Speed Revolution Race #4- Threshold Test and Sufferfest

Last Saturday was the first opportunity I had to see if everyone who's been training with Amber and I have been making any progress with their running. Needless to say I was very happy with everyone's result. We started a 5 mile indoor treadmill running series on January 7th and every three weeks we do another race. The first race was the 'Threshold Test and Sufferfest' and you basically run as hard as you can at 2% for 5 miles. Everyone was really complaining how tough an effort like that was, especially immediately after the off-season. I expected everyone to hurt in January and I told them all that it's okay and too be expected to be out of shape this time of year, it's not important right now. What I didn't expect was that everyone would whip themselves into shape in 9 short weeks!

We had 8 racers show up, one who hadn't done any races before and all 7 of them finished with a faster time, amazing. The time improvements were anywhere from 0.19% better to 8% better. I told them all at the beginning to think about a pace they could sustain for the full 5 miles and hold on to it. They all are not only getting fitter but are learning how to race better, I saw some people have a much lower heart rate but still drop their time just by sustaining a better pace.

The next race is March 31st and it's the toughest one; 1 mile at 2%, 1 mile at 4%, 1 mile at 6%, 1 mile at 4%, and the final mile at 2%. It'll be exciting to see everyone in a couple weeks tackle this one again. I got some 'choice words' thrown at me for coming up with this race...

The 2012 Race Machine Is Here!!

I sold my bike to a great guy in Lethbridge back in December, thanks Kevin, and I've been using a loaner bike to get me through some of the winter indoor training until I could afford a new one. I already new I wanted to get a new Trek Speed but it was just a matter of saving up enough to justify getting it right away. Robert worked with the rep from Trek and got me a very good deal that made it all worth while. So the 2012 racing machine is an incredible black and white Trek Speed that's the perfect fit, I went with the quarq power meter, Garmin edge 500, and s-bend aerobars. I'm incredibly happy with the bike and I'm looking forward to putting it to the test this spring and summer.

Less Is More

It goes without saying that a lot of us in North American society are brought up with the idea that if you want better results you need to do more to get them. This is true in most cases, if you want to be a better runner- run more, better swimmer- swim more, make more money- work more. I think with the type A triathlete mindset we sometimes get caught in a trap of working too hard, or doing too much to try to attain more of something. One of the great things about competition is that you are able to gauge your performances against those of your peers or previous results. However one of the biggest dangers of doing that is thinking that your bad performance on a certain day or race was the result of not doing enough. There are so many variables that go into a race day result that looking back and critiquing your result harshly does nothing to improve your long term performance.

I'm reminded of some of the best coaches in the world and how they handle a bad performance- the good ones don't yell and scream at their athletes about doing this wrong and that incorrect, they make their athlete feel like it was just a bad day and they are going to come back stronger next time. As athletes we all do enough berating of our own egos after a bad performance, we don't need someone else doing it to us as well. A good coach will make their athlete feel strong and confident going into the event and insure that their mental focus is strong and unwavering. So much of being an athlete comes from the self discipline and focus off the race course as well as on, that's probably what attracts me to athletics in the first place and to see someone pull out an incredible result after all the discipline and sacrifice is really satisfying.

So why am I saying 'less is more' because I know and I see a lot of triathletes try to do more training, more racing to get better results. At a certain point in your life the tide will turn and you will realize that physically you simply cannot do any more, but mentally you can achieve results beyond anything you thought was possible. Being mentally focused and prepared for a race is more important than being physically ready, if you are calm, focused, determined, relaxed and confident you will achieve results beyond anything you even thought you were capable of. Go into training with determination and focus but try not to drive yourself into the ground, leave the workout feeling more confident and stronger than when you went in and you will get results.

Life Without Triathlon

It's interesting to think about what your life would look like if it took a slightly different direction. What would I be doing right now if I had different parents, what if they didn't encourage me to be an active, healthy, sports playing boy? What if I had been addicted to video games like a lot of young people today? I remember being a kid and walking through my neighbourhood and the streets were filled with kids playing street hockey, riding their bikes, and playing with each other. These days I go through the community and the streets are empty, everyone holed up in their homes trying to avoid their neighbours. It seems like paranoia and fear have gripped parents today and they feel like getting your kids to play outside is like throwing them into a pack of wolves. Don't get me wrong, I'm no expert when it comes to parenting but it seems like one of the basic principals of being a parent is not being followed today- to raise a healthy, independent, adventurous child who is prepared to take on the world with confidence and drive.

I had a little peek into how I would look if my parents didn't allow me the freedom I desired as a kid. I just hope that when my turn comes to raise a child I have the foresight and knowledge to let a kid be a kid and maybe they will love being healthy and active as much as I do. Don't laugh too hard but this is what I would look like if I didn't do triathlon (my wife can confirm that yes I am a food addict).

Saturday Hill Climb

This past Saturday was the second race in our Speed Revolution race series and unlike 3 weeks ago this one was absolutely brutal. I told everyone before we started to make sure they pace themselves and don't blow up until they are in the final 2 miles. The race was 1 mile at 2%, 1 mile at 4%, 1 mile at 6%, 1 mile at 4%, and the final mile at 2%. It really felt good when I got to that final mile but that's when I was pushing the pace so I was hurting anyway. I was only a couple minutes slower than the last race (which was a constant 2%) so I called it a victory. I made sure I didn't kill myself in training leading up to it so I think that helped a lot. Far too often I'll go into a tough session like this having done too much during the week and really suffer but I made sure I was pacing myself properly during the first 3 miles and I had some juice to crank it up to 10-11mph during the last mile.

It may seem like it's a little too early to be doing these efforts for some athletes and that may be the case for you. However I can't emphasize enough how sessions like this just take my running to a completely different level. I have to be careful and make sure they are spread out over a few weeks but when you are running that hard for a short amount of time it just seems to push your threshold to an entirely new level. I already feel better during the second race compared to the first. I still need an afternoon nap and a good meal afterwards but that's to be expected when you're running all-out for 5 miles. I'm already looking forward to the third race of the series and to watch how much they are going to benefit everyone who's doing them. The first race we had 12 people and last week we had 10, I'm amazed to see some people hold 190+ heart rates! If you're going to do efforts like this make sure you have a couple easy days leading up to it and take a good few days to recover but they will help jump start anyone's running. Happy training!

Be Like the Water

I think a lot of times in life you can find yourself constantly struggling to overcome, breakthrough, or tear down all the obstacles that face you on a daily basis. The more I observe people who are successful in training, racing, work, and life are the people who don't have that "win at all costs" personality. There is something to be said about good healthy competition and how it forces you to strive to achieve a level within yourself that you never believed was possible but the more I watch and learn from those who accomplish their goals the more I realize how much they behave like the water.

It's a bit complicated to explain but imagine you are a stone at the top of a mountain, you are strong, solid, unyielding, and are willing to break anything in your path to get to your goal. Now lets say your goal is to get to the bottom of the mountain, you start rolling and you are crushing everything in your path; smaller rocks and stones, trees, roots, branches, streams whatever is in your way you can get through. However eventually you hit a stone even larger than you are and it stops you dead in your tracks. You fight and hammer and pound against the solid stone but it's useless there is no force great enough that you can create to get through this wall. Now imagine you are a stream of water and your goal is to get to the bottom of the mountain, you move and snake through the same trees, rocks, stones, and even other streams. When you get to the stone you follow the edge until you find the easiest way around it and eventually find your way to the bottom of the mountain.

The people that I find that are successful in what they do are not the type of people who bully, push, and force they're way to success. They are the type of people who are the most adaptable and fluid in their actions and behaviors. I admit that I am a bit of a fan of Ultimate fighting and when I see a fighter that is extremely strong and powerful and forces his way through everyone in front of him it is extremely impressive! However eventually those fighters will meet someone who is even more powerful, more strong, and more capable then they are. When that happens they fold and their confidence is lost. It's the fighters that move like the water, the one's that are difficult to hit and absorb any punches and kicks that are thrown at them that are successful. They understand that the fight is not about overpowering your opponent it's about doing damage while not getting damaged.

I look at a long term training plan in the same way, when I first started training for triathlon I had the mindset that more training, more intensity, and more racing was going to make me faster, stronger and allow me to become better. At first it worked and I started to think that this is the key! But I had to be willing to change my approach as my fitness changed and at first I was resistant to it. I just thought if I do more of X I'll get the result Y, but the body doesn't behave like that. The body breaks down and time and recovery are what help it become a better engine. Slowly I started to realize that over the weeks, months and years of training I was training my body and mind to take on massive training sessions but eventually I will hit a stone bigger than I was and I had to be willing to change what I was doing to still be successful. I have to thank Amber for helping me realize that the key to longevity in our sport is not having the ability to do more but to be able to adapt and change what you are doing and to fully recover. She's helped me enormously in the aspect of nutrition, the one area I am weak on, and it's equated to better training sessions and quicker recovery.

Everyone has their challenges in life and my advice to you is to simply face the challenge like the water, the more you absorb, adapt, change, and move with it, the more successful you'll be.

The Training Season Has Begun

It's always an exciting time when the off-season is over and I get back into some hard training again but I forgot how much it can take out of me. It's been a while since I've had to push myself in training and I'm starting to feel the effects of a couple hard efforts. I did an hour easy run with the boys and Harley last Saturday followed by an hour of "Drop the Hammer" Coach Troy session and I forgot how much that can take out of you. Fortunately Amber has been on a smoothie kick and has been blending up all sorts of fruits and vegies which is outstanding for recovery. I've feel like my body is just soaking up all the nutrients in one drink and it's so much easier to drink vegies and fruit than eat it. I know I'm guilty of buying all sorts of good food just to watch it go to waste because it takes a lot of effort to prepare and eat it all. Now Amber and I can just blend it all up and drink it down, it's awesome.

This has been a tough week for a lot of people, it's been -30'c and colder and everyone is starting to feel the workouts take effect on their well rested bodies. I know of a couple people who have been sick this past week and I feel like I've been fighting something so I took two days off. I started to bounce back last night so I did 45kms of the Great White North course and felt fantastic. I'm still not in peak shape and I don't have my new bike yet but I managed to bang out the 45kms in 1:11.00, not bad for this time of year. Followed that up with a good swim with Bart and Robert this morning doing 5 x 5 sets of 50's going faster each set. It was good to get back to pushing in the pool again and 50's are a great way to jump back into some hard swimming. I'm swimming better than I have in a long time and I want to try to hold on to this fitness going into the spring/summer and hopefully not be so far behind everyone coming out of the water this year. This next week will be an 'endurance focused' week as I go into the next 5 mile Speed Revolution race. The race on the 28th is going to be a killer- Wapiti Hill Climb! 1 mile- 2%, 1 mile- 4%, 1 mile- 6%, 1 mile- 4%, and the final mile at 2%... yikes!