Swimming to improve running

Before I got into triathlons, I often swam and ran just for general fitness. I often noticed that swimming improved my running, sometimes significantly. I'm not sure how this works. So, I'll just talk myself through it with you to try explaining why I think swimming helps your run.

Is it because my body gets used to working hard with limited oxygen? If I do alot of hypoxic turns (holding your breath coming out of the turn), that's when I notice my best gains.  But I gotta tell ya...those hurt! So, I don't do them alot anymore...that's just how life is.

I know I trim down when I swim alot, and maybe that has something to do with it. I certainly lose weight when I increase my swim volume. Losing weight will always drop your run time. The problem with me here becomes possible loss of power on the bike, but I'm not really worried about that because it doesn't seem like I get slower over 40k when I increase my swim volume.

Of course, the real trick I'm talking about here is finding a good balance between the swim volume and the run volume while maintaining a focus on the bike. In races, I am generally a 15 percentile swimmer, 50 percentile on the bike, and 30 percentile on the run. (Reminder: "percentile" means where I'm at in the pack. For example, 15 percentile on the swim means I'm coming in behind 15 percent of the swimmer and in front of 85 percent of the rest). Overall, this puts me at about 20 percentile in the final results.

So, if swimming improves my running in a general sense AND if I can come out of the water in the front of the pack without setting myself up to bonk later, how much should I swim in relation to running?

My current goal is 8,000 yards per week swimming (3,000 + 2,000 + 2,000 + 1,000) and 30 miles running (1 x 9 miles, 3 x 6 miles, 1 x 3 miles).  That 80 swim points versus 120 run points using the points system to generalize equivalent efforts from the different sports. I might have to drop one of those six mile runs, at which point I will have four workouts per sport, and I'll be able to keep my sanity a bit easier.  I could drop a swim, but then I think I'm setting myself up to come out of the water more tired than I really want.

Anyway, I recommend that if you are hitting a plateau in your run, try increasing your swim volume and intensity while working in some hypoxic turns during your swims to break that plateau in your run. I think you'll find the results quite interesting.

Spring break?

Well, so much for "spring" in spring break. I'm so glad I took the opportunity to ride outside on Saturday. Sometimes you just have to grab opportunities in life.

85% swim pace best for tri races

I agree with this article...mostly. I prefer a 90% effort myself. Really, isn't this just science confirming common sense? You can't go 95% of max heart rate  on the bike and expect to run well, either.  A good red-line effort for a sprint or olympic tri is probably 90% of max heart rate in very general terms.

Triathlete.com » Faster Swim Times May Not Lead To Faster Finish Times

Results concluded that with an exertion of 80-85 percent and 90-95 percent of maximum swimming intensity, athletes maintained faster cycle times. The overall triathlon time was faster with swimming at 80-85 percent than swimming with a 98-102 percent exertion. Additionally, when triathletes swam at maximum intensity, their stroke rates went up, so they were doing more work.

Therefore, researchers concluded that performing at a swimming intensity below that of a time trial effort significantly improves cycling and overall performance in a race.

Spring Break Progress Test = SUCCESS! 40k bike progress

A good training plan has some built in testing periods to see if your plan is working. Of course, those tests should be built around your goals for the year.  If you are self-coached, it’s important to work in some of these tests throughout the year so you can make appropriate changes early enough to give you the results you want on race day.
In my case, my goal for the year is a 60 minute 40k bike, so my test is to see if I can ride 24 miles in one hour at a tension that is similar to what I’ll find on race day.
I did a scheduled spring break progress test today to see if my winter workouts on the bike were successful. I didn't really take a break this week, so my legs weren't completely fresh, but they're close enough for the info I wanted.
This week's workouts consisted of 3,000 yards swimming on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. This week had a definite swim-focus  because the pool is closed this weekend and all next week for spring break repairs, and I wanted to pick up my swim efforts. On the bike, I did only a 30 moderate-effort miles on Monday morning. For running, I ran 3.5 miles on a round-about-route to the pool and back on Thursday and Friday. With such little bike and run this week, I still felt fatigued in my legs a bit as I walked up the stairs last night; I guess a three fold increase in swim volume can really affect your entire body!  
Below is my expected progression chart for bike, run, and swim. The March 15 date was not a hard date when I set it back in November or so; it was meant to be a day somewhere around spring break, which today fits.
 

The bike goals are the second and third columns in from the left. I have to put “gear/cad” because I don’t have a power meter and that is my control factor. In any case, I ended up doing the test today on Gear 9 (the highest possible) plus an additional turn harder on the trainer tension, equivalent to an extra gear harder.
My average cadence was 72, much higher than the 68 listed. I only went for 65 minutes (five minute warmup plus 1 x 60 minute set), though, but I had already done 25.44 miles in that 65 minutes. Since the overall goal here is to be able to do 24 miles per hour for an hour, I have met that goal. And, I’m pretty sure my tension is set at the equivalent of road resistance with no wind. I’m very happy with my results, but the “rubber will meet the road” when I actually get out on the road….that might be a while because it snowed again today, and I’m a fair weather rider.

As far as the swim goes, I couldn’t hit that 2,000 yards in 24 minutes today, and that’s probably too fast of a goal anyway. I can hit 1500 yards in 22:00 in the pool at an 95% effort. That’s as far as I’ve gotten in the pool this year. I’m not really worried about it, though, because the swim endurance can come back fairly quickly, and this past week was the first week I really even cared about the swim workouts; almost all swimming prior to this week was done break up the monotony of biking and running all the time.
I hit that run goal two weeks ago. My average for the 10k loop is right around 50:00 on a very moderate effort. I routinely hit faster than 49:30 on that loop if I put forth any amount of effort beyond moderate. That 10k loop is very hilly, with three 200foot elevation change hills on it. I think that if I can hit that route routinely at 46:00 during standard workout weeks with a lot of volume in my legs, I should definitely be able to run a 42:00 10k in a race. That’s still a bit short of the 40:00 goal, but I’m being very conservative and not adjusting for elevation or race adrenaline.
Here’s a chart of what my run progression looks like. The data points are times run on the same course. I tried to run the same “moderate effort level” every time I ran it. You can see how the average time, represented by the red line, trends downward even though I drastically increased bike volume and then the swim volume during that time while gaining about ten pounds(!). If I can lost ten pounds, I’m sure the graph will continue its downward trend.

All in all, I’m very happy with where I’m at right now, assuming that bike tension is equivalent to road resistance. The only thing I’m not happy about is weighing 185 pounds when my goal weight is 170-172. I knew I was going to gain weight when I quit dipping, but I thought I would be able to get it off sooner or later if I had did enough volume. That’s not the case so far.

Scheduling a focus week

Most of us Age Groupers do this triathlon thing while holding down a standard job and making time for a family of 2.2 kids and a dog and a mortgage. Time management and scheduling become very important to successful training. So, sometimes we need to simply do a focus week and get what we can out of that week's training.

For example, you might need to go out of town for a week or so for a business trip. You can't take your bike, and you can't work in a trip(s) to the local pool. What to do? Schedule a focus week for running.

The focus week is exactly what it sounds like. You focus on one specific area. This is nothing new. I'm pretty sure Joe Friel mentions it at some point in his books or on his blog. You can do this when you feel like one sport isn't at the same level as other sports or anytime you run into some scheduling problems like a week of pool closure, a week without a bike for whatever reason, travelling, or injury. It can mean that you simply do only one sport, or you do two or all three sports. The main concept is that at least the majority of your time will be spent on one sport.  Another twist on this is to take an entire winter training period as a focus period, which many people do in order to help their swim. I've spent this entire winter focusing on the bike.

In this instance, I take a few extra minutes to write down exactly what I'm hoping to accomplish  in very specific terms. It's really a mini-training plan for the week or however long your focus period is. Some things might not be exercise related, but maybe nutrition related.

Example of a weeklong run run focus when you're stuck in a hotel during a conference with no pool or bike:

1. I'll run twice daily Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (Mon and Fri are travel days). One workout is short and hard, and the other workout will be an easy or very moderate effort for a longer period of time. (For me personally, this is a hard 4.5 miler with some warmup and an easy 7 miler).

2. I'll swim or bike Monday morning before going to the airport. I'll run before going to the airport on Friday.

3. I'll take resistance bands to use in my room.

4. I'll limit alcohol consumption and desserts; basically just watch watch what I eat and drink all week.

5. I'll stay well hydrated during the day.

6. I'll get eight hours of sleep each night. Turning off the tv will facilitate this.

I wish I was always successful at those things on my trips! Usually, I'm a miserable failure, especially about the desserts because I have a serious sweet tooth! 

Another example is what I'm dealing with right now. The pool I swim at is closed all next week. As luck had it, the forecast all this week was rain, and I hate running in the rain. Also, my swim volume needs to really pick up and get on par with the bike and swim at this point because I focused all winter on bike and run. So, this is the perfect week for a swim focus! I didn't figure this out until Monday morning on the bike trainer, but that was early enough to adapt my schedule to a swim focus. Here is the basic premise of my swim focus week.

1* Family has absolute priority this week.

1. I'll focus on the swim this week. Instead of running at lunch, I'll swim. I want to do 4x3000yd workouts for a total of 12,000 yards this week.  I need to listen to my body for injury and adapt accordingly, but simply being tired is not a reason to cut. (Note: I was averaging about 4,000 yds per week for the past four weeks, so this is a HUGE increase and could easily result in injury if I'm not careful).

2. Swim workouts will consist of longer, lower intensity sets (1500, 1000, 500) in order to build general endurance, allow sufficient recovery, reduce injury, and build my mind-set back up to swimming a 1500.

3. I will maintain my bike volume as much as possible (Another note: my wife had a baby last week, so we have a newborn in the house along with a 2 1/2 year old boy. Joy! but hard on sleep and work and PT schedules).

4. I will run at least 12 miles this week in one way or another, preferably in 2x10k runs.

5. This swim focus week will set a foundation for a bike/run focus next week in which I will bike/run in the morning and then run the standard 10k route at lunch.

So that's a real-world swim focus week. So far, I've done the swims and one of the two runs. My bike volume didn't keep up because I wasn't sleeping enough. And I've eaten way too much because good friend and neighbors are being really nice to us! Such is life. I'm making the most of this week that is AWESOME to have a healthy newborn baby boy and a healthy wife but difficult when considering just triathlon training.

Update: The extra swimming is really stressing my body. I have been cutting out a few workouts because I am feeling really fatigued. Wow! This just validates that swimming really does take alot out of you during the triathlon race, even if you don't feel that tired.

Pear Izumi Select Tri Shorts

My annual training schedule brings a change in focus at Spring Break, which is just a few weeks away. In preparation for that, I went to get some Hammer Recoverite at the local sports shop. They were out of the big containers, but I started looking around saw some Pearl Izumi tri shorts...they looked nice, and at $55 before at 20% tri club discount, I figured I'd get them. I was looking online and most of the shorts at the low end of the price spectrum come in at about $45.  Buy local, get the discount, prices are the same........good deal!

I want to use these shorts mainly for bike riding and maybe a few bricks (if any...I'm not into running around in spandex, I prefer running shorts!). I have two pair of DeSoto four-pocket tri shorts that I absolutely love, so I don't wear them for training because they are fairly expensive. My current and only pair of training-only tri shorts are some Carrera's I got off Sierra Trading Post, and they are ok; I just want another pair so I don't have to worry about laundry schedules.  I don't do anything over 40 miles or two hours, so tri shorts generally fit the bill as far as padding goes.

I bought the "Select" series, and I want to make sure everyone understands the difference here. The Select series is the lower end of three series, with "Elite" and "Pro" being the higher end lines.  I don't know exactly what the differences are at this point, but the "Select" series is just fine for my limited purposes of basic 20-40 mile bike rides.

Anyway....these shorts certainly do the job they are meant to do. They are comfortable and provide some good compression on the quads. I am 6'1" and 185 pounds, and the large fits nicely. These shorts go up pretty high on the abs and back. I'm not a fan of that, so I just roll them down. In some cases, I've read that having that extra support on the abs can help improve your riding, so that's a nice option to have if I ever want it.

In the three hours I've spent on the bike with them (a one hour ride and a two hour ride), I didn't notice any chafing from bad seam placement.  That's important! 

The chamois is a minimal tri pad, and I haven't tried running in it, but it feels like a regular tri pad that shouldn't be an issue. I won't be wearing these in the pool, and I wouldn't it, either, as chlorine can really eat away at any fabrics. This fabric dries pretty quickly when soaked in sweat, and that's really nice, too.

Overall, a nice pair of shorts for $45!

New Teammate! Noah is here!

Noah got here last night. All is well! 8lbs8oz, 21inches. God's Miracle of Life!

Recovery complete?

If you read Friday's post, you know that I kind of crashed. I haven't really figured out if it was all mental or physical or whatever combination, but I know that there was no exercising to be done on Friday or Saturday. I was ready and willing to go today, but I decided to hold off. I felt like one of those race horses in the holding area right before they are released for the race.

Instead, I played with Paul alot today, and I worked on my other book, "Yellowstone's Backcountry Cutthroats." If you haven't figured it out or you don't follow this blog much, I also enjoy fly-fishing in Yellowstone National Park. That is a primary fun time with family and the great outdoors, and is really alot of the reason I love living in Pocatello so much. In any case, I got that book finished up finally and submitted it to the publishing process at www.smashwords.com. In about a week, it will be available. I've also got going on the blog at www.backcountrycutts.blogspot.com and www.backcountrycutts.com as a companion website. Hopefully I'm not biting off more than I can chew by getting those going.

On another note, as I was on smashwords.com the self-publishing website, today, I noticed that 46 of the weight training e-books have sold.  All along, I've been seeing "2" in the sold column, but that was the two sold on smashwords.com only. Another 44 have been sold on different network sites. I ain't getting rich, but it's interesting to see how the book goes about. I really just hope it is helping people!

How many days are in a week?

 My body likes the five weekday / two day weekend training schedule I have. There are discussions about how long a "training week" should be. Some people say seven days; some say ten days. It's important to figure out what works for you, and you really should try a longer training "week" sometime because the results  can be quite insightful.

I know because I just did eight days straight (today is the ninth day straight), and there is NO INTENSITY in me to continue with the workouts right now. I got up this morning simply because I promised myself that when I got tired this week, I would just cut volume and intensity but not the entire workout. Sooo....instead of 30 miles on the bike, I did five! Instead of 1800yds in the pool, I did 300. Yeah, I'm done for today. Let's see what the lunch run time brings...I'm thinking three miles very easy..as in almost walking.  I feel great. I'm in a good mood. This may be just a mental thing because I did indeed feel good for the short bit of workout I did; I just couldn't find any intensity in me. Even if it is just mental, then I might be bordering on getting a bit burned out....and that's never good. Spring is just around the corner.....it's just getting around that corner in one piece physically AND MENTALLY that is the tough part.

Yesterday, I thought about Joe Friel's crash -training thoughts that he sent out in an e-mail. I think I was doing this to some extent in an effort to get in as much as possible before the baby gets here (yesterday was the ultra-sound due date!). Crash-training is an interesting theory, but I'm not totally sold on it. Although my run times do come down every time I run several days in a row, which is the ONLY reason I'll run at lunch today is to maintain that running consistency.

Interestingly, I don't find that consistency is such an important point with bike training. For me and the good bike improvements I've made this winter, it has been all about a couple of good, very hard, 90-minute efforts every week with a couple of basic steady-state rides thrown in to gain general endurance. Just a note that I've specifically loved me some Sufferfest! and my 10 minute TT video  to finish my workout.....by the way, I'm not a Lance-groupie, but that's a great video to finish your workout with a high intensity effort.

So, if you're caught in a rut, take a chance on finding that ultimate training week routine for you. Mix it up a bit  for a month or two. Try four days hard with two days easy, or go 8-9 days of high volume and then back off for a while. You never know what you'll find!

New Shoes! Nike Structure +14 review

My Montrail Streaks have come to the end of their daily use life, and it was time to get a new pair of shoes. I figured I'd go with some basic road shoes this time around. I've been wearing trail shoes for the past four years or so because I ran on mostly dirt and no-kidding trails. But with my training this year, I've been running mostly on roads.  And my A-races are all on roads, although there are two races (Janet's in West Yellowstone and the Utah Xterra) that are on dirt roads/trails....but they are not A-races.

I looked for reviews for moderate pronators, and I found the Nike Structure Triax +14. I also looked Nike Free Runs but decided against them as a daily trainer because they didn't seem to have enough overall support.

The Structure Triax +14 had good reviews, and I'm happy with them after a few weeks and about 80 miles. I started with one three-miler to see how my body would react, and with no issues after that first short run with them, I turned on to daily six milers and have had no issues. In fact, my plaguing calf muscle issues are a thing of the past; I really don't even think about that any more, and that is what I was most worried about, I think.

A few other thoughts about these:
- I think I'll be able to go barefoot/sockless in them with no problems. I haven't tried yet because it's still cold/chilly out.
- I think the Nike sole will wear out much sooner than a good Montrail sole made for abuse. That makes these more expensive than just the initial price tag because I have to replace them sooner.
- They look fast.....so nice and white and bright. :)