Return to SWIM! By Coach Melina @tk_melina

This week saw the news that a lot of us have been excitedly waiting for: Swimming pools are back open again! Amazing what you miss! As we all wait for final instructions on how the new swimming protocols will be implemented, this is a good chance to consider a few things before we make that eagerly anticipated jump back in the water. The majority of us have spent the last three months in some sort of lockdown, with certain restrictions to our movements and access to facilities. Pools and beaches were amongst the first to close and they are of the last to reopen. In terms of swimming, the only alternative we have had (apart from the lucky few with their own pools at home) was to implement dry-land swim programs using swim stretch cords, and strength equipment that we have at home. A typical expectation will be that once we jump back in the water that we’ll swim a few hundred meters (or our usual warm up routine) and that will be just about enough to shake off the three-month break and we’re good to go. Unfortunately the reality will be somewhat different. 

• Take it one day a time. Even though you have made a concerted effort to maintain your fitness, it’s hard to escape the fact that this has not been entirely swim specific. Its very hard to replicate the feel of the water on dry land. So be prepared: getting your pre-covid swim fitness could be slow going and frustrating. Try to avoid comparing your current swim fitness levels to what they were back in March. This will only add to that frustration so take each day as it comes. And I know this is a much harder ask in practice. Your coaches are in the same situation. Commit to the process of building back up again. Be realistic with what you can. Its been three months. That’s a long time to be out of the water. Your endurance and your pace in the water just won’t be the same. And that’s ok. And you’re not the only one facing this right now. So, its ok. 

• Focus primarily on volume and time in the pool rather than reintroducing any intensity. Not the easiest thing to do in practice, ultimately, we all just want to swim fast! However, your initial aim during the transition period back in the water, is all about good technique before intensity. 

• During this phase there will be days were your frustration will get the better of you. It will all of us. But there is one positive of this lockdown. Three months off swimming can mean that for all intents and purposes we are starting back with a relatively clean slate in terms of habits. So now is a chance to build a good foundation for when you reintroduce intensity. 

• Above all these next few weeks, be patient. It’s been a long break and we’re still not back to normal service yet either, so were not quite there physically nor mentally. There will be days when you’ll wonder how on earth you held the pace you did before lockdown. The pace of improvement will seem painstakingly slow and this could impact your confidence. But it WILL Come back. 1% better every day. That’s all we’re working towards. And with each session, you will be one step closer to your pre-lockdown swim fitness level. So, don’t be too hard on yourself as you come back.  

Structuring your first few weeks

The key to any swim re-entry program is to keep it gradual with a steady progression. Increasing the volume and or intensity too quickly could lead to overloading and ultimately injury. We are trying to reacquaint ourselves with the water, so focus is on technique and (re)building good habits as well as endurance. As fitness returns then depending on how many swims you can get in every week, you can increase duration and distance of swim sets on a weekly basis, or every 3-4 sessions.

• Emphasis on technique

• Low Load

• Low Intensity

• Focus on optimal swim position (use of swim toys is ok)

o Pull buoys can help with good body position

o Snorkel eliminates breathing, and allows athletes to focus on alignment

o Paddles can help with high elbow catch and slowing down the cadence

o Drill work can enhance stroke connection (between arm cadence and leg kick)

• Any speed work is recommended to be of short distance (this is great to jog our muscle memory on what fast swimming feels like, but don’t go long too soon, 25m to begin with is enough)

• Speed work intervals can progress to longer distances (e.g., 100-150m) only if embedded with drill work and low intensity endurance work.

• Emphasis on good form over higher intensity work.

After a few weeks of a careful reintroduction to swimming (this could 2-3 weeks depending on your frequency of swim sessions), you can start to reintroduce sessions with a pre-covid structure to them. However, maintain a comparatively low load. Use swim toys, keep the drill work volume high and progressively increase the intensity and distance of your speed intervals however only to a point where you can maintain your form. If your form starts to break down after 100-150m then a 200m fast interval for now is not included. Its better to swim a distance fast and on good form, than extend the interval distance but risk doing so with poor form which could ultimately encourage bad habits and possibly lead to injuries too.

Above all, enjoy being back in the water. Take it easy to begin and be patient as you refamiliarize yourself with swimming. 

The hidden element of your training: Rest and Recovery! @tk_melina

When we plan our weekly training, we tend to do so with particular focus on the key sessions! By that we mean, the really tough ones; where we’ll smash ourselves! We consider the logistics, what work looks like on a given day, do we have the time to fit it in, which day is best. We consider nutrition for that day and that session. Come on, hands up, and answer honestly…how many of us apply that same considered approach to our recovery? More often than not, this is the aspect of our plan that is compromised or even skipped altogether and ironically it’s because we don’t have the time! But here’s the thing: improving, getting better, becoming faster and stronger is about being able to consistently put our bodies under strain and stress (i.e. training). To maintain that consistency, we have to be able to recover. All the training adaptations and the subsequent gains happen during recovery, not during the training itself. To maintain consistency in our training we have to recover. Compromised recovery means compromised training. And that in turn means compromised performance. It’s that simple!

Before we look into the optimal ways that we can recover, here are a few reasons why we should. What is the purpose of recovery?

• As already mentioned, it allows for all the training adaptations to take place. Everything you are trying to achieve by training hard, actually happens during recovery, when your body has a chance to restore itself.
• As already highlighted, recovery is fundamental to maintaining consistency!
• When we train, we are damaging our muscles, so recovery allows our body the time to repair our muscles so they can continue to work hard
• When we train, and train hard, our immune system becomes suppressed. Which is why sometimes athletes appear to be more prone to illnesses. A recovery period allows our immune system to rejuvenate.
• During recovery we also have a chance to fully replenish our system nutritionally and balance out any short-term caloric deficits or electrolyte imbalances.
• And last but by no means least, recovery also allows athletes to mentally and emotionally recharge themselves.

When we talk about recovery, this does not mean a chance to slack off! It’s not about complete rest. Recovery is in itself a critical part of any training plan and taking an equally focused approach to your recovery as is done with training, will only enhance your training adaptations and your performance gains. Because ultimately, (and I know I’m repeating myself here) maximising and optimising your recovery extends your ability to train harder and longer! So, it’s not a chance to slack off! (I can hear the collective sigh of relief from all you goal oriented triathletes!) So, what is it then? Well, just like training, its multifaceted. It’s not just one thing but a combination of things put together carefully. Some aspects are related to lifestyle whilst others are more sport specific.

Let’s start with Lifestyle.

·       First and foremost: SLEEP! No, it’s not the fancy compression boots! Sleep is the number one way your body recovers and there is no substitute for it. Adequate and quality sleep. Sadly, for the amateur triathlete who’s juggling work, family and sport, sleep can be the first thing to be compromised. There are just not enough hours in the day sometimes to fit 9hrs sleep in! Sustained poor quality and insufficient sleep however will always compromise your training and subsequently your performance. Research has shown that ideally, we need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep every night. From a purely sport specific consideration (let alone functioning for normal day to day life), repeatedly achieving 6 hours or less can affect your time to exhaustion for example by 30%! You will tire quicker! You are also increasing your risk of injury significantly, as stability muscles are the first to fail under poor sleep patterns! Can you really afford not to sleep?

·       Nutrition. This is a whole field in and of itself. So many times, we see athletes fret about the best nutrition strategy for race day, and rightly so, it’s a critical part of it. However, there is an unequivocal need for a solid approach to nutrition on a daily basis. Proper fuelling both in terms of quality and quantity (are you eating enough?) as well as ensuring adequate hydration is fundamental to your training performance, your recovery and your race performance.

Sport Specific Recovery: this refers to your training plan and how its designed. An individualised plan that is tailor-made to your needs if the first step. We are all different, we all respond differently to training stimuli therefore our individual needs must be taken into account.

• Weekly Recovery Sessions: Some athletes and coaches tend to prescribe rest days. Whilst this is often a great way for emotional recovery and for also enabling some enhanced work/life/family/sport balance, complete rest from activity isn’t optimal. Maintaining low intensity short sessions can in fact aid recovery thereby supporting the challenging sessions that are scheduled in the week.
• Recovery blocks: An alternative approach is scheduling recovery blocks within the overall plan. For example, after 3-4 weeks of sustained structured work (which still includes easy sessions too!!) it can help an athlete to have a few days of lighter load. When to do this can depend on the athlete and how they generally respond to the harder blocks of work. The aim of this however is the same. To keep the athlete healthy, thereby maintaining consistency. During this time, it can also be worth considering a running break to allow muscles and joints to recover from the extra load running represents. Both anecdotally and empirically, it’s been shown that running injuries are the most common so having a controlled break from it every now and again is far more beneficial (and pro-active) than a potential enforced and extended break (on doctors’ orders!) which could be at a critical point in the season.
• End of season break: In addition to the above at the end of the season and usually following an athlete’s A-Race an extended break is a good idea. This can be 2 weeks, it can be 4 weeks, it can be longer. They key thing here is a complete break from all structured training. The aim is just as much to promote physical recovery as it is to encourage emotional rejuvenation too. Use this as a chance to do what you enjoy but may not always have time. Take it day by day. A complete day off here isn’t an issue!

Additional Recovery tools:

• Ice / Heat: The use of these two has been well documented for years and across all sports. We won’t delve into this one too much but consider that ice for example whilst it reduces inflammation, it also reduces blood circulation, which promotes healing. So, finding the right balance and what works for you if as always the deciding factor.
• Stretching / Foam Rolling / Massage: Again, this is a field in its own right and physiotherapists are far more equipped to discuss its merits. A few key points to consider: muscles need to be warmed up to work properly, this also applies to joints. So, they need to be appropriately mobilised before being put through the full strain and load of a hard set for example. Pushing your muscles to stretch before they are warmed up or after they have effectively been damaged (during training) can lead to injuries. Proceed with caution. Listen to your body. Be quite mindful of this: learn to interpret the cues and signals your body is sending you. Foam rolling and sports massage are also great additional tools that help release tightness and facilitate recovery.
• Compression: We’ve all looked rather longingly at those fancy compression boots at the race expo! But do they work? Research supports their use for recovery and for post-travel too. However, whether compression clothing is of any benefit during exercise is very inconclusive.
• Heart-rate Variability (HRV) monitoring: Heart-rate variability (HRV) refers to the time gap between your heart beats, which varies within each breath cycle. Research has consistently evidenced that high HRV is linked to good health and good levels of fitness, whereas conversely, low HRV has been linked to stress, fatigue, overtraining and indeed poor health. Monitoring HRV on a daily basis is a good indicator of your body’s current state of recovery and training readiness. So, a significant drop in HRV could call for an adjustment to the plan to allow for better recovery. Keep in mind that a small drop is expected as training is a stressor so that’s ok. However, sustained low HRV is of concern as it can indicate poor recovery, early signs of overtraining and requires closer evaluation of the current loads and the athlete’s response to it.

Yes, I know. It’s hard enough trying to fit training in, and now there’s an additional element to consider that also requires time! And this is precisely why focusing on lifestyle aspects such as sleep, and nutrition are critical. Don’t compromise on either. Focus on both, the same way you focus on training. Carefully considered recovery, alongside a well structure training program, will bring about consistency. Always! Keep it simple!

References:
Training Peaks Glossary
LDT102: Dan Plews, Course Notes
Recovery and Performance in Sport: Consensus Statement (Dec 2017) International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance (Kellman, et al)

"Mindset" By Coach Mohammed H. Hafiz @mhmdhhafiz

I have always wondered how our mindset can help us as athlete and coaches to achieve our goals. In this blog I will be looking into our mindset and how it can help as individuals, athletes and professionals to improve our lives.

Some athletes believe that they are born with a talent! They are just good swimmers or fast runners. I believe that this is false! No doubt that sometimes genes give you an advantage but not a massive one.  A great source for debunking the “talent theory” is Mathew Sayed’s book “Bounce” which I highly recommend you read before thinking that the athlete swimming next to you in the pool is faster because he is talented. In addition, labelling athletes by the word talent robes them of their hard work. Which brings me back to our mindset.

“Believing that your qualities are carved in stone” (the fixed mindset) is limiting your development. Why should you work hard if talent is given to a few of us? Which automatically means no matter how hard I work, I will never be fast in the pool! Because that guy next to you in the pool is TALENTED. This is the fixed mindset.

On the other hand, you can have the growth mindset. “The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.” 

You can instead think that if you stick to your training you will see improvement. God knows I am the worst swimmer by far! But I stuck to it, I worked hard, and I saw the fruits of my labour. 

Not sure which mindset you have?

Read each statement and decide whether you mostly agree with it or disagree with it. 

1. Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t change very much.
2. You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are.
3. No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit.
4. You can always substantially change how intelligent you are. 

Statements 1 and 2 are the fixed mindset. Statements 3 and 4 reflect the growth mindset.

These are good examples to make you think of the kind of mindset you have when approaching a sport or your personal growth.
Applying a growth mindset to triathlon will give you an edge over others. 

I have personally met athletes who found breaking 6 minutes mile running pace was a real struggle and felt that it was out of their reach. With some training and perseverance, they were able to break the 6 minutes mile pace barrier. They believed in themselves and I believe it’s because of their growth mindset. 

Persistence, perseverance and a growth mindset are what triathlon is all about. 

References

Mathew Sayed “Bounce”

Carol Dweck "Mindset"

"Intensity Vs Volume" By Coach Melina @tk_melina

The interplay between Intensity and Volume within your training plans, is one of the key variables that enables athletes to improve on key fitness and performance markers.

Volume is the cumulative measurement of both the duration of each individual session, as well as the frequency of the sessions. For example, training for a total of 10hours a week, which is spread over 7 sessions. It is usually a hotly debated topic amongst athletes and sometimes can be a bit of a golden chalice with some, who ensure that their desired volume is achieved every time. We all know of at least one person (we may even be that person) that will complete a run in 57mins and yet will continue running small laps near their home just to round off the time to 60mins cause that’s what on the schedule (you’re smiling now aren’t you?!?

Intensity is usually measured in terms of percentages of certain physiological parameters, such as FTP, HR, VO2 max etc, and it is also more difficult to provide a cumulative weekly measurement of it. Each high intensity session is designed with a specific goal in mind (e.g., peak power, FTP etc) and structured accordingly. Intensity is an equally hotly debated topic amongst athletes. We all know of at least one athlete, and yes again, we may even be that athlete, that sets out on an EASY ride, and somehow ends up focusing on power numbers or racing others (even if they don’t know that you are racing them) and never really doing any sessions easy. Go Hard or Go home! No Pain, no gain! Whilst these are true to an extent, intensity is a wide spectrum, from easy to hard and there is a time and place for sessions along the entire continuum.

The debate on which of the two is more important has been going on for decades, with traditionally, favouring greater volume over intensity for endurance athletes. That said, as advancements have been made in sport and coaching science, the arguments for intensity as well, have also been forthcoming.  It’s very difficult to provide a definitive answer either way. The reality in fairness, lies in the careful and considered interaction of both these factors, that enables an athlete to work to their abilities, experience, background, goals, and indeed the time available to them to train.  

In the case of new and inexperienced athletes, who are at the beginning of their training journey, volume alone would in fact yield some benefits. Starting from a low volume base, any increase almost irrespective of intensity, would bring about some benefits almost. As athletes progress and become fitter and stronger, volume alone will not induce major training effects.

Before we continue to explore the concepts of volume and intensity within triathlon training, we have to consider how volume is experienced as strain and load on the body. Running for example has a far greater load on the body than cycling, as it is completely weight bearing, whereas cycling the athletes weight is supported by the bicycle. So 200kms of running will have a far greater load than the equivalent 200kms of cycling. So specificity is key. Different sports, same volume in hours or mileage means different things. A 200km running week for example, could easily lead to running injuries! And staying healthy and injury free is also a key consideration in our training. For that, even beyond volume and intensity, Consistency is of utmost importance. The training stimulus needs to be consistent to primarily maximise the training adaptations and see the improvements we seek; but its also to help avoid any injuries.

In further exploring volume and intensity we also need to consider their effect at a more basic cellular level, and in the case of endurance training, or training in general, we look towards our muscle cells. The powerhouse of these muscles, is the mitochondria. This is where energy is produced within our muscle cells. And understanding how these are stimulated and developed by volume and intensity of training is key.

·       Volume effect on mitochondria: Total training volume increases the amount of mitochondria that we have and therefore are available for energy production. So if we train more, we have more mitochondria!

·       Intensity effect on mitochondria: Training intensity works more at the individual mitochondria level, and enhances mitochondrial protein function. So intensity makes them more efficient.

So to improve and get stronger, and faster, we need to increase our number of mini-powerhouses and make our engine bigger (so we need volume), but we also need to make sure this engine is working properly and efficiently (so we need intensity).

Staying briefly at this molecular level, in order to maximise the training adaptations and make the most of our sessions, we also need to consider another factor, closely tied into consistency and that is frequency of our sessions. So how we space them out to get the most out of the work we put in. Looking at our muscle cells, exercise induced adaptations peak at about 2-4 hours after a session, and they stay raised up to about 6 hours after the session. After that, they begin to drop, and they return to normal pre-session levels after about 24hrs. To maximise the benefits, if we offered our muscles an additional stimulus around the 6-8 hour mark after a session, we would elicit adaptations from a higher starting point. For this reason, (and of course assuming your schedule allows) its better to train twice a day. Just as those adaptations begin to return to baseline figures in the afternoon, following a morning sessions, you add another training stimulus thereby maximising the benefits. This is also why, active recovery days are better than complete rest days because they maintain the training stimulus.

However, going back to intensity, the average recovery time varies greatly depending on intensity level. Lower intensity workouts, below the aerobic threshold, only really take on average 24hrs. Sessions at anaerobic threshold can take up to 48hrs to recover and higher intensity VO2 max type sessions can take more than 3 days. So it's not always go hard or go home! It's sometimes, go hard first, go home rest, go easy and then come back!!

So remember:

·       Get your frequency sorted first, before you focus on volume and intensity. 2x45mins sessions spaced 6-8 hours apart, may give a better effect than one single 90minutes session.

·       If you cant do a long set, but have time for half of it, or even less than that, still do it. Best to do shorter sessions more frequently, than longer ones infrequently.

·       Plan, plan and plan. Be proactive and not reactive with your training. Your coaches are here to help with that.

·       Don’t forget Recovery! There’s place for easy sessions too. Sleep well, eat well, so you don’t undo your hard work!

References

P.B. Laursen (2010)

“Training for Intense Exercise Performance: high intensity or high volume training? “

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports  Vol. 20. issue s2 

D. Plews (2020) Fundamentals of Long Distance Triathlon Training (course notes) 

Granata, C., et al (2018)

“Training-Induced Changes in Mitochondrial Content and Respiratory Function in Human Skeletal Muscle”

Sports Medicine Vol 48. issue 8

Seiler, S. (2010) 

“What Is Best Practice for Training Intensity and Duration Distribution in Endurance Athletes?”

International Journal of Sports Physiology Performance

"Stress" by BR Head Coach Joao @joaoarteche

Heart rate is one of the ‘vital signs,’ and one of the most important indicators of health in the human body. It is the measurement of how many times per minute the heart contracts, called as beats or BPM (beats per minute).

Few notes on the cardiovascular system.

The heart and blood vessels are the two elements of the cardiovascular system they work together in providing nutrients and oxygen to the organs of the body. The synchronized actions between our heart and the blood circulation are mainly triggered to react from an external factor, that most of the times is called: Stress.

At this point we will break a bit the science and build our concept of the word STRESS, from the called vulgar Latin, strictia meaning tight, compressed, and drawn together.

Our society has been using this word to describe many different situations that are challenging or put us under pressure or even could be harmful. Those situations are most of the time uncontrollable and not necessarily negative, our system is designed to handle certain amount of stress as a mechanism of adaptation.

The response of our body to different stimulus is actually a chain of reactions that activate the “FIGHT” mode.

Now imagine this 3 massive Lions coming for you… running full speed, hungry and instinctively they see you as a meal…

Let’s try to think what are the changes that are going to happen in our body to react, first we will have a very quick release of many hormones called “stress hormones”, such as Cortisol also our blood pressure will increase, our digestion system slows down, Immune System “shut down” and because our system adapt to deliver quick energy into the muscles and organs we start to convert glycogen to glucose, and at the same time our HEART RATE increase.

So now we have our system “Ready to Fight”.

We all have to agree, that there is nothing wrong to run away from a Lion, and we are very thankful that we don’t have to think about to produce those reactions, they natural and part of our survival package.

Did you realise that the situation on the example required a physical reaction from us; in this case RUN AWAY from those lions is probably the only solution. All those reactions from our body are a preparation to allow us to run or act as fast as possible, and physically be able to save our life.

What is the difference when the solution is not physical?

Let’s bring another example, imagine now that you had big problem with your work or family, or are going through a hard time…

How does our body read this information?

Here is something interesting, for our body there is no difference between the 3 lions or our work problem, the way our system will react is related to the intensity of the situation, but the reactions are 99% the same. Trying to solve a big problem at work can have the same impact in our body as running away from lion, because our Central Nervous System does not differentiate the situation, as both impact our system the same way.

Both situations are called Acute Stress, meaning those episodes that happen once in a while, we react, adapt and once they are gone our body comes back to the normal state. However, there are some situations that are constantly generating stress in our lives.

Chronic stress, or a constant stress experienced over a prolonged period of time is considered one of the biggest problems of our modern society. The “hunting” for better position, the need of money plus the natural life situations can easily cause chronic diseases generated by the constant “alert” state of our body.

Many people these days can’t differentiate if they are under stress or not.

What are the signs that we should look then?

Using those physical reactions that I mentioned earlier such us:

-       Cortisol release: Stress Hormone

-       Slow down digestion system

-       Immune System “shut down”

-       Conversion of energy into glucose (quick energy release)

-       Increase of blood pressure

-       Increase of Heart Rate

Each one of those reactions will generate a different consequence in our body, and over time because a more serious health problem. In general, a chronic stress could reflect:

-       Irritability, which can be extreme

-       Fatigue

-       Headaches

-       Difficulty concentrating, or an inability to do so

-       Rapid, disorganized thoughts

-       Difficulty sleeping

-       Digestive problems

-       A perceived loss of control

It is important to understand also, that chronic stress is a process that is built over years and has very deep impact in our body, and some situations are probably impossible to control so the idea of trying to “Not get stresses” it is also one of the mistakes that our society have. As we saw, our system is prepared to overcome the stress, to fight and adapt, there is nothing wrong in having a hard time to solve a problem, to have a difficult conversation or to confront someone, this is normal and part of our live we can’t and we should not run away from that.

Some stressful situations are the foundation of our life and will create memories to be used in the future. Living those experiences, exploring with open mind, searching for the “learning” from each new moment. Our body doesn’t know if something is really a stress unless we consciously categorized as a harmful situation this is also important to understand. A situation become a stressful episode when we consciously perceive that moment as a pressure or complication, that is why each person has completely different perception of how stressful the same situation can be.

What can we do?

Of course the solution is not to escape from the situations because we will not be able to avoid things to happen around us, so the moment that we understand and accept that something is really happening and there is no way that we can escape, avoid or stop, we transform this situation in a positive experience in terms of learning.

To position ourselves one step back, trying to analyze from “outside” what is really what us creating the stress, allow our system to create a new pattern to the same episode that once was a stress, generating an enormous amount of reactions, now is a situation of our life, that is new; it will demand a new skills; it will take us out of our comfort zone; it will made us stronger, it will make us better…

Hope you enjoyed!

"Challenging Open Water" by Coach Marco @moromarco

A few years ago, I read a very interesting and curious book about swimming and in particular about the figure of the swimmer seen as a solitary hero.

The title is Haunts of the Black Masseur written by Charles Sprawson. The author leads us on a journey through the centuries to discover this ancient sport and the meaning that different cultures have attributed to water. Swimming here is not seen as a mere lapping in a swimming pool with a black line underneath, but it is intended as a loving contact of the body with the water, the sea, a river, a lake... it is the call of the deep, cold waters, it is the adrenaline of diving into the waves of a stormy sea.
When I was a kid, I loved the sea at the end of the season, towards the beginning of September, when the first storms arrived. I would throw myself into the waves and get carried to the shore.

Swimming in open water can give you the same sensations, a mix of fear and adrenaline.

My first experience happened a summer many years ago, I went to visit my family who was on vacation in Puglia, in Castro Marina, right at the end of the heel of Italy. One day, by chance, I read an advertisement about an amateur Open Water Swimming Competition scheduled right there: the crossing of the Zinzulusa Caves. I don't know why I had brought the goggles with me, but it came automatically to register. I still remember the starting from the inside of the cave and the beauty of those 2,500 meters of clear sea, the seabed was of ​​an intense blue color, I felt like suspended and quite afraid... There were few participants, I could see a white jellyfish passing by every now and then, the foam of a distant swimmer, steep cliffs more than 10 meters high on my right side… “who knows what is hidden underneath” I thought, a sudden knot in the stomach. It was so amazing that I almost forgot that I was racing. But what I didn’t even think about was putting an anti-chafe cream on my body: for two days I walked with my arms and legs wide apart and every time I took a shower it was such a pain. 

My first official race was the Master Open Water Championship crossing Gaeta’s Gulf in 2004 or 2005, not too sure. Gaeta is a very beautiful place 100 kilometers south of Rome. The course was simple: start from one end of the gulf and get to the other end, no mark nor signal. As only reference point they told me to aim at a tall white building that seemed very far and small. The distance was indefinite but for sure more than three kilometers. The start was from the water, all together, men and women.

At a certain point, at what I thought was halfway, I didn't see anyone around me, and I was very surprised smelling petrol. I stopped and raised my head: I was approached by the boat of the organization and one of the judges asked me “where are you going???”. I looked around and I realized that I was alone, in the middle of the sea, still very far from the white building and I was swimming left towards the open sea. That happened because I was swimming with my head in the water without looking anywhere as if I was swimming in the pool.

This was one of the first lessons I learned: always look ahead of you, as much as you can. It is fundamental to find a rhythm and to get used to this, for example lift your head every four to six strokes.

Fortunately, in my short but intense career in water polo I learned many tricks that I found useful later. First, In water polo, when swimming with lifted head, the stroke must be shorter, faster and the elbows higher to better control the ball in front of you; swimming in OW you should increase your frequency because the current and the choppy conditions can easily make you lose your bearings and a higher arm recovery because if it’s too low your hand could enter the water too early or be hit by a wave, causing you to lose balance. At the same time arch your back while lifting your head and kick extra hard for a moment while you are sighting. Second, the Trudgen technique, a frog kick every free style stroke: I often use it when I have to orient myself but at the same time I don't want to stop. Last but not least, swimming with others; in the mass start, at the buoys turning point or at any overcrowded spot, I must confess I am one of those pulling you by the leg or swimming on top of you.

 

Even from the adverse sea conditions you can learn many things. The swimming fractions during the first Challenge 70.3 Dubai and The Escape From Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay are two great examples. On the morning of Challenge Dubai, the wind blew at 50 km/h in the small bay which corresponds now the 6.9 km signal of the beach running track. Because of the choppy sea, the swimming course was changed in two 800 meters laps: I still cannot believe how they allowed us to swim in those conditions!

 

In San Francisco it was also a windy and cold morning, there was no difference between the temperature of the air and of the water: no more than 12 degrees. That leap with my eyes closed from the Belle Boat into the icy water of San Francisco Bay was only the beginning. Immediately, the strong current coming from the left and the waves from the right began to wobble me like if I was a sack of potatoes.

In these difficult conditions, I learned to read the sea as surfers do. They count the sequence of waves waiting for the right one. As swimmers, if we can interpret the rhythm of the waves, their direction or height, we will be able to understand when it is time to breathe and in which direction without being overwhelmed by the wave, to feel our body rise and fall on the swells and to sight accordingly... But only once we have jumped into the water and the first waves have slapped us, we will really understand all of this.

As Sprawson says: "The main quality needed by swimmers is to ‘feel the water’. They should use their arms and legs like fish and fins, and be able to feel the pressure of the water on their hands to keep it in the palm during the stroke, without letting it slip between their fingers."

"Resistance" By Coach Mohammed H. Hafiz

 

In these unprecedented times we look deep into ourselves and ask questions. Our answers and reactions to these questions are always being challenged by our own resistance. Just like riding a bike up the mountain, you are going to face resistance going up. Understanding the gradient and the terrain of the mountain will always help you prepare.

Resistance is a powerful enemy that you should never underestimate. We all have resistance inside of us. Some of us know it and some of us don’t realise it exists. It has many different faces and can take many forms in your mind. Resistance stops you from living the life that you want to live. It is powerful and has a few tricks up its sleeve. Understanding those tricks can help you better prepare for that climb.

We are constantly in dialog with ourselves, can I do this? Should I do this? Why I am doing this? Especially when we are about to embark on a challenging workout. Like what some of us attempted two weeks ago “Everesting” not easy! Deep inside you want to attempt it but then comes the voice of resistance. Why should you? Just go on the flats! What’s the point! Do it when you can go outdoors! Does it really matter? Resistance will make you doubt yourself; it will make you procrastinate; it will make you come up with excuses.

After a long week you look at your TP and realize you have a run or maybe a long swim which I am not a fan of. Going back and forth in a pool is not something I personally enjoy. I know this long swim will be a battle. So, the dialog starts. Resistance first weapon of choice, do it tomorrow! So, I decide no! Today I will go for that swim. I get to the pool and its full of kids screaming their lungs out and no lanes are available, and the sun is scorching down on my head. I ask one of the swimmers if I can join his lane? he gives me an annoyed nod. I dip my feet in the pool and its hot and by then I decide maybe this is not my day. I actually did not decide anything. Its only my own resistance working hard to deter me from my ultimate goal. So, I finally start swimming and its hard just doing the 300m warm up let alone the sprints and the annoying 100m hard swims. I go through the emotions, but I got so far now I can’t quit. I am still in dialog with myself but now I am negotiating the total distance! I focus on the session and slowly I start to find a rhythm and all that dialog starts to fade away in the water. I get close to my total distance and I finally finish. Many of you will know that feeling once you’re done with a workout that you mentally did not want to do. Now you feel like you’re on top of the world. You beat your own resistance.

To be able to challenge yourselves listen to the resistance inside you and see it for what it is. Be mindful of it. It will get the worse out of you sometimes, but you will win many battles now that you know what you are up against.

"Structure, Routine and Reward" by Coach Melina

So here we are, it's April; at least I think it is! This ordinarily is when we start to shift our focus on our summertime A-Race. Only this year, it’s all very different. Instead, we are experiencing a period of high anxiety, and lots of unknowns. For us, as athletes (and as parents, professionals or whatever other role we fulfil) we thrive on structure and goals to work towards. We all had an amazing season planned with much excitement building towards it. And in what feels like a pretty surreal few weeks, all has changed. For now, at least.

• How do we even muster the motivation to train?
• It’s easy to wonder: Well, what’s the point?
• And even if we are motivated, how do we manage it?
• How do we fill our time without being overwhelmed?

The first thing to address here is the mental burden of everything currently going on, understand why we may be struggling, and figure out strategies to help mitigate the effect. This is a once in a generation thing (at least we hope so!). Its unchartered times and the primary issue is uncertainty. That alone can be extremely detrimental to our mental health. Limbo is not a nice place to be! So how do we deal with it? Churchill was famously noted to say: If you find yourself going through hell, just keep going! And he was right. We will get through this, we just don’t know when, so we need to keep moving. It doesn’t mean its easy but there are little things we can do to help alleviate the uncertainty.

Priority now is to keep our mental health in check. As we said previously, as athletes, we love structure. So, as much as possible add structure to your day and create boundaries where you can. We are used to having distinct areas of work, training, relaxation. Now, all these are one! We live, work, train, home-school, chill, in one space, and in many cases one small space. Create clear boundaries on which area is for what purpose.

Have a plan. Write out a structure to your day. Share that with your family, if possible, include them as well. So, you know (roughly) at any given point what you should be doing. This will help avoid wondering: “what now?”, “what next?’” Take yourself out of limbo. For this reason, exercise and training is now, more than ever before, important. This is no longer a case of keeping it going so that you’re ready when races start again.

• It’s about improving and protecting your mental health
• Giving yourself structure, routine and a sense of achievement too
• Having something to look forward to.

Structure, Routine and Reward are critical in coping with uncertainty.

And be mindful that we are all in a bit of a bubble right now. So, our emotions, our responses are heightened and amplified. But remember this may be the new normal, but it is a temporary normal. It will pass!

Training Goals: Usually, we have races to focus on. Right now, we don’t have any, and we don’t know when we will. But our goals haven’t changed. They are delayed but they are still there. And we are still working towards them. But in the meantime, it’s time to set some new ones. Effective goal setting can not only help performance directly, but it has a big impact on our psychological state so things like anxiety, confidence and motivation.

Consider the following three types of goals:

• Outcome goals: These are usually related to events, they are motivating, they are exciting and usually have our “Why”, but they are not usually goals that we have much control over.
• Performance goals: These are related to aspects of performance; they are usually easy to measure and monitor so they can provide you with feedback on your progress. Things like power, speed and pace.  And as we all know, can be a big boost in confidence and motivation. There’s nothing like that feeling when you hit all the numbers in a session!
• Can you think of any performance goals you would like to focus on right now? Maybe focusing on your FTP? Or finally breaking 25 or 20mins on a 5k run?
• Process goals: These are the foundation of any effective goal setting and they are the ones we mostly have control over. These are things we can do daily to help us achieve our performance goals. Committing to the process and focusing on all the little things, no matter how little, can have a direct impact on how your performance goes as well as your mindset. How often do we neglect core? Or flexibility and mobility? Technique in swimming and running? Now is the time to focus on these.
• What process goals could you set to help you get through the next few weeks?

Remember your “Why

One of the first things I ask athletes that I work with is ‘Why?” Are you for example doing an Ironman just because you can? Just because someone told you? These sorts of underlying motivations can make it all too easy to derail yourself when things get tough. Reminding ourselves what our why is and reconnecting with it, will help get us through the bad days. Knowing your why is a strategy that is consistently proven to help athletes achieve personal growth and peak performance.

• What is your why?

To move forward we need to develop a clear sense of purpose. So, Plan! Approach! And Challenge!

• One of the biggest obstacles we have in terms of our triathlon training is the lack of swimming. If you are lucky enough to have access to a pool, no matter how small…get some swim cords, secure them to something solid and swim!! You have your very own endless swimming pool. Set intervals based on time and off you go. Better yet, if you can place a mirror at the bottom of the pool directly below you, it’s a great opportunity to check your stroke.If you can’t run, then focus on strength work. Careful and considered at home plyo work is excellent for keeping running going and you don’t need a lot space! If you have resistance bands, some banded running can be extremely effective.
• If you don’t have a pool, stretch cords can help keep your swim going. They are easily available from many online stores and you can even make your own ones with old inner tubes. The key is to maintain functional strength and muscle memory. Again, place a mirror on the floor below you as you practice and check on your stroke. 

                                               

• If you’re struggling, remember you are part of a team. There’s over 80 of us on the WhatsApp group. And we are all in this together. You need support or encouragement, reach out.
• Set challenges to your day or your week? We’ve had the Everest Challenge and the 500s challenge. Now Ironman Virtual club has also added to it. If you are in a position to join, then do so. Let your coach know, and together you can work out the best option for you. We’re here to help you all.
• You can even add little silly challenges like, every time you go to the fridge, you have to do 5 push ups. Or if you’re going upstairs or downstairs, you do the staircase an extra once to twice.
• Break up your sessions if you have to, to fit around your day. Our schedules are all a bit out of whack right now. You may struggle to get 2-3 hours done in one go. Break it up. Its ok. It can be easy to let go, so now more than ever before, we need to push through, but we need to do it with structure, goals and above all balance! Sleep well, eat well, train smart, talk to your coach. And yes, life is a bit hectic in a different way right now, so remember when it comes to training and exercise, something is always better than nothing! So, if you don’t have time for the full thing, shorten it but do something. UNLESS YOU ARE FEELING UNWELL IN ANY WAY!

We, as your coaches, as your teammates, as your friends, are here to help you. Your plans can be adapted to suit current situations, and current goals. Take some time and reconnect with your “Why”. Take some time and figure out your current process and performance goals. Talk to your coaches. We can get through this together. We can set the plan and tackle the challenge ahead. Stay safe, stay home, stay sane, and keep moving. 1% better every day!