Triathlon Europe

Simple pleasures

I’m sat on the sofa watching it pour with rain (again) and feeling smug that I got my long bike and transition run in before the downpour started: simple pleasures! Saying that, I’m not feeling so smug about my decision to spend a week training at home, rather than somewhere hotter and drier, before I start a new job in March – I was convinced this cold ‘snap’ couldn’t last...

So I have a week off, and seemingly either a very long, a very intense, or a brick, session scheduled for every day. Luckily I have a freezer full of cake too :o) Hopefully it will all pay dividends at the Dambuster Duathlon on 20^th March which I am using as a warm up race before the tri season starts in May.

My ‘Big 3’ races of the season will kick off with the Swashbuckler middle distance race at the end of May in the New Forest. Then I’ll tackle the Cowman middle distance race in July, and then finish off the season, as I did last year, at the Vitruvian in September. The difference this year is that my elbow is no longer held together by pins (so I am in an infinitely better position now than in Feb 09) and my most loyal supporter, Stuart, will instead be my biggest rival having entered all of the ‘Big 3’ despite never having raced the distance before.

So, aims for the season: 3 top ten finishes (ideally a podium place) and to maintain my unbeaten record against my hubby, Stuart.

Pacing

This is a great topic to blog about at this time of year! Pacing, pace judgement, ability to adapt how fast/ hard/ you should be training on any given session. How do you know you are training with the right level of intensity?

Your weekly training should include a balanced amount of aerobic endurance sessions, tempo sessions slightly below your identified race pace and importantly, the specific 'quality' workouts where you push yourself for short intervals at or above your threshold, depending on the progression of your overall plan. If you choose to train each of these above the desired intensity, particularly the endurance/ distance sessions, then it's very likely your aerobic capacity will be limited going forward into the race season. Has anyone experienced difficulty finishing strongly in races before, or negative splitting?

This time of year is critical for developing pace judgement by noting the prescribed intensity for each session, learning to listen to your body and interpret its 'gears', and using your training tools intelligently (HRM's, powermeters etc) if you have them. Regular testing, paced sets and time trials all help enormously to discover where your maximum effort levels are, from this you can derive what 'endurance' (easy), 'tempo' (brisk) and 'interval' (fast)pace feels like accordingly.

It all takes time to develop, so be encouraged that it's not always possible to get it right. As long as you are consistently trying to, that is a very good start!

'Good judgement is the result of experience, experience is the result of bad judgment' -Mark Twain

Go well!

Coach Fi

Shedding Bricks.

"Mr Mouganie called in to see me this afternoon after he had developed a painful left foot while training for a triathlon. In retrospect, the pain came on soon after he experimented with a new pair of trainers incorporating Velcro straps."

"On examination, the only finding was some crepitus in the line of the extensor hallucis tendon where it ran over the midtarsal joint."

"Tests were unremarkable."

"The diagnosis appears to be tenosynovitis. Some anti-inflammatory gel should help to resolve the matter, then Mr Mouganie will revert to trainers with the traditional laces!"

There you have it, a gimpy tendon due to bad shoes. Nice one. Once I knew the cause, I'm pretty sure the pain in my foot halved straight away. In any case, it has been a week of gelling my foot in the morning and the evenings as well as wearing sneakers to work. Not a good combo when you have a shirt and trousers on; I have felt like an American movie star at an awards ceremony - bad fashion and a lot of stares. In any case, what may seem unremarkable to an orthopaedic surgeon (how boring, nothing is broken) is remarkable to me - I can finally start running again.

My first foray back to running was last Saturday and it involved a brick session; a one hour bike ride followed by a short run.

Brick sessions are great; they simulate triathlons and get your body and mind prepared for what is indisputably the most difficult transition during the race. You never forget your first one, mine was a complete disaster.

A month before my Olympic distance race in 2009, I decided to test my legs after a bike ride. After a one hour in Richmond Park, I got off the bike to complete a two mile run. I unclipped myself as soon as I got back home from my ride, jumped off the saddle and ran out the door towards the park. My legs did not respond. It's a difficult feeling to describe, your thighs and calves are made of stone and your knees turn to jelly. Nothing works.

So, where does the term "brick" come from? Is the "B" for bike and the "R" for run? Probably. Is it because you feel like a pile of bricks for the first 15 minutes after coming off the bike. Probably. Some people have suggested "running with your hands" as a solution (this means moving your hands back and forth vigorously when running to simulate movement like you see in cartoons). Even though this may help psychologically, it can look stupid. The only thing I find that helps is training. Only practice makes perfect. Last weekend was leaps and bounds better, merely a year into triathlon training.

Today, I have come away from my injury as a changed person. For one, don't be a victim of fancy shoes (mine are now in a charity shop), and most importantly, injuries are a pain in the rear and not just the foot. I look forward to a pure 30 minute run today and another brick session this weekend.

10k Regents park PB and Big Cow Duathlon race report

 This is my first update since Fiona became my coach in November.  In 2009 I completed my first couple of triathlons after a few years racing duathlons (a non-swimming Australian??  It was embarrassing to admit.).  I had a couple of good results in 2009: 9th in my age group at the London Duathlon and 13th in AG at the Dextro ITU Sprint triathlon in Hyde Park (my first open water triathlon).  However, I knew if I wanted to improve and race longer distances I needed to be coached.  I had attended one of Fiona's training days in 2009 and had a great day so there was no question who to turn to…

Despite a pretty harsh winter I was very committed to the training schedules Fiona presented me with each week and on many occasions found myself running and cycling in the rain and even snow.  I soon realised how I had been doing too much of the same type of training.  I had to teach myself to run slowly which was a lot harder than it seemed.  Eventually I managed to achieve this and my 90 minute runs are some of my favourite workouts now.

After three months of training and some good improvements in field tests (8% increase in FTP on the bike) I finally got to test myself in a race - the February edition of the 10km series in Regent's Park.  I had set my 10km PB in the October race finishing in 38:25 but lining up for the race in February I was a little apprehensive.  I had done lots of nice, easy 20km runs, plenty of 800m to 1600m intervals but nothing at 10km pace for nearly 40min.  I thought lets just see how it goes….

I got into a nice rhythm for the start and was feeling pretty good, even keeping relatively close to a fellow Serpie who consistently runs sub-38s.  I passed to 5k point in 18:43 which was 4 seconds ahead of my PB.  However, in the past this is where my race starts to unravel; I never had the endurance to finish off the last 5km strongly but this time I felt great.  I was able to keep my pace high and run strongly to the finish covering the last 5k in 18:56 for a 37:39 10k.  A new PB by a 46 seconds!

 Last weekend I headed up to Milton Keynes to do the first of the Big Cow duathlons.  Conditions on the day were great, nice and sunny, although the already short bike leg had to be shortened further due to flooding and there were some nasty icy patches on the run.  I ran strongly on the 4.3km first run leg (listed as 4.5km) coming in to T1 in 15:35.  A somewhat sluggish transition later and it was on to the insanity that was the bike leg.  This involved 12 laps around "The Bowl" which has very narrow roads.   Throw in a reasonable downhill section followed by a chicane at 50km/h and it felt more like the Monte Carlo Grand Prix than the bike leg of a duathlon.  I was lucky not to hit the pavement on the third lap when I was hit by a careless competitor overtaking me on the left.  I managed to stay upright and finish the 13.2km in 22:33 before heading out for the final 4km run (not 4.2km as listed).  A solid 15:39 finishing run gave me a time of 55:35, pretty much what I was looking for going into the event.

Paul finished just outside the top 10 in the senior men category, and will be looking to improve on this result going into the next event on the 27th March, at the Milton Keynes bowl. Having the benefit of course experience, and a few more brick sessions between now and then, he'll be capable of delivering an even stronger race! One to watch.

Ability, motivation or attitude - which do you need most to improve?

I love this quote...

'Ability is what you are capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it' (Lou Holtz)

Most of you are making good inroads into your winter training, perhaps following a new structured program, incorporating some overall strength and conditioning or working on 'less favourite' areas to provide a new dimension to your 2010 racing. Regardless of your natural ability, you can improve what were born with or have developed so far, with consistent, progressive and varied training. Make sure you have entered your races already and planned your goals for the season. This will provide you with the motivation to get through the last of the winter and ensure your training remains on track when you'd rather go home, chill out on the sofa or head to the pub! Check in with your attitude from time to time and make sure it's aligned with the amount of effort you're putting in, especially if those expected results or improvements aren't happening as quickly as you'd like. From experience, it's perfectly normal to feel like nothing is improving when you're in the middle of a sustained block of training, or indeed you might start to worry you're going backwards! The best thing you can do if you're in a 'plateau', is give yourself a short break/ rest week or a few days completely off. Resume your training with a slightly different attitude and approach, and you'll be surprised to experience that breakthrough or 'ding' moment when it all starts to come togther.

Happy training :-)

Coach Fi

The journey to the finish line at Ironman France - Part 1

        
 
 Simon Griffiths of Tzero is profiling Alex's Ironman progress over the coming months. Here is Part 1:

Alex Hinton this week began his ironman training programme in preparation for the iconic triathlon in Nice on 27 June 2010. The event requires Alex to swim 2.4 miles in the ocean, cycle 112 mountainous miles and run a 26.2 mile marathon. To prepare for this, Alex, who works for Royal Bank of Scotland, will train for between 12 and 20 hours per week. Alex, who grew up in Sussex, currently lives near Richmond, Surrey.

Fortunately Alex has a good track record in endurance racing having previously rowed across the Atlantic and trekked to the North Pole. The Ironman challenge is different because it is a sole effort combining three demanding sports. Additionally, although Alex is a strong cyclist and has completed several marathons in the past, he needs to significantly improve his swimming to be competitive.

Alex’s coach, Fiona Ford of Triathlon Europe, who finished in the top ten women overall in the 2007 race, says, “Ironman is a fantastic challenge because even though it combines the three disciplines of swimming, cycling and running, it is a totally different sport to shorter distance triathlons and you can never really predict performance under those extreme conditions. However, if Alex prepares diligently and manages his nutrition and hydration properly on the day, he could be in contention for a good age-group placing.”

Tzero will be following Alex’s progress over the next five months and posting regular updates on http://tzero-tri.com/2010/01/18/ironman-training-journey-to-ironman-france-part-1/.

Tzero is dedicated to helping triathletes and endurance athletes improve their performance and enjoyment of their sport and through sharing their knowledge and experience.

For more information on Tzero, please contact Simon Griffiths at simon@tzero-tri.com

 

 

 

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