Babbittville Radio Interview - Triathlon 2.0

Bob Babbitt this past weekend invited me to go on his radio show live and discuss a number of topics, from my new books, Triathlon 2.0 and Run With Power, to Triathlon at the Olympic Games, high school development of runners and triathletes, as well as USAT's approach to athlete development. Take a listen, as I think if any of these topics interest you, you'll enjoy the show.

http://www.babbittville.com/babbittville-radio/jim-vance-triathlon-2-0/

Coach Vance

TBC Podcast on Running Power Meters

If you're looking to learn more about running power meters, the boys from TrainingBible Coaching, Scott and Adam, had me on their show to discuss the new book coming out in May on this new technology. You can listen to it here:

Title: Part 3 Running Power Meters
http://trainingbible.libsyn.com

It was a great interview, where I begin to explain some of the cool features, as well as complexities of this new technology. The book will help answer more questions in depth, in terms of the application of how to use your running power meter to train more effectively. I even discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the different products out there currently.

You can pre-order the book, Run With Power, here:
http://amzn.to/20YXfO5

I will be sharing more info on the technology and how to use it, at the TrainingPeaks blog, the RunwithPower.net blog, and here at this one as well. If you have specific questions you would like me to address or discuss, please comment here, or email me at j vance at training bible dot com.

Coach Vance

Finding Your Run FTP & Setting Up in TrainingPeaks

The first of many writings on running power meters, this one posted at TrainingPeaks....

Running With Power: How to Find Your Run FTP

If you are now currently using a power meter for running, like the new Stryd or RPM2 products, you likely are wondering how you can utilize the tool to maximize the benefit of the technology in your training and racing. Power meters for running are a very new technology, and there is still a lot to learn ahead. However, to begin using it effectively to learn about your training and training response, you should begin as you would if you were using a cycling power meter.

Collecting Data

The first thing you should be doing is simply performing your normal training and observe the data as you train. Track the data and see how the numbers fluctuate or correlate with different intensities, different inclines or declines, and more. Don’t try to control your training based on the power numbers, as you don’t have a baseline for what they truly mean yet. At first, collect the data from your normal training and see how the numbers are trending.

Testing

When you feel you are ready, you can then test for your run Functional Threshold Power (FTP). Now, if you’re a triathlete who uses power on the bike, this number will not likely be the same as on the bike for you. In fact, it is likely larger than your cycling FTP. So don’t try to use that value. Be specific and set your run functional threshold for power, or what I call, rFTPw. If you’re a runner, you likely already use threshold pace in TrainingPeaks, or what I call rFTPa. I use these terms so not to confuse them with cycling, and especially not to confuse both pace and power when comparing or discussing FTP.

You can read the rest here:

http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/running-with-power-how-to-find-your-run-ftp

You can also find more info on my book on power meters for running, at www.runwithpower.net

Coach Vance

CrossFit and Endurance Athletes

I received an email today from a coach asking about my thoughts on CrossFit for endurance athletes. It's an interesting topic. I have experience, both as an athlete and coach, working with CrossFit and endurance sports. Note, I am not speaking about CrossFit Endurance, simply CrossFit.

Here's the email from Jane....

I was wondering if cross fit training has a place in the yearly cycle? A lot of people I KNOW ARE DOING IT , BUT I FEEL IT'S TO MUCH LIKE A COMPROMISE BETWEEN CARDIO AND STRENGTH TRAINING. What is your opinion?

  

My response to her was:

CrossFit is all about overall, general development of athleticism and strength, nothing specialized. That is basically what the general preparation phase of any endurance athlete is. So I think it has a place in that phase. For most endurance athletes, the type of high-intensity training that CrossFit provides is something many of them ignore, so there is definitely a need for most endurance athletes to include some of this type of training. How much? That's individual.  

The issue is more so the risk of injury, especially if trying to maintain a somewhat moderate level of endurance training. CrossFit instructors in general have a relatively high amount of intensity everyday in the training, and sooner or later, this catches up to the athlete, creating injuries, limiting progress. 

So it must be a careful and dedicated balance, or compromise as you mentioned. Not easy, but the risk can provide some high rewards if some of the principles are applied properly. 

Hope this helps. 

Coach Vance

Speaking on Running Power Meters in Kona 2015

While in Kona, I spoke at the Ironman Expo, for RPM2, (pronounced RPM squared), about the possibilities of power meters for running, as their product is one of this new technology.

Natural Running Network Podcast on Power Meters for Running

I recently did an interview on the Natural Running Network Podcast, discussing power meters for running, their potential, what we know so far, and more.

You can find the podcast interview here: http://www.naturalrunningnetwork.com/power-running-the-future-is-now/

You can expect a lot more posts coming soon on power meters for running, how they work, how to interpret the data and more.

Data vs. Perception - An Example of the Relationship

One of my athletes logged a bike workout this week where he said...

"Loved the workout tonight. I feel like my power is going the wrong way."

But when I looked at the workout, and how it compared, it was his best session under me, for the type of workout it was, and his best 6 min power output in a year. When I replied to him with this info... 

"I'm not seeing that at all Ron. I expect you're a little tired, but this was one of your best workouts in a long time. See attached. 

Remember, we haven't even touched this type of intensity in awhile, and you showed you're still very strong at it. I am excited to see what you do when I let you loose soon on some harder, longer rides. "

This clearly brought a reality to his perception, that only numbers and data can do. His reply was...

"Thanks for the email!

That is why we can’t train by perception. Data doesn’t lie. Feelings do. I really enjoyed the workout tonight. I enjoy feeling a little worked afterwards."

While I agree the data doesn't lie and feelings do, I believe you can and should train on perception, BUT USE THE DATA to refine that perception. When your perception is in line with reality, you can trust it better, especially in those moments in a race or workout where you are feeling good, so the numbers don't control you, they just guide you. 

Here are two of the charts I sent him...

Use the data to refine your perception, and I think you'll find a better sense of yourself and fulfillment in your training and racing. 

Coach Vance

Ironman and 70.3 Speed and Pace Charts

Many athletes want to achieve a certain split, either for the bike or run, but have little idea of how fast that split actually is. The following charts are little cheat sheets I created for reference of the actual speed/pace that correlates to the time/split. For running, we did it in both min/km and min/mile.

Special thanks to Dan Feeney, for his help creating these. Enjoy and feel free to share, but please keep credit label on the images.

 

Coach Vance

7 Pre-Workout Routines for Better Performance

Here's an article I wrote for TrainingPeaks, which discusses some great routines I use with my athletes.


7 Pre-Workout Routines for Better Performance

Have you ever stumbled out of bed and wondered why it takes so long for you to gain your balance or be able to walk straight? Or have you ever sat for so long in a car or at a desk that the first few steps you wonder if your legs are listening to what your brain is telling them to do?

These are just a couple examples of how the connections between our brains and our muscles are sometimes not functioning properly due to periods of non-use. In the world of physical therapy, it is called neuromuscular activation. “Neuro” comes from the nervous system, which sends the signals from the brain to the “muscular” system, to activate the muscles.

Physical Therapy

Many physical therapists work with individuals just trying to get them to utilize muscles which aren’t firing or being used in common movements which would greatly enhance the strength and stability of the person during the movements. Most athletes scoff at this idea, but the research shows significant performance differences with neuromuscular activation improvements and some simple routines prior to bouts of exercise can be very effective at improving activation. For example, most athletes have seen dramatic neuromuscular improvements in the weight room, just in the first few weeks of lifting weights. It takes six weeks for athletes to show muscle growth from strength training, so those first six weeks of strength gains from those routines is almost entirely neuromuscular adaptation and improvements in activation.

You can read the rest of the article here...

Enjoy and good luck!

Coach Vance

It's Important to Know Your FTP

I had an email discussion today with an athlete who uses power, but told me they weren't sure of their FTP. Though it is great this athlete made the leap to use power and the data to help their training, but without a baseline point to use from which to judge the numbers, they really don't mean much.

The athlete stated to me they guessed their power was somewhere around 250-275 watts. This sounds fine, but the problem is this 25 watt range represents a difference of about 10%! That is huge when talking about FTP! An athlete who can even raise their FTP 10% in one season has either stated from a point of low fitness, or done a phenomenal job of training.

Every session being off by as much as 10% in the estimate of IF and TSS changes the entire load on the athlete, and what trends can be learned, strategies for pacing can be made, and more.

It is important to know you FTP, so don't waste time with it. Here's a simple test:
Warm-up easy for 10 mins, then do 5 mins of 15 secs fast, 45 seconds easy, then 5 mins build each minute individually, easy to fast, and the fast gets faster each minute. Then take a 2 min easy spin, and start a 20 minute time-trial, of the best power you can average for the whole 20 mins. Take 95% of the average power, and that is your estimated FTP. Cool down an easy 10-15 mins of spinning.

Do this, and the numbers you use will actually begin to make sense. Without knowing your FTP, they don't mean much.

Coach Vance

It's not always sunshine and nice breezes

Some athletes have an unrealistic expectation that every session should be a great one. That every training run should be faster than the one before it. That every day you should feel fresh and strong. That if you're tired, you should just quit the session and do nothing.

Every training day, just like every day in life, isn't a sun-shinny day. You've just got to put the work in, and stay the course. Yes, if you're constantly tired and not giving yourself the right recovery, you're doing something wrong. But just because you're tired, or not setting a new PR in a session, doesn't mean you're doing things wrong. If you don't have fatigue, you can't get fitter, it's a basic premise of training and performance.

So stop beating yourself if your session isn't a "home run," or if you feel like it needs to be perfect. There were many poor training days in the past, and there will likely be more in the future. If you know the goals of the session, and have a more marco/global plan, you will be fine.

Coach Vance

Race Planning - Better than Good

“Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth.”

-          Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson was one of the most feared fighters in the history of boxing. Yet, there were plenty of experts in the sport who spoke of his weaknesses and how to beat him, as though it were not that hard. Many of his opponents trained and planned to beat him according to his weaknesses. And much like the quote above from Tyson, those plans may have been very well devised, but once the match started and they took those first few punches, dealing with the adversity of the match, it became a challenge to stick to the plan.

That’s triathlon and racing. No matter how well you plan, when you get into the big races, against the toughest competition, your resolve and steadfastness to that plan will be tested greatly. 

Your plan better not be good, it must be great. And it should have contingencies if the punch to mouth was more than you expected. 

Coach Vance

Hard to do Positive Things with a Negative Focus

I said something the other day to one of my athletes....

"It's hard to accomplish positive things if you are constantly focused on negatives."

So often, athletes ruin any sense of confidence in themselves, by focusing on the negatives of their performances, training, lifestyle or injuries. Many miss the enjoyment of training and improving, and most certainly the rewards of it, when they focus on all the things they can't do, or why they can't win, or do well, or stay healthy.

What is your focus on? The negatives, weaknesses and challenges? Or your approach to getting better, and excitement about improving?

Coach Vance

Training Doesn't have to be Complicated to be Successful

I hear a lot of athletes and coaches spouting out their knowledge about training, using complex terms, or creating complicated workouts. It really doesn't need to be complicated to be successful though. If I put a list of the most important things, complicated or super-scientific training isn't listed anywhere near the top.

Things that are near the top? Consistency first, then injury prevention, recovery, diet, sleep, and progression of training load are just a few I would rank near the top, or at least well ahead of the complexity of training. I have seen plenty of athletes train in ways which go against common exercise science, but because they are consistent, and do many of these other things, are still able to do fairly well and improve.

If you're going for an Ironman World Championship, Olympic Gold Medal, or ITU WTS Championship, you need to really look at the science behind every decision you make in training and recovery. But that's a very limited group of athletes and coaches, who can control many other variables in their lives, (not having to balance a job, full-time focus on training and recovery), so it doesn't apply to most athletes.

Keep the training simple, and be consistent. Stop making it complicated, and you'll likely be successful if you are consistent in executing it.

Coach Vance

Simple Steps for Planning Your Season

Here's an article I wrote for TrainingPeaks on how to plan your season, simply and effectively. I think you'll find it helpful if you're looking to find that breakthrough.

Admit it. You’ve seen patterns in your training and racing, and how the results are affected. There’s a time of year you find yourself “killing it” in training and races. There are other parts of the year where you struggle, battle plateaus, mentally struggle, and can’t seem to find the magic on race day that you found in other times of the year.

Phases and Concepts

It’s time to review your planning for those seasons, (or lack of planning), and try to learn from the patterns and plan your training so you can avoid the roller coaster. Ideally, a season shouldn’t have many up and downs, but sometimes a step back at the right time, both mentally and physically, can prevent big peaks and valleys. I prefer to use three phases when planning: Transition (period of recovery between seasons), General Preparation, and Specific Preparation. These will be discussed in more detail below.

In addition to planning out your season in phases, you need to look at a two key concepts that we know about training- variance and specificity. Both are necessary in order to plan your season effectively.

You can read the rest of the article here. I hope you enjoy it!

Coach Vance

Is it really race nutrition that's the issue?

If you're finding that in an Ironman you always have stomach issues you can't explain? Feeling frustrated that suddenly your nutrition plan fails you? Maybe the problem isn't your nutrition?

There is no nutritional plan on earth which will make up for poor pacing. If you push the bike, you run the risk of the stomach becoming too sensitive to handle what you put in it. Put more in your stomach, and the odds of GI distress is even greater.

If you race at a higher intensity than you train at, and then suffer stomach issues, the issue isn't the nutrition so much as it's the intensity and pacing during your race.

Many athletes think the goal is to shove as many calories in their gut as it can process. The goal should be to simply take in as much as you need to accomplish your goal. Anything more than that, and the risk of GI distress greatly increases, ESPECIALLY if the athlete is racing HARD.

If your training doesn't match your race intensity, and you are having stomach issues, look at your training and race execution, first, and then match your caloric intake and concentrations to that proper intensity.

Coach Vance

The Shortcut to Success?

There is a common saying, "There is no shortcut to success." Which basically means you have to do the work to get to the point you're seeking. But we live in a time where plenty of people work very hard, and even the smallest shortcut can mean the difference between success and failure, so all means of finding that smallest shortcut here and there are being exhausted. We see it a lot in triathlon and training.

Here's the truth, if your hard work is not the issue, (meaning your commitment is truly there), there is definitely a shortcut to success, it's your plan. If the work is there, having the right plan maximizes that work. That is the shortcut for this day and age. Have a plan specific for you, and your needs, and you will find that as your shortcut to success.

The clock is ticking, don't waste time. If you don't have the shortcut, (plan), you're going to get left behind.

Coach Vance

"Forget illusions of balance..."

Saw this on a slide from Coach Jamie Turner, who is most well known as the coach of Gwen Jorgensen.

"Forget illusions of balance - it's about total commitment!!!"

This is often something athletes and coaches have a hard time with. They aren't willing to give up some of the luxuries in their lives, the things they perceive as the balance side of the triathlon equation. I know even myself as a coach, I can't train a squad in Europe and all over the globe, focusing on the ITU WTS series, because my wife and 3 yr old son are too important to me right now. This is why I started a junior program, where I could meet the commitment, and there is no issue with balance. Someday, I hope to make the next step and coach an ITU focused squad.

For some athletes, (from ITU elites to Ironman age-groupers), they can't totally commit because the risk is just too great, (job, finances, mortgage, family, etc.). But the problem is, without the risk, you can't achieve the reward. That reward is going to those who do totally commit.

Coach Vance

Boutique-Style Mentality

High performance sport can't have a factory mentality. It must be a boutique-style mentality. Specific, detailed, ever-changing, artistic
— Jim Vance (@jimvance) June 3, 2014

It's not about what you did, it's about what you're doing...

Recently, I was at the pool at UC-San Diego, doing final preps before starting practice for the University City High School swimming programs, and an elderly female asked me about my swimming background. The conversation went something like this...

Her: "So did you swim here at UC-San Diego?"

Me: "No, I didn't swim in college. I ran track and cross country at the University of Nebraska."

Her: "Did you swim in high school?"

Me: "No, I was too busy with track and cross country."

Her: "So how can you coach swimming?"

Me: "I learned it. I know the technical aspects, and I understand training stimulus, specificity and periodization, how to read athletes, follow data to see how to adjust the stimulus."
Her: "But you never swam?"
Me: "I swam for years as an adult, ma'am, training for triathlons."
Her: "But how can you coach swimming if you never competed in swimming?"

There is an old school belief that if you didn't come from the sport at a young age, and grow to be some elite athlete at it, you can't know how to coach it. When I was a youngster, I was learning, but I wasn't learning at the rate I have been as an adult. I know what it is like to compete at a high level in many different sports, from running to cycling to triathlon. I know what it is like to suffer through a large training load, and commit to high goals. I have been mentored by some of the top coaches and athletes in all of endurance sports, from Peter Reid, Greg Welch, Joe Friel, Bobby McGee, Gerry Rodrigues, Mike Holman, Bob Seebohar, Cliff English and many more.

I coached the Elite Women's National Winter Tri Champion a few years ago, and I have never cross-country skied or snow-shoed a day in my life. But I understand training stress, specificity and how to monitor for those two to match.

It's not about what I did as a kid, it's about what I know as an adult. It's actually an advantage, I believe, (and I was also told this once by Gerry Rodrigues), that I didn't come from the background of a swimmer, because I see the world of swimming differently than those who did. I come with a different skill set, and I'm not stuck in old school beliefs like the woman had.

So far the girls swim team at UC High is enjoying probably it's best season ever, undefeated and just clinched the Eastern League Championship this week, which is only it's 3rd since 1992. We've had one school record broken twice, (100 freestyle in 56.31 and 55.80), and there very well may be more records to come. The boys have a ways to go, they mostly swim as water polo supplement training, but the improvement is clear so far.

I took the UC High swim coach job because I was confident I could apply the principles I've learned about training effect, specificity and periodization, and apply them to swimming as a single sport. Would I be perfect and make all the right decisions? No, but that's a standard no coach can meet in any sport or at any level. But you only get better with experience, and training decisions seem to be easier once you have that experience to draw on. I challenged myself with swimming, and it seems I had good reason to be confident.

I was confident because it's not about I did as a kid or in the past at all, it's about what I'm doing right now. As an athlete, you should have the same confidence, especially if you're using your experience to draw from.

Good luck.

Coach Vance