Sport Rotation-Breaking the 10% Rule Cont'd Reply:        Many times when I start working with an athlete they are usually stronger in one event than the other two. Typically I introduce them to something I call ‘Sport Rotation’. Whatever the weakest event is I have the athlete start a training cycle that helps them address this weakness specifically. You can read more about Sport Rotation here: www.d3multisport.com/articles/sportrotate.html         In the case of this athlete, the first thing to be addressed is the amount of volume they are training. Most of us have limited time and this case is no different, however, cycling volume for an IM should be closer to 150 miles per week, and 25-30 miles per week running. For someone with a strong swim background, three swims per week is adequate, but if this is your weaker event, then maybe four to five swims might be better. So as this athlete gets within 18 weeks of their Ironman race, I would suggest at least 3 hours per week of swimming, 8 hours of cycling and 4 hours of running.         In order to be able to handle this volume, the athlete will have to slowly increase the volume; and this where the Sport Rotation method can be applied. With a December marathon on the schedule you can kick start the run focus in September. This will give the athlete plenty of time to build up running frequency (how many times per week) and running duration (how much time for each workout). Starting out with something as simple as 1 longer run of one hour, 1 shorter run of 30 minutes, and two to three fifteen to twenty minute runs will do the trick. Over time you will add ten minutes per week to the longer run, and eventually bring the shorter run up to one hour. The fifteen to twenty minute runs eventually become thirty to forty five minute runs as well. Yes, you break the 10% rule but if you want to improve you can't do everything by the book. Martina Young at IM Austria.         While in the run focus, swim 2 days per week, one day focused on technique and the other focused on endurance. The cycling in this period should be one day of strength (hills) and one day of endurance if possible.         After the marathon I would focus on swimming as it will be easier on your body. Just as you did with the running, I would swim more frequently, as much as five times per week. Make one day purely drills, two days of endurance, one day of swim pacing, and one day of speed. Keep off the run legs for a few weeks, but add in some extra biking, something like a day of race pace, and a few trainer sessions focused on high Zone 2 work or Zone 3 if you are an experienced cyclist. This is where a Compu Trainer comes in great for the bike workouts. I would keep the swim focus going for four to six weeks.         Once you are ready to move into your last Sport Rotation phase on the bike, you should have plenty of power, so you’ll need to keep that rolling and add in some endurance rides. From mid-January to early March, the focus should be on the bike. This would include continuing with the focused trainer workouts at IM effort, some pedaling drills one time per week, and some mid-distance rides and one longer ride. Maintain the swim with two-three swims per week, and by this point running should be up to speed at three times per week. The runs should consist of one longer run (2:00), one tempo style run, and maybe one brick.         Once you hit the last six weeks of training you can go back to a balanced approach of three swims per week, three runs per week, and probably four bikes per week. This is the time to focus on race pace in all three events, and riding and running on a course similar to what you’ll be racing on. It’s also the time to work out your pacing and nutrition plans and dialing in your heart rate zones. Good luck with your Ironman quest! Michael Ricci is a USAT Level III certified coach. He can be reached for personal coaching at mike@d3multisport.com. Please visit his website at www.D3multisport.com

Average Age Grouper: Fire Up the Grill! Cont'd        An important factor for having a strong run is developing all your aerobic energy systems. It’s important to change speeds often in all three sports. In running it’s common to get into the ‘plodding mode’, running the same pace over all distances, and never seeming to get faster. If this sounds familiar, you aren’t alone.         Ingredients needed to prepare for your Olympic distance 10k: the long run, speed, hill strength and what I term ‘race pace’.         We’ll start with the first and most important ingredient – the long run. Above all else, you need to have sufficient aerobic fitness going into the specific race season. My measuring stick is being able to run the distance in the race (6.2 mile) up to 1.5 times (9 miles) in training. It doesn’t have to be fast, you just have to be able to do it. For some folks who will take closer to 90 minutes for the run, I would use 90 minutes as the maximum long run in training. In order to avoid the dreaded ’plodding’, change your pace up so you don’t run the same pace twice in a week. In the early aerobic base building period of your training, this would mean one day of a longer run, one day of pure speed (another key ingredient) (short reps of 20-30” at 5k pace), and another day with a touch of tempo (Zone 3) running. Each week you can extend the long run, and then add more reps to the speed sets and more time to the tempo runs. These efforts should not waste you and you should be able to finish knowing you could have done more.         Another ingredient would be incorporating hill repeats and hillier longer runs into your training. This period would last four to six weeks. In this stage, you are preparing yourself to handle the ‘Race Pace’ training in the next period. Hill repeats that last from 90 seconds to two minutes and just touch the bottom of your lactate threshold by the end are best. An easy walk/jog to the base of the hill is your recovery. Each week add a repetition or two and always walk away knowing you could have done 1-2 more reps.         As we get within ten weeks of the race its time to start implementing our last ingredient: Race Pace. This involves running 800 meters to two 2 mile repeats at your goal race pace (recovery should be about 25% of the work time). These workouts can be run on their own or even as a brick as you get closer to the race. An example of a brick is a hard bike followed by 4 x 1 mile at race pace on short rest (30”) would be a great race simulation for an Olympic distance race. Click here to see table.         Race Day Strategy: Run easy out of T2 - grab some water, slow down and get your HR down. Your goal should be to run the 2nd 5k faster so pick up the pace ever so slightly but not until after the 5k mark, check your splits/effort the first three miles, and if you feel comfortable then pick up the pace. At the halfway mark, it’s time to GO! Let it fly just like you were running a 5k. If you paced the race right, here is where you can make up a lot of ground and just go by people like they are standing still. It's only a short period of time so push for all you are worth.         Combining the above ingredients will give you a very strong run this season. If you execute the training and race day plan per above, you’ll be able to stick a fork in your competition when you blow by them as they will be done! Good luck and train smart this season! Mike Ricci, D3 Multisport head coach and USA Triathlon Level III Certified Coach, was selected to write the training programs for both the short and long course USA World Championship Teams from 2002-2005. D3 Multisport has a variety of services ranging from one-on-one coaching to training plans for specific events and races. Visit www.D3multisport.com more information or e-mail Mike at mike@d3multisport.com.