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Blogging is like Training – to be good you need consistency

In General Triathlon, Simon Ward, Training of TTC (July 1, 2010 1:00 pm)

Having a good blog that attracts regular interest from eager readers is a bit like training for triathlon. In order to be successful at both, a key ingredient is consistency.

While I have managed an element of consistency in my training recently, sadly the same cannot be said for my blog. I was horrified to see that my last posting was way back in April, when the summer (and my big race of the year) seemed a long way off.

Now summer is here and the race is only 6 weeks away. In my next blog I’ll bring you up-to-date on progress in training and news of the big race we have entered for 2011.
In the meantime I wanted to reflect on a training session I attended recently. It was hosted by Olympic physiotherapist Alison Rose and was entirely devoted to running drills.

The outcome goal was for athletes to understand the benefits of this type of training and how these simple drills can be integrated into warms ups. The benefit is not just the immediate running session but the long term running technique and therefore overall performance.

I’m already a convert to running drills and their effect on running performance. I’ve been doing them myself for years (although I confess, not on a consistently regular basis) and more recently including them in all the running sessions I prescribe for my athletes. Here are my observations from the session;

1. There were obviously plenty of people interested in learning more as the attendance was 20% higher than for the normal Thursday night track session

2. Despite being highly (aerobically) conditioned, probably 90% of the individuals had poor coordination and balance, including the fittest athletes in the group

3. It seemed that females were generally better than the guys. Perhaps they had more patience to stick with the drills whereas the guys were rushing the exercise

4. Despite this everyone had FUN – a key element in exercise adherence

5. The drills were good to use as a specific warm up, rather than just running and chatting, as well as having benefits for technique

6. There was a large element of core strength and stability required for many of the drills, which also seemed to be lacking in some athletes

7. I’d be interested to survey the group in 12 months time to find out how many had actually practiced the drills on a regular basis (1-2 times per week) and what impact they had on overall running performance

All drills (swim, bike and run) will have a specific benefit for their sport if performed on a regular basis (just ask Johnny & Alistair Brownlee – they’ve been working with Alison Rose and her team now for the last 2 years!). Many athletes, however, seem to want to spend their time time doing as much swimming, biking and running as possible. They see strength/conditioning work (including core & stretching) and drills as enemies, that reduce their aerobic development time.
On the contrary, I believe that becoming a more efficient athlete with better technique and control is a much smarter way to train.

If you think like me then you might be interested in our new website – www.TriathlonPB.com – where you will find many articles, sessions, drills designed to help you set new Triathlon PB’s the smart way.

Train smarter, race faster!

Simon

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