In this week's episode, we had fun coming up with a long list of mistakes that we have either made ourselves or seen as coaches at some point in our endurance journeys. We hope that by sharing those mistakes with you, you can skip ahead to following the best practices for optimizing your performance and well-being as an athlete. Topics include: zone training, fueling and recovery, gear, skills and technique, racing, open water swimming, and a whole lot more. We also get an update from Jim on how his bike crash recovery is going, share a bunch of fun data-driven insights, and answer some A+ listener questions. Check it out!
Extended show notes:
Coaching and training insights:
Jim:
Having a professional network to support your training & recovery: Shout out to PT Neil for putting me back together again and making room in his busy schedule for me.
Importance of including some play in our recreation; do it for our brain health. “Engaging in playful activities during exercise, rather than repetitive tasks like running on a treadmill, activates different brain networks, enhancing cognitive functions such as mental flexibility. This approach to exercise trains the brain in a dynamic and enjoyable way.”
Example of play on your runs: during pickups, pick a tree/driveway/pole to run fast to. Repeat. Keep the pickups fun and dynamic.
Replace one of your road runs with a trail run. During your trail run, bound up some hills, or play fast feet on the way down. Mix it up!
Challenge a friend to a town line sprint. Or play chase on the bike where one person goes up the road for a count of 5 - 7” and you have to chase them down.
Race in the pool with friends. Slower people start first and the faster people try to catch them.
Play and get smarter!
Check out a couple videos on how to put on your wetsuit:
Katie:
Why it is SO great to be a triathlete:
Recently had a calf niggle come on after a long tempo run
No pain swimming/biking —> dialed back run for 2-3 days until the niggle cleared up and dialed up the bike/swim
Magic of 1-2 days off!
Runners talk about how awful it is to cross train but as a triathlete we are just training for our sport/shuffling around days and flavor of intensity
Also on the calf niggle: this was a good reminder to get new shoes!
Difference between TT bike and road bike:
My go-to loop in Cohasset MA is 28 miles. Comparing two recent rides:
2 loops (56 miles) on road bike: 173 NP, HR 137, 17.3mph
2 loops (56 miles) on TT bike: 173 NP, HR 142, 19.1 mph
1 loop recovery ride on TT bike: 146 NP, HR 122, 18.1 mph
Upshot: TT bikes are “free” speed. Close to 2 mph difference for me on a flat course
Another point on the power of comparing the same workout 2x:
Have been doing a lot of tempo running recently
Tempo on a cooler day vs. hotter day - HR was pretty different
Upshot: as we transition to hotter weather, you’re going to need to dial down pace/power to keep HR in the same place. That is OK! You will acclimate as you do it more.
When data is not all that helpful:
Comparing Chronic Training Load (CTL) of previous seasons to this one
What TrainingPeaks CTL doesn’t capture: gains from better strength training, better fueling, better sleep; the idea that volume volume volume isn’t everything; all about keeping in perspective
Main Topic: Top Mistakes Triathletes Make
TRAINING
Ignoring Z2 or 80/20 (often this manifests as too much gray zone, too much intensity, or occasionally not enough intensity)
Putting too much weight on the outputs (training) and not enough weight on the inputs (sleep, nutrition, recovery, functional/safe gear) Specifically -- not fueling your fitness during training and especially racing.
Using too much data (i.e. not listening to your body) or too little data (usually results in overtraining unless you know your body very well)
Ignoring strength training (i.e. just smashing endurance all the time)
Ignoring technique and skill development -- this is especially true for Open Water Swimming (OWS) and bike. Related: not training on TT bike but trying to race on TT bike, or not training in open water but racing in open water.
This is a tough one but most triathletes don’t swim enough to make the swim a non-event. As the weather warms, make sure you are getting out for some long swims that replicate your race distance.
Get outside in the heat of the day. Nearly all races will be hot and humid. If you only train when it’s ideal or early morning, you won’t get the necessary training / racing adaptation. You have to learn what you can and more importantly what you cannot do in the heat of the day.
GEAR
Not investing in the bare minimum of gear that will allow you to train and compete comfortably and safely. You do not need to break the bank, but you need to have new running shoes, a bike that is properly fitted to you (and service it when needed), a good helmet, a Garmin or other sport watch (we do not recommend Apple Watch or something that doesn’t give you good data or dies), a chest HR strap, a triathlon-specific wetsuit, and a comfortable kit. Also: quality nutrition products.
MINDSET, APPROACH, LIFE
“Not seeing the forest for the trees”
Easy to get caught up in the minute details (“the swim workout says 2600 yards but when I did the set I only came in at 2450!”)
Probably because the minute details seem more controllable and tractable than the bigger questions
SO much more important to focus on the big picture / ground in the intention of the workout
Inflexibility with training. Breeds a lot of anxiety when things don’t go according to plan (i.e. the pool is closed, your car broke down, you have a niggle and don’t ignore it). Important to try to hit 80%-90% of your workouts, but be OK with the occasional yellow, orange, or even red box (and embrace it), and to learn how to listen to your body (also related to our point on using too much data). Also important for avoiding burnout.
Focus on process not outcomes. Focus on the day to day consistency and developing Performance Standards that you control. Examples of performance standards are quality of mind i.e., developing a positive mindset and mantras, effort based level standards i.e., give your best effort even if you are falling off your desired pace and positive attitude.
RACING
Racing too much OR racing too little. We see both -- racing too much leaves you in a chronic state of high cortisol, will probably lead to overtraining, and makes it hard to focus on things like aerobic base building. Racing too little makes it hard to develop the skills you need on race day and can lead to a lot of extra pre-race anxiety if you put all of your eggs in a single racing basket. Related: how much racing do we think makes sense from a season planning perspective?
Signing up for races that aren’t appropriate for your experience and fitness level. Build to longer races over years. Resist the marketing of long distance racing until you are ready.
Racing on TT bike but not practicing on TT bike. Your last 12 weeks before your “A” race should be on your race bike.
Pacing - be disciplined during training and especially during a race as you are tapered and the watts will be coming easy. Stay within your target range early in the race when it’s so easy to go too hard/fast.
Listener questions:
Why don’t we program strength for our athletes?
Strength is individualized and should ideally work on your imbalances and limiters - we aren’t PTs/strength trainers so we don’t know what those are!
Wide variance in exposure/abilities to strength training
As an athlete, how should you go about building your strength routine?
Hire a strength trainer if you need one. As a general principle, focus on areas that get neglected for triathletes: core, side-to-side motion (glute medius, etc.), some plyometric work, etc.
What makes an athlete coachable? How to improve coach/athlete relationship so it’s beneficial for both parties?
Katie: Communication/transparency and open-mindedness
Jim: Communication and a positive mental attitude.
As an athlete I like to set relatively competitive goals for myself when it comes to races--i.e. Running under a certain time, placing in my age group, getting a podium finish etc. This places a certain amount of stress on me mentally and I’ve learned to love it. I let it drive me to be consistent with my workouts and push me on days when I’m feeling lazy. However, as a coach, when an athlete approaches you with competitive goals, do you feel a certain stress? How do you handle it? Does it get worse around race day, similar to an athlete’s stress? Have you ever turned away an athlete if their goals would cause you too much stress?
Katie: I try to help athletes focus on process goals over outcome goals, and I have process goals for myself as their coach. Not “I want my athlete to PR” but “I want to deliver flexible, individualized, dynamic training plans on time; I want to communicate clearly; I want to show empathy; etc.” I do get some race day stress around uncontrollables -- bike crashes on course, rip currents on swim, etc., and I FEEL for my athletes when this type of thing happens. But I try to remind myself that when those things happen, a coach is often the person who can understand it the most and support, so I have an important role to play.
How do I use my power meter while racing?
We target a range of power, not a specific number. For example, if you are targeting 170 watts for an Ironman, aim to spend most of your time in the 160 - 180 range. In other words, target +/- 5-10% of your watts target.
On hills, don’t go above your threshold if you can help it. Think smooth and relaxed up hills. Don’t push up hills. Let the hill do the work. You can think of the hill as almost a break as you don’t need to work to generate watts.
Use your Race Sims to work on a smooth pedal stroke. Your Variability Index (VI) in TrainingPeaks should be between 1.01 and 1.05. If you are above 1.05, you are spiking your power and that is burning matches and killing your run legs.
For an IM, we are aiming for ~72% of your FTP as NP Lap. With that said, that's theory. 90% of the time we see NP lower, more in the 65-70% of FTP. And depending on the course and environmental conditions along with focusing on staying in aero, a 65% NP can still be a very fast IM bike split. In the end, it's all about the avg MPH and the best way to get that is to develop superior aero position and durability.
For HIM we are targeting 85% of FTP but all of the above applies. You can still do a very fast HIM at 75-80% if you are holding a good aero position.
On my Garmin bike computer, I have the following on the main screen: Time / Cadence / 3s Power / Heart Rate / Speed.
On the 2nd screen: Lap Distance, Lap Time / Speed / Cadence / 3s Power / Lap NP - I use this screen mostly when doing intervals.
3rd Screen: Distance / Avg Speed / Total Ascent / NP (for the entire ride)
Why use speed when we use watts / % of FTP most of the time?
We use watts / % of FTP primarily inside where all variables are controlled.
Outside we have to interact with many more variables such as:
Heat, Humidity, Wind (head, cross & tail), pavement surface, other racers, frontal drag, aero position, not aero, downhills/hills, etc. In other words, riding outside is VERY dynamic and just paying attention to one variable - watts only tells a part of the story. You need to factor in MPH especially on courses where you aren’t familiar with the wind, false flats or race course.
You should spend some time paying attention to MPH while you are training and think fast. Always be thinking where can I gain free speed? How can I reduce my frontal drag? Can I sneak out low watts but fast speed on this part of the course because of wind, for example.
Challenge of the week
Katie: 3-5 mins of breath work
Jim: Check in with your primary support peeps. The season / training is now very busy / time intensive. See if you can do anything for them.
Gear pick of the week:
Katie: Scicon bike bag for travel
Jim: Aquasphere Kayenne swim goggles for open water