Top 9 Triathlon Training Secrets From Top Coaches

Written by: Marty Munson

TRAIN YOUR MIND RIGHT

1. Let the water clear. The biggest mistake triathletes make, says Scott Berlinger, founder of Full Throttle Endurance, is “training too hard all the time. We call it muddying the water. And if you keep the water muddy, you won’t perform well.” Respect your rest weeks and, he says, “stay within the confines of your workout.” Yes, even when your archrival passes you in the park. Remember, he may be doing speedwork, you may be doing distance.

2. Focus on the process, not the outcome. “Micro goals help you achieve success,” says Paul Weiss, PhD, founder of Asphalt Green Triathlon Club. So instead of fixating on winning, turn your attention to the process – staying aero, keeping your cadence up, getting your nutrition right and all the other little pieces you need to put together to have a top race. That keeps you in the zone. “Achieving process goals cumulatively results in macro goal achievement.” In other words, do what you need to do and the successes will add up.

RUN BETTER

3. Train what’s behind you. “A strong butt is the key to a happy life when it comes to running.” That’s straight from Jordan D. Metzl, MD, sports medicine physician at NYC’s Hospital for Special Surgery and Triathlete contributor. How so? Strength in the glutes keeps the pelvis from tilting from side to side (among other things) and has the potential to eliminate some classic running injuries including IT band friction syndrome. Work with a coach or physical therapist to determine which strengthening exercises are exactly right for you.

4. Keep your feet under you. Should you run on the forefoot? Midfoot? Barefoot? Among the spectrum of sometimes heated opinions on the issue, nobody’s debating one point: “What’s important is where your foot falls underneath you,” says Rob Maschi, PT, DPT, of NYC’s Hospital for Special Surgery. It should fall directly under your center of mass, not in front of it, or you’re basically braking with every step.

SWIM SMARTER

5. Drop some drills. “You don’t need to do 1,642 swimming drills to become a better swimmer. You can do a few drills that have a very specific purpose and become a better swimmer,” says Earl Walton, head coach for TriLife Coaching, NYC. The one drill everybody needs? Side lying kick drill. “If you’re a bad swimmer, you’re killing your momentum,” he says. “You need to get comfortable in the water and get your body position correct.” This drill is an essential way to do that. It’s not the only drill you need to do, but if it’s not in your repertoire, it’s worth putting there, he says.

DO THE RIGHT THING IN THE GYM

Strength train to become a better triathlete, not a better weight lifter. Photo: John Segesta

6. Don’t strength train to become strong. “When you’re an Olympic weightlifter, the point is to move weight from point A to point B to demonstrate your strength.” To do that, you might need to hold your breath, arch your back, or use momentum. “For any other athlete, your reason for strength training isn’t to demonstrate strength. It’s to gain strength,” says Jonathan Cane, exercise physiologist and head coach at City Coach Multisport. That means doing your weight work with excellent form and letting your muscles, not your ego, get stronger.

7. Keep it simple. Sometimes when you do crazy complicated exercises, “your brain gets better at doing them, not necessarily your muscles,” Cane says. So you’ll be better at doing one-legged tractor tire balances, rather than at swimming, biking, and running. Keep your workout simple and focus on the big muscles as well as the muscles that stabilize you. And don’t stress about whether you should be using free weights, resistance bands, kettlebells or something else. “Your muscles aren’t that smart. They only know if they’re working or not. And if you get the muscle to fire, you’ll get stronger,” he says.

DON’T SKIP THE STRETCH

8. Stretch for speed. Stretching helps you maintain your range of motion, and poor range of motion means poorer power, says Marisa D’Adamo, PT, former physical therapy coordinator for the ING NYC marathon. “Stretching helps you get faster without speedwork. You can’t work on your power or strength when your joint doesn’t have the range of motion it needs.”

AND IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE, DO THIS

9. Determine what’s made of glass. Douglas Schwartz, coach at Multi-Sport Partners, asks his athletes to imagine balls made of three materials: marble, rubber, and glass. They have to label the balls according to what they’re juggling – for instance, friends, family, work – and say why each is labeled that way. You see where this is going: The most precious one is the glass ball. Each athlete needs to figure out what in their life is made of glass and how not to drop it. Glass equals family for you? Schwartz suggests a way to make your training more efficient so you can spend more time with family: On your next road trip, have your significant other drop you off 30 minutes away from home and run the rest of the way.

20-Minute Workouts

Do you think it’s not even worth changing into workout clothes if you only have 20 minutes to train? Think again.

Written by: Matt Fitzgerald

To most non-athletes, 20 minutes of exercise seems like an eternity. But to endurance athletes in marathon training or triathlon training, a 20-minute workout may seem like it’s hardly worth the bother. After all, if your average workout lasts an hour, what can a 20-minute session possibly do to increase your fitness? Quite a lot, actually—even for the fittest endurance athlete. Consider these four benefits:

1. 20-minute workouts burn a meaningful amount of calories and, thereby, help you reach and maintain your optimal racing weight. For example, a 150-lb. runner burns approximately 280 calories in a moderate-intensity 20-minute run. If you normally miss a scheduled longer run roughly once every 10 days due to lack of time, you could burn an extra 10,000 calories over the course of a year by squeezing in 20-minute runs instead.

2. 20-minute workouts provide extra repetitions of the running stride, swim stroke, or pedal stroke that stimulate improvements in efficiency. A big part of what makes you a better, more efficient swimmer, runner, or cyclist is simply time spent practicing the movement. So, even short workouts count as additional movement practice.

3. 20-minute workouts can increase endurance by adding to total weekly glycogen turnover. An interesting Scottish study found that weekly training volume was a better predictor of marathon performance than the distance of the longest training run. In other words, the study suggested that marathon runners are better off running 50 miles a week with a maximum long run of 16 miles than running 40 miles a week with a maximum long run of 22 miles. The reason is that endurance improves through the repeated depletion of muscle glycogen stores in training. And a heavy week of training will result in more total muscle glycogen depletion, and thus build more endurance, than a lighter week. 20-minute workouts can add a meaningful amount of glycogen-depleting volume to your training week.

4. 20-minute workouts can produce an excellent high-intensity training stimulus. A little swimming, cycling, or running at anaerobic threshold intensity and above goes a long way. Twenty minutes is plenty of time to get all the high-intensity work you need to take your fitness up a notch.

There are basically two ways to incorporate 20-minute workouts into your marathon training, triathlon training, or any other endurance sport training. One is to do a 20-minute workout instead of taking a day off whenever you are too pressed for time to complete a longer workout. The other way is to add one or more 20-minute workouts to your weekly training schedule to increase your overall training volume without creating a significant risk of overtraining. Here are some suggested 20-minute workouts:

The Filler – Simply swim, ride, or run at an easy tempo for 20 minutes. This is a great workout to do when you want to avoid the guilt of doing nothing but you’re not mentally or physically ready for anything challenging.

Tabata Intervals – Swim, ride, or run at an easy tempo for 16 minutes, then complete 8 x 20-second all-out sprints with 10-second passive recoveries between sprints.

Fartlek Intervals – Sprinkle 5 to 10 fast 30-second efforts throughout an otherwise moderate, steady-pace workout.

Threshold Session – Warm up for five minutes at a comfortable tempo, then go for 15 minutes at anaerobic threshold intensity (the fastest pace you could hold for one hour in a race).

Progression Workout – Swim, ride, or run for 15 minutes at a steady, moderate pace, then blast the last five minutes.

Time Trial – Swimming: Warm up, then swim 800 meters (875 yards) as fast as you can. Cool down as long as necessary to make the total workout 20 minutes. Cycling: Warm up, then ride 5 km as fast as you can. Cool down as long as necessary to make the total workout 20 minutes. Running: Warm up, then run 1 mile as fast as you can. Cool down as long as necessary to make the total workout 20 minutes.

Try a TRI Clinic

Try a TRI Clinic

A clinic designed to introduce youth and junior athletes to the fun and exciting sport of triathlon. As one of the fastest growing sports in America, triathlon offers a great way to stay healthy and fit.

All levels of participants from ages 7 to 19 are welcome. Athletes will learn about the sport of triathlon through instruction, drills, games and work-outs in all 3 sports (swim, bike and run), including the transition from sport to sport.

Clinic will be put on by Coach Sandra Sutherland, Mindy Reich and members of The Woodlands HS Tri team, a triathlon club for 7th-12th graders. Try-outs for the 2011-12 team will take place this spring and will be expanding to include members ages 7 and up! For additional information please contact Mindy at the email/number below.

When: Saturday, March 26, 2011

Where: Y at Shadowbend Location

Time: 10am – 1 pm

Cost: $60

Participants will be expected to successfully swim a 25 yd distance without stopping. Each athlete will be required to wear a swim suit with appropriate work-out clothes over (depending on weather) and bring goggles, towel, bike, bike helmet, running shoes and a water bottle.

For additional information please contact Mindy at mreich2007@comcast.net

or 281-731-6474.