|
 |
"Mike's
approach to coaching really brings out the best in your
performance" Chris, Berkshire |
|
|
|
| |
Running for Triathletes - Part 2
|
|
|
�I would love to do triathlons
but I don�t have the time!�
Is this you�?
The pace of life seems to be forever accelerating.
I have a WiFi enabled laptop that goes with me everywhere
and is permanently on line. The IT revolution has
increased my ability to do work, but instead of
saving me time, has made me busier. But not just
me, as you are reading this I think I must have
struck a chord with you too!
Let�s be realistic, the pace we live our lives at
is not slowing down so we must plan our schedules
carefully to make time for work and family and also
time to train for triathlon.
Even though you may not be able to devote as much
time to training as you would like, the following
principles will help you improve. However, it is
unrealistic to expect someone on five hours a week
to improve more than someone training for 10 hours.
On the other hand, it is also virtually impossible
to predict future performance other than to say
that it is dependant on the athletes sporting background,
their lifestyle, training routine, and natural ability.
Your body becomes efficient at what it does most
We know that the body adapts to the specific training
you give it so, perhaps we can cheat the system.
Train at race pace
If you want to run a race at 8 minutes per mile
pace, train at this pace. If you run at race pace
over race distance, in my view that is a race! So,
in training I recommend picking a challenging, but
realistic, race pace and breaking the distance down
into smaller more manageable parts. For your 10k
run training this might be as follows:
To run 50 mins for 10km it is necessary to cover
400m every 2 minutes, ie running 25 x 400m at 2
minutes per lap pace without resting. Initially
this may be out of reach, so start off training
with something that is attainable, eg 12 x 400m
at 2 minutes per lap pace with 1 minute 30 seconds
rest between each 400m. Over time it will become
possible to increase the repetitions to 25 (which
is 10km in distance). After achieving the distance,
decrease the rest to only 30 seconds between each
rep. When you are able to run 25 x 400m at 2 minutes
per 400m with only 30 seconds rest, you will be
capable of achieving your goal: a 50 minute 10km.
A typical programme may look like this:
Race Speed work Training 10 week programme
| Week 1 |
12 x 400m in
2mins, take 1min rest |
| Week 2 |
16 x 400m in
2mins, take 1min rest |
| Week 3 |
20 x 400m in
2mins, take 1min rest |
| Week 4 |
24 x 400m in
2mins, take 1min rest |
| Week 5 |
12 x 400m in
2mins, take 1min rest (Easy week) |
| Week
6 |
12
x 400m in 2mins, take 30 sec rest |
| Week 7 |
16 x 400m in
2mins, take 30 sec rest |
| Week
8 |
20
x 400m in 2mins, take 30 sec rest |
| Week
9 |
24
x 400m in 2mins, take 30 sec rest |
| Week10 |
12 x 400m in
2mins, take 1mins rest (Easy week) |
This type of training would typically
be started 12 weeks before for your most important
race. The last two weeks would consist of �a taper�,
which means that you would reduce for training volume
and intensity to allow your body to recover and
reap the benefits of training by getting stronger.
Similar speed sessions must also be carried out
on the bike and in the swim and be integrated into
an overall programme. Although concentrating on
the run for this series of articles, I have included
a sample schedule together for a typical week of
a novice triathlete to help show how it all fits
together.
Dump the long slow training!
In early winter it is beneficial to do longer slow
training to help build up the aerobic system, however
long slow training will only teach you to go long
distances slowly. In standard distance triathlon
you only have to swim 1,500m, bike 40km and run
10km.
If you swim slowly your body position will be lower
in the water. It will affect your stroke, and unless
a very good swimmer you will swim badly. I do not
recommend long slow swimming. It is better to swim
shorter distances faster and concentrate on swimming
well. In cycling terms 40km is considered short
and it takes power to go fast. This is developed
in the gym using weights, or doing hill reps or
by cycling at speed. The same is true for running.
However, if you have the time and enjoy doing long
slow distance (LSD) work, please do it. Remember
triathlon is to be enjoyed, so do what you enjoy.
But, if you are short of time and your main aim
is to improve, LSD training is not necessary.
Keep your carbohydrate levels high
Training at speed means that you burn carbohydrates
for energy and not fat. In the old days, before
sports nutrition was taken seriously, athletes used
to train to burn fats for energy. Compared to carbohydrate,
our body�s fat reserves are vast. Training the body
to burn fats for energy is time consuming, as it
involves lots of LSD training. If you are short
of time you must look for a different solution.
The recent availability of carbohydrate gels offers
one solution. Now it is possible for triathletes
to easily pre-race carbo-load, as well as consume
carbohydrate energy gels while racing. For standard
distance racing, there is little or no need to be
energy efficient, and thus no need to do the traditional
LSD training in order to promote fat burning.
Don�t train hard every session!
Keep your recovery sessions short, about 30 minutes
is good. This saves time. Over 30 minutes and you
will not be recovering, but tiring yourself. Keep
in mind that no more than 30% of your total training
volume should be hard. The rest should be at an
lighter aerobic pace.
Listen to your body
Heart rates are often used to help athletes train
at their optimum pace. This is a very valuable tool,
however before starting to train with a heart rate
monitor, you must learn to listen to your own body.
Does the training feel easy or does it feel hard?
A simple technique for beginners is to rate each
session out of �10�. For example �1� may be easy
walking, �3� jogging, �5� recovery pace, �7� steady
pace training, �8� race pace, and �10� all out sprinting.
Although this is a primitive guide, it helps athletes
to listen to their own body. The best coaches in
the world can only present information and guide
their athletes towards set goals. The best athletes
in the world are totally in tune with their bodies.
I stopped using a heart rate monitor every day when
I realized that I could predict my heart rate fairly
accurately by listening to my own body as I trained.
Strength training, is the key
I do a lot of weight training, aerobic circuit training
and core stability training with my athletes and
the results speak for themselves. Running and cycling
speeds are very much related to power-to-weight
ratios. Power is needed in swimming, but also good
technique to reduce resistance, is more important.
For swimming I like using paddles to strengthen
the final push of the stroke. Hill training is very
good for both running and cycling, and this should
be supplemented with weight training.
The form of weight training you undertake will depend
on your needs, strengths and weaknesses. A weight
that is light for one person may be too heavy for
another. I recommend talking to the professionals
at your local gym, for specific advice on your particular
needs.
Stretching
I have not included this in the training schedule
below, but that does not mean it should be neglected.
Studies about stretching are often contradictory.
I believe it is very good to help prevent injury,
therefore vital. I have not set aside specific training
time, because it doesn�t need big blocks of time.
My best advice is, if you have a free few minutes
pick one muscle group to work on and stretch it
out. I have become an expert at stretching while
talking on the phone, or waiting for the kettle
to boil. You may stretch while watching TV! So long
as a few minutes gentle exercise is undertaken to
warm up the muscles before training it is not necessary
that you stretch directly before or after a work
out.
A longer bike ride!
On Sundays my athletes all start riding together.
The distance depends on how much time is available.
This is one session that will need to be longer
than the others to get the body used to working
for the length of time a race may take. This longer
training should be done on the bike, and preferably
on a hilly course to build up the cycling muscles.
A maximum of 2 hours is all you need. The reason
I suggest a longer bike ride than a long run is
that the heart and lungs cannot detect whether you
are cycling swimming or running, so that many aerobic
benefits from the bike will carry over to the run,
but as the bike carries your body weight there is
less likelihood of getting injured, which unfortunately
is all to common in running.
The training schedule
If an athlete tries to do too much he or she will
achieve little but get injured, sick or both and
will eventually lose motivation. The following schedule
was developed, based on the amount of time this
triathlete had available to train and represents
a week of �base training� in February.
Triathlon training: average 5- 7 hours a week training
Tony is married with 3 children. He works over 40
hrs a week in IT, is chairman and coach of the local
youth football club. His sporting background includes
Sunday league football and squash. He aims to complete
Windsor in under 2 hours 30 and improve his PB�s
(currently S:1500m=31:10, B:40km=1:12:51 and R:10km=52:52
Comments: �Since training with Mike I have become
more focused on what I need to do to improve, I
have started weight-training to get more power,
cycle/run sessions are more structured and the swim
sessions are helping me with my stroke work. The
only problem is training has become much harder.�
| Sun |
Hilly bike ride
(1-2 hours) |
Aerobic ride,
do not stand up while hill climbing! |
| Mon |
Recovery run
(30 mins) |
Try to relax,
tension wastes energy |
| Tues |
Swim (30mins)
|
15min of intervals,
use paddles for strength training Weights
(30mins) Include leg press 4 sets of 12 reps,
for power! |
| Wed |
Run 10 x 75m
hill strides (30-45 mins) |
Keep on toes,
bound, aim for power, not speed |
| Thu |
Bike track or
turbo trainer (30-60mins) |
Fartlek style |
| Fri |
Rest |
|
| Sat |
Swim intervals
(30mins) |
Keep to race
pace |
| |
Track interval
running, 400m intervals (30-60mins) |
Keep to race
pace |
It is possible to achieve a lot on a limited amount
of training, so long as the principles behind that
training are sound. Quality not quantity is the
golden rule.
Jargon Busters
Base training: One method of training is to divide
the year into various periods, such as base, pre-race,
race and recovery. In the base training period most
of the strength building work takes place.
Energy gels: These are highly concentrated carbohydrate
solutions that are easily absorbed by the body and
converted into energy.
Fartlek: This is Swedish for speed play. It is similar
to interval training, but not as formal The length
of time or distance covered training hard and recovery
periods are not fixed but depend on how the athlete
feels.
Interval training: Training carried out at set speeds
over set distances, with fixed rest periods designed
to allow partial recovery. It enables an athlete
to train at higher speeds than constant running.
Sources of energy: The two most important to triathletes
are fats and carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates: The average person can store about
2,000 calories of carbohydrate, which will last
only about 2 hours when training hard. To prevent
these from running out, our carbohydrate reserves
need topping up regularly.
Fats: When working at a slower pace the body prefers
to burn fat for energy to spare our limited carbohydrate
stores. Even very slim people have abundant supplies
of fat for energy, that can power us for days on
end.
Turbo trainer: A machine that allows athletes to
cycle indoors using their real bike rather than
a gym-style exercise bike.
Why not go beyond the article and have us train
you 1-to-1 to meet and exceed your running and triathlon
goals - contact us.
|
|
|
|
|
|
