Racing your strengths while training your weaknesses works
Each race has characteristics that are better suited for a certain type of athlete
. That's something important to keep in mind when planning your race season.
Performing well in a race always brings a personal satisfaction. You see all the dedication is paying off and you get excited to keep up with the hard work, which eventually (after YEARS of consistent training) brings you to your fullest potential as an athlete. At the same time, when a race does not go as planned you feel frustration when you don't understand why the event did not go according to plan, particularly as you have been so dedicated and disciplined with your training.
What many athletes do not realize is that each race has characteristics that are better suited for a certain type of athlete. A typical example is a hilly bike course, which generates an advantage for athletes with a greater ratio of power to weight (i.e. light and relatively strong athletes) and for those athletes with highly developed downhill skills. An athlete who meets these two criteria will have a great advantage over an athlete without any background in hill climbing/descending. In extreme cases, take for example the Ironman France bike course, this difference can range from 20 to 40 minutes, because these two factors alone, assuming fitness levels of these two athletes are the same.
Let's use these same two athletes as examples and change the route to a mainly flat bike course without too many technical sections, such as the Ironman Florida bike course. Now it is likely that the heavier athlete will perform better. That's because, when tucked into an aerodynamic position, most of the muscle mass of the athlete is not exposed to wind, so the aerodynamic drag of the heavy athlete is only a small fraction higher than the same drag of the lightest athlete, but the difference in power generated by them is very large, with a significant advantage for the heavier athlete.
But what does this have to do with defining a strategy to pick your race calendar?
When choosing the important races of the year, pick those that are better suited to your profile and where you have a higher chance of great success. Consider factors such as wetsuit swimming, sea or lake, windy bike course, hills on the bike and run, drafting legal or not, weather conditions and race distance.
Once you have set your calendar with those events, it is time to do the opposite: pick races that do NOT suit you, those that will take you out of your comfort zone and force you to work on your weaknesses. Not only you will become a better overall athlete, but eventually you will be forced to race on a course or in an event that you may not have chosen otherwise, such as nationals or world championships. With experience on different courses, you will minimize your disadvantage in relation to other athletes that are more suited to those conditions.
This approach also applies to training. It is one of the important reasons for working with a coach: you need someone who can identify what is best for you. That's often opposite to what happens with self-coached athletes, who generally prefer to train as they like, not as they need.
It is very common to hear comments from athletes who say their performances are much better at long workouts in low intensity (and long distance races) than in short course races or high intensity workouts. Then if they are asked how often they do high intensity training, the answer is "almost never" because every workout is done in a slow and continuous pace. So it's not surprising that there is a big difference in performance. In this case the good news is that it is easy to identify where the athlete has much room for improvement.
Think about it the next time you feel a little intimidated to take part in a cycling race or, if you are a short course athlete, don't be afraid to race a half Ironman. And vice versa, Ironman athletes usually avoid short races at all costs but they will only develop skills and physical abilities that will generate benefits in their main event.
Enjoy your training!
Racing your strengths while training your weaknesses works
By: Vinnie Santana
Throw your training diet out the window Fitness Training - The Right And Wrong Way To Do It Choose To Do A Php Training Course For A Better Web Development Career Hypnoiss Training For Smoking 000-378 training 000-730 training Get Shock Collars For A Shorter Training Period With Best Results 000-443 Training Tools Hints To Seek Expert Training For Any Kind Of Security Operation Cross-training Ideas For Runners About P90x Training Ideas. Let Personal Training Albert Park Fight Obesity Cross-training Ideas For Cyclists