Nothing New on Race Day! 

August 16, 2021

So now that you have done your Big Brick weekend in Madison - - or have done your big long training weekends on your own, how are you feeling? Do you know the pattern of what you need for each of the long rides and long runs? Do you know what seems to work well for you to wear, to eat, how fast is a good pace for you, etc? If so, that’s good! That’s what training is all about. Now don’t change it for race day!

Let me tell you a story… I did a half ironman one year and it happened to be a really rainy day. Water was spraying all around as I biked, and my socks were getting soaked. I think my feet were getting pruny and I HATE that feeling. In my mind all I wanted was a dry pair of socks to put on before the run. Unfortunately, I knew I didn’t have an extra pair. Well, as I finished the last few miles of the bike, I thought about the different pro triathletes and people that don’t wear socks. In my mind, I thought maybe it would be better to go without socks on the half marathon rather than run in soggy gross socks. Why not? Others do it…..

See the picture above? It was a very BAD idea. I had never trained without socks before and my feet were not ready for this at all. I think I made it one mile before I realized this was not going to work. I asked a spectator if I could use their phone. I called my daughter and said, “someone in that van you are spectating in has a pair of socks they will loan me.” They did have a pair and were able to navigate around to find me just after I turned down a street that did not allow cars. They had to hand off the socks to a volunteer with a bike who found me about a mile down the road. I ran only about 3 miles without socks and my feet had such raw spots on the top of my feet that I had scars on them for about a year later. Never do something new on race day!

Let me tell you another story…. (and I have permission to tell you this one)… It was race week before Age Group Nationals 2021. John decided he was going to “service” his race wheel by taking it off and taking it all apart and cleaning it. This is normally a good thing to do, but NOT race week! Unfortunately, he misplaced one little tiny piece and was not able to put his wheel back together. He called every bike store in Madison and Milwaukee and could not find the part to arrive in time. Luckily, we know someone that loaned John a race wheel that worked so he could race, but the stress and worry takes a toll. Never do something new on race week!

As you go through these last few training weeks, please keep this in mind. Each day you are rehearsing what you will do for your race. What will you have for breakfast, what will you eat for nutrition, what will you wear that will not rub you in wrong places, heck, how do you like to braid your hair? All of that is important. Never do something new on race day.

Break it up

April 2, 2021

• How many disciplines are in a triathlon?  3
• How many loops are on the WI bike course? 2
• How many aid stations are in the Ironman marathon?  About 14
• How many weeks of training are there?  26
• How many training phases are there? 4

Why do I ask these questions?  As you start out your Ironman training journey, it can feel overwhelming.  When you look at your training plan and see the list of workouts you need to accomplish or when you see that on race day you will be going 140.6 miles, that can sound scary.  What if you look just at what you need to do today and just focus on that?  What if you just look at the one mile you are running right now?  Does it feel more manageable?

I segment my training ALL THE TIME.

• I look at what training phase I am in (base training, distance training, endurance training or taper).  I know that built into the plan are recovery weeks so if I can just get through this section, I can make it to a recovery week where I can pull back a tad on my training.
• I look my training week by week.  What does my training plan say I need to do this week?  I don’t worry about the 85-mile bike ride I have to do in a few months.  I just look at what I am scheduled to do this week.  I am trained for this week so that’s the focus.
• Sometimes I just look at what I need to do today.  When I am planning my training around my kid’s schedules and life and I know I need to get in 1-2 workouts in the day, I look to see what the most efficient way may be to get it all done.  For example, tonight I need to take my daughter to cross country practice.  Rather than driving her there and driving back to get her, I am bringing my running shoes along and will get my run in there while I am waiting for her.

On race day, I also break up the day into segments. 

• I focus on each event one at a time.  When I swim, I am just thinking about that.  When I bike, that’s my focus and when I run, I don’t have to worry about the other two.
• Within each event, I also break those up.
  • Swim – We swim in a rectangle.  Each turn buoy is a segment in my mind.  The colors of the buoys also change half-way so I can look forward to that as well.
  • Bike – I break the bike up into four segments (the stick, the first loop, the second loop, and the stick back).  Within the loop, I mentally break that up into Verona to Mt Horeb, Mt Horeb to my house, my house back to Verona.  It’s helpful to just know I need to get to that next section. 
  • Run – When I get to the run, I generally focus on aid station to aid station.  I know there is usually delicious chicken broth at one particular aid station so that’s always a focus as well.

As you walk through your Ironman training journey, you can see what will work for you.  Does breaking things up help you to focus what you need to do now and slowly build up the endurance the plan is meant to do for you?  Does this allow you to focus in the moment rather than be overwhelmed by the big picture?  Training and racing is like putting a big puzzle together and sometimes you need to look closely at the pieces before you step back and see the big picture of what you have done.

It is ok to be out for a run and think, “I have to run 26.2 miles…”  Let that thought come and then realize that by following your plan piece by piece, that yes, you will run 26.2 miles – and finish an Ironman.  Getting there is broken into tiny training pieces.  The finish line is ultimately the finished product.

Coach Tracy

Consistency is Key

March 26, 2021

What’s the definition of Consistent?  It’s “acting in the same way over time.”  Synonyms of this word are steady, persistent, unchanging, undeviating, uniform.  What does this have to do with triathlon???  In our team call on Monday, we talked about how consistency in our training is key to Ironman training. 

Triathlete.com explains consistency in training as “doing something over and over again while adding intensity and/or volume over time… it has been backed by science as the leading way to make gains in any discipline.” (see article here).

As you start out following the Ironman training schedule that Coach Brad has put together for you, you will be starting with Base Training.  Soon you will move to Distance Training, then Endurance Training.  Each week is built on the previous week.  There is a rhyme and a reason the plan is set up in this way.

Have you ever looked at a set of stairs?  Taking one step at a time to get up to the second floor isn’t so bad right?  You really don’t have to think about it.  What if there was a step missing?  That step is just a bit harder.  What if two steps were missing.  Harder yet?  (Go ahead and try it…  lol).  Can anyone try getting to the next step missing three steps?  (Ok, I don’t want anyone to get hurt!)  Training is like this.  Building on just a bit at a time is not that big of a deal and there is less room for injury.

Being consistent in training can also help you mentally.  When you start out training, maybe you can swim 500 yards.  The next time you can swim 700.  The next time 1000.  You have that confidence that you knew last time you made it a certain distance so you know you can do that again but now you just try for that little bit more.  It much less overwhelming than getting in the water and swimming a mile without the build-up.

Being consistent doesn’t mean having the highest Strava score or pushing the highest wattage on Zwift meetups.  It’s about doing the work that gets you up one stair at a time.  Sometimes that work can seem boring but when you look back as you step across the finish line it will all make sense.

Set a goal for yourself today.  See how many days you can be consistent and follow the Ironman training plan.  Yes, life happens, and we will talk about that in another article but if you want to see improvements in your fitness and in what you can do in triathlon, the first step is to be consistent this season.  Good luck!  I know you can do it!

Coach Tracy