Review of 2021 season

InBalance triathlete; age group European Champion in standard distance (Valencia, 2021).

The small squad of InBalance athletes all achieved their goals this season, and for some a whole lot more, with improvements race on race. The built in strength and mobility sessions to the weekly programme has meant time lost due to injury has been minimal and the easy weeks after a race or training block has given time for the mind and body to recover, so it is fresh to go again.

This small, diverse squad has achieved so much, in what has been a disruptive 18 months due to Covid. Races cancelled again and again, often at the last minute, but each and every one kept their focus and humour.

We had Ironman and 70.3 finishers , winners of super sprint, sprint and standard distance triathlons. A triathlete that competed in an Ironman and 70.3 within a fortnight and someone you completed an extreme triathlon with a mountain run to finish, plus a junior that competed their first 2km open water swim. September also saw two InBalance triathletes become champions; a European age group champion in standard distance triathlon and a Welsh male Aquathlon Champion.

I feel very grateful to be able to coach, support and mentor such talented individuals.

InBalance triathlete; Welsh male Aquathlon Champion, 2021.

Train easy for a 10K PB!

As a coach and a person who competes in triathlons and other endurance events, I have been interested in the work by Dr Phil Maffertone (2010) and Dr Stephen Seiler (2010, 2019) and a book written by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns (2016). Very loosely, they all believe that the majority of your training should be completed in the easy, aerobic zone but the occasional hard session, which produce the performance gains, need to be really hard.

The Covid-19 pandemic spread across the world at the beginning of the year and I consciously made the decision to transfer my competition entries to 2021, as I believed it was unlikely mass participation events would happen in any great number during this year.

This got me thinking! I could use this time in lockdown to train consistently, making sure I stayed in my aerobic zone, using heart rate as an indicator. By training in this easy zone I was able to build a strong endurance base (engine) without the risk of injury and ‘burn-out’ that is associated with training too often in the anaerobic zone. After 4 months I decided to run 10K at race pace and repeat the same course 10 days later. To my amazement, having done only easy aerobic workouts, I ran my 1st 10K in a time that I would not have been ashamed of 20 years ago and the second 10K, a couple of days before my 57th birthday,  I knocked a further 5 mins off my time bringing me close to my all-time 10K PB. Furthermore, my recovery after the two time trials, was quick with little soreness or stiffness.

The take-home message here is to train easy most of the time, but the hard sessions need to be HARD, and don’t get sucked into the ‘black hole’ that most amateur athletes find themselves training in; the anaerobic threshold or even maximum intensity heart rate zones. Training in these zones for long periods of time will eventually lead to injury, illness and ‘burn-out’.

References

Maffetone, P. (2010) The big book of endurance training and racing. New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

Seiler, S. (2010) ‘What is best practice for training intensity and endurance distribution in endurance athletes?’ International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 5, pp.276-291.

Seiler,S. (2019) How ‘normal people’ can train like the worlds best endurance athletes. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/stephen_seiler_how_normal_people_can_train_like_the_worlds_best_edurance_athletes?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Sissons, M and Kearns, B. (2016) Primal Endurance. Oxnard, CA: Primal Blueprint Publishing.

Virgin London Marathon

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InBalance athlete Issy completed her first marathon at London in 4h 16m and loved the experience so much that she has entered the ballot for 2020!!

Issy came to InBalance in November and asked for some help with her training. She had completed a half marathon distance race previously and had a good base of fitness being a regular at the gym.

We developed a training plan around her work and lifestyle and she had a good block of training throughout the New Year and early Spring, slowly increasing the mileage and building endurance. Issy stuck to the plan and did not overtrain and consequently suffered no injury setbacks……….consistency is key.

InBalance also helped with nutrition advice and equipment choice to make sure Issy was as prepared as possible for her race and by the look of the smile on her face, I think we got it right!!

“The Monthly Cycle”

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It was highlighted at the @trainingpeaks Endurance Summit in Manchester, UK in Nov 2018 that as male coaches coaching female athletes we would benefit from having a better understanding of the ‘monthly cycle’ and through conversation and feedback adjust the training of these athletes to suit. Some great podcasts recently on the subject @oxygenaddicttriathlon podcast No 193 “Blood, Sweat and Gears” and No 218 “Menopause Special”. Also @ctgprojecthq Way of Champions podcast No 102 “Is there a difference between coaching Girls and Coaching Boys”. My better understanding has certainly benefited my athletes, including the juniors I coach.

Training Peaks University and Endurance Summit – Manchester, UK – November 2018

Joe Friel at the Training Peaks University
Joe Friel at the Training Peaks University

An amazing 4 days spent in Manchester sharing knowledge and learning loads from the likes of legendary endurance coach Joe Friel and 4 x World Ironman Champion Chrissie Wellington. 47 coaches attended the University and 170 people from 30 countries, the Endurance Summit. Talks about all aspects of endurance sport were given by speakers who were all experts in their field.

Chrissie Wellington opening the Endurance Summit
Chrissie Wellington opening the Endurance Summit