The road to recovery. Well, it had been one week since my accident on my bike. The good news is that nothing was broken, but I did loose about a week in training. I wish I could say that I was able to complete my workouts despite the pain, but I decided that it was better to heal properly so I could resume training with the proper intensity.
Of course, it is now one week closer to Kona and I feel this little setback came at a particularly bad time. Leading up to last week, I was working out some pacing goals for Kona so that I could finish in a 'respectable' time - meaning that I would not be in the bottom 10% of finishers. Now, I have some new goals of just making the cutoff times in each event and seeing how the day goes. I have read that it is better to enter the race a little under-trained than over-trained, and that will certainly be the case.
The next 10 days or so my training will move to the island of Lanai, Hawaii. Jennifer and I are getting married on Saturday and we cannot wait. Of course, from a training point of view it means another weekend not grinding out miles in my saddle, but we plan to get some great swims, bikes and runs in addition to relaxing on the beach
Monday, August 24, 2009
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Triathlon Checklist
By Ryan Riell
OK, so for many of you, the Chicago Triathlon will be your first triathlon, which is usually accompanied by anxiety and nervousness. That being said, we have created a pre-race checklist that covers just about everything that you will need for your first triathlon in addition to some tricks of the trade.
Pre-Race:
Pre-race preparation should start the day before your race. Using the checklist below, it is highly recommended that you layout all of the equipment, clothing, nutrition and anything else that you will need for the day. Once it’s all laid out, then you can check it off your list and start packing it up for the next morning. Ideally, you will have all of your bags packed and ready to go by the middle of the day so all you have to do is relax and eat dinner before going to sleep.
o Sweat Pants
o Warm up Top
o Beanie
o iPod
o Water Bottle (sports drink)
o Snack (granola bar, Powerbar, etc…)
o Comfortable shoes/sandals
o Socks (throw away)
o Heart Rate monitor wrist watch
o Heart Rate Monitor Chest Strap
o Transition bag
o Dry Clothing bag
o Time Chip with ankle strap
The key with the pre-race clothing is to be as comfortable and warm as possible. Sweat pants and a warm up top should be comfortable and will keep you warm. Some people prefer the beanie to keep their heads warm and the iPod should be loaded up with a mixture of calming musing and then a playlist with some motivational music for the last 10-15 minute before you start. You should have a water bottle that is filled with either a sports drink like Infinit Nutrition or water. Make sure you bring a snack, there is usually a lot of hurry up and wait in the morning. The dry clothing bag is something like a trash bag- you will put your pre-race sweats, iPod and all that other stuff in there before you race. When you get dressed in the morning, don’t forget to put your HR chest strap on, you can swim with it on. Last, but not least, put your timing chip and ankle strap on before you leave your hotel room or house- that way, it’s there and done.
Swim:
For the swim, make sure you know where you are going to (start line) and what time you are supposed to be there. Make sure you are lubed up with either Body Glide and/or Suit Juice. Don’t forget to apply sunscreen.
o Swim suit/ race suit
o Wet suit/ swim skin
o Towel(s)
o 2 goggles (1 clear/ 1 tinted)
o Goggle defogger
o Sunscreen
o Body Glide/Suit Juice
o Race Swim Cap
Bike:
When you get to the transition area, make sure you setup your area immediately. Once that’s done, you will have plenty of time to relax and listen to the iPod. Make sure you lay out your area in an organized and systematic way so everything is where you need it. A good piece of advice is, put your helmet, upside down, on your aerobars or next to your bike if you don’t have aerobars. Then, put your sunglasses inside your helmet and then your race belt on top of that. If you are going to carry the spare tire kit(s) in the back pocket of your jersey, put that in the helmet too, along with whatever gels or bars you are going to carry.
When you get into the transition area from the swim, SIT DOWN to take off your wetsuit, it’s easier. Dry off your feel, put your cycling shoes on and then stand up. From that point, you taking stuff out of your helmet and putting it where it needs to go. The gels, bars and spare tire kit goes into your back pocket. The race belt around our waits with the number on your back side, sun glasses on your head. The last thing to grab is the helmet, which you NEED TO BUCKLE immediately. From there, grab your bike and head out of transition.
o Bike
o Bike Shoes
o Sunglasses (clear or tinted)
o Helmet
o Race Belt
o Race Number
o Spare Tubes
o CO2 cartridge(s) w/ adapter
o Tire Lever(s)
o Bike Pump
o Water Bottles (filled)
o Nutrition (Gels, bars, etc…)
o Socks
o Baby Powder
o Sunscreen
Run:
Once you get back into transition, rack your bike and sit down. Take off your helmet and immediately replace it with your hat or visor. Then take off your cycling shoes and wipe off your feet, put your socks on then your running shoes. Remove and/or add what you need from your back pocket. From there, stand up, turn your race belt so the number is in the front and off you go.
o Running Shoes
o Socks
o Hat or Visor
o Run Nutrition (Fuel Belt, gels, water bottle, etc…)
Post Race:
When you’re done, it’s time to get comfortable and relax! Make sure you change back into your comfortable sandals and put on a dry top (if possible) and whatever else you find comfortable. Pack up your gear and enjoy the post-event party!
o T-shirt
o Shorts
o Money
o Recovery Drink
o Pre-Race sweat pants, warm up top and sandals
OK, so for many of you, the Chicago Triathlon will be your first triathlon, which is usually accompanied by anxiety and nervousness. That being said, we have created a pre-race checklist that covers just about everything that you will need for your first triathlon in addition to some tricks of the trade.
Pre-Race:
Pre-race preparation should start the day before your race. Using the checklist below, it is highly recommended that you layout all of the equipment, clothing, nutrition and anything else that you will need for the day. Once it’s all laid out, then you can check it off your list and start packing it up for the next morning. Ideally, you will have all of your bags packed and ready to go by the middle of the day so all you have to do is relax and eat dinner before going to sleep.
o Sweat Pants
o Warm up Top
o Beanie
o iPod
o Water Bottle (sports drink)
o Snack (granola bar, Powerbar, etc…)
o Comfortable shoes/sandals
o Socks (throw away)
o Heart Rate monitor wrist watch
o Heart Rate Monitor Chest Strap
o Transition bag
o Dry Clothing bag
o Time Chip with ankle strap
The key with the pre-race clothing is to be as comfortable and warm as possible. Sweat pants and a warm up top should be comfortable and will keep you warm. Some people prefer the beanie to keep their heads warm and the iPod should be loaded up with a mixture of calming musing and then a playlist with some motivational music for the last 10-15 minute before you start. You should have a water bottle that is filled with either a sports drink like Infinit Nutrition or water. Make sure you bring a snack, there is usually a lot of hurry up and wait in the morning. The dry clothing bag is something like a trash bag- you will put your pre-race sweats, iPod and all that other stuff in there before you race. When you get dressed in the morning, don’t forget to put your HR chest strap on, you can swim with it on. Last, but not least, put your timing chip and ankle strap on before you leave your hotel room or house- that way, it’s there and done.
Swim:
For the swim, make sure you know where you are going to (start line) and what time you are supposed to be there. Make sure you are lubed up with either Body Glide and/or Suit Juice. Don’t forget to apply sunscreen.
o Swim suit/ race suit
o Wet suit/ swim skin
o Towel(s)
o 2 goggles (1 clear/ 1 tinted)
o Goggle defogger
o Sunscreen
o Body Glide/Suit Juice
o Race Swim Cap
Bike:
When you get to the transition area, make sure you setup your area immediately. Once that’s done, you will have plenty of time to relax and listen to the iPod. Make sure you lay out your area in an organized and systematic way so everything is where you need it. A good piece of advice is, put your helmet, upside down, on your aerobars or next to your bike if you don’t have aerobars. Then, put your sunglasses inside your helmet and then your race belt on top of that. If you are going to carry the spare tire kit(s) in the back pocket of your jersey, put that in the helmet too, along with whatever gels or bars you are going to carry.
When you get into the transition area from the swim, SIT DOWN to take off your wetsuit, it’s easier. Dry off your feel, put your cycling shoes on and then stand up. From that point, you taking stuff out of your helmet and putting it where it needs to go. The gels, bars and spare tire kit goes into your back pocket. The race belt around our waits with the number on your back side, sun glasses on your head. The last thing to grab is the helmet, which you NEED TO BUCKLE immediately. From there, grab your bike and head out of transition.
o Bike
o Bike Shoes
o Sunglasses (clear or tinted)
o Helmet
o Race Belt
o Race Number
o Spare Tubes
o CO2 cartridge(s) w/ adapter
o Tire Lever(s)
o Bike Pump
o Water Bottles (filled)
o Nutrition (Gels, bars, etc…)
o Socks
o Baby Powder
o Sunscreen
Run:
Once you get back into transition, rack your bike and sit down. Take off your helmet and immediately replace it with your hat or visor. Then take off your cycling shoes and wipe off your feet, put your socks on then your running shoes. Remove and/or add what you need from your back pocket. From there, stand up, turn your race belt so the number is in the front and off you go.
o Running Shoes
o Socks
o Hat or Visor
o Run Nutrition (Fuel Belt, gels, water bottle, etc…)
Post Race:
When you’re done, it’s time to get comfortable and relax! Make sure you change back into your comfortable sandals and put on a dry top (if possible) and whatever else you find comfortable. Pack up your gear and enjoy the post-event party!
o T-shirt
o Shorts
o Money
o Recovery Drink
o Pre-Race sweat pants, warm up top and sandals
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The Road to Kona; Chicago Edition #8
Leading up to this weekend, I was having some of the best training of the year. On Thursday I did a 2 hour run and felt great - maintaining 8:30 miles the whole time and well in my aerobic heart rate zone. Jennifer and I decided to meet up with Coach Ryan and some of the other Break Through Multisport athletes for a ride in Madison on Saturday. We got up early and drove up in the morning. We started out from Fireman's Park to do two 40 miles loops around the Ironman Wisconsin course. The first loop was great - I averaged 220 watts and really had a good time going up and down the rollers. Of course, the most interesting part was watching Jennifer accelerate up the hills as I struggled.. We met a rider along the course who also marveled at Jenifer's climbing ability and remarked that we need to get her a coach next year and follow her career...
We then stopped back at the park for a quick re-fill of water and set out on loop two.
We were about 4 miles into the loop, going down a moderate hill when I heard the pop. My back tire blew and I needed to act quick. My brain was saying not to hit the back brake too hard and feather the front. Physics said otherwise. Best I can tell, right after my tire blew I hit a pothole that knocked the tire off the rim. Next thing I knew, I was headed right over the handlebars flying to the brush on the side. I ended up in a small ravine with my feet in the air. I started to wiggle all my extremities and checked for any major injuries. No searing pain, so I was pretty lucky. Of course, I was still stuck in the ravine and needed help getting up. The road rash on my arm, hip and leg were pretty dirty so we decided to head to the emergency room to get me cleaned up.
We were again pretty lucky to get in and out of the emergency room in about two hours and the nice doctors in Madison gave me plenty of pain medicine as they scrubbed my wounds.
As Jennifer can tell you, we were especially lucky that my face came out with no bruises since we are getting married in 13 days - the wedding pictures should turn out great.
Well, 9 weeks till Kona and this little setback came at a bad time. My body feels like I was beat up with lots of deep bruises on my forearm, right hip and lower right leg. I am able to get around ok and nothing was broken. So I'll take this week a little slow and try the elliptical trainer on Monday. The doctor told me to avoid swimming until the wounds heal to prevent infection, but I'll need to get back on my bike soon...
We then stopped back at the park for a quick re-fill of water and set out on loop two.
We were about 4 miles into the loop, going down a moderate hill when I heard the pop. My back tire blew and I needed to act quick. My brain was saying not to hit the back brake too hard and feather the front. Physics said otherwise. Best I can tell, right after my tire blew I hit a pothole that knocked the tire off the rim. Next thing I knew, I was headed right over the handlebars flying to the brush on the side. I ended up in a small ravine with my feet in the air. I started to wiggle all my extremities and checked for any major injuries. No searing pain, so I was pretty lucky. Of course, I was still stuck in the ravine and needed help getting up. The road rash on my arm, hip and leg were pretty dirty so we decided to head to the emergency room to get me cleaned up.
We were again pretty lucky to get in and out of the emergency room in about two hours and the nice doctors in Madison gave me plenty of pain medicine as they scrubbed my wounds.
As Jennifer can tell you, we were especially lucky that my face came out with no bruises since we are getting married in 13 days - the wedding pictures should turn out great.
Well, 9 weeks till Kona and this little setback came at a bad time. My body feels like I was beat up with lots of deep bruises on my forearm, right hip and lower right leg. I am able to get around ok and nothing was broken. So I'll take this week a little slow and try the elliptical trainer on Monday. The doctor told me to avoid swimming until the wounds heal to prevent infection, but I'll need to get back on my bike soon...
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
What is a "Healthy" Carb?
As endurance sports athletes, we hear a lot about good and bad carbohydrates (CHO). So what the heck does that mean and what exactly does CHO do for us?
Carbohydrates are the foundation of any diet for an endurance sports athlete- they provide a rapid source of energy to support your daily activity and training, in addition to replenishing your muscle and liver glycogen stores. Failure to replenish your CHO stores WILL compromise your training, making it harder and harder to recover until you reach a state of burnout. 60% of your daily diet should be carbohydrates.
There are two main types of CHO: simple CHO or sugars (one or two molecules) or complex CHO or starches which can contain thousands of molecules. The old rule of thumb was: simple carbs are bad, complex carbs are good is an outdated concept. The current scientific data suggests we should be far more concerned with the quality of the CHO we ingest, placing an emphasis on wholesome CHO instead of refined CHO.
Wholesome CHO contains vitamins, minerals and fiber where refined CHO in processed food have a much poorer nutrient content, leading to empty carbs. The main thing that we want to be concerned with how the CHO affect our blood sugar and blood glucose levels. Current research indicates that each carb has it own blood glucose profile, based off a ranking system that describes the blood glucose profile- the Glycemic Index (scale is 0-100).
In general, CHO that his high on the glycemic index is >70, medium glycemic index CHO between 50-70 and low glycemic index CHO being <50. style="font-style: italic;">High Glycemic Index:
Instant rice, baked potato, wheat bread, waffle, watermelon, white bagel, pinto beans and black beans
Medium Glycemic Index:
Pineapple, couscous, raisins, brown rice, sweet potato
Low Glycemic Index:
Grapefruit, peaches, apple, whole wheat spaghetti, kidney beans, yogurt, skim milk,
To check the glycemic index of a food that you like, please go to:
http://www.glycemicindex.com/
And click on the “GI Database” tab on the left.
If you can slowly switch the majority of your carbohydrates to low and medium glycemic index CHO, you will see your energy levels increase dramatically during the day and the quality of your training sessions increase dramatically.
Carbohydrates are the foundation of any diet for an endurance sports athlete- they provide a rapid source of energy to support your daily activity and training, in addition to replenishing your muscle and liver glycogen stores. Failure to replenish your CHO stores WILL compromise your training, making it harder and harder to recover until you reach a state of burnout. 60% of your daily diet should be carbohydrates.
There are two main types of CHO: simple CHO or sugars (one or two molecules) or complex CHO or starches which can contain thousands of molecules. The old rule of thumb was: simple carbs are bad, complex carbs are good is an outdated concept. The current scientific data suggests we should be far more concerned with the quality of the CHO we ingest, placing an emphasis on wholesome CHO instead of refined CHO.
Wholesome CHO contains vitamins, minerals and fiber where refined CHO in processed food have a much poorer nutrient content, leading to empty carbs. The main thing that we want to be concerned with how the CHO affect our blood sugar and blood glucose levels. Current research indicates that each carb has it own blood glucose profile, based off a ranking system that describes the blood glucose profile- the Glycemic Index (scale is 0-100).
In general, CHO that his high on the glycemic index is >70, medium glycemic index CHO between 50-70 and low glycemic index CHO being <50. style="font-style: italic;">High Glycemic Index:
Instant rice, baked potato, wheat bread, waffle, watermelon, white bagel, pinto beans and black beans
Medium Glycemic Index:
Pineapple, couscous, raisins, brown rice, sweet potato
Low Glycemic Index:
Grapefruit, peaches, apple, whole wheat spaghetti, kidney beans, yogurt, skim milk,
To check the glycemic index of a food that you like, please go to:
http://www.glycemicindex.com/
And click on the “GI Database” tab on the left.
If you can slowly switch the majority of your carbohydrates to low and medium glycemic index CHO, you will see your energy levels increase dramatically during the day and the quality of your training sessions increase dramatically.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Nuun Discount Code- 40% OFF
For everyone who is not a Break Through athlete- Nuun has put out a new discount code on their website that gets you 40% OFF. Go to the Nuun website, place your order and enter the discount code: "elitetriathlete" and get 40% OFF your order!
Break Through athletes- check your sponsorship packet, your discount is better than 40%.
Break Through athletes- check your sponsorship packet, your discount is better than 40%.
Friday, August 7, 2009
High-Intensity Interval Training
The physiological adaptations that generally account for improved performance in sedentary or recreationally trained individuals may not necessarily apply to the highly trained athlete.
With highly trained athletes, an increase in sub-maximal training (volume) does not appear to further enhance either endurance performance or associated variables such as maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), anaerobic threshold, economy of motion and oxidative muscle enzymes. Indeed, for highly trained athletes, it appears that further improvements in performance can only be achieved through high-intensity interval training (HIT). While research indicates there is no up-regulation of oxidative or glycolytic enzyme activity, there is an increase in performance in a 40 km time trial and peak power output (PPO) obtained during a progressive cycling test.
It appears that once an individual has reached a VO2max of > 60ml/kg/min, endurance performance is not improved by a further increase in sub-maximal training volume. Generally, training plans that are executed by trained athletes do have an aerobic base period that is complimented by HIT sessions that model the demands of the athletes event as he/she approaches the event. HIT sessions have been shown to improve running performances in addition to 40 km time trial performances in trained cyclists who saw an increase in their PPO in a post-HIT progressive exercise test.
With the HIT intervention, we would expect to see physiological adaptations such as an improved ability of working muscles to produce and utilize ATP and the subsequent integration of metabolic pathways that serve to resynthesize ATP which determines efficiency (Green, 2000) in addition to an increase in fatty acid utilization leading to a lower respiratory exchange ratio at submaximal workloads. We also expect to see an increase in performance in the 20 km time trial performance and an increase in peak power output
With highly trained athletes, an increase in sub-maximal training (volume) does not appear to further enhance either endurance performance or associated variables such as maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), anaerobic threshold, economy of motion and oxidative muscle enzymes. Indeed, for highly trained athletes, it appears that further improvements in performance can only be achieved through high-intensity interval training (HIT). While research indicates there is no up-regulation of oxidative or glycolytic enzyme activity, there is an increase in performance in a 40 km time trial and peak power output (PPO) obtained during a progressive cycling test.
It appears that once an individual has reached a VO2max of > 60ml/kg/min, endurance performance is not improved by a further increase in sub-maximal training volume. Generally, training plans that are executed by trained athletes do have an aerobic base period that is complimented by HIT sessions that model the demands of the athletes event as he/she approaches the event. HIT sessions have been shown to improve running performances in addition to 40 km time trial performances in trained cyclists who saw an increase in their PPO in a post-HIT progressive exercise test.
With the HIT intervention, we would expect to see physiological adaptations such as an improved ability of working muscles to produce and utilize ATP and the subsequent integration of metabolic pathways that serve to resynthesize ATP which determines efficiency (Green, 2000) in addition to an increase in fatty acid utilization leading to a lower respiratory exchange ratio at submaximal workloads. We also expect to see an increase in performance in the 20 km time trial performance and an increase in peak power output
Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Road to Kona; Chicago Edition #7
This past weekend I completed my first 'B' race of the season. I originally entered the Whirlpool Steelhead 70.3 as my 'A' race, but then came the lottery and my entry to Kona. So my goals for the race where to not get injured and practice some key elements like pacing and nutrition. Of course, I wanted to do my best, but that day will come on October 10th. So overall, I feel like I accomplished my goals, but I have to say that I am a little disappointed with my times. So let's break down my race...
All last week (and this week!) I have been pretty busy at work, so going into the race my energy levels were a bit low, but overall I showed up at the swim start feeling good. The morning was nearly perfect. My perspective on swimming is to focus on long, even strokes. I exited the water in 41 minutes, 31 seconds. As I pulled out of transition, I was looking forward to an enjoyable ride, until the wind started to pick up. At first, a few gusts here and there, then a steady breeze right into my face. At this point, I started to monitor my power output and noticed that I was averaging 215 watts and going about 14 miles / hour. Not exactly a world record pace.. So I tried to minimize my drag and just kept on pedaling. I finished the bike at 3 hours, 1 minute, 28 seconds. After a not so short 5 minutes in T-2, I started my run feeling a little worn out from the bike, so I decided not to push too hard so I could pick up my training on Monday. Overall, the run was more challenging than I expected with a couple of challenging hills. In the end, I finished in 6 hours, 13 minutes.
So with 10 weeks to go until Kona, what have I learned?
Swim: While my swimming is still slow relative to my age group, I feel confident that I will have an enjoyable swim in Kona. To build some more open water experience, I signed up for Big Shoulders on September 12th.
Bike: Given the weather conditions I was pretty happy with my bike time. I now need to focus on 'going long' and building the Ironman specific skills.
Run: My biggest disappointment was my run time. My run time for a 1/2 IM time is around 1 hour, 50 minutes and I was hoping to get in under 2 hours. I think the hills on the course and cold rain had a bit to do with my slow time, but overall I need to focus on my transition runs start to add some long runs in as well.
All last week (and this week!) I have been pretty busy at work, so going into the race my energy levels were a bit low, but overall I showed up at the swim start feeling good. The morning was nearly perfect. My perspective on swimming is to focus on long, even strokes. I exited the water in 41 minutes, 31 seconds. As I pulled out of transition, I was looking forward to an enjoyable ride, until the wind started to pick up. At first, a few gusts here and there, then a steady breeze right into my face. At this point, I started to monitor my power output and noticed that I was averaging 215 watts and going about 14 miles / hour. Not exactly a world record pace.. So I tried to minimize my drag and just kept on pedaling. I finished the bike at 3 hours, 1 minute, 28 seconds. After a not so short 5 minutes in T-2, I started my run feeling a little worn out from the bike, so I decided not to push too hard so I could pick up my training on Monday. Overall, the run was more challenging than I expected with a couple of challenging hills. In the end, I finished in 6 hours, 13 minutes.
So with 10 weeks to go until Kona, what have I learned?
Swim: While my swimming is still slow relative to my age group, I feel confident that I will have an enjoyable swim in Kona. To build some more open water experience, I signed up for Big Shoulders on September 12th.
Bike: Given the weather conditions I was pretty happy with my bike time. I now need to focus on 'going long' and building the Ironman specific skills.
Run: My biggest disappointment was my run time. My run time for a 1/2 IM time is around 1 hour, 50 minutes and I was hoping to get in under 2 hours. I think the hills on the course and cold rain had a bit to do with my slow time, but overall I need to focus on my transition runs start to add some long runs in as well.
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