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.

Finding the right saddle

When I got my P2 I moved the saddle from my road bike over. I had been riding an Adamo Century, which was a glorious road saddle. Perfectly shaped, very comfortable. I could ride for hours on that thing.

It didn't work out quite as well on the new bike (or perhaps more specifically the new position). If all I was doing was riding around in the bullhorns I'd be fine, but extended period in the aerobars were problematic. It was almost perfect, but two issues caused repeat problems.

1) The prongs at the front were at too sharp an angle. Rather than curve downward, they abruptly turned down at 90 degrees. This meant that when riding on the nose in the aero position, they really dug in and created quite acute points of pain.
2) The prongs themselves were just slightly too wide. I'd get chafing issues on my inner thighs.

Comparing the noses of the Adamo Century (top) and Dash Stage (bottom)

As mentioned earlier, I had take time off the bike after the season to let my undercarriage heal up. When I put my bike on the trainer and started my base training, the soreness returned. "I can't do this all winter," I thought. I had to find a better saddle.

I knew I wanted my saddle to be noseless and split. But I wanted a saddle that was narrower and had more of a slope to the front end. I considered another ISM/Adamo, but was worried it wouldn't be different enough. I thought about Cobb and came close a couple of times to pulling the trigger on one. The saddle I kept coming back to though, was Dash. They're expensive, but I've never heard anyone say anything bad about them. Any other saddle, some people like or dislike, and the consensus is always that saddle choice is highly subjective. But there really didn't seem to be much dissenting opinion on Dash saddles. And I liked the shape, and especially the fact that you can choose your width.

I then discovered that Dash actually sells a "basic" version of two of their saddles. They're heavier, they're not customizable in terms of padding or colour, but you can choose from three widths. Still expensive, but significantly less so that their standard models. Realistically, given the hours I'd be spending on the trainer this winter and beyond, investing in a proper saddle seems pretty important.

Dash Stage (left) and Adamo Century (right)

It took a little while to get the Dash adjusted to the correct angle. And it's still taking time adjusting to the dramatically firmer padding - the Century was super plush. And while the firmness does lead to some soreness after a long ride, it's more a general soreness rather than the acute soreness I'd get from the prongs of the Adamo digging in or the chafing on my thighs. The Dash really is a great shape.

Riding on the trainer in general seems to be less comfortable than out on the road, so I know if the Dash serves me well over the winter it'll be great next summer.

Somersault Awards Reception

Last friday was Somersault's annual awards reception. Three of my four races this year were Somersault events, and having done three qualified me for the Champions Challenge points competition (you accumulate points based on your overall finish in each race), and I finished second in the M35-59 category. I never raced against the guy who beat me, but he was consistently a top five finisher in his races - that's where I'd like to be next season, so it's a good benchmark. He also represented Canada at this year's ITU World Championships in Chicago, and I've been considering whether that's the type of thing that might be a long term goal for me.

Realistically there are lots of faster folks in Ottawa who were not part of the Champions Challenge, and that's due to the overall emphasis the tri community seems to place on iron-distance races. I have no doubt there's lots of triathletes in the city that would dominate the Somersault series if they chose to, but they instead focus on Ironman and 70.3 races. So the fact that I finished in the top ten point-getters in the Somersault series certainly doesn't mean that's representative of where I rank among the city's triathletes.

However, if I had been told last year that I would finish my first tri season 2nd in my age group and 9th overall in the series, I would have been ecstatic. So while the award itself isn't all the significant, attending the ceremony to accept it is part of honouring the work I've put in and celebrating my fitness. It's an important milestone in my journey.

The ceremony also marked Somersault founder Terry McKinty's retirement, and it was cool to see some of the big wheels of the local tri community (Rudy Hollywood, Rick Hellard, Ian Fraser) come out to honour him and reflect on what he's done for triathlon in the region. We're really lucky to have a well-run series of multisport events in the area, that not only allows us to race frequently, affordably, and close to home, but is also so welcoming and accessible to newcomers and people of all abilities. To that end it was also cool to see a well deserving Geordie McConnell of the OTC receive a Spirit of Somersault award. He's done a lot to help grow the sport in the city, and his infectiously positive attitude and general helpfulness really helped me get through my first multisport event back in 2014 when he conducted the orientation session at the National Capital Tri at Mooney's Bay.

Next year's dates for the Somersault series have been announced and I've pencilled in my rough schedule. More on that in the new year when I reflect on my goals for the 2016 season.

Offseason swim improvements

I've been swimming with Technosport this past week, and it's been an interesting experience. I signed up for a stroke analysis camp last Sunday and as part of that camp you get get a week swimming with the club. So in addition to the Sunday session I swam with them Monday, Wednesday, and again this Sunday.

Last season I was pretty happy with how I swam. From just trying to make it through the swim in 2014 to consistently being in the first chase pack in 2015 was more than I had thought possible, given my limited time in the pool. 2 nights a week was all I ever did, and I know this shouldn't be enough to see any real swim gains.

Sure enough I did plateau pretty early last season. My results were good, but I wasn't getting any better after seeing some significant improvements over the first few months of 2015. Ideally I'd be in the pool at least 3-4 days a week, but with two young kids, a job that frequently demands lots of after-hours work, and two other sports to train for, it's just not feasible.

I put in a big run focus in September and October to improve my weakest discipline, and finished off that block with a 5km road race. Then my focus shifted to swimming. I still can't dedicate a lot of pool time, but the offseason is a great opportunity to fine-tune the stroke, hence the stroke-analysis camp.

I got some good feedback and some helpful drills to work on, and by the end of my time with the club I felt more powerful with less effort. Starting off the session with some 3-stroke drill really seems to help me with rotation and lengthening my stroke, so I'm going to work that into every session now.

I'm going to get back to two swims a week, with one session being a speedwork oriented session like I've been doing for the past year, and a session aimed at improving my Critical Swim Speed. I'll try to do a test this week depending on how I feel then get started with the plan. Getting up at 5:30am to swim with the club, coupled with a sick 5 year old and some rough nights with the 1 year old meant I was pretty drained by the end of the week and it was inevitable I would contract whatever my 5 year old had. I've keep it somewhat at bay with vitamin C, echinacea, elderberry, and eating raw garlic cloves - plus taking two days off training. I don't think I'll be in tip-top shape for a time trial on Tuesday, though, so we'll see if I get to that or not. In the meantime I'm back to running and the bike training is going well, so I'm full-on into my training schedule now, which last year didn't start until January.