Training Centre

Coach's Comments - Ironman Australia

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:53:00 GMT

Please note that Allan Pitman's Coach's Comments was written for his squad athletes that are racing Ironman Australia in three weeks.

Coach's Comments

Lets make sure we get the most we can from our weekend longer workouts. Last Sunday's workout was designed to be an aerobic four and a half to five hour workout with the hilly section in the second half to add valuable conditioning to the legs. The hilly section caused us to push up to our aerobic thresholds on legs which had been drained of their glycogen reserves. This is how it will be on race day.

One of the things I noticed during the workout was that a few of the squad allow their pedalling technique to fall apart when they get desperate. The need to "win a hill" in a training ride can be so strong a motivator that attention to the technical details is dropped.

The technical details of the workout are not how many watts you averaged, or how much elevation was gained. The technical details I'm looking for are the way each of us can hold our pedalling technique together when we're tired. Not reverting to desperately stomping the pedals on the climbs.

Stomping on the hills is not a good habit to get into. Often in a group ride you'll find the stompers attack the first part of the hill getting a good lead on the group. The spinners hold their form and after about half way up, the stompers start to come back. The spinners keep spinning, rolling their gear smoothly and ride right past the stompers before the top and accelerate away over the crest.

The course for next Sunday's workout is chosen for the rolling terrain, not unlike the Port Ironman course. We're aiming at three, two hour loops with a fairly even application of power over the day. There'll be some high power output points, but they don't want to be savage spikes. Those spikes will cost you on race day.

Sunday will be a great opportunity to do a rehearsal of our feeding plan. The aim should be to underfeed rather than overfeed. This attitude should be carried into race day. Overfeeding has ruined more races than underfeeding.

If we use Sunday to think about how we handle a hill in order to conserve energy, we can gain more from the workout. Beating your mates, but doing it inefficiently will be a wasted day. No-one's going to remember who won the Carbrook loop.

Ride the first third of the hill using your momentum, that is accelerate across the flat before the hill so you hit it with some pace, roll the gear up the first third without too much pedal pressure. Then drop a few gears as necessary to continue the winding/spinning motion of the pedals. This is the point where it's easy to apply too much pedal torque and "blow your legs".

Change gears as necessary to keep "on top of the gear". Your ego may feel fulfilled if you are able to stay in the big chainring, but if your pedal torque is too high, and cadence too low, you're practicing inefficiency. If you've got up two thirds of the hill without slowing down too much or applying too much pressure to the pedals, you'll have the legs to spin over the top, stepping up one gear at a time so you go over the top accelerating, not gasping.

Cadence is a bit of a personal thing but generally a lighter rider will hold a higher cadence to produce the same power. I am a medium weight rider and know by feel when the pedal pressure is too high so I drop a gear. This point is usually about 70rpm. So when my cadence drops to 70rom, I change to one gear easier. I would climb most rolling hills between 70-80rpm. You just know when it feels right.

Some hills the best way over is to stay in the big ring and jump out of the saddle at the right moment to keep the pace up. But keep in mind a time trialist uses these efforts sparingly. Especially one who is going to have to face a marathon in a couple of hours.

Allan Pitman

Triathlon Coach

Coach's Comment

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 03:05:00 GMT

Coach's comments

I often point out to an athlete if they're pulling up early. Like swimming 48m in 50m efforts, or 95m when it should be 100m efforts. We see it on the run track, athletes running 990m when the workout asks for 1,000m efforts. It's all in good fun but every time you take your foot off the accelerator in a race, you're no longer racing. It's not a good habit to get into.

For many of our squad members completion is an important part of their psyche. They're natural finishers, details people. The sort of people you can count on to do the job, even when they're not being watched. It's a great assett to have the basic honesty to do the job well even when no-one is watching.

There's another angle to this dedication to excellence. On Tuesday morning I pulled George out of the pool before the session was finished. He didn't want to get out, he was doing the job. As a coach I'm constantly reading body language. George was tired, his whole body was so tired that he was practicing plodding. None of us need to practice that. To be the best we can be, we need to always be practicing perfect technique. As perfect as we can manage. As a seventy year old athlete George may not recover as fast as some of our younger athletes, but God did not make any of them any tougher.

I'd say when Tiger Woods goes out to practice, if he's "not on" that day, he doesn't waste any time working on his golf swing. He'd do some stretching and maybe a bit of core strength work. There's no point in him practicing anything less than perfect.

All of our squad members are juggling training big weekend sessions, managing to hold down a job and keep some sort of relationship going with family and friends. There's going to be times when we are just plain tired. A Sunday session can sometimes be five or six hours of pretty constant work. The best post workout feeding regime and an afternoon nap can have you back on top on Monday. But often things get in the way, not enough sleep, a busy timetable and sometimes less than the best nutrition can delay our absorbtion of the workout.

We have to absorb the workout and become fresh again before we put too much load onto the athlete. Now many of our club members are over forty, in fact it's been a long time since some of us were in our forties. Most professional athletes have retired from top competition by the age of forty. So every year since we were forty makes recovery a little more difficult. It takes a little more time to get back to square one, before we should load more.

If we load too much too soon, we don't improve. In fact we're very likely to go backwards or become sick. Another drawback is that we are so tired we practice bad habits. Out teenage athletes don't realise the gift they have in being able to bounce back so quickly after each workout. Even they will run down if they don't do their recovery procedures very well. I've heard it said that youth is wasted on the young.

So fatigue management is of critical importance for an age group athlete. Being able to read the feedback and make the call to go for an early shower if needed. Don't make the decision while you're still under the doona. Some bad decisions have been made from a warm bed. Often it's worth getting to training, making a start, doing the warm up then knowing if it's worth completing the workout. Very often the warm up will wash away the soreness and the body produces a productive workout.

But there's nothing to be gained by practicing bad habits, no matter what is scheduled in your training plan. Remember that training plan was written to suit a perfect world.o the job, even when they're not being watched. It's a great assett to have the basic honesty to do the job well even when no-one is watching.

Allan Pitman

Coach's Comments

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:58:00 GMT

Coach's Comments

Every one of us could be better athletes if we could master that little voice in our heads. The little voice that has been telling us to be careful, all of our lives. The same little voice that tells us we are not good enough to beat athlete X, or that we just can't go on. The little voice that tells us that the itch we feel in our throat could be the start of an illness (but it's really just a sign that we're short of fluid and a good sized drink of water will cure it)

That little voice has a purpose. It's the reason you have lived this long. It's the reason you have avoided being friends with certain losers over the years, and as a result have not gotten into the trouble you could have. That little voice has been developed to prevent you doing stupid things. Like lending money to a drug dependant friend, or buying time share. So we have to thank that little voice for a lot.

But we have to be careful. That little voice can keep you mediocre. To perform at your potential, you have to be selective about what advice you take from that little voice. It's going to tell you, you can't keep this pace up, you'll blow up if you push hard over that next hill. It's sometimes right, but it tends to be too conservative. The people who beat you in a race are not necessarily more talented, or better trained, they may just be better at ignoring that litte voice in their head.

They might be better risk takers. Most of the great performances we've witnessed in sport, or in business have been pulled off by risk takers. They're people just like you and I, who feel fear, who have that little voice telling them to be careful. The successful risk takers are people who have faced that fear, over ruled that little voice and pushed through the mental barrier. It is only an imagined barrier, it's not real.

I find it amazing how when I have to meet someone at 5am, that little voice that tells me I'm too tired at 4.30am, is easy to over rule. If I don't have a committment to be anywhere special, that little voice can convince me that another hour of sleep will be an investment in my future performances. The ability to control that little voice is called discipline.

Look at the squad members who have a military background. Look at the discipline these individuals have. These people are the ones who complete what they start. They are the ones who are at every session. They're the ones who get results through sheer persistance. These people are roll models for the rest of us. They do what they have to do.

How many times in their lives have they had to over rule that little voice in their head?

Allan Pitman

Triathlon Coach

Coach's Comments

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:04:00 GMT

Coach's Comments

I've recently read a few race reports where the athlete has been let down by his/her technical gear. GPS not working, bike computer not working etc. Sometimes this can be a gift. A chance to realise that competition is possible without analysis.

The triathletes I have met are the most analytical group of people. It seems that every season we have some new way of measuring, monitoring and analysing our training and racing. It seems like the analysis is more important than the performance. For a long time "the look" has been more important for many, than the performance, now analysis is the new frontier.

We've had "big ring January", is it possibleto have technology free March? Could we, as a group, go a whole month on "feel".

Imagine how free we could feel if we didn't have to drive at a particular speed limit in our cars, just drive according to the conditions. If there was no one around and the weather was good we could drive along Ipswich Rd Moorooka at 75-80kph, instead of looking out for radar traps at 5am. As we approached an intersection we could ease up, and if it was clear just drive on through. Now in the traffic this is not possible, it would be too dangerous because not everyone is responsible enough to drive according to the conditions.

As athletes we are responsible enough to ride to work a little faster when we feel good, without absolutely burying ourselves for the rest of the week. Even if we did we would soon learn that this was not the best way forward. We wouldn't be hurting anyone else anyway.

We live in a world which is so full of warnings and caution, that people are losing the ability to sense danger, and simply avoid it. A little like the package of walnuts which has the printed warning on the pack, "warning, could contain traces of nuts". Or the hammer at Bunnings which has safety directions printed on it. Imagine the chaos if someone with a nut allergy accidently picked up a package of walnuts and started eating them, or if some simpleton picked up a hammer and injured himself with it.

I'm suggesting a month of "feeling" the right cadence. A month of using your breathing to know if you're training aerobicly. A month of riding the hills early in your workout in a way which will leave you with enough energy in your legs for the return trip. Imagine a month where you evaluate your workout by how you felt during it, and how well you backed it up next day.

A month of no technology, other than the stop watch, could actually prepare an athlete for the possibility that his/her technological aids may one day let them down.

Allan Pitman

Triathlon Coach

Coach's Comments

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 06:21:00 GMT

Coach's Comments

If you get knocked down, just get back up and keep going. Many of us are going to race some pretty tough races this season. Just as many of us are going to be faced with situations where we actually wonder if we can go on. Where every muscle in our body is crying out to stop.

To be successful at what we choose "to do for fun", we have to push ourselves beyond what the guy next to us is prepared to do. We have to keep getting up everytime the race "knocks us down". Lets face it, it's you against the course. The course, the conditions can easily beat you. Especially if you go down and stay down with the first obstacle. Things are going to happen, things that you don't expect. You'll see people around you fold. You'll see them throw in the towell as soon as it gets tough.

Use this as a sign to get going. The same conditions that cause the guy next to you to crack, can be the first of many hits you take. But you fight harder, when you get hit hard. Some fights are over with one good hit, train yourself to take a few hits. Be ready for them.

Every workout we do, there's going to be a battle going on between the workout and the athlete. Who's going to come out on top?

When that alarm goes off, and you know it's time to get up, but you feel like the night has been too short. Imagine you have been knocked down by your opponent. What are you going to do? Stay down for the count of ten? Or are you going to get up and fight back?

What about when you get dropped off from the rest of the group in a tough windy ride, or on one of the rolling hills in the last half of a long hot ride? This is an opportunity to let them go, rehearse a low point in your next race. There's going to be one. Long hard races have low points, be ready for them. They're like body punches, you just have to accept that you're going to get a few. Try to avoid them, but don't crack if you get hit by one.

These long races are 70% mental, you don't start your mental prep on race morning. You start it months out from the race. You take every opportunity to get back up, every time you get knocked down. Being knocked down in training is a gift, it's a chance to "do the right thing". You're not born tough, you learn to be tough. Make it a priority to learn this attitude, to live this attitude. Look forward to the chances to practice it.

Coach's Comments

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:26:00 GMT

It's winter, the days are shorter and a lot of triathletes are getting sick. There are a lot of worse things happening in the world, you only have to watch the SBS news of the world. Compared to the stuff on there a triathlete having to sit at home and play with his kids, or read a book, is not all that bad.

If you feel the first symptoms coming on, the dry throat, the first sniffle. Take action, have zinc lozengers in your cupboard ready to suck every three hours. If you don't already take fish oil caps every day, first you really should take them all the time, but take two of them every three hours. Rest more, reduce your training or stop altogether.

You won't gain anything by training while you're sick. You will gain in other areas of your life if you take the break which nature has given you, and spend it doing something which you would not normally have time for. I don't mean sitting around whinging to your wife. I say wife because if you're a woman and you get sick, you take it easy but you keep plugging on with your duties. Guys go down like a house of cards when they get a cold, but it well known that men suffer worse cold symptoms than women.

If you're training for something pretty serious and its getting close. The best strategy is to take measure to prevent getting sick before it happens rather than trying to cure it once it has hit you. I personally take collostrum powder each day to boost my immune system. I have also found that taking vitamin D3 has been helpful in boosting our immunity and reducing joint inflamation.

It the cold of flu does get you, stop training. When the symptoms have gone go back into your training cautiously, you have to taper back, rather than taking off at full speed. Nothing will prolong an illness like starting back into full work too soon.

To visit my website, http://www.aptriathlon.com

Allan Pitman

Triathlon Coach

Coach's Comments

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 18:49:00 GMT

Change the way you see yourself

We have to be very careful with our self talk. Others will notice what we're saying out loud, but only you'll know what the little voice inside is saying. Little things like "I always get off the bike in a good position, and wait to get run down". Or "If I only was taller, I'd have a longer stride and would be a faster runner". I've heard athletes make both of these statements. In both cases neither of them realised they were talking themselves down.

Your subconcious mind hears everything you say. It's a bit like saying "I'm a big guy, big guys can't run fast, the smaller lighter guys are always faster". Or "If only I'd started this earlier, I could have been good at this". Well I know a 90kg guys who has run a 3.40 Ironman marathon, off a 5hr bike. I also know a man, who bought a Trek carbon time trial bike at 65yrs when he sold his business interests to focus on his triathlon. In Port MacQuarie this year he won his age group (70-74) by 2hrs 30min. Imagine if he'd started earlier.

If you're not a good swimmer, you'll never become one with a defeatest attitude. If you're not a good runner, you'll never become one by talking yourself down.

The mind controls the body - nod your head if you agree with this.

The body controls the mind ???

If you make a positive effort to only practice perfect technique in any sport - I mean practicing running drills every day of this year - you will start to feel like a runner - a short run in the park with run drills which encourage a light foot placement right under your hip, the right body alignment, loose hands and a tall posture. Over a few months anyone can become a much better runner than they presently are. I'm talking a reduction in your Ironman run split of in some cases more than an hour.

Over a few months you will change the way you talk to yourself, you'll change the way you see yourself. It's amazing how much talent you uncover when you practice often.

To visit my website, http://www.aptriathlon.com

Allan Pitman

Coach’s Comments

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 18:24:00 GMT

I have known lots of athletes who had real trouble taking a recovery period off training after an Ironman race. The same people have had real trouble not training when they were obviously sick. Training when you're sick is stupid. You can cause permanent heart damage, you can prolong the illness by months. You can give yourself a permanently weakened immune system. Don't do it.

Do a little bit of self analysis. Are you addicted to training, or addicted to continued improvement?

If you're sick, I just mean a cold. It's a sign that your body needs rest so you can use all your resourses to fight off the illness. You cannot get an unhealthy body fit.

I have found that through winter I am only able to handle 9-10hrs of training per week. Humans have become used to doing less work when the days are shorter, and more work when the days get longer. That's the way it's been for thousands of years. Understand that simple fact and modify what you do in winter to suit your ability to handle it.

It seems higher intensity training can also be harder to handle in winter. I've seen lots of athletes training for a winter marathon, doing fine until they started doing some threshold work close to the race. One guy I know got sick three weeks before the Gold Coast marathon, three years in a row. All that training wasted because he simply asked his body for too much.

If you want to be around in this sport in 20yrs, sort out now, what you're training for. If you're training for training's sake, you will burn out mentally. Select a race and train the smartest way possible to get there. Then take a recovery period right after your big event. I have done 34 Ironman triathlons, I have traditionally taken 4 to 6 weeks to recover from an Ironman. I don't train if I am sick, or so tired that I have trouble getting out of bed. In fact my best ever result in Hawaii came 12 weeks after abandoning an event (state duathlon titles) after starting but realising I was not over a virus. I pulled out, and did an easy ride, one more week of very light training and my health returned. Eleven weeks later I set a PB and placed 3rd in my category in Hawaii. No-one ever remembered who won the state duathlon title.

Coach's Comments

Mon, 28 May 2012 19:03:00 GMT

I often have to remind athletes in the squad to eat enough. Some have to be reminded to put the fork down. But most are more likely to not eat enough of the right foods, at the right times.

When a new athlete starts with the squad I ask for a three day food diary. This often has them look much more closely at their diets than they ever would have. It often reveals some surprises. Too many athletes are not eating enough protein to cover the needs of their training. We must have enough protein to rebuild muscle broken down by our longer, harder workouts. We train many more hours than most body builders, and they cover every nutritionalneed, to speed recovery.

It makes sense to give our bodies everything they need to rebuild after exercise. The better we can recover and replace broken down muscle tissue, the more we can gain from our training.

Include protein in every meal. Whey protein isolate right after a workout is absorbed faster than any other protein scource. This is the protein in Endura Opti. Along with around75% carbohydrate. Studies have shown that glycogen reserves are replaced faster after exercise if a carb/protein mixture of around 4:1is used. This is even faster than a pure carb replacement drink.

These are supplements. Designed to supplement a diet made up of real foods. You can't just live on supplements. There are many nutrients we need which are not supplied by supplements. Most athletes whose diets I have surveyed are short of vegetables. The ideal diet I would like to see my athletes using would be 60% fresh fruit and vegetables. It would contain some wheat products but only a small percentage of the total food intake. I would prefer my athletes to get most of their carbs from rice and veges, they're easier to digest.

As we train on through, what for many of us is our off season, we should be eating for performance. Body weight will stabilise at what's right for us. I don't worry too much about measuring body fat percentages. Lie on your back, put your forefinger in your belly button and squeeze the fat beside it with your thumb. If it's thicker than one centimeter, cut back on dairy, wheat and sugar for a week or two. It's as simple as that.

As long as wheat, dairy and sugar are kept to a minimum, and the diet has about 25% protein and 60% vegetables in every meal. A training athlete can eat a lot of food. The athlete need never go hungry and all nutritional needs will be met. Most of all the simple formula will ensure plenty of energy for training and improving.

To Visit my website, visit http://www.aptriathlon.com

Allan Pitman

Coach's Comments

Sat, 26 May 2012 12:39:00 GMT

Coach's Comments

Lots of our squad members are recovering from their major race for the season. Quite a few are about to wind up their season first weekend in June.

After our major races we must allow the fitness to drift away as we recover. It's impossible for the body to keep improving endlessly. The results from Port indicate that most of the squad members reached the peak at just about the right time. We'll soon see how the Cairns Ironman squad will peak.

Peaking is as much mental as it is physical. After the peak has been reached, it can only be held for three to four weeks. After that time fitness/sharpness starts to drop away. Trying to prolong it will usually only result in burnout, both physically and mentally.

Having a structured "off season" can be one of the biggest influencing factors in next season's results. It's a time to accept that your times will not be PBs. for a while. Accepting this fact, and resigning to work on our weaknesses through winter can set us up for a great season of PBs when spring arrives.

The Yeppoon triathlon is an ideally situated race to give us a reason to get out of bed when it's dark and cold outside. Right now it's thirteen weeks away. It can be used as a test race to asses the gains we've made on the weaknesses we've uncovered this season.

Before we start heavy training for Yeppoon, or Hawaii, we have to have had a couple of weeks of sleeping in, walking the dog instead of training. After those two weeks, we need to have another four weeks of low HR training with a maximum overall workout time of around three hours. We have to give our body and mind time to become fresh and hungry to train.

Unless you had the fastest swim time for your category in your last race, it's probably a time to work on some swim technique and aerobic sets in the nice warm water at Yeronga pool. The new heaters have managed to keep the pool right on 27C so far with only one of them doing most of the heating, there's plenty of reserve power there for when it does get cold.

Next week we start a block of serious technique and aerobic work. Around the start of July I'll introduce a run technique/track session once a week. Enjoy the easy time of the year, do some of the things you didn't have time to do when you were in full training.

To visit my website, visit http://www.aptriathlon.com/

Living in the moment

Fri, 18 May 2012 21:19:00 GMT

"Living in the moment"

It doesn’t matter how much I read, or how much I experience training athletes to endurance events, I keep coming back to the fact that endurance events are more mental than physical. I’ve read about Tibetan monks who can run huge distances across mountain trails on almost no food, in times which would make them very competitive in ultra distance running events around the world.

It seems the secret to their performance is the meditative mental state they’re able to get into, where they simply allow their body to run without interference from their mind. It seems that driving ourselves hard is not as productive as allowing our body to perform without interference.

I see that interference every day when coaching swimmers. Analysis paralysis is alive and well in the triathlon community. People actually try too hard to get good at what they’re trying to master. They’re actually interfering in the natural movement of their bodies by trying too hard to control what’s happening.

I often use the analogy of a dog chasing the ball. The dog only sees the ball, its sole objective is to get the ball. The dog doesn’t think about foot placement, aerodynamics etc. All he sees is the ball and is focussed on getting it. Even if you throw the ball across the highway, the dog will not see the oncoming cars, he’ll only see the ball.

Now if we as endurance athletes were able to tune out of controlling, and hold a focus on our end goal like the dog, we could move more freely. We could avoid some of the injuries which people suffer, caused by unnatural control of movements.

What we need to spend a little time each workout on, is letting it happen.
Be able to switch from making it happen to letting it happen. The Ironman race is seventy per cent mental. Yet we spend most of our training hours swimming, cycling and running, with almost no time devoted to the mental side of the sport.

Most of us don’t have lots of spare time to spend meditating, many of us have difficulty in shutting down the thoughts racing through our minds.

I suggest spending a little part of each workout just living in the moment.
Counting strokes when swimming or counting revs when cycling up a hill, or counting steps when we run, can have the effect of bringing our mind back into the present moment. Rather than thinking ahead of ourselves or going over the past. Meditation does not have to mean sitting cross legged in front of a candle.

Meditation for the Ironman can be done at race pace. It’s simply living in the moment, monitoring simple feedback like how the ground feels underfoot.
Or feeling the breeze on your face, being aware of the environment around you, being part of that environment. Better results will come when we stop thinking about outcomes and start living the moment.

The skill to shut out the pain or discomfort of racing will not come easy.
It has to be practiced. We have many hours of training ahead of us where we could practice these skills. We get to know how good technique feels, we need to gradually take ownership of this feeling, so when we clear our mind of thoughts, the body can keep producing perfect technique.

Recovery - The secret to continued progress

Sun, 13 May 2012 19:51:00 GMT

Recovery - the secret to continued progress

Now that many readers have just completed their first Ironman, don't be too hard on yourself about your finishing time. Seriously no-one else even cares what time you did. In fact most people outside the sport will be more impressed with a longer time. You'll hear them say, "Wow did you really swim, bike and run for fourteen hours, you must be an endurance animal".

So really whether you did 11.55 or 12.05 does not make any difference to anyone else. I'm not saying don't strive to be the best you can be, just don't bore your "non-triathlete friends" with your times.

The key to continued improvement, is not getting sick or injured, so you can continue to do the ongoing development work. Then the next key is to allow your body and mind to thoroughly recover from not only the race you've just completed, but the training leading up to that race. A 12-16 week Ironman training program will wear you down mentally. Don't lose your sense of humour. Rest and concentrate on something else for a while.

The best recovery (I've recovered from 34 Ironman races myself) will be two weeks of nothing but a few walks and maybe a social coffee shop ride or two. Followed by another four weeks of 8-10hrs of training all under 80%HR. No runs over 1hr and no bike rides over 3hrs. Nothing hard, nothing which will make you breathe heavily.

After 5-6 days you'll feel great, you most likely feel ready to race. I've even heard guys say they'll do a couple of shorter races so they don't "waste the fitness" they've built up for the Ironman. There's no future in it, don't do it.

After six weeks you'll be hungry to train, you'll be ready for a structured plan building you to the next event. The major thing you'll have gained is that you'll be mentally fresh. Never underestimate the importance of mental freshness. The mind and the body are not separate entities. They work together, to get the best out of one, the other has to be as well trained and as fresh.

Some of the guys who we all know, who raced and didn't get the result they expected, even though their training performances suggested better, often these guys were mentally exhausted. Their spirit was smashed. Don't let this happen to you. Become revitalised.

Allan pitman

Triathlon Coach

http://fitforliving.com.au

Any fool can suffer

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 12:29:00 GMT

There’s no point in practicing bad habits. I often see athletes out running when I’m on my way to the pool or out for a ride. Two hours later I see the same athletes still running. Or should I say plodding along, dragging their tired bodies along with the most inefficient form you could imagine.

What they’re doing is practicing exactly what they’ll do on race day as soon as they get tired. They unconsciously tell their body, this is the way we run when we’re tired.

There’s a much better way. Simply never run with bad form. Never run inefficiently. Learn how to run well and practice it every time you lace up a pair of running shoes. A really useful method is to insert a short, measured walk into your long run every 4min or 5min. I like to walk 30 paces every 5min. Don’t get caught up in the mathematics, it’s just not important. The simple formulae is to run well for a period, then walk with good posture for a measured amount of steps.

This method often has a runner covering more ground in a 90min or 2hr run than they would have if they ran continuously. The bonus is that all of the running is done technically well. The short walks are just enough to reset the mind onto the right pattern. A bit like hitting the refresh button. Some athletes fear taking up this method because they fear they’ll lose the ability to run continuously . It’s not a good idea to let fear be your guide. The simple fact is that you only ever run well, and that’s all the body knows.

An athlete who was not happy with his result in a recent race approached me for some advice. He wondered if he should start some track sessions. The same athlete has dodged our group track sessions for the past six weeks, and has never taken advantage of the water running, leg speed sessions the rest of the squad have been doing. Ironically the rest of the squad are very happy with their progress in the run.

After giving this athlete the free advice, he promptly told me what he would like to do. Which was quite different to what I had just advised him to do??? I’ve seen the same athlete running along, obviously very tired, in a survival plod. Actually practicing exactly what happens in his races when he gets tired.

The same thing happens in the pool. It pays to never practice bad technique. If I am so tired that I can’t hold good technique, I just get out. If I see a swimmer in my squad losing it, I tell them to get out Or in some cases, put fins on to take away the fight for survival.

There’s a lot of good sayings a coach accumulates along the way, one which applies here is, "Any fool can suffer”

Coach's Comments

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:04:00 GMT

The complainers, the discounters and the poor me's.

You meet all these people in our sport. In fact we even have a few in our own squad. Some don't even realise that they fall into one of these categories.

The complainers - when the swim set is read out - they're the ones who shake their heads, who mutter something. It's like they've just been dealt a handfull of nothing in a card game. These are the people who always have a glass half empty. On race day, bad conditions will affect these athletes worse than the more optimistic ones who take whatever is dished out and handle it as well as they can.

The discounters - these are the athletes who swim 23m when the rest of the lane are doing 25m, or they swim 48m when the rest of the lane is swimming 50m. They'll always cut a little bit off, either at the start of the effort or at the end of it, or both ends. These are the athletes who'll start walking when they reach an aid station and still be walking at the end of the aid station. If you discount in training, you'll discount on race day.

The poor me's - these people feel the heat worse than others. They feel the cold really bad and often end up wrapped in a space blanket walking the last 15km of the Ironman course. For this group, a sore foot has to be diagnosed as something with a medical name, instead of just avoiding things that hurt it for a week or so. These are the people who have to race out and get anti-biotics for every sniffle that would normally be gone in a week anyway. Often the poor me's are a product of an over sympathetic mother. Notice how sympathetic can be shortened by leaving off the "sym".

Don't feel special if you identify some of these symptoms in yourself, we all have a little bit of each of them. It's going to help your racing if you are aware of them, and take steps to over rule these feelings. Becoming tough should be the goal of every athlete contemplating an Ironman race. Tough people have all of the weaknesses of the group I've described above, they just don't let themselves be undermined by them.

Let's get our thoughts in order

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:15:00 GMT

We have two weeks to NZIM, five weeks to Melbourne IM and eleven weeks to Port MacQuarie. For some of the squad it's too late to get any fitter, some have a few workouts left which will make a difference to the outcome. The most important thing to aim for is to be able to stand on the start line confident in your own ability to handle whatever happens during the race.

In training we've encountered just about every weather condition possible. We've had our fair share of rainy workouts and there have been times when the temperature has been over 30C. We've all managed to complete the workouts, we've adjusted our pace to suit the conditions, but we've battled on. We've all realised that we're all in the same boat, we've fought on together. We have to remember that on race day.

It's very possible during the race to feel we're not handling things as well as some others. The sun shines on everyone, the wind blows on everyone. Do everything in your square meter as efficiently as possible and before you know it, you'll be through the most difficult part.

* It is only one day of your life

* The wind doesn't want to blow on you, it's trying to get past you, become as small as possible to let it go round you

* You don't have to eat or drink more than you would have in a training ride - more races are ruined by overfeeding than underfeeding

* Have a feeding plan which you have practiced - stick with it - it made sense when you worked it out - it worked in training

* So you're hurting, so is everyone else - go faster and it will hurt for less time

* It is still a race - every part of it - transitions, aid stations, toilet stops - race the whole thing

* Great races are made up of efficient minutes - your best time is a certain number of efficient minutes - inefficient minutes add to that time

* You only get one chance at this - don't be too conservative - race it

* Anyone who is going to beat you is going to have to hurt more than you - make it hard to beat you

There are a few simple things to remember which will make it easier

The best way to prepare for an Ironman

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:14:00 GMT

Allan Pitman

Triathlon & Ironman Coach

The best way to prepare for an Ironman - is to do an Ironman every week

Lots of athletes become fearful over the last few weeks that they have not done enough training. This is one of the biggest fears new ironman competitors have.

An Ironman training program should do a couple of things for the athlete. First and most important is to instil a feeling of confidence in the athlete. Each of the bigger workouts should be a confidence building experience. That is, after every workout the athlete should feel he/she has moved one step closer to being ready. Keeping a training diary, and recording what was good about each session, gradually builds confidence. It is also a record which the athlete can look back over, and actually see where you have come from.

The well kept training diary is a great assett in case of an injury or other setback. Instead of sitting around worrying about all the training you're missing, you can look back and count what you have done. It's always a mind saver, to count what you have, rather than counting what you've missed out.

Looking through that training diary will usually reveal that if the weekly training distances are added. The average athlete does more than an Ironman each week, in time and distance.

So if your body is used to doing an Ironman each week for the past 12 to 16 weeks - surely it's going to be able to do the distance on race day when you're fresh. The most important thing you can build is your confidence. Most experienced Ironman competitors will agree that the race is 70% mental. Once you've done the work.

To visit my website, click http://www.aptriathlon.com/

Body Maintenance - the key to longevity in the sport

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:04:00 GMT

Allan Pitman

Triathlon & Ironman Coaching Services

Good intentions are no substitute for action - No matter how much you agree that maintaining flexibility - or building core strength - if you don't ever get around to it, it's just a good intention. I am as bad as the next guy when it comes to doing my stretching. When Pete Jacobs has stayed at our place when in Brisbane, it's like a lesson in body maintenance. Every day he's stretching, massaging different tight muscles. This is between feeding; he eats an awful lot for a skinny guy.

I realised a few years ago that if I put core strength work on someones training program, three times a week. The best way to ensure it was done three times a week was to do it with the squad before we got into the pool on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings. As a result of this simple routine, no-one in the squad suffers from lower back pain on long time trials and long races. Doing the core work before training, gives it the importance it really should enjoy.

We all see the runners at the track spending half the session doing drills and stretching. Pete stretches every day, sometimes several times a day. He's had the fastest run in Hawaii for the past two years. Dancers spend hours each week stretching. Flexible bodies move easier, than tight bodies. In many cases we don't need to increase our range of movement, we just need to maintain it. Exercise causes our muscles to shrink and tighten after we've cooled down. Stretching simply brings them back to their normal length.

Massage and acupuncture are both excellent methods of relaxing muscles and allowing them to return to their original length. Professional cyclists have massages every day. Many of us are unable to afford as many massages as a pro cyclist, but we can learn self massage. I rarely ever have a massage, I've only had 3-4 in the past 5yrs. I massage my own muscles almost every day, and when I'm training for an Ironman race, when the hours and intensity are building, I have acupuncture once a week. I find this more effective in maintaining loose muscles than massage.

Most athletes entering triathlon as a sport are over thirty. In fact many return to triathlon as a sport after many years of no sport. The basic core strength and flexibility, if given the attention it deserves, will help prevent many of the setbacks that occur in the first year or two of a triathlete's life. Most injuries triathletes suffer could be avoided.

If you want to build endurance, go out and endure

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:39:00 GMT

Lots of first time Ironman competitors are convinced they need to do certain distances in training in order to complete the race when the big day rolls around. Most of this belief is based on what is read in magazine interviews with pro athletes. One important fact you must keep in mind is that after the interview the author went away and wrote that story. What may be reported as a normal week of training, is often the biggest week of training the athlete has ever done.

Most athletes come into triathlon after quite a few years of no training at all, or possibly a bit of casual social sport. A body has to be trained to accept the training for an Ironman. Meaning that foundations need to be laid before the body is able to stand some of the bigger workouts without breaking down.

My goal when I coach an athlete to an Ironman is to get them there without illness or injury. So with that goal in mind I start with good basic nutrition, get the athlete to start taking some basic supplements to support the new and unnatural work load. It is not normal practice for untrained people to run for two hours or cycle for six hours. This places huge demands on the body’s ability to repair and rebuild.

One of the first blocks of training needed is 6-8 weeks of nothing hard, gradually adding hours to the weekly total. The event you’re training for is a pure endurance event. To even think that you’re going to "race” your first Ironman is foolish, keep it as a dream, it’ll hurt you a lot less. First you need to learn how to finish a couple of them before thinking about racing them. Unless of course you’re an elite athlete with many years of conditioning and a gradual increase of distances under your belt.

Endurance is best built at 50-70%HR. Not by winning hills in training, or sprinting for pedestrian crossings. I’ve seen an awful lot of guys who’ve won a lot of training sessions, drag their @rses in at the end of an Ironman. If you’re beating your mates over hills, or winning the sprints, you’re not building endurance. You’ll be looking for that endurance on race day.

Endurance is the ability to use your body’s fat reserves as energy, and the mental capacity to keep doing something while every muscle in your body is crying out for you to stop. A good mate, Jimmy C once said, if you want to build endurance, go out and endure.

If you can start the final 12-16 weeks with some strength and speed, this will be an advantage, but it’s too late to try and get too much faster. Once you’re in the last 12-16 weeks the best path to take is to learn to do what you do as efficiently as possible and for as long as possible.

Learning to run off the bike, especially long tough bike rides, is an important skill. I’ve seen a few athletes who dodge windy days, rainy days. Don’t like to run off the bike if it’s close to midday and getting hot. The Ironman is a test of toughness, not a test of athletic ability. I’ve coached a girl who reduced her weight by 20% down to 92kgs. She ran down 40men in the Forster Ironman, not because she was fast, because she was tough.

My advice for the weeks before the last eight weeks to go, is swim, ride and run at low intensity (conversation pace) for as many hours as your lifestyle permits. Those who can ride to work, gain extra conditioning. Those who can swim five times a week are gaining more than those who swim three times a week. Some of those swims only need to be 800-1000m of mainly technique work.
Lay the foundation, then be ready to get more specific in the last eight weeks.

Coach's Comments

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:50:00 GMT

There are some simple things which underpin the success you have enjoyed in your performances over the last year. Simple things that many of your competitors overlook in search of complicated formulae. While they're looking at aerodynamics, calorie counting, wind tunnel testing, aero drinking systems, logging total yearly mileages, weight training programs etc, they're missing something so simple and so important.

What many are missing is the fact that our program is built around the development of your self belief, your confidence. Every week we do simple, but challenging workouts which, once completed, give you a little better self image.

Another thing that many actually laugh at, is worming ourselves each month. If you were an expensive racehorse or a greyhound, your trainer would worm you every month. It's not just intestinal worms which cause you to operate "with a handbrake on". There are many parasitic organisms which can be affecting your energy levels and top end performance slightly with their waste products in your system. A complete herbal anti-parasite treatment once a month is a simple insurance policy against lethargy and poor skin apearance.

Taking fish oil every am and pm boosts the immune system, reduces inflamation in areas of heavy use, keeps the skin and hair in good condition. The Australian diet is short of omega three fats.

Taking a multi vitamin every morning and evening is like taking insurance out on your nutritional health. In fact it's like an insurance policy on your longevity in this sport. In my own age group many of my competitors have dropped by the wayside with injuries etc. Many of which could have been avoided with good nutritional support.

Taking one teaspoon of common cooking gelatine every morning can provide all the nutrients your body needs to support repair and maintenence of cartilage, tendons and ligiments. It also helps hair and fingernail strength. It's the cheapest dietry supplement you'll ever take. It makes sense to me to provide the body with what it needs rather than trying to repair it, once it breaks.

Many of the tendon and joint pains suffered by athletes running long distances can be helped by taking a manganese supplement. It doesn't have to be taken all the time but can help relieve inflamation nutritionally, rather than making another physio visit. Manganese is found in whole grains, we don't have that much whole grain in our diets these days. It's worth having Natures Own manganese in the "medicine chest" for when it's needed.

Quite a few doctors visits could be saved, and quite a few sick days could be avoided by taking Inner Health at the first sign of stomach distress. Most stomach / digestive issues can be treated easily and quickly with a probiotic like Inner Health, every athlete should have it in their fridge. Also when travelling to a special race, taking Inner Health each day for the 10-14 days before the event will boost the immune system and keep stomach disorders at bay.

Everyone on "the plan" is advised to make sure that their protein intake is up to a level which supports their training load. That means including protein foods in every meal. Many muscular injuries can be avoided by having adequate protein to aid muscular recovery. Following every workout which takes longer than two hours with a serve of Endura Opti is one of the reasons which has kept you improving at the rate you have. The combination of easily digested protein and carbs at the right proportions, delivered at the right time, helps the body to bounce back to be ready for the next training session.

You can not get an unhealthy body fit. Good health is not just the absence of disease. As athletes we should be aiming at thriving good health, not surviving health.

You can't get an unhealthy body as fit as a healthy one

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:11:00 GMT

Alan Pittman

Triathlon & Ironman Coaching Services

Good health starts with good digestion, a healthy immune system starts with good digestion. Keeping your digestive system in great shape is the secret to longevity and optiminal performances. When I get a new enquiry from an athlete, one of the first things I ask for is "What goals give you goosbumps when you think about achieving them"? Without strong goals the athlete is not going to be able to train through the tough conditions that we all have to face at some time.

The next most important piece of information I'm looking for from my new athlete is "The three day food diary". I find athletes, future Ironman athletes are not eating like athletes. I coached one girl eventually to three Hawaii Ironman races. When she first contacted me I was surprised to see what she survived on. She was virtually living on muffins and coffee. Sometimes she'd have a respectable evening meal, but often she'd have a sandwich because she'd run out of day. Her eating habits have changed dramatically and so has her performance.

This doesn't have to be too analytical, if a food causes bloating avoid it. If a food causes loose bowel movements avoid it. If a food causes lots of gas, avoid it. A lot of members of the public are sensitive to either dairy foods, wheat products and/or sugar. If the stomach is sensitive to these products, it interferes with the absorbtion of other nutrients. Simpls stuff, just look after the system where all your energy and immunity is generated.

Avoid drinking coffee with meals. Avoid eating too close to bed time, a light evening meal is best if there's no chance of an hour after dinner before you have to go to bed. Increase the vegetable content of your diet, it's very rare for an athlete to have trouble digesting vegetables, and vegetables are a great scource of carbs. Rice is a more easily digested carb scource than wheat.

Most new athletes whose diets I have looked over are not consuming enough protein to support the recovery necessary to improve from their training. A shortage of protein in the diet of an athlete can lead to injury and in some cases a compromised immune system. We should include protein in every meal.

Now triathletes are famous for their, "More is better" outlook. You only need enough protein, it is possible to overload your self with protein, be careful. I am the "Keep it simple Coach". Triathletes can be too analytical. A simple rule is on a plate, the amount of protein (meat, fish, eggs, tofu etc) should be roughly one third of the area of the plate, the other two thirds should be rice and veges for instance. If it's breakfast, adding a handful of raw almonds or a scoop of whey protein isolate to the cereal will increase the size of the protein dose up to a respectable level. You probably won't be craving sweets mid morning.