Training - TriDot

TriDot’s Preseason Project 2020: Improved Times, Inspired Testimonials

The best time to get faster and stronger isn’t in the middle of a grueling triathlon season when you’re constantly racing and recovering; but when you can invest quality time and focus on your training. That’s what the Preseason Project (PSP) is all about. And TriDot has been perfecting it since 2011. PSP is an annual, season-long triathlon study designed to measure and improve training efficiency, measuring the incremental performance gains achieved through TriDot's triathlon training optimization. With 13,000+ participants in every half and full Ironman event in the U.S. and Canada, actual training and race data is used to determine triathlon race ability improvement between athletes who used TriDot and those who didn't (the "baseline"). The project derives its…

Preseason Project

John Mayfield

Preseason Training: The Optimal Time for Performance Enhancement

Training in the race season is largely dictated by the logistics and demands of an athlete’s upcoming races, but the preseason presents several opportunities for significant improvement and great results in the race season to come. When athletes are not required to train specifically for their next race, they are able to make measurable gains and address areas of weakness and opportunity. So while many athletes are “taking some time off” before the next race season, others are making substantial advancements in their technique and performance level that will give them a competitive edge. Consider these five areas for possible progress: “Fast before far, strong before long” This principle describes one of TriDot’s core training and preseason objectives—maximizing an athlete’s…

Preseason / Training

Kathy Hudson

The Importance of Strength Training During Off Season

During off season one of our top priorities should be to increase muscular strength. Incorporating strength training will improve your performance in all three disciplines, improve recovery, and reduce the frequency and severity of injuries. Strength training sessions will look different during off season. You can push your body a little harder. For example, I would have an athlete doing some plyometrics (if they are ready for that). In addition, add more strength building (heavier weights) with less reps exercises. This builds strength and muscle mass. The more muscle we have the more mitochondria we have. Mitochondria aids in oxygenating our muscles and that’s a good thing. When an athlete is off season, their volume is lower which allows them…

Training

Jared Milam

TriDot 101 – What is my Triathlon Training Stress Profile (TSP) and Why Should I Care?

Triathlon is stressful—literally. And for good reason. After all, stress is the point of good triathlon training. This is because we induce stress so as to incur a positive result later. However, to be a positive result, your body must be capable of absorbing the training in a beneficial way. The explicit capability of handling stress isn’t something a lot of triathletes consider. But think about it. Let’s say this is your first year in triathlon and you’re new to running and your coach sets you up with a workout that has you doing 50% of the total duration at threshold pace (once all of the interval durations are summed). How much of that stress do you really think is…

Triathlon Training

Jared Milam

What's the Perfect Triathlon Racing Weight?

Throughout my years in triathlon I’ve heard a lot of athletes ask about a particular physiological subject of which I’ve never placed much stock in myself. A simple topic that we as a nation are obsessed with: body weight. Macca’s Story The general consensus among endurance athletes, many of which are triathletes, is that “the lighter I am, the faster I will go.” Chris McCormack (affectionately known at Macca) directly challenged this line of thinking in an article for Triathlete from June 2015. Chris began by noting, “I’d say 99 percent of people I talk to in this sport believe weight’s relationship to performance is as simple as ‘less is better.’ This is a half-truth – the weight puzzle…

Body Weight / Race Strategy / Training

Jared Milam

How to Train for a Triathlon During an Injury

If you’re a triathlete and you’ve never been injured – congratulations on being in the minority. For the rest of us, however, we’ve been down this frustrating path before. The worst situation to be in, of course, is waist deep in triathlon training for a very expensive race and that nagging injury-groundhog rears his head up to announce six more weeks of depression. You can crawl back down your hole and wallow in self-pity – or you can fight back. While this isn’t the rule of certainty, it often times is possible to train through an injury and still arrive on the other side ready for your triathlon. Here’s how: 1. Identify the Injury Triathlon training injuries come in…

Triathlon Training

Jared Milam

5 Steps to Your Most Effective Triathlon Taper

My non-athletic roommate in college once claimed quite proudly, “Yeah, I’d go on a run with you, but I’m still tapering. It’s been a 10-year taper so I’m gonna be super-fast once it’s over.” Sadly I don’t think he understood the science nor the art of what tapering really is. Unfortunately, many triathletes are in a similar boat. We’re often guilty of equating tapering simply to the word “rest.” But rest can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. For some, tapering is quitting training altogether before their A race (not smart). For others, it’s training at a consistent volume but going easy for every workout. For others still, it’s perhaps a guess, like skipping every…

Triathlon Training

Jared Milam

Does Strength Training Affect Triathlon Running Mechanics?

I’ve been running for over half my life. That means two things. One: I’ve been logging miles for over 16 years. Two: I’m getting old. In my early, naïve days, I did a lot of strength training. It wasn’t the right kind of strength training for running, but it was strength training nonetheless. The question is, did the improved strength affect my running mechanics? The answer is “yes” and “no.” Hold the phone. “Yes” and “no”? How could it be both? Here’s why: My running mechanics at the time were… not great. I wasn’t altogether inefficient, but I wasn’t exactly a Kenyan either. The thing about good running form is that it doesn’t just happen by being stronger. Good running…

Triathlon / Triathlon Training

Jared Milam

How to Avoid Bonking in Your Triathlon Training

If you’re new to triathlon you may have heard the term recently, saw it satirically written on a fellow triathlete’s t-shirt, or even ate a “Bonk Breaker” chew, but do you know what the word actually means? The noun/verb “bonk” is simple. It is a reference to the physiological state your body reaches when all glycogen stores have been depleted and not enough new glycogen has been restored. In other words, you’re out of gas. You’ve hit the wall. Train for triathlon long enough and this will happen to you. We all do it at some point or another. Bonking is almost like an undesired rite of passage that every triathlete in training must go through. But, of course, we…

Triathlon Training

Jared Milam

5 Goal-Setting Tips for Triathletes

A shot in the dark gets you one of two things: Either a very happy-to-be-alive deer or a very upset neighbor with a newly flattened truck tire. You need a light to shine the way. In triathlon, that light is a goal. A finish line you can run toward. Triathlon goals are different for every triathlete. For some it’s beating their PR. For others it’s placing top 5 in their age group. Maybe you want to qualify for Kona. Or maybe you just want to finish your first triathlon. The goal-setting possibilities are endless! But if you have yet to set a goal or are having trouble deciding what it should be, consider these five tips for triathletes to ensure…

Training / Triathlon

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