Training tip for the time crunched athlete

    

We have talked about training in training races, and all sorts of spring type training and races.... things. OK its early give me a brake on teh adjective finding.  But it IS still winter. as I type this I look at the forecast for 6+ inches of snow in the next 36 hours. this is one of my favorite time saving workouts that I prescribe almost every one of my athletes at one point or another.  

We talk about many more time saving methods Here, a free webinar on you tube.   And for more full time tranning support for teh self coached athlete or if you have a training plan.check out 24-7 coaching. 

With busy schedules, many athletes just don’t have enough time to work on all the aspects necessary to reach their full potential. Let alone the Triathlete who needs to be effective in three sports.

 Because of this, it is of great value if one can combine workouts. I am not talking about a brick workout or double sessions either. I’m talking about maximizing your time. Even pro’s whom train for a living need to be effective with there time and training.

SO, a quick tip here that goes along nicely with the webinar I did not long ago. You can find that here.
   A great way to do this is by focusing on more than one aspect of your training in one workout. By placing workouts within workouts one can get a double whammy effect out of his or her training. Consult your coach before concocting your own “double whammy” workouts. One of the best ways to do one of these is to place tech. drills or hard intervals into a longer endurance workout. For example: In your 3 hr. ride, focus on your technique while riding up hills.  Keep pedal cadence high and concentrate on pedaling “perfectly”.  Talk to your coach about that too.  Alternate standing and sitting. Stand up on one hill; for the whole hill, sit on the next. Hone your skills.  Do fast pedal drills in your long ride or strides in your long run. Another option is to do intervals or some kind of harder effort in your work out.  If you are looking to increase your power or speed, do your intervals after a solid warm up.  Cool down easily, hydrate and fuel up appropriately, then continue with a low intensity endurance workout.  

Bike example:  20’ warm up.
3x10’ Zone 4. (rest 3’). 
10’ cool down, continue cool down at level 2 for 2 hours.

Looking to focus on more endurance for that IM. Do the intervals after 2 hours of riding at Zone 2.  BAMB!  Two birds with one stone!

This example is one of my favorites. You are working some threshold intervals into a longer end ride. However, its important to understand that “threshold” work is mostly aerobic. So despite the high increase in intensity you are still doing an Endurance Ride.

Please consult your coach or sign up for 24-7 coaching and get some specific advice before doing any of these as they are a bit more taxing than your normal single aspect workouts that mere mortals do. There are some “double whammy” workouts that are a bad idea.

   Example: working two different maximal effort zones in the same work out. Working long tempo, cooling down then doing 1 minute intervals.  Not the best idea here. especially for the novice. 
With proper planning there is no reason that anyone can’t finish that IM, be a contender in there age group, or win the big one. Happy training!

Group rides. the sweet spot.

Many cyclist and triathletes a like participate in group rides. They have unique place in our training and over all preparation. They can simulate a bike race, add some intensity to your tri training, be great prep for those doing ITU races and lets face it, there just fun!
Matt Reed is seen on the local group rides in Boulder often. Many long distance triathletes add in a fast rodie like group ride to mix things up and get some high intensity. Tony Delonge
winner at IM USA a few years back through down a record bike split on his way to an 8:56! Tony would take part in the Tue. group ride out side of Boston quite often. Regardless of your racing goals these can be great training but all group rides are not the same and, more so, the same group ride can be a very different experience for different people.

So what’s your Sweet Spot for a Group Ride?

First off we are talking about the fast rides. Hard, pre-set course, if you get dropped no one is waiting for you rides. Not the "team rides".   The first thing you should be doing, or not doing really, is trying to make the ride something its not. I have heard before "I'm gona do my threshold (or tempo) work on the group ride tonight", ahh, no your not. With these types of training sessions or any where you are looking for "muscle endurance" and Friel calls it. The type of training where you're on the legs every pedal stroke for your selected interval time a group ride is not the place to do them. Unless you can ride on the front of the group in your zone for that long with out anyone coming around you. I'm guessing you can't.
A group ride gives us a few unique things we simply can't get alone.

• Higher speeds: turning bigger gears, even at a similar wattage it has a different feel.
• Variable power: the up and down stop, go, stop, go nature of a pack ride
• A large amount of total anaerobic riding
• The repeating nature of these above threshold efforts
• Higher cadences, hopefully
• The unknown. going hard when you would like to rest, recovery periods when you least expect them.
• learning to relax in a pack, cross winds, etc. ie. more efficient riding when the situation is stressful. better bike handling on a efficiency level.

If you are going to do a ride of this nature you should be looking for at least some of these things.
  Ok so were are going to do some group rides now what. What’s a good ride for you, what’s not so good. First off know the rout, maybe ride it solo or with a few friends before so you know where your going, where the big hills are, down hills, turns, etc.

Intensity, the key factor:

This is where I see so many people blow there "group ride" type training.
If going on a group ride involves you hanging on for dear life for 20-30 minutes, accumulating 40% or more of your time above threshold (power time), getting dropped and limping home barely able to push Z2 wattage the ride is too hard and you’re doing more damage than good. You want your ride to be challenging, not over reaching, you want to be able to repeat your training! ie. get out of bed the next morning for your run, or another ride. You should be able to finish the ride. if not with the front group at least a group of other riders. Beyond this look to be able to do a few hard efforts without getting dropped. (go to the front and do some pulls, a few 1' attacks off the front, etc) and be able to recover in the pack when you need.

so a few, more tangible factors to aim for:

• No more the 20% of your time above threshold, power. or 30-35% of HR time. even for a road cyclist, who is trained for lots of anaerobic time is going to have a really hard ride with more than this.
• Your best hour normalized power being below threshold. if you start doing long sections of time at threshold things are going to get unmanageable fast.
• Peek avg. power: having only your best 10 min. avg. being at threshold you will find the ride to be over all pretty hard. start doing 20 min. or more. get ready to suffer.
• wattage spikes: 10 watts per kilogram of body weight. This is a big benchmark for bike races and mass start rides. The more of these the harder your over all effort is gona be. get up to 12 or more per hour your gona know it! In a tough crit style race we can see up to 40 in 1 hour.
  
  http://tpks.ws/eRsG

Above is a link to a group ride done by coach Eric recently. The ride is less the first 30' and less the last 40.
This ride was tough. One reason is because it was the first one of the year! That first date with significant anaerobic time is always hard. I got a flat with about 30' still to ride. the last 30-40 minutes of the ride was tough. after a quick flat fix I was riding in a smaller group pulling through more frequently and getting less rest time. one of the things to note about any ride is how difficult there are while still having so much time in Z1 and not pedaling!!

Find your sweet spot. Make sure you can keep training after the ride. can you finish it? What does your power file and HR file look like? The over all idea here gang. Can you get all of these adaptations in (mentioned above) but minimize the crushing fatigue and muscle damage of a full on race effort?

So before you decide on the group ride workout get some info on what your in for, know your rout and decide what your really looking to get from it. Is this ride going to give you that?

be safe and have fun. tough group rides can be the most fun you can have on 2 wheels.

Check out Ek Endurance Coaching latest can do for you and there new 24-7 Coaching group here:  http://ekendurancecoaching.com/247coaching.html

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!