Category — Running

With summer fast approaching (today will be the first day of the year over 90-degrees in Phoenix!) triathlon season is upon us.

In preparation for the season, I decided to speak with two great Strength Coaches – Justin Levine and Gary Ditsch – who work with triathletes, to give us some basic information that you should know in order to make this season not only successful but injury free.

Enjoy,

Patrick
patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

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Question #1: Aside from being well-accomplished strength coaches, you guys have both done several triathlons.  What is the one thing that the recreational triathlete should know about preparing for a triathlon, and what is the one thing that you each feel they need to add to their training program?

Gary: The biggest lesson I end up teaching recreational triathletes is that recovery is also part of a successful training program.  The type of individual that seeks coaching for triathlon is often motivated, successful outside of sport and very determined.  They want to take the same work ethic and determination they have in their job and apply it to their triathlon training.  This is great in terms of not having to be a constant cheerleader to get them out the door, quite the opposite, I often have to teach these triathletes that it is acceptable to back off on the total training load if their body is not capable of absorbing all the work they are trying to put in.

In relation to the lesson I just mentioned about recovery being a part of training, I would love to see more of the triathletes I coach use regular soft tissue recovery techniques.  As a strength coach, if my athletes are local I try and get them using self massage and foam rollers to assist in their recovery, but I know that in my own training for Ironman and half Ironman races, I respond well to a professional massage when used as a preventive and recovery method.  My wife Nikki, who is also an exercise physiologist and Ironman athlete has used ART and massage successfully.  The hard part is convincing athletes to use these services prior to getting injured.  Often they see it as a waste of time and/or money, until they have an overuse injury – then they will do anything and everything to get out on the road to bike or run.

Justin: Triathlon or any endurance sport for that matter takes time.  I do not like to see people that commit to a long event (1/2 marathon or ½ Ironman or higher) with only 10 weeks or less to train.  This is a recipe for failure and injury.  Endurance takes years to improve.  I usually recommend at least a 24-week training program for the above-mentioned races but that is the minimum.  This is the minimum training time to just go out and finish the event and feel good.  But if you rush through training and expect great results after just 10 weeks of training you could be in for a hurt body.  Learn to be realistic with your goal setting.  Start out by completing a few shorter distance races to help you progress through the sport.  You need to have great time management and organizational skills in order to have this busy lifestyle.  Schedule your workouts just like you would schedule a work meeting. 

A training program needs balance.  I like to coach my athletes on looking at their program as a pie graph.  You need to balance the pie graph out.  You have training, nutrition, rest/recovery, racing, personal/family and social time.  If you are completely disregarding one of these aspects something or someone will suffer.  You can train till you are blue in the face but if you are not recovering properly then this will eventually lead to injury or even worse burnout and quitting of the sport.  Most people do not understand the implementation of rest days and rest weeks into their training program.  This is a fundamental ingredient of a properly designed training program. 

Question #2: I know you guys are big on strength training for endurance athletes.  Can you please summarize why you feel this is important and how you implement it into a comprehensive training program for an endurance athlete preparing for a race?

Justin: A properly designed strength program for endurance athletes can be a huge assistance to the reduction of injury, increased performance, increased strength and power and overall functional movement.  Running and biking are not “enough leg work”.  You need to be in the gym to assist in balancing the body out to maximize performance.  Swimming, biking and running are repetitive movements done over and over.  We need to create symmetry throughout the body to enhance your athleticism in the sport and reduce overuse injury.  This can be done with the correct movements in the gym.

To be honest I am not much of a fan of an exact periodized strength-training program for triathletes.  There are too many factors that can alter with the “perfectly designed program”.  I feel endurance athletes need to be in the gym all year round.  Whether it is for a strength day or an active recovery day it needs to be implemented into the weekly schedule.  When you are in your “off-season” this is the time to build strength and power and focus on a good lifting program.  Implement basic strength movements: pulling, pressing, squatting variations, lunging variations, dead lifting patterns and core stability work.  I use an undulating periodization for endurance athletes.  During the week I plan a high rep, medium rep and low repetition lifting days.  However, when I know they have a big workout planned for the weekend I will modify the routine in the gym.  As the race season approaches the focus needs to be on soft tissue enhancement, flexibility/mobility, good movement, increased stability and active recovery.  I also use metabolic circuits to tax the anaerobic system for triathletes.  Endurance athletes spend the majority of their time in the aerobic zone so I will use these circuits to challenge the system in a different way.  This will aide in enhancing VO2 max.  I implement these routines 6-10 weeks leading up to the race season.

Gary: The biggest reason I try and get my athletes to include strength training is to prevent injury.  As I mentioned, overuse injuries are a major issue with runners and triathletes.  The interesting part about being a coach and trainer that works with endurance athletes is the demographic of our population.  Unlike someone working with football, baseball, basketball, swimming or the more traditional sports, our athletes are much older.  When training someone for football, the athlete may be 14 to 24 years old.  As an endurance coach it’s more likely that I will be working with someone that is 54 than I am to work with someone that is 14.  Therefore, in addition to preventing injuries, the right kind of program will allow us to help maintain that athlete’s general athletic ability and function. 

I like to implement the strength programs based upon the athletes preferred racing schedule and the time of year.  Right now we are blessed in Kentucky with the beginning of a beautiful spring season.  This generally means that our triathletes are going to be cycling a lot and possibly running a bit more too.  It also means that racing season starts soon (actually next weekend).  This is the time of year that I start to pull back on the strength programs and allow the work we did in the gym during the winter start to transition into specific strength and power on the bike or run.  Using the winter months to work on power or strength limitations often works well.  The exception to this type of seasonal pullback is with athletes that are severely strength limited, consistently face overuse injuries or are competing masters athletes.  Those athletes benefit from having a maintenance program even during the racing season.  There was a strength coach podcast awhile back with Darcy Norman.  I remember listening to the podcast and thinking that the way he implemented gym work into a cyclist’s program is similar to how I try to implement our programs with triathletes, at least from a in-season and out-of-season perspective.

Question #3: Triathlon training can be extremely time consuming, as athletes need to prepare for three different events (swim, bike, run) simultaneously.  Is there a way that athletes can make their training more streamlined and focused, in order to save time?  Obviously having a busy life doesn’t easily lend itself to training for an event like this.  What advice can you give those who want to do triathlons, in terms of time conservation strategies?

Gary: That is a pretty tough question!  The best advice that I have for all my athletes is that they need to simplify.  They also need to make sure they get all of their family’s support on board with their goals and ambitions.  I actually sat down and wrote a blog post earlier this year about this idea of having a balanced life and being successful at everything we do.  It often doesn’t work that way.  I say this because when I sit down and talk to an athlete that wants to do their first triathlon or train for an Ironman, sometimes it becomes clear that they haven’t thought through the impact it will have on their life.  I really don’t try and sell people the equivalent of triathlon’s 6-minute abs.  It doesn’t work.

That being said, I do think that some triathletes get consumed by filling up their training logs full of mega rides, long runs and huge weekly totals.  They often sacrifice the benefit of training at proper intensities for their event in order to have a training log they can brag about.  Many triathletes I see would be better off if they cut some of their training out, make the hours they had left count for something other than a check mark in their training log and spent that extra time with family or recovering.

Justin: Training is time consuming.  And that is why I mentioned above that you have to have good time management in order to balance your life priorities.  But too many endurance athletes focus on outrageous amounts of volume.  They think this is the recipe for success in their sport.  This is not the case.  In all actuality high amounts of volume can lead to overuse and ultimately injury.  You can fully prepare for long events (1/2 Ironman – Full Ironman) with less than 12 hours a week of training.  The question is what will those hours consist of?  If you have focused training you will make your training time more efficient.  Intervals and efficient training must be implemented into the schedule.  There needs to be a base of fitness, yes, but that doesn’t mean hours and hours of “junk mileage”. 

Also, one of the best things a triathlete could do is hire a coach.  A coach can assist in this time management and design of the program.  This can take the brainwork out of creating your own training regimen.  Having a coach can tremendously improve performance.

Question #4: Race day nutrition is very important for endurance athletes.  Do you have any basic guidelines that you give your clients?

Justin: Do not ever try anything new on race day.  You must practice your nutrition during training because there is a strategy you will need to execute on race day to maximize your performance.  You can have the best training program and be in fantastic shape come race day but if you do not carry out your nutrition plan you could have a bad experience.  Here are a few important basic guidelines I advise my athletes with:

• Eat between 200-400 calories 2-4 hours before your event.  This depends on the length of the event and what individual needs you may have.  Eat a 4 to 1 ratio of carbohydrates to protein.  Limit foods high in fiber the morning before a race.
• Sip on an electrolyte/water mix leading up to the race.  And nibble on a cliff bar or powerbar. 
• During your race, sip on your water/electrolyte drink every 5-8 minutes.  Consume a gel or other product of choice every 45 minutes.  If you are competing in a short race do not overeat and drink.  During longer races (over 2 hours) focus on getting in 200-300 calories per hour.  These calories can come from the form of liquid or solid food. 

Gary: You are right about this.  It amazes me how many athletes will train so hard only to completely miss the mark with their nutrition on race day.  The nutrition guidelines really depend upon the distance of the event.  The past four years I have personally focused on Ironman so the needs for an event like that are very different for someone doing a sprint or olympic distance race. 

Looking at the shorter distance events that can last anywhere from 1 hour (fast sprint) to 4 hours (slower olympic) the biggest mistake that I see is people under consuming the calories and electrolytes they need to stay properly fueled.  This often is the result of not practicing their nutrition plans at intensities that match the race effort.  Once an athlete gets into a situation where they are not absorbing any nutrition because of their intensity level, the race is becomes survival on what they have already absorbed.  I think many athletes assume that what they are able to consume on their average brick (bike-to-run) workout is what they’ll do in a race, which is a big mistake. 

As the race duration and distance gets longer, it becomes more of an issue of just being able to continually consume calories and electrolytes.  I have had success the past couple years using Infinit Nutrition which is a product that let’s you customize your sports drink and then supplement that with other products like eGel, honey bun and Ale8, then once on the run I go strictly to Coke, water and salt tablets.  It’s a highly individual mixture at the ultra endurance distance because I’ve had athletes go with more solid foods like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and bananas on the bike and gatorade on the run to those that use mostly Hammer Nutrition products the whole race.

The best guideline I have is for athletes to match their anticipated intensity and duration of the event to their ability to absorb nutrition.  The only way to learn this is testing it through race simulation workouts.  I have reports from all of my race simulation workouts over the years on my website if folks are interested.

The other key is for people to have a solid understanding of their personal sweat rate and electrolyte needs, not just their caloric needs.  You had a great post on dehydration last month, endurance athletes really need to understand this information.

Question #5: Guys, thanks a lot for your time.  It was a pleasure to pick your brains.  Can you please tell my readers where they can find out more about you and your services?

Gary: The best place to find me is on our website, www.endurancebasecamp.com. We have a facebook fan page and a podcast on itunes also, they can find those by searching for Endurance Base Camp.  If they would like to follow me personally on twitter, my twitter name is @ditschfitness.

Justin: Thank you Patrick for all you do.  It was an honor answering these questions for you and your readers.  You can check out my websites at www.livecfalife.com and www.justintrain.com.

With the Boston Marathon only about a month away, the number of clients coming into my training/massage facility has doubled. 

Why?

Because these happen to be runners who are preparing for the Boston Marathon and are looking for quick solutions to the annoying aches and pains in their hips and knees.

This always happens without fail!  I always know when the next big marathon is coming up by the number of runners coming into the facility with complaints.  The crazy thing is that when asking them about what they feel, they almost always comment, “It has been feeling this way for the past 5-months”. 

While I certainly appreciate the OCD that comes with being an endurance athlete, this can be an incredibly frustrating bunch to work with, as they typically don’t do a good job of regulating both training volume and intensity.  This ends up getting them in trouble as they reach what I call, “The Fork In The Road”.

Which Path Will You Choose?

Endurance athletes reach this fork when their aerobic capacity exceeds their bodies ability to tolerate the volume of training they are putting it through.   The common trend amongst these runners is how incredibly weak they are, and not just in their legs – I mean all over!  From head to toe, they have very little strength.  I am amazed that they can handle any running at all sometimes!

Realistically, these runners should have been in the facility training 7 or 8-months before the marathon, to ensure that their body is strong enough to tolerate the high training mileage needed to prepare for a marathon.

Avoiding The Fork

The best way to avoid the fork is to have a training program which addresses your needs and weaknesses.  The program should be comprehensive and not just consist of running.  Rather, some resistance training should be used to help develop a fundamental level of strength.  In fact, research supports the fact that REPLACING  some of your endurance work with resistance training can prove to be beneficial.  The word “replacing” is emphasized because this does not mean adding more training on top of your running schedule, but rather, taking some of the running out of the weekly training program and replacing it with some low-volume strength work.

My good friend and colleague Carson Boddicker has written some excellent pieces on the importance of strength training for runners over the past week in his blog at BoddickerPerformance.com.  If you are a runner or endurance athlete, I highly suggest checking it out.

Patrick
patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

Endurance based athletes (marathon runners, distance bikers, ultra-distance runners, Ironman athletes, etc.) are notorious for avoiding resistance training as part of their training program.  The common excuse is that “their legs get enough training during their running/cycling”.  In reality, these athletes may be holding themselves back from hitting their full potential in their desired sport because they are avoiding resistance training!

Endurance athletes that perform strength training as part of their exercise program can have the potential to increase their endurance capabilities due to increases in anaerobic power, increases lactate threshold as well as enhanced exercise economy.  Hoff, et al., concluded that even maximal strength training increased work economy in the control group of a study focused on work capacity of female cross-country skiers, as well as increasing endurance through greater work economy and rate of force development in male skiers.  Marcinik, et. al., found that while there was no changes in VO2max, endurance performance was improved through increases in lactate threshold and leg strength in 18 untrained males, during a cycling test. 

Another type of training that appears to show some benefit to the endurance athlete is explosive training.  The improvement in endurance from explosive training appears to be due to increased exercise economy, increased motor unit recruitment, and an increase in lactate threshold.  Paavolainen L, et. al, concluded that training consisting of both endurance and explosive exercise, enhanced running performance through improvements in neuromuscular characteristics, leading to greater maximal velocity.  Stone, et al, discovered that olympic style weightlifting alone can produces changes in some cardiovascular parameters; such as, increased VO2 max and decreased resting heart rate. 

In order to take advantage of the potential benefits that strength training has to offer, athletes that compete in endurance based sports need to divide their training up to include a variety of energy systems and have a more well rounded approach.  This type of training has been referred to as concurrent training or “simultaneous training”.  Concurrent training has been shown to be effective for increasing maximal strength, endurance and exercise economy.  As the competition nears, it might be advised that endurance athletes focus more of their attention on the actual event, while backing off of the strength training, but still maintaining strength levels by training one to two times a week.

Train smart!

Patrick

For information on how Optimum Sports Performance can help you with your training program call 602-377-3362 or email patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

References

1) Bulbulian R, Wilcox AR, Darabos BL., Anaerobic contribution to distance running performance of trained cross-country athletes., Medicine and science in sports and exercise., vol. 18, no. 1, pg. 107-13, 1986.

2) Tabata I, Nishimura K, Kouzaki M, Hirai Y, Ogita F, Miyachi M, Yamamoto K., Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training on anaerobic capacity and VO2max., Medicine and science in sports and exercise., vol. 28, no. 10, pg 1327-30, 1996.

3) Hickson RC, Dvorak BA, Gorostiaga EM, Kurowski TT, Foster C., Potential for strength and endurance training to amplify endurance performance., Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 65, no. 5, pg. 2285-90, 1988.

4) Paavolainen L, Hakkinen K, Hamalainen I, Nummela A, Rusko H., Explosive-strength training improves 5-km running time by improving running economy and muscle power., Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 85, no. 5, pg. 1527-33, 1999.

5) Marcinik EJ, Potts J, Schlabach G, Will S, Dawson P, Hurley BF., Effects of strength training on lactate threshold and endurance performance., Medicine and science in sports and exercise., vol. 23, no. 6, pg. 739-43, 1991.

6) Bastiaans JJ, van Diemen AB, Veneberg T, Jeukendrup AE., The effects of replacing a portion of endurance training by explosive strength training on performance in trained cyclists., European Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 86, no. 1, pg 79-84, 2001.

7) Stone MH, Wilson GD, Blessing D, Rozenek R., Cardiovascular responses to short-term olympic style weight-training in young men., Canadian Journal of Applied Sports Sciences, vol. 8, no. 3, pg. 134-9, 1983.

8 ) Hoff J, Helgerud J, Wisloff U., Maximal strength training improves work economy in trained female cross-country skiers., Medicine and science in sports and exercise., vol. 31, no. 6, pg. 870-7, 1999.

9) Millet GP, Jaouen B, Borrani F, Candau R., Effects of concurrent endurance and strength training on running economy and .VO(2) kinetics., Medicine and science in sports and exercise., vol. 34, no. 8, pg 1351-9, 2002.

10) Bell GJ, Syrotuik DG, Attwood K, Quinney HA., Maintenance of strength gains while performing endurance training in oarswomen., Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 18, no. 1, pg. 104-15, 1993.

11) Zatsiorsky PhD, Vladimir M., Science and Practice of Strength Training, Human Kinetics, pg. 126-127, 1995.

12) Siff PhD, Mel C., Supertraining, 6th editition, Supertraining Institute, pg. 290, 2003.

13) Paton CD, Hopkins WG., Combining explosive and high-resistance training improves performance in competitive cyclists., Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, vol. 19, no. 4, pg. 826-30, 2005.

14) Creer AR, Ricard MD, Conlee RK, Hoyt GL, Parcell AC., Neural, metabolic, and performance adaptations to four weeks of high intensity sprint-interval training in trained cyclists., International Journal of Sports Medicine, vol. 25, no. 2, pg. 92-8, 2004.

15) Hoff J, Gran A, Helgerud J., Maximal strength training improves aerobic endurance performance., Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports, vol. 12, no. 5, pg. 288-295, 2002.

16) McCarthy JP, Pozniak MA, Agre JC., Neuromuscular adaptations to concurrent strength and endurance training., Medicine and science in sports and exercise., vol. 34, no. 3, pg. 511-9, 2002.

17) McCarthy JP, Agre JC, Graf BK, Pozniak MA, Vailas AC., Compatibility of adaptive responses with combining strength and endurance training., Medicine and science in sports and exercise., vol. 27, no. 3, pg. 429-36, 1995.

Training for the Phoenix PF Chang Marathon is now in full swing.  This is obvious by the number of runners logging their miles on the canals every Saturday morning.

But, that is not how I know it is marathon season.  I know it is marathon season by the number of emails I get every day around this time of year.  They go something like this:

“I read your blog and appreciate the information.  My knee has been bothering me for the past few weeks and I have “x” number of weeks until my marathon.  What can I do to get back to training?”

A big hit this year (so far) has been people emailing me regarding my “Ouch! My Knee Hurts!” article which I published back in March, asking if this would help them with their “IT-band issue” so that they can do their marathon pain free.

In reality, it should never get to this point!  While the article was written to offer some ideas for those coming back from this type injury so that they could appropriately transition into training, it was not written as a form of damage control to be used as a quick fix.

Marathon runners (and most endurance athletes really) seem to think that if they aren’t out running (or swimming or biking) that there is no way they can possibly be improving.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  Obviously I am not going to down play the importance of logging time in these events, as there is training specificity that needs to be observed; however, most of these individuals have biomechanical issues and strength issues that don’t get better with all that endurance work – THEY GET WORSE!  Very few of them take care of their soft tissue problems or have any interest in developing strength, which aside from helping to improve performance, can also help to prevent injury.

Some of the benefits strength training has shown to have for endurance athletes’ are:

• Increases in Vo2max
• Enhanced exercise economy
• Maintain higher power outputs
• Enhancement in Anaerobic capacity and lactate threshold

This past Saturday was the first training run from our facility for those preparing for the PF Chang Marathon.  I gave a short lecture on some nutrition basics prior to the run:

The group leaves at 5:30am and there are individuals of all leves (walkers as well).  If you would like to come and run with the group, please email me – patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

Additionally, aside from our one-on-one training and soft tissue therapy, we are offering our small group strength and conditioning classes (3-5 per group) for $15-20/session depending on the number of times per week you are looking to train.  Please email me for availability – patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

As always, we offer a free 20min. movement screen where you can get a snap shot of how you move (or don’t move).

Patrick
patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com

As I talked about earlier in the week, we will be hosting the AZTECH Training Group on Saturday 9/19/09 at 5:30 as they lead a PF Chang Marathon training run out of the Optimum Sports Performance facility:

2009 E. 5th St., #12
Tempe, AZ 85281

If you would like to join them and run with the group, please let me know – patrick@optimumsportsperformance.  All levels are welcome and they have everything from elite marathoners, to total beginners to race walkers to first time walkers! 

I will also be giving a free 15min lecture on basic nutrition strategies for runners just prior to the start of the run.

Patrick

patrick@optimumsportsperformance.com