Natural performance enhancer

During the "off-season" or time off from racing, I switch training emphasis from hard race-pace intervals in each discipline to spending more time building full body strength and developing my aerobic fat-burning system.  The months steadily go by as I exercise in our basement, on the computrainer, the treadmill or trips to the Y for a few session per week at the pool.  I balance this indoor time primarily with outdoor runs.  Some with friends or simply commuting to work. Getting outside is essential for sanity and absorbing what little vitamin D the sun provides up north.  As the warmer / lighter days arrive, I gradually add more intense workouts to build on an improved aerobic system. The transition feels great; I'm refreshed and getting to stretch out the legs on the road or attack local climbs out on the bike. A gift to myself; more intensity!. During the long runs out on the road I typically ponder; nutrition, equipment or planning races for the upcoming season. When first adding speed, my legs typically can't keep up with my lungs but after a few weeks, the legs catch up.  Taking away expected gains from the simple act of running consistently, I question whether these sudden gains are a result of another component in my preparation.

This past Saturday, after an easy first mile warm up, I planned to attack the remainder of my 13.1 mile out-and-back loop with a comfortably hard pace. My goal; aim to beat my previous overall time a few weeks back, keeping the pace at aerobic threshold.  This route heads north along the coast on hilly roads with brief sections of open ocean. On the way out, after falling into a steady clip I was soon covering the distance faster and more easily than three weeks back,  the pace almost felt effortless. I started brainstorming;

This must be due to that good nights rest.
Perhaps it was my dinner!  I had a pile of glutenous crackers, cookies and cheese at my daughters art show...hmm; not likely. 
I know!!... it was that Magic Hat #9 I drank at beer hour after work.  Maybe gluten is awesome for me but kryptonite for others?

Maybe it's these shoes?  I can spread my feet out more, allowing for more natural running mechanics.

It could be all that glute strength training. Sitting sucks for the bum muscles you know, leading to many injuries. Work those glutes!  Donkey kicks, kettlebell swings, lunges, squats.. jumping on one leg, while patting my head...  yup, doing ALL that.
  
It could be these tunes! Music inspires and distracts our normally focused-on-the-pain-minds. With good tunes we subconsciously increase the intensity.  That must be it!

Standing tall, relaxed, feeling good. It could be my posture!  "Morning ladies!" Chest out, shoulders back. 

I'm going to kill my time on this loop today!  I'm not even hungry!!  Nice and steady.  Almost time for the turn around point....three, two, one...hit lap time. Yes! Best half-way time so far!  Time to head back!

Hmm....ugh...wicked headwind.

Plateaus in racing performance

Working with athletes relatively new to endurance sports, admittedly, can be less challenging coaching them to improved performance compared to very experienced or elite athletes.  After reviewing functional strength, mobility, weekly training volume, intensity, frequency, duration or recovery, coaches can make adjustments to a training plan based on experience and knowledge of how the athlete’s body responds best.  There are clearly differences among individuals regarding hormone profile, physical build and mental toughness that also play a role in optimizing a plan for individuals and this insight requires time and constant feedback between the athlete and coach.  However, working with very experienced or elite athletes that are close to reaching their athletic potential often require much more focus and attention to the many variables affecting their race performance.  If a training plan is carefully designed, recovery is adequate, stress levels are managed and a healthy weight is maintained, the athlete should expect gains in performance.  Careful assessments now become more prevalent and testing of the athlete in all areas of performance expands to search out potential limiters.   

Some assessment examples; If I have an athlete perform a short circuit of body weight squats, lunges, pushups, and planks and the next day, the athlete is completely sore throughout, it alerts me to their need to focus on functional strength movements.   Next perhaps, I look at race performances or time-trials, selecting what they/we consider their top performances during the year or recent time period. For example, runner X ran a 30 minutes flat for 5 mile race on a fast course, a 1:26:00 half-marathon (again flat) and a 3:10 marathon. These times correlate to VDOT values (taken from Jack Daniel’s running formula http://www.runbayou.com/jackd.htm,) of 55, 53 and 50, respectively.  We can clearly see a declining VDOT value as race distance increases and we can then go and address this issue in our training plan.  Another scenario would be when an athlete’s three selected VDOT values are ascending for example; 48, 49 and 51.  In this instance, I would suspect the runner lacks power, speed or muscular endurance  in their training plan and a period of specific development would be a focus before moving on to target race-pace workouts.  If the VDOT values are even throughout in all distances, we can go on and increase one or two variables of volume, intensity, duration or frequency or move our focus to power to weight ratio (reduce weight while maintaining power), perhaps equipment, or possibly more effective pacing strategies, etc.

These assessments and limiter discoveries are often the most exciting moments for both the athlete and coach. To break through race performance plateaus; regularly perform assessments with your coach in all areas of your swim, bike, run, strength, mobility or equipment selection to determine potential limiters and then carefully work together to focus on improving these areas throughout the season to prepare for race day and hopefully, you will break through to new levels of performance.

Thanks for reading.

Age-Group National Triathlon Championships.

During the winter months, I had discovered from USAT that I qualified for the national age group triathlon championship to be held in Burlington Vermont. The race weekend holds two events, the sprint and the Olympic distance (1500 meter swim, 40K bike and 10K run) events.  I qualified for the Olympic distance so I jumped on the challenge looking for something new and exciting to experience, plus, I’m a triathlon coach and needed to add swim race experience to my years competing in duathlon.  I booked the double goal; marathon in May and triathlon nationals in August, both held in Burlington.  My wife and I enjoy the local scene up there and we wanted to take the kids up to explore a new place.

After the marathon at the end of May, my focus switched from running to a more balanced triathlon training plan.  I expected my running legs to take at least a month to heal but in reality it took about two months before I could comfortably do speed work again or until my stride felt “normal”.  Increasing both swimming and biking volume was not an issue, my enhanced lungs from all the running were eager to be more active and the group rides were happening everywhere.  

I booked a few training races between the marathon and nationals to get fit and test my fitness.  Three weeks out I raced the Lowell Olympic distance triathlon and had improved results.  My swim, though not near the leaders in that race, was still showing signs of improving with 2-3 days a week in the pool. Overall my workouts were going well and the taper was giving me new energy.

My last week of work before our trip/vacation was going great, I was clearing everything off my to-do-list right to the last minute before heading out on my last day. Once I made the train home, I had that aaaah… moment of realizing it was vacation time, race in two days, and time with the family for over a week! That aaah feeling… is that delightful moment of decompression after having a beginning-of-vacation-realization.

After I walked in the door, and was greeted by the kids, my wife headed out for her evening run (our typical routine of balancing the day) and while I started to make dinner.  Within a few minutes, my daughter came up to me complaining “My tummy hurts”.  Then she had that awful look of pending doom before I ran with her to the bathroom so she could lose it.   Okay….so there is the sensitive parent side that instinctively springs into action to comfort our ailing children… and then there is the small inner child that screams, “What a way to start to a vacation!!”  Our focus changed quickly from trip packing to making sure our oldest was getting some rest, sleep, hydration etc. My wife offered to stay up with her that night considering I had a race in two days (owe you one!!).  I slept a bit but was distracted by the potential for a few days of family puke-fest, considering the contagiousness of these stomach bugs in 2012. 

The four hour drive up to Vermont went as expected; child number two showed signs of stomach ailment and within an hour lost it all over her seat, her arm, floor, window, ceiling, my bike, our luggage, well maybe not that bad but it was chaos!  I hopped into the back seat as my wife and I conversed in how to clean up this accident (all of this at “slightly” elevated voice levels). We had no towels, napkins or anything to clean up with… not great planning on our part.  We raced to the next exit at ~15 mph because we were stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic which was awesome for our spirit.  Our oldest began complaining of the smell and critiqued our hazmat clean-up skills.  The rest of the drive involved a few pit stops for our youngest.  Both our kids were exhausted and we just wanted to get to the hotel to rest up.  Should we turn around?   Sarah was very supportive and committed to going up so I could do the race and pledged to take care of the kids while I raced. Plus the kids did not want to miss out on an adventure.  Her generous and thoughtful offer was soon rewarded by contracting the virus herself once we reached the hotel.  

After getting situated into the beds to rest and re-hydrate I went out to get supplies, drop off my bike at transition, see the course, get dinner and pull-ups (not for me, I swear).  All the while, I was sweating it, not for the race but worrying about my kid’s health and of course fearing the virus was going to hit me at the ideal moment of race start.  “Take your marks, get set… BLAAAH!!”  Also, on the drive over to drop off my bike, my freshly pumped up tire exploded (pinch flat) so I had to change that upon arrival.  I chipped my rear molar trying to get a stem-extension off the blown wheel…. Back to the dentist!  After finding some Thai food and supplies I arrived back at the hotel to find the kids chilling and then Sarah headed off to retrieve the cloths from the hotel drier.  I asked my squirming youngest how she felt and she responded immediately by vomiting all over the bed. 

That night was another sleepless night but thankfully the kids were able to get some rest.  I was able get a whopping 3-4 hours sleeping between our kids while my wife slept soundly by herself.  It had not started that way but I seem to be a magnet for sleepless kids everywhere we are.  I sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door at home so the kids make a b-line for me after nightmares or a any event that wakes them.  I've had many moments of being in a deep sleepy, dreamy state and suddenly feeling like an alien is staring at me before my eyes adjust.

Anyhow, this is supposed to be about my race.  In summary, I awoke early, feeling calm.  The weather was perfect. I walked two miles to the course because we only brought one car. This ended up being my gradual warm-up and was to me, a peaceful way to start the day.  At the start, the water was warm but very rough (no barfing at the countdown) and I thought some people would not enjoy swimming in these conditions.  In all honesty, it was the roughest water I've swam in (though only my tenth triathlon).  I was barely able to keep my swimming lines on target and often found myself swimming off course with all the turns.  Getting out of the water was a sigh of relief.  Onto the bike I felt at home and was able to get in some fast sections. The crowded turns kept me from going at my preferred speed for that distance but it likely kept my legs fresh for the run. , Run was fine, probably should have gone slightly faster at the start but there was very few people catching me nor was I catching anyone in my age group in the second half.  However, I realized after the race, there were many more age group waves to follow and every second is huge at this athletic level. In the future I will give it everything I have in the run to improve overall time in the standings as every second faster can be another placing at nationals.  Overall, I finished feeling strong, in one piece and wanting more. I finished in the top 3rd in my age group. Thanks for reading.   

Experiencing the marathon...and a bit more.

About 5 months ago I decided to add a marathon to my spring racing season. Over the years I’ve studied the marathon, the effects on the body and the training required to complete the distance but I never pursued racing one due to an injured knee during my 20’s. Running shorter distances, cycling and multisport events were enough for me until I started coaching.   My initial goal was to run the marathon for fun and to gain valuable insight and experience of feeling the effects on the body.  I gradually increased my long runs each week over time, peaking with two 22+ milers and really enjoying every step.  During my last long run, about 3 weeks out, I ran over 22 miles, drank one bottle of water and had 1 gel.  The week leading up to my marathon, my legs felt better than ever and it was challenging to hold back on my last few runs.

 The night before the marathon my adrenaline was pumping (not uncommon before a big race) resulting in a few too many trips to the bathroom (overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system).  After a sleepless night, I started the morning feeling already dehydrated, despite all my attempts to keep hydrated with water and electrolytes. I assumed it was typical prerace excitement.   Arriving at the race, I was feeling relaxed and ready to get the marathon started.  After the start, I settled into my planned race pace and it felt easy on the legs.  Into the first mile however, I felt thirsty and knew it was a bad sign.  I drank at all the water stops and gradually moved from water to Gatorade and added gels after every 5-6 miles beginning at mile 11. The race was a gradual pace decline after I began eating (not helping the dehydration with blood rushing to my stomach) and the last 6 miles I was running much slower on cramped quads.  Once I committed to finishing, however I was programmed to finish no matter how much pain I was feeling.  After crossing the finish line, I guzzled a few chocolate milks and that put me over the edge.  My body/stomach did not feel right so I visited the med-tent to be checked out.  My blood sodium levels were within the safe range but my potassium levels were high (Hyperkalemia) and my blood pressure was very low.  I felt better after some water and after looking around the tent, thought I was in a much better state compared to the rest, so I left without any treatment.  After greeting my friends and family my physical state went downhill.   I hopped on a bus with a close friend while my family headed back on their own. Soon after arriving to the hotel, I was sent to the hospital to be treated for severe dehydration and hyperkalemia which is risky to the heart. 

The lessons I learned in my first marathon were; Listen to both body and mind.  It’s more courageous and wise to know when to stop rather than finish and risk ones health to reach an athletic goal. Everyone can have a bad day or race, we are all human. I’ve had many great races and plenty of not so great ones; it's all part of racing.  The "poor" races have actually taught me more than the great ones.  There is a limit to what our bodies can take and to know when to save it for another day.  Family and friends are the most valuable, period, and we should keep them at the top of our priorities and think twice about making risky personal decisions that may negatively affect them in the end.   Mental preparation is often more valuable than physical preparation and this is the area I could have focused more on in my marathon preparation.  My marathon pace ended up slower than most of my long training runs and those were run at a comfortable pace.  Dehydration will seriously limit physical performance and physical suffering!  Hyperkalemia is a rare condition for most people but more common for longer endurance events where dehydration occurs.  Take the time to learn more about the crucial electrolytes in our body and how to keep them all in balance particularly for longer endurance events.  

Well, 26.2 miles down.  Hugely valuable insight gained. Now it’s time to rest and recover.  My quads are hurting way more than my ego right now!  Special thanks to my friends and family that supported me during and after the marathon; Sarah Carrier, Bradley Gates, Christina Chadwick Bennett, Dawn and Jay Cobak and Chris Nolan and his family for a fun evening dinner distraction after a long day.   

Cross-training vs. pure running.

I've been asked this question a few times; Why spend time biking, swimming, strength training or performing any cross-training session when can I spend more time running?  The answer really depends on the individual.  The primary focus of new to relatively new endurance athletes should be to improve aerobic capacity.  Teaching the body to tap into fat as a primary fuel source (rather than sugar) is critical in building a solid cardiovascular foundation before performing anaerobic work.  If an athlete has been running consistently for many years (10+) and volume has remained relatively constant, then yes, adding more running volume or speed work is likely the best option to take that runner to the next level. This runner is likely reaching the limits of their genetic potential and therefore needs to spend more time running to improve running economy.

The next few questions I would ask an individual would be; Have you been injured recently or in the past year during higher volume/intensity training? Have you encountered severe burnout or fatigue for long periods of time, or experienced periods of excess stress, depression or anxiety?  Did you peak in the spring with PR’s then remain at the same level the entire summer even with track sessions and frequent weekend races?

Aerobic training is far less stressful than anaerobic training which, if not prescribed or executed correctly can overload the adrenal system, increasing cortisol release; leading to staleness, burnout or injury. All of these side effects can sideline a runner and keep them from continuous improvements.  Our bodies thrive when focusing on aerobic development and the balance of hormones keeps us happy and feeling refreshed after nearly every workout.

Most of the athletes I work with, including myself, are not at the elite level in running performance.  Therefore, building aerobic conditioning should be the primary focus, particularly, for athletes focusing on distances over the 5K.  If we keep adding run volume and our body absorbs this increase, we probably have great running mechanics, durability or a unique hormone profile which helps us to a speedy recovery.  If however, we are prone to injury or burnout, as running volume/intensity increases, then why not add some low impact cross-training to our total training volume to  improve aerobic capacity which can transfer to other sports?   Example; I have a friend that had been purely cycling for most of his life and then took up running for cross-training. Within 3 months he was running 6:05 minute pace for a 5 mile run.  Was this likely due to his 3 months spent running or to his 12+ years spent cycling and improving aerobic conditioning?

In addition, adding drills, core work or full-body strength moves have been proven to increase durability and running economy, particularly for longer distances.   Of course, spending loads of time in the weight room will increase muscle mass, power and durability but is also likely to take away from valuable run-time. However, incorporating a few short (~15-20 minute) strength sessions each week should be a staple in any endurance training plan.

Adjusting to race day weather that does not match hopes or expectations.

We sit in our offices, doing errands, hanging with friends or out for our daily workout and in the back of our mind we ponder our goal race event coming in a few months, weeks or days. We project all our hard work coming to a peak, doing the little things; following a nutrition plan, completing our long runs, purchasing the right gear, tapering, testing fueling or working on just about anything we can think of. Then as race day nears the weather outlook turns grim. The prediction of a high temperature day can prompt feelings of panic or disappointment and annoyance after having worked so hard for this one day. 

How does one focus knowing our A, B or even C goal may be in jeopardy? The first goal to limit such anxiety is to stay in the moment.  Weather predictions can be wrong.  I’ve watched weather change from a downpour to clear skies within minutes of starting an event and also experienced a downpour right at the start without such predictions.  The second goal should be to adapt and prepare for such conditions, proper hydration leading up to the event, fueling and hydrating during the event including salt intake for longer events and even clothing considerations; the type of material can be key to improving sweat wicking and reduce sun exposure. Think light, white and little covering (although material can help shield from intense rays in extremely sun-intense environments).  Lastly, it is critical to adjust race pace early on to account for increased body temperature as the day progresses.

The goals and expectations may change for this event but all the hard work building up to the event is not a waste.  If you take it easier this day, the improvement in fitness will provide confidence that you can reach a new level with smart training.  Finishing an event in hot weather is a huge victory in learning how to prepare for such harsh conditions in training or racing events.  The experience and gain in wisdom is immensely valuable and equally is the realization that one day does not define you nor is it the secret to finding happiness. As always, when a race day turns sour due to unexpected events, to keep life in perspective, avoid taking yourself too seriously.

First bike fitness test of the season following base training block.

Most of my blog entries have been about my perspective on training and tools to go about improving endurance. Occasionally, I will post some personal training workouts, fitness tests or race reports. Below is my first field test of the season.

I've been training consistently for the past 3 weeks, running 17 or more miles on each Sunday accumulating roughly; 40 miles of  running, 80-120 miles of biking, 3-4 miles of swimming and 1-2 hours of functional strength work.  Most of my aerobic training has been spent below my MAF heart rate determination of 147 bpm.  The few hard efforts have felt great but required a few days of easier training to recover from the intensity.  This past Saturday I was able to test my fitness on the bike during an indoor computrainer race over a 6 mile rolling course.  I went out conservatively for the first 2 minutes and kept my heart rate around 162 bpm, roughly 90% of my max heart rate. My average wattage was 357 and I weighed in at 167 lbs.  This equates to 4.7 watts/Kg and is a great sign my fitness is coming along without doing much anaerobic work. Having accomplished my goal, I can go back to base training to absorb the effort and prepare for my first duathlon of the season.