CF Update: 11/01/02

Team, Alumni, and Friends,

A few thoughts for this week:

2003 Season
Most of you are in your transition phases right now. In the next week I will be contacting all of my current clients to discuss your intentions to work with me in 2003. If I already know what you’re doing, don’t worry, you’re good.

IMFL
Team Crucible had a great showing at IMFl. I’ll let the race reports tell the story. Lonnie is first: http://www.cruciblefitness.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=477

Still traveling:
Yep, I left on Oct 30 and I’m still on the road. In Atlanta for 2 more days and then I fly back to LA on Wednesday morning. I just hope Sonny recognizes me J.

January Clinic
Please let me know ASAP if you plan to attend the clinic in January. Details on the homepage.

Wildflower
Registration opens Dec 1 (www.tricalifornia.com). I HIGHLY recommend you do this race. Between my own team, Inland Inferno, Gordo and the other UF coaches’ crews, I could be dialed in to about 75+ athletes in the race and sharing one campsite. That is MUCH fun, don’t miss out. Don’t worry about the details now, just register and we’ll figure it out.

Aerobic Threshold
I’d like all of you to pay attention to an article series that Gordo is presenting over at xtri.com: http://www.xtri.com/article.asp?id=798 The concept he is developing is called Aerobic Threshold and is developed from his conversations with Dr. Hellemans and Scott Molina in New Zealand. It applies mostly to IM training. This is an un-TTB term and as such is a small source of consternation among the other Ultrafit coaches (we’re all supposed to be coaching per the principles in the Triathlete’s Training Bible, correct?). It’s actually a little funny, as I sit back and watch the internal discussions J.

Anyway, the idea is this: there is a HR or intensity level called aerobic threshold. This is the point at which lactate first begins to accumulate in the blood. While lactate threshold is defined as the point at which blood lactate is > or = to 4 millimoles of concentration, aerobic threshold = 2 millimoles of blood lactate. So by exercising at this “steady to moderate” intensity, we achieve to things:

An easy enough intensity that we are able to go long distances and create a large endurance benefit.
Just hard enough that we expose the body to moderate amounts of lactate. By doing this we train the body to process lactic acid.

For IM athletes, think of this as “this one is just right,” between Goldilock’s “this one is too cold (z1)” and “this on is too hot (z3-5a).” I’ve pinned Gordo down and asked him to define aerobic threshold (AT) in terms of Freil’s HR training zones and/or Critical Power (CP) values. The clearest answer I’ve gotten is that:

AT = z2, or 60-70% of CP30. For me, CP30 = about 310, so AT = about 180-210 watts. I know from experience that a long ride at 210 watts would become challenging after about 2.5-3 hours. So I define this effort as being difficult due to the combination of moderate intensity and long volume. Intuitively, I see this idea of AT as being a more detailed explanation of the benefits of race specific training: training at IM intensity is the best way to develop IM specific fitness. Makes sense. I’m sure that Gordo will present the more detailed principles behind this concept.

How to apply AT to training? My weekly bike training for IMWI consisted mainly of:

BT interval session. A progression of intervals from CP60 down to CP6. More thoughts on this later. Someone remind me.
Mid week z1-2 base building session.
Long bike, solid z1. I reduced the intensity from earlier years (I tended to ride too hard on my long bikes) but really jacked up the volume. Jon, Brandon and I lost count of the number of centuries and 120-130 mile bikes we did, but these were almost all at VERY easy intensity levels.

For my IMCDA and Kona training, I will experiment with:

Long z1 overdistance rides in Base 1 and 2
IM specific/Aerobic Threshold/z2 long bikes in Base 3 and Build.
Run training will follow the same guidance.

Everyone needs to understand how I learn my trade: read a lot, write a lot, ask a bunch of smart folks a lot of questions, try stuff out in my own training. Learn from my mistakes so I don’t make them with your training. What I’ve learned is:

· You can almost never get too much z1-low z2 time. This is VERY valuable. It took me about 2 years to finally learn to just freakin’ chill out.

· I did WAY too much z4-z5a high intensity training when I first started. But I’m learning.

· “It’s not about who is fastest, but rather about who slows down the least.” This is now my manta, basically. This principle is academic to IM training and also applies to Half IM training. Much less so to OLY distance racing.

· “Slowing down the least” is a function of achieving the right flavor of fitness (freight train vs Porshe) AND race day execution skills. As I get older and hopefully smarter, the latter is where the money is. The IM run course is littered with 3hr marathoners walking in with 4:30 plus splits. I think that z2/Aerobic Threshold is an interesting avenue to consider when it comes to developing “freight train fitness.”

IMFL Pre-Race talk

My notes:

http://www.cruciblefitness.com/etips/principles.pdf

Discussion Forum
Jon has updated the forum software. Again, this is a resource for you to take advantage of: post a question and get a variety of answers and opinions.

Crucible Associates
In the November issue of the Brick, I introduced Jon Pedder and Matt Connery as new “Crucible Associates.” I want to take this opportunity to offer more explanation. Right now I am creating this “house” that is Crucible Fitness. This house is basically a free training information source for endurance athletes, with all of these resources in the front room. Just off the front room I’m building another room, Team Crucible (most of you). This room only has one desk right now, me. My intent is to bring on Crucible Associates (Jon and Matt) so they can set up their own desks (businesses) within my Team Crucible Room. I don’t pay these guys, they get their own athletes and maintain them within Crucible Fitness. As Crucible Associates, we all work together as a team to provide the best training resources for our clients. Athletes attracted to the CF house are now offered a wider variety of options for working within Team Crucible. Things I need to work out: new associate training, standard operating procedures, etc.

Fast forward to Wildflower, 2004:

Team Crucible has 50-70 athletes in one campsite, wearing the same uniforms and racing together. These athletes are both local to LA and spread out from all over the country/world, but we meet and race together at WF. Rich goes sub 4:40, beats Jon AGAIN, hosts the whole crew in a huge RV with many coolers full of Newcastle Brown Ale. Rich “retires” to the RV in a drunken stupor, satisfied in having accomplished a dream

From the Mail Bag

For each week I’ll now include other musings from off-line conversations, message board postings, etc. Kind of a Team Crucible/Coach Rich Reader’s Digest.

Good job on the weights last week. Power to weight is watts/lbs. It’s combination of aerobic and muscular fitness. Remember that for the bike, it’s about sport specific strength: put a linebacker on a bike and I’ll still crank out more watts than him. His legs are stronger but my legs are bike-stronger. So it’s about:

Develop raw leg strength (you in MS weights)
Convert this to sport specific strength -à applying this raw strength to the pedals in Base 2 with Force workouts.
Put a big aerobic engine on top of these strong legsà Endurance workouts throughout your training.
Finally, combine this Force and Endurance by developing your Muscular Endurance (ME). ME is where the real money is. Up until Base 3 you are really just training to train. Base 3 and ME is where it all comes together.

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Here is a quick summary of my thoughts regarding HR training and determining your LTHR.

* if you are out of shape (me) wait 6-8 weeks before you do any testing to determine your LTHR. When you start an exercise program your body will go through some adaptive changes. In my experience this will change your training zones significantly during this time period. Better to wait, let things settle, then test. Until this time, keep your efforts easy and conversational.

* determine your training zones with a 30 min time trial, using your avg HR for the last 20 min as your LTHR. If you know your max heart rate, use the Karvonen method to add a second opinion of your LTHR. There will be some disparity or "gray area" between these two methods. Simply apply training knowledge and experience over time to narrow this range. For example, I "know" from much saddle time that my LTHR on the bike is usually around 173-175 bpm.

* Use Percieved Exertion (PE) and HR for base building training, Power (bike) or pace (run) for higher intensity training. The proper use of pace and power is one of the most exciting coaching areas out there right now. Lots of affordable tools coming out now that will make your training more and more effective.

* your heart rate monitor (HRM) is a tool. Like any tool, it is only as good as the user. Learn how to use your HRM in training. Knowledge of some simple pricinciples of exercise physiology and experience with your body are the best teachers. Your desired endstate should be knowing when to listen to your HRM and when to put it aside and trust how you feel