The toughest part of training for a triathlon is finding the time to master each discipline.

With swimming, biking and running each requiring a fairly sizable time commitment every week, especially when training for the longer distance events, there is not a whole lot of time left over for anything else.

Even if there was additional time at your disposal, having already set aside anywhere from 8 to 24 hours of training for the week to your training, the question is whether you would actually want to add another hour of activity in your program.

When it comes to resistance training, the benefits are certainly clear, and for a pretty small time investment, you stand to receive a number of benefits.

I accept that to be able to complete and Iron distance race (or any endurance event for that matter), the primary focus of your training has got to be swimming, biking and running. No amount of core work and joint stabilization exercises will provide the fitness required to successfully complete the event.

However, a small amount of resistance training, an hour or 2 each week, has the potential to have a significant impact on your bodies resilience to injury, increasing your ability to perform thousands of swim strokes, pedal strokes and leg turn overs, efficiently and economically, and provide the mind with a change of pace and scenery.

So as we move deeper into race season, and the body begins to feel the effects of the hours and hours of S-B-R training, our first impulse is to cut the "non-essential activities" from the program.

And so the resistance training falls by the way side. Forgotten, perhaps until the fall or winter, when the weather begins to turn.

Sure we can all get away without performing resistance training, and most of us do. But as soon as we feel that niggle creep into the knee or shoulder, perhaps a full blown injury develops, or our body just does not cope with the rigors of the racing as well as we might have liked, the first words we utter are,"I need to get stronger".

Becoming stronger, becoming more resilient does not necessarily require more running, cycling or swim training. On the contrary, it might actually require a little less!

It does however require you to look at what elements are missing from your training program, and with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps you will not be so quick to drop the resistance training next time around.

Easy does it up the hills.


Photo by: Bernhard Thompson

Hills are a part of of every endurance athletes life and you tend to either love them or hate them.

Personally, I enjoy riding and running up hills, and find that the more I train on them and focus on keeping a positive mental attitude toward them, the better I am able to conquer them.

Developing your own hill strategy during your training goes a long way to preparing you mentally and physically for what you will face on race day.

Over the years, I have noticed there are two general approaches amateur athletes take when riding up hills:

Strategy 1: Attack the hill with all your might. Hammer down on the pedals and see the heart rate go through the roof. Burn through a bunch of energy in no time at all. Set the quads on fire and get over the hill as quickly as possible. Hope to recover on the way down the other side.

Strategy 2: Easy does it. Keep your gears light and cadence up. Focus on keeping your heart rate under control and any extreme tension off the quads. No need to really recover on the way
down.

Photo by: Runners World

The differences between the 2 approaches are pretty obvious, and if you are looking to break a course record or place in your age group, then you will have to condition yourself to tolerate these increases in output and suffering described in Strategy 1.

If you are middle of the pack to back of the back athlete, it is about keeping the number of hard efforts you do through the course of the race to a minimum. In fact, if you look at it from a Return on Investment (ROI) perspective, you will realize that:

Climbing using Strategy 1 requires a fairly sizable investment of energy, power and mental strength, giving back a fairly small ROI - perhaps a few kilometers per hour.

Climbing using Strategy 2 requires a noticeably smaller investment, delivering a smaller ROI - you do slow down, however...

The energy you save with a steady pace up the hill will provide you with a greater ROI while on the downhills and the flat sections. On these sections you are easily able to gain a noticeable increase in your speed, while expending much less energy than when you were climbing.

In other words, the physiological and psychological distress you place on the muscular system and the cardio-vascular systems, thanks to riding hills hard, is definitely not worth the momentary handful of kilometers per hour you gain over those around you.

So in my view, if you want to invest your energy wisely on race day -- save your energy and power for the flats and downhills. And always remember... easy does it up the hills!

Very few sporting events come close to Ironman for the sheer duration of continuous activity.

With the winners finishing the race in around eight and a half to nine hours, and the tail end of the race coming in about 10 hours later, it is truly a long day at the office.

Speaking of a long day at the office, I just returned from a training camp in Penticton, British Columbia in preparation of Ironman Canada. My wife, Caroline, and I trained for a total of 13 hours over 3 days. During this time, something she said three weeks ago kept popping into my head. With the average competitor taking roughly 13 hours to cross the finish line, she observed, "Ironman is more of a long, slow distance training day, than an all out race."

Obviously some urgency is required if cut off times are a concern, but for the majority of us, it is a long day of steady and sustained output.

Pushing to hard at any time will certainly have dire consequences at a later stage of the event. I believe that the primary goal for the average, middle of the pack participant should be energy conservation and avoiding putting undue stress on the muscles to early on in the day.

I have created a few challenges that I am going to keep in mind over the next 2 months to ensure I am able to optimally conserve as much energy as possible, and avoid burning my muscles out early on:

1. I am going to let faster athletes pass, without reacting and trying to hold their pace.
   
2. I am going to focus solely on my own race strategy and try to ignore what others are doing. I will not get drawn into racing someone elses race
3. If I feel like I am in trouble, I am going to back off the intensity for a few minutes, reassess the situation, and then make as calm a decision as possible.
4. I am going to try to smile as much as possible throughout the day!
   

The bottom line is that any Iron distance triathlon runs its course over an entire day, so what is the rush?

As we move into July, the race season is in high gear (pun intended). After the last few months of training, I am sure your bodies are strong and ready for action.

I am 8 weeks out from Ironman Canada and my weekly training volume is huge when compared to my historical 'big weeks" for other endurance races like marathons, bike rides and Half Irons.

At the start of my journey to Ironman Canada, I decided to pay really close attention to the small things:

• Getting sufficient and quality rest / sleep: I purchased a new mattress and started getting to bed 1 hour earlier.
• Nutrition and hydration: I planned to eat very small meals every 2 to 3 hours and to focus on balanced meals and correct portion sizes.
• Remaining flexible and mobile to remain injury free: I committed to stretching, rolling and icing after every training session.

Sleeping and eating have never been to much of a problem for me. Flexibility training, on the other hand, has always been one component of fitness I have pretty much always breezed past - until the start of this journey.

I committed to stretching and rolling for a minimum of 10 minutes after each and every training session, and after a few sessions, my mental aversion to stretching began to dissolve.

I began to actually feel the difference in my joints and muscles and realized that stretching has as much to do with our mental and emotional training as it does with our physical training.

I realized that to get the most from my stretching, I would have to accept that stretching was an integral part of the training session. Without it the session was not done to perfection. I even adjusted my program so that a 90 minute run became a 100 minute session (allowing for my 10 minutes of stretching).

This little bit of "psychology" pushed me passed the mental state of not really wanting to stretch -- a state I'm sure many of you can relate to.

I also laid my hands as many resources to help me get the most from every minute of stretching. I incorporate rubber bands and tubing, foam rollers, massage balls and rollers, and a rolling wand into my stretching sessions.

Each day I try to use a different piece of equipment which helps me to avoid the boredom that inevitably creeps in when the same stretches are done from one day to the next.

I also like to use trainer led stretching sessions. These seem to make the time pass by a little bit faster.

We all know the benefits of stretching and maintaining our flexibility, yet the majority of athletes do not spend nearly enough time working on flexibility and range of motion training.

I believe that the decision not to incorporate a comprehensive flexibility plan into our training on a regular basis is due to the belief that we will not suffer if we don't stretch. I've hear a lot of "I have never had an injury before and have never stretched. Why should I start now?"

Like you, I devoted most of my training hours to improving my swim, bike and run performance. So there was never a whole bunch left over for other modes of training i.e. resistance training, yoga and flexibility training.

After a decade and a half of training this way, I've notice the difference the last six months of stretching has made in my training.

It is clear to me how even a short 10 minute stretch can speed up recovery, reduce Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) and joint tenderness, increase energy levels from both physical and mental stand point, and help me to remain niggle-free through more than 20 hours of swimming, running and cycling per week.

Starting tomorrow, I challenge you to spend just 10 minutes stretching after every single workout. Do it for 14 days, religiously, and I have no doubt you will feel the difference for yourself.

Remain in the aerodynamic position for as much of the bike leg as possible.

As the name 'aero bar' implies, this piece of equipment is specifically designed for cutting through the air on the bike with the least effort and output as possible.

In order to get the maximum benefit from your aero bar, it makes sense to attempt to remain in the aerodynamic position for as much time as possible.

Naturally, there will be situations where you will be required to sit up, like climbing a hill. But for the most part the greatest gains in time and performance will be seen while in the aero position.

From a bioenergetics (energy expenditure) point of view, reducing your frontal surface area can assist you to work at a desired level of output but at a lower energy cost. A result of the reduced resistance from the air as you move through it.

Furthermore, reduced muscular activity of the upper body's musculature, again a result of being in the supported aero position, will play a part in reducing overall energy expenditure over the duration of the entire ride.

Less energy expended on the bike means more energy for the run.

From a Biomechanical point of view, being in the aero position allows the glute max muscle group to do the lions share of the work, ensuring the hamstring musscles are not doing trying to do the job of the glute max and becoming unduly fatigued.

Less energy output, less fatigued hamstrings... sounds like the recipe to a more comfortable and efficient run off the bike to me.

There are two types of surprises that may present themselves on race day: the 'never saw that coming' surprise and the 'I should have seen it coming' surprise.

Flat tires, a super strong head wind or another athlete doing something careless to cause an accident all fall under the 'never saw it coming' category. These occurrences are all completely out of our control. As we race more, we learn to deal with them but we can't predict them, so there is no point shifting any of our focus away from our training to deal with them.

On the other hand, part of our training focus should be to review the course before race day to avoid a long list of 'I should have seen it coming' surprises. Hill gradients far steeper than you ever expected, wildly inadequate aid stations along the route, and don't forget about those hidden gems like cattle grates railway tracks, potholes and uneven surface -- all hidden danger zones. These "surprises" can throw you off your race day pacing, energy and hydration strategy very easily, and quickly deplete your reserves of positive mental attitude.

Basically they can make or break your race.

So ask yourself this... If you have not prepared mentally and physically for the race course, how can you expect to exert dominance over the course?

Know your race course.

Ideally, we'd all love to train on the race course itself -- swim in the waters of the race venue, ride the bike leg and run on the course. It is an excellent opportunity to get to know the race course profile including location and duration of the climbs, the flats, the danger zones including tight turns or obstructed sight lines.

If you are able to spend some time on the course pre-race day, be sure to pay close attention to aspects such as:

1. Where you will enter and exit the water, the general layout of the swim course and what you might be able to use for sighting during the swim.
   
   
2. Where you can make up time, on the bike and the run, without putting to much out, and where you should 'hold back' to conserve energy.
   
   
3. Where the aid stations will be placed along the course. This impacts your race hydration and nutrition strategy.
   
   
4. On the bike and the run course, develop a good understanding of the terrain and the course profile. This knowledge will help you develop the best race day strategy possible.
   
   
5. Being on the race course, at the same time of day as the race, you will hopefully get to experience the environmental conditions first hand. For example: perhaps the race is run in a hot and dry climate and your training is done mostly in cooler, wetter conditions. How will the different environmental conditions impact your performance? Will you need to adjust your pacing strategy? What will the impact be on your hydration and nutrition strategy? Will it affect your race result goals?
   

For me, knowledge of the race course increases my confidence and allows me to focus on other aspects of my preparation.

I also find it helps to discuss it with a training partner or listen to others talk about the course... "At kilometer 93 it just kicks up, and keeps going up. It was the steepest hill I have ever climbed - brutal." Yes, that climb is steep. But it's just another part of the course, and it won't break my race because I have experienced it, and have prepared myself accordingly.

Start online and have a better finish on the ground.

With life's other commitments, training on the course, arriving at the race venue 5 - 7 days before race day or getting to the venue for training camps, may be a luxury. Fortunately, there are other ways to 're-con' the course without even being on the course itself.

Start with the official event website. Here you should be able to acquire course maps and course descriptions, and if you are very fortunate, a profile of the race course. I like to know if I am in for a 12km, 9% climb at kilometer 130. At least my training can take this into consideration and I prepare mentally and physically for it.

If the official event site has limited information, many organizers will give you a profile, but no gradient details, go to MapMyRun.com and MapMyRide.com to get a better idea of the course profile.

Look at what you will be riding and running on, and use this to further refine your training program accordingly.

If the bike course is a very hilly one, with long climbs and short steep rollers, make sure you are doing hill work, and focusing on power intervals to keep your output consistent through and over each ascent. Being able at accelerate the crest and then accelerate down the other side.

On the run, if the course is fairly flat and fast, you would want to put time into developing your lactate tolerance, with sub-threshold tempo work and threshold increasing training.

The old adage 'if you fail to plan, plan to fail' fits in perfectly here. So take my advice and spend an extra day or even just a couple of hours researching the race course. This will minimize the 'I should have seen it coming' surprises during your event and help you have the best possible race result.

What do you do if you live in a part of the world that is super flat? Roly Poly rides for you are getting over the neighborhood speed bumps, and seriously long hill climb is nothing more involves riding from the street up to your front door.

Well, as an athlete this poses a pretty serious problem.

Firstly, because finding a race outside of your area that too is super flat is going to be pretty challenging, and secondly, hill work is recognized as one of the best ways to improve cycling and running specific strength, and ultimately your overall performance.

So let's look at a couple of options available to you.

Option 1: Ignore the hill training component of your training program, and hope that you can somehow muscle your way around the hilly race course.

Option 2: Pack all your training gear into your car, drive to the nearest hill, wherever that might, and do your training session. Repeat every week for the next 16 weeks!

Option 3: Rent or purchase a Spinervals indoor training session from Mypypeline.com that will give you a solid indoor, hill training session, essential in overcoming any hill that lies between you and the finish line.

Personally, I like Option 3 the best for the following reasons:

1: Spinervals are simple to use - check out The Uphill Grind and you can rent or buy the session. It is delivered to you as a streaming video or as a download into your I-tunes. Use the coupon code below to give this tough session go - for free!

2: Spinervals are simple to do - All you need is about 60 minutes, your bike and an indoor spinner, a heart rate montior (ideally), and a sweat towel - of course

3: Spinervals do not require an actual hill

Spinervals are indoor cycling sessions led by internationally known Triathlon coach Troy Jacobson. Coach Troy has developed a number of Indoor sessions specifically designed and tailored to improve cycling performance, and in this case, your climbing skills and climbing fitness.

This session rates 9.5/10 on the difficulty rating scale, giving you just what you want, but more importantly, what you need -the climbing ability of a mountain goat!