Thursday, July 29, 2010

Training Modification

I was going over the results from last Sunday's race with my swim coach tonight.  We agreed that:
- My swim was dreadfully slow;
- My bike was good, but there is still room for improvement;
- My run was great.
Basically, his argument is that I have it all back asswards.  Most of the burlier athletes he coaches manage to swim faster well before their run gets faster.  My swim time on Sunday was actually 2 minutes slower than last year.  But my running pace was 1:30 per mile faster than last year.

This improvement in the run, by the way, is why he feels I've still got speed to find on the bike.

In the 5 days since the race, I've realized that the 13 minute improvement over last year is something to be proud of.  This race was a great way to cap off my first year, and in the end it only deepened my resolve to compete.  And of course you can't discount the overall benefits of the added fitness.  But when I'm talking to a coach, we are talking strictly about performance.  And he reckons I've got some work to do.

So for the rest of the season, I'll be dropping a run day and adding a pool day.  That will mean 4 swims (2 open water, 2 pool) and 2 runs a week.  This will take some getting used to, because I really enjoy running.  But I might as well give it a shot.

The bike sessions will remain the same, but if I can squeeze out some extra mileage, I'll do it.  And I've got to do some more tempo rides as well.

We shall see what happens...

10 comments:

Barbie said...

WooHoo for the 2 extra swims. You will not only find that this will benefit you in the water but it will also help you gain extra endurance cardio wise for your run.

FLATOUT JIM said...

Before you know it, winter will be here, and you cann spend 7 days in the pool.

If you really want to improve your swim, follow Barbies workouts! If they don't kill you, they will make you faster.

KovasP said...

Andy Potts would disagree with this decision. He's written that to downplay your strengths is to weaken yourself overall. He'd suggest to work on improving your swimming, but not at th expense of running and cycling. It'll be interesting to see how it works out.

Aimee said...

I need to improve my swim too. I'm all for adding an extra day to help with the swim, but I don't think I could give up a run day. I love it too much! Good luck with the change!

Johann said...

I hope this works for you! I've also seen Andy Potts's ideas on this as Kovas pointed out. Maybe do the extra swim for a while and later bring back the run as well. Good luck, overall you're doing great I think!

DRog said...

I like it.
Change up and flip flop the day, gives a nice 1 day bteak from the running and the overall fitness from swimming is obviously fantastic. Agree with Johann you are doing great overall...
-D

Unknown said...

Sometimes it is good to change the workouts just to keep it all fresh. I am doing 4 swims a week now and aside from becoming a better swimmer the added benefit is quicker recovery ... The pool I swim in is 65 degrees and when my legs are feeling beat from a bike or run that cold water just revitalizes my legs. it is like taking 4 ice baths a week! And I'd imagine the water temp of the Pacific doesn't get much over 70 degrees. Seriously, your swim will get better but your runs will fill stronger b/c of the recovery aspect of swimming. Good luck at becoming a fish!

valen said...

Sounds good for a change. Get in touch with your bike club for the tempo rides. you may want to do some racing with them.
your running will not be worst off by takin one run of th shcedule, it'll probably don't get better either, but that's something you coach will take care of once you're close to your big races.

Chris K said...

Now this is interesting. The more I read you and Kovas' blogs the more intrigued I become about Tri's. I love the added strategic elements. To me, the key sentence in your post was, "He reckons I've got some work to do". That is the beauty in all this. It's what keeps us going, what makes us get out of bed at 5:00 a.m. to train, etc, etc. Back to the Tri questions, does a golfer spend more time practicing putting, approach shots, or driving the ball. All are important.

64 CLASSIC said...

Patrick--I have no experience to base any advice on so you don't get any!!

I look forward however to getting my running back into form and throwing down one of these tribadboys however.

I love the juggling of the workouts and the variety. Keep working.

Been busy as #### this week with softball so haven't read much. Look forward to catching up.

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