RunVermont Half Marathon and the QT2 four part system

This past weekend I raced the RunVermont half marathon. They changed the course slightly this year to meet USATF certification standards. The course was very accurate, my Garmin read 13.14. All of the mile markers were also spot on. As always RunVemont put on a first class event and this was no exception (RunVemont is the organization that puts on the VT City Marathon). If you asked me even a year ago if I thought I could be running as fast as I am now I probably would have said no. I truly can not believe the progress I am making as an athlete. I wanted to dissect this a little bit and put the performance into a context using QT2s four part system. This performance was a direct result of using QT2 training protocols. These are the same protocols I and the other QT2 coaches use with all of our athletes as well as with ourselves. At the RunVermont half marathon I ran 1:16:57 and took about a minute off my previous best set in February. I also have not done any tempo or speed work yet as my zone 1 (top of which is aerobic threshold) pace was still improving steadily.

At QT2 we use a 4 part system to elicit athlete progress (training, nutrition/body composition, fueling, and pacing) when all these come together they set the stage for great performances. The first part is training. Included here is correct training intensity, consistency, adequate training stress and well timed restoration. I want to point out that in my experience training intensity is very commonly incorrect in many athletes. Some athletes are training too hard/fast and some are training too easy/slow. Getting this area correct is a hallmark of what we do and one of the reasons our athletes make progress. Training intensity is a key reason why I PR’d this weekend. 95% of my runs were right at the top of zone 1 (6:35-6:50 pace). For a deeper rationale why training intensity is critical see my last blog post.

The second part of the system is nutrition/body composition. We live the core diet like it is our religion. If you need to brush up on the core diet go to our QT2sytems website (see link to the right) and scroll to the bottom right for the article by Jesse. In terms of body composition I am currently 157 pounds and 9% body fat. I’ll be looking to be at 6% for my ‘A’ race of Ironman Cour D Alene at the end of June. The reason body composition is critical is that it allows an athlete to make good use of all the training they have done and not be limited by excess weight that is only going to slow them down. 3 seconds per pound per mile are the gains an athlete can find in running for instance. Additionally these athletes can handle hot weather races better as well. Coming into this race I was in a good range for body composition and my overall diet has been great. Lots of nutrient dense food, lots of protein from lean meats and also fueling my workouts appropriately before, during and after.

The third part of our system is fueling. We use a specific fueling protocol for race breakfast and repeat this at each race. Every athlete who gets a fueling plan will have their exact race breakfast articulated and time stamped for how many hours prior to the race. The fueling plan also includes how much fuel to take on during the race. For half marathons we use shot blocks. I nailed the execution of my fueling completely. I also want to point out something. For miles 4-10 I was running side by side with another strong competitor. We were sitting in 3rd and 4th while my buddy Justin was up ahead about 30 seconds and having a great race. I nailed my fueling protocol each 2 miles. The competitor running next to me was not taking in any fuel. At mile 10 he started dropping back. (By the way my 10 mile split was low 58 minutes which was a PR in itself!!). 10 miles is a long way to go without fuel—this also corresponds roughly to when glycogen stores (stored carbohydrate) will tap out and be pretty much empty if you haven’t fueled (AKA bonking!!). Again by nailing my fueling I was able to outperform someone who did not fuel. Of course it is entirely possible his dropping back had nothing to do with fueling but I have to say after seeing how strong this athlete was running to all of a sudden just start dropping back with no pace changes my money is on a lack of fueling on his part for why he dropped back.

The 4th part of our system is pacing. All of our athletes get specific pacing strategies for every race so they set themselves up to race at their potential. In the first 3-4 miles there were guys ahead of me who I knew first hand should not be running as fast they were (you know who you are!!). It takes a great amount of restraint and patience to hold back and pace correctly but it is a critical piece to racing well. I nailed my pacing exactly. Based on recent aerobic training metrics I knew my goal avg pace was 5:50. I did my first mile in 5:51 and my overall avg pace at the end of the race was also 5:51. Nailed it!!

When you take all 4 of these parts and put them together you create scenarios where athletes have breakthrough performances!! I would consider my run this weekend a breakthrough performance no question.

Here's a link to the results-
RunVermont Half results


Keep it rolling, keep the rubber side down, train smart and have fun!!

Half marathon PR with Zero tempo or speed

Over the last few years I have become somewhat jaded about writing race reports, who wants to actually read these things? This report is more for the athletes I coach and the athletes in my community. I will keep it short and to the point. First off one must acknowledge the information that exists which identifies just how “aerobic” our sport is. Unless you are running a 200 -1500 meter race (see chart below) then the contributions are going to be coming predominantly from the aerobic metabolism. So why are athletes spending huge amounts of time training their anaerobic system when their event has 90% of the energy contributions coming from the aerobic system? Good question. Whether you are a Nordic skier, runner, triathlete, cyclist chances are you can benefit from further specific aerobic training. Most people are training at too high of an intensity and consequently have an underdeveloped aerobic system and over developed anaerobic system—you’d think these athletes were training for a 5 minute race. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen marathoners doing pure speed work 12-20 weeks out from their goal race. In my experience these athletes are the ones who bonk easily in long races, are not efficient and simply get out performed as the distances get longer.

To illustrate my point consider my training over the last 12 weeks. I have done ZERO tempo or speed work over the last 12 weeks. I have no running over my zone 1 heart rate top (aerobic threshold). Essentially I have spent all my run training time around 20 beats below the heart rate that corresponds to lactate threshold. Training under this number does draw on both aerobic and anaerobic systems but the great majority of the system targeted is the aerobic system. If I was to train consistently above that number I would be using glycogen as my primary fuel source (see chart below) and would not be teaching my body to efficiently utilize fat as a fuel source and spare glycogen.

Yesterday I set another PR at the Hyannis half marathon 1:18:08, good for 9th overall! My Garmin has the distance at 13.20 so actually my average pace was 5:55. My zone 1 pace at the top of the zone coming into this race was 6:45 per mile.

Keep in mind I am not advocating for no tempo or speed but rather have it timed well. Typically around 80% of the annual training year is specifically targeting the aerobic system and 20% of the season is addressing the anaerobic system.

I could not be happier with the progress I’ve made as well as the progress I’ve seen in my athletes using the training protocols that QT2 Systems and Jesse Kropelnicki have developed.

Yesterday our QT2 team put 5 guys in the top 11 in a field of 2700 runners!



http://www.coolrunning.com/results/10/ma/Feb28_Hyanni_set6.shtml

(charts below)





Source
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni1a4.htm

Women's moguls: Kearney wins first U.S. gold

"Pressure is just a made-up thing," she said. "There's no such thing as pressure. I remind myself sometimes that I'm skiing because I love to ski. I'm not skiing for airtime on NBC. I'm not skiing for the fans at the bottom. I'm skiing because this is what I want to be doing." - Hannah Kearney



Video | Women's moguls: Kearney wins first U.S. gold | NBC Olympics#kearney+clutch+first+u+s+gold


Way to go Hannah!!! Vermont is so proud of you. You worked so hard and are an inspiration to us all.


Check out this note that Hannah's strength coach gave her on the morning of her Gold medal day. From USSkiteam.com


Saturday February 13, 2010
Coach Reminds Kearney She Was Prepared



CYPRESS MOUNTAIN, BC (Feb. 13) - On the morning of her gold medal day, U.S. Ski Team strength coach Alex Moore gave Hannah Kearney a notecard. On it was a collection of statistics of the work she had done leading up to this day. It was a reminder of the lifetime commitment she had made leading up to a stormy, blustery night on Cypress Mountain.

The notecard, which had a lightning bolt on the front, included over 1,000 water ramp jumps, 200 hours on a bike, 1,400 squats, 480 pullups, 14,000 jumps and 170 recovery sessions, and more - all since Kearney turned off her World Cup title season last May and focused on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010.

"He gave it to me just to give me the confidence to know I had done everything I could and had prepared for this day," said Kearney.

Moore worked with Kearney nearly every day - not in the gym, but online through the U.S. Ski Team Sport Science department's Visual Coach Pro software. The online logging system allowed Kearney to train at home in Vermont, while sending data back everyday to the Team's Center of Excellence in Park City, UT.

According to Moore, no one was more detailed than Kearney in staying on top of her conditioning program day in and day out.

THE Pool

One of the things I love about being a triathlete is that you get to be a part of 4 different athlete communities. You're a part of the triathlon community that's a given but you also become a part of the swimming, cycling and running communities as well. If you're like me you spend a good amount of time not only with triathletes but the single sport athletes I mentioned above. As triathletes we start to love the same things that our single sport counterparts love. We love getting new running shoes just like runners. We love getting new bike gear like cyclists and we love going to new pools like swimmers.

I had been hearing about this amazing pool in the White River area for quite some time. My swim training partner had been to it and had raved about it. Apparently it uses little to no chlorine and instead uses UV rays somehow to keep the water clean. I was working with a school in the area today and decided to check it out. What an amazing pool!! This place was legit. There were US Masters swim banners up. Several different swim teams. 11 lanes 25 yards and then the pool can also be switched to 25 meter lanes going the other way. Anyhow I highly recommend checking this pool out. It's called the Upper Valley Acquatic Center.

As I was walking out I see Tim Rollings!!! I haven't seen Tim in several years. Tim used to be CEO at the Burlington YMCA and is now the CEO at this Acquatic Center. It was great to catch up with him. Tim is an amazing cyclist and former 2:20 marathoner.

2010 QT2 Team announced

Team QT2

Run for Charlotte

Run for Charlotte

One of those times that the endurance can make a difference. See you there!!

Who wants to open water swim?

Now that I’ve got your attention---there are still some slots open for the triathlon swimming clinic I’m putting on this weekend (in the pool!).



Ever wondered why some fast pool swimmers don’t swim fast in open water?



Have you ever been to a swim practice that solely focused on the individual needs of triathletes? How do you draft? How do you sight and still swim efficiently? How do you swim well with bodies bumping into you? What about tactics in open water? How should a right side breather do something different than a left side breather? How do you dolphin? How do you swim straight with no lane lines?



These are skillls that traditional swim coaches typically don’t cover or practice. When I first got into triathlon 12 years ago these were some of the things I struggled with and wished I had some specific instruction for. Well here’s your chance to shorten the learning curve. Especially for those of you who are still somewhat new to the sport or maybe you’ve been in it for a while and still stuggle with these things. I will pull from my experience of racing over 130 triathlons, over 7 years of swim coaching, a background in education and methods to ensure learning, and 2 years of mentoring with one of the top triathlon coaches in the country, Jesse Kropelnicki.



The clinic is this Sat 9-11 and next Sat 9-11. During the week of 1/11 there will be a wiki (website) which participants will get access to and receive additional coaching and resources. This will help solidify learning and then athletes will come back the following week. I am trying to keep the cost reasonable as well—it’s $100 for the whole clinic for non members of SFE. If you’re a member it’s $90. Attached is the flyer.



To register call 879-7734 ext 2 or for more info email my coaching email address- john@qt2systems.com