Mark: All right. There is no beating around the bush on this one. Training for a triathlon
is pretty tough, so wouldn't it be nice to get some tips, tricks, and some hacks for
your own personal training? Well, in today's video, we have got just that. Some from ourselves
and some from the pros across all three disciplines. Whether you want to be more efficient and
savvy in your training, or maybe get some nutritional pointers that you'll keep in mind
for race day, we have got you covered. [music]
Mark: Now, drafting is most often associated with riding, but don't be fooled. There is
much to be gained from drafting whilst running, as Heather and Fraser explain here.
Fraser: Now, as triathletes, we should be well aware of the benefits of drafting, but
as a quick reminder, if we were out on the bikes and sitting at the back of a group of
riders, we could be saving up to 40%, which is a lot of energy-saving.
Heather: Yes. It's not as significant when it comes to running, but there is still a
benefit there, as proven by the Journal of Applied Physiology. They did an experiment
on a calm day to measure the amount of energy that you're expending to get rid of that air
resistance. They found that for sprinters, it was around 8%. For middle-distance runners,
4%, and if you're running a marathon up to 2%.
Fraser: Now, if you're running into a headwind, then this is significantly more obvious. Effectively,
if you're out running and behind other runners, there's a benefit for you to be had. If we've
ever run in a training group or been out with some other friends, we can definitely feel
the benefit of that when we're behind them. As a takeaway, when you're next in a race,
try to find somebody that perhaps is a little bit taller than you and tuck in behind.
Mark: Now, even with the best-laid plans, inevitably, we will all hit road bumps in
our training at some point and Fraser recalls on some smart advice from David McNamee in
regards to listening to your body, but also working at the right intensity in your training
to get the most from your sessions. Fraser: Talking about racing and being able
to set ourselves up for that successful race is something that got me thinking about chats
I would have with my fellow Scot and good buddy, David McNamee. Now, David is definitely
an advocate of making sure that if you get ill, which unfortunately happens to all of
us - but we do think we're superhuman - is to just back off the accelerator and just
take some time to recover and get better. It's much better to take a day, two, three
off of your training rather than just muddle through average weeks of training for the
sake of doing it. In terms of the training when you're doing
it well, that's another thing that David really hammered home was that the hard sessions should
be really hard so you get the most out of those quality sessions, but then similarly,
the easy recovery sessions have to be easy too so that you can absorb all of the work
that you're getting from those hard sessions. Mark: Finally, shortcuts to better deal with
your nutrition is always useful, but Heather also has a nice hack for us here that you
can do with your gels to use both on race day and in training.
Heather: If you're doing a long-distance race and you need lots of gels, you might struggle
to find enough room in your bento box, and maybe your tri-suit doesn't have pockets at
the back. There is a solution, you can use a water bottle and you can just empty your
gel packets into your bottle, and then, depending on the consistency of the gel, you might need
to add some water just enough so that it can make its way through the top of your bottle.
Mark: Understanding the use of caffeine, shouldn't be underestimated either, either for racing
or for training. Fraser: Now, this is one that is tried and
tested for most of us. Caffeine is well-proven to make us feel more alert in the morning,
but more importantly, it can help by altering our perception of pain by effecting our neuroreceptors
and that effect can help us push harder and faster for longer. Some athletes even decide
to abstain from caffeine for quite a while to give themselves an even bigger hit on race
morning. There is a slight caveat that has to come with this because caffeine does help
encourage us to go to the loo. Just be careful to make sure you know how much you're going
to take. Mark: Do you ever wonder how you can add some
resistance training to your swim workouts without needing any fancy equipment? Well,
Fraser has some smart suggestions here, and Heather also has some nifty methods for storing
your swim equipment. Fraser: Now, there are some specialist bits
of equipment out there that you can use to increase your drag when swimming such as swim
parachutes or bungee cords and the like. The theory behind that is that the drag makes
it harder to swim so that when you pop them off swimming feels that much easier, but you
don't need to splash out on all these fancy bits of equipment. You can just use your own
such as say, a pair of running shorts. They can just go on over the top of your swim kit.
Do make sure you use one with, well, say a drawcord because you can very quickly have
them around your ankles when you push off from the wall. You can also put on an old
pair of running tights over your swim cossie as well. Another trick is to just double up
with another older pair of swimming trunks, or shorts even, that can go over the top of
your cossie or trunks that you're already wearing.
Heather: We have enough kit to wash and dry every day as it is, so the last thing you
want to do is get that dry kit that's in your bag contaminated with a pungent chlorine smell.
Now, I learnt this hack a few years ago. Basically using a swimming cap to keep the rest of your
kit dry. Once you've finished your swim, make sure you've rinsed and squeeze dried your
swimsuit. Then, all you need to do is pop it inside your swimming hat, and that way
it should keep the rest of your kit dry. If you want to be really safe, then wrap it in
a towel to keep it dry from the rest of the kit or pop it in a side pocket out the way.
It saves you getting a towel extra wet, and it also keeps the rest of your kit dry. If
you don't have a swimming hat, I'm aware some people don't swim with caps, then you could
use a specific dry bag or even a plastic bag, put it in there, and then you can easily pop
it inside your bag and the rest of your kit's fine.
Speaker 1: If you need to keep your swim fitness up whilst traveling, well, we have an ingenious
hack here from a pro, which I field-tested too.
Emma Pallant: When we're traveling around the world and you get to a hotel and you're
excited because there's a pool and then it's like 7 meters long. Now, we travel with one
of those like surfboard straps. Mark: Like a leash?
Emma: Yes, a leash. I attach it to something either on the side of the pool or outside
of the pool, or a friend you don't mind falling in holding it, and then strap it to your ankle
and you've got an endless pool. Mark: That's an awesome idea. I've honestly
never come across this before so we've got our leash. I'm going to give it a go, but
I am a little bit skeptical about it maybe disrupting my stroke, but let's get in, give
it a go. [music]
Speaker 1: Okay. That is the surfboard leash tested, and I've got to say, really quite
impressed. It didn't disrupt my swim stroke as much as I expected and as Emma said, if
you are traveling, you're staying at hotels that maybe got a 15-meter pool, you're not
going to get a great swimming session in there. This is a really good option and it's small.
It doesn't take up much space in your suitcase. You could just have one in your suitcase ready
to go at all times. Now, nobody wants to throw away energy or
speed whilst out cycling, so allow me to explain how you can look after and maintain your drive
train and tires to eke out that extra bit of free speed out on the road. It's important
to keep our bikes clean and in good working order. If your bike is filthy and poorly working,
then it's not going to be fast, or at least as fast as it could be. That is my excuse
today. Now, if your chain and anchor set are all clogged up with dirt, then it's not only
going to affect your shifting, it's also going to affect the transmission of power. You need
to make sure you keep on top of cleaning it and keeping it well lubricated.
When you are maintaining that, it's also a really good opportunity to check over your
tires, because these are very important for a couple of reasons. One, it prevents us from
getting punctures. If they are looking worn out or past their best, then it's possibly
worth replacing them because if you do get a puncture, that is going to dramatically
decrease your average speed when you're out on a ride. They also play a very big part
and that is our rolling resistance. Now, there's a lot of new science and studies going into
our tires and rolling resistance but the current train of thought is that having more subtle
tires that deform and flex with the roads slightly better have a lower rolling resistance.
With that, that has brought about this slightly wider, lower pressure. The most popular tires
these days are around 25-mil and rather than pumping them right up to 100 to 110 psi. We're
now looking around the 90 psi region. Heather asked GCN presenter Hank, to explain
how he uses the indoor trainer best to replicate hitting the hills.
Heather: When you're riding indoors, it's really easy to just go on the flat and everything's
the same, but coming to outside, it's very different. How can we start to replicate outdoors
when we're inside, any tips on that? Hank: There are different efforts you can
do on the trainer that can really help you when you do get outside. The things that I
like to work on is those torque efforts. Heather: Can you give us an example?
Hank: Yes, I tend to do like 10 minutes at 300 watts-
Heather: Drop that in there. Hank: -or 15 minutes. [chuckles]
Heather: [chuckles] Hank: Yes, sorry. I kind of do those high
tempo efforts, but with a low cadence. Sitting at around 70 rpm and it's much easier on a
trainer to be specific in the power and the cadence you're sitting out because you don't
have stoplights or ups or downhills or even traffic for that matter.
Heather: What would you do if, say you had a hilly race coming up, and you had to do
all your training indoors, Is there anything you would change with your training for that?
Hank: I would just put in blocks. I would do four efforts - depending on what climbs
I'm doing - if they're 10 minutes long, if they're 20 minutes long, I'd aim to look at
that distance or that time, and then put in two to three at 80%, and that way you're not
going max, but then you're still getting the benefits of doing those prolonged efforts.
Heather: Nice. Mark: As you know, here at GTN, we've been
lucky to hang out with and chat to a number of the pros, and they have been kind enough
to share some of their mistakes with us over the years. Some, I really wouldn't advise,
particularly this one from Andy Potts, Andy Potts: Andy Potts here, I've done a lot
of dumb things to get ready for the races to try to see what works and what doesn't
work. Probably one of the dumbest things I've ever done was I slapped my thighs really hard,
just started banging on them super hard thinking it will enhance blood flow. Well, it seems
sprinters do it before they race and I thought, "Oh, that'd be great for a triathlete." Yes,
not so much. Terrible idea. Literally a minute into my bike ride, both legs seized up, couldn't
pedal my bicycle for 15 minutes. It was awful. Made it through the day, made the right decision
to never do that again. Mark: Well, there's some tips, tricks, and
some hacks for your own personal triathlon training. We hope you have enjoyed today's
video. If you have, hit that thumbs up button, give it a Like, and make sure that you're
following GTN on social media and subscribe to us on YouTube.
[00:11:15] [END OF AUDIO]