By the power meter - When a triathlete should invest

Photo by Jeff Sparling

Hunter Allen

The mark of a really serious triathlete or cyclist is the usage of a power meter.  When the products first hit the market, only athletes with a sponsor could afford the price tag.  Gear prices have dropped, but purchase and installation can still easily run close to $2,000.  So when should would your training benefit from a power meter and is it worth waiting for prices of equipment to to drop?  We decided to ask Hunter Allen,  author of Training and Racing with a Power Meter those questions.

Paul Tyler:  “At what point in a typical age-grouper’s triathlon training history would you recommend investing in a power meter?   Hours on the bike each week?  Personal training objectives?”

Hunter:  “Personal objectives are a more important reason to start with a power meter.  Anyone who is serious about improving is ready for a power meter.  If your goals are more casual then it probably isn’t for you, unless of course you just love gadgets and numbers!”

Paul Tyler:  “Prices on these devices have dropped significantly, but still remain out of reach for a number of triathletes.  Do you expect any of the new technology like power meters embedded in pedals to dramatically drop entry price points in the near future?”

Hunter Allen:  “I would love to say that yes, we will begin to see some price drops, but we haven’t seen that happen very much in nearly 10 years of power meter sales.  The new Garmin/Metrigear pedals have the potential to be ‘disruptive’ to the market place, but I am not sure if they will take that risk on a niche market.”

For more information about Hunter’s book, go to:  http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/5-Sports-Books-for-Endurance-Athletes.htm

How to Stick to the Training Plan – Advice from Joe Friel

Photo by Jeff Sparling

Joe FrielI fall into the category of the triathlete who trains year round.  I typically follow a plan for a marathon.  However, I can’t say I have been able to stay diligently on a structured plan for many of my triathlons.  Looking at research the USAT recently released, I see I’m not alone. 

I really enjoyed Joe Friel’s second approach in explaining his classic training methodology, Your Best Triathlon, Advanced Training for Serious Athletes. I wondered what additional tips Joe could offer people like me to help us stick to well thought-out plans.

Paul Tyler:  “What are three top reasons for drifting off a well-thought out plan during the year and what are the best ways to avoid them?”

Joe Friel:   “1. Low motivation. This is the greatest challenge for the majority. It's easy at the start of the season to set high goals. Reality begins to set in sometime in February when the athlete realizes workouts are being missed. The overriding sure thing is to be realistic when setting goals at the start of the season.  Setting very high goals seems like the right thing to do. It isn't. Down deep the athlete knows such goals are pipe dreams and he/she can't possibly achieve them. Goals should be just barely out of reach to be motivating.

"2. Overzealous planning. Even though the plan may be well-designed, a common fault is not taking into account one's lifestyle...or perhaps not considering all of the commitments in one's life.  In designing the plan, the athlete is best advised to assess all of the commitments in his/her life and then add 10% more.

"3. Overzealous training.  For the highly motivated athlete, the greatest challenge is holding back. Going beyond the plan, usually by doing too much volume, can result in injury, illness, burnout and overtraining.  This is when a coach or wise training partner can be of great help."

For more about his book, go to:  http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/5-Sports-Books-for-Endurance-Athletes.htm

 

Training to be a competitive age-grouper – Part 1

Photo by Jeff Sparling

In The Time-Crunched Triathlete: Race-Winning Fitness in 8 Hours a Week, Chris Carmichael and Jim Rutberg advance some familiar, but radical training ideas for non-elite athletes...specifically age-groupers like me who have a full-time job, a family and a life.

Rather than pursue the traditional base, build, peak and race phases, they advocate more concentrated, high-effort training sessions than long, low-intensity endurance workouts.   Age-groupers can do more short, intense workouts because they will effectively use the time at work as longer recovery periods, they assert. 

We recently asked Jim Rutberg a few questions to learn more about the approach:

Paul Tyler:  “Is the classic periodization model dead for age-groupers who would like to be competitive, but who really want to stay in shape and control their weight?"

Jim Rutberg:  "'Dead' is probably too strong a word, but the classic periodization model is certainly flawed when it comes to time-crunched athletes. The classic periodization model works best when you can devote consistent and large amounts of time to training over a long period of several months.

"Athletes leading busy lives can’t do that, and for them the classic model takes too long to develop competitive fitness. Somewhere during that long span, something happens (illnesses at home, a big project at work, a string of family obligations or holidays, etc.) that derails their progress.

"The Time-Crunched Triathlete Program leverages the ability for time-crunched athletes to ramp up more quickly in preparation for a relatively short series of regional races, take a break, and then prepare for another series of events.

"This is how races are frequently scheduled, based on weather conditions, and it also matches the manner in which busy athletes are able to prepare for competition.  This program integrates into a busy working parent’s schedule more easily and more effectively than the classic periodization model."

For a review of the book, go to:  http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/5-Sports-Books-for-Endurance-Athletes.htm

By the power meter - How to pace IMLP other hilly bike courses

Hunter Allen

Photo by Jeff SparlingI recently recommended five books for winter reading by endurance athletes.  One was Training and Racing with a Power Meter, by Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan PhD.  For those of you who have questions about power meters and how to get the most out the devices, this book is a must read. 

In one of the sections, Hunter discusses how to train for the hills of the Lake Placid Ironman.  When I completed the race in 2009, pacing myself properly on the bike proved the biggest challenge.

I vividly remember hitting a wall on the second loop at mile 90 near Wilmington.  Suddenly all those people I had passed on the first loop seemed incredibly fast as they passed me coming back into Lake Placid.

I asked Hunter how to use a power meter to perform better on this type of course.

Paul Tyler:  “On a hilly route like this, should the rider focus on maintaining normalized power only for longer segments and just ignore the extreme ups and downs?”

Hunter Allen:  “For a hilly triathlon, normalized power is definitely the best way to pace oneself, as it is a more accurate measurement of the true metabolic costs (what the body feels) from the effort.   It’s also important to have a clear understanding of what you can maintain for shorter hills and create a pacing guideline for them. 

"For example, if you have a FTP of 200 watts and using the Coggan power levels, this will give you a VO2 Max range from 212 watts to 240 watts(106% to 120%).  So on a hill that is longer than 3 minutes, but shorter than 5 minutes, you can use that as a range to maintain and possibly a ‘governor’ at 225 watts in order to prevent yourself from pushing too hard.  

"Setting pacing guidelines for different hill lengths is definitely important to preserve energy for the run.”

 

For the full article go to:  http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/5-Sports-Books-for-Endurance-Athletes.htm

Chris Lieto's favorite uses for his Trigger Point tools

When I compiled our holiday gift list, Trigger Point therapy emerged as a contender almost on a "viral" basis. One of my well-connected friends told me this had to be on the list. He said everyone was using these.  "Viral" turned out to be a good adjective...I think their tool set will win the most-mentioned category if we had holiday gift list Oscars. The attention is well deserved. A number of top athletes rely heavily on the products to relieve aches and remain uninjured during the season. Chris Lieto is one of those. What are the three top muscle groups he targets when he uses the products?  He told us they were the:

• Soleus
• Psoas
• Chest

It's not too late to add one to your shopping cart today!  See the full story at:

http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/12-Holiday-Gift-Ideas-for-Triathletes.htm