KEEP THE ARMS NICE AND RELAXED. IT IS IMPORTANT NOT TO CROSS OVER YOUR ARMS IN FRONT OF YOUR BODY

ARM SWING

Keep the arms nice and relaxed and close to your body. It is important not to cross over your arms in front of your body. This helps to keep your chest open so your breathing is easier and reduces over rotating. Make sure you also keep your hands and shoulders relaxed.

STRAIGHT AND TALL TORSO

Think about this like someone is pulling upward on a string that is connected to your head. This will prevent you from slouching, and improve your biomechanics throughout. It is especially important as you get tired, as this is when people tend to slouch, which increases your energy expenditure.

KNEE STABILITY

This is one of the most common causes of injury for runners. If you are not strong through the gluteals the knee can track inwards slightly when your foot lands. This can cause hip pain, knee pain, shin splints, plantar fasciitis and many other common running injuries. To prevent this work hard on the clam and quarter squat exercises.

STRONG PELVIS 

The less movement through your pelvis when your foot lands, the better. When your pelvis is ‘sloppy’ on foot landing there is an increase in energy lost, which quickly adds up to lost speed over a triathlon.

NO CROSSING OVER MIDLINE

Ideally your feet should land in line with the hip joint and not cross over the midline of the body. Crossing the ‘midline’ is typically a sign that the athlete is not strong enough through their gluteals and stomach to support the pelvis on initial foot contact. This cross-over is a compensation that some adopt, which again can increase the risk of injury and reduce efficiency. To prevent this, again work hard on gluteal strength and activation, along with visualising keeping the feet slightly wider on initial contact.

THORACIC SPINE 

Your thoracic spine is the region between the bottom of your rib cage and your neck. Keeping this part of your back upright and strong allows for relaxed rotation and arm swing. People are often stiff through this area, especially those who work behind a desk or do a lot of driving. Thoracic mobilisation using a roller is great to keep mobility. Keep your lower back flat and rest back over the roller for one minute, in three different positions. This also helps your swimming to achieve a better stroke length and high elbow position.

ARM SWING 

The arm swing in endurance running does not provide ‘drive’ like sprinting, but provides balance and rhythm. Slightly increasing the elbow bend at the back of the swing helps the elbow to act like a pendulum and makes running more efficient.

Aim for 90-110 degrees of elbow bend at the back of the arm swing. Visualise a string attached to the back of your elbow and it being pulled back. Alternatively, imagine squeezing a golf ball in the small of your elbow at the back of the swing.

HEAD POSITION 

Head position is very important in controlling your body position. Look too far forward and you will lean back and slow yourself down, too close and you will be slouching and applying a braking force to your stride! It is ideal to look about 10-15 metres in front.

STRONG STOMACH

Having a strong stomach assists in improving pelvic control and ‘drive’ for the run gait. Keeping a stable pelvis also means the gluteal muscles can be used more efficiently, while allowing you to ‘wind up’ your connective tissue. The connective tissue then acts like a spring to recoil and drive your leg through to the front using less energy. A functional way to develop this strength is the supine cycling exercise. Lie on your back, focus on keeping your back flat (i.e., preventing that forward rotation of the pelvis) then slowly extend your legs out one at a time. Do this to fatigue 3-5 times.

HIP EXTENSION 

The greater the degree of hip extension you can achieve while controlling your core, the faster you will run! To improve hip extension, regularly do hip flexor stretches. Dynamic stretches are best just prior to training – short holds (three-second holds), with static stretches (30-second holds) best for post training.

FOOT CONTACT AND CADENCE 

The location of initial foot contact with the ground is paramount to good run technique. The foot contacting the ground in front of the hips leads to an increase in braking forces on landing, therefore slowing you down and increasing injury risk. Therefore it is not about how your foot lands (heel vs. midfoot strike) that is most important, but where it lands. In order to prevent overstriding, work on increasing your cadence or steps per minute, by taking nice quick steps. Additionally, keeping the foot nice and relaxed and allowing your full foot to come into contact with the ground allows you to use the best shock absorber there is – the arch of your foot.

FOOT CLEARANCE 

Keeping your foot from lifting too high off of the ground increases efficiency by reducing energy expenditure. The smaller the ‘arcs’ to get the foot back to the front, the more efficient you are. 220

You can read the full article in the December 2013 edition of 220 Triathlon Magazine or click here to download

Article by Alex Price

Photos courtesy of 220 Magazine

Whether you are new to the open water or are experience veteran, if you’re looking to:

• Become more confident in the open water
• Swim more efficiently
• Develop your open water swim stroke
• Learn more about all the skills that make up a successful open water swim, including sighting, using the open water to your advantage and managing waves and chop

Then this clinic is for you!

Drawing on many years of open water swimming, triathlon racing and coaching experience, Alex Price and the the AP10 team will share key elements that can make each race or open water swim a good one!

You’ll learn about these things, plus many others;

• How to sight and breathe effectively
• Navigating waves and chop
• Buoy turns
• Swimming in a group
• The open water environment
• Drafting while swimming
• How to reduce anxiety and manage nerves in open water
• Choosing and using a wetsuit

The course will run for 3 hours which includes theory and practical components.  There will be plenty of time to ask questions before and after the swim in Wollongong Harbour.

All participants are welcome to join the AP10 squad immediately after the course for an open water training session!

NUMBERS ARE LIMITED!

Book asap – email Alex Price at aprice10@hotmail.com

Whether you are new to the open water or are experience veteran, if you’re looking to:

• Become more confident in the open water
• Swim more efficiently
• Develop your open water swim stroke
• Learn more about all the skills that make up a successful open water swim, including sighting, using the open water to your advantage and managing waves and chop

Then this clinic is for you!

Drawing on many years of open water swimming, triathlon racing and coaching experience, Alex Price and the the AP10 team will share key elements that can make each race or open water swim a good one!

You’ll learn about these things, plus many others;

• How to sight and breathe effectively
• Navigating waves and chop
• Buoy turns
• Swimming in a group
• The open water environment
• Drafting while swimming
• How to reduce anxiety and manage nerves in open water
• Choosing and using a wetsuit

The course will run for 3 hours which includes theory and practical components.  There will be plenty of time to ask questions before and after the swim in Wollongong Harbour.

All participants are welcome to join the AP10 squad immediately after the course for an open water training session!

NUMBERS ARE LIMITED!

Book asap – email Alex Price at alex@ap10.com.au

In order to plan and execute a key race specific training session these are some key areas to consider:

• Pace/Intensity – it is important to do ‘efforts’ that will mimic your race day intensity while under similar fatigue to what you will expect in a race. This is also a perfect time to practice extended periods in the tri bars. This is especially important if much of your bike training is done in a group, as your wattage will vary greatly if you are sitting on the back of the group as opposed to riding on your own as you would in a non-drafting race. This is something I am very particular about, with all athletes having set wattage/heart rate/pace and/or perceived effort goals for each part of a session.
• Terrain – hunt out areas that mimic the race you are building up for and get better each week at executing them. Do your research on the race course: whether it is flat, hilly, rough roads etc. Another important consideration, especially with shorter races, are u-turns.  Athletes who are not trained to turn with efficient gearing will be impacted in the run!
• Nutrition – your gut is highly trainable, much like your cardiovascular and muscular systems. From 6 – 8 weeks out it is vital to eat and drink like you plan to in a race, so you can refine the plan over time. The same applies for the pre-race nutrition.
• Temperature/Time of Day – where possible, train all or at least the key part of the session at a time of day that mimics race conditions. This is important for your body to be prepared at a particular time of day, especially with early race starts and also with races that are longer, and extend into the warmer part of the day.
• Mental Preparation – this is an often overlooked part of training and racing and something that I hound my athletes about on a weekly basis. The ability to remain focused on the processes that dictate performance (and therefore the outcome you achieve) is vital, as is staying positive and mentally strong when you’re getting tired. This is a skill no different to any other and needs to be rehearsed regularly.
• Time – Make sure that if you are going to be out racing for a long period of time, that you also practice for a extended periods to build the endurance required. These sessions need to be monitored so that you do them intermittently if they cause a lot of fatigue
• Run off the bike – race-specific running off the bike is an element of training that is often ignored.  Studies have shown a change in run form when running off the bike. This combined with a higher core temperature following riding and changes in nutritional demands make it absolutely critical to rehearse the skill regularly – at race specific pace.
• Equipment/Clothing – don’t try anything new on race day. If you plan to use it in a race, make sure you have practiced in it first!

At AP10 we practice these, plus other race specific skills regularly. An example of a race specific session we did last Saturday is below.  Athletes were preparing for various races including Port Macquarie 70.3, Huskisson Olympic, Nepean and Busselton, so the training session was designed very carefully, taking into account all the above elements.

AP10 Saturday 4^th October

Typical Race Specific Session

6am:

Meet at our place and everyone set up their transition area in our back ‘car port’ or ‘training base’ – run gear and nutrition ready to go. It is a great group with over 25 athletes of varied abilities. We then had a good chat about what the session involved for each person and the plan for the day. I also discussed key mental strategies and how to implement them for the session. Interstate AP10 athletes who were doing similar sessions that day joined in the pre-session briefing via Skype.

6:20am:

Roll out and headed north in 3 separate groups. We then did bike time trial efforts at race specific wattage/HR for varied durations from 6km to 14km.  Most people did between 60 and 80km of time trialling, all individualised and focusing on nutrition, pacing and mental rehearsal. The area we were in is perfect for Port Mac and Husky, as the hills and rough roads are exactly what the athletes will find there.

10:30’ish am:

Arrive back at the house for a quick change and out on the run. I rode the new AP10 ‘fixie’ with water and gels for the crew and fixed my Garmin to the bars so I could keep track of their paces and accurately compare them to what I want them to run in their respective races. This also gives me the opportunity to closely work with the athlete and coach them properly – correcting anything I see during a session that is needs improving, especially with technique. In this session we did a mix of 2km and 1km repeats on short rest, with the quicker runners running slightly longer, so that after a U turn everyone finished together as a group. Running in the heat of the day really gets your body used to the demands of the race, as does eating and drinking while running, which all athletes rehearsed.

Following this we all (most!) hit up the ice bath after plenty of complaints had our recovery drinks and rehydrated. Some of us then did a core session to finish off!

This was a perfect session mimicking all of the race specific elements mentioned above. It is also great to do as a group (especially one this supportive), being very wary not to ‘compete’ against or sit behind each other, which you see so often in training groups and takes away from the specificity of the session. Each athlete therefore gets the most benefit from and maximises their adaptions!

To quote Albert Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”. So, if you want to improve on last season, the swim that keeps holding you back, the recurring injury, the nutrition in a race, or to qualify for Hawaii, you need to change the way you look at and approach winter. Some of the most important times of training for me have  actually been when I sit  down with a pen and paper at the end of a season and really analyse  what I need to improve on and how I am going to CHANGE so I can do it.

The way I look at progression in triathlon is like climbing a multi-tiered house  without a ladder. It’s darn hard to get up onto the next level, you have to work hard and figure out a strategy. But when you get your foot up on the ledge and climb up, you’re up there. Sure, because the ledge is still sloping down, you have to work to stay there, but once you’re there, you can work on getting to the next level. Triathlon is no different. In order to really make break throughs and get yourself up to the next level, it’s darn hard work, that requires a lot of thinking, planning and then a fair bit of sweat. But once you are there, have mastered the skills and have moved up in a level of fitness, it is much easier to stay there. How do you think people who were once professionals, have years off, then pick it up again and “all of a sudden” are up the front of the race or placing overall in an Ironman? It’s not just luck, it’s the thousands of hours they have spent prior, climbing the house  roofs!

Coaching, as opposed to writing exercise prescription, is as much mental as it is a physical development. Thus, with the athletes I coach, I really try hard to get inside their heads and find out what makes them tick. One of the things we work on before it arrives is preparing for winter. This is done by developing clear process driven goals, which focus on how they are going to improve during the offseason. Mentally this helps to shift perspective and one of the key elements  I drive home is using Winter as a Window.

Winter is our WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

It is the one time of the year when you can really step up a level and focus on correcting technique, nutrition, strength and stability and aerobic fitness, without the interruptions of races, tapers and long post race recoveries. It is the time you can really target and attack your weaknesses. The things that have been holding you back. Also, if in the past you have been a bit slack during this time, you have the chance to really progress, rather than starting the season a long way behind the 8 ball and spending two months just getting the specific fitness back.

It is all fine to read this and think “yes, that’s what I want to do!” Only to roll over in bed the next cold morning you face. From experience what it requires to implement this successfully is to change a few things:

- Perspective : Stop thinking about winter as a time you only associate negative things with. Instead, shift your thinking to create a positive image for you. Different triggers will work for different people, but things like thinking of winter as a time to really better yourself ,to  get in front of the “you” of last season, using quotes or simply remembering how lucky you actually are that you can swim, ride and run. What a gift!

- Behaviours :Sit down and have a think about the things which make it easier for you to get out of bed or get out of the door in winter. I put my alarm clock on the other side of the room, have all my gear out ready for me and have the set already written. Other things like having very warm, dry clothing, having a treadmill or wind trainer that you can use if the weather is too bad, organising to meet training partners or communicating your weekly training plan to family members, are all other ways that may help you.

On the other hand, figure out the bad behaviours that make it harder for you to train, and avoid them. Things like staying up late watching TV or using the computer, drinking or having an excuse ready for yourself. Do not accept the excuse when you wake up. You are normal if the devil on your shoulder has an excuse for you waiting when you wake up. But don’t accept it. This way you can help to create a positive environment for yourself, which makes it easier day to day to get the training done that you need to.

- Plan : Sit down with yourself – if you are very experienced, a coach or someone you trust -and work out what you need to target. What are those things that are holding YOU back. Don’t follow  other peoples models, or what they talk about  (I see this all the time) and don’t use winter as a time to work on your strengths, as they are typically the things you like doing. Work out what is really holding you back from getting you up on the next level of the house and then work on a plan of how you are going to improve. And then attack it. Sure, you may not improve overnight, but by having persistence, aligned with a well thought out and educated plan, you most certainly will!

So now it is in the thick of winter, most of us would have had a good break and to be honest, it’s time to get moving again! The season really isn’t that far away if you are looking at improving next year. Spend some time now and work out what you need to change about your perspective, the behaviours that work and those that don’t and then develop a very clear and well thought out plan that will help you climb on to the next level of the house!

Do it right and you will be peaking for your ‘A’ race, jumping out of your skin and ready both physically and mentally. Do it wrong and you can either be left still fatigued from the training cycle or just as bad, sick, flat and lacking the real hunger to nail your race.

From a lot of research over the years, both anecdotally and from reading widely, there are a number of flaws in the traditional exponential taper for triathletes. This is the type of taper where volume is simply cut down as the race gets closer. Many find that they then arrive at race day heavy and tired and without the vest they had while they were training consistently. The major reason for this believe it or not is actually hormonal balance. While we are training, our glands, particularly our adrenals, are quite active in the production of hormones that make us motivated and ready to train or race. When our training is reduced, so is their production, therefore if we don’t do enough, we can actually feel flat and demotivated. It is very common for people to pick up colds or viruses in this time as our immune system drops as a result.

However, if we continue to push too hard and too long with our training, we can go into a race with a backpack of fatigue. Thus limiting our race performance also.

Considering these two examples, it is vital that you plan your last phase of training well, your taper! A couple of key elements to remember while planning your next taper;

- Make sure you plan how and when you are going to off load that backpack of fatigue

- Reduce your overall load, but keep the frequency and intensity up

- Make sure the last phase of training prior to the taper is race specific in both volume and intensity. As the race gets closer, overall weekly volume has less significance, while race specific sessions have more

- Don’t over eat

- Sleep plenty

- Don’t be scared to keep the swimming up, this doesn’t provide the peripheral fatigue that the other two sports do

- Spend your extra time working on getting your mental aspect of your prep and race right!!!

If you aren’t sure how to correctly plan, think back to when you have done your best key sessions or races, then analyse what you had done before them, the results may surprise you!

To quote Albert Einstein: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”. So, if you want to improve on last season, the swim that keeps holding you back, the recurring injury, the nutrition in a race, or to qualify for Hawaii, you need to change the way you look at and approach winter. Some of the most important times of training for me have  actually been when I sit  down with a pen and paper at the end of a season and really analyse  what I need to improve on and how I am going to CHANGE so I can do it.

The way I look at progression in triathlon is like climbing a multi-tiered house  without a ladder. It’s darn hard to get up onto the next level, you have to work hard and figure out a strategy. But when you get your foot up on the ledge and climb up, you’re up there. Sure, because the ledge is still sloping down, you have to work to stay there, but once you’re there, you can work on getting to the next level. Triathlon is no different. In order to really make break throughs and get yourself up to the next level, it’s darn hard work, that requires a lot of thinking, planning and then a fair bit of sweat. But once you are there, have mastered the skills and have moved up in a level of fitness, it is much easier to stay there. How do you think people who were once professionals, have years off, then pick it up again and “all of a sudden” are up the front of the race or placing overall in an Ironman? It’s not just luck, it’s the thousands of hours they have spent prior, climbing the house  roofs!

Coaching, as opposed to writing exercise prescription, is as much mental as it is a physical development. Thus, with the athletes I coach, I really try hard to get inside their heads and find out what makes them tick. One of the things we work on before it arrives is preparing for winter. This is done by developing clear process driven goals, which focus on how they are going to improve during the offseason. Mentally this helps to shift perspective and one of the key elements  I drive home is using Winter as a Window.

Winter is our WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

It is the one time of the year when you can really step up a level and focus on correcting technique, nutrition, strength and stability and aerobic fitness, without the interruptions of races, tapers and long post race recoveries. It is the time you can really target and attack your weaknesses. The things that have been holding you back. Also, if in the past you have been a bit slack during this time, you have the chance to really progress, rather than starting the season a long way behind the 8 ball and spending two months just getting the specific fitness back.

It is all fine to read this and think “yes, that’s what I want to do!” Only to roll over in bed the next cold morning you face. From experience what it requires to implement this successfully is to change a few things:

- Perspective : Stop thinking about winter as a time you only associate negative things with. Instead, shift your thinking to create a positive image for you. Different triggers will work for different people, but things like thinking of winter as a time to really better yourself ,to  get in front of the “you” of last season, using quotes or simply remembering how lucky you actually are that you can swim, ride and run. What a gift!

- Behaviours :Sit down and have a think about the things which make it easier for you to get out of bed or get out of the door in winter. I put my alarm clock on the other side of the room, have all my gear out ready for me and have the set already written. Other things like having very warm, dry clothing, having a treadmill or wind trainer that you can use if the weather is too bad, organising to meet training partners or communicating your weekly training plan to family members, are all other ways that may help you.

On the other hand, figure out the bad behaviours that make it harder for you to train, and avoid them. Things like staying up late watching TV or using the computer, drinking or having an excuse ready for yourself. Do not accept the excuse when you wake up. You are normal if the devil on your shoulder has an excuse for you waiting when you wake up. But don’t accept it. This way you can help to create a positive environment for yourself, which makes it easier day to day to get the training done that you need to.

- Plan : Sit down with yourself – if you are very experienced, a coach or someone you trust -and work out what you need to target. What are those things that are holding YOU back. Don’t follow  other peoples models, or what they talk about (I see this all the time) and don’t use winter as a time to work on your strengths, as they are typically the things you like doing. Work out what is really holding you back from getting you up on the next level of the house and then work on a plan of how you are going to improve. And then attack it. Sure, you may not improve overnight, but by having persistence, aligned with a well thought out and educated plan, you most certainly will!

So now it is in the thick of winter, most of us would have had a good break and to be honest, it’s time to get moving again! The season really isn’t that far away if you are looking at improving next year. Spend some time now and work out what you need to change about your perspective, the behaviours that work and those that don’t and then develop a very clear and well thought out plan that will help you climb on to the next level of the house!

My athletes will tell you with a chuckle that I often use analogies to explain things to them. The analogy I have used in this case is that training and getting ready to race is like baking a cake….

What you need to bake the perfect cake (having a great race!)

• The Right ingredients for the cake (the right amounts of training, at the right times)
• You then need to combine the ingredients at the right time (timing of different phases of training)
• The cake needs to be cooked at the right temperature (volumes and intensities of training and scheduling of REST)
• The cake then needs to be taken out of the oven at the right time and the icing put on top when the cake is ready! (Tapering and race specific sessions)
• And cut and served! (Executing race day!)

Ironman race day requires all the ingredients of the race (cake) coming together at the right time. Endurance, pacing, nutrition, psychology, form, strength and responding to environmental aspects. All of which the athlete has control over. And all of which an athlete and an experienced and educated coach can tailor and mix in order to peak at the right time…. Not 4 or 6 weeks before, which is seen very often. This often results in the athlete arriving to race day lethargic, tired or sick, rather than jumping out of their skin and ready to race – a burnt cake or one that is cooked on the outside and runny in the middle!

In order to reach this peak, the last phase of training or the last part of cooking the cake – Race Specific Sessions are a key element. This really ‘tweaks’ the body to get it ready to race. These sessions are done to train the body to get it used to the rigours of what it will face on race day and always should mimic the race terrain as much as possible. These sessions don’t just replicate the volume/distance, but also encompasses; race like nutrition, race like heart rates, power outputs and pacing, race specific equipment and fine tuning the psychology to get it ready to what you will experience on race day.

With all my athletes, they have very specific parameters which they will follow on race day. These are parameters which have been tried and tested in races and race like sessions. For an Ironman race, or other long distance events, this means that you know exactly how hard or easy to race, the exact nutrition and hydration you need and how you mentally deal with being put in different circumstances. Meaning that you are not ‘guessing’ you way through the day, but know exactly how to execute the day! While these sessions are usually pretty tough, they are vital ingredients to success on race day and for me, the training prior to them basically leads up to the point where you can execute them proficiently and with confidence.

The icing of the cake and then eating it, is  the fun part of the whole process. There is definitely an art to getting it right, from the race specific sessions, to the taper and then race day. Most importantly make sure you enjoy it, as this is why we do the sport and where the rewards of the carrot cake and cream cheese icing are found!

Train Smart, Race Fast

At the moment there are a lot of athletes preparing for the Ironman in Port Macquarie, which is just over 2 weeks away. Up until now, there is a huge focus on the volume, intensity and programming of training sessions. It is all about training your body so that it is prepared for the big day.

However, now there should be a huge shift in focus. The ‘key’ training has been done. There are now two things that will make or break your day

- Nutrition

- Psychology 

It is vital that athletes invest time into both of these, as their importance is paramount over the Ironman distance, more than any other. I will write more on nutrition soon, but for now the grey matter….

Start today getting your mind ready to be ready for anything that may happen on race day, good and bad. Then develop a plan for all of these scenarios when they occur. This will help with anxiety when something doesn’t go to plan or as is typically the case with everyone, when you hit a bit of a wall out there.

You also need to be prepared mentally for some tough tough moments out on the course. Sure, it is going to be a fun day, the reward for all the work you have done, but there will be times when you don’t think you can keep going. Positive self talk and other mental strategies are something that AP10 athletes use weekly and you could definitely benefit from in the final 2 weeks of preparation.

Start to get that mind ready for what will no doubt be one of the greatest, but also one of the tougher days of your life. This will give you  not only a body, but also a mind – which is the driving force behind the whole process of Ironman, that is truly ready for the big day!

Think

If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will.
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man.
But soon or late the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can.

Train Smart, Race Fast!

I have been fortunate enough to work with Rebecca Hay, who works in Sydney as a Sports Nutritionist in Sydney, who is very experienced in working with high level athletes and has done several Ironman triathlons herself. Rebecca and I have been working together as part of the 220 MAGAZINE TRIATHLON TEAM, who are following me for 6 months in the lead up to Port Macquarie Ironman. Rebecca is the nutritionist for the team.

During the race in Busso, with the hot weather and winds, it was very obvious I became dehydrated early in the bike. This then lead to a reduction in sweat rates, which obviously then lead to an increase of core body temperature. When this happens, the show is pretty much over, as it is very difficult to absorb any calories and even more difficult to replace the fluids that have been lost.

I know that I have been susceptible to this in the past and after I had the melt down in Busso, it prompted Rebecca and I to do some more investigation.

Firstly we did a very detailed fluid balance chart. This involves recording:

• Pre training weight
• Fluid add food taken in while training
• Post training weight

Along with temperature and humidity.

I found this an invaluable exercise, as it taught me a huge amount about my sweat rates and what is required during different conditions. I now have a template of my sweat rates in different conditions, which I can then refer to just prior to a race in order to accurately determine what fluid I need to maintain. As a general rule, you want to maintain no more than a 1-2% loss, as higher than this will cause a reduction in muscle contractibility/power and further than this can cause cramps, rising of body temperature and many other race ending symptoms!  Many people think that their slowing down is due to a lack of fitness, when often, it is being caused by a lack of nutrition or fluid.

The next process with finding out information about my sweat testing was a sweat analysis test. This involved doing an hour of hard training on an indoor trainer, in a lab situation. During this I had several patches attached to my arms which absorbed the sweat. These patches were then put into test tubes and sent to the AIS where they have high tech analysis machines which analyse the amount of sweat per hour and the electrolyte content of the sweat.

This was very interesting and found several things out;

• I have a sweat rate which is on the upper edge of the normal range ~ 1L/hour of sweat
• Very importantly I have a higher than normal sodium content of my sweat – 1.5g/hour. This value is quite high and means that I need to pay close attention to this prior to and during races, trying to replace as much as possible to avoid cramping, reduced GI function and dehydration. This means supplementing my intake during a race with extra sodium, no sports drinks have that high amount of sodium. It will also mean supplementing during the run with salt tablets in long races.

With the great help of Rebecca, I have been able to use the unfortunate race in Busselton to really learn from the experience. I now have a much better understanding of my sweat rates and sodium loss in different conditions. This is a vital element of racing well over long distances, especially in hot conditions.

How YOU can use this information:

A key for people doing any length of triathlon, especially as the time gets longer that you are out there, is to pay attention to fluid intakes. A great way to keep track and give you good and accurate information with regards to your sweat rates is:

• Weigh yourself prior to a training session – ideally not wearing many/any clothes (ideally after going to the toilet)
• Weigh yourself straight after training – in the same attire as before
• Take into account
• How much ate and drank and any toilet stops
• Then work out your sweat rates per hour

(Difference in weight pre/post training + amount drunk/food ate) ÷ hours of exercise = Sweat rate per hour

This will then give you 2 very valuable pieces of information:

• How much you sweat per hour (approx.)
• How good you were in that session at replacing your fluid

You can then use this information to work out how many bottles of fluid per hour – most bottles are 700ml, that you will require in a training session and in a race.

Why should YOU pay attention to this?

• A loss of over 2% will cause a big deterioration in performance – which is about 1.5kg for a 75kg athlete or 1kg for a 55kg athlete.
• Many people think they are just getting tired towards the end of a longer or hot session and often notice an increase of heart rate. This can very often be attributed to inadequate fueling, rather than actual fitness. It is VITAL on race day as well as in training sessions.
• Come race day you will be much more aware of what it takes to maintain you fluid levels in different climates and perhaps it may be the missing link to really achieving those PB’s!