Triathlon coaching, advice and statistics.
Ironman Training
Patience and the Transition back to Triathlon Training
Watching Ironman Western Australia yesterday morning brought home the contrast between this year and the last. Busselton is one of my favourite races on the calendar and having been there for the past three years it was odd to be watching online on a cold, dull morning. The differences between then and now are striking, […]
Rebuilding My Run (Again)
More than any other activity running defines my fitness. It was the sport I started with and whilst I occasionally grow tired of familiar routes nothing picks me up like a good run. Achieving my best run fitness back in July was an incredible high, then losing it with injury depressing. After four months of […]
The Brick Run Conundrum
Since I began triathlon I’ve hated brick runs! Sometimes I’ve tacked on extra bike mileage as an excuse to avoid them. I wanted to state my prejudice before I wrote any more on the subject. I get the impression most triathletes love them and most Ironman athletes like them very long. I’m not about to […]
What’s your training philosophy?
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and writing about training the last few months. I’ve been forced to articulate a training philosophy, not that I didn’t have one, but as a full time athlete I often trained without reasoning. As time becomes increasingly precious it’s a luxury I can’t afford, as a philosophy train […]
Simplified Training Zones – Easy, Steady, Hard, Ouch
Not long after Kona the batteries died in my Powertap, being in recovery I didn’t hurry to replace them, nor did I worry much when I forgot to charge my Garmin. Without power, heart rate or speed I had some of the most enjoyable rides in a long time. I think I set a PB […]
Building my Triathlon Training Plan and Dodging the Pitfalls of Self Coaching
A month is a more than adequate break. Announcing plans to train seven days after Kona proved premature, aside from some hard rides punctuated by coffee stops I didn’t get beyond contemplation. After four weeks there’s no doubt I’m recovered and risking a slide into apathy if I don’t get moving. Having set goals the […]
A Simple Winter Training Plan
At this time of year I’m regularly involved in one of a small set of conversations with athletes. Apart from setting next year’s goals they really want to know what training they should be doing now. My Winter Workload post a couple of weeks ago outlined principles for winter training, but I thought I’d provide […]
Specificity – It’s About How As Well As How Much
Six weeks ago I went to the pool and swam 4.5km much of it with paddles and an old inner tube round my ankles. This morning I managed 1.6km through what felt like treacle in my first swim since Hawaii. My body was stiff and craved more oxygen than I could supply, that’d be the […]
Setting the Targets for the Sub-9 Ironman Plan
Building a training plan to take me to a sub-9 Ironman starts with setting targets. It’s the easiest step, designing the program and following it will be tougher. Targets are essential in building the plan they give a focus to workouts and a benchmark for testing performance. I could set simple goals to ‘go faster’ […]
The Approach to Winter Run Training
The last blog raised questions around my winter running plans. I put my thoughts into the public domain, I think it’s perfectly reasonable for them to be critiqued. It’s not the first time I’ve had to justify the way I’m choosing to train. In this case the questions centre around my high volume winter run […]
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