Making the most of winter training for triathlon

MAKING THE MOST OF WINTER

With winter just around the corner and the race season winding down, many triathletes will be looking forward to their post season training break. Aside from the obvious benefits of letting your body have some much needed quality rest it is a good time to be with your family, friends and eat cake.

Once you have enjoyed the extra cake and sleep ins it's time to start thinking about your winter training. With races months away now and a long cold winter ahead it is all too easy to fall into a familiar routine of easy jogs, slow swims and boring turbo rides....
While this may be good for the first 1-2 weeks back into training after that you're just wasting your precious time and energy! Avoid that plateau by moving out of your comfort zone!
Winter, especially early on, is the perfect time to improve your weaknesses, try new things or work with a coach! Check out my thoughts on these below.

Improve your weaknesses - with three sports to train for, triathlon can be a time consuming sport. As most of us do not have the luxury of being a pro athlete we need to make the most of the time we have to dedicate to training. I suggest sitting down and having an honest conversation with yourself about where your time will be best spent.
For example, if you swim 5 times a week, ride 2 times a week and run 3 days a week but in races you get out of the water at the front but find yourself at the back of the race after the bike then you are burning too many matches in the pool and not enough on the bike.
We only have a certain amount of matches to burn, so don't waste your matches for minimal return on race day.
At the end of the day the athlete with the fastest overall time wins the race. Even if you lead the swim out by 2mins, get off the bike 10mins in front of your nearest rival you will lose the race if you proceed to run 15mins slower than the guy (or gal) chasing you.
It may be nice to claim the 'fastest' bike split but at the end of the day you didn't win the race.
If you are worried about losing some of your advantage on the strengths, there is always time to bring these back up once you have made improvements in your weaknesses - think of it as a short term sacrifice.

Try new things - we all know that saying "don't try anything new on race day". Well since you will not be racing for a while winter is the perfect time to try out new things. Educating yourself and reading up on ways to improve your swim technique or cycling threshold power is time well spent especially if your transfer your findings into your training schedule! But beware to avoid short term fads and trends. Hiring a coach or talking to an experienced athlete can help you avoid wasted time doing one legged cycling drills.
Always remember primary school - K.I.S.S ?? Keep It Simple Stupid.

Hire a coach - the off season is the best time to work with a coach as this is the time when the most changes and improvements can be made to your fitness and skills!
A good coach can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses. They can then put together a progressive programme to help you make the most of your training time and improve over winter.
Do not expect miracles to happen if you approach a coach just a few weeks out from your goal race. There is not much they can do except help you avoid overtraining before the race.

Hydration; the why's and how's for triathlon training

With the weather heating up it is more important than ever to keep on top of your hydration.

Here are some things to think about when planning your training this summer;

* Drinking fluids is essential to staying alive - duh. The human body is compromised mostly of water. 

* Hydration starts well before you train or compete in an event. Drink as soon as you wake in the morning. Continue to sip during your training or event. Remember to hydrate after to replenish body fluids and flush out metabolic waste.

* Sweat keeps you from overheating during exercise and in hot environments.

* Measure your water losses - weight yourself (naked) before exercise, perform a 1 hour intense workout with no fluid intake, the change in body weight reflects fluid loss. 500grams = 2 cups of fluid lost.

* Aim for your pee to be light yellow. Clear pee is showing you are diluting your body's sodium levels with too much water. Dark yellow you are not hydrated enough. 

* Dehydration can hinder athletic performance. 

* Headaches and cramping a common signs of severe dehydration. 

* Add a Nuun tablet or sports drink to your water to add electrolytes and salts to help avoid depleting your sodium levels during prolonged exercise. Electrolytes help regulate nerve and muscle functions. 

* Sodium containing liquids help retain the fluids consumed. When electrolytes and water are consumed together they stay together causing the body to retain the fluids you have just consumed.

Keep safe and stay hydrated!

Strength and conditioning for Triathlon.

Incorporate single leg work into your strength routine to improve your muscle balance (left vs right), reduce your chance of injury and increase your triathlon performance.

Try these no equipment needed exercises:

- single leg glute bridge (pictured)
- single leg squats
- single leg step ups
- one legged bend and reach (bend from the hip, reach down to the floor)
- balancing on one leg with your eyes closed

Start off with 2-3 sets of 10 reps on each side and slowly build up to 20 reps over the space of a few weeks. With the balancing start with 30sec on each leg and increase the time as you improve.

You will notice the difference in all three Triathlon disciplines as you get stronger, more efficient and more balanced!

Ocean Swimming Skills for triathletes

Sighting - Pick a higher point directly above the buoy/person in the water to sight to. Look up regularly to make sure you are staying on course. Kick harder when sighting to stop your feet from sinking. Only lift your head as high as necessary while still being able to spot your destination. Triangulate by looking for two aligned, easily visible objects on land.

Breathing - It is a good idea to practice turning your head to either side to breathe after you have looked up to sight. Make sure you are breathing into the shore when there is a large chop or waves to avoid getting a mouthful of water. 

Drafting and close swimming - practice the high five drill for gaining confidence in touching other swimmers around you and to practice lifting you head and breathing to either side. Keep close but do not disrupt the persons stroke who you are drafting off. Feet are better to draft off than hip as the leading swimmer will be able to go faster - meaning the drafting person will also go faster. Drafting off someones hip makes it harder for them to swim.

Stroke rate - The ocean is different to swimming in the pool as the water is constantly moving with surface chop and currents so a higher arm rate works better than trying to glide like you would in a pool. A higher arm turn over will also keep you warmer in cold water. Make sure you find a rate you are comfortable with and practice.

Happy swimming everyone!