2019-06-01_220_Triathlon

June 2019 / / 101

ASK

220

THIS MONTH’S COACHING PANEL

COACHING Q&A

FRUITVSVEG

q

Howdofruitandvegdifferandisone

betterthanthe other for triathletes?

KateJohnson

a

Fruitsarefoundinthefloweringpartof

a plant,whereasvegetablesarefromthe

restoftheplant.Nutritionallythey’revery

similar;bothprovidea greatsourceoffibre

(manyofwhichareprebiotic– meaning

they’regreatfoodforgoodgutbacteria),

vitamins,mineralsandothercompounds

greatforhealth,likeantioxidants.Bothcan

begoodoptionsforhydrationtoo,asthey

havea highwatercontent.

Themaindifferencenutritionallyis inthe

amountofsugar;asexpectedfruitsoften

havehigheramountsofsimplesugarswhich

meanstheymaybemoreusefulwhen

needinga quickreleaseofenergy.

However,it dependsonthetypeoffruit

• onecupofblueberriesforexample
  containsaround15gofsugar,versusonecup
  ofmangowhichcanhavearound25g.Dried
  fruitalsohasmoresugarthanfresh,sois a
  greatrefueloptionduringexercise.The
  bottomlineis thata varietyofbothis going
  toensureyougeta widearrayofnutrients,
  whichwillsupportyourbodyinenergy-
  provision,recovery and general health.
  SophieHeath

BREASTSTROKEINIM

q

CanI dobreaststrokeinanIronman

• if so,whatshouldI do?Neil Clarke

a

Youcanabsolutelydobreaststrokeinan

Ironman!Theonlystrokethatyoucan’t

doinanysortoftriathlonis backstroke– for

tworeasons;firstly,becauseyoucan’tsee

whereyou’regoing,andsecondly,because

it’srollingonyourbackthatsignifiesyou

maybeindangeroratleaststruggling.

Breaststrokeis a naturalfall-backstrokefor

lesscomfortableswimmersbecauseyoucan

see where you’re going reasonably

BREAKITDOWN
OnthebikeI usea powermeter.Meandmycoach
normallybreakthe180kmbikelegdowninto
segments.ForIronmanSouthAfricathisyear,it was
thefirst50kmtotheturnaroundthenthenext20km
witha killerheadwind,beforetheuphillwitha
headwindthenthedownhillbacktothestartoflap
two.Andthenrepeat.(Unfortunately,atabout135km,I
hada mechanicalthatcouldn’tbefixed;guttedisan
understatementbutthat’sanotherstory!)I alsohave
tokeepaneyeontheothermainplayerswhoarewith
meorI canseeatanyU-turns.Luckily,I wasbelowall
myplannedpowers,soinsteadofbeinganearly-race
heroandsittingonthefrontintotheheadwindor
tryingtodropeveryone,I wasmorethanhappyto save
upsomeofmyenergyforthe marathon run.

HYDRATIONFOCUS
Alsoaimtofocusonhydration,fuellingandlooking
afteryourbody.Stretchyourbackoutandgiveyour
legsa good,oldshakeoutonthefastdownhills,aswell
asthinkingaboutbeingasaeroaspossibleonthefaster
sectionsofthecoursetotryand save even more energy.

UTILISETHEWEATHER
Onceontherun,youcanreallyusethewindtoyour
advantage(iftheweatherconditionsallowyoutodo
this),gettingyourspeeduponthetailwindsections
andkeepingyourcadenceupintotheheadwinds.If
anyoneisaroundyouatthesametime,tryandtakea
littlebitofshelterordropbehind them before you hit
theheadwindsection.

HAVEAPACINGPLANB
I usecurrentheartrateandaveragepaceper/kmfor
therun.But,asI’malsoracingforthewininthelast
10-12km,I havetomakedecisionsthatmightnotbe
100%toplan.Yetthat’sracingand,withallmy
experienceofbeinganoldracingdog(!),I canhavethe
upperhand.Soalways have a pacing plan B if things
don’tgotoplan.

LISTENTOYOURBODY
Thegoldenruleistolistentoyourbody.Sometimesit
justfeelsgreatand,well,sometimesit’stellingyouto
slowdownandit feelsawful.Sohaveconfidencein
yourraceplanandpacinggoals.Reallybelievethat,
throughallyourtrainingandhardwork,youcangoout
andtryandexecutethebestrace-dayperformanceyou
haveinyou.Andrememberthatpowerand speed are
nothingwithoutcontrol.Goodluck!

NeedsomeadvicefromTheDon?Sendan
email to [email protected]

QUICK-FIRE

Smallgainsstill

meanseconds

offyourPB...

Whichmusclesdoes

rowinguseandhow

doesthathelpyour

swimming?

Rowingworksnine

majormusclegroups,

includingthe

hamstrings,glutes,

quads,core,lats,

back,shoulders,

tricepsandbiceps,

soyou’llbe

improvingupper-

bodyandcore

strengthaswellas

increasingtherange

ofmotioninthe

shouldersandback.

Butit’sactuallymore

beneficialforyour

bikelegasit’s

explosivelegpower

thatcomesintoplay

duringthedrive

phase of rowing.

Howoftenshould

I befuelling?

Generallywhen

trainingorracing,

youshouldlookto

berefuellingevery

20-30minsafterthe

firsthour.Youshould

beconsuming

60-90gof

carbohydratesper

hour,thiscanbewith

energybarsorgels,

anddon’tforgetto

carryanelectrolyte/

carbdrinktoavoid

dehydration.

NICKBEER

Muscleaches

Nick’sa sportsinjuryrehab

specialistanddevelopmentcoach.

A formerelitetriathlete,Nicknow

specialises in S&C work.

SOPHIEHEATH

Fruitvsveg

Sophieis a registerednutritionist

witha mastersin sport& exercise

nutrition,anda brandandaccount

manager for Go Faster Food Ltd.

SCOTTFINDLAY

Early-morningruninjuries

Sports-sciencegraduateScottis

alsoa tricoachwiththeHartree

JETSandhascompetedforTeam

GB at the European Champs.

JOHNWOOD

BreaststrokeinIM

Anaward-winningtriathlon

coachof 10 years,

Johnis alsoa former

international swimmer.