In order to prepare, you’ll need to create an environment that’s similar to race day and gather a group of your training buddies. You’ll need a fairly good-sized group. Twenty or more athletes would be great, but you can accomplish quite a lot with a group of even 10. Have everyone bring wetsuits, thermal caps and whatever else they would wear on race day. The more you prepare like it’s race day the better you will do on race day!

The next thing you’ll need is a pool and you should pull several of the lane lines out. Have everyone get in their normal ‘lanes’ and swim a solid warm up of about 500 yards. Then have your group swim 10 x 50 yard repeats with short rest. Swimming in the pool without lane lines should cause some rougher than normal water and your athletes will get familiar with what race day condition will be like. If you have a small group move everyone into one side of the pool to create a rougher swim.

Next, you should secure a race buoy or kids bouncy ball (www.jumpingballs.com) and tie it off to a rope and secure it to a diving brick. If you reach out to a local race director he might be willing to loan you a swim buoy for a few hours. Anchor the buoy or ball somewhere at the far end of the pool. I like to anchor the ball toward the left corner of the pool and have the group start from the right hand corner of the group. I usually anchor the buoy with a diving brick and some rope.

Next, arrange your group in one area of the pool with the faster swimmers in the back and the medium paced swimmers toward the front. On the whistle have everyone swim to the buoy, turn around the buoy and return. Once everyone gets back to the start point, ask them how they felt getting swum over, punched kicked and knocked around. Most will tell you they didn’t like it. The reason for doing this drill is so that they understand what they are up against on race day. Next up, pair swimmers of similar ability and have them swim one behind the other, with the purpose of getting them to learn to draft. After that drill, have the same pairs swim, but this time let the lead swimmer be the drafter and vice versa. One more key drill I like to use is to have the swimmers pair up and have the drafting swimmer, close their eyes and only feel for the water – no sighting whatsoever. Once again, have the swimmers trade places so that each gets to be the drafter.

Lastly, I would put everyone in close quarters again and have them practice a few starts around the buoy and back. Take as much time as you can to allow for practicing starting positions, ‘get out speed’, and turns around the buoy. Many new swimmers will want to go wide around the buoy, while faster swimmers will hit the turn fast. Have people think about what’s important to their race success; whether it be swimming wide around the buoy or tight with a sharp turn. As we all know swimming an extra 100 yards in an ironman race, in order to avoid the melee around the turn buoys will not affect the outcome of a twelve to seventeen hour race.

A quick recap of the article:
1. Arrange a group of swimmers with all their race day swim gear: wetsuits, caps, goggles, booties, etc.
2. Use a pool that you can pull the lanes out of.
3. Use a good warm up that will make the water a bit rough, giving swimmers some idea of what open water swimming is like.
4. Set up a buoy or some type of flotation device in the far end of the pool that should be used like a turn buoy.
5. Let your swimmers practice mass starts.
6. Have your swimmers practice drafting; one time with eyes open and another time with their eyes closed in order to get a feel for the person in front of them.
7. Practice swim exits and use a handicap ramp if possible and work on removing the wetsuit with timely fashion.
8. Don’t be afraid to try these same drills in the open water once a venue is available for you.

Mike Ricci is a Level III USA Triathlon Certified Coach and has been coaching endurance athletes since 1989. Mike founded D3 in 2000, and has slowly added top-notch, USAT certified coaches each year to handle the demand for high quality triathlon coaching. In the past six years, D3 Coaches have coached hundreds of athletes to their first triathlon and hundreds more to become Ironman Finishers. From 2002-2008, D3 was awarded the job of writing the training programs for the USA World Championship Teams. Mike has coached top ranked pro triathletes as well as National Age Group Champions, Ironman Kona Qualifiers and Xterra World Champ Qualifiers. Currently, Mike coaches the University of CO Triathlon Team who are the two-time defending National Collegiate Champions.

Last month I talked about the "Myth of LSD" and how base training was essentially your chance to set yourself up to have a good race season while improving your aerobic fitness. Now that you are into your base season, or at least you should be, you can gauge your fitness by jumping into some races to see where you really are. There is a great quote by Dr. Daniels ? the great running coach and author ? who once said, ?If you want to train faster, prove it by racing faster.? Well, now is your chance! If you want to prove that you should be training at a faster pace you can prove it by racing faster, and find out where you really are. Let?s look over a few keys to racing during base:

Timing:
Picking the right time to race during base training can be tricky. Of course you have your long run days, long bike days, etc so how you space out the races is important. Don?t forget you will be pushing yourself to a pretty hard effort level that you haven?t felt in a while. Steve Bouey running strong at IMNZ.

This especially holds true if this is your first race of the year. Typically, I have my athletes gear up for a half marathon or 10k early in the season ? somewhere around Base then beginning of Base 2 or Base 4. You may wonder why not schedule the race at the end of a recovery week ? and you could, but I choose to do it the week after a recovery week. I feel this gives the athlete a better chance to absorb more of the fitness in the last Base Phase that was completed. I create my schedules in three week blocks, so after two weeks, I schedule an easier week, and then after week one of the next phase, I schedule the race.

Why race during the base season:
I like to race one time per month, even in the off season. It keeps me connected to that ?race feeling?. You know what I mean: the butterflies, the anticipation and all that goes with it. The more you race, the easier it becomes. Once it becomes routine, you can relax more before and during the race. Another reason to race is to see how you do in a competitive environment ? being disciplined to hold back and let the race come to you. Going out front to hammer a race and blowing to bits 1 mile later will teach you very quickly about pacing. I think going out hard and trying to hang on is one of the best lessons on pacing we could ever learn.

You can jump into a low key race during base to see where you are with pace and heart rate, to measure yourself against others and yourself, to see what?s changed, what you can improve, practice race day nutrition, to get out there and enjoy your fitness. For some of you, it may be to just beat people. Whatever it is, we all have a good reason to do it.

How hard should I race?
Of course this depends on what you are training for. When I have athletes preparing for half Ironman or longer, I have them schedule a half marathon during the Base Phase ? just to let them go out there and see that running 13.1 miles is a long race. On the other side, for athletes racing sprint and Olympic distance races, I have them race a 5k and or a 10k.

For some people just running a 10k is hard enough, but racing one is even harder. For beginners, I like to see them use a heart rate monitor and try to focus on keeping within certain ranges for the first few miles of a 10k. I give them a plan of a mid Zone 2 for 2 miles, and a Zone 3-4 goal for 2 miles, and then let them go crazy the next 2 miles. For a 5k I would advise just running at or near your LT for the entire time. For a longer race like a half marathon, I set a plan of Zone 2-3 for 5 miles, Zone 3 for 5 miles, and then a ?let it rip? for the final 5k. This formula has worked for most people, so don?t be afraid to try it.

What distance should I race in Base Phase?
My answer is ?Challenge yourself!? Move up to the next harder distance for you. If you worked up to a 5k last year, try out a 10k or if 10k is relatively easy, try a 15k or a half marathon. Whatever it is, try to push yourself to something new.

Lastly, one comment I would like to add is that for the slightly more experienced athletes, don?t be afraid to ride your bike to the local 5 or 10k or even ride long the day before. Racing on tired legs is what you do in a triathlon and practicing it in race-like conditions will only help you get better at it. Allow your body to become used to that feeling and you will find that racing during the Base Phase will become a key to a successful season.

Michael Ricci is a USAT Level II certified coach. He can be reached for personal coaching at mike@d3multisport.com.

Tags: heart rate training, triathlon racing

Swim - Three builds with perfect form. Total time: 36 minutes

For any workout, always spend the first five to ten minutes warming up. The harder you plan on going, the longer you should spend getting the body ready for the impact. So, start off by swimming easy and doing simple drills until you hit the ten minute mark. Then, start a gradual build, increasing the speed just a little bit each lap. The key is to make sure you keep perfect form for the entire build. No matter what, you have to keep perfect form. You should hit maximum output at about five minutes in, and have to stop from total exhaustion. Remember, if you out-swim your good form, then you can't go that fast. Swim a couple minutes very easy to recover, then repeat the build and recovery two more times. After that, cool down for five minutes.

Bike - "Neighborhood Freak." Total time: 35 minutes

Find a neighborhood with a bunch of turns and stops on the streets. Warm up just riding around casually for about ten minutes. Then, spend twenty minutes accelerating off of every turn and stop like a madman! Once you reach top speed, coast to recover until the next stop or turn. The repeated all-out sprints from a near stand-still will build massive leg strength and aerobic capacity. Cool down by riding easy for five minutes.

Run - "Mind Jog." Total time: 30 - 40 minutes

Did you know that 95% of our thoughts are repeats of the same old thoughts? That takes up a lot of your free time where you could be thinking about something useful. The reason you repeat thoughts is because your brain doesn't think you've recorded it yet. Get those repeating thoughts out of your head by making a to do list from them! Here's how:
Before you start, grab a voice recorder or get familiar with the voice recorder app on your smart phone. Head out the door or get on the treadmill and start an easy run. Try to keep a clear mind. Shortly, a thought about something annoying or that you need to do will pop into your head. Record that thought. If it pops into your head again, tell yourself that you've already got it recorded and to move on. Goodbye, time sucker! Soon, another undone task will come to you. Keep recording and letting the tasks flow until your brain is done bothering you with all that junk. By the end of a thirty minute run, you should have a clear mind and a list of things to do today! You will feel much better than when you started and also have a nice run under your belt. Good job!

Brett Blanker, a D3 Multisport Coach, is also the founder and producer of the longest running podcast on the net: Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Brett is USAT Certified Coach and is on a quest for never ending information regarding triathlon training to help his athletes get to the finish line as fast as they can. You can follow him on Twitter @zentriathlon or listen to his podcast @ www.zentriathlon.com

Riding inside not only saves time, it eliminates exposure to potholes, the random school bus, dogs and bears (yes in Boulder bears have gotten in the way of cyclists). It also allows for focused and uninterrupted training and testing.

Obviously threshold testing is best done in a lab but that is not available to everyone and/or is not an expense you want to incur every 4-6 weeks. You can accomplish almost the same thing with a Computrainer or similar indoor set up that includes a power meter and HR monitor. (For the purpose of this article, I’ll be focusing on the Computrainer ).

Computrainer adds a third metric that is very helpful; it's what they call
'SpinScan'. This graphically shows the power (actually torque) you are
producing through the 360 degree pedal stroke. Developing and maintaining a
smooth pedal stroke makes for more efficient cycling and the proof is in
seeing what happens in a time trial test .

Any test that is done outside can be done inside. My favorite is based
on one found in Joe Friel's Triathlete Training Bible. It consists of
an extended warm up which includes a short 5 min effort at your
Functional Power Threshold (the power you can sustain for 60 min). The
test itself is 20 min at an intensity you can maintain for the duration
(more than your Functional Threshold). You don't want to start out hard
and fade near the end nor do you want the reverse to happen. At the end you should feel that
you could if challenged you could continue at this level for another few minutes.
The important thing is that each time you do the test you follow the
same warm up. An you should do your testing on reasonably fresh legs.

Obviously a big brick or high intensity workout the day before is not
going to give you a good measure of your progress. On the other hand, you
don't have to taper as if you are racing. Being consistent will give
you the best measure of progress. The two days of training leading into
the test day and the warm up should be the same each time. With a ride
inside you will will limit the variables as best you can to just you and your fitness.

The workout that I give to my athletes is as follows:

Warm up for 20 min at 50% of Lactate Threshold (LT) (i.e. easy) at your
normal cadence. Then3x1 min at high Cadence (95-105 rpm) with 1 min
active recovery at about 65% of LT. End the warm up with 5 min at 50%
LT.

5 Min at your expected effort level for the main 20 min test, which will come next. This
should not be killing you as you finish. If it is, your ego is
deceiving you. Follow with 10 min back at 65% LT.

20 Min Time Trial. Objective is to set a pace that can be sustained for
the duration and not much longer. Select a gear that puts your cadence
in the range that you normally use when rigging fast. This is not the
time to experiment with very high or low cadence.
With Power Meter (Computrainer or other device) save the results. If you
use Training Peaks or similar software that allows you to import power
file, do so. You could also analyze the results using Computrainer's
Coaching Software.

CD: 10-15 Min very easy pace.

On a Computrainer this should be done on a flat course. My
recommendation is to use the Flat Loop Course and set the number of laps
to a number that exceeds your capability for the duration. You could use
the Computrainer without the PC but then you would loose the SpinScan
data. Keeping an eye on the Spin Scan Numbers helps you stay focused on
good form. As noted before you don't need a Computrainer for this test.
As long as you can measure power and HR you have the essential data.

When you first do this test you will be lucky if you get the effort level
right for the duration. When you look at the data you will probably see
one of the following: Power starts out for 10-15 min at a steady level
but after an initial jump in HR it does not level out. Towards the end
of the 20 min HR is still going up and power may be dropping.
Alternatively , after the initial jump of HR it levels off with power
staying constant, towards the end you realize you have more in the tank
and power goes up with some increase in HR. Not to worry, next time
around adjust accordingly.

The SpinScan data can also tell you something about your level of
fatigue as you approach the end of the 20 min. SpinScan main metric is
a measure of how uniform your torque is through the 360 degree pedal
stroke - (when you are riding the Computrainer you can
see the torque of your pedal stroke in a Polar Diagram ). A 100 would mean you applied equal power thru the entire revolution - impossible from a physiological standpoint. A number in the range of 70-80 is considered an efficient pedal stroke, i.e. you are not mashing.

It should be noted that the Computrainer is measuring the power of both
the left and right legs together so the torque falls off when you are
passing through the top and bottom of the pedal stroke. When you start to
fatigue your ability to pedal smoothly falls off and you will see a drop
in the SpinScan number.

Without SpinScan you can get some idea of how smoothly your pedal stroke
is doing by listening to the noise from your wheel. A wide range of
sound indicates mashing.

If the first time you do the test you have not found the correct
intensity it would make sense to repeat the test about a week later. Be
honest with yourself about your "taper" for the test. Adjust if you
think you did not give yourself enough rest or perhaps too much, the day or two
before. If you did not warm up as above do so this time. Finally ,adjust
your target power level according to what happened in the first test.

A successful test would be one that does not vary more than 5% over the
20 min and you could squeeze out a bit more. When you accomplish this
you should continue to do the next 1-2 tests at the same power levels.
If training is going well and you are being consistent with your "taper"
and warm up you will see a drop in average HR. Once that is established
you can up the power on the next test noting what happens to your HR and
SpinScan.

Once you have had a successful test you can use the data to establish HR
and or Power Training Zones. Your Functional Threshold Power will be
between 5-10% of the average power in the test. Where you fall in that
range will depend a lot on the training you have been doing. How you use
the information for training is a topic for a separate article.

The two books I look to for advice/ideas on this topic are the previously
mentioned ‘Triathlete's Training Bible’ and Andy Coggins', ‘Training with
Power’.

Enjoy the upcoming warmer weather and the subsequent increase in outdoor rides, but keep those indoors sessions going at least once a week - even in mid summer. You will
see significant results!

Simon Butterworth is a seven time Kona finisher and finished 3rd in his AG
in 2011. He is a certified USA Cycling Coach and has been racing and
coaching for over twenty years.

Most of us log countless pool laps during the winter months focusing on technique or volume or intensity (or some combination). It’s pretty easy to swim in a straight line in the pool. Follow the black line beneath the smooth, crystal clear water to the “T”, then turn around and repeat. Unfortunately, this doesn’t prepare us for navigating the more complex open water environment.

We all have stories about swimming off course or seeing other athletes doing the same. At a 70.3 distance race couple of seasons ago, the swim was a simple out-and-back along a buoy line. If there ever was a chance to swim a true 1.2 miles, this was it. I got out in the lead pack with two other guys and settled into a nice draft in second position. The athlete in front was unquestionably a faster swimmer than I was and I was working hard just to stay on. Despite his speed, he was a terrible navigator and about halfway out to the turnaround, he was moving so far off course that the drafting advantage was worthless when compared to the extra distance we were swimming. The other guy and I peeled off, swam straight to the turn buoy, and navigated a straight line back to the beach. We never saw that early leader again. I have no idea where he was headed, but he sure was headed there fast! Checking the results, he hit T1 about 90 seconds behind me. Here’s a guy who would dust me in a pool who now had to try to chase me down on the bike.

So, assuming you can’t practice in open water during the winter, what can you be doing now to prepare for the challenges of open water? Integrate the following drills/techniques into your pool swims.

Practice sighting. There are two ways to sight. Practice both and remember that it’s fastest to continue breathing to the side—don’t use sighting as an opportunity to take a breath.
o When the water is calm, you can just lift your head until your goggles are out of the water without taking your whole head out. Twice per length of the pool, take your eyes out of the water and sight the end of the lane. Be sure you actually focus on the end of the pool, the blocks, or a cone on the deck. You’re not just looking up or forward—practice with purpose.
o When the water is choppy, you may need to lift you head completely out of the water. Practice as above. This is where having a solid catch and a strong kick will pay dividends!

Check for stroke imbalances that pull you off course. Push off right down the center of your lane and swim with your eyes closed until you reach the far end of the pool or bump into a lane line. Do this at least a few times. Do you always pull to one side? Is it connected to the side you breathe on? A couple of cautions: Know your stroke count—if you make it a long way down the pool, be sure to open your eyes a couple of strokes before the wall. Also, make sure no one is coming toward you in the lane!

Practice buoy turns. You can practice u-turns within your lane by turning around at the flags instead of the wall. If you have the opportunity to swim in a pool without lane lines, you can practice 90 degree turns as well.

Practice swimming in traffic. Get 3 or 4 of your friends in your lane with you and push off the wall all at once. Be sure to rotate positions each time you push off so sometimes you’re in the middle and sometimes on an end.

Practice drafting. Swim right on the feet of the swimmer in front of you. (Do this with people you know. Strangers get a little worked up about this sort of thing…) If you have multiple friends, you can swim leapfrog style where each swimmer leads for a set distance (e.g., 50 yards) then stops at the wall to let the group pass before jumping on the back. Remember that you have to be very close to the swimmer in front of you to get the full advantage of the draft. You can practice drafting off the hip as well as following behind.

Finally, don’t forget about your wetsuit. You can practice any of the skills above or just swim a regular workout (or a portion of it) in your wetsuit. Check with the manufacturer of your suit just to be sure, but as long as you don’t swim in it a lot and always rinse it out thoroughly afterwards, the chlorine shouldn’t be a problem.

Integrating open water skills into your off-season pool swims will give you an advantage into T1. Fast open water triathlon swim splits are the result of speed AND good navigation. Don’t wait until your first race of the season to practice. ~ Coach Dave Sheanin

I had an accident and was told that I would never walk without pain again. The Doctor (who was supposed to be a sports doc) told me that I would never run again. When I was going through rehab, I started doing a lot of Yoga. I also really got into a consistent swimming and cycling training rotation. I noticed that as I got stronger and improved my flexibility, my leg felt better. Coincidentally, I read an article somewhere that said something like 80% of people get into triathlon because of an injury. I don't know if it is true, but it got me thinking that the only way I was going to feel good about myself again would be through competing. Maybe I would never run again, but who cares? One month after getting my cast off, I did my first sprint tri.

When and where was your first race?

The Danskin sprint tri at Aurora Reservoir. I think my finish time was around 2:44 with the 5k alone taking an hour. It was incredibly painful, but my PT said that I couldn't hurt myself. Any pain would just be pain I had to learn to deal with.

FYI--it took me 3 years post accident, but I don't have any pain anymore.

You have your own business – what is it?

CCO Menswear is a men's online retailer. We specialize in in the fashion market. In other words, the styles you see professional sports figures wear, that's what we sell. We've done outfits for the Saturday Night Live Christmas special. Our suits have been on Broadway and many college productions. But probably one of my favorites is that we dress the reigning National Champion Barber Shop Chorus. Those guys are absolutely amazing! We also offer executive suits, but our biggest business is the fashion suit line.

What did you do before this business venture?

I was Director of Global Operations for a storage company. I managed all the engineers in the field and the sales team. I got to see the world, but I also spent too much time away from my family.

The hardest day for me was the day the towers came down. I am from Brooklyn, NY. I had engineers in the Pentagon and in the towers. We were scrambling to find out what happened to them when my cell phone rang, and I found out that I also had 4 family members in the towers. I lost a cousin that day.

That day just shook me to the core. That's when I realized that I needed to dedicate more time to Mike and the boys. So, I quit without another job lined up.

What services have you used at D3 to help you with reaching your goals?

Quarterly plan with DA MAN Ricci.

Have you done any races that you’d traveled for?

Yes. I like traveling for races. I've done different races from tris to marathons and half marathons. Traveling was always challenging with small kids and tri gear (or maybe I'm just not organized). Now that my kids are getting ready to head to college, my time commitments are so different. I'm looking forward to doing more races. Last year, I sherpa'd for a friend at St. Anthony's. That one might be on my list next year.

I would also love to do Ironman Ireland 70.3 and head back to the homeland. Can you imagine? I am first generation US Born. My parents were born in Dublin. Can you think of anything more fantastic? Bucket list.

Best Triathlon moment?

HA! I asked my husband this question, and we both laughed and said "Harvest Moon 70.3"!

I was under trained for this race. I just didn't respect the distance. A difficult distance was made even worse when on the run a storm hit. I'm talking a storm of epic proportions. It makes me laugh thinking about it. There were 45mph winds, rain, thunder, lightning and golf ball sized hail. I was 6 miles from the finish. There's no where to really take cover on the run course. I see an aid station with teenagers hiding under the table. Then, I see an outhouse, one of those big ones meant for wheelchairs. I yell at the teenagers to take cover in the outhouse. Me and 6 teenage volunteers take cover in an outhouse. I look out and think that the storm is not ending anytime soon. If I plan on finishing, I have to get back out there. I tell them to stay there because I'm sure the RD will be by to pick them up. I left to finish. With 3 miles left, the RD drove by me, asked if I was ok and if I wanted a ride. I said, "I'm fine, and I'm going to finish". I was drenched, my shoes were filled with water, and I had mud all over my legs.

And, I did finish. But, the reason that race is so memorable is not because I finished. Rather, the next day the RD posted on the website that there were 15 people out on the run course when the storm hit and not one of them accepted the ride back to the finish. The last person that day finish in well over 9 hours.

What is your favorite race and why?

The one I haven't done. Because that's what keeps me going.

What are your long term goals in triathlon?

For the next 4 or 5 years, I am starting over. This year, I am focusing on the sprint distance, next year oly, then half iron, then ironman again. But I reserve the right to change my mind.

If you could spend one day training with anyone, who would it be?

My husband Mike.

What’s in your race future?

A Bunch of sprint tris. My first race is 6/1. I feel pretty confident that I can PR on the bike and run.

What’s your favorite workout?

I love those short, painful threshold workouts.

What your least favorite workout?

Anything with long intervals ie: 1 mile intervals on the run or 500m intervals for swimming.

Tell us something interesting about you!

Would you believe that I've never had a McDonald's hamburger? Probably not, but it's true.
Justin (16 year old) and I were invited to climb Denali this year. Unfortunately, the trip was scheduled for the week Jordan graduates from high school. Maybe next year!

I have 2 awesome sons who are 18 and 16.

This year, 2012, Mike and I celebrate 19 years together.

I am a hiking fanatic and rock and ice climber. Some of my favorite times are being at the top of a mountain with my younger son. When many teens are hanging out with their friends, I know that twice a month, my son chooses to hang out with me. There is nothing like it. It's amazing. To me, it's greater than any race finish.

Let’s look at a typical week of an age group athlete:
• Monday, Wednesday, & Friday – Master’s swim (high intensity)
• Monday, Wednesday, & Friday – weight training (high intensity)
• Tuesday & Thursday – spin class (high intensity)
• Tuesday, Friday, Sunday – running (Tuesday and Friday are plodding sessions b/c you are dead from your psycho spin class) Sunday is a group run, with a lot of hard running.
• Saturday is a long spin class or a group ride (you are usually toast after this ride)

Oh yeah, and by the way, after 3 weeks of this, you have a cold, can’t work out and all your so-called fitness is gone! Does anyone think this look familiar? It’s ok to put your hand up and admit it as I can’t see you reading this article. ;-)

So – how do you change this pattern of self-abuse? There are 2 critical steps in creating a productive weekly plan:
• Step 1 is the hard/easy concept – after every hard day, an easy day follows
• Step 2 is the repeatability factor- how many days in a row can you repeat what you are doing?

Step 1: An athlete (or coach) should create a schedule around this concept. A hard day should be followed by an easy day or an easy thirty six hours. If an athlete is deeply fatigued they can take two easy days or a complete day off. Sounds easy enough, but athletes have a tendency to over do it. Trust me, I have been there!

Step 2: Even though you are training day after day it doesn’t have to be all low intensity and it shouldn’t be. You can add some upper aerobic workouts, some faster swims and some strides on the run. It all comes down to what’s called ‘repeatability’. Could you repeat this workout tomorrow? If you can’t, then maybe you should back off.

Here’s an example of two different athletes, and how different their training plans are: John and Bob both attend the same spin class on Thursday. It’s a 90 minute grinder, the teacher is one of those screaming, in your face psycho instructors who yells at you for not maxing your heart rate.

Bob is all about getting the most out of his 90 minutes. He hammers himself into the ground and just crushes himself. His HR is through the roof, and that night he is still sore and he can’t even sleep. As a matter of fact, he can’t get his workout in on Friday or Saturday he is so wiped. He goes out to run on Sunday but it’s a slow plod and he thinks “Wow, I really pushed myself on Thursday, I am getting more fit.”

John on the other hand, knows he has to recover for Friday night’s Master’s swim and he is still has the group ride on Saturday too. His training plan has purpose and he knows what needs to be done. He is going to cap his heart rate at 5 beats over the top of Zone 2. John goes high into his aerobic zone and even bumps his heart rate into Zone 3 on some of the climbs, but he quickly recovers. After the spin session he is still ready to face his other workouts later in the week.

If this scenario took place over 6 weeks, with John hitting most if not all of his workouts and Bob missing 3 workouts a week, who is going to be more fit after 6 weeks? Bob, who blows himself up whenever he can workout, or John who rarely misses a workout and just keeps grinding the workouts out, week after week, month after the month? My money is John. Here’s why:

John’s consistency over time will keep his aerobic base and fitness level growing. When it comes time to add in some race specific workouts, his body will be ready to absorb those harder type efforts because he has built the foundation to do so. His ability to be smart enough to know how hard he can go each day, week in and week out, will allow him to keep repeating his training cycle without any major hiccups. Bob on the other hand is pretty much hosed and his improvement has stagnated for another season. Of course he will wonder why. After all, he pushes himself very hard in that spin class and he can get his heart rate very high. He just can’t seem to put any consistent weeks of training in. If you see Bob, make sure he reads this article.

Finally here’s what a typical week of an age group could look like:
• Monday, Wednesday, & Friday – Master’s swim (Monday hard, Wednesday is easy, Friday is pacing)
• Monday & Friday – weight training (high reps, low weight)
• Tuesday & Thursday – spin class (Tuesday work on cadence and form. Thursday: work on big gear strength, low cadence but still, keep the HR down!). Saturday is a long spin class or a group ride (keep the HR down, well below the top of Zone 2)
• Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday – running (Tuesday easy run for 30’. Wednesday is your long day; keep the HR in Zone 2, not above! Friday is another easy aerobic day, keep is easy! Saturday can be a run after your bike, 30-60’)

To wrap it up, Monday would be a hard day with a lifting session and Tuesday is an easier day. Wednesday would be easy swim with a long run. Thursday has only one workout and it’s hard, but Friday is an easy day. Saturday is a longer day, and Sunday is your time off to spend with family. This is just an example, not a recommendation. But it does look similar to my weekly routine which is here: My Training Week

In the end, you have to train at the intensity that is appropriate for you and you only! And of course train consistently week after week. Those are the keys to getting to that next level in the new year!

Michael Ricci is a USAT certified coach. He can be reached for personal coaching at mike@d3multisport.com