Joe Friel's Blog, page 12
November 15, 2012
How to Have a Personal Best Ironman
Last night I spoke to the
Landis Triathlon Club in Tempe, Arizona. Given that Ironman Arizona is this
weekend, the topic was Ironman preparation. With only four days remaining until
the race I’m sure no one is going to adopt all that I had to say. There isn’t
time to make significant changes. “The hay is in the barn,” as my high school
coach used to say. My purpose was to give them a starting place for future
Ironman race preparation.
I also explained to them
that what follows isn't the only or even necessarily the best way to prepare.
There are many, many ways to train for an Ironman. That should be obvious. If
afterwards you were to talk to 10 athletes who had their personal best Ironman
races, you’d find they trained in 10 different ways. There would be some
similarities, but there are likely to be great differences. If you were
interview 10 who had very poor races you may find that some did what the
successful 10 did and it didn’t work.
Successful endurance
training is unique to the individual. We’re humans, not machines. So we’re
affected by many individual variables such as genetics, unique diets,
lifestyles, self-imposed beliefs, and much more. What works well for one
doesn’t necessarily work for all.
What I outline below is the
result of nearly 30 years of coaching Ironman athletes, reading the scientific
literature, and talking with other coaches and athletes. It’s evolved—and will
continue to evolve. I’m always testing different ways of training. Sometimes it
works and I keep it; other times it doesn’t and so ends up in the trash. So the
following is what 30 years has produced.
There are lots of details below
which are not explained. Before posting a question you might first try doing a
SEARCH on the topic (see menu above). If that doesn’t answer your question then ask in the COMMENT section below. Given
my work schedule (it pays the bills!) I can’t devote a great deal of time to
answering questions here. So you’re better off searching first.
How to Have a Personal Best
Ironman
I. Hire a smart coach,
or if self-coached follow these guidelines…
II. Select a race that
matches your strengths
A. Hilly = strong
cyclist course; flat = strong runner course
B. Wetsuit = swim
is weak; no wetsuit = good swimmer
C. Consider
conditions: typical temperature, humidity, wind
D. Avoid higher
altitude (~1% loss of VO2max for every 1000’ gain)
III. Training overview
A. Philosophy: Ironman is a bike race with a swim warm-up and
a jog to the finish (wrapped around an eating contest)
B. Training stabilizes at ~15+ hpw by 15 weeks
prior
C. Plan weekly training time by sport starting from base of:
S-20%, B-50%, R-30% (adjust for limiter)
D. From 15-3 weeks prior, long weekly workouts
are key sessions
E. Do 2 “Big Days” ~11 and ~5 weeks prior to
race day
F. Recover for 3-5 days when the body says it’s
time
IV. Swim training (last 15 weeks)
A. Swim 2-4 times per week depending on if swim is a
limiter
B. If not a limiter…
1. 2-3 swims per week
2. One long (~1 hour)
3. 1-2 short & fast preparing for start
C. If a limiter…
1. Focus only on speed skill limiters: PDLC (posture,
direction, length, catch)
2. 3-4 swims per week
3. One long (~1.25 hours)
4. 2-3 x 30 min workouts doing only “speed skill 25s” (focus on P, D, L, or C)
V. Bike training (last 15 weeks)
A. Determines
outcome of race
B. Get a professional
bike fitting prior to 15 weeks
C. Get as fit as
possible—then hold back in race (must rehearse)
D. Ride 4-6 times
per week
1.
Determine appropriate race intensity factor (IF 65-75%)
2. Do
weekly long ride (5-6 hrs + 15min run) focused on race IF
3. Other
rides are race conditions & terrain focused
F. Steady pacing—NO
SURGING (the most common cause of poor run)
VI. Run training (last 15 weeks)
A. Run 2-3 times per week depending on strength vs.
limiter
B. Weekly long, easy run of 2-2.5 hours
C. Other runs are short: speed skills, conditions &
terrain focused
D. No intervals, no “speedwork” – always comfortable (lots
of z2)
VII. Eat the least
amount necessary
A. Too much leads
to bloating, nausea, DNF
B. All you need is water and sugar—everything
else is optional and likely to cause bloating
C. The slower you go, the more you can take in
D. Rehearse & refine eating on ALL long
rides
VIII. For more details
search my blog
November 8, 2012
Seriously?
I spoke at a cycling camp
offered by Aspen Sports Performance this past weekend in Moab, Utah. The riding was
spectacular and the athletes were all quite impressive, especially given that
it was the “off season” (whatever that means) for most of them.
On Saturday during a break
in the ride at Arches
National Park
(what a beautiful place to ride!) I talked briefly about the purposes and
methodologies of training. This prompted one of the riders to ask if he should
be “serious” about training year round. I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that
exact question before, but a lot of athletes have implied it. Here’s what I
told him.
How serious you are, which
I take to mean how focused you are on training to improve race performance,
depends on a couple of things. The first is how challenging your race goal is. It’s
okay to take a long break and have a low-key season occasionally in which you
do races—if any—just to have fun. If they’re only social outings and you don’t
care about the outcomes then there is no reason to be serious with training. In
fact, it may not be “training” at all as that implies having a focus on
outcome. Instead, all you need is an exercise program. Do what you want, when
you want. Totally non-serious.
For seasons in which you
are focused on achieving high goals, your level of seriousness can depend on
periodization. This following table provides a rough guide as to how serious
you might be during each period (see my Training Bible books or search this
blog for more details on periodization). In this table, “serious” means, to me,
doing workouts that are laser-focused on performance. Not every workout in each
period needs to be that way. In any given period some may be 100% focused and
others not focused at all. So if half of them are focused the
serious-non-serious balance may be 50-50. The non-serious workouts are,
essentially, “play.” You’re simply having fun by exercising with friends,
exploring new territory while riding or running, exercising in ways that are
very much unlike your sport (for example, a cyclist who runs or a triathlete who XC skis), or even taking a
day off just because you feel like it.
Period
Typical Length (in
weeks)
Purpose (in common order of importance)
% Serious
% Non-serious
Transition
2-6
Rejuvenate
0
100
Preparation
2-6
Prepare to train
60
40
Base 1
3-4
Skills, force, aerobic
endurance
80
20
Base 2
3-4
Aerobic endurance,
skills, force, muscular endurance
90
10
Base 3
3-4
Muscular endurance,
aerobic endurance, skills, force
100
0
Build 1
3-4
Race-specificity
100
0
Build 2
3-4
Race-specificity
100
0
Peak
1-2
Maintain fitness, shed
fatigue, race specificity
100
0
Race
1
Shed fatigue, maintain
fitness
100
0
Now you can be serious all
the time, if you want. I know many athletes who do that. I tend to be that way
myself once I get into the base period, so I understand. But if you are this
type you need to closely monitor your psychological status. Burnout is common
with such athletes. For whatever reason, I’ve met a lot of Ironman athletes who
are this way. These few triathletes don’t merely train seriously, they are serious all the time. They wake up
thinking about training. They eat thinking about training. They think about
training at work. They go to bed thinking about training. And I’m not just
picking on Ironman triathletes as I’ve known a couple of other athletes who are
this way who aren’t triathletes. Ironman seems to attract highly focused
people. And, again, that's okay. Just be sure to monitor yourself. It's easy to dig a deep trench if overly serious.
So, does having this table
mean you have to follow it? No, not at all. It’s just my thoughts on how to
train if you have set high performance goals for yourself. The key idea here is
that the higher your goal, the more serious you must be in regards to the training purpose column above. This becomes critical
in the last 12 weeks before the race. During this time you must be serious if
you have a high-performance goal. But if you feel the need to take a break from
serious training, even though it may be Build 2 and you’ve set very high goals,
then by all means just “play” for a while. You’ll race much better if you are
enthusiastic and highly motivated but not quite race fit than if you are the
other way around.
October 29, 2012
My Clinics, Camps, and Talks
I’m often asked where I’ll
be doing clinics and camps. Here’s my current schedule for the next few months. Some are subject to change. Click on the event link to find more details.
Moab, Utah - Nov 1-4, 2012 - Cycling Camp
Boulder, Colorado - Nov
10, 2012 - Coaches Power Workshop
Tempe, Arizona - Nov
14, 2012 - Landis Triathlon
Club
St. Pete Beach, Florida - Dec 1, 2012 - Coaches Power Workshop
Foothill Ranch, Cali
(Oakley) (TBA) - Jan 9, 2013 - Cycling & Triathlon Clinic
Scottsdale, Arizona (TBA) - Jan 26, 2012 - Athlete Power Clinic
Johannesburg, S Africa - Feb 2, 2013 - Cycling & Triathlon Clinic
Port Elizabeth, S Africa - Feb 3, 2013 - Cycling & Triathlon Clinic
Cape Town, S Africa - Feb 6, 2013 - Dinner & Talk
Western Province, S Africa - Feb 7-10, 2013 - Triathlon Camp
New Jersey (TBA) - Feb 23, 2013 - Triathlon Clinic
Lanzarote, Spain - Mar 2-9, 2013 - Triathlon Camp
Mallorca, Spain - Mar 16-23, 2013 - Triathlon Camp
Toronto, Canada (TBA) - May 3-4, 2013 - Triathlon Clinic
Riccione, Italy - May 11-18, 2013 - Triathlon Camp
October 25, 2012
How Can I Do a Faster Ironman?
Question
Hi,
I thought I would contact you via email
since you are unable to answer on your blog page. I have a couple questions and
am hoping you can help me with your expertise. I have to share I use to live in
Tempe and Scottlsdale a few
years ago! I miss the mountains, it's a beautiful place to live! I'm presently
in Florida. Very flat!
I just finished my first Ironman, Oct 20th, I'm 57 years old, Personal Trainer. My goal
that race was to just finish, which is what I did. Not a great time, but happy
to finish and feel good and no injuries. I have another one coming up on Jan
12,2013. This one I would like to train more for speed than just finishing. It
is a flat course unlike the last IM,
which should be to my advantage physically since I trained for hills on the
last one.
My question:
What is the best way to train for events that are so close together? I'm not a fast runner, should I concentrate
on speed and shorter distance during the week and up my long runs to 3 times
per month? I would appreciate any help you might give me.
Thank you, I have used so many of your
training plans in the past and they rock!
Regards,
KM
Answer
Hi KM,
First of all, you did the right thing to set your goal on just
finishing your first Ironman. That’s an awesome accomplishment. You should
certainly be able to go faster on your next. My only concern is if you have
enough time to fully recover before doing another. But, fortunately, my
suggestion on how to go faster will also reduce the burden of training for the
next one. If you do what I suggest here I can almost guarantee that your next
will be a faster one.
Let’s start with an overview, one that Ironman athletes don’t usually
like to hear: An Ironman is a bike race with a swim warm-up and a jog to the
finish line. Most don’t like to hear that because it downplays the value of
swimming and, especially, of running. But it’s true. Let me explain.
It’s a bike race: About half of the race is spent on the
bike. So it has the greatest impact on the overall time. Get really fit on the
bike and you’ll have a good finishing time—if you hold back. This last part is
critical. If you go all out on the bike—your fastest possible split—you’ll walk
the marathon. But if you hold back 5% on the bike you’ll come off and be ready
to run, albeit, slowly. More on that in a bit. The best way to prepare for the
bike is to use a power meter. It’s almost like cheating. Once you know what
your power should be for the race, you just ride to that power and you produce
your best time. Again, this is not a maximal (minimal?) time, but rather
optimal—it leaves you with enough legs to run, not walk.
With a swim warm-up: The swim makes up only about
10% of the race. You don’t need to swim a whole lot to get ready for it. Three
swims a week will do it. And the focus _must_ be on form—not fitness.
You’ll get a lot faster just by refining your technique. Let fitness takes care
of itself. On race day then, what you must do is pace yourself in the swim. Get
on somebody’s feet who seems to have a good pace and relax. Just keep checking
to make sure the other swimmer is staying on course.
And a jog to the finish: Ok, finally, the run which you
expressed concern about. There is absolutely no need to do “speed” work, as in
fast intervals. It will just be a waste of your time, leave you tired most of
the time, and increase your chances of injury. You’re never going to run “fast”
in an Ironman. Even the pros don’t run fast. A pro man who runs a 2:50 after
the bike could probably run 2:25 to 2:30 in a stand alone marathon. That’s
roughly 15% slower after 112 miles on the bike. His Saturday morning run with
his buddies is usually faster than that! It’s the same for you only the
percentage is probably more like 20% because you will have spent more time on
the bike with less training and therefore be relatively more tired. You could
go out right now, with no additional training, and run the same time or even
faster for 26.2 miles than you’re going to run in the Ironman. That would feel
easy. It’s a jog.
A good example of all of this is Pete Jacobs who won Ironman
Hawaii a couple of weeks ago. He said he only ran about three times a week in
the build up and swam typically twice a week. But he put in about 18 hours a
week on the bike.
So, like I said earlier, it’s a bike race with a swim warm-up and
a jog to the finish. Prepare for it that way and you’ll greatly increase your
chances of having a faster race. The only remaining issues then are pacing the
bike optimally and getting race day fueling right. Those are also both as
critical to your success and must be taken very seriously.
Let me know if there are any follow up questions. Good luck and
please let me know how you did!
Joe
October 23, 2012
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