Integration of various modes of training

So we talked about all of the ingredients that make up triathlon training, now let’s talk about a typical week to gear up for an Ironman 70.3 or Ironman.

After studying multiple ways of training and programming a weekly, monthly, and yearly program, I have used a system that emphasized technique, intensity, and volume.

I always aim to improve something. On the speed and hill sessions, you can go faster, shorten the rest periods, or do more intervals. On the distance work, you can either go faster or further. Some days when everything lines up right, you can go faster and further, which are golden moments indeed.

On other days, when you don’t feel quite so springy, you can focus on making it a “technique” improvement day. Here I will allow a little drop in intensity to work on “Mastery of Technique.”

Here is a typical week gearing up for Ironman 70.3 in St. Croix.

Monday A.M. Run 800m Intervals and Technique/Speed Skills
P.M. Full Body Strength Training

Tuesday A.M. Bike Hill Sprints (4-6 minutes in length)
P.M.  Swim 250m Intervals, Technique/Speed Skills

Wed.      A.M. Run 6 mile Tempo (Steady State)
P.M.  Full Body Strength Training

Thurs.    A.M. Bike Long Distance
P.M.  Rest (Eat)

Friday    A.M. Run Mile Repeats and Technique/Speed Skills
P.M. Full Body Strength Training

Saturday A.M. Medium to Long Bike followed by Short Run

Sunday   A.M. Long Run
P.M.  Long Swim plus Technique/Speed Skills

I will vary from this format, sometimes doing a long swim followed immediately by a medium bike ride, or doing two hill workouts on the bike in the same week.

Basically, I know that the most important things for me are the long run, the long bike, the combination a.k.a. “Brick Workouts” (Bike plus Run) and finally the swim technique training.

You will notice that I have a special liking for running, so I ended up doing it more often than the other sports. Plus, I intend on staying active in my running only races of various distances both on and off-road.

Luckily my daily schedule permits me to train as much as I do. The volume in Ironman training demands superior recovery measures. This is where proper sleep, nutrition and supplementation come in. Lately, I have been drinking Amino Boost, and Muscle Defender like it’s kool-aid and popping Recover and Build like its candy.

My next step will be to add self-myofacial release to the mix as well as massage therapy to speed up the recovery.

Well, I am flying out to St. Croix in two days and getting in some exciting training in the warm water and air before the big day. I can’t wait to see what happens and how much I have improved.

It’s all an adventure in the end. I planned my race and now it’s time to race my plan. I am going to have fun going for it and take the feedback I receive and adjust my training to go even faster for the next Ironman.

As they say, “Let The Good Times Roll!”

–Jason

For the sake of this article, the focus will be specifically on biking and swimming for the Ironman.

BIKING

This is where muscle meets machine. Who doesn’t love the free feeling of flying around on a bike? It is especially fun when aiming to soar faster every workout. The key to cycling in the Ironman is not only to go fast and furious for the duration of the bike segment, but to also have plenty of juice left for the run that follows.

For my cycling training I generally do three types of rides. I either do a hill sprint workout, medium distance speed workout, or a long distance ride.

For the hill workouts, I use a series of hills nearby that take from 3 to 6 minutes to climb and use a variety of gears and alternate between seated and standing positions. I personally love these training sessions for the intense burning sensation you get in your legs and lungs.
In my opinion, hill sprints are one of the best ways to boost cycling fitness and force production. In addition, you get plenty of curious looks from the neighbors who see you climb up and fly down the same hill all morning. It’s crazy fun, and it helps to build the “engine” on your machine. I am aiming to go from a v-8 to v-12 and increase my horsepower as well.

Word of caution, your legs will feel like wet noodles for most of the day following these workouts. It’s similar to 20 rep squat workouts, for those who have done them, but here you repeat them over and over. Luckily, NO7Rage and CreatineXXL come in handy to buffer some of that lactic acid. In the end, you have to learn to “love the burn.”

For the medium distance speed workouts, I pick a distance I can cover in 90 min to 2 hours and hit it hard. This is also a great distance to add a run at the end to work on my “Transition” skills. At other times, I will go directly from my swim workout into a medium distance sprint workout or hill workout to shake things up.

For the long distances, I go at around race pace and I focus on covering distance, building the length every workout in order to peak a couple of weeks before the race.

In addition to the fitness training, I have been studying the “pose” technique of cycling as well. It has helped tremendously as it focuses on using a higher cadence and bodyweight transfer to generate speed. The fastest cyclists seem to keep a minimum of 90 pedal strokes per minute, with some going much higher. The other key to speed is “un weighing” your non-working leg as fast as you can and applying pressure with your bodyweight in the 1 to 4 o’clock position of the pedal stroke.

It is a very interesting concept and again turns the sport of cycling into an art form. I will take segments of each workout and focus on my technique, aiming to improve one aspect at a time. For example, while climbing a hill on a long ride I may count 10 pedal strokes on each leg and ensure I am putting my bodyweight into each pedal in the proper portion of the cycle.

The learning process is a continuous one.

SWIMMING

Ah yes, nothing like kicking it in the ocean for a nice “group swim.” The start of an Ironman is a pretty awesome sight. You have thousands of athletes all fluttering in a mad dash like a big school of fish, which is breathtaking to say the least.

First, my goal is to swim faster to get on the bike sooner and to move efficiently in order to save what energy I can for the bike and run.
I have broken my training into three general areas; Aerobic Endurance, Muscle Endurance, and Anaerobic Endurance.

Aerobic Endurance feels comfortable like I could go to a far off island at this speed.  I may use this pace for practicing technique or to warm up. But the majority of my training is at race pace or faster broken up into intervals. In my triathlons, I want to get out of the water in good position and the swim portion is shortest of the three events, so it makes sense to train fast to be fast!

Muscle Endurance is a speed that I can maintain for 90 seconds up to about 12 minutes. I do these in intervals. I’ll usually break it up into either 100m, 200m, 400m, or 1000m segments with 30-60 seconds rest at the wall. This pace feels uncomfortable but bearable. I am aiming for improved times every workout. Similar to running and biking, I pick one technical part of the stroke and concentrate on it for the entire set. I stay with one element at a time for a couple weeks, and then choose another one, once I feel that it is ingrained.

Anaerobic Endurance is where I basically sprint. This is taxing and fun. For me, I get a great burn in my back as I am stroking as fast and strong as I can in good form. I am grabbing as much water as possible with each stroke and pivoting the hips with explosiveness.

These sprints last about 60 seconds or less. I basically go for 50m-75 m with all the gusto I can muster. I then rest at the wall and let my body cool down. While sprinting I picture Michael Phelps going for the Gold, using strong, gliding strokes, which look powerful and effortless.

Gaining swimming fitness is easy, it’s reducing drag that is the secret to fast and efficient swimming. I learned that the best and fastest swimmers take the least amount of strokes per length and cover the most distance per stroke.

Therefore I spent weeks doing one drill only, “Hand Swapping.” This is where you aim to keep one arm extended until the other arm enters the water and then you stroke. This drill has helped me immensely in improving my stroke length.

As with the cycling and running, I train at different intensities to increase the speed I can move and still stay aerobic and help the body go from anaerobic back to aerobic sooner. There will always be periods of anaerobic activity mixed in so it’s important to be able to recover and get going aerobic again. I like to train hard to make the race feel easy.

As far as technique goes, I have been studying the Total Immersion Swim technique. Through books, DVDs, and other coaches I have received great secrets of being “fishlike” in the water.

The keys to being fishlike are swimming long (extending your body), swimming on your sides (like a vessel), and using body rotation for propulsion. These tips alone have made it much easier to go faster.

With swimming being such a technique-oriented sport, I keep technique as a top priority and ensure that every stroke is a good one because you are either teaching yourself to stroke better or worse. Therefore, I end each workout feeling strong and fast with sharp technique instead of taking the workout to the point where fatigue turns your workout into a splashy mess.

I make each stroke count, covering as much distance as possible every time my hand leaves the water.

I can’t wait to get in the warm waters off of St. Croix and race the other fish people. It will be a fun day indeed.

The next article will cover workout structure, while preparing for multi-sport events.

For the sake of this article, the focus will be specifically on running for the Ironman.

Running has been one of my favorite sports since childhood. Many people think running is just running, but when you break down the technique and training programs, running is much more.

Some people only run when they are chased or miss the bus, but today I am talking about training to increase speed, endurance, and excitement.

For the first time since I learned to run, I got coached, video-taped and coached again on my running technique. It was like my blinders where taken off and I saw running with a new set of eyes.

For the running enthusiasts out there, I now follow kind of a hybrid of pose running and evolution running. I traded in my cushioned shoes for minimalist running shoes.

My current style focuses on forefoot landing, higher cadence (steps per minute), forward lean (let gravity pull you forward), and heel pull (as opposed to “pushing off.”

My times are much faster and I can run on concrete for long runs and consecutive runs with zero pain and I go about 180 lbs (last time I checked).

For a couple months straight I focused on running form and drills to instill this new style to the point where I do not have to think about it anymore. Then I could focus more on raising the intensity and volume of my running. The efforts paid off and I could not be happier.

Basically, if you watch a barefoot runner, like the champion Kenyans, you will get an idea of this great style. So running went from just “trying harder” and “pounding the pavement” to artwork.

I highly recommend for anyone who was frustrated with running times or running pain to give pose and evolution running a shot. It has worked miracles for many and returns you back to the way you are designed to run. Hint-it’s not with big cushioned shoes and landing on your heel.

Okay, next lets get into the program design I am using for the run portion of the Ironman.

Basically, I broke down my running training into four categories. The sections are aerobic endurance, muscle endurance, anaerobic endurance, and form/speed work.

Aerobic Endurance is basically my Ironman race pace (which will be coming after a long bike ride). It feels comfortable like I could go for hours and it relies on a larger percentage of fat for energy.

Muscle Endurance for my purposes is a speed that I can maintain for over three minutes. I like to train muscular endurance with intervals. I’ll usually break it up into mile, two mile and three mile intervals.

Following each interval I will walk for 60 to 90 seconds or jog easy for one to two minutes. This pace feels comfortably uncomfortable. I like to do these to get used to running faster than race pace, which makes race pace feel smooth.

I will also train my muscular endurance with weekly threshold runs for intervals of 20-40 minutes.

Anaerobic Endurance is a speed that I can maintain for up to about three minutes. This is where the fun is. This is uncomfortable; it burns your legs and your lungs. I like to go as fast as I can go in good form. I train my anaerobic endurance on the treadmill on an incline, a hill, the road, or a track. I usually walk to recover for 60-90 seconds or more. I need to walk to allow me to go fast once again. Jogging in between does not allow enough recovery.

I have to admit, this is my favorite style of training. It gets the heart rate flying, sets the lungs on fire, makes the legs and arms feel heavy, and the endorphin rush is immense.

I train for speed as well as endurance because I like to do shorter races (both on and off road) as well as the long races and triathlons.

The structure of my routine is geared toward “Raising the Aerobic Line.” Basically the better I get at the faster intervals and the longer I can hold them with less and less recovery. Then the faster I can run and still stay aerobic.

I will continue to progress by going faster at each given distance, and by reducing rest periods, and increasing the number of intervals.

For Ironman triathlons, the key is to stay as aerobic as you can during the race to allow you to use more fat as energy to spare your glycogen for the long haul. Now there will be times when you sprint for position or first enter the water where you will go anaerobic so it is important to be able to bounce back and recover quickly to fall back down into your personal aerobic level.

Staying Aerobic is the key to success in endurance multi-sports and especially Ironman Triathlons.

The other tool that I have added to my toolbox is speed and form work. Like mentioned earlier, my new technique has added much new fun and speed.

I will do form and speed work both before and after my run training. One trick that works really well is to do a specific drill for a specific element (like heel pull.) Then run a length focusing on that feeling. Then return to the drill and repeat an interval of running after every drill. This ingrains the technique into my nervous system, and it’s fun.

Running is one of the most elemental sports you can do, and I will always be a fan and will continue to learn and expand my horizons. I have enjoyed everything from 400m races, to 10ks, to marathons, to Xterra 21k Trail Races and I can’t wait to run the final leg of the Ironman in exactly 4 weeks.

Next article we can discuss the biking and swimming.