Mark Saroni Blog

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Tip Tuesday #23- Do This Not That

One of these days I'm going to get around to riding a blog about myself and the training and racing I've been doing (Yes, I have been doing some). Like my trip to Monterrey, Mexico a week and a half ago for my first 70.3 of the year-

Race went alright- 14th pro

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

TTT #22- Practice Your Transitions!

The mount/dismount line of a triathlon is the scariest most exhilarating spot to stand for spectators. If you want a true adrenaline rush or love action sports- forget UFC fighting or The Hunger Games- just watching a triathlon transition will give you all the gore and near death experiences you crave.

There's something about being in a horizontal position for twenty minutes to an hour with our face underwater surrounded by 1000 other thrashing mammals that makes us completely disoriented when we emerge from our aquatic environment. Transitions are the "4th discipline" of triathlon. The clock doesn't stop for us to tie our shoes and put our helmet on so why don't we practice these things? We practice swimming, biking and running for endless hours and even though the transition is a very small part of the race it still directly impacts our time.

Other than helping you go faster on race day practicing your transitions will help things go smoother and cause much less anxiety when you're in the heat of the moment. We've all SEEN this guy at the races but do you want to BE this guy?

When you practice transitions you want to mimic the experience and equipment you will have on race day. Set up your transition just like you would race morning in a grassy field or your driveway. Like I talked about a few weeks ago, your goal is prepare for what you will encounter on race day. Run through your entire swim-to-bike transition, mounting the bike and getting up to speed as quickly as possible. Many people forget to check what gear their bike is in when they start so practice in some different combinations to find what allows you to accelerate the fastest. If you're doing an Ironman race then I'd suggest putting all your stuff in a plastic bag and shaking it around then practice withdrawing the items and putting them on your wet body as fast and and smoothly as possible. The key to a good transition it get things right the first time. So practice being smooth and you will be fast.

Whether you do a flying mount with your shoes clipped on the pedals already or run in your bike shoes doesn't matter- practice it. Will you have large water bottles sticking out from behind your saddle that make mounting different on race day? Practice it. Practice running with your bike, steering it around cones and mounting and dismounting quickly.

T2 is similar (and much easier I think) but if you will change socks or put on sunscreen then practice that.

My dad has a funny story from when he did a sprint triathlon back in the early 2000's. He is a pretty good athlete so even though he didn't train much his splits were all middle of the pack and he had a respectable time- with the exception of his transitions. I was appalled when I saw his T1 was something like 10 or 12 minutes long. "What were you doing in there dad?!" I asked. "Eating a sandwich or something?" "Actually, yes," he replied. He said he'd gotten to his bike, toweled off his entire body, changed out of his wet shorts into some dry biking ones, sat down to put his socks and shoes on, put on sunscreen and yes, eaten a sandwich. Wouldn't want to be under fueled for that 12 mile bike ride!

Note: this is not an actual picture of my father

In his next race my dad dropped 6 minutes off his time, not by training any more but just by making his transitions faster and smoother!

When I was younger I used to set up transition in my driveway and recruited my brothers to hold a broomstick as my bike rack. I'd practice ten times in a row, recording my split each time and figuring out where I could drop tenths of a second. I practiced it so much and have raced for so long now that I don't really have to think too much about it. My body just knows what to do.

While the guys below are pretty darn good you can see there's still some room for improvement. (Like Crowie making sure he knows where his bike is).

A few weeks out from their first race of the year I have all my athletes set up a transition area like I described above. Then I have them do very short repeats of 1/2 - 1 mile on the bike followed by a 200-400 meter run. Then they repeat that over and over again. Not only are they able to practice their transitions multiple times but it's a great speed workout to make sure the muscles are all firing leading into race day.

Practice your transitions and you WILL go faster on race day. I promise!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

TTT #21- There Ain't no Trainin' Like Racin'

What a weekend. There was an absolute phenomenal race production by Brookshire's Fresh at the FRESH 15k in Tyler, Tx.

Of course I had to have a great weekend anthem for the long car ride and fast race. Is there any reason I shouldn't listen to this song over and over again?

Lots of FRESH snow on the drive home.

For the inaugural year, Brookshire's did a great job setting up a challenging course and bringing in vendors and a fast field. I've never raced a 15k before and this one was a doozy. I ended up 9th overall after a solid effort and a hard run.

My results aside, I was reflecting after the race about how I would have liked to go faster (typical post-race musings for your average triathlete) and it reminded me that racing is a skill that has to be practiced. I went into this event with about two weeks of "qualify" running in my legs. Meaning, I had just started including some interval work and tempo's into my training after a little bit longer build up in my base/strength phase then I normally do. I needed this hard effort though to test my limits and get a good snapshot of where my fitness was at. I also needed to get some good hurt on like I wouldn't normally hurt in training. I started thinking about what an excellent tool racing can be if utilized effectively in a training program.

Some reasons that racing can be beneficial to your training:

-It provides an exciting break from the normal rigors of training. Training throughout the winter months can get quite tedious (See my post about the winter blues) and including a race or multiple races gives you something exciting to look forward to on the weekend. It's a chance to see friends and do something social while also earning your first free t-shirt for the year.

-Excellent way to benchmark test. Testing is important to mark your fitness and track progress. A race can be an excellent way to test your fitness and establish new benchmark paces for training. This 15k tells me exactly where my threshold heart rate and pace is for the run at this moment. Look around in your area for a Masters swim meet you can do to test your swimming. I participated in the One-Hour Postal Challenge in January. It is one of the most miserable experiences you can image in a pool (swim as hard as you can for an hour). BUT, it told me exactly what my threshold pace was AND I was able to see improvement from when I did the hour swim last year. If you use power on the bike you can find a local time trial to participate in.

-Practice pushing yourself. Like I mentioned above, racing is a learned skill. Suffering takes practice. A single sport event can be a great way to see how far you can push yourself when you don't have any other sports to worry about. You think you're swimming hard at the start of a triathlon? Try competing in a 200 or 500 yard freestyle and see how hard you can REALLY swim. You think your legs hurt on the bike? Try racing an open 40k time trial or any bike race. Any race is a chance to push yourself to new levels and challenge your body to go harder than it's gone before.

I'm not a big fan of "training races." I think that in general, if you sign up for a race you should go out there and give it your best effort on that day. Whether you're tapered or tired see what your body will give you on the day.

-It's great training. As long as you make sure and include the appropriate amount of recovery following a race, racing will help push your fitness up a level. Different types of races take different types of recovery. Running a marathon or competing in an Ironman doesn't always help your fitness a lot (depending on your race goals for the year and current fitness level) because they take more time to recovery from during which you miss other valuable training. A hard 5k or 10k however is an excellent form of speed work that you will recover from pretty quickly and can usually jump back into normal training pretty quickly.

Cautionary Note: Everyone is different and has different goals for their training and racing. Racing is another TOOL to use in training when looking at a bigger picture or end goal in mind. The 15k I completed in was an excellent benchmark for my current fitness and I was able push myself a lot harder than I might in a normal tempo or threshold run. I don't recommend racing every weekend and forgoing the training side of training.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Training Tip Tuesday #20 - Prepare to Meet the Demands of Race Day

Preparing for the specific requirements of a given race is not a new concept but I think it is something that can often be overlooked. There are many points to consider when preparing to meet the "demands" of race day. Athletes have been making the race preparation as specific possible since the beginning of triathlon. Crazy stories of push ups and sit ups in a sauna to prepare for Kona have circulated for a long time. Below, I've highlighted a few "demands" you may encounter on race day. As some of you may have realized- 2014 isn't getting any younger…

Distance- This is probably the most obvious one. As you approach an event you need to make sure you are capable of completing the distance. For an Ironman that of course means multiple 100+ mile bike rides in the 8 weeks leading up to the race. For a 70.3 you probably want to be comfortable with 60-70 miles. It's reassuring to know you've covered the distance in training so you can at least get to the finish line if you have a bad day. Now, when it comes to the run I definitely don't recommend running a marathon in the final 2 months before an Ironman. Many people like to run a marathon earlier in the year so that they "know" they can run one. While there is definitely some stock in that argument I will tell you that it is not necessary to run a marathon before completing an Ironman. Many, many athletes have run their first marathon in the actual Ironman and done quite well with too. The run in an Ironman is a whole different ball game then an open marathon and it's tough to compare the two. With specific training you can simulate training with the fatigue your legs will have on race day through long bike rides. For many that will be much better and more efficient than training to run a 26.2 mile race and putting a lot of pounding on their legs.

Intensity- Train at the intensity you will be at on race day (or faster). This is often the reason many people experience cramps and have nutrition problems in a race. They did the long stuff, the long rides and runs. They practiced their nutrition over and over again so now why is their gut exploding out the back end? Well, it's important to include some race pace work in many of your long rides and runs so you can practice eating and drinking at those intensities. Going fast in an Ironman is about who slows down the least, not who speeds up. Those who slow down the least are usually the ones that have not only trained to cover the distance but have also trained to hold their goal pace for that distance. Again, this doesn't mean you go run an entire marathon at your goal pace but it is important to include marathon pace work in your training and off the bike. Mile repeats with short rest off a long bike ride are a great way to practice finding your rhythm and establishing a sense of pace. A 1-2 minute rest is enough time between each rep that you can reset mentally, make sure your form is good and then go again. It's an excellent way to accumulate more time running at a quality pace.

Nature of the Course- If it's hilly, practice riding and running on hills where you maintain a steady effort level up and down. If it's flat and windy then try to find a course you can ride where you stay tucked in the aero bars for 1-3 hours at a time. Some people are naturally much better at locking it in and just holding a steady effort. I'd much prefer a course with hills so I can get out of the saddle some and move around on the bike. When I race the Galveston 70.3 I have to practice the steady pacing aspect because that course is flat and BORING.

Weather- Obviously, training in the heat isn't a problem for those of us who live in Texas. I actually recommend that people try to stay out of the heat for much of their training (impossible I know) and only target certain sessions to deal with the elements. Otherwise, it's just too much being in the heat all the time and it takes a toll on your body. Training in the rain or cold deserves a mention here. I don't' like to shy away from training when the conditions are tough because you never know what fluke will come about on race day. I've raced when it's 30 degrees outside, 53 and raining, 110 and everywhere in between. It sucks sometimes but everyone has to deal with the same elements so HOW you deal with them makes a big difference. Some of my best races were the really, really cold ones because I didn't freak out and stayed very methodical with my transitions and racing and made up a lot of time while others were making poor decisions or getting flustered.

The Intangibles- Every race has something that makes it different or unique. Maybe it's the fact that it is completely UN-unique (not sure that's a word), like the Texas 70.3 I mentioned. Some races have a double transitions or you have to mount your bike on a giant hill or there are some sharp corners and 180 degree turns. Practice those things. It shouldn't take up the bulk of your training and fitness is still the most important factor in your performance but those intangibles can add up and make a big difference. Many Ironman and 70.3's are going to multiple loop courses. Are you comfortable riding around hundreds of other athletes? Can you pass others in the aero bars and take corners at high speed? Mary Beth Ellis, recently wrote a blog about her race in Panama where she admitted to be to timid on the bike and losing time to some more aggressive girls because of a crash she'd had the year prior.

So get out their and train. Think about your upcoming races. Prepare to meet the demand of race day and execute your plan. Then have fun and enjoy the ride!

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Training Tip Tuesday #19- Joel Filliol's Top 20 Rules for Faster Swimming

My goal with this series of training tips isn't to pretend that I have all the answers to training and success in triathlon. I don't have them so if that's what you're looking for… sorry, you'll have to go somewhere else. What I DO hope to do is to give some insight and help point people in the right direction with their training. There are many, many different approaches to training which is part of the reason I avoid writing workouts for the training tip Tuesday. A good workout is meaningless. It's not the ingredients that count it's the way they're mixed that makes the difference. Instead, I try to help people THINK about their training and maybe look at variables they haven't considered before.

All that being said, most of what I post here isn't new material, it's something I've learned or discovered either from other coaches, from experience or from reading and studying. There aren't really any "secrets" to training.

Joel Filliol, wrote this excellent piece on swimming in triathlon nearly 7 years ago and it think it deserves re-posting here. If you don't know who Joel Filliol is then feel free to visit his website and learn up. He has coached many, many elite athletes and know what it takes to get faster. A few of the "rules" he gives here may be contrary to what you've been taught. If you are confused or disagree feel free to contact me for further discussion. Without further ado, here are Joel Filliol's Rules for Faster Triathlon Swimming.

The Top 20 Rules for Faster Triathlon Swimming

1. Conditioning trumps drills. Technique matters, but the way most athletes try to improve technique doesn't work. Get fitter, and your ability to hold good technique improves. It takes a lot of work to develop aerobic conditioning in your upper body. If you think you are already swimming a lot but are not improving, swim more and keep at it. There are no shortcuts.

2. Traditional drills don't work. The type of drills and the way that most triathletes do them don't actually have any material effect on swimming technique.

3. Swim more often. Frequency is the best way to improve your swimming. Also see rule #4

4. Do longer main sets. You can't expect to swim fast and be fresh on the bike if you rarely do main sets with the same or higher volume and pace than you expect in the race. For short course these should be at least 2km, for IM 4km, or more. And that looks like 20-50x100, not many short broken sets adding up to 2-5km.

5. Don't over think it. Don't under think it. Be engaged with what you are doing in the water, and use tools to help get a better feel for the water. But don't over think every stroke, and suffer from paralysis by analysis. Swimming fast is about rhythm and flow, when good technique becomes automatic.

6. Increased swim fitness translates to the bike and run. Being able to swim harder, starting the bike both fresher and with faster riders is how that works.

7. Deep swim fitness allows you to swim on the rivet. See rule #6. Most triathletes don't know how to really swim hard for the duration.

8. Include some quality in every swim. If you are swimming less than 5x per week, having easy swims is a waste of time. Always include quality, from band, to paddles, to sprints, in every swim.

9. Don't count strokes. See rule #2. The objective is to get faster, not take fewer strokes.

10. Learn now to use your kick but don't spend a lot of time with kick sets. Kicking is about stroke control and body position, not propulsion for triathlon. Kick fitness doesn't matter.

11. Use a band frequently. The best swimming drill there is. Do short reps with lots of rest at first. Both propulsion and body position will improve.

12. Use paddles with awareness of engaging lats. Paddles are primarily a technical tool to take more strokes with better mechanics, the result of which is learning how to use your prime swimming movers: your lats.

13. Keep head low on breathing and in open water. Head down, feet up. It's a common body position error.

14. Do many short repetitions for stroke quality. It takes fitness to swim with good technique for long durations. Start shorter, and swim faster. 50x50 works wonders. Don't have time to do a 2500m main set? Drop the warm up and warm down.

15. Learn to swim with a higher stroke rate. This takes conditioning. It will pay off on race day, and particularly anytime swimming in a group and in rough conditions.

16. If you need to write your swim session down on the white board or paper, it's too complicated. Keep it simple.

17. Find a good masters programme. Long main sets is a good sign. Swim with others to challenge yourself. Good programmes are the exception rather than the norm, unfortunately.

18. Don't use swim tools as a crutch. Paddles and bull buoys are tools with specific uses. Don't reach for them out of simple laziness, because the set is hard.

19. Do use swim tools when you are very fatigued, and will otherwise swim with poor quality.See Rule #18.

20. Dry land and gym can help swimming for some via improved neuromuscular recruitment.Use body weight and tubing not machines.

Bonus: Love swimming if you want to get faster. Embrace the process of getting faster in the water. Chlorine sweat is a good thing.

Follow the rules above to swim faster, and ultimately to be a faster triathlete. Enjoy.

EDIT:

#21 Repetition is your friend. Variety is for the weak minded, and interferes with the learning process. Repetition, Repetition, Repetition.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Training Tip Tuesday #18- The Winter Blues

Anyone else have problems with the winter doldrums? This time of year is often the toughest to navigate because most of us have already been training pretty consistently for 1-3 months yet the season still seems very long and far off. Especially as many of us transition from general base training to much more specific race prep the workouts because much harder and focused just as our focus is starting to wane. I've summarized a few tips that I use to stay motivated and focused this time of the year (and all year) and hope they can help you as well.

1. Review your plan for the season and count how many weeks until your next big race. Sometimes the race SEEMS really far off but when you start actually counting weeks you realize it's only 3-6 weeks away! Then you remember that Christmas was nearly 2 months ago and now you realize time is indeed, very short! Doing this always helps me remember the importance of each day and each week of training because April seems really far but when I break down each week of training and the key workouts I need to get there I realize I don't actually have that much time. Nothing like a little panic to help you stay motivated!!

2. Watch some super awesome, motivational sport videos to get you PUMPED. Maybe the classic Bevan Docherty outsprinting Kris Gemmell clip- (I apologize for the overused Eminem music clip)

Or check out Galen Rupp knocking out mile repeats after an 8:07 American record in the two mile-

Watch more videos on Flotrack

There are countless videos out there that can help inspire you to get out the door for another session and I'm not ashamed to admit that I've used them at times.

3. Think about your competition.

Visualization is a powerful tool and if I can picture my competition out training or racing it helps me stay focused during workouts and reminds me that others are out there working just as hard (or harder than I am).

4. Don't think about the entire big workout that is intimidating you or fret about the fast paces you're pretty sure you can't hit. Most of the time we bail on a workout because we didn't even get started. If I am tired and daunted by the magnitude of a set I'm supposed to hit, I'll tell myself that I can bail as long as I finish the warm up first. Once I'm warmed up I tell myself to just do one interval and if I still feel like crap I can stop. After one, then I tell myself I can at least do half the workout and that is better than nothing. Usually once I get to halfway then I'm feeling better and motivated to finish what I started.

5. Schedule your hard workouts to start with others. Again, since the hardest part is usually getting started I'll try to get some friends to meet me for the start if I have a hard run or bike planned. Maybe they are doing a different workout than me or have different paces they need to hit but at least we are helping each other get started. I find that, instead of dreading the upcoming session I'm just thinking that "I'm meeting up with so-and-so to run, this will be lots of fun and filled with joy." Then I get there and realize that there is lots of suffering in store for me and I hate my life.

6. Just do it. As cliche as the Nike saying is it really is true. Sometimes we need to stop whining, over-thinking or complaining about working hard and just get out the door and get the job done. It's a workout. It's not going to kill us and there are thousands of other people out there working hard just like you and me.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Training Tip Tuesday #17: Training Hard is Easy

This is a re-post of a blog I wrote 4 or 5 years ago. I was thinking about this time of year and what it means for so many of us with big goals as we are in the throes of heavy training. I was thinking about the importance of recovery and then I remembered this post I'd written. It's a bit dated (I'm not in school any more) and the grammar leaves much to be desired (not that I have better grammar now), but it's still applicable. It's a good reminder that we can only train as hard as we can recover. Enjoy...

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“Training hard is easy, recovery takes courage and confidence.” –Matt Dixon

My friend, Jody asked me if this quote spoke to me-

Sort of, yes, I guess. Its just true. That’s all. Anyone can train hard. Training is fun, pushing yourself is fun, doing more is fun. But to balance hard training with adequate recovery takes not only courage and confidence but intelligence as well. Training doesn't make you faster. When you back off and let your body recover from hard training is when you get fitter and faster. That being said I believe in hard training. You have to train hard to excel. But if your body can't handle the hard training because recovery your is off then its useless. You’ll get sick, burnt out, overtrained, injured, whatever. Trust me- all of the above have happened to me. Recovery is everything. Its nutrition, hydration, sleeping, stretching, taking the elevator instead of the stairs. Could I train harder if I didn't have school? Sure. School is a stressor and it takes away from my recovery. Sitting in class is horrible for my hip flexor injury. But school is also necessary so I have to learn to balance that. The person that will perform the best is the one who can best balance quality workouts with adequate recovery. Not the person who trains the most- the one who trains the smartest. Right now I'm training hard, like really hard. Harder then I’ve ever trained in my life but for the most part I'm nailing my recovery and my body is able to handle the workload. Later in the semester that may not be the case. As school gets more intense I may not be getting the sleep I need or other factors may play a role and I would have to respond by adjusting the training workload accordingly.

The thing is, like the quote says. To recover takes courage and confidence. You have to have confidence in yourself, your fitness and the plan. Just because someone else is training harder than you doesn't mean its right for YOU. You have to take the ego out of training. Its hard, really hard but its necessary to be able to do what YOU the athlete need to do for YOU. Because as an athlete its all about YOU. Training is selfish. You have to be selfish. You don't spend all those hours sweating and hurting for another person. You’re doing it for you. The best athletes in the world know what’s best for them and could care less what other people think. They just put their head down and train hard- then recover.

A lot of people may read this quote and say, “what are you talking about? Training hard is hard!” And their right. I’m not saying training is easy, or should be easy. It isn’t and it shouldn’t be. More often than not it sucks. There’s a lot of times in the middle of a workout where I look at myself and go “Why the heck am I doing this? This is NOT fun.” But why do we keep doing it? Because we love it. We love pushing ourselves, challenging our bodies, we strive for excellence and at the core its because we want to win. At our heart we all want to be winners. Each person can define what “winning” means for them but we all want to win. To be the best. So then training hard is “easy” because we choose to do it and we love to do it and we have an end goal we’re striving for. Recovering isn’t so much fun. As an athlete you don’t feel like your “doing” anything when your sitting around letting your body absorb the work. You may think its no big deal to make sure you get enough electrolytes or that there’s no such thing as the “30 minute window” for refueling and restoring glycogen stores after a workout. That’s fine. Maybe you don’t want it bad enough. You care enough to train hard but do you care enough to recover even better? Do you crave success enough to back off when its time to back off? How bad do you want to win? Everyone your going to line up against on race day is training hard. But who’s recovering the best? If I can train just as hard as everyone else but recover even better. If I can cover all the little intangibles that people overlook then I can win. I can beat them on race day. And that’s what I want. That’s what any athlete wants.

Time to get on the trainer…

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