Slightly windy with a chance of rain...

Saturday morning our group had a recon session planned for the Musselman Half Iron bike course.  We were to meet at the Geneva Chamber of Commerce and depart at 0930 for a relatively spirited ride.


Friday afternoon, we all had hopes that the forecast would change to show unexpectedly-beautiful conditions on our adventure, but instead the forecast read:


Saturday:  100% chance of rain, heavy at times.  Winds gusty from the southeast at 40 mph with occasional gusts to 50 mph.  Temperatures in the low 40's.


Oh good heavens.  What have we done?


Saturday morning began with the sounds of whistling winds, pelting rains, and something in the air that looked distinctly like snow flakes.  Even Watts (our black Lab) was unnerved by the epic conditions as he ventured out for his morning walk.  In keeping with our motto to continue the mission (or "Charlie Mike"), we decided to go ahead and ride the course!


Danielle Ohlson also pulled into the Chamber of Commerce and was ready to get the adventure started.  We did have several hiccups in the first several miles that included a dropped chain that knocked out a power meter magnet and a wipeout from getting a tire caught in one of the cracks in the shoulder of the road.  Thankfully no one was injured and we were on our way.


Here's a summary of my thoughts on what turned out to be a 3.5 hour ride:


Hour 1 - This isn't so bad, but my torso is sweating profusely while my feet are cold.  Probably should eat some nutrition, but these gloves are so bulky.  Cool road spray that douses me when cars go by!  Ha ha!  I'm already wet!


Hour 2 - Feet going numb.  Really don't want to eat because I might have to take off these gloves.  MAN these roads are hammered in places.  Time to drink, but continually fighting to stay in control.  Wow!  Rain stopped and it's actually getting nice out!  I think the wind gusts are down to 30 mph!


Hour 3 - This tailwind is AWESOME!  Riding through the park is the best part with 30 mph tailwinds!  Nutrition going well...feet don't hurt any more, but I think my toe fell off 15 miles back.  Might try to drive back later and find it.


All said, this was a character-building exercise and a great example of not giving up!  Thanks to Lauren, Chuck, Alvah, Eric and Danielle for showing up and having great attitudes.  It sure makes the time go much more quickly when you've got a great group to train and share memories after the event.  As they say in the Marine Corps to describe someone who's the hardest of the hard core - 


"They're as hard as woodpecker lips"!

The flag wasn't broken when we showed up...

Buffalo Bicycling Club Time Trial Results

What a great day to be out racing (albeit a bit chilly).  The team had clearly done its homework over the winter and despite buffeting winds, cracks in the road, and the occasional twinge of nausea, had a very good result at the Individual Time Trial in Akron, NY on April 4th, 2011.

Riders departed in one minute intervals on the 20k course, and Chris Reel (35:30/ 13th Cat 5) did his best to hold a steady power on the windy course.  Chris later said that he didn't feel very fast (which is odd since Chris is a very strong rider) and upon returning to the pits could see why.  His rear tire was not aligned properly and was rubbing the chain stay for the entire time, and left red shavings covering the side of the bike.

Lauren Long (40:09/ 25th Cat 5) was trying out her power meter on her second ride outdoors, and did a very good job of controlling both bike and power in the gusty winds.  She really seemed to enjoy the event and was all smiles - not uncommon for Lauren.

Alvah Aldrich (32:04/ 5th Cat 1) had a great ride on his shiny new Trek Speed Concept.  Alvah has improved his power on the bike tremendously over the winter, and it was great to see him put that fitness to good use.  Alvah's running has been progressing extremely well, and we hope to see some terrific performances from him this year.  Very fast ride and a great way to start the year!

Finally, Dan Jarecke (29:12/ 1st Cat 1) also got to put his new Speed Concept to the test and really enjoyed the ride.  The folks at Geneva Bike Center have really helped with his fit this year, and the bike feels terrific.

Thanks to everyone that came out and ran the event - from signup to scoring the event was very well done!  Team Nice Tri expects to be back to upcoming events with the Buffalo Bicycling Club in the future!

If you'd like to race and train with the team, simply "like" our Facebook page and you'll be kept up to date on future training rides and races.  Our team really does put the "Nice" in Nice Tri!

Trying to look tough without giggling...

The obligatory thumbs up!

Rochester Area Triathletes (RATs) Run-Bike-Run Description

April 6 marks the first Run-Bike-Run (RBR) of the 2011 RATs season and it will be held here in Canandaigua, NY (providing that the weather cooperates).  Attendees will meet in the parking lot of the Steamboat Landing restaurant and the workout will commence across the street on the nature trails that comprise the first portion of the Finger Lakes Triathlon run course.

Run Course Start Location/Transition Area

Nice Tri has laid out a great course that is slightly different than other RBR's that you may have attended, and the differences are worth mentioning.  We have published a video on our YouTube coaching channel that describes the course and some of the key elements, but here is a written description of the courses and rules.


The event will start at 1830, and all athletes are encouraged to show up by 1800 to make sure that they're signed up and ready to start on time.  A briefing of the course will be given at 1820 just before the start of the event.


We will run two laps on the 1 mile course.  Runners will be issued a number when they sign up for the RBR, and need to remember that number throughout the event.  Orange markers will signify the portion of the course that the athlete will need to shout out their assigned number.  If they don't shout out their number, they will not receive a time for that portion of the course.


After the run, the athletes will change into their bike gear and will mount their bicycles on the same side of the road as the transition area.  The athlete is not to cross the road until all traffic is clear.  It is not necessary to rush at this point, since the timing will not begin until the athlete has left the area and has started cycling.  In other words, you will not be timed in the transition area as it will be considered a "free zone".  You can take 1 minute or 5 minutes to transition, and the course timing will not begin until you are started back out on the course.


After biking out, the cyclist will head East on Lakeshore Drive and will turn right at the traffic signal in approximately 1/2 mile.  The course will then head south on East Lake Road until the 6.5 mile point.  Mileage markers will be spray painted in orange in the bike lane every mile, and the turnaround area will be marked brightly as well with orange paint.  The athlete must ensure that all traffic is clear before executing a course reversal maneuver.


The bike course will end at the East Lake/Lakeshore Drive traffic signal, and there will be a worker there that will take your time when you cross an orange line spray painted in the bike lane.  The athlete must yell their number again at this point in order to have their time counted.  The athlete will then wait until traffic clears (and the light turns green) to ride another "free zone" back to the transition area.  After transitioning once again, the athlete will then run two more laps around the same run area and will once again yell their number when they cross the orange markers.

Bike Course Turnaround at Mile 6.5

In summary:
1.  This is not a race.  It is a timed workout.
2.  The athlete must be a member of the RATs to participate
3.  The athlete is responsible for his/her own safety
4.  If you don't yell your number when you cross an orange marker on the run or at the end of the bike, you will not receive a time for that day
5.  Please ride safely and have fun.


Maps of the courses are attached below.


So please tell your friends to come out and enjoy the Nice Tri Multisport Coaching RATs Run Bike Run on April 6!  Please make sure you subscribe to our Facebook and blog and are on the RATs email list to get an update on this and other RBR's in the area.

Advice on dealing with high heart rate in a given workout

As your structured training load increases due to an increase in intensity, duration, frequency , or all three, your body learns to adapt and become more fit.  Muscles become stronger, the heart pumps more blood per stroke, blood chemistry changes, and a general adaptive process attempts to accommodate the new stresses placed upon it.


During the course of a season of training, we may push our bodies too far and essentially "paint ourselves into a corner" with regard to recovery.  Usually, we notice that we are reaching too far with regard to our new workload and ironically, this is known as "overreaching".  It usually takes the athlete 2-3 weeks to recover from the fatigue and poor performance that is usually associated with overreaching.


Overtraining can best be defined as "chronic overreaching".  Very few athletes actually become overtrained since most will back off their training load when they notice a decrease in their performance.  An actual episode of overtraining can take 2-3 months to fully recover.


One of the symptoms of overreaching is an elevated heart rate at a given effort (i.e. pace or power output).  If the athlete notices these symptoms during training, it is usually best to cut the workout short and begin a period of reduced training stress.  


Joel Friel (author of Cyclists and Triathletes Training Bible) had a recent discussion with John Post M.D., and they published his recommendations on his blog.  Here is an excerpt from a recent post:

"However, if the high exercising heart rate is unusual for you then you may indeed have a problem. But let’s further define “high” here. There are going to be days when your heart rate rises above what you normally see by perhaps 10 bpm or slightly more just because of fatigue, overreaching, overtraining, too much caffeine or similar product, or a hot day. This is not unusual at all. You may need to back off and slow down or even abandon the workout that day. This happens to everyone from time to time.

But if your heart rate is well above 10bpm over what you normally see at a given power, pace or perceived exertion (which may not work in this case) then you could have a health problem. But first check to make sure your heart rate monitor is working correctly and there are no errant signals.

Such an unusually high heart rate happened to me in 1994 while running a half marathon. Of course, as the dummy I am, I finished the race, albeit at a slower pace. After weeks of testing my doctor finally determined it was a case of viral myocarditis. That cost me seven months of training.

Another condition to be aware of is atrial fibrillation (“a-fib”). I won’t go into detail on this as you can read more about this here on Dr. Post’s blog. 

So if you mean a “high” heart rate as one high relative to what you normally see at an otherwise common intensity and you’ve ruled out the heart rate monitor as the source of the “problem,” then see your doctor."

We need to look at a trend when viewing heart rate, so an isolated incident with elevated measurements may not indicate a problem.  Heart rate can slowly drift upwards at a given pace or power as an athlete becomes dehydrated or fatigued.  This phenomena is called "CV Drift" or "Cardiovascular Drift".

As the athlete warms up and begins to sweat, blood is brought very close to the surface of the skin in order to increase cooling and the volume of the blood being pumped to muscles and organs decreases.  This decrease in blood plasma volume causes a reduction in arterial blood pressure and heart stroke rate volume.  In order to combat this drop in blood pressure, the heart rate must elevate in order to pump the "thinner" blood to the body.  

CV drift is largely controlled through proper hydration and heat acclimation, and an elevated heart rate for a given pace or power can best be controlled through proper rest and recovery.  If the condition becomes chronic, it is recommended that the athlete seek medical advice.

The build phase of endurance training is marked by increases in steady-state aerobic exercise, and provide an excellent opportunity to monitor changes in heart rate during prolonged exercise.  For example, after monitoring your heart rate at Zone 2 or Marathon pace for several weeks, you will become familiar with a normal range.  If the numbers fall out of this range, your coach can help you find out why this might be happening.

Per the recommendations by John Post M.D., we suggest that if your heart rate is well above 10 BPM for a given pace or power zone, that you consider factors such as your hydration level, potential for overreaching, etc. and contact your coach to find a solution.

Accomplishments...

Measuring success.....


Racing is actually a very small part of the multisport experience.  In fact, for an age-group athlete, racing is usually less than 5% of the athlete's time spent swimming, cycling, and running during the year.  However, none of us like to do poorly in a race or on a fitness test.  Measuring progress is an absolutely essential part of structuring a training program that works well.


Many of us continue to train and wonder if we've made any real accomplishments.  We judge our pace on various courses under various conditions, compare our race placing against those around us, and end up confused and mystified by the world of structured endurance training.


"Gee, Mark.  Last year I finished 346th and this year I was 311th, so I must be improving," uttered Ivan as he looked over his race results.  "I got my speed average up to 18.3 mph over last year's 18.1, so the plan must be working," he gleefully exclaimed.


Does this conversation sound familiar?  These external measurements are not a fixed point by which we should measure, yet it's uttered frequently on message boards, blogs, and frustrated athletes trying to define their progress.


Thanks to the age of GPS watches, heart rate monitors, power meters, and other data collection devices, it has become easier than ever to figure out if the training plan is working well.


It has also become easier than ever to get lost in a sea of misinformation.


The Team's Successes...


The athletes at Nice Tri Multisport Coaching have just completed a 20 week training period known as the "Breakthrough Season".  Breakthrough training is usually conducted during what most people refer to as the "off" season.  Typically, offseason training consists of long, slow, aerobic miles done in an attempt to build an aerobic "base" with a much lower volume than peak season training.  The goal is to build an aerobic base, but what actually happens is that the athlete detrains, loses conditioning, and starts the season with quite a bit of work to do in order to try to get faster.


Not at Nice Tri Multisport Coaching.


Our "off" season is actually spent concentrating on improving pace and power at lactate threshold - the hallmark of an endurance athlete.  The athlete will enter a long course build season with very high levels of fitness, and they can then begin to add endurance to their newfound speed.


Our team has been extremely diligent on completing their workouts.  You could almost count on one hand the number of missed workouts per athlete over the last 20 weeks.  Their consistency has been a key ingredient to their success, and we have the PR's and new Vdots to prove it.


Statistically speaking...


Enthralling listeners with tales of newfound speed is one thing, but it is largely anecdotal.  Unless you've been tracking your progress to the "nth" degree, your improvements may go by unnoticed.  It may also slip by you that the plan is not working.  We track progress because we care!


Our run performances increased in speed an average of 9%.  The average athlete increased their Vdot score by 11%.  The average athlete took only 13 weeks to experience these gains (some athletes started the season later than others).


The largest time savings over a 5k run was 2 minutes and 47 seconds after 11 weeks of training.


What does all of this mean in the real world?


These figures mean that the average athlete at Nice Tri Multisport Coaching reduced their 5k run time by 2 minutes and 4 seconds in 13 weeks of training.


Taking credit...


I am very grateful to have such a hard-working team that is dedicated to their training and nutrition.  If they had not put in the work, they certainly would not have experienced the success that they did.  They should all be extremely proud.


I've also had a lot of feedback throughout the period about how the training was progressing and when a rest day might be due.  Communication is one of the most important parts of a successfully-coached training program, and the team was outstanding with this as well.  


I've also received suggestions and advice from team members about the plan, and for that I am grateful.  If the plan worked well, it is largely because of the help of others as we've gone through the program.


Athena Visel is Nice Tri's Registered Dietician and Sports Nutritionist.  She has been an extremely important element in the program, and has helped athletes modify their daily nutrition in order to meet their weight loss and performance goals.  She has also put a large amount of work into research and blog posts, which have proven very insightful.  She also deserves a hearty "thank you" for a job well done.


Looking forward...


We all know that long course training does not consist entirely of Vdot tests, FTP numbers, equations, derivatives, and algorithms.  The world of long course does not exist in a vacuum, but exists in the very real world of hills, winds, bonks, dog chases, chirping birds and everything else that goes along with training outside.  We couldn't be happier about it.


And we're ready.


Train Hard.  Race Easy.

Learning pacing...

Gadgets and Gizmos Aplenty...


Technology is everywhere.  Power meters, heart rate monitors, and GPS watches have invaded the world of endurance sport and have given athletes and coaches insight that has been previously reserved for Olympic training centers and top secret testing laboratories.  We can measure pace, heart rate, power, temperature, hub torque, and dozens of other variables that are indicators of an athlete's fitness level.


After downloading a pace or power file, a coach can almost literally re-experience the ride with the athlete and provide them insight into what happened and why.  


When training and racing with technology, we can answer questions such as:


"Would I be better off with a higher cadence"?


"Why do I keep cracking at mile 80 on the bike"?


"What would my pace have been if I were on level ground"?


Some people think that merely purchasing a GPS watch or power meter will immediately make them faster, but that's like expecting to be a master cabinet maker simply by purchasing new woodworking equipment.

Screenshot from a power file

You have to be able to interpret the data and incorporate the data into a training plan.  Technology helps coaches do that more effectively and with less trial and error.



Figuring out our limiters...

So here we are.  We've just completed the first Run-Bike-Run of the year and did fairly well, and now we're settling down to take a look at our power file.  Exciting stuff to be sure!


"I trained hard all winter and I can't wait to see how I did...", you gleefully proclaim as you pull up your file on WKO+.


What would you imagine is the very first thing that this athlete looks at when viewing their data?


Average power?


Average speed?


Average cadence?


Did anyone say "Pacing"?


No one?


That's what I thought.


Most people think it's their Vo2 Max or Lactate Threshold that's holding them back, and to some extent, that may be true.  However, if "Vo2 this" or "lactate that" were the only measure of ability to go fast while swimming, cycling or running, then the people with the highest numbers would win every race.


And that's clearly not the case.


Could there be more to multisport than just swimming, cycling and running?


Pacing is of primary importance, but most athletes pay lip service to the correct way to do it or fail to understand it entirely.  How important is it?  Let me tell you a little story...


The Seven Sports of Triathlon


"Swim.  Bike.  Run".  "It says right here on the entry form that it's a triathlon," uttered Ironman Ivan as he signed up for the Annual M-Dot 140.6 Bonkout held near his hometown of Tendonitisville, so he began to assemble a training plan that would make Craig Alexander run for cover. 


Go to the pool four times weekly and swim 3000 yards each day.  Check.


Get on the bike and ride for 5 hours every Saturday from November until August.  Check.


Run 80 miles each week on my easy weeks.  Check.


Fast forward 11 months and Ivan is nearing the end of his marathon at the M-Dot Bonkout.


Walking.


Vomiting.


And covered in a film that makes him a biohazard in 43 states.


What could have possibly gone wrong here?  Ivan had completed training in all 3 sports the likes of which our sport has never seen.  Obviously, there's more to it than swim, bike and run.


There are SEVEN sports in triathlon.


If you're not training the other four, you may end up like Ironman Ivan at your next event, and nobody enjoys being called a "biohazard".


"So what are the Seven Sports of Triathlon?  You're killing me here!"


There are indeed FOUR other skills in addition to swimming, biking and running that you need to master to be successful at long course events.


Stay tuned for our next blog post where we will talk about each of them!

Substituting workouts, switching things around, and contingency planning in general.

We all miss workouts.  Life presents us with issues that often derail our well-laid plans for swimming, cycling, and running.  Sickness, travel, work and injury are just some of the "hiccups" that we need to be prepared to face during the course of a training season.


I often get the question:  "What do I do if I can't do my ride this Wednesday? Do you want me to substitute it for a run?"


The answer is simple.  Or is it?


As we all know, running is more jarring than cycling and is more likely to sideline an athlete with injuries from overuse or overtraining.  Due to its stress placed on the body, it is unwise to increase the Running Training Stress Score (rTSS) more than 10% each week.  We can sometimes replace a cycling activity with running (or vice versa), but there is more to it than "just throwing an equivalent amount of training stress" at the athlete and hoping for the best.

rTSS Graph from WKO+

In the graph above, we have a representation of our chronic run training stress load (CTL - blue line) and the acute training stress load (ATL - magenta line).  CTL looks back 42 days to at our average TSS/day, but averages in the last 7 days of stress more heavily.  To put it another way - the workout you did 42 days ago is still affecting your fitness today, but the workout you did 2 days ago affects your fitness today even more heavily.  

The acute run training stress load (ATL - magenta line) averages our training stress over the last 7 days, divides by 7, and shows us an average of our current "short term" training stress.  You will notice that the yellow line (Training Stress Balance, or TSB) always acts in opposition to the magenta line.  TSB is a representation of how well-rested we are (or how "fresh" we are).  If our ATL goes up due to increased workouts, our TSB will go down.  In other words, a high ATL and low TSB tells us we're tired.  Conversely, if we're extremely well-rested due to a high TSB and low ATL, we will most likely have de-conditioned.

My grandmother is in her 80's, does not work out, and therefore has a very high TSB.  However, due to her low ATL from never working out, it is unlikely that she will win any time trials anytime soon.

This is exactly what the yellow line represents:

Our freshness.

Therefore, we must find a balance between how well rested we are, and how much training stress we're accumulating if we want to perform well at a given event.  By using this chart, we can keep an eye out for things like overtraining, plateauing, and under-training.  It is also a great way to help avoid injury by adding in too much stress too quickly.

8 Month Illustration of Fitness, Freshness, and Form via the PMC on WKO+

So what on earth does all of this have to do with swapping workouts around?


This introduction to acute training load, chronic training load, and training stress balance are to provide you with some insight about the stress your body receives from a given workout.  Before we consider adding in a bike or run workout to the schedule, we have to look at the following issues:


1.  Are we well rested? - If we have a test or race coming up for which we'd like to perform well, adding in extra training stress during a taper week will compromise our freshness for that test and will inhibit our performance.  If we've missed sleep lately and are feeling tired, it might be best to take the day off.


2.  Do we have any lingering soreness that could lead to injury? - A lingering pain that doesn't seem to go away or a tender area in a muscle or tendon is often a cry from our bodies for rest.  If we are considering adding in extra running to maintain fitness but are likely to injure ourselves by doing so, it would be best to just get in some extra rest.


3.  Where am I with regard to TSS, ATL, and TSB? - If we blindly throw in additional running or cycling without considering its effect on our TSS, we are likely to dig ourselves a hole that could compromise the next several workouts or injure us.  The Nice Tri training program is not just a manipulation of total training time, it is a modification of all training variables (frequency, intensity and duration).  In other words, if we add duration and maintain frequency, we must keep a close eye on intensity to avoid adding too much ATL too soon.  If we add intensity to the training plan, we may shorten duration or adjust frequency for the same reason.  We will never add duration, intensity and frequency all at once.


4.  Is this an anomaly or is this a chronic issue? - If we are routinely missing a workout due to travel, it would be best to adjust the schedule to prevent this.  If traveling for your job is rare and missed workouts are seldom an issue, it is often best to just miss that workout and "Charlie Mike" (if you don't know, Google it).  It is rare that anyone in the Nice Tri program need more training.  In fact, an extra rest day might be exactly what your body needed.


5.  Am I adding in a run workout or a bike workout? - It is very unlikely to be injured by riding your bike for an extra hour for the week if you've been professionally fit.  Injuries on the bike are extremely rare.  However, run injuries are common when we ignore the 10% rule.  Does 10% mean TSS?  Mileage?  Vdot?


Yes! 


We must keep an eye on the TSS and TSB before adding in any running stress.  When we do add in additional running, it is best if we do not add more than 10% TSS or 10% mileage to the total load.  We must also consider what type of training follows the run workout, its intensity and duration, and then plan accordingly.


If we substitute a workout occasionally, it is unlikely that we will experience problems.  However, it is always best to consult with your coach for guidance on what to do, when to do it, and the appropriate intensity.  Try to notify your coach well in advance as this may affect subsequent training sessions.


If you're considering adding in "extra" workouts to your schedule or making them faster in order to get in better shape, this is highly discouraged.  Make sure to have a discussion with your coach about your concerns and goals before moving forward on your own.


Remember - the number one rule in increased physical performance is consistency, and the best way to ensure consistency is to remain injury-free.  If you're missing a workout or two per month, the added rest will not affect your conditioning and it may even be a welcome treat.


However, if you find that you're consistently missing a workout due to a change in schedule, advise your coach for an amended training plan.


That's what one-on-one coaching is all about!


Train Hard.  Race Easy.