By tjfry | February 25, 2009
Every winter, we all go into our ‘base’ training mode, but based on my experience over the years, very few people actually understand the purpose and specifics of base training. For most, base training is simply unstructured workouts and more often than not, a reason to take it nice and easy when you don’t feel like hitting it hard. Interval workouts are still done and the aggressive groups rides are still a regular part of the weekly equation. Ask someone about their base training and you will get some vague answer about focusing on aerobic activity or low intensity and decreasing the hard efforts.
I see the base phase of training much different. I think base building is the most important phase for endurance athletes. It is a very focused training period in which you train almost 100% of the time in a very narrow window of aerobic effort. This window doesn’t include easy aerobic training nor does it include anything at anaerobic threshold or above. Basically (outside of warm up and warm down) you keep your effort right at or just below your aerobic threshold(AT). For those who use a heart rate monitor this means constantly keeping your heart rate in a range of 10 bpm where your upper ceiling is your aerobic threshold and you never get to your anaerobic (or lactate) threshold . So lets say your AT is 155bpm, then you want to train between 145-155 for your entire workout. Note: this doesn’t mean that this is your average for the workout, this means that if your heart rate hits 156, you slow down. Likewise, if you heart rate drops to 144 you must pick it up. For those who train without a heart rate monitor, this is roughly your Ironman race pace.
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By tjfry | February 20, 2009
It’s the world series for runners and the oldest organized marathon in the history of the world. It, like the Hawiian Ironman is to triathlon, is the measuring stick every non runner will forever measure you by.
“Oh you run marathons? Have you ever done the Boston Marathon?”
This year with the birth of my second child, I decided (wisely as my wife might add) to scale back the triathlon training and just do a little running (and swimming when I get the itch) and train for a marathon. So if one were to train for a marathon, what better marathon to set your sights on than Boston.
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By tjfry | February 16, 2009
Triathletes are notorious about having a horrible kick. With as much as they condition their legs in cycling and running, you would think that they would be especially strong at kicking. They try and muscle through it and they kick too much. In distance swimming, the point of the kick is for balance and to help with rotation. It is not for propulsion.
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By tjfry | February 11, 2009
One of the most common problems among swimmers are shoulder problems. This can be especially true for those new to the sport as they haven’t fully developed good form and those form issues turn into problems. It doesn’t take a very big flaw to cause a problem. Let’s assume it takes you 16 strokes to get across the pool, 8 strokes on each shoulder. If your average workout is 3,000 yards, that’s 120 lengths of the pool and 960 times that you rotate each shoulder. If you have even a small flaw in your stroke, the amount of repitition can easily cause a problem.
Hands down the most common cause is poor body rotation. In fact, I can often diagnose the problem without even seeing a person swim. I ask a few questions and bingo! Swimming flat in the water will cause the tendons (see illustration) to be pulled or stretched as the arm is reaching behind you to recover above the water. This added friction will cause inflamation (which starts to compound the issue) and pain. It’s considered an overuse injury, but poor mechanics are the true culprit.
The fix? Rotate your body more. The motion of the shoulder shouldn’t be much more than an up and down motion rather than the circular motion that most people think of. As the arm finishes the pull and begins to recover, the body rotates to one side allowing the shoulder to simply lift. When the recovery is complete and the hand enters the water, the body rotates back allowing the shoulder to essentially lower as you pull through the water. If you find yourself moving your shoulder in large, circular motions, then chances are you are swimming too flat in the water.
Is this the only way to get swimmer’s shoulder? Heck no. There are plenty. For example, when one muscle group develops more than another in your shoulder (too much bench press, etc) the over developed muscle group will create an imbalance and pull on the joint. You can also run into problems on the back side of your shoulder if you cross the midline of your body too much during your pull. The list goes on…
Be patient as tendons and ligaments receive very little bloodflow, so it will take them longer to heal than muscle injuries. Reduce your volume or do exercises in the pool that don’t hurt the problemed shoulder such as: other strokes, stroke drills and kick sets. A little time off will do your shoulders some good. Once the pain subsides, have someone take a look at your stroke and make the necessary adjustments. The key is not to drift back into your old habits.