IN THIS EDITION…
- Why take pre-sleep protein
- 10 Drills for triathlon swimmers
- Make the most of your long rides
- Avoid slowdowns in your marathon
FINISHING STRONGER
You finally nailed your fueling strategy, so why did you slow so significantly during the second half of the run?
As we often say: triathlon is a strength-based sport. You need to condition your legs to withstand the stress and fatigue of an IRONMAN run.
If you’ve suffered from this dramatic pacing decay and want to increase the likelihood of a faster finish, then read Greg McMillan’s 4 tips to prevent the marathon fade. These work for marathoners, and are even more relevant for triathletes.
By integrating these tactics into your training, you’ll enhance your strength and durability, and soon be strong enough to maintain your target pace all the way to the finish line.
WORK THE LONG ONES
Long rides of 4 to 6 hours are a classic cornerstone of triathlon training.
To make the most of these long rides, don’t only perform steady-state sessions. Instead, spice things up by injecting interval efforts into the overall workout.
Former Olympian and world age group champion Chris Hauth shares 3 ways to integrate intervals into your long rides.
These creative sets involve swing pacing, big gear efforts and back-half intervals. They’re interesting, effective and kinda fun!
More important they’ll challenge and develop a wide range of energy systems to help break through performance plateaus to ensure continued improvement.
BUILD WHILE YOU SLEEP
Despite popular opinion, eating protein before going to sleep does not make you accumulate body fat.
In fact protein consumption before bedtime has been shown to support lean muscle growth and hasten recovery.
According to award-winning sports nutritionist Dr. Mike Ormsbee, leucine-rich whey protein is ideal for your bedtime snack because of its high bioavailability and its tendency to trigger protein synthesisvital for recovery.
If you’re interested in meeting your daily protein goals and ingesting it when it’s most likely to be used by your body, then consider 40 grams of whey protein before hitting the hay.
THE ESSENTIAL 10
We talk a lot about swim drills because they can have such a significant positive effect on your freestyle mechanics.
Drills are designed to over-exaggerate an isolated element of your stroke so, when you return to regular swimming, the particular movement is closer to being correct.
In this article John Wood presents 10 drills that will improve triathletes’ problem areas. Especially valuable are his explanations of why they work, and what cues to focus on to ensure that you get the most out of them.
QUICK HIITS:
- Champion-Rich Environment
Listen in as podcast host and former pro Greg Bennett chats with Olympic gold medalist Simon Whitfield and 5x world champion Craig Alexander. Learn why there was never a Plan B and other fascinating insights from this conversation with some of the greatest athletes in our sport.
- Poor Man’s Wind Tunnel
If you want to optimize your aerodynamics on the bike but can’t access (or afford) a wind tunnel, then check out this review of the Notio Aerometer. Clipped onto the front of your bike, it produces accurate data on your coefficient of drag and other key metrics.
- Old-School Pacing
Sometimes simpler is better. Check out this old-school pacing chart to convert your current training speeds into projected IRONMAN split times. It’ll help you decide what to focus on in your next training block.
