For all of us in the triathlon world this past weekend saw the start of the Ironman season with Ironman Arizona taking place in Tempe. There were some great performances and my congratulations go to all those that trained and competed in this event especially my TIMEX team mates.
 

However, for those of us in the less tropical climates we are dealing with the changing of the seasons. In Canada this means spring with the NHL playoffs in full swing and at the local level hockey tournaments are the order of the day.
 

This past weekend I participated with some of my employees at the arena in a little hockey tournament. The tournament was set up as 7 people per team including a goalie. The plan was that you could have 1 goalie, 5 skaters and 1 spare. This was a little shift in my Ironman Training having not been on blades for 8 years or more. It gave a whole new meaning to anaerobic training something us distance athletes do not do enough of. Not to worry though, I got in a couple bike rides in between games to loosen up and work out some of the kinks, bumps, bruises and ……….
 

Having not played hockey for a number of years I was pleased to see some of the progressive changes that have taken place. Firstly’ and foremost was the inclusion of women and men on the same team in a tournament sharing all the ice time, responsibility and duties equally. To this end were a couple statements heard from the ladies stating that they “were upset if the guys did not try 100%”. They felt that there should be nothing less than 100% effort on everyone’s behalf thus having a truly competitive game, which was great to hear. The other significant change was the significant amount of alternate beverages after the game rather that the brown bottle staple of years gone by.
 

The tournament involved a series of 5 games including semi finals and a final. I was very happy to make use of my new Spenco insoles in my skates as they gave a whole new meaning to the word comfort as we progressed through the busy weekend. Our team played in the final for first place in our division. We were the highlight game of the day with our final game being tied after regulation at 0. After overtime there was still no score and only during the shoot out was the determination made of who was the best on that particular day when we scored one goal and the other team came up empty.  
 

The weekend was fun and now as time goes spring here will soon be summer. Next weekend I will be back on the bike for those long rides and soon will be culminating the preparations my Ironman in June.
 

Remember, cross training can take on many forms so use it effectively towards your long term goal.
 

Happy training,
 

Bruce “The IronCanuck”

Here are some pictures from our team training camp compliments of our star photographer - John Robichaud.

enjoy!

I was quite honored by Carol’s blog (the first of her many infamous blogs) when she nicknamed me “Cheetah”, as a reference to my running ability.  The morning run of which she was referring was a huge confidence builder for me.  Prior to Team Camp, I had been doing a lot of long slow mileage, keeping my heart rate down to build a huge base, and then top off the last few weeks prior to the Oklahoma City Marathon with a hill-bounding + speed/tempo workouts to “sharpen the saw”…this is the Lydiard Training Method which focuses on building a huge base of target heart rate miles, which has proven to build/increase the amount of mitochondria in the cells – parts of the cells that are key in breaking down enzymes in the blood.  Not to bore you, but theoretically, this will enhance my body’s efficiency of breaking down and eliminating lactic acid – one of the “monsters” inhibiting optimal performance.  So, all this to say, I hadn’t really incorporated much tempo or speedwork, and the thought of “running with the pros” was pretty intimidating…
Well, the first run went well and even the second run was good…but, then my ego and stubborn pride got the best of me, and I haven’t run a step for a week! 
You see, Rachel was running long on Monday morning – roughly 20 miles – which was to be my third consecutive day of “higher intensity running” after doing nothing except lower intensity, target heart rate miles.  Common sense should have taken over, but I just wanted to get in as many workouts with my Teammates as possible, and glean from their experiences and knowledge!
6:00 AM…I arrived in the lobby.  No Rachel.  I abided by the “10-minute” rule (giving a running partner 10 minutes of tardiness before leaving), and then at roughly 6:10 I set out to run a loop, and then meet back with the second group of athletes meeting to run around 7AM.
It was beautiful, peaceful, and spirit rejuvenating for the first 45 minutes. Then, I noticed my left calf was really starting to speak to me.  I finished the first hour of running, and met back with the 7 o’clock group, who were also observing the “10-minute” rule. 
Again, common sense was telling me I had run enough and should have just gone to the swimming clinic (swimming…YIKES!) that Melanie was putting on, but my dern ego and stubborn pride wouldn’t allow me to.  I had told at least one other person I was doing “20”, and that’s what I was going to do!
For the first 15 minutes, I was fine and the pain in my calf was “uncomfortable”.  However, within the next mile, my body was done and I was reduced to a walk.  So, I succumbed to my own body’s chastening of stubborn pride, and turned back.  I ended up “walking” at least a mile, before I was actually able to jog back to the resort.
For a week, I have been forced to spend more time on my swimming – Heaven knows I needed it!  I am going to an ART therapist today…
Train smart!
Lisa “cheetah” Butler
 

I grew up around water.  Most summers in my childhood, my mom would drop my brothers and I off at the local pool first thing in the morning and not pick us up until closing time.  It got to the point where the pool staff would be worried if I did not show up and once called my home to make sure I was ok.  As a logical progression I joined the swim team, volunteered as an assistant swim instructor, became a lifeguard and taught swimming lessons the moment I was old enough.  The only problem was, I hated staring at the black line on the bottom of the pool and had no real motivation to swim and train hard or even consistently for that matter.  As a result of this history I am a good swimmer by general standards, but average in the triathlon world.

So the question on everyone’s mind…how do I get faster?  When I began training for triathlon it had been several years since I had done any kind of structured swim training, I had played water polo in college, but that was not the same as “swimming.”  As I got reacquainted with the water and that ever so entertaining black line I found I was muscling my way through workouts, much like a powerful, yet inefficient tug boat.  I took the popular newbie tack of “the faster I moved my arms the better!!”  Well as you can imagine this didn’t work very well or for very long. 

A training buddy of mine and former all-American swimmer in college took pity on me and decided to help me out!  The first thing we did was go back to basics and rebuild my technique, although I have know this for sometime now, I am still amazed at how mechanics trumps all else in the water.  The water is really unforgiving and every hand position or hip movement has an influence of how easily you can slip through the water.  For the last 4 years I have been working on my technique and performing drills almost every time I get in the water. 

Recently I attend a swim clinic by Doug Stern, one of the great swim coaches in the country.  Aside from the ab workout I got listening to his stories and thoughts on life I learned a lot about my stroke.  A picture is really worth a thousand words, as I had not seen a video of myself swimming in a very long time.  Doug gave me several aspects of my stroke to tweak and practice. 

Initially my times got slower and the frustration mounted, however, I took a week or so and didn’t worry about the clock, I did nothing but focus on perfect technique and performed countless numbers of drills. Although it was, is, and will be at times a frustrating process, ever once and awhile I had a fleeting glimpse of a stroke here or there that just felt really good, but then it was gone.  As I practiced my swim over the next few weeks those glimpses of a perfect stroke began to occur more frequently and I began to feel like a speed boat slipping through the water.  Before I knew it my times began to drop and now I am swimming faster with less effort!!  I am at the point where my new stroke it not yet automatic, I still need to be EXTREMELY cognizant of my mechanics, but I’m getting there.

There are a million dills out there.  Some that I find most affective are as follows: Distance Per Stroke (DPS) - see how few strokes you can take per length, focus on body rotation, pulling yourself past the water and gliding, Finger Tip Drag - relax your hand and arm during the recovery, Fists - swim noramlly with fists, and concentrating on using your forearm to pull the water, Single Arm - focus on hip drive as you catch the water, Skulling - work on your “feel” for the water and efficiency in your catch, Side Kick w/ switch - kick on your side for 6-8 beats and take one storke and do the same on the other side, work on body rotation and comfort swimming on your side.

Having just swam a PR at Ironman California 70.3 you might think I am done working on my speed boat technique and will now focus entirely on aerobic fitness in the water.  NOT SO!!!  If there is one thing that I have learned in the past 4 years it is that swim technique (much like my desire to become a good cook) is a never ending process.
Swim Fast, Bike Strong, Run Hard

-Alex M&M