The title of this tip pretty much says it all. When out training, don’t get caught up on needing to feel good all the time. As athletes we always want to feel like we’re superstars in the pool, on the bike, or out running. But the truth is, in [...]
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Treadmill Workout: 55-60 minutes, but very easy to add or decrease the time. We always set the treadmill at at least 1% incline. Some days the last 5 minutes is extremely hard, so we’ll drop the incline to 0 for the last interval. Or, every minute, increase the speed by 0.1 instead of a full 0.5 for the entire interval. After the last interval, go straight into: Continue reading Treadmill and Trainer workouts to make time fly
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. Use the clock:  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 [...] This ‘tip’ comes to us from an Elite and Age Group coach, Paulo Sousa. —- 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.
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!
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.
 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: 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 [...] |
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Even though we’re lucky enough to escape the snow during winter, we still enjoy getting on the treadmills and trainers once in awhile. Here’s a couple of our favourite workouts that make time FLY!
Here’s a few quick tips to help get the most from your pool time this winter.
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.
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.
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.
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.
