Competitive Triathlon in 10Hours A Week by Patrick McCrann

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

Foreword From Coach Patrick As an endurance coach who deals with real-world athletes, I am constantly striking a balance between a training schedule that is ‘doable’ and one that delivers the highest performance gains. For years I have watched people try and fit their lives into the frameworks created by others. And while you wouldn’t walk more than 20 feet in a pair of shoes that didn’t fit, it’s amazing how long athletes will continue to follow a training plan that isn’t right for them. Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours a Week, the product of over five years of triathlon training & coaching experience, seeks to address the number one challenge facing age group triathletes: a lack of time to train. As age group athletes can attest, the multiple commitments of family, work, and fitness are hard to juggle and are always in conflict with one another. If so many athletes face time constraints, why isn’t there a methodology to help them craft the training plan that’s right for their goals, their schedule? After searching for years – and failing –to find this balanced approach to training, I set out to create it. The Third Way is a philosophy that puts an end to the quality vs. quantity debate by taking the best of both approaches and condensing them into a manageable structure that generates results. Many of our athletes at Performance Training Systems have used this approach with great success, and with this book I hope to bring this philosophy to the larger public. Built on the Third Way, this book is the ultimate tool for the self-coached triathlete. There are three distinct elements to this text: Methodology, Planning, and Resources. The Methodology section outlines the concepts

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

and practices behind the 10Hours A Week approach to triathlon training. In the Planning section, you will go step-by-step through the process of developing a training plan for your next race / event, identifying your Critical Success Factors and determining your Key Workouts – athletes pressed for time should begin with this section. The Resources section contains workout examples, exercise routines (with photos), and a glossary. For those of you who have not had a specific training plan before, my hope is that you will discover how reassuring it is to look ahead at the upcoming week and know exactly what you will be doing on each day – and how each workout will help you reach your specific goal(s). For those of you who are time-challenged, I hope you will find balance and improvements in the simple framework I have created. I strongly believe that the principles for planning and execution in Competitive Triathlon in 10Hours a Week will help you achieve your athletic goals without forcing you to put your life on hold. See you at the races! Coach Patrick

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

Who is Coach Patrick? I completed my first sprint triathlon in the summer of 1999 while on break from the Peace Corps. Since then, I have transformed my interest in triathlon from a part-time hobby into Performance Training Systems (PTS), an online coaching enterprise. I live and train in Boston, MA with my wonderful wife and beautiful baby daughter, where I: ! Have coached over 100 athletes to the Ironman finish line, including the World Champs in Hawaii. ! Have published my writing and blogging on triathlon, training and the endurance lifestyle on 10hoursaweek.com, eTips, TriFuel.com, BeginnerTriathlete.com, Xtri.com, TransitionTimes, Active.com and in Inside Triathlon magazine. ! Have competed in nine Ironman races, from Panama City to Klagenfurt, from a low of 11:44 to a personal best of 10:01, earning a Kona slot in 2006. ! Serve as the Head Coach of Fuel Belt Training (Fuelbelt.com), where athletes of all abilities can purchase triathlon and run training plans. As an age-group triathlete for the last seven years, I am acutely aware of the time demands on fellow age-group triathletes. An advocate for planning and training smart, I am most proud of my ability to develop effective, timesaving training protocols for athletes that help them achieve their triathlon goals.

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

Disclaimers and the Legal Stuff This is a book for the Self Coached Athlete! You are actually required to do some work; this means reading the text, filling out the associated forms, selecting key workouts and tracking your progress. If you are looking for a plan that just tells you what to do and when, you have come to the wrong place – this plan requires you to think about who you are as an athlete, to determine what type of work to do to be ready for race day and to analyze your progress. Do not purchase this book if you want the “12 Weeks to a Half Iron PR” training plan. If you are looking for a training plan or one-on-one coaching, visit www.performancetrainingsystems.com.

Physician Approval Triathlon is more than a sport; it’s three thrown together. And of all the sports to choose, swimming, cycling, and running are some of the most dangerous ones out there. Before you undertake this, or any training program, your physician should approve you for physical activity. Some of the risks you take in training and racing might even be life threatening. By taking certain precautions, you should be able to minimize your risks. For example: • • •

Always wear a helmet when riding a bike Avoid heavy traffic areas whenever possible when riding or running Ride and run only with safe groups; avoid groups that do not obey traffic laws

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week • •

Never swim in open water alone Make sure your bike is safe before starting every ride by checking the tires, quick-release levels, bolts, etc.

If you experience any physical conditions such as chest pain, radiating arm or neck pain, joint soreness, back pain, unusual muscle or tendon discomfort, when training, be sure to inform your doctor right away and stop the workout immediately. This book is mean to be a guide to improving your fitness. Follow it’s principles, train smart, and stay healthy and you’ll be on track for a successful season!

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

PART ONE: The Self Coached Athlete Self-coached athletes have implicitly accepted a huge responsibility. This is not a decision to be taken lightly, as a coach has many roles – motivator, planner, sounding board, listener, re-scheduler, strategist, etc. And as any one of us can’t excel in all of the aforementioned areas simultaneously and be a good athlete, parent, colleague, friend, etc., we look externally for input on how to proceed. The explosive growth of the Internet has made all sorts of information about training and triathlon available to anyone with a computer. And there is always a training buddy ready to give you some feedback on how to improve. Unfortunately, simply combining the training advice of an Olympic-caliber swimmer, an elite Marathoner, and Lance Armstrong’s cycling coach will not help you to create the ideal training plan for YOU. The worst part of this approach is that each of these people are examples of excellence in a particular discipline – not in three simultaneously. Combining best practices such as these can only lead to fatigue, overtraining, and potentially injury. The 10Hours A Week methodology was designed specifically with these challenges in mind. Within this approach, your “challenge” will lie within the workout itself…not in how to fit it into your busy week…not in how to put the right workout in the right place, etc. By condensing your training week into (approximately) ten hours and giving you the basic framework for your training, the 10Hours A Week approach should actually free you to do more of the “important” stuff in your life.

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

“You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there.” – Yogi Berra

Accept Your Athletic Self: Be vs. Have When it comes to triathlon training, there is a lot of room for debate on what constitutes the best training methodology. From my experience, success has very little to do with the plan and everything to do with the preparation. In other words, I can give Unmotivated Joe Triathlete the best dang triathlon plan in the world and he still won't be successful if he doesn't do the work. The 10Hours A Week methodology works precisely because it begins with the “how” instead of the “what” or the “why.” Most time-challenged athletes are unhappy with their training situation. These athletes are jealous of their counterparts who have lots of time to train, lamenting: “If I only had free time on Saturday to train…” or “If I could run long twice in a single week I could…” These athletes are so focused on what they think they need (external) that they are unable to concentrate on making the most of the assets they already possess (internal). By accepting that your time schedule is limited, you can work on becoming the best triathlete you can be. Race day success is predicated upon quality training, and quality training is consistent training. Training for world-class performance and training 10Hours A Week are two very different things. In this program, you’ll be the best you can be, given your constraints. If you are willing to forsake everything for training in your quest for Olympic gold, you’ll definitely need another approach.

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

This approach of identifying our assets and becoming better athletes is an inherent part of the 10Hours A Week approach. Just as you will start with the end in mind by planning your training around your goal performance in your next A-level race, so too can you begin to mold yourself into a lean, mean, time efficient machine!

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

Coach Thyself The most challenging aspect of the 10Hours A Week program--or any exercise in self-coaching--is acting as your own coach. While the 10Hours A Week program will give you a training framework, it will not make any decisions for you. It will not get you out of bed, it will not take your splits at the track, it won't give you feedback on your running technique. These are all aspects of your training that fall under your jurisdiction; it's up to you to decide how far you want to take your fitness. Here are three key elements of successful self-coached athletes.

The Biggest Bang is about doing workouts that have the highest return on your time investment. When you start your training week, you should have a clear sense of which workouts are the key â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or critical â&#x20AC;&#x201C; efforts for you to complete. While this approach is already incorporated into the 10Hours A Week methodology, there will still be times when you will be forced to adapt or change your workout schedule. For example, a meeting might run late, forcing you to skip that day's work out. Now you have to decide whether you should reschedule that work out or skip it. Since your week is already pretty packed, rescheduling your workouts could be a lot of work. If the work that you missed was a key workout, however, then by all means you should reschedule it in the place of a workout that is less important. You will face this challenge repeatedly in your training and you'll have many opportunities to get it right (or wrong). Do your best to stick to the Biggest Bang theory and you'll be okay. Know Your Numbers means staying on top of your training. This means tracking the time, distance, and effort for each workout. Having this

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

information is critical for your training success. After all, in order to plan a successful week or month, you need to know what you've already done. The 10Hours A Week methodology includes a framework for tracking your data but you should know that there are many other options available to you including online training logs and Excel spreadsheets you can download right to your computer. Whatever tool you decide to use, you must use it consistently in order for it to be useful.

Keep The Balance is about, well, staying balanced. The whole point of the 10Hours A Week methodology is to give you access to high-level athletic success without steep personal or professional sacrifices. Selfcoached athletes are notorious for seeking out extra work to ensure success. What starts out innocently enough as 10Hours A Week can quickly devolve into an over-training fiasco. Regardless of who you are or what your goals are, you have a set of priorities outside of your training. Perhaps your family is the most important thing to you; maybe it's your job. Whatever your external priorities may be, it's important to keep them in mind as you plan and execute your training.

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

Equipment Truth be told, having an effective methodology—and actually following it—is only half the battle. There is also a particular set of equipment that will make your 10Hours A Week training experience very effective. The following is a list of things that will help you set up the optimal training environment. While none of them are mandatory, each is a part of the overall plan and I will refer to them later in the book. I recognize that each athlete has a different budget, so do what you can. In many cases, a lot of these items are available online for a significant discount / used. To make things easier, I have listed the items in order of Mandatory / Strongly Recommended / Optional. ! Mandatory: heart rate monitor, swim cap, goggles, swimsuit, running shoes, bicycle, bicycle helmet, cycling shoes, cycling shorts, flat repair kit. ! Strongly Recommended: kickboard, fins, hand paddles, swim cords, cycling jersey, sunglasses, aerobars, indoor bicycle trainer, treadmill (or access to one) ! Optional: drag suit, bicycle powermeter. The ideal 10Hours A Week athlete would have the following fitness setup: • Swimming: Access to a 25-meter/25-yard pool with plenty of lapor open-swim time slots, option for Masters swim workouts. • Cycling: A bicycle power meter (for Watts indoors and out) and an indoor trainer for the shorter workouts (or the really inclement weather days). • Running: A treadmill - or access to one - for the winter months, unless you have no fear of the cold or inclement weather.

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

â&#x20AC;˘ Access to Cross Training equipment such as spin bikes, elliptical machines, Stairmasters, etc.

Joining the local gym or YMCA is an easy way to gain access to a large variety of equipment / facilities without breaking the bank!

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

Third Way Methodology There is constant debate over what constitutes an effective program: tons of miles (volume) or miles that hurt tons (intensity). The folks on either side of the line have been battling for so long that the true nature of the argumentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;what is the most effective training protocolâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;is almost moot. Most people are more fired up about the type of training they do than they are about the results they are getting. In other words, being able to say you did a 7-hour ride is more important than whether the ride actually resulted in any tangible training benefit.

The most effective schedule is one you can actually complete. The Third Way is all about the appropriate application of time and effort to get the desired fitness outcomes. While long-term endurance fitness gains are most certainly made by executing macro cycles of longdistance/steady-state training for many years, the issue here is that the majority of age group triathletes simply don't have the time to make that kind of investment. And even if they can find the time to put in this mega-training, most don't have the time to invest in the recovery needed to properly absorb their training load. There is most certainly a time and a place for high-volume training within an age grouper's training regimen â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and within the 10Hours A Week program as well. Of course, this volume is selectively placed at critical points within your training cycle, giving you the greatest return on your training time investment without sapping your other life commitments. What the 10Hours A Week program does not allow for, however, is training for the sake of just training. You can talk about back-to-back weekends century rides as much as you want, but the reality is that only

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

5% of the age group triathlete population actually has the time to complete that type of training. And maybe only 1% will actually benefit from that type of double session. Sample Scheduling Framework So how does all this actually translate into a plan? Depending on an athlete's goal race distance, particularly for the half- or full-Ironman races, the 10Hours A Week program will allow for some high volume work. A sample Half Ironman program could be built on the following six-week macro cycle:

Time Weeks 1 to 4 Week 5 Week 6

Sample Half Iron Macro Cycle* Week Type Total Hours Focus Standard 10 hours Quality workouts with intensity and recovery. Endurance 14 hours Long, steady state efforts to boost base fitness. Recovery 6 hours Recovery and testing time to monitor improvements.

* repeat cycle as needed.

The four weeks of training targeting 10Hours A Week enables the athlete to work on their high-end fitness and technique in a controlled manner. By scheduling one week of endurance training, the athlete has time to plan -- personally and professionally -- for this part of the cycle. It is within this endurance week that the athlete puts his/her 10Hours A Week fitness to the test in conditions similar to their Key Race. Total training time during an endurance week is up to each athlete and their individual schedule. At a minimum, a bit more time on the bike is recommended. 10 Hours A Week Content copyright ÂŠ 2007 Performance Training Systems. All rights reserved.

Competitive Triathlon in 10 Hours A Week

The final week of recovery and testing allows for the consolidation and benchmarking of fitness gains. More importantly, this recovery week is the time for the athlete to excel in other areas of his or her life.