Benefit of the Long Training Day.

I was just talking to an athlete about the importance of the "long days". This athlete said they do a long 2000 -4000 meter swim every time they hop in the pool. I knew the answer but I asked anyway."Why?" The answer is always, "that is the distance I have to cover and I have to know that it can be done without stopping."

You don't get faster at that distance by doing that distance all the time. You get faster by doing interval work. You wouldn't go out and ride 112 miles every weekend and try to do it faster every time. That is a recipe for disaster. Besides, who has that kind of time to devote to training? Not to mention that it would get really boring. Good luck trying to find friends who will train with you once you tell them what you are doing. I understand the logic. This sport is about endurance but you get faster by training the anaerobic system. This is why your coach will put interval efforts in your bike or run workouts. The swim is no different. Instead of doing 2000 meters at an aerobic pace, it would be more productive to break that into segments of 100s or 200s with short rest periods between sets. The increased intensity taxes your anaerobic energy system. Over time this stimulus elicits a response and a physiological adaptation occurs. This translates into a faster athlete. Moreover you are able to swim with better form because of the rest between sets. Swimming hard gives you a different "feel" for the water. It is this feel that you want to become acquainted with. The body has a way of breaking form when fatigued and these imbalance are never more present than when speed is introduced. It is for this reason that maintaining proper form is vitally important. When doing sets of 100's the break in form can often times be indicated by slower splits. Teaching yourself to hold your form during hard workouts equals a faster and easier swim on race day. 

Now on to the mental training. When you are swimming you are in some ways isolated from the rest of the world. Going long gives you lots of time to think, let your mind wonder, or doubt yourself. Anyone who has done an Ironman race can tell you it is very much mental. Doing long days can give you the mental toughness you need throughout the day.

Mental Breakdown: No, not that kind of mental break down. Doing a long day in the pool or in the saddle gives you the confidence of know you can do the distance. It also give you the ability to break the race down into manageable segments. Think of splitting your race into two or four 1000 meter segments instead of 2 or 4000 meters. Or on the bike think of splitting into segments of aid stations. Give yourself mini goals within the race. An example is: I want to be (X) distance by (Y) time then take a little break. I personally like to break the bike course up into four distances or segments. I study the course and think of racing each part as a mini race within the race. Before you know it you are rounding the corner into T2. This strategy can help turn a herculean task into another day at the office.

Know you limiters: This touches on the previous topic of form. Speed and fatigue enhance all of our biomechanical flaws. After doing straight sets or long rides you walk away with the knowledge of when your form begins  to break down. For example you may notice that after  2000 meters your pull begins to get deeper or you start to pull across your body and lift your head. Or after 50 miles you always become dehydrated or start to lose focus and mash the pedals. Knowing this helps in a race because now you know at that moment, you need to focus on those parts of your stroke or getting in extra fluids before you become dehydrated and focus on your pedal stroke. Constantly taking this mental inventory will keep your mind from wondering you will stay focused on your race.

 Mental Game: Any athlete that has completed an Ironman race can tell you that there are "dark" moments. There are many miles to doubt your ability and wonder why you are doing this. This is especially true when unexpected events arise and put out on the course longer than expected. This can throw your entire race plan out the door. If you were planning on riding a 5:40 bike split and now you are looking at doing a 6:45, you have to re-calculate your nutritional needs. This is where going long pays dividends. If you have done training rides of six hours plus you at least know what it feels like and you don't panic. Well, you might panic a little, but then you regroup and draw on your train history to come up with an impromptu contingency plan. Not you mention that you will have trained your body to stay in the saddle for an inhuman amount of time.

The take home message is that while straight set or super long  epic rides have their place they shouldn't be the bread and butter of your training plan. Like with all things there needs to be balance. Not only a physical balance but mental as well. Doing the long dreaded days builds your mental psyche and can be the difference between a bad race and a stellar performance. 

Vo2 Testing For Endurance Athletes

A question I get from athletes is whether or not they need testing and how important is it. My answer is yes and very. 

Testing establishes a baseline in which to build your training program. If you don’t know where you are, how do you know where you are going. Think of testing as a road map. 

Then next question is, do I need to get in shape before I do a test. The answer is no. In fact it is better if you are not. This way it gives your coach and the person conduction the test a true measure and more accurate description of your fitness, or lack thereof.

There are several types of test. One test and the most common is a field test where you would do a time trial for a specific distance or time. This is the most popular because it is the easiest to administer. The coach or tester can then extrapolate the data needed and design your training plan based on the results. This type of test can also be done for each discipline. Your heart rate will vary by sport due to several factors, some of them being your hearts orientation to gravity or your training history. For this reason field testing is more specific to each individual sport.

Another type of testing is Vo2 testing. This type of test is usually done on a treadmill but can also be done for the bike. It measures your body’s gas exchange between oxygen(O2) and Carbon dioxide (CO2). The administrator can find the point at which your body stops becoming efficient at fat oxidation and shifts over to burning carbohydrates as a fuel source. This test is a more scientific approach and is not distorted by outside influences such as heat, humidity, wind, terrain, etc. The data points are a direct result of your body’s work. Using this data you can apply a training plan to teach your body to utilize fat as a fuel source at higher levels of intensity, thus impacting your performance.

VO2 testing does require equipment and an administrator. For this reason the cost can sometimes influence ones decision to pick one test over another. But remember that you get what you pay for. Sure you can do field test on your own. But if you are not familiar with the protocols or not motivated to push yourself to your limit then the numbers will be skewed.

Without testing or some kind of measure you can not know how your body is responding to your training.  Without a proper stimulus to training your body can not make adaptations in order to keep progressing your race fitness. If your are not training in a specific zone in order to impact your race results you are essentially just exercising.  There is nothing wrong with that, but if you are serious about your training and racing, you should be tested in order to make your training more productive. If you are interested in training being tested check out our website at E2MULTISPORTS.COM, give us a call 512-808-0019, send an email at coach@e2multisports.com, or just stop by our studio at Core Personal Fitness to schedule your Test. We have all the latest equipment needed to test you and an expert to administer the test. Meet our test administrator Amanda McIntosh. A world renowned endurance athlete with experience and awards for every endurance event on the planet. Enhance your Endurance with E2Multisports.

Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon 70.3

This year BSLT 70.3 was a way for me to try and redeem myself from Ironman Texas. Since I really didn’t race IMTX. my recovery was fairly quick as far as soreness. Because I raced while ill had lingering fatigue for almost 10 days after. Going into the next weekend I felt okay.  I had a pretty good built and was starting to regain some of the power in my legs that I lost. I still was not happy with the power numbers I was putting up but at least they were getting closer to where I wanted them. My run was getting better.  Life gets in the way and I was not able to get any long runs in. My brick runs felt good and I made the most of my short amount of training time. The one area I did feel good about was my swim.  After a bad week that I attribute to fatigue from IMTX, I was started to feel as good about my swim as I did going into IMTX

The RoadTrip

It is a long boring drive from San Antonio to Lubbock, Texas. It is especially so if you are driving alone. Throw in alot  of caffeine and you have yourself a 7 hour trip. I can now tell you every convenient store there is on HWY 87 and which ones are the cleanest. (Do NOT stop in Lamesa. EVER!)

Prep and Recon

The Recon

The day before a race I usually like to go out for a swim as close to race time as possible. This way I can get a feel for the water temps and location of the sun. On this day there was a sprint and kids tri going on so Rob and I were were unable to get in the lake until it was over.  As we waited I felt like I was in a scene from the movie Twister.  We watched a storm roll in. It picked up all the red dirt and pushed it like a tidal wave with thunder, lightening, and driving rain following close behind. All I could think is those poor athletes are stuck out there on the course and the officials started to pull them of the course and bring them in. I would have offered to help but I didn’t want to get wet. 

As the storm passed we finally got a chance to swim and the water was perfect for a wetsuit swim.

Final Tune up.

Just before dinner most of us decided to take the rigs on a final spin to make sure all gears are in working order. I think the dry climate finally got to me.  As I finished my 1 block spin I turned to a fellow athlete and said My legs are starting to cramp and feel very fatigue for a half mile spin. I was hoping I just wasn’t warmed up.

I told myself to just stay hydrated and I would be fine come race day.

Race Day

Wake up call 4:15am. time to eat. This is the first time I have done a race and stayed with several other athletes. It was interesting and amusing to see everyone’s different race day meal rituals. 5 athletes and 5 different meals. After breakfast we checked the forecast and it was raining and 68. It might be a decent day for a race. Getting to race wasn’t too bad. Packed my things, got body marked and went to find my bike rack. I was sitting on the second row next to the Pro’s. That was pretty cool. I think my team actually had a better spot than the pro’s. We were right next to the bike exit. Literally about 15 feet away from the exit. 

PR Swim 33:01 

Swim

This swim is a beach start. This start has a very shallow bay like area that allows for a good bit of walking or running. I did the calculations and you can easily gain one or two minutes in this race due to this aspect. 

I knew is was a bit more shallow to the right so I lined myself up as far right as the officials allowed. I started at the front and did my best to stay with the leaders. I typically takes me a little longer to warm up than most people so I knew my fast start wasn’t going to last long. I made the first turn and started to fall back. I decided to stay far to the right out of traffic and swim my own race. I got relaxed and was able to pick up my pace. Something to note if you are thinking of doing this race. You will be swimming directly into the sun for about 400 meters. This makes it very hard to site if you do not have mirrored or dark tinted goggles. Because the water is very murky I used clear goggles. As chose to just follow the general direction of the large that was in front of me until I got to where I could see the next turn buoy. Rookie mistake. Don’t assume others are siting correctly. Turns out this group was swimming WAY  inside the bouy. I essentially swam in a zig zag. I knew I had to make up some time so I pushed my pace a little more. I felt good so I kept my pace. I was catching the two groups that started 5 and 10 minutes ahead of me. Before I know it I was nearing the final turn. I felt good and picked up my pace and increased my kick. Maybe I kicked a little too much because I was beginning to feel soreness setting in my legs.  I exit the water and look at my watch. 33:01 PR by 2 minutes and 6 minutes faster than my 70.3 in April. I was so ecstatic I forgot to stop for the strippers. I went back to get help taking off my wetsuit.

T1
 I ran up to my bike and saw fellow teammates. I was still excited about my swim and I forgot to put on my socks but didn't realize it until I was already starting up the first hill. This was my first time to go this distance without socks. I am too far committed to stop and go back for socks, besides, I don't think they will let you go back into transition. I hope this doesn't come back to haunt me. I made my way up the first hill and my legs were already sore for some unexplained reason so I just kept it easy and pushed as hard as I could without cramping up. I handled all the hills pretty well. I would have to say that the cross wind was my biggest challenge and where I lost most of my time. Being conservative was a good call I was able to push my pace the last 15 miles into the park at 23-25mph. Then I just died before making the last turn to the dam. That last climb before T2 killed me. 

T2
I dismounted and took about 10 steps and I was racking my bike. Sweet! Since I gained so much time due to my rack position I thought I would use the extra time to put on my compression socks. I headed out of T2 and was holding a 7min. pace. But wanted to run the first mile or two at 9ish and then pick it up. I was feeling good but didn’t want to risk bonking in the last miles.

 I forced myself to walk and get my heart rate and pace down. Heading out of the park I started to get my running legs and let fly. Run was going pretty good at this point. This run doesn’t have much shade after you exit the park. Then you turn into the energy lab and there is nothing to protect you from the sun. This is where I wanted to make my move. I started to increase my pace every two minutes. I was dumping as much water and ice as I could at each aid station. I started to get a blister from my feet staying wet. I said to hold your pace until the turn around and then I could stop and put vasoline on my feet. Another lesson I learned. It is really hard to take off compressions socks when you are wet, sweaty, and tired. It is even harder to put them back on. I think I lost almost 10 minutes at that aid station.  Once I stood up I felt like everything just shut down. I tried to make up my lost time by running a hard pace and hoping my body adjust. This pace only lasted about 1 mile. The wheels fell off at this point and I just wanted to continue a motion that resembled a run. I felt that I could catch most of the pack I was running with but as the miles tick off this was proving to be a much hard task than I was anticipating. Turning into the park I was in the  hurt box but needed to at least keep running in order catch my group. I started to reel in a few people but I was hurting. 1 mile to go.  I told myself “You can go 1 hard mile. You do it all the time and it will be over before you know it.” 

I finished with the second slowest bike and run split for this distance. Overall it was a slower than average race for me. I knew I was lacking in my run training and it was going to hurt but I could not predict this kind of suffering. I spent my run training improving my swim so I traded one for the other and there needs to be a balance. Back to work and don’t neglect the other portions of the race. To finish on a light note, because of some stellar performance by the rest of the team E2MULTISPORTS took first place in the Ironman triclub competition. Way to go Team I will see you all at the next start line.

TRAINING THE FORGOTTEN MUSCLES

When you think of training for an Ironman you think of training your legs for the bike and run. You may think of training you upper body for the swim. But what about the bridge that connects the two. Yes, I am talking about the popular term “core”. Your core is really the link from your brain to the muscles. By being able to better activate and control it you in turn have better and more efficient control of your “working muscles”. 

  Lets think about two different types of bridges. 1. The rope bridge. You may remember the rope bridge from old movies like Indiana Jones. Pretty scary and not very stable and unpredictable. 2. The steel or concrete bridge. It is more rigid and probably safer. When you take a step it is very predictable in how it will respond. Which would you rather be on? By being efficient in the core you are going to be a more efficient athlete which usually translates into a faster athlete. 

Now lets talk about other muscles you have forgotten about. Your neck and shoulders. Think about how many times you rotate your head when you breath in the swim, how many revolutions your arms make while completing a 2.4 miles swim (that is if you swim perfectly straight). You may not have thought about training your neck but I am sure you have started to feel some of its effects from long hours in the saddle. When you are doing your

long rides it is not only about fitness. You are conditioning your body to hold a fixed position for up to 6 hours. Your neck, shoulders, and back need to be up to the task or you could wreck your run. Aside from the long days in the saddle you  can do strength exercises on your recovery days to complement your training. One of the best exercises you can do is a plank. It conditions your shoulders to hold your weight for 6 hours after swimming for over an hour. It also helps strengthen your core musculature as well as your lower back.

What is your gut telling you?

 By now you have probably practiced your race day nutrition and you should probably have it nailed down. Something to consider when doing a race like Ironman Texas or any hot tropical region is your hydration. In hot weather your body needs fluids and electrolytes more than calories. In fact the thermogenic effect of food could actually raise your core temperature. In these types of races it is imperative that you train yourself to “stomach” the amount of fluids you will ask of it on race day. Don’t think you can play this one by ear. If your stomach is not equipped to handle the increased amount of fluids it will get rid of it and the effect could be catastrophic to your race. The stomach is an amazing organ and has the capacity to expand and shrink to accommodate the demands placed on it. But it does need a little time to acclimate. The good news is you still have some time to accomplish this in training. My recommendation for this type of race course is to take in at least an additional 20 oz of water with electrolytes per hour in addition to your race day nutrition.  Good luck to all who are racing at IRONMAN TEXAS. Enjoy your taper. You have earned it. 

See you at the finish line.

Are you training for IMTX? This is the first on a series of articles discussing how to prepare your body for the race. 

There are several aspects to training for a race of this distance besides the physical training required to power yourself through out the day. To truly race to your body’s potential you need to look at all details of the race that may affect your outcome. One of these aspects is your body’s ability to utilize sodium. If you are an endurance athlete you probably know or at least have heard about the importance of electrolytes.  Simply put electrolytes are minerals that are dissolved in your body’s water and are present in every cell. 

Importance of Electrolytes

Every function of the human body is reliant on electrical impulses. These impulses are responsible for all muscular contractions ranging from your eyelids to your heart.  Water is an excellent conductor of electricity which is why we function best when we are well hydrated. Electrolytes, especially sodium molecules are attracted to water molecules. Remember this, where sodium goes, water will follow. 

When you sweat you lose sodium. To maintain homeostasis the cells will release sodium to balance out the fluid present on each side of the cell wall. Continued loss will eventually cause dehydration on cellular level. Tracking sweat rate and replacing sodium lost in sweat will prevent you from becoming dehydrated and prevent a loss of muscular function. Consciously thinking about sodium loss on top of focusing on your race is difficult. But there is an easier way....

Planning is in the details

Condition you body to more efficiently utilize sodium when you do need it!

This conditioning starts weeks or months in advance. Just like many other facets of the body, if you change an aspect of how your body functions, the body will adapt to maintain homeostasis, thus becoming more efficient at using the sodium it has. Once you start implementing a sodium loading phase the body will start to store more water in preparation for your IMTX race. Anything your body does not use will be discarded as waste. Think of this as acclimating your body to use sodium in a more efficient manner just as you would acclimate your body to the heat or any other condition of a race. One way I like to do this is with my Infinit nutrition and with salt tablets in my Fuelbelt pill holder. 

Implementing the plan:

After a few weeks of sodium depletion you should slowly start adding salt back into your diet. This should not be hard to do since the typical american diet is loaded with salt. 

The week of the race: 

Once you arrive in the Woodlands I suggest sipping on water and electrolyte drinks. One sodium tablet the day before the race. 

The morning of the race:

IMTX is known for being an uncomfortably hot swim. I like to mix a special drink I call my Secret Drink. It is a half dose of Infinit or whatever drink you use mixed with 1-2 teaspoons of baking soda. This is my electrolyte load for the day. I mix that into a water bottle and sip until the start of the race. I will also have one bottle of this in transition. 

When you exit the swim you will undoubtedly be dehydrated unless you drank a lot of the lake water, which I highly recommend against. I will down half of this bottle before I get on to the bike and then pour the rest in my aerodrink. 

On the bike

While on the bike I am getting approximately 1000 mg of sodium in per hour. This comes out to drinking one bottle of Infinit per hour and taking in 1 salt tablet with water every 30 minutes. This works for me, is a very good reference, and will work for most people. I recommend knowing your own sweat rate and testing this in training. 

Check back for part two of this series on how to race your best at IMTX.

Note: Always consult your physician prior to changing or adding sodium to your training if you have a history of high blood pressure or any other medical conditions that could be exacerbated by intaking extra sodium.