Strength Building and Cereal

This update is geared more toward training than my last few posts have been, and will touch on three things in particular: 1) Sport-specific strength work 2) The importance of cereal 3) Things to come. It’s a bit longer, so skip to the section(s) that interest you most!

1) Sport Specific Strength Work: This was the focus of my last block of training. After two months of base-building to lay down an aerobic foundation, I moved into a phase of training with more intense workouts aimed at gaining strength. The purpose of this phase isn’t to build top-end speed (that comes in the near future) but to build leg strength that is:

a. Critical to getting through the last 30% of any race distance,
b. Important for increasing power on the bike, and
c. Helpful for running on rolling hills and fast changing terrain

How does this manifest itself in workouts?

On the bike it involves...- Max power intervals: 8 reps of all out for 20 seconds, easy for 10 seconds. This “4-minute” workout [not including warm-up and cool-down] is arguably harder than my 3.5 hours bike rides. In the words of my coach, “if hurts like hell, you know you are doing it right.”
- Strength intervals: 10 minute sets of riding in a big gear at between 55-65 rpm. Things start to get uncomfortable around 2 minutes, hurt around 6 minutes, and enter the “just holding on” zone at the 8 minute mark. Doing 3 sets of these leaves my legs empty
- Ending long rides with tempo work: The strength benefits of ending a long (3+) hour ride with tempo work are much greater than tempo work alone. Pushing the legs to produce power when they are already tired leads to increased physiological adaptations, mental toughness, and confidence. During my last tempo ride of this training block [60 minutes after 2:45 of endurance riding] I was able to keep my HR at the top-end of my prescribed tempo zone. This means that my legs are much less of a “limiting” factor, and they are finally becoming strong enough to support the cardiovascular engine’s potential. Good news!

And for run training...- Hill repeats: I’ll quickly give you the vitals on Broadway Street in Ann Arbor. It is 0.7 miles long, constant incline between 3 and 7% grade, always paved of snow, and lightly traveled by car [with really wide lanes]. Basically, I run up this hill as fast as I can, and recover by jogging down it. The climbing reps end up taking somewhere between 4:25 to 4:45 (minutes and seconds). These elongated climbs hurt like hell and leave me totally spent – but they are perfect for building big time run strength!! I’m pretty convinced that after just a few highly focused workouts on Broadway Street, my tolerance for “being phased” during runs has increased a ton.
- Ending long runs with tempo work: Same concept as on the bike, but for long runs too. Also, since running is the last discipline in Duathlon, I end my weekends with one of these long/tempo runs. Trying to run fast [at a tempo pace] on a Sunday after a long bike/transition run workout on Saturday, power intervals on Sunday morning, and an hour of endurance running [to start the run] off the bike on Sunday is extremely hard to do. Again, the focus is not “running fast” to gain top end speed but “running strong” to gain muscular strength and mental fortitude.

And for biking and running
- Transition workouts: Bike, then run. Running off the bike is obviously important for multisport racing, and it is a skill (involving muscle memory) that needs to be developed by targeting it specifically. That said, a lot at being a good runner off the bike comes down to mental toughness and the strength that is gained by doing all the above.

And equally as important as the actual training is recovery…- Recovery is key: During this type of training, what you do while you aren’t running or biking is as important as what you do while you are. This means focusing on fueling workouts properly, daily nutrition, and getting the proper amount of sleep. I’ll save details on recovery for a later post, since this topic really warrants its own download.

2) The Importance of Cereal: Pre, during, and immediately following workouts the body needs simple carbohydrates, and ideally, those containing a fair amount of sugar. Cereal [and I mean the type that probably shouldn’t be consumed at too many other times, and definitely should not be marketed to children] is my favorite food category, so this plays out very nicely. Getting through big blocks of training requires the right mix.


For during and immediately after workouts, I recommend [in no particular order] Cookie Crisp, Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Cheerios, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup [yup, actually a cereal now], and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Notice the commonalities here: all high in sugar, and all easy to consume dry which is key for eating successfully while on the bike. For before long workouts I go with Whole Foods [bulk section] multigrain flakes [PL # 6187]. They taste great, and have a good balance of sugar and other slower digesting carbohydrates which will help you remain steady during long training sessions. Adding banana here isn’t a must, but the molasses based cereal is well complimented by banana. For a few hours after workouts [when quick sugars are less of a priority but the body still tells you it needs grain] Kashi Go Lean is the most nutritionally complete cereal out there, and tastes great with frozen blueberries. Obviously the “in-workout” cereal consumption happens dry, but pre/post I do either traditionally (2% milk always) or, for an extra recovery kick, using Athletes Honey Milk [AHM]. AHM is a superb recovery drink recently brought to market by a great new company that has decided to support what I’m out to do. See the link on my right side of my blog to learn more about AHM and their products.

I must admit, a *huge* benefit of all this training is the amount of sugary cereal consumption it allows for in a truly healthy way [time and place]. During a higher volume training week, I often go through 3-5 boxes. Joining the “Kroger Club Card” is a must, any 3 boxes at $1.50 off per box!!

3) Things to Come: I’m currently enjoying a recovery week and letting my body repair itself from the past 3-weeks of building strength work. I’ll end this recovery week by racing a 10K in Nashville on Saturday, February 26. Why Nashville? I’m heading to Clermont Florida for 8 days [Spring Break, definite advantage of being a student again] to train with my Coach [who spends his entire winter there] and a few other serious multisport athletes. We are breaking up the drive to Florida by spending a night in Nashville, which just so happens to be putting on a 10K race, so it just kind of makes sense to test my run fitness there. I’m excited for the race since I think I could be ripe for a PR. But I’m even more excited for the week of training in Florida! I can’t wait to get out on the pavement and see how all these winter hours on the trainer translate on the road, and I’m looking forward to seeing up-close and personal how professional triathletes go about their training, eating, sleeping, etc... Pretty neat stuff!!! Look for another update upon my return.

Thanks for following. Until next time, train hard, live hard

Balancing Training with Other Things in Life

I recently read a short article titled "How to date a Triathlete." While it was nothing way too insightful (and I'm easier to date, because I have cut the swim out for now) it did lead me to reflect on a common theme, or even call it a concern, among non-professional multisport athletes. Simply put, how do we balance training with the rest of life. In my opinion, this is a challenge for two main reasons:

1) Improvement and success in multisport racing takes a lot of time, and the better one gets, the more time improvement takes [there are diminishing marginal returns to training]. A simple example: it is much easier to go from a 4 hour marathon to a 3:45 marathon than it is to go from a 3:15 marathon to a 3 hour marathon. One can get into a pretty vicious (or virtuous, depends on your perspective) cycle of needing to train more in order to continuously improve. When it comes to multisport racing, just maintaining fitness across 2/3 disciplines takes a lot of time, and the better you get, the more training is needed to make gains.

2) Endurance training is addictive. Just google it if you want more serious/scientific information, but in short, the physiological release of endorphins and dopamine brought about by intense and ritualized aerobic exercise is only topped by sex and drug use. Not to mention, the psychological thrill of pushing oneself and transforming one's body in the pursuit of very tangible goals is also [in my opinion, at least] somewhat, if not fully addictive.

I don't think either of the reasons above should carry a negative connotation, if anything, I believe they are both quite positive. The personal growth that comes with improving at something that is challenging is good, and of all the things to give you a "pick me up," physical exertion isn't a bad one - I'd actually say its a pretty good one, and we just may be programmed for it. If Darwin were still alive, he would remind us that we didn't evolve to sit around all day. That said, there are some risks [outside of the health/ performance consequences of physical over training] brought about by our passion. These "risks" or maybe more appropriately stated, "concerns," are pretty personal and depend a lot on one's own environment [e.g., significant other gets mad at you, if you are a parent you may not be spending enough time with kids, not performing well at work, not sleeping enough, etc, etc -- you get the point]. I think we [multisport athletes] all can easily identify a few in our own lives, I know I can. To that end, I'll offer my perspective around good ways to approach this challenge by sharing some things that have generally worked well for me.

Be honest with yourself: If you love the sport more than anything, you might want to think about pursuing the sport more than anything. This doesn't necessarily mean trying to become a pro; there are plenty of ways you can make multisport your life. I have good friends of all ages that work at running stores, coach athletes, and yes, even some continplating going for the pro-card. All these folks are really happy. For them, "balance" would be stupid. If multisport is your calling, go for it. You get in more trouble if you deny it, lying to yourself and lying to others. That said, if this isn't your absolute calling, but you still really really love it (yours truly), then...

Communicate with important people in your life: Let them know how and why you love training and racing. I often say that if there are 112 waking hours in the week, you can get 112 hours of me at 70%, or you can get 95ish hours of me at 100%. It then becomes pretty easy for those that care about me to understand, and much easier for me to be fully present and give that 100% when I am not training.

Don't meet people at the bar: If you are dating people who love late nights and alcohol, this should raise a few red flags. If you're dating someone whose idea of a fun night is cooking a great dinner, going to a movie/show and going to bed on the early side so you can go on a great hike in the morning, then you'll probably be happier in the long run. Not sure if I'm getting the point across, but be yourself early and often when meeting others. For those that are married, I have no personal advice, though I'm sure the communication point (above) is pretty huge.

Involve [significant] others in your training, and care about their "training" whatever it may be: If you are yourself with others early and often [see above], then you'll probably end up surrounding yourself with people who share common interest to yours. They don't have to be exact. For example, Caitlin [best girlfriend] is also the best race-walker [it's actually insane]. Although we can't do our workouts together, we can prep for them, work to start/end them at the same time, enjoy brunch/dinner after them together, and even schedule long rides and long walks on the same day, so we can melt away on the couch with each other later that afternoon and evening.

Set just-manageable challenges: Set goals that not only align to your current physical condition, but also your time boundaries. If you evaluate your job/school, family, friends, etc and come out knowing you only have 10 hours a week to train, you probably won't win an Ironman, so don't aim to. It's ok to dream, but don't be delusional. Important note here, I'm not suggesting winning Kona is delusional at all..it's only delusional if you try to train up to win Kona while working for a law firm, active in three book clubs, and in a band...you get the point [go back to my first piece of advice, if you want to make this the center of your life, just do it]

Compartmentalize training: When I'm on the bike or running, I'm on the bike or running (with the exception of some multi-tasking on the trainer). Equally important, when I'm off the bike, then I'm off the bike. I love my training sessions when I'm doing them, but when they end, then they end. When it's time to focus on school, I focus on school. When it's time to be with someone special, you better bet that's what, and all, I'm doing. Full disclosure here, I'm quite against multi-tasking on the whole. I don't care how good you are at it, you would be better and have more quality experiences if you were just doing one thing. Sometimes this isn't possible, but I try to create space to make sure that when I'm doing something, that's all I'm doing

Plan balance: There is nothing zen and magical about any of the above. I think the most critical thing is to be honest with yourself, think about what you want to do, and set a plan for doing it. Right now, being in graduate school, I know I have the time, resouces, and body to accomplish certain goals, so I am going for them. I also know that in a few years, that mix will change [enter: job in health care and a desire to change health care, potential children, changing body, etc]. By being aware of how training and racing fits into a more broader and integrated path, you'll avoid so many blind-sides and blow-ups, and you'll be more apt and able to realize when you need to make a change, whether that change is dropping everything and moving to Montana to train full time, or moving back from Montana to work in some corporate job [those are extremes, but there is an enormous and pragmattic grey area in between]

All of this is just my opinion, and not the "right" answer by any means. Hopefully I at least got you thinking about what the "right" answer might look like for you!

Train hard, Live hard!

Build Phase and Frozen Eyebrows

I'm now in the midst of my first of two "build" phases of training. Unlike the 2-month base period which focused on leg toughness and durability, the next 2 months will be geared toward building strength and speed specific to the races I am targeting. While there is far more intensity built into each week now (e.g., hill repeats, tempo sets, tempo runs, bicycle strength training, Tabata Intervals), there is also a lot more recovery. I'm transitioning from [base phase] 7 days a week of "just below intensity" training to 4/5 days a week of significant intensity, and 2/3 days a week of pure recovery work. From a mental standpoint, it's actually much easier now. There are particular workouts [and more honestly, segments of workouts] that require the utmost focus, while others do not. This is quite different from the base-building period where everything was quite similar - and never really hard enough to call for "zoning in," but also never easy enough for "zoning out". Although its only been one week, I felt great during most of my intense workouts, and the earliest results are encouraging. Don't get me wrong, there is still *a ton* of work to do and this is just the beginning, but it seems the base that I built grinding it out over the last two months will provide a good foundation.

Only one workout to share: a long Z1/tempo ride, followed by a shorter transition run. The ride [on the trainer, as everything is at this time of year in Michigan] went great. I caught up on world news [thank you Fareed Zakaria], guilty pleasured in Jersey Shore [really Snooki? Couldn't move for an entire day??] and had brunch [the "b" carries multiple meaning] with Caitlin [Lucky Charms, Hammer gels, and sports drink for me - multigrain rolls and with lox and veggies for her. She wins].



Things got interesting when I got off the bike, and transitioned to running in a total white-out. Only 3 minutes into the run, I had given up on trying to establish any cadence [read; zero footing], and decided to just have fun with it. I have done plenty of winter runs this year, but nothing like this: it was brutal out there, driven by the colder than I had expected temperatures, downpour of snow, and 20MPH wind guests. My eye-brows fully froze [I mean they felt like glass], which is a first for me. 10 minutes into the run I had given up on "fun," and switched to what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

I survived the run just fine, worked muscles that hadn't been worked since I was on the way to Base Camp, and thawed out my eyebrows in a pretty memorable hot shower. All in all, a good workout! That said, I'm not going to say it didn't make me a bit more excited for a recently locked-in training trip to Clermont Florida over Spring Break.

That's it for this update. Stay warm (or cool), train hard, and in the words of my coach, rest harder!