Back In Training

I commenced my structured training 10 days ago and, although, various things have meant adjustments were needed for some of the days, I feel I have made a great start to my build-up for the Geelong 70.3 in two months.

During my 2 weeks of light, recovery training following the race in Shepparton, I thought very hard about how I was going to tackle this next phase in order to improve further and I have come up with several items which I will be looking to focus on during training.

Swimming

After being quite disappointed with my swim in Shepparton, I have investigated specific changes I can make to improve my open water swimming and drills and techniques I can use in training to achieve this.

Ø  I need to train myself to be more comfortable and efficient with a higher arm turn-over. A higher turn-over is essential in open water to ensure constant forward momentum. With the environment of an open water race swim being so different to pool swimming, I need to move away from the classic ‘catch-up’ stroke which I have used for a long time and develop a greater arm speed. In just a few sessions using a higher turn-over, I have already noticed how beneficial it is. It’s difficult to maintain good form as I make the change but I am confident in the long term results.

Ø  I will be increasing my strength and power by incorporating the use of an ankle band. Having not used this method before it is a strange feeling but it is amazing when you have to work so hard to try and keep your body as horizontal as possible without any use of the legs whatsoever. If you’re not sure, I literally tie my ankles together while swimming freestyle. I do this while using a leg buoy between my thighs and hand paddles most of the time too. The extra drag of my legs, as they want to fall straight to the bottom of the pool, is significant and I even wear a pair of shorts occasionally to add to the drag. I will use this method in the pool once a week for the whole build-up.

Ø  I will be devoting one whole session each week to drills and technique to assist all aspects of my stroke from strength to speed. Drills like, sculls, swimming with fists and single-arm work all help me to get a better feel for the water. In another session I will incorporate sighting and even ‘polo’ swimming to develop my open water skills.

Ø  I’m hoping to do 4 swim sessions each week, up from 3, for a total of 13 – 14km.

Riding

Not too much to worry about here. I will see improvement by doing things almost exactly the same as my preparation for Shepparton. However, in order to ensure I improve my 90km bike split, I will increase my long ride to develop greater endurance, work harder on high cadence efforts to assist with downhill portions of the Geelong course and generally focus and train harder overall. I will also do a weekly weights session to provide extra strength and power from my glutes and hamstrings.

Running

I was a bit disappointed with my run in Shepparton. I felt I didn’t maintain my technique as well as I could have and my leg turn-over was sluggish. I will address this in training by doing the following:-

Ø  I will slightly alter my technique to focus on a faster turn-over of my legs without lengthening my stride. I will be looking to make contact on the ground with my foot more directly under my body using a forefoot strike and raising my foot up behind me a little higher than I used too. This will aim to produce more forward momentum as opposed to having a ‘braking’ effect with each stride when I was striking the ground slightly in front of my body and leaning back a little.

Ø  Having extra emphasis on my core and body position remaining strong and stable during running at all speeds is essential. I will do drills to assist this as well as strength training a couple of times each week for my core and hips.

Ø  My weight training will also benefit the power and strength I can produce with each stride without using more energy.

Ø  The sessions I do will be similar to what I did prior to Shepparton. I will still do short runs off hard bike sessions, an above race pace interval session and a long run. The difference is my long run will not be as fast as what it was. Instead of breaking up 20km into 4 x 5km sets and going above race pace with a decent break in between, I will perform a below race pace effort up to 2 hours in length on a hilly terrain focussing on consistency and technique. This will build strength and vital endurance.

Putting these methods into practice is showing good signs already. I feel, by Christmas Day, I will be right on track to great improvements. Another 10 days of hard work before resting over Christmas and then a massive block in January to bring in the new year.