Category : Home

Home, Training

Triathlon training is very demanding on our time and even the best plan will create time issues when we have so many other at times uncontrollable issues to deal with such as family, jobs and general life!

I have talked before about the key to success in endurance sport being down to consistency of training over a prolonged period of time, looking back its quite uniform that if an athlete commits to a program and that program becomes part of life the level of performance will continue to rise until reaching a level beyond initial expectations at between 3-4 years.

You want to succeed in endurance sport you simply need to get the job done – its making sure the job is right that we need to focus on.

The initial process of setting up a plan is tough as we all want to maximize the number of hours available to train. We look at our lives and pick a number of hours that we feel is available to train. In general I will knock about 20% off this number and use this as a base for plans – this is a much more realistic number and a number the athlete is likely to hit long term week by week without suffering burnout.

When I say burnout I am not talking about over-training, simply mental fatigue from being in a constant rush from one thing to the next to fit everything into the day. There is only so long we can maintain that level of business without breaking down in some form and for athletes it gets to a point where training simply stops for a period of time.

So let’s say you think you can train 16 hours a week, take 20% off this and we are now at 12 hours a week – a good number and one that I have seen produce Kona qualifiers from athletes new to the sport within 3 years. So the goal is to set up a plan that fits around your life and will not have you feeling permanently rushed. Once set, it’s time to GET THE JOB DONE week after week after week!!

Now we come to the hard part and that is putting the training into your life list. We all make lists to some extent but some of us are really into our lists and if a task is added to the list IT HAS TO BE DONE and all is not right in the world if something is not done!!

I am certainly not saying you need to go to that extent to be successful but there are lessons from these individuals we can apply to make it easier to get the work done.

One of the first steps is knowing your plan and knowing what you have to do every day. Once we know that, we can go ahead and create our list. This is best done at night; spend 5 minutes reviewing the day and then writing out the list for the next day. With such busy lives the addition of triathlon training makes things even busier and being able to complete tasks early in the day is key to getting things done. If at all possible try to get training done early as this prevents thinking about training all day and building things up in your head.

Also if you have a family at home completing training before the rest of the house wakes up will free up your time to spend with the family and you will find you’re much more productive in the morning without any distractions.

So you have planned your morning training session to start the day, before going upstairs to sleep make sure you have everything you need for the session, if need be have a checklist at hand – very easy to put one of these together once you have your training plan put together.

As a coach I have seen so many little mishaps get in the way of training, for example turning up to the pool only to discover your swim trunks and towel are sitting on a radiator at home instead of in your swim bag – this one seems to be a regular occurrence! Another classic is going to the gym for a treadmill run only to discover you have forgotten trainings or as one of my athletes always seemed to be missing one shoe for such sessions, funny but at the same time the regular missing of sessions like this is why the performance level in races ends up being below expectation.

SWIM BAG – towel, goggle, swim suit, wetsuit if open water session, shampoo, work cloths if heading to work after.

BIKE

Check tires are inflated night before – nothing kills time like having to fix a flat
all kit for riding indoors and outdoors if necessary as weather is unpredictable
Watch, power meter, Di2 all charged if needed
if your riding to work do you have work cloths ready

RUN

Run shoes, run kit for weather possibilities
Watch charged
Work cloths ready for after session

Everyone’s lists will be a little different but you can see by being prepared you can maximize your time and limit reasons for not getting the training done.

Lastly learn to a little flexible, I mentioned above those athletes that simply have to get the list done or all is not right in the world – the major disadvantage of this mentality is that if something goes wrong this athlete can’t see past the session. So for example if the session was a 1 hour ride with 30minutes of intervals at race pace, what happens if you wake up and find your tire has burst overnight and requires fixing? This process might take 10minutes and so the window for training which you had at 1 hour might now be just 50 minutes – it is surprising how many athletes will simply see the session as lost and do nothing, always remember something is better than nothing, you may not be able to do the full session but you can still get a solid workout in and make sure the body gets some training stimulation.

So you want to make that next step in your training and up your performance levels, start creating your lists and spend a little time each evening making sure your set for the next day and you will make much better use of your time and end up missing less training sessions due to little mishaps!

Enjoy your training, plan and get the job done!!
Alun “Woody” Woodward

ironguides is the leading Lifestyle Facilitation company for athletes of all abilities. We provide coaching and training services, plans and programs, as well training education, health and fitness products to help you learn and live a healthy lifestyle. Come get fit with one of our monthly training subscriptions, event-specific training plans, coaching services, or a triathlon training camp in an exotic location! ironguides also provides Corporate Health services including Corporate Triathlons, Healthy Living retreats and speaking engagements. Atironguides, your best is our business!

More info at www.ironguides.net

–

Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

Appropriate race day swim gear can make you swim faster

August 22, 2017

Home, Swimming

As the triathlon world has its eyes on the Ironman World Championships this weekend, in the warm waters of Hawaii, you will likely see most of the participants using a speedsuit for the swim leg of the Ironman.

The speedsuit is an option for non-wetsuit swims, and while it may look like an ordinary triathlon suit, it is very different and much faster.

The article below was written based on years of watching age group triathletes in South East Asian races, in which the wetsuit isn’t legal as the water is just too hot. You will learn the options that you have when it comes to race day gear for the swim portion.

You will also learn about the different in training needed in case of a wetsuit swim as it’s the case with many Ironman races done by Asian athletes since wetsuit swims is the normal rule in most triathlon races around the world other than South East Asia and some races in the Southern Hemisphere.

Most beginners may not be able to spot the different of a speedsuit to a standar trisuit as they look similar but perform very different in the water
Some beginners may not be able to spot the different of a speedsuit to a standard trisuit as they look similar but perform very different in the water
Benefits of a speedsuit

A speedsuit is a thik, tight and hydrodynamic layer that you use on the top of your trisuit or tritop/trishorts. It’s likely one of the best investments you can make towards a faster overall finish time, and it will also give you some more comfort and benefits on the bike and run, understand below why.

Hydrodynamic – Faster in the water

The fabric used on the speedsuit is water repellent, which means that it’s even faster than the human skin, and much, much faster than the lycra that is used by most of the triathlon suits these days. When it comes to numbers, the below is the average result of a test I ran with my training squad, please note that it does vary from athlete to athlete depending on their technique and also brands and models.

Speedsuit VS human skin (on a tight/race swimsuit) = 1sec/100m (15 seconds faster over 1500m swim)
Speedsuit VS a decent/shortcourse trisuit (no pockets) = 3sec/100m (60 seconds faster over 1500m swim)
Speedsuit VS a slow / long course trisuit or two pieces, both with exposed pockets = 5sec/100m (90 seconds faster over 1500m swim)

Now go and think how much you work you need to put in to improve 1min of our time in a 1.500mts swim race. This makes the speedsuit a great investment as you lost virtually no time to take it off in transition (should be no more than 5 seconds)

Benefits on the bike and run

The benefits don’t stop there. The speedsuit also allows you to race with your favourite trisuit or two-piece, especially on long course events that you may want to have pockets to stock up on gels and other things. It makes this combo the best of both worlds, fastest in the water and most comfortable out of the water

Strategy Benefits

For the very high performance athletes, it may be the difference of swimming “one pack ahead” which can be a decisive factor on who you will be riding with. Another way to see it is that you will be 1-2min ahead of your usual pack on the bike, so you can take that time to take it a bit easier early on the bike and wait until they come, you will be fresh and ready to go while they will have started the bike too fast. This will make a big difference for the rest of the day. Pacing off strong athletes on the bike isn’t anything new and every second on the swim counts.

Using a speedsuit, allows you to run with a two-piece underneath with no time penalty in the swim
Using a speedsuit, allows you to cycle and run with a two-piece underneath that may be superior in comfort and with no time penalty in the swim

How to train for a wetsuit race

Now that you understood the benefits of a speedsuit for non-wetsuit swims, which is the reality of most races in South East Asia, you need also to learn about the wetsuit, the rubberized equipment that is allowed and even compulsory in most other races, including East Asia and Australia, two popular racing destinations for Asia based triathletes

If you ever swam on a wetsuit before, you know that it can make your shoulders fatigue a lot earlier than the usual. This happens as a combination of a different body position & restricting shoulder movement, event the most advanced and flexible wetsuits aren’t as loose as a non-wetsuit swim stroke. The good news is that you can do something about it to improve that feel and make sure the swim won’t drain you more than it should:

Train with it:

Try to use your wetsuit once a week in the last 6 weeks leading into the race. If the pool water is too warm you can take 2 bottles of iced water and make yourself cooler by drinking it and pouring on your head on the intervals. If water temperature is over 26 degrees, then use the wetsuit only for the warm up or first half of the session, then add the pull gear as explained below. Alternative, do an extra swim session of 20-30min with the suit.

Tools that simulates it

Use pullbuoy/paddles/bands for your long swims even if your programme doesn’t say so. The pullbuoy will lift your body like the suits does, while the paddles will also add some strength load on your shoulders simulating the extra load of the suit. Ankle bands should only be used by experienced swimmers (faster than 1’50/100 on 1.5k), as you won’t need to kick much with the suit and you want to get used to swimming that way

Tips for race day

The neoprene absorbs and holds the water for ~24h and that makes it more flexible. Just like before your swim training with the suit, on race day you should also take your suit to the shower as it will be moist and way more flexible than if you just put it on and swim on race day.

Pull the arms all the way to the armpit for more comfort
Pull the legs all the way up to your groin
Let some water in before you swim, it will let the suit “settle” and also moist. Do it by pulling the suit collar in the water
Let some water in before you finish the swim. Just before you exit the water, pull the collar and let it it.. It will make transitions much faster
You may consider cutting your suit if its too long in the legs, the buoyancy gains there are minimal and they can get stuck on your feet in transition. The appropriate height is in the middle of your calf.

by Vinnie Santana – ironguides coach – Bangkok

More info at www.ironguides.net

–

Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

KABOOM – dont blow up on race day

August 16, 2017

cycling, Home, ironman, Training

You’re flying along enjoying your first Ironman then you hit 120km and KABOOM!!

How many athletes experience this at 120km in an Ironman ride, it’s amazing how often this happens and athletes have a very logical but false impression of how to prevent this. Our natural response is we do not have enough endurance and therefore need to do more long rides and runs!!

Ironman is a scary prospect and as such we all make damn sure we get the long rides and runs done in preparation to prevent the KABOOM moment but so many times it still happens. Most athletes will ride 5-6 hours for their long training rides or at least try to get one ride of 180km done in preparation so is this experience of blowing up really due to lack of long ride distance?

Then we have the athletes who cope fine with the bike and hit the run only to end up walking after 5km and start thinking they are lacking run endurance.

So what is going on and why do so many athletes experience this at 120km into an Ironman bike? To understand this we need to look at what happens and what training effect we get from our long easy rides.

The long weekly ride that is a fundamental of any training plan tends to end up being an easy ride focused on distance. When we ride all easy like this we end up training only a very small part of the muscle. If we look at how a muscle is made we can simplify things to say each muscle is made up of 100 fibers, to bring about a movement we need to activate a certain number of these fibers and our brains control this and brings about movement in the most efficient way possible. When we ride easy our brains will use maybe 20-30% of all the fibers as these are the most efficient and energy saving for this intensity.

What we have to think is our brain wants us to survive and does this by using as little energy as possible for everything we do. The more we train, the more our brains learn to use less energy so we become more energy efficient – a great adaption for endurance performance but in extreme examples like Ironman, we run into problems as once we hit that 120km point, those efficient fibers for endurance suddenly hit a point of fatigue and stop working forcing other fibers to have to take over the role. If we have not trained those other fibers once they come into play we will feel a little uncoordinated and then they fatigue so fast that we get that KABOOM moment as we have nowhere to go from there!!

So when looking at training endurance for Ironman, we need to look beyond the simple long endurance sessions in order to get through the race without that KABOOM moment and to optimize performance.

In order to do this we need to find a way to train more of the muscle fibers and share the workload over more fibers so that point of fatigue is pushed back and performance increases.

What we essentially need to do is trick the brain and force the body to switch on more muscle for a given task. This principle has been used very successfully in body building but is not really considered when looking at endurance training. In body building it is common to start a set of lifting heavy then reduce weight and increase reps to get a much bigger response. The first heavy lift forces the brain to activate all the muscle fibers and then the following lifts at reduced weight will still hit all the fibers but with more reps we get a more rounded training effect with enhanced strength and size in all the fibers.

So how do we apply this to bike training to enhance endurance?

Let’s look at 2 ways we can change the endurance bike day to bring about enhanced endurance adaption in a wider range of muscle fiber.

Firstly let’s look at a long endurance ride of 5 hours, I want to increase the endurance element but I do not want to extend the ride. I would do this by placing some low cadence high power work very early on in the ride to fully activate muscle fibre recruitment in the bike specific muscles and then later in the ride the focus would be on race cadence work, for example:

5hour ride to be ridden as

30min easy warm up
2x20min in biggest gear pushing hard against resistance with 10min easy between
3hours easy
30min hard effort @ race cadence
easy cool down

By setting the long weekly ride this way we get an endurance training effect in a much greater percentage of muscle fibres. The result being on race day we have more fibers trained to share the workload and therefore, increase endurance.

Another way we can get a similar training effect is to add a double bike day into a training week, these sessions only need to be short but can create a huge gain to both speed and endurance.

So let’s say you have an hour to train in the morning and the evening, this is one way you can set the sessions to enhance endurance.

Morning session – 1 hour including 30minute of hard intervals at low cadence

Evening session – 1 hour including 20 minutes of intervals at race cadence or above.

What we want to happen here is to totally fatigue the biking muscles in the morning session and then as we start the evening session we force the brain to activate more fibre to get the work done. A very unpleasant experience when you start as the evening session has your legs burning with very little speed gain for the effort but as you adapt and build fitness you will start to fly in the second session and really see a big change to both speed and endurance come race day.

Want to have a great ironman performance and avoid the 120k KABOOM – follow the advice above and rather than increase the duration of your endurance rides simply change the content to get a much bigger training effect that you will really feel come race day.

Enjoy your training.
Alun “Woody” Woodward

More info at www.ironguides.net

Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

Race Day – Avoiding Mistakes

August 8, 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62oFoUJQ-x8

Home, Race prep

Getting to race day fit and ready to race is a hard task and a challenge to every athlete and coach. I would say as a coach those final 2 weeks before a race are the most stressful of an entire program, not so much in terms of the physical preparation and fitness its about all the little mistakes an athlete can make in those final days that can derail months of good consistent hard work and sacrifice.

It amazes me when athletes are in great shape yet report back to problems encountered on race day, cramping or bad back, nutritional issues or even mechanical issues. When we go through all the details something always comes up and it just shows how easily we are influenced and how we are easily drawn into others beliefs. A classic example is athletes complaining of a bad back yet never experienced in training then report to lowering front end as they saw pics in race magazine and everyone looked much lower than themselves therefore must be faster.

Peter Reid multiple time Hawaii champion even managed to make this rookie mistake at Challenge Roth – seeing the set up of the bikes of his competitors he changed to a behind the saddle water bottle before the race and had a little difficulty getting on his bike resulting in a few falls as he could not jump on his bike the way he had always done in training – it may look funny but could have resulted in a serious injury and ruined the event for Peter, luckily it did not effect Peter in this day.

Lets look at some regular mistakes athletes make in those final days or on the day itself and make sure you do not repeat these yourself and ruin all the work you have done to get race ready.

Hydration and cramping

This is one of the biggest issues I see and one of the biggest causes of mysterious race day cramping in athletes that never seem to experience cramps in training. Through media and the influence of sports drink manufactures we have been led to believe we need to hyper hydrate the day before a race and the morning of a race. At any event you will still see many athletes walking around with bottles and drinking every couple of minutes – you will normally see them standing outside the porta-loos flushing away all their body salts perfectly preparing them for major race day cramping.

Our bodies are very good at preserving salts but if you flood the body with huge amounts of water or even electrolyte drinks when its not needed you will leach body salts out of the muscle. If you want to increase salts and hydration it needs to be a long term gradual process during race week and make sure your taking the salts in during and immediately following any exercise which is when the body will be more likely to absorb.

If your easing off training before a race, your body needs less fluid and salts not more – think of it another way if you train 20 hours a week and suddenly drop to 8 your going to need a lot less food not a lot more – same goes with fluids.

Dead legs and sore feet

This is another common issue, athletes complaining of sore swollen feet the day before a race and a dead legged feeling on race day. This one is a very simple problem to solve, it comes from spending too much time on your feet the day/ days before the race cruising the expo and chatting with fellow athletes. Standing around allows all the blood to pool in your lower limbs and feet causing them to swell and become cramped and sore in shoes – not only are they sore but this excess blood and water retention leads to poorer muscle contractions on race day.

Try to save the expo and catch ups until after the race or meet in a cafe or for a meal where you can sit down. On the day before the race try to et as much done as possible on the morning and then get to your room and chill out watching a movie or reading a book with your legs elevated to a 45+ degree position to drain excess blood and fluid from the legs and have you feeling fresh and ready for race day. Its not a mystery as to where all the pro’s are the day before a race – they are not out training they are chilling out getting ready to battle!

Carbohydrate Loading

This practice is great and has been shown time and time again to boost endurance performance BUT we can very easily get it wrong. Carbohydrate loading should be done in the 2 days prior to the race not just the day before with 1 big meal.

Our bodies absorb carbs into the muscle most effectively immediately following exercise and more so following intense exercise. Following this knowledge our pre race big carbohydrate meal should be immediately after a training session with a little bit of intensity. I would suggest a session like this late morning on the day before a race including a short period of around 10 minutes at race pace – during this session take on board an energy drink containing calories not a electrolyte drink and then as soon as possible after the session get a good carb heavy meal consumed. It amazes me how athletes tend to do a session like this and then eat a salad and consume a big carbohydrate meal later at night.

Eating a carb rich meal late at night will increase blood sugar and trigger a stress response without the exercise, it will not lead to storage in the muscle but more a feeling of anxiety and make it very hard to sleep.

My tip here is a big carbohydrate lunch immediately after your final pre race training session then a lighter evening meal and try to add in some medium chain triglycerides for enhanced endurance performance on race day – coconut milk and cream are a good choice here!!

To make the most of your fitness and enjoy performing to your best on race day make sure you do not make little mistakes right before the race that will destroy your day. Planning before the event so you know exactly what routine to go through in race week and the final preparations will make sure you stay on track and perform to your true potential.

Enjoy your fitness and get out there racing!!

More info at www.ironguides.net

By Alun “Woody” Woodward

–

Train with ironguides!

Download our free e-Book “Triathlon Secrets” – Training methods of olympic medalist, ironman and world champions revealed

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

Ironman Performance – The Final 4 Weeks

August 2, 2017

Home, Race prep, Training

The final weeks before your big race bring a lot of anxiety and its a time when athletes start to question their fitness and training.

When you get to this stage 4 weeks out from your big event the training has been done and you are not really going to increase your fitness before the race, though you can certainly damage that fitness in the final 4 weeks by chasing fitness or on the other side not doing enough training and losing fitness.

Ironman is an extreme endurance sport and events of this duration do not require the taper process that we commonly hear about for endurance events. In fact if we look at the history of the taper it was primarily used successfully for relatively short anaerobic events such as track running and swimming which physiologically are far removed from the demands of ironman. When looking for a similar sport we have to look at cycling or ultra running and athletes in these sports do not really use a conventional taper and rather build straight into the events with any significant rest taken a long way out from the event.

Ironman athletes who adapt the conventional 3 week taper process into events generally will go into the event with reduced fitness and not feel their best on race day.

On the other side i see triathletes who are always searching for more fitness and this almost becomes a panic in the final weeks before race, the need for one more long ride or run to test fitness is just what is needed to tip the athlete over the edge and lead to illness or injury which is inevitably going to lead to a sub par performance on race day.

So if we do not taper as conventional endurance athletes then what do we need to look at in the final 4 weeks before an event.

First and foremost is routine, we are creatures of habit, panic and uncertainly result from us not following our routines. This routine applies directly to training, the final 4 weeks of training should follow a very similar plan to that which the athlete has been following. If you have gone for weeks doing your long ride on a Saturday and long run Sunday then we want to maintain this pattern even if the training volume or prescription is slightly different.

Saying that we want to maintain routine we still want to incorporate some rest time – the amount of rest is very individual and depends on the athletes life and training levels leading into this period. An athlete who is very consistent with training is likely to be more mentally fatigued from the training and would benefit from more rest time but at the same time this athlete will need a period of regular training leading into the race to feel both normal and confident, this will be the athlete who does not believe tapers work for them!

With this athlete i would start to incorporate a very light period of training over a 5-10 day period and include maybe 1-2 rest days in this time, this period though would happen in the 3-4 weeks out from the race period so the athlete can have a good period of regular training again before the race.

For the athlete who is less consistent with training having a rest day or 2 in the final 10 days before the race is not going to effect them mentally or physically as they will be used to having days off here and there while training for whatever reasons be it family pressure work or just the need for a rest day.

Athletes need to know that rest in this final period before the race is not going to make them feel good and fresh, most of the time rest is going to make the athlete feel more fatigued and less fit as the body given this opportunity to ease off the gas pedal goes into a deeper recovery and regeneration phase then the mini regeneration phases we take on a normal day. An athlete not aware this is going to happen will panic and feel the need to go out and get fitter and train when they are supposed to be resting or they will constantly feel the need to test themselves while training and push harder than any given session requires.
Training during the final 4 weeks needs to take into account this rest period and how it fits best for different athletes. For any athlete i will have finished this rest period 10 days out from the race and the final 10 days will see the athletes follow a training plan very similar to one they will have used during their main preparation phase. In the days 7-10 days out from the race i will have athletes complete their regular long run and bike normally run 10 days out and bike 7 days out. Then in the final days before event once further longer ride is used 3 days out from the race to make sure the body is burning fuel as required for race day.

Again this is highly individual and through coaching specific athletes you will see some athletes lose endurance performance very quickly within a short number of days while others can do very little endurance training and never have an issue with the endurance side of the race.

For athletes who lose endurance capacity quickly then a longer easy paced ride as close as 2-3 days out from the race can see great performance gains on race day.

As we enter the final 4 weeks before our main race we need to ensure the plan is set for us individually and followed, we need to know what is to be expected with feelings in training and mentally and the obstacles that we will face as a result of this.

One final thing i like athletes to start to think about in these weeks is building energy for the race day, we should see this time as being like a caged animal, we can always want more training, we can always want to test our fitness but we have to keep this under wraps and just follow the plan. Athletes who follow this are buzzing race week as they can’t wait to get out there and explode, whereas on the other side the athlete who has constantly tested and pushed for more fitness just looks exhausted and down in race week and almost dreading the start rather than anticipating it.

Enjoy your fitness!

Alun “Woody” Woodward

ironguides is the leading Lifestyle Facilitation company for athletes of all abilities. We provide coaching and training services, plans and programs, as well training education, health and fitness products to help you learn and live a healthy lifestyle. Come get fit with one of our monthly training subscriptions, event-specific training plans, coaching services, or a triathlon training camp in an exotic location! ironguides also provides Corporate Health services including Corporate Triathlons, Healthy Living retreats and speaking engagements. At ironguides, your best is our business!

Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

Ironman Recovery Guidelines: Learn how to get back into training

July 25, 2017

Home, recovery, Training

As soon as you cross the finish line of an Ironman, it is normal you will already start planning the next season and races you want to do. However, taking a rest after the Ironman is import for both body and mind, after all, you spent months of extreme dedication, your weekends were practically sitting on the bike, and you endured various dietary restrictions.

But what is the best way to recover from an Ironman? How many days you must rest and what is the best type of workout to do once you are back to a training routine?

The article below explains in detail everything you need to know about resume training after an Ironman.

The negative impact of an Ironman race in the human body

To do an Ironman race is not in the nature of the human body. Over millions of years, the human body was designed to either exercise at low intensity and high duration, or short but high intensity, that is based on the needs of mankind evolution and what our ancestors had to do. To exercise at moderate intensity (gray zone) for nine to seventeen hours is not natural or even healthy to us, and a simple blood work before and after an Ironman can detect be some problems as:

Hormonal imbalance:

An Austrian study concluded that takes three weeks for antioxidant levels return to healthy patterns, as well as muscle injury and inflammation markers to settle.

The immune system plays an important role in helping your body recover from intense workouts, but the immune system is overwhelmed during prolonged exercise and stay at low levels for up to three days after this type of activity, leaving him exposed to viral infections and bacterial.

This combined response with a fall of hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone, and an increase of cortisol (stress hormone) complete the total hormonal imbalance after competing in Ironman.

Kidney overloaded:

With the high rate of muscle cells breakage, there is an increase in blood levels of myoglobin. Myoglobin is a protein and harmful to the kidneys. Some athletes report change in color of urine after an Ironman race, which is a sign of rhabdomyolysis, a medical condition that indicates overload the kidneys due to muscle damage.

The combination of dehydration and ingestion of Advil (Iboprufen), may further worsen the picture of the kidneys, in some rare cases even get in renal failure. Therefore taking advil for an Ironman is never recommended.

The good news is that while the response of your body to an effort such as an Ironman race sounds serious and dangerous, you can mitigate some of these downsides with appropriate recovery and training once you are done with the race. Here’s how:

Phase 1 (1 to 21 days after the race) – Recovery Guidelines

Day 1 to 10 after the Ironman:

Beginners or intermediate athletes should take as many days off as you want, this will do you good not only for your body but also the mind, you have worked hard and now is the time to recover. If you think some easy exercising will help you feel better and less bloated or tight, do 20-40min swimming or cycling but at very low intensity. Do not run during this period.

High performance athletes should take a few days off completely and rest during this period, but active rest with some swimming or cycling, both at low intensity, will help you recover faster. Do not run during this period.

Day 11 to 21 after the Ironman:

Beginners or intermediate athletes should start back wish some activities at low intensity and little structure. Try to keep the activities (note the word activity and not training) shorter than an hour. You can also get back to some running and exercise daily. However if you still feeling like resting fully for the whole day, do it without guilt, the time is now.

High performance athletes will benefit from daily activities and some accelerations in the pool using paddles and on the bike pushing some heavy gears, this will help you recruit your specific muscles but still keeping your heart rate low. Some days you should also do double training, keep in mind that two short workouts is less aggressive for your immune system and hormone levels than one longer session.

Phase 2 –What to train after the 21st day after your race

Once you get back to a proper training plan, it should not only consider the races you want to do from that point, but also the specific training for the Ironman you did in the previous three months.There are several fitness aspects targeted in a training plan, and you must understand that your Ironman preparation required specific sessions and you spent most of your workouts in the “gray zone”, at moderate intensity but long workouts.

This type of training is important for a good performance in Ironmans, but considering that this type of training begins mostly in the last twelve weeks before the race, it means that other important aspects of your fitness, such as strength, speed and high intensity aerobic training, were left aside on that final Ironman prep.

Once you complete your recovery protocol, your best option is to start a training block focused on short races, even if the short or medium term goal is another long or middle distance race.

Understand that just maintaining your endurance in your post Ironman training is enough to maintain good endurance as you will be coming off months of endurance focused training.

Add weight training in this phase can also be a good idea as it will help your hormonal level to balance out again and give you some general strength.

Phase 3 – Plan your race calendar wisely

Avoid any kind of races for at least 3 full weeks after the Ironman. Then starting on the fourth week, you can schedule some short events that will give you the opportunity to also test the short course training you will be doing and acquire skills and race day strategies that will be useful for long races in the future.

If you have a long race scheduled 4-6 weeks after your Ironman, you do not need to go long in your training as you would had you not competed in the Ironman, your endurance will still be at a decent level (refer to graphic above).

A Common error is to run a marathon under 4 weeks after the Ironman as the risk of an injury is huge, not only during the competition itself, but also due to reason the athletes will focus more on running after the Ironman and that should be the discipline you will train the least!

Nutrition after the race? Tips for athletes of all ages, sports and historical levels

Post race nutrition – How your ability, age and background have an impact on it.

It is normal and will do you good to let the diet go a little after the race. Even “pigging out” some and putting on some weight is fine and will help you to recovery.

But there is profile of athlete that must hold back a little and think ahead before putting on five or more kilos in the weeks after the Ironman. They are the masters athletes (forty-five years or more) at a high performance level. The reason is that as you age, weight loss becomes increasingly difficult, and you fought so hard to get to this excellent physical shape and run the risk of lose it all and start all over again.

That would be fine if your goals ended up there (such as placing at a major Ironman event or qualifying for Kona for example), otherwise, you will deal with the challenge of being a little heavier right at the beginning of the first block of training after the Ironman, and combined with the intensity of the short course training that follows your Ironman recovery, this can be a recipe for an injury. High performance master athletes should find a good balance of letting the diet go a little to get that mental break, but don’t overdo it. For all other types of athletes, either at a beginner level or the younger that can lose weight easily, enjoy the off-season, eat well and do not rush to resume training.

Enjoy your training.

Vinnie Santana

>>> Check ironguides 4 weeks Ironman recovery training plan for only 39USD, all the above information structured in an easy to understand routine.

Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

Free Speed Indeed: Drafting for a Quick Swim Split

July 19, 2017

Home, Swimming, Training

You work hard in the pool 2 – 3 times a week. You buy all the latest swim toys, take stroke correction classes and analyse YouTube swim technique videos all for the sake of faster swim split. But many age groupers have not wised up to fact that drafting is the easiest way to an impressive swim split. The fear of getting hit and pulled under/ swum over in the in the opening seconds of each race drives you to ‘take it easy’ at the start. This is exactly the reason why they get caught up in the mess with everyone else in the 1^st place!

The trick is to start the swim hard and latch onto a slightly faster swimmer that will 1) shield them from the barrage in front and 2) pull them clear of the as much of the pack as possible. Yes, it is a little bit of a roller coaster ride getting there but once you have experienced ‘leaving the pack’ behind a few times in a race situation, you‘ll never want to be bogged down in the tangle of arms and legs again.

For many swimmers, lack of confidence is the main factor holding them back from fighting for a draft. They seldom practice ‘starting hard’ in their training and do not know how to change gears in the water to manage their effort levels. If this sounds like you, read on!

Finding the right draft

If you are swimming at a steady effort and holding a good rhythm to stay on the feet in front of you, chances are you have found the right draft. Just pop your head up every 10 – 15 strokes to ensure that you’re getting towed in the right direction. This is your ticket to a swim split PB – don’t let anyone come in between you and those feet in front of you. If you need to swim ‘tough’ to defend your territory – so be it.Don’t budge! Take a few knocks and don’t hesitate to bump back, let them know that you’re there to stay. A high stroke rate with a straight arm recovery and wide hand entry and is a clear signal for other swimmers to stay out clear of your territory.

If you lose this draft, you’ll be regretting it for a long time.

Your draft is too slow if you’re bumping into toes in front of you and you are struggling to get into a good rhythm because of the continual acceleration/deceleration cycles. Test this out by coming out of their wake and accessing how much effort it is going to take to go on your own. Yes – it will be harder, but can you handle it for a period while you settle into your own rhythm and search for a slightly faster set of feet?

Keep your eyes peeled for a swimmer or a train of swimmers moving steadily pass you. Wait for them to pass, put in a mini surge of a few powerful strokes to get on their toes, tuck right in behind them and settle in.

Or if there’s no such luck, look further up the field for a stronger swimmer to bridge up to. What is it going to take to bridge up to them? Can you make it across in 30 seconds/ 60 seconds/ 90 seconds with a dedicated effort to bridge up? Leap- frogging from one set of feet to the next faster ones has resulted in many fast swims times – and if well executed, can have you swimming significantly beyond your ability.

On the other hand, you’ll know if you are drafting ‘out of your league’ because even though you’re pushing hard, his/ her feet keep disappearing into the water ahead. There’s a good chance that you’re not the only one hanging on for a free ride and there will be other swimmers behind you. Pull over to the side, let them pass and duck into the slip stream of the bigger group once they have passed – exactly like you would on a pace line on the bike.

Applications to training:

As you can see, the swim leg of a triathlon is a very dynamic effort requiring short hard surges to catch up to faster feet, extended periods of steady and solid swimming, while on your own looking for the next draft, and the ability to recover “on the go” when you have made it across the gap.

While the long steady swims are useful for building endurance, and a flat set of 100’s is good for tolerance, the best way to master the ability to change pace on the go is to train specifically with variable speed sets. These sessions will have your heart rate up and down and everywhere in between to mimic the conditions of a real race situation. With practice, you will learn how to mix up aerobic and anaerobic efforts in the water. This, in turn, will give you the confidence to take the risk on race day to hunt down the best feet to follow. There are 2 of my favourite variable speed sets to get you started. You can change the number of reps according to your ability.

Set 1: Total Distance – 2.7km

Warm up

300m done continuous as 75easy free/ 25m butterfly

4 x 50m as 25m All Out /25m easy – 30sec rest

Main Set is 4 x through this block

4 x 50m hard – 20sec rest
200m moderate – 30sec rest
100m easy – 1min ‘reset’

Option to add paddles and pullbuoy in the second half

200m easy cool down

Set 2: Total Distance – 2.6km

Warm up

500m done continuous as 75easy free/ 25m butterfly

Main Set

6 x 100m swum as (25m All Out/ 50m easy / 25m ALL OUT)

60 sec rest
No gear

6 x 200m swum as (50m Hard / 100m easy / 50m Hard)

90 sec rest
Paddles and pullbuoy

Cool Down – 3x 100m easy with paddles and pullbuoy

If you don’t do this type of swim session at least once a week, try it out. Get used to going into the red and then ‘recovering on the go’. Paying attention to holding your form especially on the easy sections as you will be fatigued from the preceding hard efforts. And don’t forget to put this into practice the next time you toe the line!

Good luck and enjoy your training!

Shem Leong is our ironguides coach in Singapore. He has been hooked on triathlon ever since winning his age group in his first Olympic-distance race. Many top performances later, Shem still enjoys the challenges of training and racing at a high level, while balancing this with work and family. He is a firm believer in the benefits of an active lifestyle and loves being able to positively affect his athletes’ lives in this way. In the four years that Shem has worked as an ironguides coach so far, he has helped more than 60 athletes achieve their goals. They range from newbies hoping to complete their first sprint race, to 70.3 podium contenders, to seasoned Sub 10-hour Ironman athletes. Shem’s care for his athletes and his attention to detail set him apart. He completely understands the varied pull factors of life’s demands as well as the fiery motivations that drive everyday age groupers and is able to craft sustainable, effective training plans for their time-crunched schedules. An Honour’s Degree in Health Science has given Shem the knowledge to explain and expertly administer The Method. This, in turn, helps his athletes understand how each session contributes towards their ultimate goal; as a result, countless personal bests have been improved upon as his athletes continually get fitter and faster.

Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

By Shem Leong

Swimfit

July 5, 2017

Home, Swimming, Training

Swimming is often overlooked in Ironman as it’s seen as a short warm up before the main event. This thinking has led to swim training being overlooked or the bare minimum of work being done so athletes can complete the swim distance come race day.

I have heard many athletes gleaning to be pure endurance athletes as it takes them so long to warm up onto the bike in Ironman events. But looking over their training the truth is, more often than not it takes them so long to recover from the swim before they can start to even access their bike fitness.

Same goes for great runners wondering why despite being in amazing run shape they can never access this fitness in an Ironman, they will often blame nutrition when the real culprit is the energy cost of the swim and the debt accumulated recovering from this at the start of the bike.

So many athletes fall into the easy trap of blaming nutrition for things going wrong and not performing to expectations but I have seen time and time again the athletes who come to the races well trained and balanced fitness through consistent training really don’t seem to have these nutritional issues!!

In Ironman we want to swim well but more importantly we want to get out of the water as fresh as possible so we are not taking a debt into the remainder of the race. One big element in this is of course pacing the race correctly to your current fitness but this point is for another article. In this article I want to look at swim fitness specific for Ironman.

First and foremost, the Ironman swim is a long way, you need to be able to not only complete the distance but complete it comfortably – of all the 3 sports the swim is the only one I would recommend regularly going over distance on in training.

When looking at the swim in Ironman I would class it as a strength endurance test, it’s quite simple to demonstrate this if you happen to have both a 25m and 50m pool available for training, simply spend a few weeks training in a 25m pool which is great for fitness and technique development and then take that fitness to a 50m pool a do a time trial swim of race distance, you will end up very frustrated as despite feeling very fit you will just feel drained and slow very early on, breathing will be well under control as you simply will not be able to go hard enough to put a stress on your cardio system as the strength system will have been maxed out.

The reason for this is the short rest you get in a 25m pool on every turn is doubled in a 50m pool and this has a huge effect on the build up of fatigue. We can tell the fatigue is muscular as you will find breathing is very controlled and just no way to push harder in order to stress the cardio system. Now if this effect is seen from a jump to 50m you can imagine it will be multiplied many times in a 3.8k swim with no breaks.

Taking this into account, the most important part of any swim program has to be a long strength based endurance swim. To make a swim strength based we can do several things depending on what your circumstances are.

Using a pull buoy is the first step in incorporating strength into any swim session; the pull buoy takes the legs out of the stroke and forces all momentum to come from the arms so isolating muscles. A further addition to the pull buoy to make your arms work even harder is a band tied around your ankles – this prevents you from kicking and will really emphasize any lack of symmetry in your stroke and make forward progress really hard work!!

When using a band ignore the clock as it will really slow you down and can leave you very frustrated – when using a band perceived effort is your guide and just use the clock for calculating recovery between intervals!

Finding a comfortable band is hard and my tip is to find an old wetsuit and cut off a section of the leg about 2-3 inches thick and use this for your band. This proves perfect tightness and comfort so you will have no excuses for not doing your band work.

Paddles are a great tool for building strength and also promote good technique as a bonus. Adding paddles to the second half of a hard swim session will really work on strength and you are forcing already fatigued muscles to work even harder.

So an example strength endurance swim using the above may look something like

20×100 pull bouy moderate + 15s rest

5×200 pull buoy / band @ 1 easy / 1 hard + 30s rest

2×400 pull / band / paddles @ 1 moderate / 1 hard + 30s rest

Having a swim like this as part of your weekly training will have you strong enough to cope with the demands of the Ironman swim come race day and allow you to get onto the bike fresher and ready to go from the first meters.

Now that you are strong enough to get through the swim, we need to look at what is likely to occur in the swim and the demands it will place on the body. Open water swims will involve swimming around markers and these present another fitness challenge. When swimming in a group, the dynamic of the group will always change from steady swimming into the turn to accelerating around the turn, just as in bike racing those athletes at the back of the group will have to slow right down as they approach the turn due to congestion and then accelerate hard out of the turn in order to catch back up to the group. The demands of these accelerations are high and if you don’t train them you will quickly become tired and no longer be able to stay with the group you were swimming with.

After a warm up perform the following set twice, second time through add paddles for more of a strength challenge.

100m all out + 1min rest

4×50 hard + 10s rest

3×100 moderate + 10s rest

50 all out + 10s rest

2×100 moderate + 10s rest

150m easy + 1min rest

When swimming this set expect breathing to really be out of control the first time, focus has to be on maintaining consistent pace for each effort level through the whole set.

These 2 sessions will form the backbone of a good Ironman swim program and ensure you are ready to go on race day. Some pools and regulations can prevent the use of paddles and bands so we need to find a way to simulate the same challenge without the tools, some tips on doing this

Paddles not allowed

Use drag shorts to increase resistance or even better board shorts
Turn 2-3m before the wall and then you have to accelerate back to speed without a push off

Bands not allowed

Cross your legs to prevent any kick – just remember to alternate legs each length

Moving forward work hard on your swim with the above focus in order to not only improve your Ironman swim but to unlock your true potential on the bike and run!!

Enjoy your training

Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)

Running Plans (10k, 21k and 42k – starting at USD40)

By Alun “Woody” Woodward

Turning the page

June 28, 2017

Home, Race prep

Ironman is a very demanding sport and challenge for all who take part, that in itself is the beauty and attraction of the sport. We all make a lot of sacrifices for training both in terms of time away from family and friends to the actual cost of equipment and events and the weight of all these things can come crashing down on us if something goes wrong before an event or even worse during the event itself. Think we have all heard about the post Ironman blues but this depression is magnified when something goes wrong and prevents us doing as planned on race day.

We spend a lot of time and energy training and planning for success, but I think it’s very important that athletes have a strategy in place to cope with failure or obstacles that may arise in be lead up or on race day.

Illness

One of the biggest obstacles we have as athletes and Ironman is illness, our immune systems can be compromised with all the training and it is usually when we ease off training that illness comes out – the amount of athletes who become ill during race taper is huge. So what can you do when illness hits in the days before a race?

Firstly stay calm, stressing out is only going to make the situation worse and prolong the illness. Speak to your coach as adapting your training plan at this time will ensure your immune system has more chance to recover and a coach can make sure appropriate sessions are given to keep muscles switched on while not stressing the system too much! An example of this can be seen with the following sessions

SWIM

Panned session

200 easy – 5×200 moderate on 3min – 200 easy

Adapted session

200 easy – 3×200 pull / paddles on 4min – 200 easy

In the adapted session by adding in use of the pull buoy and paddles we place a little more emphasis on strength and reduce the cardio stress, heart rate will be lower and breathing under control but the muscles will still get the same training effect. Longer recoveries in the set ensure heart rate stays lower and does not drift up during the session.

Following the session you will feel you have worked the muscles but will not feel fatigued and drained as during a normal session undertaken while sick.

We can apply this in a similar way to a bike session, for example if we had some 3min hard intervals to do that would be quite hard for the body when sick we want to look at hitting the same system and have the muscles work but we can reduce the time to stop the level of stress. So for example we may work on 40second hard with 2.20 easy between – we still get the muscles worked but the shorter interval will keep heart rate low and the long recoveries will stop heart rate drifting up.

Mechanical issues – travel related?

Another issue that often comes up to throw a spanner in the works is a mechanical issue with bikes, this is extremely common when travelling on planes or cars as we normally do when racing. Triathlon bikes can be very expensive and have specialty parts due to brand designs, if you have a bike that requires specialty parts and bolts for things such as stems, seat post or saddles then make sure you order spares to travel with – it’s a horrible feeling to get to your race with a $10000 bike and not be able to race because you do not have a $10 screw to replace a broken part.

Sometimes though the bike may not be repairable or not turn up at the airport with your bags, this does happen a lot more than you think. Position on your bike is very important and just a small change from your position will affect not only your biking but how you run off the bike – so make sure you have all your measurements written down in case the worst comes to the worst and you have to hire a bike at the event.

Having taken care of everything you can there is still the possibility of something actually going wrong during the race that can end your day, this is something we can’t prevent or really plan for but is just a reality when we are reliant on equipment and not just our selves to get through the race, a flat tire, broken wheel, snapped seat post bolt are just a few examples. Also crashes do happen on the bike and again these can be totally out of our control.

When something happens during the day that means you can’t finish the event it will feel devastating at the time but if we know it can happen and have strategies in mind for it we can cope a lot better. I think we see this a lot with pro athletes as they have to cope with failure a lot more often, picking yourself up and just getting on with it just becomes part of life for a pro. I think you learn quickly that brooding does not solve anything and just makes you and all around you miserable. Just think about kids learning to ride a bike. When they crash we make sure they get straight back on a get going and they learn very quickly this way, we need to take e same mindset and get back on and get going with life! One of my favourite sayings is TURN THE PAGE – no matter how bad we have to just turn the page and start a fresh!

If we have trained for an Ironman and something has prevented the race being completed use your fitness, find another event even if a small local event or just get a group of friends together and do your own training race to get closure from all the hard work you have done!

Always remember tomorrow is a new day and we can always start a fresh wherever we may be!

Enjoy your training

Alun “Woody” Woodward

Train with ironguides!

Personalized Online Coaching: Starting at USD190/month

Monthly Training plans (for all levels, or focused on one discipline): Only USD39/months

Event based training plans:

Sprint Distance (USD45 for 8-week plan)

Olympic Distance (USD65 for 12 week plan)

Half Ironman (R$95 for 16-week plan)