 Here’s a few quick tips to help get the most from your pool time this winter.
Bring a workout:
Having a workout printed out on a piece of paper (in a baggie to keep it dry) helps insure you’ll get the planned workout done. Simply going to the pool with the intention of swimming doesn’t cut it. Write it down and get it done! That said, your swim workout doesn’t need to be so complicated that you waste time standing at the end of the pool trying to figure it all out.
Swim long and swim lots:
4000-6000 yards? Yep, you are, after all, training for an Ironman…or maybe not.  Understandably not everyone is going to have the time to swim that much, 5 or 6 times per week. But do your best to get a length of swim that is longer than your planned distance at least once per week.
Use the clock:
Continue reading Get the most out of your pool time
 The quick and dirty answer for triathletes is – NO. Racing yourself into shape sounds easy enough, but as triathletes it’s a very hard thing to accomplish. Cyclists can race themselves into shape very effectively, simply by racing multi-day races, racing both days of the weekend – week after week, or by doing weekday evening criteriums and time-trials. Triathletes simply do not have the luxury of tackling that many races back to back, which is essentially what’s required for this strategy to work effectively. For the most part we’re restricted to one-day races, typically only on the weekends. By trying to race too much, say every week or even every couple weeks, you’ll never (rarely) be able to properly commit to a block of consistent training.
Continue reading Is racing yourself into shape an effective strategy?
 We’re willing to bet that one of the biggest differences between an athlete that sees improvement every year, and one that struggles to hit new goals the following season, is the length of time they take for the off-season. And by off-season, we mean not doing any triathlon training at all. So, how long is an appropriate recovery from the year spent racing and training? Look for about 2 weeks of ‘doing whatever’ before getting back into some form of structured training. Two weeks may not seem like a long time, but when you factor in the number of times you’ve tapered and recovered through the year, those days of recovery really start to add up.
Look at a typical Ironman taper and recovery – for us as professionals it’s two weeks on either side. Two week taper where we continue to train, but at about half the volume of our big training weeks. Then the recovery, in general we give it two weeks of easy ‘get out and move’ type training before getting back into the swing of things, building up to normal volume. After our last big race of the year we’ll use that two weeks recovery period as our off-season (no tri training required). For a Half Iron distance race the taper and recovery is even shorter – maybe a 4 day limited taper and a few days easy recovery training post race. So, if you were to do 2 Ironman races in a year – that’s already 2 MONTHS of easy training. Pretty hard to justify a long off season with that sort of downtime already incorporated into the year – at least if you’re serious about improving.
If you train consistently throughout the year, your body won’t NEED the extended off season.
This ‘tip’ comes to us from an Elite and Age Group coach, Paulo Sousa.
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 In Greek mythology, sirens were bird-women, portrayed as seductresses, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island.
In endurance circles, we have our version of the sirens. Their song tells us there is an easier, faster way to be successful. You can train less, recover more and be more successful than your peers. You can have balance in your life and still be on top of those that relentlessly pursue the same goals you have.
Especially sensible to the song are those that are looking for the shortcut, those that think there is a secret, easier way to achieve their goals. Those that constantly doubt themselves and their path and look for clues to achieve success. “This is hard, there HAS to be an easier way!”
Invariably, these athletes end up shipwrecked, by simply lacking the necessary consistency in training to be successful. Invariably, these athletes are beaten by those that have kept their head down, stayed on the path and went through the process. Invariably, listening to the song of the sirens gets you further away from your goals.
Continue reading Song of the sirens
 First off, we use the term “stride” to mean a short build to faster than race pace for approximately 15-20 seconds with a walking rest of about 1 minute. It’s not a max effort sprint (but not too far off either). Strides are primarily done after a run, to trigger some fast twitch muscles and work on proper run form.
So, if you’re running on a treadmill and have strides on tap, how do you go about doing them? Changing the speed for a 15-20 second stride on a treadmill can be mighty annoying if you’re constantly trying to push buttons. Instead of worrying about changing the speed at all, simply set the treadmill to the pace you’d like to do your interval. When you’re done with y0u’re 15-20 second effort simply jump off and walk around the gym a bit to recover. When it’s time to go again, jump back on and you’ll already be at full speed. Note: Use of the handrails for a couple seconds is strongly advised!
Continue reading Strides on a treadmill
 Despite using an 11/23 rear cassette with 39/53 front chain rings for many years, our favorite gearing for racing and training has shifted to an 11/26 rear cassette and 39/53 front chain rings. This set up allows you to keep a higher cadence on hills and prevent that excessive leg burn that can be so detrimental to finishing your race with a strong run leg. On extremely hilly, long-distance courses such as IM St. George, we’ll even use a 12/28 rear cassette. A general rule of thumb is that if there is any question at all – go with the easier gearing.
Long, steep climbs aside, having the larger gears in back can also help save you from that oh-so-annoying shift to the small chain ring when you hit some small rollers or false flat sections. Having the ability to stay in your 53 front ring and get into the 23 cog on the back without crossing the chain over too far can be nice advantage.
One small disadvantage to having a cassette like a 12/28 is that you lose the ability to pedal hard at over 40 miles per hour. I.e. when you’re going downhill. In our opinion that little bit of lost speed on fast downhill sections is more than made up for on the rest of the hilly course.
Continue reading What gears should I use?
 RULE 60: Pre-race, you must be tranquilo, resting on your top tube thusly. This may also be extended to any time one is aboard the bike, but not riding it, such as at stop lights or while waiting for riding partners As triathlete we often bear the brunt of many jokes coming from die-hard road cyclists – AKA: Roadies. Quite honestly, many of these jokes are well deserved! Here’s a collection of rules put together by the Velominati, we suggest you read them and learn. As comical as they are, there is an element of seriousness to all of them.
Here’s a quick sample before going over to read the list in it’s entirety, which by having read this far you are required to do.
RULE 28:
Socks can be any damn colour you like. White is old school cool. Black is good, but once again were given a bad image by a Texan whose were too long. DeFeet Wool-E-Ators rule.
Continue reading The rules of the road(ie)
 For safety reasons, so you can see cyclists and motorists coming your way, it is generally smart to run against traffic. However, most roads have some off camber slant to the shoulder and over the course of many miles and training runs day after day, this camber can put a ton of strain on the ligaments through your ankle, your achilles tendons, and start to bother leg stabilizers like your tibialis posterior muscles. Running against traffic in both directions only makes the problem worse as it will always be the inside of one leg and the outside of the other that extend further on every foot strike.
If you can’t avoid slanted roads, try to switch sides now and again to try and keep it as even as possible. Do a loop in the opposite direction, or stay on the same side of the road for an out-and-back. Always use your judgment and be sure to make visibility to other road users a priority, but take steps to avoid the slant!
 It’s the time of the year when a lot of us are doing runs and rides in cooler conditions. You may not be losing much fluid through perspiration, but cold, dry air can still dehydrate you very quickly. Depending on how cold the weather is, it can be quite uncomfortable to try and drink from a water-bottle. Your fingers may even be too cold to squeeze the bottle effectively. In cases like that, it is very important to drink more than you would like before and after the workout.
If you’re extremely hard-core and ride in temperatures where your water bottle actually freezes, the best thing to do is mix a slightly stronger than normal drink – First Endurance EFS, for example. The sugars and electrolytes will not only help keep you hydrated and topped up calorically, but the solution will keep the fluid drinkable. Then again, they make some pretty darn good indoor trainers nowadays!
So, the next time you’re out riding or running in cold weather and you start feeling a little lethargic, think about the fluids you’ve taken in; it’s possible you could be running on empty. Your body needs to be hydrated in order to function at its optimal level. If there isn’t enough liquid in your body, essential functions like circulation don’t go as smoothly as they should. Proper hydration will also help regulate body temperature and keep you in a good mood. If you haven’t been drinking enough water, you can feel tired, cranky, or irritable. You might even imagine that you’re hungry, when your body is actually craving is water.
Continue reading Remember to hydrate when it’s cold
No matter your level of experience you can benefit from a positive mental attitude going in to race day. Today we’re simply going to share a great blog written by pro triathlete Heather Wurtele, A.K.A. the better half of Ironmantriathlontips.com. No matter what your goal is, be it for an epic training session, a big race, or an important job interview – find your happy place.
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 Heather here. Has been awhile since I’ve written a blog. In a way it’s a good thing – I’ve been training hard and spending my down time doing stuff like stretching, reading, finding my happy place and generally trying to avoid stressing myself out with triathlon magazine reading, or blog following. I get so competitive and driven that I have to be careful to stay within myself sometimes and just have faith in the work that I’ve been doing. Social media is cool, but I think that we can get a bit scattered by knowing instantaneously that X did an epic ride today or Y did a 7 k swim and oh, shit, I had an easy day… maybe I need to do more…
I just finished reading the fantastic book – “The Perfect Mile” by Neal Bascomb about the quest to break the 4 minute mile and there is a section where Roger Bannister starts working with coach Franz Stampfl that really stuck with me (p.160).
Continue reading The Mental Game
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About this site:
These triathlon and endurance sport related tips have been compiled by Heather and Trevor Wurtele over the years of their progression from working age-groupers to full time professional triathletes. Heather is now a 4 time Ironman Champion and top 10 World Championship finisher. Trevor has an Ironman PR of 8:22 and a 2:51 Ironman marathon.
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