Triathlon Training Notes

Ever ridden at 5:00am on a cold morning? Ever wonder why? Ever feel way out-classed at the starting line? At some point I think every cyclist and triathlete has done both. This except from Bike Racing 101 (by Kendra Wenzel and Rene Wenzel reprinted with permission) will help you walk through and prepare for that inevitable feeling.

“You can make use of tactics successfully even in your first race if you use the building blocks of strategy we call the four Cs: course, competition, conditions, and confidence.

Just as every bit of preparation you do should focus on the goals you set up for yourself in chapter 3, the races you choose and the way you conduct yourself in those races must further those goals. Applying the four Cs to each race you enter will go a long way in ensuring that you move closer to your goals with each race. In chapters 15 through 18, we apply the four Cs to each type of road racing, pointing out the nuances of each race and the preparation, skills, and practice you need to be successful.

Course
The course is one of the most important factors in how you perform in a race. Knowledge of the hills or gravel sections is strategic information. Even choosing to do the race (or not) based on its terrain is a strategic decision in your race season. Relate your strengths and weaknesses to areas of the course. Does the course have hills, flats, or windy sections that favor your strengths? In which areas might you be vulnerable and have difficulty following stronger riders?

All riders should study course information ahead of the race, but many don’t bother. Knowing the course well can go a long way in improving tactics and Read more… »

When you are drilling, and you should add some drills to most every swim workout, swim-golf is a great way to track your progress. Essentially what you do is combine your stroke count per 25 or 50 y/m with the time it took to complete. It is a proxy measurement for technique efficiency and you should try to bring that number down over time.

Here’s a great excerpt from excerpt from Swimming Fastest by Ernest Maglischo reprinted with permission.

“One of the most common drills for increasing stroke lengths is to count strokes for one pool length and repeat the drill while attempting to cover the distance with fewer strokes. All of this is done at a slow speed. This is a good drill for young and inexperienced age-group swimmers. The efficiency of their strokes and their performances will improve when they attempt to cover each pool length with fewer strokes, regardless of the speed of their swims.

Although a drill like the one just described is excellent for inexperienced swimmers, it has limited value once athletes can swim with good Read more… »

If you’ve had a significant amount of base training and want to run faster, this article is for you. This excellent excerpt reprinted with permission from Human Kinetics of Triathlon Workout Planner by John Mora

“Intervals (also known as repeats) are short bursts of speed repeated over a measured distance with recovery periods between each interval. As I discussed in the previous chapter, intervals are a key component of training for swimming and running. In this chapter, we’ll further explore 80/20 running workouts and also learn how to apply interval training to cycling.

Elite runner and author Jeff Galloway once wrote, “Intervals are based on a simple principle: The only way to run faster is to run faster” (Galloway 1984). Although that premise is true, there are some specific guidelines to interval training that can help you prevent injury and get the most out of your hard work.

* Base training first. Never begin any kind of speed work without a year’s solid base of consistent distance running. Intervals are demanding and can be very rough on your body, so it’s important that you’ve developed the muscle strength and joint integrity to support the effort.

* Set a baseline with a time trial. It’s a good idea to start off your interval training with a performance benchmark that tells you Read more… »

Here’s another excellent excerpt reprinted with permission from Human Kinetics of High-Performance Cycling by Asker Jeukendrup

“Throughout this chapter, we have used a set of reference values for aerodynamic drag area. Although these values represent good approximations to the drag area of a 70-kilogram (154-pound) rider in each position, those values are not fixed. Rather, a cyclist can influence his drag area in several ways. Riding with knees close to the centerline of the bicycle frame can reduce drag area by approximately 8 percent compared with riding with knees wide apart. This knee position will affect drag similarly whether the rider uses conventional racing handlebars or aerobars.

For riding with standard handlebars, arm position, including elbow bend and forearm alignment, can even more dramatically influence drag area. Bending the elbows allows the rider to lower his torso and thus reduce frontal area. Indeed, carefully positioned arms with the forearms horizontal and parallel to the bicycle can reduce drag area by up to 12 percent compared with widely positioned arms or straightened elbows. A wide-elbow position may result from poor technique, but it also may be due to poor bike fit and thus may not be within the control of the rider. Specifically, if the saddle-to-handlebar distance is too short, the rider may be forced to widen the arms so that they do not contact the legs. Consequently, drag area may be substantially increased because of a poorly fitted frame-stem-handlebar combination.

Optimal Time-Trial Position
Riders often ask, “How do I optimize my time-trial position?” The simple answer is, “Go to a wind tunnel and have your aerodynamic drag measured in various positions.” But, of course, not every cyclist has the opportunity to take part in wind-tunnel optimization. Read more… »

This is an excellent excerpt reprinted with permission from Burke’s book, High-Tech Cycling-2nd Edition.

“Most studies examining pedaling cadence have focused on pedal optimization in terms of economy/efficiency and local muscle stress. In this section, we will summarize the findings of the numerous laboratory studies that have attempted to identify which cadence is optimal. Unfortunately, few investigations have analyzed the question in well-trained cyclists riding their own bikes, making it difficult to apply the findings to actual cycling.

Optimal Cadence and Oxygen Cost: Economy/Efficiency
The two main messages to emerge from the numerous studies published since the beginning of the 20th century are as follows:

• Low cadences (50 to 60 rpm) tend to be more economical/efficient than high pedaling cadences (> 90 rpm)
• Paradoxically, most individuals prefer to pedal at high, theoretically inefficient/uneconomical cadences (examples include Boning, Gonen, and Maassen 1984; Cathcart, Richardson, and Campbell 1924; Chavarren and Calbet 1999; Coast, Cox, and Welch 1986; Croissant and Boileau 1984; Gaesser and Brooks 1975; Garry and Wishart 1931; Gueli and Shephard 1976; Jordan and Merrill 1979; MacIntosh, Neptune, and Horton 2000; Marsh and Martin 1997; Marsh and Martin 1998; Seabury, Adams, and Ramey 1977; Takaishi, Yasuda, and Moritani 1994; Takaishi et al. 1996; Takaishi et al. 1998).

A detailed look at the published studies suggests that both general conclusions need to be approached with caution. Several factors may alter the optimal and preferred pedaling cadence, including absolute and/or relative power output (i.e., watts or percentage maximal oxygen uptake [V·O2max], respectively), duration of exercise, test mode (cycle ergometer tests versus riding a bicycle on a treadmill), fitness level of the subject (cyclist or noncyclist), and the high interindividual variability, even among trained cyclists of similar fitness levels, reported by most authors.

In general, during laboratory tests performed by noncyclists at constant power outputs (usually = 200 W), pedaling at low rates (~ 50 to 70 rpm) resulted in Read more… »