My approach to swim training is somewhat unique. I don’t come from a swim background. I come from a running and cycling background. As such, I have come to several conclusions with regard to swim training for triathlon.

The first is that not all Masters swim programs are created equally. Many are not geared toward a triathlete who is seeking to improve their front crawl. The programs of which I speak are those that give equal training to the other strokes such as back, breast and butterfly. I am in no way suggesting that these are bad programs. My concern is that a triathlete with limited time needs to concentrate on the stroke they will be using in races. There is certainly a benefit to learning other strokes and swim techniques to improve overall swim ability, but I recommend choosing a program that is geared heavily toward front crawl. In the Vancouver, BC area, fortunately there are some great options geared toward triathletes.

Technique is important in the swim, especially since water is more difficult to force yourself through with poor technique. Technique is also important in cycling and running, but is often less emphasized since air is more forgiving of our attempts to force ourselves through it (more on that in a future post). Since we hear these assertions on technique so often, it is tempting to swim drills at every swim session, while omitting or limiting continuous swims and interval sets. I believe in committing time to technique-only sessions and then applying those learned techniques in continuous swims and interval sets. This gives the mind some variety and a break from heavy thinking about swimming. Sometimes, an athlete deserves to “just swim” and feel the joy of being in the water.

This leads me to another point which is swimming interval sets. I will often schedule a session with warm up, cool down and a simple set of X number of sets of X reps with a prescribed rest in between. No drills, just warm up, swim strong, cool down. I find these sessions give the athlete more focus on the intensity because there are no drills in the session to think about. I make sure that the athlete includes drills in another session, but not during this one.

Continuous swims are as important as the long bike and the long run. You will be swimming continuously on race day, so practicing nonstop swimming make sense. This is especially true when the weather allows for group open water swimming.

The final consideration in swim training is how much time to commit to swimming in your overall plan. The swim portion of a triathlon is the smallest percentage of time of the three sports. For longer races, it represents 15% of the time spent racing. Should you swim 15% of your total training time? Probably not, but neither should you spend 50% of your time swimming (unless you have a lot of extra time). I recommend 20-25% of training time be dedicated to swimming, depending on the season. In the off-season I like to do some swimming focus weeks so the bike and run will drop in volume in favour of swimming.

In a nutshell, I believe a balanced approach to swimming with your overall triathlon goals in mind yields the best results in the water and on the bike and run.

We all strive to be happy and satisfied. Happy with our daily activities, happy with our health, satisfied with our efforts personally and professionally and as athletes, satisfied with our results. As athletes, there is much we can do to help ourselves to that happiness and satisfaction, by managing expectations.

First, there are the expectations others have of us. There are many demands that life brings us, some that we have no choice but to accept. These are the highest priority items such as getting the kids to school, paying the bills, getting to work on time. etc. However, there are also those expectations that others place on us that may or may not be high priorities. Some of us (we know who we are) always seem to say yes to added responsibility. It would benefit us all to make a list of our priorities and how much time they take. Then when someone asks us to do something for them, we know if we have the time and can learn to say no. In my mind, even if someone drops a responsibility on my lap without asking, I still reserve the right to say no. Often, I am happy to take on something extra, but I always have a choice and for me, that is important.

In athletics, you have those same choices and it isn’t like getting the workouts and racing done is separate from your other responsibilities. Add the workouts to the list and see how they fit into the scheme of your life. Maybe you can do more training…maybe you should do less. It may cause you to move your training to days it works better. It is about your overall expectations of yourself. If you want to train effectively, you need to be reasonable with yourself and the time you have available.

Race results are cruel. I have long thought they ought to have a comments section so you can tell the world a little about what may have affected how you finished. The truth is that you know what your priorities were in your training and what may have affected those outcomes and that is all that should matter. Easier said than done, I realize, but you will be a much more memorable athlete for balancing your priorities and having realistic expectations than you will for great race results alone. If you can achieve a balance and have both, fantastic! If not, it is still fantastic!

Set out to do the best you can with an honest effort. Expect no less and no more.

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A subject that has been on my mind a lot lately is unplanned time off from training.

I have personally had a few injuries, illnesses and unplanned events, minor and major, that have interrupted my training and racing. Because I also coach quite a few people, I see that others have similar unplanned events that take them away from their sport.

This is my take on how to successfully get through a layoff and also how to adjust your viewpoint while you are at it. The steps for me are: Establish an action plan, find what you CAN do, pursue other interests, find perspective and appreciate what you DO have.

First and foremost, what can you do to make whatever is wrong better? Do you need physio, a doctor or other professional? Do not delay getting the professional help you need. Get an action plan in order as soon as you can. Of course, you may have no other plan besides waiting and seeing, but it still pays to consult experts.

Second, with the advice of the experts in mind, get to what you CAN do as quickly as possible. If you are fortunate, you may be able to continue with a modified training program. It is also possible that you will need to fill the usual training time with other things, which leads to my third point.

Take the time you wouldn’t otherwise have to pursue your other hobbies. Read or watch movies more, whatever you personally find rewarding.

Fourth, find perspective. It isn’t the end of the world! I have said many times that these things are not roadblocks, but rather speed bumps. Try to treat this time as an opportunity to broaden your horizons. Initially you may be quite angry and that is just fine. Wallowing for too long, however, isn’t going to help in the long run.

Finally, appreciate what this time off has given you. Do you truly miss your sport? You now have a keen awareness of just how much you love training and that’s a good thing. It is akin to a loved one being away for some people and as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I personally would not know how much I love triathlon were it not for the times I couldn’t do it. I also have a passion for many other things that i never want to lose touch with. I put my family first in all that I do. These priorities came to me most clearly when I was forced to stop the routine and think about why I do what I do.

You wouldn’t leave on a road trip without filling the gas tank in your car, would you? If a plane bound for your holiday destination neglected to fuel up before takeoff, the result would be even worse.

When you prepare for your workouts, filling the tank is just as important. Far too often, I hear of athletes “bonking” during workouts and I will be the first to admit that occasionally I have been guilty too. Even if you don’t get to the stage of feeling light-headed, you may still suffer diminished performance from starting out with less than adequate energy stores.

I recommend that you learn how to calculate the calories required for your planned workout ahead of time. There are several online calculators. Use one that takes your age, gender and weight into consideration. Several watches will also calculate caloric burn during a workout.

You also want to get to know your Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR, which is the number of calories you burn each day when not working out. Again, there are many online calculators for this. If you divide this by 24, you will have a ballpark figure for your hourly requirements, which is important in what I am discussing next.

For your workout, calculate the total caloric requirement and add it to your BMR. Subtract the hourly BMR calories based on the length of the workout. The reason for that is that during the workout you are exercising INSTEAD of resting. This becomes more important during sessions that last for several hours. Once you have added all this up, you know how many total calories you need that day.

Some calories will be consumed during the workout, but likely not as many as you are burning, so you would want to have those calories in your system prior to the workout. The practical considerations of this are that you may need to top up the day before an early workout. You may need to have an early light dinner before an evening workout.

The best type of extra calories for workouts are carbohydrates. Fat and Protein are too difficult to digest while exerting yourself. Your overall diet needs to be balanced and have a variety of fat, protein and carbohydrates, but for exercise fuel, carbohydrates are what you need.

Finally, my brief thoughts on fueling while on a weight loss plan. While it is understandable that you may be limiting caloric intake to shed a few pounds, you don’t want to over-limit that intake to the point of losing too much too quickly. Most experts recommend no more that 2 pounds of weight loss per week. Either way, high weight loss diets should be medically supervised. Within any restricted calorie diet, when you add calories is still very important. It is a good idea to completely top-up your fuel stores (no caloric deficit) before long workouts and also before high exertion workouts. If you need to limit intake, do so when light activity or rest are planned so you don’t “run out of gas.”

By starting each workout with a full tank of energy, you will get the most out of every training session.