Mobility IS for Endurance Athletes, AND those in Peri & Post Menopause

 

Many of you know that participation in endurance sports requires many hours of training per week both in your sport, in strength sessions, and maybe even visits to the massage therapist, physical therapist or chiropractor. Wouldn’t it be nice to not need to see the physical therapist or massage therapist or chiropractor? But instead to go see one of them because you want to, not need to?

How often do you focus on mobility? Do you know what mobility is, and how it can help you stay out of the PT and massage therapists office? 

Adding a great mobility plan to your endurance sport training is good for…

Injury prevention: Triathletes subject their bodies to significant repetitive, high impact movements, increasing their risk for overuse injuries. Many have several overuse injuries. Mobility workouts address muscle imbalances, reduce stiffness, and enhance joint stability, and nervous system regulation, ultimately lowering their potential for injuries.

Enhanced Performance: Imagine a swim long, powerful stroke that moves through the water effortlessly propelling you further than you are going right now. Or how about a pedal stroke on the bike in your deepest aero position that feels powerful and efficient as it does when you are upright. What about your run gait that is long, balanced and little vertical oscillation? Incorporating mobility exercises into your routine can improve not just your joint range of motion, but your strength in that new range, increasing power output along with better biomechanics and efficiency across all your disciplines.

Smoother Recovery: Endurance sports are demanding, physically, mentally and emotionally. When you have a solid mobility routine, this can aid in faster recovery through reducing muscle and joint stiffness, and continuing to maintain full ranges of motion that don’t limit your movement. With more fluid movement you'll be more willing to hit that hard workout once your planned recovery period is over, and not have to wait long for your next hard set.

The 40+ Woman

Perimenopause is where your hormones are on a crazy unpredictable roller coaster ride. Some days they are up, some down, and some days you’ll get extremes of both. This is what causes the symptoms, such as hot flashes or night sweats. They are also responsible for brain fog, irritability and decreased sleep. Wait, there's more. Don't forget about tight joints, and decreased muscle and bone mass to name a few. These things can sometimes go away after menopause, but some may still linger. Regardless of which of these periods of your life you are in, wouldn't it be nice to have control over even just one of those issues? Tight joints perhaps? You’ll benefit from doing focussed mobility training along with your triathlon training which will make your journey to the finish line more enjoyable.

You may have noticed that it takes you longer to warm up. There may also be joint aches and pains sometimes for no apparent reason. Before your traditional warm up, an additional mobility specific warm up may be helpful. This mobility work focuses on slowly moving your joints to warm them and the nervous system up. While doing them you will also increase your heart rate. The nice thing about mobility work is that it is a GREAT post-exercise cool down too. Doing them post workout will help bring your heart rate down while calming your central nervous system.

Functional Range Conditioning Mobility

When I talk about mobility, many people think of typical stretching and dynamic warm ups. But that is not it. I’m talking about specific, joint movement patterns that focus on your available range of motion. These movements will also help you improve your range of motion and strength, in a controlled systematic way. This practice is called Functional Range Conditioning, FRC for short. In short it is to “increase one's active, usable ranges of motion by simultaneously improving articular mobility, strength/resilience, and neurological control”. All things that start to deteriorate when we hit perimenopause. See how they define mobility work here.

When I first start with my athletes or clients, they always get a mobility screen. With this I learn where their limiters are, and it gives us a place to start building them up to be more durable. These limiters are worked on by starting each session, be it their swim/bike/run or strength sessions with the specific mobility exercises to address their needs. Then this allows us to shorten their warm up and get right into the heart of the workout.

 

Here is a quick video (sped up x10) on how I prep my ankles and hips before I run. It has helped me tremendously with getting rid of ankle, hip and back stiffness at the beginning of my runs. I feel better, so I run better, longer, and recover quicker as a result.

Above is a video for those swimmers looking to improve their shoulder mobility and strength to have a more powerful swim stroke. This mobility exercise focuses on shoulder external rotation both in increasing your range of motion, but improving nervous system function/control of that range of motion, AND building strength in the new range of motion…turn the volume up, I was having microphone issues.

The Long Haul

Are you looking to stay in your sport as long as YOU want to? If yes, then you’ve got to focus on more than swim, bike and run fitness. I’ve seen some amazing older athletes. At Nationals, this year, the oldest female competitor (and oldest competitor) was 84. This doesn't just happen. Go beyond SBR and work on your strength and especially your mobility.

Back-to-Back Race Planning: Triathlons/Events

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Whether you’re looking to use a race as a means of focus to get fit and healthy, or the races you really want to do just happen to be a few weeks up to a month apart, training for this will require some special attention. It can be done, but you need to set yourself up with a plan well ahead of time to make sure to give yourself enough time to peak, and also rest and recover from the training necessary to make this possible.

Quite a few years ago, my first year of racing triathlons actually, I got signed up for a Full Iron Distance (140.6 miles) Triathlon, but had never even participated in a triathlon before. I knew it was going to be a lot to get ready for a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a full marathon. So I decided to sign up for all the triathlon distances in that year (Sprint, Olympic, 70.3 and 140.6) in order to get ready for the big one. I’d been coaching athletes mostly in cycling events, road racing, criterium, and time trial, and I had a new athlete who was doing triathlons. She's the reason I signed up for the race! Luckily I had 7 months to prepare for it. With the triathlon season starting in April and my big race in July, there was the potential for multiple races happening within a short period of each other.

I look back now and can reflect, and objectively recognize and understand learning points that I gained from that experience. The amount of work I put in that year was incredible, and NOT what I would be able to do now as a masters athlete. My recovery between hard bouts was poor, and my nutrition questionable. It made me start thinking, “How do endurance athletes race events successfully back to back?” Well I learned a lot, and have been using that experience to help my athletes plan for seasons where you may have several races clumped up close to one another.

Plan Well Ahead of Time

Before you even start training for your events, you must plan out your season to build up for a big event or events. Identify which event(s) are most important to you, and which are more of just the experience event. This may be Nationals, an Ironman sanctioned event, a world championship or the local event you want to win or PR in.

Once you’ve decided, then you can address how you want to treat all your events throughout the season. Do I want to be competitive in that distance? Do I want to finish in a certain time? Are there qualification requirements to get into the race(s)? Has your nutrition and hydration been a pain point for you? Etc.

To help you organize your races/events there is this wonderful labeling system for this sort of thing. They are labeled as “A,” “B” or “C” events based on how important they are to you. You can have more than one “A” race in a year, but you have to really be sure there is enough time between them to prepare for each one adequately. More importantly, after one of these “A” races, you’ll need to recover, rebuild and then re-peak.

Lastly you need to make sure that mentally and emotionally you have committed to these race labels, not just on paper. I’ve seen athletes say that an event is only a “C,” but then their nemesis shows up at the event and they go all out, throwing their hard work and recovery plans out the door. It’s best to keep to your plan as best you can for the best possible outcome.

Manage your Load

I use the Annual Training Plan (ATP) on Training Peaks to help build a season, and it’s the perfect management system. The ATP will allow you to plan out when your build, transition, peak and recovery times will be. It will also allow you to track your amount of weekly stress and compare it to how you feel you are recovering. With that information it will allow you to figure out how much training is needed to peak for your “A” race, and any other races that may be close to it, and also how much recovery you will need to make the peak the strongest possible.

When building your ATP it is helpful if you have some prior training. This allows you to see how much training you were capable of and how long it took you to recover from it. Even if you don’t have prior info, you can still plan out your training, you will just need to be patient as it may take some time to figure out your capabilities.

Many of my long course athletes like doing an ultramarathon or marathon event during the winter or early season to help boost their running fitness. As a coach I can argue both ways if it is beneficial or not, but if it is not your main race, why shy away from doing a long bike ride the day before to simulate racing? Equally, remember that each triathlon distance or endurance event brings with it different physiological stresses that have to be trained for. What you have to be good at for long distance triathlon racing is very different from the sprint or standard distance races.

Recover Right

When you race, you are pushing your body to the limit. Things like carbohydrate storages will be low and cortisol will be higher than they would normally be. If you don’t recover properly, you could end up ill, injured, fatigued or lose interest all together. Racing is exhausting both physically and mentally, and a recovery phase can bring you back to form and feeling stronger than before.This is how we allow our bodies to adapt to the training we just put it through. Think of it this way, Build, Peak, Race, Recover, Build from a higher level of fitness, Peak higher, Race better, Recover, Repeat.

The truth is, no matter how much pre-planning you have made, you can never fully estimate how you will fare after the event, especially if the event in question is long distance. When you are racing back-to-back events, don’t have unrealistic expectations of “smashing” each race. Treat the race with the priority it deserves based on your goals. Then the recovery process becomes much easier. Most importantly, listen to your body, not your ego. Your body may need more recovery than the plan gives, you’ll need to let your coach know and adapt the program as necessary.

Equally, if you have decided to train straight through one race to your next event, do exactly that, put in the big overload sessions as planned. Don’t shy away from them because you are tired. You had planned to be! Stick to your annual plan.

Often doing some familiar workout loops can help you compare yourself using time, speed, power or RPE. Your local loop lets you know how well you are feeling and performing so you can gauge your fatigue and overall performance level better.

Pay Attention to Signs of Over-Fatigue or Injury

I can’t say this enough, listen to your body. If you feel a niggle, address it, talk to your coach, don’t just follow the plan blindly. All aches and pains are information, and this information is useful. If you keep on struggling to hit targets, you may be going too hard too soon, or it may be time for a recovery week. Maybe you are more tired than you anticipated being at this point in the year, maybe your nutrition is in need of a check in. Make sure you bring this up with your coach, don’t just keep following the plan without saying something.

When you're training for these goals, you’re putting stress on your body, and it needs to be given time to recover. This will allow you to look at what you were doing, see if it was enough or not enough, and you can learn something new about yourself in the process.

Going back to my first year of racing and all the events I did within a 2 month span - I recall even now the comment of a teammate that I obviously heard but for whatever reason chose to ignore - probably because I was 35 and invincible - ,“Are you eating enough and getting enough recovery?”

Summary

At the end of the day, if you have plenty of time between events, you will want to reset and rebuild into the second event. However, if you only have a few weeks between your big events, you’ll most likely need to favor one over the other, and that would be something you went over with your coach in your annual training planning meeting.

The period in between two back-to-back races can literally make or break your season, so you’ll have to pay attention to both your training data and your body's overall energy or fatigue then make your decision based on both of them. This is where a coach can really help you through giving an objective perspective to help you keep on track for your “A” race(s).

Endurance Sports: Building Your Training Plan for the Year

As you may have figured out by now, I have been sharing lots of information about training for women specifically in peri and post menopause. Historically they have been left out of research, access to sport and even consideration for inclusion not to mention no information on how to train when the body and hormones are changing. It's highly important for me to share this information as this group is in dire need of movement in all the ways they can get it. This blog entry however, is about general population plan building for endurance sport athletes. This is not to say peri and post menopause women can't use this information, it just means once you get through this, there will be need for further adjustments after you've completed your plan.

Selecting Races/Events, Understanding Limiters

When planning for endurance sports, there are so many irons in the fire we need to keep in balance it may seem nearly impossible to know how to build your plan. I like to start by having my athletes fill out a year calendar, plot out a few races or events they want to do, then sit back and think on it for a bit. Once my athletes are sure this is what they want, then we can start.

Next step is to decide what your priority/A race is, this is the race you really want to do and or do very well at. You may have a couple of these but not all of your races should be signified as an A race.

The race schedule is up, your priority race(s) are chosen. Now we need to talk about limiters. Limiters are goal-specific weaknesses that decrease the chances of accomplishing a race/season goal. An example would be; you want to place well at a race that is very hilly, but you don't climb hills well. However, not all weaknesses are limiters. Let's say your weakness is hill climbing, but your race is pancake flat, your weakness will not be a limiter for that race.

How do you know what your limiter is? You have a limiter when your weakness matches up with the demands of a race. Once you know your limiters, you will be able to plan workout types based on abilities required to make progress toward your goals.

Periodization

We now need to understand the different periods of the year, otherwise known as periodization. This is how you break up your training segments of the year. These segments are Prep, Base, Build, Peak &Race (Taper), and Transition or Offseason.

Prep lasting about a month, is the first step and it consists of doing light exercise for fun. Using this time to focus on other sports, and in addition building up a good foundation of strength and mobility.

Base can last 2 to 3 months and focusses on low intensity, high volume training to build your foundation of aerobic endurance and durability. This prepares the body for the next phase, Build, where higher-intensity work, focusing on heart rate, power and paces where you are kept just under lactate threshold happen. This is also a good time to plan in some skill work, and start looking at your fueling needs to start creating a nutrition plan.

Build can last another 2 to 3 months depending on the length of your event. Here the focus shifts from aerobic volume building to increasing intensity and working on your specific limiters. Early on the focus will be adding intervals near lactate threshold, and steady state tempo workouts. As this phase progresses, higher intensity intervals at suprathreshold to maximal intensity is added to improve force, power and anaerobic capacity. You should also focus on course specific training. For example, hill repeats for hills races. Lastly is dialing in your fueling here is critical, and shifting your strength training from strength and power building to maintenance.

Taper which is two phases Peak and Race usually happened about 2 weeks out from your event. This taper phase involves decreasing workout duration and total volume, by anywhere between 20 to 50 percent decrease per week leafing into your event. Race specific intensity should be maintained in your workouts, but putting a rest day or two between workouts is key to keeping you sharp and not overloaded before your event. You are trying to maintain the fitness and decrease fatigue in order to optimize race performance.

Transition/Offseason

What happens after your event/race? That depends. In general 5-7 days of pure recovery is necessary, with even longer at the end of your season. If the time between races is several months apart, move back through base and build periods according to your needs. You should focus more on base for longer races, and build for the shorter ones. And if that's it for your year, recover for several weeks, prepare for a pew more then begin the cycle again.

However you choose to break down the phases, periodization can help you build fitness, decrease the odds of burnout and injury, and maintain motivation. I hope these guidelines help you plan for your next race/event season.

Week 9, Training For 50K Trail Race

Anniversary weekend is over and full recovery has occurred. Time to hit the pavement again. This week I'm going to be doing a bunch more Zone 2 training with some Zone 4/5 thrown in for extra adaptations. It also helps after doing a lot of the long slow Zone 2 training to break up the monotony with some higher effort Zone 4/5 training.

 Week 9 Training Plan: (5th - 11th October)

Monday: Rest and Recovery, Mobility 30+ minutes.

Tuesday: Run: Hill Repeats 4 x 1/2 mile, Strength 30 minutes.

Wednesday: 75 minute fun leisurely Bike ride, Core strength 30 min.

Thursday: Run 8.5 miles on the trails keeping Zone 2, Strength 30 minutes.

Friday: Trainer ride 1 hour working Neuromuscular Activation, Mobility 30 mins.

Saturday: Outdoor team ride 4 hours lots of climbing.

Sunday: Trail run 16 miles keeping Zone 2 as best I can with the hills.

First workout of the week happened at Rancho San Antonio preserve again. This time instead of parking at the elementary school outside the park, I drove into the park and got a front row space near the bathrooms. From here it was just a smidge over 2 miles to the start of the hill I decided to use for todays hill repeats. Normally I go up Rogue Valley trail  to the top, but it would have been a 2.6 mile warm up just to get to the base of the main climb. Instead I opted for a new to me trail, the Chemise trail just off lower Rogue Valley. Turns out this trail is quite steep in places and I definitely got the leg strength workout that was planned, which also gave me some great Zone 5 training as well. The best part about this trail is that no one else was on it. Maybe it was the time of day or maybe just because it's so exposed people don't want to use it. But I loved having the trail to myself to huff and puff and slog my way up and down it 4 times. Unfortunately I forgot my GoPro so I have no video or photo of the trail (from that day), but trust me from my other pics and video's there is no difference between this one and all the others in the park. It's wide, dusty, and steep. 

**This is the steep section on Chamise trail I took from my video's of Sunday's run.**

This week I got to ride outside for a fun filled leisurely 75 minute stroll which took place just before lunch on Wednesday. It was a perfect day to be outside, the sun was shining, the temps were a cool 65 and hardly a car on the road. Can't ask for much better than that. The nice easy bike spin was really goof for stretching out my legs from the hill repeats I did on Tuesday, and to prepare my legs for more hills on Thursday.

Thursday's run was just an easy Zone 2 trail run at Rancho again. I took my usual route up Rogue Valley to the top and today I just got to turn right around and head back down. The leaves were noticeably different than the last several runs here. You could tell fall is here, as there were many laves falling or already on the ground. The light coming in through the trees felt different, and the air again cooler.

**This was taken at mile 7 of Sunday's run. This is looking towards Cupertino/San Jose.**

Skipping Friday's trainer ride as it was not much to report, just an hour doing high cadence spinning while keeping my heart rate low. Only good thing about those sessions is that I usually get to watch some crazy YouTuber doing insane stunts and generally just get to zone out for a short bit. 

Saturday however was supposed to be 4 hours of climbing, which got changed to a 3 hour ride with some climbing. Once out on the route and about 45 minutes in my legs were starting to feel more tired than normal. At that point we were about to climb Page Mill road. That is not an easy road to climb, and I made a last minute decision to save my legs for the onslaught they were going to get Sunday for my run. So instead of heading up Page Mill from Altamont, I headed down the hill and stayed on the flats for the rest of my ride.

**On the Quarry Trail loop headed back down the hill toward PG&E trail.**

I made sure to get plenty of rest Saturday night, plus I wore my compression sleeves for several hours after my bike ride to make sure my legs got plenty of recovery. Then before I knew it, it was Sunday morning and time to run my longest run since 2014. For breakfast I had 2 slices of toast with butter, cinnamon and a sprinkle of brown coconut sugar plus a cup of coffee with oat milk. 

In my backpack today I planned for being out running for about 3 hours. So I brought 1.5 liters of fluids in my 4 bottles that fit nicely in this new pack. I filled 1 liter of that with the Clif Hydration mix I've been using, and the remaining 0.5 liter was plain water. I also brought food for 200 calories an hour plus extra in case I was out longer than expected. Also since this was a new trail for me and quite far from any homes or roads I also packed a small can of pepper spray as I was told the chance of seeing a mountain lion up there is petty good. I also brought a map of the park that I folded and put into a plastic baggie so I can read it without it getting soaking wet from sweat. In the baggie I tossed a couple band aids and some moleskin just in case I got blisters. Last but certainly not least I brought my GoPro. 

The run started off my usual from the car park to the Farm is 1.75 miles, then the course starts to increase in elevation just a slight bit, maybe a 1 or 2% grade. The Rogue trail is where I started, and at mile 2.5 in my run I turned off onto the Chemise trail. Initially it looks steep, but it didn't feel that bad. However at mile 3.5 till mile 5 that trail gets very steep. It was steep enough that I would alternate between fast walking and super short step running. This trail is also very open with no shade until the top, but great views of the Rogue Valley trail and out towards Los Altos and Cupertino.

Once I hit the top of Chamise at the start of the Black Mountain trail connection the trail "flattened" out a bit. But that flatter trail enjoyment didn't last long. It was about mile 5.8 when the trail kicked back up for the next 2.4 unrelenting miles. The steepness of the trail meant that there were many switchbacks, but also at times some pretty amazing views of the South Bay. All these amazing views I'm talking about can be seen in the video just below. 

 

Now the steepest part of the trail was yet to come. At mile 7.5 is when I hit the last section of trail that would lead me up to the top of Black Mountain. To get close to hear by car you would drive to the intersection of Page Mill road and Skyline Boulevard, just to give you an idea of where I was. At my highest point I was at 760 meters up or 2500 feet of elevation. The peak of Black Mountain trail tops out at 850 meters, so you can see I still wasn't even at the top, but for my legs today I was. 

This is where I stopped talked to the camera tying to get a good picture of the steepness of the last section of trail, and just to take in the amazing views from here. At this point I could truly say it was all downhill from there. One the way down I had to take the Quarry loop trail which hooked up with the top of PG& E trail. The Quarry loop trail was really interesting as I felt like I was in a maze. The trail itself was a single track trail, with the brush along the side being only 6feet in height and it just twisted and turned for the next 2 miles. The neat part about this trail is even tough it was narrow, steep and eerily like a corn maze, every now and then you would get a view of the Bay and this day did not disappoint. The sky was so clear and blue and fresh I couldn't help but to turn on the GoPro and try to catch as much as I could. 

**View from the top of my run at 8.1 miles and 2600 feet of elevation, and I'm still not at the top of this trail, it goes up another 200 feet.**

Once I got to the bottom of the trail and back to my car, I had my post workout protein shake ready to guzzle down. I also ended up guzzling down my last 500 mL of water I hadn't drank yet. Note to self need to drink more water during the run, drinking 1 liter for 2 hours and 40 minutes of running is not enough for me.    

For he rest of the day Sunday I keep pretty quiet. My compression sleeves were on for about 3 hours, and I sat with my legs elevated as much as I could. A good hearty meal was also in store for me about 2 hours post end of the run. This lunch consisted of a toasted turkey sandwich with mayo, and a side of romanesco broccoli and cauliflower, sauteed in a butter garlic cream sauce, plus more water.

This week ended my 4 week cycle of building up some decent long miles. Next week will be a rest week, but there will still be plenty of activities.

Zone 2 Training For Endurance Sports

You have probably heard a lot lately about how Zone 2, or steady state training is bad for you. When I'm asked that question, I respond with "that depends". Ugh, I know terrible question, but it really does depend on what your goals are. If you are looking to improve your general health and fitness along with your strength and body composition, especially for women, then you bet Zone 2 is not going to be your main focus. However, anyone who has trained for a specific goal or event will have some form of structured training which is based on different training zones. Or more specifically heart rate training zones, and yes Zone 2 is the main one you'll be training in.

These Zones are numbered 1 through 5, and sometimes 5+. While training all the different zones is necessary for performance improvement, Zone 2 training is by far the most important part of the endurance training program. The purpose of each training zone is to elicit specific physiological and metabolic adaptations in order to improve performance, and it's important to know what physiological and metabolic adaptations occur while in each zone and how they can be improved in training. 

To understand this, first we need to have an understanding of basic physiology and muscle metabolism. Oh yeah I said it more Bio-Chem here. If you don't care to read about the wonderful world of bio-chem skip down to the section on How Do You Find Zone 2.

Energy Systems

Three energy systems contribute different amounts towards re-synthesizing the compound Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), the "energy currency" of our body. With the help of our mitochondria which processes ATP, this is how we get our muscles to make the contractions for movement. The main energy system we utilize depends on the intensity, type and duration of the exercise being performed, as well as the fuel sources available and the fitness levels of the individual. These systems are also dependent on whether we use oxygen (aerobic) or not (anaerobic). They are:

1. The ATP-CP System (Anaerobic): lasts up to about 10 seconds of very high intensity efforts. An example of this would be doing an explosive Olympic lift, or a 100 meter sprint. The ATP-CP system uses a stored molecule in the muscle called creatine phosphate (CP) to resynthesize ATP. It is the breakdown of this molecule that releases the energy needed to rejoin the ADP and free phosphate to form ATP. This system is anaerobic as it works without oxygen, and does not produce any waste products. This is Zone 5 & 5+

2. The Lactate System (Anaerobic): is the active system used from 30 seconds to 3 minutes of high intensity efforts. An example of this would be doing a set of HIITS, and anything up to about an 800 meter sprint. The Lactate system uses glucose to help create ATP. It breaks down the glucose molecule into pyruvic acid through anaerobic glycolysis (the splitting of sugars). Through this anaerobic glycolysis system chemical energy is released and used to synthesize two ATP molecules for every glucose molecule used.  This is Zone 4.

3. The Aerobic System: this is the active system our body uses to sustain long duration low intensity efforts. Think 5k, 10k and up. This system needs oxygen to be present for the creation of ATP and will use one of three processes (Aerobic glycolysis, Krebs cycle or Electron transport chain feel free to look those up if you are curious) to create it. It's a slow process and thus is it used for lower intensity demands but can continue for long periods of time. This is Zone 1 & 2.

**Found this chart on a Google search, not my own. It gives a good visual of what I was talking about as far as how long each energy system lasts, and that there is some overlap between them.**

Physiological and Metabolic Adaptations of Zone 2 Training

Performing most of your training in Zone 2 will help you build endurance, durability and strength. In addition, these easy training sessions help you...

1. Increase the number and density of your mitochondria - as you know from reading earlier the mitochondria is where the muscle gets it's energy to cause muscle contractions.

2. Increased capillary pathways - means more oxygen carrying capacity, and more ability to keep going.

3. Increase Stroke volume - amount of blood pumped out per beat; more blood means more oxygen and longer duration exercise.

4. Increased Fat burning capability - your body can more easily access the fat and use it for energy.

5. Increased lactate clearance - the mitochondria had the ability to break down the lactate and reuse it.

6. Increased blood plasma - the liquid part of the blood that carries cells and proteins.

7. Allows you to increase your training volume without beating up your body.

How Do You Find You Zone 2

There are a couple ways to calculate your heart rate ranges. If you do not have a heart rate monitor or prefer not to use one, you will have to train by feel. Without the heart rate monitor, you should feel like you can breathe through your nose while you are exercising and you can carry on full sentences. However if you want to have a bit more data, you will need a heart rate monitor. 

One of the best ways to get started with heart rate training is to calculate your heart rate reserve (HRR). First start with gathering the following numbers:

1. Max Heart Rate: 220 - your age = MHR

2. Find your Resting Heart rate (RHR), this is taken immediately when you wake up, before sitting up.

3. Find your Hear Rate Reserve (HRR): Subtracting your Resting Heart Rate from your Max Heart Rate. 

4. Multiply HRR by the Zone percentage you want to calculate, Zone 2 = 65-75%

5. Add back in your RHR to each of the calculated numbers in #4 to get your range for Zone 2.

For the other zones, the ranges are: Zone 3 multiply by 75-85%; Zone 4 multiply by 85-95%; Zone 5 multiply by 95-100%; Zone 5+ anything higher than Zone 5.  

Here is an example: Let's say you are 43 years old, with a resting heart rate is 55 beats per minute.

MHR - RHR = HRR

(HRR x 65%) + RHR = Lower end Zone 2

(HRR x 75%) + RHR = Higher end Zone 2

220 - 43 = 177 MHR

177 - 55 = 122 HRR

122 x 65% = 79.3

122 x 75% = 91.5

79.3 + 55 = 134.3, Zone 2 low end

91.5 + 55 = 146.5, Zone 2 high end

According to this method this person's Zone 2 Heart Rate is 134 to 146 beats. This means in order for this person to train at a Zone 2 training threshold they would need to keep their heart rate in that range, preferably closer to the lower end. Now this isn't the most accurate way to get your zones, but it's the best way for someone new to heart rate training, or just new to training in general. If you are interested in the more advanced method of attaining your actual Zone 2 threshold please feel free to ask me for help.

What About Zone 3?

You may have noticed I did not mention Zone 3 in the energy systems above. The reason is that Zone 3 is this grey area in performance training. Your body uses a mix of Lactate and Aerobic systems, with no specific ratio of either. So when you hang out in the Zone 3 "Grey Zone" your body isn't getting the best adaptations it can due to the mixing of the systems. In this zone you aren't going fast enough to improve speed or power, and you aren't going slow enough to improve the cardiovascular benefits mentioned earlier, plus the recovery time from Zone 3 is much more than Zone 2. 

To wrap things up. Knowing what your heart rate training zones are will benefit you in many ways. It's not just for endurance athletes, but also those trying to keep a good health and fitness routine. So the next time you head out for your workout, make sure you know what the purpose of your training session is, and know what zone or zones you should be working out in. 

Give this a try and let's see how you feel doing your Zone 2 training with these new numbers.

Week 6, Training for 50K Trail Race

Last week, week 5 was a tough week with the air quality getting as bad as it did. With is not allowing any outdoor activity over the weekend things had to be shuffled around and we went to a play it by ear schedule for the first half of this week.  

This week we planned for the two 10.5 mile trail runs on either Monday and Tuesday, or Tuesday and Wednesday.  

Week 6 Training Plan: (14th-20th September 2020)

Monday: Trail run 10.5 miles with 900+ feet of elevation

Tuesday: Trail run 10.5 miles with 900+ feet of elevation

Wednesday: Bike trainer 40 minutes. Core strength 30 minutes.

Thursday: Bike trainer 40 minutes. Strength 1 hour.

Friday: Undecided, Mobility 15 minutes.

Saturday: Outdoor team ride 3 hours 

Sunday: Easy, flat run 9 miles.

Unfortunately Monday was still in the high 160's on the AQI scale so once again outdoor activities were a bust. However things were looking better Tuesday morning as it had dropped back down to 120, and by the afternoon when I had time to run, it was about AQI 88, so off to the trails I went. 

Midday on a weekday turned out to be a great time to run. I think I passed only 3 people my entire time on the trails. The sun was shining, and the air was clear, maybe still not as clean as it could be but it wasn't orange-brown anymore.  Since I was excited to be out and about, I brought along my GoPro again to take some footage of the beauty I get to enjoy. You can enjoy my Clean Air Rancho San Antonio Preserve Run (click on the name to go to the video) too.

Wednesday was the second day in my back to back trail runs, and the weather was perfect yet again. This being my first back to back day of longer trail runs meant I needed to get plenty of sleep and proper nutrition between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning when I could do my next run. My sleep was okay though I did get suckered into watching an extra episode of Grey's Anatomy (I'm in season 11) and got to be 45 minutes later than I planned. Considering I usually get 8 to 9 hours of sleep I was plenty rested for Wednesday morning. 

 Thursday it's time for the first of my short bike rides, and my leg are feeling heavy. I know that active recovery is always better than doing nothing at all, so I hop on and get started. At first my legs felt sluggish and powerless, but by the time I got through with the 10 minute warm up my legs were feeling loose and happy again. I had the same workout both on Thursday and Friday, and both days my legs felt the same. Heavy at first, then by the 10 minute mark all better. 

Saturday is long ride day, and I was looking forward to seeing my teammates on our social distanced ride. After I got up late, and was feeling rushed to get everything together (I usually have everything packed and prepped the night before, and I did not this time) I decided I just needed one day where I wasn't up and rushing out the door right away. Instead I enjoyed my cup of coffee, had a slow breakfast and even ready a little in my book. At some point I realized I just did not feel up for a ride, so called it a day about 11 am and used the day to clean up my bike space in the garage. The goal was to get all my tools back into my toolbox, and get rid of stuff I just don't use, and of course to clean and re-lube all the bikes. Not only did I accomplish that, but also set aside 3 items in my give away pile because I was so good that I took pictures and posted them online. 

After a full day of rest and a bit of a mental clearing of the cobwebs I was ready to get back to it on Sunday for my 9 mile run. This run did not have to be on the trails so I decided to head over to Shoreline and enjoy the peacefulness of the Bayshore area early in the morning. Of course since I'm blogging about this I had to take my camera and take some quick video snippets of the sights. You can see my video from this week, along with all my other videos on my YouTube channel. 

This run route is flat, mostly, and is fully exposed to the sun the entire time. Even though I ran at 8am when it was cool, I still brought my handheld water bottle to keep my mouth from drying out and to prevent post workout dehydration. I'm starting to get used to having something in my hands while I run, especially when I bring the camera too so I stay better balanced. I do however switch hands every mile with the water bottle and the camera as they are not the same weight and I can feel it in my shoulders as I get further into my runs. 

In all this week was a success, and I continue to look forward to each following week. 

Week 3 Base Training for 50K Trail Race

This is a long post, I hope you're ready for some serious details!

This has been a difficult week due to the poor air quality yet again, but we just have to make due for now. I'm just happy that the fires are finally starting to have some containment happening.   

Week 3 Training Plan: (24th-30th August 2020)

Monday: REST day, Mobility 30 minutes. 

Tuesday: Run 8 miles at easy pace with 2 elevated miles. Strength 60 minutes.

Wednesday: Run 5 miles easy pace. Core strength 30 minutes.

Thursday: Bike trainer 45 minutes, high cadence with a couple high intensity sprints. 

Friday: Run 6 miles at slightly faster than easy pace.

Saturday: Bike outside 3 hours with one 10 minute high intensity interval.

Sunday: Trail run 13 miles.

This week started off with an 8 mile run on Tuesday that I almost wasn't able to do. However thanks to purpleair.com, I was able to find a pocket of air that was safe and below AQI 50, I took a little drive out to Crystal Springs reservoir (and so did many other runners and cyclists) to get my run done. Because I was going to be more than 30 minutes from the time I finished my run till the time I got home and could make myself a post workout shake, I took it with me in a cooler in my car. I cannot tell you how nice that is to finish a hard run, do your cool down routine and have that chilled protein shake ready to suck down immediately. Yum!!!

Wednesday's run had to happen in the late afternoon right before the Core class that I teach/take. My intestines were not happy that day, and with a mile to go (luckily I was close to home) I made a quick pit stop to empty them. I'm pretty sure this had to do with the 2 greyhound drinks I had the night before. My body doesn't seem to like it when I have alcohol after a hard effort. In any case I was able to complete my run, and made it to class just in time. 

Because I'm spending so much more time running now, I really look forward to the bike workout days. Thursday's workout was the perfect way to break up the week, it had a couple super high intensity sprints, and 2 longer sustained moderately high intensity efforts. The focus however is to keep my cadence high during the bike workouts so I don't overload the muscles and take away from their ability to produce power for my run the next day.

Fridays run was supposed to be a simple 6 mile effort at a zone 2 heart rate. Unfortunately the air never went below 120 all day, nor was I able to find any clean air pockets in driving distance. So Friday was a missed workout day. 

Saturday was a long ride day, and got out for about 3 hours and kept it mostly zone 2 but with one 10 minute hard effort. For some weird reason I never really felt like I was relaxing into the ride. From start to finish I felt like my legs were working at 100% even though my heart rate was at 60-80% effort. Thank's to some awesome teammates we all finished our intended ride with a smile on our faces. By the time I got back to my car after the ride I was feeling okay enough to get a few run miles in. Off I went with my new handheld water bottle. I had no idea how many of the 6 miles I missed yesterday that I would be able to do today, so at every mile when I would take a sip of water and switch hands holding the bottle, I would do a little self check in. I'd ask myself how do I feel? How is your hear rate? Can you go one more mile easily? As long as all those were positive answers I kept running. Before I knew it my 6 miles were up and I was back at my car pulling out my recovery shake and another bottle of super cold water (all waiting in the ice cooler I keep in my trunk).

Having done those 2 workouts on Saturday I had burned 1800 calories. So now I needed to replace them, NOT all at once, but over the course of the rest of the day. Actually let me start with my breakfast...2 cups of Zoegas coffee with oat milk, 2 slices of cinnamon raisin bread with butter, and one of my own personal made energy bites (chocolate chip energy bites recipe). One the bike I had 2 more of my energy bites, 2 Clif shot blocks (Black Cherry flavor, plus caffeine), half of a peanut butter and apricot jelly sandwich, and 40 ounces/1180ml of water. During my run I had 2 more shot blocks and 200ml of water. Finally Post run I had my protein recovery shake, 20 more ounces of water and the other half of the PB&J sandwich. By this time in the day I have now consumed 1,424 calories and still needed 1,800 to not suffer on my run for Sunday.

The rest of the day went pretty well as far as nutrition and hydration. I had our leftover homemade turkey meatloaf with sauteed purple cabbage, of which I had a double serving of both for lunch. Then followed that up for dinner, feeling too tired to cook so had a charcuterie plate consisting of blue diamond pecan nut thin crackers, a serving of lite salami, and ounce or two of herbed goat cheese, turkey pepperoni, jicama sticks with hummus, cherry tomatoes, and an Omission Lager, plus another glass of water.  

Nutrition Facts for Saturday:

Breakfast: 418kcal, 59g Carbohydrates, 17g Fat, 11g Protein

Snack on Bike: 535kcal, 67g Carbs, 20g Fat, 11g Protein

Snack on Run: 67kcal, 16g Carbs

Post workout Nutrition: 404kcal, 39g Carbs, 13g Fat, 35g Protein

Lunch: 618kcal, 43g Carbs, 23g Fat, 55g Protein

Dinner: 657kcal, 49g Carbs, 28g Fat, 33 Protein

Snack: 200kcal, 44g Carbs, 4g Fat, 0g Protein

Total for Day: 2,899kcal, 317g Carbs (56%), 105g Fat(20%), 145g Protein(26%)

Looking back on that I actually see that I had too much in the way of simple carbohydrates and not enough healthy carbs. What do I mean by that? I ate too much plain bread and sweets, instead of enough veggies. If you look the only real veggies I had all day was a double serving of purple cabbage at lunch, and a small helping of jicama with dinner. I do normally have more veggies, and if I had cooked dinner there would have been more veggies mixed in that day.

It's finally Sunday and time for my long trail run and testing out my new trail running shoes. I've been using Brooks Mazama trail racing shoes, they are low profile with a 6mm drop from heel to toe and meant for short to medium distance trail races. To date they had just shy of 400 miles on them and the last couple runs of 10-12 miles were causing blisters on both feet at the outside edges of my big and small toes. I knew it was time to switch shoes and I decided to look into ones that had more of a foot shaped toe box. I did some research and even asked some seasoned Ultra trail runners what they use. To my surprise the brand Altra was what I had been thinking would work, and those shoes got many votes from the trail runners in my community. I purchased the Altra Lone Peak 4.5 trail shoe and took them out for my Sunday run. 

Thirteen miles in brand new shoes might scare some people but I knew the trail I was running and so this would be a great way to compare them with my old runners. At first I could feel the zero drop from heel to toe, I felt sluggish in my transition from landing to take off. Once I got on the trail however I didn't notice the sluggishness anymore, instead I felt the amazing traction they had. Keep in mind the trail I ran was hard pack and very dry, but with lots of small gravel and sand. At times the trail does have some rocks and roots, but it's mostly dirt and gravel. They felt great all the way to the top of the hill. Now the true test of these shoes, how will they feel coming back down the hill. Because I wanted to get a good feel for them I decided to haul it down, safely of course, but to really push the speed to test their grip, and their forefoot feel. They did not disappoint! There was no slipping on the ground surface, plus I had no hot spots on my feet nor did I get blisters on the outsides of my toes. Success, both in my run and for another week of hard training.

Next week is a rest week. Woot!

Week 1 Base Training for 50K Trail Race

Now that I have chosen a race and I know when, Saturday High Noon on 5 December 2020, there are 17 weeks till the race, it's time to train. The first block of training will be focusing on getting used to being on my feet many more miles per week than I have been. One thing to keep in mind is my training has been focused on sprint and olympic distance Duathlons for the past 4 years, so I have a decent base of fitness to get started with. 

Week 1 Training Plan (10th-16th August 2020) 

Monday: REST day, 30 minutes of mobility training using FRC principles. 

Tuesday: Bike trainer 65 minutes. Strength 60 minutes. Mobility 15 minutes.

Wednesday: 7 miles running with some speed work. Core strength 30 minutes.

Thursday: Easy pace 4 miles

Friday: Easy Pace 4 miles

Saturday: Bike ride 2.5-3 hours easy pace.

Sunday: Trail run 11 miles.

My first week consisted of 26 planned running miles with 2 days on the bike for cross training and overall cardiovascular fitness. The first week of my training went well, and I was able to hit all my workouts both in distance and effort. Then the weekend came along and a lightning storm hit the area early Sunday morning. It was a dry lightning storm which around here causes fires, and sure enough it set off several fires around the area. I was not able to get out for my long run on Sunday due to the lightning, and then the rest of my day was already booked. These type of things are going to happen all throughout my training, and I just need to remind myself everything will be okay. That first week I ended up putting in only 15 miles on foot, and 4 hours on the bike. It's important to  stay flexible!

View of the Fires in the Santa Cruz Mountains from the East Bay Hills (photo by Marc Canter)  

Planning ahead for week 2, I will be doing slightly longer "short" runs during the week. This is to be expected, but it also means I need something to do about my hydration. No longer will pre-hydrating be sufficient enough to carry me through, I will now have to carry water with me. No problem as I have a hydration pack for my long runs. But I was thinking that might be overkill for my 7, 8, 9 mile runs. What are the other options if you don't want to wear a hydration pack? Handheld and waist packs. Several years ago when I was training for an Ironman Triathlon someone gave me a waist pack to use for my long runs. Turns out they were not for me. At that time I was too bouncy of a runner and my bottles would go flying out of the holster, plus I didn't like to feeling of the pack bouncing on my hips. The only other option was handhelds. I had my leftover handheld but remembered it was too big for me to carry (I have small hands so wrapping my hand around it even with the strap was too bulky) and the spout on the thing made it near impossible to get water out of.  Time to go shopping.

Currently I use the Nathan Vapor Airess hydration pack used for my long runs, runs 10 miles and over.

After a quick bit of research I found that the handhelds were made much better now, and they come in several sizes. The size I decided to go with is the Nathan hydration 350 ml bottle with a handstrap and small pocket to store my keys. 

Week two of training I will be able to test this out. Stay tuned.

New Adventure: 50K Trail Race

 Uhm yeah I said it, 50K trail race! To be honest when my coach even suggested I do one I laughed inside. To date I've only done one Marathon and it was part of an Ironman distance triathlon. I've also done several half Marathon races. The half marathon is my favorite distance running race by far with 10K coming in a close second. So to even consider a 50K I must be crazy. 

I've always loved to try new things. Ever since I was a kid I loved experiencing new things, and that is still part of who I am today. However today there is a little bit of fear mixed in, you know that age thing reminds you you aren't invincible anymore, yeah that's me now. Good news though, this won't kill me but it surely will challenge me.  

So how far is 50K? It's approximately 31.1 miles. Yep that is LONGER than a marathon. I know you're thinking I'm crazy. I thought that too until I looked into this thing that's called Ultra racing. 50K is actually the shortest distance race, and I just found one that is a 240 mile race in Moab, Utah. YIKES!

After looking through the Ultra races my coach suggested, and chatting with some people who have done Ultra races, the thought of this new challenge started to create a feeling of excitement within me. This excitement started to create thoughts of how will I make this race happen. What is it like to do this distance? Is there anything I need equipment wise? What will my training be? Hey wait, I'll be able to go and train in new places, not to mention being able to race in a new place. My smile kept getting bigger and bigger, until finally I said yes! 

Next it came down to actually choosing a race. I went with the Capstone 50K in St. George, Utah because their events are still being held, and I can drive there from where I live. 

Now how do you train for this event? Lots of time spend on my feet, but also just as much time off my feet recovering. Not to mention better attention to my nutrition throughout the day and during my runs now. I'm going to have to learn to eat while running, whereas before my races were short enough that I could eat 3 hours before my race, then a snack 15 minutes before and I was set to go except for some water along the way. Now I will be on my feet racing for potentially up to 7 hours, and my body WILL need nutrition throughout.

The race in Utah is set up to be 5 laps of a 10K loop, with each lap having about 800 to 900 feet of vertical elevation. This also means I won't have to pack everything I need for the entire 50K in my pack, and they have a smorgosbord at the lap counter place. For now it's off the the planning table and off for my first couple weeks of training.   

Training Outdoors in the Fall and Winter

Every year when fall weather hits, I begin to hear complaints about not being able to get outdoor workouts in anymore. Even though the days are shorter and the weather is less desirable, you can still enjoy your outdoor training activities throughout the fall and winter; you just have to take a few extra precautions to help reduce your risk of injury or illness, and to keep you cozy.

The following tips are for those of us in California, where generally the temps get between the 30's and 50's temps in the winter, and who are running, or doing some other type of continuous movement activities, not including cycling. The clothing you will need for cycling will be slightly different including more wind protection.

I'm going to break this up into temperature ranges. Now keep in mind every one's tolerance and comfort in cold is not the same, but that having being said, play around with your choices during shorter workouts until you have it figured out before you embark on longer adventures.

Let's start with 55+ degrees.
Most people will be comfortable with a pair of shorts and a tee or tank. These cloths can be your typical runners shorts and loose fitting tee, to the more form fitting triathlon shorts and tops. Really whatever you prefer here goes. Yes your first few minutes may be on the cool side when it's closer to 55 degrees, but keep in mind once you have warmed up you will be perfectly fine in the shorts and tee in this temperature range. If you will be doing your cool down with stretching outside as well, having a layer to throw over this would be a good idea.

 45 degrees to 55 degrees.
In moderately cool weather the question of what to wear is largely a personal choice, although when it's particularly windy, runners may want a windbreaker jacket. While a t-shirt won't generally cut it, a quality long sleeve base layer will get runners through most of this temperature bracket. The top should be made of a synthetic material as cotton will absorb and hold all your sweat and not allow you to stay warm and dry.

Shorts will also still get the job done since the legs tend to warm up quickly from the work they're putting in, but consider 3/4 length pants if your knees tend to get cold and stiff feeling. Also gloves may be helpful if your hands tend to get cold easily.

35 degrees to 45 degrees
Below the 45 degree point you should cover more of your body, particularly the hands and neck and head. Light running gloves and a light synthetic beanie or ear cover will help to keep you warm. On your body, a base layer under a windproof jacket will protect your torso, and light running tights ensure that your legs don't get too cold. To help cover your neck, having a mock neck base layer will work, or a light scarf that won't come undone while moving. If it's raining, you may want to wear a rainproof jacket and pants, few things are more miserable than being soaked through in 35 degree weather.

Thinking about your feet is going to be helpful in this temperature too. As our extremities get less blood flow and can end up feeling painful when cold and wet. Using wool socks will do the trick for both the cold AND the wet. Today's wool is made softer and less smelly that older types of wool cloths. One great company is Smart Wool. No I am not sponsored nor do I get any kickbacks from them. I use their socks because they work.

25 degrees to 35 degrees
When it comes to water resistance, windproof running jackets do better in the snow than in the rain, so your rain proof jacket is unnecessary for these temps. However just a base layer and your wind jacket won't be enough. You will need to either go with a thicker base layer and your jacket, or one light and tight base layer with a looser thicker layer over the top, and finally the jacket over that. Make sure you still have a little space between your jacket and your next base layer so you can trap in some warmth.

Your tights will need to be full length now covering all the way to your ankles. They should also have some insulation or wind resistance in them. Now is also not the time for your no show or ankle running socks. Your socks should be quarter length at the very least, up to knee high and don't forget the wool will keep you cozy and warm but not sweaty.

This is also the time to put on a thicker pair of gloves preferably something with some wind resistance. Last, let's not forget about your head and neck. This is definitely the time to cover them with a nice beanie and neck gator, or a full balaclava would be perfect here.

Below 25 degrees.
In this temperature range, moisture control becomes a big factor in your overall comfort during exercise. So does staying warm, so it's imperative that the middle and outer layers keep you well ventilated as well as warm. You're going to want to pick an outer shell that's still breathable but weather resistant. Ski touring and mountaineering shells do well because they are designed for exercise. Your thicker running gloves may not work at these temps, so grab your ski gloves and make sure they pull over your jacket cuff or under, you don't want to let heat out through your wrist area.  Also at these temps you will need another layer of pants over your tights. Something again that is windproof and possibly lined but has space between them and your base layer pants.

You may even find that your eyes start to burn. Grab those ski goggles if your regular sunglasses aren't doing the trick anymore. Something I haven't mentioned yet but is important especially in the below freezing temps, your music. If you like to listen to music while you exercise your phone or ipod wont work as it's too cold for the battery to function. You will want to make sure you have an interior pocket in your outer jacket, this will keep the battery warm enough to allow your music to continue playing while you continue exercising.

Now if you are more of a visual person like I am, I came across a pretty good picture that represents what I am talking about. Check it out below.

Thank you for reading, and as always if you have questions or suggestions please leave me a message.

The Core of the Matter

Everyone is talking about Core Strength these days.  It seems like all they want is a strong core, and beautiful six pack abs.  Well ok fine and dandy for some, but my belief is that we as humans need to have a strong core for support in our everyday activities (ADL’s) and sporting activities.  Through the strong core and a healthy diet yes you can have beautiful six pack abs, but does it make you run faster, swim more efficiently, bike longer? Quite simply, Yes. However, a more detailed explanation is needed.

Let’s begin with our ‘core’ muscles and what they consist of.  Our core consists of the muscles that both stabilize and mobilize our trunk, so these muscles include all of the abdominal muscle groups (deep, superficial, lateral, medial, superior and inferior), the gluteal group, hamstrings, low back musculature, hip flexors, and quadriceps. Below is a detailed picture of all the "core" muscles.

Basically stated all the muscles that fall between the chest and the knees are in some way involved in our “Core”.  When these muscles are all functioning properly they can provide an individual with many positive performance benefits. These positive benefits include but are not limited to injury prevention, improved balance, support of better posture; in relation to sport, it will improve your efficiency, and increase your stability and stamina thus improving your sports performance. Increasing your core strength will allow you to go further without fatiguing as quickly because you have a stronger platform off of which you can perform your activities.

Here is an analogy for you to ponder.  Imagine a tree with a trunk so thin you could wrap your arms around it, then look up the tree and notice its branches which are much thicker than the trunk.  The branches by themselves are strong indeed, but when the wind gusts up and blows the branches so hard that the trunk bows and breaks due to the weight of the branches and lack of stability in the truck.   The same is true for us, if our core is weak and our extremities are strong we can push hard or run fast but at some point there will be that one movement that puts so much stress on your core, more so than it can handle and now you have an injury.  This doesn’t sound good right?  Right!

So there are a few questions to ask.  How often do we need to spend focusing on our core muscles with strength specific exercises and what specific exercises should we be focusing on?  I wish I could give you a simple answer, but that isn’t possible because we all have different needs.  However based on what I deal with most often, that being the endurance athlete I will base my answer there.

Spending about 2 hours a week (in half hour segments to start if needed) on core strength training is ideal for an individual that might be training 10 or more hours a week. Gradually add this into your training if this is new to you however. Your training session should include upper and lower body strength training which ultimately engages the core in order to perform the exercises as well. As you improve, you can add more core specific work into your routine.

Rather than plain sit-ups, a few triathlon specific core exercises are listed below.  Give them a try who knows what improvements you may see in your next event. And, if you are looking for a fun yet challenging core only workout try (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNqD5aENR8A ) it will be a challenge I guarantee.  

Plank and hold for 30-90 seconds

Frog Plank, hold plank on hands or elbows begin by rotating right knee away from body and bringing it up toward your right elbow, set foot back in place and repeat with left leg.  Continue alternating knees till you reach 15-30 repetitions per side

Plank with feet on stability ball and begin to bring your knees to your chest by rolling your feet in on the ball.

Side Plank on the ground, hold for 30-90 seconds

Push ups

Chest Press single arm laying on a stability ball, holding a bridge with hips

Single Leg Bridge

Bridge and hold with feet marching

Dead Lifts

Front Squats

Bent Over Unsupported Dumbbell Rows

Kettle Bell Halos

Kettle bell Swings

And the list can go on and on…

So build time into your training routine to add core strength training and your improvements will not only show up in your performance but your health and longevity in the sport will increase too.

If you have questions please feel free to contact me at VeloFit@gmail.com

Stay Fit Stay Healthy with NORTH FITNESS, Your Direction to Health and Fitness!