The best kept secret in coaching
Athlete Resources, Psychology, ★★★, Health and Wellness
Athlete Resources, ★★★, Health and Wellness
Why it’s worth your time? In this time management article we are going to teach you how to take back your time for your health and fitness. You will learn; A. Why everyone can and should use their time more wisely. B. How to manage your time best. C. What you can do with that free time to boost your health and fitness.
Athlete Resources, Season Planning, ★★★
Athlete Resources, Pacing, zones
Athlete Resources, Running, Training Peaks, ★★★, CTL
Tristar Athletes, In this table we present the peak continuous training load score for each athlete. Recall that CTL score is a rolling average of your daily training stress score over the past 42 days. Your peak CTL is the highest CTL you achieve in a period of training. The numbers in this table help you select your training hours and load that’s best for you and your ability.
Athlete Resources, Season Planning, ★★★
Athlete Resources, Psychology, ★★★
During training you will find that being “training flexible” can help to move you forward in your plan when static weekly training seems too rigid. Note that Tristar plans are adaptive and changing constantly, however we have found the following options to be super helpful for near year round performance.
Athlete Resources, Recovery, Season Planning, ★★★
Tristar Athlete, depending on how long and hard your racing season was you will need some period of a break both physically and mentally. Recharging the battery makes it possible to achieve new peaks when the valleys are planned just right. Our coaches have laid out these ground rules towards helping you determine how best to approach this planned for key phase; we believe this is just as important as the peak build phases our athletes must complete before major races. Take as much time off as you need.. but remember fitness waits for no one and neither does your competition!
Athlete Resources, ★★★, Psychology
As an athlete self doubt is a normal feeling and is actually “business as usual” to us as coaches. We know pushing your limits, finding your “why” and being consistent is hard work. Its only natural that time to time you feel anxiety about your training and racing performances. Our coaches have put together this write up for you to remove the emotion and be logical about where you are, where you stand and how to find confidence.
Athlete Resources, swimming, ★★★
Biking, Athlete Resources, testing, ★★★, Time Trialing
Critical power and critical pace are the same as mean max for any given amount of time or distance. We use critical power and pace to benchmark and raise total levels of endurance in your training.
For this training session below learn how to find your peak curves for power, pace, heart rate or distance to execute your “CP” workouts.
Tristar athlete, one of the most important aspects of training that determines your overall output and Raceday ability is FTP; functional threshold power and pace. Our coaches detail how to improve this important metric on a monthly, annual and multi year time frame based on your ability.
For swimming; Functional threshold pace in swimming defined as a timed effort, where you swim as far as possible in a given time (e.g. 30 or 60 minutes). So, if you swim for 30 minutes and cover 1000 meters, then you can use the value of 33.3 m/min. as your FTP. Since the actual FTP is closer to the one-hour effort, it might be more advisable to perform a 60-minute test, or to take the value obtained for 30 minutes, multiply by two and subtract 2.5 percent.
For biking; You can estimate FTP with from your best recent 20-minute power value (either from a dedicated 20-minute test or a sufficiently hard 20-minute effort from a race or workout). Multiply that value by 95% to get your FTP.
For running ; Your Functional Threshold Pace will be the average pace from a recent race or very hard training run of 45-60 minutes in duration.
Improve your aerobic capacity; You do not need to necessarily do threshold work to improve your FTP. Simply improving your base heart rate values and training in zone two in the base phases will improve your FTP. Newer endurance athletes will have limited ability to maintain power and pace over time without seeing a “ceiling” in their heart rate. As they train, the heart rate goes up dramatically even if the effort seems “easy”.
Longer rides and runs in heart rate zone two and three will get the job done in the early phases of training seeing watts and pace improve each month.
During key peaked out phases (Build I, Build II and Peak) that your coach is creating for you, will see improved muscular strength that will aid in your ability to raise FTP. (Endurance for time trialing) These sessions may actually be done in what we call the “sweet spot” , or just below the threshold to help stimulate your FTP to go higher.
Consistency; Our coaches will encourage you to be as consistent as possible as this is has the most impact on your fitness levels and once again FTP. Your continuous training load (How fit you are at any given time) marches up through the season as you train and when there are gaps in training the aerobic capacity may not improve enough to see substantive gains in the FTP.
Track workouts, hill repeats and high intensity interval training; These types of sessions will have more limited value for beginner endurance athletes and can be used sparingly during the final 6-2 weeks out from a peak event. Your coach will determine the total amount of intervals and intensity of these session based on how well your training is progressing.
Overall as a newer endurance athlete it is more critical to focus in on heart rate training to teach the body the proper physiology for raceday specificity than it is to hone in on the power and pace that the athlete would “like” to do on raceday.
Due to the heart rate decoupling (from limited aerobic capacity) newer endurance athletes will often times need to conduct their FTP tests pacing by heart rate and not power and pace.
Improve your aerobic capacity; Similar to beginner endurance athletes you won’t need to necessarily do threshold work to improve your FTP early on in your training. (Though if your fitness levels are starting off higher you may be able to do harder work straight away)
Simply improving your base heart rate values and training in zone two in the base phases will improve your FTP. As an intermediate endurance athlete you will start improving with heart rate zones two and three, power zones two and three and over the late stage build phases move towards exclusively training by power and pace with less emphasis on heart rate. The shorter mid week sessions will have little need for heart rate controlled work however the longer weekend sessions may have heart rate caps in conjunction with power and pace targets.
Longer rides and runs in heart rate zone two and three will get the job done in the early base phases of training, seeing watts and pace improve each month.
During key peaked out phases (Build I, Build II and Peak) your coach will be creating a plan that will see you having improved muscular strength that will aid in your ability to raise FTP. (Endurance for time trialing) These sessions may actually be done in what we call the “sweet spot” or just below the threshold to help stimulate your FTP to go higher.
Consistency; As an intermediate endurance athlete your total training hours and load will be higher and by default so too will be your your continuous training load (How fit you are at any given time) Because you are more consistent in training you will have an improved aerobic capacity which means you have the ability to train closer to your threshold with power and pace interval work.
Intensity factor; As an intermediate you also now have the ability to spend a higher time in the 80-100% range of FTP which helps move the dial in raising your FTP’s. You should strive to have the average intensity factor be in the 80% range and higher for shorter training sessions as you get closer to your peak and key races.
Track workouts, hill repeats and high intensity interval training; These types of sessions are extremely valuable in the final 10-2 weeks out from a peak event and will help to accelerate the raising of your FTP at this time. In fact these key weeks besides special off season work are your best timed opportunity to get faster. (Your coach will determine the total amount of intervals and intensity of these session based on how well your training is progressing.)
Overall as an intermediate endurance athlete it is more critical to focus in on heart rate in your initial training phases (Base I, Base II) to teach the body the proper physiology and then shift towards power and pace work with heart rate caps to “dial in” your FTP progression.
The training shift for intermediate endurance athletes is quite “seismic” in the fact that for the same heart rate, power and pace will dramatically improve over the course of a season heading towards a raceday peak.
Aerobic capacity; As an advanced endurance athlete you will be maintaining a higher level of training year round and thus your aerobic capacity is fully formed at nearly all times. This means that you can focus more exclusively on power and pace in your training throughout the season. Most seasoned athletes and elites/pro’s achieve this level.
Focused swimming biking and running at power and pace zones two and three will yield great results in building stamina that also subsequently builds your FTP.
To improve upon speed and FTP’s in general, year round you will need to train at and above your FTP periodically to improve.
Intensity factor; The intensity factor of these key threshold sessions will be based upon the phases of your training cycle and annual training plan. Meaning, early in the base phases you will need to do threshold work that has an overall intensity factor of 75% and less and at peak move towards an intensity factor of 85%+ for the main sets. Your coach will progress you through a sequenced and periodized approach to get your thresholds peaked out for your “A” priority races. When you raise the intensity factor in this way it brings the body into shape and peaks you out. It is a mistake to hit high intensity factor sessions in the base phase for these athletes though tune up races can help to check in on how things are progressing early on in the season.
During key peaked out phases (Build I, Build II and Peak) your coach will be creating a plan that will see you having improved muscular strength that will aid in your ability to raise FTP. (Endurance for time trialing) These sessions may actually be done in what we call the “sweet spot” or just below the threshold to help stimulate your FTP to go higher.
Consistency; It is assumed you have a higher total training load that supports a superior aerobic level of fitness. (To learn more if you are at this level follow here)
Intensity factor; As an advanced endurance athlete you have the ability to spend a higher time in the 95-170% range of FTP which helps move the dial in raising your FTP’s. You should strive to have the average intensity factor be in the 85% range and higher for shorter training sessions as you get closer to your peak and key races.
Track workouts, hill repeats and high intensity interval training; These types of sessions are extremely valuable in the final 15-2 weeks out from a peak event and will help to accelerate the raising of your FTP at this time. In fact these key weeks besides special off season work are your best timed opportunity to get faster. (Your coach will determine the total amount of intervals and intensity of these session based on how well your training is progressing.)
Overall as an advanced endurance athlete it is important to focus in on pace and power in all of your training phases to get faster and stronger. Heart rate will have very limited value for pacing and even raising FTP. It is not uncommon for elite level Tristars to be at their FTP’s for both pace and power and find that their heart rate is only in zone three and for some only zone two!
“Sweet spot” training sessions done at 89-95% of FTP
Heart rate training at 98-102% of LTHR (lactate threshold heart rate).
Hill repetitions for both the bike and run (These are threshold work in disguise even when done at a moderate effort as they recruit more muscles and enhanced training stamina. They may be done for heart rate or power and pace.)
Track workouts and speed sessions on the run.
Group rides
Racing ~30-90minute events that are done just below or above FTP.
Tempo intervals 80-93% of FTP lasting 20-60minutes with minimal stop and rest time.
Very hard intervals done at 100-105% of FTP
Longer endurance rides and runs even at low intensity.
Any training session that is longer and or hard than the body has seen before….!
Metabolic Cart testing or lactate threshold testing is a common and great way to learn about your unique training physiology. We at Tristar Athletes feel that these tests can often times be expensive and need the help of a skilled technician making them less valuable on a regular basis.
We always learn something from these tests however field testing tells us nearly all we need to know about your FTP’s and heart rate zone values.
Metabolic cart testing can have value if you are fuel limited for longer course endurance races where fat burning vs carbohydrate burning values matter. Ask your Tristar Atheltes coach if this is something of value to you and your training.
A metabolic cart test can tell you more detailed information about your fuel mix utilization and therefore can enhance you dietary needs and how you feed your body. Your tristar coach may recommend this test in conjunction with a Tristar nutrition plan.
Blood lactate testing; drawing blood during a field test can reveal the point at which your threshold heart rate exists. Knowing this value can help to dial in you heart rate values which can be determined from a raceday performance as well. We use this type of testing more rarely even though the information is interesting; it is not a necessity.
There are limits to how much the FTP can grow in one cycle, and season. Multi year planning is necessary for longer term race goals.
FTP will grow more slowly in the base phases and more quickly in the build phases.
Off season work is neccessary for hungry athletes to improve for next season. The main reason is that is allows the athlete to focus in on a single sports FTP. (For instance the run FTP lags the bike FTP and to grow this athlete may need to work more exclusively on their run in the off season and not bike as much)
Most athletes can lock into peaked out FTP phase for only 8 weeks. This should be timed around key races and events as well as timed with key total fitness levels.
During the off season and downtime FTP is expected to and will go down. This is a normal part of the up and down cycles of training. The key is to reset a new base “bottom” that is still above pervious FTP off season values so that the total size of the FTP motor continues to grow. It is this main reason why endurance athletes continue to improve year after year raising their race-day potential which takes time.
Your Tristar Coach will lower and raise your FTP’s throughout your season based upon your performances and data. It is critical to adjust these thresholds downwards to accommodate a loss of fitness and ongoing so that training is not amplified and too hard on the body.
Health and recovery; Often times the limits to how high one can raise their FTP depends upon how fast you as an athlete can recover. If you are not sleeping enough and or nutrition is off then you may miss more regular opportunities to perform at or above threshold. Learn more about what it means to “not be able to perform” and what to do when you FTP is not improving.
Your swim FTP can constantly go upwards even to later stages in your endurance age and career. Form is a bigger limiter for most endurance athletes vs age.
Cycling FTP can also go up and continue to elevate up in to your early 50’s as an athlete. Due to the muscular nature of cycling you can have a very strong and elevated career!
Run FTP has a larger “age” adjusted growth rate. As we get older and lose our VO2 Max total FTP speed will also decline. The goal of consistency in running is more important to maintain what you have created and not erode your FTP. Periods of downtime and no running have the largest impact on FTP at older ages.
The infographic below details an Atheltes peak power curve and shows their personal critical power bests from one season to the next (Critical power = mean max output for a given time duration)
Using your peak power curve you can identify various peak powers you have sustained in the past and present. When you improve upon any point in the continuum of your chart you improve that representative energy system. For example; if you want to raise your FTP (60min time trial ability) you may opt to time trial and raise your power at 90minutes and up to two hours. By raising the points on either side of your FTP you stimulate it to go higher.
The same holds true for any point you are trying to improve for example if you are looking to raise your VO2 max power (5min power or pace output) You may try to improve your critical pace and power at 2minutes and 10minutes.
Thats a wrap! …and the 411 on FTP. For more information or questions specific to your training and plan please reach out to your Tristar Coach to help answer questions. Train hard… and SMART!
~The Tristar Athletes Coaches 👨🏻💻
Kyle is an All-American triathlete looking to shift his focus towards coaching and helping other triathletes realize their potential, physically and mentally. He knows the impact an informed and empathetic coach can have an an individual’s life, and hopes to have a similar impact on the lives of others he will coach.
As the adage goes, there is no ”I” in team and I want to join your team, helping get you to the start and finish lines of your races. I enjoy creating individualized training plans that reward discipline and consistency as well as providing experienced guidance to achieve your goals." —Coach Suzanne Turner
"Consistency trumps 'big days'. Continuously making deposits in the fitness bank, as small as they may sometimes seem, will make a big withdrawal on race day that much more manageable. That said, every so often 'life happens' and some course-correction is inevitable - that's where the TriStar coaching approach, backed by science and experience, is guaranteed to make a difference." —Coach Attila Kelemen
Adam Daniels is a coach, ultra runner and triathlete based in Boulder, CO. Adam developed his passion for triathlon after many years as a runner and much encouragement from his peers to give it a “tri”. After suffering an injury, Adam started swimming and biking to satisfy his need for an active lifestyle. “It was a much needed break from the thousands of running miles logged training and racing. I developed a whole new competitive drive”. So Adam set out to take on the triathlon world.
Cliff Scherb – Internet endurance consultant is an active triathlete and head of the TriStar Athletes North American and Global Teams. As the founder and principal coach of TriStar Athletes LLC, he works with the ELITE and MENTORSHIP teams to help athletes, balance training stress, nutrition, and peak for top performances. Coaching for 15+ years with over 250+ life years of coaching experience, Cliff imparts this knowledge to aspiring athletes and coaches.
Haluk has been helping elite athletes achieve their maximum potential for over fifteen years. Haluk is excited to be part of the TriStar coaching team, bringing a wealth of racing and coaching experience to all of his athletes.
Tristar Athlete, all of us posses the burning desire to be the best version of ourselves in endurance sports. To achieve and to be at your personal best is a fundamental core belief to being a Tristar athlete. The synergy of coach and athlete meets here in this coaches corner discussion where we look at the point of view (POV) of the athlete and coach. How each side of the relationship works and the time horizons that follow.
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”
Athlete POV 🏃🏻♂️: “I cant hit these numbers, what is the coach thinking?!
Coach 👨🏻💻 POV: This athlete is tired but has training consistency and is likely growing the most on fatigue where he/she is not hitting the numbers. I will check in to make sure things are ‘ok’.
(or) we may need to make an adjustments to threshold based on recent training.
Athlete POV 🏃🏻♂️:” Im not as fast as I was yesterday, I must not be improving.“
Coach 👨🏻💻 POV: The past 40 days (CTL) of training have been full and consistent. This athlete is getting fit! As the coach I am looking not at each day but each training block and cycle for improvements. Each day goes something like this…. Learn more
(or) The past 40 days have been hit or miss with lots of gaps in training, total upcoming expectations should be held in check for raceday performance. Long term thresholds and potential may need to be looked at.
(or) This athlete is tired and has been training a lot in the most recent two weeks (Acute training load, ATL) and needs more freshness to be hitting the numbers and may need a rest day.
Athlete POV 🏃🏻♂️: “Im going to stop this workout as its too hard and I am tired.”
Coach 👨🏻💻 POV: Oh no! Missed opportunity here. …This athlete was on the edge of a breakthrough. Pushing past limits and boundaries and as long as they don’t get sick or injured its important to make these leaps even though they can shake the confidence.
(or) Perhaps there was an issue with sleep, nutrition, fatigue or time commitment that lead to this, I will need to dig deeper and find out why.
Athlete POV 🏃🏻♂️: “I beat all the targets today and then some. I even went over what was RX’d, cant wait for the coach to see this!”
Coach 👨🏻💻 POV: This athlete went “off the reservation” and potentially this could impact other ares of training for this week. There are only so many times the heart can beat each week! And this may duplicate training energy systems. I better let them know about “doing their own thing”
Athlete POV 🏃🏻♂️: “The past week I have not performed at all and failed most if not all of my sessions.”
Coach 👨🏻💻 POV: Red flag! 🚩 This athlete either is training too hard, their thresholds are off, their ramp rate of training is too much or some other life event “life TSS” is happening here. Time to issue a rest day and find out what’s going on.
(or) I need to remind this athlete that is is the consistency, breadth and depth of training over time that nets huge gains and that any singular session does not move the dial nearly as much!
““Anyone who has ever made anything of importance was disciplined.””
Athlete POV 🏃🏻♂️: “Im not any faster at my race, I should be faster and I have been training so hard recently. Other athletes are faster than I am..”
Coach 👨🏻💻 POV: This athlete missed a large portion of the key training sessions in the build or base phases that led to a loss of fitness and performance.
(or) The athlete unfortunately did not raise their race potential in the off season which was needed to have a breakthrough race later in the season.
(or) other life stressors such as lack of sleep and recovery were are an ongoing factor.
(or) The athlete had an injury that held them back from being consistent in one or more disciplines.
(or) The pacing was blown on this particular race and adversely impacted performance.
(or) Conditions made the day more challenging than expected, the athlete should regroup and get into another race to test this theory out.
(or) This was a race to train through so the athlete would gain valuable race experience and fitness from racing. Meaning, it was not designed to be an “A” priority performance even though the “A” effort 💪🏻 was there.
(or) This athlete needs more racing experience in general to move the dial upwards since this type of stimulus as coach I cannot give to them in training. Racing gives athletes a +5% boost by competitive pressures and not to mention it is impossible to give an athlete that hard of a workout!
““Champions keep playing until they get it right.””
Athlete POV 🏃🏻♂️: “I have been training for months and I though I would have improved more by now”
Coach 👨🏻💻 POV: The physiology of training takes a long time to raise raceday potential. This athlete needs more time and consistency to adapt to training…. The time horizon to recognize this athletes full potential is two to five years from when they first started their training even though they will be making large gains along the way.
(or) The athlete needs more training time to perform at the distances they are shooting for.
(or) The athlete has an aerobic limiter and did not do the base training required to see the improvements they are looking for. Low and easy heart rate base training which raises the bodies thresholds by creating greater fuel economy. ❤️
““Small daily improvements over time lead to stunning results.””
Athlete POV 🏃🏻♂️: “I want to win my age group next season……”
Coach 👨🏻💻 POV: This athlete is laying down the big goals, do they realize what it takes? Are they willing to put in the sacrifices needed to get there? Do they have the time and support network to accomplish what they are setting out to do?
(or) This athlete is telling me some big goals.. however their work / lifestyle may get in the way of their ultimate goals. We may need to keep an open dialogue about how we get from A👉B.
(or) This athlete seems highly motivated but can they go the distance and be consistent year in and year out to see this multi year goal. …. is this athlete willing to do what it takes and make the necessary long term sacrifices to get there? Do they realize that athletes who win races have been in the “queue” longer than they have.. building and working their physiology and thresholds.
(or) This athlete needs a longer time frame and experience to get there, they need to learn how to “hold their hand in the fire longer” and develop their training suffering capacity to improve.
(or) Does this athlete have the ability to compete against what their peers at this level are doing in terms of thresholds and CLT’s? (Continuous training loads)
““Potential is not an endpoint but a capacity to grow and learn.””
Athlete POV 🏃🏻♂️: “I think my training has been going great”
Coach 👨🏻💻 POV: This athlete is telling me training is going well, however no data seems to upload and there are gaps in training. I need to ask the athlete to be more effusive with their comments in training peaks so I know whats going on.
(or). The athlete does not seem to hit the intensity factor, TSS, or interval specificity I am asking them to do to improve. …Most athletes who are a success on the Tristar Athletes team stick to the plan and dont impose their will on it 🤙🏻. While parts of the season will ebb and flow up and down, it is more like a funnel where the further out things are less specific but as race season approaches things get very specific and dialed in.
(or) This athlete is training way too hard and the intensity and or volume is too high. They are heading for an injury or longer term burn out. The ramp rate is too great…. Somewhere we need to pull back and get on the same page and see the long term approach towards systematic periodization.
Athlete POV 🏃🏻♂️: “I have been doing most of the training”
Coach 👨🏻💻 POV: This athlete has missed enough sessions that we may miss our goals this season or at upcoming races.
(or) The key sessions were missed at multiple junctures and while the total consistency has been there the key sessions were not. The specificity of what they are trying to accomplish, threshold or longer distance time trialing was not met. We need to “temper” expectations..
“Genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.””
Athlete POV 🏃🏻♂️: “I have doubts that I can ever be as good as I think I want to be”
Coach 👨🏻💻 POV: I believe! As a Tristar coach that anything is possible and if my athlete stays strong in constitution the sky is the limit!
(or) Does this athlete have a fear of failure (racing or training) and they should know that this is a natural and normal feeling. I will encourage them that failure is ‘ok’ so they can learn to be great in the future.
(or) Need to check in with this athlete to see if there are other factors that may be contributing to this self doubt, external of even training.
(or) Does this athlete have a fear of racing? Perhaps open water swimming? Fear of FTP testing where not hitting the numbers would create a sense of failure.
“A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.”
Tristar Athlete, have a question about your training? Performance or just need a check in? Our coaching team works as one unit meeting and communicating weekly to discuss our athletes goals and performances. Contact your specific coach or reach out to all of us here. Train hard.. and SMART! ~Tristar Atheltes coaching staff 👨🏻💻 👩🏻💻👨🏻💻 👩🏻💻👨🏻💻 👩🏻💻
Kyle is an All-American triathlete looking to shift his focus towards coaching and helping other triathletes realize their potential, physically and mentally. He knows the impact an informed and empathetic coach can have an an individual’s life, and hopes to have a similar impact on the lives of others he will coach.
As the adage goes, there is no ”I” in team and I want to join your team, helping get you to the start and finish lines of your races. I enjoy creating individualized training plans that reward discipline and consistency as well as providing experienced guidance to achieve your goals." —Coach Suzanne Turner
"Consistency trumps 'big days'. Continuously making deposits in the fitness bank, as small as they may sometimes seem, will make a big withdrawal on race day that much more manageable. That said, every so often 'life happens' and some course-correction is inevitable - that's where the TriStar coaching approach, backed by science and experience, is guaranteed to make a difference." —Coach Attila Kelemen
Adam Daniels is a coach, ultra runner and triathlete based in Boulder, CO. Adam developed his passion for triathlon after many years as a runner and much encouragement from his peers to give it a “tri”. After suffering an injury, Adam started swimming and biking to satisfy his need for an active lifestyle. “It was a much needed break from the thousands of running miles logged training and racing. I developed a whole new competitive drive”. So Adam set out to take on the triathlon world.
Cliff Scherb – Internet endurance consultant is an active triathlete and head of the TriStar Athletes North American and Global Teams. As the founder and principal coach of TriStar Athletes LLC, he works with the ELITE and MENTORSHIP teams to help athletes, balance training stress, nutrition, and peak for top performances. Coaching for 15+ years with over 250+ life years of coaching experience, Cliff imparts this knowledge to aspiring athletes and coaches.
Haluk has been helping elite athletes achieve their maximum potential for over fifteen years. Haluk is excited to be part of the TriStar coaching team, bringing a wealth of racing and coaching experience to all of his athletes.
Tristar Athlete, one of the most important sequences you will need to be carefully monitoring is your taper. Our coaches discuss the best approach based on your training ability as a beginner, intermediate and advanced endurance athlete detailing what to do on each day before your race for the best performance.
