I’ve come to think that it takes about 4 years of dedicated focus to master a new skill. The progression may be faster or slower depending on the level of effort and amount of time put into the skill but I think 4 years is a good timeframe to work with. In my mind I like to break these four years into the same structure as high school and college: freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. This makes it easy for me to guage my progression and keep my expectations in perspective.
When thinking back on my running background it’s easy to see a progression from a high school freshman to senior and then from a college freshman to senior.
Freshman:
Typically, freshman year is a learning and development year. You learn to be consistent and may not score a lot of points for your team in cross country or track. They tend to learn from their mistakes and need the first year to learn the ropes from the upperclassmen. They may have a few great races here and there and then a lot of races to learn from.
Sophomore:
Your sophomore year is a continuation from your freshman year but you start to make bigger gains and your races show it. You tend to make less mistakes but are still not at the top ranks. A sophomore will tend to score points in races but isn’t going to be consistently in the top 3 overall.
Junior:
As a junior you are now looked at as being a team leader. You’ve got two years under your belt and rarely make the rookie mistakes like the underclassmen. You tend to see a lot more top 3 finishes and are very consistent but you aren’t dominating the competition.
Senior:
Your senior year is the year to shine. You are now a threat to win every race that you enter and are a contender for national titles. You can be counted upon race after race for a top performance and you are very confident in your abilities. You have a vast amount of knowledge to share with the underclassmen and do your best to help them along the way.
Moving Up:
After dominating in high school it’s time to move on to the college rankings. Unfortunately the distances covered are longer and the competition is stiffer. You no longer have the fastest “kick” at the end of the race so need to adjust your expectations and race strategy. The longer race distance and higher training load is an adjustment and you find yourself back where you started in high school……bottom of the totem pole. The cycle repeats itself until you are yet again the team leader and a threat to win every race when you hit your senior year.
The Correlation To Triathlon:
I’m following a similar path to the one above with my triathlon career to this date. Currently I find myself in my sophomore year of college since last year was my first season racing in the pro field.
“High School” Freshman (2004):
The 2004 season was my first season training for triathlons. I didn’t race in 2004 but I signed up for my first race and got in 6 months of dedicated training. I got dropped on training rides by the guys that have been around for a while and bonked too many times to count. I didn’t have much direction with my training but was learning every step of the way.
“High School” Sophomore (2005):
In 2005 I raced 4 times with mixed results. I placed 3rd and 5th in my Olympic distance races and completely blew up in my half Ironman and Ironman. There was some promise shown in training and a couple of races but the mistakes made were plentiful.
“High School” Junior (2006):
The 2006 season was the first time placing top 5 in the age group ranks in a big time race. The season started off with some top 3 and top 5 finishes in local races and a top five in my age group in a national race: Ironman Lake Placid. This race qualified me to race on the international level at the Ironman World Championships. I was knocking on the door during the junior year but still needed another year of development to have a really solid performance.
“High School” Senior (2007):
In 2007 I was a threat to win the local races and had a breakthrough race at Ironman Florida where I went 8:49 and set a new M30-34 AG course record. Instead of going to Kona in 2008 to challenge the AG for a top finish I decided to move up to the pro ranks after qualifying with my Florida performance.
“College” Freshman (2008):
The 2008 season it was back to the drawing board. The competition was much stiffer and the rules changed. Race tactics play a much bigger role and the ability to make the swim pack becomes more crucial. The wetsuit rule got moved to 72 degrees instead of 78 degrees as an amateur, the draft zone is longer and there is no slipstreaming, and the guys you are racing against are blazing fast. In 2008 I think I tried to take some shortcuts to getting ready to race against the top guys and it pushed me to an injury that lasted throughout the season. I was also a bit intimidated by the level of competition and had a hard time finding my place within the ranks. It’s tough to be a freshman all over again!!
“College” Sophomore (2009):
This year, 2009, I find myself in the middle of my sophomore year of the pro rankings. I’ve decided to figure out who the “Seniors” were by doing race recon and put them out of my mind while in each race. That way I’m only concerned with the guys that I feel I have a shot to beat…..the other underclassmen. I’m still making mistakes but am also showing some promise by placing a top 5 at Rhode Island and top 6 at Eagleman. Next year, as a junior, to keep up with my progression I will need to consistently place in the top 3-4 overall at the 70.3 races and in 2011 I’ll be knocking on the door for some 70.3 victories. That’s the plan!
Summary:
It takes time to develop a new skill and once you feel like you’ve got a good handle on it you can always move up to the next level. I like to break things down like this to remind myself that a lot of the guys that I’m racing against have been doing this for quite some time and I’ll get there if I’m patient and stay focused on the tasks at hand. There’s always that tendency to try and rush the process but some things just take time and experience.
STATS:
Swimming: 11,200yds in 5 sessions
Cycling: 196 mi in 4 sessions
Running: 34 mi in 6 sessions
Maintenance: 1 hr 5 mins
Total: 18.2 hrs
Ave Wgt: 162.6 lbs
Ave Sleep: 8.5 hrs
GOALS FOR LAST WEEK:
I just came off of Rhode Island 70.3 and then 3 weeks later am doing Steelhead 70.3 so this is a bit of unchartered territory for me. The week after Rhode Island was a recovery focus and these were my goals for last week:
* Get volume back up early in the week with low intensity. (success)
* Tuesday swim session: 20 X 100 on 1:20 (failed)
* Thursday bike session: 8 X Hill repeats + 30 mins steady (LT minus 10 bpm) (success)
* Saturday long ride: 80 easy (cut short)
* Sunday brick w/ 30 mins steady/tempo on the bike and 15 mins steady/tempo on the run (success)
* Core work every day. I've taken a little break from this and can tell that I'm getting sloppy. (missed a couple days)
* Volume: Swim 12K, Bike 230 mi, Run 34 mi (bike volume cut by 40 miles)
RECAP:
I recovered from Rhode Island 70.3 much better than I did from Eagleman 70.3. I felt pretty close to normal at the beginning of last week and felt like my legs were there and I could use them by Tuesday but contained myself. My swim workouts didn’t go well this week due to tight lats so I’ll need to work them out this week. My bike and run sessions went great this week. I’ve been playing around with cadence lately and have decided to spin a higher cadence at Steelhead to see if it will stop the hammies from cramping on the run. I decided to cut my Saturday long ride to 40 miles because I just didn’t feel like I needed 80 miles in 90+ degree weather. Overall the week went great and I’m feeling 100% healthy going into Steelhead this weekend!
KEY SESSIONS:
* Thursday: (Bike) 2 X 15 mins Steady (LT minus 10 bpm == 160 bpm) w/ 10 min recovery + 8 X Hill Repeats
- Ave 25.7 mph for 4 total laps of booty loop
* Thursday: (Run) 2 miles of fartlek off the bike
- 1 Mile + 4 X 400 at anywhere from 5:00 – 5:20 pace to get legs turning over
* Saturday: (Bike) 80 mile long ride
- Cut this short b/c I didn’t think it was necessary this week
* Sunday: (Bike) 30 mins Steady (LT minus 10 bpm == 160 bpm)
- Ave 25.2 mph for 4 total laps of booty loop
* Sunday: (Run) 15 mins Steady (LT minus 10 bpm == 170 bpm)
- Ave 5:24 pace for 3 continuous miles
Overall my keys sessions went well. I feel like my strength on the bike has faded so I’m spinning a much higher cadence to get the same results but that seems to be working in my favor because it’s not putting the additional strain on my hamstrings, glutes, and lower back. My run feels good to a point but I feel like I’ve lost a bit of top end speed. Anything much under 5:20 pace just didn’t feel very comfortable this week but I won’t need to run any faster than 5:40 pace this weekend so it doesn’t matter. My swim workouts were mediocre at best. I need to loosen things up before next Saturday.
MAINTENANCE:
My foot pain from a couple weeks ago seems to be completely gone. I actually felt very structurally sound all week aside from the tight lats while swimming.
GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK:
Next week is all about getting my muscles loose and keeping my body feeling tuned up and firing on all cylinders. I’ll get a massage on Tuesday and then do a bunch of self massage throughout the week along with stretching and my maintenance routine. I’ll have one short race pace brick workout on Wednesday and a couple of short swim workouts. We’ll be making most of the drive on Thursday and are set to arrive in Benton Harbor, MI on Friday. This race is a bit special as I’ll have most of my family staying with us and spectating.
* Loose muscles via massage and maintenance routine
* Wednesday Brick: 15 mins steady bike + 5 mins steady run
OTHER UPDATES AND THOUGHTS:
I’m looking forward to seeing my family next weekend at the race. I haven’t seen most of them since December so it will be nice to spend the weekend with them. My sister, Melissa, just had a baby boy recently so she won’t be making the trip but we’ll get to see her in December.
I’m not quite sure what to expect from the Steelhead race since I’ve been feeling like my fitness and strength have been slowly declining. The recovery between these three 70.3 races has made it tough to keep my volume and intensity up. I seemed to have recovered better from Rhode Island 70.3 than Eagleman 70.3 and I think it’s because I hit my nutrition and hydration during the Rhode Island race and pounded fluids directly afterwards. At Eagleman I didn’t pay attention to my fluid intake on the bike and ended up running on damaged (dehydrated) legs which I think led to a much longer recovery.
I’m looking forward to my 2 week mid-season break that will follow the Steelhead 70.3 this weekend. Jen and I recently decided to go on a cruise to celebrate our 9 year anniversary so we’ll be doing that the week of September 8th. Following the cruise I plan to hit the volume pretty big while keeping the intensity pretty low for about 4 solid weeks. During that time we’ve got a 3 day mountain trip scheduled for Labor Day weekend with three 100 mile days in a row featuring 19,000 ft of climbing each day. We call it the Loop of Truth.
GOALS FOR STEELHEAD 70.3:
* Top 6 Overall
* Hit my nutrition plan
* Be more conservative on the swim and bike
* Set a higher cadence on the bike
* Have a solid run
* 3:58 – 4:04 overall time depending on conditions
I’m going with a different race strategy for Steelhead than I have done for Eagleman and Rhode Island. At EM and RI my objective was to just get out there and race from start to finish. Go hard on the swim, don’t let anyone pass on the bike, and race the guys around me on the run even if I crash and burn. It seemed to work for those races but my run has certainly suffered and I’d like to see if I keep a more consistent effort throughout the day if I’ll be able to come off the bike with great legs and still in a position to run myself into the top 5. Lately I've been feeling like my top end power has been fading in all three sports so I think it would be best for me to stay within myself at this race instead of going with anyone that makes a move.
The Power Smoothie - Recovery food for a recovery week
The photo for this week is of The Power Smoothie. It's one of my favorite snacks. Here's how I usually make it: 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 cup frozen mixed fruit, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1 banana, 1-2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 serving whey protein. Add water and blend. You can also add a bit of honey for some additional flavor.
STATS:
Swimming: 7600yds in 3 sessions
Cycling: 181 mi in 5 sessions
Running: 20 mi in 4 sessions
Yoga: 1 hr
Total: 15.5 hrs
Ave Wgt: 162 lbs
Ave Sleep: 8.25 hrs
GOALS FOR LAST WEEK:
After racing Rhode Island 70.3 on Sunday I designated this whole week as a recovery focus since it took me two weeks to feel right after Eagleman. During this week my goals were:
* Keep intensity low (mostly below LT minus 30-40 bpm)
* Get in a long ride on Saturday of 80 miles
* Ensure that my foot issue doesn't come back
* Eliminate the junk that has built up in my legs via my maintenance routine
RECAP:
The week started off with a 14+ hr drive from Rhode Island to Charlotte on Monday. Jen and I took 1 hr pulls in the driver seat so we each got some time to relax, stretch, and massage in the back of the Element while the other was driving. My recovery from the race went like this:
* Hurt to walk down stairs until Friday
* Quad/ITB pain while running until Saturday
* Felt fine cycling and swimming at an easy intensity right away
* I didn't do anything hard. Mainly high rpm spinning on the bike, easy swimming, and very easy jogging
* I had troubles sleeping a couple of nights so only got about 5 hrs of sleep on those nights. Tried to make up for it on other days but still had a low average hours of sleep.
KEY SESSIONS:
My only key session for this week was my 80 mile long ride on Saturday. Otherwise, I was just trying to get the body back to normal. I certainly wouldn't have minded if the Saturday ride would have been a little easier as Ackerman was putting me under pressure at certain points in the ride. Legs felt good on the bike when riding easy but didn't feel normal at LT minus 10 bpm (160 bpm).
MAINTENANCE:
My foot pain seems to be fading away. I've been very diligent about working it out so that has paid off. ITB and quads are still a bit sore but I've been rolling them out as well and they seem to be coming around. At the tail end of the week my calves and hammies are still very tight as well as my chest from all of the computer time late in the week.
GOALS FOR NEXT WEEK:
The early part of next week I'm going to continue on a recovery focus. I learned my lesson after Eagleman that if I don't allow an adequate amount of days after a 70.3 to get my legs back then the stale feeling lingers on. From Thursday through Sunday I want to hit the volume and intensity a little bigger and then I'll freshen up the following week going into Steelhead 70.3. I feel like my body is a little strung out right now because I've been trying to hold onto fitness from just before Eagleman all the way to Steelhead (~8 weeks). I'm not quite sure that I laid a good enough foundation earlier this season to be able to hold the fitness for that long but I'm certainly going to try! The VO2 type workouts are taking a major toll on me so I'm going back to doing some hill repeats this week because they don't seem to take as much of a recovery toll and I feel like I've lost a bit of top end power. The rest of my workouts are half IM specific to try and hold onto what I've got.
* Get volume back up early in the week with low intensity.
* Tuesday swim session: 20 X 100 on 1:20
* Thursday bike session: 8 X Hill repeats + 30 mins steady (LT minus 10 bpm)
* Saturday long ride: 80 easy
* Sunday brick w/ 30 mins steady/tempo on the bike and 15 mins steady/tempo on the run
* Core work every day. I've taken a little break from this and can tell that I'm getting sloppy.
* Volume: Swim 12K, Bike 230 mi, Run 34 mi
OTHER UPDATES AND THOUGHTS:
Aside from work and training Jen and I have mainly just been watching the TdF every night. It's about to get exciting next week.
As for training and racing, my plan is to just try to hold onto my fitness through Steelhead on August 1st and then take a two week mid-season break. After the break I plan on going back to a base phase for 4-6 weeks so that I'm ready to hit it hard at the end of the season. I feel like I need a good dose of volume right now but it will have to wait until after Steelhead.
My wife, Jen, support crew extraordinaire and brains behind the operation.
GOALS:
* Top 6 Overall
* Hit my nutrition plan
* Finish the run feeling strong
* Don't lose any positions on the bike
* Keep the gaps in time on SBR to Cunningham and Lovato similar to Eagleman
* 4:00 – 4:06 overall time depending on conditions
ACTUAL:
Place: 5th
Time: 4:03:11
Swim Time/Place: 25:41 / 14th
T1 Time/Place: 1:08
Bike Time/Place: 2:15:04 / 7th
T2 Time/Place: 1:12
Run Time/Place: 1:20:06 / 5th
SWIM:
I made it to the race start a little later than I wanted to due to some closed highway ramps in Providence so was very glad to hear the announcer say that they were pushing the start back 15-20 mins because the strong winds and rough waters moved the buoys out of place. I was also glad to hear that the water was under 68 degrees which made the swim wetsuit legal for the pros. The swim start was a beach running start and I got out in great position by running hard to the front and some quick dolphin dives. Unfortunately, I faded further and further back as the swim went along. The waves were so high that I had a hard time sighting and took in a lot of salt water. I swam solo on the way out and found some feet once we hit the turnaround point. The way out was punishing and the way back was a breeze as the waves pushed us in to the finish. I came out of the water with a pack of 4-5 and had a quick transition to put myself on the bike course ahead of my swim pack.
BIKE:
Ave HR: 166 bpm (LT is 170 bpm)
After getting out quickly in the first couple of miles I rode solo for quite some time. We had a very strong tailwind the first 6 miles or so and then it seemed to have faded once we hit the hills. Martin came up on me at around mile 10-15 and he eventually ended up slowly drifting away from me and I lost contact. I continued to pass some other riders to move my way up but had no idea what place I was in. Eventually Grant and Evoe caught me and I made the decision that I wasn't going to lose contact no matter how hard I had to push. I felt that this is where my race needed to take place since I knew that Evoe was a solid runner as well. Over the next 15-20 miles I would drift back on the climbs and push hard to close the gap on the flats and downhills. For some reason my power numbers have been down since Eagleman and I could feel this on the climbs. After a while we caught Hodges and I knew he could run as well so I was happy to see that he had dropped off a bit after a few more hills. At about 5-10 miles to go someone said that we were in 5th-7th place which is right where I wanted to be to shoot for a top 5 finish. I got off the bike with Grant and Evoe and it was going to be a footrace for 5th place.
ON THE BIKE NUTRITION: 88 fl oz H2O (39 oz/hr) + 675 total cals of EGel (1/2 flask per 30 mins) + 2 Lava Salts per hour
RUN:
Ave HR: 168 bpm (LT is 180 bpm)
I had the slowest transition out of the 3 of us and slowly worked my way back to them. I was surprised to feel no side stitches like at Eagleman and my right arch seemed to be feeling healthy. I opened a small gap on the first big hill but that didn't last long as I had to stop to massage out a cramping hamstring at the top. Evoe and Grant passed me and gave me kind words but I was back in business after a short stop and caught back up to them after about a mile. Evoe and I ran together for a bit and after a couple of miles I pulled away slightly. At the turnaround I could see that Evoe and Hodges were stalking me and it looked like Hodges was coming up pretty fast. On the second loop I took the big hill really easy to try to fend off another cramping situation and heard footsteps at the top of the hill. I picked up the pace a bit to keep the gap open and at around mile 8 Hodges caught me. I decided to put in a little surge to see how he was feeling and he didn't come with so I continued at that pace until I couldn't hear footsteps anymore. Then at mile 10 I was surprised to see that Evoe had made his way back to me. When he caught me he seemed to have picked up the pace so I went with him and as the pace slowed down I surged a bit and opened up a 10-15 second gap over the next mile or so. I was able to hold this gap for the last couple of miles while periodically checking back to ensure Evoe wasn't creeping back up on me. As I passed the finish line I was very sore and tired but also extremely happy to have held on in a tactical race for 5th place.
SPLITS: 6:14 (166 bpm ave) HILL, 5:56 (163), 5:56 (167), 6:01 (165), 5:43 (167), 6:07 (168), 6:05 (167), 6:46 (166) HILL, 6:05 (168), 6:02 (169), 5:58 (171), 6:21 (174), 6:04 (172)
ON THE RUN NUTRITION: 3-4oz H2O at every aid station + 200 total cals of EGel + 6 total Lava Salts + sponges on head every aid station
SUMMARY:
* I reached all of my goals for this race. I was a bit concerned about how I might feel on race day because my recovery from Eagleman took longer than I expected and I ended up forming a foot problem in the two weeks leading up to this race.
* My swim, bike and run splits were about the same distance apart from Cunningham and Lovato as they were at Eagleman. Swim: C-3:16, L-1:39; Bike: C-2:12, L-4:34; Run: C-2:20, L: 2:00.
* I really enjoy the 70.3 distance. I enjoy doing the pre-race recon on the pro field ahead of time to figure out my race strategy and where I may need to put my effort. I also enjoy the tactics that are involved on race day.
* Due to my hamstring cramping in the first mile of the run I was a bit more cautious and didn't really open things up until I felt like I really needed to.
THANKS TO:
* My amazing wife, Jen, for driving the majority of the way to Rhode Island from Charlotte (15.5 hrs). This allowed me to stretch, massage, and nap/relax in the back of the Element. I also want to thank her for being so supportive as always, giving me intel on my competition on race day, and being a top notch cheerleader.
* Mike Elkins @ Blue Ocean Somatic Institute (704-527-4799) for massaging out my foot pain five days before the race when I was uncertain whether or not I'd be able to run on it.
* Inside Out Sports for keeping my bike race tuned and ensuring that I've got all my race needs taken care of.