Video of Swim Clinic from Tri Expo 2010

If you've been wondering what some of my swim clinics are like, and what people have to say about them, check out this video, (swim portion starts at the 3:20 point of video).

Click on this link if you can't see the video.

So next time there's a chance to register, be sure to sign up! If you can't make it, or don't live in the Southern California area, contact me about coming out to your area, or check out my webinars. I actually have a swimming technique webinar on Monday which still has some registration spots available.

Best of luck!

Coach Vance

Competitors Radio Interview with Matt Hoover

As many of you know, I am coaching Matt Hoover, who won Season 2 of The Biggest Loser, the NBC hit reality weight-loss show. Here is a great interview of him when he was here in San Diego, with the Competitors Radio Show...

http://www.competitorradio.com/details.php?show=332

It was Cam Brown, superstar of Ironman, and myself with Matt in studio. Bob Babbitt and Paul Huddle are the famous hosts of the show, and we had a great time with them. You can't hear me, because they only had 4 microphones, but you can hear me in the background say that Matt will finish a few minutes behind Cam! :-)

Matt is competing at his first half-ironman in a few weeks, at Lake Stevens 70.3, so we're looking forward to his first big "hit-out".

Kona is coming, and it's been great to see his progression so far. Looking forward to see him run down Alii Drive!

Coach Vance

The Envelope Run

This is an article from Competitor Magazine, which I wrote on a training run I created, called "The Envelope Run". This is a training run I use with a lot of my athletes, and have seen great results with it. Give it a try in your training, and let me know how it goes for you.

The Envelope Run
By Jim Vance

As physical as running is, running fast also requires a mental focus that must be honed and refined like athletes do for physical fitness. But how do we focus and learn about the mental side of running hard? How do we handle pushing the pace and maintaining the intensity? Many times we hear about an athlete’s ability to be mentally tough and tolerate pain, but how does he do it? The answer is simple: he trains for it!

Mental toughness is not really an ability to tolerate pain, but rather an ability to focus on the things that will keep you going fast when you, inevitably, fatigue.

You can train to be mentally tough by including what I call envelope runs in your regular training regimen. An envelope run starts off easy, then works to a quick pace right on the edge of comfort/discomfort. It is at this point when athletes try to push the envelope of comfort and speed - hence the name. Now instead of focusing on the pain and discomfort of the run, the athlete focuses on economy and speed, trying to maximize speed and pace for the energy he is using.

To be clear, this is not a tempo run. Tempo runs are hard efforts at or above lactate threshold, intending to raise an athlete's lactate threshold pace. An envelope run is a sub-threshold, moderate effort designed to let athletes experiment with technique for economy - specifically the mental focus needed to go faster with ease. If a runner can learn to go faster while maintaining the same intensity, those same skills and actions can be applied at faster, harder intensities like races and tempo runs. In a race, it is very difficult to just go harder, since you're already running near your max. This is the point in the race when you need to be able to gain speed with ease, because you can't work any harder.

What types of technique and form items should athletes experiment with when trying to go faster without going harder? This is an important question, because it is here where athletes will learn the key things to focus on when they reach those difficult points of a race. The main technical aspects athletes need to experiment with are:

* Forward lean – What happens to the pace when you lean forward? How does it compare to when you lean back, or stand up tall as you run?

* Cadence – What happens to the pace when you increase the cadence of your footsteps, taking shorter and quicker steps? How does it compare to when you slow down the cadence and take longer strides?

* Head position – How do small adjustments in your head position affect your pace?

* Eye position – Where do your eyes focus? What happens when you focus closer in front of you, or further away?

* Relaxation – How does releasing the tension in your shoulders, neck, and arms affect your pace?

* Foot-strike – How does the position of your foot when it lands on the ground affect your pace? Change to a different foot-strike to compare with other positions. Can you hear your feet? What happens if you land them softly?

Once a runner has begun to experiment with the different technical aspects of their run form, they can begin to see what their tendencies are, and how to improve on them to be faster come the tough parts of the race. This run will force runners to take inventory of their body, and take an active role in the pace, rather than passive. Now they are focusing on how fast they can go for how they feel.

For example, most runners are too upright when they run. As they get tired, they stand even more upright, slowing down. For this run, focusing on leaning forward when an athlete tires will make them faster for the same energy output, and they will clearly see it!

Envelope runs are completed on the edge of comfort/discomfort, because it forces athletes to balance the economy of the movement, and see how small changes in technique affect their speed for a given effort. It also teaches them to focus while under a bit of discomfort, since they are pushing the envelope of comfort, much as will happen in a race, but without the physical stress on the body afterwards. Most runners will find these runs are on the mid to high end of their endurance pace, approximately Zones 2-3 heartrate.

Because this run is sub-threshold, it can be performed a few times per week in your regular training routine. It fits especially well between hard workouts, when another day of rest is too much, but athletes don’t want to kill themselves before their next key workout. It offers a great balance of endurance, speed skill, and mental-focus work.

Because this run is also completed on the edge of comfort/discomfort, it prevents athletes from going too hard, inadvertently turning easier days into race efforts. Though athletes may feel this run after the first couple times, the body should adapt appropriately within a few attempts.

The envelope runs are best done for a minimum of 40 minutes, because it takes awhile for the body to warm-up, and athletes should be starting these runs off easy, working into the pace. These runs can last up to 2-3 hours, but are not recommended beyond that.

If you use a speed-distance device and heartrate monitor, such as a GPS watch, you should record the data of the run, but not pay attention to it during the run. Focus on the feel and taking inventory of your body, and the changes in pace. You can briefly check the watch to see pace changes for feedback on technique variances, but don’t let the watch control you. Remember, this is a run for experimentation and mental focus. If you are holding yourself back with the watch, then you are not experimenting and focusing.

If you use these envelope runs once or twice per week in your regular training, you should notice a big difference in your ability to focus and handle harder, more intense runs, as well as the pace you can maintain for those efforts. Maybe even those who you thought were mentally tough won’t seem as tough anymore. Best of luck!

Coach Vance

The Insanity of Your Training

This is a recent article I wrote for Competitor Magazine, which is published on their website. Check it out, and feel free to send me your thoughts and responses. Be sure to check out the February issue for my new 9-week training plan for a 5k.

The Insanity of Your Training

Written by Jim Vance

Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results. If this were a legal definition, many athletes might end up spending time in a padded room.

How many of you reading this have been doing the same training, over and over again, year after year, expecting to get better results? Have the results really gotten any better?

For many self-coached athletes, the term periodization carries no meaning. Periodization is the process of varying your training based upon specific time intervals, to maximize gains in physical performance. In layman's terms, it means to start with general race preparation and move to specific race preparation, as you approach your A-priority event. But despite the success which can be seen from a well-periodized training plan, many self-coached athletes do not change their training in any real capacity during the year.

The new season is here, and this is the perfect time to sit down and figure out a periodization plan for the year. The key is first taking inventory of what happened last season. Without assessing your past training, and utilizing that information to make training decisions this season, you could be destined to repeat the same mistakes, results, and/or injuries.

Read the rest at Competitor.

Coach Vance

Break It Down

This is the other article in this month's issue of Competitor Magazine, called Break It Down. Enjoy...

The most important training you do may happen after the race.

If you visit any running, cycling or triathlon forums on the Internet, you'll notice the popularity of race reports. We all seem to love the storytelling which goes with our adventures, especially in longer races - where so many things happen, the toughest part is remembering them all for the report!

Many athletes enjoy writing the report and talking about the funny instances, the pain and discomfort (at times) and the lows and extreme highs of their performance. However, most are missing a quality opportunity to assess their race, performance, strategy, nutrition, pace and even confidence or motivation in some cases.

If you're tempted to write a race report, it's fine to make it enjoyable for others to read, but be sure to use it as tool to be honest and objective with yourself. In fact, a race report should be more for your use as an evaluation tool than as an entertainment tool for others.

With as much time as athletes put into training and preparation for an event, probably the most effective use of time comes after the race; in truthfully assessing your performance and how closely it matched your expectations. If it didn't match, what were some of the causes? Were you under-confident in yourself, and performed much better than you expected? Did you overestimate your fitness, or underestimate the course and conditions?

What types of things can be learned from this reflection and evaluation? It may seem unimportant once the race is over, but if you ever plan to return to a similar endeavor, this opportunity is golden!

Read the rest of the article at Competitor Magazine.

Coach Vance

Strategizing Your First Marathon

This is an article I wrote recently for Competitor Magazine, for my monthly training column. If you get Competitor Magazine in your area, then pick it up and check out my column. This is not the only column for January from me, so you'll have to pick it up to see what the other column is about. Enjoy!

26.2 miles is a daunting task. 26.2 miles of running hard is even more daunting. Visions of a possible meltdown in the last 10K can fill a runner's mind, as the race always seems to come down to those final, critical miles. It doesn't matter if you're doing it after 112 miles on a bike, or if you're toeing the line fresh and tapered.

If this is your first marathon, then the enormity of the training, not just the race, can seem daunting as well. It seems as though there are a million little things to learn and be conscious of. With this in mind, it's important to focus on the most critical factors which will lead to a successful performance at the marathon. If you want to do well at the distance, focus on these key points and you're certain to maximize all the hard work you've invested.

You can read more at Competitor Magazine.

Coach Vance

Minimum Running, Maximum PR

Minimum Running, Maximum Marathon

Written by: Jim Vance

Posted: Thursday, 22 May 2008

We’ve all heard the stories of an athlete who got injured but was still able to cross-train and then came back to give a great performance at a marathon, maybe even besting a personal record. Then there’s that new triathlete we all know who, despite running less now that she is dividing her time into three sports, is still setting personal records for her run times.

Nowadays it seems that these improbable success stories are seen in greater numbers than ever before. Is there really something to this “less running equals faster running” concept? Cross-training has a long history (in fact it’s responsible for the birth of the triathlon), but can it really work for you? If you’re new to running in the past few years, cross-training and other non-traditional sessions may be exactly what you need to maximize the training time you put in.

Read the rest at Competitor Magazine

Coach Vance