By Peter S. Alfino, Level II USAT Coach
How You Train Makes The Difference!!!
www.milehighmultisport.com

Technological advances in the sport of triathlon have made significant gains since I first started racing in the late 80’s. Back then, a heart rate monitor was a luxury and few people used them. Today, the amount of technology to choose from has grown exponentially with the sport. There are garmins, power meters, cadence meters, heart rate monitors and watches that carry all this data for you. You can download just about any piece of information and analyze it to death. Talk to any group of triathletes and you will hear people discuss wattage, lactate, cadence, distance traveled, pace and elevation gained. Certain triathlon coaches will tell you that technology is a must if you want to excel in the sport. I interviewed several of the top age group triathletes in Colorado and asked them about their use of technology when training and racing. What technology do you use in your training? How do you use the results to help you achieve your goals? How does the technology come into play on race day? Do you race using technology or just use the data during training? The answers may surprise you.

Everyone I spoke to, all had a common theme when they discussed the use of technology. You must determine what is it you are looking to achieve during training and racing? If you don’t know what your goal is, what are you measuring? Often people lose site of the real reason why we train and race. Let’s keep this simple, we all want to get faster and improve our overall conditioning. Too often, athletes get lost in the wrong numbers. Heart Rate measures cardiac strain and should be tracked over the course of a season in relation to pace, conditions, terrain and training cycle. Wattage measures the amount of work you are doing. Similar to Heart Rate, track your numbers over the course of a season. Knowing where to begin in your training is a key component of your development. If you don’t know where you began your journey then how do you know how far you have traveled? Getting a Lactate Profile Test and Individual Exercise Metabolic Profile tests from a sports performance laboratory are useful tools in developing training zones. The Lactate Profile measures lactate metabolism which is useful in predicting athletic performance and establishing training heart rate zones. The I.E.M.P. test measures fat and carbohydrate metabolism rates. These numbers determine the cross over point where the body starts burning more carbohydrates than fat. Matt Smith, an elite age group triathlete from Colorado who has raced in Kona and recently completed the Boston Marathon credits these tests in advancing his training. “I can say that with the HR zone training and calorie burn tests I did this year, I use my HR monitor more than I did before as I have specific goal zones for workouts and have tailored my training plan to work with the zones.” You don’t have to go to a lab to get your heart rate training numbers as there are some very good field tests established which will give you numbers close to what you get in a lab. The key is to test frequently throughout the season until you establish a good data base of numbers. The I.E.M.P. test is best done in a Sports Performance Lab.

It is a good practice to track your heart rate, pace, conditions and perceived exertion as this information will assist you when you race. It is important to understand how your Heart Rate reacts in certain situations and if you ride your bike with a Power Meter to know that there are times when Heart Rate trumps Power, especially at the beginning of the bike. Brad Cooper, CEO of U.S. Corporate Wellness and a top age group athlete who has also competed in Kona states. “In races, I’m learning. This year I’m planning to use the HR monitor on the bike to SLOW ME DOWN so I can be fresh coming off the bike.” Smith adds, “The first priority in a workout is always hitting the perceived exertion levels prescribed for that workout. The technology I use helps me do that in some cases, but mostly is used for measuring progress at a certain level of exertion. For example, if I am doing a bike ride with a RPE of 8, I want to know if my heart rate goes down over the course of the season for that same level of exertion as it shows endurance fitness gains. I also want to see if my pace/average MPH goes up as that shows better strength and speed on the bike.” A Heart Rate Monitor is an effective training tool which gives you a snap shot picture of cardiac strain as well as helps you gauge fitness throughout the year. For instance, pacing 7 minute/mile with an average heart rate of 145 in May and pacing at 6:30 with an average heart rate of 145 in September indicates you can run faster with the same cardiac strain. If you track your numbers over a period of time it becomes apparent which direction you are heading. You can also use this data in races to know how to pace yourself given certain conditions.

Not everyone uses technology when they train and race. Kathy Alfino, a three time Kona Qualifier who has been on the podium at the Ironman World Championships doesn’t use any technology when she trains or races. “No wattage meter, no Garmin, no Heart Rate Monitor, just a watch.” “I just know. If you train and race long enough, you should know the limitations of your body and mind. I don’t need to look at a watch to see what my heart rate is doing? My body and mind tell me if I’m capable of going further and faster. I know that there are a lot of people who would disagree with me. In fact I had a coach tell me recently that I could do much better if I used a power meter. Perhaps he is correct, but I’ve raced for 29 years and my times keep getting faster the older I get. I must be doing something right.” Kathy went on to say that she believes technology plays a role for those new to the sport in learning their limitations.

So what about the Rate of Perceived Exertion (R.P.E) for training and racing? Max Spradley a certified USAT coach, Boston Marathon participant and competitive age group athlete offers the following. I grew up running and for the longest time, I went only be RPE. After my first year of triathlon, I got a Garmin 305 and used it sporadically. More just as a confirmation of my pace & RPE. Two years ago, I got a CompuTrainer and I use it regularly during the winter months to calculate my HR, power, speed and distance. Last year I “upgraded” my Garmin to the 310xt and have been using it during my training on a regular basis for both cycling & running. I have yet to race with a heart rate monitor. I have always gone by RPE.”
Smith adds, “I don’t use the HR monitor during a race and go by pace and perceived exertion as I’ve found that using it holds back my best race performances. There is one exception which is the bike and 1st 1/2 of the run in a full Iron distance race as I know that if I go over my threshold, the race is cooked, so I use the HR monitor to keep me within my limits to be able to run hard off the bike.”
The last point and one that I rarely hear athletes discuss enough is pacing. What pace are you holding when you are in your different heart rate zones or wattage zones? The key to your training, which Smith alluded to earlier, is what I call the Trilogy of triathlon training. Gather information from your different data sources and learn how to interpret the information to gauge your effort during racing in training. If your goal is to run 7 minute miles in an Olympic distance race and you can’t hold that pace in training then perhaps you need to re evaluate your goals. On the other hand, if you can hold 6:30 miles consistently over a period of time on your tempo runs and your Heart Rate and R.P.E are in with the proper areas then your goals are in line with your training. Let’s use running as an example to establish when your goals are not in line. Your goal is to run 7 minute miles at your next Olympic distance event. Today, the main set of your workout calls for 4 x 1 mile repeats in zone 4, R.P.E. of 7/8 and pacing at 6:40 per mile. During your set, your R.P.E is 6/7, your pacing is 6:35 and your Heart Rate is low zone 4… Perfect. However on your second and third efforts, your R.P.E is at 7/8 but your pacing drops to 7:00 and your Heart Rate is approaching the top of zone 4. Two of your three data points are now off and it is time to evaluate the reasons why this occurred. If you have enough data in which to interpret this information, the effort could indicate you need rest or it could interpreted that your goal is not in line with your current level of fitness and changes need to be made to your training.
The consensus from talking to the athletes was the use of technology was an effective training tool, but had limited use when it came to racing. Smith concludes by stating. “I do believe that the key to properly using technology is to help you know where your fitness is tracking in training and provide you with a goal pace/exertion level on race day. If you are trained properly, you should know how it feels to go the speed necessary to hit your goals on race day. Technology should provide data to help you make decisions on race day and train your brain, not be the sword you live or die by.”