Assuming you’ve built a strong aerobic base with long rides and moderately long runs and perhaps dabbled with sport-specific intervals to fine-tune each discipline’s fitness, you need to spend a lot of time during your race season concentrating on bike-to-run workouts.

It’s common knowledge that you can help your run by not pushing big gears and instead riding with a high cadence that might match the cadence of your desired run pace. But the real key to getting your fatigued leg muscles to fire unimpeded the moment you get off the bike in a race is to simulate in a progression of brick workouts the same rpm’s and wattage you’ll be putting out during the ride and the run.

Practically speaking, you need to diversify your bricks by mixing up the intervals to match the varying intensities and the level of fatigue you’ll encounter in the race.

To condition himself for the constantly changing bike pace and wattage demands in draft-legal ITU World Cup races, Boulder-based pro and 2008 U.S. Olympian Matt Reed alternates between short and fast reps on a bike trainer and a treadmill. After warming up, he’ll start spinning at a moderate output and then his coach (and wife) Kelly Reed will call out a higher wattage plateau and how long he’ll need to hold it. For example, she might say “600 watts for 45 seconds” or “400 watts for 90 seconds” and he’ll up his intensity for that duration before settling back into a moderate spinning output.

In a typical workout, he might do 12 to 15 reps of varying durations and intensities before jumping off the bike and running a kilometer on his treadmill at 5K to 10K race pace.

“Just as if it were in a race, Matt has no idea what to expect,” she says, adding that he’ll usually do two ride-run sets during that workout. “All he knows is that he’s going to be jumping off and running. If Matt’s jumping off the bike in a race, he might or might not be dictating the pace. So he needs to know exactly what pace he can run that first kilometre at after having just ridden at 400 or 500 or 600watts. And the key to that first kilometre is good high-cadence leg turnover.”

The same concept can apply to age groupers in a crowded non-drafting race, such as the London Triathlon, where you might be constantly getting out of the saddle and pumping big wattage to pass slower riders or avoid sitting in someone’s draft, only to tuck back into an aero position and settle into a more maintainable, lower-output rhythm.

Leading up to an Olympic-distance event, Kelly Reed recommends doing a progression of bricks, like the following, that increase in intensity and specificity over six to eight weeks:

Brick 1
Start off with a basic brick by cutting down a typical two-hour ride to 90 minutes and then running 30 minutes at an easy to moderate pace.

Brick 2
As your training progresses, ride for about 80 to 90 minutes and then run 10 to 15 minutes at 5K race pace, followed by 10 to 15 minutes at 10K race pace.

Brick 3
Ride 60 to 75 minutes at a higher intensity and again run 10 to 15 minutes at 5K race pace followed by 10 to 15 minutes at 10K race pace.

Brick 4
In the weeks leading up to your race, simulate the course in your brick workouts. “For example, if you’ll be in an aero position for the last several miles of the bike and then there’s a big hill a half mile into the run course, make sure you’re doing that in your brick,” Kelly Reed says. “If you don’t do it in training, your body isn’t going to be able to react in the race.”

Written by Brian Metzler. Brian is a running coach, age-group triathlete and senior editor at Running Times.
Taken from http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com

Occasionally, unsubstantiated claims in the absence of scientific evidence become so ingrained in the collective consciousness that when contrary evidence is found, it is dismissed out of precedence. An excellent example of this is the belief in the benefits of stretching.

Stretching has traditionally been considered a warm-up before exercise, and its theoretical benefits are numerous. Principally, stretching has been believed to improve the range of motion of joints and overall flexibility. These have been extrapolated upon to include other benefits such as improved posture and enhanced muscular coordination. Unrelated purported benefits include improved circulation, release of tension, pain relief and even lowering of cholesterol. Stretching has also been proposed as a means of preventing injury and delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

While many of the benefits of stretching seem intuitive and logical, until recently, very little science had actually been done to investigate these claims. Partly, this was because stretching was simply accepted as being beneficial, and it was partly due to a lack of good methods for testing the hypotheses. In the past 10 years though, several studies have been published reporting on many of the effects of stretching, and the results have proven both disappointing and controversial.

While it is true that stretching does improve both range of motion and flexibility, this has not been shown to translate to any other objective markers of performance. Specifically, large trials have shown that stretching either regularly, or before strenuous activity, does not prevent DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). Stretching after exercise also does not prevent or lessen DOMS. Worse, several studies have actually shown that stretching may be detrimental to performance.

A great deal of evidence now exists demonstrating that stretching reduces both muscle strength and the ability to perform anaerobically—a condition that exists at higher levels of exertion such as when sprinting. These findings have been constant across numerous types of stretching programs and exercises.

The most controversial findings though, relate to stretching as a means of preventing injury. While some early studies seemed to show that stretching could prevent injury, more recent ones have shown no such benefit. As a result, this question remains unanswered and hotly debated.

While stretching need not be removed from an athlete’s regular routine, it should be done with an understanding of the true benefits and limitations. Certainly, it would appear that stretching should not be as much of a focus as it often is for many coaches and athletes. Rather, if it is to be part of a routine, stretching should be done not as a means of improving performance by preventing injury or DOMS, but rather only for benefiting flexibility. For those athletes who value this benefit, stretching should be done separately from their regular workouts and not as part of a warm-up. Light aerobic activity, known as an active warm-up, has been shown to be better than stretching with respect to improving performance.

Unfortunately, despite the evidence, many will continue to advocate stretching as part of a regular training routine as a means of improving performance or preventing injury. This is not surprising, as the beliefs in the benefits of stretching have become pervasive for far longer than the existence of good evidence contradicting them.

Train hard, train healthy.

As always, with training anytime of the season core was, still is and always will be a vital part of my training regime. More specific strength training went as follows:

Maximal Power

Maximal Power refers to nothing more than power development.  Gradually making things heavier and making sets smaller and reps slower this is the real gym junkies training methods. Only difference is triathletes need only do this during the off season which is around 2 to maybe 3 months.

The %1RM refers to the maximum weight I can lift only once and the numbers alongside refer to the percentage thereof. Some of the exercises I was forced to avoid due to a mystery foot injury which is VERY slowly getting better.

Power Endurance

Significantly more aerobic than the maximal power, power endurance uses fast reps and big sets to life lighter weights. By combing maximal power and power endurance over a 3 month period which sees maximal power occupy 2 sessions per week and power endurance 1 session per week for the first half of off season training and then visa versa for the second half, strength is slowly and methodically introduced into your training base. Power Endurance went as follows:

As I did already mention, core was a big part of this and so is cross training. For me, my swimming is my strength so I will not be swimming until September. Running is priority number one with bicycle strength priority number 2. It’s easier to develop endurance than it is speed. Speed comes from power, so basically off season was power-up, pre season is refining technique whilst harnessing and further developing that power all whilst infusing perfect balance and harmony.

First is balance. Your upper body and your legs should share the effort of moving you through the water. Specifically, your arms should make a 50 percent to 70 percent contribution to your forward propulsion while your legs should account for the remaining 50 percent to 30 percent. Swimmers who drag their legs behind their body, with almost no visible kick, are missing out on the potential core power that is derived from the hips. On the other hand, if your legs are tiring long before your upper body, consider lessening your kick to conserve energy. By swimming with a two- or four-beat beat kick (meaning you complete two or four individual kicks per complete arm stroke cycle), athletes can benefit from the power in their legs without tiring too quickly.

Balance in the water also means having the movement of the stroke come easily and naturally. A swimmer with good balance is not fighting the water; she is efficiently working with the water, gravity and her own body. Both sides of her body are making similar movements. And yes, balanced swimming requires bilateral breathing.

In terms of body position, try to maintain a constant position during the entire stroke cycle. Strive for a horizontal position in the water with your face pointing toward the bottom of the pool and your hips near the surface of the water. You can practice floating with a snorkel or streamline kicking to become comfortable in this position. Your position is good if your feet break the surface of the water with each kick.

Next, try to keep your body position in a straight line. Think about being “skewered” from the top of your head, through your neck and down your spine. You can rotate on this skewer but you cannot move any part of your body laterally. Drag and resistance are minimized with a streamlined position.

Finally, there is the fine art of hip rotation, which actually refers to shoulder, torso and hip rotation. To understand rotation correctly, you must first recognize “disconnect.” Rotation occurs from the middle of the neck to the middle of the thigh. The head and legs are disconnected from the rotation. When the hips, torso and shoulders are maximally rotated 45 degrees to the left or right in the water, your head and legs should maintain a horizontal position. This allows your kick to keep a steady beat at the surface of the water and it keeps your head still at the front of the stroke.

Your breathing is also disconnected from hip rotation. Breathe by rotating your neck just enough to get one goggle and your mouth out of the water. While taking a breath, don’t forget that you have been “skewered.” Head movement should be minimal and should not affect your balance, body position or hip rotation.

Some runners have to be held down in order to get the rest the body requires. Sooner or later that will come by way of injury or overtraining syndrome. For those runners, understanding that rest and recovery doesn’t mean doing nothing, can break through the mile-aholic’s misconceptions and change training habits for the better.

For starters, we need to differentiate between rest and recovery days and light workout days. They’re two different things.

Rest and recovery days

Rest and recovery days are just that. They are days primarily designed to rest and recover. Healthy runners need rest maybe once per week, or even just once or twice a month. Obviously injuries, illness, aging, staleness, increases in distance or intensity and overtraining can create demands for more rest.

Although rest is needed, it’s still important to remain active on those days. The body, just like the mind, needs stimulation every day. Even after a grueling marathon, many people find it’s a good idea to move around, maybe take a walk, as early as the day after to avoid stiffening up.

Even people who suffer heart attacks are encouraged to get out of bed and move around as soon as possible. On rest and recovery days it’s important to avoid doing the worst thing you can do for your body … nothing.

Examples of rest and recovery activities are walking, static stretch exercises (after a warm-up and loosening-up period), swimming, water running and riding a bike.

Keep in mind that increasing respiration and heart rate to a level just slightly above normal and challenging your range of motion are generally good things to do almost any time. Rest is a variable to apply in response to the feedback your body gives — more or less, but always some.

Light workout days

Light workout days are days in which you’re actually working out. The difference is that your activities are lighter, less demanding and generally performed at a lower level of intensity. Or the activities are executed at a high level of intensity for a much shorter period of time.

Light workout days are just as important as heavy workout days. They allow development to take place without breaking yourself down and acquiring overuse injuries, experiencing training plateaus and developing a generally stale, flat, bored attitude that can come from doing the same thing day after day. In short, the light days make the heavy days possible.

They should enhance and complement your more intense workouts. They can and should be equally enjoyable. If your workouts include heavy days and light days in proper sequence, you shouldn’t need as many rest and recovery days.

An important guideline for light workout days is variety. Providing a change in the workloads to shock the system is what’s important. When changing the emphasis on workouts from heavy to light workout days, there are a number of things that can be accomplished. Some training objectives that are good to consider on light workout days are flexibility, developing range of motion, improving running form, strength training, hill running and speed interval training.

Strength training

If you can, schedule the same amount of time to train on light days as heavy days. A good idea is to spend less time on the track on light days and spend the balance of your training time with strength training. Strength training can improve running times right away.

Of course there are many other benefits from strength training, such as injury prevention, improved bone density and increased range of motion that research has shown to help people well into their nineties.

Even a little strength training can convey major improvements. There’s a plethora of strength training activities and exercises that can be done with no equipment at all. Weights and exercise equipment can be helpful but aren’t necessary.

Running form

Light days can also provide the opportunity to work on running form. Training to improve running form is very important for two reasons. It can help you to move more efficiently and therefore improve your times right away. Even the most advanced runner can improve his form.

While improving your running times may not be important to you, improving running form still has important benefits. If your form is more linear and more stable, it can help prevent injuries.

Start out by jogging for a short distance or complete some other activity that will thoroughly warm your body up. Then continue for short distances, concentrating on one element of running form that will improve your efficiency.

You may need to consult a trainer or strength and conditioning coach for an analysis of your form and constructive criticism for means to improve it.

Hill runs

A similar procedure can be followed while executing hill runs. Hill runs are great for developing strength, as well as adding variety to cardiovascular training. Bleachers or stadium steps can be used if there are no hills where you live. However, it’s important to remember to concentrate on running form when running hills and stairs.

Many runners will sacrifice form for what they think is speed when they’re making an all-out effort. An all-out effort isn’t necessary when executing hill runs. Run as slowly as necessary to maintain good running form. Increased strength and, as a result, speed will come naturally.

Intervals

Sprint build-ups or interval work can be incorporated into your light-day running workout in a similar way. Start out with a light jog. After you warm up, gradually build up speed until you don’t feel like running fast any more. Then slow down to a comfortable pace until fully recovered.

Repeat this build-up-and-recovery procedure until you have completed the amount of running or the amount of time you have planned for running that day. You can get a lot of conditioning done in a short period of time.

Overall, training must be approached intelligently. One of the best favors you can do for your body and your running performance is to respect the need for rest and recovery.

However, that doesn’t mean becoming a sloth. It’s that misconception that leads some runners to avoid rest and recovery and just train-hard, harder and hardest.

That won’t work in the long run. A better approach is to understand recovery as a training tool and use it well. Remain active on rest days and use light days to address training objectives directly. This is a winning way to train.

Post courtesy of American Running Association (and Stew Rew)

An injury can be a traumatic time for an athlete when returning to full fitness becomes a waiting game. The lack of control and the uncertainty can get the athlete feeling depressed and anxious.

There can be 5 stages involved in the injury process:

• Denial and Isolation – Refusal to recognise the injury
• Anger
• Bargaining – I will do anything (Willing to risk further injury just to compete)
• Depression
• Acceptance

This process can vary in several ways depending on the seriousness of the injury and the personality of the athlete.

Although not competing in the physical aspect of the sport relative to the specific injury, the athlete can use that time to focus on other aspects of the sport.

One of the biggest things in injury recovery is goal setting. These goals need to involve objective measures. Graded sport specific movements can be replicated in several ways which will contribute to rehabilitation. These activities mean that the athlete starts by performing basic sport specific drills with no contact and slowly progresses towards to full fitness.

On the other hand is the mental side of recovery. Visualisation should be employed in ensuring that the athlete is not only physically ready to return to competing, but also mentally. Fear of re-injury can range from mild concern to maladaptive psychological disorders and outcomes. Visualisation involves three processes.

Emotional Visualisation creates internal states of positivity. By using past success and/or ideal future outcomes these states can be achieved. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Become completely relaxed.  Allow your mind to drift back to one of your best sporting performances.  Rather than being in that race, become a spectator witnessing your amazing performance. Pay attention to every visual detail of the experience. Be wowed by your very own performance.

Physical Visualisation allows you to recreate the sport specific movements without moving a muscle. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Become relaxed and notice the physical sensations of your mechanic as if you were competing, paying attention to how each of your technical actions physically feels whilst adding sight, sound and taste elements.

Fast Healing Visualisation allows you to catalyse the healing process. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Become completely relaxed. Drift towards the injured part of your body and shine a bright magical light on that body part. Feel it healing you. Feel that part becoming stronger. Notice how the pain subsides.

Do all of this with a smile on your face!