 Trying out a few meal options the night before a big training day will help decrease the surprises come race day. You’ll want to avoid taxing your digestive system with hard to digest meats and processed foods. However, finding something that you’ll enjoy is equally important.
The timing of your pre race dinner needs to be thought out as well. Try not to leave it too late at night - it can be hard to sleep on a full stomach. Eating late will also leave you feeling too full to have a decent breakfast on race morning. We like to give ourselves 9-10 hours between the pre race dinner and our pre race breakfast. That way you can still take in sufficient calories in the evening without worrying about having a full belly for the 3-4:00am wake up call.
Our favorite meal: Mashed potatoes, carrots, rutabega and yams - heavy on the yam. Small side of lightly steamed spinach and a tomato. Home made humus for flavour (cut that out if fiber affects you on race day)along with 2 or 3 hard boiled eggs for added protein. Top it off with 300 calories worth of dark chocolate (minimum 75% cocoa) soon after finishing. We’ve made some slight modifications over the past 3 years (2010 as we update this post). The meal itself is quite high glycemic, but having the eggs with the meal and the dark chocolate (high fat content) will slow down the absorption some. Root vegetables are a good source of easily digestible carbohydrates (much easier to digest than pasta), and they contain serotonin which can help relax you.
Continue reading Pre race dinner
Many of us don’t take the time to properly prepare our bodies for our run training sessions. We step out the door and start running, maybe with an easier jog at first but often not for long. Taking longer to warm up into your runs is an excellent tool [...]
 Depending on your bike strength, the race you’re training for, and the terrain you have to train in, it may be worth looking at changing the size of the chain rings and cogs on your bike. Most bikes will come fit with the standard 53 tooth big chain ring and a 39 tooth small chain ring. On the rear of the bike you’ll typically see a 12/23 cogset. If you live in a mountainous area, you’re probably best sticking with this standard set up. Even so, there are some pretty good alternatives that you may want to try.
Some may find that the 53 tooth chain ring is just too big, or too hard to ride most of the time. And rightly so. How often do you find yourself in the 53 tooth front ring and the 12 tooth cog a the back? I would wager not very often at all unless you have some long descents in your training grounds. Even then, you’ve got to be going over 60km per hour to spin that gear out. Then there’s always the situation where you hit a hill that’s not quite long enough to bother switching to your 39 tooth chain ring so you just grunt it over the top in your big ring. Or the dreaded, ‘oh crap I’m not going to make it in my 53, I need to switch half way up but can’t because I have to keep pedaling and I’m not going fast enough.’
Anyway, enough about the problems of a 53/39, here are some alternatives that you may want to think about.
Continue reading Choosing the right gear
 Ensuring a proper recovery from your training sessions is potentially the hardest thing to do when working full time. However, if you can find a way to incorporate recovery into your working day you’ll come out all the better for it. If you have to sit, definitely put your heels up on a little box or stool under your desk as much as you can. Have a tennis ball handy so you can roll out the muscles in between emails. Stand up and take mini walk breaks often. You can also do some fairly decent stretch routines while sitting in your desk chair. Getting the hip flexors is easy to do even while talking on the phone or hammering out that spreadsheet. Simply stick one leg out behind the chair and the other out in front, much like a lunge, but still use the chair as a bit of a prop so it’s not a struggle. It may look a little weird to people walking by your desk or office, but such is life.
If you have to stand, be aware of your posture. Engage your core muslces to keep your pelvis neutral. Don’t lean on one leg, have both feet planted properly on the ground. Stand tall, imagine a cord pulling your head towards the ceiling. Definitely keep stretching the muscles from time to time and give your legs a good shake to relieve any tension.
Continue reading Ironman Training Recovery At Work
Adding flax seeds to your daily nutrition plan is an easy way to improve your diet. Use them as an added recovery tool in your smoothies. Throw some on your cereal or in your oatmeal; top off your salads and pasta sauces. Use them when baking muffins. Even down [...]
 We are taking a break from our daily tips for Christmas, but we will be back at it come January 1st. Have a great time visiting with family and squeezing in as much training as you can manage!
If you have some time off, and a good couple of hours to spend swimming, it can be a great time of year to challenge yourself with a big session in the pool. Often the lanes are quiet, but be sure to double check the holiday schedule so you don’t show up to the “free entry with food bank donation, play time- family swim” by accident! Here is a big swim that I did today as my last hurrah before we take off. Have fun with those kick sets…
Warm Up 1900/35 min
300 warm
2 x
4 x 50 k down, build back
4 x 100 25 catchup, 25 7/8’s, 25 3/4, 25 build
4 x 50 #1 ½ fast – ½ slow, #2 ½ slow- ½ fast
#3 long and lovely, #4 build to 95%
Main set – aerobic and muscular endurance
4800m/1h 30 min
2 x
3 x 200k descend (70/80/90) :20 ri
2 x 300s @ 4:30 try to hold 4:15 (1:25’s)
3 x 200p @ 3:00 w/paddles & buoy hold 2:50
2 x 300k neg split each :20 ri
Take 60 sec b/w round 1 and 2
Continue reading Happy Holidays! (and a long swim)
A drive train encompasses all the parts of your bike that chain touches – chain rings upfront and cogs in the back. Indicators that you need to replace your bike chain may be sloppy or slow shifting, mis-shifts, or grinding.
A simple test to find out if things are [...]
If you live somewhere that gets snow in the winter, avoid falling into hibernation mode. Consistency is key to successful triathlon training so throw on lots of layers and get out the door. You may think that you can’t benefit from trying to run in 2 ft of snow, [...]
 Not many triathlons, especially Ironman branded events, are going to be non-wetsuit. If they are, you can bet the water is usually warm enough for the no-wetsuit rule to not effect even cold water susceptible athletes. Every once in awhile, however, you may hit a race that is just barely over the wetsuit limit (or has a crazy race director) and you’ll want to be prepared.
From first hand experience we have been on the sharp end of this stick early this year. We were very unprepared for a cold water no-wetsuit race and paid for it dearly. Some things we’ll be bringing with us to any potential non-wetsuit race in the future are:
**Double cap it – A definite must. Try to get a silicone cap underneath the race cap. Or, if you can handle the neoprene-under the chin caps then those do a great job too.
**Heat pack in a plastic bag – You know those little hand warmers (see picture) that stay hot for a few hours or so? Put one in a plastic bag between the two caps, and another somewhere around your belly or lower back. Hopefully your swim skin is tight enough to hold everything in place. Simply drop it all in T1.
**Go for a light run with plenty of clothing on 10 minutes before your start. Break a sweat, but don’t tire yourself out.
**Warming oil on the skin – Slop this stuff on and don’t rub it in too much so as to leave a little water repellent layer on your skin. Careful if it’s a sunny day as you may open yourself up to sun burn. Belgian cyclists are famous for this little trick. The start line in a chilly Euro bike race smells oh so sweet.
Hopefully we will all be good to go the next time we find ourselves on a non-wetsuit start line in less than balmy conditions.
Continue reading Swimming in cold water
At the request of a reader we’ll do a little tip on aero positions. We will, however, refer you to a great photo essay at Slowtwitch. They took amazing pictures of some of the best Pro athletes at the Hawaii Ironman World Championships this year. (Unfortunately I can’t find the link to that particular article - but here’s another with some pictures for your interest.) If anyone happens to find the other article please feel free to leave a comment pointing the way.
Our take on aero positions (like most) is to be as aero as possible without compromising your power. Aerodynamics are indeed important, but time saved due to less drag will pale in comparison to the time you lose if you are so uncomfortable you can’t ride properly, or if you hinder your ability to run afterward. Here’s a couple pictures to show you some extremes on either end of the scale.
Bjorn Anderson – This position is CRAZY. It works for him on the bike – but it’s hard to say what it costs him on the run. He usually has the fastest bike split outside of Kona, but rarely has a good run. He did win Wildflower, but I think his Ironman attempts have been lackluster. Maybe he can’t digest food properly, maybe he rides too hard. Whatever it is, the point is to show a very extreme aero position:
Continue reading Good and Bad Aero positions
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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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Trying out a few meal options the night before a big training day will help decrease the surprises come race day. You’ll want to avoid taxing your digestive system with hard to digest meats and processed foods. However, finding something that you’ll enjoy is equally important.
