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After a winter of sometimes grinding it out indoors we are all looking forward to the snow melting and more of our training moving out under blue skies. As we look forward to that here are some important tips to keep in mind.
Long Weekends: Spring means higher volume on the long rides and long runs. Most who work day jobs tend to schedule these workouts on the weekend since they have more time. But when these workouts get quite long it can be a real challenge executing the workload with any quality, and quality is key. Some may say 'but I run after the bike so why not long ride Saturday and long run Sunday'. Don't get me wrong, if that's the way it has to be then it's workable. That said, the training effect and energy balance through the week will be adversely affected along with the quality of workouts. If your schedule allows you to do a midweek long run then I highly recommend trying that out. It will mean better quality in both the long run and long ride.
Illness: Early spring sees some athletes fall ill from various bugs that circulate at high levels at this time of year. You have built a great base of fitness and that will not disappear, it will just get obscured for a little while. Your first priority is to get well. A premature return to exercise will only prolong the negative effects on your life and training. Use the illness as an opportunity for full tissue repair of the legs, hips and shoulders to occur while your metabolic system is recovering. When your daily activity level - work, home life - has returned to normal and is not exhausting you, then it's time to ease back into training. Don't underestimate the depth to which your system can be affected by illness though, especially by the flu. The first workout you do should simply be a 20 minute walk. Do that, see how it feels and how you feel the next day. If that goes well, then try a 30' easy trainer ride each day for a few days and, again, see how your body responds. The next step is to add in the inherently more intense activities of swimming and running. Do your best to keep them lower intensity, though. If you're able to do this approach for a week then it will help lead you back to full training volume and intensity. If at any time the small workloads are leaving you overtired then it's time for more rest and less activity.
Nutrition: I've been working with our long course athletes on nutrition during the long rides. This is a critical component and in the winter it's equally about training your awareness and training your body. A two hour ride isn't that long if you are arriving well nourished. If your hourly target is 70g of carb then try to get that during the ride, mostly in the second hour. When you're out on long rides of 2-8hrs this season though, you need to start the intake after around 30 minutes, time to allow your body to settle in to the rhythm of biking. From that point on you try to take in your target amount of carbs per hour. Carbs are the key metric, not calories, as carbs are the fuel your body needs during such activity. You body's ability to absorb carbs is trainable so work up to your target amount (1g per kg of body weight per hour) but then see if you can go beyond that little by little. One of the key strategies to achieve this is variety in your flavours and textures. It's a strange phenomena but if your body has too much sweet for example, it can shut down your appetite stopping you from ingesting the carbs you need to keep going. And all along the way you are hydrating as well and counting any carb in the drink in your hourly intake. A lot of IM athletes hit the wall (ie bonk) because they took in too much too quickly and their stomach shut down meaning no carbs at all for an extended period of time.
Bike Equipment: Outdoor rides are coming soon. Make sure to gather or purchase the equipment you'll need to be riding in April. That means gear for all weather: gloves, arm warmers, jacket, cap, leg tights, etc. Also consider getting your bike tuned up NOW, while the shops aren't as busy. Be ready!
Trainer Rides: High intensity interval workouts are hard to do outside due to stop signs, weather, traffic, pot holes and more. If you're able to do your long rides outside and hard, shorter rides inside it's a good balance. On the trainer you can just focus on working hard without interruption.
Spring Running Fever: Physios are very busy at this time of year. It's because of what I refer to as running fever. You go out for a 5k run but it's "just so nice out" (I've heard it a hundred times!) so you kept going for 15k instead. And now, for some reason (!), your shins are sore and plantar fascia hurts. Stick with the plan. Build slowly, even on nice days.
Upper Body Strength: Your legs are cycling strong but your shoulders are not. Once you're outside you'll find your shoulders will be fatigued and sore from controlling the handle bars. The full body strength training program you've been doing, including shoulder work, will mitigate this.
Ease Into Outdoor Biking: The shoulders and back are under quite a different load when biking outdoors compared to being on a trainer. You have to handle the bike after all! Your legs may be in great shape but make the first ride outside an easy 30' to 60' one. If the shoulders and back feel fine after that then you can progress to longer workout outdoors. If they are tired and sore, continue to build more patiently outdoors.
Outdoor/Indoor Riding: All that said, the long ride needs to move outdoors because that is where it will happen in the events. The ideal situation is to do your long ride outdoors and midweek hard interval ride on the trainer. The trainer allows you to control all variables and get the hard stuff done more easily. If your trainer doesn't allow on again - off again, then do both rides outside. On the midweek ride do your best to add in some harder efforts if the conditions allow, even 30" hard intervals make a difference. If you're on open, safe road then you are able to do more sustained efforts but remember that safety is number one.
Running Events: Many of you are training for spring running events that are of a lower priority on your way to more major goals. If you are training for and IM I do not recommend doing any speed work this spring. You have been training a lot on the swim, bike and run. Allow that enormous aerobic base to carry you through your running event. You will likely surprise yourself. Speed work raises the injury risk considerably and also depletes energy needed elsewhere. It's not worth it.
Set Up the Future: If you have already set goals a full season out, maybe you're thinking of an Ironman or half in a years time, this season is invaluable in helping you prepare. Take this season without any pressure to build your confidence. One way to do that is to use this season to complete the long workouts required next year. This will help develop your aerobic base, teach you some logistical considerations, and help you mentally. So for a half-iron make sure to build to a 1900m swim, 90k ride, and 21k run. For a future Ironman, train to complete a 3800m swim, a 180k ride, and consider training perhaps for a fall marathon the year before your IM.
Your volume continues to rise. Listen to your body and energy level and do what you need to to keep it level. If that means taking a short-day workout off then do it.
I understand why you may love brick workouts but be careful with them. Keep the run short, ideally <3k, and easy. We don't need them right now and we especially don't need a hard brick workout.
Start to look at your strength workout and ways to shorten it. We are transitioning into maintenance mode. Twenty minutes once or twice a week of key exercises (eg IYT, squats) will be the goal for most of you as the bike and run volume start to really build.
Fix a Puncture: Learning to fix a puncture will give you a confidence boost as you start to log longer rides outdoors. I highly recommend that you practice this process; knowing the theory is not enough. Here's a good step by step video.
Key Ride and Run: Each week now your long ride and run will be your key workouts. Treat them as events unto themselves. Make sure you are rested, fed and ready.
Training Progression: When you look back on the training plans for long distance athletes after a race is complete you'll see that every journey is different. Every athlete has interruptions or varied schedules. That's why as a coach we need to focus on where you are today and how the last week went and plan from there. Wishful thinking is not a good strategy. Here's a framework I use for Ironman training as an example of the journey ahead but remember: everyone's trip on this road will be different.
Swim Cramps: Muscle cramps are most often due to residual fatigue. In the training process, especially for Ironman, you'll always be carrying fatigue so it can be a challenge. Positioning long swim workouts after a shorter, easier bike or run day can help. A gentle stretch of the lower legs at the start of a long swim, ideally after a short warm up, can help mitigate the risk as well. Hydration can be a contributor as well so make sure you're hydrated before and during. A bottle of fluid replacement drink on deck for very long swim workouts is recommended.
Nutrition on the Bike: Now that you're outside you no longer have a table beside you stacked with food! You need to figure out how you're going to carry the food (ie Bento box etc), make sure you have sufficient amount, and then execute the consumption plan on the road. If you are training for IM or Half-Iron you need to dedicate yourself to these steps as they are key to success on race day.
The Long Ride: This is the key workout each week now. Biking is the longest portion of triathlon and success on the run is directly corelated to how well your bike goes on race day - the less taxing the bike is on your body the better the run will go. So set yourself up for success on race day but setting up success on the long ride each week in training.
Long Ride Intensity: The long ride should be done at a comfortable pace, not at projected race pace. You are building aerobic fitness and that needs to be done at lower intensities. Your second, shorter ride each week should be the hard one - 60-90' of harder intervals that builds power and VO2Max. If you combine those two rides through training then taper and peak on race day you will be ready to ride a little harder and faster than you did on the long rides in training. Always keep in mind though, the number one mistake made by triathletes is going too hard on the bike and leaving them with no legs or energy for the run. A strong but conservative pacing approach to the bike is always best.
Carb Timing: When we talk about carb intake per hour on the bike we have to make sure that those grams are evenly distributed through the hour. We need to avoid having too high a concentration of carbohydrate in the stomach at any one time as this can lead to upset. So time your fluids and foods so they are spread evening over time.
Breakfast Timing: Some athletes can eat a Big Mac 10 minutes before a race. Most cannot! First off, the food that fuels your morning workouts is mostly coming from the meal the evening before. The morning of you just need a very light breakfast to fire your metabolism and one that is processed quickly. That's why bagels are so popular. If you experience GI problems in a workout or event try a lighter breakfast and try moving it to at least 2 hour before. As an example, I'm 200lbs but I only have a bagel for breakfast on race day and do so 3 hours before as I've learned that is what works for me..
Running in the Heat: Most long distance triathlons result in you running in the heat of the day. Consider this when you're training. Every once in a while schedule your runs for the time of day you will be running during your A race so you can acclimatize. On the runs make sure you're hydrated before, hydrate during, hydrate after, wear a hat, and adjust pace down if your perceived exertion (PE) is high. Your heart rate will be high due to the heat so PE is a better gauge.
Are You Dehydrated: Firstly, a bit of dehydration is normal. It's when we lose over 2-3% of our body weight in fluid that our function is compromised. As a general, daily practice keep an eye on your urine and if it is dark, you need to hydrate more. If you want to take it a step further you can weigh yourself undressed before and after workouts and see what the weight differential might be. Please note: naked weighing in the transition zone is frowned upon!
Calculate Carbs: For our long distance athletes, starting this week I'd like to see you calculate and post in your log your target carbohydrate intake for long rides and runs. This should be posted before you do these workouts. That will force you to acknowledge those numbers and hopefully plan and execute to get the required intake. Again, as a starting point, aim for 1g or carb per kg of body weight per hour. Example: A 70kg athlete would target 210g for a 3hr ride. Intake is trainable so if you can slowly push that number higher it is beneficial.
Write it down. If you're having trouble executing a nutrition plan for long rides, consider writing it down on a strip of paper and taping it to your bars.
Focus on the A: Whether you are training or racing keep your eye on your major goal and be patient as you build towards it. If you have a B or C race, approach it in a way that will help your progress to the A race not hurt it. A quick anecdote to illustrate. In 2008 the World Championships were in Vancouver, just a ferry ride from Simon Whitfield's home. There was a lot of excitement and anticipation for him to spring home a big win in front of the home fans. It didn't happen. He finished 6th. Why did he finish 6th? Because Vancouver in June was not the plan. The plan was Beijing in August. Two months after Vancouver he won Olympic silver in a sprint finish.
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