Good Health is Everything

As an athlete, your number one goal is consistent training.  Excellent athletes get in 9 out of 10 of well-planned workouts.  Sick for four days?  You've just gone backwards 2-3 weeks on your training plan.  Injured for a month?  You'll need to start over.  Injured for six months?  There goes your season.

When we've had a great workout, we start to feel invincible.  Teenagers have this same false sense.  Don't fall for it.

Be alert for any tightness or sore spot.  From the first sensation, treat it as if it is an injury.  Back off from training and start icing.  With your quick attention and a little luck, the tightness might disappear in a day or two rather than becoming a long term ordeal.

Guard your health like a newborn baby.  It is almost as precious and precarious!  Have hand sanitizer handy.  Avoid sneezing, coughing friends.  Get enough sleep.  Eat nutritiously.

Don't risk your health!

Child-Like Racing

 

I am just back from the Cross Country Coaches National Champs in Lexington, KY this weekend. We took at team of 15 runners aged 6-13, including my 8 year old son. The course was run on a horse cross country training grounds, so it was lumpy, bumpy and Kentucky hilly. It was my son's first experience racing from a starting box along with 200 runners. What a thrill for him! All the kids were there to do their best, and have a lot of fun. This race was their reward for all their hard work running this summer and fall.

 

Of course as soon as his race was over, he spent the rest of the afternoon tossing around a football with the other kids, then splashing in the hotel pool all evening. And those may be even better memories from this trip for him.

 

There are many lessons that we can learn from these kids:

• Sign up for some races/challenges that seem a little scary.  
• Get some training partners that make you laugh.
• Enjoy the people that you meet along your journey of training and racing.
• Train hard, race your heart out, cross the finish line, then move on and celebrate with everyone.
• Definitely get a cool sweatshirt to help you remember the fun weekend afterwards!

These kids had a great time. They didn't dwell on their times or place. They knew they did their best. And they definitely are very, very proud that they can race cross country at the national champs. My son stands a little taller after each one of these experiences.

 

As it turns out, these kids have a much more mature attitude about training and racing than many adults who unhappily stress over competition and perfection, often over-training and shunning family and spouses during the process. It might help all of us to train and race a little more like kids as we start the 2011 season.

 

This week is the beginning of the holiday season! Holidays are sometimes going to get in the way of training. Try not to stress. Your families are truly something to be thankful for this week. Don't worry if you don't get a swim in while you are traveling. Just do your best to do something every day. Even a 20 minute run will maintain your fitness. Don't despair if you only have time for a 20 minute run. Get out there, warm up for 5, run hard for 15, get showered and you maintained your fitness during a hectic week.

 

 Relax. Be thankful for your health and your ability to go after your racing goals. We are the lucky ones!
 

Chris

Off Season Pondering

The off season can be a welcome break from the rigid structure of the competitive season.  Some athletes are very good at relaxing and regenerating.  Others find that they miss the day to day accomplishments of training and working toward goals.  "What should I do today?"  "Should I lose weight or is this the time for a little splurge?"  "Should I do any training?"  "What will happen if I don't run for a week?" 

Or you might find yourself out on a late season bike ride on a beautiful day and wonder why you are riding?  This happened to me last week.  I hadn't ridden simply for pleasure for months.  With a spring and fall Ironman this past year, my purpose filled bike rides started in January.  It was odd to be out there on my tri bike when I didn't need to be. 

And this is exactly why we need an off season.  It is time to rediscover who we are without an upcoming race.  It is time to recconnect with families and clean the garage.  It is time to heal that injury (my darn S-I joint for example) that has been niggling at us for months.  But most of all, we need this to rediscover the joy that we had when we rode that first long ride out on country roads, or that fun in-town running loop that passes by the restaurants or the ski trails this winter.  Go out for dinner, stay out late, read a book, don't run for a week.  Release yourself for a few precious weeks this fall, and you will be better off next year.

Breath Catching

My apologies!  The summer and early fall was busier than ever.  Summer was followed by "A" races for all of my athletes and myself.  USAT Youth Nationals, Ironman Louisville, Ironman Wisconsin, IronKids Nationals, Long Course Nationals and fall marathons - never a dull moment. 
It is a hectic time for a coach.  I spent many hours on the phone talking through the smallest details with every athlete.  At the end of the day, I didn't have much left for a blog. 
Aha!  But now it is the off season.  A few weeks of more sleep and less training have done us all good.  My goal is to post 2-3 times a week.  I can't wait! 

Race Tips for Young and Old and the Importance of having FUN

Tips for our Kids' Triathlon Team at races.  Not bad reminders for us older racers either.  The bottom line?  Don't let anyone ever convince you that you must be serious to win.  I have found that the athletes who are having FUN, are those most likely to perform to their potential. 
Here are the tips:

Day Before Race


• Attend the course clinic and scout out the course. Learn exactly where you will be swimming, biking and running. Pay special attention to the transition area.

• Lay out all of your equipment. Make sure that everything is in working order, especially your bike gears and brakes. Put your race numbers on. Do a little transition practice to check that you have everything.

• Eat nutritious foods that you know your stomach can handle well. Drink often to make sure that you are adequately hydrated.

• Put your feet up and relax a little more than usual today. Rest. Read a good book. Watch a funny movie.

• Look forward to tomorrow’s race! Remember that those pre-race butterflies will give you the energy to race faster. Remember how lucky you are to be able to participate in this race!


Race Day

• Eat your favorite pre-race breakfast about 2 hours before your race. If you race later in the day, eat breakfast and then another pre-race snack about 2 hours before your race.

• When transition opens, check your bike one more time. Are the tires filled? Are the brakes rubbing? Are you in the gear that will work best for you to get started?

• As you set up your transition area, keep it simple and compact. Don’t take up more than your fair share of space. Make sure that you have your bike and run gear set out. Take your goggles and cap with you to the swim start.

• Jog through all the transition area entrances and exits: swim-in, bike-out, bike-in, run-out. Know where the bike mount/dismount line is and what it means.

• Try to get in a short warm up jog within an hour of your race. At a minimum, jog for 5-10 minutes and do some strides to get your body ready to race.

• HAVE FUN!!!!!! No matter what, keep smiling today. It will make you race faster!

How to Peak for your "A" race - A Visual Representation

One more view of my WKO chart as I built fitness for IMSG, then tapered, then raced. 
Remember that the BLUE line represents my fitness.  The PINK line represents my fatigue.  The YELLOW line represents my "form" or my potential to have a great race. 
This chart shows clearly how I was able to build fitness almost continuously.  The exception occurred in late February when I did a mini-taper for the Birkie, then recovered from that effort.  I love how this shows how races can seriously interrupt fitness building!  Don't race too much this summer if you plan on an important "A" race in 3-4 months. 
I was able to build my fitness up to the low 120's.  This means that my average daily TSS (Training Stress Score) of my workouts was in the low 120's.  As I tapered, I was careful to not lose too much fitness.  Here, you can see that my blue line dipped by about 10 points or about 10-12%.  This is a reasonable amount of fitness to lose for an "A" race.  Simultaneously, you can see that my yellow "form" line climbed to its highest level of the year so far.  This means that I was "peaking" for this race.  And I did feel very strong on race day!  :)
When I coach, everything that I do is geared towards having my athlete's peak high for their most important races.  It is an art and a science to get that peak to happen on the right day - with a minimal loss of fitness. 
Best wishes for a magical peak for your 2010 "A" races!

Ironman St. George Re-Cap

Back to regular posting!  April was busy with a trip to Boston to watch my athletes, friends and husband run the marathon.  Then, off to St. George, Utah for the inaugural Ironman St. George.  Here is a taste of what that new race is all about.
The venue is gorgeous.  I've never seen a more beautiful area.  The red rocks, 11,000+ ft. Pine Mountain, the lava fields, Sand Hollow Reservoir, Snow Canyon State Park, ancient cinder cones - amazing views everywhere. 
The area people truly came out to support the race.  Spectators were enthusiastic and the volunteers seemed like veterans.  The race was run flawlessly as far as I could tell.  Even the shuttle buses seemed plentiful on race morning - when you don't need backups.
On a difficulty scale of 1-10, this Ironman ranks pretty highly.  First of all, the logistics are more complex with two transition areas and the need to use shuttle buses on race morning. 
Then, there was the water temperature.  Mike Reilly announced 58 degrees on race morning, but many cold water veterans speculated that the temperatures were in the mid-50s.  The cold water made my hands, wrists, feet and face numb.  Many athletes were hypothermic after the swim and needed to spend some time in warming tents before they could go on.  T1 times were very slow for the rest of us - who had to change out of wet clothes and put on arm warmers, vests, gloves and hats with numb hands before getting on our bikes.  The air temperatures were in the high 40s at that time, but the sun was out and we started to warm up quickly.  However, my feet were numb until about 40 miles into the bike.
Our cold, gloved hands made accessing gels and drinks more difficult for those first few biking miles and I think many people were pretty depleted on their nutrition early on in their bike rides. 
And the bike ride!  The first 22 miles of the "stick" were beautifully paved and fairly fast.  There were 3-4 significant climbs during this section, but we needed to warm up so they were welcome.
Then, we started the first loop into a headwind on much bumpier pavement.  Those who had speedometers saw lots of single digit numbers glaring up at them.  Over 30 miles, we gradually climbed up to Veyo at slow speeds with some very steep climbs:  the first up to Gunlock Lake, the second (steepest) after the town of Gunlock, and then "The Wall" an intimidating switchback climb of one mile up the side of a cinder cone.  These climbs were very steep - requiring granny gears and standing to get up them.  Where I was, no-one walked them, but I'm sure that everyone thought about it!
After Veyo, another long climb.  Here I passed a friendly racer who said, "I think we've climbed all the way up to heaven!"  Then, finally, the long downhill run back to St. George.  Here, the downhills were relentless and some were steep.  I bet those speedometers were showing 40s and maybe higher.  (I'm so glad I don't race with a speedometer!).  Gusty winds made the downhills a little precarious and I was hanging on to my bars tightly.  By the time I turned onto Snow Canyon Parkway, I was really ready to relax on some flats again.
Luckily, there are actually about 5 or so miles of gently rolling flats - and here is where you get to go through the lava fields and the enthusiastic town of Ivans -with hundreds of spectators.  Then, back onto the bumpier climb into the head wind at slow speeds. 
This was one of the many tough psychological moments of this race - knowing that all those climbs loomed ahead and a very difficult marathon awaited when I finally got off of the bike.  Times were slow - at this point, I think we all knew that we were in for a bike segment that was about an hour slower than the typical tough Ironman bike course - like Wisconsin.  It was important to be patient and non-judgemental here - otherwise it would have been very easy just to call it a day.  I kept the faith that everyone was feeling exactly the same as I was - all we had to do was to keep making steady forward progress and it would be a successful race - though not even close to a PR.
So, right-left-right-left I kept pedaling.  If anything, I felt stronger and more confident on the climbs and less nervous on the decents during that second loop.  One last "insult" of a climb - on Snow Canyon Parkway and I was flying down into St. George to T2.  Finally! 
So, my sacro-illiac (S-I) joint - has been very painful since I dared to shovel heavy snow in January.  It had severely limited my bike training all spring and it made it very difficult to bike on race day.  Lots of pain.  Now, at T2, I could not stand up.  My legs felt disconnected.  I hobbled into the changing tent.  I had a great volunteer who helped me and put BioFreeze all over my back.  I was able to straighten up and with strides of about 2 inches per leg, I started to run. 
The IMSG run goes straight uphill immediately to Diagonal St.  Then Diagnonal St. is a steady climb.  Turn right on Bluff and the climb steepens again.  Then, the short out-and-back up to the Elks Lodge - even steeper.  All in all, the run gets gradually steeper as you climb for the first 3.5 miles of the course.  I ran until the last, steepest grade and then power walked - as it was almost as fast and allowed a lower heartrate.  When my HR got high, I felt a little queezy at this point and therefore, Gatorade and gels were not working anymore.  So, I kept my HR low enough with this walking to settle everything down.  I also went for the life-giving chicken broth - always magical at bringing me back from a fog in Ironman races.  Cola helped too.  Before I knew it, I was running down a 2 mile downhill and feeling pretty good again.  My stride was lengthening out and things were looking up!  In and out of the Pioneer Park path - with many short, steep hills and down to the turn around.  Everytime I crossed a timing mat, I looked up at the sky and said, "Hi!" to all of my friends and family who were watching Ironmanlive back at home.  It was so nice to know that they cared!
Back up the 2 mile uphill with the Pioneer Park hills and down the 3.5 miles to the halfway point.  All was well - I was enjoying the beauty, had found my rhythm and knew I had this race in the bag at this point.  I could do that loop again.  Not easy, but I could do it!
So, I did.  And as in all six of my IM's, time seemed to bend into a different speed.  The miles clicked away - faster than they do on my easy run days back home.  The sunset was extraordinary. 
So, after my slowest IM since my first 96 degree IMWI, I crossed that finish line.  Mike Reilly was there.  A super nice volunteer got me to the food tent.  There, Meghan, Brian and Sue were waiting there for me - a nice surprise!
My immediate thoughts were that IMSG was the hardest race of my lifetime of races.  It was tough - partially because I was apprehensive about everything from how my back would feel to the cold water - to "The Wall."  At first, I didn't think I would ever be back to do it again.  Of course, that only lasted until about 3 days later.  I will go back and improve on my time.  I can't wait to see those hills and mountains again.
But, for a novice, it might not be the best choice.  There is a very real chance of DNF at this race.  Many that I knew - did not finish.  Either the cold swim or the tough bike forced them to abandon this race.  And, if the winds had been any stronger on race day, we would all have been in some serious trouble out there on the desert. 
If you choose to take on the extra challenge that this race will give you - go with the right attitude.  Ready for challenges and slow times, but also ready to soak up the beauty of the area and enjoy the finish line even a little more than usual!

An Objective View of Training

This is my own Performance Management Chart – charting my fitness, fatigue and “form” as I train for IMSG in 3.5 weeks. I do this for all of my athletes that upload accurately calibrated workout files from Powertaps, Garmins, certain Polars, etc. Mine is even more complete because I put in estimates for my swims and strength workouts as well.

There is a lot to learn about these charts, but here are some key points.

• The blue line tracks “fitness” and is based on the training stress from workouts over the last six weeks (for most people).

• The pink line tracks “fatigue” and is based on the training stress of the last week - as compared to my recent, typical training load.

• The yellow line tracks “form” or my potential to have great legs in a race if it should occur today.

As you can see, I’ve had a very consistent training season. I started with a week of cross country skiing followed by a week of bronchitis (go figure!) back in early January. But after that, I had six weeks of hard training leading – building my blue line and feeling very fatigued.

Then, you can see my taper for the Birkie – a wonderful week of rest that I needed both to race well at the Birkie but also to recover from my training in February (where I was training for skiing plus Ironman). Take a close look at that Birkie/taper week. You can see how it is necessary to lose fitness during a taper. But the benefits are greatly decreased fatigue and greatly enhanced form. (Important: if you schedule too many races during peak training season – your overall fitness will not build and your “A” race will suffer later in the season.) And finally, you can see the little bump up in fitness and fatigue from the race itself.

Then, I trained hard again for 2.5 weeks and rested a little leading up to the Half Marathon. (Not nearly a taper – just a little less volume. You can see clearly that I went into that race quite fatigued – but it was a training race – not important to me. I wanted the fitness building from it.

I then had my biggest volume training week and then last week was a little less volume.

Right now, I feel extremely fatigued and my graph shows it. But the good news is that my fitness is very high as well. My blue line has hit the 117 mark this week. I’ve got about ten more days to get my blue line up above the 120 mark. This has been where I’ve gotten in training for my two best Ironman races (I’ve got my charts from four out of five of my IM races). I’ve got the historical data to back up my plan and I know this fitness is about as high as I can handle.

So what does a blue line of 120 TSS/d mean? It means that I’ve averaged a training stress score of 120 per day over the last six weeks. To put that in perspective, a TSS score of 100 means that you have raced all out for an hour. If you were to do a 40km TT, you’d have a score of 100 for the day. I’ve averaged more than 100 by doing multiple workouts and some long, breakthrough workouts each week.

So, after I’ve reached my fitness high point, it will be time to taper. At that time, I must manage to lose fatigue without losing too much fitness – a tricky but fun part of my job as a coach. All the training in the world will not help an athlete who arrives at the starting line too fatigued to race well!

Coaching and training are an art and a science. This is more science. The art side is even more important. More on that later.

Good video on downhill and uphill running

Lots of hilly upcoming races for my athletes, friends and myself.  Time to practice hill running.  Here is a good video on proper technique for hill running.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu2qocvfCzE&feature=player_embedded
If done right, you can save valuable energy with good up and down hill running technique.
If you have an upcoming hilly race, remember that running downhills are almost as important as including uphills in your training.  This is especially important for a race with early downhills such as the Boston Marathon. 

Goal Setting for Success

Want to have a successful season? You must set goals.


Here are some tips for goal setting:

• Goals should stretch you. Anything less will not properly motivate you to improve.

• Goals have to be balanced with other aspects of your life. It is easy to lose balance in our endurance world. No race achievement will mean anything if you lose your family in the process.

• Set training objectives for each training block – stepping stones that will lead you toward your seasonal goals. Every 4-6 week block should have mini-goals.

• Every day, act like you believe. When you set a goal, you may not honestly know that you can reach it. But you do have to pretend that you do. Act with your nutrition and sleep habits. Act with your approach to each training session. Act with your attention to the details that will matter on race day. And on race day, keep pretending – all the way to the finish line.

• Go to bed each night with no regrets. Ask yourself, “Did I do all that I can towards achieving my goals.” Make that answer a yes often. Race with no regrets as well.

• Surround yourself with training partners and friends who believe you can do it.

• Enlist a coach who knows that you can do it.

Best wishes for your best season yet!

American Birkebeiner 2010 - For the Joy of It

Birkie 2010 is in the books!  It couldn't have been a better day for the 8000+ skiers on Saturday.  It was 3 degrees as we drove to the race and 35 degrees when we finished.  Brilliant blue sky framed the birch and pine forests through which this hilly 50km course climbs. 

Although we both felt sluggish in the first half of the race (logical - since we barely fit in skiing this year), we were both able to negative split the course and finish strong.  Our Boston and IM St. George training kicked in for those tough later hills.  Looks like I passed more than 200 skiers in the last 20km.  After reviewing the last 10 years of results, the numbers show that I raced my 17th Birkie about as well as any I've raced since having kids.  Not bad for someone swimming, biking and running her way through Birkie training.

So why do we insist on racing a long, tough, logistically complex ski race in the middle of training for our upcoming "A" races?  It is difficult to describe, but I'll try.

• For the JOY of it.  The Birkie is a celebraton of skiing.  Most of the 8000 skiers are there because they absolutely love to ski.  This is the place to find like minded people and to celebrate everyone's race and everyone's stories from the past year and from their own 50km that day.
• For the INSPIRATION from it.  The Birkie honors those skiers based on how many Birkies they've managed to finish (no small task).  We got to see our friends Bob and Bill be honored for their 30th Birkies at a special breakfast.  How inspiring to see our fellow skiers continuing to tackle this challenge well past retirement age.  They are showing us the way to age with strength, joy, fitness and peace. 
• APPRECIATION.  As Birke skiers pursue the Birchleggings Award (given to those who finish 20 Birkies), inevitably we lose some of our skiing friends to deteriorating health and even death.  We've also seen friends come back from cancer and traumatic accidents to race again.  As we all do the math - estimating how old we may be when we get that 20 or 30 year award, we realize how precarious our goals are.  I think we all race as if it might be our last Birkie - appreciating our good health and good fortune to once again toe the crowded starting line.
• For the FITNESS from it.  When training for a spring marathon or Ironman, it can be difficult to fit in race experiences.  Saturday, I raced HARD for 3 hours and 44 minutes.  Although stiff and tired, the low impact nature of the race means that I'll be able to rev back up my IM training after 2-3 days of recovery workouts. 

Don't forget to fit fun into your 2010 season.  It doesn't all need to be about specific training for your "A" race - unless you are working towards a national class or world class goal.  For the rest of us, we can train specifically for our "A" races 90% of the time and still fit in other sports that make it fun and bring us indirect fitness from another angle.
Don't forget JOY, APPRECIATION and FUN.  Without those, how can you possibly be fast?

Taper Trauma

Right now, approximately 7500 American Birkebeiner skiers are midway through their race week taper.  Make no mistake - they are not happy about it. 
Tapering never lives up to expectations.  The athlete has trained hard for weeks - dreaming all along of what it will be like to rest a little.  One would think that it would feel great.  The reality is that it never feels good. 
Typical taper feelings include heavy legs, deep sluggishness, grouchy demeanor and apprehension about the upcoming race.  Not fun. 
Your body's rhythms have been completely disrupted.  And while you are feeling kind of punky, you don't have any tough workouts to help prove to yourself that you still have fitness for your race.  This is why so many people make the mistake of pushing too hard in the days right before their "A" race.
But have faith in the taper!  It does work extremely well when done right.  And "right" means a different scenario for each athlete.  If done wrong, race day will be disappointing.
As a coach, I monitor my athlete's fatigue level, personality, race experience, race goals and overall fitness to prescribe their best-odds taper routine.  It is an art with a lot of science to back it up.  More on the specifics of how to taper well in a later post. 
Right now, I have to get some more rest!

Without rest, you will not build fitness

Training + Rest = Fitness (Form)

Most endurance athletes are very good at the training portion of this equation.  But without carefully planned rest days, weeks and months, an athlete's fitness will plateau (best case scenario) or plummet (when over-trained). 

Many endurance athletes don't rest enough.  It can be intoxicating to keep training longer/faster, etc.  And for a while, it can work.  But eventually, it will fail.  Sometimes the athlete simply never again improves - a subtle failure that they may not even recognize.  Most times, it will result in repeated illnesses or injuries.  Sometimes, the athlete can reach a state of over-training - a little understood scrambling of their body's endocrine and energy systems that can take months or years to recover from.

As we age, the need for rest becomes more obvious.  But, the younger athletes would be ahead of the curve to recognize that they need rest as well.

Without rest, you will not attain your potential.

Before we had kids, my husband and I would train until we dropped each weekend morning.  Then, we would typically eat a huge lunch and hang out sleepily on the couch for a few hours until we had grabbed back some strength.  That stopped abruptly more than 10 years ago with the birth of my daughter.  There went most of our naturally built in recovery hours each week.  We had to learn to listen to our exhausted parental bodies and skip workouts when necessary.  Without those couch hours each week, we couldn't train until we dropped. 

I figure that in about 10 more years, we'll get back our couch and more training energy.  We may be 20 years older then, but I bet we'll find some revival of our old energy when we're not chasing kids 24/7.  (We'll also miss them terribly, I'm sure.  These years with kids are completely wonderful!)

Yesterday, I felt exhausted from 3 tough weeks of training.  I managed to sit down and watch the Olympics for several hours - a minor miracle.  Boy, did I feel good today!

Pieces of the Puzzle

I regretably missed USAT's Art and Science of Coaching Symposium last weekend.  Coaching is clearly both an art and a science, and I find that I thrive on constant updates from other coaches.  I was looking at the symposium highlights and thought I'd bring a few to you. 
The following highlights are from one of the best, Mark Allen.

ESSENTIALS OF A GREAT IRONMAN TRAINING PROGRAM

Mark Allen


• The goal of training for an Ironman is to make it seem like it is just another day.


• Physical training has to incorporate base, speed and taper, as well as a sensible strength training program.


• Nutritional support on race day is the toughest to get right because research is not conducted under the stress of a race.


• Mental training is undervalued but exceptionally effective if practiced with the same regularity of the physical training.

I couldn't agree more.  With proper training and taper, race day will seem like just another day of training.  Actually, with a solid taper, you will feel "Race Magic" - much stronger, smoother and faster on race day than you ever felt in training. 

Ironman nutrition?  The biggest unknown for any athlete toeing the starting line.  No matter how well you have studied, planned and practiced your race nutrition, you will usually experience some difficulties on race day (hopefully minor and manageable.)  The key here may be to train yourself to race on less fuel - a big topic for another post in the future.

And mental training?  One of my favorite topics.  If you train with me, you will do your mental homework before your "A" race.  There is no skipping that assignment.  To quote excellent coach and athlete Jen Harrison, "Yes! I always say - at the start line at major races EVERYONE is fit and in shape. It comes down to 90% mental and 10% physical. The head always wins!" 

Success on race day is more than just basic bike speed, run pace or swim technique.  It is a complex puzzle of so many different details.  I love puzzles.

Thoughts on "Cross" Training

If I were eleven weeks out from a summer/fall Ironman, I'd be doing long rides and bricks every week.  100+ milers with transition runs or hard 2 hour bikes followed by Ironman paced long runs. 
I've done none of that for Ironman St. George (so far). 
Am I worried?  Not at all - this was all part of my plan, and I've been in this position before.   
Winter in Illinois is not the time for six hour rides.  And it doesn't work too well to bike hard indoors, then go out into 20 degree, windy conditions for a long run - I just get too cold. 
I've done exactly two 3-hour indoor trainer rides (plus my two 60 minute interval rides each week).  Instead of long, insane indoor trainer hours, I'm focusing on threshold development on my short rides.  I am doing long runs - but on their own right now so that I can start them well-fueled and ready to take on the weather.
And, I have a secret weapon that is proven.  Cross country skiing.  Each week since Christmas, I've done a 3-4 hour HILLY cross country ski.  I am a good skier - good enough that I cover about 50km in these skis.  My heart rate averages 165 for these skis - with natural intervals of near-max heart rates on the hills.  I've been skiing since 1989 and I know that these skis will do more for my fitness than anything else I can do all year.  Even summer long rides and bricks don't make me as fit as these long, strong skis.
Skiing works my legs in all three planes (unlike cycling and running).  It builds stronger hip, knee and ankle stabilizer muscles - which seem to have an immediate impact on my running speed and health.  Hill climbs translate directly into cycling strength.  Poling requires a strong ab crunch with every other stride.  Amazing core work.  Aerobically, there is nothing that gets my heart rate higher for such a long time without any impact.  My husband and I come out of ski season ready to race in any sport with a few tune-up workouts.
In MN and WI, most triathletes/runners/cyclists ski all winter.  You won't find them in their garage on a bike for long periods of time. 
And the last benefit?  It is incredibly fun (once you have decent equipment, a few lessons and good trails). 
As we say in the upper midwest..."Ski ya later." 

Base Building 102

(Second in a series of posts on how to build a base.) 
You've begun to build your base with some regular training.  You are spending most of your time in Zone 2 ("steady") and doing some short, neuromuscular accelerations.  What do you add next?

Hills.  For runners and cyclists, add some hill repeats - starting with 30 seconds and building to 1-2 minutes uphill.  Recover with easy walking/jogging/spinning down the hill.  Don't charge up the hill, do these at one hour race effort - "comfortably uncomfortable."  Start with 2-4 repeats and build up to 10-12 repeats.  Hills are speed work in disguise (and with lower injury risk). 

So now your training week should include three key workouts:

1. Hills
2. Long training session in Zone 2
3. Neuromuscular training session with strides or accelerations and drills.

This pattern should fill a block of 3-4 weeks before you need to add the next base building element. 

"You are better than you think you are..."

"You are better than you think you are, and you can do more than you think you can."  ~Ken Chlouber, Leadville 100 founder.  Ken likes to say this to all the nervous race participants in the pre-race meeting.

So true.  How often have you questioned your ability to accomplish a goal?  Daily?  Good, then your goals are worthy. 

We all have self-limiting beliefs.  Self-limiting beliefs like, "I'm slow," or "I'm not a strong runner," or "I can't lose weight," or I can't race that distance," - they protect us.  If we eliminate a whole realm of challenges by giving up before even attempting them, then we are "safe" from failure.

The big problem is, that as Ken says, "We are stronger than we think we are."  And if we believe in those self-imposed limits, we will never see what we really can do.

Sometimes we have to turn off our brains and simply fake it as if we believe we can do it.  More often than not, we will surprise ourselves with the accomplishment that we didn't believe we could attain. 

Pretend that you are fast, or a strong runner, or a great swimmer, or an Ironman, or a person who can lose weight.  You just might do it!

"You are stronger than you think you are..."

Recovery Nutrition

Did you know that the best way to prevent over-training, sickness and lackluster training is to use recovery nutrition?
All the current science agrees, if you don't replace some of the glycogen, fluids and electrolytes from a hard or long training session, you will be at risk for all three.
So, if you have done strong intervals, or trained long and you really feel like you "worked," gulp down some recovery nutrition within 15 minutes of your workout.
A recovery drink/snack will include the following:

• 50-100g of carbohydrates - the simpler the carbs the better
• 10-20 g of protein
• Enough fluids to replace what you lost during the training session
• Sodium (don't forget Choride, Calcium, Magnesium and Potassium)

Examples? 

• Commercially prepared Recovery powders work very well.  I like First Endurance Ultragen - right now that is my favorite.  But they are all good.  I put a serving in a ziplock and mix it into my water bottle right after the workout.  (Mix it too early and it can ferment in a warm car.)
• Chocolate milk or Hot Cocoa made with milk.
• Orange/fruit juice with whey powder works well too.  
• Smoothie made with a frozen banana, other fruit and some whey powder

If you replace your glycogen within 15 minutes of your workout, your energy system will still be in workout mode.  This means that you won't get  a strong insulin response.  It also means that you'll get this reviving energy before your cortisol hormones get so high.  Your immune system will not be as stressed by the training.  And you will be topping off your glycogen tank before you attempt more training later in the day or the next day and therefore will feel much stronger.

It is important.  I make recovery drinks mandatory for my athletes who are in the hardest weeks of training.

Base Building 101

So, you have an endurance event planned for 2010.  It is mid-January and you are ready to begin formal training.  What should you be doing?
Not long ago, cyclists would make sure that they "stayed in the small chain ring" for a 1000 miles before trying any strong efforts. 
Runners ran high volume weeks of LSD - long, slow, distance before they began track sessions.
While all of those easy, slow miles were good at avoiding early season injury, we know now that they were not necessarily accomplishing the greater goal of building aerobic fitness optimally.
Current research reveals that short, strong efforts can and should be a part of your Base Period.  In fact, efforts at all intensity levels may be appropriate throughout your season.  The proportion of time that you spend in different training zones must be manipulated according to your training cycle, but don't forgo strong efforts all winter long.
Along with building your aerobic base, this is also the time to work on efficiency and economy - with much work on drills, skills and strength. 
This blog would be pages long to cover everything that you should be doing right now, so I'll post at least weekly with Base Building tips.  Here are a few for this week:

1. Spend roughly 50% of your time in Zone 2 (or a pace that feels focused and steady - i.e. Ironman pace).  It is this zone that is most important right now, but it must be Zone 2, not Zone 1, to push your body to adapt.  (Zone 1 is good for recovery and drills only, not fitness building.)
2. Incorporate some very short, relaxed accelerations.  Do 20 second strides after a run.  Do some 25 builds in the pool.  Do some 20 second sprints on the bike.  Stay relaxed and stop at 20 seconds.  These are meant to be neuromuscular skill practice sessions - to build efficiency.

More later...we'll keep it interesting.

Bike Across America

Did you ever wonder what it might be like to bike across the country?  Jeff and I did it during the summer of 1997.  It was a life-changing adventure that we treasure and hope to do again.  If you have 6 minutes, you can watch Bret Taylor's group ride from Virginia to Oregon for MS.  They rode with a webcam that took a picture every 5 miles.  Looks like they couldn't use the camera on rainy days though.  Believe me, all bike touring days are not sunny!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qx9ju-iiPDA
Jeff and I were struck by the generousity and kindness of Americans when we crossed the country.  In an entire summer, we got only one slightly rude motorist signal on those quieter, rural roads.  Instead, many offered camping space in their yards, dips in their backyard pools and bought us breakfasts in town cafes. 

Swim Lessons

Had a productive swim lesson with Kent Pearson (also a TB Coach).  A few technique tweaks, and I'm hoping to cut off another 10 minutes from my Ironman swim.
Kent put it bluntly, "There are about 400 pounds of water in the space right in front of your stroke."  There is no way you are going to pull 400 pounds of water backwards.  Instead, think of pulling your gliding body over your arm and through the water." 

My tasks for the next week?

• Ride the glide longer with my outstretched non-breathing arm
• Bilateral breathe every length
• Focus on hand entering the water in a straight line forward/up from my shoulder (my right hand crosses toward the midline). 
• Relaxed recovery

I knew all of this, but I didn't really know how I looked.  It is so valuable to have an expert use their eyes to objectively evaluate stroke position.  Now, I am more confident that I am working on the right things.  Next week, we are going to address the pull.

Hill Repeats and "High Arms"

I managed to do 12 x 1:00 hill repeats at 5km effort tonight (thank you lungs!).  It was dark, and I couldn't see my watch, so I counted 90 right foot strikes to estimate a minute and marked how far I got with each repeat.  Obviously my goals were uphill strength building and downhill strength building.  But, I also concentrated on form. 
I found that when I used Bobby McGee's advice for "high arms" and a small elbow angle, that I traveled significantly farther with my 90 strides.  The idea is that high arms and bent elbow result in a smaller pendulum.  Smaller pendulum means that the runner can increase his/her cadence.  Big bonus points if you direct your hands straight forward and backward, rather than crossing toward your midline.
It was simple and it seemed to make an immediate, painless difference.  It will be my focus until I turn it into habit.
Then, I'll start tackling my forward lean...

Swimming stories

Spent the morning (and last evening and tomorrow morning) at a kids swim meet.  Youth swimming is booming in Illinois!  Nice to see.  All sorts of kids who have a team to be a part of and a coach who cares.  Each kid has their race to race - no-one is left out.  And, with the truly frightening childhood obesity epidemic, it is nice to see several hundred kids racing their hearts out on a snowy winter day.
Then, inspired by the kids, I dove into a pool for the first time in 2.5 weeks.  Lots of coughing, but it felt good to swim.  I am a late blooming swimmer - no swim teams in my childhood town.  I'm trying to make up for that lost experience.  I'm getting better, but I still have potential.  It is nice to still have potential.

Running shoes may cause damage to knees, hips and ankles, new study suggests

There is growing thought that running shoes, or how we tend to change our stride when we run in running shoes, may be causing running injuries. This study indicates that running shoes do support our feet well, but that they lead to increased torque on higher joints like knees and hips.
Think about your running stride. Do some drills where you pretend that you are running barefoot - how does that change your stride? Move more towards that technique - typically a quicker, lighter cadence with your foot hitting the ground right under your center of gravity. Stop striking the ground in front of your belly button and quicken that cadence!

Running shoes may cause damage to knees, hips and ankles, new study suggests

Setting the record straight on weight loss

Setting the record straight on weight loss

How cold temperatures will affect your energy during a race or training session

We are in 40 hours of winter storm warnings here, and it has been very cold for a week.  One of my running partners managed to get in much of her long run on Wednesday (while I napped with bronchitis).  She originally intended to run 13-14.  With a starting temperature of 6 degrees, and windchills below zero, she wisely cut the plan down to 10 miles. 
She reported being very warm and with good legs for the first several miles.  "Then, at 8 miles, I just got very cold and really slowed down."  Suddenly.  She was close to home and stopped the run.
What happened here was entirely due to the cold temperatures.  What athletes don't realize is that you burn up a lot of glycogen keeping your body warm in cold temperatures.  You need to compensate for this in a cool or cold race (or training run) by increasing your calories per hour.  She burned through her glycogen stores earlier in the run trying to stay warm.
The body is miraculously adaptable and it will do everything to keep you going.  But, when you are out, you are out!
Tips for cold weather running:

• Wear layers of technical fabric.  My favorite layers include Zensah's long sleeved compression tops and Sporthill loose fitting 3SP pants.  I wear my balaclava of course and mittens rather then gloves. 
• Have an extra shell and mittens or over mitts in a fanny pack or do as my friend did and stay close to home.
• Run into the headwind first.  Save the warmer, faster tailwind for when you are fatigued.
• Drink!  You may not feel the sweat, but it is still occurring.  And with every breath, you are breathing out fluids.  Keep up with your hydration.
• After your run, boost your immune system with some hot chocolate, a hot shower and dry clothes immediately.

Happy winter!

One of my Favorite Things (Forgive me Oprah and Julie Andrews)

A balaclava.  No, not the honey drenched Greek pastry (although I've got nothing against those).  But a head covering that keeps me toasty warm in four hour ski races, frigid bikes and wintry runs.  Mine is not the Chicago Bears knit variety, but a lightweight, perfectly cut version cut from technical fabric.  Mine is from Craft, although I've seen several from other good companies. 
Mine keeps my ears warm, my neck warm, my chin warm and my cheeks warm.  With exercise induced asthma, I can pull it over my mouth for the first minutes of my ski or run and warm and moisten up the air while my lungs get on board with the training task at hand.  Then, I pull it just below my lower lip so the condensation from my breath doesn't freeze into a block of ice. 

On bronchitis and training

I've now been coughing deeply for 10 days.  Six days of antibiotics so far.  Seven days of impaired or no training.  This morning, I didn't join my running friends and instead took a nap.  The nap felt good - it was the right thing to do.  But, immediately, I started to question why I didn't run today.  Was it truly the bronchitis?  Or have I suddenly given up all training - lost the desire and the joy of a good run for good?  What a terrifying thought! 
No...it was six degrees out, a negative windchill, and I've learned that you can't rush the healing of your lungs.  I'm just getting slightly smarter every year.

Winter...it's not all bad

In the upper Midwest, triathletes, runners and cyclists turn to cross country skiing during the winter.  I've been ski racing since 1989.  After a few weeks of skiing, my cardiovascular fitness hits a high for the year.  I can go into spring races with huge fitness. 
Skiing is low impact and high cardio.  It works stabilizer muscles - weak links that we endurance athletes need to strengthen.  It takes some patience to gather the equipment, get some instruction and find good snow.  But, we are endurance athletes, right?  Patience is our game.
If you are lucky enough to have snow, skip that icy run and try some skiing instead!