Back in the saddle

With the fall running season over and the pain cave finally constructed, it was time to get back to training. After my 40k TT in late August I had done a handful of rides on my road bike before stopping entirely by mid-October. Not by design, but just because things were still busy with the move and construction projects that it just didn't work out to be able to ride. It was disappointing as fall is a beautiful time to be out on the bike, but I was in a run-focus anyways.

I was dreading that first FTP test, as I knew I would have lost a bunch of bike fitness. My FTP likely peaked around 235W in August, and the result of my test, which I think I paced properly, put my new FTP down to 220W. So that's a drop of around 7-8% over 3 months. The good news is that two weeks into structured training I'm feeling like my bike fitness is coming back.

It was also time to get back into some structured swim training. My swimming in September-October was sporadic and I wasn't really keeping tabs on my times. It was a bit of a rude awakening to get back in the pool and start doing some sets by the pace clock. I've probably lost a good 6-7 seconds per 100m off my threshold pace. Like the bike, I'm seeing some improvements already and am swimming much better than I was 2 weeks ago. I haven't done anything hard over 100m yet, but I'll know I'm back in swim shape when I can do 6:45 400s. It'll be interesting to see how long that takes.

Rattle Me Bones 10k

Funny how things rarely go quite as planned. I was hoping for my September-October run block to culminate in a 10k, and there were a few options for late October/early November. I decided the Cookie Run on November 5th would work out well in terms of timing, and as my oldest daughter is in Sparks, there was a bit of a tie-in there since the event raises funds for Girl Guides. The event also includes a family fun-run type deal, and Lily was excited about running in that with me, so it seemed like a great fit.

However, I'm a procrastinator in general, and also am wary of injuries and illnesses (and the fact that race fees are rarely refundable). So I waited to actually sign up. I kept meaning to but didn't get to it, and when I finally did, the event was sold out. Time to revise the plan. The good news was that the Rattle Me Bones races were happening on October 30th, so I could still get a race in, just a week earlier than planned. And the event also includes a 1km family run, so Lily could still run with me.

Unfortunately I came down with the flu right before the race and spent friday night shivering under a mound of blankets and duvets. I was feeling better on Sunday, but also knew it likely wasn't a good idea to push it in this race, especially since I've never raced a 10k before. So I put goals aside and just raced by feel - running at a comfortably hard clip that I felt I could sustain for 10k without going too far into the red and exhausting my flu-depleted body.

With 361 people starting, it took a while to get into the clear and I settled into what I thought would be a good pace. Within about 500m it became apparent that there was a guy in a bright orange shirt about 200m ahead of me that was running about the same speed as me, so I figured that would be a good carrot for me and I set about slowly but surely running down. It wasn't until 5k that I did, where we turned west on Industrial Ave and into a nasty, cold headwind. I stuck close behind him for about 1km then pulled head. He stayed with me for about another km then passed me pretty decisively. It was on an uphill and I wasn't confident I'd be able to burn a match or two matching his pace on the climb. I did reel him in a little over the last 2k.

Garmin has me averaging around 4:13/km, which is slower than my original goal pace, but after the illness I was hoping I could hold between 4:10 and 4:15, which I managed to do without looking at my watch. Funnily enough the official time had me coming in at 41:12 (chip time of 41:06) which is a time I would have been happy with if I was healthy. However, Garmin has the course as 9.66km, which would explain the time. However, the race is an "accredited" 10k, whatever that means, so who am I to argue? Almost going sub-41 and finishing 28th out of 361 is better than I expected to do given how I was feeling two days before.

And Lily got to run her first "race" and she seemed to have a great time. That was ultimately the most rewarding part of the day. On top of this, she seems to have great form. Check it out:

We're still settling into our new house and I don't have a pain cave set up yet, so I really need to get on that ASAP. Hopefully next week I'll be able to have my trainer set up and see how much bike fitness I've lost over the last couple of months, and I'll be shooting to get back into the pool regularly again too.

Goals for 2017

As I start to plan what my offseason training regime will look like, I always like to begin with the end in mind. That is, establishing my goals for the upcoming season as well as coming up with a tentative race schedule.

I finished the 2016 race season feeling a little burnt out and somewhat disillusioned. This got me wondering whether I should try something different next season. I've been focused on the local sprint/oly scene for a variety of reasons.

1) I can be reasonably competitive on limited training time
2) Racing close to home means minimal intrusion on other aspects of life
3) The races are affordable
4) I've still got a lot to accomplish in these races and certainly can't say I've "moved beyond them"
5) It's nice to be a part of, and support, the local grassroots tri scene

However, there is something to be said for mixing it up a little in order to keep things fresh, so I've been considering alternatives for next year.

Go Long

Many triathletes get into this sport with long distance as a goal, be it 70.3 or full ironman. This type of racing hasn't really appealed to me. Ultimately I like going fast, and as mentioned before, I don't know that I have the time to really be competitive at this distance. However it could be an interesting challenge to try a 70.3 as a no-pressure, just-experience-it type of thing. WTC branded races seem really expensive, and pictures like this

really turn me off. A crowded bike course is my biggest pet peeve in triathlon, and with the numbers of entrants you see in WTC races, it seems unavoidable. So I'd likely look at a smaller race like Barrelman, Tupper Lake Tinman, Peasantman, Musselman, or the Montreal Esprit.

Try some different local races

There are a few other local races I haven't made it out to yet. Cornwall, Kingston, Sydenham, and Barry's Bay are all races I've heard good thing about. MEC put on a race down in Ingleside this summer that sounded interesting too. So lots of options to stay short/local but still experience something new.

Try Nationals again

Originally I had planned on doing Nationals in 2017 anyway, but took advantage of having them in Ottawa to do a dry-run of the event in preparation for next year. Having experienced the race, I'm not sure which prospect is more off-putting: having the swim cancelled again, or actually having to swim in Dow's Lake. On the one hand I'd still like the chance to measure myself against the top short-course age groupers in the country (in an actual triathlon), but on the other hand I didn't really like the course, and have a sense that I still won't have what it takes to be competitive at that level yet.

Stick with the usual races

I'll always have a soft spot for Perth, as my parents and mother-in-law both live there, so it's got a bit of a home-town feel. It's also a good length for a first race of the season that you can train through and it won't take a lot out of you.
Smiths Falls and Brockville are my measuring stick races, since I've done them two years in a row now. I really like being able to compare my performances year to year.

Other considerations

I know that the pending birth of our third child is going to have an impact on my training and fitness. It may make sense to not get too caught up in goals and performance for 2017, and just race for fun. I've also thought about doing more cycling events like the OBC Time Trial Series, Almonte Paris Roubaix, The Clarence-Rockland Classic, Ride of the Damned, or Cyclosportif Perth. With the exception of the TT series, I'd have to make the time to get lots of group riding in, which may be a challenge.

I've got some pretty strong inclinations in terms of what I'll be doing next year, but I don't need to commit to anything at this point. But the races I do will impact the goals I establish, so I'll continue to mull it over as I work on my offseason training plan.

Race Report: The Great Gower Run

Fall is time for my run focus, where the swimming happens sporadically and I cycle one a week just for pleasure. It's nice to just enjoy biking rather than suffering through intervals, and it's a beautiful time of year to be out riding.

The cooler temperatures also make it super nice for running, and I've been ramping up my volume quite a bit. A month in and it was time to tackle one of my long-term goals: the sub-20 minute 5K. As luck would have it there was a race happening about 15 minutes away in North Gower - though perhaps unluckily it was the week we moved into a new house. Regardless, I was feeling good about my chances of joining the sub-20 club.

The Great Gower Run is not a big race (136 in the 5K), just a nice small community fundraiser on a nice crisp fall day. The course was relatively flat (36m of elevation gain) with closed roads, so lots of room to move. My plan was to hold around 4:00/km splits and ramp it up over the last kilometre. Garmin has my splits as: 3:50/4:04/4:02/4:03/3:44. It was definitely an uncomfortable pace but I held it pretty well and crossed the finish line with an official time of 19:49 and a pleasantly surprising 2nd place overall.

It was very gratifying to reach that goal time - it's something I've wanted to achieve for a while, and making it happen probably felt better than any race result I've had thusfar. I'm going to target a 10K in either late October or early November before I get back into serious swimming and biking. I have a long term goal of the sub-40 minute 10K, but I don't think that's realistic this year. The Runner's World Race Time Predictor says I can do 41:19, while McMillan says 41:09, so I'll likely aim to break 41 minutes this year.

Goals for 2017

Reflecting on this somewhat underwhelming season has me thinking ahead to my training for next season and the lessons learned from 2016. As always, the first step in developing a plan is establishing goals. For 2016 I had three main performance goals:

1) Go sub-2:20 in an Olympic distance triathlon
2) Make the top 10 in my age group at the National Standard Distance Championship
3) Consistently finish within the top 5 overall in the Somersault events

And I didn't meet any of these goals. Granted, they were all ambitious, but I think my failure to meet any of them despite making (what seemed to me anyways) some big strides in my training shows just how hard it is to become competitive at the level I'd like to be (at least for someone like me coming in with basically zero athletic background).

I have two races from 2016 that I can compare to 2015 - Smiths Falls and Brockville. This lets me see just what kind of progress I made over a year.

You can see that the improvements weren't dramatic in general, though there were some exceptions (Smiths Falls swim and Brockville run - and yes I used my projected time rather than my actual 9k time). I'm going to look at those stats as outliers and assume an across the board improvement of between two and three percent. If I see improvements along the same lines over the course of this upcoming training season, how fast will I go in 2017?

For Smiths Falls, this looks like somewhere around 1:03, so that will become my goal in 2016, at least until I get a better picture of my fitness in the spring.

But the Olympic distance is my priority distance. I didn't "peak" for Smiths Falls in 2016 and won't in 2017 either. It's a nice benchmark, but not the real measuring stick. My main goal this year was to break 2:20 in Brockville. Can I do it in 2017?

Based on my improvement projections, it looks like I'll fall just short. However, it's somewhat of a consolation that things didn't come together perfectly for that race. My taper was thrown way off by a family trip the week before, so maybe better to look at a race for which I was actually in top form.

At Nationals I produced better times in both the bike and run (1:07:51 for the bike, and 44:41 for T2 and the run), and that was a crowded bike course and a tough run. If I use those times and project a conservative 2% improvement, I'm under my 2:20 goal for next year.

So there's hope yet. Reviewing how my training progressed last year, I think I've got a better handle on what my body responds best to - for example I made more progress when taking a rest day rather than when I switched to 7 days a week. If I can benefit from this experience and train a little smarter in 2017, that should help my odds of getting under 2:20.

Now whether I do the 1000 Islands or Smiths Falls races again remains to be seen. I ended this season feeling somewhat demotivated and have been considering going in a different direction for 2017. Maybe try some different races further afield? Try a 70.3? And then there's the question of doing Nationals here in Ottawa again before it moves to a different venue for 2018. More on that thought process later.

40k Time Trial

Two milestones I'd like to hit in my multisport fitness are doing a 40km time trial on the bike in under an hour, and running a 5k under 20 minutes. Neither of these feats are all that extraordinary in and of themselves, but they've given me good goals to shoot for within each sport. Once my triathlon season was over, it was time to focus on other goals, and these are what I've set out for myself.

Like last year, I plan on doing a run focus this fall. That will culminate in some sort of race. Meanwhile swimming, when I start up again, will be just once a week and biking will be for pleasure only - no more grinding away on the trainer in the basement and no more suffering through intervals. So... now's the time for me to take a stab at the 40km time trial, while I'm still carrying some bike fitness from the tri season.

My parents and in-laws live in Perth, and as luck would have it, the stretch of road between Perth and Franktown is perfect for time trialing. Wide, paved shoulders, no major hills, pavement in good conditions, and just over 20km long. This is where the Almonte Bicycle club does their 40km time trials, and that's how I discovered this route.

So on saturday I set out to try to go sub-1 hour. I knew this was going to be hard, but if nothing else would give me a feel for what a 1 hour threshold effort really feels like and be a good learning experience I can apply to subsequent efforts. The result was a pretty-damn-close 1:01:22 - I made several errors that collectively cost me enough time that I feel like I probably could break one hour if I made another run at it. Not this year though. It's onto my run focus.

Interesting data from this endeavor though. I graphed speed vs. power for this TT and my 3 races this year, and it looks like this:

You can see that I pushed a lot more power during the TT (nice not to have to run afterwards), and this translated into a lot more speed. Interesting that my speed was pretty similar in each of the 3 races. The biggest difference was Smiths Falls vs. Nationals, which produced a variance of only 0.6 km/hr, on a power difference of 20 watts. I pushed another 20 watts higher than this in my TT, but saw an increase in speed of 2.5 km/hr. I attribute this to some different choices in apparel as well as being more diligent holding an aerodynamic position (something I struggled with in races this year).

The impact of aerodynamics is shown even more starkly when I looked at a ride I did earlier in the week with my normal training set-up rather than my race set-up. I did a 20km sort-of-TT (not really going all-out but seeing what kind of wattage I could hold) and averaged 37.4 km/hr on 246W. Compare that with the 40k TT where I averaged 39.2 km/hr on 237W. So almost 2 km/hr faster on nearly 9 less watts. Gotta work on holding that head position better in races next year.

Looking back on some season stats: Part 1

While this season was a bit of a bust for me, I still learned a few things that will (hopefully) help me out next season. One of those things was what sort of tapering works best for me. Unfortunately there's no "one-size-fits-all" approach to tapering for a race. Some people seem to need a longer taper, other respond best to a short taper. Some race best on only a slight reduction in training load, while others need more. There's some basic principles behind the concept, but it does seem as though each person has to do a little trial and error and see what's most effective for them.

This year I used Golden Cheetah to track my bike fitness. I could have used it for my run training too, but I didn't. Here's what my Performance Management Chart looked like for the season:

I've highlighted each of the 3 races I did and where my Training Stress Balance was. You can see that Smiths Falls was a lower priority race for me, so I didn't taper all that much. My form was definitely on the upswing, but I still had a negative TSB. Since Nationals was my "A" race, I did a full-on taper, and was well into positive TSB territory. For Brockville I had an even higher TSB - this wasn't by design, but I had a family trip down to the Philadelphia that week that really impacted my ability to train.

So what does this chart tell me? It's hard to really compare bike performances in each race, since I had difference power targets that I wanted to hit in each. I think the best indicator is actually how well I ran - the more bike-fit I was, the more I should have had left in the tank for the run. And my bike taper is pretty similar to my run taper. So where was my best run performance? Nationals, by far. Not only did I average my best pace of the season there, but I did it on what was definitely the hardest run course. So if this is a reflection of my taper, then the answer to the question "what type of taper works best for me?" is the classic Goldilocks answer of "not too little, not too much". My TSB wasn't high enough for Smiths Falls (not that it was supposed to be at that point in the season) but was way too high for Brockville.

So next season I'll make sure that I plan my "A" race around a TSB that is positive, but only a little, probably somewhere between 3 and 6. What and when that "A" race will be I haven't decided. I'm still pondering next season, and am weighing a few different options. Stick with the short-course stuff? Try something longer? Make another run at Nationals? Try some different races further away?

A disappointing end to a disappointing season

My race report of the Thousand Islands Olympic race is up. Not only did I not meet my goals for the race, but I had to DQ myself due to a mistake made on the run course. After the cancellation of Perth, and the swim-cancelled National Championship, it's almost fitting that this is how my season finished.

I take a few positives from this race in that I would have at least cracked the Top 5 overall, and I did learn a few more things about what type of tapering strategies work (and which don't work) for me.

As of now I'm done with triathlon for this year. I've got a few other goals I want to work on - I'd like to officially break 20 minutes for a 5K run, and am toying with running a half-marathon this fall; I'd also like to try my hand at time-trialing on the bike, perhaps taking a crack at a 1 hour 40km TT.

The "A" race that didn't happen

Race report is up for Nationals. Long story short - it didn't go well. They cancelled the swim and replaced it with another run. Not only did this put me at a significant disadvantage since I'm a much better swimmer than runner, but it totally threw off my bike leg, as it resulted in challenges I hadn't anticipated. I had lost my confidence and motivation before the race even began, and what followed was a comedy of errors and an underwhelming result. It's tough to have the race I've been planning for since the winter not happen, so now I've go to shift my focus to something else.

My goal was to go sub 2:20 for the Olympic Distance, and this will remain my goal this season. Looks like I'll only have one chance to do it though (Thousand Islands). Two positives I'll take out of Nationals are that I managed to run relatively well (43 minutes) and if I take my overall time less the first run (54 minutes) that means I have 26 minutes to complete the swim.

The look of anguish on my face pretty much sums up the whole race

I felt that going sub-26 in the swim was totally reasonable for Nationals, based on a no-wetsuit assumption. With wetsuits, some adjustments to my bike pacing, and a flatter run course, I'm optimistic that breaking 2:20 in Brockville is well within my grasp. If I can do that, then I'll call this a successful season. With the cancellation of Perth and running Nationals as a Duathlon, things haven't been going according to plan so far.

First one down, less than a month until Nationals

My race report is up for Smiths Falls. All in all a decent start to the season.

Positives:
- Improved my time overall and in each discipline
- The achilles was not an issue during the race or afterwards
- Surprised myself on the swim
- Had fun reconnecting with some old rivals

Negatives:
- The heat was oppressive - reminded me I don't do well when it's really hot
- Didn't quite see the gains I had been hoping for on the bike and run
- Failed to win my AG for the first time

Overheated at the end of the race! 

 

The race definitely gave me some food for thought heading into the big race at the end of the month. I'm feeling good about where my fitness is at, and looking forward to being properly tapered and fully prepared for Nationals. But first, two big weeks with some pretty heavy training.

The Achilles Battle Continues

So it appears as though speedwork is out completely this season. The achilles recovery has gone well - I can run long distances outdoors with no ill effects - but once I try any sort of speedwork the pain returns. The good news is after a couple of days off I'm back to being more or less symptom-free. The eccentric heel drops continue, and I've also given my tendons a break by making some inserts for my Fastwitches by cutting up some stiff insoles to make heel lifts.

The first real dilemma of my season was this: race the Ottawa River Tri on June 11th, or the Smiths Falls Tri on the 25th. Racing the earlier race would mean my achilles rehab wouldn't be quite as far along, perhaps increasing the odds of worsening the injury. But, in the event that my body didn't respond well to that I'd have 6 weeks recovery before Nationals. On the other hand, I'd likely be more recovered for Smiths Falls, less likely to create any major problems, but would leave myself only 4 weeks to recover for Nationals.

In the end I decided I'd rather take a chance at getting my achilles healed. If I hurt it on the 11th, odds are it wouldn't be recovered within 6 weeks anyways, so at least by waiting until the 25th I've got a fighting chance of having the issue resolved. The other argument in favour of Smiths Falls is it would allow me to properly compare my progress from last year.

Looking at the results of yesterday's Ottawa River Triathlon, there were some pretty fast times put up. Whether that's due to a fast course or lots of fast folks coming out of the woodwork, I don't know. I'll have to wait another two weeks to get a better assessment of how I measure up.

A few hiccups along the way...

I think training is always going to present challenges and life can throw in some added unexpected elements that necessitate some deviation from your plan. Having a child in kindergarten means the never ending parade of germs and diseases that make their way through the house it a constant challenge for maintaining any real momentum with my training plan. Most of the time I can get by with missing a day or two and get back at it, but I started off May with a pretty brutal illness that sidelined my for a whole week. Not a great way to start a new training block.

On top of this, while my new shoes and run form have been great for my knees and feet, they've been wreaking havoc on my achilles. It got to the point where I had to scale way back on my run volume, switch back to my old shoes, and run exclusively on the treadmill. The good news is that the reduction in volume, coupled with a program of eccentric heel drops and some taping, seems to have worked. I had a good long outdoor run last weekend and no soreness afterwards, so I'm dialing things back up again and hope to take another stab and speedwork soon.

The other hiccup was my first tri of the season (Perth) got cancelled. It was the same weekend as Ottawa Race Weekend, and that brought their numbers down enough that it wasn't viable. Disappointing that I'm going to have to wait longer to measure my progress vs last year, but probably just as well given my recovery from the achilles issue. I'm now eyeing the Ottawa River Triathlon as my first event.

Finally, I'm pretty committed to riding indoors most of the time. Partially due to the quality I can get in, and partially due to the safety aspect. But with the nice weather it is pretty fun to ride outside, so with a few parts and modifications I've now got a gravel bike setup. Nice to be able to ride some of the less busy roads around here, and awesome to avoid switching tires on my P2 to get it road-ready.

Race Schedule 2016

2014 was about seeing if multisport was for me.
2015 was about seeing what I could do if I trained for it.
2016 is about seeing what I can really do with more serious training, with a key goal in mind.

After my first attempt at multisport in 2014, I came up with a 3 year timeline for trying to achieve something in triathlon. I just figured that it was reasonable to work my way up from being able to complete in 2015, being able to compete in 2016, and trying to take it to the next level in 2017. Whether that meant taking a run at Nationals (and thus qualifying for Worlds) at the Olympic distance, or tackling the 70.3 distance, I wasn't sure. But I figured the right path would become clear over the course of the next two years.

This year I've found it very challenging to get the training volume I want in for Olympic distance training. And I really do like going fast. So it's been becoming pretty clear that for now, the short course stuff is right for me. I could probably complete a 70.3 with my current training volume, but I don't think I'd be all that competitive. And I've found that the competitive aspect is really motivating for me. So my focus is going to be getting faster at the Olympic distance, which means the goal is making a run at Nationals.

My 3 year plan put this target in 2017. However, this year (and next year) Nationals are in Ottawa. So it really doesn't make sense to miss this opportunity to participate in this event when it's so close to home. In a way, this means my timeline has just accelerated significantly - what I hoped to do in 2017 I'm going to be attempting in 2016. Another way to look at it, though, is to think of this year as a trial run. I'll get the experience of the event and the course so that next year I'll be well prepared to really perform. But make no mistake - I'll be there to race, and I'm aiming to qualify for Worlds. It remains to be seen whether I'll actually go to Worlds should I qualify (the logistics of taking time off work, the expense of travel and racing), but the achievement itself would be a great milestone for me.

Leading up to that race I have a couple of sprints planned, both of which I did last year. They should serve as a great way to assess how far I've progressed from 2015, and will also give me some good race-specific prep for the big race in July. I'd also like to do the Thousand Islands race again, as an "unfinished business" sort of race. Coming off the bike in 3rd last year and then imploding on the run left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, so I'd love a shot to redeem myself there.

So the season begins in about a month at my "hometown" race in Perth. That's where I'll really get a solid idea of what I've been able to accomplish in the offseason.

New Shoes Part 3

The followup at Solefit didn't end up happening. A busy schedule and the 45 minute drive made it impossible to get in within the 2 week time period I had to test the shoes from Sports4.

In the end it wasn't really a problem. The Fastwitch was the clear winner. I couldn't really imagine going with the Mizunos - they just didn't fit as comfortably, and the stiff sole felt unnatural. In contrast, the Saucony's had a much more natural feel. Decent amount of flex in the sole, wide toe box - an overall more pleasant running experience.

I've been running outside in them, on the road and at the track, and still mixing in some treadmill work as I slowly transition into running outside (I did this too quick last year and it resulted in some injuries). So far so good. I'm also being more attentive to my running gait and wearing CorrectToes, and my toe pain is mostly gone. Hard to say if any one factor is more at play there but it''s reasonable to assume it's a combination of the three.

Once my transition to running outside is complete I'll be starting into some speedwork, so that will be another test.

New Shoes Part 2

After a visit to Solefit to solve the issues around the pain in my left big toe, I had a list of 5 shoes recommended by Neil to help fix my issues. I took the list to Sports4 - they have a reputation as arguably the best running store in the city and I've bought from them before. They also have no issues with you buying multiple pairs, trying them out on a treadmill, and returning whichever ones don't make the cut. So list in hand, that's where I went.

They didn't have 2 of the 5 shoes in stock, so it was down to the New Balance 1500, Mizuno Wave Catalyst, and Saucony Fastwitch. All lightweight shoes with mild stability control. I gave each model a few tries in the store going back and forth between each pair. In the end I left the 1500s - they seemed to fit pretty much the same as the 1400s I've been running in, and those shoes are a little tight in the toebox and have been part of the problem for me. I loved the way they hug my foot - it really seems like the shoe isn't there it just fit super well, but the other two shoes had noticeably roomier toe boxes and that was a priority for me.

So back home with the Catalysts and Fastwitches. I'll take them in to have Neil film me on the treadmill at SoleFit and see what he has to say about which ones are better for me, but for now I wanted to get some time in on my own and see how they compared.

I started with 5 minutes of barefoot running, did a dynamic warmup, then ran for 8 minutes each in my NB1400s, the Mizunos, then the Sauconys. The 1400s felt great as they always do, light and nimble, almost like running in nicely padded socks. Feet felt fine, as they always do.

On to the Mizunos. Two things were apparent immediately. 1: These soles are stiff and 2: These shoes are loud. It was like a horse on cobbles. The shoes also seemed heavy - they're a pretty lightweight shoe overall, so it could be the stiff soles just made them seem heavy, I don't really know. Pretty comfortable, though I did get a bit of soreness along the outer edge of my foot by the end of the run. I could see myself running in them as trainers, but I feel like I'd still want my 1400s for racing.

The Saucony's were another story. An even roomier toe box than the Mizunos, and they felt light and flexy - much closer to my 1400s. They didn't seem to hold my foot quite as securely as the Mizunos, but I could probably figure that out with lacing. Overall though they were much more enjoyable to run in than the Mizunos were.

So if it were up to me alone I would definitely go with the Fastwitch, but I'll be interested to see what Neil says. It's not all about what feels best - the most comfortable shoe in the world isn't going to do me any favours if it results in more foot pain down the road. So while I'm pulling for the Sauconys, I'm keeping an open mind.

Now it's off to Solefit for the final verdict.

New Shoes Part 1

Running injuries were a big problem for me 2 years ago. Seemed like I couldn't go more than a few weeks without one problem or another sidelining me for a while. Last year I really committed to staying injury free by incorporating strength work, stretching, foam rolling, and being very cautious about adding run volume gradually. It worked out well - I managed to avoid any real injuries all of last season and keep my training/racing on track.

However, over the past few months I've gradually been developing some pain in my left foot. Pain/numbness along the medial side of my big toe, but also some pain along my sesamoids. I've also noticed that I have limited dorsiflexion in my left big toe compared to my right. The left toe also seems to be angling in a little - not really a bunion yet but heading in that direction.

In looking for ways to treat this problem I found CorrectToes, which helps your toes splay out and can treat a variety of conditions (including all of my complaints in the left foot). The place to get them locally is SoleFit, which among other things does gait analysis. I've done the Retul fit on the bike, and have had my swim stroke analyzed using underwater video, so it seemed logical for me to try something similar with my run. Indeed, given that the run has been where virtually all of my injuries have occurred, a proper gait analysis probably should have been the first thing I did.

So I picked up the CorrectToes and made an appointment to get my running assessed. It's too early to say whether the CorrectToes are having any real effect, but they haven't been causing any discomfort, so we'll see.

As for the gait analysis, it started with an interview with Neil about my background, history of injuries, and what my training looked like. We then did a series of tests around strength, flexibility, etc. and Neil looked at my shoes (I brought in both my ready-to-retire trainers and my newer racing flats) to see what they could tell us about my running style. Afterwards, I ran on the treadmill in both shoes with video from the front, back, and side.
Based on the initial assessment (wear pattern on my trainers, flexibility issues, and injury history - particularly my torn hip flexor) I could already tell what some of the issues were and the root cause of my toe pain. The video evidence confirmed this - I overpronate in my left foot, and tend to overstride. My feet are landing too far in front of me, but they aren't extended far enough behind me. On top of this, turns out I'm a heel striker. I thought for sure I was a midfoot striker but the video was pretty clear on that. Shortening up my stride, upping my cadence, and working flexibility in my hips and calves/ankles will go a long way towards improving my efficiency and reducing the risk of injury I have. Incorporating barefoot running and doing a dynamic warmup before all runs (not just speedwork) would also help.

So I left with a list of stretches and warmups I should be doing, and things to work on in terms of my run form. What I was most interested in, however, was new shoe recommendations. I knew the trainers were due to be replaced, and I wanted to make sure I was getting the right shoe. Interestingly enough, the video showed my running form was much better in my racing flats (NB1400) than the trainers. So we knew I should be in something pretty light without being too cushy. The overpronation thing also showed I should have some mild stability control built into the shoe. Neil gave me a list of 5 shoes that would work, so next up is to go and try some on, buy a few different pairs and go back to SoleFit for another video session to see what works best.

Now it's off to Sports4 to pick up some shoes.

Performance Management

I think most triathletes understand the idea of "tapering" before a big race - basically reducing your training volume in the days/weeks leading up to your priority race in order to feel fresh and have good form on race day. And I think everyone gets the idea of "progressive overload" - that the volume and intensity of your training will increase over the course of your season in order to keep the body adapting to training stress.

In that sense, performance management isn't rocket science. You keep your training progressing, and then you scale it back as you approach a big race. You don't need any fancy analytics to do that, but there are lots of cool tools out there to help this process, removing the guesswork and ensuring you're in top form for your "A" race.

I'm reading Coggan and Allen's Training and Racing with a Power Meter, and they delve into performance management quiet a bit. Their process, which is based on your Training Stress Score (TSS) and how those numbers change over time, results in a cool graphical representation of how your fitness and form evolve over the season.

To this point I've only really looked at what TrainerRoad provides in terms of TSS tracking.

You can see that the overall weekly TSS gradually increases over the last 6 weeks before dropping down - the idea here was a recovery week at the end of my base phase, in preparation for a new FTP test to kick off the build phase.

Coggan and Allen use TrainingPeaks (online) and/or WKO+ (software) to track these metrics, but there are plenty of other sites/software that do similar things. Golden Cheetah is a free open-source piece of software that seems to pretty much cover all the bases. In it, you can see a different (and more detailed) representation of the same ride data that TrainerRoad was using.

Here you can see my Acute Training Load and Chronic Training Load increasing over the past few months as my fitness increases. You can also see the ATL drop off at the end as I scaled things back, actually dipping below my CTL, resulting in a positive balance (i.e. good form). This is the type of situation I'd like to create on race day, and in this case is where I would have performed my FTP test. Unfortunately a nasty stomach bug intruded on these plans - we'll see where I'm at when I get to it later this week.

I'm still in "Base" mode for my running, and will remain there until I can get outside and do some speedwork and longer runs. Then I'll get to tracking run and swim TSS and get an overall picture of my fitness. I don't see this type of software as a "game changer", since the fundamentals of performance management are pretty basic, but I like the easy way to visualize my fitness and using this will be interesting in terms of planning up to my races, and when I do my post-season retrospective.

The Stretching Debate

Stretching as a means of increasing flexibility and range of motion, and ultimately preventing injury, seems to be conventional wisdom. The number of articles and videos out there espousing the virtues of stretching (especially for runners) is virtually limitless.

As someone with a history of running injuries, I spent a lot of time looking into the causes of my injuries and how to prevent them. I'm not a flexible guy - particularly in my hamstrings (I've never been able to touch my toes) - and this tightness seemed to be the root cause of most of my running injuries. On top of this, my bike fitter seemed pretty dismayed at my lack of flexibility and suggested that this would be a limiter for how low I could go on the front end.

So I set about to rectify this issue with a diligent stretching routine. There are lots of great stretching videos out there - here's an example:

I stretched after every workout, as well as incorporating the foam roller. And it seemed to work. My injuries have been minimal since I got into this routine. But correlation is not causation. Was it the stretching that was making me less injury prone? Or was it some combination or foam rolling, strength work, and perhaps most importantly, being very careful and deliberate about adding volume and intensity to my run sessions? The reality is I can't say for sure what the cause of my injury resistance is, since I can't isolate the various factors. Still, if it seems to work, and certainly isn't hurting, I'd be stupid to stop, right?

The arguments in favour of stretching are numerous, and within the triathlon community it certainly has its proponents:

“The early season demand can have one negative effect, which is to make you stiff. Now is a great time to do moderate stretching to improve range of motion and reduce injury.”
- Mark Allen (from http://www.xtri.com/features/detail/284-itemId.511713592.html)

“If you stretch on a daily basis, even for ten or fifteen minutes, the muscles learn to adapt to that particular movement, and they learn to relax... You’re going to find that your range of motion is going to be enhanced and hopefully prevent some injuries down the road.”
- Dave Scott (from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaDXNjFjjnU

“Current thinking in the sports medicine world suggest the use of dynamic or movement stretching that mimics the athlete’s movement in sport before activity and static or sustained position hold stretching after training...Hip flexor stretching in combination with hamstring stretching may be beneficial in the treatment and prevention of running-related hamstring injury.”
- Joe Friel (from Triathlon Science. Human Kinetics, 2013)

“The solution to the problem of tight hamstrings is… to incorporate regular stretching into your training plan so that you can avoid developing tight muscles to begin with. A consistent and effective program of stretching can prevent or at least alleviate many such problems… A study of 1,543 runners in the Honolulu Marathon found that those who stretched regularly following workouts had fewer injuries than those who did not stretch… Stretching after workouts appears to aid the recovery process by improving the uptake of amino acids by the muscle cells. It therefore promotes protein synthesis within muscle cells, which is necessary for full and quick recovery, and maintains the integrity of muscle cells."
- Joe Friel (from The Cyclist’s Training Bible. Velopress, 2009)

Allen, Scott, Friel - these are big names in triathlon and trusted authorities on the subject. And the arguments for stretching are everywhere:

“Stretching post-workout can dramatically improve your flexibility over time, which is always helpful in preventing injury. Many athletes incorporate different types and forms of yoga into their existing exercise regimen especially during their pre and off-season workouts. Yoga helps increase flexibility and range of motion, improves balance and muscle strength and has the ability to relieve stress and anxiety.”
- Lava Magazine

“Most triathletes feel they should stretch more than they do. They are sold on the benefits of stretching, but not enough to actually do much of it. (TJ) Tollakson was one such triathlete until a couple of years ago, when injuries motivated him to finally make a serious commitment to stretching. Now, he says, “Every night I go through a 20-minute stretching routine before I go to bed. I’ve found that it helps a lot with my recovery as well as injury prevention. According to Rountree, stretching is like bodywork in that it is not strictly relevant to recovery. But, she said, “Stretching will keep adhesions from forming. It’s almost like massage from that angle. It’s going to make it easier for you to get into the next workout by keeping you from getting gummed up between the muscle fibers, and between the muscle fibers and connective tissue.”
- Competitor Magazine

But there seems to be increasing evidence against stretching. A Study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine said “Despite a few outlying studies, consistently favourable estimates were obtained for all injury prevention measures except for stretching. Strength training reduced sports injuries to less than 1/3 and overuse injuries could be almost halved.” So... strength training is highly effective, but stretching is useless. Other research suggests that stretching doesn't actually increase one’s flexibility, but “it may be that exercises such as reaching for your toes train the nervous system to tolerate a greater degree of muscle extension without firing off pain signals...In a June 2014 study in the journal Clinical Biomechanics, Tilp and colleague Andreas Konrad found no differences in people's muscles and tendons after six weeks of a static-stretching regimen." (from livescience.com)

“While it is true that stretching does improve both range of motion and flexibility, this has not been shown to translate to any other objective markers of performance. Specifically, large trials have shown that stretching either regularly, or before strenuous activity, does not prevent delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Stretching after exercise also does not prevent or lessen DOMS. Worse, several studies have actually shown that stretching may be detrimental to performance. A great deal of evidence now exists demonstrating that stretching reduces both muscle strength and the ability to perform anaerobically—a condition that exists at higher levels of exertion such as when sprinting. These findings have been constant across numerous types of stretching programs and exercises. The most controversial findings though, relate to stretching as a means of preventing injury. While some early studies seemed to show that stretching could prevent injury, more recent ones have shown no such benefit.”
- from Competitor Magazine

And many of the most respected coaches in triathlon are firmly in the anti-stretching camp:

“Don’t bother stretching. At a minimum, don’t ever employ static stretching before workouts - and mos athletes do not need static stretching after working out. While the jury is still out on the specific benefits of static stretching, if any, for normal, healthy athletes, I have never personally seen any benefits from it. The sport of triathlon does not require a significant range of motion of the muscles or joints, unlike, say, ballet.”
- Matt Dixon (from The Well-Built Triathlete: Turning Potential into Performance. Velopress, 2014.)

“Stretching is not a matter of injury prevention, but a matter of range of motion. Athletes competing as sprinters or middle distance runners need a certain range of motion. As do hurdlers, who would be well advised to stretch regularly and intensively….But this is where the rubber hits the road. Triathlon does not need extensive range of motion. If taught properly, the appropriate body roll swimming needs uses little range of motion. I’ve seen Olympic champion swimmers with the flexibility of a steel rod. Bike riding requires absolutely none. Even our shortest triathlon event ‎has a minimum of 5km of running, which uses less than 50% of our range of motion. So when posed with the statement: ‘Stretching helps prevent injury’, my answer is in triathlon it doesn't. It creates injury opportunities that would have otherwise not been there."
- Brett Sutton (from https://trisutto.com/stretching-for-triathlon/)

“Stretching to improve flexibility is a waste of time, doesn't actually make you more flexible, and can have a negative affect on economy.”
- Joel Filliol (from http://trstriathlon.com/TRSForum/discussion/1401/joel-filliol-says-no-stretching/p1)

“But mostly, the research on stretching says that it doesn't make much difference with anything. If it's got a neutral influence, why do it at all? Of course there's a role for other types of stretching, mainly with injury rehab. But I don't think there's any value in the good ol' "let me stretch my hammy so that I don't get injured." A lot of the times, the static stretching is the cause for the injury."
- Paulo Souza (from http://trstriathlon.com/TRSForum/discussion/1401/joel-filliol-says-no-stretching/p1)

So what to make of all this? There certainly seems to be no consensus on this issue. I'm very resistant to giving up stretching - I really don't want to risk returning to that old injury-plagued version of myself. But I have to admit that stretching may not have played any role in my injury reduction. Ultimately, I'm not any more injury prone, so it seems as though stretching is not hurting me at this point. I'm still doing it, but not overdoing it.

A good summary of this debate can be found in an article from Triathlon Magazine Canada weighing the pros and cons of stretching. The conclusion: "We’ve now come to a point where the evidence has tilted towards the negative benefits of stretching for runners and cyclists. So, common sense should dictate whether we should stretch or not and how much we should stretch. Here’s what I mean. If you’ve been stretching and remain uninjured, then by all means continue your stretching program. If you’ve been stretching consistently, and getting injured consistently, perhaps you should back off the stretching or reduce its intensity."

Planning 2016: The Data

Last post I outlined my goals for 2016. Next up is looking at the data to help with the actual plan. I had looked back at my results at the end of the season (detailed in this post) in order to assess my relative strengths and weakness, with the hope of rectifying the weakness over the offseason. The data yielded few surprises, and my main offseason focus was on improving my run. Since then I've gotten back to a more even distribution of the 3 sports, starting my preseason in mid-November. Here's where I stand in terms of the data.

Swim
I've been swimming using SwimSmooth's CSS protocol. I've only been at it for about 5 weeks now, and it's up in the air whether or not I've seen any gains. My second CSS test showed a faster 200 but a slower 400, which resulted in a slower overall CSS. But then two nights later I was coming in on 200 repeats at about the same speed as my 200TT two days earlier, so perhaps the TT was on off-day. I'm going to keep one weekly session dedicated to CSS but get back to speedwork with the other session.

Bike
The power meter has given me good data, and after 6 weeks of base-building with Trainerroad, I did a second FTP test to see my progress. My FTP had gone up by 30W, which is a lot for 6 weeks. However, I'm sure a significant portion of that is me regaining my bike fitness after the offseason, so it's not a "true" 30W gain, more of a reflection of my poor fitness when I did the first test back in November. Still, the progress is encouraging and gives me confidence in the results I can get if I stick with the plan. 6 more weeks of base then into the build phase.

Run
Since my 5K in October, I haven't done any assessments, and have been running exclusively on the treadmill since I started my preseason. I don't really trust my treadmill's distance readout, and don't have a footpod, so there's no real way to assess speed. And that's not been my focus anyways. I've been strictly doing Zone 2 runs. However, I am seeing progress - I can run at higher speeds for longer while keeping my heartrate in the prescribed zone, so this is a sign that my body is adapting. Realistically it won't be until I get outside again (late March? April?) that I can really see my progress here.

The Plan
So the current plan is mostly based on last season's data, but I'm watching the numbers from this current pre-season as much as possible in order to monitor progress and make adjustments to my goals and to the plan itself.

Planning 2016: Goal Setting

You can't plan out how to get somewhere unless you know where you want to go, so the first step in developing a good plan is setting goals/objectives. The holidays haven't been ideal for consistent training, but come January I'm hoping to get going with a solid structured training plan.

Here are my goals for 2016:

Swim: Given that I don't see myself devoting any more than two days a week to swimming, I don't think it's realistic to expect any significant improvements in this area. All I'm really hoping for is to improve my race times, even if just a little bit. It's tough to really compare my pool times with my race times since I'm so much faster in a wetsuit, but what I'm really interested in is bringing down my Critical Swim Speed. I'm currently around 1:55/100 and I'd like to get down to around 1:45ish. Last year I think I focused too much on my standalone 100m times rather than extended efforts, so this year along with my CSS I'll look to my 400m times as a measure of progress.

Bike: I'm excited to see what training with power under a more structured, properly periodized plan can do for my bike riding. The focus here is raising my Functional Threshold Power. I'd like to get into the 230-240W range if possible. Even if I do this I won't really know how this affects my bike speed until I get out on the road again in the spring. The ultimate goal is be able to ride faster while hitting T2 with fresher legs. A more specific (non-race) goal is to do a 40km TT in under an hour. Not too sure when I'll try this, but I will make an attempt next year.

Run: This is the lowest hanging fruit for me. I know there is lots of time to make up here, and I already feel like I've improved significantly even since my last race. I feel like breaking 20 minutes for a standalone 5km is attainable for me (I did 21:15 in October), and ideally I can do that in a race. My priority is Olympic distance, so I'm really focused on getting my 10km times down. Beating the 52ish minutes I did in Brockville should be easy. Most of that is developing run fitness, but managing my effort on the bike will also factor in there, so my bike training (and ability to pace) will come into play. I'd love to break 45 minutes, so that's my goal for my Olympic races next year.

Overall: At this point I'm planning 4 races again, 3 of which will be repeats for me. So obviously in each of those 3 I already have a good benchmark time to try to eclipse. An easy goal is to just beat my previous times. It makes no sense to set specific times goals until closer to the races when I have a better sense of my capabilities. But overall I would like to be a solid top-5 finisher in my races, and at some point make an overall podium.

Next up I'll go over the plan itself.