Alex McDonald Pro Triathlete

It is fitting and a little ironic that my rookie pro season began (IM California 70.3) and ended (IMAZ nov.) with lower back spasms and a subpar run. In both races I felt pretty good on the bike and did not really over extend myself. However, when I got off and began to run my lower back seized up…and I mean seized up to the point where it was in spasm and I was in agony. My lower back if often a little tight at the beginning of the run whenever I do a brick workout or in a race, however, it usually relaxes within the first mile or two. That was no the case at either of these races. By mile 2 or so in both races I knew I was in trouble.

This is a perfect example also of how important the kinetic chain is in your bodies movement. My legs were not that tired in either race, however, due to my back spasms my running form and everything from my neck to my feet was thrown out of whack. As a result I just couldn’t run, not matter how much I tired to relax and find a rhythm and proper form it was not happening.

There may be several reasons for my back melt down, however, I have noticed a theme with these two races. The last few weeks before both California and Arizona I was very busy and did not take care of the “details” of recovery. Mainly, I omitted the 10-15 minutes of yoga and stretching I usually do 4-5 times per week. I have a pit in my stomaching thinking that something as simple and easy as taking a few extra minutes to stretch could have been the difference between a top 10 finish along with a 25min Ironman PR and then dreaded DNF. Although this may have only been a part, and not the whole cause I can assure that I will never find out, because my yoga/stretching routine will never be skipped again. Yet again, another important lesson learned from my 2008 season.

So please learn from my mistakes, don’t neglect the little “details” of recovery, you may not realize just how important they are until you skip them.

Once an athlete is confident and strong enough in both cycling and running there is a third step, combing the two into one smooth, seamless transition which is vital for success in triathlon. Learning to comfortably move from a hunched over biking position to an upright running position can be tough, especially at first, however, you can teach your body to adjust to this transition. Below are a few ideas to incorporate into your training that will help this process.

The T-run: After a long bike ride practice a quick transition and go for a short 10-30min run at a nice relaxed pace. Have your run gear laid out in advance and spend less than 5 minutes in transition, the faster the better. This will help your body become more accustom to the dramatic difference between cycling and running.
Neuromuscular conditioning: After your body becomes adjusted to comfortably running off the bike try incorporating some very short busts of speed into your T-run this helps to develop the Neuromuscular connection and allows the brain to better and more accurately control the muscles. Example is 20” sprint, 40” easy running begin with no more than just a few of these and gradually increase the number.
Nutrition: The 4th and mysterious component of triathlon is very important for a solid run split. There is no way to eat as many calories as you are burning while running so we have to make sure the tank is full before we get off the bike. As a result practice race day fueling on the bike and complete a T-run where you continue your nutrition protocol to see if your stomach is able to handle it.
Recovery!! This is important for all aspects of triathlon, not just running, however, running tends to be the most damaging, especially when we are in a pre-fatigued state from cycling. As a result hydration, calories and supplements are vital to all triathlon success, however, especially after a T-run off the bike.

We all know that fiber is an important part of a healthy training diet, but what exactly does fiber do and can it lead to gastrointestinal (GI) upset during a race?

Fiber is the part of a plant/grain that the body cannot digest or use for fuel and is an important part of the diet for numerous reasons. There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble.

Soluble fiber, while in the GI tract may help to lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, by trapping the cholesterol in the gut and not allowing absorption into the body. Soluble fiber also helps to maintain blood glucose levels and aid in metabolic function. Consuming high levels of fats along with soluble fiber may cause loose stools, another unwanted problem on race day. Foods high in soluble fiber include oat bran, oatmeal, beans, peas, rice bran, barley, citrus fruits, strawberries and apple pulp. According to the American Heart Association, soluble fiber has been associated with increased diet quality and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Insoluble fiber is the type of fiber that typically concerns athletes due to its ability to cause lower GI problems on race day. Foods high in insoluble fiber include whole-wheat breads, wheat cereals, wheat bran, rye, wild rice, barley, most other grains, cabbage, beets, carrots, brussels sprouts, turnips, cauliflower and apple skin. Insoluble fiber, as the name suggests, simply passes through the GI tract adding more bulk and absorbing water into the stool, promoting proper bowel function. This is not to say that if you eat no fiber you will have no waste; it will just be less bulky. The reason a high fiber diet is an important part of an athletes diet is two fold; one, it slows digestions of other carbohydrates by prolonging gastric emptying. This increases satiety, and may help prevent overeating, as well as prevent blood glucose spikes and valleys (i.e. sugar high and crash). As a result, your body receives a steady glucose supply. The second reason insoluble fiber should be incorporated into your diet is that it helps to cleanse the bowel by maintaining optimal bowel pH as well as remove dead cells and other debris, which in turn can prevent diverticulosis and possibly colon cancer.

Daily dietary fiber intake among adults in the United States averages about 15 grams. The Institute of Medicine recommends consuming 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories which, for most, correlates to a daily requirement of 25-35 grams of fiber, although athletes may require more based on a higher caloric intake. It is important to understand that hydration and dietary fiber are interconnected and the proper combination of both is required for a healthy GI system.

A common problem in triathletes, particular during longer races, is GI distress during competition, particular while running. Every athlete’s body will respond differently to the stress of race day and no single fiber protocol will work for everyone. However, because fiber adds bulk to the stool and or loose stool, eating a diet low in both types of fiber for one or two days leading up to a race may help to ward off lower GI problems. If this does not help, some may recommend taking an anti-diarrheal agent, such as immodium prior to or even during the race. However, carefully follow the recommended dosage and do not take more than suggested on the package. As always practice any race protocol in training or lower priority races.

The bottom line is 25-35g of fiber from a variety of sources is an important part of a healthy training diet. However, reducing fiber intake prior to a race may prevent frequent stops on the run course.

Some people are natural born runners, while others have to encourage their inner runner to emerge.  Here are 5 tips that, if incorporated regularly into your training, will help you to work your way up in the pack.
 
1) Transition run.  After you return from a long ride, no matter how tired, take at least 10 minutes, and up to 40 minutes, to run right after getting off the bike with as little transition time as possible.  Teaching our muscles to run efficiently and fast after cycling requires physiologic and anatomic adjustment which can be trained and practiced and as we all know, practice makes perfect.
 
2) Vary your training pace.  Running at the same pace or intensity all the time will teach your body to run that speed.  However, “that” speed is often not our projected “race pace” and in addition your running will stagnate without new stimuli to encourage constant physiologic and anatomic adaptation.  Therefore, make sure you run various paces through a training week or cycle.  For example, long slow distance (LSD), tempo, track workouts and striders are all run at different speeds, which help to keep your run progressing and moving forward.
 
3) Frequency.  Running 7 days a week is not necessary. However, running 4, 5 or maybe even 6 days a week can have benefits.  Each run does not have to be long, the goal is frequency.  In fact varying the distance throughout a training cycle can help to keep things interesting.  Even a 20 minute run after a hard workout or the next day can have neuromuscular benefits and “teach” your legs to run efficiently while fatigued by recruiting different motor units. 
 
4) Drills.  Although no one really likes taking the time to do drills, they can help to reinforce proper form, mechanics and increase efficiency.  Once a week is all that is really required, and can be performed before or after a run, however, the effort should be high and you should not be significantly fatigued before starting the drills.  I recommend three drills 3×20″ each followed by 3×20″ striders.  Some of my favorite drills are high knees, butt kicks, pull-throughs and skips.
 
5) Head for the hills.  A great way to build physical, as well as mental strength, is to incorporate hills into your training.  In addition, proper technique can help increase hill running efficiency.  While ascending, keep your body vertical with respect to gravity, as a result you will be leaning into the hill at the same time, drive your knees forward and up while concentrating on a quick explosive push off.  While descending, maintain your upper body perpendicular to the slope, as a result it will feel as if you are falling down the hill, keep your foot strike beneath your hips and not in front, as this applies a breaking force.  It will initially feel as if you are going to fall, however, with practice it will become more natural. 
 
As with any endurance sport, changes will not be seen right away, and simply “doing more” will only lead to burn out and injury.  There is no substitute for consistent and progressive training; however, the above approach with a little patience will help you to take your running to the next level. 

I grew up around water.  Most summer’s in my childhood, my mom would drop my brothers and I off at the local pool first thing in the morning and not pick us up until closing time.  It got to the point where the pool staff would be worried if I did not show up and once called my home to make sure I was ok.  As a logical progression I joined the swim team, volunteered as an assistsant swim instructor, became a lifeguard and taught swimming lessions the moment I was old enough.  The only problem was, I hated staring at the black line on the bottom of the pool and had no real motivation to swim and train hard or even consistently for that matter.  As a result of this history I am a good swimmer by general standards, but average in the triathlon world. 

So the question on everyone’s mind…how do I get faster?  When I began training for triathlon it had been several years since I had done any kind of structured swim training, I had played water polo in college, but that was not the same as “swimming.”  As I got reaquainted with the water and that ever so entertaining blackline I found I was muscling my way through workouts.  I took the popular newbie tack of “the faster I moved my arms the better!!”  Well as you can imagine this didn’t work very well or for very long.   

A training buddy of mine and former all-american swimmer in college, took pitty on me and decided to help me out!  The first thing we did was go back to basics and rebuild my technique, although I have know this for sometime now, I am still amazed at how mechanics trumphs all in the water.  For the last 4 years I have been working on my technique and performing drills almost every time I get in the water.   

I also recently attend a swim clinic by Doug Stern, one of the great swim coaches in the country.  Aside from the ab workout I got listening to his stories and thoughts on life I learned a lot about my stroke.  A picture is really worth a thousand words, as I had not seen a video fo myself swim in a very long time.  Doug gave me several aspects of my stroke to tweak and practice.  Although it was, is, and will be at times a frustrating process I had fleeting glimpses of a stroke here or there that just felt really good, but then was gone.  Initally my times in the pool got slower and the frustration mounted, but those glimpses of a perfect stroke began to occur more frequently.  Before I knew it my times began to drop again and now I am swimming faster with less effort!!  Don’t get me wrong I still have crappy swims at times and I still need to be EXTREMELY cognizant of my mechanics with every stroke, but I’m getting there. 

Here are some drills I recommend, Distance Per Stroke (DPS) – try to glide  

Having just swam a PR at Ironman

California 70.3 you might think I am done working on technique and will now focus entierly on aerobic fitness in the water.  NOT SO!!!  If there is one thing that I have learned in the past 4 years it is that swim technique (much like my desire to become a good cook) is a never ending process. 

The spring is a time of year when we all begin to think about the upcoming triathlon season with varying levels of anxiety, hope, excitement and enthusiasm. It’s well known that the early season base workouts lay the foundation and in many ways dictate how high our fitness will climb this year. However, due to our varying levels of excitement, many of us tend to make the mistake of going too hard, or doing too much too soon.

I coach an athlete, let’s call him Bill, who is very dedicated and is very consistent in his training. As the days get longer and warmer, for some, Bill has begun to train outside and has recent memories of late last season where he achieved a PR in his “A” race. Although consciously he knows that he is not in race shape during the off season, this spring he subconsciously expects to ride just like he did last season.

Bill recently went out for a bike ride that was supposed to be 3 hours of easy heart rate zone 2 to low 3 riding. However, within the first 20 minutes, he met up with a group of cyclists and his easy zone 2 ride went right out the window. Bill stayed with the pack and even tried to prove his worth by taking his turns pulling at the front. His heart rate ranged from zone 1 to zone 5!! After 2 hours with the group, Bill realized that he had ruined his workout and wearily rode home on his own. He was frustrated at having “wrecked” his workout, but also because last year he would have easily been able ride with the group in zone 3.

Although many of us stay active in the off-season, just like Bill, we can have some rust to shake off. It can be daunting to think about how “out of shape” we are and how much training needs to be completed to rebuild our fitness. Some may want to go out there and “hammer” to get back in shape. Instead, I encourage Bill, and all athletes, to focus on one workout at a time with the goal to “Win the Workout.” Complete every workout with at least a RPE and HR goal. Also, it is important to stay within your abilities at this point in the season and not rush back to late season fitness. If your coach says to run 4 miles in HR zone 2 you should do that, just that, and nothing more. By doing so, you “Win the Workout.”

There are many “Bills” out there and we all have workouts that don’t go according to plan. However, we can learn from those workouts and remember that fitness is built slowly and patience is required, especially in the early season as our bodies adapt to higher training loads or simply training outdoors. Every mile we run is one more than yesterday and one mile closer to our goals. Be patient and focus on steady progress and recovery between workouts. Our achievements this season are being built right now. Even as you read this, you are resting and letting your body rebuild itself for the next workout. Remember, don’t approach each session with the goal to win your next race, go to “Win the Workout.”