tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-378276312024-02-06T23:24:20.493-07:00Train smarter and race faster with power and paceTips and techniques to training and racing smarter with the aid of power meters and pace watches. HR is a dependent variable... stop lying to yourself.MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-79238300682456415362008-04-09T09:43:00.000-06:002008-04-09T09:44:11.494-06:00Combining BlogsI have decided to combine all my racing, training, life and coaching efforts into one entity. I will continue to post training info over on my main blog <a href="http://www.trimarkyv.blogspot.com/">http://www.trimarkyv.blogspot.com/</a> as well as at my website <a href="http://www.markyv.com/">http://www.markyv.com/</a><br /><br />Thanks for stoping in.MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-30454890454732414842008-02-26T10:03:00.002-07:002008-02-26T10:08:34.830-07:00Coaching... put to word by Doc Phil<a href="http://www.physfarm.com/blog/?p=37">http://www.physfarm.com/blog/?p=37</a><br /><br />Much of what you read here is what I believe. When I converse with a client I show them the how and the why. Completely transparent. This is how_ you will do it and this is why_ you will do it. I don't give a workout simply because I "believe" the workout works but rather because I know_ the workout works. If it's a swim workout that I remember doing from back in the day I learn and figure out why_ we did it. What sort of physiological adaptations the workout is looking to cause.MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-68337100614055960832008-02-11T09:47:00.000-07:002008-02-11T09:49:52.605-07:00Daniels on Training Progression"develop speed (skill) before endurance (aerobic conditioning)"<br /><br />1. learn good technique<br /><br />2. work toward speed development without high mileage during the development years<br /><br />3. progressively carry out more endurance work later in the careerMarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-87622151395989121032008-02-01T13:55:00.001-07:002008-02-01T13:57:39.859-07:00Lydiard on speed workThis was taken from a speech he gave in Osaka...<br /><br />"Distance athletes hate sprinting because they think it unneccessary and they think they look like fools, but if you want to be fast, you've got to sprint. I've taken three and six minutes off the marathon runner's times by and through speed development, so it is important to athletes of all distances. In fact, athletes should be doing something about their speed, conditioning for it, working on technique, and generally working on their speed every week, 52 weeks a year."<br /><br />Which goes along with my assertion that to "before you go long... it's best to be fast... because if you go long before you are fast then at what speed are you going long at?"MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-40862117791327507962008-01-30T09:54:00.000-07:002008-01-30T09:57:11.294-07:00Why a powermeterI have been training with a PM for over 3 years now. The first year was rough and it really acted as no more than an expensive bike computer. I just knew that I wanted the watts to be higher on every ride. Not_ smart. The second year I began to understand how to use the PM on my easy days and my hard days. This past year I have finally come to the point where, through the use of and knowledge gained from the PM, I am able to structure an entire season of training and racing based on wattage and training stress scores. Both of these are independent variables and quite reliable unlike HR data which is quite the dependent variable.<br /><P></P><br /><br />I suggest that my athletes ride with power. As a coach it is the completely objective feedback that the PM provides that allows me to correctly evaluate how things are going with a plan. And it's not just about watts. Thru either the use of TSS (training stress score via cycling peaks) or kJ's you can track your previous efforts as well as forecast future ones with the use of a Performance Manager Chart.<br /><P></P><br />Powermeters...<br /><P></P><br />What are they?<br />A tool which measures the wattage (by way of strain gauges or optical sensors) that is being put into the drive train and which makes you go forward on the bike.Who makes them? Saris/Cycleops-Powertap SRM Ergomo Soon to be released: Quarq<br /><P></P><br />How do I use one?<br />Roughly speaking this replaces your HR monitor on the bike. With swimming and running you have always done workouts based on time within a certain distance... for e.g. 4x400's holding 1:30 on 2 minutes. Now you can do the same on the bike... easy day ex: 2 hours at 200 watts or less trying to get 70-80 TSS points. Hard day... 30 min WU at 200 watts then 2x20 at 270 watts with a 2 minute break.<br /><P></P><br />Start Training with the TruthMarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-44276895401168542882008-01-25T12:33:00.000-07:002008-01-25T12:36:18.029-07:00Why Master Swimming isn't always the best training for a TriathleteHoping to have this up on a few online mags soon. I'll post links once they've been published.<br /><br />+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<br /><br />“Whoa!” You might be thinking. “Hang on a second. Where does one get off coming to that conclusion?” Having swum, and coached, in and out of masters groups I can say with certainty that in getting ready for your big event it’s best to do what you need to do.<br /><br />Let’s first start with why masters swim workouts are good. There’s the group atmosphere, the social commitment of “having to be there”, the presence of a coach on deck who will be able to point out inaccuracies with your stroke, have all the workouts written for you and hopefully a highly motivating and positive enforcer for you. For the beginner triathlete/swimmer these are all huge positives, but let’s take this one step further.<br /><br />In a typical masters group it’s possible that you might get any of the following: Too much drill work and not enough aerobic stress, too short of swim durations and too long of rest intervals, not to mention swimming IM sets! Think of it this way… when you first started running… did you go to the track for every workout? When you go for bike rides… do you stop every 3 minutes?<br /><br />You are now into your 2nd, 3rd or more season of swimming and racing. You are not as concerned with your technique as you are with your fitness. Getting faster is your focus and a faster swim split your goal. You’ve spent the latter half of fall and all winter going to the pool 5 days a week with your masters swim squad. You’ve done the drills and you’ve done the hard sets. You’ve put in the work and you’re beginning to see the reward. But now spring is approaching and with it that first race of the season. Your swim squad presses on with more 50’s and 300’s but you begin to wonder about that 1900m half Ironman swim you have coming up. Here’s where getting out and swimming on your own trumps traditional masters swimming.<br /><br />To become good at a anything, in this case swimming a 1900m open water swim very efficiently, it’s imperative that your training mimic the race. So around 2 months out from your event you begin following a race specific program. Rather than continue with the general, it’s time you got specific. Extend this thinking to the bike and run and you’ll do great!<br /><br />Once a week you get in for a longer easy straight swim. Think of this like your long bike ride. Insert small spurts of steady efforts into the middle after you have warmed up but just keep swimming. If it’s warm enough you can make this an open water swim.<br /><br />Twice per week insert a set that totals around 2000m in length using longer distances and shorter intervals. For example 4x500’s on :15-:20 rest. Your effort should be about tempo/L3. This would be the equivalent of your race pace tempo run.<br /><br />If you are looking to get more swims in per week then head back to your masters group and swim a lane or two down. Use it as a recovery swim, for a little extra quickness, or to get more feedback on your evolving technique.<br /><br />As the race season progresses continue to follow your race specific workouts. If there is a long time before your next “specific prep” phase go back to your speed work (e.g. 6-10x100’s on very limited rest), return to some more focused drill work or revisit the masters group and seek out that same boost that your focused winter work gave you.<br /><br />Masters swimming can be a useful tool, but in the interest of preparing yourself specifically for the longer durations that you will face in triathlon racing it’s best to get outside the box and start doing specifically what you need to be doing.MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-16287673182446137372008-01-24T11:11:00.000-07:002008-01-24T11:13:45.974-07:00No Rest weeks.... hunh?Came upon this over on the wattage list. For me the only time I am "resting" or when my athletes "rest" is when they are tapering for a race. Aside from that... just keep on keepin' on.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:130%;color:#000000;">"Recovery and adaptation happen all the time, i.e., there's no need to rest every X weeks for such responses to occur. Indeed, I am not aware of any data, or even a good theory, as to why this approach should be better than simply keeping one's "nose to the grindstone". There have been some studies of weightlifting claiming to show that a periodized approach is better (different type of periodization, though), but in fact they don't show what they claim to show."</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:130%;">-A.Coggan</span>MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-88612862700654775312008-01-18T16:22:00.000-07:002008-01-18T16:23:46.088-07:00Why a variable training program outside of specific prep is necessaryI think if I rode around in strictly L1 and L2 for 2 months and got up to 120 CTL in the process...<br /><br />I would:<br />1) burn out<br />2) become very skinny (ride more, eat less)<br />3) be really good at riding around in L2 and not much else (use it or lose it)<br />4) take more than "a few weeks" of training to be able to do anything useful in L3 through L7 again (use it or lose it, redux)MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-88690893700479261722008-01-02T22:02:00.000-07:002008-01-02T22:05:14.353-07:00My Take on Training with Power and Pace as it were blending Old School with New SchoolAs put to word by <a href="http://www.physfarm.com/">Phil Skiba</a>.<br /><br />++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++<br /><br />I believe the greatest application of modeling is in a synthesis of the old and new school. Again, it isn't about replacing all that has come before. It is about looking at what came before, taking the best of it, and then adding some of the new. A good coach needs to do more than analyze data...they need to be able to motivate the athlete, communicate with the athlete, be able to write workouts that both stimulate physiologic adaptation but are "interesting" enough such that the athlete will do them, etc.<br /><br />1) Use of technological tools is not a replacement for knowledge of physiology and coaching "talent", but can be very useful to help coaches avoid silly mistakes.<br />2) Use of technological tools requires an understanding of the risks, benefits, and limitations of the system.<br />3) Used properly, technological tools can be of significant help in gaining insight into the inner workings of the athlete and how they respond to training.MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-55649910040590245742007-12-16T20:52:00.000-07:002007-12-16T21:10:19.579-07:00Base Training?A very good write up on the falacies of "traditional" base training versus what you SHOULD be doing in base training. <br /><br /><a href="http://xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=4403&CAT=21&xref=xx">http://xtri.com/features_display.aspx?riIDReport=4403&CAT=21&xref=xx</a>MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-37996205966278449182007-11-08T07:14:00.000-07:002007-11-08T08:14:13.728-07:00Summing up my view on how to race faster.<span style="color:#c0c0c0;">This comes from my friend Chris Whyte, with whom I've had the pleasure of debating with and learning from on the technicalities of triathlon training.<br /><br />During one of our many forum based debates he posted this about the best way to better one's self at getting faster at the IM, or any ultra-distance, event.<br /><br />Should you be racing short course as opposed to long course the RSP(race specific prep) would have you moving into intensity overload with appropriate rest placed within the framework of the plan.<br /><br />Below is Chris' summation.<br />**********************************************************************************<br /><br />Framework for "Raising the left, filling the right"<br /><span style="font-size:78%;">(MVA note: raising the left means raising your sustainable speed on a speed/duration graph... the goal is to first get fast and then go long... long meaning filling the right)</span><br /><br />---------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="color:#c0c0c0;"></span><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">Overall goals across all disciplines:</span></p><ol><li><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">Focus on achieving maximal training load</span></li><li><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">Applying progressive overload</span></li><li><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">Specificity</span></li></ol><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">I dedicate the General Prep (GP) phase to raising the left and the RSP phase to filling the right.</span></p><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">GP:</span></p><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">1. Raise vVO2Max and pVO2Max and/or FTP and FT Pace -- Assessment of where to focus your time might leverage the concept of<a href="http://www.gordoworld.com/alternativeperspectives/2007/08/power-reserve.html"> "Power Reserve." </a></span></p><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">Key workouts: FT intervals and/or VO2Max intervals</span></p><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">Note: Tricky part is balancing bike and run intervals (eg Can I actually do both bike and run VO2Max at the same time?) </span></p><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">2. Fill the remaining time with enough L1 (easy) and L2 (steady) to achieve maximal stimulus based on the athlete's time constraints.</span></p><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">3. Progressive overload is achieved through a structured increase in L4 and/or L5 interval work (across all disciplines).</span></p><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">4. Specificity training only exist in the form of doing your working interval sets in the aero position at race cadence.</span></p><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">RSP:</span></p><ol><li><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">Training load shifts from low(er) volume, high(er) intensity to high(er) volume, low(er) intensity but our goal is to still achieve maximal stimulus.</span></li><li><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">Focus on specificity requirements of your A race: race position, race cadence, variability (ie steady-state), etc.Key workouts: Long ride on tri bike only; Long run</span></li><li><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">Progressive overload comes in the form of structured L3 and slight volume increases at L2.</span></li></ol><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">*******************************************************************************</span></p><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;">MVA Note: If there's anything that I hope you can take away from this reading it's... <em><strong></strong></em></span></p><p><span style="color:#c0c0c0;"><em><strong>B<span style="font-size:130%;">efore you go long it's best to be fast... because if you try going long before you are fast... then at what speed are you going long at? </span></strong></em></span></p>MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-82236930279949513472007-09-18T13:11:00.000-06:002007-09-19T15:08:18.736-06:00Tracking stress... and the graphic representation of a training blockOkay... so time to show off some of the work that I've been doing for the past 4.5 months. I've been using myself as the primary subject and have recently added a few others to the complete training tracking as well. For those interested I also have coaching plans that do not involve the data tracking as discussed below.<br /><br /><br />First up... year long tracking...<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1pK7Dv-mhK5XT-s0VjZfh-18RXQCl5J5vkBllRu-W0NIoz_UTyyFKIRA0juGipFV5KPGh0emLoF4qq9gdMqP9aBgr8gnIA-RD8qmmufyxVGOInLtKPYZV_8QPEQh2T0ScFEDFA/s1600-h/year+long+TSSx3.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5111627439613649602" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw1pK7Dv-mhK5XT-s0VjZfh-18RXQCl5J5vkBllRu-W0NIoz_UTyyFKIRA0juGipFV5KPGh0emLoF4qq9gdMqP9aBgr8gnIA-RD8qmmufyxVGOInLtKPYZV_8QPEQh2T0ScFEDFA/s400/year+long+TSSx3.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />If you don't care about the minutiae of all this than skip to the next paragraph! :)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The scores on the left side of the chart are ATL (acute training load- i.e. near term) and CTL (chronic training load- i.e. long term) scores. Basically this represents your fatigue (red) and your fitness (blue). The relationship between the two is expressed with the TSB (yellow line). Less fatigue and more fit? Then the yellow line goes way up! This score is represented by the ruler on the right side of the graph.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />So.... what does this all mean?<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Well... by utilizing the underlying spreadsheet it allows for one to be able to forecast out training stress and the corresponding workout and thus predict the desired response over a given training period from an athlete. Over the course of a year you can set up a preliminary schedule that can show how an athlete will have a run or swim focus, then a big cycling block and then pull it all together and start the build for the key event. In the chart above you can see how during critical build points I was able to boost my fitness. It is important to follow up these blocks of training with recovery or taper periods where the athlete is then allowed absorb the work that they have done. As the final, or key event of the season, approaches, you begin to slowly taper off the overall stress while still keeping the focus of the workouts intense so as to leave the althlete still feeling sharp. By charting out the graph you are able to show how fitness is built and maintained as well as display the focused weeks and rest weeks. After which, and as the season progresses, you can build the proper workouts into the plan that will most completely optimize the build.<br /><br />Now it can get kind of difficult when looking at the whole year to see the more focused details of any given training period. The graph here represents 8 weeks out from Kona. As you can see I put in a BIG block of training for the first two weeks before falling ill, due in part to the high volume of work I was doing. I can now look back and surmise that trying to dig a stress hole that deep will lead to nothing but excessive fatigue and illness.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zY0oG73OKm5m_6syzpKri0Zp5bfRjnp1czz5UzmQjSVjRRjrxqhHiosO_gLGpfaVxLPIw9ggGI1QLw6O8jjezkvqYcIev4ZVKf5gF0PRaFVRmcvRDQkGgftR-YYn-UK4mKrf3Q/s1600-h/TSSx3+kona+prep.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112017007220381826" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7zY0oG73OKm5m_6syzpKri0Zp5bfRjnp1czz5UzmQjSVjRRjrxqhHiosO_gLGpfaVxLPIw9ggGI1QLw6O8jjezkvqYcIev4ZVKf5gF0PRaFVRmcvRDQkGgftR-YYn-UK4mKrf3Q/s400/TSSx3+kona+prep.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />Also by looking at the micro cycle you are better able to see the effect of the rest and recovery weeks on your fitness. Even though I was sick I was still going out and getting in little bits of workouts so that I could continue to feel snappy. Race day was great and then I took an easy week to recover from the effort as well as repair the physical damage (which cannot be shown here). Once sufficiently recovered, both aerobically and physically, from the race I then launch into one last final big week before then starting a slowly rising three week taper.<br /><br />What stress tracking can do is allow you to see how the athlete is responding to the work prescribed. Like Dave Harris said, "The body is like a swiss watch. You just have to know how to wind it." But the technique used to wind it is a completely different story. I'll leave that one for my next write up.<br /><br />Just think about it this way. How high you build your fitness is not necessarily more important then what you built it with.<br /><br />See ya!MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-22432269879174890342007-08-21T18:37:00.000-06:002007-08-21T18:38:25.017-06:00Thoughts on swimming and aerobic stressA definition of base could be several things.<br /><br />A chronic training load that is high enough that allows you to do more work of various speeds without becoming overly fatigued.<br /><br />Or to take base from an endurance standpoint.... endurance is a function of time and effort. The faster you are at the top end the faster your % of effort at any given distance will be. i.e. if your top end says you can swim 1000y in 10 minutes and your buddies top end says he can swim 1000y in 12 minutes then you will be able to swim 2000y faster than your buddy.... so your buddy should work on speed and not spend time working an aerobic system that barely scratches the surface of stressing ones system. Using a maximal lactate steady state baseline time of one hour any effort/speed beyond that one hour is HIGHLY correlated to one's ability to perform work for that one hour. Any discipline shorter than one hour is highly influenced by ones ability to derive energy from their VO2 system. This is why you see many MOP IM athletes not able to race a sprint at speeds any faster than they might race an IM. <br /><br />Mammals respond to aerobic stress by getting faster (big generalization but it'll do for now).... L1 hardly stresses you at all... hang on... lemme go float.MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37827631.post-33423542067181343712007-07-16T22:09:00.000-06:002007-07-17T10:01:42.112-06:00Here we go!so I've finally taken the plunge and decided to start offering a more formal coaching service rather than quiet on the side operation I've been doing for a couple years now. why now? well if you look at my other <a href="http://trimarkyv.blogspot.com/">blog</a> you'll notice the post on career convictions. Tired of the rigamarole of the 9-5 world I have committed myself to sharing my talents and abilities and want to work with people to help them achieve their goals. Be it financial or athletic aspirations, I am here to serve.<br /><br />In coaching it is my intent to provide an absolutely unbiased calculated approach to training. Utilizing power meters and pace watches (plus the trusty wall clock at the pool :) we will work together in ascertaining both your benchmark paces as well as your benchmark stress load and from there develop a training program custom tailored just for you. The program that you will get is not one that is based on someone's perceptions on where you need to be, but rather is a program that is based on where you are now and working on building from there.<br /><br />Your numbers, your plan.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.racefaster.net/">check out the website for more details</a> or <a href="mailto:markvanakkeren@yahoo.com">contact me</a> with any questions<br /><br />Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon!MarkyVhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08386753982753643387noreply@blogger.com0