Base training

Base training
Consistency, volume, frequency and strength. This is what will be the main focus for the base period over the next 12 weeks. Last year I averaged around 12-15 hours pw of training. This year I will build on that by aiming for around 15-20 hours pw. I was averaging 10-12 hrs of cycling and 3-4 hours of running. My goal over winter this year is to achieve a benchmark of 12-15 hrs of cycling and 6-8 hours of running each week. That’s the nucleus of base training. Keep the volume up and keep it as consistent as possible from week to week. Once I’m comfortable with these hours I will then focus on improving my strength in preparation for the time trial work to follow. Luckily for me I live in a very hilly area so every run and ride will incorporate some form of strength work. On flats I will include a weekly BG session with the aim of building these sessions up to around 2-2.5 hrs of specific BG work. I think BG sessions are a great way to link the strength gained in the hills to TTing on the flats.
On a weekly basis I’m working towards running 6-7 times pw and riding 4-5 times pw. I won’t be swimming over winter as swimming is by far my strongest discipline and therefore requires the least amount of attention at this stage. Every two weeks I’ll do a fun run with Kembla joggers and a cycle race with the Illawarra cycle club. These two sessions each fortnight will be my only intensity work, which is something new I’ve added to my program. I’m looking forward to racing more this winter in an attempt to improve my top end speed. This in theory should help develop my efficiency at IM pace.
By the end of base 3 my goal is to be comfortably riding 180-200km with sets of 40min efforts at IMpace, run comfortably either for 2.5 hrs or a double run day of 2hrs in the morning and 1-1.15 in the afternoon and finally to build my long brick session up to a 5/2. From that point I’ll be ready to enter the build period where the volume with drop gradually and the specific TT work will increase.
I’ll be using the 3 weeks on 1 week off cycle. Last year I worked on a 2 on and 1 off cycle as I found I wasn’t really ready for the 4 week cycle. Doing an extra week of build should be a good way to overload the body this year. During the weeks 1 to 3 I’ll be adding on approximately 10-15% of volume, while keeping the intensity at the same level with only a small increase in the duration of the intensity work (ie around 5%). In the recovery week I’ll cut my volume down to around a comfortable 10 hrs, and use this a standard recovery week for each cycle.

Let the fun begin

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Week ending 29/5/05

My preparation period in now over and I'm about to enter the base phase. This week was capped off with a 10km TT done at a hard pace. It wasn't flat out but I did feel the pinch. My time was 41.30 and I had an average hr of 165bpm, which is 9bpm under my LT(174bpm). I was actually surprised to run a 41.30 on such little training and no specific speed work. My previous fastest km splits in training were around 4.15's. So I'm very pleased to be running 4.09's over 10k's at this stage.
My double run day has been my key session during the preparation period. I've now built it up to a 12km easy run (140bpm av hr) in the morning with a 12km upper steady (149bpm av hr) run in the afternoon. I've recovered very from this run, even more then when I used to run a straight LSD run. I will definitely keep this run in my weekly program and I'll build it up around an 18-20km run in the morning followed by a 12k-14km run in the afternoon.
I've joined up Kembla joggers running club and have decided to use their fortnightly fun run as my speed work session. I've completed two runs so far, an 8km and 10km TT. At the moment I'm running around 4.09 pace at a hard effort. My goal is too start running sub 4min k's comfortably over the next 10-12weeks. I've also joined up with the Illawarra cycle club and will start doing some cycle races to introduce some intensity work in amongst the endless amounts of volume I'll be doing over winter. I've decided to add small amounts of intensity work over winter with my running and cycling to see what happens. Keeping in mind that endurance and strength building are still my main priorities. I thought it would be good to change things up over winter and get involved with training with people that a stronger then me. Last year I trained entirely on my own and it worked well. However, to take it to the next level I think I'll need to start mixing it more with some strong athletes.

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IM bike session 1: 20/10's

IM bike session 1: 20/10
20/ 10’s is a valuable session that can be done 1-2 times PW all year round. I like to include this session as a mid week ride.
Stage 1: 2hr ride
Complete 20min at IMpace with a 10min recovery. If your goal is to ride a 5hr bike split then your goal for this session is to be able to do 4 x 20min efforts at IM heart rate averaging 36kph. Keep doing this session on a weekly basis until you can achieve that goal. Once you can achieve 4 x20 min at IMpace and heart rate you are then ready to move onto stage 2.
In theory you should be able to successfully reach the end of stage 1 after 6-8 weeks of base training. The goal of stage 1 is to find the strength, endurance and speed required to obtain your goal IM bike split and hr. If you are unable to reach the end of stage 1 after 6-8 weeks you may want to reassess your goals.
Stage 2: Making it easy
Now that your body has adapted to riding at your goal IMpace and goal IM heart rate you are ready to do one of two things depending on the time you have available. It’s important now to hit the body with some new stimulus in order for it to grow and adapt further. Option 1 is to increase this ride to around 3-4 hrs. If you have the time available to ride for 3-4 hrs during the week then go for it. Your main set will now increase from 4-20 min efforts to 6-8 min efforts. Once again the goal is to develop your aerobic endurance over a longer period of time and still maintain the same goal IMpace and hr. Option 2 is to change the stimulus within the main set. That is make the terrain more difficult or to use a bigger gear. In this option I would start with the last 20 minute effort in one gear bigger then race gear and work your way back each week to the first 20 minute effort. Once again both options will overload your bodies systems and therefore produce the necessary adaptations required to ride to a 5hr bike split. Stage 2 should be achieved by the end of base 3 training. Once you have achieved those goals of being able to ride at IMpace and hr you are then ready to enter stage 3.
Stage 3: Consolidation
In stage 3 you will be at the start of your build phase. This weekly session now becomes a Breakthrough session (BT). What you do now during this phase is increase your intensity by reducing your recovery and inserting periods of HIM efforts. The first step is to gradually reduce your recovery between the 20 minute efforts by inserting short periods of HIM work at the end of each 20 minute effort.
Start off with doing 2-3 min at HIM with a 7-8 minute recovery before commencing your next 20 minute IMpace effort. Each week increase your HIM effort until you are doing 20 minutes at IMpace/5 minutes at HIM pace with a 5 minute recovery. You can continue with this session right up to your taper period.
Doing 20/10’s each week is a valuable session that can be used at any time of the year. It allows you to develop the endurance, strength and speed required to achieve your goals on the day. It also teaches your body to make riding comfortable at your goal pace. Remember use the 20/10’s wisely. That is, its not your goal to ride faster, but more importantly ride better at the speed you want.

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week ending 22/5/05

Week 3/4 preparation period.
I did 5 runs, 4 bikes and 1 pilates session this week. My foot I think now is almost completely injury free. It feels fantastic to be running with no pain at all again. My double run day was again my BT session for the week. I ran an easy hour in the morning then a solid 10k run. As a solid run I aimed for a 150bpm (ie Aet +10) average heart rate. My time was 46:10. This is a very hilly course and I'm pleased with the result. The rest of the runs for the week were all easy to Aet. I rode 3 times during the week, all 1 hour rides and I did a 3 hour ride on Saturday. The focus on my long ride this week was to keep the hr down and stay in the saddle on all the climbs. Overall I managed to do 11.5 hrs of training.
Next week is the final week of my preparation period. I'll aim for 6 runs, 4-5 rides and 1-2 pilates sessions. I'll look at reaching around 15 hours of training this week. My two BT sessions will be the 10km fun run on Saturdday and my LSD bike (4hrs). I'll also start some hill work and BG work on the bike this week. Everything else will be kept at easy to steady in pace.
Tip of the week.
Use your RPE to monitor your progress and expect your HR to drop in the weeks to follow.


Fluro

week ending 15/5/05

A good week of training. I did 3 rides all easy to Aet and 4 runs. My first double run day went well. I liked the feeling in the legs with the second run, very similar to running off the bike. I think I'll keep this session in the plan to see how it pans out. Ran my first high intensity run yesterday. It was a 8.3km fun run at Cordeaux dam. My time was 33:19 (av hr 170, 4min k's). It's the first hard run I’ve done in 18months. I was quite surprised to actually run 4min k's on a hilly course. In the past the fastest interval effort I would do would be at around 4.20 k's. My foot is a bit tender today (Monday) but I was very happy to feel no pain during the run. I’ve had this injury for 11 weeks now and I finally feel like I'm on top of it.
This next week I’m aiming for 4 rides and 5 runs. The preparation period is coming along well. I'll also start palates on Monday to substitute swimming over winter for a while. I’m just not mentally ready yet to get back into squad training. Palates should be good. I feel like I need some serious core strength work as I noticed how unstable my running became towards the end of the fun run. I think by strengthening my core area I'll be able to run longer and more efficiently, especially when fatigue starts to set in. If I'm motivated enough I may even knock out a k or two in the pool.
Tip of the week: Intensity to improve your efficiency
During the preparation and base period of training use intensity wisely to improve your efficiency. By running fast, short intervals you will be in a position to see where your form and economy breaks down. If you develop your efficiency at a fast pace you will see a big improvement in your economy and efficiency at your IM paces. Remember though only use intensity in your program at this stage to assess your efficiency. Don’t extend your intervals too long so they become threshold work, that’s not the goal at this stage. For example, run 10 x 1min efforts hard, with a 3 min recovery. The intervals should be hard enough and fast enough to clearly enable you to see where your running form breaks down. Once this occurs you are then in a position to make the right adjustments to correct any deficiencies in your stride. The same principle applies for swimming and cycling. Do short hard bursts with a long recovery.
The sessions that work on your efficiency in all three disciplines should not be too taxing on the body. If they are then your not really focussing on improving your efficiency.

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Ironman Bike pacing

Success on the bike. The measure of a successful bike leg in the Ironman often comes down to reviewing your run result. Why? if you run to your goals, then you have had a successful bike leg. If you blow up on the run then you need to start reviewing your intensity levels on the bike.
Consider this statement by Rich Strauss “I've decided that the best use of my bike fitness for CDA is to not use it.” (Rich Strauss, Crucible Fitness).
This statement is so true. To ride to your IM potential you need to ride conservatively. Riding any harder then this will adversely affect your run performance. The more energy you can save on the bike the more energy you'll have in the bank to use on the run.
Here are some tips for establishing an IM bike split that will maximise your overall performance.
1. If you can't do it in training don't expect to do it on race day. If you want to be able to ride a 5hr bike split, you'll need to be able, at least once (more the better), ride a 5hr bike split in training.
2. Assess you goal time in training and then ride 10-15 minutes slower. If your best time in training is 5hrs then aim for at least a 5:10-5:15 come race day. Remember be conservative.
3. Check your Average heart rate. Your average heart on the bike should be approximately 8-10 beats lower then your average heart for the run. Look at your average heart for your bike split in training and ask yourself if you think you could now run a marathon with an average heart 8-10 beats higher.
4. Test your regularly. As your training progresses test yourself every 6-8 weeks to establish a bike pace that will match your RPE and HR.
5. Find ways to become more efficient on the bike. Get more aero, lighten up your bike, improve you pedal efficiency and increase your flexibility. This will all contribute to a lower average heart rate and allow you to have more energy available to use on the run.
6. Race specificity. Train and TT on courses that will closely resemble the course you will be racing on. Don't fall into a false sense of security by TT'ing a 5 hr bike split in training on a flat training course when you'll be racing on a hilly course. You'll be setting yourself up with unrealistic goals and end up blowing up even before you reach the run.
7. Stay relaxed. Relax in training, especially when you are in the time trail position. This will help lower your heart rate and therefore conserve energy.
8. Match your training with your goals. Make sure your training will meet the goals you hope to achieve on race day. For example, if you want to ride a 5hr bike split, you'll need to be spending a lot of time in training riding at 36-40kph regularly, consistently, efficiently and comfortably.

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week ending 8/05/05

This is week 1 of 4 in my preparation period. I completed 4 runs and 3 rides. I focused on keeping my hr down on all the sessions except one. My Sunday session was a 40min (8.8km) Tempo run. After going to the podiatrist I was given the all clear to start upping my volume again and increase my intensity. So, I decided that I will now do 1 run per week as a tempo or interval run. The idea being that I want to build some speed and tolerance in my legs in preparation for my race specific period. If I start now with 1 hard run per week I will have plenty of time to slowly and very gradually build up the intensity into my training plan. If I can get myself back to running sub min k’s again I think it will help me to run more efficiently at my goal IM run pace of 4:40-5:00 min k’s.
Last year the majority of my training was spent at and around Aet (ie 145bpm). This year I plan on spending more time training with a good mixture volume and intensity.
Next week my plan is to run x 5, bike x 4. I will run 1 tempo/interval run of 40-50min and include on hill/strength session on the bike of 1.5-2 hrs. The rest of my sessions will focus on keeping my hr down to develop as much mitochondria as possible.
To check out my training log click on the link triathlog and follow the links. Congratulations to Peter Jacobs and Belinda Granger winning the Busselton ½ IM.

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week ending 1/5/05

My transition phase is over.
Completed just two easy runs this week (30mins and 40mins). I feel as though I have fully recovered from IMOZ05 mentally and almost physically. My foot injury is not sore anymore to run on but is still a little bit tender. I will watch my foot very closely for any signs of the injury flairing up again and will adjust my trainng plan accordingly.
It feels good to be entering the next phase of training. I can't wait to get back out there. Im looking forward to finding new levels of fitness and taking my training to the next level, hopefully, and injury free. fingers crossed.

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preparation period 1

Transition phase complete.
Now that my transition phase is over I'm ready to enter a 4 week preparation period. My aim here is to build up a basic weekly structure consisting of 5-6 runs, 4 bikes and 2 swims. All my sessions will be easy to Aet with maybe 1 session each week being devoted to some interval work at a higher intensity.
Over the next 4 weeks I'll spend time fine tuning my basic weekly structure to allow me to find my grove. My aim is to be able to complete each weeks targets consistently over the next 20 weeks leading up to the 1/2 IM at Port Macquarie ('b' race).
Since I still feel as though I'm recovering from a foot injury I will limit the length of my running to around 40-50 minutes in duration until I am completely injuiry free. I will follow the following run progression
week 1: 4 runs of 30-50 minutes (30, 40, 30, 50),
week 2: 5 runs of 30-50 minutes (30, 40, 30, 30, 50)
week 3: 6 runs of 30-50 minutes (40, 30, 40, 30, 30, 50)
week 4: 5 runs of 30-40 minutes (30, 30, 40, 30, 30)
My cycling will start at 4 sessions per week with an emphasis of increasing the volume each week as follows
week 1: 4 rides (1.5, 2, 1.5, 3)
week 2: 4 rides (1.5, 2.5, 2, 3.5)
week 3: 4 rides (1.5, 3, 2, 4)
week 4: 4 rides (1.5, 2, 1.5, 3)
There will be no focus on swimming through winter. I'll aim for around 1-2 sessions per week when I can fit them in.
During the perparation period my main emphasis is to
Increase my run frequnecy to improve durability and form.
Improve bike strength to push a bigger gear on the flats.
Develop a training plan that will encourage consistnecy through winter and targets my limiters.

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