This weekend some a number of Absolute Coaching Race Team athletes hitting the pools and open

Absolute Triathlon Coaching athlete Emma Pearson

water for some great racing and great results.

Starting in the North Emma Pearson, racing in the Alnwick Triathlon again, came first in not only her age group but also first female overall and 12th out of the male and female competitors. This was Emma’s second race of the week after winning a local sprint locally on Bank Holiday Monday and keeps up her winning ways since her Gold at the European Triathlon Championships in Israel. Emma also managed the third fastest run split out of all the competitors.

Moving down we get to a local race for Absolute Triathlon Coaching and Absolute Triathlon club which is the Southwell Triathlon organised by One Step Beyond. This event is held twice per year and gives athletes a comparison not only on previous years but also to check improvement during the season. In the men’s event Gareth Castledine was our fastest finisher coming home in 15th place overall but with a new PB. Gareth was closely followed by Lee Evans in 20th place who also set a new PB on this course. Lee was followed in 30th place overall by Tim Turner who was trying to break the hour for the first time and recorded a cracking time of 57:21. In the female event Pam Dutton won her age group with time to spare, Jane Scott came second in her age group and Angie Clark knocked 2 minutes off her time from last year to record a new PB

Moving down now to the European Qualifying event at Grendon Lakes Chris Bennett was our fastest finisher coming 5th in has age group. Next up was Simon McCarthy who came 4th in his age group only missing out on second by 27 seconds. Richard McCrae had a solid race at a local event for him even though this year his focus is on Ironman and the Outlaw. James Corlett started with a great swim but a puncture on the bike resulted in a DNF, better luck next time James.

Overall a great weekend of racing for all the athletes and sets them up for a good season ahead

“Israel wouldn’t be the first place I’d choose to race, but the European triathlon Championships were a good excuse to visit. Security was tight at Heathrow and once in Tel Aviv finding bikes, luggage and anyone who knew what was going on was a challenge. The bikes had either been swept up by Nirvana’s fleet of lorries or were on the next flight to Eilat!

The compulsory pre-race chat was predominantly wetsuit or no wetsuit and nervous banter. Paul and Chris kicked off the racing in the Olympic distance on Friday competing in 32degree’s heat and the remnants of a sand storm. They finished in 13th and 11th respectively.

Pam and I had a slightly cooler start, the water temperature a chilly 20 degree’s, but I decided to swim without a wetsuit. I was working on the theory that any time I may loose on the swim would definitely be made up on the 400m run to transition without a wetsuit.

Out of T1 and onto the bike I kept my focus and avoided my normal day dreaming mid race. The head wind was relentless and the course demanded concentration to avoid pot holes and negotiate the obstacle course of man-made ramps and speed bumps.

The run course was an unimaginative loop taking in the fields of land mines bordering Jordan but with a steady run I finished 1st in my age group and 3rd female overall.

Pam had a fantastic race; I think she was smiling the whole way round, finishing 5th in her age group. After watching some elite racing we celebrated with a cocktail in preparation for the evening dessert buffet and looked forward to spending a relaxing day on the beach.

Thanks to the invaluable support of the valve technician and tyre inflator without whom our results would have been very different!” Follow Emma Pearson on twitter @emmapearson19

The triathlon season has barely started but already Absolute Tri Coaching athletes have made a big impact which bodes well for another really successful season ahead.

European Age group championships – Eilat, Israel

Our team arrived early Wednesday morning and after arriving at the hotel bikes were built (those that had arrived) so that the athletes could get out and stretch their legs after the long flights and transfers. It was also a chance to check out the water and decide whether to race in wetsuits or not. The water temperature was around 20 degrees so the race was likely to be wetsuit optional so each athlete had to make the right choice. With the swim being in the sea the salt meant that it added some additional buoyancy to the athletes so everyone decided to go non wetsuit for their race.

Thursday allowed the team to check out the bike and run courses and get in a little run to keep the legs ready for racing and go to the customary race briefings. Our team didn’t stay in the British Triathlon team hotel which allowed us to have some time away from thinking about the race but also some quality time between coach and athletes to review the race ahead and get mentally ready.

We had 2 athletes racing in the Olympic distance on Friday, Chris Bennett in the 30-34 age group and Paul Clarke in the 45-49 age group. Paul had an excellent swim coming out the water 5th in his age group and strong bike and runs in the heat allowed him to finish 13th in his age group in what had the biggest number of athletes. Still work in progress but we’ve come away with a plan to build on that success for next year. Chris had a solid start in the swim and we already know open water swimming is something Chris needs to work on but this didn’t stop him putting in a really strong bike and run to finish his age group in 11th place which for his first race at this level is an excellent performance.

The rest of Friday saw the team watching the rest of the days racing but for those athletes racing on the Saturday a chance to rest and prepare for the race the next day.

Saturday saw the girls get the chance to race in the sprint distance race. Emma Pearson was racing in the 25-29 age group and Pamela Dutton in the 50-54 age group. Emma was in the first female wave and she excited the water in about 4th place and made up some good time in transition to get out on the bike 3rd. A great bike split saw her come into T2 second overall but first in her age group and a solid sub 20 minute run on a very windy and bumpy course saw her cross the line in first place in her age group and 3rd overall, a well deserved gold medal after all the hard work. Pam had a great swim as well and got on the bike in 4th or 5th in her age group and after a solid bike leg on her new bike supplied by Langdale Lightweights she came into T2 in about the same position. A good run saw Pam come home in 5th place in her age group in only her second season of racing and only her 4th ever triathlon.

The rest of the trip allowed the team to watch some more of the elite racing but also have some quality coach and athlete time to reflect on their races and also plan for the months and season ahead.

The subject of nutrition has become a big topic over the years and it seems to be getting more and more complicated and that’s in every day eating let alone if you are trying to fuel sufficiently to train and race. But let’s try and break it down into smaller pieces to make it easier to understand.

This week we will look at pre exercise nutrition and some ideas around what that could look like. The most important part is that you must have enough energy to train otherwise there is little point. Image for a minute waking up in the morning and spending all day at work and not eating anything at all. on the way home from work you rock up at the track at 7pm for a hard interval session. The chances are you are not going to be feeling great and the chances of that session being of much use to your performance development is pretty slim. So the first thing is your body needs calories and energy to train properly. If all else fails this could be a McDonald’s or a mars bar but this is clearly not the best option but if you do insist on training then these might be the only options. Every athlete out there will have been in this situation at some point and as long as it’s not every week it’s better to eat something than nothing.

So once we understand that the body needs calories to train and train properly then we can start planning for some better options than McDonald’s or a mars bar. When to eat and how much will depend on when you are planning to train. If you are planning to train before work you may not have time (or the appetite) to eat much prior to your session but maybe you could force down a banana, fruit smoothie but if that fails try and fuel during the session with some liquid carbs, energy bar etc.

If you are training later in the day, either lunchtime or after work when you should have plenty of time to fuel sufficiently for training so it’s all about planning. Low GI foods are a great way of fuelling the body as they release slowly into the body (the GI score of food is the rate with which it broken down and used by the body for energy) and allow a slower release of energy. Things like unrefined carbs(brown rice, oats), fresh fruit, vegetables are good examples. If you have a look at the GI index and check out the foods you like to eat normally it will help you shape your everyday eating but also you pre exercise nutrition. So assuming you are eating well during the day you still need to eat to fuel your training. Everyone is different about how long they have to leave between eating and training and you will probably only find out with experience how long you have to leave it but once you know this you can plan for it. If training prior to lunch or after work before dinner again it’s important you plan for this. Take food with you that you have prepared and it’s likely to be more healthy. It doesn’t have to be complicated but a simple chicken sandwich on brown bread at 10:30 prior to a lunchtime workout would help and a similar thing around 4pm if training after work. These are simple and quick to make and will not only mean your training sessions are more productive but also it avoids you buying something on the move which is likely to be less healthy.

So the simple message about fuelling prior to exercise is that you need to, but make it as healthy as you can.

Next time we will discuss about fuelling and hydration during training

Saturday 4^th Feb saw the second of Absolute Tri Coaching’s team training days. The first of the training days saw us covering lower limb conditioning exercises with our Physio and biomechanical expert, Carl Dunstan as well as reviewing athletes running style. The exercises will help strengthen the lower limb and ankles to help avoid injury and the running assessment will allow us to continuing improving how the athletes run and move by giving individual feedback and specific exercises and stretches to do.

Nutritionist Sophie Enever joined us for a special presentation

The session on Saturday 4^th saw us talk in great detail about another key aspect of what we are trying to do with our athletes, nutrition. Prior to the session the athletes sent in their questions and these were collated into a presentation by our Nutritionist, Sophie Enever which lasted about 2 hours. The key focus was on pre and post training as well as what the athletes should be eating and drinking during sessions, especially longer and higher intensity sessions. We then got onto what athletes should be doing leading up to a race as well what and how much they need to fuel during the race. Following the presentation athletes were then able to ask specific questions around their own training and racing requirements and following this session a number will have 1-2-1 sessions to ensure they are doing everything they can to ensure their races aren’t spoilt by poor nutrition and hydration.

It’s the little things that you do……

One of the things we have found with triathletes is getting them to do the training around swim, bike and run is relatively easy, most and motivated and driven to improve. The difficulty is getting the athletes to focus on the smaller things that will improve their performance. Conditioning exercises, whether for the lower limb or shoulder (swimming weakness) are generally easy to fit in if they are done in the evening whilst watching TV for instance but can make a big difference if they help you avoid injury and allow you to continue to train. Getting your nutrition right can not only make a big difference on race day and allow you to turn all the training into a race performance you will be proud of but more importantly can ensure you are able to train more consistently by fuelling correctly in training.

Why we hold our monthly training days….

We hold these team training days at least once per month and as well as allowing athletes to gain some greater knowledge on subjects such as nutrition is gives the coaches an opportunity to see the athletes in a training environment. One of our key philosophies is that we don’t want to produce standard training programmes to deliver to athletes but individual plans based on athletes strengths and weaknesses. Saturday’s session also included a team run which again allows us to review technique, especially from the new athletes and a swim session to check and monitor improvement in athletes strokes. We also have a chance to see whether the athletes are tired from training again allow us to make amendments as necessary.

We are now in week 5 this year of our countdown to the Outlaw on the 1^st July and we have 21 more weeks to go. All of our Absolute athletes doing either the Outlaw, other Ironman event or any race distance below this in 2012 will have had at least 1 recovery week so far. But what is a recovery week and what does It entail?

Firstly it is a time for the body to adapt to the past few weeks of training load and to come out the other end stronger and faster. The past few weeks have seen the athletes progressively push the body that little bit harder, whether it be longer duration, more sessions, slightly faster sessions, more reps, it could be a number of factors but basically the athletes should be hitting the recovery week feeling tired and ready for it.

The recovery week then allows the body some much needed recovery from that progression to allow the body to grow and adapt to the point where at the end of the week the athlete should be feeling ready to hit the next period of training. The recovery week doesn’t mean doing nothing, (although this might be appropriate) it means adjusting the week to allow this to happen. This could be done by reducing the number of sessions in the week, allow extra rest days, reducing the intensity of sessions, maybe even replacing some harder sessions with technique sessions and reducing the overall hours and intensity. This will be different for every athlete depending on how much training they have been doing and how much rest they need. During the recovery period (which may not even be a week but shorter or longer) we encourage our athletes to have more sleep, more down time relaxing and even some quality time with the family due to reduce hours.

So once we know what a recovery week is we now need to decide how often. The simple answer is there is no simple answer! As we base this on each athletes own requirements we might plan to have a recovery week every 3, 4 or 5 weeks but we monitor our athletes closely and we will adjust this accordingly based on their current fatigue levels, whether they are coming down with a cold, generally feeling tired or even if they have a busy / easy week at work. This allows us to be totally flexible to each athletes needs and make sure we add the recovery week in when they need it even if it means altering the long term plan.

As we build towards the summers racing and the planned long distance races the recovery week will become more and more important as the intensity of sessions will increase and so will the duration of the long ride / long run. This is where it’s important we build solid relationships with our athletes to ensure that we as coaches are monitoring their fatigue levels and adding in the recovery they need not just waiting for the planned recovery week to come along.

OK, so you may have decided that as part of your triathlon ambitions for this year that you would like to loose a bit of your body fat so become more streamlined and increase your muscle tone.  Many people believe the best way to lose body fat is to get on the treadmill or cross trainer and work in the ‘fat burning zone’, with so much conflicting advice around, this blog attempts to give you a bit of insight into this popular assumption.

The ‘fat burning zone’ was first popularised in the early 90’s when it was perceived that training within 55 to 65% of maximum heart rate will optimise calorie loss. Above 65% you will be also be burning carbohydrate but you will still continue to burn fat. Let me see if I can explain more simply by the following diagram:

As the intensity increases, the percentage of fat used for energy production decreases (and the utilisation of carbohydrates increase). So, although we utilise a higher percentage of fat at lower levels, it is a higher percentage of a lower number of calories

(A) Low intensity effort        200 cals         (Burning 60% fat)=60% of 200 = 120 cals of fat

(B) Higher Intensity             400 cals         (Burning 40% fat)=40% of 400 = 160 cals of fat

It is therefore far more beneficial to work in the heart rate range of 65 to 80%, plus you will be increasing stamina and strengthening your cardio vascular system.  (We will discuss heart rate and how it can be used at a later date). The other benefit of working at a higher heart rate is the ‘after burn’ of calories once exercise is completed lasts for longer.

Another belief with gym users is that muscle weighs more than fat. Think about this question; What weighs more 20 lbs of feathers or a 20 lbs of steel?    Muscle does not weight more than fat but it takes up less volume than fat. In other words 5 lbs of muscle is denser and actually looks smaller than 5 lbs of fat, therefore toning and shaping your body. However the really great news about muscle is that it is more metabolically active than fat, so the greater muscle density you have the greater number of calories you will burn.   By bringing more resistance work (with weights) into your routine will help turn your body into a fat burning machine!

Some brief guidelines when doing resistance work

• Each set should be completed to form failure.
• The rep range needs to be appropriate to your goal.
• The rest needs to be appropriate to your rep range.
• Ensure the correct technique at all times

How can we use this information to help with our training programme?

• Ensure that you are training in the heart rate zone to get the maximum benefit from a fat burning, circulatory and respiratory system point of view.
• To lose body fat don’t just do CV work; also do resistance work to increase muscle mass and hence increase your metabolic rate which in turn burns more calories when you are not even exercising.   For every pound of lean muscle tissue you acquire you will burn an additional 50 – 100 calories a day even when resting.

If there is a particular subject you would liked covered in future blogs, please let me know.

For more information about training for triathlon please visit my website at http://www.absolutetri.com

Over the past 2 weeks our YouTube Channel has focused on demonstrating some key lower limb exercises that you we feel all athletes should be introducing into their weekly programme.  Read how you can help prevent injuries by doing some simple but effective exercises.

So the key question is why are we focusing on such small muscles at the bottom of the legs? Firstly the lower limb is having to absorb a massive impact every time it hits the floor when running and it’s doing this with a small base and loads of small ligaments and muscles. When you add this to the amount of times each foot hits the floor in a 1-hour run if those muscles and ligaments aren’t strong over time you are just waiting for a problem to occur. So in the same way you might go to a gym and work on your chest or shoulder muscles the exercises demonstrated will strength key muscles and ligaments of the lower leg.

So what are the key structures we are targeting during these exercises? One of the key muscles most of you will know and will probably of had a problem with in the past is the Gastrocnemius (or calf muscle). This runs up the back of the leg and with the Soleus as the main muscles at the rear of the leg. Simply adding Calf Raises to your programme 2 or 3 times per week, with progression will strength these muscles. Also doing toe walks and the heel to toe walk will help.

At the front of the lower leg we have the Tibialis Anterior, which if you’ve had shin splints this is where they occur. Shin splints is a common term given to problems at the front of the lower leg but is due to weak muscles. Doing the simple heel walks and toes to shins exercises will help strengthen this area.

The other exercises we have shown include lateral border walk and foot intrinsics will help strengthen the smaller muscles and ligaments in the foot and ankle area.

It’s important to do these exercises without shoes on so that the foot does all the work without the ‘softening’ effect you can get when wearing a trainer.

Other things you can do when running to build this area is to run off road. This will generally be an uneven surface and forces the foot to work harder to stabilize the body, this will help strengthen the foot but make sure you build up to this slowly. You can also run in lighter trainers. Again caution should be taken when switching to lighter trainers and it should be a gradual process but lighter trainers allow a more ‘natural’ feel when running and allows the foot to do the work is was designed to do.

So spending 15-20 minutes twice per week doing these very simple exercises, which can be done at home whilst at home watching TV will help you become a better and more consistent runner as it should help ward of those nagging calf and shin injuries we all pick up from time to time.

So week 2 started really well with a 70 mile ride with a few of the Absolute athletes doing the Outlaw, great weather for January and a decent ride.

Swimming last week was mainly aerobic work but we’ve started to add a little bit of speed during the sessions just to get the athletes used to it. For those athletes at the club not doing the Outlaw or other long distance races the speed will gradually increase as we get closer to the season. Last week’s swimming was also a record breaker with our highest numbers at all 3 sessions last week. Just as well this week we have the introduction of a new session which will also see the club with its first 2 hour session for certain athletes. The club run session was still focused on drills and good technique with some video analysis done and reviewed. The main session was a threshold set with focus on maintaining good technique above all else. The weather just about held off for some long rides over the weekend with a short run off the bike, groups went out Saturday and Sunday and just about got done what they wanted to so another step on the way.

The Karen Green Foundation is well under way now with bank account completed, trust set up and first monies coming in. The teams have now been completed so overall we will around 40 teams or individuals looking at doing the Outlaw and raising money in memory of Karen.

I decided to write this post after we had a young athlete stay with us who will be off to university later this year and we made a spaghetti Bolognese together as it’s something that’s easy to do, you can do a huge batch and freeze it and it is fairly inexpensive. It also entails cooking from scratch rather than using a mix or a jar.  Read how to make my nutritious, delicious bolognese sauce.

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 – 40 minutes
Makes: 6 portions

OK, before we start you will need the following equipment:

• Measuring jug
• Tablespoon
• Large pan or wok
• Wooden spatula
• Colander (optional)

And the following ingredients:

• 1/2 to 1 medium sized onion (depending on taste) roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 500 grams lean beef mince
• Tablespoon ground nutmeg
• Tablespoon mixed herbs
• Beef stock cube
• 2 tins / carton chopped tomatoes
• Small tin or half tube of tomato puree
• 200 grams sweetcorn (tinned or frozen)
• 200 grams mushrooms – chopped
• 200 ml boiling water or red wine

1. Soften the onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a pan, you are not looking to fry just soften, this will take about 3 minutes
2. Add your minced beef and start browning on a medium heat
3. Crush your stock cube and add this to the browning mince along with the nutmeg and herbs
4. You are not looking to cook through, just brown the outside of the mince
5. When brown add the tomato puree, tinned tomatoes, water (or wine), sweetcorn and mushrooms
6. Bring to the boil and simmer uncovered for 30 – 40 minutes until the sauce has thickened.  Remember to stir occasionally so the sauce doesn’t stick to the pan.

The cooking time allows the sauce to reduce down and get really thick.

Remember there is not hard and fast rule about what you can put in this, traditionally you would put celery in but in the  I have used grated carrot and chopped peppers and other vegetables as it is a great way of getting the kids to eat veggies without them knowing!

One the sauce is made you can batch freeze and use with pasta / spaghetti or as a sauce for a tasty lasagna.

Enjoy!

How to make a bolgnese sauce – a step by step guide