace on 15 seconds rest
Jog 3: 10 minutes tempo
Cool down: 50 meters
Workout totals:
2700 meter swim
45 minutes jog with 35 minutes at tempo
Use this workout to spice up your winter swimming by breaking up the monotony of endless laps in the pool. It doubles as a low impact tempo day to keep you fit without pounding the pavement (or the treadmill as the case may be). As with any new activity deep water jogging will take some getting used to. It is easy to slack off with it and use it as a low intensity recovery, but that is not the purpose of this particular workout (there’s a time and place for everything). This workout is meant to be high intensity with low impact. Watching your heart rate monitor and sticking to your tempo zone (96% of you’re your lactate threshold or 5k race pace heart rate) will be the key to the successful completion of this workout.
After all who wants to go outside with wet-hair and not get the most out of their pool session?
Sharpen Your Speed for A Faster Sprint Triathlon
The triathlon world devotes a lot of attention to the long-distance events, so much so that athletes often come to me thinking they need to train like Iron-distance athletes for local sprint triathlons. While many of the concepts are the same, success in sprint tris is all about speed, and your training needs to build speed instead of day-long endurance.
For everyone who wants to PR in your next sprint triathlon, incorporate the following run sessions into your training. These workouts are best added in the 2-4 weeks leading up to your race. This is the time when you’re using the fitness you gained from endurance and lactate threshold training for high-intensity workouts that put the finishing touches on your training before you begin your taper.
Even though the workouts themselves aren’t very long, and the efforts within them are even shorter, they’re very taxing. They’re also very effective, so you don’t need to do too many to reap the rewards. Include them in your training program one to two times a week, and you’ll be flying through the run at your next sprint triathlon.
Power Up With Hills
Hill intervals will not only prepare you for the minor undulations in your next race, but they will also help you build leg strength that translates nicely greater power on the bike. An additional bonus to working the hills is that it helps dial in your running efficiency. Your body naturally minimizes extraneous movements while running up a hill, thus quickly figuring out the “easiest” and most efficient way to make it to the top. Running up and down hills will not only make you faster on the hills, but it will make you faster on the flats as well because you will learn how to be a more economical runner. So while you may dread the incline, revel in the challenge and know that with each climb you are getting faster and faster!
Your Hill Workout (35 minutes)
• 15 minute warm up
• 5x2 minute hill repeats with 2 minute walking recovery
Even those of you who live in Florida have a two minute hill- even if it’s an overpass! Go ahead and find that hill and get to know it well. Think about running from your core; strong abs and back and a rhythmic arm swing will help you motor up those hills. Jog or walk down the hill for a full recovery and have at it again and again.
• 10 minute cool down.
Get Quicker Turnover with Speed Intervals
Ever feel like you just can’t run any faster, not because your heart is about to explode in your chest, but because your legs can’t keep up with you? What would happen if you put the treadmill on the highest setting? Would you need a padded wall behind you, or could you keep up without holding on? Believe it or not, leg turnover speed is actually a primary limiting factor in running faster (especially for shorter distances). Assuming you have a solid foundation, your lactate threshold and aerobic fitness might not be the reason you can’t crank out 5-minute miles, your leg turnover might be the impediment. What are you shooting for? Well, elite runners can achieve a turnover of about 100-105 strides per minute. I try to get amateur and age-group runners to bring their turnover up to 90 strides per minute or higher. The following workout will help you break your personal barrier.
Your Speed Interval Workout (45 minutes)
• Warm up 10 minutes
• Speed Intervals 6x2 minutes with 2 min recovery (walking or easy jogging)
• Cool down 10 minutes
These intervals are all-out efforts, as fast as you can go, for 2 minutes. While the weather is nice and you are hot to trot to bask in the sun of the outdoors, these workouts are actually best done on a treadmill. I know not what you want to hear, but hey, it’s a great workout for a rainy day! The treadmill belt will force you to turnover your legs faster than you would on your own so by threat of expulsion you learn incrementally to run faster. Nothing like being pushed beyond your limits, right? Start slowly and safely though. Begin at a speed where you can complete the entire 2 minutes without holding on to the treadmill. The next time you do this workout see if you can bump the speed up a little faster. So if you maxed out at 9.8 mph on your first attempt at this workout, shoot for 9.9 or 10mph next time.
This workout will push you out of your comfort zone, and it will make you faster! Quicker leg speed translates to faster run splits, so head to the gym or the basement and see how fast those feet can turnover, it will pay off come race day when the belt isn’t pushing you, but your competitors are. You’ll have that little extra kick to hold a faster split and run down anyone in your age group.
Abby Ruby is a Senior Coach at Carmichael Training Systems, Inc. who’s currently coaching triathletes who range in age from 22 to 83. To find out what CTS can do for you, visit www.trainright.com.
For everyone who wants to PR in your next sprint triathlon, incorporate the following run sessions into your training. These workouts are best added in the 2-4 weeks leading up to your race. This is the time when you’re using the fitness you gained from endurance and lactate threshold training for high-intensity workouts that put the finishing touches on your training before you begin your taper.
Even though the workouts themselves aren’t very long, and the efforts within them are even shorter, they’re very taxing. They’re also very effective, so you don’t need to do too many to reap the rewards. Include them in your training program one to two times a week, and you’ll be flying through the run at your next sprint triathlon.
Power Up With Hills
Hill intervals will not only prepare you for the minor undulations in your next race, but they will also help you build leg strength that translates nicely greater power on the bike. An additional bonus to working the hills is that it helps dial in your running efficiency. Your body naturally minimizes extraneous movements while running up a hill, thus quickly figuring out the “easiest” and most efficient way to make it to the top. Running up and down hills will not only make you faster on the hills, but it will make you faster on the flats as well because you will learn how to be a more economical runner. So while you may dread the incline, revel in the challenge and know that with each climb you are getting faster and faster!
Your Hill Workout (35 minutes)
• 15 minute warm up
• 5x2 minute hill repeats with 2 minute walking recovery
Even those of you who live in Florida have a two minute hill- even if it’s an overpass! Go ahead and find that hill and get to know it well. Think about running from your core; strong abs and back and a rhythmic arm swing will help you motor up those hills. Jog or walk down the hill for a full recovery and have at it again and again.
• 10 minute cool down.
Get Quicker Turnover with Speed Intervals
Ever feel like you just can’t run any faster, not because your heart is about to explode in your chest, but because your legs can’t keep up with you? What would happen if you put the treadmill on the highest setting? Would you need a padded wall behind you, or could you keep up without holding on? Believe it or not, leg turnover speed is actually a primary limiting factor in running faster (especially for shorter distances). Assuming you have a solid foundation, your lactate threshold and aerobic fitness might not be the reason you can’t crank out 5-minute miles, your leg turnover might be the impediment. What are you shooting for? Well, elite runners can achieve a turnover of about 100-105 strides per minute. I try to get amateur and age-group runners to bring their turnover up to 90 strides per minute or higher. The following workout will help you break your personal barrier.
Your Speed Interval Workout (45 minutes)
• Warm up 10 minutes
• Speed Intervals 6x2 minutes with 2 min recovery (walking or easy jogging)
• Cool down 10 minutes
These intervals are all-out efforts, as fast as you can go, for 2 minutes. While the weather is nice and you are hot to trot to bask in the sun of the outdoors, these workouts are actually best done on a treadmill. I know not what you want to hear, but hey, it’s a great workout for a rainy day! The treadmill belt will force you to turnover your legs faster than you would on your own so by threat of expulsion you learn incrementally to run faster. Nothing like being pushed beyond your limits, right? Start slowly and safely though. Begin at a speed where you can complete the entire 2 minutes without holding on to the treadmill. The next time you do this workout see if you can bump the speed up a little faster. So if you maxed out at 9.8 mph on your first attempt at this workout, shoot for 9.9 or 10mph next time.
This workout will push you out of your comfort zone, and it will make you faster! Quicker leg speed translates to faster run splits, so head to the gym or the basement and see how fast those feet can turnover, it will pay off come race day when the belt isn’t pushing you, but your competitors are. You’ll have that little extra kick to hold a faster split and run down anyone in your age group.
Abby Ruby is a Senior Coach at Carmichael Training Systems, Inc. who’s currently coaching triathletes who range in age from 22 to 83. To find out what CTS can do for you, visit www.trainright.com.
Three Swim Sets to get you ready for your first race of the season
Three Swim Sets to get you ready for your first race of the season
Dust off that wetsuit and find the anti-fog solution for those open water goggles and re-awaken those pre-race butterflies. It’s triathlon time! Finally the dark winter months give way to the first tri of the season. You trudged through the cold workouts for this, for the racing. Incorporating these three race specific workouts in your final preparation for the upcoming season will set you up for that swim PR you have been training for all winter.
You dial in every other part of your race day preparation from the architectural arrangement of your transition towel to timing of kilocalorie consumption, why not practice your swim warm up as well? Here’s your chance to practice your physical and mental preparation for the first leg of the tri. Often swim workouts begin with elaborate warm-ups complete with kick and pull sets and a few drills thrown in for good measure, but is this how you are going to warm up on race day? Probably not. For these workouts practice your real race day warm up.
Endurance Set
Warm up: 500-800 meter swim with some pick ups/accelerations
Rest outside of the pool for 2-3 minutes (imagine a race director shouting incomprehensibly on a bull horn)
Hop back in and GO!
200 meters all out- imagine those feet and arms pummeling you as you fight for a good position in the pack.
15 second rest (just enough to catch your breath as if you found the perfect feet to draft)
12x100 meters (or 6x200 meters) at race pace
5-10 seconds rest
Finish off with 100 meter sprint kick to get some blood flow to the legs getting them ready for the bike (and simulating the sprint up the beach)
Lactate Tolerance Set
Again practice your pre-race warm up then
20x50 on a consistent send off allowing for 15-20 seconds rest.
For example if you are swimming 40 second 50’s with 20 seconds rest, the send off is 1 minute. If your 50’s drop to 43 seconds, you only get 17 seconds rest. The goal here is to maintain consistent times (you have to work to earn your rest)
Race Simulation
Grab 2-3 of your closest friends (well at least your swimming/triathlete buddies who swim).
Warm-up: Swim on your buddies feet. Practice drafting in a pace line switching the leader every 50 meters. Do this for 800-1000 meters.
Turn Buoy: Set a turn buoy 6-8 feet from the wall. Start at the opposite wall all together and fight to be the first one at the buoy and around it and back to the wall.
6x50 of these should be ample time to elbow each other, work on your acceleration in the water and practice buoy turns while you’re at it. While it is race simulation, try not to give your buddies black eyes, they will be less likely to practice with you in the future.
Finish up with a 2x600 swim fartlek alternating 50 meters at endurance pace and 50 meters fast.
Start the season off right with a swim PR by incorporating these race simulation swim sets into your preparation for optimal performance on race day. Not only will you be physically prepared, you will be mentally focused, practiced and sharp come that first cold dip into the open water
Dust off that wetsuit and find the anti-fog solution for those open water goggles and re-awaken those pre-race butterflies. It’s triathlon time! Finally the dark winter months give way to the first tri of the season. You trudged through the cold workouts for this, for the racing. Incorporating these three race specific workouts in your final preparation for the upcoming season will set you up for that swim PR you have been training for all winter.
You dial in every other part of your race day preparation from the architectural arrangement of your transition towel to timing of kilocalorie consumption, why not practice your swim warm up as well? Here’s your chance to practice your physical and mental preparation for the first leg of the tri. Often swim workouts begin with elaborate warm-ups complete with kick and pull sets and a few drills thrown in for good measure, but is this how you are going to warm up on race day? Probably not. For these workouts practice your real race day warm up.
Endurance Set
Warm up: 500-800 meter swim with some pick ups/accelerations
Rest outside of the pool for 2-3 minutes (imagine a race director shouting incomprehensibly on a bull horn)
Hop back in and GO!
200 meters all out- imagine those feet and arms pummeling you as you fight for a good position in the pack.
15 second rest (just enough to catch your breath as if you found the perfect feet to draft)
12x100 meters (or 6x200 meters) at race pace
5-10 seconds rest
Finish off with 100 meter sprint kick to get some blood flow to the legs getting them ready for the bike (and simulating the sprint up the beach)
Lactate Tolerance Set
Again practice your pre-race warm up then
20x50 on a consistent send off allowing for 15-20 seconds rest.
For example if you are swimming 40 second 50’s with 20 seconds rest, the send off is 1 minute. If your 50’s drop to 43 seconds, you only get 17 seconds rest. The goal here is to maintain consistent times (you have to work to earn your rest)
Race Simulation
Grab 2-3 of your closest friends (well at least your swimming/triathlete buddies who swim).
Warm-up: Swim on your buddies feet. Practice drafting in a pace line switching the leader every 50 meters. Do this for 800-1000 meters.
Turn Buoy: Set a turn buoy 6-8 feet from the wall. Start at the opposite wall all together and fight to be the first one at the buoy and around it and back to the wall.
6x50 of these should be ample time to elbow each other, work on your acceleration in the water and practice buoy turns while you’re at it. While it is race simulation, try not to give your buddies black eyes, they will be less likely to practice with you in the future.
Finish up with a 2x600 swim fartlek alternating 50 meters at endurance pace and 50 meters fast.
Start the season off right with a swim PR by incorporating these race simulation swim sets into your preparation for optimal performance on race day. Not only will you be physically prepared, you will be mentally focused, practiced and sharp come that first cold dip into the open water
When it all doesn’t go according to the plan, then what?
While we like to think that our teachers, parents, coaches and mentors have all the answers, we know that they do not. In fact we know that they most likely have some of the answers because they made a mistake along the way and learned something from it. Believe it or not on more than one occasion I have not had the race of a lifetime. In fact it is called the race of a lifetime because it is just that, a rare occurrence. But there is a spectrum of possible results ranging from race of a lifetime to ultimate disaster. While I personally would rather sludge through an unbearably long Ironman or marathon than DNF (and I have, on more than one occasion), I sometimes wish for that decision to be made for me. If I broke something I would have to drop out, but just because it hurts, I’m going slow, I’m nauseous, I’m hot- these are not reasons to throw in the towel. I have seen goal times come and go with miles left in the race and I take solace and find camaraderie with the other folks still out there- after dark, fighting their own demons to cross that finish line and in so doing solidify something about ourselves- that something may be no more than stubbornness, but its something- just as a DNF means something too. Quitting is always easier in the moment and much much harder in the long run. We don’t take on the task of triathlon because we are quitters, we take it on because we are looking for a challenge, we are looking to find ourselves, to prove something about ourselves, to learn about ourselves. And so in unbearably long races- we learn a lot…
A sage and seasoned triathlete told me “You go it done. I am sure you learned a lot about yourself. If you enjoy the training, the racing and the lifestyle of it, keep doing it. If not, then do what you love.” The day after an embarrassingly long race it is hard to say with clarity if I do actually love the sport- in fact I thought it rather stupid and idiotic at the moment, but now sitting here weeks later, I don’t think it’s stupid at all. In fact I think it takes a lot of courage to finish something knowing full well that it is not going to produce the expected results.
My mother tells me I should be proud of just finishing- I have finished more than one Ironman- I have won my age group, I have competed in Kona- I don’t go out there to “just finish.” And while some athletes do- and I applaud them for that- as a coach, I strive to help them achieve that- I personally am out there to better my previous performance- anything less does feel like a failure. But what would be more of a failure would be quitting. I don’t quit. But I would be lying if I didn’t admit to thinking about it- for the latter half of the bike leg in fact. I thought, what would be worse a DNF or an Ironman finish time 3 hours slower than my personal best? DNF was the answer I came up with and I trudged on.
One month later I can say there is no shame in that. But the fact is I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face for having the whole ordeal over with, and with my head bowed, knowing that I was, in fact, embarrassed about my time and my performance.
As a coach I just today wrote an email to an athlete who did not meet his goals for a race and I told him that the best thing he could do was hold onto the lessons he had learned out there, and move on. Walk away from the event and towards the next a wiser and more seasoned athlete; after all it is much easier to dispense advice than to adhere to it myself.
Around CTS the seasoned coaches are fond of saying don’t ask me how I know (fill in the blank), just trust me on this one. Well the truth is they gather (we all gather) much more information from the events that don’t go as planned than the ones that fall perfectly into place. As coaches we have a plethora of knowledge because most of us have made every mistake in the book- and we can save our athletes from making the same mistake by dispensing the advice we learned from our adverse experiences. I tell some of my athletes that I product test for them by trying every iteration of hydration systems until I find what I most prefer. This is not to say that personal variation isn’t important, but it is helpful to have the input of someone who has actually experienced the adversity of each and every failed attempt.
As coaches and athletes we try to control things. We try to control what we take in nutritionally, we try to control our pacing, we try to control our hydration, but sometimes despite our best laid efforts at meticulous bike maintenance, copious carb loading and months and months of early mornings and long weekends devoted to training, everything just falls apart on race day. We like explanations for events. When things go according to plan, we often attribute it to our training, our effort (even our coaches) but what about when they don’t. Again coaches take some of the fall, but after that- then what? Sometimes there are just no explanations- and we don’t like that at all. Perhaps that is what keeps us coming back for more though; that illusive perfect day, when everything does fall into place.
Okay I have to admit that my training wasn’t as perfect as it could have been. In the middle of my Ironman training I moved. Now moving is one of life’s biggest stressors. Not only did I leave an area I loved, I moved across the country to take a risk. The risk was a calculated one, but a risk none the less. Oh and I am still working and finishing my dissertation. So not only is there transition happening, there is stress too- stress on top of learning new bike routes and run routes, finding new masters programs and trying desperately to find training partners. Not ideal for an Ironman training plan. What I learned from this experience is that while I truly believe that my mother can do it all- and she does, I swear, I however, am a mere mortal and I cannot. Something has to give, it is not possible to do it all well (when by all I mean a job, dissertation, moving, transition, training etc etc). We make choices in life and these choices effect everything around us- the choice I made to move effected my Ironman. I don’t regret my move, but I do acknowledge that Ironman training (while for most of us must fit around our day to day lives) is time consuming and stressful enough without the addition of transition and change. While our worth is not determined by our finish times, it feels as though it is in the moment. Our worth- our being- is instead solidified in the moments that make up the big picture, that get us to race day. Each and every action, decision and training session make us who we are. Whether we are 9hr Ironman finishers or 17hr Ironman finishers, we are warriors, we are survivors, we are commitment, driven, (often obsessive as my research shows) and dedicated. That is who we are, not our finishing times.
So bottom line, we learn much much more from the events that don’t go according to plan, than from the ones that do. We take a deep look into ourselves, our motivations and our demons and we persevere despite egos, aching legs and upset stomachs. That is who we are and that is why we race- to strip away the exterior, the comfort, the complacency, and to expose the core, the essence of who we are. Race days that don’t go according to plan provide the biggest opportunity for learning and growth because we are faced with a choice, quit because it isn’t going well, or carry on despite the egoic and muscular pain of it all. Next time you are out there what will you choose?
A sage and seasoned triathlete told me “You go it done. I am sure you learned a lot about yourself. If you enjoy the training, the racing and the lifestyle of it, keep doing it. If not, then do what you love.” The day after an embarrassingly long race it is hard to say with clarity if I do actually love the sport- in fact I thought it rather stupid and idiotic at the moment, but now sitting here weeks later, I don’t think it’s stupid at all. In fact I think it takes a lot of courage to finish something knowing full well that it is not going to produce the expected results.
My mother tells me I should be proud of just finishing- I have finished more than one Ironman- I have won my age group, I have competed in Kona- I don’t go out there to “just finish.” And while some athletes do- and I applaud them for that- as a coach, I strive to help them achieve that- I personally am out there to better my previous performance- anything less does feel like a failure. But what would be more of a failure would be quitting. I don’t quit. But I would be lying if I didn’t admit to thinking about it- for the latter half of the bike leg in fact. I thought, what would be worse a DNF or an Ironman finish time 3 hours slower than my personal best? DNF was the answer I came up with and I trudged on.
One month later I can say there is no shame in that. But the fact is I crossed the finish line with a smile on my face for having the whole ordeal over with, and with my head bowed, knowing that I was, in fact, embarrassed about my time and my performance.
As a coach I just today wrote an email to an athlete who did not meet his goals for a race and I told him that the best thing he could do was hold onto the lessons he had learned out there, and move on. Walk away from the event and towards the next a wiser and more seasoned athlete; after all it is much easier to dispense advice than to adhere to it myself.
Around CTS the seasoned coaches are fond of saying don’t ask me how I know (fill in the blank), just trust me on this one. Well the truth is they gather (we all gather) much more information from the events that don’t go as planned than the ones that fall perfectly into place. As coaches we have a plethora of knowledge because most of us have made every mistake in the book- and we can save our athletes from making the same mistake by dispensing the advice we learned from our adverse experiences. I tell some of my athletes that I product test for them by trying every iteration of hydration systems until I find what I most prefer. This is not to say that personal variation isn’t important, but it is helpful to have the input of someone who has actually experienced the adversity of each and every failed attempt.
As coaches and athletes we try to control things. We try to control what we take in nutritionally, we try to control our pacing, we try to control our hydration, but sometimes despite our best laid efforts at meticulous bike maintenance, copious carb loading and months and months of early mornings and long weekends devoted to training, everything just falls apart on race day. We like explanations for events. When things go according to plan, we often attribute it to our training, our effort (even our coaches) but what about when they don’t. Again coaches take some of the fall, but after that- then what? Sometimes there are just no explanations- and we don’t like that at all. Perhaps that is what keeps us coming back for more though; that illusive perfect day, when everything does fall into place.
Okay I have to admit that my training wasn’t as perfect as it could have been. In the middle of my Ironman training I moved. Now moving is one of life’s biggest stressors. Not only did I leave an area I loved, I moved across the country to take a risk. The risk was a calculated one, but a risk none the less. Oh and I am still working and finishing my dissertation. So not only is there transition happening, there is stress too- stress on top of learning new bike routes and run routes, finding new masters programs and trying desperately to find training partners. Not ideal for an Ironman training plan. What I learned from this experience is that while I truly believe that my mother can do it all- and she does, I swear, I however, am a mere mortal and I cannot. Something has to give, it is not possible to do it all well (when by all I mean a job, dissertation, moving, transition, training etc etc). We make choices in life and these choices effect everything around us- the choice I made to move effected my Ironman. I don’t regret my move, but I do acknowledge that Ironman training (while for most of us must fit around our day to day lives) is time consuming and stressful enough without the addition of transition and change. While our worth is not determined by our finish times, it feels as though it is in the moment. Our worth- our being- is instead solidified in the moments that make up the big picture, that get us to race day. Each and every action, decision and training session make us who we are. Whether we are 9hr Ironman finishers or 17hr Ironman finishers, we are warriors, we are survivors, we are commitment, driven, (often obsessive as my research shows) and dedicated. That is who we are, not our finishing times.
So bottom line, we learn much much more from the events that don’t go according to plan, than from the ones that do. We take a deep look into ourselves, our motivations and our demons and we persevere despite egos, aching legs and upset stomachs. That is who we are and that is why we race- to strip away the exterior, the comfort, the complacency, and to expose the core, the essence of who we are. Race days that don’t go according to plan provide the biggest opportunity for learning and growth because we are faced with a choice, quit because it isn’t going well, or carry on despite the egoic and muscular pain of it all. Next time you are out there what will you choose?
Get Faster, Not Older
Experience Matters: 6 steps to triathlon success
Though the pros tend to get the lions share of the media’s attention, everyone knows that age groupers are the heart and soul of triathlon. You’re the ones who are out there training and racing on your own dime. Beyond the dozens of age-group athletes I coach personally, my colleagues work with thousands of you, and we’ve observed some interesting trends. It turns out we could all learn a few lessons from age-group triathletes, especially those who have been around the sport for a while.
Recovery: Many people believe that older athletes automatically need more recovery time between hard workouts, but our observations don’t confirm that. For the vast majority of athletes over 40 we don’t need to schedule any more recovery time than we do for our athletes in their 20s. The biggest reasons for this seem to be the older athletes’ attentiveness to proper recovery habits, post-workout nutrition and sleep. By extension, if many younger athletes had more of their elders’ good habits, post-workout nutrition and sleep. By extension, if many younger athletes had more of their elder’s good habits, they’d need less recovery than we’re forced to schedule for them.
Available time: Older athletes tend to have more control over their time. Case in point: I’m coaching a young lawyer just out of law school. He’s working a ridiculous number of hours a week, he’s recently married and he’s training for an Ironman. At the same time, I’m coaching a 52-year-old partner in a law firm across town. He’s at a different point in his career and has more opportunity to arrange his work schedule to accommodate his extra-curricular activities.
While older athletes often benefit from being in more advanced positions within their careers, we’ve observed that, across all age groups, actively raking control of one’s time is the key to successfully balancing work and triathlon. Athletes who allow work to consume their lives struggle to maintain consistency in training, nutrition and recovery habits. Carve out time for yourself and you’ll see your performance improve.
Sleep: On the whole, older athletes get more sleep than younger ones because they’ve willing or able to go to bed earlier. In many cases, this is because their children are grown and out of the house. Others have decide they’re not really that interested in Sopranos reruns on cable or the local bar scene. Interestingly, our coaches have noticed that triathletes of any age who can increase their average nightly sleep to eight or nine hours (as opposed to six or fewer) experience significant improvements in workout quality and race-day performance.
Spending habits: Without winning the lottery, there’s no way many young triathletes can afford to spend as much money as older age groupers on equipment, travel and even nutrition. But all triathletes can benefit from focusing on reliability rather than glitz. You don’t need to break the bank on equipment every year, but do spend the money necessary to ensure the stuff you have works flawlessly. Invest in a top-quality travel case to protect your bike. Find a hotel chain and car-rental company you trust for predictable, hassle-free service and stick with them.
Race Day Prep: Many veteran age groupers have already learned from the experiences of forgotten cycling shoes or tackling the local Lumberjack Special as a pre-race breakfast. Take a look around next time you are in the transition area. Try to pot the cleanest, tidiest and most organized area; then look who it belongs to. I venture to bet that it belongs to an older, or at least more experienced, triathlete. The less frantic you are before a race, the less energy you waste and the faster you’ll go when the gun goes off.
Racing: Once the race starts, age doesn’t matter. What’s consistent across all age groups is the desire to reach the finish line as quickly as possible. Perhaps the only difference we see among age groupers as they age is an improved ability to listen to their bodies. Maybe it’s because older athletes have already visited the medical tent and don’t need to do it again or because experiences inside and outside of sport have taught them that blindly pushing forward isn’t always the best policy. Time and time again we’ve seen age-groupers who respond quickly to signs of trouble early in their events (by slowing down, resting in an aid station or taking on more food) rebound later to run past faltering newbies on the way to a strong finish.
Take home message:
We could all learn a few lessons from age-group triathletes, especially those who have been around the sport for a while.
If many younger athletes had more of their elders good recovery habits, they’d need less recovery than we’re forced to schedule for them
You don’t need to break the bank on equipment every year, but spend the money necessary to ensure the stuff you have works flawlessly.
Athletes who allow work to consume their lives struggle to maintain consistency in training, nutrition and recovery habits. Carve out time for yourself and you’ll see your performance improve.
Though the pros tend to get the lions share of the media’s attention, everyone knows that age groupers are the heart and soul of triathlon. You’re the ones who are out there training and racing on your own dime. Beyond the dozens of age-group athletes I coach personally, my colleagues work with thousands of you, and we’ve observed some interesting trends. It turns out we could all learn a few lessons from age-group triathletes, especially those who have been around the sport for a while.
Recovery: Many people believe that older athletes automatically need more recovery time between hard workouts, but our observations don’t confirm that. For the vast majority of athletes over 40 we don’t need to schedule any more recovery time than we do for our athletes in their 20s. The biggest reasons for this seem to be the older athletes’ attentiveness to proper recovery habits, post-workout nutrition and sleep. By extension, if many younger athletes had more of their elders’ good habits, post-workout nutrition and sleep. By extension, if many younger athletes had more of their elder’s good habits, they’d need less recovery than we’re forced to schedule for them.
Available time: Older athletes tend to have more control over their time. Case in point: I’m coaching a young lawyer just out of law school. He’s working a ridiculous number of hours a week, he’s recently married and he’s training for an Ironman. At the same time, I’m coaching a 52-year-old partner in a law firm across town. He’s at a different point in his career and has more opportunity to arrange his work schedule to accommodate his extra-curricular activities.
While older athletes often benefit from being in more advanced positions within their careers, we’ve observed that, across all age groups, actively raking control of one’s time is the key to successfully balancing work and triathlon. Athletes who allow work to consume their lives struggle to maintain consistency in training, nutrition and recovery habits. Carve out time for yourself and you’ll see your performance improve.
Sleep: On the whole, older athletes get more sleep than younger ones because they’ve willing or able to go to bed earlier. In many cases, this is because their children are grown and out of the house. Others have decide they’re not really that interested in Sopranos reruns on cable or the local bar scene. Interestingly, our coaches have noticed that triathletes of any age who can increase their average nightly sleep to eight or nine hours (as opposed to six or fewer) experience significant improvements in workout quality and race-day performance.
Spending habits: Without winning the lottery, there’s no way many young triathletes can afford to spend as much money as older age groupers on equipment, travel and even nutrition. But all triathletes can benefit from focusing on reliability rather than glitz. You don’t need to break the bank on equipment every year, but do spend the money necessary to ensure the stuff you have works flawlessly. Invest in a top-quality travel case to protect your bike. Find a hotel chain and car-rental company you trust for predictable, hassle-free service and stick with them.
Race Day Prep: Many veteran age groupers have already learned from the experiences of forgotten cycling shoes or tackling the local Lumberjack Special as a pre-race breakfast. Take a look around next time you are in the transition area. Try to pot the cleanest, tidiest and most organized area; then look who it belongs to. I venture to bet that it belongs to an older, or at least more experienced, triathlete. The less frantic you are before a race, the less energy you waste and the faster you’ll go when the gun goes off.
Racing: Once the race starts, age doesn’t matter. What’s consistent across all age groups is the desire to reach the finish line as quickly as possible. Perhaps the only difference we see among age groupers as they age is an improved ability to listen to their bodies. Maybe it’s because older athletes have already visited the medical tent and don’t need to do it again or because experiences inside and outside of sport have taught them that blindly pushing forward isn’t always the best policy. Time and time again we’ve seen age-groupers who respond quickly to signs of trouble early in their events (by slowing down, resting in an aid station or taking on more food) rebound later to run past faltering newbies on the way to a strong finish.
Take home message:
We could all learn a few lessons from age-group triathletes, especially those who have been around the sport for a while.
If many younger athletes had more of their elders good recovery habits, they’d need less recovery than we’re forced to schedule for them
You don’t need to break the bank on equipment every year, but spend the money necessary to ensure the stuff you have works flawlessly.
Athletes who allow work to consume their lives struggle to maintain consistency in training, nutrition and recovery habits. Carve out time for yourself and you’ll see your performance improve.
Picking the right partner: in training and in life
Choosing the right training partner is a tricky task. While we often enjoy the company of others while on a long ride, or run- sometimes that other person can derail us from our own training goals. Racing up every steep hill, pushing the pace by running or riding one step out in front and sprinting to every sign can be excellent on hard days- and detrimental on recovery days. If your training partner is not on the same page as you, they may be hurting, rather than helping you reach your fitness goals.
There is comfort in numbers, particularly on days when you do not want to get out of bed or off of the couch- and your training partner drags you out- but if that same partner has their own agenda for the ride or run that day- they may have to do their own thing- because the most important thing is that you follow your own plan. Rest days, recovery days and killer intervals are all essential components of a successful training program. Don’t let your training partner convince you otherwise, that you don’t really need a day off on the last warm day of the year- you do need it. Enjoy the day in other ways- go for a walk, read a book in a park, but on rest days rest, on easy days ride easy and on interval days let your partner push you- push each other- that is why you have one another.
As with workout partners, boyfriends or girlfriends are a crucial part of life for most of us, but sharing the company of someone who does not support your goals can be detrimental to your training (as well as to your relationship). In trying to understand how Ironman couples negotiate the demands of the sport, their relationships and their lives, Juergens, a doctoral student at Texas Tech University conducted interviews of triathlete couples, both husband and wife who were competing in the 2005 Ironman world championships. Juergens found that triathlon couples shared more egalitarian roles- where both partners shared daily chores, household duties and child rearing responsibilities- and both partners equally prioritized their training time- both the husband’s and the wives runs, rides and swims were equally important. When possible, triathlete couples opted to train together. Sharing a long ride or run- or driving to the pool together, was time spent together- time spent sharing a similar passion. In the same vain- vacations were often organized around races, and took the place of racing- which was equally agreeable and desirable for both parties. This strong component of compatibility enabled the dual Ironman household to not only survive but to thrive.
Picking a partner is crucial- whether in intimate relationships or training partners- it is important that those you share your training and your life with support the goals you have set out for yourself. This support may take the shape of having an ice bath ready when you stumble home, food on the table, water bottles washed, pumping up your tires- or merely making sure that the time you have set out to train does not get filled with errands, appointments or other obligations. And as with training partners, your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend need to recognize the importance of recovery days and what that means outside of workouts. Spending the entire day before a marathon touring a new city is not a conducive activity for optimal race day performance. One athlete of mine spent the day before her big race at the zoo with her kids. Again not the best way to share time with your family and race well. You do not have to be incapacitated on the couch with your legs up and have your partner wait on you, instead share a movie- or a healthy meal or hang out at a coffee shop on days when you need to recover. There are plenty of activities where individuals can spend time with their loved ones and still ensure optimal recovery between training sessions. The key to this, again, is having a supportive partner who is willing to recognize and accommodate the needs of endurance athletes both while training and recovering.
Fun facts from my own research:
41% of the people I have surveyed agreed that their pattern of exercise interferes with their social life.
92% of individuals who have completed at least one Ironman event feel like a better person after exercising.
There is comfort in numbers, particularly on days when you do not want to get out of bed or off of the couch- and your training partner drags you out- but if that same partner has their own agenda for the ride or run that day- they may have to do their own thing- because the most important thing is that you follow your own plan. Rest days, recovery days and killer intervals are all essential components of a successful training program. Don’t let your training partner convince you otherwise, that you don’t really need a day off on the last warm day of the year- you do need it. Enjoy the day in other ways- go for a walk, read a book in a park, but on rest days rest, on easy days ride easy and on interval days let your partner push you- push each other- that is why you have one another.
As with workout partners, boyfriends or girlfriends are a crucial part of life for most of us, but sharing the company of someone who does not support your goals can be detrimental to your training (as well as to your relationship). In trying to understand how Ironman couples negotiate the demands of the sport, their relationships and their lives, Juergens, a doctoral student at Texas Tech University conducted interviews of triathlete couples, both husband and wife who were competing in the 2005 Ironman world championships. Juergens found that triathlon couples shared more egalitarian roles- where both partners shared daily chores, household duties and child rearing responsibilities- and both partners equally prioritized their training time- both the husband’s and the wives runs, rides and swims were equally important. When possible, triathlete couples opted to train together. Sharing a long ride or run- or driving to the pool together, was time spent together- time spent sharing a similar passion. In the same vain- vacations were often organized around races, and took the place of racing- which was equally agreeable and desirable for both parties. This strong component of compatibility enabled the dual Ironman household to not only survive but to thrive.
Picking a partner is crucial- whether in intimate relationships or training partners- it is important that those you share your training and your life with support the goals you have set out for yourself. This support may take the shape of having an ice bath ready when you stumble home, food on the table, water bottles washed, pumping up your tires- or merely making sure that the time you have set out to train does not get filled with errands, appointments or other obligations. And as with training partners, your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend need to recognize the importance of recovery days and what that means outside of workouts. Spending the entire day before a marathon touring a new city is not a conducive activity for optimal race day performance. One athlete of mine spent the day before her big race at the zoo with her kids. Again not the best way to share time with your family and race well. You do not have to be incapacitated on the couch with your legs up and have your partner wait on you, instead share a movie- or a healthy meal or hang out at a coffee shop on days when you need to recover. There are plenty of activities where individuals can spend time with their loved ones and still ensure optimal recovery between training sessions. The key to this, again, is having a supportive partner who is willing to recognize and accommodate the needs of endurance athletes both while training and recovering.
Fun facts from my own research:
41% of the people I have surveyed agreed that their pattern of exercise interferes with their social life.
92% of individuals who have completed at least one Ironman event feel like a better person after exercising.
Know when to walk away and know when to run…
Know when to walk away and know when to run…
So you missed a workout. It’s not a big deal, right? Well maybe it is. How do you know whether you should double up the next day to make up for the missed workout, bump the whole schedule back and skip your rest day, or forget about it and move on? I will give you some quick tips on how to make an informed decision on what to do in the event of a missed training session.
Some workouts are “key” workouts, and those should not be skipped entirely, and some workouts are recovery workouts, and if you have to miss them- doubling up another day is not an effective use of your time- or the following days workout. Here’s how you can tell the goal of the week and the goal of each workout.
The nitty gritty:
So how do you know? Ask your coach- in the event that you don’t have a coach to ask, you should know what the goal of the week is- and which workouts help you achieve that goal. For example, in the foundation phase you are working on building base, making a more efficient aerobic energy system. In this phase the key workouts are the long runs/rides/swims on the weekends usually- don’t skip these, they are key to a successful base building block.
The next phase of training is the Preparation period- where the goal is to work on power/speed right around your lactate threshold. Key workouts in this period are those tempo and steady state intervals. Longer blocks at higher intensity is the way to identify these workouts. Don’t skip them! They are the bread and butter of the preparation period and are imperative to a proper prep phase.
Specialization is the final building block. This period is typified by high intensity and short duration intervals- working on maximal efforts or the vo2 system- the upper limits of your anaerobic system, the sprints if you will. This block is comprised of power interval sessions, track workouts and swim sprint sets. Do your best to make each and every one of these workouts, they are short, but they are hard, that’s the point, that’s how you get faster!
Taper: In the taper block if you miss a workout, forget about it. The purpose of the taper block is to rest you before the big event. The worst thing you can do for your race is to double up a missed workout the day before the event. The double workout won’t make you faster on race day, it will just tire you out before the big event. When in doubt REST in the taper week.
A word of caution on missing workouts and juggling days around:
At certain points in training I want my athletes to go into a workout slightly pre-fatigued, and so I “block” the training, meaning I put two hard days back to back. At other points in the training I specifically want my athletes to have rest days between workouts to insure that they have a quality training day. In general I block the prep phase workouts to get more quality work in at lactate threshold and I space out the specialization high intensity workouts.
In foundation I vary from blocking to resting, depending on the athlete and the volume that they are able to tolerate. Be cautious in the foundation phase not to do too much too soon- that is how injuries occur. It is important to include rest days and to progressively build from one week to the next. That is why simply stacking missed workouts is not always the answer.
So in foundation don’t skip the long days, in prep don’t skip the tempo days and in specialization don’t skip the high intensity days. Other than that- its okay to miss a workout here and there- and if it is during taper, put your feet up and REST! You’ll be glad you did come race day when you cross that finish line at a personal best time!
Life happens, so now you can make educated choices as to how to juggle the missed workouts when the kids get sick, you get called in early or have to stay late to work, or the dog runs away, whatever the case may be, we know that training fits in around life, and for the most part we all do a pretty good job of keeping all the balls in the air, but sometimes we drop them, now you know when to pick them back up and keep going and when to call it a day.
So you missed a workout. It’s not a big deal, right? Well maybe it is. How do you know whether you should double up the next day to make up for the missed workout, bump the whole schedule back and skip your rest day, or forget about it and move on? I will give you some quick tips on how to make an informed decision on what to do in the event of a missed training session.
Some workouts are “key” workouts, and those should not be skipped entirely, and some workouts are recovery workouts, and if you have to miss them- doubling up another day is not an effective use of your time- or the following days workout. Here’s how you can tell the goal of the week and the goal of each workout.
The nitty gritty:
So how do you know? Ask your coach- in the event that you don’t have a coach to ask, you should know what the goal of the week is- and which workouts help you achieve that goal. For example, in the foundation phase you are working on building base, making a more efficient aerobic energy system. In this phase the key workouts are the long runs/rides/swims on the weekends usually- don’t skip these, they are key to a successful base building block.
The next phase of training is the Preparation period- where the goal is to work on power/speed right around your lactate threshold. Key workouts in this period are those tempo and steady state intervals. Longer blocks at higher intensity is the way to identify these workouts. Don’t skip them! They are the bread and butter of the preparation period and are imperative to a proper prep phase.
Specialization is the final building block. This period is typified by high intensity and short duration intervals- working on maximal efforts or the vo2 system- the upper limits of your anaerobic system, the sprints if you will. This block is comprised of power interval sessions, track workouts and swim sprint sets. Do your best to make each and every one of these workouts, they are short, but they are hard, that’s the point, that’s how you get faster!
Taper: In the taper block if you miss a workout, forget about it. The purpose of the taper block is to rest you before the big event. The worst thing you can do for your race is to double up a missed workout the day before the event. The double workout won’t make you faster on race day, it will just tire you out before the big event. When in doubt REST in the taper week.
A word of caution on missing workouts and juggling days around:
At certain points in training I want my athletes to go into a workout slightly pre-fatigued, and so I “block” the training, meaning I put two hard days back to back. At other points in the training I specifically want my athletes to have rest days between workouts to insure that they have a quality training day. In general I block the prep phase workouts to get more quality work in at lactate threshold and I space out the specialization high intensity workouts.
In foundation I vary from blocking to resting, depending on the athlete and the volume that they are able to tolerate. Be cautious in the foundation phase not to do too much too soon- that is how injuries occur. It is important to include rest days and to progressively build from one week to the next. That is why simply stacking missed workouts is not always the answer.
So in foundation don’t skip the long days, in prep don’t skip the tempo days and in specialization don’t skip the high intensity days. Other than that- its okay to miss a workout here and there- and if it is during taper, put your feet up and REST! You’ll be glad you did come race day when you cross that finish line at a personal best time!
Life happens, so now you can make educated choices as to how to juggle the missed workouts when the kids get sick, you get called in early or have to stay late to work, or the dog runs away, whatever the case may be, we know that training fits in around life, and for the most part we all do a pretty good job of keeping all the balls in the air, but sometimes we drop them, now you know when to pick them back up and keep going and when to call it a day.
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