Many of you have heard of Stephen Covey, the well known speaker and author of “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Some of us have even been lucky enough to be trained in these 7 habits and if we have taken anything from this training it is to prioritize, balance, make choices and understand that these choices are going to affect other things that we do in our life. You can choose to look at making choices as negative, thinking that means we can not do something else or you can think of it as a means of prioritizing things in your life and bringing a level of peacefulness and balance to your days.

We all have different priorities and other people that we need to strike a happy medium with or a balance with in order to live and to be involved with this great sport called triathlon. In my house triathlon is known as the “net loss” sport from a money perspective, but on the other end of that spectrum is the Mastercard commercial...” the finish line... priceless. For everything else there is Mastercard.” We balance 20+ years of coaching high school girl’s soccer, 2 teenage daughters who play travel soccer, school work, ride horses, play the viola, particiapate in drama, a triathlon coach, a lymphedema therapist, and a triathlete. We have a calendar that is color coded for each person and we schedule Sunday evening meetings to talk about the week ahead and what is key for each person that week.

Communication with the significant person in your life about how you will manage the priorities that you both have and the other people in your home is key. Choose a way to keep track of this so that there are no surprises from day to day, but also have the flexibility to know that things will change at the last minute. As our triathlon season ramps up and we are building toward “A” races we become a little less flexible with changing training plans and we get something I refer to as “tunnel vision.” We sometimes forget about the balance that provides the support to our passion for triathlon.

With the knowledge that as racing season approaches we have a slight personality change, have we done a better job of giving in the off season? Are we really going to miss that indoor soccer game, so we can meet friends to run, when we could get up early and get that run done and be at the game ON TIME!!?!! Do we discuss our training and racing plans ahead of time with our significant other/family so that they are involved in some decision making for certain races that are also family vacations? Do we involve them so they understand why we are missing their soccer game at this time during our training because it is a key workout 4 weeks out from Ironman. And, at the same time do we limit the amount of times that we ask for their understanding in this?

When we make the choice to commit to a big race we also take on the knowledge that we are going to sacrifice staying up late to watch Grey’s Anatomy, we are going to miss a couple of soccer games, and give up drinking diet coke. These choices do not have to be negative choices, but rather priorities with consideration of the other people in our life and the willingness to be disciplined and committed. It is a commitment to that “priceless” feeling that comes from crossing the finish line knowing that we have made choices and created a balance with the most important things in our life: our family!

Amy Kuitse is a USAT Certified coach with D3 Multisport and can be reached for questions or comments at Amy@d3multisport.com

Case Study: Using a Power Meter in Ironman Racing and Training
Coach Mike shares the 90-minute improvement of one athlete
By Coach Coach Mike

I wanted to share one of my athlete’s power numbers from IMAZ. This example of riding with power shows how it's beneficial in terms of pacing and running the marathon. Previous best times before IMAZ were: 1:23 swim / 6:15 bike / 5: 00 marathon (12:45)
His IMAZ times were: 1:12 / 5:35 / 4:19 (11:14)

Overall he went from a 12:45 IM to 11:14 in the span of about 5 months. In AZ, our plan for him was to raise his watts each lap - he almost nailed it - I think if he took in some more calories, he would have.

Here are the numbers:
Looking at the power file, I broke the race down into the 3 laps:

Lap # / Time / Avg Watts/ HR / Mph / cadence
1 / 1:51 / 198 / 154 / 20.1 / 82
2 / 1:50 / 207 / 148 / 20.3 / 78
3 / 1:54 / 202 / 145 / 19.8 / 76

My comments to the athlete: Almost perfect pacing. Two comments - one is to raise the cadence. If you do this, I'll think you'll run faster with fresher legs. #2 is you need to take in more calories - see how the watts and HR drop on lap 3? That's most likely due to lack of nutrition.

Overall: Time/Avg Watts/HR/mph/Cadence
5:35/202/149/20.0/79

The athlete’s HR was at the top of Zone 2 which is 137-150 and his watts were squarely in the middle of his Endurance Zone (164-221). In terms of threshold, he rode at 70% of threshold. Our goal going forward will be to raise his cadence, bring his cycling fitness up so he can ride at 75% of his threshold and still be able to move his marathon time to about 4:00.

So, you can see how his cycling and running improved immensely with proper cycling fitness and pacing on race day. It's not that hard to improve, it's just doing the work! ;-)

Coach Mike Ricci is a USAT Certified Coach and can be reached for personal coaching at Mike@D3Multisport.com.

Iron Chef on Track, Cont'd
By Coach Amanda McCracken

A basic set of 4 X 800 can be adjusted as you progress through the build phase in your training. The 800’s should be run at or just below your lactate threshold heart rate or a perceived exertion of 7/8 on a scale of 10. Remember that running a little above your LT for an extended period of time, even by only a few beats, can do a lot more muscular damage and require more time to recover from the workout. Get more bang for your buck with a little control in order to allow room for subsequent quality workouts. The rest interval should be half the distance of the work interval (400 meters) and jogged. The 400 meters can be shortened to 200-300 meters rest as you progress through your build phase. The number of 800’s can also increase in proportion to your fitness. Being able to maintain your heart rate at LT through a higher volume indicates an increased level of fitness.

As triathletes, we mustn’t forget to simulate running on tired legs. Instead of calling it a double brick workout, which sounds terribly daunting, I prefer to call this workout the quadruple chocolate fudge layer cake. You can decide which is the fudge and which is the cake. Set up your bike on a trainer at a track or other site with a measured, out-and-back or circular course. Warm-up on the bike for 15 minutes elevating your heart rate to zone 3. Transition to the track for a 400-meter run at 10k pace. Transition back to the bike for a 5-minute ride in which you spin easily for 2 minutes to recover and then build heart rate to the 4-5a zone and hold for 3 minutes. Transition to an 800-meter run at 5k race pace. Repeat this pattern of 5 minutes on the bike followed by an 800-meter run 2-3 more times. After the last one, cool down on the bike by spinning easily for 10 minutes. This workout will take approximately 1 hour and should be done during the build 1, or 2 phase (3/4 of the way through your training for a peak race).

Another great track recipe, done with or without the bike, is a set of 6 X 1 mile at 10k race pace or slightly faster. The recovery should be a 600 meter jog or half the work interval time. For example, a 6 minute mile pace recovery would be 3 minutes. If you want to “layer” the workout to simulate race legs, add in a 40 minute ride prior to the run. Build up to zone 3-4 and maintain the effort in this zone for at least the last 15 minutes. Try to run each mile at about the same pace. Test yourself a couple of weeks later to see if you can sustain a faster pace for all 6 repeats. This is either a confidence booster or a reality check. Is that pace you were planning to run in the race realistic? Far fetched? Too conservative? Consistency is the key factor in this workout.

The track is one of your training appliances, consider it your blender. Play with the ingredients and speeds, but be smart about gradually increasing volume and decreasing recovery as your fitness progresses. Be your own Iron chef!

Coach Amanda McCracken is a USAT Certified Coach and can be reached for personal coaching at Amanda@D3Multisport.com .