Posts tagged triathlon
Preparation for a Sprint Triathlon
May 19th
Preparation for a sprint triathlon.
The following things will help you in a sprint triathlon.
Evening Meal.
Avoid any red meat the night before your triathlon because it can take up to 18 hours to fully be digested. Best to eat pasta and white meats like chicken and fish, which are easier to digest.
On race morning you will then be able to eat your breakfast without too much problem.
Try and eat your last main meal before 7pm the night before so you can fully digest it for the next morning.
The night before avoid drinking alcohol because it is high in empty calories; it boosts your appetite, it can also reduce your body’s efficiency to burn fat. Alcohol will affect your body’s ability to keep cool during the triathlon. You could wake up on race morning already dehydrated from even small amounts of alcohol and this will impair your performance.
Alcohol can stay in your system for more than 36 hours; if you have to drink alcohol reduce the chances of dehydration by drinking at least 500ml of water before you go to bed.
Drinking just plain water in the 2-3 days before your event can flush away vital minerals and salts and you could get cramp early in the event. To avoid this drink 50/50 fruit juice/water or electrolyte drinks, these are a much better choice than plain water.
Snack on fruits in the 2 days before and avoid going hungry.
Race Morning.
Have breakfast 2-4 hours before Triathlon.
It is normal to not feel hungry on race morning if you feel full on race morning just snack small amounts of fruit apples, bananas or energy bars up to 90 minutes before you are due to start.
Preferred pre race breakfast meal.
Toast butter with jam or honey (carbohydrate small amount of fat and simple sugars)
Banana for carbohydrate and potassium to help prevent cramping.
Cereal with milk (i.e. porridge slow releasing energy with milk for protein)
Orange Juice with water 50/50.
Have a spare snack and extra drink should the start be delayed.
The Transition area.
A bright coloured towel laid on the ground below your bike helps you find your bike in the transition area. Try to remember where your bike is in the transition area by solid fixtures like a wall, a sign, a banner etc. The bright yellow coloured bike next to yours could be gone by the time you arrive back. Your own bright towel helps you find your correct place when you return from the cycle section.
Lay helmet upside down or hanging from bike so it is easy to get on.
Shoes laid out for easy access to get into, save minutes by using either camping toggles or elastic shoelaces rather than tying them up.
If you are wearing socks roll them down to the ankle to help get them on easier, wet feet can make you take 4 times as long to put them on.
The Triathlon.
15-10 minutes before you need to drink 330ml of either plain water or a weak carbohydrate or electrolyte solution (1-3%)
Sip this drink just before the triathlon, your kidneys will almost shut down while you compete, so you should have no need to go to the toilet and you can then use this fluid in the Triathlon.
Swim
If you are unable to warm up for the swim section do arm swings 10 of each forward and backward. 10 arm shrugs and 10 punches trying to avoid hitting anyone or anything. If you do not warm up for the swim you can take the whole triathlon to get going.
Swim goggles will leak for the following reasons.
If you tighten them up just before the start too tight, they may have never leaked before.
Making them too tight is no extra guarantee that they will be water tight, being too tight can change the way they fit on your face, which will result in allowing water to get inside them.
If you put goggles onto a wet face this can cause them to not seal properly as your skin needs to be dry to cause proper suction and also overlapping your goggles over the swim hat stops a proper seal.
Bike
Cycle in an easy gear high cadence (90-100rpm) when you start the cycle this allows the blood to be diverted from your swimming muscles to your cycling legs. Wait 2-4 minutes after starting the bike section before drinking because as soon as anything enters your stomach blood is diverted from your much-needed working muscles in your legs. Allow yourself time to get use to cycling before drinking
Being in an easy gear (high cadence) keeps the chain at full stretch and should stop the chain from coming off when you run with bike out of the transition area and start cycling.
For events lasting 60-120 minutes you need to drink 600-1000ml. It is much easier to drink on the bike. Plain water is harder to absorb so it is much better to have a carbohydrate or electrolyte drink for fast absorption even a tiny amount can help with performance rather than plain water.
Avoid drinking as you approach a hill. When climbing hills aim for more than 60 rpm that is more than one per second if you do not have a cadence sensor on your bike.
Spin your legs on down hill sections to keep the legs from seizing up, this will help you for climbing the next hill and running afterwards.
In the last 5 minutes of the bike section before the run increase your cadence by 10rpm to reduce the likelihood of dead leg syndrome.
Run
Start the run with a short shuffle stride, if you try and over stride with tight hamstrings caused by the cycle leg your muscles will almost certainly remain short for the whole duration of this sprint distance triathlon.
Your legs will be tired from the run so you will need to use your arms to keep going.
Short arm movements help with shuffle strides while longer backward and forward movements improve your stride length.
Anything you drink in the last 10 minutes of the run will generally not be absorbed until you cross the finish line.
Save time by preparation.
Before the start do these few little tricks to save time.
Walk from swim to your racked bike before the start and recall where it is, pace yourself from where your bike is to the bike exit.
Know where you enter the transition area after the bike and where the run exit is.
You will be surprised how many people spend hours training to go fast only to lose minutes going the wrong way on race day.
To make events safer with one-way traffic and stop people bumping into one another often there can be 4 different places for entry and exit.
Use elastic shoelaces or quick release camping toggles much quicker than doing up shoelaces can save 30 seconds a shoe with wet hands from the swim.
One-piece tri suit quick drying to swim bike and run. Number elasticised belt and pin number on much quicker than putting on a top when you are wet.
Mistakes to avoid.
Do not wear anything different that you have not tried before in training.
Do not change your position on your bike in the last 7 days before the triathlon because your body will not have time to adjust to the changes.
Preparing sports drink with twice the strength hoping this will make up for lack of training.
Training with a Power Meter
May 14th
IRONMAN POWER
From using a power meter myself in many ironman triathlons and coaching cyclists and triathletes to train and use a power meter and studying numerous power data I have come to the following conclusions.
I have no doubt from the information I have observed
I believe that very few coaches have personally used and have coached Ironman athletes more than me.
Here are my observations
Even power watts throughout the 180km (112 miles) is paramount to great finish time.
Just an extra 20 watts average during the Ironman can lead to a slower overall of time of 15- 30 minutes. The bike ends up being 10-15 minutes quicker but the run can be 25-40 minutes slower. You don’t need a calculator to see you get an overall quicker time by holding back.
I know some who have lost an hour in the run due to trying just a little too hard on the bike.
If you are just looking for a fast bike then hammer it and waste energy fighting the wind.
If you hold back too much you may not be able to have a super fast run as your anaerobic threshold speed will be your limiting factor.
I have spoken to many Triathletes about power who have recorded a 6 hour Ironman bike split.
The power needed to take exactly 6 hours for the ironman bike split varies form 160 watts for a 60kg person to 180 watts for the 70kg person to 200 watts for the 80kg person.
Of course many other factors are related to power from hills wind road surface an aerodynamic bike and aero position to name just a few also plays an important part regarding speed and time taken to cover 180km
Functional Threshold power (FTP) = the highest average power you can maintain for 60 minutes. You can keep going much longer when training just below your FTP>
The fitter you are the closer to 80% you can maintain and still run well after.
I have found that the best age group athletes who have good nutrition and even pace bikes can manage an average power of 75% of their FTP
My FTP power for 60 minutes is 260 watts.
RECOVERY TRAINING.(<55% of FTP)
Active recovery below 143 watts. And below 110 beats per minute
Perception of effort = Easy spinning and light pedal pressure. Automatic cycling.
Breathing – slightly more than normal.
ENDURANCE TRAINING (56-75% of FTP)
Mine is 146 to195 watts and between 112 and 134 beats per minute.
This is almost all day training (5-8 hours) with fatigue towards the end or during a tough climb.
Breathing-You should be able to hold a full conversation without any problems while breathing.
TEMPO TRAINING (76-90% OF FTP)
198 to234 watts and between 136 and 152 beats per minute
Hard cycling intervals and hard cycling up hills.
Breathing – unable to hold a full conversation without laboured breathing
LACTATE THRESHOLD TRAINING. (91-105% OF FTP)
Mine is 237 and 273 watts and between 154 and 170
Threshold one hour anaerobic sports test (TOAST).or Functional Threshold power (FTP)
This type of training will help you have excellent fitness for the Ironman triathlon. Lactate threshold training tests are a very good indicator of potential performance.
Training is just below or above the red line of your time trial effort.
Breathing – Deep fast breathing making talking very difficult.
AEROBIC POWER (106 -120% OF FTP)
Mine is 276 to 312 watts and above 170 beats per minute
Talking impossible.
ANAEROBIC TRAINING. (119% + OF FTP)
Mine is above 310 watts
Short sharp bursts of power
Hammer head athletes who continually push their VO2 max will under perform by not training at different levels.
POWER WATTS THRESHOLD SESSION.
15 Minute warm up at 40-50% of 60 minute flat out pace power watts.
15 Minute @ (91-105%) of FTP
5 minute easy spin @ below 55% of FTP
15 Minute @ (91-105%) of FTP
15 minute warm down dropping from 60% of watts max to recover
AGE
Muscle strength can be maintained with improved training technique up to the age of 50 then it decreases more dramatically.
Female V02 Max declines at a much slower rate than men after the age of 50.
POWER WATTS AND RACING.
Before considering the watts you need to generate for an Ironman triathlon you must be aware of the watts you need to generate for an even paced event and how this will impact on your Ironman marathon. Going hard from the start of the bike and slowing down will give you a different average watt power compared to an even paced ride which will considerably increase the chances of a faster Ironman marathon.
Large athletes
Larger athletes have to overcome greater aerodynamic drag on the bike. Hold back on the bike and gain more time with saved energy from the cycle leg.
The only time this fail proof strategy does not work is if it’s above 95 degrees and heat then is your limiting factor more on the run than the bike.
Small athletes
Smaller athletes go faster overall in the ironman with a more balanced bike (hold back) faster run (more energy). They are smaller on the bike but most lack the necessary power and tend to use their fitness more.
We all have a limited number of calories available for the Ironman going too hard will use them up much quicker just like fuel consumption in a car. Out bodies are perfectly designed for using fat as fuel all day going slow, not ideal if you want to race an Ironman.
You can only ride at the top end of your limit providing you consume 350 calories per hour fluids and solids any less then you will slow down towards the end of the bike or melt down in the first 10km of the run.
Power summary
Most fit Iron men and women can bike hard run slow or bike easier and run fast getting the combination correct is vital for a best time.
The faster you are (create more bike drag the quicker you go) the wiser is it to hold back on the bike for a faster overall Ironman time.
Aerodynamic drag is = The square law = The resistance increases with the square of the velocity. Whatever that means, all I know its feels more than 20% harder for going 10% faster.
Mark has finished over 400 triathlons including 31 iron distance two double distance and one triple Iron Man triathlon.
Triathlon thoughts
May 14th
Triathlon.
If we learned to swim when we were young we probably already have swam cycled and run during each week.
Triathlon is not just about swimming cycling and running but combining all three sports into your lifestyle then one after the other continuous in a triathlon competition.
Swimming is the most technical of the three sports. If possible get some expert swim coaching. Distances in triathlons vary from sprint races of 200m in the comfort of a swimming pool to 3.8 k in open water for the Ironman event. For wetsuit and open water swimming confidence log onto www.ironmate.co.uk.
Cycling during most triathlons takes up about 50% of the time to complete most competitions. Correct cycle fit is most important. To allow you to be comfortable yet powerful to ride then run afterwards. If you are considering buying a new bike then contact us for help. Therefore aim to spend 50% of available training time cycling.
Running – Learn to run over distance so if considering a sprint triathlon that has a 5km run then cover 50% more distance (i.e. 7.5km) in a single run session.
You must run regularly after cycling to get use to dead leg syndrome. This can be done in many ways including hard cycle rides easy relaxed runs. Easy longer cycling then harder runs, then race pace cycling with brisk to hard running straight afterwards. When building up running training time aim to run when not tired or before cycling. Poor form heavy weary legs can lead to injuries.
Learn to have even energy levels throughout your triathlon by training weekly locking into your own personnel pace for swimming cycling and running. This will be more race specific for a much better performance.
Motivation is important to be consistent, as this will give you improved fitness levels. Divide your time training in all three sports it is much better to do two sports if you have 90-120 minutes than one sport when building up fitness.
Transition training is vital even for seasoned triathletes. Practise slick quick but relaxed and rehashed smooth movements from swimming to cycling then to running. You will not reach your true potential without spending time that can save minutes
Learn to travel home from a triathlon having learnt something new about the sport of triathlon and yourself.
Ironmate training tips
All the gear and no idea.
Here to help you buy only practical triathlon kit you need.
Weight training for Triathlon
May 10th
WEIGHT TRAINING FOR TRIATHLON
Weight training can improve absolute strength and short bursts of sport power but this will not always transfer to improved endurance performance. Weight train suggestion. 2 sets of 15 repetitions. Emphasis on a light weight, slow and not fast movements to improve endurance. A good warm up before weight training include 10 minutes of running and/or rowing. Good form when weight training includes slow controlled movements rather than fast forceful movements. Avoid gaining weight from to much muscle mass. Increasing muscle and becoming leaner will help you burn more fat.
New to triathlon.
New to sport then weight training is beneficial. Athletes have shown much better results in our experience, as this is better progression than suddenly increasing sport volume from nothing. People new to sport can also lack strength. Reduce the chance of overuse injuries by mixing up exercise, little and often and vary training including circuit core and weight training. Suggestion.
Triathlon competitor for 1-3 years.
For athletes in sport for more than 3 years work on sport strength specific during the racing season. Complete weight training or resistance work during the winter as an alternative to some of your training.
Triathlon competitor 3-10 years
Train more on triathlon sport specific strength. Swimming hand paddles Cycling mountain biking. Run off road on tall grass muddy and sandy conditions. If you feel you have plateau in performance consider 3 sets of 25 repetitions after 12 sessions increase weight and reduce to 20 repetitions.
Elite Triathlete.
The need to work on economy and exact sport fitness is far more important than weight training. Highly trained athletes already have Swim Bike Run specific strength.
Only if you fade towards the end of races then work on economy and better technique than absolute power.
A common mistake is to include weight training for elite athletes who slow down in the latter parts of a triathlon.
Heart Rate Training Zones
Apr 30th
HEART RATE TRAINING ZONES.
Training zones all depend on your current fitness type of training you do and what you are training for. If you train hard all the time you may find that during the easier training levels you become tired or lethargic afterwards.
This is because you have not trained in these heart rate training zones and have not learnt to use different types of stored energy. The by-product of energy production is Lactic acid, these levels at rest can be as low as I unit and after very high intense exercise have been measured up to 25.
High lactate acid levels accumulate in the muscles causing a burning sensation causing us to slow down. Training will teach the body to cope with higher levels so we can train and race at greater intensities. Another part of training that is ignored is recovery.
Active recovery after training in level levels 2-5 is known to speed up lactic acid removal. Basically the slower you go after finishing training during your active warm down the quicker you can recover. You need to promote blood flow without causing any lactate acid so aim for around 20 minutes of easy exercise.
Training Zone 1 [TZ1] Heart rate 50-60% – Fat Burning Zone
This easy recovery training that is at 50-60% of maximum heart rate in that chosen sport. Running tends to be higher than cycling. For example if your maximum heart rate is 160 beats per minute (BPM) then train between 80-96 bpm.
It is important to learn to replace energy after any type of training. Expect to find that it is sometimes difficult to stop being hungry even after eating straight afterwards. Training in this zone will use up fat so expect to feel hungry for many hours afterwards.
You should be able to do this effort for 5 hours plus providing you have a carbohydrate drink, solid energy food optional. Training between 50-60% heart rate is difficult unless you have a good level of fitness. Use this type of training for building fitness slowly. Perception of effort would be walking fast. This is low level training at its easiest.
Training Zone 2 [TZ2] Heart rate 70-75%.
Train in this zone the day before intervals, not so easy that you lose any fitness but easy enough to be able to work harder tomorrow. This is a 3- 5-hour effort. This is low to medium level training.
Up to 40% fat is used for this type of energy. You will recover quickly from this type of training within 36 hours depending on age fitness and uninterrupted years in sport. A 20-35 minute work out three times a week will help you keep fit.
Base work training. Perception of effort would be breathing much quicker but able to talk in short sentences. Experienced marathon runners can hold a heart rate 70-75% for the 26.2 miles.
Training Zone 3 [TZ3] Heart rate 75-85%
This is where the majority of endurance of training should be. This is not easy or very hard training. This type of training is perfect for medium length training. Too hard for easy endurance but lacks any real top end quality.
You are training just under the intensity that you can only maintain for 50-70 minutes. Do this type of training during a long training session. Complete a thorough warm up then build to 75-85% for up to 45 minutes then slow down heart rate to 65% for 15-25 minutes.
Threshold efforts at intensities that you can only maintain for up to 60 minutes. At this higher heart rate you will be using carbohydrate. You will feel tired and will be creating stress. Perception of effort would be able to keep the same average heart rate going for up to half marathon.
Training Zone 4 [TZ4] Known as Anaerobic training
Often your heart rate will be above 85 %
This type of training is where the lactate acid caused by hard training begins to build up and accumulate in the blood. By training correctly the better you become at raising this level the greater your performance. High intensity training that takes less than 5 minutes with all out efforts.
Also when you are competing in short running races and sprint triathlons or the end of a marathon or middle or Ironman distance triathlon when you are pushing hard to the finish. Expect your appetite to be suppressed for a while after racing and training in this hard zone. Ignore not feeling hungry and replace with carbohydrate protein and fluid as soon as possible and for the next 3 hours.
You will need at least 73 hours to recover from this type of training, more if you have gone into this session tired.
Training Zone 5 [TZ5] also known as Redline training.
Often your heart rate will be above 90% to 100% after good warm intervals up to 30 seconds will get you above 90%. Perception of effort running 800- 1500 meters. During training in this zone you will be using your ATP system. The Glycolitic system uses glucose and is used for hard anaerobic efforts lasting up to 2 minutes. This system does not use oxygen so you soon get into oxygen debt causing you to slow down or stop.
The above is for your information only. Seek medical advice before starting any training programme.
Also see your doctor if you have heart disease in your family or have not exercised for more than 12 months for a thorough medical check up before starting an exercise programme.
How to run fast in a Triathlon
Apr 28th
How to run fast in a triathlon.
By now you have completed a few races and developed good strength and fitness. However if you are not going as fast as you had hoped, don’t worry, it is easy to adjust things slightly and improve. All your winter and pre- season training is still in the bank. Improving in each race is all about learning and tweaking what you do. So this month our ‘Racing Fast’ topics include:
1. Running Fast off the Bike
2. Improving Pace Judgment
3. Hydration
***Running Fast off the Bike***
You must continually self analyse. Any of the following can be attributed to a poor run split.
Are you kicking too much in the swim?
Are you cycling too fast in the race?
Are you pushing the big gears too often?
Are you keeping up your energy levels with food and liquid?
Are you doing any swim to bike sessions?
One of the biggest errors is not training at your triathlon run pace. If your triathlon run pace is 7.30 per mile but your training pace is either faster or slower than this, you will not adapt your body to run at your triathlon pace. It is so important to have sessions specific to your race pace to adapt the different muscles. The longer your selected event the more important this will be.
The ability to run fast off the bike is also determined by how efficient you are at swimming and cycling. It is often not the fastest runner on paper, who has the fastest run split. An efficient cyclist can often run close to their ability, while good runners are fighting the gears on the bike, wondering where they run legs went. A swim to bike session is often overlooked for bike to run workouts. Don’t forget this very important training session.
If you compared two equal runners time in a 10km and then 2 weeks later they both did an Olympic distance Triathlon, often their run times would vary by several minutes. It would not be the stronger athlete who runs quicker but the most economical one.
Any improvement in your body movement efficiency whilst in the swim and bike disciplines will help your run; sounds simple but how?
In the Swim
Being more streamlined by doing regular drills saves a huge amount of energy.
Swim long and tall, avoid too much rotation sideways.
Work on powerful strokes, you should be swimming strong by now.
Aim for an efficient stroke with good length; keep up a constant high pace, with long recoveries including easy swimming.
Aim to swim quietly with less noise, avoid crashing, slapping and bubbles.
Concentrate and learn to recover in the recovery phase.
On the Bike
Interval work sessions at race pace or above. Take half to the same amount of the interval as recovery time e.g. 4 min effort with a 2 min – 4 min recovery.
Concentrate on pedalling technique. Always be in control of your gear. Practise in the gears you plan to use in the race; in your event you may be tired at the bottom of a hill, so you may need an easier gear to climb the hill than you would normally use.
On the Run
Build up pace throughout run. Make sure you have sufficient back-to-back training in the bank.
Cadence running helps. Length of stride stops you running fast off the bike so overcome this by increasing your cadence with a shorter stride. Training drills should include fast feet drill, high leg turnover with short strides, It takes a while to get good at them, but not many people do them, just like one legged riding on the turbo to improve economy.
***Improve your Pace Judgement***
Better pace judgement comes with experience. You must learn to spread your energy evenly all the time for the duration of the event. Not flat out at the beginning and then hanging on. You are fooling yourself by going out hard and toughing it out.
Make your training specific and relevant to the course and speed you anticipate competing in. In other words ensure sessions are at your triathlon race pace.
Using a correct taper will definitely produce a faster result.
Are you able to lock onto your lactate threshold for the whole duration of the race?
If not, do this session in training – cover half the distance and break it into smaller segments with active recovery whilst hydrating and refocusing.
Your endurance should be good. If not, you are racing too much and not training to rebuild your stores. Make sure that you do an endurance session for each discipline every 2 weeks. If you are tired keep these sessions steady; if feeling good, keep a good pace but make sure you finish strong and fresh. This is not to be a ‘draining’ session.
***Hydration***
With the warmer weather, hydration is an important topic.
Ironmate is always amazed how little is drunk by racing triathletes and how little thought has been directed to what their consumption of liquid during a race would be.
Your intake will be more than in any training ride or run. Plus you cannot drink during the swim discipline, which will be undertaken at a higher effort than your regular pool swim.
Each of us has a different sweat rate, be that due to fitness, weight or genetic. Plus the way our body deals with salt concentration is varied; hence we all react in our own way to changes in temperature. Some of us love the heat, whereas others suffer.
So think through and analyse what your summer sweat rate is. How much are you drinking? How often? What effect is this having on you?
Pre weight and post weight after training in the heat will give you an idea of how much fluid is lost.
The symptoms of dehydration include dizziness, confusion, heart rate elevation, dry lips, extreme thirst and dry tongue. Headaches are common and cramps can occur. Skin looks dry in certain instances if there has been salt depletion. Diarrhoea & vomiting can also lead to dehydration including a loss of salt.
Generally the fitter you are, the much better you perform. You can cope with the heat better partly due to learned training in the heat and the improved fitness levels allow you to cope more easily.
Importantly, if the weather is warm for many days, you could find yourself gradually becoming more dehydrated if you fail to take in enough fluids regularly. Make a habit of always carrying a bottle of liquid with you.
Staying hydrated helps with full blood volume. Blood close to the skin helps you cool down. Drinking also assists in flushing away waste products.
You CANNOT stay hydrated by drinking just plain water – you need a sports drink. An electrolyte drink contains similar electrolytes concentrations to the body for proper hydration. NEVER WAIT until you are thirsty, this signal is nearly always a sign that you are already dehydrated.
If you found this information useful remember to tell a friend.
Open Water Swim Tips
Apr 27th
OPEN WATER SWIM TRAINING.
Put on your wetsuit properly you do not want it to leak.
Think positive staying calm uses up less energy.
Wear a neoprene hat and ear plugs, this prevents heat loss from the head.
Alcohol will lower your resistance to the cold so refrain from drinking any in the 48 hours before cold open water swimming.
Never train alone and let people know on dry land how long you will be and give them a signal if you are in distress i.e. one hand in the air. Swim together practise swimming behind a friend.
Wear a brightly coloured swim cap not black or navy.
Don’t panic take deep breaths and try to relax.
Get acclimated to cold water swimming then use only a thin swim cap build up the time you go into cold water will help when in a race you use thicker neoprene hat.
Cold showers and sitting in cold bath waters help but there is no substitute for being totally immersed in water.
Warm up for cold-water swimming with general gentle arm swinging. In circular motions 10 forward 10 back windmills on either arm.
Cold water constricts blood supply when you try and swim this will have the opposite effect. Start off swimming slowly and build up your pace.
Wetsuit Tips.
Depends on temperature of water shortie or full long legs or long arms or sleeveless long johns.
Provides buoyancy.
No gaps in body or arms
2-5 ml in thickness.
Thicker they were the more buoyant, but now modern triathlon wetsuit versions are much thinner and some even have built in air pockets.
Fit is vital, good range of motion, not too tight
A windsurfing wetsuit will keep you warm but will not give you range of movement and are often too tight around neck for breathing when swimming front crawl.
Always use lubricant i.e. baby oil or body glide a wetsuit specific
Vaseline can destroy neoprene wetsuits so use instead baby oil, non-protelum or vegetable oil in a spray can.
Rub this around wrists and ankles and neck will reduce chaffing and help with easier removal of wetsuit.
Earplugs keep out bacteria and cold water.
For effective sighting always use two objects like tall trees brightly coloured buildings or shapes are especially important if the sun is bright and reflects of the sea. If this is a problem use tinted swim goggles.
Open water swimming tips.
Do not stand up when exiting until you can touch the bottom with both hands on several swim strokes because you may be swimming over a higher bar.
Clothing
One-piece Triathlon suit hybrid can be worn under a wetsuit or for a pool based swim Triathlon.
Race clothing moves with you and holds you in place.
Comfortable not too tight or lose. Any excess movement will cause chafing.
Quick drying so you can swim bike and run in same clothing.
Swim goggles
Seal style much better visibility
Weight Training For Triathlon
Apr 20th
WEIGHT TRAINING FOR TRIATHLON
Weight training can improve absolute strength and short bursts of sport power but this will not always transfer to improved endurance performance. Weight train suggestion. 2 sets of 15 repetitions. Emphasis on a light weight, slow and not fast movements to improve endurance. A good warm up before weight training include 10 minutes of running and/or rowing. Good form when weight training includes slow controlled movements rather than fast forceful movements. Avoid gaining weight from to much muscle mass. Increasing muscle and becoming leaner will help you burn more fat.
New to triathlon.
New to sport then weight training is beneficial. Athletes have shown much better results in our experience, as this is better progression than suddenly increasing sport volume from nothing. People new to sport can also lack strength. Reduce the chance of overuse injuries by mixing up exercise, little and often and vary training including circuit core and weight training. Suggestion.
Triathlon competitor for 1-3 years.
For athletes in sport for more than 3 years work on sport strength specific during the racing season. Complete weight training or resistance work during the winter as an alternative to some of your training.
Triathlon competitor 3-10 years
Train more on triathlon sport specific strength. Swimming hand paddles Cycling mountain biking. Run off road on tall grass muddy and sandy conditions. If you feel you have plateau in performance consider 3 sets of 25 repetitions after 12 sessions increase weight and reduce to 20 repetitions.
Elite Triathlete.
The need to work on economy and exact sport fitness is far more important than weight training. Highly trained athletes already have Swim Bike Run specific strength.
Only if you fade towards the end of races then work on economy and better technique than absolute power.
A common mistake is to include weight training for elite athletes who slow down in the latter parts of a triathlon.
Ironman Kona lottery 2010
Apr 19th
I did it!!!
I have just received my official email from the Kona Ironman Lottery and I have been successful and am off to Hawaii for the race in October 2010.
Having attempted once again to qualify in Ironman China and missing out by minutes in over 9 other races I was beginning to think I would never get to the Island again!
I am really fired up to smash my previous Kona record from 1987 (10.57) and to inspire all other Ironman athletes to keep trying to qualify and to enter the lottery as you never know your luck could be in like mine was this year.
Back to back triathlon training sessions
Apr 19th
BACK TO BACK SESSIONS. (Also known as brick sessions)
Brick session. Try a back 2 back brick session if time allows at the weekend.
Most Triathlons distances are based on the following ratio.
Time taken Swim1:Bike3:Run1.5 I.e. 30 minute swim 90-minute bike 45 minute run so therefore a bike to run session should ideally be 50% of time taken on the bike should be spent running.
Please try one of the following using the above ratio.
TRIATHLON BACK TO BACK SESSIONS.
Session 1 total time 44 minutes plus warm up & warm down 1 hour 14 minutes (includes a 15 minute warm up & 15 minute warm down)
Swim 8 minutes Bike 24 minute run 12 minutes.
Session 2 total time 66 minutes including warm up & warm down 1 hour 36 minutes (15 minute warm up and 15 minute warm down)
Swim 12 minutes Bike 36 minute run 18 minutes.
Session 3 This is a multiple bike and run and total time takes including warm up & warm down 47 minutes- 1 hour 15 minutes
Bike Run -Bike Run- Bike Run
This can be done in the gym on a spin bike and treadmill. 4 minute bike 2 minute run 8 bike 4 minute run 16 minute bike 8 minute run 8 minute bike 4 minute run 4 minute bike 2minute run.
Total time for main session 60 minutes plus 15 minute warm up and 15 minute warm down total time 90 minutes.
If this back to back session is done in a field using a mountain bike consider doing multiple laps. Find a circuit that takes 4 minutes to bike and another loop that takes 2 minutes to run. Then you can do the above and to simplify matters do the number of laps listed below.
I.e. Run 1 lap Bike 1 lap – Run 2 laps Bike 2 laps – Run 3 laps Bike 3 laps – Run 2 laps Bike 2 laps – Run 1 lap bike 1 lap.
Consider the following 10-15 minute warm on the bike, then the following at 75-80% discipline maximum heart rate(Usually max run heart rate on the run will be 6-15 beats higher than the bike) 6-10 minute on the bike then 3 -5 minute on the treadmill. Repeated 2 or three times.
Followed by a 10-15 minute very easy warm down at around 50 % on the spin bike or cross trainer. This session although short is very demanding so ensure that you hydrate on the bike and eat some carbohydrates within 15 minutes of finishing while changing etc.
You will almost certainly need at least 1 Liter of fluid every 45=50 minutes to keep you fully hydrated. A good source of carbo and potassium is 2 bananas immediately afterwards.
This session is very beneficial for triathlon especially if you are unable to swim beforehand. This back to back session is also good to do in the four weeks before a standard distance duathlon. Use the first 20 minutes of the run as a warm up, you can ride 10-15 minutes before the session as a warm up. Back2back session Run 20 minutes very easy then pick up pace to10K race pace for next mile. Get straight on bike for 1 hour. First 15 minutes at 40K race pace next 30 minutes medium to easy pace. The last 15 minutes at 40km pace, then dismount and run 2 miles first mile hard next mile very hard. Warm down with one-mile jog recovery and easy 5-15 minutes cycle remembering to hydrate with a carbo protein drink.
DUATHLON SESSION
Duathlon example. A 40-minute bike followed by a 20 minute run. (Two to One ratio) After a 10-15 minute warm up.
DUATHLON 7 WEEK TAPER BACK TO BACK SESSIONS.
Triathlon and duathlon 7 week taper session.
Week one Run 400mtrs Bike 2 miles run 400mtrs repeat 5 times with 3 minutes active recovery.
Week two Run 800mtrs Bike 3 miles run 800mtrs repeat 5 times with 4 minutes active recovery.
Week three Run 1600mtrs Bike 5.5 miles run 1600mtrs repeat 4 times take 5 minutes active rest.
Week four Run 400mtrs Bike 2 miles run 400mtrs repeat 6 times with 3 minutes active recovery.
Week five Run 800mtrs Bike 3 miles run 800mtrs repeat 6 times take 3 minutes active recovery.
Week six Run 1600mtrs Bike 5.5 miles run 1600mtrs repeat 5 times take 4 minutes active recovery.
Week seven Taper week 5-7 days before competition. Run 400mtrs Bike 2 miles run 400mtrs repeat 4 times with 6 minutes active recovery. Build each one aim to go 15-30 seconds quicker than the previous one. First one 70% second rep 80% third rep 90% last one flat out. I.e. first one 12:30 minutes second set aim for 12:15-12:00 minutes third rep 11:45-11:30 last one 11:15-11:00 minutes
This will get you use to working hard when fatigued. If you go to fast in set one and two you will NOT gain the same benefit. Half mile (800 meters -half a mile-is considered a good distance without losing form)
******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
DISCLAIMER – The above are suggestions and ideas that have worked for athletes in the past. They may not work for you.
Consider where you are in your training cycle, what previous injuries you may have had. Progressive training should improve performance.
