Podcast - Master Your Domain

We're on our way to the big Galveston race against Lance!  Here's the link to the show and we'll get more up here shortly!

Zones, Carbs, and "The Blower"

 

Zones are on a scale of 1 to 5.  If you know your LT, there are online calculators that can tell you your zones.  Zone 1 is recovery and just barely moving forward, (but feels good!), Zone 2 is faster than that, but slower than when you start huffing a little for breath, Zone 3 is huffing for air but not really straining, Zone 4 is straining, Zone 5 is sprinting for your life.

 

The huffing for air in Zone 3 is interesting.  What's happening there is your body has outreached its potential to convert potential energy (fat and some carbs) into motion on its own without outside help.  The huffing for air is like a race car turning on it's blower to fan the flames to make them hotter.  When you do that, you're now turning on the carb turbo-burner and eventually going to overheat the system and wreck it in the long term for short term gains if you leave the blower on too long.

 

The blower effect aids in the burning of carbs.  It gives the body extra oxygen which helps burn carbs in a chemical reaction, like fanning a fire to make the flames hotter and higher.  It also feels really good - and that's the trap.  That chemical reaction releases endorphins, which makes you want to do it more.  Average athletes train in this zone all the time because it feels so good.  But then they burn through their carbs and also over-work their bodies so they never get the chance to recover enough to make any real improvements.  What works best is to do lots of Zone 1 and 2 to work on form and base fitness through volume, then small doses of zones 3-5 to stress the body just enough to make it grow back stronger when resting or just doing zone 1.

 

The big takeaway?  When you're huffing at all, you've got your blower on and just turned up the heat and are burning through carbs like crazy.  It feels good and fast, so your perspective on what is going on gets skewed and you think that it's fine and want to spend more time in that zone than you should.  As Admirial Akbar says, "It's a trap!"  Besides, you're burning around 600 calories per hour in zone 3 and you can only digest 200-400, so you have limited fuel for this kind of behavior.  You eventually bonk, and then the body starts eating muscle for fuel and that REALLY hurts and takes weeks to recover from.  Not smart.

 

If you are supposed to be out on a recovery or Zone 2 run and you start huffing for air, don't fall into the trap. That's why Zone 2 is also known as "conversational pace."  You can't talk when having to interrupt yourself to huff for air.

 

Stay safe and keep the rubber side down.

Brett Blankner is a USAT Certified triathlon coach that specializes in making you faster and stronger through D3 Multisport.

Podcast - Running Faster Off the Bike with Higher Cadence

Click HERE to listen to the show!

This episode of the ZenTri Podcast has Mike Ricci telling me how to run faster off the bike - by using higher cadence.  Listen in and find out how using faster RPMs on the bike reduces fatigue so you can hit that run split that you've always wanted!

We also talk about how to stay motivated when you have to train indoors or not train at all.  Learn from us how to make your workouts more fun.

As usual, the show is wrapped up with a full hour of my own training tips as I take you with me on my workouts.  I talk about nutrition, pacing, gear, and much more.  Listen in and enjoy!

Click here to listen to the show or download!

Podcast - Getting Lanced

Click Here to Listen to the Show! 

Join D3 head coach Mike Ricci and I as we talk about how Lance Armstrong will influence the sport of triathlon, how to go from base season to build, and also what tricks you can use to stay motivated when training indoors.

After that, we have a full hour of The Training Log, where I give you tips and tricks on how to train at the Ironman level.

And don't forget, I can make you faster, too!  I now coach with D3 Multisport!  So send me an email at Zentriathlon at gmail.com and let's get started.  

Click here to listen!

Using Speedwork and Energy Levels to Know When to Take Time Off

If you could know when it is time to take a break from training so that you can recover and come back even faster, that would sure be nice, right?  Well, there are two sure-fire ways to do it.

First, make sure that your training has some speedwork mixed in.  I'm talking about 15 minutes of ramping up and then going as fast as you can, about every few days.  It is a similar effort to negative splitting a 5k run race.  Do this for a few weeks and you will suddenly notice that you cannot even come close to the speeds or efforts that you were originally capable of.  Bam - that's your sign.  Take off a few days.

Second, your view on training will shed light on how you are doing.  As you wear yourself down over a few weeks, you'll begin to feel like your training load is like a truck on your chest - like it's on top of you instead you on top of it.  When you are no longer happy at the controls and instead the workouts are bullying you around the room like an 800 lb. gorilla, it's time to take off.

So when do you come back?  After a while (could be a couple of days to a week or more), you'll be going crazy to work out.  When you're bursting at the seams to start training again with an abundance of positive energy and strength, that's a great sign.  Now, wait just a little bit more.  Now, that's the right amount.

What do you do with your spare time when resting?  Work on your bike!  It could use a nice bath and a once-over to see if it needs any work done.

Enjoy!