Over the Christmas period I have noticed two types of triathlete appear. Some use every spare minute including Christmas Day and New Year’s Day to maximise their training…and the others  use these great opportunities as an excuse to do nothing!

Over the festive period get out and try some of these sessions, it will turn up the metabolism and allow you to indulge yourself in more of those naughty but tasty Christmas foods…anyway this is what Carl will be wading through this the festive season.

Hill Reps

You need a hill that takes about 3 minutes to run up, on gradient of 6-10%. You should just be able to jog back in 3 minutes. If you cannot get back to the start in time, you have run up the hill too fast, or the hill is not steep enough.

Start at 3 repetitions and add on one per week up to 6 reps then maintain until end of period.

Also before starting include some hopping. 4 sets of 5 hops left leg and 5 hops right leg twice through. Concentrate on contact with the ground and your drive phase…remember, land- lever- lift.

To do the hopping correctly,  land on the midfoot. It is actually impossible to land on the heal when hopping uphill.  I would recommend never hopping on  flat ground as it puts too much stress on your knees, always uphill hopping. Next you must Lever, ensure you get your centre of gravity over the front of the shoe and then drive forward and lift off the ground again (read more about one legged hill running here).

Easy Run with Strides

This is a recovery run, but instead of wasting time I have added in some strides to help develop leg cadence. So long as the sprints are downhill or on the flat, always with the wind, and there is a long recovery period between each 75m wind assisted stride, you should not build up lactic acid. This is because the muscles will use stored ATP energy. My athletes always feel much fresher after this session than if they took the day off completely.

Track Session

This is well documented in a previous blog. Even IM athletes should spend one period of their base training on the track, to ensure they do not  develop the IM shuffle! However I will allow them to run the intervals slightly slower than my Olympic distance athletes, as the IM guys are just putting in the ground work in for some much longer intervals later on.

Time Trial or Race

It is good to do a steady run at your aerobic threshold to help develop your efficiency, it is also good to keep a hand in at some sort of racing so that it is not such a big shock to the system when IM comes around, due to the nature of the beast, you can only really do one or two IM races a year, so it is important do a race of some type from time to time.

On the Bike

As it is the middle of winter, I keep cycling down to a minimum. It can be sole destroying having to  do long slow rides on cold, damp and windy winter days.

The focus of cycling in this base period, is on building up power, via  Low Cadence training high resistance cycling. It is ok to do this indoors.  This training can be as simple as 6 x 5 minutes pushing a big gear at about 65-75 cadence. Hold the biggest gear you can, while maintaining cadence. As you get stronger gradually push a bigger gear rather than increasing cadence. I tend to take about 3 mins easy spinning between reps.

The other key session, is in contrast, and could actually be classified as an easy ride.  I vary the sessions but the objective is to do easy intervals with little resistance to allow me to keep my cadence between 90 and 120. This real helps you concentrate on cycling efficiency, again I would do it indoors this time of year !

In the Pool

As Carl has a strong swimming background, the aim is to stop him making the fundamental error of concentring on his stronger discipline. One drill session and one interval session will get him through this phase. If he had been a strong runner I would have dropped that down to 2 run sessions a week and would have focussed on the swim.

I have one final point to add for this time;

Over the past three blogs,  I have shown how to build up a programme from race day and work backwards in time. I have also shown how to take it from the macro scale down to the micro scale. It is important to know where and why everything fits into the system.

However it is important to stress that this is the frame work, and from it we will inevitably deviate, when the real world comes into play…Injuries and sickness may happen. Work and family pressure may causes sessions to be cancelled or altered…but the key thing is that Carl can now see where he is heading and will soon be able to get back on track if he misses some sessions.

It should be fun reading his blog to see how he copes with is schedule and whether or not he breaks 11 hours at Ironman Lanzarote!

In response to my second IM training programme article, Neil asked me “I have just read your ‘Ironman Training Program’ on your website and you talk about Carl’s base training. I am training for my first UK 70.3 and just wondered how long the base training should last?”

My answer to this is if you have 12 weeks that is ideal, but you also have to fit in at least 3-4 months of speed, LSD and race prep. So you will need at least 6 months to your race to allow you a 12 weeks base.

6 is the minimum you should ever do, to effect any physiological change. Most of us end up compromising and doing between 6 and 12 weeks due to lack of planning, family and work commitments etc. But if you were a pro I would make you do 12 weeks. Unless you were planning two IM or 70.3 races a year, then I would split the 12 week base into 2 phases.

I hope that helps Neil and good luck with your training and race.

In the second of his 3 part Ironman Training Programme article, Mike looks at how his athlete Carl Holland will divide his training week across the three disciplines.

Since Carl has limited time available due to his work and family commitments, I will need to take this into account, as well as looking at his current fitness and  his past sporting achievements.

As an ex swimmer, I shall keep his swimming to a minimum and concentrate on the run and bike. To make the training more time efficient I shall give him some hill hopping and seated hill reps on the bike. This is efficient as it replaces the gym work. In an ideal world it would have been great to integrate some weights, but often as age groupers we have to set priorities and make some compromises.

When Carl gets through his base training, he should be fitter, leaner stronger, more efficient, and so in theory will be able to tackle his distance work at a higher pace than he expects, this will then mean that his speed work will also be able to start off at a faster pace than usual, which will hopefully lead to a faster race time.

I have only included 2 swims a week at this time. This is enough for  one drill session and an interval session. This will not take his swimming forward but will stop it from deteriorating and allow Carl to concentrate on his weaker two disciplines. Think about how long each leg will take in the IM race? Over 90% of carls race, will be on the bike or running. (1hr swim and 10hours for the bike and run combined).

With this in mind I want Carl doing 3 bike sessions and 4 runs in this base period. I shall put more emphasis on the bike in spring when the days are longer and the weather is slightly better.

The runs are:

1. Hill strides/hill hopping, to develop stride length and strength. The number of reps will gradually increase
2. Steady run including strides, for leg speed/ leg cadence
3. Track session: this is well documented in my previous blog and will progress over the weeks
4. Time trial, X-C race or fun run.

The bike rides will be:

1. Indoor Turbo cadence work trying to maintain cadence of 100 plus for riding economy
2. Indoor Turbo, big gear work, to build up strength and power output. Power output will be pushed up gradually, over the weeks
3. Easy ride 2-4 hours ( the exact length will depend on time commitments,  fatigue and of course the great British weather

Carl’s Week at a glance

Day One      RUN : Hill reps with hopping

Day Two      SWIM: Easy swim Stroke work     BIKE: Big Gear Work, (low cadence around 65-75)

Day Three    RUN: Easy run with 6x75m strides

Day Four    RUN : Track session

Day Five      SWIM: Intervals           BIKE: High Cadence work (100+)

Day Six        RUN: Time Trial or Race

Day Seven   BIKE:  Easy Ride 2-4 hours

Next time I shall go into more depth about the training, so that Carl can understand why I have given him each session.

Compared with some of the more illustrious triathletes posted on this site (ie: Mike Trees, Richard Stannard, Stephen Farrell and Chris Chamberlin to name but a few), I’m a relative newbie to the world of triathlon. 

That said, I suppose I should introduce myself!  My name is Carl Holland, (and as referenced in Mike’s opening blog), I am a physiotherapist working alongside Alex Drummond at the Drummond Clinic in Maidenhead – where we specialise in muscular skeletal problems, sports rehabilitation and biomechanics.

With a history of water based sport behind me (ie: National Age Group Swimmer), a growing interest in road biking over the past 2-3 years and a general interest in running, it was only a matter of time before the lure of Triathlon captured both my imagination and passion to push my boundaries to new limits… and this was especially true the moment I learnt that there was an event called – an Ironman!

However, given that I would much rather run numerous miles x-country, across the Lakes or Brecon Beacons, than run a standard 1/2 or full road marathon is somewhat of a sticky issue.  That said, given the impetus of a couple of friends who were planning to enter the 2009 Swiss 70.3 Ironman in Rapperswil-Jona earlier this year, I soon found myself swimming, biking and running (along the roads – and local woodland trails) to a whole different beat. 

Now whilst the Swiss 70.3 saw me complete my first official triathlon within a reasonable time, my indulgence to always push myself beyond my normal physical limits, still left me feeling somewhat disappointed that I had taken an additional 30 minutes over and above my anticipated time.  This on reflection I put down to a slightly slower bike section (due to insufficient hill training – relative to those encountered on the Swiss 70.3 route), a much slower run than I had achieved in training… and some poor final week preparation, including traveling to the event (ie: driving from England to Switzerland 2 days prior to the event) in conjunction with the associated pre-event camping and being a little off in my nutritional intake.  Still, as the expression goes, ‘you live and learn’ So with a 70.3 under my belt, and my impending 40th birthday only 5 months aways – I saw no better time than to step up to a full Ironman; and what better event than the Ironman which is alleged to be the toughest (ie: Lanzarotte – with its typically hilly, windswept and hot course) and is coincidentally the day before my 40th Birthday (and yep – the suggestion of a mid life crisis has already been highlighted by a number of my friends).

Anyway, given my previous experience (and post race frustration) at the Swiss 70.3, I thought it prudent to seek some additional coaching advice from Mike Trees and his team.  Consequently, Mike has (as you will have no doubt already read) provided me with a macro cycle of my training leading up to the event… ie: May 22nd 2010.

With the initial phase to build a strong foundation upon which we can then load during the subsequent phases of my training regime. 

However, best laid plans are often fraught with complexity; more especially when also needing to account for real world scenarios impacting on our daily lives – as I will now highlight.

Training Begins…

Prior to starting my training, I wanted to make sure each training session I performed would be as optimised as possible; especially in terms of working at the correct heart rate / training zones.  Therefore I asked my colleague Alex Drummond if we could test my current VO2 output on both the run and bike.  However, I awoke on the day of my scheduled testing feeling a little nasally and bunged up – and consequently it was decided to postpone the testing until the new year (and Alex’s return from his annual skiing trip).

I did however decide to attend the track training session with Mike Trees and Richard Stannard at TVA (Thames Valley Athletics) centre that evening in an attempt to sweat whatever nasties from my body that I could – and at the same time, check to see if my recent hamstring and achilles issues had finally been resolved.  And whilst I can report the hamstring stayed good, and only mild symptoms were noted in my achilles… training in the cold, wet weather did nothing to help my nose or chest – and I ended up having almost an entire week off training suffering from a cold and chest infection.  Although the latter was probably not helped by having to spend a long night (ie: the evening of the Track Session) sat in A&E with a family member… the heavy snowfall limiting any outdoor activity leading up to xmas – and causing me to spend a night sleeping alone in the physiotherapy clinic when unable to drive home.  All of which left me starting to feel extremely envious that my coach (aka Mike) was enjoying some sunshine in the Lanzarotte…. and that my colleague and appointed Physio / Massage therapist Alex was living it up on the slopes of Val d’sere – whilst it appeared I was struggling to maintain any training continuity.

Fortunately, Mike was on hand via email to both reassure me and confirm that I could use the treadmill and turbo in the interim – and thus limit any further injuries or accidents from occurring whilst trying to train out on the icy roads.  Additionally, it was also suggested that I spend no more than an hour on the turbo to prevent boredom setting in, and that as my body was trying to recover from a cold / illness, that I should tone down my heart rate / intensity accordingly so as not to overdo it.  Consequently, with my motivation restored  I was able to utilise both the turbo and the treadmill for a couple sessions leading up to xmas – and focus on both my running technique (ie: the land, lever, lift principle as previously discussed by Mike) and with the use of Drummond Clinics Computrainer, work on my spincycle and cadence…. ahhh, Happy days

Carl Holland, a physiotherapist from the Drummond Clinic,  has asked for help in his training leading up to the Lanzarote Ironman (IM) in May.  I shall use him as an example of how to build up the training plan, and he will keep a blog on his progression, so you can follow the reality of it. At the end of this week there will be 23 weeks to go until race day.

Below,  in list format is brief summary of Carl’s overall training plan. It is important that he knows what he will be facing in each phase of the training

To build up a training schedule it is necessary to work backwards from race day.

Week  23 LANZAROTE IM Race week – This will be travel, recovery and preparation.  More detailed information will be offered much nearer the big day

Week 19-22 Taper-  For IM,  I use a long taper of 3 weeks ( 1 month if you include the final race week)

The main point of an extended taper is because you need to rest up before the big day. There is no point in devoting months of your life to training and then under performing on race day because you are too tired !

Week 15-19 Speedwork:  Carl will need 4 weeks of speedwork to get back his race legs after his distance training. ( 3 weeks is the shortest time someone can train and benefit from a physiological change. I have added one extra week for safety.   6 weeks would have been ideal, but as there are only 23 weeks left to race day we don’t have that time spare.

Week 14  Recovery weekWeek 8-14 LSD training   LSD is a crucial part of any IM training programme. Carl will have 6 weeks, split into to two periods of three weeks, building the distance and time spent training  in weeks 1-3 and 4-6.

Week 7 Recovery week

Week 1-7 Base Training.  There will be 7 weeks for base training…which you may have realised by now is not lots of LSD training ,as some triathletes mistakenly think,  but instead it is strength building to lay down the foundations for the distance work and speed work to follow.

If I can get  Carl to build up his muscular strength, core stability and work on his form he will go into the following phases with his body, acting like a well oiled machine, if not it will be like trying to fine tune an engine that sits in a rusted shell of a car.