Do you think form should come before base training?
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ChunkyB posted 27 weeks ago.
My vote would be for technique before base, if you don't have any kind of race coming up that you have to schedule for. If you can start early with good technique, then you can save yourself a lot of time trying to break bad habits later.
"The melting point of wax means nothing to me": Thrice
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kylie posted 27 weeks ago.
Personally, I don't train by heart rate. Been there, tried that. No, it didn't work for me, unless by "work for me" you mean almost make me save a lot of money by quitting the sport.
And yes, I find that (expecially swimming) technique is HUGE! If you can, find a coach and break any bad habits before they get ingrained.
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stewarba posted 27 weeks ago.
Kylie is right assuming that you are really only talking about swimming and I say this because you indicate that you come from a running background. Water is 1000 times more dense than air and therfore any help you can get on technique will pay off a lot.
Pain is the sensation of weakness leaving the body!
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cjhoffmn posted 27 weeks ago.
I vote for technique first without being slave to HR zones. HR zones have some very useful functions, but they are dependent on technique, not the other way around. Getting the technique right first will make a lot of difference.
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Jesse_D posted 27 weeks ago.
Thanks for the advice. I do appreciate it.
I was referring to technical training in all three (swim, bike and the run). Even with the run it is difficult for me to work on drills and lengthening stride at 180 cadence, etc. while trying to keep a 140 - 145 BPM.
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gfd posted 27 weeks ago.
I used my first year of triathlon as a practice run. I worked on technique and focused on completing each of the races I entered and used the times as a baseline for improvement into my second year. My goal for my 2nd season involved racing to my potential and finishing an IM. I did train in the base period over the winter and shared many of the frustrations that are common with it. I did find the results to be worth it though. Go with the technique focus this year and have fun while you are doing it. Then you can refine your goals and what type of scientific training you want to add for your second season.
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stewarba posted 27 weeks ago.
To me, technique is by far most important in swimming. I recently read something that indicated that in running the goal is to be the most effecient, but that there is no way to determine what is the most effecient running technique given that everyone is different. Interestingly enough,
I have been doing HR training this year for the first time and when I started I had a hard time running at a 10 min mile pace in a zone of 140-144 (my target base period zone). After my warm-up, my HR would shoot up into the 165-170 range with what I know (my percieved effort) wasn't that taxing on my body. I felt like I was walking more than running, but after about three weeks sticking with the mantra it all started to shift in that I was running more than walking in my target zone. Today I have to really be humping to get my HR above 150 and my pace is at a comfortable 7:40 - 8:00 min pace while keeping the HR in the target 140-144. I would like to see it get lower, but I'm pleased with where it has gone in 3 months. This past weekend a friend and I went running. He is about 10 years younger and recently ran college track, but after doing a one mile incline at 4% at 7:30 pace, my HR was at 146 and his was 185. Its not that he couldn't keep up, but I would think that his body isn't being as effecient covering the same distance as me.
So for me, I feel like my running (and biking) effeciency has improved based on following a HR plan. I know there are others out there that would rather lean on percieved effort which I think is something that comes more from experience. I use the HRM to translate what is going on under the hood with my percieved effort with the hope that some day in the near future, I can forgo the HR strap.
Pain is the sensation of weakness leaving the body!
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kylie posted 27 weeks ago.
My understanding of most running or biking drills are they are often done a bit outside of the "main set", and that the "main set" is where the HR is often used. But as I don't often do drills on either of those, and don't train by heart rate, I might have not really listened to what was being said :)
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RV posted 27 weeks ago.
For the Swim - requires lots of dedicated time for drills. It is the most technique dependent.
For the Run - I agree with Kylie - form work is done outside of the main set. Typically I will do sets of strides and focus on different aspects of my form for each set. Another thing to do is to count your cadence - or use the cadence monitor if you have a Garmin 305 - for a minute during a run to make sure that your turn-over rates are good.
For the Bike - Some single leg drills can help - basically all you really need is to ensure that you are applying force through the power portion of the stroke and unweighting the pedal (not pulling up) on the upstroke. Working on cadence here is important as well. Think there is another thread going on right now regarding finding your pedal cadence.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
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Leroy Bonkers posted 27 weeks ago.
I wouldn't worry about that low heart rate unless you are training specifically for an IM.
At everything shorter you've got to "go hard" a lot of the time. Particularly in a sprint of Oly, you're never going to see that low heart rate while racing... so why practice it a great deal in training. Better to learn to push yourself at high speeds. Once you can complete the distance, completing it again and again at a slow pace won't make you any faster.
(Offer does not apply to strange aquatic sports like swimming... water is dense... etc.)
I am new to TriFuel. I come from a running background and now knee deep into triathlon training for the first time (for the last 8 weeks). I am analytical by nature so I like to delve deep into studies and evaluate data for anything I do. I have spent endless hours of researching the ins and outs of nutrition, technique for each sport, types of training, and just about every aspect of the sport I can get my hands on. One of the important aspects of Tri training is the base period - staying with the aerobic HR for a period of time, say 12 weeks, before adding on sprints and more rigorous training.
My question is with all that I am learning about technique in each of the sports I am finding it really difficult to focus on keeping my HR in an aerobic zone. Might it be more prudent for me to focus on the technique of the sport to get a good technical base and only then work in my base training? I do understand that I'll always be working on the technical aspects of swimming, biking and running, but there is a difference between fine tuning and getting the basics down.
I don't want to give the impression that I am really poor at each of the sports and that I can barely swim or bike. I can fairly comfortably ride at 20 mph, run 7 - 8 min miles, and swimming, well swimming I am still working on :) But, I still feel that maybe some coaching first might work better for me than to focus on base training. Any advice is welcomed. Thanks!