| BPC Newsletter |
Issue 009 Oct 2009 |
Letter from Ali
This edition of the BPC Newsletter covers our exciting new group online coaching programs, BPC Fall Base Period Swim, Bike, Run and Strength Classes, and BPC Coaches "Getting Back to Base" from Vic Brown and "Finding Your Limiters" by Head Coach Ali Winslow.
Also included in this newsletter, full race coverage and results from August and September. Pictures and race reports from Noah Manacas and his adventures on the Reach the Beach Relay and a first timers race report from IM Louisville racer Ben Arnold.
Be sure to read below about our Group Coaching Options for 2009-2010 and sign ups are available for all 4 weekly classes on our website: www.bostonperformancecoaching.com
BPC Group Coached Workouts in Boston 2009-2010
BPC is pleased to offer Two Options for personalized coaching in a group environment at an affordable rate! Space is limited and all abilities are welcome. So make the best training decision you'll make for this season and next! E-mail aliwinslow@bostonperformancecoaching.com to sign up today.Benefits of your monthly program include:
Monthly Training program:
- A. Group Swim, 1 day per week (4 swims per month) (Monday AM, Case Center Pool) - $50 per month as part of program
- B. Group Bike 1 days per week (4 bike classes per month) (Wed Morning OR Tuesday evening, Landrys Bicycles) - $50 per month as part of program
- C. Group Strength 1 day per week (4 strength classes per month) (Monday evening 7-8pm, BU Varsity Gym)- 50$/month as part of program
- D. Group Run- 1 day per week (4 runs per month) (Thursday morning 7-8am, Joint Ventures PT 654 Beacon St)-50$/month as part of program
- E. 8 week training plan and 2 weekly classes/month (swim, bike, strength or run) $300/total
- D. 8 week training plan and 3 weekly classes/month (swim, bike, strength or run) $380/ total
- E. 8 week training plan and 4 weekly classes/month (swim, bike, strength or run) $460/ total
2009-10 Ironman and Half Ironman Training Groups, Short Course Training Groups:
- All workouts will be under the supervision of a BPC approved and USAT certified coach.
- High quality structured workouts to push your limits.
- Each week will include coached workouts for swim, bike, run and strength.
- In the spring and summer, we will include long bike rides and long runs, outdoor swims as coached workouts.
- One catered race simulation training day with our coaches.
- A comprehensive monthly training program will be provided.
- A Training Peaks account will be provided to track your training.
- Coaches will lead the workouts with the BPC Mission of concentration, drive and motivation.
- 20+ coached workouts a month at less than $13 per workout!
- Preparedness for your race - we will help you reach your goals.
This group program launches on Oct 19th, 2009. It's an ideal training option for: Mooseman Olympic and HIM, Timberman HIM and Sprint, Hyannis 1 and 2, Cohasset Sprint, Duxbury Sprint, Hyannis Half and Full Marathon, Boston Marathon, Patriot HIM, IM Lake Placid, IM Louisville, IM Wisconsin, Hopkington Season Opener, Cranberry Olympic and Sprint.
REGARDLESS OF WHEN YOUR NEXT RACE IS... JOIN US AND BUILD YOUR FITNESS. BE READY TO RIP IT THE NEXT TIME YOU RACE.
Workouts will be held in Boston. Swims will be held at the Case Center Pool Mondays 6:30am, Strength Workouts will be held Monday evenings at BU Varsity Weight Room, Cycling Classes will be held at Landry's Bicycles on Tuesday evenings and Wednesday mornings, Run workouts will be in Boston on Thursday mornings. Over the year more classes and times will be added.
Finding Your Limiters
Did you get into multisport competition because you were a swimmer, cyclist, or runner? Perhaps you heard "it was fun?"
Often I hear from clients and other coaches about spectacular swimmers, or strong cyclists, or fast runners...but to be a solid triathlete, it is a fact you need to excel at all 3 sports. What is pretty common for most of us, even at the elite level, is that this is a fact of triathlon. The question becomes, how do we get better at all 3 sports, especially at the same time? Can our slow swim evolve into something competitive? How do learn to ride with more power or more aggressively and run faster off the bike if these are our limiters?
It is a challenge to commit to working on your limiters, especially if you don't love to get in the water, or have the time to ride many hours, or running is a challenge. The key is to know and accept your limiters, then commit to improvement.
As a young triathlete in Cambridge, I biked to work every day and had 8-10 hours per week to train. I was able to improve my fitness and specifically my weakest link, allowing my body to focus on all three sports.
However, as a mother of 2 young children, and a business owner in New England, I find a less than perfect training environment. The weather, my children and my work dictates training schedule. Time is a limiting factor for me.
This is why I use something called "Sport Rotation." This is a method by which the athlete focuses more specifically on one sport at a time. Often athletes are forced into this method when they travel and do not have access to a pool or a bike to ride, or due to an injury, they are forced to stay away from a particular sport.
I really found this training theory useful in the fall after I had my first child. Time was no longer my own, and long bike rides were simply not possible without paying someone else so that I could ride or swim. I remember thinking that there was no way it could work, and I didn't believe that I wouldn't lose fitness in my other sports by focusing on only 1 sport at a time. However, it worked for me.
Some of the world's best endurance athletes we see usually run or swim twice per day, the best swimmers out there will swim a minimum of 6000yds per practice! Cyclists will ride for a few hours, refuel and ride some more. When these athletes train they are focusing on one sport at a time. If you have the desire to get better you should think about implementing some sport rotation into your season. Letting your body focus on one event at time will help it adapt more quickly and improve on technique and endurance. If you continue to keep training the way you are now and you aren't improving then what do you have to lose by trying this approach?
If you are interested in using sport rotation, then my suggestion for this program would be to focus on one sport for three weeks, take an easy week, and then repeat the cycle. If you use two months to focus on one sport, then a complete rotation would take six months. After six months you can return to a more balanced approach. If you live in a part of the world where you have all four seasons you can let the seasons dictate your schedule and it would look something like this: Starting around November 1st you start your run focus. By early January you would start your swim focus and by early March you would be starting your bike focus. You don't have to make it that rigid as we usually have off weeks, colds in the winter, and life that gets in the way of training. It happens.
So how would we set up a typical cycle? If you look at your training in terms of time and frequency, then you would want 50-75% of your training time to be focused on that sport. Let's take running for example: If you currently run 3 days a week, work yourself up to five or six days per week, even if that fifth or sixth day is only a fifteen or twenty minute run. That frequency will help you to run better the more you are on your feet. In the other two sports, I would still train two times per week. I would do one drill session in the pool and on the bike, and I would add in an endurance set for each as well. Since the focus is on the running, the other the non-running workouts are just maintenance and or skills (drills) sessions. After my two month cycle I would switch to swimming where I would try to swim at a higher frequency and increase my time in the pool. The running and cycling would be two times per week, with the focus on drills and endurance. Once we move into the cycling phase, we are repeating the process. Cycling becomes the focus with the other sports maintain the fitness gained and continuing to work on skills and endurance.
Most importantly, during these phases, become a runner during your run focus. Run with people who are better then you. Watch how they train. Swim with the swimmers during your swim focus months. Become a fish. Watch the fast swimmers swim. Watch their form and see what you can learn. On the bike, become a cyclist during your focus months. Ride with a group. Learn bike handling skills. Learn to ride in a pack. During these focus months you can learn a lot, you can improve a lot, and you can take your fitness levels to places you haven't been before. Don't become a slave to training. Use these ideas as a guideline, but not the end-all for your training. I have tried this approach with many athletes and even in situations where we only did a three week block of focused training, there was improvement. So, if you really want to improve that weakest link, spend some time focusing on it, and in a few weeks, you may just turn a weakness into a strength.
Getting back to Base
There are typically five training periods within a year: Base, Build, Peak, Race, and Recovery. Each phase generally lasts from 2 to 12 weeks. With the conclusion of the triathlon race season quickly approaching, recovery time is near. Take 2 or 3 weeks to rejuvenate your mind and body as you transition into your off season Base training. It can be mentally challenging to begin thinking about next season’s goals and preparation this time of year.
Understand that the best way to stay in shape is to not get out of shape. An athlete who does very little training during the fall and early winter months will spend much of the race season trying to get back to their previous fitness level. Also, understand that there is and should be a difference between off season fitness and race fitness. The intensities and the amount of time you spend training will vary throughout the year.
The Base period is designed to improve endurance, strength, and efficiency. Your off season should have a focus. The focus is on quantity with limited intensity. Get back in the weight room 2 to 3 days a week to get stronger. This strength will later be converted into power during swimming, biking, and running. Endurance is built through EZ distance training and may include cross training sports such as cross country skiing, hiking, and other winter sports. Efficiency is another way of describing "form." Work on pedaling technique on the bike. Stroke improvement drills in the water. Also consider working on limiters. If running and/or swimming is a weaker event for you than cycling, take this opportunity to develop those areas.
Start next season off at a higher fitness level than the previous year by getting back to Base. By doing so, you will have improved your capacity to handle greater workloads, volume and intensity, next season.
Race Report: My first Ironman: Louisville
I arrived in Louisville on Thursday morning full of excitement and ready for the road ahead. Surprisingly I was not nervous; instead I was rather anxious for the unknown to unfold. My legs the day before the race did not feel great and even had a bit of pain, too much walking around? I don't think so I wasn't walking around anymore than usual as I live in New York City. Oh well I shrugged it off. Woke up race morning at 4 am had my usually bagel with peanut butter and banana, slammed 24oz of H20 and hit the restroom. Luckily I had my wonderful girlfriend with me to help me with my transition bags! Hi Christina! We arrived at the transition area at 5am and it looked like they had opened up early as many people had already started their trek over the swim start which was roughly at 3/4 mile walk. Dropped off my bags, pumped up the tires, bottles on bike, off to swim start. Get body marked and holy sh*t that's a long line. (Its such a narrow swim course for the first 1/3 that they have a staggered start in IM Louisville where people get in line and jump 2 at a time off a dock every second) People must have been camped out there overnight as there were at least 1000 people in line when I arrived at 5:20. I got a little pissed off because I knew the people that were in line would be the really really slow ones that were worried about the swim cut off and I would be trampling over them. Oh well I had to focus on me and not everyone else so I got over it.
1 hour till start so I drink my bottle of Infinit. Its about 60’s degrees out so I kept all my warm gear on till about 15 minutes before in which I drank another 10oz of water and off I went. The line went quick and next thing I know I am on the dock full of smiles about to take the plunge. Boom I am in the water and feel good. I take the swim really around the island (1/3 of the swim) pretty wide to avoid the 700 people I must have passed. I get in a groove and boom I hit a sand bar! What a sand bar in a river! Well it was a mud bar rather but in the middle of the river none the less. I get back in my groove make my wide turn and head back down stream to the finish (2/3 left). I am feeling really good most certainly could have pushed about 5 minutes faster but it’s a long day and my first Ironman so I didn’t know what to expect and just kept and good pace. Ok at the swim finish and I get out much less dizzy than my previous races, see my family and wave and smile and I am feeling awesome. Swim time 1:05:00. I was pleased with that as the downstream current never happened as the wind was blowing against us on the way down pushing waves in our face. I run thru transition get ready a bit slowly but I am on my way.
The first part of the course is flat for 10miles or so and I try to get into a rhythm but I am so damn excited that I cant get my HR down but eventually it gets under control after about 10min. Next thing I realize is that I am freezing, its 60 degrees outside and I was expecting 80-90's and that's even cool for August down here. I am shivering and I have nothing on but my tri suit. Oh well I will warm up. The legs don’t feel great but I keep it slow for the first 30miles to get my legs under me. Wow they weren't kidding when they said this course is rolly. It is really rolling and I don’t think we saw another stretch of flat that lasted longer than 4 miles till the last 20 or so miles of the race. I am keeping up with my nutrition as planned (1bottle of inifinit an hour, 1 aero bottle of water every 1.5hrs and a half cliff bar every 1.5hrs, salt tablets as needed). I wasn't sweating since it was cold. At mile 30 uh oh. My legs start cramping and take in a ton of salt and water and still nothing the legs just feel like crap. I did not go out too hard I was very conscious of this and kept my HR very low. This is going to be a looooong day. I hit the special needs stop and pick up my extra bottles of infinit and the restroom since I was having trouble going while on the bike. So I gutted thru the next 80 miles or so with the legs hurting like hell. I didn't know what was in store for me. I was being passed like crazy but I didn't let it get to me and kept pushing, stopping did not occur as an option once. I manage to give whatever I could the last 30miles to improve my splits a bit but overall a poor bike ride for me; Bike time: 6:13.
I get out of the transition ready to run after I use the facilities. My legs hurt but I have the energy at this point I know I will finish this race no matter what. My gf runs with me for 1/4 mile after the transition and said Coach Vic said just take it easy till mile 18 then give it what you can. The weather heated up by now and after 5 min my legs felt better, I started off a bit fast running around 8:40's for the first 3miles. Oh well I always do that but I knew I had to turn it down a notch. At mile 5 legs start hurting again but nothing is going to make me walk or stop that's for sure. I make it around the 2 loop course and I see finish line or second loop start, that really sucks as you can see the finish and the crowd cheering for the pros what a sh*tty feeling, I gotta run another 10 miles. So I am in some pain but I start running and there is my family cheering like crazy telling me I can do this I am gonna do this they will see me at the finish line they are soo proud. I was drinking Gatorade every mile, water every other and a GU every 5 miles or so. I am feeling good but after my second GU my stomach starts to hurt so I pull my tri top up over my stomach as it’s really tight and that relieved some pressure. I started the next 5 miles with a shot block instead and there were delicious thank god. Ok half was done with the second loop and I know I only have 5 miles left and I say to myself "you can do anything for 5 mile" not sure what that means but at the time it meant you can run hard for 5 miles, but I had to take a quick pee break at mile 23 or so slowing me down. Well hard for me at this point was 9mm as my legs were just absolutely killing me. I had the energy and my HR was really low but I couldn't get my legs to fire after that brutal bike cramping. The emotions start to overtake and I get some adrenaline as I hit the last aid station. I hear so many people say in your first Ironman you will walk at some point during the run and question yourself as to why are you doing this and telling yourself to quit. I will tell you that is not true, at least not with me. I never once stopped running, not even the aid stations, and I never once questioned myself or thought quitting was an option no matter how much my legs hurt. With 1/4 mile left I take off as I wanted to be the only one to cross the finish line at my time. I see my family and the finish line and the announcer says "Ben Arnold, running in memory of his grandfather who died of ALS, you are an Ironman!" Wow I am an Ironman the realization hits and so do the tears, whew what a day. Run Time: 4:02, overall 11:35. I was secretly hoping to break 11hrs and I think if my legs hadn’t cramped that would have been possible but under 12 was my second goal and I most certainly beat that so I was one happy camper.
Off to get a massage. After the massage a nice hot shower then back to the finish line to eat a delicious cheeseburger have some beers and cheer on the late finishers. If there is one thing that would suggest to any Ironman participant is to go back and watch the late people finish it is truly an overwhelmingly emotional and enjoyable experience to see!
Race Report: Reach the Beach 2009- Team Solid
by: Noah Manacas, BPC client
1 Cowbell, 12 Runners, 2 Vans, 200 Miles, 36 Legs, 29 Hours, 54 Minutes.
I had heard of Reach the Beach over the last year and toyed with the idea of doing it, so when a spot opened up on Team Solid, I thought sure, why not!
After letting Coach Vic know my plan, I reviewed my training schedule and noticed I had two runs on the same day once a week. So I'm thinking, do I really need double run days? I am doing 20 miles for RTB but its spread over 3 legs and 24 hrs, The answer, of course, was YES, if I don’t want to destroy my legs for Duxbury Sprint Tri the weekend after RTB and BAA Half Marathon 2 weeks later.
The race starts on Friday morning at Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire and finishes some time Saturday afternoon at Hampton Beach 200 miles away. Our start time was set for 11:20 AM and lucky me, I have the first leg! My first leg is 8 miles and appears to be mostly down hill; interesting. Luckily, last nights poor dinner choice (spicy chicken and pasta with creamy sauce) is not causing any problems yet and the yummy pancakes and eggs for breakfast (another potential mistake, but who knows when I’m going to eat again!!) were pretty much digested by the time we were all registered, oriented and ready to start. Vic had given me paces and heart rates to run, one set for distances under 10k and one set for distances over 10k in this race. Since I'm going down hill and I know the entire course is down hill, I am able to maintain a pace above what Vic gave me by about 20 sec/mile, so I use the heart rates instead. I keep my heart rate at the top end of the range and I'm feeling good. I'm going quite a bit faster than then pace Vic gave me and I'm starting to wonder if this is going to come back to haunt me later, after all, I’ve never run 8 miles down hill! Not much of that around Boston. But I figure I have plenty of time to rest, my next leg isn’t until 9PM and it’s only 4 miles.
Not sure exactly how this whole relay thing works, I was not sure if I should bring my own water, or depend on the Vans for support. Van #2 was supporting the Van #1 runners during their legs so that Van #1 could be ready at the next transition. Sure enough, once we get to the road I hear a van coming up behind me, honking and cheering, and is that a cowbell!? That was Van #1 going to the next transition. Soon after that, Van #2 passes me, shouting and waving. I hope they remember to stop ahead and give me some water!
I get to the end of my leg and our second runner Nicky is ready to go, we exchange the yellow bracelet and she's off. At this point it's starting to rain, I have just enough time to change out of my sweaty clothes behind the van and stretch a little. My quads feel pretty tight, but I feel generally good. The rest of the day is spent driving from TA to TA with a lot of cheering for all the runners along the way. More cowbell! The rain and wind pick up and I'm glad to have finished my run. I'm sipping a recovery drink and we are all snacking on various things. Proper nutrition is tough in this race, we eat sandwiches for lunch and we can't really stop because someone is always running. We do get a break for dinner while Van #2 is up so we have a few hours to eat and relax. We decide to head to the Moat Mountain in Interval NH, where we all end up ordering tea and water, shame since the Moat brews their own beer and it very good, tempting! But we have to run again in an hour, at least I do. And another poor decision follows, I thought it was just pasta with tomato sauce, it was cheese, wrapped with pasta, with more cheese on top! Damn, it was good, should of had a beer with it.
We rush out of the restaurant and start heading to the next TA, which is about an hour away. That dinner is sitting heavy in my stomach and I'm ready for a serious nap. No such luck, we get to the TA just in time. It's now dark out and all you see are lines of blinking lights along the dark NH roads; the other runners. Where are we? Who knows, I only have 4 flat miles to run. I'm going to crush it. Or will I? I'm thinking, usually two hours after eating I’m hungry again, but those Canelones are still sitting in my stomach like bricks, uhh ohh.
I should be running 7:17's but I am having doubts after how I felt during that abbreviated warm up. Running at night is fun, all I see is what my headlamp illuminates, and the blinking lights of other runners ahead, reassuring me that I'm going to right way. I'm not even close to my pace though, I'm probably running a full minute slower but hey, what's 4 minutes in a ~30 hour race. Back at the van, feeling a little humiliated but I'm done for the night! Another quick, towel change behind the van and we are off to follow the rest of our runners through the night.
We finally hit the Van transition area and its time to catch some shut eye. Some of the others took naps along the way but I didn't since I was driving most of them time. My legs were feeling extremely tight at this point and I asked Mary Beth if I could borrow her stylish knee high compression socks that she had been raving about. They felt amazing as soon as I put them on and I decided they were not coming off until my next run. My legs were pretty trashed! A couple of people slept on the Van benches and the rest of us threw our bags down on the ground and passed out. Captain Sasha found an empty spot on another team's tarp and moved it, no questions asked. We slept from about 3 AM to 6AM.
My next leg was projected for around 8 AM and I wanted to be ready. I hobbled out of my sleeping bag into the freezing cold and stood in the bathroom line that seemed extremely long. My quads felt like they were going to explode, I could barley walk and I had 45 minutes to have breakfast and warm up before my next 9.4 mile run. I'm screwed! Then I fire up the Garmin, and of course, battery is about to die! I don't feel like running my last leg blind, which by the way, is up hill about 900 ft. for the first 5 miles and then back down that 900. I find a light tower with a generator and get enough of a charge to keep the Garmin alive for my run.
Now I'm standing in transition waiting for our runner, I can't quite walk right and I don't want to even attempt a warm up. I'll just start out slow and wait for the legs to loosen up, at this point I'm beyond caring what our finish time is, knowing that I have almost a thousand feet to climb and my legs were junk before I went to bed and they seem worse now. Our runner comes in, slap on the arm band, and off I go. Surprisingly, I am able to actually run. The legs do loosen up and it's a lovely Saturday morning. The running is slow and steep but I'm determined not to walk so I chug along suffering more on the last 4 miles down hill than on the climb up to mile 5.
We finally get to Hampton beach on Sat. afternoon, none of us having slept much more than 3 hours and each having run between 15 and 20 miles. We are all happy and tired and ready to head home.
BPC Athlete Race Results
Michael Yenke 1:08:34 (2ND AG)
Alison Winslow 1:10:25 (1ST AG/4TH OV)
Bret Fortenberry 1:12:28
Jacob Higginbottom 1:14:16
Todd Gochman 1:14:27
Jessica Douglas 1:15:39
Ronald Ulich 1:16:52
Noah Manacas 1:17:02
Elizabeth Kennedy 1:17:38 (4TH AG)
BPC Relay Team 1: Jeff Naylor, Vic Brown, Josh Winslow 1:07:36 (3rd place)
BPC Relay Team 2: Robyn Metcalfe, Robyn Metcalfe, Patty Murphy 1:23:44
Salem Sprint August 3rd
Michael Yenke 1:05.53 (13th OV, 1st AG)
Todd Gochman 1:11:44 (PR)
Marissa Soloman 1:20:25
Lauren Cullings 2:29:36 2nd AG
Carolyn Cullings 2:26:57 1st AG
Gloucester Sprint August 9th
Michael Yenke 1:10:48 2/34 M4549
Alison Winslow 1:13:38 1/52 F3539
Jeff Naylor 1:14:09
Noah Manacas 1:20:34
Ronald Ulich 1:20:44
Elizabeth Kennedy 1:21:09
Sharon Sprint August 15th
Patty Murphy 1:34:25
Bret Fortenberry 1:29:25
Sprint
Bret Fortenberry 1:20:17
Michael Yenke 1:14:29
Half Ironman
Lauren Cullings 5:55:21
Carolyn Cullings 5:13:20
Jason Soules 5:38:36
Jay Higginbottom 5:23:26
Cranberry Country Triathlon Aug 31
Ronald Ulich 2:44:50
IM Louisville
Ben Arnold 11:35
Chicago Olympic
Jeff Naylor 2:30:18 (PR, 9th AG)
Mayflower Olympic Distance
Patty Murphy 2:56:30
Hyannis Sprint 2 (Swim-Run)
Alison Winslow 31:48 (1st AG, 3rd OV)
Michael Yenke 31:04 (1st AG)
Ronald Ulich 36:24
