How Many Carbs Per Hour Do You Need for an Ironman?

If you’ve ever faded late in an Ironman, there’s a good chance fueling was the reason. Your body can only store a limited amount of carbohydrate, and once it’s gone, no amount of fitness will save the day. Ironman fueling is about keeping energy steady for hours, not just surviving the early miles.

How Many Carbs Per Hour during the IRONMAN Bike?

For most athletes, the ideal target is 80–100 grams of carbs per hour, especially during the bike leg. The Ironman bike is the best time to fuel because intensity is controlled and digestion is easier. Lighter or less experienced athletes may start closer to 80 grams, while trained athletes can often handle 100 grams or more. Dialing in carbs per hour on the bike is one of the biggest performance gains in long-course racing.

How Many Carbs Per Hour during the IRONMAN Run?

During the Ironman run, carb intake should be simple, consistent, and realistic. Most athletes do best aiming for 50–80 grams of carbs per hour, depending on body size, race intensity, and how well they fueled on the bike. Unlike the bike, digestion is harder while running, so liquid carbs, gels, or small frequent sips at aid stations tend to work best. The goal isn’t to “catch up” on calories, but to maintain blood sugar and slow fatigue as glycogen runs low. Athletes who start fueling early on the run and keep intake steady are far more likely to hold pace and avoid the late-race fade that defines so many Ironman marathons.

It’s important to understand that endurance fueling is trainable. You shouldn’t wait until race day to test Ironman bike nutrition. Use long rides to practice your intake, monitor stomach comfort, and see how your energy holds late in the session. Many athletes do better using multiple carb sources to improve absorption and reduce gut issues.

Finally, proper Ironman fueling isn’t just about the bike, it’s about protecting the run. Athletes who under-fuel early often pay for it in the final miles, even with conservative pacing. Start simple, fuel consistently, and build your carb intake gradually in training. When carbs per hour are right, Ironman racing becomes far more controlled and predictable.

Top Recommendations for Carb Fueling

1) Raw Endurance (3-4 Scoops per hour)

2) Tailwind (3-4 Scoops per hour)

4) First Endurance Regular Mix (great electrolyte count)

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How To Become a Stronger Cyclist

Becoming a stronger cyclist is one of the best ways to achieve a faster overall time and a better run off the bike.

Because cycling makes up such a large portion of a triathlon, it’s important to focus on developing your cycling fitness.

There are many factors that make a cyclist successful, but here are three of the most important:

1. VO₂ Max
   This is your “ceiling”—the highest power you can sustain for about five minutes. Few of my athletes actually get this tested in a lab, and your Garmin estimate isn’t always accurate or usable for training. I usually test VO₂ max with a five-minute all-out effort. The average power from that test is your “Power at VO₂ Max.”

2. FTP (Functional Threshold Power)
   FTP is the highest power you can sustain for 40–60 minutes. It’s a critical number for becoming a strong cyclist. The athletes at the front of triathlons usually have the highest FTP relative to body weight. Ideally, your FTP is about 80–85% of your five-minute power. (EX: 330 watt 5 Minute Max Power= 264 FTP)

3. Bike Fit
   To produce great watts, you need to be positioned well on your bike. A saddle that’s too high, too low, or too far back can all reduce power. Think about a gym squat: if your hips are too far forward or behind your heels, you won’t recruit your muscles effectively—the same principle applies to cycling.

Improving VO₂ Max and FTP

There are many ways to train these systems, but one of the most effective methods is a 4–8 week cycling block.

Here’s how it works:

• Volume: Double your current weekly cycling hours. For example, if you normally ride five hours per week, increase to ten hours.

• Intensity: Limit yourself to one hard interval session per week to avoid excessive fatigue.

• Balance: Reduce your swimming and running during this block to prioritize cycling.

• Structure:

  • Ride five days per week:

    • 3 rides at ~50% FTP (easy)

    • 1 ride at Zone 2 (70–75% FTP)

    • 1 threshold session (90–105% FTP)

  • Plan two 4-week blocks: three weeks at high volume, followed by one recovery week.

Fueling is crucial. If you burn 600 kcal on a ride, aim to replenish those calories afterward.

Real-Life Example

One athlete I coach wanted to boost his cycling in preparation for cyclocross this Fall. We designed a plan focused on volume rather than high-intensity VO₂ max work, knowing that the extra hours would naturally improve both VO₂ max and FTP.

By week seven, we saw an 8% increase in five-minute power and a 6.5% gain in FTP—despite already training hard for over five years as a triathlete.

For athletes with several years of consistent training, fitness gains require more deliberate effort. Focused blocks like this can accelerate progress and give you fresh motivation for the season ahead.

If you are interested in coaching for triathlon, cycling, and or running. Take a look at our coaching packages. Click HERE for more information!

Key Training Sessions: 7x800 Threshold and Recovery Bike

The purpose of this blog is to help demonstrate the training sessions and reasoning behind the 3 key sessions each week as i try and qualify for the IRONMAN World Champs at IRONMAN Chattanooga in September. 

Period of the training:

Base Phase

Closest Race

The Bear 100

Swim Key Session

Big PULL set!

This was a big Wednesday swim for me where we did 3 rounds of 2x200, 2x100, 2x50 building speed as the intervals got shorter. 

I was focused on improving my pulling arm angle, getting it to 90 degrees and then ROTATING really hard from the hips. “Set it up and rotate hard”

I was swimming really well, great swim!

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Bike Key Session

NONE!! Ha

My legs were pretty smoked this week on the bike and could feel i needed to just let them rest. Not over thinking it, just listening to my body and letting them recover. 

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Run Key Session 

7x800 at Theshold with only 1min standing/walking rest. 

I LOVE sessions like this as it starts easy but as the work continues, HR doesn’t come down as much where it feels like a continuous interval on the system, the speeds are higher so the velocity is higher than a straight threshold run. 

I was DIALED in on lifting knees higher so i could push down under my hips. Really thinking about that push into the ground. 

Interval paces started around 6:40 and dropped down to 6:08 pace by the end. Felt strong!

When i can do this. I feel strong. I’m faster. 

Great run!

This month of March ive made it a goal to run every day. I need to run 3:15 or faster at Chatty to qualify so I wanted to lay a good base of running! 

Follow it here on YouTube!

https://youtu.be/pd7Q9I3Rops

Key Training Sessions: BIG Bike Sessions! Swim is coming back!

Key Sessions Blog

The purpose of this blog is to help demonstrate the training sessions and reasoning behind the 3 key sessions each week as i try and qualify for the IRONMAN World Champs at IRONMAN Chattanooga in September. 

Period of the training:

Base Phase

Closest Race

The Bear 100

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Swim Key Session

BUILDING 100s! 

The main set was 7 rounds of 3x100 (Easy, Threshold, Sprint)

This session felt good. My swim form is coming back nicely!

The goal of this session was to change speeds from Easy to threshold to harder than threshold! Knowing how to change speeds is key for getting faster. GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE!

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Bike Key Session

After last weeks BIG 4 day block of riding, and some good recovery my legs felt very strong. There was some adaptations that took place from the overload and I did two sessions last week, 1 session was intervals at 100-105% and the heart rate was low and power was HIGH! Then second session was 4x4min at Vo2 max at a higher cadence, around 105 for me. These are very hard but my heart gets very high. I was pushing 110% of FTP for these and felt strong! They were brutal but very strong!

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Run Key Session 

Hills and Threshold!

The team did 4x1min up hill at 3k effort (FAST) into 6min at Threshold (6:30-40 pace for me) into 4x30 seconds at MILE Pace (FASTER) into 6min threshold (6:30-40 pace again)

I love combination of speed and threshold. While the speed hurts, it makes the threshold work feel strong. This was a very good session!

This month of March ive made it a goal to run every day. I need to run 3:15 or faster at Chatty to qualify so I wanted to lay a good base of running! 

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https://insidethebigring.org/

www.madisonmultisport.com

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Key Training Sessions: Mini Bike Camp and 6x1 Mile

The purpose of this blog is to help demonstrate the training sessions and reasoning behind the 3 key sessions each week as i try and qualify for the IRONMAN World Champs at IRONMAN Chattanooga in September. 

Period of the training:

Base Phase

Closest Race

Unbound 200 mile Gravel Race

Swim Key Session

Vo2 Max Swim!!

When swimming with Nicole this past Wednesday, she had a bigger 15x100 swim and that was too much for my fitness so i swam 15x50 hard, vo2 max with 30 seconds of rest. The speed was high, lots of rest so i could reset and focus on propulsion. Swimming 34-36s, so faster than the 100s i swam acouple weeks… as it should be!

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Bike Key Session

4 Day Bike Block!

I was traveling this past weekend without a bike so I knew I had to make a big stimulus in the days I had. 

Tuesday, Double bike day (AM Easy Z1 at 50%, PM, Hard Threshold intervals)

Wednesday, Easy Zone 1 at 50%

Thursday (AM: Easy Z1 Ride, PM: Hard 5x3min Z5)

Because of time constraints doing double bikes are the best for me to get in more stimulus in 1 day. 

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Run Key Session 

This was a good week of running for me. 27 miles total. Most of the runs were easy Zone 1. Monday I did my normal 6x30 seconds strides faster than 5k pace where I really work on my form. Love these runs. 

Then saturday in Minnesota I did my classic 6x1 Mile at Threshold on a rolling path and was happy all the efforts were in the 6:20-6:35 pace. Paces are coming back after the stress fracture!

Find out more about Coach Steve HERE

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Key Training Sessions: Kortie Ski Race and Double B

The purpose of this blog is to help demonstrate the training sessions and reasoning behind the 3 key sessions each week as i try and qualify for the IRONMAN World Champs at IRONMAN Chattanooga in September. 

Period of the training:

Base Phase

Closest Race

Unbound 200 mile Gravel Race

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Swim Key Session

Vo2 Max Swim!!

The main set was hard! And i loved every second of it. The main set was 3 rounds of 5x100 at a vo2 max effort. The rest between each 100 was 30 seconds. It was the perfect rest ratio that i could push myself and still be able to focus on my technique points. I was thinking a lot about having a faster cadence but not too sloppy. Keeping a steady kick to keep my core engaged. And really using my core/hips to drive that propulsion. I was swimming around 1:15s so that is progress back to the 1:10-1:12s i would swim for this kind of set, progress!

Find out more about Coach Steve HERE

Check out Coach Steve’s IRONMAN and 70.3 Training Plans you can BUY!

If you are into PODCASTS, CLICK HERE!!!

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Bike Key Session

Tuesday Double Bike Day

AM: 5x8mim at 90-95%

PM: 4x10min at 90-95%

My legs were toast the next day. 

The double ride day will be a staple in my weekly training as it’s a huge stress on the system. The TSS is over 150 in 1 day. I don’t have the time to do a session like this during the week day. So to get in 2 day per week at 150 TSS and above will be very helpful for building the strength endurance for Unbound 200 and Chatty Ironman 

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Run Key Session 

NO big run! I skied the Kortie this week on Friday which was a 30k ski race in Cable/Hayward Wisconsin. This was an epic race and environment. It had over 1400ft of gain and my hips and arms were SHOT by the very end. I loved it!

This upcoming week I’ll back trying to get up to 30 miles per week of running. 

Find out more about Coach Steve HERE

Check out Coach Steve’s IRONMAN and 70.3 Training Plans you can BUY!

If you are into PODCASTS, CLICK HERE!!!

Key Training Sessions- Double Bike Day

The purpose of this blog is to help demonstrate the training sessions and reasoning behind the 3 key sessions each week as i try and qualify for the IRONMAN World Champs at IRONMAN Chattanooga in September. 

Period of the training:

Base Phase

Closest Race

Unbound 200 mile Gravel Race

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Swim Key Session

1st week it’s felt “back” for me. Nicole and I crushed out a vo2 max swim set Wednesday where we went 10x100 Max on 2:00 interval. Lots of rest! Paces were all in the 1:15, interval normal shape these would be 1:10-1:11 for me. I’m not discouraged at all, just happy it’s coming back!

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Bike Key Session

Thursday Double Bike Day

AM: 1 hour easy zone 1 at 50% FTP

PM: 3x15minutes at 90-93% FTP Rest 5 minutes between each. The 15mim efforts were all done at 70-75rpms to work on the strength aspect i feel I’m lacking 

This was a hard session but with my athletes I’ve found great success with double bike days

8 hours total biking this week! 

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Run Key Session 

Sunday Long Run (steady)

Lake Loop around Lake Monona 12 miles.

I’m working on getting my mileage back up since the stress fracture and this was the best, pain free long run in 5 months. First run I’ve felt the “I’m back” feeling.

I’ve been working on strength, plyos, and form drills and my stride is really coming back and feeling snappy. 

4 runs this week, 23.2 miles total.

Hoping to be back to 30mpw soon. 

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Find out more about Coach Steve HERE

Check out Coach Steve’s IRONMAN and 70.3 Training Plans you can BUY!

If you are into PODCASTS, CLICK HERE!!!

3rd Overall at 70.3 Worlds- Eric Engel

Eric and I started working together in early February. He just finished Daytona Half Distance Triathlon and was in the beginning phase of his 2021 season. Eric is one of the most accomplished long course age group triathletes in the world. He has won an Ironman and many 70.3’s outright. Eric is also very passionate about the sport, he lives and breathes it every day. Add in the fact that he’s a part of the most sought-after, successful triathlon team on the planet: Zwift Academy Triathlon Team.

As an athlete, Eric likes to race a lot. Having big races and goals is a huge motivator for him. The training goals provide some motivation, but not as much as competing. With this in mind, it is very common to see him racing 70.3’s back-to-back. As a coach, this could be very challenging, however, you coach the athlete and understand how they tick, and prepare them properly to succeed. When you’re training at Eric’s intensity and volume, a 70.3 race is no different than his typical weekend. If done right, the aerobic and specificity that’s achieved can be tremendous. For the 6 months into 70.3 Worlds, Eric’s average training was around 15 hours per week, his weekly TSS was around 900. He only hit 1x 20 hour training week. We thrived more on moderate hours of training week after week. No flashy weeks or training sessions.

When we had our first discussion around goals, it was a one-liner “I want to win everything”…those 5 words both motivated and worried me. To win every race requires the highest level of conditioning and luck. Everything needs to be perfect. The interesting thing, even though Eric is a high-level athlete with a lot of big results, I view him as a developmental athlete. Before we could achieve world titles, we had to change some things.

When I looked through his previous training and racing data, all I saw were “possibilities” and a lot of low-hanging fruit. In his race data, we saw big drop-offs in power and pace. He would do lots of Z2, Tempo, Threshold development work yet he would still see 5-8% drop-offs in power/pace in his races. I also saw very little vo2 max work.

The first plan of attack was a Vo2 Max block that lasted 5-6 weeks. We started with simple Tabata’s then moved into 2-4 minute vo2 max style intervals. His body ate this up and we immediately saw a 15 watt improvement in his FTP. Now we had 2.5 months before IM Tulsa.

Two additional things I felt were undermining his racing performances were: 1) Bike cadence was too high, always between 90-95, and 2) he wasn’t consuming enough carbohydrates on the bike. Higher cadences over long-distance races = higher energy demands. The proof was in the data, this cadence wasn’t working and it was burning into his stores. One of the training focuses into IM Tulsa was introducing low cadence strength work. For most athletes, this would consist of 50-60rpm style of work at a variety of power, but because this was new to him, we stayed around 70-75rpms and this proved to be a good enough stimulus. The one thing I reminded him was that lower cadence development isn’t a quick fix, it takes time for this work to sink in. Also, Eric’s engine is incredibly big. An easy visual is that he didn’t have the chassis to hold the engine. The lower cadence work helped strengthen the chassis.

Eric as an athlete is incredibly easy to work with. This was a worry I had before we started working together. With high-level athletes, sometimes they have “too much” experience, and that clouds their thinking. Their confirmation bias of what used to work limits new thinking and limits further growth. Eric has to see and understand the process, and once he does, he’s all-in. He also communicates very well with what he wants and things that help him feel prepared. With someone of his experience, I’m always listening and working on a plan that builds the most fitness and confidence possible. There is no “my way of the highway” approach here.

IMTulsa was our first big test. He moved to the front of the race leading the AG field and then suffered two flat tires. How would Eric respond to this mentally? His goal was the win, would he give up knowing this was unlikely? He came off the bike and I had about 5 seconds to provide him information. “You’re only 5 minutes from 2nd”… this split wasn’t remotely accurate but I had to keep his mind focused on the short term. The next couple splits later, he ran himself into 2nd overall and then faded to 3rd. As a coach, I was very proud of his effort. He never gave up, risked it, and blew up to 3rd overall at the North American Championships with two flat tires. It was a win and a step forward. To be successful, you have to be willing to display courage when things dont go to plan. You have to adjust and think about the race outcome in different dimensions. Eric did this at Tulsa and would be a theme all season.

The second test was Des Moines 70.3. Before Tulsa, Eric had tripped over something and hurt his foot. He ran through this pain at Tulsa. This meant he wasn’t running at all before Des Moines 70.3. The X-ray showed no fracture, the Dr “oked” it, he wasn’t feeling pain, so it was likely tissue damage. The 36 hours before the race was constant thunderstorms. Like most people, we were convinced the race was going to be canceled. But it wasn’t. One issue with his swimming that we felt we solved reoccured and he immediately lost 3 minutes. How would Eric adapt? He smashed the shortened bike and now was going to run on a foot that wasn’t run on since Tulsa. Before the race we talked about not using his running watch, it would only be a distraction. He lost the overall win by 1 second. 1 second. Again, this was another huge step forward for Eric.

Photo: Pro Tri News

Kona is canceled. Everything was tracking for a huge race and now the wind in our sails was taken away. Eric was at his best fitness to date and now the biggest motivator was gone. Emotionally for both of us, it was a big hit. In 2021, I had over 10 athletes qualified for Kona when the news hit and it was a very stressful period. At the time, 70.3 Worlds didn’t provide the same motivation as Kona. I just kept repeating the phrase, “we have a huge opportunity at 70.3 Worlds and we don’t want to waste it”

We also recognized the stress of the Kona cancelation and we took two weeks of downtime and allowed the motivation to come back. The fitness was there, so the lower volumes were only helping Eric shed the fatigue. In 2019 when Eric won IMKY and was 2nd at IMWI, compared to his peak in 2021, he was training at his highest EVER training load, and we progressed to this point appropriately. He went into Madison 70.3 and rode his highest, most consistent watts he EVER has. He also increased calories per hour by 100. He was ready to smash it at 70.3 Worlds.

1 week to our Superbowl. In the days before the race, when we talked he seemed quiet, confident, and ready. He was not overthinking the race, his competition, or the weather. A quiet athlete can be a dangerous athlete. St George is a course where you have to be constantly looking for speed. Corners, downhills, uphills, cresting hills, tangents are all areas for opportunities. Thinking of SG as a static “ride your watts” type of course would be a mistake.

Race day, he started the day with an average swim… which on the most important day where every minute counts could shake anyone. However, from what we saw at Tulsa and Des Moines, Eric did what he did all summer and kept fighting. He moved through the field perfectly and took major advantage of the final downhill where for the final 13 minutes, he averaged 39.5mph, his 2-minute peak was 46.5, and his peak speed was almost 54mph. He rode the 3rd fastest bike split of 2:11 with an average speed of 25.6mph. How well would he run off of this type of effort? Each time he ran past, he looked very solid at a high effort. He was running in 2nd overall at this point with 3rd overall running incredibly well. Eric finished the day with a 1:19 run split of 6:11 average pace.

Where does someone like Eric go after a performance like this? As a coach, my job is to look for areas of opportunity. I said it earlier, Eric is still developing at a high rate. There are many areas for improvement in his swimming, cycling, and running. For an IM and 70.3 Champion and now World Championship Podium, the goals revolve around…how do we develop the fitness and skill to return to St George in May and contest for the overall win? That is the exciting part.

Thanks for reading! If you have an interest in coaching, you can find more information here!

World Championship 70.3 2nd Place AG- Michael Ross

Michael and I started working together in the winter of 2012. He remains one of my longest-standing athletes. I still remember our initial phone call, I was sitting in a coffee shop (no surprise) and we spent the good part of an hour talking through his list of questions, concerns, and test questions. Up to this point, Michael always dealt with Achilles issues and he was needing a change in his approach.

Prior to starting with me, Michael was a good athlete with a long history of endurance training. At an earlier age, he grew up a runner where he excelled at mid-distance on the track.

Michael is an engineer and from a coaching perspective, that’s very important to understand. An engineer’s way of thinking is different than most. How they think and process data and training needs to be considered. His way of thinking blends well with my prescription of training and progression of workouts on a weekly and monthly basis.

Michael as an athlete is “All-In”. However, he is quietly “all-in”. What I mean by this is when you talk with Michael, you don’t get the impression that he is intensely trying to be the best athlete in his age group. He has a quiet personality but a deep desire to be the best. Anyone who follows him on Strava knows he loves to train, he has quite the fanbase. Anyone in his circle of friends knows he’s very humble and always open to help others. His balance between training, high performance, and lifestyle is one of the best I’ve seen. He never goes full in on one category. Incredibly well-balanced. It’s how he’s gotten to this point.

2020 was a turning point for Michael. With every event being cancelled, Michael’s love for training and routine shined. He raised his CTL to the 2nd highest load ever. 2021 was his highest training load ever. To be the best, you have to enjoy the process. You have to be willing to train when you don’t want to. This is Michael’s strength. Preparation is truly day-to-day.

Michael pushes me as a coach as much as I push him as an athlete. As a coach, my job is to be 100% invested in my athletes and provide them with what they need to be successful.

Michael was the driver in my investing in the INSCYD software. This was the difference-maker into his 2nd Place at the World Championships.

As his coach for almost 10 years, I feel like I have a good idea of his physiology. To this point, we’ve already achieved many podium performances and a Kona Qualifying slot at IMKY. However, we wanted to be better in 2021. The INSCYD testing results showed us something we couldn’t see in the training data and assumptions.

We completely changed the next block of training. With his previous diet habits, training volumes, and what I’ve seen in his training I would have assumed his VLamax (glycolytic power) would have been naturally lower, but it was actually much higher than preferred for an endurance athlete with his goals. With this data, we also got a good estimate on how many carbs he was burning at specific power outputs. This helped us dial in his fueling plan for race day.

We reversed our thinking and in the next 8 months, we saw an FTP increase of 20 watts and an increase in his 70.3 sustainable power. 20 watts for someone of his level is significant. In my podcast #111 I dive deeper into this. The workouts didn’t change too much over the 8 months, we stayed consistent on the prescription and waited for the plateau, but we never saw it. I also believe there was a small placebo effect involved. We were All-In believing this was making him a better athlete. The mind is the primary driver, you have to believe in what you are doing. It was like his body couldn’t get enough of the stimulus we were pushing for. The perfect storm was brewing for Worlds. Without this test, there wouldn’t have been the big FTP jump or the 2nd place finish.

Our original plan in 2021 was Ironman Texas in the spring and 70.3 worlds in the fall. When Texas was canceled, we didn’t chase another Ironman with the fitness we developed, we stayed on track for 70.3 Worlds. Chattanooga and Steelhead went very well along the way. After Steelhead, Michael took his 2-week break where he was completely OFF. This left us with 10 weeks of specific preparation for 70.3 Worlds.

We resumed the volume we were training at and made the decision to focus solely on the specificity of the race versus choosing more volume as the primary stimulus. We were confident with the load we developed and felt like more volume as the primary load would only be detrimental. We went on a bi-weekly schedule of loading where we worked between hill repeats and extended tempo efforts running. On the bike, we focused primarily on zone 2 development with bi-weekly sessions of “hour of power” connection work and over gear work at 70.3 and above 70.3. We knew exactly where his LT1 was with blood lactate testing.

Our weekly schedule also moved towards a Thursday long run and a Friday-Sunday cycling-focused schedule where Monday-Wednesday was recovery-focused. Friday would be an “as you feel” ride, Saturday would be a standard 4-hour ride, and Sunday would be a specific interval ride, loaded with fatigue from the days before, with a specific run off the bike.

The weekly volume barely changed. The intensity and loads of intensity within the volume changed. This allowed adaptations without too much stress added.

The week before the race is when we took our recovery. This is what we call an “unloading week”. Monday-Friday is reduced volume and intensity. Then Saturday-Thursday we resume training to 60-75% of normal volume and intensity. This allows race weekend to feel like a normal training weekend, with a tad extra rest.

Watching Michael have the best race of his career was very satisfying. To be a part of his team and know how hard he works makes the result feel even sweeter. The journey to this result wasn’t easy or linear. There were countless bad races, injuries, and frustrations along the way. However, Michael kept believing and we kept adapting.

If you are still reading and have an interest in coaching, the first month of coaching is FREE. This allows you to see if coaching is a good fit. More information here for coaching and more information on INSCYD testing

Under The Hood: Vo2 Max Block & FTP Improvements

Hello Everyone!

Since returning to structured training, I’ve completed three ramp tests

July 8th: 228: Rock-bottom fitness level

August 6th: 247: 8% improvement in FTP. All Z2, Sweet Spot, and Tempo training to this August test.

September 8th: 270: 9% improvement in FTP. All workouts were Z1/2 and Z5 with 1x OG Tempo weekly.

6 Week Average Cycling Hours: 8.5… (Peak Week 10 Hours)

*Before my ITB injury, my FTP was commonly in the 260-270 range

I knew in the middle of week 2 of my 3 week Vo2 max block, that my FTP jumped up again. My 2-3’ Vo2 max efforts were around 140% of my last tested FTP, which is not possible, so instead of retesting, I kept using HR Max % as my guide, not wattage till my next test. I knew going into this recent September test that i’d likely see another big improvement. This jump would put me exactly where I was before my ITB injury. During all 3 of my FTP Ramp tests, my Max HR has remained the same at 183, and my FTP has gone up. During my Vo2 Max sessions, because of my ever changing FTP, my main target has to keep my HR in the 90-95% of HR Max while using watts as a secondary measure. This has been a change for me and an important one for me. However, since my fitness has returned to its baseline, i’ll be using watts and HR as a primary.

You will also notice the usage of over gear tempos during my vo2 max phase.

1) I have Camp Epic the first of Oct. Camp Epic is 3 days, 270 miles, and 24,000ft of gain. These sessions are geared to help with sustainable climbs. The OG tempos are a nice “supportive” session during my vo2 max work. It helps grow the engine without too much metabolic stress, due to the low cadence, tempo effort nature. Push these too hard and they will turn from a supportive session to the main session, and that’s not what I was looking for.

2) I’m a believer that tempo work (OMG GREY ZONE) is very helpful for developing the aerobic system with minimal stress. The dosage of tempo is very important. Every ride? Nope. During Vo2 max/polarized blocks, I use it 1x a week, and am very careful with the rest of the rides being pretty easy so my body is rested so I can hit the big session. The usage of Tempo work changes in what we are trying to accomplish.

What’s below is just my cycling work, not including running, swimming, or lifting. I’m only running 3x a week where each session is done as a walk/run (1’ walk, 4’ run) for 20-25’. Thats what my knee can handle and its primarily pain-free.

Starting week 4, which is today (Sept 8th) was the ramp test. I will take 2-3 days pretty easy before doing condensed sweet spot block before Camp Epic.

Week 3

Sunday: 3x20’ Tempo Over Gear R:5 (60rpms)

Saturday: Easy 40’

Friday: 6x3’ Vo2 Max (odds: Up hill, evens: Flat)

Thursday: 1:45 Z2 (75% HR Max)

Wednesday: OFF

Tuesday: Mixed Vo2 Max: 1x3’…5x1’/30”…1x3….5x1/30….1x3

Monday: Recovery 1:30 @ 50% FTP

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Week 2

Sunday: OFF

Saturday: 90 Miles Group, Hilly and Hard

Friday: 3 Rounds: (12’ of 30” Near Max, 15” Easy) R:4’

Thursday: 2x20’ Over Gear Tempo (55-60rpms)

Wednesday: 40’ Z1 (75% HR Max)

Tuesday: 8x2’ Vo2 Max (All up hill)

Monday: OFF

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Week 1

Sunday: 1:20 Z2 Ride

Saturday: 1x25’ Over Gear Tempo (40’ Ride)…Lucy woke up early

Friday: 3 Rounds: (10’ of 30” Near Max, 15’ Easy) R:4’ …. BRUTAL

Thursday: OFF

Wednesday: 1:20 Z2 Ride

Tuesday: 6x2’ Vo2 Max (All Up Hill)

Monday: 1:40 Z2 Ride (75% of HR Max)

Monday Moment #5

What Coach Steve is reading…

“You can do all this shit, but it all comes down to two guys on a bike, trying to beat each other” - Jesse Thomas

When I finished reading the book Endure, I was genuinely pleased with what I learned. The author did a good job combining ‘what the science says’ versus what coaches are seeing in the ‘real world’. Good coaches can execute on both, science, athlete needs, and race demands. In my opinion, the book felt drawn out and the themes reoccurring, but I 100% recommend it. The ultimate take away is simple, you are only as powerful as your brain allows you to be.

Your brain controls everything and science has proven that through continuous studies when a placebo was used. In one of the studies in the book, the author states “they used electroencephalography to measure brain activity during exhaustion tests. Shortly before the cyclists gave up, there was an increase in communication between insular cortex, which was monitoring their internal condition, and the motor cortex, which issued the final commands to their leg muscles. The brain, in other words, knew that the cyclist were about to reach their limit before their legs actually failed.”

I recently saw a study done on caffeine. The study included the use of a caffeine stimulant, regular coffee, decaf coffee, and a placebo.  The results showed similar performance gains across all 4, even when caffeine wasn’t present. The brain thought it was receiving caffeine, so it acted as if it did. Caffeine is a known performance enhancer, there are more studies proving that you can boost performance while also getting a reduction in perceived effort by consuming around 3 cups of coffee before your workout. I’ve seen studies where the subjects consumed upwards to 10 cups, which is not recommended. 

Back to the brain. The author is also an accomplished runner and talks about his own “brain training” experience for a marathon he was preparing for. He would go through mind-numbing exercises that lasted upwards to an hour and then immediately go for a run. As expected, his legs felt ok but his internal motivation to push was dragging. He was training his brain to deal with boredom and not let his mind wander. I have done something similar by reading books on the trainer. The purpose of this is to keep your focus and recognize when your brain wanders from the task on hand. 

“Being boring is an important characteristic for inducing mental fatigue and, there, a brain training effect”

The athletes who can put together months and months of training are the ones who improve the most. They are the ones who can do the “boring” aerobic training without distraction. The best part, these people don’t consider the aerobic work boring, they understand the value and embrace it. They see the opportunity and capitalize. Every athlete who’s reached big results share something in common, they enjoy doing the work. 

At the end of the day, your improvement and race results come down to you and your ability to embrace the reality of the situation and push the limits of your brain. You are not born a winner or a quitter. You get to train these limits every day, and they aren’t always on the bike or out running. You are constantly faced with moments of adversity, it’s up to you if you want to capitalize on these opportunities. To eat the doughnut or not. Hmm 

As Jesse said, “You can do all this shit, but it all comes down to two guys on a bike, trying to beat each other”. You don’t have to be racing someone else, but you are always trying to beat your previous self. Getting your brain really good at saying “no I won’t quit” when your body just wants to walk is the biggest performance enhancer you can invest in. 

Monday Moment #4

What Coach Steve is listening to…

"People conceptualize conditioning in different ways," he said. "Some think it's a ladder straight up. Others see plateaus, blockages, ceilings. I see it as a geometric spiraling upward, with each spin of the circle taking you a different distance upward. Some spins may even take you downward, just gathering momentum for the next upswing. Sometimes you will work your fanny off and see very little gain; other times you will amaze yourself and not really know why." - Once a Runner

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The above quote was directed to me by one of the best endurance coaches on the planet, Joel Filliol. 

This week I relistened to a podcast that Joel did with The Physical Performance Show. He goes into a deep dive on many topics surrounding training, the culture of coaching, group environments, and many more. The most prominent aspect that separates Joel from other coaches is his ability to keep the training mindset simple when there is so much information, opinions, and gadgets floating around. Having coached in this type of environment, I know the level of stress and energy required to be successful. What Joel continues to do with his athlete is remarkable.

In the podcast, Joel discusses four phases that he goes through with his athletes:

1- Consistency in training. To see long term improvements in muscle resilience and aerobic fitness, you have to be consistent. The difference-maker in your fitness will not be the four-week block of vo2 max intervals that may or may not stick. The real difference-maker is the continuous development of your aerobic system. The deeper the foundation, the further and faster you will go. You have to love the training.

As Joel says, "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." This quote is gold. For every successful athlete I've been able to coach, this phrase continues to hold true. When an athlete cannot execute the day to day training, they are unlikely to see improvements. When their mind is clear on race day, they will race well. Keep in mind that no product will do the work for you. The aerobic work is what makes you great. 

2- Conditioning. Training matters. Once you've found your formula to be consistent, the fun begins. Don't overthink it, get out the door and enjoy the training. I also love that Joel uses the word conditioning versus something else to describe the process. The word conditioning follows along with the simplicity mindset. The quote that rings in my ears is Herb Brooks "the legs feed the wolf," and if you want to be the wolf, you need to put in the work. 

3- Improving/Understanding the loading for each individual. Not all training is created equal. An athlete of two years will respond differently than an athlete of ten years. Even if you have better genetics, you can’t fast track your body’s limits. Success early with less training is oftentimes followed by too much training and more injuries. Understanding what you can and cannot handle long term is critical for improvement.

Also, the amount of training an athlete can absorb is always changing. One block an athlete can do well with ten hours a week while the following block an athlete's body may reject it. There are many variables an athlete can pay attention to in order to determine the correct training load at that time. Also, the proper progression isn't always to add more. It's about doing what's needed. 

4- Minimum Effective Dose. The newly motivated wants to train more and harder. More volume and intervals will not make you a better athlete and fortunately, there is good science that proves this. 6x1 Mile at 10k pace isn't always better than 5x1 Mile. 12x400m at 5k pace isn't always better than 8x400. More intervals commonly lead to more injuries.

What happens when you do more work than your body can absorb? You induce too much fatigue with minimal return. Minimal absorption means minimal improvement. When you train at your minimum effective dose, you allow yourself to be consistent. When you are consistent, you are healthy and happy. When you train above this dose, you consistently deal with niggles and illness. I like to tell athletes that you should always be around a fatigue level of 4-5 out of 10. Sure, some days you will be above this but on average you should be around a 4-5. Carrying some fatigue is a good thing. If you consistently carry too little fatigue you are not training hard enough to see improvement. Carrying too much fatigue brings along many consequences. 

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I can't tell you how often I hear as a coach... I don't feel fit, I'm terrible at swimming, I'm slow on the bike, etc... after this athlete has just completed a huge and successful training block, swam a new 100yd PR, or just set a new run threshold pace. The negative comment comes from one single 'off' workout. If I told you that of all your training sessions in a week you would have 1-2 great ones, 1-2 bad ones, and the rest just standard 'putting in the work, workouts' would that allow you to see things differently?

Every week, I’m reminding athletes that they are right on track, that they are making progress, that one bad workout does not mean they've completely lost all fitness. It seems silly to write this, but it happens far too often. So why am I constantly reassuring athletes of this?

Your confidence in your ability to perform will come from consistent effort, steady improvement, and recognizing that 1-2 bad workouts (or even more!) doesn't mean any more than you just had a few off sessions. So next time you feel sluggish in a workout, don’t hit the same pace as you did the workout prior, or mentally can’t ‘get up’ for a workout… don’t sweat it! It’s part of the process, part of the flow of training, and part of the daily grind that continues to move you along on your path to success. Living your training day to day will put you on an emotional roller coaster that isn’t a fun ride. It is critical to look at the long-term accumulation and flow of training, and not just day to day. Improvements in both fitness and skill come with months and years of consistent training, success does not happen overnight, nor do you lose it overnight.

So, what is a huge factor in your daily performance and subsequently, how you interpret your training?

Stress. If you have a lot going on in your life, and let’s face it, who doesn't, your training will be affected by this. Your body doesn't know the difference between work stress, family stress, relationship stress or training stress. It is all accumulative. So if you have a shit-ton going on in your life and think your training won't suffer as a result, you are being naive. Training can be a great way to manage the other stresses of life with a little adrenaline boost, endorphin rush, or simply allowing your brain some time to process everything. Just recognize that this doesn't eliminate the accumulated stress. If you find yourself tired or unmotivated to get out the door and you don’t know why cause you are excited to pursue your goals with a key race coming up!... then take a look at all the other aspects of your life. What other stresses are pushing in on you and what can you do to relieve those? Sometimes the best thing might be to skip that workout (that probably would fall into the ‘bad workout’ category anyhow) and rather, sleep in, take a nap, spend time with your kids, go for a walk, or invite a friend to ice cream. It’s all part of the balance, and the best version of you on the race course will present itself when you have the other aspects of life in balance. So did I just say you can skip a workout? Yes! I did, sometimes this is the best choice for you on that day. If this becomes a weekly habit, then we’ll have to talk. ;o)

In summary; listen to your body, don’t stress if you have a bad session, keep things in perspective, and find joy in this journey. We are all out there to be fit, healthy and have fun. This is a lifestyle, one that most of us hope to do for years to come, so do your best to keep life in balance, aware of the big picture and go with the flow. 

Monday Moment #3

What I’m reading…

A study was done between age group and professional cyclists where they performed multiple twenty-minute time trials to exhaustion. One of the time trials was done immediately after performing a phycological test aimed to deplete their response inhibition. The idea behind this protocol was to exhaust their decision-making skills. We all know what it’s like to start a workout mentally exhausted from a hard work day or stressful situation.

What they found was the professional cyclists performed better on the phycological test overall and they also saw no reduction in their power after the mentally draining test while the age group cyclists produced over 4% less power on their test. The professional cyclists were able to resist the effects of mental fatigue and cycle as fast as when they performed the test fresh.  

Two more tests were performed to see if phycology played apart in physical performance and perceived effort. Both tests were done to exhaustion, basically, go until you quit. During the test, they would flash images on a screen to the riders. One group of cyclists were shown sad images while the other group was shown positive images. The group that was shown positive images rode an average of three minutes longer than the “sad” group.

The second test was to determine the effects of self-talk. They had the cyclists perform baseline tests to exhaustion, then took half of the group and taught them how to use positive reinforcement and certain phrases at certain times during the test. When they retested both groups two weeks later the self-talk group lasted eighteen percent longer and their perceived effort climbed more slowly throughout the test than the control group.

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All of the studies above are from the book, Endure, by Alex Hutchinson. A long time athlete of mine recommended that I read it and I have not put it down. Commonly the books I read help put me to sleep, but this book has created many late nights. 

I have been coaching for a long time and I graduated from college with a degree in English. You don’t hear of that too often in the coaching world. In fact, I almost didn’t get my first big coaching job because my degree wasn’t in Exercise Science. When I was in college I was already coaching high school track and field and knew I wanted to be a life long coach. Because of these career intentions, my initial major was Exercise Physiology before switching to English. While I was going through my general education classes I discovered that I was actually applying more to my athletes from my English classes than I was from my Exercise Physiology courses. 

I learned quickly from the athlete’s I’m privileged to coach that they are robots. There is not a perfect training plan and no one develops exactly as the workout plan is built. There is this powerful piece of equipment that sits between your ears and it controls everything. Don’t get me wrong, training matters a lot and a good training plan can increase one’s confidence tremendously. However, when working with World and National Champions to first-time triathletes, the ones who succeed the most have the most productive and healthiest internal dialogue.

When you are faced with a challenging situation, you are forced to make a decision. That decision will then translate to your performance. How you think, what you say, and how you react will set off a chain reaction for as long as the situation continues. This could be a race, hard workout, easy workout, or even following the training plan that is built for you. The athletes who consistently come up short are the ones who do the opposite of what’s mentioned above. 

Can you train the qualities mentioned above? Can you improve your mental state? Absolutely! You have to believe that you can in order to improve. That is what separated the professionals versus the age group cyclists. The professional cyclists were so well trained and experienced at performing under high levels of fatigue that the test didn’t affect them at all. You don’t have to be a professional athlete to perform this way. It’s a mindset, not a physical ability. High performers are oftentimes the most consistent trainers and performers. Consistency is key.

I remember when Brett Favre’s father passed away and the very next game Brett played was one of his best. You have to believe the stress and fatigue Brett was enduring was insurmountable, but he was able to adapt and overcome to perform at a high level. You oftentimes see the flip side of this situation when an athlete cannot cope with the stress and fatigue and unfortunately give up. I’ve seen these same athletes work on the required mental skills in training to become high performers. They are trainable!

Every workout is an opportunity to improve your mental and physical state. In reality, there is no such thing as failure, only opportunities to grow. The ones who understand this concept have the potential to be high performers in whatever they are pursuing. 

Monday Moment #2

What i’m listening to…

Kate Courtney is inspiring. Stanford. World Champion. World Cup Champion. Red Bull. Scott Bikes. Fearless.

“No one likes to fail; however, it’s where you learn the most, its where you grow and get better. It’s entirely possible to fail without being a failure. If you can allow yourself to fail, then you’re at the point where you can take risks and take chances. If you have a partnership were both athlete and coach are allowed to fail, that’s when you’re most dangerous. When you take risks is when the good stuff happens. If you won’t allow yourself to fail then you’ll never reach your full potential.”

This is awesome. 

You know Kate is fearless by how she races her bike, off the front. You saw it in her response when not selected for the 2016 Olympics. You saw it when she won the rainbow stripes in 2018. You saw it when she won the UCI World Cup in 2019. You saw it when she spoke about Nutrition, Body Image, and Life Balance.

No one is born fearless. It’s a quality you have to work on continually. You need to leave perfection at the door if you want to achieve high performance. When people chase perfection, they end up building more hurdles than useable pathways. We all know that perfection isn’t sustainable and only instills constant hesitation and self-doubt that is rooted by insecurity. Also, attempting to become fearless isn’t desirable to most people. Most people live somewhere in the middle and the moment they dangle their foot into the uncertainty, their conscious quickly reels them back in. Whoa, way too far buddy. You become fearless by the decisions you respond to. If a situation makes you uncomfortable and you instantly fold, you just moved further away from achieving high performance. However, If your reaction was to go after it and step out of your comfort zone, regardless of the result you succeeded.

“My motto on the start line was, an underdog is just an underdog,” Courtney said, “until they show their teeth and you realize it’s a wolf.”

Link to Podcast with Courtney HERE

Personal Musing….

I’m week one in a new training phase. After reaching new numbers on the bike, I was confident that I exhausted the property I was training and needed to move on. With the weather starting to warm up and coming off of a high-intensity phase, it’s time to swoop underneath my threshold and start pushing it up. Rise then push, Rise then push. I plan to repeat these steps until I win the Tour de France. Kidding. Maybe.

My current training consists of cycling, lifting, and push-ups. I’ve recently taken a second break from running and I’m okay with it. I’m amazed with how well I’m handling my never-ending IT Band injury. There are certainly times when I get frustrated but I’m a believer that every situation we encounter is laced with opportunity. I’ve wanted to become a better cyclist. I’ve wanted to work on my mobility. I’ve wanted to spend more time lifting. These are all the things I’m focusing on and it’s helped fill the void of running and swimming. 

~Coach Steve

Monday Moment #1

What i’m reading…
I love reading books and articles about other coaches and influential people. My favorite book is Steve Jobs. Ruthless. Passionate. Simple. Relentless. My readings have gone in phases over the years. Earlier in my career it was text books, scientific studies, and coaching manuals. The amount of folded edges, pen marks, and posted notes could save a rain forest. What motivates me now is people. Helping and understanding people. How and why relationships start. How relationships evolve and improve. Why relationships end.

Dan Lorang is a tremendous coach. He is the long time coach of Jan Frodeno and Anne Haug. He is also the head coach of world tour cycling team Borah Hansgrophe. Dan is one of the best endurance coaches in the world. In 2019, Dan coached the Men and Women’s champion at Kona. *mic drop

When you study coaches, Dan has a certain trend with his training principles. When you look at the world’s best coaches, the qualities to look for is their execution style more than just cool training sessions and training volumes (note: those don’t really matter as much as you’d think).

Unfortunately advise from the best coaches often times leave you feeling underwhelmed. If I hear the word “consistency” one more time…where are the epic workouts? You think you found the pot of gold only to feel the need to keep looking, there has to be more! This tip from one of the world’s best may look straight out of a magazine but it truly is gold.

Dan, for triathletes, has said many times that he trains specific energy systems in phases. This can be simplified as “a training block of vo2 max” where they train specifically to improve that energy system in swim, bike, and run. This can contradict the idea of training multiple energy systems at one time. Sometimes (many times) when we try and do too many things at once only to accomplish very little things.

“We have a first phase of technique and VO2max where we increase the aerobic capacity and get them ready for the season, then a phase more focused on strength and endurance, before a third one where we focus on economisation closer to competition with race intervals. We repeat these phases 2-3 times per year and normally after a race we start them all over again, but they’d be shorter.” Dan Lorang

Link to Article here

Personal Musing….

Is there anything worse than not improving? For years I barely saw improvement. In fact I wrote a blog post about how slow i’ve gotten “In 8 years I’ve managed to get 13 minutes slower over the same course. How could I possibly take confidence from this?”. However that has been changing. Yay. Whew. I do this sport for the feeling of grinding out my training. Enjoying the challenge. Seeing improvements. Having structure to my life. I love the feeling of fatigued legs the morning after a hard workout day.

This past week I did multiple FTP tests. I highly recommend it as it identifies strengths and weaknesses in your athlete profile. I know I don’t have great power at vo2 max, but I still like to test it. I like to see how certain training intensities influence it without actually training at it. Recently I’ve been doing sessions and volumes of intensities that intimidate me. Before each workout I warn Cindi “This is going to be brutal”. Before I even started the test I knew I had improved, I saw it in my training sessions. Wattages started to feel easier. Heart rates started to drop. This is a great feeling. During this phase I actually dropped my bike volume by 3 hours a week and cranked up the volume of intensity. IN FACT, entering this 6 week block I had come back from a two week period where i didn’t train AT ALL. Stupid IT band.

Thursday was Ramp Test and Saturday was a 5’ and 20’ Test. I increased my ramp test result 3% from November and increased 5% in my 20’ test from November. Also, i’m four pounds lighter than I was in November so that’s a bonus. I told Cindi after Saturday’s test that I need 10 more watts and 5 less pounds to feel like accomplished.

For what though?

Simple.

For me.

~Coach Steve

I'm Not Improving, Part 2

You are not trying hard enough, plain and simple. You want to see improvement, but you are scared of the effort it will take. You are afraid of committing to a process that may not pay off. 

The first step required is that you need to know your baseline fitness. This is critical for your development. Unfortunately, the first step is avoided because you don’t want to “see how slow I am.” The truth hurts but is also motivating. The downfall of avoiding these baseline tests is that you are left guessing. Even worse is believing that you hold the same fitness all year long. 

When you are continually guessing, you have no way of measuring improvement, or your “improvement” goes in imaginary waves. The second option, you over guess your fitness and you end up injured. The third option, you continually undertrain and never see improvement.

Every athlete I’ve been fortunate to coach has wanted to improve. 

If you are an athlete who has a habit of saying, “I feel like I’m not improving,” you need something measurable. Going off of a feeling isn’t measurable, its inconsistent and not reliable. You need concrete numbers that you can measure so you can SEE your improvement. 

What does this process look like?

Swim Example: 

Every 4th week you complete the same swim set of 10x100 R:20, and the goal is to swim the best possible average across all 10. The 1st time you do this set you average 1:50s. After the swim set you evaluate your pacing and effort. Did you start too easy or hard? Was I consistent or did I slow down?

In 4 weeks you do the EXACT same swim set, 10x100 R:20 and you aim to average a faster pace across all ten and correct any pacing/technical errors you made the first time you attempted this set. If you try again and average 1:47s, you are getting faster. If you average 1:50s again, you need to adjust your training in a certain way. 

Run Example:

This depends on the type of athlete and what you are looking to achieve. If you are very good at short distance events, I will challenge you to do 3x1 Mile best average R:3. If you are someone who loves the long run, I challenge you to do 12x400m R:1. 

The same idea applies for the swimming example, every four weeks you attempt the same workout looking to get faster with consistent execution.

The benefit of doing workouts like this are:

1. You and your coach get to see your improvement. If there isn’t an improvement, then you evaluate your training or mindset and make tweaks to make yourself better.

2. You will race better. These sessions are considered “Test Sessions,” and you should be slightly nervous before you start them. Its good to put pressure on yourself because it’s the same pressure you will have on race morning. Practice how you will race. Don’t always live in your comfort zone, and growth doesn’t live there. Complaining, plateaus, and burnout does.

What is the appropriate amount of improvement every year? This will depend on the training age of the athlete. A newer athlete in a specific discipline will improve in larger chunks than someone who has been training in a specific discipline for ten years. Regardless, the improvement rate is between 2-5% every year. Again, this will vary for different levels of athletes. 

I’m talking about this because I often hear athletes say, “I was expecting more”. Many times athlete's expectations are unrealistic or they are comparing their-self to a different, more capable athlete. This is too common and is the road to constant dissatisfaction. How many of us have started the season excited to tackle our new, big, exciting goals? Then two months in feeling like they want to quit and are unhappy? This is common because you have realized your goals are not achievable and you become unmotivated. 

If your current threshold run pace is 8:00 per mile, in a year from now I would like to see you at a 7:40-45 per mile at threshold pace. This is realistic; anything better is a bonus. However, thinking you will improve from 8:00 pace to 7:00 pace will lead to injury and constant frustration.

I started this article saying you are not improving because you are scared of the commitment needed to improve. This uncertainty is caused by not having correct paces, goals, and expectations. When you have these, you develop a clear path of where you are, where you want to be, and how long it will take. When you have all of these, you are ready to commit. 

Winning USAT Age Group Nationals

This opportunity to be apart of a team that wins the Age Group National Champion doesn't come very often. I still remember seeing the results of the race and letting out a stream of excitement. As a coach, the messages I try to get across to every athlete are:

1. Achieve consistency, no matter what. Even if it means slower and less work.

2. Don't focus too much on the long term. Immerse yourself in the daily details to achieve consistency.

Rachel Creates Success

Rachel is very competitive and incredibly intelligent. She does her research. She knows the courses. She knows who she’s racing. She knows where every QOM is in Madison (A true Strava hunter!). Also, what I like about Rachel is that she does have an off switch with triathlon. She isn't afraid to have a beer and burger. I would say that she is 90% committed to being excellent and this is, in my opinion, the reason she is the best age grouper in the nation. When you immerse yourself too deep, too frequent, your chances for burnout go up. You essentially lose your life balance and Rachel has the right balance on life and triathlon. 

Rachel Shows Up

In 2018 Rachel was 9th overall and 3 minutes away from the overall win at Age Group Nationals. At 2018 ITU World Championships she was 5th Overall (3rd AG) and less than 2 minutes away from the overall win. 

These two results showed that big things are possible. The work that went into the 2019 offseason was not fancy. It was very routine every week. 

The main focus for Rachel in 2019 was

1) Stay healthy running

2) Achieve consistency in training

3) race more competitive events.

I felt that because Rachel is still new to triathlon, we needed more underlying work that would provide her the ability to race harder and longer. We avoided big spikes in training hours and just focused on training. We only had two hard run sessions a week. The rest of the runs were ceilinged at 8:00 per mile, no faster. These changes allowed Rachel to remain healthy, unlike in 2018 when we pushed too much and dealt with reoccurring injuries. 

If you are injured, you are not training. We would finish up hard Tuesday PM Bike/Run practice and Rachel never missed Wednesday AM swim workouts.

Communication Builds Champions

When training isn't going well, I hear about it. When something is bothering her, I hear about it. This level of communication is the foundation os success. There is no hiding workouts, thoughts, or agendas. That just builds mistrust. I am open to Rachel training with other athletes and groups. If it allows her to be better, it makes sense. I am far from a controlling coach. I am the middle person who overlooks her stress levels. Communication is critical if you want success. Sometimes communication can be hard but when she is standing on the top step, it's worth it.

Less is More; More is More.

Because Rachel's triathlon age is still quite young, I need to train her accordingly. Rachel has a good swimming and running background, but when combining all three at a high level, we needed to be careful. Less training is commonly better than more early. Doing more when the body isn't ready to accept it will result in fewer adaptations and more injuries. Rachel is also a very explosive athlete and in my experience, these athletes can be more injury-prone. Also, understanding Rachel's physiology allows me to balance her intensity buckets better. We don't need to do as much high intensity running as we do tempo/threshold running. 

Once we found the least amount of work possible needed to achieve results, we did quite a bit of training at this threshold. It's not as if we are lazy, Rachel trains a lot and hard, but its enough for her at this time. The acceptable load of an athlete changes as they change. So find your optimal training dose, train as much as you can at it, and slowly increase. Less is more because it allows you to train more. 

Always Close to Peak Fitness

With short course racing, I don't believe in extensive builds to achieve peak results. I am a firm believer that an athlete should be no more than 4-8 weeks away from a peak race in a four-month period. Short course racing is different than long course racing and the training is slightly different, as well as the mentality. When preparing for shorter events, you should always be developing different buckets of intensity and specificity while maintaining a substantial level of base work. When you get closer to a race you start to add more water in certain ones but never going full in on one. Plus, Rachel needed more experience racing and when naturally racing to win, she needs to be close to your peak form. 

In the final period before Nationals, there was never a workout when we said "Yes, that's it, you are ready" as I feel those moments are risky. We didn't go seeking confidence in workouts. There was just the confidence that she was healthy, focused, and more experienced.

Also, I've never been a fan of formulating a big game plan before triathlons. I don't believe athletes remember them and they do more harm than good. Before the race, I sent her a message saying, "You know what you need to do and how to do it. You've done it and you've done it well. So tomorrow is about going out there and doing it again."

And she did. Better than anyone else.

In conclusion, I feel incredibly fortunate to work with Rachel. It's not often a coach works with the USAT National Champion. To win this race is a tremendous honor. If coaches are reading this, I hope you found this helpful and feel free to reach out if you have questions.  

IRONMAN Wisconsin, Race Report

IRONMAN Wisconsin 2019 was a fantastic day, one that I am incredibly proud of. IRONMAN is when you find out what you are made of. IRONMAN is when you discover if you are out there for the right reasons. 

Leading into race day, I was feeling the most relaxed and confident in quite some time. When people would ask me how I was feeling, I could confidently say “excellent”. 

The changes I made into this IRONMAN

1. My long runs, I never emptied the tank. The sessions were steady but rarely insane. The final six weeks to race day I made sure never to test myself and put in stress that would haunt me on race day. The last eight weeks are the most stressful on the body as your volume is at its peak, and inserting too much intensity is hard to shed on race day. Commonly when you see people underperforming on race day, it can be pinpointed to the run training into the race.

2. I didn’t taper the bike or swim volume into the race. The weekend before the race I still rode 4 hours with 2 hours of quality. Monday I again swam 4k in open water. The only tapering I did was Monday-Wednesday. These three days were enough to shed the fatigue in my legs and by Thursday I was doing my standard Thursday/Friday bike block of tempo work. I didn’t do the same level of volume of intensity, but it was enough to make me feel like I was building into the race.

Standing at the swim start, I was excited to go. The training is done; my body felt great; my mind was ready. I noticed that the paddle boarders and kayakers were having a hard time staying in one place; they were continually pushing backward. This was the sign that our swim was going to be rough. Every Tuesday we have open water swim practice and I’ve never seen Lake Monona like this. Where there are waves in Lake Monona, there will be wind for the bike. I’ve never felt stronger and confident in the swim. I felt strong until the finish. 

The bike was challenging with the wind and nutrition changes. My original plan was to consume smaller bottles early as I knew it would be cold then settle into 24-30oz of fluid for the rest of the bike. By 30 miles into the bike, I had already peed twice. I went through 16oz of liquid and peed twice more. Luckily I don’t consume calories through fluid, only electrolytes. I was able to get in my planned 400 calories per hour of gel. When I got to Cross Plains, I hit the train tracks and my front tire exploded. IMWI was the 2nd triathlon this year I’ve flatted in, and it never gets easier. I changed the tire quickly only to have my tube explode when inflating it. When the bike support got to me, we found a gash in my front tire which would explain my 2nd tube blowing. Thankfully they put a new tire on and I was off. 

I was off my bike for 24 minutes. It felt like forever. All I could do was watch everyone ride by me. But I never thought about quitting. I didn’t train this hard to stop. What was I expecting? To have no adversity on race day? My legs were not injured; my body was fine. No excuses. Yes, I was disappointed. I saw Cindi on Old Sauk and let out some good tears. However, after that moment I was back on track. 

At the Athlete Dinner, one of the messages delivered was “Only you decide if you are having a bad day,” and this was in my mind after my mechanical. I have no reason to have a bad day. I could make this a good day if I wanted. I didn’t spend my Saturday’s away from my family to quit. They allowed me to have a great day and I set out to do precisely that. 

The run went phenomenal. It was my faster IRONMAN Marathon at 3:24. I couldn’t have been happier. 

The whole race I felt grateful for the opportunity to be challenging myself. I felt grateful for everyone who was cheering for me and offering support. To everyone who encouraged me, thank you. 

To Madison Multisport for being so supportive and uplifting. Having such an encouraging and balanced team to train with keeps me balanced. I wouldn’t have gotten to the starting line without you all. Grateful.

To Amanda Marek for achieving her dream of qualifying for Kona. Winning her age group and winning the entire female AG race. I was getting so much inspiration from hearing her updates.

To Ken and Michael for being everywhere on the bike and run course. Grateful.

To my family for being out there all day cheering me on. Grateful

To Cindi and Lucy for the constant love and support. For pushing me out the door to train more when I didn’t want to. For providing me with the desire to become better. I am so fortunate to have a family that supports my goals. I completely lost it when Lucy ran up to me on the run, looking for a hug. My eyes were filled with tears. Grateful. 

Sunday was a great day.

Steve

The Session

August 14th, I did one of my IRONMAN Simulation swims, and I had the best swim I’ve ever had.

The IRONMAN Simulation Swim is a standard simulation I have my athletes do. I will change the repetition duration to fit their fitness level. The goal of these sessions is to swim race distance at an intensity higher than what they will on race day. This session teaches them pacing and how to handle the race distance mentally. These sessions are hard but essential for building the specific endurance needed.

The workout:

1x1000

3x500

3x300

4x200=4,200 yards

Swim Time 56:52, Overall Time 59:58 (avg 1:21 per yards)

There is no warm-up as you commonly don’t get a swim warm-up on IRONMAN day.

The other goal is to have the smallest difference from Swim Time to Overall Time.

Two weeks prior I went 58:53 swim time, Overall Time of 1:01:27 doing 10x400, 1x200 (1:24 per yards)

These swims give me confidence that I can swim the whole duration without going into survival mode. I always have had constant issues swimming well in open water and these sessions have transformed my ability to swim well in open water.

One week after swimming 56:52 I tested myself at Devils Lake and swam 4000 yards in 57:00 (1:26 per yards pace) in a sleeveless wetsuit. This session was another massive boost for me that I can swim under 1:00 on IRONMAN day.

However, this is a triathlon where each discipline feeds into the next one. While I would LOVE to swim under 1:00, I won’t be chasing a time as ill be chasing an effort.

It’s great to see improvement!

Steve

I'm Not Improving, Part 1

This is so frustrating. 

I'm putting all of this work in with no return. 

Is this worth it. 

Maybe endurance sports aren't for me. 

I could be doing more with my time. 

I'm so slow.

Everyone is faster than me. 

These are the words I hear too often as a coach. I see them typed on social media, I listen to them whispered to friends, and I see it in athletes' eyes and body language. As someone who spends their day investing in others, listening to other people's stories, it is hard to witness such discouragement. Endurance sports can be enjoyable with the right mindset. Endurance events are an accumulation activity and what you put in, you will get a return. However, you need to be in the right mindset to reap these rewards. 

I was coaching an open water swim class this morning and this topic came to mind. The three main reasons people don't improve boil down to 1) Measuring 2) Effort 3) Expectation; and today I will focus on the foundation point, measuring your fitness.

1. Measuring

In my experience the people who are discouraged continuously don't measure their training, so they have no clue how fast or slow they are going. They measure their effort off of other people which undoubtedly leads to dissatisfaction. Hot tip, there will always be someone faster than you, so this isn't a consistent measuring point. Using others as motivation is also a short term fix. You are ultimately out there for yourself. 

We coach six swim sessions a week that have ranging abilities. I was working with an athlete who stopped mid-workout to express dissatisfaction in how little they felt were improving. My heart sank as this is a horrible feeling as a coach. I asked, "how fast was your last 100 repeat?" The athlete responded, "I don't know." I took a moment and replied, "How do you know you are not improving if you don't know your speeds?" and the athlete responded, "Well, this person has been swimming faster than me."

Here lies the problem with group training, its a constant measure of your rank, which feels like a measurement of your worth even though it’s not. I am swimming the slowest which doesn't feel good, which must mean I'm not improving. A reoccurring observation is that athletes know their running pace but don't know their swimming pace. This is a reason people don't like swimming.

As a coach I know my athlete's swim paces. I time intervals of each athlete throughout practice and thankfully I happened to time this person's last interval. I reminded the athlete that when they first started, they were swimming at 2:00 pace for 100 repeats and this previous 100 was a 1:50. There was a moment of silence as this information was sinking in. The athlete was improving all along but never realized it. I stood next to this athlete the rest of the practice providing splits for the main set. The motivation for the remainder of the swim was something we never saw before; the athlete only got faster the rest of the class! The only difference was being more engaged in the process of swimming. 

This concept is not rocket science, but you need to know your ability. You are waking up every day to better yourself, and the only way to receive productive feedback is by measuring yourself. If you are an athlete, you should be doing tests in the swim, bike, and run throughout the year. It is imperative for long term success. 

Coach Steve

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