Review of Training Hours/TSS/Peak Heart Rates for me – March->June

So, when we get into the habit of putting our stuff into TP we can get some good stats. Ignore the distance column because it will miss stuff like Computrainer sessions, but from the screenshot below we can ascertain:

• Number of hours training from March through May are very consistent
• From March -> May, top level intensity was gradually reduced (i.e. we’re becoming more race specific)
• Despite top-level intensity decreasing from March->May, TSS went up substantially in May.
  • The reason for this is that there are less-intervals and more steady state training (i.e. 2x20min@85% has more TSS than 5x3min @ 120% as the latter has lots of recovery spinning in the session).
• During June you can see top intensity dropping a lot (week 1: 5min heart rate max = 172, week2: 166, week3 (so far): 159.)
• Week of 8^th June looks like it’s missing some data so June is likely to be incorrect with respect to monthly TSS numbers

The reason for this gradual change is that I am gradually getting ready for Ironman Mont Tremblant. March and April were characterised with some more intense races (e.g. CRCA bike races, 10ks and half-marathons) and then in May I started doing longer distance races and took out a little intensity of my speed sessions to make sure I’m not overloaded.

Unfortunately today I have a quad strain and depending on how that goes Junes numbers may look less consistent due to missing data and the rest of this weeks training perhaps not happening. Will be back on track for July!

Running Session with GR

The footpod is on Amazon for $50: http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-010-11092-00-Foot-Pod/dp/B00AVIT638/ref=sr_1_1?s=sports-and-fitness&ie=UTF8&qid=1434757571&sr=1-1&keywords=garmin+foot+pod. Here’s a review from drainmaker. He’s great with reviews so recommend checking out his site when looking at triathlon related gear.

From looking at the footage again more closely, I think you may be overstriding a little bit. Don’t worry, increasing cadence and adopting the forward lean is likely to fix those.

Cadence: ~85-88 on average from what I recorded. If you get a footpod record the cadence on a long run and that way we get some real number. Goal: 95, without losing distance per stride. You’ll see some articles quote 180 which counts both feet so that’s 90 per foot. That number comes from a study from a long time ago and is often misquoted as the truth is that elite runners all run at 90 OR ABOVE. I think your running will have more flow if you bring it up to 95.

Here’s an article on cadence in general with some useful links within it if you want some more background: http://www.ultrasmartrunner.com/improving-running-speed-the-secret-of-cadence/. This describes a few exercises you can do: http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/how-to-boost-your-cadence. Another one on cadence: http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/the-great-cadence-debate.

The forward lean may help with the overstriding. Here’s an article on it: http://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/running-technique/. Remember to keep the core engaged with your body in good posture. I have a suspicion this may lead to other fringe benefits too.

 

HOW: 3 runs per week:

• One long run. This will be long and slow. At first it will be frustratingly slow! Keep tracking your cadence throughout and see if you can hold the same cadence the whole time. On the first long run with the footpod, don’t adjust anything, just record the data with your normal running style. Take a look at average cadence, as well as cadence in the first few miles versus the last few miles. In subsequent long runs: a) try to keep your cadence consistent throughout. b) gradually try to bring up the average.
• One track/intervals session. E.g. the GC track session. Ideally not on the treadmill as it can affect your running form. Record your cadence. You will probably find that on 400/800m intervals your cadence will be higher naturally. If it is higher than normal (e.g. 95+) then the intervals might really help bring your cadence up. These are good drills to do before this session (and before all of them if you have time): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GLrKr54yA0.
• One tempo run. E.g. a 4-6 mile run at the pace you were running at the track. 

 

Here’s a drill for the forward lean if the approach I showed you at the track doesn’t seem to help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R-3UT1Vd9o. I’m not actually a fan of the second drill in that video however.

 

So, Cedar Point is ~3 months away. I’d suggest this: 

1. Work on cadence improvements for 4 weeks.
2. If it starts to feel natural and you’re seeing speed improvements then stick with it for another 4 weeks.
3. If nothing changes to your speed AT ALL, then switch to the forward lean for 4 weeks.
4. The last 4 weeks, just focus on preparations for Cedar Point.

TESTS:

So, in order to see if we’re making progress we have a couple of options:

• Run a 5k/10k each month (in place of the tempo run) and record the time. This is a max effort. It takes a while to see a trend (multiple months) as each individual test may be impacted by other factors such as a bad night’s sleep, or fatigue from previous training sessions. These kinds of tests are normally a good indicator of race performance.
• On the track, or in some repeatable scenario (e.g. treadmill) run at a specified heart rate for ~10 minutes or so after warming up. Get the average speed for the last 5 minutes. This is a more of a passive test as you can do it every week as part of one of your runs. You get more data points than the test above although it’s not really going to tell you how well you’re going to do in your next race. So, how do you pick the specified heart rate? You can look at your average heart rate for a race that relates to a half ironman, e.g. a half marathon, or the run leg of a previous 70.3.

It’s worth while capturing both numbers if you can. You may find that you progress in one more than the other.

Here’s the videos/pics:

 

Video from side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhbsUxRNcNA. When I get some time I’ll clear it up (zoom in to you, remove the fisheye, etc)

Some key shots from the side:

This is the initial contact with the ground.

This is where your muscles start to become actively engaged (you can see the difference that your calf and quad muscles compared to the previous photo). It looks like you may be overstriding a little bit as your foot is slightly ahead of the center of your hips and your shoulders. Increasing the cadence and adopting more of a forward lean is likely to help. I think this will result in less wasted energy on each footstep.

Here’s some other points:

• It’s not really visible in these specific shots, but you can see that when you run you push off, your leg is fully extended behind you and then as you pull it through your foot comes up quite high during the recovery. If you watch some videos of elite runners you’ll see that when their foot is recovering (i.e. coming forward) it comes very close to their bum. It’s supposed to be more efficient. You appear to have it naturally and it is likely to get more pronounced with speedwork.
• Your arms actually look more relaxed here than when I saw in person. As long as your shoulders feel relaxed try to go with it. Let’s see how the 2 changes work out and not worry about this for now. You have a natural bend at your elbow (~ 90 degrees) which looks great.
• Your head if looking forward, not looking to the ground which is great too.

​

Here’s front/back footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oobSpbzSWnE.

The Season So Far

Half Marathon in Central Park

I raced this on the end of a heavy training week. I completed in about 1hr22 minutes. Central Park is an undulating course and towards the end of the race I decided I wasn’t going to kick towards the end. Not sure what I could have done fresh and kicked towards the end, maybe 1hr20 or 1hr21. Guess I’ll never know, but I can do some halfs towards the end of the season.

Bear Mountain Spring Classic

This was a ~42 mile race in Harriman State Park as part of the CRCA road race series. I’m a CAT-5  as I’ve only just started road races this year. During the race I had issues on the steeper ascents, my back started spasming. I wasn’t sure what to do because I hadn’t had this issue before. I ended up getting dropped from the lead group and then as I hit the flats my back sorted it self out so I would start working again to get back up. Each lap the same thing happened with spasms so ended up coming across the line just after the chase group. Was lots of fun though.

American Zofingen

I did the long course duathlon. I knew it was going to be a 7-9hour day despite not having to swim and the bike/run distances being shorter than an IM. I was experimenting with just fueling with UCAN. For breakfast I ate two bars totaling ~ 400 calories. The opening run I did in ~45 minutes with no calories, then on the bike I consumed 7 servings of UCAN, more than recommended but I’m still getting confidence in the fueling strategy. Towards the end of the ride I started struggling a bit and talked myself into changing my target watts to a more conservative strategy. I was running a 53/39, 11×25 gearing setup which wasn’t enough, I had to go away above FTP numerous times to climb up the hills. I think that took it’s toll so the last ~45 minutes of the bike I was in survival mode. Once on the run I felt okay again although it was very humid by that point. I drank way too much heed and after the 3 laps of running I vomited a lot of it again! Overall it was a good day for learning. There weren’t many competitors in that race but I was happy to win my age group nonetheless.

Black Bear Olympic

My goal in this race was to swim as hard as possible. I failed in that regard. I think I was just mentally lazy as I wasn’t too fatigued at the end of the swim. The bike I went reasonably hard and the run was very difficult: lots of hills and lots of trail running. I made a few mistakes: on the bike I dropped my sunglasses costing me a minute or so, I debated whether to leave them but felt bad that it would have been considered littering. Then leaving transition I ran out and forgot my number and decided to go back for it. That probably added up to an extra 500-800 meters of running. Towards the end of the run I was passed by some guy who was working hard, but I didn’t fancy running myself into the ground as I was doing Quassy the week after. I came second in my age group, second by 9 seconds. Whoops. Fewer mistakes would have led to a better finishing position. Never mind.

Quassy Aquabike

Despite planning to do the half iron tri, I dropped down to Aquabike. Walking down the stairs after the black bear triathlon, something went in my foot. I couldn’t run for a few days, or crouch down. Two days before the race I was running again but knowing the course was very challenging I didn’t fancy my chances of bombing down the hills without hurting my foot again. The swim I was a little disappointed with. I was hoping to go sub-30 to give me a chance of going sub-hour at IMMT, but that didn’t come about. The bike course was challenging and my main goal was to keep my cadence above 90 rpm on the uphills, that meant working very hard at times but I didn’t feel like I was going to blow up. Towards the end of the course I think I was losing my ability to generate the same power going up the hills but I stuck in there. The lesson I need to learn is to keep pushing myself towards the end of the bike leg knowing that my legs will still feel good when I get off.

Lessons Learned

My body seems to cope fine with lower calorie fueling options. The big training sessions before IMMT will reveal whether I’m still okay at longer distances.

I can still run off the bike pretty well even when I ride hard.

I need to translate my speed improvements from the pool into the open water! Time to head to the beach I think!

SY – Proposed Taper Plan

This is a good example where taper plans can change depending on current circumstances and why taper plans can vary wildly between people.

After speaking to SY he has a slight niggle in his shoulder. The niggle came about in a non-training environment (putting on his shirt!) but it could still be linked to his training (e.g. his muscles were tired and sore from training). As such he’ll be resting today, and spending the time stretching out his shoulder and buying flowers for his wife to show how much he appreciates her support.

Additionally, he is in a great position to have his swim teacher, Paul Hunt,  take him out for some open water swim practise this weekend. As such we’re reducing the bike/run sessions at the weekend to accommodate it.

At this point his legs are sore from all the training so the bike/run sessions are there to help loosen up this week, and then give them a quick reminder at the weekend of what they’re in for at Mont Tremblant.

Go get em!

Week of	Mon	Tues	Wednes	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
06/08/2015	REST	Swim/Bike (5×200 yards with 1 minute break. NO BREAKS ON EVERY LAP! 30minute easy spin). PRACTISE TRANSITION.	OPTIONAL: Swim. NO LAP BREAKS!	Swim/Run (drills, 4×200 yards. Easy run for 10 minutes)	Rest	OWS with Paul. 60 minute bike ride (15min warm/up, 45 minutes at race intensity). Optional 15 min run. PRACTISE TRANSITIONS!	OWS with Paul. 1hour run (15min easy warm/up. 15min at race intensity)
06/15/2015	REST	Bike/Run (10min warm/up on bike. 20min at race intensity. 10 minute run at race intensity). PRACTISE TRANSITION	Rest/Pack Bike/Prep bags	Swim/Run (drills, 4×200 yards. Easy run for 10 minutes)	Rest/TRAVEL	15min swim. Finish with 3-5min hard swimming focusing on form. Test bike ~ 10 minute bike ride. Run for ~ 10 minutes. Try to start the session at ~ same time as the race	EAGLEMAN
Race intensity = Zone 2!!!!

 

================= PLAN BEFORE SPEAKING =====================================

Haven’t had a chance to catch up 1-on-1 with SY yet, but here’s the taper plan I’m going to propose depending on how he’s feeling, if there are any injury niggles, whether there are any travel constraints, etc.

The goal of the taper period if to maintain frequency in the swim where SY is still consolidating gains from previous weeks/months of training. As his technique is still evolving I want him to do lots of short swims in the lead up to the race so that the technique still feels familiar once he gets into the water at MT70.3. For a more experienced swimmer I would change it up slightly.

He did well at Black bear Olypmic triathlon finishing the 1500m in 42minutes. At that same pace he would finish the 70.3 swim in the low 50s. Given his concern is the cutoff, he has plenty of room to play with: ~15 minutes. Additionally he won’t be leaving in the last swim wave so in likelyhood he can go 50% slower than at Black Bear and still make the cutoff. From there it should be be relatively straightforward for him to finish.

Week of	Mon	Tues	Wednes	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
06/08/2015	Swim. NO LAP BREAKS!	Swim/Bike (5×200 yards with 1 minute break. NO BREAKS ON EVERY LAP! 30minute easy spin). PRACTISE TRANSITION.	OPTIONAL: Swim. NO LAP BREAKS!	Swim/Run (drills, 4×200 yards. Easy run for 10 minutes)	Rest	45minute swim (5min warm/up. 10min drills/30m continuous swim). 90 minute bike ride (15min warm/up, 75 minutes at race intensity). Optional 15 min run. PRACTISE TRANSITIONS!	1hour run (15min easy warm/up. 30min at race intensity. 15 min easy run)
06/15/2015	Swim/Bike (5×200 yards with 1 minute break. NO BREAKS ON EVERY LAP! 30minute easy spin). PRACTISE TRANSITION	Bike/Run (10min warm/up on bike. 20min at race intensity. 10 minute run at race intensity). PRACTISE TRANSITION	Rest/Pack Bike/Prep bags	Swim/Run (drills, 4×200 yards. Easy run for 10 minutes)	Rest/TRAVEL	15min swim. Finish with 3-5min hard swimming focusing on form. Test bike ~ 10 minute bike ride. Run for ~ 10 minutes. Try to start the session at ~ same time as the race	MT 70.3