Work on your endurance

As the global sporting spotlight will fall on Bahrain again later this year, GulfWeekly has teamed up with one of the world’s top trainers to coach the island’s sports-lovers to prepare to take part. If you have ever fancied trying a triathlon there will never be a better opportunity. Your community newspaper hopes to inspire you to put your best foot forward and have a go.

Don’t be scared … Andy Price will help you every step of the way!
Here’s your WEEK 4 – 127 Days  until  Bahrain Challenge.

* Training programme for the week starting Sunday to August 8   
This is week two of Block One. The block continues to focus on building up strength and endurance and will provide a basis to move into more speed endurance workouts later on. This week’s aim is to improve your endurance and get used to training at or above race pace.

For ease I will include a key to explain any abbreviations each week:
• F/S – Freestyle or Front Crawl
• Alt – Alternative Stroke. For most this should be Backstroke, but for some Breastroke
• PULL – F/S with a Pull Float between your legs
• KICK – F/S kick using a Kick Board
• R – Rest (normally in seconds)
• Z – Zones (1 – 4)
• RPM – Revs per Minute
• HRM – Heart Rate Monitor

GENERAL – As the heat, and more importantly, the humidity begins to rise it is vital that you select carefully the time of day to train. Ensure you hydrate properly both before, during and after exercise. Sweating is the body’s way of trying to cool you down. If you are not sweating then either you’re not working hard enough (unlikely) or you are not hydrated well enough. If you start to feel dizzy or sick then it’s often the first sign of heat illness. Stop, find shade, rehydrate slowly and recover.

Last week we focused on your bilateral breathing. Continue to do this each week and it will become more natural and easier. This week focus on your length of stroke. Occasionally during your swims count your strokes on your first length and last. If it rises it means your stroke is getting shorter, normally because you are getting more tired, and therefore your stroke is becoming less efficient. Focus this week on a long even stroke with the same stroke count throughout.

* SESSION 1 - Pool
• Warm Up – 400. F/S with every 4th length alt stroke  R60
• Main Set - (all at race pace / Zone 3). It will seem easy to start with but will get harder to maintain race pace. Don’t go out too fast!
10 x 50 F/S R10 after each 50m. R60 at end of 10 reps
5 x 100m F/S R20 after each 100m. R60 at end of 5 reps
3 x 200m F/S R30 after each 200m. R60 at end of 3 reps
5 x 50m F/S R10 after each 50m. R60 at end of 5 reps
• Warm Down - 200m F/S, 100m alt stroke, 100m F/S
Total – 2,650m

* Session 2 - Pool
• Warm Up (All at steady pace /Zone 2)
200m F/S. R30
100m F/S KICK. R30
100m F/S PULL. R 30
200m F/S. R30
• Main set - (all at race pace / Zone 3).
6 x 150m F/S. R30
4 x 100m F/S. R30
4 x 50m F/S. R30
2 x 150m F/S. R30
• Warm Down
100m F/S
100m Alt Stroke
100m F/S
Total –2,800m

* Session 3 – Open Water
6 x 400m at race pace. Rest 90 by treading water / floating on back. Try and keep each 400m even paced. It will be hard in the last couple but it is important to know your pace in open water. It is different from the pool.
Total – 2400m

This week concentrate on your cadence or rhythm when cycling. You should aim for a rhythm and gear that is comfortable and efficient. On average you should cycle at 80-95 revs per minute (RPM). This week occasionally count your leg rotation for 30 seconds X 2 and you will have you RPM.

If you have a high gear (smaller rear cog / feels harder) you will naturally have a slightly slower RPM, likewise if you have a low gear (larger rear cog / feels relatively easy) then you will have a higher RPM. Similarly when going up or down a hill (luckily we don’t have many of them) your cadence will vary.

Do not try and cycle in too high a gear as you will get leg fatigue early and slow down.

Remember over a 90km race it’s those who are more efficient and can spread out their effort that will generally have the faster time.

* SESSION 1 - Indoors / Turbo Trainer - 20 min warm up – Steady
• Warm up – 15 minutes in Zone 1 / Easy
• Main set
3 x 2 minutes Zone 4 / Hard and above race pace in high gear (bigger resistance) on R120
4 minutes easy in a low gear (little resistance)
3 x 90 seconds Zone 4 / Hard R90
4 minutes easy in a low gear
3 x 60 seconds / R60
4 minutes easy in a low gear (little resistance)
3 x 30 seconds / R30
Warm down - 15 minutes in Zone 1 / Easy

* SESSION 2 - Outdoors (remember this is a bike to run)
• 90 minutes ride in Zone 2 / Steady followed by a 5km or 25 minutes steady run (Zone 2)

* SESSION 3 – Outdoors
• Warm up - 20 minutes in Zone 2 / Steady
• Main set – 45 minutes all at Zone 3 / Race pace
Every 5 minutes go for 30 seconds at Zone 4 / Above race pace then back to Zone 3 / Race pace
• Warm down – 25 minutes at Zone 2 / Steady

Each week aim for three runs. They will be broken down into
• A steady run at gradually longer distances.
• Some form of interval training be it on a track or known distance (400 or 800M).
• A bike to run.

* Session 1 – Steady run 
• Warm up
Mobility stretches
10 minutes Zone 2 / Steady
• Main – 45 minutes at Zone 2 / 3 (just below race pace)
• Warm down
4 x 200m strides (just above race pace)
Dynamic stretches - Don’t push the stretches just hold for 20 seconds each. Work from your feet up stretching each major running group muscle.

* Session 2 – Intervals on a track if possible
• Warm up
Mobility stretches
400m Easy
• Main Set (all at Zone 3 / Race pace)
6 x 800 R120. Focus on even splits. Don’t go out too hard, start at a steady pace and try and maintain it.
3 x 400 R60
• Warm down
400m Zone 1 / Easy
Dynamic stretches - Don’t push the stretches just hold for 20 seconds each. Work from your feet up stretching each major running group muscle.
Total Distance – 7200m

* Session 3 - Bike to run
• Following your weekend bike give yourself 3-5 minutes rest as you stow away the bike then go for a 5km or max 25-minute run at a steady pace (Zone 2) whichever is the shortest.