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