Whats the right way to train? How do I get to Kona? What do the quick guys do? Is there a magic formula?

I recently participated in a discussion about what the best age groupers do that separates them from the not so good. Here’s my key points-

• Consistency over anything else leads to greatest improvements
• Quality reigns supreme over volume
• Core control ( and I mean real core strength- really focused fine muscle control ) will have more affect on your IM times than any other training you do
• When you just enjoy it and dont live like a tri nerd you get fit and race fast
• Get a handle on your stomach- again getting your nutrition right will do much more than that 4th bike in a week or extra 20k run
• When you are tired rest then rest some more- this is part of the training- if you are training consistently and feel like you are resting too much you probably have it just right
• Recovery is a training session! The ice baths, compression garments, lying still have huge affect on whether a session works or not- more than you think. Way more. Its the interest paid on the deposits in the bank
• There are only really 1 to 2 important sessions in the whole week- get these right (rest up, nail the nutrition,recover properly) and your results will go throught the roof
• Going to podiatrists,doctors,phsios and chiro is training! The time spent here will have more effect  on your results on that extra training session
• Never train only on your own
• Never train only with a group
• Dont ever worry about the speed of anyone in training. The fastest guys are usually the slowest trainers
• Minimise time on diaries,electronics, logs etc- it makes f__k all difference and is just time that can be spent training/resting/socialising
• On race day dont race- the fastest guys almost invariably accept that what you put out on a race course is not too much different to the compfortable tempo pace you do in training- no miracle will ever occur on race day
• Learn how to swim 400m very fast and settle down to aerobic- the first 400m of an IM swim makes more difference to your time than any amount of swim training- get away get in a good group and settle into the draft
• Always ride the bike so that it feels like you should have gone harder
• The fastest guys on the bike tend to spend the most time on their equipment and fit they are not usually the most powerfull bikers on paper
• Never worry about the pace of the first 5km of the run
• The fastest IM runners are very rarely the fastest runners on paper but they focus their training on running relaxed and efficiently
• For a working stiff there is rarely any marginal returns above about 15-18hrs per week
• Dont keep training/racing if its not fun or you feel tired constantly- the old IM’ers must train through tiredness is BS. If you cant ABSORB a session then its not likely to lead to long term improvement.

From the above CONSISTENCY,KEY SESSIONS and RECOVERY I think reign above all else. On top of that PASSION. If you are not passionate about what you do eventually you’ll loose interest. With these things even the most average age grouper can climb up near the front of the pack

This entry was posted on Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:13:04 +0000 at Sat, 17 Apr 2010 13:13:04 +0000. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in All Articles Psychology by Jimmy C No Comments Yet