Category : woodfit chronicles
Tonight I got drinks with a friend who mentioned a conversation she had with some trainers from a traditional gym. One of them asked her if she planned on CrossFitting while training for a triathlon, and she said yes. Another trainer immediately chimed in with “you shouldn’t do that.” Luckily she’s going to ignore them and continue CrossFitting while tri training.
This year, I’m going to publish my training plan on this blog, just to show them how they’re wrong.
You can mix CrossFit and triathlon training, so long as you do it with some intelligence. I’m not going to go out and kill Fran then bike 56 miles. CrossFit is a general physical preparedness training method. It’s the foundation of my training. You start from there, and add in your sport.
The premise
The general idea behind my training plan is that strength and power = speed. So I’m going to focus my time on getting stronger, measuring that progress, and then applying it out on the road or in the water.
Contrary to CrossFit methodology, however, I am going to employ a periodized training plan. There needs to be some method to the madness; some periods of building and some periods of rest.
Period 1: Get stronger
In the last couple years of races, I’ve found that getting stronger through CrossFit makes me faster and allows my muscles to work more efficiently. So, I’m working on a 9-week Max Effort Black Box plan to increase my strength by practicing various lifts.
During this time, I’m focused almost exclusively on strength building. I mix in shorter CrossFit workouts (in the less than 15 minute time domain). Run a little, nothing big. Toward the end of the 9 weeks, I’m going to get back in the pool and start swimming again.
Period 2: CrossFit Endurance
Period 2 marks the kickoff of my season. This period will be repeated for each race I want to do, with a 6- to 8-week lead up to the race itself. During this time I’m going to follow CrossFit Endurance workouts for swim, bike, and run. Shorter metcon focus here as well. Longer distance work will be mixed in from time to time, although it will be infrequent.
Period 3: There is no period 3
Basically, I’ll just repeat period 2 when I need to. That’s the beauty of staying with a good level of GPP — you can map out a 6 or 8 week training plan for shorter distance races and do well on it. For longer distance races, I’ll need a little more time, maybe 10 or 12 weeks, but the basic premise goes unchanged.
I’ll keep my Dailymile profile updated with my progress.
Today, I completed the 3M Half Marathon in 1:42:25. That’s roughly 1 minute faster than last year’s 3M, and my previous 13.1 PR of 1:43:16. Total turnaround from the catastrophe of San Antonio.
With San Antonio, I knew that I had the physical ability to run the 13.1, but I was completely unprepared both in training, diet, and just simple logistics. How was this race different?
- Training: I hit the track 3 times, over about 4 weeks to work on my pacing and form. I did 2 “long runs,” of 4 and 7.25 miles. I continued to CrossFit, cycle, and stretch regularly.
- Diet: I ate very well for most of January; paleo with some cheat meals. Not as much drinking, maybe one weekend out the whole of January. My transition back to paleo was complete, and I think I’m doing a better job of topping off my glycogen stores.
- Logistics: I set out everything I needed the night before, went on a tune-up run the day before (p.s. thanks to Derrick Williamson at Durata Training for some nutrition tips… turns out I don’t need that gel after all!). I performed my race rituals of solid steak, veggies, some starchy carbs the night before, solid breakfast morning of, and some coffee.
All things said, we were hitting decent paces, feeling good for most of the race. Save for about a minute at the bathroom around mile 9, the race went very well. I think that if I keep up the track workouts and get some quality miles on my feet, I can finally get my 13.1 time down into the 1:30s.
The kettlebell swing
Tomorrow, I am running my first Pure Intense Training session (answers to some frequently asked questions below). We’re going to focus on a benchmark workout to see where everyone’s at (check the picture to see one of the movements involved). These benchmarks can be done over time to gauge improvement; if your diet and training are on track, you should see monthly improvement, given the same benchmark.
12:30 at Pure Austin Town Lake. See you in the PIT!
I’ve posted some questions I’ve gotten about PIT below. If you’ve got more questions, please post them to comments on this entry and I will answer them.
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In one of my previous posts, maybe more than one of them, I mentioned that I’m going to be taking on some additional roles at Pure Austin in 2010. I wanted to spend some time on this post to talk about them.
First up: Pure Intense Training, or The PIT.
The PIT is Pure’s answer to providing an environment where people can do intense workouts in a group setting. We use both indoor and outdoor elements, weightlifting, gymnastics, and monostructural movements to create some workouts that many of our clients have never seen. At the moment, the programming is centered around a few movements every month… so each month, clients will see a focus on a few different movements. That’s not to say that every workout will contain only those movements, but instead they will be used in combination to create different workouts.
We have a number of instructors for PIT classes, at a number of different times. Initially, I’m taking on two PIT classes — Wednesdays at 6:15am, and Sundays and 12:30pm. Those who attend my normal Sunday lineup will notice the time conflict. More on that later.
The PIT is NOT CrossFit
I think it’s important to note that this is not a response from Pure to counter CrossFit. It’s a way for us to allow our athletes to work in a more intense setting with a Trainer, in smaller classes, with the ability to do some movements clients can’t do in the gym. For example, I can program med ball slams into a PIT workout, but we can’t do those in the gym because of the noise it generates.
Sure, there are similarities to CrossFit in the movements. But CrossFit is so inclusive across broad domains that it’s hard not to be considered similar. Pure is not a licensed CrossFit affiliate, so we will not be limiting ourselves to CrossFit-only, or CrossFit purist, programming. However, as a CrossFit certified trainer, I can train clients using CrossFit methods, so you can expect to see some of that when I have the chance.
How is PIT different from X-Factor?
They’re very similar. The difference is that in X-Factor, we’re limited to the movements we can perform because of the venue and the equipment available. At the PIT, we can provide a more rounded experience — there’s a proper pull-up bar, med balls that we can throw around, barbells, etc. Also, look forward to cool stuff that we’re not going to release into the gym for all clients, like tires to flip and sandbags to run with (we already have slosh pipes down there).
The PIT also allows us to up the intensity based on what the group wants to do. In X-Factor, we have vastly different skill and strength levels, which makes it difficult to program and still watch everyone. This increased intensity does not mean that new athletes should not go; quite the opposite. The PIT is a much more controlled environment that allows me to effectively be a personal trainer for a group of people. It’ll be a much different, more intense experience. Still scalable for all levels, but I can pay better attention to everyone.
So, what’s happening with the schedule?
Starting January 3, there are some changes to the 2010 schedule. My cycle schedule remains pretty much the same, although both my Thursday morning and Sunday classes are turning into Core Cycle, meaning there’s a core class right after spin. The PIT classes are the additions, and sadly, X-Factor is being cut in favor of the PIT.
Here’s my schedule:
Quarry Lake
- Pure Cycle: Tuesdays, 6:15 – 7:00pm
- Core Cycle: Thursdays, 6:00 – 7:15am
Town Lake
- PIT: Wednesdays, 6:15-7:15am
- Core Cycle: Sundays, 11:00am – 12:15pm
- PIT: Sundays, 12:30 – 1:30pm
While I’m sad to see X-Factor go, I’m excited to train people in the PIT setting. I really think that attending the PIT classes, combined with proper nutrition, will help clients meet their goals.
See you in the PIT!
Summer’s almost over, and we’re all about to see the articles in our favorite sports magazines about what you have to do during the offseason to get better for next year. Are you kidding me? I already know I suck at swimming and my run needs to be about 30 seconds faster to have a shot at top 3-5 in my age group. What is the magazine going to tell me that I don’t already know? Nothing!
I can tell you what they will say. They will say you need to hit the gym and get stronger. There’s a concept. Here’s the problem:
Bullshit.
You may hit the gym in the offseason, but the moment you need to start training for the season again, you stop the weight training… something about dropping muscle because those big arms and legs aren’t going to make you aero on the bike.
Those big muscles are the ones that propel you… and they don’t have to be huge. (aside: if your legs and arms are growing out of control, check out your diet… I bet you’re eating stuff that promotes packing on muscle… like lots of milk… or maybe that protein shake (again, with more dairy) you get after every workout, I mean, really, do you not get enough protein through your regular diet?)
The notion of an offseason is garbage. Like you’re really going to stop running, biking, swimming, because you need to lift weights. If anything you’ll stop because it’s too damn cold out to bear it. But you’ll replace it with an indoor pool, a treadmill, a spin class, maybe even a rower. You’re still putting on those miles, maybe a few less. But you still neglect to hit the gym… and here’s the kicker.
You’re an athlete that’s not training like one.
Sure, the concept of getting stronger is useful and worthwhile. So is the concept of focusing and improving your skill at a certain sport. But you should be doing all of these things, all the time, anyway. We’re athletes — we’re always trying to get better, we’re always trying to improve our skill. It’s not like the season begins and you’re stuck at that 8-minute mile or 19mph bike split (or whatever gain you made during the offseason). You can always improve!
This “offseason,” try something else… change your perspective…. be always on… train like an athlete. Train like you’re racing at any time. Instead of piling on long miles during the season, cut those miles down into quality miles, executed at high intensity across broad time and modal domains. Doing more of the same crap isn’t going to make you faster, it’s just going to solidify the fact that you can run 10 miles at that 8-minute pace, but damn, you can’t break through!
What about recovery, you say? Take time off as you need to, always listen to your body. But to be honest, you should be actively focused on recovery anyway. Fix your diet! Go find that TriggerPoint kit! Hit the Yoga class you’ve been meaning to! And please, one more time, fix your diet!
Then, you won’t need an offseason.
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