Rage Cage (aka taper week)

The urge to good fast or go hard in the week coming up to a race is almost unbearable.  You'll want to push yourself, but remember that this is the time for your body to recover and re-energize before being asked the most of it.  I have the most difficult time here in my training, knowing when to just not go out. 

I've read studies that you won't see any gains 2-3 days prior to a race anyway.  The key for me is to stay flexible, keep to easy rides, runs, and swims.  And keep them shorter.  No need for an easy 8 mile run if your race is a Sprint with a 5K. 

Nutrition wise, I'll stick to water for a majority of the week, taking in as much as I can remember to throughout each day.  I'll mix in a 50/50 of water and juice (either cranberry or apple) to keep it interesting and not dilute or wash away minerals & vitamins from my body.  With a reduced level of exercise, I'll be more cognizant of my food intake.  While I won't starve myself, I will keep clear of any high carb treats, like cookies or large amounts of bread.  I want to keep my race weight throughout the taper week and be comfortable on race morning at that weight.  We'll all have after the race to eat whatever we want!

http://www.triradar.com/training-advice/how-to-fuel-for-the-perfect-race/

I set up my bike early in the week and get my other gear together by Thursday.  This allows me enough time should I need any last minute parts or gear.  Most likely, I'll be squared away and won't, but it's good to have that out.  I'll get 1-2 quick rides (on the trainer if needed) on the bike in it's race set up to get the feel and make any last adjustments.  Ideally, you never do anything new on race day, so this is your last chance to dial in your equipment.  With my Felt AR5, I use clip-on bars and have to switch my seat post around, so it never stays in the tri setup full time.

Race day is another story... and another post!

Indoor cycling workouts

If the weather is keeping you inside and you've exhausted your current stash of workouts, here's 3 that you can crush on the trainer:

http://www.usacycling.org/3-indoor-cycling-workouts-for-the-winter.htm

Try working these into your base program (you are embracing your base program right?).  See 'Remember Planning' post for the program I'm currently using.

Tip:  I set up a separate Google Calendar showing me which week and what program I'm in.  This really helps back up programs and training from your 'A' races while timing your peaks.

Visualization... OK, it's daydreaming

So if you're like me, you've grown antsy about wanting to race.  You might even be looking on active.com or bikereg.com for a race sooner than one in your plan and worse yet, one that you're not trained up for.

I can't sit around in some pose with nothing on around me while humming or whatever.  I thrive on music.

One method is making a playlist of songs from race videos.  From racing cyclocross this past fall, I've diligently watched all the CXHairs.com video series, "Svenness".  With a playlist on Soundcloud of the music from the videos, I can visual the races or better yet, just racing.  This playlist gets me into the mindset of thinking about powering hard through a bike session on trainer.  It also gets me amped in the car ride home from work to get on the trainer.

I'll also listen to the playlist from my runs while not running.  In fact, I have a set of 40 songs on my mp3 player that hasn't changed in over 2 years.  Sure, there's an added 2 or 3, but it's very much the same since I made it.  This allows me to get amped for an upcoming song.  Even better, when I hear these older songs, I can get in a better mindset.  There's something comforting there I guess.  I can drift off, clear my head, and think about a run, or see myself kicking it in to the finish line.

Now, the flip side.  When racing, there is no music.  Rules are rules and both USAC and USAT do not allow headphones or personal music during a race.  That's OK!  If your imagination is as vivid as mine, you won't need actual music.  You can immerse yourself in your head.   Switch up your training sessions without music to be used to it.  I've seen a lot of people post race comment on no being able to pace themselves because they didn't have their iPod or whatever.  I've even seen some people just about freak out pre race becuase an official told them that they couldn't wear their headphones.  Remember the adage:  NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY.  If you have to train with music, be sure to train without music.

Well, that was all over the place, but hopefully you can take something away from it. Spring is almost here!

Remember planning

Plan now while you're not in the midst of spring training.  Winter base miles are boring inside.  Use that time on the trainer or treadmill while staring at the wall to come up with your A and B races.  Great article from USAT today on top 10 tips for planning your season.

http://www.usatriathlon.org/about-multisport/multisport-zone/multisport-lab/articles/triathlon-season-planning-011014.aspx

Metrics and Management

You can't manage what you don't measure. It is an old management adage that is accurate today. Unless you measure something you don't know if it is getting better or worse. You can't manage for improvement if you don't measure to see what is getting better and what isn't. 

Training tools:

• Strava w/Premium Account ($6 a month)
• Zephyr Heart Rate Monitor (Bluetooth) ($45)
• Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman (ANT+ smartphone) w/32gb SD card ($50 on ebay)
• ipBike - http://www.iforpowell.com ($7)
• Powertap ANT+ wireless speed and cadence sensor ($35)

With the amount of indoor training I do, I needed a system that measured heart rate against time or hopefully distance. ipBike on a cheap Sony Ericsson smartphone does more than a Garmin Edge 500/800 does and cheaper too!  This setup allows me to track my HR, time, and distance for indoor running (treadmill or track) as well as HR, speed, cadence, and distance for indoor bike time on the trainer.  It also has a solid setup for calculating power on the bike without the need for a costly power meter.  For the level I'm training at and competing at, this is close enough to what a $1500 power meter provides.  

Remember, the management of improvement comes during training, not during racing. So there's no need to use a costly power meter during a race.  I'll just push myself by how my body feels for the swim, bike, and run with an extra eye on my cadence during the bike.

Also, I needed an online database to store everything and review later.   While some people look down on Strava, as a training tool, it's great.  There are plenty of options out there on the webber-nets, but make sure you can upload to it from your work outs and capture as much data as you can.

The Sony Ericsson has the bonus of holding a SD card for mp3s and a builtin FM radio.  This makes runs much more enjoyable while not having to carry 2 devices to track the workout and play music.  Show me a Garmin that can do that! Load a high tempo and low tempo playlist on there.

In the end, you need a tool combo that you're comfortable with.  I can geek out on IT based solutions and programs like ipBike.  But if that's not your forte or comfort level, go with something like the Garmin ForeRunner line.

As that barista said to me last week when I ordered the Red Eye at 6AM, "go knock it out!"

Winter Base

So I should give you something to start with.

http://mos.triradar.com/Training_Plans/Build_Winter_Foundation.pdf

This is the plan I am following from Jan 1 through the end of March.  I'll share the 2 other plans soon. TriRadar.com has some great resources and tools.  Very simple approach and time manageable.

Get some!

The Intro and Plan

I've put one solid year of racing and training behind me.  Being fully into the training months, I now acknowledge that 2013 was my "base year" of training and getting to understand how to race.  Sure I was ambitious throughout last year and even posted some good finishes, but in reality, I was just figuring it all out.

Now is the time to take that rookie coat off and get into how to win.  This blog will be my journey to getting on the podium each and every race.

First step is planning.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” 
― Abraham Lincoln

I'm realistic in setting my goals for 2014.  Last year, I was so enthralled with racing that I wanted to race everything and thought I could.  This did not work out well.  Between triathlons, duathlons, and USAC bike racing season, it would (and did) not work.  With that said, pick your "A" race.  The one that you would do if you couldn't do any others.  From there, back up your schedule with a number of smaller and less stress races.  I've chosen the USAT Olympic-Distance National Championships in Milwakuee, WI this year as I qualified with a top age group finish in a triathlon in 2013.  From there I fill in my calendar backwards off it's August 9th date with 1 (maybe 2) triathlons a month until the end of March.  So the list looks like this:

Tune Up Tri 
Manassas, VA, USA
Sun Mar 30 2014

East Coast Super Sprint
Glen Allen, VA, USA
Sun May 04 2014

Naylors Beach Triathlon
Warsaw, VA, USA
Sun Jun 08 2014

Tupper Lake Tinman Sprint
Tupper Lake, NY, USA
Sat Jun 28 2014

The 14.06 - TIN
Manassas, VA, USA
Sun Jul 27 2014

USA Triathlon’s Age Group Olympic-Distance National Championships
Milwaukee, WI, USA
Sat Aug 09 2014

6.  That's right, 6 races. All but the last are sprint or super sprint distance races.  Why?  To limit injury.  By not training for Olympic (or even longer) distance races all year, I reduce the fatigue and injury on my body.  Through this blog, I'll share how recovery and rest, along with focused workouts on speed, will increase the overall goal of being faster and winning.

Remember, I'm no expert, this is what works for me.  But hey, I just started a year ago, so I've got to be doing something right.