The next Open Water Workout is Thurs, Aug 10th, 2023!
Ventura Cove, Mission Bay
WU @ 5:45 PM, workout begins promptly @6 PM.
This is a moderately intense, interval workout covering racing skills, drills, race paced swimming and speed work. This is not a technique clinic. It includes running, and this is not an easy session.
We will break up into groups by swim experience and ability. All beginners are welcome! However, athletes do need to be able to swim about 500m/yds continuously in the pool, before coming out to this workout.
This workout will be on Aug 10th, Aug 24th & Sept 14th for this 2023 Season!
THIS IS A FREE WORKOUT for current TCSD members only, or by invitation.
Other athletes pay a $10- drop-in fee.
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Bill Gleason, CSCS
USAT Level II Coach (former)
That’s why I believe it’s critically important to see your whole season, really your entire racing career, and all your planned races, as one long-term project. It’s also critical to understand that the (proper) training you do now, will potentially make the difference between achieving high goals – or not – months and even seasons later. It can be the difference between PR’s, podium, championship level performances and mediocrity or worse. Lance Armstrong once said that the Tour de France is won in December, not July. I know, I know, ..perhaps a bad reference because we now know when he probably did win the Tour. Cheating not withstanding, that statement is still correct. Building a solid foundation for high level performance now is critical. So, when you feel like calling it off, the weather stinks, or you have to train indoors, and you just don’t have the drive, know that you will come Summer and hang in there! Stay focused. This is one of my most important coaching objectives for my athletes at this time of the season: keeping the focus in the right place, and seeing the long view. Solid base training and consistency now will bring great rewards when you want and deserve them most.
]]>I call this the pop-up workout. Its like when you are kid reading a book, you turn the page and a pop-up (ya know like a cloud, or trumpet, or an apple) pops off the page, right up toward you unexpectedly. (Can you tell I have two young ones..?) It’s that rare feeling of the recovery gods smiling down on you and the training cosmos aligning – albeit briefly – in your favor. This does not happen in training often. If it seems like it does, then your probably not generating enough training stress to begin with. If you are training hard enough, and this happens, GO WITH IT. This, in my coaching and training experience, is a rare, unplanned opportunity to push yourself near your limits on that particular day. Normally, pushing yourself this far, when its not planned, is a bad call.
This will fly in the face of the PMC (chart), if you follow it closely. Forget about the charts that day. Go by instinct. The PMC charts miss a lot of important metrics anyway. See: http://www.gleasoncoaching.com/why-i-cant-rely-on-tss/ If you feel amazing in this circumstance, go beyond the planned session. Let it rip.
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So, over the next few weeks & months I’ll update as many of the different theories of – and often opposing “diets” for – optimal eating as I can. There are a lot.
I’ll address:
Keep in mind that I’ll take the perspective of the very active endurance athlete to discus the direct impact on training and racing. More importantly, and of much broader concern however, I will approach this stuff primarily from a general underlying health point of view. That is the foundation on which all else rests. Very interesting stuff, and great food for thought.
Stay tuned…
Coach Bill
]]>First, Its been a long time since I’ve posted an update, or written anything on my entire site for that matter. Its been a long, tough couple of years for me, on a personal level. More in a minute. I’d like to offer some background to perhaps explain a little, and let athletes know (current, past and prospective alike) that its not because I’ve had nothing to say. In fact, it’s quite the contrary. I have not had the time and energy to devote to writing. I’ve been actively coaching, training moderately, and following interesting, up and coming careers (e.g. Lionel Sanders, Summer Cook, Flora Duffy, et. al.)
Reason –
Since mid 2015, my mother’s health began to rapidly decline. She was in a position where she needed lots of help, and it was mostly on me to provide it. So of course, I did. I also have two young kids. My son was born in May 2016. Then, we lost my Mom a year ago, in Oct 2016. There has been a void in my life and healing to do since then. As anyone that has been through this knows, its not easy.
Updates –
On a positive note, one of my hardest working athletes, Harper, just took 1st in his AG and 3rd OVERALL at the HITS Palm Spring iron-distance triathlon on Dec 3rd! Harper reaped the benefits of his diligence and focus once again. Way to go Harper! I’d like to write a whole blog on Harper’s focus, consistency, trust in working my plan, diligence. But you get the idea…
Emily had a successful first season (that’s right – first season), and qualified for Duathlon Word Championships, in Odense, Denmark! Mission #1 accomplished. On to the challenge ahead, a top finish at Worlds in July 2018!
Looking forward –
I hope to be able to devote time to my own training and explore limits, training theories & practices going forward. I’ll continue to learn about the overlap and profound impact of food, health, and fueling with performance. As I learn more and more, I’ve come to better appreciate the truly profound and direct impact of what you eat upon your underlying health, fitness and performance. (These are distinct and separate, with health of course being the most important.) I’ve been trying different approaches on myself (and a few athletes) now for six years, and I’ve settled on what I believe is the BEST approach. I can’t wait to write more about it soon.
Train on.
]]>Training in these cold, and borderline miserable, conditions is more challenging than normal. So, what can you do to maintain some degree of consistency and progress? Well first off, get better acquainted with your trainer (or get one if you don’t have one yet). Get used to the idea that running on a treadmill, though seemingly the domain of lab mice, can actually be a good (not great) substitute for outdoor runs. Lastly, you can get access to an indoor pool if you do not like to do pool workouts in the rain. I personally love swimming in the rain (you’re already wet!). It’s not often that the pool water is nicer and warmer than the ambient conditions! Some tips for these “weather adjusted” workouts are below.
However, primarily El Nino driven weather presents a mostly mental challenge. You know you can train if you really have to. You can if you reeeeally want to.. That’s the Q: do you want to? I would advise that it is actually a good opportunity. Some, but not all, of your competitors will train through this. They will continue to advance their fitness, on schedule. Others, the less committed and less motivated, will stay inside and take the “pass.” They will fall behind, if even so slightly. Where do you come down? Do you want to continue to make progress? Training now, and perhaps all Winter it may appear, through these conditions may give you a chance to start to separate yourself from the competition. Do you want to take the opportunity?
When training indoors, follow these guidelines to adapt your normal training:
So, good luck training indoors and please see it as an opportunity!
Hey, we also need the rain!
Coach Bill
]]>They all worked extremely hard, stayed motivated through challenging training, followed the training, and achieved high goals! I was very happy to see everyone sticking to the plan, which required no small amount of trust and faith in me as your Coach. For this, I am very grateful. Thank you! Training for your events required high motivation, persistence, patience, perseverance, and lot of pure blood, sweat, and tears – literally. You did the work, and you deserve the deep gratification and satisfaction in the knowledge that you achieved something truly remarkable. CONGRATULATIONS!
Ana Sewall (IM Louisville)
Jessica Hughes (IM Arizona)
Bryan McPherson (IM Florida)
Claudia Flynn (Kona)
Harper VanSteenhouse (Special props for winning his AG! and 6th overall @ HITS Palm Springs. Way to go Harper)
Outstanding! Way to go! Enjoy your accomplishment and take it to heart.
Here’s to an equally successful 2016 season.
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First, it is perhaps a good idea to take some time to stop and reflect on your season. I have my athletes write up answers to some basic questions to evaluate and reflect on the season just passed. Did you accomplish your main training and racing goal? Why or why not? Did you accomplish other secondary goals? What was the most beneficial type of training in your opinion? The least? Are you racing at the right distance, or even the right sport? What do you want to focus on for next season? Do you have ideas, or even specific plans for racing next year? Now is a good time to reflect on all these Q’s and more. Take plenty of time to evaluate the direction in which you’re heading.
So, what about the off-season? There are some basics for the off-season that all athletes, especially those that train hard and consistently over the year, benefit from:
Do not try to maintain your peak fitness from the end of the season, or anything close to that. You must let it go. In order to build peak performances again next season, you have to let this one go, and travel through the “valley” of fitness, or there will not be another true peak.
Do not remain inactive. You should stay active with other sports activities such as hiking, skiing, basketball, or whatever you like (and won’t get injured doing). You can, and maybe ought to, cross-train with activities that will directly benefit your multi-sport performance next season: yoga, Pilates, strength training such as weights, plyometrics, and outdoor functional strength training are all very good choices. These are highly individualized with regard to how to improve your sport specific performance for next season. I work one-on-one with my athletes for this in the off-season. One of the goals however is to get away from swim-bike-run for a while.
How long is “a while” and how long should an off-season be? That again, is highly individual. It depends on a few key points: How long was your season? How high are your goals for next season? When is your first race for next season? What is your limiter and how much of a limiter is it? Regardless, you should take at least 4-6 weeks away from any structured training plan like the one you followed.
If you must do some swim-bike-run activity, what should it be? Probably run. Running is the ability that fades the farthest, the fastest for most athletes, particularly those over 40ish. This, in part, is due to the strength and resilience required of the tendons and ligaments used in injury-free running, and the length of time it takes to build that type of specific fitness. It is easier to rebuild bike and swim fitness in a relatively shorter period of time. Again, even with off-season running, no structure (i.e. training plan): They can be short and easy runs, or do some racing: 5K, 10K, half marathon. I would avoid a full marathon unless you are a very accomplished runner and have a lot of time to recover before starting back at your multi-sport training for next year.
Regardless of what you do in your “off-season,” get rested, physically and mentally recharged and refreshed, and be proud of your athletic accomplishments for the year!
]]>However, I often find that athletes just “clock-in” for the duration and hide at the bottom of a specific zone, or level of perceived exertion (RPE). This strategy is often a training mistake. That is because the effort level/intensity level of the workout is usually more important than the duration, with some exceptions for long course training (full IM) and some beginners. This is one of the upsides to using a power meter and tracking your TSS for any particular session. Doing so will help prevent you from “hiding” at the bottom of, say Zone 2, and still technically doing your prescribed workout that day. If your Zone 2 power ranges from 150 to 195 Watts, not all Zone 2 rides are the same in terms of their training stress. Yes, they’re all basically endurance rides, but riding at 150 ave Watts for 2 hours is much different from a 2 hour, 190 (ave) Watt ride.
So, the point is to get the most out of your limited training time and all your workouts. Don’t just clock-in and do your time – much better to pursue an excellent workout, and push yourself to the maximum benefit of your workout that day.
Happy Training.
]]>The two components of pace are: cadence and stride length. There is plenty of advice about cadence, or leg “turn-over,” and it usually boils down to ‘increase it for better running..’ True, most runners probably would benefit from increasing their cadence, a little. But maybe not. What if its already at your optimal rate? Once cadence is where it should be for you – probably in the 84-94 range – that’s all you can do with it.
Stride length is really where the big gains are to be made for most endurance athletes. This involves a lot of training, a large part of which is strength training. You MUST have a lot of running specific leg, hip, lower trunk (“core”), and even shoulder strength, to maintain a large stride over the course of your race, particularly if you’re coming off the bike.
Some exercises that you can fit into workouts to increase this specific strength are:
After you become proficient at any one of these, try combining it carefully with another one for a complex workout.
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