ROADMAP TO BOSTON
In yet another strange twist to this pandemic year, the rescheduled Boston Marathon will take place this Monday. There’s no better time to explore how to increase your chances of qualifying for this iconic race.
Greg McMillan has coached over 10,000 runners to a Boston Qualifying (BQ) time, and in this post outlines his 5 best marathon tips that just might get you to Hopkinton.
Why does this matter to triathletes? In 2019, 170 Hawaii IRONMAN participants ran BQ times… after their swim and bike! They accomplished this impressive feat with foundational strength, proper fueling and intentional pacing, which is exactly what McMillan maps out.
SPEED TO SUCCEED
Triathletes often suffer from a one-pace mentality, which comes from a focus on achieving specific split times. This is a problem because that desire to sustain a given pace prevents too many triathletes from progressing into interval training.
In this article Chris Carmichael explains why speed developed in short-course racing is a major advantage when moving up to full-distance triathlons. In fact, it requires more than just endurance to post a respectable time in an IRONMAN.
Training faster than your target race pace teaches you to process lactate more efficiently, which leads to faster sustainable paces in all three disciplines during the race.
FRIELOSOPHY
Joe Friel is one of triathlon’s most popular and successful coaches and authors. With more than 40 years of experience working with triathletes, he’s often asked about his training philosophy.
He calls it his 5-2 Training Method, and it’s based on performing just 2 hard sessions each week and 5 easy ones.
Deceptively straightforward in its design, Friel has accumulated impressive results by having his athletes follow this hard-easy-easy training schedule.
With Friel’s 5-2 Method, you can accumulate steady improvements over a lifelong career as an endurance athlete, reduce the chance of injury and elevate your overall health. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? Sometimes simple really is best.
HAMMERED AND STRAPPED
The Hammerhead Karoo 2 is an astounding bike computer that’s getting plenty of buzz, and for good reason.
Sophisticated electronics are housed in a robust titanium shell; and its responsive anti-glare Gorilla Glass touchscreen is more like a top-end mobile phone. Of course, it seamlessly connects with most popular devices and websites. You can read a full review of this exciting and disruptive product on PEZ Cycling.
What we love most about the Karoo 2 is that – just like a Tesla – it regularly updates and upgrades its software via WiFi, so you’re always using the latest version (the recently introduced CLIMBER overlay is incredible when riding uphill!)
TriathlonWire readers get a free Hammerhead Heart Rate Monitor (a $64 value) with the purchase of a Karoo 2. Visit hammerhead.io right now and use promo code TRIWIRE at checkout to get yours today (while supplies last).
IRONED OUT
We revisit the topic of iron deficiency and whether it’s a common performance inhibitor among endurance athletes. It turns out that athletes are up to 35% more likely to be iron deficient.
Inflammation caused by exercise decreases our ability to absorb iron, so it’s especially important that we manage our iron status.
Iron is vital for binding oxygen in our hemoglobin and facilitating energy production in mitochondria. A general feeling of malaise, shortness of breath or poor recovery can all be signs of low iron.
For a better understanding of how and when to test your iron status, check out this article on MySportsScience. They also explain why it can be so difficult to treat an iron deficiency through diet and supplementation if your levels drop too far.
ADVICE WORTH GOLD
Behind every champion you’ll find a team of experts. Oftentimes these experts will reveal some of their secrets that contributed to their athlete’s winning performance.
That’s what makes this conversation with Arild Tveiten on the Scientific Triathlon podcast so fascinating. Tveiten is the head coach of the Norwegian Triathlon Federation and has trained Olympic gold medalist Kristian Blummenfelt for 11 years. He also works with current and 2x IRONMAN 70.3 champ Gustav Iden.
Tveiten believes in sticking with a long-term plan built upon basic training principles. He describes how his athletes blend large volumes of aerobic training with precise high threshold work.
For Tokyo, they left no stone unturned. His comments on how the Norwegians prepared for racing in the heat will be particularly useful to any triathlete looking to maximize their A-race performance.
QUICK HIITS:
- Crowie’s Puzzle
This Saturday was supposed to be race day in Kona. Although we can’t be enjoying triathlon on the Big Island this year, why not channel some aloha spirit by reading The Puzzle by Bob Babbitt. He describes how eventual 3x Hawaii IRONMAN World Champion Craig Alexander first cracked the code and learned how to win on the lava.
- Longer and Faster
Originally published in 2009, Going Long by Joe Friel and Gordo Byrn is still one of the best references for experienced triathletes to help shorten their learning curve and shave time off their IRONMAN performance. Snag your copy today.
- Open Water Workouts
Do you tend to do the same long slow swim whenever you get into the open water? If so, then try these 6 sessions offered by Craig Lewin of LiquidTri. They’ll add variation and purpose to your workouts, and make you a faster race day swimmer.
