Triathlon Seminar – Periodization

Went on Saturday to the second of three monthly Tri-seminars at the Geneva Outfitters running gear store in Geneva, IL. Scott Iott from TrainingBible Coaching was there giving the presentation. Another great seminar where I learned some new stuff. I also got some clarity on some of the concepts I had been struggling with in the Triathlete’s Training Bible by Joe Friel. It would be impossible for me to put into words the exact terminology that I was struggling with but it did have to do with the exercise intensity vs. volume matrix. I can’t believe how much I have learned over the last eight months in regards to fitness and training. It is so much fun that I am very addicted to the pursuit of more knowledge now.

I also have decided that I am going to use Scott as my coach for advancing my triathlon training. I need to get my Annual Training Plan revised and tweaked by him and also need to get a more solid baseline measurement done on my skills. This is where the Tri-Fitness Workshop next month comes in. TrainingBible is running a workshop at the Centegra Health Bridge Fitness Center in Huntley, IL on Jan. 20, 2011. They are going to be giving personal evaluations at this workshop and showing you how to start training the way you should for your current race season. Learn everything you need to evaluate your training/race readiness. Then make adjustments and get training right! No wasted time or waisted workouts. This Workshop offers Triathletes a one stop shopping opportunity to be evaluated in several physical aspects of the sport of triathlon. Attendees will be divided into small groups and rotate through stations to receive individual evaluation on Swim Stroke and underwater video analysis, Bike Fit, Run Gait, Triathlon Specific Functional Strength, Bio Mechanical Muscular Balance Evaluation, and Adam Zucco (Scott’s training partner) shares his Triathlon Secrets to Success.

So over the next few months I should be getting even more serious about my training and running/riding/swimming in much better form and with greater endurance. I already noticed a difference today during my swim in regards to my endurance and ability to maintain my proper stroke for a longer period of time without bonking. Good things to see.

Written on December 14th, 2010 , Coaching, Seminars, Testing
Swim Stroke Evaluation

I went to Delnor Health and Wellness Center in Geneva yesterday and had my swim stroke evaluated by TrainingBible Coach Carla Hastert. She is also one of the Masters Swim instructors there at Delnor.  I have been having trouble gaining any endurance and being able to keep from being exhausted after 75+ yds. This summer is really when I first learned how to swim laps. I have known how to “swim” since I was four or five but I have never done any laps for training or any other purpose for that matter. My learning this summer consisted of watching DVDs and reading the book on Total Immersion swimming by Terry Laughlin. I did the drills in the pool and they definitely helped get my stroke refined enough to get across the pool fast enough with the proper amount of strokes but I just don’t have any endurance yet. Once we met by the pool Carla had me do a few laps to gauge my level of weekness and check to see how bad I really was. Luckily my stroke isn’t too bad with the exception of my kicking. I need to get some fins to practice a few hundred yards of kicks. Hopefully that can help out my endurance a tad. I know my legs won’t drag as much as they are now and hopefully that will strengthen them up to give me a little more speed or endurance. Either one would be fine with me. I also need to do some zipper drills to keep my arm tighter to my body while I am bringing it forward. That should help to give my shoulder a little less work to do. Afterwards we spent quite a bit of time talking about my plans and goals for the coming year and how I was planning my year. She helped me out so much with clearing up the confusion in my head not just with swimming but also with the vast amount of knowledge and experience that she is willing to share. I think that all of TrainingBible coaches I have met are extremely qualified and the best part is that they are all local to the Chicago area and suburbs. They have all been very open with their experiences and more than willing to share their knowledge and I couldn’t have asked for nicer people to learn from. While we were there her coach, Adam Zucco, happened to show up to do some laps. Only a few thousand yards/meters. Yikes. But I can’t wait to be able to do that. I know some day I will be sick of doing them but right now I crave it. So I am off to the gym to get back to work.

You can read my previous post here regarding the seminar that I met Carla at where she spoke about the fundamentals of swimming and actually made me the offer coming down for the evaluation.

Written on December 3rd, 2010 , Coaching, Swimming, Testing
Yet another great seminar and Lactate Threshold Test

So I had a pretty exhaustive day today. I was talking to a Tri friend(Kurt) at our health club(Centegra Health Bridge in Crystal Lake, IL) the other day and he clued me in on a Lactate Threshold Bicycle Test going on this morning at our “sister club” Centegra Health Bridge in Huntley, IL.

The test started at 5:30am this morning. Ouch. It was being run by TrainingBible Coach Jim Dicker and a six time Ironman named Andy was there also. Didn’t catch his last name but I am guessing he is a member of Midwest Madness Tri Club that put on the event. Kurt is a member of this club and that is how he knew about it.

Anyway, here is a synopsis of the criteria that we followed in doing the test:

  • 10 min spin at very easy pace to warmup
  • 5 min spin intensity that you can endure for the entire time ( you use this to dial in your gear, speed/cadence for the 20 min. test)
  • 5 min easy spin at very easy pace
  • 20 min spin intensity at the highest speed and gear you can use at a constant and steady pace while keeping your cadence in a 5 revolution range at the pace you fell most comfortable
  • 15 min cool-down

The cadence range that you target can be anywhere between 70 rpm -110 rpm. Don’t let your cadence fluctuate more than 5 rpm once you feel you have your intensity dialed in. You track your heart rate with a monitor and use your average hr for the ride as your Lactate Threshold Heart Rate(LTHR). Here is the link for the graph for the ride. In the end after all was said and done I ended up doing over 40 miles and spending an hour and a half on the bike. Farthest I’ve ever ridden nonstop. The legs were definitely feeling it afterwards but they weren’t too bad. My butt on the other hand was sore because I didn’t set up the bike correctly at the beginning of the test so I was too far forward.

All in all it was an interesting session during which that I learned a ton. I don’t know if I want to pony up the dough for a membership to Midwest Madness yet because I still don’t know enough about them and they really seem over the top intense for my liking. It could be just a select few that steered my perception that way but I think I would like to get our club growing in membership instead at this point.

Training Bible Coaching

Later in the morning I stopped by The Geneva Running Outfitters store for another seminar on starting your training plan for next year. It was being presented by yet another TrainingBible Coach Scott Iott. Another great seminar and I think Scott is great guy. He is a middle school teacher in my old neighborhood during the day and an excellent Triathlete in his off time. He just qualified for his second trip to Kona two weeks ago in Clearwater, FL. He went over a brief summary of setting up a plan and the things to focus on in doing it. He was nice enough to even go over a few questions that I had afterwards. I think I even geeked out for a few minutes just getting so excited about finding such a good source of knowledge so close to home. I have been tossing around the idea of getting a coach and now I have met three Training Bible coaches in as many days and I have been impressed with each and every one of them. Scott will be doing two more seminars there over the next two months so I would HIGHLY recommend checking them out. Here is the info for this one and the others to come.

Written on November 21st, 2010 , Bicycling, Exercises, Testing, Training

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