Training in Training Races.

Training in Training Races

Ok it is still a bit early but it’s that time of year when we all start to at least 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 “training through it” giving us a nice excuse for not doing well.  In fact a training race is a prim opportunity to get great training, important experience and test our self’s in the exact environment that we are training 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.

 

~One can still do well in a "Training race" your truly won this training race in the Boston area (the classic Wells Ave.) early one season by making a break mid race that stayed away.

   1. Its still a Race: A training race is NOT a time to waist 60$ (or what ever) in gas and entry fee to ride 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 office park. Make it worth while!

   2. Make a goal:  If you have been working on your strength and all winter and are now ready to turn that strength into accelerating power than make a goal to do some number of BIG accelerations. Attack the short hill, jump on a break forming, or go for the half way prim. But commit to this goal. if your going to work on your jump then do that and just that. Spend your other time sitting in and riding smart. Make the sprinting efforts as strong as possible.  Killing it on the front, riding in a break for x number of laps, going to the back then to the front, then back again will make your “training race workout” end fast.

     Maybe just getting through the race will be hard enough. Then do that. Ride smart. Is holding your position in the pack hard for you? Make a goal to simply ride in the top 15 riders or so the entire race, I have done this my self.  Focus on warming up well, if necessary, and watching the race play out. Identify when its go time and you must get across that gap and to the front group and when is a good time to sit in, fuel and relax.

     Maybe your endurance is lacking. Do some extra mileage before (ideal) or after the race.  If you go this way keep your effort in the race under the hood a bit. This should be a hard workout but we don’t want it to take us a week to recover! Be deceive. If your going to attack. Do it!  See if it works and move to the next steep. Always have a reason for doing something. Always have a purpose.

3.      Gain experience. Learn.  A training race is a prime 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 ride well in the wind, on the hills or technical cornering sections?  How did you feel afterwards. Like you just parted the seas? Or do you feel recovered after 15’ of hanging out with friends and teammates 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 new helmet not fitting right, etc… 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. 

Winter training methods and tools webinar follow up

There were some 1000 people that registered for the webinar we did via training peaks last week.
You can View it HERE

Thanks!  I hope everyone enjoyed it.
Here are few items that we didn't get a chance to discuss or I simply for got to mention.

Tempo work: 
   when you are doing tempo rides run or any endurance focused training one of the keys is being steady and never resting. at all. some times with a new athlete I will have them ride a normal rout at what ever intensity they feel is the "normal" endurance ride effort with one rule. NEVER coast. ever. if spin out on a down hill, use your brakes or simply keep the legs moving despite the 0 pressure on the pedals.
Many find that their "normal" endurance ride just got a whole lot harder. this is also likely where people get the idea from that they can ride for less time on the trainer then if they were to ride out side. I have said this before "there is no such thing as junk miles, just junk training"   this protocol eliminates the fast group rides or group rides/ team rides all together. Again! the team/ group rides are a must, more fun and a nicer way to get  longer hours in. Like the tempo rides, not coasting and being steady is a great way.

Burning fat for fuel, sparing muscle glycogen and loosing weight. 
There was a few questions on burning fat, loosing weight, the fat burning zones, etc. we didn't have time to address. This is simple concept but can be hard to fully and accurately explain.  it is true the lower intensity you work at the more greater % of fat you burn for energy. however, you also burn less total calories.  so for the athlete looking to improve performance or your avg. person looking to loose some weight the idea is to burn calories and become more efficient at burning higher % of fat at higher intensities.  If you want to loose weight you need to burn calories. more calories out then you take in, you will loose weight. Period. there is no magic food. any fancy diet, food, or protocol of what and when to eat must have this calories deficit for one to loose any weight.  
  As I said in the Q&A part of the webinar I would like to learn more and do more research on types of training and methods that can enhance this adaptation. what I do know CONSISTENCY IS KING. if you train consistently, year round, this will improve. After a point this ability will become sport specific. like many things.

The Power of Will. 
when talking of strengths and weaknesses, do not underestimate the power of your will. more than half the time I see athletes excel in an area because they want to. when I first started cycling i wanted to be a good climber. Ride away form my competition in the long road races. so, I trained for that and I soon started to excel in that area. I had zero regard and frankly zero knowledge that I was better suited for shorter efforts and the  longer the event the harder it would be for me. physiologically to do well.   I have heard of a book called "talent is over rated" I have no clue what its about but just by the title I want to read it. Please, DO NOT set goals on what you think your better suited to do. Lets find goals that motivate you, that get you up in the morning and go after those!

The new year, Goals, the Path and doing it better

With the start of anything new we must assess. Ourselves, our objectives, our competition, what some obstacles might be. Prepare for them and so on.  Some excel at this, others not as much.

What are your goals for 2013?

  With each year that that passes I reach for a little more with coaching and EK Endurance Coaching as a whole. I seek out to learn more. Gain more knowledge. Research  new training methods in hopes to figure out if they are a passing fad or something that has some merit and may last.  I seek out new athletes to coach. Of course right! I have to pay the bills! I have always said, and still do, that I will never compromise the quality or individuality of my coaching to "run a business".  I have held that promise and I will continue to. At this point I will have great difficulty taking on new clients without lowering the quality of my product. this happens all the time. you have seen it before. the new restaurant is great. the food superber  privately owned, you get a free beer every now and then, happy hr is inexpensive, very tasty. then the price goes up. so little you barely notice, then the portions get smaller, then the bartender is replaced and in a uniform. he's friendly enough but not the same. the consistency in the food starts to go and the next thing you know its a chain growing to the next state. I am all for capitalization but as the consumer this can suck 9 times out of 10.
this will never happen to me. Why? How? I am not in business to "be in business" or run a company or turn a good margins for share holders. I am in business because I LOVE DOING THIS!

  How am I going to grow without turning people away and uphold quality? especially with sponsoring 20+ races in CO this year!  This is how.

1. our 2 associate coaches Derek and Nick will both be taking a larger part in our space. Both will be taking on more athletes even if not right away. and we are still looking for another triathlon coach whom I think will fit. as 24-7 coaching grows they will take a larger support role there.  what 24-7 coaching.

2. New product #1. 24-7 Coaching. this is a very inexpensive what to get expert coaching and training advice for you and your goals. Our private forums and methods work. How do I know this? because its the same methods I have been using, Growing and adapting for 10 years of coaching. there are other training "groups" out there, some very successful. I know this format works. my goal is to give athletes a place with resources that works and is very low cost. the coast will stay at 99.0$ for a years member ship until at least July or about 100 members. we'll see how it goes.  My Goal here. produce a better product than any current "group" out there by getting better results for less coast to the athlete.  This space we have created is also a home for the rest of out teams communication.  group rides, runs, workouts that I or another coach may be leading meeting up at races, etc.
communication is knowledge and knowledge gets results. I have always said training plans don't work and its generally the athletes fault because they lake the how and why of training with out a coach. 24-7 coaching is the how and why.

3. New product #2. On site coaching. On site coaching. this has always been an option but never spelled out.  This past year we have had enough interest and need for this that it is now offered from myself. contact us for a consult. Time is limited.

4. New Product #3. Team Performance Director.  I plan to take the "sponsorship" aspect of coaching amateur teams to a new level. discounts on coaching? access to our partners? sure but that's easy.  this will entail a full scope of services aimed at getting your entire team (or group within your team) to a new level. racing tactics and strategies, individual training, making sure each rider has the full gamete of resources at their disposal. seminars and clinics to synchronize the self tactics of the individual riders with that of the team tactics and big pictures goals. I have done this in separate pieces before. sponsoring teams, being the "training coordinator", etc.  Team director services for the amateur club or team. What shape this takes will depend on the team.

5. This year we have 3 athletes that have the goal and the ability to go pro. as well and an athlete who has the goal and ability to qualify for Hawaii. my goals here? 2 out of 4? 3 out of 4?  If you know anything about me you know its 4 out of 4 or I will loss sleep over the one that didn't reach their potential. but with our 97% goal attainment rate I have confidence.

Personally, away form the business side, I have some goals as well.

• I would like to qualify for the triathlon world championships in Kona, Hawaii again. 
• I will aim to produce a better result than i did at the St. George IM in 2012. 
• better structure on my days and how I use my time. this on is obvious if I plan to do the above 2 goals and everything else I mention above! 
• spend more time remote. working from home and not punching a clock has its advantages. when i tell people what I do that's all most people think about. what they don't realize is that running your own business  or doing anything that you deeply care about. something that defines you as a person, and will for the rest of your life, there are more than a few restless nights. That said I have not taken advantage of seeing friends and family enough. this year I will seek out extra time to travel,  spend more time out east after IM lake placid to see friends, etc. 

So what are your goals. dont' make a "resolution". don't make a rule, rules suck and there is exception to them all. If there is even one exception its not a rule. the path to any goal is never a straight line. so get ready to adapt. Get ready to change plans, directions and strategies. 

   

What are your goals for 2013?  

So there we go. I have given myself a big glass to fill. 364 days to go! 

winter training. Spinning classes? really...

 
     

     

    As winter roars on, day light become more scarce, holidays keep coming and time to train becomes, well, non existent. It is vital to maintain a structured training program that keeps you motivated, improves your weaknesses and gets you ready to achieve next seasons’ goals.

Spinning classes are a great way to beat the winter cold. They’re offered at many gyms and if not at yours look to another club near by. Most clubs have a drop in rate that will allow you to take a class as a non-member. One problem that many triathletes and cyclists have with these classes is that they are unrealistic, an aerobics class on a bike.

The classes at Rallysport where I teach in winter are anything but. True cycling workouts and rides. Accurate power meters on every bike make these classes the best I have seen. 

  There are ways that you can turn a less than ideal spinning class into a great endurance and technical workout for you and your needs.
First off this is your workout not the instructors. If you’re doing the 10 minute “climb” in the saddle then stay in the saddle no one is going yell at you.  Further more, you control the tension, on the fly wheel, right? You control your intensity.  Then keep it at your intensity not Joe spinner’s next to you who doesn't even commute to work. 

Many times these classes are only one hour long. To short for you? Come early or stay late. Try to push past that key 70’ mark. I will be doing a webinar at Training peaks HQ on how to find your weak areas and talk about some tools and methods for maximizing your time in the winter months. This we will talk more about this there. Don’t miss it!  January 8th! 

  Spinning classes offer one of the greatest opportunity to work on technique. For starters you don’t have to balance the bike, steer,  be wary of traffic etc. Take this “stabilized” time to really focus on your pedal stroke. In the beginning of class take a few minutes to pedal with one leg. Do 2x30 seconds on each leg. Then, take some 30” or 1’ intervals to really focus on a perfect pedaling, both legs, smooth and efficient.  Most spinning bikes have semi fixed or totally fix cranks. This will carry your legs through the circle even when they start to wear out and get sloppy at the end of class. This is a great time to do some fast pedals (30 sec. bursts of high cadence, low resistance, in the saddle sprinting).  These are for technique, not power. This will recruit fast twitch muscle fibers when they are most tired, training your legs to be the fresh at the end of a hard ride or race.  This makes you more prepared for that inevitable attack at the end of a road race, the hills coming into T2 or the 3 minutes you have to close down in the run for first place at a local triathlon.  

Look be realistic. If you live in a state with 4 seasons its cold in winter, the roads are icey and it gets dark at 5pm.  trying to train to many hours will have you burnt out before the first training race in spring. Consistency is KING! this big picture and be in for the long haul. 

Weight Training, Winter and the Real World.

My last post on Strength training, lifting weights, performance and training in the real world fell short of Nobel prize writing and was more of a rant. The topic has come up again in my training seminars, amongst friends and I have been pointed to some recent studies as well.

Here is a recent study of conversation: http://www.rappstar.com/pdf/StrengthTrainingEnduranceAthletes.pdf

Too long and technical for you. Here are the basic conclusions and findings.

strength training with weights increased “endurance” and power at VO2 by 7%. This study was done with trained cyclist which is nice.

This will be short and to the point. First off there is more than one way to skin a cat. And even more ways to train for an endurance event.

~“But ek you said weights would only increase your max power by 2%.”No, I said the people I worked with only had an avg. increase in max power of 2%. I have always been a proponent of “strength training” just not with weights. This study was done as one group doing x amount of “endurance” work which was a specific intensity based on there Vo2. (first of all they should have used threshold here) The strength training group had the strength work ADDED to their endurance work.
So, more work and high intensity work at that made this group “stronger”. No surprise there. The 7% is surprising to me. A very significant gain for sure. I would like to see their workout and progression for sure! 

The more athletes I work with the more benefit I see with strength work. With my athletes its done on the bike. With specific intervals, done a specific way. This work has resulted in big gains in max power. And while I have never tested the endurance gains from it the improvement seems to be across the board not just in max power. Is this seemingly increase in endurance from the strength work? Or other training done? I don’t know.

The biggest advantage I see to my “on the bike” strength work is that it saves time. Lots of time.
It can be done without additional hours in the gym. And the gains I have seen have been in 6 weeks or less instead of 3 months. That’s half the time. So now the athlete may do another 6 weeks of some other training depending on their strengths, weaknesses, resources, time to train, etc…

"Time. Time is your worst enemy, your best ally and is the biggest issue EVERY athlete deals with."

Time in the day. Amount of time per week to train, and how much time one has from now (the day they start training) until race day. Further more. What did you do last year? The year before that? How about the last 10 years? This is a bigger discussion on periodization…

The real world.

“So ek what if I do your on the bike strength work and lift weights?” good Q. what will happen to your quality of training? On the bike strength work 3 time week. Plus weights 2 times a week. Not sure you can get a maximal effort every workout on that sch. I could do squats every day but they would suck after 2 if not 1 day.

~from Coach Nick. “On your point of real world practicality, that is exactly WHY I weight train in the winter. For a 9-6 working stiff, there are very few hours available to me to train on the bike. Core and weight training gives me extra training time that frankly probably wouldn't happen at all if I was sticking to just the bike.”

very good point. Nick is a roadie. All riding all the time. One can only sit on a trainer for so long. but if time is THAT short why is one still getting "burned out" or board?
I would rather go to a spin class sit in back and do my strength work (my own workout) on the bike with some pumping tunes, good looking ladies and some other hard working peeps to motivate me. brings up another point on motivation. what motivated you?? This is an important issue.

~Triathletes please don’t tell me you need more to do than the 3 sports you all ready have! If you’re getting burned out or board trying to be an expert at swimming, biking and running you need help.

~“But XYZ pro lifts weights?” good for them. If you want to be like XYZ pro, go ahead and lift. Let me know when you get a pro contract and then we will re think your winter training. 

~I was at a team meeting in Boulder , CO and Tim O’donnell was there. (pro triathlete) He was asked “do you lift in the winter?” “yes I do”, he said “but only core and some stability stuff” this is a guy who is a pro.  he trains and thinks about training 24-7…

~doing core work and lifting in the gym are 2 very different things. core, always important do it!

~There are no magic bullets. I hear this every year. “I’m gona xyz this year” its gona make me soooo strong. This is my year!" You’re on the right track. By all means CHANG IT UP!! Take a chance, do something different!! But there are no secrets here. You wana get faster at something. Then get out there and do THAT something!!

Lifting weights is NOT bad for you. In fact it’s quite the opposite. I feel that for reaching your best as a cyclist, triathlete, mtb’er, etc. there are better ways to use your time.

There’s that word again. Time. 

This is a very argued topic and I am not saying there is one perfect way to do anything. but this is where the art of training and coaching come into view. there are only 24 hours in a day and so many days from now to race day?

Leave some more Questions and real world situations in the comments!Leave muscle fiber this and hypertrophy that at the door. I want real world. Something we can use in training, out there in the rd. or some results you have had.