Training in Training races

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

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

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

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

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train your lactate threshold without doing threshold...

Break that FTP plateau! Some athletes thrive on these workouts and can perform them better than steady efforts at 100% of threshold. Other suffer like never before. There is a reason weight lifters do many different types of chest exercises, all chest workouts are not created equal. Your threshold power or pace is the same way. I will frequently prescribe a 2-3 week block of threshold training for an athlete and not one of the threshold (Zone 4) workouts are the same. Why? Lots of reasons. To keep things fresh, to keep the body working and adapting as much as possible, to be specific, to “force the issue” as I sometimes say. 3x20 minutes at 90% of threshold and doing 3 min. on, 1’ off times 6 at 110% of your threshold are both “threshold” workouts, yet they can fell worlds apart.

The Over under or Crisscross interval is one you may have heard of or even done before. If you’re a cyclist you have defiantly done this maybe without even realizing it. There are many differ ways and variations to this workout. They are an interval with a given amount of time under your threshold, power or pace, and a given amount of time over it..

Here are a few of my favorite types of over under intervals

1. Bike: for time trialest or triathlete. 2x25 min. (4 min rest) done as, 4 min. zone 3/ 1min. in zone 5. Repeat for the length of the interval.

2. Bike: For the roadie, 2x25’ (4’rest) maybe done on a climb. Ride in zone 3-upper zone 3, every 3’ do a 20” kick spiking power to 10 watts per kilo of body weight then push Zone 5. Repeat for the 25’

3. Running. 30”on, 30” 0ff. on time is 5k pace or faster, off time is zone 2/ endurance pace. Repeat 20-30 times.

How they work:

What this does is it forces the body to recover from the harder effort while still working at a non recovery pace. By doing a short effort above your lactate threshold you start to build up lactate on your muscles. If it’s not too much you can recover from this by working very easy for some time. But with these intervals you keep the effort going at a hard but sub threshold, aerobic, pace (zone 3/ tempo). Now your body is trying to filter the waist, while keeping energy production fairly high! Also the repeated nature of these hard efforts will soon have you thinking efficiency. How can you hit that wattage or pace with as little wasted energy as possible? Believe me you will figure it out or pay dearly!

All of our training zones are related. Some more than others yes. “If your foundation is to small you can’t build a big, tall house.” Right. Well, if your roof is too small you can’t build a big main floor without it filling up with water, same thing. I have seen many athletes come to me and others pounding away at their threshold getting little results because their abilities above threshold are inadequate. Yes , you ironman triathletes still need to have some kind of minimum ability above threshold. These intervals are a great way to work that upper end a little bit while having an overall endurance flavor to your training session.

There place in the real world.

Train your weakness! This is The foundation of the ETG. If you’re looking at this thinking I don’t have to do that in a race why should I train that way? If you have been thinking this way for a few years chances are this type of thing is a weak area for you. We all have our strong points and weak ones, however, If a weakness is weak enough it will hold EVERYTHING back.

At bike race or a mtb race much of the time it feels like the winner still blows up just not as badly as everyone else. Or they are the ones that simply blow up last. When attacks are going in a road race it’s not the base pace that gets people dropped it’s the accelerations. The same can often can be said on climbs for the leaders. Mt bikers. This is your playground! Long hard steady efforts are what mt. bike racing is all about but you are constantly forced to deal with the terrain. That hill is steep! Any slower and you will have to put a foot down. Those little efforts to get over a rock or a log. So you Find yourself keeping up with every one for the first lap but then every one of those little tiny efforts you seem to lose more and more ground? These intervals can be your secret weapon to preparing for the final finishing climb. Or to simply get ready for the first races of the season.

For the TT guru or triathlete these can be a great threshold workout to add to your arsenal. Accelerating out of corners and not paying for it can mean an extra few seconds at the state TT championships and the difference between 1^st and 4^th place. In triathlons we try our best to be steady eddie on the bike. But its tough some times. This can provide not only some great training at your VO2 power but give you a little insurance for the mistakes we all make when were in the heat of battle.

Replace your next few boring threshold workouts with some of these interval sessions. See what happens.

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Get tough part 2.

Last night at the end of a little bit of our usual ribbing with a training partner I got thinking. We joke with each other about our weak areas and even our strong sport is because we do them to much and should focus on the weak ones, and so it goes. He said the other day he couldn't ride with me because “us real triathletes train the swim and run in winter.” Now he was half if not mostly joking as he trains very consistently on the bike and is subsequently very fast on the bike.
yet he’s right in that many triathletes do stay away from the bike in winter.
Why?

The reason most do is that with daylight short, cold weather and the simple lack of knowledge of what to do with less time its hard to get it in. Or worse, the misconception that if your focus is a long event like a ½ or full Ironman you need to train “long” all the time. Now, don’t get me wrong there is less time to ride. Riding in winter can be chilly business and trainers suck. I almost never ride mine.

There are folks out there that ride a lot in winter and do little to no swimming! I talked about this a bit HERE. On how to maximize your swim time. Some good points there on both sides of that discussion.

The Real reason that triathletes don’t ride as much in the winter is a bigger issue. Many athletes (across the board) train what is easy or convent to train not what they should train. There is a balance here, we have to play with the deck we are dealt but playing that hand aggressively to win and playing it to simply not get eliminated are 2 very different things.

I won’t get into specifics on time management. If you haven’t read our off season series or been to the “training your weakness” seminar then get caught up! Less time means opportunity not more obstacles. And by the way, its winter your A race is months away why do you need to be supper specific now anyway?

Get tough!

If you want to get better, faster, more efficient then guess what… you can’t do whatever is convenient you have to MAKE THINGS HAPPEN! I know it’s cold and dark but your competition doesn’t care. Neither does the race course and the clock doesn’t slow down just for you on the last climb because you didn’t “get as many miles in as last year” how many times you heard that sob story!

“ OK Eric, fine Mr. tough guy. I leave for work in the dark. I come home and its dark what do I do”

Here are a few ways to make riding in winter very doable.

1. Realize 99% of your competition is in the same situation. Don’t’ get discouraged because you can’t do what you normally do for a bike training session. If you can use your time 1% better than them, you win come July. My fuzzy math here. 1%, times 2 rides a week for 4 months is 32%. Percent of what I’m not sure but you see what I am getting at.

2. Get some warm cycling clothes. There is no reason you can’t ride in winter cold. Lobster mitt gloves, good bottles, thermal jackets, etc. will have you warm without looking like a the kid from A Christmas story.

3. Maximize the time you DO have. Ride for workload. TSS or Kj’s. Not miles. Don’t have a power meter, Fine, ride for time and never coast. EVER! If you stay aerobic you get “endurance” adaptations. Going easy doesn't get you better “endurance”. workload does. Yeah its easier to get lots of workload with more time, so do your best. And read these 3 articles again. start at the bottom on the page. 

4. Plan ahead! I’m so sick of saying this but really look at your training/ training goals for that week. What is the weather like? What’s your work sch, like? What’s the gym sch. Like? Now put it all together. Nice days/when you have time (weekends) ride. Make those days ride days. Its never to cold to run and swimming is in a controlled environment.

5. Always be prepared. Get out of work early, got extra time at lunch. It was supposed to snowing on Sunday but now it sunny and nice… be ready to improvise, over come and adapt!

6. The trainer. It sucks but it works. Here are a few tips for that. And winter in general.

7. Spin classes: here’s a whole article on spinning. Here’s the deal. it’s your workout, do what you want. It’s inside and better than the trainer, I think anyway. If your swimming it’s probably at a gym find a spin class that works. Get there a bit early and/or stay a few minutes late it will be easy to get past that key 70 min. mark. Brick run on the tread mill anyone. The possibilities and combinations are endless. And they all maximize your time.

The Bottom line:

If you do what’s convenient, don’t plan ahead and let mother nature dictate your training sch. You’re not gona get any better. You’ll be having the same “yeah man I don’t have the time that guy has to train” Conversation as you did last year. Weak! He doesn’t have more time than you he MADE more time. Being a good athlete isn’t about who’s “talented”, who has more time or a better bike. Its about who takes the time (a very small about of time) to plan ahead and MAKE things happen. To get what they need to get done, and to meet there goals.