Nice Tri's Swim Coach and the Year in Review

It's nearly June, and it's been a fast-paced and exciting year for Nice Tri.  We've had a what seems like a full season already.


Nearly everyone on the team has PR'd something at some point this year - FTP's, Vdot's, 5k's, 10k's, half marathons...it really has been a year of big improvements and newfound fitness.


Nice Tri has been looking for ways to provide more "value added" services for our athletes.  We have a Registered Dietician (Athena Visel) who has helped quite a few athletes find balance and moderation in their nutritional pursuits.  We've conducted numerous video swim stroke analyses to help our athletes become more efficient and faster in the water.


Our latest development is teaming up with local swim coach and uber-fast triathlete Danielle Ohlson.  Danielle is rounding out the coaching compliment at Nice Tri with her 10+ years of swim coaching experience and terrific personality.  She will be offering swim stroke analysis and recommending drills that will help you eliminate chronic flaws that are slowing you down in the water.  As we know, swimming well is largely related to technique, so it is imperative to have a good grasp on the fundamentals of swimming well and breaking old habits in order to get faster.


Our goal is to provide "hands-on" instruction for our athletes in order to help them meet their goals.  It's one thing to provide someone a structured training plan for the year, but it's another story to ride along with them and recommend changes that they could make in their position or race execution to allow them to get faster.


It's been fun to keep track of the improvements we've made.  These numbers have come from a combination of tests and actual race results, so they are not "pie in the sky" calculations.  


The "average" athlete at Nice Tri:

• Will make an 8% improvement in their Vdot score over the course of 8 weeks, and will improve their 5k time by over 2 minutes.

• Will make a 15% improvement in their FTP on the bike.  This will translate to over 4 minutes saved on a 40k time trial, and an average of over 17 minutes saved on an Ironman bike split.

• Will have a very good idea how much they can eat and drink on race day without getting bloated or nauseous through race simulations.

Remember, not everyone is average!  Some of us are still figuring out our pacing and nutrition, but it has been a great year so far and we're excited to be working with our new swim coach to make things even better!

If you haven't had a chance to meet the gang yet, make sure to say "hi" at our next training event or race.  We spend a lot of time getting together, training, and socializing which really has made it a great team to be on.

Next stop:  Eagleman 70.3.  The word on the street is that it's a little bit toasty there, so let's hope for some warm Upstate weather so we can get some heat acclimation going!

Train Hard.  Race Easy.

Coach, I didn't feel well on my workout today because...

1.  ...I didn't get much sleep last night.
2.  ...my hydration was off.
3.  ...I might be coming down with a cold.
4.  ...I really didn't feel like pushing hard.


During the course of your training cycle, you will inevitably have good days and bad days.  Sometimes, you feel invincible on the bike and run and are shocked when you check your GPS because the pace couldn't possibly be correct.  You even consider writing a sternly-worded letter to Garmin when you get back because you are certain that the satellites are playing games with you, and providing you with a false pace that is way too fast for your level of conditioning.


There are other days when you don't feel quite as invincible.  You are certain that your Garmin is experiencing trouble calculating an accurate pace and consider another sternly-worded letter to Garmin telling them that once again the satellites may be slightly out of their orbit and that your pace is too low for your level of conditioning.


Whether you think your pace is too hard or too easy, there is a good chance that the Garmin unit is correct, and that your body's physiology might be off a tad.  It's more plausible that the satellites are in their correct plane of orbit, and that YOU might be the variable in the equation.  


On days like this, it's often interesting to figure out "why" this is happening, and what the causes might be.


I've been fortunate this season to be healthy and not to have had any colds.  We started our training on November 1st, and I've only missed several workouts due to a slightly tweaked "this" or "that", and have been quite consistent.


Until this month.


If you've been outside of New York state this spring, it has been quite cool, rainy, and windy.  Actually, that's understating things a bit.  It has been downright crummy!


However, we (as a team) have gotten fed up with riding indoors and have moved our sessions outdoors on even the coldest and rainiest days.  In fact, we did a 60 mile ride in 40 degree temperatures, rain and 40 mph winds (I just got the feeling back in my feet from this ride last week).  All was going well, until the Bristol road race several weeks ago.


My CTL (chronic training load) was at a lifetime high just prior to Bristol and I was feeling fatigued but in very good form.  The Bristol road race went well, but a freak thunderstorm dropped temperatures into the 40's and drenched us with heavy rain about 10 miles from the finish.  The worst part was the 3 mile ride back to the parking area after the finish after cooling down.  I actually had trouble riding the bike I was shivering so hard, and haven't felt quite right since that day.


I got to do a spirited ride with Danielle Ohlson (our swim coach at Nice Tri...more on that later!) for 83 miles yesterday.  The plan was to ride out at Half Ironman(Zone 3) power and ride back at Ironman power (Zone 2).  The truly cool thing was to confirm my suspicion that I really wasn't feeling well.  My power ended up being in low Zone 2 and my heart rate was high Zone 3!  Without being able to match up my power and heart rate data for this ride, it would have been just another "I didn't really feel that great today" kind of ride and not know WHY.  Today I'm dealing with a nice dose of chest congestion, so it's clear that the reason why I was dealing with the decoupled power and heart rate is because I was fighting a chest cold.

Dan's Decoupled 80 Miler!

Here are some other reasons that you might not feel well and what you can do about it:


1.  Lack of sleep - This can really affect your heart rate during exercise and your perceived exertion.  Make sure to get 8 hours of sleep each night or be prepared to deal with the consequences.  The solution to this issue is never to add more training stress to the schedule, but often the athlete needs to be reminded to rest as hard as they train!


2.  Improper hydration - If your hydration has been off, you will notice an ever-increasing heart rate relative to pace and/or power during exercise (or if you are maintaining a steady heart rate, you will notice that pace and power drop).  The only way to deal with this is to increase hydration levels pre, during and post-exercise, and try to get your body back into balance.  Excess heat and improper acclimation to increased temperatures can also cause your HR to drift upward, so that athlete needs to allow several weeks of working out in high temperatures to get used to its effect on the body.  Once your HR starts to creep upward due to heat stress, it is very difficult to stop.  Make sure you're well-hydrated, and be conservative with pace and power goals if it's warmer than usual.


4.  I might be coming down with a cold - If you are well-rested, well-hydrated, and just don't feel your "usual self" during your workout, it could be that your body is fighting off a cold.  Be cautious when returning to exercise after illness.  Start out slowly to test the water before returning to your full volume and intensity levels.


5.  I just didn't feel like pushing hard today - Sometimes we're just plain tired.  Stress levels can alter our body's response to training stress, and sometimes it's nice to put the Garmin and power meter away and just go out and blow off some steam.  Every day doesn't have to be a new PR (nor should it be), and a relaxing ride or run can be just the thing to clear our thoughts and make us feel refreshed.


After all, isn't that why we're doing this in the first place?

Ramble Around Prattsburgh Race Report

This past Sunday Team Nice Tri descended upon the scenic town of Prattsburgh for the annual Ramble Around (appropriately enough) Prattsburgh.


Our Registered Dietician (Athena Visel) had asked us to join her for this race, and after making her promise not to injure herself, we agreed.  We had a total of six teammates on the course that day (which is pretty cool considering we're all triathletes and road racers).


I used my years of meteorology study and experience as a professional pilot and boldly made a prediction to the group that most of the rain would push through the area prior to the start of the event.  The cool thing about meteorology is it is one profession where it is acceptable to be wrong 70% of the time, and in keeping with those statistics, the rain began coming down in earnest just after the start of the race.


At first it was a light drizzle, but transitioned nicely into rain of Biblical proportions.  In fact, I'm fairly certain that I saw one of the locals building a small ark in his back yard.


The event starts out with a parade lap around town before ascending Route 53 out of the village.  Once the group hit the base of the hill, the race had clearly begun with the strongest riders flooring it to the top of the hill before turning right into some single track that was both beautiful and technical (at least for me).


I was really looking forward to the offroad portions of the race so that I could draw on my years of racing enduros and hare scrambles.  At the height of my career, I had earned the number one placing in the Vet Expert class in enduro racing, so tight and technical single track was like second nature to me.


Perhaps it's more accurate to say that it used to be second nature to me.  On our first descent, I used my patented move of gripping the handlebars as tightly as I could, locking my knees and elbows, and staring six inches in front of my front tire.  I also tried to gain extra leverage on my bucking and kicking steed by gripping my saddle as tightly as I could with my butt cheeks (which was no doubt made harder through a chamois and tights).  I opened my eyes again at the bottom of the hill and was cheered on by Suzanne Hartman of Geneva Bikes, and safely pulled back onto the pavement and headed on to the next section.


As the day wore on, I eventually got used to the traits of the narrow cyclocross tires and rigid frame and fork, and started having an absolute ball!  Every rider was soaked from head to toe, but it seemed as though everyone was all smiles as they pulled into the finish line.  Uphills, downhills, side hills, hills with rocks...the terrain was challenging and absolutely beautiful.  The leaves were out on the trees (not uncommon for May, but quite an achievement considering the weather we've been having) and the single track sections were absolutely gorgeous!


I have to say that of all of the races that I've done, this one ranks right up there as being one of the most scenic, enjoyable, and downright FUN times I've had on a bicycle!  Mark, Suzanne, Casey, Swarty and the whole gang did a great job of organizing and marking the event.  I'd like to sincerely thank them for their hard work and congratulate everyone that came out and enjoyed the day.


I'd like to say that I'll come back again next year and do a bit better, and hopefully that will indeed be the case.  But despite the rain and 50 degree temperatures, it will be very hard to top the amount of fun that was had at the 2011 Ramble Around Prattsburgh!

Dirty girls!

I truly felt human when I saw Chris Reel shivering.  That NEVER happens!

The "Back End" of Fitness

"Front end and back end are generalized terms that refer to the initial and the end stages of a process".


We all want to get faster.  More fit.  Less prone to injury.  Some of us have been blessed with a large aerobic capacity, or the ability to push through discomfort better than our competitors.  There has been a large amount of discussion lately about which is better.  


Carbon fiber or aluminum.


VO2 Max testing versus Lactate Threshold testing.


Forefoot striking versus mid-foot or heel striking.


This is what Dr. Jack Daniels (legendary running coach and physiologist) has to say about "back end" engineering with respect to performance improvements.






Most athletes are very dedicated to maximizing their training input.  They balance family and work obligations, and want to get the most return on their training time investment.  Technique is a very important aspect to racing successfully, but it's often very difficult to quantify exactly what comprises good technique.


I often hear of an athlete having changed their running form after reading "Born to Run" which clearly promotes running on the forefoot.  For a very high percentage of these new forefoot converts, their next reading assignment is "Bourne to Heal" after tweaking an achilles or calf muscle.


There truly is a secret to running well and doing so at a faster pace than the one at which you're currently running. I'm willing to share that secret today - and share it to athletes that I don't personally coach.  


The secret is CONSISTENCY.


Western society longs for that "next product" or revolutionary idea that will propel it into the next millennium, and often forgets that all of the technology in the world won't do you any good if you aren't well enough to utilize it.  In order to get faster at running or cycling, there needs to be an increasing stress to the body's muscular system in order for it to adapt and a sufficient amount of rest to allow it to rebuild and recover.  To some, this may seem very basic, but to others it's precisely what they need to hear.


In a nutshell, the reason you're not running as fast as you'd like is not because you're a heel striker.  It's because you need to raise your effective pace at Lactate Threshold.


The reason your cycling has plateau'd is not because you need to increase your cadence 2 RPM.  It's because you need to increase your power output at Lactate Threshold.


Most often, with athletes that are struggling or have plateau'd have several traits in common.  They're not challenging themselves in the right manner and they're not doing it consistently enough.


This is when having a good coach surely helps, as he or she can help identify areas that you may have been neglecting.  It's also nice to have a plan laid out that has a progression planned that will provide you with the training stress and rest that you need.


When you're looking at how to get faster this year, look at your program first and consider changing your technique second.  Otherwise, you may be guilty of engineering the "back end" of fitness before the "front end".