Eric Johnson's Triathlon Blog

Ironman Canada 2011 Race Report

2011-09-26T16:45:00.000-05:00

This is a bit different type of post that I normally use on this blog, but many of my friends are interested in hearing about the race and others may glean some knowledge on how NOT to race an Ironman.

Ironman Canada is one ofthe most historic, spectacular, and well known Ironmans in the world. It is also a notoriously difficult race inwhich to gain entry. It was a no-brainerwhen five of us from Springfield had an opportunity to sign up lastsummer. OK, mostly a no-brainer…the$600+ entry fee was a little ridiculous. I’m not completely sure why people (myself included) pay so much to destroythemselves for 8-17 hours, but the race production company sure does make you feel like a rockstar while you’re doing it.

While it would be mysecond full distance triathlon, it would be the first for all of my friends(as seen on a detour while scouting the bike course - from left: Kurt Larson, Dave Smay, me, Valerie Sharlin, and Ken Sharlin).

Everything at anIronman is spectacularly well organized, from packet pickup to the pastadinner to the race itself. Because ofthe number of athletes, you have to drop your bike off the day before therace. You also have to organize all ofyour gear into five separate bags that will be used throughout the race(morning bag, swim-bike bag, bike-run bag, bike special needs bag, and runspecial needs bag).

If you are the TypeA planner, then you will love this. Ifnot, then an Ironman is pretty much a logistical nightmare (see left).

I arrived race morning,got body marked, checked my bags one last time, and meandered down to thewater. With what turned out to be 2800+athletes on race day and too many spectators to count, this was easier saidthan done. 2800 athletes also turned outto be the largest mass swim start in history. As opposed to most triathlons, which usually use time trial or wavestarts, all athletes at an Ironman start at once. So the swim can be a pretty scaryexperience…you just can’t put that many people together and expect nocontact.

Get out early or it gets ugly

The gun started and Ihave to say the 2.4 mile swim was pretty uneventful. Some mild contact, but I just focused ondrafting behind others to conserve energy. I lined up on the far left end of the beach where all of the athleteslooked freaked out. I think this was thekey, because the ones with a “kill” look in their eyes are the ones who do thepummeling in a swim. Although I gotpretty tired on the 2^nd half, it went by pretty fast and I beat myArizona swim by 4 minutes in 1:12:53. Glad to have a wetsuit for the 71 degree water, and not bad consideringmy longest swim in training was about a mile and a half.

I'm that guy over there

Transition is one ofthe funniest parts of the day. You go ina changing tent (separate for men and women) to strip off swim stuff and put onyour cycling clothes, all with the time running. As I entered the tent, it was just a mass ofhalf naked, type A guys yelling andtrying to dress. There were volunteersattempting to help but, due to the nudity, no one wanted to get too close. In Arizona, the water and air temps werepretty cold and I couldn’t grip with my hands. The volunteer had to pull my shorts up for me, which is a fairlyembarrassing and silly thing to go through. This time I was able to shoo my volunteer away to help someone else.

After exiting the tent,a volunteer handed me my bike and I headed out to the bike course. We rode south through town on streets thatwere absolutely packed with spectators yelling. It was really exciting and hard to hold back.

The Ironman Canada bikecourse is one of the more challenging on the circuit. It can be broken into five major parts… theinitial 40 miles of flats, a 6 mile long mountain climb (Richter Pass) followedby 12 miles of “rollers” (what we call significant hills here), 24 miles offlats, a 10 mile long mountain climb (Yellow Lake), and finally a 12 milecruise back to town downhill.

If you don’t conserveenergy early on, you’re toast. So I putit in all-day pace, got aero, and enjoyed the scenery. When we hit the base of Richter pass,everyone seemed to hit the accelerator. I’m a decent climber, and granted I was nursing a sore leg, but I didn’tpass ONE PERSON on the six mile stretch up the mountain. I distinctly remember several 60 year oldladies flying by me (you can tell because the race organizers write our age onour calves - so you can decide whether you want to try to keep up with someonein the race in your age group). Afriend who had been tracking us later informed me that of everyone he tracked,I had the least slowdown from the first half of the race to the second. So that made me feel better about gettingpassed by the Grandmas.

View from part of the way up Richter Pass

Upon cresting the top,you hit a super fast downhill with plenty of visibility. It’s basically an excuse to let it all hangout for several minutes and go really, really fast. I did anyway…48 mph. A bit wobbly and scary. I don’t want to think about how much skin aperson would leave on the asphalt crashing at that speed.

The bike course really tuckered out my kids as well.

The next section ofseven rolling hills made it very difficult to get into a rhythm. Each was steep enough that you had to work abit to get over the top, but if you took full advantage of the precedingdownhill you could minimize the effort. I worked this section fairly hard and passed a ton of people back.

At this point we wereriding alongside a small river in a valley between the mountains. Each side of the river had miles of orchardsand vineyards. Really pretty. And apparently a lot of bees. I heard of several people, including my buddyKurt, who were stung in that section.

The last climb, YellowLake, snuck up on us. It started out sogradually I forgot I was even on it at first. Several other riders and I had been passing each other back and forth onthe previous stretch and so we all became friendly and chatted a bit on theclimb.

Anyway, Yellow Lake waslong. But as we got closer and closer tothe top, the spectator density went off the charts. People on both sides of the road werescreaming, ringing cowbells, and dancing around in ridiculous costumes. I really fed off the spectators and that mademe want to ride harder. This is where myquads started cramping up and I ran out of my own nutrition (honey stingerchews) so I grabbed an energy gel from a volunteer as I rode by.

I’m fairly certain thatnutrition donated to races is basically the flavors they can’t sellotherwise. I always seem to get thegross flavors. I sucked down the gel andabout gagged…double caffeinated espresso. For a non-coffee drinker, it was pretty bad. But I had done some math in my head and knewI was going to be down on calories so I grabbed another 2 gels and gulped. Any guesses as to the flavor for both? Double espresso. What were the chances? Well, I’d say 100% because I only ever getthe nasty stuff at races.

A person couldtheoretically turn around and go back to the aid station but who wants to losethe time? After all that climbing, Ijust wanted to get off the bike. So with3 caffeinated gels in my stomach in a short time period, I hit the top ofYellow Lake and proceeded to absolutely fly down the mountain and back intotown at 30-40mph. This last 12 milesgives you a chance to rest the legs and settle the stomach(theoretically). Final bike time was6:05:21, for an 18mph average. Inretrospect, this might have been a bit too fast (I only went 10 minutes fasterin Arizona, on a ridiculously easy course). My secret goal was to beat my friend Jeff’s bike split from a couple of yearsago and of course it’s usually a sign of stupidity (or what they call“man thinking”) going into a race thinking like that.

Saying hi to family at mile 1

Talking to someveterans convinced me to change into clean, dry running clothes for themarathon. Being comfortable is wellworth an extra minute or two in an all day race. As I hit mile one, I saw my family andstopped to say hi and hug my boy. Mywife’s parents made the trip with us to help watch the kids (Gabriel is almost3 and Grayson is almost 4 weeks old). They would later tell me that the entire event was spectacular, andalthough they knew there were crazy people in the world, they didn’t realizethere was another whole level of crazy. Apparently, there were people already stumbling and looking incoherenteven at mile 1.

I headed out with aslightly sour stomach but not thinking much of it. This marathon is an out-and-back course andwe had the same awesome crowds cheering as we headed out. My plan was to run 8 minutes, walk 1-2minutes, and repeat. The run-walk methodworked exceptionally well for me in Arizona on little run training so I hopedit would again, because this time my long run was 3 miles. If this sounds quite stupid, you are correct,but with some chronic issues it was the best I could do.

I actually got through10 miles of run-walk-repeat before my stomach totally shut down from thecaffeine. Gas, bloating, burping, thestrong sense that it would be awesome to vomit. A girl who I had been running with was having similar issues. We talked about trying to make ourselves gagbut were both too chicken. And whoknows, maybe that would have made things worse.

At least someone was having fun at this point.

At that point, it was astruggle to walk for more than a few minutes without stopping. Fortunately, there was regular shade and aidstations every mile. Everyone says todrink de-fizzed cola with a sour stomach. Unfortunately, the person in charge of the aid stations didn’t tell thevolunteers to de-fizz the cola. So ittook me 3 aid stations to discover that fully carbonated cola just makes agassy stomach worse. And of course linedup below each aid station was row after row of 2 liter bottles with lidstightly in place. I probably should havesaid something but wasn’t sure I had the energy.

I finally realized Ineeded to let my stomach settle so I switched from powerade and cola to waterand fruit. It was a little tough to dothis as I knew I would really be going into caloric deficit by doing so. I didn’t see any other choice so sloggedthrough it.

Finishing hard

This is the time in arace that veterans refer to as a “bad patch.” They say every race consists of “good patches” and “bad patches”, andlong races are all about accepting the bad ones, knowing that eventually theywill pass.

After 6 miles/2 hoursof walking alternating with laying on the ground (I would say at least 60% ofthe people around me were walking as well – someone told me it got up to 95degrees F that day, which explains a lot), my stomach began to settle and Ibegan to perk up.

I began chatting with aguy from Arizona and we decided to try running together. It’s amazing how much working with anotherperson can help your energy and your attitude. We both began to steadily increase our pace from about 10 minute milesto 9 minute miles. Around mile 20 Ireally started feeling good so kept steadily increasing the pace, finallyfinishing the final mile with a 7:00. There was no logical reason to work that hard at the end…my marathontime would be a 5:45:35…and a big part of my limp over the next few days wassurely from that surge at the end, but it felt really good to finishstrong.

Final time 13:17:16. 1 ½ hours slower than Arizona, but twoimportant lessons learned…pack enough nutrition for the entire race and stickto your nutrition plan. Duh. This isn’t exactly rocket science, and it’s embarrassingconsidering I tell this to new runners just about every day. Yet if you don’t plan everything out inadvance to the letter, small mistakes can become big problems.

After I finished, avolunteer grabbed me and attended to my every need. She retrieved my finisher shirt and hat,brought food, help me get a finisher photo, got me in for a massage,everything. This is one of the coolestparts of doing an Ironman…the rock star treatment. I read afterward that there were 4000volunteers for the 3000 racers.

I felt pretty drainedat the end and a nurse who saw me while getting a massage threatened to give mean IV if I didn’t drink a bunch of water and eat some chips right then andthere. So I did. I guess I got lucky because there were somepeople in bad shape. Kurt, who beat meby 45 minutes, spent 4 hours in there before he finally got an IV. I was out in 30 minutes. Somewhere deep down I think this is pretty funny.

All five of us made itback to the states in one piece, and like any long race, we all learnedsomething valuable. We also werereminded that doing long, stupid things to your body is much more fun with yourbuddies.

So that’s it. All in all, Canada is definitely a bucketlist race for the triathletes out there. Canadians are super friendly, the dollar is fairly strong, and it’s arace you will never forget (even if it’s because you cried a little and thoughtyou were going to need an Ambulance at the turnaround).

Minimalist Shoes: Are YOU right for them?

2011-09-10T21:08:00.000-05:00

We have been fairly supportive of recommending quasi-minimalist shoes for our store customers over the past year. I define a quasi-minimalist shoe as one that has some, but not, all elements of a minimalist shoe. Elements of a minimalist shoe are a wide toe box, minimal cushioning, and a low heel to toe offset.

Examples of quasi-minimalist shoes are the Newton Isaac, Saucony Mirage, the soon-to-arrive Brooks Pure Project shoes, and New Balance Minimus. Full minimalist shoes would be Vibram Five Fingers. We recommend quasi minimalist shoes for our runners because they are a transitional step toward minimalism without quite the risk of putting someone in a minimalist shoe (we hope).

We are learning that even quasi-minimalist shoes don't work for everyone though. We are seeing that people with very inflexible calves/achilles tendons do not tolerate the lowered heel very well and often come back to swap for a traditional shoe.

So we are now doing three tests on customers who want to try a minimalist or quasi-minimalist shoe:

1) Assess heel cord length. Should be able to easily go beyond 90 degrees flexion at the ankle.
2) Assess big toe mobility. Should be able to get to 30 degrees or more of extension at the big toe.
3) Assess single leg balance. Should be able to easily balance 30-60 seconds with no wavering. We instruct customer who buy a minimalist shoe to work up to 2 minutes with their eyes closed and no wavering on each leg.

The demands of running closer to barefoot require greater strength and flexibility of the foot and lower legs. If you are considering a more minimal shoe that you are already in, make sure you can pass these three tests. If not, then get to work!

Alter G Treadmill

2011-07-30T17:08:00.000-05:00

One of our local fitness centers recently purchased an Alter G treadmill. The treadmill features an enclosed skirt that you are secured into with special shorts. You can then control air pressure inside the skirt to partially unload your body weight.

Here's a short video of me running on the treadmill a couple of weeks ago.

If you are injured or injury prone, this is a great way to get in miles. I'm using it 3 times a week over the next month to prepare for Ironman Canada. Without it, I'd have trouble running more than once a week. For more info about using the Alter G locally, contact Nancy at the Meyer Center.

Asymmetry & Bike Fit - The Pelvis

2011-05-25T12:45:00.000-05:00

I think a crucial missing piece to most bike fits is an assessment of pelvic stability while riding under load.

Steve Hogg, a fitter out of Sydney, writes about it often on his blog: http://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/blog. In sum, no one is 100% symmetrical is structure or function. The people who function most symmetrically on a bike generally can train harder and longer without injury. Here is a post with a video showing a severe case. You probably aren't this bad, but just about everyone could use correction.

So if you function asymmetrically, your bike fitter should adjust your fit to accommodate the way you function. This can be accomplished through moving your saddle to the left/right with an FSA seat post with a data head, by twisting your saddle to the left or right slightly, by shimming one shoe to make it longer than the other, wedging one or both cleats/shoes, or by other methods.

I am a devoted reader of Steve's blog, mostly because I have been struggling with cycling injuries for the past 7 years. I think it is a good use of your time if you also struggle.

And to give a personal example, shimming seems to be helping me. I have an x-ray verified leg length discrepancy (left tibia is 18mm shorter than my right one). It turns out that shimming my right cleat (I know, opposite of what you would think) allows my pelvis to function more symmetrically on the bike seat. I tried shimming the left cleat for the past 6 months and it felt worse than no shims...but with the right cleat shimmed I immediately felt more symmetrical.

I have not been able to apply more than 80% effort on the bike without severe left calf cramping and soreness for years. Now with the right cleat shimmed, I am riding at 95% effort with only minimal soreness the next day. Still have some details to work out, but I feel like I'm on the right path (finally).

Midsole Cleat Position

2011-03-07T16:51:00.000-06:00

The topic about cleat placement on cycling shoes comes up from time to time. Here's a recent post from Joe Friel on it. He is a big fan.

I've asked several experts and the consensus I get from them is that when you take out the calf, you remove a limiter BUT you also lose a potential power source on climbs and sprints. Not a bad deal for steady state races like triathlons.

Jay Dicharry at UVA told me that it's a wash in terms of cycling performance. But Joe's post says that you might RUN better with the arch cleat placement. If the cycling is a wash and the run is a gain, then it's definitely something to consider.

I actually drilled a pair of old MTB shoes with arch cleats last summer and really liked the feeling. I felt like a diesel truck...not as much pop, but lots of power.

I went back to a regular toe placement as the season progressed for 2 reasons. 1. I had a little trouble with spasms in my left calf, which I'm now finding is due to a leg length discrepancy. So a shim will probably help. 2. I crashed taking a turn at high speed when the tip of my foot rubbed the wheel (your feet overlap the wheel on turns). So the arch placement takes a bit of learning to take turns more carefully.

Losing skin shied me away for a while. About ready to give it a try again though. Anyone else tried it?

Gear Review: Hammer Perpetuem Solids

2011-02-15T16:00:00.000-06:00

This is Hammer's answer to Perpetuem drink that spoils in the heat. Just turn it into a chewable tablet so the athlete can get in their carbs and protein.

The problem is that the tablets are extremely large and very powdery upon chewing (there's a slight explosion in your mouth). The taste is good, as with all hammer products, but it takes 3 tablets to get in 100 calories. A gel is 100 times easier.

It's impossible to eat on the run and biking is very difficult as well. For some people, even standing and eating can be problematic. See below.

I'm a big fan of Hammer products. They make the best stuff out there, but I have to give the Solids a double thumbs-down.

Gear Review: Saucony Mirage & Peregrine

2011-02-08T14:18:00.000-06:00

Today we received Saucony's two newest minimalist shoes: the Peregine and the Mirage. Rather than doing real work, I felt it would be more appropriate to test them out and write a review.

Saucony claims both are 4mm heel to toe drop shoes, the same as the Kinvara. As a reference, most traditional shoes (made in the past 40 years) are between 10-18mm drop, which we all are beginning to realize might have a negative effect on running biomechanics. Many bloggers have mentioned the Kinvara really measures out to a 5 or 6mm drop when you include the insole and I would agree that it doesn't feel as low as my 5mm Newton Isaac so 6mm is probably accurate.

Regardless, I have loved the Kinvara and after 20 minutes of wearing the Peregrine and the Mirage, I think they are going to be very popular as well.

The Mirage is very similar to the Kinvara except for three major differences. 1) Standard mesh upper. Some people had trouble with the very light Kinvara mesh splitting (you can see a small tear near the little toe in my white...err brown...kinvara below). This should not be an issue in the Mirage.

2) More carbon rubber in the outsole. The kinvara wears out pretty fast because it has minimal carbon rubber. Here's a pic of the bottom of my Kinvara and the new Mirage below.

3) The Mirage (in white) has a light stability post in the way of a piece of plastic that extends in a half-oval pattern. So if you really like some stability in your shoe, this becomes a better option for you than the Kinvara.

The Peregrine is the blue shoe in the photo above. It has a rock plate in it so it's a bit stiffer than the Mirage, but not so much that it was annoying. The upper is a combination of a suede-like material and a tight knit mesh with light rubber webbibg. The effect is a very soft feeling upper that won't hold water as much as a full mesh upper would.

The outsole has a moderately aggressive tread. It's not what I would call a narrow shoe, but all 3 of the shoes I've mentioned (Kinvara, Mirage, Peregrine) are definitely snug fitting.

The Peregrine and Kinvara run $90 and the Mirage is $100. We have popular sizes in the Peregrine and Mirage. If you want to try on one of these shoes and you are on the smaller or large side of the spectrum, call ahead and we can let you know if we have your size. 890-7200

Too Good to be True

2011-01-21T09:35:00.000-06:00

Ever heard of the Power Balance Bracelet? You might even know someone who has one (or a similar product) and swears by it. It's supposed to make you stronger, more flexible, and give you better endurance by harnessing the body's natural energy field.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission went after them for deceptive marketing practices and forced them to post the following to 20 magazines in Australia. Thanks to the Sport Scientists for the great post on this.

The point? There is no easy way to be successful (whatever that means to you).

If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. This is what makes you different.

Improve Your Fat Burning Engine

2011-01-15T10:34:00.001-06:00

You always use carbs and fat in combination to fuel exercise. Carbs are much more limited so the better you are at burning fat, the further (and potentially faster) you can go.

How to become a better fat burner?

Eat a low glycemic meal a couple hours before shorter workouts (bike<3hrs, run<2hrs, swim<90min). This means a higher % of fat and protein than carbs. Maybe some nuts, oatmeal, and peanut butter, for example.
Keep most of your workouts under 75% of VO2 max during this phase of training.
Get parents who are good fat burners

Joe Friel had a great post on this topic recently: http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2011/01/becoming-a-better-fat-burner.html.

I agree with everything in the post except the idea of skipping breakfast before a workout. Joe doesn't seem to recommend it, but he does say it's an option. I think bad things happen when you try to exercise after 12+ hours of fasting.

Gear Review: Saucony Kinvara Running Shoe

2011-01-07T15:11:00.000-06:00

As a running store manager, I am finally embracing my role as the gear tester. In this job, the main benefit is sweet product discounts so we might as well take advantage. (just don't tell my wife)

Today, I'm reviewing the Saucony Kinvara. The Kinvara was Saucony's first attempt at a minimalist shoe last year. They had phenomenal success, and as a result, are introducing a line of minimalist shoes in 2011.

In general two factors make a shoe "minimalist": minimized heel to toe drop and less cushion between the foot and the road.

The heel to toe drop of the Kinvara is, according to Saucony, is 4 millimeters. When you add in the insole it's more like 5 or 6mm but that's still a lot lower than most traditional shoes (10-19mm). The significance of a lower drop between the heel and the toe is that we tend to shorten our stride with less of a wedge under the heel. More cushion under the heel makes it easier to heel strike without hurting your calcaneous, which we know is a bad thing whether it hurts or not.

The cushioning in the kinvara is similar to traditional shoes. Some minimalist shoes, such as racing flats (which I consider quasi-minimalist) feel really hard because of the lack of cushion. I really like the cushion of the Kinvara. The shoe is incredibly light and, despite that fact, it's very bouncy without feeling like I'm losing energy. It's a great minimalist shoe for someone who has never tried minimalist shoes.

The main complaint I've heard from customers when trying this shoe on is the feel of the upper. It's a very light and thin, but tightly woven mesh. Hard to describe. People sometimes feel the crease on the top of their toes when they walk in the shoe. Not a very warm winter running shoe, although I've not noticed problems in the 30's F that I've run in them.

I was very surprised by the Kinvara. It is very light, well cushioned, and a nice transitional (or forever) minimalist shoe. And at $90, it's a great priced shoe.

I don't think I'll get my normal 400 miles out of the Kinvaras but time will tell. I think that's going to be a trade off on such a light shoe.

Resolutions

2011-01-03T21:17:00.001-06:00

In 2011, I resolve to:

• Have a purpose for EVERY workout
• Fuel my body properly before, during, and after workouts
• Dedicate more time to ______ (insert weakest sport here - hey, we know its swimming for all of us)
• Take at least 5 minutes before every workout to fire up my neuromuscular system with specific strength moves
• Keep strength training all year long
• Introduce at least one new person to the sport of triathlon
• Become a mentor
• Remind myself to relax before every race. I do this because it is FUN.
• Thank my family for supporting my racing, the expression of my Type A tendency

Natural Running

2011-01-03T21:06:00.001-06:00

All minimalist shoes require serious adaptation time and most people simply are not patient enough when making the change.

My personal goal is to get into progressively flatter heeled shoes on a daily basis over the next 6 months. This will allow my Achilles tendons to lengthen and arches to strengthen.

As I am able, I will try to use less and less of my high heeled shoes and more and more of my minimalist shoes for running.

Combined with the new form changes I learned this weekend, I hope to be past most of my running injuries next year. For good.

I believe this should be a realistic goal for almost every runner out there. Only time will tell though.

Minimalist Shoes

2010-12-29T15:07:00.000-06:00

I get asked my opinion on minimalist shoes daily. It's a confusing subject and there are a lot of people out there pushing different opinions. Keep in mind the source of any information you hear. What biases do they have that might be affecting their opinion? Of course shoe companies are going to want to sell shoes, podiatrists want to sell orthotics, Chi Running wants to sell DVD's, coaches want to sell their services, and I want you to think I'm really smart.

My friend asked me why I suggested Newton running shoes to him but then later made a post of Facebook about being hesitant to fully embrace minimalist shoes. Here is my reply...

------------------------------

podiatrists mostly hate the minimalist trend but they also are making a lot of money off of it. i've heard from several PT's that they have seen a marked increase in running injuries in the last 2 years due to people trying to run barefoot. in my experience, podiatrists in general believe that most feet need orthotics and structured shoes. they are on the other end of the continuum of the support vs. natural running argument.

my personal thought is that we are meant to run barefoot (duh). but unnatural surfaces and our lifestyles (wearing shoes from infancy, large % of time sitting at home/work) make trying to move from our current lifestyle to barefoot running very dangerous.

i think some people should never, ever try to run barefoot or try a minimalist shoe. these are people with a lot of foot problems, people who are older (relative term), and people who have been very inactive for a long period of time. i think this is a significant % of the population...maybe 30-35%? maybe more?

some people will move into minimalist shoes with zero problems. i'd say this is 1% of the population.

most people (60% of the population?) could probably transition into minimalist shoes if they take the time to adapt into them slowly. i'm talking a year or more. in traditional running shoes with a high heel, our achilles tendons shorten, our calves/feet weaken, and our proprioception in the foot virtually disappears. it takes a long time to reverse those changes.

there are different degrees of minimalism in minimalist shoes. vibram five finger shoes (VFFs) are the most severe. i don't think anyone should run a lot of hard surfaces in VFF's...people are getting stress fractures all over the place, including the author of Born to Run. they can be ok for grass, but again, it takes a long time to adapt to them. i personally love my VFFs for strength training and mowing the lawn.

a step down in intensity would be shoes like the saucony kinvara, the new balance 100 trail shoe (or whatever version they are at now), most of the newtons, and a whole slew of new shoes from various brands coming in 2011. i think these shoes are much safer for most people to run in because the difference in heel to toe drop between them (3-8mm) and traditional shoes (10-19mm) is much less than going with a VFF (1mm) or barefoot (0mm). i have a list of shoes with heel to toe drops if you are interested in seeing it.

i also like the latter minimalist shoes better because there is some cushion, so i think they are safer for unnatural surfaces like asphalt and concrete.

in sum, i like the trend toward more minimalist shoes, but it's not for everyone and a lot of caution should be exercised. my staff are trained to have the minimalism "conversation" with most people who come into the store. we leave it up to the customer to decide if they want to try moving that way, and if they do, we have a long conversation about how to do it safely.

hope that helps.

Specialization Punishes

2010-12-21T17:10:00.000-06:00

Every notice how kids are rarely injured?

Of course it's partially due to their amazing recovery abilities, but I think it's also because they are generalists. They don't do any one particular thing for long periods of time.

10 minutes digging in the dirt, 20 minutes riding their bike, an hour of basketball, 15 minutes tipping over furniture, 5 minutes chopping down their mom's shade tree, and not once sitting. They use every single muscle in their body every day in a variety of ways. No overuse. Lots of strength training...it's just all functional.

Now think of a marathon runner. Even novice marathoners usually run at least 30 miles a week. Most run more. How much time do these folks have to do activities other than work? Zilch.

When I first started doing triathlons and running races, I had just come off of 18 years of regular soccer play and strength training. I progressed very quickly and within a year was running close to 5 minute pace for a 5K. With virtually zero injuries for 4 years.

But as my results improved, I dropped the soccer and weights to focus on what I thought would give me the most gains...running, biking, and swimming. Primarily running. I think it's because I became too specialized.

Do you know any runner who wasn't injured last year? At least minimally? Would it help us runners to do more functional cross training type activities? ABSOLUTELY.

One of the best programs out there in terms of diversity is Crossfit. I love the variety of activities they do and the focus on correct form. Some will argue with their intensity at times, but you cannot beat it in terms of overall body conditioning.

Muscle Priming

2010-11-03T10:29:00.000-05:00

Ever noticed how awful the first couple miles of a run can be without a proper warm-up? You hobble...lack of flexibility in the calves and hips...maybe a bit of a hitch on one side...until 10 or 15 minutes into the run you finally feel that you can extend fully and your form approximates normal.

Do you experience this with every run?

More and more elite coaches (such as Bobby McGee) are recommending a series of muscle recruitment exercises to "turn on" the important muscles. This will ensure that everything fires in the correct sequence.

We're not just talking a short walk, followed by an easy jog and some stretching. We're talking very specific movements to turn on each muscle group. I have begun doing the following movements prior to my own limited running and biking and am happy with them. They are by no means the only movements you can do.

Glute bridge - video
Knee hug to forward lunge - video
Inverted hamstring - video

Good luck!

Build Your Aerobic Engine

2010-09-28T15:09:00.000-05:00

It's the time of year that pure runners pure runners and triathletes are nearing the end of their racing seasons. Looking forward to next year, what can you do to improve performance and reduce injury risk for next year?

Mark Allen, 6-time Ironman World Champion, and many others recommend starting each season with several months of training focusing solely on aerobic development. This means you NEVER exceed your aerobic threshold heart rate in training. It's humbling at first, because most of us will have to slow our pace down by at least 1-3 minutes per mile (running) in order to prevent exceeding the threshold heart rate. You will likely have to walk most hills.

When Mark Allen first tried this method, he had to run at 8:15/mile pace. This was 2-3 minutes per mile slower than he liked to average previous to that. Within a month, he could run 7:15/mile pace at the same low heart rate. In a year, he was down under 6:00/mile pace at that heart rate. He was flabbergasted.

Dr. Mark Cucuzella talks about this concept in his "Art and Science of Preparing for an Endurance Event".

My goal for late 2010 and early 2011 is to implement this training protocol into my own training and see what happens. To find your aerobic threshold, you can use Joe Friel's LT test protocol and then train in low zone 2 heart rate. It's also kind of easy to figure out when you are running. If you started at a walk and slowly increased your pace, you would eventually reach a point where you noticed your breathing. It wouldn't be hard breathing, just a notice of a slight additional effort. It's almost an all-day pace. That's the point you can't move past.

Do You Have Your Race Plan?

2010-09-14T18:20:00.000-05:00

When I have an A-priority race coming up, I usually write out a race plan. Here are the areas I write in detail.

Nutrition - Day before, pre-race, swim, bike, run, post-race. This includes hydration and food. What will I carry with me and what will I take at the aid stations?
Gear - Triathlons, especially those with 2 transitions, can be logistically challenging. But I've also forgotten my racing flats for a 5K so the distance or even type of race is irrelevant if it's important enough. This category covers everything from sunblock to racing gear to money to camera to dry post-race clothes.
Pacing - RPE vs. HR monitor vs. power meter. I try to negative split my races, and in triathlons I try to negative split my effort in each of the 3 disciplines...so the run is the highest effort, followed by bike, followed by the swim.
Warm-up/cool-down
Contingencies - How will I deal with a flat tire, a strained muscle, or bad weather?

The beauty of writing down your plan is two-fold. One, you have a plan that you can follow without having to do a lot of thinking in the race. Two, if you have a bad race, you can look back at your plan and figure out if you could do something differently next time.

Facial Fixing

2010-08-05T21:24:00.001-05:00

Any time you are doing an exercise, whether it's running, weights, or whatever, care should be made to have complete relaxation of the face and jaw.

Clenching the jaw, biting your lip, or even sticking your tongue out of your mouth are all behaviors we employ when we are lacking control and need a bit more.

They help in the short term but are indicators of poor coordination or stabilization.

In the long run, not addressing the true source of weakness will cause many more problems.

To prevent these types of compensation, you can whistle or repeat a word softly.

The same can be said for staring at a fixed point. Yes, it helps your balance temporarily, bit when do you get a chance to stare at a fixed object in a race? Never.

Drop the unnecessary behaviors and focus on your weaknesses.

Training Stress

2010-08-05T21:18:00.001-05:00

If you can quantify very accurately the stress you will undergo in your goal race (and yes, you can) then why shouldn't you train yourself to handle that level of stress in training?

Next we'll look at how to quantify the stress.

Passive Stretching vs. Dynamic Stretching

2010-07-18T19:11:00.000-05:00

The passive stuff needs to happen post workout or in leisure time because it's helping your body relax (read: slow down). Here are some words from renowned running coach Bobby McGee on the topic.

Dynamic stretching should happen before a workout because it gets your nervous system tuned up and ready to perform. Here's Bobby's take on Dynamic stuff.

Racing at Altitude

2010-07-05T12:11:00.000-05:00

Some changes to the thought on racing at altitude. We used to say get there well in advance OR right before the race. We thought if you arrived in between those two extremes, then the body would perform worse.

The newest research says get there as far in advance as possible.

Joe Friel's latest blog post discusses the theory.

The post also has good info on adapting to changes in climate. Try to workout in conditions than mimic what you will see at your race at least 10-14 days before the race, whether that's heat or cold. The key is to exercise in those conditions. For recovery time, feel free to use the A/C. It won't affect your adaptation.

IT Band

2010-06-30T16:47:00.002-05:00

Here is a great video on IT band issues. It shows an evaluation, talk about how it occurs, and how to fix it.

Tapering for Your Race

2010-06-18T09:17:00.000-05:00

In the last couple of weeks before a race, you really can't gain much fitness. But you CAN prepare your body for the rigors of the race to significantly improve race day performance.

The main idea is to do workouts that closely approximate the conditions of your race. Think of things like your course (hilly vs. flat), weather (hot vs. cold), time of day (most races are early), expected race pace (sprint distance vs. long distance), nutrition, etc.

I subscribe to Joe Friel's thoughts on tapering. He suggests doing a race simulation workout every 3 days in the last few weeks of very important races. In between each race simulation workout, you need to rest or do granny pace recovery workouts. This is how your body will be able to super-compensate and have full reserves on race day.

The other important factor is that the race simulation workouts should get shorter and shorter the closer you get to your race.

Transitioning to Barefoot Running

2010-06-15T09:27:00.000-05:00

Physical therapists, athletics trainers, and doctors sure are busy these days with barefoot runners!

Here are a couple of good articles on the subject.

From Newton Running - http://bit.ly/b9mGiv

From the Science of Sport blog - http://bit.ly/duhwJm

Swim Technique

2010-04-16T18:56:00.000-05:00

Our tri club put on a swim clinic last weekend and we did some video taping. This is a must if you want to correct technique. You will fix your errors so much faster than without.

Here is my video. Notice the dropped elbow (arm is straight as I am pulling instead of bent) and the legs that splay when I'm on my side. Before taking this video, Brad and Jim watched me swim and told me my torso was rotating but my hips were staying level. I purposely contracted my core so the entire body rolled when I took the video. Wish I had video of before and after to compare both.

Now let's compare it to my buddy Jim Hoodenpyle, one of the area's best triathlete swimmers. Jim's elbows stay high, high hips are high, and his kick is nice and tight.

So this is the power of video analysis. It gives you an extra sense for knowing where your body should be in space. I highly recommend getting video taped if at all possible.

High Elbow

2010-04-16T15:11:00.000-05:00

Click on the photo below to see a series of photos of correct elbow placement during the pull phase of the stroke. This athlete is doing a magnificent job of keeping their elbow high.

Gear Review: Pearl Izumi PRO Tri Short

2010-04-13T16:22:00.000-05:00

The Pearl Izumi PRO Tri Short is Pearl's top of the line tri short. The entire PRO line is dedicated to professional athletes who need the maximum performance out of their gear.

The short is the fastest drying short I've ever worn. The chamois is pretty skimpy so I'd use it for sprints and olympics and possibly a half ironman. I'd like a little more cushion for an ironman though.

The material is so light that it is impossible for it to retain sweat. I was amazed at how dry I was even though I was riding and running in the low 80's F at the time.

For those who are modest, this might not be the best choice. The very thin material shows off more than some people want. Of course, triathletes in general don't have a problem with that.

Overall, I will love this short for short course racing this year. At $95, it's on the high end of tri stuff but not obscenely priced.

Open Water Swim Tips

2010-03-31T10:37:00.000-05:00

Getting through the swim is all about preparation. Swim the course in advance and look for several things so you know what to expect on race day. It's preferable if you can swim with the race buoys in place so you know the exact course.

Landmarks - what can you use for sighting during the race when you are surrounded by athletes splashing? Look for prominent hills, buildings, trees, etc. I like to get at least one landmark for each straight line segment of the swim. So if the course is a triangle, get three landmarks - one for each segment.
Moving Water - Is there any movement to the water? If you have a cross current, it's going to push you sideways. You will need to account for this in the race.
Water Temperature - Will you be able to wear a wetsuit? The race directors will usually be able to give you an idea in advance. Ask at race check in. When in doubt, I always bring my wetsuit when I travel. The five minutes it saves me in a mile swim (with about 20% less effort) is well worth the bit of extra space it requires in packing.
Waves - Is the swim a mass start or will you have waves? If waves, when does your age group wave start? Might be nice to know if you have an hour wait for your wave to start (like I did at the Chicago Triathlon several years ago and found myself dehydrated by the time my wave started). Pool swim tris usually have a longer wait for slower swimmers - have fluids and or nutrition with you.
Line Up - On race day, where will you line up? Are you a strong enough swimmer that you can start at the front, sprint a few hundred yards, and then get on fast feet? If not, then don't start at the front! Weaker swimmers should start at the back or at the side. I'd much rather lose a few seconds than get beat up. On the other hand, sometimes it makes sense to line up at the front. At Ironman Arizona last fall, there were 2500 people in a mass start. If I lined up at the back, I'd have definitely been beat up as I passed the super slow swimmers. Lining up at the front allowed the faster people to pass me (and gave me a free ride when I could draft off of them) without getting creamed by the masses. My buddy swam faster than me by a couple of minutes but started in the middle of the pack so he had a lot more contact. The drawback of my strategy was that I had to get in first so had to tread water in dim light conditions for 15-20 minutes before the race started.
Draft - Once the swim starts, you can save a lot of energy by drafting off of competitors. You can either swim directly behind or to the side and slightly back of another swimmer (off their hip). At some point, you will feel like you want to pass someone you are drafting off of. If you go to pass them and don't have to expend too much energy, then go for it. If you go to pass them and the effort increases significantly, then get back behind them and continue drafting. Consider it a free ride and energy saved for the rest of the race. Practice this with friends at the pool or the lake - when you are directly behind someone, you can actually feel your hand being pulled forward. There will be contact between your hand and their foot but try not to get too close. Too much contact and you might get on their nerves and get a kick to the head. I like to sit about 6-12 inches back.

Psychological Warfare

2010-03-27T15:13:00.000-05:00

My buddy Dustin's response to a prior blog post ["Pre would have called you a wuss for racing like that (drafting off of my opponent until the final half mile)"] elicited a laugh but it also alluded to something not often discussed: the psychological aspect of racing.

More than for his running (which was spectacular), Steve Prefontaine was famous for his brash attitude and amazing ability to push himself to the limits. He was also very good at getting inside the heads of his opponents. I remember reading that he was fond of telling his opponents before races that he was going to take them to a place they would not like going to.

Competition is bred into our genes. Our ancestors who weren't as motivated to win (food, mates, etc) didn't reproduce as often and those genes did not get passed down. So it's natural that in today's society, where everything is so easy, we look for ways to compete and satisfy the primal urge. Running is a great outlet.

A big part of competition is mental. So how can you maximize your chances of success against your competition? Here are a few considerations.

Learn Your Competition - how do they race? Do they start slow and kick hard at the end or do they push the pace early and attempt to hold on? Dustin and I lived together when I was at my fastest (9 years ago - wow that makes me feel old) and for several months we ran all of our runs together. It didn't take long to figure out that I had a better kick but he could endure a hard pace longer. I out-kicked him in one of our first match-ups and from then on he made a point to push a very hard early pace to outdistance me. He usually won.

I like to look at recent results to see how my competition has been running lately. Have their times

been dipping? Or are they on an upswing and starting to beat people neither of us has beat before.

One runner mentioned the other day that he had one of our staff's name (Kelly Ash) on his "list" at

home. That runner has a list of people he wants and feels he has a realistic chance to beat. I like his

spirit!

Psyche Them Out - You've got to use your Poker Face. You are not nervous! You are not intimidated! Even if you really are those things deep down, the moment your competition picks up on it they gain confidence.

Before the race, I like to be friendly but I don't share unnecessary information with my competition.

I don't tell them I've been running low miles or have been hurt. You want to appear totally confident

and in perfect health.

During the race, I try to control my breathing so that they don't know when I'm hurting. I strive to keep

my form tight so they can't see when the pace is hurting me. If I think I can break their spirit by pushing

hard up a hill, I do it.

Similarly, the moment I notice them struggling I push to see if I can drop them. This pace is

usually too hard to keep up for the rest of the race, but if I create a gap I usually crate a win. Kenyans

are famous for this strategy.

Talk to Them - There's nothing a person hates more in a competitive situation than when someone talks to them. If you have the spare energy to talk, you obviously have enough energy to continue or even increase the pace. I make a point to thank every volunteer loudly, comment on other runners, or just anything I think might get in their head. It's especially helpful to tell them they are doing great. It puts them in the frame of mind that you are the dominant runner (and, once again, are feeling good enough to spare the energy to tell them so). You've got to be careful with taunts though. They can backfire on you if the person gets ticked off and gets an adrenaline surge.

Don't Race too Much - Unless you are in fantastic shape, you need to remain somewhat mysterious. By limiting race results, people are never sure what kind of time you are capable of running.

Have fun!

Orthotics and Shoe Inserts

2010-03-22T10:35:00.000-05:00

Orthotics are custom shoe inserts usually made from an impression of your foot to address biomechanical problems. You can get them from podiatrists, physical therapists, athletic trainers, and I believe even online.

They are generally fairly expensive ($200-$500) and usually require the impression of your foot to be mailed to an orthotic construction facility where they can be made and sent back to your provider. Some providers can do it in-house.

Depending upon the type of pain you are experiencing, your orthotic will have different features, such as medial posting or a metatarsal pad. Every orthotic is different.

One of the great things about orthotics is that often they can get you "over the hump" so that you don't have to wear them forever.

I like orthotics that can be revised if they aren't quite right the first time. Otherwise, you are stuck with a pair of $400 orthotics that you can't wear! Several providers make these types of revisable orthotics in SW Missouri. Health Tracks is one such provider.

I recommend inserts for people with anatomical leg length discrepancies (usually, functional leg length discrepancies...which can be due to upslips or a rotation of one side of the pelvis...can be corrected with the right provider)

I'm not a huge fan of people putting over-the-counter shoe inserts in their shoes if they don't have trouble already. Sometimes these inserts actually cause problems. I think some shoe stores unethically take advantage of the "easy sale" to sell them with a new shoe. So you should be suspect if a person as a store tells you that you need to have the extra $20-40 insert with your new shoe.

Many customers come into our store asking for inserts to extend the life of their shoe. I think this is a mistake as well. As shoes wear, we tend to see an exaggerated wear at the ball of the foot relative to the heel. Feel inside an old pair of shoes...the cushion at the ball of the foot gets very compressed. Going back to the heel to toe offset discussion, this exaggeration makes the offset even worse than when the shoes are new. Which in theory makes heel striking even harder to avoid.

The soft inserts feel good, but the biomechanics are worse in the old shoes and the inserts don't address that fact. They give you a false sense of security.

There are semi-custom over-the-counter inserts available as well, such as Arch Molds and Sole inserts. These are often heat-modable so they fit into your shoe better. These types of inserts have a raised arch and some medial posting. They sometimes work well for people who have plantar fasciitis or other types of foot pain. Again, I do not recommend people use these who are not experiencing foot pain.

Barefoot Running

2010-03-17T10:34:00.001-05:00

Barefoot running has received a lot of press lately with the release of the Harvard study comparing foot strike patterns and loading in runners with and without shoes.

My opinion at this time is below.

Running without shoes or with minimalist shoes (such as Vibrams) is worth consideration IF you grew up without shoes or have very strong calves/achilles/feet and no chronic lower extremity pain (such as plantar fasciitis, calf strains, etc).
Running with shoes is probably better for those who grew up wearing highly structured shoes, those with weak calves/achilles/feet, and/or those with chronic calf/achilles/foot problems.

What are the potential advantages of running barefoot or in minimalist shoes? It probably means a lower injury risk and possibly faster running. We don't have enough evidence to say either with much certainty yet.

For those who meet the conditions to consider trying barefoot running, I recommend using a minimalist shoe such as a Vibram to minimize cuts/wounds and a VERY gradual adaptation phase.

For those who don't have injuries and want to try it but want to be a bit more conservative, consider adding light barefoot running on a very soft surface (such as astroturf) a couple times a week. This will strengthen up the feet and hopefully the chance in technique will transfer to your form with shoes.

I really like the Newton shoe for either of the above types of runners. The key to a Newton shoe is that the heel to toe drop isn't as exaggerated as it is in many other shoes. Most popular training shoes have a negative grade of 9-14%...it's like running downhill all of the time. When you run downhill, it's much harder not to heel strike. Newton shoes have a negative grade of 1-3% so you tend to run with shorter strides, which we think is easier on your body.

For those who have a lot of chronic pain, are weak, and or older, I wouldn't advise a transition to barefoot running. I believe one of the problems with wearing structured, cushioned shoes all of our lives is the de-training that occurs in the calves/achilles/feet. They become extremely weak compared to people who grew up barefoot. These people are better of sticking with a more traditional supportive shoe. We recommend video gait analysis to determine if correction is needed for overpronation.

Here is a great post on the current debate regarding barefoot running.

Run Technique Analysis

2010-03-08T12:11:00.000-06:00

A great way to evaluate your running technique is to video yourself or, preferably, get high speed photos taken of yourself running. High speed photos are preferable because they allow us to see problems frozen in time.

Below is a pic from the marathon of my Ironman last November. To tie this into a recent post about the Glute Medius, it makes sense that I had knee pain from mile 8 through the end of the race.

The photo indicates that my Glute Medius was not strong enough. The two ways you can tell is in the drop of my opposite hip and inward rotation of the knee of the "stance leg" (the inward rotation is a little tricky to see from this angle).

The hip of the "swing leg" should remain level when running and the knee of the "stance leg" should track straight.

I had knee pain because the inward rotation of the knee stretched the tissues in the medial side of my kneecap. With that inward rotation, I'm lucky my IT band did not flare up as well.

The funny thing about this is that I had experienced problems with my IT and knee about 5 months before the race. The trainers at Health Tracks identified the source as a weak glute medius and gave me corrective exercises. The exercises fixed the pain. But as so often happens with endurance athletes, I lost focus on the exercises and just swam, biked, and ran in the final 8 weeks before the race.

It's easy to slack off on your stretches and strengthening exercises when things are going well, but if you can keep up with them you'll likely prevent a lot of problems down the road.

One Last Time - Slow Down!

2010-03-03T09:21:00.000-06:00

I hope I'm getting through to people. Your long runs and rides should be ridiculously slow.

This is a very good blog post by one of the better coaches out there on this very topic. It features stories about Frank Shorter and Eneko Llanos.

http://mattfitzgerald.org/blog/?p=359

Keeping yourself from going too fast is the reason you need a power meter or heart rate monitor. If you don't own one and you care about performance, you need to get one. Now.

Gluteus Medius

2010-02-24T11:18:00.000-06:00

Possibly one of the most under-appreciated muscles in the runner's body?

When I slack off on my hip strengthening, my weak glute medius causes my medial knee pain. This Tri Talk podcast talks about it contributing to IT band troubles.

So how do you work your Glute Medius? There are lots of exercises. Personally, I do multi-directional lunges, single leg squats (preventing my knee from collapsing inward), and walking forward and sideways with a rubber exercise band around my knees.

Training Stress

2010-02-23T19:36:00.001-06:00

Enough Calories

2010-02-20T23:22:00.001-06:00

Those of us training for triathlons and running races need to be very careful about caloric intake.

The higher demand for energy from exercise means you need to have a constant stream of calories going into your body.

Working out on an empty stomach, such as first thing in the morning, requires the body to break down a greater amount of muscle tissue instead of using carbohydrate.

Not only that, you sacrifice the workout. The other day, I missed lunch because I was busy at work. My buddy Jeff and I went on a ride around 2pm and went about 2 1/2hrs.

I took in a large gel (400 calories) over the course of the ride but despite this, over the final 5 miles I became dizzy, had double vision, and weakened considerably.

Big picture: don't skip meals.

Race Tactics

2010-02-08T16:52:00.001-06:00

I ran a 10K for the first time in about 7 years last weekend. While I didn't have a goal to win the race or my age group, the race played out such that three guys in my age group were all pretty close at the 5K point. It turned into a pretty good race and tactics were a large part of the reason I placed as well as I did.

Most runners go out too hard, waste energy inappropriately, and just don't think enough in a race. Here are some of the things that helped me.

Pacing: always aim for a negative split. Almost all running world records were accomplished through negative splits. If you go out too hard, you fight acidosis the rest of the race. My mile splits were 6:22, 6:33, 6:29, 6:02, 6:07, 6:15, plus ~1:10 to the finish. Over a minute faster for the second half of the race from the first half.

I was between 30 and 60 seconds behind the top 3 guys in my age group at the 5K turnaround. Taking that into consideration, they may have ran faster had they gone out slower the first half.

Drafting: Drafting is used more by cyclists but runners definitely benefit as well, especially when you have wind as we did Saturday. I started near the back of the pack at the starting line and made a point of hiding behind people as I picked my way through the pack in the first couple of miles. Besides the benefit of less wind resistance, it's mentally much easier to pace off of someone else than to set the pace yourself.

Pay Attention: To your competitors. Up until around mile 2, I wasn't trying to run very competitively. I was running next to a friend and chatting about races (as much as you can when you are running semi-hard). There was a good 300-400 meters from us to the next group of 3 guys. The leaders of the race were another 400+ meters ahead of them. I noticed that the group ahead of us started to slow a bit -- possibly from going out too hard. They were keeping a good pace, but had stopped pulling away...and one was dropping back from the others.

I made a decision to see if I could gradually reel in the guy who was falling off the back. At the turn around, I could see each of their faces and level of discomfort. The guy off the back had a pained expression and tight shoulders. I knew I could catch him so at the turn around, with a slight decline ahead, I increased my lean and foot turnover and caught up to him after about 500-600 meters. We ran together a few seconds but the other two still looked strong up ahead so I had to keep pushing.

Around mile 4.5, I caught up to the other two. It was a bit painful to bridge the gap, but I knew if I could catch them I could get a huge mental break by just pacing off of them. One of the two heard me coming (I'm a loud breather) and accelerated a bit just as I reached them. The slower of the two had fairly labored breathing so it didn't seem like he wasn't going to keep up.

At this point I had a choice. I could continue the hard pace I'd been running (and pass the lead guy) or back off a bit and recover. Since there was no one else I had a realistic chance of catching ahead, it made no sense to pass this guy and push the pace. Besides, we could both see a long gradual hill in the distance and it didn't seem smart to go into a hill hurting any more than I needed to. So I backed off about 15 seconds per mile and cruised.

When we hit the hill, he accelerated again but it was easy to just stick on his shoulder and draft off of him. I've had people stick on my shoulder like this in a race and honestly it's a bit frustrating. But it's good tactics. It doesn't matter who's ahead until the finish, so why waste energy until then? The smart thing for the lead runner to do (if there's no one else close behind) is to slow down and let the other guy pass so he can reverse the advantage.

On the hill, I noticed his form tightening up and his respiration increasing markedly. He was pushing too hard.

Finish Strong: While you don't want to waste energy needlessly before the finish, you need to assess your competition in terms of finishing kick potential. If you hold off too much, you might get out-kicked. With my litany of injuries, I'm much less inclined to do an all-out sprint at the finish these days. So at mile 5.7, I decided to accelerate pretty hard to see if I could break his spirit. Each step, it seemed like his breathing and steps drifted back more and more. At mile 6 when we turned the corner, he was a good 10 seconds back so I knew I could ease off a bit and finish without having to sprint. Although I didn't know it during the race, each of the last 3 guys I passed were in my age group....and I took home my first trophy in a quite a few years.

So that's it. It's not rocket science, but in a race it's sometimes tough to play it smart. When you're going for a fast time, then focus on negative splitting, drafting, and pushing through the middle miles when it's toughest. When going for a good placing, focus on negative splitting, drafting, and conserving energy whenever possible.

I'd love to hear your stories about how race tactics helped you or hurt you.

Branson High Road Time Trial

2010-02-07T14:57:00.000-06:00

For those athletes wanting to get a taste of what's to come in the Ironman Branson 70.3 race in September, the Ozark Cycling Club is producing the Ozark Mountain High Road Time Trial on March 20th at 11am.

The time trial will travel on the high road from 76 to 65 and back, for 14 miles round trip. Cyclists will use the left hand lanes and the road will be open to traffic in the right lane.

The fee will be $20 + $10 insurance fee for Cat 5 racers.

Race flyer http://bit.ly/cDxzxw

Course map and elevation profile available on the OCC website: http://bit.ly/aVdzR2

Great Book

2010-02-02T14:57:00.000-06:00

I recently picked up a book by Mark Verstegen for Endurance Athletes. http://bit.ly/bupG8m

Besides a very good section on nutrition, the book includes exercises to do to stay balanced and limber. I particularly like the movements designed to activate muscles before a workout.

I'm been doing the exercises for less than a week, but already feel more limber and definitely take less time to warm up into my runs and rides.

Mark runs a training facilities for athletes out of Arizona, Florida, and California. Would love to go visit one sometime. http://bit.ly/9uuknp

Trail Running

2010-01-25T14:38:00.000-06:00

I think inserting some trail running into your weekly routine can be one of the best ways to reduce your risk of chronic injuries.

The uneven terrain forces your body to alter gait just enough from stride to stride that the small things that usually add up in running on flat surfaces don't accumulate quite as quickly. If you think about how single side chronic injuries often arise (which in my mind is worse than two sided chronic injuries because they're harder to fix), it's usually because we have a difference between the two legs and running puts stress on the two sides differently. Kind of like driving a car that's out of alignment. With enough miles, eventually something gives.

I've found that when I run on grass and trails, my chronic injuries are far less troublesome. Of course acute injuries (ankle sprains, stone bruises) are a bit more prevalent on trails. You need to pay more attention to your footing and it's a good idea to ease into trail running. Generally, the ankles are a bit more sore when starting trail running due to the extra inversion/eversion that happens when you run on rocks and such.

There aren't a lot of trail runs in Springfield, but I believe there are people working on it. Hopefully, we'll see more in 2010 and beyond.

I also hear excellent reviews from our customers about the Psycho Wyco races put on by the Kansas City Trail Nerds. Their fields are limited and they usually sell out, so register early! http://www.psychowyco.com/index.html

Tri Clinic Jan 16

2010-01-09T09:00:00.001-06:00

I like just about anything Joe Friel is associated with. Check out this opportunity next weekend in Ballwin, MO. $50 seems like a pretty sweet deal too. http://tinyurl.com/yj59ohf

8am-10:30 Introuction and Workshop

This workshop will begin with instructions and the rotation evaluation will begin. You will be evaluated individually in small groups by the experts in Bike Fit, Run Gait, Swim Stroke analysis, Triathlon Specific Functional Strength/Bio Mechanics analysis.

10:30-12noon Joe Friel

Lecture portion of the Workshop will take place in the meeting room. You will hear from Paleo Nutrition Expert Amy Kubal followed by our very own Joe Friel as he explaines how to make 2010 Your Best Season Ever.

Personal Thoughts on Triathlon Training over Christmas for those so Inclined

2009-12-26T23:13:00.000-06:00

Stop a week or two. Get a little fat.

Ironman Arizona Recap

2009-12-17T19:26:00.001-06:00

The purpose of this blog is to talk about coaching concepts to help triathletes race faster. Although it's a little off-topic, I've had lots of requests for a race review so this post is that review. For those who are contemplating an Ironman, this may help you get an idea of how it goes.

The days preceding the race there is a lot going on...practice swims on the race course, free Active Release treatment for athletes, and a great expo with vendors such as Newton, Trigger Point, and K-Swiss. It's exciting, and very easy to get caught up in the hype and spend all of your day at the expo comparing yourself to all of the fit studs walking, biking, and running around in their spandex.

Ironman requires racers to check in to get their bib #'s/timing chip on Thursday or Friday for a Sunday race. You drop your bike and T1/T2 bags off on Saturday and leave them overnight, so there's a lot of planning involved. My buddy Eric calls planning for an Ironman a logistical nightmare. Very apt.

You also have the option to drop off a "special needs" bag for the bike and the run that is accessible at the half-way point on each course. These bags might have food, dry socks, tums, or whatever you else you might need.

I spent about an hour each day in the 3 days leading up to the race planning what I'd need at every point in the race. Ideally, a prepared athlete would have this done months in advance. My special needs bags were definitely overkill, but I wanted to be ready for every possibility. So I had lots of extra nutrition, dry clothes, anti-nausea meds, etc packed.

Water temp was 63 degrees with 20 minutes of treading water before the start (it took that long to get everyone in the water). Neoprene cap and ear plugs came in handy. It was a bit nerve wracking lining up before sunrise with all of us squished together.

The gun went off at 7am and we all started. Since it's a long swim (and the start of a long day), you have to take it slow and relax. I'm the guy by the orange buoy at the top. I lined up at the front because my boss said there would be less contact that way. Great advice.

I exited the water at 1hr 17 min, and was very happy with this time since swimming is not my strong point.

The changing tent in T1 is a mass of chaos, volunteers, and naked men. No pictures available - sorry. Believe me, you don't want to see it. There are tons of volunteers to help you though.

I had a lot of trouble changing in T1 into my cycling clothes because I was so cold. T1 took almost 15 minutes.

The bike course in Arizona is an 18.5 mile out and back segment that you do 3 times. The "out" segment has a slight incline at the end and the winds usually come at you on your way out. So you work hard on the way out and then fly back in with the wind at your back. You get to see your family at the end of each lap.

There were so many people in the race that the first loop was packed with cyclists. Quite frequently, it was 2-3 cyclists shoulder to shoulder. So there was a lot of drafting going on. The sun was out at this point and I finally warmed so I could feel my hands and feet around mile 10.

The tricky thing with Iron distance races is that it's very easy to go out to hard without knowing it. The second and third loops were more spread out, and the time went by really quickly. I just focused on holding back a bit, eating according to my plan (300-400 calories/hour), and enjoying the day.

I ate mostly shot bloks, honey stinger energy chews, and clif bars on the bike. For fluids, I mostly took water bottles from volunteers with an occasional Gatorade. Total calories consumed on the bike was about 2,000.

With aid stations every 10 miles on the bike course at IMAZ, it is easy to get water/gatorade as needed. Smart athletes will carry as little as possible and pick up fluids/calories as needed.

Volunteers greet racers as you dismount from the bike. They rack your bike, give you your T2 bag, and direct you to the changing tent. You change into your run clothes and then take off onto the marathon.

Bike split: 5 hours, 55 minutes for an 18.9mph average. With most of my training rides averaging 15-17mph, I was worried I rode too hard but couldn't do anything about it at this point. I felt good exiting transition. Due to my lack of training volume on the run (nine 3 mile runs and one 6 mile run), I figured I would be lucky to run even half of the marathon. So even though I felt so good, I held back and trotted at "all day" pace, which was around 8:30/mile at the start of the run.

The run course at IMAZ is a figure 8 shaped course that you repeat three times. Athletes run by the finish line five times, making it the most spectator friendly Ironman in the world.

As a precaution, I decided two minutes every two miles. The walk-run method works well for people using the Galloway method so I thought it would help me too. I think this turned out to be a good idea, because other than some knee pain I felt from miles 12-20, I had no problems. The weather was warm (70's, sunny), there were lots of spectators, and we ran around a pretty lake.

Around mile 20, I realized I had a chance at finishing in under 12 hours. I also realized at this point that I only had 10K to go. The combination of these two thoughts gave me a gigantic energy boost and I ran each successive mile faster than the last. The final 10K was the fastest 10K of the race. Final marathon split 4:08:33. Total race time: 11:43:15

At the finish line, a volunteer takes care of each athlete. They give you your finisher medal and shirt, ask if you want to take a finisher photo, give you a mylar blanket, and get you set up for a massage and directed toward food. You really get the royal treatment.

With the hard finishing effort, I felt pretty bad at the finish line. I took about 30 minutes to sit down and recover and then got a light massage and food. The finish line is very exciting to watch...people experiencing such joy at the accomplishment...not something you see at many other races.

The morning after the race athletes have first chance to register for next year's event. So you get out of bed and hobble on down to the race site. Everyone is hobbling so you don't feel funny. It's not a bad thing getting up since everyone's also too sore to sleep well anyway. Registering for the next year is something to think about in advance because once they open up online registration at noon, most US Ironmans sell out in less than an hour. Athletes also get to enter the Ironman tent to purchase finisher merchadise at a quite steep markup.

So that's it. Overall, it was a great experience. I'm happy I did an Ironman branded race for my first long distance tri. The price is steep at $550, but they went all out. 3,000 volunteers for 2,500 racers...great food...free ART...super safe course...of course an awesome announcer...and just amazing energy.

Ironman Branson 70.3 Bike Course released

2009-12-11T18:01:00.000-06:00

Start training on hills, people.

<p><a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/mo/-branson/599125832676555398">Branson 70.3 Ultimate Route</a><br/><a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/find-ride/united-states/mo/-branson">Find more Bike Rides in Branson, Missouri</a></p>

Gear Review: Mizuno Breathermo

2009-11-11T18:08:00.000-06:00

Mizuno has a new fabric they are marketing as "Breath Thermo". Breath Thermo (BT) has a fabric sewn in called Polyacrylate. This fiber warms up a bit when exposed to water. The idea is that it keeps you warmer in cold weather.

We have samples of polyacrylate in the store that we use to demonstrate the warming effect with exposure to water. It's a little weird because the fiber REALLY warms up when it gets wet.

What you experience when wearing Breath Thermo clothes (gloves, socks, tights, tops, headband) is not the extreme warming effect of the samples because each piece only composed of 3-6% Polyacrylate. What you notice is that these pieces are much warmer than another brand of the same thickness.

I've tried the socks, gloves, headband and top. The socks, headband, and top definitely feel warmer than my other pieces of similar thickness. I was very impressed with how well this material works. I'm not 100% sold on the gloves as I think the fabric "pores" expand when you put them on and it lets the air in a bit too easily.

The only drawback of the Breath Thermo top is that it's a tad itchy. As a result, I like to wear a light short sleeve tech shirt underneat my BT top. I didn't notice this problem with the socks, gloves, or headband though.

I've ran in 25 degrees with only my short sleeved tech and and BT top and been very comfortable. (I started out with a light jacket but got way too hot with the BT top underneath it)

I'd definitely recommend the BT tops and socks if you are looking to wear lighter layers but still stay nice and warm during winter time runs and rides. The socks retail at $14.99, gloves and headbands $19.99, and tops start at $54.99 and up.

Maintain Your Bike

2009-11-06T18:03:00.000-06:00

Riding your bike gets it dirty. Cables get loose, gears shift poorly, brakes get out of alignment.

If you don't know how to maintain your bike, then you need to make sure your local bike shop is doing it for you. I found this maintenance chart on the A&B Cycle website. It's a great reminder for items that need to be taken care of.

10 Weeks to an Ironman

2009-11-04T21:59:00.000-06:00

Planning your training for a race needs to take into account realistic expectations for the work that can be accomplished in the available time frame.

8 weeks ago I decided to go ahead with an ironman race I signed up for last year (IM Arizona). I had decent training this Spring but was sick for a couple of months this summer and couldn't do much exercise.

With only 10 weeks to race day, it wasn't reasonable to get in a typical ironman buildup of 15-20 hours per week. I didn't have the base.

So, I've been riding 2-3x/week (long ride building from 50 miles to 106 miles), swimming 2x/week, and running as injuries allowed, usually 1x/week.

It's not been ideal but it's the best I could do with the time available.

Gear Review: Compression Fabrics

2009-10-02T09:36:00.005-05:00

There may be some gimmicks in the technical apparel market, but compression is not one of them.

Apparel companies cite research studies that suggest compression can be of value during and after exercise. During exercise, the effects are increased circulation and reduced muscle damage. Post exercise, the effects are increased circulation for quicker recovery. (in a pinch, you can also put your wife's tights on your son for a race while she's on vacation)

I have personally used compression shirts, tights, and socks.

Shirts - I used an Under Armour compression shirt. As a triathlete, I didn't see much benefit from the compression shirt. It is not feasible for swimming, and biking/running don't utilize upper body musculature enough to have a noticeable difference for me.

Tights - I use CWX tights (frequently). These worked very well for me. You can definitely feel the compression while exercising and the effect is an almost tingly feeling (in a good way)...I view this as the increased blood flow. They also feel like a brace on my legs, which being someone who gets injured frequently, lends some protection. Post exercise, I use them only after very strenuous workouts (I worry that my body adapt to needing compression if I use them after every workout - not sure if this will happen but am playing it safe).

I did a 5 hour bike ride yesterday and wore tights yesterday afternoon and over night. My legs feel much better than they should considering the length of the workout. I was more sore last week after my 3.5 hour ride.

The drawback of tights is warmth. I get too hot if the temperature is above 40 degrees. They are also quite pricey, at $95-98.

Socks/Calf Sleeves - I have experimented with CEP socks ($60), CWX socks ($35), and Wigwam Ironman socks ($35), and Zoot Compression Sleeves ($60). These socks/sleeves make you look a little funny - they reach up to your knees, but they are my favorite piece of apparel I own. They can be worn year round and they just plain work. Improved circulation, reduced muscle damage. I love them.

I have noticed that price definitely matters here. The CEP socks and Zoot sleeves, while the most expensive of the bunch at $60, have the best compression and hold up well to repeated washings. I've used and washed the CEP socks at least 30 times. Probably around 10-12 washings for the Zoot sleeves.

The Wigwam socks lost their compression after two few washes. The CWX socks just didn't have enough compression and they felt more like women's nylons than real socks.

Gear Review: Newton Running Shoe

2009-09-16T15:38:00.001-05:00

Since I manage a running store, I'm going to start working some gear reviews into this blog. I don't really have any incentive to push certain products so I vow to be honest with the pros and cons of each product.

Today I'm covering Newton running shoes. Visit Newton's Site here.

Newton's are designed to reduce heel striking. They do this by building 4 plastic lugs into the forefoot. The result when running is that it's slightly less comfortable to land on your heel than your midfoot. So you shorten your stride almost unconsciously.

A shorter stride takes some impact off of the bones and joints, as well as improves efficiency. Shortening one's stride is one of the key points I teach in my run technique classes so the shoe aids in that process. Newton has some great videos on running technique here.

Other Pros: very light and breatheable, very responsive...you can really feel the ground beneath your feet as you run, they improve stride efficiency. Before they started aggravating my Achilles, I was running 20 seconds faster in my 5K races compared to a similar weight racing flat.

Cons: minimal support, more stress to the calves/achilles tendon, not a great shoe for a new or inefficient runner, pricey ($150-175 - made in the Colorado Springs, CO).

Personally, I really liked my Newton's. But I have a chronic achilles tendon problem on the left side. The shoes put too much stress on this area so I just can't wear them any more.

If you are a runner who wants a fast shoe that might help you become even more efficient, then you should try the Newton. The key is gradual implementation of the shoe into your running.

Mental Health

2009-09-09T09:00:00.001-05:00

Our triathlon club hosted a sports psychologist (Marv Fremerman) a few years back. One of Marv's main points was the link between athletic performance and mental health.

He told us that we, as athletes, would never reach our full potential until we were able to sort out the major sources of conflict in our lives. The feelings associated with the conflict create a sense of negativity which spills over into our psyche and limits us.

At the time, I was skeptical. How could, for example, being mad at my wife disrupt my workouts or racing? But I've noticed that I do indeed have "better" workouts when things are going well at home and at work. I can't say why, but it's true for me.

In a related point, I'm now listening to a book on tape authored by a leading emotional health researcher and the Dalai Lama.

The section I just finished centered on the poison of hate in our lives. While hate can be constructive in the short term (motivating you to beat a competitor, for example), in the long term it causes many more problems. For example, while hate helped me push myself harder in races, it dulled my ability to monitor my systems. I often pushed much too hard early in the race and then raced slower overall due to the acidiosis.

Interesting stuff.

Race Week

2009-09-04T12:36:00.000-05:00

One of the most frequent questions I receive from athletes pertains to what you should do on race week.

It depends to some extent upon how important the race is.

"C" (or low-) priority races don't require anything different than your normal workouts. These races are just for fun so you train through them.

"B" (or medium-) and "A" (or high-) priority races require a reduction in training hours but a focus on race intensity. .

Joe Friel recommends a race simulation workout with 48hrs of recovery (rest or easy workouts) during your taper. A race simulation workout could be a swim-bike brick, a bike-run brick, or even all 3 in a row. So on a one-week taper, you might do a workout on Monday, Wednesday, and a short one on Friday.

Each race simulation should get shorter as you approach the race to ensure your have your full capacities on race day.

The final workout is a short swim-bike-run the day before the race so you are not stale come race morning. That would be 15-20 minutes in each sport with a few quick accelerations.

Get it done early so you can eat, hydrate, and rest that afternoon.

Mistakes made on race weekend

2009-09-01T22:47:00.000-05:00

***Spending the day before your race on your feet (at expo, sightseeing, etc) or in the sun.

***Eating something new the night before the race.

***Buying a new piece of gear (racing flats, aero wheels, etc) which hasn't been tested by you in training.

***Changing your race plan (going faster than you have trained, eating more/less, deciding to start at the front of the swim, etc).

***Overhydrating/underhydrating

***Not checking your bike for mechanical problems (loose bolts, shifting, brakes).

Everyone has a good story about how they screwed themselves up at some race. I'd love to hear your story.

Making good choices

2009-05-13T10:04:00.000-05:00

Every day we make numerous small choices that seem innocuous, but when combined, drastically affect our fitness.

I had a long run planned two weekends ago. I had been steadily progressing in training and was planning to go 65 minutes. The small choices I made that day led to a bit of achilles pain that I am only now recovered from. So what did I do? Nothing terrible, if you look at each by itself. But combined they formed a sort of "perfect storm" that took me out for a couple of weeks.

Choice #1 - I decided to wear my Newton shoes for half of the long run. If you run in Newton's, you know they cause more of a mid- to forefoot landing, which stresses the calves/achilles more than normal. I had not been running much in my Newton's lately and have a history of achilles problems on the left side.
Choice #2 - My wife was at work so I was watching our 6 month old baby. I decided to push him in the stroller during the run. Weather was warm but windy, and the stroller catches wind like a sail, increasing the effort required to run any given pace.
Choice #3 - I ran by Phelps Grove Park and there were lots of people walking. I decided to run the loop several times and wanted to appear tough so I pushed the pace to 2 minutes faster than my normal long run pace for a couple of miles. Yes, with a stroller! Ugh.
Choice #4 - As I returned to my starting point, I thought I would add on a little bit of time. So I ended up running 72 minutes.
Choice #5 - At the completion of the run (we started and finished at my wife's office), I decided to wait for her to finish work. So I did not shower, self-massage, use my trigger point products, or eat anything for recovery. About the only thing I did well was drink some water and fall asleep on the floor next to her desk with our baby on my chest!

So it's pretty obvious that this combination of choices led to the tendinitis. Big picture: stick to the plan for that workout and do the little things right.

And finally, always finish your workout knowing it won't negatively affect tomorrow's workout. Consistent average-to-solid workouts will lead to much greater fitness gains than sporadic spectacular workouts.

Soft tissue injury

2009-04-28T09:57:00.001-05:00

Eventually, most endurance athletes develop some sort of acute or chronic pain. How you treat it determines how quickly you are able to return to full activity.

Here are a couple of areas you might consider focusing on. Many of will do one or two of these well, but if you can really focus on several at once, I truly think there's a synergistic effect.

*Eat more natural anti-inflammatory foods - pineapple, leafy greens, and omega-3's, for example
*Massage/self-treatment - foam roller, "the stick", trigger point therapy products, light massage
*Sleep - make a concerted effort to get more than usual
*Hydration - again, go for more than usual
*Biomechanical Evaluation (especially for single-sided pain) - figure out if your pain is caused by something you can correct.
*Relaxation/Meditation
*Specific Strength Training - with a focus on rehabilitating the injured area. best to get input from a PT, certifed personal trainer, or other credentialed expert.

Today's workout

2009-04-24T09:34:00.001-05:00

What is the ONE important goal you hope to accomplish today?

Don't have one? Then you're probably wasting your time.

The only athletes who improve from unplanned workouts are beginners. They get better from just about any type of workout (for a while).

Mental Toughness

2009-04-23T21:47:00.002-05:00

How many times in a race have you hit a bad patch, thinking your race was over, and then somehow recovered to finish extremely strong?

This type of experience is very common in triathlon, particularly longer distance races. Both physiology and psychology play a part, but I'd argue the psychological aspect is just as, if not more important, than the physiology.

Since your day to day training is covering the physiological side of things, doesn't it make sense to work in some specific workouts that train your mind to adapt to challenging or unexpected situations? I think so.

The list of situations you can work into a training session are only limited to your own imagination, but here are a few examples:

Long intervals where you only breathe on your "bad" side (yes, you should be able to breathe on either side) in case you have waves/glare on race day that prevent bilateral breathing or your favorite side.
Practice swimming in a lane with 3-4 friends side by side. Take off your goggles half way to simulate losing them and being forced to keep your composure.
Deliberately choose a very windy, cold, or hot day to do a race pace cycling or run workout. Wind is probably the most frustrating condition for most athletes; if you can deal with it well on race day, you'll have a big leg up on your competition.
Stop half way through a race pace cycling workout to change a tube (yes, actually change it). Work on getting back into your rhythm after starting up again.
Brick workouts, particularly including high-intensity cycling efforts. This will make you more likely to cramp when you start running, and if you haven't had to "run through" cramps in a a race yet, don't worry, your time is coming...

I'm always looking for good scenarios such as these to integrate into my athletes' training. Feel free to post any ideas you have.

Thoughts on Recovery

2009-03-28T10:37:00.002-05:00

More and more athletes are realizing the value of recovery weeks in training. Common schemes include a rest week every 3rd or 4th week.

But something you might think about is what to do in that recovery week. You have 3 variables to modify...frequency, duration, and intensity.

So to reduce training stress, you might cut the number of workouts, cut workouts short, or just do the same volume but all at an easy pace.

What works best? Good question. Experiment on yourself.

Currently, I like to reduce frequency so I get more time with family. I cut out a couple of hard workout days early in the week and then get back to my regular long run/ride on the weekend. 3-4 days with low to no training seem to be enough to rejuvenate me.

What do you do?

Asymmetry II

2009-03-16T11:41:00.003-05:00

I have a great personal experience to append to the previous post.

I've struggled with lower lateral hamstring and upper lateral calf tightness/spams for about 3 years. This only occurs with cycling. My athletic trainer has addressed some pelvis issues, which helped with my running injuries, but I still have pain on the bike.

I've purchased an ISM saddle to make sure I'm set up completely neutral, but still the pain persists. So last weekend I videotaped myself on my trainer from the front, back, and both sides. It is clear from the video that my left knee dips inward - we think on the upstroke.

Thinking biomechanically, it makes sense for this inward tracking to be placing additional stress on the outside of my left leg. So what do we do now? We experiment! I'm going to try a cleat wedge on the inside of the left shoe to see if that straightens out the knee.

Is it a guaranteed fix? No. But it gives me something else to try, and after three years of pain and 5 different bike fits from certified fitters (including John Cobb, who worked with Lance Armstrong), I realize I need to keep experimenting. The power of video analysis is pretty amazing.

Asymmetry

2009-03-11T22:18:00.002-05:00

The endurance athlete's biggest enemy, besides training errors, is having some sort of asymmetry in the body.

Think about it, if one side of your body is longer/shorter/more pronated/less rotated/etc, it's like driving a car out of alignment. Greater than normal stress is placed on a specific body part and eventually it breaks down.

I see this all the time as a coach and analyzing gaits at our running store. So while the season is early, see if you can identify any structural or functional asymmetries and address them now.

This may involve a thorough exam from an athletic trainer or maybe just doing some single leg/arm strength or flexibility tests on your own and identifying one side of the body that lags behind the other. It could even involve videotaping yourself swimming, biking, or running and looking for asymmetries such as your catch point or posture on the bike.

For those who have or are struggling with injuries, I would strongly recommend seeing a trainer. In our area, St. John's Health Tracks does an excellent job.

Either way, the process will probably end with you implementing specific strengthening/stretching exercises to "even out" both sides of the body.

Example: try a single leg squat with each leg. Is one stronger? Then work on the other a bit more in a functional way.

Gear

2009-02-17T15:50:00.002-06:00

It's that time. Spring is almost here and you're itching to get outside more.

While you still have a couple of weeks before that will happen in earnest, take this opportunity to go through all of your athletic gear. Get rid of the stuff that's worn out, repair the stuff that's fraying at the seams, and get an overall inventory of what you need for the coming year.

While you're at it, get your bike a tune-up.

Better to do this now than discover at your first race that you have no CO2 cartridges in your seat pack, your goggles are so cloudy you can't see in an open water swim, or that your rear derailleur will not shift into the lowest gear.

Build Your Base

2009-01-20T22:54:00.002-06:00

What are you doing right now in terms of training?

I hope you are establishing some consistency. Consistency is the key to all endurance training. I'd much rather have an athlete who can knock out four to five 3-mile runs per week than one who can do 17 one week, 25 another, 5 the next, and so on.

So whatever your sport is, start slow and bump up your frequency. By staying smart and following a proper progression in training, you'll be far ahead of your competition when racing starts up this spring.

Pronation Video

2009-01-10T17:03:00.004-06:00

Here's a great example of someone with a severe degree of pronation. They would do best with a Motion Control shoe.

Using Video

2009-01-04T10:27:00.003-06:00

If you aren't using video to examine your technique in your sport, you are missing out on a valuable tool.

Below is a before-and-after video I took of myself swimming about a year ago. Now, there are a lot of errors. But you always want to work on one thing at a time.

The one error I wanted to work on first was my kick. You can see that it becomes a bit more compact in the 2nd half of the video (taken a week later).

Ironman Arizona - 362 Days and Counting

2008-11-25T22:42:00.004-06:00

I was persuaded to sign up for my first Ironman (Arizona, race date: 11/22/09) this week.

While I did a couple of sprints this summer and have been doing a fair amount of running (10-15 miles per week) this fall, the Ironman certainly makes that look negligible.

So I have just under a year to get into Ironman shape. For me, that means being able to run the entire marathon and hopefully feel competitive (top 30?) in my age group.

I'll be doing a series of posts on how I plan to get there. It starts with a self analysis of the primary "skills" in all three sports. The following ratings are on a scale of 1 (very poor) to 5 (excellent).

SWIM
Endurance - 2
Force - 3
Speed/Efficiency (aka Technique) - 2.5

BIKE
Endurance - 3
Force - 2.5
Speed/Efficiency - 3

RUN
Endurance - 3
Force - 3.5
Speed/Efficiency - 4

The next post will discuss what this means and what I'm going to do about it. Everyone should do this type of self analysis over the off-season. It's the only way to truly address your weaknesses.

Bike Fit

2008-11-16T13:08:00.002-06:00

There are many schools on thought on bike fitting. I really like Steve Hogg, a master fitter from Australia. His "Sitting Pretty" DVD is excellent - it covers both general fitting principles and common fit problems.

I have a copy so let me know if you are in Springfield and would like to borrow it.

One of the concepts Steve focuses on in his writing is Structural Fitness. I posted on this topic here. Steve says that your ability to ride a bike is limited by your structural fitness.

Here's a nice overview of a presentation Steve made on bike fitting in 2007. Steve is a frequent guest columnist on Cycling News forums as well. Check it out.

Compression Socks

2008-10-15T16:54:00.003-05:00

There are no definitive studies proving that compression socks improve performance, but they are widely used in hospital settings to improve circulatory problems such as edema, vericose veins, and deep vein thrombosis.

I've recently purchased a pair and am experimenting with them in running. So far, I don't notice a difference during the run.

I do, however, feel like they help after my run. There normal tightness and heaviness in my legs post-run is significantly diminished. I even slept with them on one night. It felt good, but I did have to take them off in the early morning with itchy legs.

I'm interested to hear if anyone else is using them and what they think. Please let me know.

Eatin' and Drinkin'

2008-10-05T14:26:00.003-05:00

We have some changes in the recommendations for fluid and electrolyte intake during exercise based upon mounting research over the past few years.

OLD RECOMMENDATIONS

Athletes should drink beverages with electrolytes during exercise to prevent cramps.
Athletes should strive to drink enough fluids (regardless of thirst) to make up for that lost through sweat during exercise.

NEW RECOMMENDATIONS

Electrolytes in sports drinks do not prevent cramps or hyponatremia. Good old water is fine (but make sure you replace calories for exercise bouts longer than an hour).
Athletes should drink according to thirst.

WHY?

Your blood has a very high concentration of electrolytes, much higher than that in your sweat or in sports drinks. When you sweat, the concentration of electrolytes in your blood actually INCREASES, so why do you need them? There are no definitive studies that prove electrolytes prevent cramping.
It is natural for athletes to lose weight during endurance exercise. Some of the weight loss is due to fluids but some is also due to glycogen that is burned. We are finding it is not as dangerous as once thought to lose even 2% of your body weight (although it's still dangerous to lose much more than that). A more troublesome problem than dehydration is Hyponatremia, the dilution of the body's electrolytes due to too much fluid. Those who drink according to thirst avoid both severe dehydration and hyponatremia.

To read more, click here or here.

Swimmin'

2008-09-20T23:29:00.003-05:00

So our store is holding a Triathlon Swim Clinic next month. Sure, it will be a good opportunity to improve your stroke -- but if you really want to improve your swimming you need to REALLY shake things up.

Make a dedicated effort.

Get one-on-one lessons. An hour at a time. Two hours. Put up some green with the best person in the town. Hell, your state.

Swim twice as much as you ever did before. Work on crazy little things like sculling drills and ankle flexibility.

Sign up for a swim meet.

Sometimes you gotta go somewhere you've never been before.

Pronation - Part II (Running Shoes)

2008-09-08T08:00:00.004-05:00

The current theory subscribed to by most running companies and sports medicine professionals is that we need to create a shoe with the correct amount of stability for each type of foot (supinator, neutral, mild over-pronator, moderate over-pronator, severe over-pronator).

Supinators and neutral runners need a Neutral Cushion shoe so that the foot is allowed to pronate naturally. Neutral cushion shoes can be described as running on a sponge; they do not control the motion of the foot.

Over-pronators need a shoe with stability to stop the excessive arch collapse, which theoretically keeps the leg in alignment through the gait cycle. "Stability" in most shoes consists of a band of dual density foam (usually about 10 times more dense than the regular white foam) in the midsole placed at the arch.

Since the dual density foam is more dense than the regular foam, it prevents the foot from being allowed to collapse inward beyond neutral.

The problem with the inward rotation of the lower leg and foot that is defined as over-pronation is that this takes the legs out of alignment and can over-stress certain muscles, ligaments, and tendons (such as the Plantar Fascia).

At the top of the post are two shoes. The first shoe, the Asics Gel-2130, is a mild stability shoe. You can see the gray foam quite easily. The second shoe, the Asics Gel-Cumulus, is a Neutral Cushion shoe. It does not have the dual density foam.

As stated previously, over-pronation comes in levels of severity: mild, moderate, and severe. As a result, shoe companies produce shoes with varying levels of stability to accommodate most feet.

So every shoe company will have a neutral, a mild stability, a moderate stability, and a motion control shoe (or even a couple in each category to fit different foot types).

Remember that since people with low arches don't always over-pronate (this is the problem with the wet newspaper test!), shoe companies will offer, for example, a neutral shoe for people with low arches and a Motion Control shoe for someone with high arches.

In my next post, I'll try to flesh out why you pronate the way you do and what you can do about it.

Pronation - Part I

2008-08-31T00:04:00.005-05:00

I have been managing a high end running store called The Starting Block for about a month now. Although we bill ourselves as a multi-sport store (swim-bike-run), we specialize in performing Video Gait Analyses for people looking for new running shoes.

The job has been fascinating as I've learned a lot about running mechanics, specifically regarding the pronation of the foot. This article will briefly define pronation and the various types of pronation we see.

When humans walk, by a large everyone lands on the outside of their heel. As the foot rolls forward, it also rolls inward. The inward roll is called pronation. Pronation has also be described as a collapse of the arch.

Pronation has received a bad rap, but it's actually very important in the gait cycle - it helps you absorb shock. At the store, we video tape you running barefoot from behind and then analyze it in slow motion to classify your foot's pronation characteristic. You generally fall into one of three categories:

Supination - arch does not collapse enough, runner tends to roll off outside toes at push off
Neutral-Pronation - arch collapses just enough so that you roll off forefoot evenly
Over-Pronation - arch collapses more than desired, runner tends to roll off big toe at push off (we further subdivide this category into Mild, Moderate, and Severe Over-Pronation)

In general, people with flexible, low arches tend to over-pronate, people with normal arches tend to have neutral pronation, and people with rigind, high arches sometimes supinate. But these are just generalizations.

Online shoe stores will tell you to do the "wet newspaper test" to determine your pronation. The problem with the wet newspaper test is that there are some people with low arches who do not over-pronate and some people with high arches do over-pronate. So you really need to get yourself videotaped to accurately determine your pronation type.

At our store, maybe 20-25% of our customers Neutral Pronators. Approximately 3-5% of our customers are Supinators (many people incorrectly think they are supinators because they have shoe wear at the outside of their heel, but this is actually common to most everyone we see).

The leaves about 75% of our customers classified as Over-Pronators. The problem with being a Supinator or an Over-Pronator is that inappropriate footwear does not correct for these problems.

In my next post, I'll discuss how shoes are constructed to address the various types of Pronation characteristics.

Olympians vs. You and Me

2008-08-10T00:22:00.003-05:00

The Olympics have officially begun. Do you ever wonder how those particulate athletes you see on TV got to Beijing?

Want to know a secret?

They didn't get there because of superior genetics. There are thousands of people across the globe that could have replaced the approximately 10,500 athletes competing at the Games.

The reason these athletes are competing is consistency and attention to detail (and superior genetics). The next time you go out for a run, bike, or swim, think about these two items.

In regards to consistency, don't worry so much about pushing your limits; focus on completing a workout that will leave you prepped to do your next one. Those who push themselves every workout usually end up hurt and in a yo-yo pattern of hard training and time recovering from injury. Their long term progress is hamstrung.

Also, focus on a keen attention to detail. Don't just push through a workout. Do it perfectly. Don't skip the little things...stretch afterwards, do your strength training, work on your technique.

These are the true keys to long term endurance success.

Time

2008-07-29T23:08:00.002-05:00

When you lack the time to put in solid workouts, focus on intensity. Right now, I'm working 70+ hrs per week. My training time is extremely limited. So all of my rides and runs (1-2 each per week) are at tempo or threshold intensity.

Sure, it's not something that will work all summer. But for a few weeks, it will keep my form up. Surprisingly, it's also kind of a fun break from the normal routine.

Aero Bars

2008-07-16T09:33:00.003-05:00

The type of bike you ride determines which type of aero bars you should be using.

A triathlon bike with tri bars is built to rotate your body forward, giving you aerodynamics without sacrificing the leverage you can put on the pedals.

A road bike with standard tri bars causes problems. It keeps your hips shallow but puts your upper body low, thereby reducing your hip angle and sacrificing power.

The key for those who are riding a road bike is to use "shorty" bars. You can make your own shorty bars by just adding a set of clip-on bars to your road drops and shortening up the extensions.

If you take a look at ITU racers, this is the setup they use. It's a lot cheaper than getting a tri bike if you already own a road bike. Dan Empfield, of slowtwitch.com, wrote a nice article on shorty bars here.

Low Hanging Fruit

2008-07-11T23:12:00.002-05:00

Ever heard of the term? In the business world, it means go for the easy customers. The ones we aren't getting but who will be fairly cheap to pursue.

So what is the "low hanging fruit" in your training regimine? It's the sport that you are LEAST skilled at that allows you to make up the most time in a race for time spent in training.

Think bang for your buck. If you're a great runner, then why are you still running 5 days a week if you want to win your age group in a triathlon?

Think of it another way. If you are a good cyclist, then an extra 2 hours of cycling a week may only improve your performance 1%. But an extra 2 hours swimming each week (for a poor swimmer) could lead to a 5% performance gain.

Invest some time in your weakest sport this summer.

Downhill Running

2008-07-08T23:05:00.002-05:00

I recently watched the Evolution Running DVD. Their section on downhill running was spot-on.

The problem most people have with downhill running is that they are braking too much. That is, their feet are landing too far ahead, which slows them down too much.

To run faster downhill (with not much additional effort), concentrate on leaning forward slightly at the waist and landing with each foot slightly behind your knees.

This technique simulates a rolling wheel. You stop braking and let momentum take over.

Downhill running is a lot more stressful than running level or even uphill. Expect your quads to be sore the next day. And as always, start slow.

Personally, I think the value of downhill running is mostly if you are training for a hilly race.

Run Technique

2008-07-06T22:20:00.002-05:00

This is a hotly debated topic.

On one side you have the purists who believe that you really cannot change your technique, or if you try, you will only end up injured or less efficient.

On the other side, many argue that there is most definitely a single best way to run and that it will make almost anyone faster or more injury free.

As usual, the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

The problem is that there has been very little good scientific research on run technique so we really don't know enough to say for sure.

What we do know from the limited evidence out there is that trying to change to a forefoot landing, as in the Pose Method, is probably a good recipe for calf or achilles tendon injuries.

It's true that on average, faster runners demonstrate more of a mid-foot landing, but it is not true that you cannot run fast if you are a heel striker. The key is to do your best to get your foot to land beneath your knee. This can be accomplished by shortening your stride slightly or thinking about "pawing back" with your foot when running.

It's probably safe to make small changes to obvious errors, such as arms that severely cross over the midline or noticeable upper body rotation, but any change should take place slowly so the body has time to adapt.

Large-scale changes will negatively affect your running efficiency though, and they have the potential to cause injury.

Further reading: A very good series of articles on running technique on the Science of Sport blog can be found here.

Junk Miles

2008-06-28T00:00:00.001-05:00

If you do not have a specific purpose for every workout, you are wasting your time. Here are four different objectives you could work into any regular swim, ride, or run. Add in a proper warm up and cool down and you've got a great workout.

Economy - This means you will do some focused work on technique. It can be drills in any of the three sports, high cadence work in running/cycling, etc. You typically want to have short (e.g., 30 seconds), highly focused efforts on perfect form separated between long recoveries (e.g., 2-3 minutes).

Force - This refers to strength. In the pool, it can involve the use of paddles. On the bike and run, it can involve doing hill repetitions.

Endurance - This is just the ability to go long at a low perceived effort. Long continuous swims, long rides, long runs.

Recovery - The only reason you are working out is to expedite recovery from a hard workout. This means you should be going at "grandma" speed. Unless you have a power meter or GPS/HR monitor, it's hard to know how slow this actually is. It's annoyingly slow.

If you are new to sport, then the 4 workouts above are all you need to focus on for your first year.

The biggest mistake that athletes make is that their easy workouts are not easy enough (to truly expedite recovery) and their hard workouts are not hard enough (because they didn't go easy enough in the recovery workouts)!

The second biggest mistake athletes make is having no rhyme or reason to their training.

Hydration

2008-06-27T09:09:00.003-05:00

What is your method of hydration? In an adventure race, it's an easy choice: camelback bladder in your pack.

But for a triathlon, you need to consider aerodynamics. Specifically, how aero is the system on your bike and how much do you have to break your aero tuck to take a drink?

Many athletes don't consider the 2nd question.

I have experimented with a few different setups in race situations: bottles mounted on frame, aero bar mounted system, and a camelback.

Bottles mounted on your frame is the obvious worst choice. It's not as aerodynamic as the other two and you have to break your aero tuck significantly in order to take a drink.

Aero bar mounted systems are good. They are quite aero on your frame, require minimal movement to drink, and are easy to refill. They can be a bit messy if you are pouring gatorade into the bottle at high speed or on rough roads. Even if you are proficient at it, you always tend to get a little bit of gatorade on yourself.

Interesting note: the round straw of the aero drink catches just as much wind as the aerodynamically shaped bottle. You can improve the aerodynamics of the system by shortening the straw or altering its placement in the bottle.

My new favorite, particularly for long races, is the camelback system. It is the single most aerodynamic setup, can hold a signficant quantity of water or sports drink, can be loaded with ice to keep your core temperature down, and requires minimal form break to drink. The drawbacks are that you can't re-fill it very easily and you don't look very cool.

There are a few other systems out there, such as the rear mounted systems. Stay away from the seat post bottle mounted system. It is extremely inefficient for your aerodynamics.

I have heard good things about the teardrop shaped system though.

Ironman Kansas 70.3 - Why You Need a Power Meter

2008-06-18T13:10:00.005-05:00

I'm using a real world example of my race experience at IMKS 70.3 to illustrate how to use a power meter in a racing situation.

Going into the half iron distance race, my long ride was 30 miles and long run was 8 miles. With a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run to complete, I knew pacing would either save my race or destroy it.

I know from testing that my lactate threshold power (max power I can sustain for 30 minutes all out by myself) is about 235 watts. Using recommendations from elite coach Joe Friel, I set my goal to stay at 75% of my LT power for the 56 mile ride. This was about 180 watts, give or take.

It was difficult to stay at such a low perceived effort level, but the strategy paid off big time.

Here are some things I noticed:

I kept getting passed on the hills but would pass many more athletes on the flats.
Everyone I was riding around in the first half of the race suddenly began to drop back around 30 miles into the race.
By the time I got to the run, I felt great and was running at least a minute per mile faster than anyone around me. Three athletes passed me in the entire half marathon course and I probably passed a couple hundred.

I think this means that other athletes were expending too much energy on the bike course. Particularly on the hills.

Having a power meter is so useful, it's like cheating. I noticed 2 other athletes with powertap units in the race. There were surely many more, but still we were in the great minority.

The time to get a power meter is NOW if you want to have a significant advantage over your competition.

Explosive Strength Training

2008-06-18T12:27:00.002-05:00

Adding in explosive strength training concurrently with endurance training has been shown to improve not only strength but also efficiency in cross country skiers*.

Assuming the same principle applies to running and biking, athletes might consider adding some explosive exercises (e.g., jump squats, bounding) into your regular running and biking workouts.

Older and injured athletes need to be careful with explosive strength training as it can be very stressful on soft tissue. Start with one to two sets of 5-10 reps in an easy to moderate run or ride each week. Let me know if you feel it helps you.

*Mikkola et al. 2007. Concurrent Endurance and Explosive Type Strength Training Increases Activiation and Fast Force Production of Leg Extensor Muscles in Endurance Athletes. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 21(2): 613-620

Race Week

2008-06-10T15:57:00.002-05:00

Everyone has a packing list for races. Do some brainstorming on items that aren't on your list that might come in handy. Here are some on mine.

can of air with slime for the fastest way to seal a flat in a race (new at bike shops)
sharpie so I can write my own numbers on if line is long
electrical tape and knife to tape number to bike so it doesn't flap
duct tape - last minute repair
pepto bismol for upset stomach after the race
electrolyte tablets in case it is hot outside (they work for me, not everyone)
different options for race food (all familiar items) - bars, gels, cliff blocks, sports drink mix. If the forecasted weather changes, I know I will have the right type of food for any situation
water cooler full of ice water
blister pads, band aids, first aid supplies
a spare of everything possible...goggles, shoes, socks, sunglasses, etc

What do YOU bring to a race that's not on this list?

Updates on Nutrition for Endurance Athletes

2008-06-08T21:06:00.004-05:00

For athletes working out once a day, the concept of Nutrient Timing is not significant. That is, glycogen resynthesis is unaffected by how soon you eat.

But for athletes working out twice a day or more, it becomes important to consume carbohydrates within a few hours of exercise.

There is no proven ratio of protein to carbohydrates to maximize recovery from exercise. In fact, in humans there is no proof (yet?) that ingesting protein (along with carbohydrates) is necessary to maximize glycogen resynthesis.

Whole foods are always better than packaged foods such as energy bars and gels. The value of these products is convenience...during races and when you are time limited.

Recovery

2008-06-02T11:01:00.005-05:00

Here are a few things to focus on following a big race or training day to get you back ready to train again:

***Sleep in a little or take a nap

***Eat quality nutrients...colorful fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, and lean proteins. Avoid simple sugars and fried foods.

***Avoid psychological stressors

***Do some light exercise...walking or easy swimming

***Get a massage or meditate to relax

Big race coming up...and you're not quite ready

2008-05-28T15:27:00.002-05:00

What do you do when you have a big "A" race coming soon and you don't have enough training under your belt?

Most athletes will cram as much training as they can up until race day with the hope of drastically improved fitness on race day.

Unfortunately, the body does not work that way. You simply need too much time between workouts to recover. It is impossible to rush the process.

So what's the best strategy? Work on your efficiency and make sure you are rested on race day.

I am in this position personally, with the IM Kansas 70.3 in a little over 2 weeks. As much as I hate to admit that I won't get in a 56 mile ride or 13 mile run before race day, I have to face facts.

The best bang for my buck will come from technique and drill work combined with steady efforts at Zone 2 intensity, which is what I'll be doing on race day.

Exercise and Heat

2008-05-19T17:01:00.003-05:00

Want to perform better in the heat? Figure out how to keep your core temperature below 40 degrees celsius (104 deg F).

According to research, humans tend to stop exercise when their core temperature reaches ~40 degrees Celsius (104 degreees F).

The best way to do race well in heat is to train in the heat. Your body adapts by increasing your sweat rate, which cools you faster.

And it takes 5-8 exposures to heat in training to really see some adaptation going on.

Now you know why those smaller athletes do so well on hot days too!

Stay in your zone

2008-05-17T15:18:00.000-05:00

The hardest part about being an endurance athlete isn't putting in the time. It's knowing when to hold back.

Most of us are, by default, overachievers. So we think more is always better. The problem with that is evident if you look at the fitness equation.

Fitness = Stress + Recovery

Recovery isn't just sleep. It also includes recovery workouts. You simply cannot run, ride, or swim hard every time you go out.

Your body doesn't recover fully from workout to workout. And THAT means you can't push yourself hard ENOUGH on your true hard workouts.

Zone 2 is where you get the most bang for your buck. Lots of great aerobic adaptations with minimal stress on the body. As soon as you go beyond Zone 2 though, it takes longer to recover and the benefits start flattening off.

Zone 2 is pretty easy to find. Start a slow run and steadily increase pace until you notice a deepening of your breathing. It may also hover around 20 bpm below your average heart rate for a solo 30 minute all-out run effort.

Are You Firing Correctly?

2008-05-09T11:32:00.002-05:00

I'm seeing an athletic trainer to help with my running and cycling injuries. A thorough examination and review of my injury history revealed that I've got a functionally short left leg.

The leg was fixed with a simple adjustment, but to keep it in place I need to do specific exercises to re-condition my trunk muscles to fire appropriately.

I'm doing a dumbbell squat from the squatting position, kettlebells, romanian deadlifts, and a few other exercises that are too difficult to describe.

It makes me wonder. How many other athletes are firing improperly?

Duathlon Series Bike Profile

2008-04-22T14:56:00.002-05:00

Most of this blog's readers are locals so I wanted to post the bike course along with an elevation profile. As you can see, it's a tough ride. But at 11 miles, it's do-able for even a beginner in general good health.

To view the elevation, click on the embedded link to open the map on mapmyrun.com. Then, on the left side under Map Settings, check the "show elevation" box.

Duathlon Series Bike Course
Find more Bike Rides in Springfield, Missouri

Muscle Imbalances

2008-04-22T11:05:00.004-05:00

I spoke at the local running club's monthly meeting recently on muscle imbalances. We had a good discussion of training-related imbalances, but the conversation made me think a little further about how everyday activities could do the same.

Imbalances arise from everything you do: training, work conditions, posture, even what type of shoes you wear.

Your body is continually adapting to its surroundings so give some thought to what you are putting your body through on a daily basis. Is there a way to "even out" some potential imbalances?

Here are some ideas:

Do you wear high heels? Think about how that could be shortening your rear lower leg muscles and tendons. Think about transitioning to flats.
Do you sit a lot a work? Get up regularly and make sure you strengthen your glutes through squats or lunges to keep them strong.
Do you have a repetitious job? Think about a check-out clerk at Wal-Mart? They are always reaching one way. Is there a way you can change around your work activity to balance things out?
Are you a single sport athlete? Think about how imbalanced a cyclist gets over years of being bunched up? Cross train in other sports such as swimming or running to open yourself up.

Take 10 minutes and write down all possible activities in your day that could be negatively affecting your structural integrity. Then take 2 minutes and figure out a way to counteract each.

Technical Clothing

2008-04-14T16:28:00.002-05:00

All of you should be familiar with technical clothing. Here is a primer for those not up to speed yet.

Ever heard the old statement, "cotton kills?"

Well, it's true! And here's the funny thing...it true in both the extreme heat and extreme cold.

Why, you ask? Cotton absorb moisture, which means your shirt stays wet for extended periods of time.

So in the summer, the wet shirt prevents your natural cooling mechanism (sweating) from working properly. In the winter, a wet shirt from sweating or other means will then drop your body temperature very quickly.

In both cases, it's bad news for you.

The solution is to wear "technical clothing". You probably recognize some of the brand names...Dry Release, Moisture Management, Under Armor, etc.

These brands use non-cotton fibers (either synthetic or natural) either alone or with cotton to improve breathability.

When you exercise in technical clothing, your sweat is pulled from your skin to the outside of the shirt, where it evaporates. Keeping you cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter!

Synthetic fibers include Polyester, Lycra, and Spandex. The drawbacks to these fibers include flammability, a tendency to hold strong body odors, and a tendency to "catch" on sharp objects. On the other hand, they don't tend to wrinkle very badly and are coming down in price.

The most common natural alternatives to cotton is Wool. There are a few others in development. The main drawback to Wool and others is that it they very expensive. On the other hand, they is much more flame retardant than synthetics and does not trap body odors. So you can wear a pair of Smartwool socks for 4 days straight and they'll smell pretty good!

Often, you'll see a mix of cotton and synthetics. This type of shirt retains the good qualities of cotton (softness, durability) with the good qualities of polyester (breathability).

Wool products are usually 100% wool. Smartwool is the biggest clothing brand out today. Shirts can run $60-$70. Smartwool socks can run $10-20 and are completely worth it if you are a runner or have trouble with blisters (blisters are due to friction and moisture...get rid of the moisture with the socks and the blisters often go away!)

You can purchase "technical clothing" just about anywhere these days. Even wal-mart carries synthetics and they are close to the cost of a cotton shirt.

Are You Progressing?

2008-04-07T15:25:00.002-05:00

Do you ever wonder how well your training plan is really working? Or if another training plan would work better for you personally?

There's a very easy way to measure your progress. Do a weekly submaximal test in each sport.

Submaximal means you don't have to go all out. This will allow you to continue doing your "workouts" without the added stress of a really challenging test.

The key to a recurring test is to do it on the same course and under the same conditions. This way you know it's your fitness that is influencing results, not differing grades or temperature extremes.

Examples:

3 mile run on a track keeping your HR at a steady number (I like mid-zone 2). Record how far you run. As you get fitter over months of training, the distance should increase.
5-10 mile bike on a local loop with no intersections (all right hand turns if possible). You can do the same as above, keep Hr consistent, or if you have a power meter that's an even better tool.

These tests are also good at exposing overtraining. If you suddenly cannot go as far for a given HR, then maybe you just need to back off for a few days and recover well.

Goal Setting

2008-04-06T01:13:00.002-05:00

Just like Peter Sinclair, I am a true believer in setting goals and writing them down. Here is a great post in Peter's motivational blog about the results of goal setting.

In a nutshell, the 3% of students in an 11-year study at Harvard who set and wrote down their goals ended up making ten times as much money as their peers. Those who wrote down their goals were 90% more likely to accomplish them.

Drag II - Clothing

2008-03-30T14:24:00.003-05:00

Whether you are swimming, biking, or running, your clothing is having a significant effect on your drag.

Swimming is probably the best example. Time yourself over 1000 yards in a pair of jammers versus a pair of swim trunks. Your best choice will be swim apparel with minimal seams, minimal pockets, and a very close fit.

In cycling, your clothing has more of an impact than you think. Again, opt for tight fitting material with minimal seams. Have you ever worn a light wind breaker while cycling in chilly conditions? They aren't extremely tight fitting and catch a lot of wind. You can feel the materials flapping as you ride.

In terms of racing gear, a skinsuit is faster than a separate pair of tri shorts and a tri jersey. If you have a zipper on your tri top, zip it all the way up!

Clothing has probably the least effect on aerodynamics in running. Still, a pair of baggy shorts and even a normal running tank aren't the best choices. Take every legal advantage you can. On the run, that includes tri shorts and a tri top.

It should be noted that in hot conditions, light colored, breathable materials that cover your body will actually keep you cooler because it reflects the sun's energy away from your body (instead of your body absorbing that heat). It seems counterintuitive, but it works. Just ask Torbjorn Sindballe (photo).

Drag

2008-03-28T22:03:00.003-05:00

Before you spend that $2000 on a new pair of Zipps, why don't you tear apart your bike and give it a good overhaul? Chances are, you've got a bunch of crud in all kinds of places slowing you down.

Think about places where friction occurs and hit them especially hard...chain, derailleurs, wheels, even your pedals

It's free speed. Take advantage of it.

Cyclings Two Best Friends

2008-03-27T22:05:00.001-05:00

Wind and Gravity. Both force you to increase effort. Both are available aplenty. Both are free. Both make you stronger.

Use your power meter, be creative, and take advantage of them in your training.

Strength Training - Part I

2008-03-24T10:24:00.003-05:00

Ask ten runners what they do for strength training and you'll probably get half of them to admit to doing anything at all.

Of those that do strength train, most are likely focusing on "traditional" strength exercises...calf raises, bench press, bicep curls, tricep pushdowns, etc.

If you think about your body moving in space, there are very few instances where you are relying on a single muscle to perform an activity. So why are we doing strength exercises one muscle at a time?

Here's a better plan: train movements, not muscles.

Chew on that for a day and I'll follow up with specific examples tomorrow.

Swim Head Position

2008-03-23T14:45:00.002-05:00

There seem to be two prevailing thoughts in regards to head position while swimming: 1) Head up (water at hairline) vs. 2) Head down (water at crown of head).

Total Immersion teaches Head Down. Swim coaches usually teach Head Up. So which is it?

According to Kevin McKenna, USA Triathlon Swim Development Specialist, it depends upon you:

If your body balance is such that you can keep your Head Up without dropping your legs, then do it. But if your legs immediately drop with the Head Up, you need to adopt the Head Down position.

Coaches will often say that the Head Down position creates more drag. That is true...for your head. But if your legs drop as a result of a Head Up position, the drag from your legs far outweighs that from your head.

Every Workout Needs a Purpose

2008-03-21T09:28:00.003-05:00

Every single workout that you perform must have a purpose. Whether it is to work on a higher cadence, power, lactate threshold, or simply active recovery, a specific purpose keeps you on track.

Most athletes end up training based upon how they "feel". While it works for some, many athletes end up working too hard on their easy days (which doesn't allow enough recovery from previous workouts) and not hard enough on their hard days (which doesn't push their physiological limits).

On my next post, I'll talk about the "gray zone" to avoid on those supposed easy days!

Fluid Intake During Exercise

2008-03-17T10:46:00.007-05:00

Here's the conclusion on a great series of articles about misconceptions regardubg Fluid Intake during exercise.

Here's a quick summary:

The affect of drinking fluids on core body temperature is very small (as opposed to what sports drink manufacturers claim).
It's really about how HARD you are racing. If you are going too hard, your body will force you to slow down to reduce your body temp.
It is normal and ok to lose body weight during exercise.
Thirst is the best indicator of whether or not you need fluids.
Over-hydrating causes hyponatremia; it is not a salt issue. Don't try to follow some predetermined hydration plan.

What does this mean for the age group athlete?

In racing and training, drink when you are thirsty instead of following a plan (and make sure you get enough carbs).

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Cortisol and Recovery

2008-03-14T20:03:00.005-05:00

We are all looking for ways to expedite recovery. You eat right, try to get extra sleep, and take your vitamins. But how is your temper?

Here is some interesting research out of Ohio State University that showed people who were worse at controlling their anger took longer to heal from a blister inflicted by the scientists.

It all goes back to stress. People who can't control their emotions well tend to release large quanitities of Cortisol, the stress hormone. Cortisol is useful for preparing the body for "fight or flight" response - it elevates blood pressure, increases blood sugar, suppresses the immune system to start.

Cortisol is also released during taxing workouts.

Here's the kicker: your body can't tell the difference from stress that is physical or imagined. So you've got to do all you can to keep the mind at peace...daily meditation, relaxation, massage, stretching, yoga...whatever works for you.

Not only will you recover faster, you will live longer.