Triathlon Training Blog

Written by Suzanne Atkinson Sunday, 05 February 2012 01:09

Recently I've been noticing a lot of coaches & blogs suggesting the "DPS" drill. DPS stands for distance per stroke.  Frequently I just see it written that way, like this recent set I recieved in one of my email subscrptions...

 

12x25 DPS.  How low can you get?

12 x 50. Pause completely sideways for 5 seconds after each stroke. Use a pullbouy for this

(600 of various fist drills)

12 x 25 DPS.  Pull hard, see how low you can go.

 

I think this coach has good intentions in helping the swimmer find  a long stroke.  But the main thrust of the set is to see how low you can get, with little guidance of how to do so aside from pulling hard, gliding for 5 seconds and using a pull bouy. Again, I htink the intentions are good...encouraging a horizontal body position (Balance), but this set uses an aid to do so...how well do you think that will translate when the swimmer goes back to full stroke? Another recommnedation..."Pull Hard".  This somewhat defeats the initial purpsoe of trying to reduce stroke count...low count is reflective if reduced DRAG, not incraesed POWER.

 

The best way to start thinking about DPS is not  "how low can you go", but rather, "How efficiently can I swim?"  Can I keep my usual swimming effort and still drop a stroke or tow by focusing on active elements of my swim & body position to eliminate drag? (rather than adding power)... If you can re-orient the intention then better swim habits and body position will be incorprated into all aspects of this swimmers form, not just when drilling, or doing a set with a pull bouy.

And once you can drop a stroke or two after a warmup focused on body position, why not see if you can sustain that form? after all, that's why we practice drills...to take over something into whole stroke freestyle.   Here is a slightly more enlighted version of the above swim set.

 

4 x 25 Easy, effortless strokes, count SPL.

4 x 25  as follows (Fist only, 2 fingers, 3 fingers, palm).  Keep effort light. How does stroke count change wiht each length?

4 x 25 evens: focus on tall posture, head suppored by the water.  Odds:  focus on spearing to a target 6-8" below the water surface to help bouy hips.  Count strokes

Use the best focuses from the previous sets to swim another easy 4 x 25 at your most comforatable SPL.  call this "N"

Main set:

4 x 25  + 3 x 50 + 2 x 75 + 1 x 100  Hold your "N" for each length.  If SPL climbs to N+2 or more, first try to focus on good posture & spearing targets to reduce back to N.  If you still cannot achieve "N" to "N+1" then rest longer and repeat that length. If unsucessful, go back down the ladder. If successful to 100 yds/m at "N" to N+1, repeat 100s with rest until you can no longer hold it. Note how many in a row you were able to do.

CD:  4 x 25 Easy strokes, feel resistance melt away and try to reduce strokes to N-1

 

Written by Suzanne Atkinson Sunday, 04 December 2011 02:22

Performance Testing at the start of your New Season

December typically represents a time of starting up training for the upcoming year. A solid 3 months of winter conditioning and base building allows the triathlete & cyclist to prepare for a 6-12 week block in the early spring that readies them for racing. But many people are not sure where to start or what they should be doing. Using performance testing at the start of your training year allows you to see exactly where you are, helps you set short and long term targets for the next few months and gives you a baseline for future testing. Two basic types of performance testing or benchmarking exist, Field testing and Laboratory Testing.

Field Testing

Field testing as you'd expect, requires only your training equipment and a suitable testing location. Several different field testing protocols exist, but most of them involve some method of estimating your "Functional Threshold". Functional threshold represents the intensity (how fast) you can sustain for a long period of time, typically an hour. Testing protocols usually use shorter time blocks of testing and some sort of factor to estimate the hour long intensity.

Equipment needed for field testing includes a heart rate monitor, an accurate way of measuring distance such as a GPS watch or cycling computer, a powertap for power measurement, and a measured, safe location for testing. A course that can be easily repeated is ideal such as a track for running, or a low traffic stretch of road with few traffic stops for cycling. Several field testing protocols are described here.

Labratory testing

Labratory testing uses specialized equipment that can be invasive or non-invasive.  "Invasive" testing most commonly involves a small lancet that draws a tiny drop of blood for lactate testing, similar to how a diabetic tests their blood sugar. Non-invasive labaoratory testing includes VO2 Max and ventiliatory threshold testing.  These tests measure inhaled and expired air from your lungs using a tightly fitting mask and sophisticated gas analysis that calcuates the percentage of oxygen & carbon dioxide used or created during incremental exericse.

Both lactate testing and Vo2 testing usually use in incremental step test that follows a standard protocal (but be aware that many protocols exist!).  As with field testing, lactate and VO2 testing is used to estimate an athletes "threshold" exericse intensity.  Threshold refers again to that intensity that can be sustained for up to an hour or more.   With an incremental step test, a treadmill or cycling ergometer (such as a computrainer) gradually incrase the speed or effort required from teh athelte while measurements are taken.  For lactate testing, one drop of blood is tested every 3-4 minutes, while heart rate, perceived exertion & exercise intensity are monitored.  For Vo2 testing the gasses are measured almost constantly, and many variables measured such as oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide produced, and the volume of air exchanged with each breath.

Both tests can then plot these variables against the exercise intensity.  An exercise physiologist interprets these graphs and is able to identify estimates of the athletes lacate threshold, anaerobic threshold, ventiliatory threshold and VO2 max.

What do the results mean?

Estimating your threshhold whether through field or laboratory tesitng allows the athlete  (or their coach) to create training levels.  These training levels then give the athlete a guidline during exericse as to how hard (or easy) to perform their workouts.   The coach carefully plans workouts of different intensities to help improve fitness and performacne throughout the year.   Without some way to plan and create inteinsities, the athlete doesn't have any guidelines to follow, wasting time with either inefficent training, or time lost in trial & error.

What test is best for you?

Field testing is both free and easy to repeat as needed (recommended every 4-8 weeks). It doesn't require extra equipemnt other than what the athlete already has, or trained interpreters of the data.   Even if you have laboratory testing done, you should always perform a field test to help calibrate your results, as each type of testing will have it's own bias.   If you get a lacate/Vo2 test in December, but don't compare it with a field test, unless you repeat the lab tests every 4-8 weeks (which gets expensive), you won't really know how much you've progressed without the baseline field test.

I'll go out on a limb and say that from a practical standoint, there is nothing you get form a lab test that you can't get from field testing.  That doesn't mean that the lab tests are useless or non-needed.   A lacate curve gives you a unique look into your own physiology and when repeated after a block of training, visual progress along all levels of intensity can be identified.   If you've done a number of lactate tests and just want to do a 'check up', steady state, rather than incremental testing can be done to find out if your lactate production has decreased at a fixed intensity level...or an abbreaviated incremental test above & below your known threshold can tell you if you've made improvements on a bigger scale.

Lactate testing gives you the most accurate data on your own body's metabolism...how it converts carbohydrates into lacate during incremental exericse.   As lactate builds in your bloodstream, the date is plotted on a curve against your pace/power and heart rate.  The actual shifts in how your body metabolizes lacate with improved training can be seen by plotting 2 tests several months apart on the same graph. It's consdiered by many to be the gold standard of determining your true lactate threshold.

VO2 testing helps an athelte determine their VO2 Max, which is the maximum amount of oxygen that your body can use.  VO2 Max represents your potential as an endurance athlete, but is not predictive of your actual performance. It represents oxygen used by the body, but doesn't tell us how that energy use converts to speed. If your technqie is poor, you have energy leaks due to weak supporting muscles or are not a seasoned endurance athlete, your oxygen uptake will be high, but your actual enduracne capacity far lower than VO2 Max might suggest.

What to watch out for...

When comparing different testing options, it helps to know a little bit about the equipment used.  Portable lacate meters are an FDA waived device, which makes them able to be used by coaches without special approval as a medical device.  Prices range from $300-500 for the tester.  Many hospitals using a "point of care" testing system use the exact same lactate meters that coaches use.

Vo2 Testing equipment on the other hand ranges from around $5000 for a portable "cart" to $20,000 or more for university level testing equipment.  It's true that you get what you pay for, and if you are interested in VO2 testing I would strongly suggest contacting a univesity based physiology lab that uses gas exchage equipment such as that made by ParvoMedic.    Less expensive metabolic 'carts' give less accurate data on automated protocols with no independant calibration proceedure.

Keep in mind that all of these tests are simply approximations of your current fitness & threshold.   Field testing is the most accessible, least expensive method and should be performed even if you pursue laboratory testing so that you have a baseline of measurement for your next test.

Where can I get testing done?

Steel City Endurance offers poratble lactate testing using the Lactate Scout portable measuring device and a LAB model (highest calibration) Computrainer with ergometer controlled power settings.  Bring your own bicycle and HR monitor and go home with a copy of your test results and suggested zones emailed to your account before you walk out of the door.   Consultaiotn on using and correlating the resulting zoens is included in the testing.   Coach Suzanne is a physician with additional  master's level exercise physiology training & lab experience in interpreting incremental lactate tests and personally evaluates each test result.

If you are interested in Vo2 Testing, I recommend contacting the University of Pittsburgh Sports Performance center or the Exercise Physiology Department at Pitt where calibrated university level gas analysis can be performed for the best accuracy.

 

Written by Suzanne Atkinson Sunday, 21 November 2010 21:20

The onset of winter holidays also marks a time of rest & renewal.  The leaves have fallen, flowers lie dormant, nature spends the winter months hibernating in order to build new energy & life for spring.  Likewise triathletes & runners face unique challenges in the winter months if they are recovering from running injuries.  How can you best rehabilitate those chronic nagging injuries from a season of training?   A good off-season traithlon program will help you start next season fresh and ready to reach new milestones.

Triathletes typically suffer from more running injuries than runners do for a few reasons.  First, triathletes are typically heavier than runners due to addional muscle mass built from swimming, cycling & for some, weight training.  The average male triathlete may weight 25 lbs more than the average male runner.  AS a result, their relative Vo2 max is lower, which makes running more strenuous and the ground impact force with each stride is higher, increasing the likelyhood of running injuries.

Secondly, triathletes train for similar common run distances as pure runners...5k, 10k, half-marathon & marathon distances.  But they do so on a much lower training volume than runners do.  If a triathlete is unable to put in adequate mileage for a good running foundation, the likelhood of sustaining injury due to racing a distance they are undertrained for increases as well.  Ironically, more volume in running doesn't necessarily result in more injuries, it all depends on how much running background you have and how quickly you've built up your run training.

Stay tuned for more ideas about off-season training & running rehabilitation activities.

Written by Suzanne Atkinson Sunday, 04 December 2011 02:02

This past week Steel City Endurance Bicycle racing team and Sponsors gathered at ProBikes in the Squirrel Hill of Pittsburgh, PA to celebreate our 4th year of racing.  While putting together a short list of season highlights I realized (once again), what an incredible group of dedicated and talented cyclists we have,  along with sponsors who have been with us since Day #1.

The team's accomplishments are many, but here are the highlights, starting with the incredible Women's Racing Squad, now in their 4th year of racing, and comprised of Cat 3 & 4 road & cyclocross racers.

Women's Team

Kate Bennet #1 Cat 4 ABRA Crit Series
Stacie Truskowski #1 ABRA Cyclocross Series
Rachel Weaver #1 Womens ACA Criteerium Series
Patty George #1 Overall Tour of the Valley
Anne Marie Alderson – First Place Fort Classic (#6ABRA Road),  Dirty Dozen Overall Women's Winner 2011

It goes without saying that these accomplishments of individuals are all team accomplishments as well. The ladies have truly learned how to function as a bike racing team in order to support individual goals.  Special thanks also to Barb Grabowski, now retired from racing, a Cat 2 racer who podiumed in every event (road, time trial, criterium) in last year's masters nationals.  Barb has provided excellent mentorship & guidance to the womens team as well as orgnaizing our annual team training trip over the past several years.

Men's Team

Mens Team Overall: B Series Winner, Allegheny Cycling Association
Doug Riegner B Series Winner ACA
Joe Lydic First Place Connelsville Criterium (abra #2)
Mike Quigley First Place Pro Bikes Criterium Championship (abra #5)

Again, I stress that these are all team accomplishements and season highlights. There were many, many more podium finishes and I'm certain I've missed some accomplishemnts of several of the team members.

 

Sponsor Highlights include the sponsors who have been with us every year since our inception, allowing us to supply the team with racing kits & supplement travel expense and race entery fees:

4 Year Sponsors:
Pittsburgh Pro Bikes
Tuscano Insurance  (Rob, Terry & Ginny Tuscano)
Padgett Business Services (Jim merante)
Square Cafe (Sherree Goldstein)
Feldstein Grinberg Stein & McKee (Jeff Balicki & Partners)
Allegro Hearth Bakery  (Omar Higley)

Finally, this year for the first time, we awarded a "Sponsor of the Year" award. This year the award went to Tuscano Agency, located in greesburg, PA for their ongoing support and the largest dollar amount given to the team so far. THey have had a promitned position on our kits, both top & bottom and everyone who has seen us race, is familiar with the name.   We'll be posting a feature story on Tuscano Agency so you can become familiar with the company as well.

Written by Suzanne Atkinson Friday, 12 November 2010 03:04

I've been having trouble focusing on my form...it's like I don't want to go back to basics, or when I try some of the basic focuses, my stroke doesn't feel smooth and connected...my breathing doesn't feel smooth and I get frustrated.

Tonight I decided to do a stroke counting set of trying to start at 16 strokes and increase by 1 with each 25.

By mere fact of trying to attain a specific stroke count, which gave purpose to my swim, I suddenly felt connected and smooth in the water.  My first 25 was 15 strokes!  I tried to increase the tempo just a hair and hit 15 strokes again.  3rd 25 was 17 strokes and the 4th was 18.

I've got no clue what the time was, but at the end I was slightly out of breath and had a "sensation" of a 1:40 100.

Written by Suzanne Atkinson Sunday, 04 December 2011 02:02

I can't wait to get into the pool today.  Two days ago I had what felt like a breakthrough swim.  Those days are so exciting and I hardly wanted to get out of the pool.

I've made huge improvements in my swimming the past 2 years since being involved as a TI coach. But as always, I want to be better, and faster.   While speed isn't necessarily my primary goal, it's hard not to sometimes look around at other swimmers in the pool, know that many aspects of my technique are "better" than theirs and yet still they seem so comfortable swimming 10 sec/100 faster than me. Rather than engage in "secret racing" I choose to focus more intently on my own swim and what I can do to improve it.

The breakthrough came at the end of a set of the following:

4 Rounds of:

3x100 Free + 1 x 100 IM on a 2 minute base, rest 2 minutes between rounds.

The intent of the set was to hold a consistent SPL for the Free while maintaining or improving my speed. The IM was focused on mainly the short axis strokes doing some focal points I've recently been working on. I managed to hold 17/18 SPL for all of the free (1 or 2 lengths of 19), and descended my time from 1:40 to 1:34 while doing so.

But the lady next to me was still swimming 1:25s for 300yd repeats!

At the end of the set I focused on my catch. I've been workign on this for awhile with Coach Dave, trying to eliminate a "too early" elbow drop. Even though I'm following his, and my own advice, I just continued to feel awkward.

I tried another focal point I was reminded of by Terry this past week..."Move your elbow forward".  In the catch position, the notion of moving the elbow forward helps bring the forearm into a better catch position keeping the elbow from dropping too soon. From a standing position, you can see how this small thought & movement helps bring the elbow into better orientation for a good catch.

I tried 2 lengths of it and it still felt awkward, my stroke count was 22 and I was frustrated.

I motioned again at the side of the pool and relized that there was only so much "forward" I could gain while practicing the movement standing still at the end of the lane.  I reasoned that when i swim, my body is already moving forward...why not try to simply KEEP the elbow moving foward as my arm fell into place?

The next thing that happened was magic!  I swam as I normally do, but this time I thoought about moving the elbow forward not with an awkward twist in my shoulder joint, but simply keepign the elbow moving as my body slid over the rest of the arm.  There was a point where the arm then naturally moved backwards as if I was lifting myself out of the pool deck on a press out.

I had mentally visualized this, and even demonstrated the movement on dry land hundreds of times...but it suddenly came together in the pool just by delaying the stroke a fraction of a second.

I used the momentum I already had to move the elbow forward in a relative manner to the rest of my arm.  I swam the next 2 25s in 20 seconds and the next 50 in 40 seconds and hardly felt winded. In the recent past, these would have been all out sprints for me.

The key was in waiting, and during that waiting time, the palm is applying that oh-so-gentle pressure that I've heard about, as the body rotates and continues to move forward...but what follows feels like silky magic, rather than the big arm of water I'd had before.

I definately will need to experiemnt more with this and I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

What does your catch feel like?

Written by Suzanne Atkinson Saturday, 05 February 2011 01:40

What is periodization?

"It pays to plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built his ark". -original author unknown

Periodization is a way to divide your training into phases with each phase having it's own purpose in developing your skills & fitness according to your primarily sport or goal. Training progresses logically throughout the season by changing the total volume, intensity and specific skills that the athlete focuses upon. Rugby coach Fredick Claro stated it nicely:

Each of these phases is interacting with the other ones like the links of a chain, making the final result an optimally prepared athlete or group of athletes, physically, technically, tactically and psychologically ready for the toughness of competition.

Most endurance athletes who do their own reading and research will be familiar with the periodization method adapted by Joe Friel in his popular "Training Bible" series of books. While Joe's model will bring success to many who plan their season according to it, many athletes would be even more prepared for their competitive race season by following other methods of periodization. If you want to reach your maximum potential as an amateur or recreational endurance athlete, keep reading for some new ideas that could give you even better results this race season.

Written by Suzanne Atkinson Friday, 09 October 2009 00:00

The arms are at least 50% of running yet most triathletes let them do as they wish without conscious effort in using them to refine form. These are not my original ideas, rather my assimilation of many sessions with Bobby McGee, possibly the greatest running coach alive, and one of the smartest people I've been aquainted with.

There is a kinetic chain of motion that connects your upper and lower body. Right arm connected to left leg and left arm connected to right leg. What one limb does mirrors & synergistically affects the other. Shoulder and hip are connected, elbow and knee are connected, wrist and ankle are connected.

Arms swing naturally from the shoulder joints which should be loose and relaxed and respond naturally to the movement and motion of the alternate hip.

 

Written by David Burke Sunday, 10 June 2007 03:42

Technique
As I mentioned in the beginning, most riders have the mechanics of a turn down, and can coast through a corner. Taking the speed from above, and applying a good technique to a criterium corner is what can really set a rider apart, and can help a rider save time and energy in the pack, or gain precious seconds in a break.