CF Update: 02/17/03

Crucible Fitness Tri Clinics

I spent the weekend in Clermont, Florida, at the National Training Center, conducting a clinic for the folks at TriSyndicate.com (http://syndicate3.com/Index.html).  This was a very informal and valuable training weekend for the participants, at only $125 per person for three full days.  The weekend was extremely valuable for me, as it was an opportunity to get out and meet fellow athletes, while at the same time honing my teaching skills.  As always, I learn a great deal about a subject when I teach it.  This weekend was no exception, as it was essentially the Rich Show for three full days.  Here is a short list of the subjects we talked about:

• Primer for the Self-Coached Athlete: how to effectively coach yourself, using the methods and tools that I use to organize the training for my own athletes.  Formulating your annual training plan based on season goals, time available to train, personal limiters.  Basic vs advanced training abilities, exercise physiology, scheduling techniques, etc.
• Swim Clinic:  3+ hours of swim instruction, including videotaped assessment.
• Cycling: the details of cadence (muscular system vs aerobic system recruitment), pedaling technique, climbing, race pacing, bike handling (braking, cornering, group riding, etc.), bike set-up.  Practical application of pedaling and climbing techniques during a three hour training ride.
• Running: 2 hour discussion and practical application of the Pose Method.  Video-taped form assessment.
• Nutrition: achieving an optimum body composition, eating for recovery, training and race day nutrition.
• Race day: pre-race, transition, and race day strategies.  Pacing, decision-making skills and your mental game.

We covered a lot more during breakfast, lunches, training rides and runs, etc.  I was thrashed on the flight home!  I am adding clinics to my list of services.  If you are interested in having me come out and put on a very affordable clinic for your tri-club, training partners, etc, just drop me a line and we can work out the details.  I see this as a win-win for both of us: you can put together a very affordable and informative clinic for your club or friends, while I receive an excellent marketing and educational opportunity in return.   

 Wildflower Training Weekend

This is just a reminder that Jon and I are offering a training weekend at Lake San Antonio, on the Wildflower course.  See the link on the homepage for complete details.

 Rollers on the Computrainer

I saw that you did the IMWI course on the CT.  Personally, I don’t put much stock in the realism of the CT courses, mainly because you can not free wheel or coast down the hills.  The grades of the hills may be accurate but most people finish a CT course thinking it is much harder then the real thing, and they are right since you can’t rest.  But you can still use the CT to learn how to ride rollers:

1. Mentally divide the hill into thirds.
2. 1^st third: Watch your wattage at the very start of the hill.  Your naturally tendency is to “spike” your watts when you first encounter a grade change.  Watch this and avoid it.  A trick I use outside when I am not training with power is to monitor the pressure on the bottom of my feet.  If my cadence is unchanged and the pressure on my feet has increased, then I know I’m pressing on the pedals harder = spiking my watts.
3. 2^nd third: maintain a steady wattage that is within your capabilities.  When we do some testing on the CT this week we’ll be able to put some numbers to your capabilities.  Climbing hills in an IM is about managing the hills, and power is an excellent tool to ensure you stay within yourself.
4. 3^rd third: the crest and first part of the downhill.  It is very important that you maintain your 2^nd third power over the crest and carry it down the first portion of the downhill.  This is where most people back off considerably and is the difference between coasting down a hill at 28 or at 33 mph. 

These are the techniques I used at Wisconsin and I was very successful with it.

 Considerations for monthly testing:

What is the purpose of the test?
More specifically, what are you going to do with the results or information? You'll notice that we waited about 6 weeks until we did tests to establish your training zones. This was to give your bodies time to adapt and settle into your training zones. We will test again in another 4-6 weeks to confirm and refine those training zones before we go into the next training phase. But once you know your training zones, you know them. What is more important is learning what your body does within certain ranges of your zones.

What fitness system does the test measure and is it the appropriate system for the goal race?
Luis hinted at a good point, which is that maximal tests, like these race-like, all-out time trials, are not the best measurement of the fitness required for an IM. Last year I was coaching a very strong athlete who told me, 6 weeks before an IM, that he was going to start running track because his 5k times had gotten so much slower. By "slower," I mean 16:30. I smacked him around and reminded him that we were training for an IM, not a 5k. Likewise, I'm pretty confident I could put you on the track in 3 months and your 4 mile test will not be a whole lot faster than the one you do this week. But I can guarantee you'll be much faster at your aerobic pace, which is what it's all about.

How much "rest" will you get in a rest week with 3 freakin' tests?
If I feel a test is warranted I'll usually have athletes do it the week after a rest week, as their BT session of the week. Likewise, a swim TT is not that stressful, so it's not a big deal to do one every training period. It's an excellent BT session also.

Swim:
1k test at the end of each training period, as a BT session and to reset training paces.

Bike:
LTHR at the end of Base 1 and Base 2. Limited value after that. However, if the athlete has a Powertap or Computrainer, testing at the end of each training period is VERY valuable.  Aerobic testing is useful in all periods, more so if the athlete is training with a power device. There are usually too many environmental variables to make speed comparisons from ride to ride, even on the same course. Power provides us with an objective measurement.

Run:
LTHR at the end of Base 1 and Base 2. Limited value after that.  Aerobic testing is useful, but you can do it in the middle of any run. Just settle into the HR range you want to track and determine your pace.