Training Technology: The Caveman eats his helmet.

After nearly 2 decades of being a pro triathlete, the Caveman finally stumbles out of his grotto, knuckles dragging, to discover the wonders of training technology!

I know I’ll get a lot of flack for this one.  (Ga Von Twitt– give me the best you’ve got!) Especially after this blog post about how backward the Caveman really is about training technology.

I used to rely on roughly on Time, Heart rate and Feel. Using my trusty Suunto t6 for swim, bike and run.

Now things have changed radically: From now on, technology will play an integral part in my training. Does that mean my admitted “loafing” and fun days of being “self coached” is over? No, to me, using this amazing new invention (ha ha) is a new challenge to rise up to. For all you techno geeks, stay tuned if you like numbers, watts, repeats, resting heart rate, calories burned, power to weight ratio and all the things the Old School Caveman shunned before.

Here we go:

– Power

Barely 2 weeks after resuming “training,” I was subjected to a lab test by Ian “Numbers” Rodger– my new trainer.

I reached out to Ian via FaceBook in a panic  2 weeks before XTERRA Nationals 09. I somehow conned him into a bad situation of injury and under training, only 6 weeks before XTERRA Worlds. For such a clever guy, you’d think he’d know better.  I met Ian where he lab tested me before the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. I was impressed by his extensive knowledge for Wattage numbers which, very importantly, he combined really well with the non scientific aspects of racing. (pacing strategy etc) Successfully combining the Science of Physiology and Art of Training is a rare gift and I look forward to exploring new frontiers of performance and cleverderness with Ian.

The good photos are by Gary Perkin. The bad ones are by me!

As you can see by the lactate in the graph below, my 3 month long Ice Cream and Beer diet was great for aerobic capacity, and I stayed below 2 mM till 330W, but then the Ice Cream and Beer diet backfired and I went from “OK” to “completely blown” in a few minutes flat. I peaked at 470W and my threshold was between 360 and 415W.  Two weeks before XTERRA Worlds 09 I could hold 50 min (5x10min reps) at 460W– so I have a looong way to go before Ass Kicking Season opens. My best Peak Power (PPO) was 510W* way back, but like I said, I’ve never been much of a lab rat…

Looking at this graph, Ian will have me do a lot of my base training between 290 and 330W. As opposed to my old “Go according to State of Legs, Caffeine level and Loudness of Music” scale.

– Scientific bike set up

Dr Jeroen Swart from Science to Sport in Cape Town fine tuning my bike position using the locally developed Ergofit system. (and his 2 decades’ XC racing experience at National level) Ian and Jeroen were both convinced I shouldnt ride anything shorter than 180mm cranks- quite a rare phenomena- such long cranks.

Notice I have the “hare in the headlights” look. All this mumbo jumbo… “Back in the day, I would just put the saddle on the bike, tighten it down well and pedal the damn thing!”

Even though we were separated by a continent and 2 big oceans, Ian Rodger (R) got my set up amazingly close to what it should be  (fine tuned by Jeroen Swart on the level) via the wonders of video on the World Wide Web. Check out how to do remote bike set up here.

Thanks to Neil from BicyclePower (Powertap) in South Africa for lending me his wireless Power Tap wheel. Without the help of those magic little numbers on the handlebar, I would fall back to the “State of Legs, Caffeine level and Loudness of Music” scale…

* Hereby I distinctly distance myself from all forms of doping, blood siphoning, untraceable Growth thingies and any kind funny business which includes everything up to course cutting. My Wattage numbers are so big because I’m a big guy- if you consider power to weight ratio I’m not as hot as you may like to think.