IN THIS EDITION…

  • Perfecting your freestyle pull
  • Make the most of your power meter
  • 5 must-do long runs
  • Making fasted training work for you

FASTER FASTED?

Improving your body’s ability to metabolize fats is an important adaptation for successful long-distance racing.  Enabling access to the nearly limitless source of energy derived from fat helps to preserve your glycogen for when you really need it.

In this article sports scientist Scott Steele asks the question: Does fasted training makes you faster? 

He provides an easy-to-understand overview of exercise metabolism, then reviews a study that produced very encouraging results.

Not only did the fasted training group derive a 31% increase in fat oxidation, they also showed an increased production of mitochondria.

Steele goes on to suggest how to include fasted rides into your training, and the best way to recover from them.  It’s clear that “riding low” can play an important role in your progression as a triathlon cyclist.

PULL IT STRAIGHT

The S-shaped pull pattern is out, and the straight-arm pull is in.  It should be a simple fix, right?  So why do so many triathletes struggle to prevent their hands from slipping and sliding all over the place?

According to coach Andrew Sheaff it’s not a pulling problem, it’s a balance problem.  He contends that before you can straighten your arm pull, you must first improve your stability.

To do so he offers some clever drills that will help establish your feel for the water, and then use this enhanced feel to reinforce a stable position that maximizes leverage to refine your pull.

Once your foundation is set, he then shows you how to integrate your breathing to further maintain stability and alignment.

Follow his progression and you’ll be pulling straight back and swimming faster before you know it.

STOP SWIMMING BLIND

The innovative FINIS Smart Goggle now tracks and displays live stroke rate.  During a swim, the Smart Goggle discreetly displays your stroke rate in the corner of the left lens without distracting your field of view.

Stroke rate is the number of stroke cycles your arms complete in a minute. It’s like cadence on a bike.  And, like cycling cadence, every triathlete has an ideal stroke rate unique to them.

Now you have a new powerful metric to help optimize your rhythm, speed and efficiency.

In addition to stroke rate, the FINIS Smart Goggle displays other key data like lap splits, lap time, lap count, total time, rest time and more… right in the lens in real-time.  It even integrates with Strava!

As a TriathlonWire reader, get 20% off your purchase of the FINIS Smart Goggle and other world class swimming accessories by using coupon code TRIWIRE at checkout.

POWER FOR GOOD

So, you’ve invested in a power meter.  What metrics are you tracking?

Coach Marty Gaal recommends that your device should display percentage of FTP, to help ensure you’re getting the most from your zone-based training.

He also introduces the relatively unknown but important measure called the Variability Index (VI), and its relationship to normalized power.  Long-distance triathletes want their VI to be as low as possible.  Gaal explains why.

If all of this sounds like Greek to you, then you’ll want to read this article and review its supporting posts.  Doing so will help you get the most out of your power meter, and ultimately perform better on the bike.

LONG & PROVEN

The long run is a necessity for those training for an IRONMAN.  But did you know that you should be performing different types of long runs to achieve your best performance?

Check out Greg McMillan’s of 5 proven long runs for the marathon.

You’ll be familiar with some of these, but we think you’ll find at least one new format that can freshen up your training program.

QUICK HIITS:

  • Goodbye, Jan… and Thank You
    We could almost feel the pain as Jan Frodeno announced his withdrawl from the 2022 IRONMAN World Championships in Kona.  Although we’re disappointed not to witness the clash of the titans this year — and now wonder if we ever will — we owe Frodissimo a massive thank you for entertaining us with so many incredible performances over the years that truly changed the trajectory of triathlon.
  • Pace Yourself
    Triathletes must be able to precisely tune their effort to the highest level that’s sustainable for the full race… But how?  In his new book, On Pace, coach and author Matt Fitzgerald will convince you that perfect pacing is rare and difficult, but can be learned.  He goes on to outline a number of strategies that you can employ to improve this vital skill.
  • Cup Time
    This weekend the second annual PTO Collins Cup takes place in near Bratislava, Slovakia.  Modeled after golf’s Ryder Cup, the featured event will be team competitions pitting Europe against the USA and an International all-star squad. There are countless options for watching the event live, so be sure to catch the action.