Training Big Units

I am back in Tucson this week participating in Spring Training.

It's been a solid opening three days -- I think most of the camp is asleep as I type this out (Wednesday afternoon). Myself, I had plenty of lunchtime Coffees of Hawaii to make sure that I get through to dinner. I'm worried that if I go to sleep then I might nap too long and be awake all night!

In the past, I have written about my athletic advantage, which was "capacity to train". This week's article is about another advantage that some athletes share -- being large.

Triathlon is a weird sport in that it often seems that everyone wants to be "small". If you are a "big" athlete -- in terms of strength, or height, then it is worth considering how this might impact your approach.

Recovery -- one thing that you will notice as a larger athlete is you will need more recovery, especially from your running and racing. There are two main aspects for slower recovery from tough sessions:

• Energy Requirements -- it's going to "cost" you more energy to swim/bike/run at a given effort than your smaller pals. If you completely deplete yourself then it will take a lot longer to reload. "Starvation" training is particularly costly to a large guy. I am unable to function when depleted -- totally counterproductive for me (and I'm the small end of "big").
• Muscle Damage -- a 200 lb man is going to beat himself up a lot more than a 100 lb lady, and that damage is going to take time to rebuild. If you are a large, self-coached athlete then you need to pay particular attention to the risk that fast/long training flattens, rather than lifts, you. Stale-ness is a real risk for the larger athlete.

Nutrition -- this can be a challenge for the larger athlete -- your larger lean body mass will want to be fed! It is well established that running performance co-relates to aerobic power per kilogram. With that in mind, the larger athlete can be tempted to "get light" or "go catabolic". I think this is a mistake because becoming light moves directly against your strength (the fact that you are big/strong). More than becoming light, I think you really want to become lean and ensure that you maximize the strength/aerobic economy of every kilo you are carrying. This points to nutritional excellence, rather than energy deficits.

Training Protocol -- I'll share some observations that I've picked up from watching some speedy, larger folks over the years:

• Easy training works -- big men seem to get "something" from their easy workouts. I'm far from huge but have received material benefit from my easier workouts. This doesn't appear to be discussed much in the "athletic" press.
• Consider absolute, as well as relative, work rate -- all sessions are not created equal. 90% of FTP in an athlete with a VO2max of 6L is NOT the same as 90% of FTP in an athlete with a VO2max of 3L -- both of these athletes could be world-class (I didn't specify sex or weight).

Even if your VO2max is held constant -- as fitness increases the total work per session will increase and you will need to factor that into your recovery strategy.

I will end with a Molina story.

Several times over my elite career, I asked Scott how to become a better runner. His advice, "run every day".

It wasn't until I was capable of following that simple advice that my running truly broke through. Months of easy running provided the platform for me to tolerate the training that was required to, eventually, "get fast" in long course racing (1:15/2:46 off the bike in HIM/IM).

At the beginning of my triathlon career, my "fast" training was holding me back. It was completely counterintuitive to me that I had to slow down to speed up.

Similarly, I needed to eat more (good food) to lose weight. Another one that took a little getting used to.

Back next week,
gordo