It's all in the head

Just how powerful is the brain?

This is quite a long one, so stick with it. It'll be worth it.

If you speak to any elite athlete, or indeed any experienced athlete or coach and ask them what usually quits first, the head or the body? The resounding response will almost always be "the body". This is because the mind is one of the most powerful tools available to an athlete. There are many sayings, such as "the body achieves what the mind believes" etc. Admittedly, some of these sayings are tongue in cheek, but the underlying message is still the same. That with proper training and with a strong mental attitude, almost anything is possible. 

As a coach, something that I pay significant attention to, as well as the physical side of training, is training and focusing the mind. A few years ago I attended a seminar by a prominent Sports Psychologist and he went in to detail about how the brain is hard wired. For example, if you walk down the street with your head held high, looking above your own eyeline, it will improve your feeling of positivity. Similarly, it's actually not possible to feel down if you smile, it's just the way that our brains work. I'm not for one minute suggesting that we complete training sessions and flog ourselves during races grinning like a Cheshire cat. We'd soon all be locked up!! But it made me realise that if I can develop my mental toughness, I can achieve a lot of what I want to.

First and foremost is the physical training. It goes without saying that in order to be able to perform at your physical best, you need to be in the best physical shape possible. However, if you marry a good foundation of physical fitness with a strong mental toughness, anything is possible, as the saying goes. An example of this is, I've heard of supremely fit soldiers who have attempted Special Forces selection and failed, simply because they've been "broken". I'm not saying that in order to get into the UKSF you just need to be mentally tough, but in order to get the very best out of your physical ability, you need to have a great mental toughness. 

When hearing the Worlds elite sportsmen and women interviewed, a lot of amateur athletes and members of the public think that they sound arrogant. Although, in my opinion it's not always arrogance, it's total self belief in what they do and what they're capable of. In order to succeed at the absolute pinnacle of a sport, you have to have 100% self belief. No professional athlete ever starts an event thinking "I hope things go well". They start thinking "I'm going to give this everything, I know I'm capable of winning". At the level that most of us are competing at, many of us aren't going to challenge for the podium of a race, but that doesn't mean that we can't start a race with total self belief. 

In 2014, when I did Ironman UK, I had a shocking race given the training that I'd done and what I expected to happen on the day. For one reason and another, by the time I got to the run my legs were absolutely shot and I was struggling to move without cramping. However, no matter how bad I felt physically and however much pain I was in, there was never a single point on that run that I even contemplated not finishing, such was the mental strength that I'd developed. I'm certainly not alone in this mindset and I know quite a few people who regard themselves as incredibly mentally tough and this is a great attribute to have. The stronger the mind and willpower, the more success you will achieve. Although we do a lot of lower intensity sessions, the high intensity sessions should be just that. Intense to a point of hurting. Daniela Ryf, a pro triathlete, says that if it's not hurting, you're not pushing hard enough and having the mental toughness to push really hard is equally as important as having the mental toughness to carry on grinding out the miles on a really long session, whether it's running, on the bike or swimming.

In order to develop mental toughness, it's something that we need to practice and focus on. So much focus is placed on the physical training, that the mental aspects are often neglected or completely forgotten about. As a coach, we're much, much more than just someone who can write and lead a training session. We also strive to be a confidante, a mentor and to motivate others and to inspire and act as a role model, as well as having a vision of what we want our athletes to achieve.

There are four key areas which have an influence on performance, and for each there is an area of mental skills training which can enhance this area:

Motivation: in a nutshell, this is the reason that you give yourself for training. Be it self motivation in just wanting to improve, or whether there are external factors, ie fundraising etc. It's all something that motivates you. Set goals that are achievable and when each goal is reached, set another goal that's slightly harder. Be it knocking 20 secs off a pb, or completing a longer race. The trick is to continually push ourselves out of our comfort zone, but in a way that's not going to be overwhelming and seemingly impossible to achieve.

Self Confidence: You need to focus on what you're doing, not what's going on around you. Forget how fast Joe Bloggs is running during an intervals session, or that you're not in the advanced lane at swimming etc. You need to focus on what you can and have achieved yourself and what you're capable of. I often tell athletes to look at where they were 12 months ago and how far they've come. Then get them to focus on that feeling of positivity that they are actually improving and have made huge gains. Being self confident in your abilities will reduce anxiety in training and racing and will help you to remain positive. Keeping a training diary is a good way of doing this, as well as remembering all the positives that you've experienced from a particular race or training session

Focus & managing distractions: Similarly to motivation, this is what drives you. Focus on your goals, no matter what they are. If you want to be able to complete a 5k race or if you're a seasoned triathlete and want to step up to Ironman, or even just get faster at what you do, focus on what you want to achieve and the process that you must go through in order to get there. A very experienced coach used to say to me "focus on the process, not the goal" ie, focus on what you're doing during training and the session objectives. If you follow these, the goal or end results will look after themselves. The two examples below are taken from the British Triathlon coaches hub and are really good references on different sorts of focus:

Associative Focus: Focus on the ‘feedback’ the body is giving, depth of breathing, discomfort in the legs for example. This can be trained to be a positive effect in that the athlete knows they are working hard and this will derive the right results.

Dissociative Focus: Switch the focus away from themselves to the environment or music. This can be beneficial is the associative feedback is starting to cause negative thoughts, e.g. ‘this is hurting too much’.

Managing Distractions: There are many things that can be a distraction when training, preparing to race or in the race itself. Some of these are:

• Pressure to perform
• The possibility of failure
• Things that have happened in the past
• How you're going to feel in a race.

Instead of dwelling on the above, try to focus on more positive thoughts, ie:

• You can only control the controllable. Meaning things like the weather, mechanical failure, injury during a race are all non controllable. Focus on what you can do to be in the best condition that you can be, both physically and mentally
• Focus on the process, not the goal. Don't look too far ahead, ie, if you're starting to train in January, for an Ironman in July, don't focus on the race. Just focus on what you're doing in each training block or individual training session and the rest will take care of itself.
• Have a plan A, B, C and even D. It's not often that a race goes exactly to plan, so it's important to have a back up plan and to be able to implement this without losing focus and getting too anxious when things go wrong.

Arousal Control: This is when any external factor can influence a training session, a race or simply anxiety levels. This can range from being totally calm and seeming to have not a care in the world (which us more nervous athletes long for), to being a quivering, nervous wreck at the other end of the spectrum and feeling sick at the thought of racing. These feelings are controlled by the emotional part of the brain, instead of the logical part of the brain. A great book on this is called "The Chimp Paradox", in which it talks about how we can learn to control our inner chimp (the emotional part of the brain) and use the logical part of the brain to much better effect. For many triathletes, due to the length of the race, a more relaxed state is probably appropriate. Being able to remain calm in a chaotic swim start would be beneficial instead of getting over-exciting and swimming too fast, effectively destroying any race strategy.

When it comes to stress and anxiety it can be something that can be completely overwhelming for some people. Stress and anxiety is everywhere, whether you've had a tough day at work, the kids are playing up at home or you're worrying about a niggly injury that's preventing you from training. It all causes stress and anxiety. A while ago a coach said to me that I needed to accept that I can't train as much as I'd like to, not many people can and that what I needed to do was to try to be the best I could be with what time I'd got available. Up until that point I hated not being able to train which in turn caused stress in other areas, but once I accepted the advice I'd been given it became much easier to deal with, mentally. I still like to train and I always try to stick to the training plans as much as possible, but I can deal with not training much better these days. I often get messages from our club members apologising for not being able to make a particular session, I always tell them that it's absolutely fine and that juggling training with normal life is just that, a juggling act. As I said before, we can only control the controllables. 

Anxiety and nerves are also prevalent in and before races. As someone who, in the past, has suffered from really bad nerves before a race, despite the fact that I'd already been racing for a few years, something that I've tried to focus on is turning the negative nervous energy into positive energy. One of the ways that I do this is to try and turn the nerves into excitement. I also use distractions before a race to help keep the nerves at bay, I'll chat to people in transition when we're setting up, I'll talk to novices who seem nervous and try to get them to calm down, even though I'm helping myself as much as them. I try not to think about being calm and relaxed because this just makes me feel more nervous because it's a conscious thought process. Everyone deals with nerves differently, some say that they enjoy it as it really focuses their mind. For me, I find that it tends to suck all the energy out of me, so if I can control my nerves before a race, I can fuel properly and often tend to have a much better race. 

I often tell our members that confidence breeds success and to only think positive thoughts, as much as practically possible. When I used to play golf I kept a diary in which I'd pick just 2 or 3 of the best shots that I'd hit during each round I played. I'd write them down and how I played the shot, what it felt like making a solid contact with the ball and seeing its trajectory through the air and where it finished. By writing this regularly and by occasionally reading it, it really reinforces confidence and a positive mentality. I nearly always put feedback on my sessions in Training Peaks when I've completed a session and I've found that by trying to remain as confident as I possibly can about what I've achieved, it reinforces what I already believe I'm capable of. Like I said earlier, I'm never going to challenge for a podium, but when I look back at what I was like when I first started racing in 2008, and what I've achieved since then, I honestly believe that I owe a large part of this to my mental strength, as well as following a good training plan and by being given some good advice along the way. 

When given lemons, make lemonade

Lucy Gossage, a pro female triathlete, epitomises what mental strength is all about. a few weeks before the Kona Ironman World Championships in 2016, she crashed on her bike and broke her collar bone. For a lot of people this would have been the end of their season. However, Lucy did as much training as she possibly could, without aggravating her injury and ended up making it to the start line in Kona. Not only that, but she had her best ever finish to a Kona race, such was her mental toughness. In a great tweet, she posted that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. 

To summarise, train hard and keep following a structured and progressive training plan. Getting to where you want to be will hurt, there's no two ways about it. As Greg LeMond used to say "it never gets easier, you just get faster". However, try to train your brain to be strong and remember, never ever give up. 

Sutty

It's all about the power

For nearly all of us, as triathletes, we're constantly trying to improve how fast we are on the bike leg (as well as the other 2 disciplines, obviously). The only way we can make significant improvements to how fast we can go is to increase our power output and how long we can hold that for. This is called your Functional Threshold Power (FTP) and is the theoretical power that you can hold for 1 hour.
The only accurate way to measure how much power (Watts) we're producing is to use a power meter. However, not all of us can afford the cost of adding a power meter to our bikes. One solution is to use a "smart" turbo trainer, which will give a power readout. However, because this power is measured at the rear wheel, where it's in contact with the roller, this measurement will be different to a calibrated power meter on the cranks or pedals. A smart turbo is still a very good way of measuring your power during a training session, especially when used in conjunction with one of the many training platforms that are available now. eg. Zwift, TrainerRoad, Tacx, Bkool etc.

In order to establish our FTP we need to perform a relevant FTP test, which usually takes around an hour or so and often consists of a gradual warm up, followed by some harder sets and higher cadence pedalling before commencing the 20 minute test that will determine our FTP. There are a lot of online platforms that will allow us to do an FTP test with a smart turbo. Zwift, Sufferfest, TrainerRoad etc all have FTP tests on them.

Although having a power meter and being able to train and race to specific power ranges is widely considered to be, by far, the most effective training and indeed racing method on the bike, it isn't the be all and end all. We can also use the FTP test to establish specific heart rate zones, in a similar way to the ones that we establish for running. Again, as I mentioned in an earlier blog, training and racing to hr zones isn't infallible but will still give a good indicator of perceived effort.

If, by sticking to consistent training methods and pushing yourself during structured and progressive session plans you will definitely notice an increase in your FTP and how long you can ride for at an increased exertion.

I'm currently working on a training plan for one of our clients who is hoping to boost their own power output on the bike, but the link below will take you to a blog that offers some great, but very simple, tips on how to increase our power on the bike.

5 simple ways to increase power on the bike

To train to heart rate or not?

This is a debate that's regularly being discussed in various circles. 

A few weeks ago I read an article which stated that athletes (in that coaches opinion) should avoid training using heart rate, and he gave some valid points against using heart rate to train with. 

However, whilst I totally agree that using heart rate to train with isn't totally infallible and any number of things can skew the "true" figure of the heart rate, in terms of BPM, for example, if you're ill, fatigued, stressed etc they're all ailments that can (and probably will) affect your heart rate and will often be noticeable through a change in your usual heart rate. However, in my opinion, through regular testing, using the same test parameters and the same environment that the test is undertaken in, I think that fairly accurate heart rate zones can be achieved, especially for running. Training to heart rate can be applied to lots of sports, with varying degrees of accuracy etc. But for the purposes of this post, I'm going to focus on running. 

In the club that I coach at our members carry out varying and specific tests at the end of each 6 week block of training, so that we can tweak HR Zones (specifically for running) and so that we can, over time, gain an accurate interpretation of each members heart rate values. Which we will then use to establish their specific training zones.

Obviously, not all athletes have the latest Garmin etc but for those that have, it can be all too easy to run along the canal, on a long run, with your eyes constantly looking at your watch every 4 steps, making sure that you don't stray from your predetermined training zone. But, I've found that by basing the effort that I want to run a particular set of intervals at, on the zones that I have established for my own training, I can achieve consistent efforts. 

This changes slightly when doing longer runs because we'll all probably experience something called cardiac drift. Cardiac Drift "refers to the natural increase in heart rate that occurs when running with little or no change in pace. Many runners mistakenly assume that if they keep their runs at a consistent pace, their heart rate will remain relatively constant as well" when, in fact, your pace will remain constant, but your heart rate will "drift" upwards. It's a totally natural occurrence, but one that athletes running and training for longer distances need to be aware of. 

I often say to our members that they should try to learn how it "feels" to run at a particular heart rate / zone. They can then use this to gauge how hard they're pushing during a session, without the total reliance on using a hrm. However, where I think using heart rate really helps is if we're doing a, eg. 10 x 800m intervals session at threshold, as we progress through the session and fatigue really kicks in, the mind can play tricks and whilst you think you're running at threshold and still pushing as hard, when we check the data after it's uploaded some people find that they've often dropped off quite a bit. Not just in terms of pace, which is totally understandable, but in terms of effort as well. By keeping one eye on heart rate during the session, you can ensure that you're running at the desired effort for each interval and are, therefore, able to focus on pushing the body in order to improve performances.

A few years ago when a coach first introduced me to training with heart rate, I honestly felt like it transformed my run training. All of a sudden I could actually see a scale of what sort of efforts were required for any particular session and whilst other methods were also used, I've found training with heart rate to be incredibly beneficial.

As I mentioned earlier though, training to heart rate is far from infallible, so I try to use varying methods to gauge my own training, these are (predominantly) heart rate as well as using the borg scale, or RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) methods. I'm also playing about with the Jack Daniels VDOT formula as well. That said I think that by carrying out regular testing and combining it with other methods, that training to heart rate has some fantastic benefits. 

Being triathletes and having (for the majority) the desire to have all the latest bits of tech, together with the advances being made in heart rate watches, I think that training to heart rate is something that's going to become more and more prevalent in training sessions, particularly for athletes that are newer to the sport and as long as it's done properly, with regular testing and with a knowledge of how to gauge efforts when not using heart rate, I think it's a fantastic method of training. 

In summary, I think there's absolutely a place for training with heart rate, but it isn't the be all and end all of how to train and it's often a case of an athlete finding what suits them best.

If you'd like to speak more about your goals and ambitions and how I can help you on your triathlon journey, click on the link below which will take you to my coaching Facebook page, where I can be contacted through

Certa Cito Tri Coaching

Periodisation

Periodisation, what is it?

You might have heard coaches talk about periodisation, but what is is it? 

Periodisation: "is the systematic planning of athletic or physical training. The aim is to reach the best possible performance in the most important competition of the year. It involves a progressive cycling of various aspects of a training program during a specific period".

No athlete who wants to be at their peak for a particular race can train continuously and to the typically high intensities that we see during the peak or race phase, all year round without picking up injuries, at the very least. Or, in the worst case scenario, developing overtraining syndrome (something I'll cover at a later date).

Therefore it's essential that we break down our training into "cycles" or timescales that we can use to develop our fitness and gradually increase the amount of intensity and volume that we put into each session. These phases are called the Macro, Micro and Meso cycles.

In a nutshell, the Macro cycle can be viewed as your long term goal, ie. if you say that you want to complete a particular distance race in two years, your build up to that point could be deemed to be the Macro phase and will consist of varied, structured and progressive training and recovery until that point.
The Meso cycle is a much shorter period of time, usually up to a couple of months in length and may form the build phase of the training plan and could consist of two or three training "blocks". 
The Micro cycle is shorter still and can be anything from a few days, up to a couple of weeks and I would say that, at the most, this would form a single block of training, but can be even less than that.

At the club where I'm currently coaching we use these different phases in the plans that we deliver to our members. Most of our members will have a specific "A race" that they're working towards. eg. For the members that are doing Ironman UK in July, their Macro phase will be from the time that they signed up, to the day of the race or from the time that they make the decision that they want to complete an iron distance race within a certain time frame. The Meso cycles will be each of the 6 week blocks of training that we currently do, followed by a seventh week of testing and recovery to see their progression and to allow their bodies to recover from the stresses that it's been exposed to during the training block. Their Micro phase will be the weekly sessions that gradually progress as we move towards their goal.

If you've signed up to a particular race, or you've got ambitions to get to a level of fitness on or before a certain date, it's important that you think about periodisation and break down your training into manageable chunks. If you went out and looked at what training for an Ironman entails or if you're a novice and want to get to a standard that you can compete in your first race at, it can often be very overwhelming. But if you break it down into bitesize pieces, it's much less daunting and is easier to manage your training plans, as well as much more manageable physically and will help prevent overtraining, reduce the risk of injury and should help you get the best possible results.

Another, probably more common, way that you might have heard of these phases referred to is the base, build, race and recovery phases. Normally I will typically plan these phases over the course of a 12 month plan.

So, in the most basic of terms, we prepare, then we build, then peak for a particular race / series of races, then recover properly, before building again.

If we look at a typical macro cycle over the course of a 12 month period, it would probably look something like this:

In the graph above you can see how there is a gradual build throughout the year, until we get past the race / peak phase and then we taper off again and recover. Obviously, if you're going to be doing an endurance event in March, for example if you were thinking of racing abroad, then you'd adapt the plan so that your peak / race phase of training coincides with the race.

As with all training plans, consistency is key and if you don't train consistently you're not going to get all the benefits of a structured and progressive plan.

If you'd like to speak more about your goals and ambitions and how I can help you on your triathlon journey, click on the link below which will take you to my coaching Facebook page, where I can be contacted through

Certa Cito Tri Coaching