Coach Carter

Regular readers of this blog will remember my recent visit to the wind tunnel facility at Shrivenham, accompanying two of the athletes I work with - Juliette and Seb. Both found the trip very useful, as did I - a learning experience that has enabled me to provide all of the athletes I work with some insight as to the aerodynamic issues surrounding their performances.

As a sport physiologist by trade, it was always my intention to bring the data into the domain of my expertise. The  data provided by Simon Smart and his team at Drag2zero was very valuable in giving us the baseline position the athletes needed to hold to best ‘cheat the wind'. The next step is to balance that with a position that also allows the most power to be sustained over the race distance. Most cyclists and triathletes are well aware of this ‘trade off'. So, last week, we brought Juliette into the lab in order to measure the physiology.

I've been fortunate to have an MSc student working with me on the PBscience service. Dan comes from a maths background, and as part of his biomechanics module, he wanted to address this aerodynamics / physiology issue. Juliette therefore had two sport scientists prodding, attaching equipment and taking measurements - not easy when you are trying to sustain race pace! She did a great job though, completing 3, 12 minute bouts of exercise at 25 mile race pace: each one in a position where we have a co-efficient of drag from the tunnel visit: the index of aerodynamics. During each bout we measured the amount of oxygen Juliette carries in her blood (oxygen saturation), the oxygen she breathes in and uses in the muscle (the oxygen uptake), blood lactate concentration, heart rate and of course power output and cadence. Dan also filmed Juliette. From this, we can get an idea  whether the position is sustainable, or whether she fidgets (it is one thing to hold a static position in front of a mirror, but video footage allows us to monitor that stability over time whilst pedalling under force). We can also confirm the co-efficient of drag reported in the tunnel by digitising the video and computing frontal area.

What did we learn? Well, I cannot give away any secrets - the National Champs are too close for that! But, needless to say, we learnt a lot, and came away with conclusions you might not ordinarily expect given the traditional stance on bike position. This is where the sport science behind our approach at PBscience gives an advantage to our athletes. The measurements we can take - the precision and sophistication - allow us to get to the fine detail of what is optimal or not.

I can't help but wish I had these opporunities in my own competive career!

The end of April, and I have just come to the end of the second block of lab testing in the athlete's annual cycle. With 19 athletes with PBscience now, it has meant nearly a month in the lab for me - over the yearly cycle, that adds up to the best part of 3 months with a cycle ergometer and blood lactate analyser for company! No complaints though, as it is during the lab visit that I get to spend the most time with my athletes: very productive, but also fundamental for forging the coach-athlete relationship.

I thought it would be nice to share the success of my athletes following a hard 3 to 4 months of training. Winter training, because of its nature, is hard work: mentally and physically. The base endurance work means long hours in the saddle, often in poor weather. Furthermore, without race goals on the horizon, it can seem an endless slog. So, to have fitness re-evaluated in the Spring is really important. What follows is a summary of how the PBscience athletes have fared this winter....

The ‘average' PBscience athlete at the beginning of winter training had a lactate threshold of 177W (LT, the point where blood lactate concentrations start to rise above resting values). This point was 52% of their maximal power they could sustain for a minute (MMP), a value that itself was measured at ~345W. These values are typical for club level athletes (remember, this data is across both men and women). We can divide MMP by body mass, as this helps us understand how the cyclists might perform on hilly courses. We found an average value of 4.8W/kg, but this ranged from 4 through to 5.8 (the men typically having the higher values). Although performance is very much about power in cycling, especially time trialling which is the chosen discipline of many of my athletes, we can also measure the amount of oxygen the athletes can take in, and use in the muscles, every minute. Their ‘VO2max' was measured at 3.63 L/min before their training period.

On average, each athlete completed ~120 hours before returning for another lab test (the first one typically being pre Christmas, the second one in late March / early April).  Those training hours were predominantly spent in the lower training zones, but here is the exact break down:

• Zone 1: 24.8%
• Zone 2: 37.7% (this intensity is just below the first LT)
• Zone 3: 25% (this zone lies between the first and second lactate threshold, an intensity that represents good quality endurance riding)
• Zone 4: 7.7% (a zone that lies around the second lactate threshold, an intensity an athlete would probably be able to hold for an hour)
• Zone 5: 2.9% (race pace intensity typically)
• Zone 6: 1.9% (high intensity effort which could only be held for a few minutes at a time, i.e. similar to the area of their VO2max)

So, what did the second lab tests show us? Well, the winter training lead to impressive fitness changes. The LT improved on average by 11%, whilst the MMP improved by 3.4%. This is not unexpected, given that zone 2 and 3 training is designed to improve the LT. This meant that the LT as a percentage of MMP crept up 7.8%. Although the absolute power at maximum improved by ~3%, when we looked at it relative to body mass, this improvement was nearer 5%: the athletes were leaner than before winter training began.

This data is really interesting for me as a sport scientist. As a cycling coach who wants to better optimise training however, it is the relationship between the type of training done and the fitness changes that intrigues me. Perhaps not surprisingly, since the group of athletes, and their cycling training, was fairly similar, there was no relationship between hours training and the size of the training effect. However, those athletes who hit zones 2 and 3 more effectively tended to see bigger shifts in their LT.

Of course, this is average data - within the athlete group, there is marked variation in how they responded to the cycling training set. The improvement of an athlete depends on things like their initial fitness, how long they have been training, what type of training they have done historically, and indeed, the very nature of their genetic make up: are they responders to base endurance work? For instance, one athlete improved their LT by 40W; another improving their MMP by this amount too. Others did not improve their MMP at all; but all shifted their LT to some extent, phew!

My job is to explain how these data inform the training process, and as to how it might lead on to race performance in the coming season. For example, we can use the data to set targets for key sessions. The most difficult aspect is helping an athlete deal with seemingly small changes despite the hours of training put in. The key is to remember that lab tests don't tell the whole story - most of the time they can just reinforce the changes we have already observed in the training data we collect on a daily basis.

No, the REAL test is when they hit the road...so let the race season commence!

This week, I had the wonderful opportunity to be interviewed about my cycle coaching and the PBscience service: an experience made even more special because of the interviewer - a mentor of mine, Julia Armstrong.  Julia is a personal performance coach with over 30 years of experience in working with people at the core level: whether in the athlete, corporate, or counselling setting.

I worked with Julia during my days as a competitive cyclist. A qualified UK Athletics coach, Julia is a former international athlete herself who still competes at top level as a veteran marathon and ultra-distance runner - her latest adventure being a 100km ultra in Copenhagen in just 2 weeks time! The blend of her personal experience with her ‘core work' approach was the key in helping me unlock a level of performance I knew was there, but was not necessarily attainable through conventional sports coaching.

The way I worked with Julia as an athlete has been the inspiration for my own coaching philosophy: working with the human, not just the athlete. Indeed, it was the very reason I studied to be a personal performance coach myself - the desire to understand human nature, our needs, our drives. We each have a different reason to succeed, whether that be in sport or in life. Getting inside the mind of the athlete and understanding those core needs is invaluable in finding another level, but also priceless in being a happy athlete - performing like an actor would a play, a true expression rather than performance under a pressure to succeed or avoid ‘failure'. My own lesson was to learn how to perform without an attachment to the race result - to enjoy the process of trying to get better as a cyclist, without needing to be better NOW, nor a promise that I would even GET better. Quite a challenge: one that required me to really understand the connection between mind, body and spirit; and to also be aware of how the rest of my life was impacting on my life as an athlete.

So, it was interesting for me to be interviewed on this very topic. Even more interesting was the internal dialogue I had when Julia first approached me - "I've always shied away from the media" were my words as I entered Julia's flat for the ‘grilling'. We talked about why that was, and I explained that it had been linked to my fear of being judged by any expert listening in: funny how the same issues crop up in all realms of our lives? So, I embraced the challenge this time around. I am finding myself doing this more often now, taking on a challenge. Before, I was quite a security seeking animal - but my sporting career taught me to be braver, to not depend on reaching my target in order to feel good about myself. Now, through that learning, I can accept interview invites - with less concern that my performance over the airwaves does not equate to my self-worth, nor my ability as a coach.

In the words of Julia, It is possible to grow through change, challenge and difficulty; to find that you are capable of responding creatively to the hurdles ahead. In this case, the hurdle soon vaporised as we got into the flow of the interview. And, knowing I was in safe hands, I really began to enjoy the experience - letting the dialogue flow, allowing the passion for coaching that Julia and I share guide us. I'm now looking forward to my next media foray!

So, if you want to listen to how I coped with this ‘hurdle', visit Julia's website to download the mp3 - happy listening!

I've been reminded a few times this week how challenging it can be getting a balance: both in my role as a sport scientist / cycling coach; and also in observing the behaviour patterns of the athletes I train.

I mentioned in my last blog post that this time of year is tough on athletes: they come out of a winter's training, wanting to test their levels of fitness, hoping that this year is going to be THEIR year. Perhaps naively, they expect to be better from the off - in their minds, if they are about to have a better season, it means being a step up on last year right from the first race. I have to remind them that this time of year is still about training: you can't sacrifice the training in order to race.

I am reminded of the concept detailed by Stephen Covey in his ‘7 habits of highly effective people' (a must read in my opinion!), one he calls the "P/PC balance", with ‘P' standing for production and ‘PC' production capability. The most famous example of this concept is that of the golden egg laying goose - you may have read this fable of Aesop: where the greedy farmer and his wife kill the goose, hoping they will find it full of gold. A rather simple illustration how people sacrifice the capability to produce in order to get the product, and to get it now! Training is the development of that ‘PC', and long term, this is what is going to make you the better athlete: this investment in time (and patience) is well worth the effort. If you focus on ‘P' too often, while you might appear to be ahead of the game, its short lived - soon you see those who have invested in PC overtaking. How often we see ‘early season stars' burn out.

I'm often asked as a sport scientist, why racing yourself fit doesn't work. Of course, it does to some extent: we have all experienced as novice racers the honeymoon period, where we raced every week, sometimes twice a week, and just kept getting faster! Sure, going hard will cause the body to adapt - but I would argue, only to a certain level. Once we begin to reach that plateau (where performance gains tail off), we need to start thinking more about how to eek more improvement out of the body. This is where periodisation comes in: the scientific progression of training load - structuring the training year, working on building intensity in a stepwise manner, means we slowly nudge the body towards race pace: miss a step (i.e. start racing too soon) and you have missed out on a vital link in the chain. Think about how the body must build more structures, the proteins it must lay down, in order to cope with increasing workload. A classic example would be how zone 3 training is needed to boost capillary growth in the muscle bed before you work at zone 4 where lactic acid clearance determines performance level - less capillaries, less clearance. Start racing too soon, you jump steps (PC) that will ultimately limit your performance (P).

Of course it is no different for me as a cycling coach. Since we founded PBscience last summer, I have been balancing a whole host of roles:  the sport scientist (performance testing and data analysis each time a rider comes into the lab); the coach (writing training programmes based on test results or my daily analysis of training files); manager (of a team helping me build the resources on the website such as videos and factsheets); entrepreneur (understanding how to build the PBscience service); business woman (keeping on top of the accounts and administration); researcher (making sure I keep abreast of the latest journal publications). I could go on! Balancing these roles and making sure I devote enough time to my own PC and the business PC is critical. Sometimes you can get so caught up IN the business (being the coach) you can neglect working ON the business (moving PBscience forward with new ideas and developing my skills as a coach). I want to give my best daily - but just like I explain with the physiology of training adaptation, there has to be an awareness that always delivering will ultimately blunt my ability as a cycling coach. I owe it to my athletes to make sure I keep learning and improving: stepping back from hands on tasks, and putting effort into my long term development.

"Learning and improving" - how often we forget the importance of that, so I will finish with a reminder. I attended a talk given by one of my mentors, Julia Armstrong, this week. Julia, a performance coach, talked about how we are so attached to outcomes, like race results. If we ‘succeed' we are happy, if we ‘fail' we take it as a great hit to our esteem. We need to get comfortable with ‘failing', seeing them as opportunities to ‘learn and improve'. So, by all means, do these early season races, but see them as learning experiences - getting the warm-up right, getting used to being in race scenarios again - but take the pressure off: don't expect to be at your best ALL of the time - think about the ‘PC' bank account into which you are investing - you might just harvest some golden eggs this season!

Sometimes, my job as a cycling coach becomes more about the psychology than the physiology - helping a rider to stay  grounded. This week, I have had discussions with several riders, helping them to balance their expectations of where they ‘should be' with a perception of where they actually are. That might be in training (where they expect progression to be linear, or where they are frustrated at not hitting a specific training intensity); or more commonly, in a race.

I spent the weekend watching a few of my athletes attend a local club time trial - designed as a team time trialling training session for a few, and a check on power output levels for others. As I stood on a bridge across the dual carriageway, I got goose bumps: it reminded me what a personal challenge time trialling is: each of the riders totally focused for 10 miles, unaware of the outside world; the best of them holding bodies steady, legs pumping like pistons. The full on season is not far away now!

Pre-season can be a nervy time for athlete, and coach alike. Up until now, training has been methodical, building the volume, and upping the intensity. With the season not yet on the horizon, there is confidence and excitement about the coming year. Once the first early season races come along however, it is often like a switch: riders suddenly want a test of their form - to see how the hours of work have paid off.

I often say to my riders that February / March is ‘crunch time'. It is really the transition between endurance building, and the step towards race specific preparation. I find that athletes respond VERY differently to this period, both physiologically and mentally. Most of the PBscience athletes are looking to peak in around 12-14 weeks time, so a large proportion of their time right now is being spent in zone 3: the intensity that brings ‘quality endurance'. My cycle coaching philosophy is that this endurance base is necessary, and I choose to ramp up intensity at a later stage than some are used to. I believe that 12 weeks is ample to work on race pace and ‘top end': instead, I would rather the time up until this period of the year is focused on endurance. This is mainly for two reasons: firstly, to enable the athlete to ‘build' the machinery needed for race pace training - whether this be extra capillaries for removal of ‘waste' products the muscle creates, or the enzymes needed to help the athlete use more oxygen. Both characteristics support the work at harder rates yet to come. Secondly, over a race season, it is not uncommon to see athletes get less fit: that's because once racing, it is hard to maintain enough endurance training to keep the underpinning foundation firm. Endurance training is a bit like the foundations of a house - and you wouldn't build a house on fragile foundations! I'd like to also add a third reason - psychologically, keeping a lid on higher intensity training until this close to the season allows the rider to ‘keep their powder dry': high intensity intervals are mentally sapping - keep the race build short ensures an athlete has the end in sight. There is a danger in doing the same thing all year round that you blunt not only the fitness, but the brain's ability to cope with hard, fatiguing efforts.

Of course, there is a down side to this approach - March brings the opportunity to race. I personally feel a rider has to make a choice on how they view participating in these races, especially if they want to peak in late May / early June. However, as an athlete, I remember this feeling: seeking reassurance that everything is on track. I support my riders in what they feel they need, but I do try and get across that these can only be seen as stepping stones: either training races, or as ‘tests in the field' - useful to help guide their training zones outside of the lab testing we do.

I think a lot of my riders appreciate my ‘glass half full' attitude. Helping them keep the faith when other riders are seemingly are miles ahead than them. We talk about their major goals: what are they, and when are they...and how being good all season is not possible - most of my riders have made a conscious decision to go for higher peaks (which unavoidably means accepting the low points too).

To outsiders, 12 weeks seems a long time, but to an athlete, the appearance of a key event comes around quickly. It is hard not to be impatient, to want to be good now; to even be ‘better than this time last year'...reminding an athlete that ‘being ahead of this time last year' was not a goal is one of the hardest parts of my job. Really, it's all about trust - that pushing the body towards new limits is a stepwise process which takes time - you can't rush adaptation, just plan for it.

Last week, I had the opportunity to visit the wind tunnel for the first time. Two of my athletes, Seb and Juliette, had decided to visit the tunnel in order to refine their time trialling position. In time trialling, most of the power output cyclists produce is needed to overcome wind resistance (as much as 75% in fact), so getting the position right on the bike is vital to make the most of the energy you expend. However, its not as easy as just presenting the smallest area to the wind as you can: lower at the front end can compromise your ability to pedal the bike - its the interplay between your aerodynamics and your physiology. Simon Smart, owner of Drag2zero gave his expertise on the former, while I went along to provide Seb and Juliette some guidance on the latter.

I have read a lot about wind tunnel testing, but seeing the process in action was enlightening. As a sport scientist, I understand the need to change one small thing at a time, but that requires a lot of patience on the part of Simon and his team, as well as the athlete sitting there in the (hot) tunnel for 2 hours straight. Painstaking precision and measurement, photos taken of each small adjustment made, and accurate measurement of how much resistance to the wind the cyclist presents.

Naively, many cyclists going to the tunnel expect THE answer - "what is THE best position for me to be in on my bike?". Simon does not give that - the trip to the tunnel is the start of a process to answer that question. On leaving the tunnel, the 3 of us had the information we needed to inform how we tackle that 'aerodynamics / physiology' balance: so next step, into the lab, where we will look at the various position options, and how each of those impacts on the tolerance to exercise.

Wind tunnel testing is not something I ever did as an athlete - five years ago when I was putting time and energy into refining my bike position, this kind of technology was out of reach to the domestic level athlete. I was fortunate to be working in a sport science department that could at the very least offer video analysis and the advice of a biomechanician! If I had my time again, spending 2 hours in the tunnel would be 'a must' - saving hours of deliberation over position and equipment purchases.

I am just grateful that I can experience this process now as a coach - and make sure the athletes I work with are able to take these opportunities to refine performance. With the season not too far away now, its exciting to see the benefits in action!

Back into work Monday morning, and I am greeted with 'How was your holiday Helen?' Holiday I thought? Mmmm.....

Okay, I admit, a week on my bike in sunny Majorca while most of the UK is still gripped by the harsh winter we seem to be suffering under MIGHT seem like a holiday, and I cannot deny, I did enjoy the week a lot. But, it was far from a holiday - running the first PBscience camp was a huge learning experience for me, and one I am thoroughly pleased to have got under my belt.

I was always 'on duty'; from breakfast at 8am, through to the end of the day at 10pm: whether it be questions over meal times and coffee; whilst riding side by side with my athletes on the road; in my 'one to one' discussions with riders; or during the presentations I made after dinner. It might sound draining - but in fact, it was incredibly energising to be within a group so motivated by their training and keen to learn about the science too.

One of the aims of PBscience is to help the athlete understand the science behind training and performance - in fact, its probably the aspect that sets us aside as a cycle coaching service. Indeed, I often explain to athletes I work with that working with me is a little like signing up for a mini sport science course! This training camp was no exception. Take day 3, where we provided the athletes with an opportunity to experience (and practise) a 'split session day' of training: a steady ride in the morning, followed by some quality blocks later in the day. the night before, I presented to the group on the rationale behind using split session days, the benefits of organising training in this way, and finally, the sport science strategies we can use to cope with them (from nutrition, massage, compression tights, and use of cold water immersion post ride). Next day, we put everthing into practice - I think the photo below proves that!

Did the athletes take to it and appreciate the scientific angle of the training camp? I think so - testament was how the dip in the hotel's pool became a widely adapted practice through the rest of the week!

Being a sport scientist who is also a cycle coach, seeing the adoption of these kind of strategies is very rewarding. Also, this camp allowed me to spend a lot of time with the riders I coach: whether it be riding on the road with them, or in conversation about the training ahead during the 'one to one' consultations I had with each of them. During the training camp I thrived on those opportunites, developing the plan, and sensing a shared energy and excitement about the season to come, and the goals set. With each of them, we come away with a deeper and a stronger coach-athlete relationship - I must thank them for that.

I believe going to Majorca in February paid off. While many riders back home struggled to complete their training, we achieved 20 hours plus of good, solid base mileage. Only one ride was affected by the Majorcan weather - unfortunately, the day we wanted to head deeper into the mountains. Of course, it wasn't all hard work. We enjoyed the downtime too - like most cyclists, we drank our fair share of 'cafe con leche'!

All in all, a great week...roll on camp number 2!

To start this post, a quote from Floyd Landis, speaking about his return to the pro ranks after a 2 year suspension: "I never stopped really appreciating my bicycle, I just didn't have any goals so I just wasn't as determined with my riding."

Since the decision I made to race less while I got the PBscience business up and running, I have to confess to finding less reasons to get on my bike. Sure, I still enjoy riding, but when you have been through 'having' to ride your bike 6 or 7 times per week, the 'wanting' to ride gets diminishes Right now, I would gauge that I would choose to ride my bike once maybe twice per week if enjoyment was what it was all about.

While I was competitive, I never questioned the training process - and each morning I would rise early to get that day's session done - no questions, it was automatic. I was speaking with Juliette, one oy my athletes about this last week when she came in to do a cycle training session in the lab under my supervision. We were reflecting on how as an athlete, the enjoyment often comes from the desire to get better - to know that you piece together sessions and get the reward at the end. Day by day though, it doesn't mean you have to love each training session. Its hard being an athlete: its by no means 'an easy life'. I fully allow my athletes to complain about training; but I do keep an ear on the tone with which they speak: the sessions can be tough, but I need to hear the satisfaction alongside. If that goes, THEN I begin to delve deeper for issues.

So, what gets me up at 6am each morning to train now? Well, the first PBscience training camp in Majorca is 10 days away. As well as being excited about running my first camp, I am also a little anxious that I will keep up on the rides! Its all very well doing 1 to 2 hour rides (often on the turbo), but stringing together 6 or 7, back to back 3 / 4 hour rides is a different proposition! My fitness is good - my lactate threshold is only 10W down on when I was training twice as many hours per week - but my ability to 'endure' that LT intensity is not what it was - I will be hiding in the group!

I think we all need reasons to train - as yes, I could make a choice to just exercise for fitness and health: but it wouldn't be enough to maintain my fitness in order to ride with my athletes, like during a track session I organised for a3crg this week. It was fun doing team time trial practice!

I'm glad I have Majorca to train for - the obvious question is then, after I get back, what is my motivation then? Its a long time to our second training camp, Lanzarote in November!

 

 

What differentiates sport science from coaching? Perhaps that is an question to answer another day, but one distinction to use would be that of measuring an athlete's physiological functioning in the laboratory. Certainly, it plays a big part in my day to day role as a coach coming from a sport science background.

I love performing lab tests: it is one of the reasons I entered sport science in the first place, but more recently, it has been one of the fundamental ways I get to truly know an athlete - seeing how they cope with the demands of exercise testing tells me just as much about the psyche as it does the physiology. It is a process I love and find incredibly rewarding  - which is a good job considering the months of December and January are filled with appointments in the lab!

Why test? Regular monitoring of fitness is paramount to evaluating how much progress is being made; to check that the training you have prescribed is actually leading to changes in fitness. In the first instance though, getting an athlete into the lab allows accurate determination of training zones - much better to measure the boundaries that cause marked changes in physiology (people will be familiar with such landmarks of exercise intensity such as ‘lactate threshold' and ‘VO2max') than to ‘guestimate' them using dubious equations such as ‘age minus 220' and % max heart rate, or other normative data relating to % of known power producing ability. It gives the athlete confidence that the hours they put in training are hitting the spot - maximising effectiveness is the ideal return for the time investment. Another reason to test in this way is getting a real understanding as to the relative strengths and weaknesses an athlete has. I really value performance tests (like races) or ‘field tests' during athlete's training sessions, but in my opinion these can only supplement the accuracy and precision of scientific: in other words, lab testing measures not only the strain you put on the system (power) but also the stress it produces (heart rate, oxygen uptake and blood lactate concentration).

PBscience athletes receive three lab tests per year included in their package. I think it is fair to say it is one of the most enjoyable benefits of being a member, certainly based on the feedback I get. During the lab visit, we also have plenty of time to talk about how training is going, and also to discuss things such as goals for the season. All athletes get a full test report, normally within 2 to 3 days after the test, and I base their next training block based on this data.

The current batch of lab tests is coming to an end for me, but it will soon be re-test time -  its then we get to see just  how well the training has gone over the 8 to 12 week block. I'll keep you posted!

I spent the first week of my New Year juggling time between writing training programmes for 10 riders and finishing off my Personal Performance Coaching diploma: a 3000 word written assessment reminded me of my University days! In my study this week, I came across a quote that I wanted to share with you. It might have been written with more of a life coaching role in mind, but there is a lot of carry over into my cycle coaching and helping athletes reach peak sports performance:

A great coach is someone that lives your commitment

Someone who remembers when you forget

A great coach is someone who helps you reach for the sky

Someone who never lets you give up on your dream

A great coach is someone who helps you think, discover, and create

Someone who has you stand by the possibility you are

A great coach is someone who has you see what you cannot see

Someone who will have you be great

A great coach is someone you can count on, no matter what