TriStar Athletes, triathlons are an individual sport! Drafting is only allowed in cycling races… However did you know you can ride draft legal in a triathlon if you are six bike links back?
You’re not actually drafting, you’re riding up to the draft zone and falling out of it so that your work rate is less than the riders in front of you.
Here are the key tips for riding safely and legally
Pedal up to the draft zone, and coast to stay out of it when you get there.
You will want to practice this in training and realize that flatter courses will have more opportunity for draft legal riding.
If the biker in front of you is riding too slow then you should pass them. Make sure to make the pass within the allotted time, or drop back if you cannot pass.
Physiologically speaking, when you pedal with coasting breaks your normalized and average power will drop tremendously.
Imagine riding a trainer at 200 W for three hours, or riding for three hours with every two minutes a coasting break at 0 W! You are lactic acid and muscles will get frequent rest breaks which will allow you to run better off the bike. ( riding in this way he can save up to 25% more energy than straight up time trialing )
This is a strategy employed by many pro athletes and top age groupers.
Keep your hands close to the brakes and controls so that you’re able to slow as needed.
Check regulations with race officials to make sure you are the proper bike distance back from other athletes.
Pivotal to your success as an endurance athlete is to optimize your hydration and electrolyte balance for racing and training. We have put together these guidelines based on your race distance, body type and sweat rate.
Learning how to pace appropriately for endurance sports is critical to raceday success. How you “unwind” your efforts can dramatically determine how fast you are able to swim bike and run. We demonstrate good and bad pacing through data analysis in this short video.
Tristar athlete, as a cyclist our power output varies due to factors like wind, terrain and even other riders around us. Here’s where Normalized Power (NP) comes in.
While all athletes can vary in their motivations, bodies and goals. There are clear distinctions between men and woman in how they approach endurance sports. As a coach you will need to know some of theses subtleties as you work with both male and female athletes.
Selecting the appropriate race and training weight as a woman depends on you and your goals. Performance can be enhanced with a leaner and lighter body composition which is ideally suited for endurance sports. As a female ♀ endurance athlete our coaches have put together these key points to help you to navigate towards your ideal body weight. Note that we believe that less is not always more and that the “right” body weight is a blend of health, performance and your own bodies design.
For Tristar woman looking to get dialed in with their cycles, the FITR woman app is a great resource. Use the app to help time your cycle and learn more about how it is impacting your training and performances.
Female athletes have their own unique training demands based on the timing of their menstrual cycles. Our Tristar coaches have put together these key principals and descriptions based on your goals and training plan as a female athlete. Your coach will help guide your plan based on your time of the month and key training sessions.
Recognized as one of the leading authors in woman specific endurance training, our coaches highly recommend for our female athletes to take a deeper dive into her book “ROAR”. Our Tristar coaches feel this reading can help you to further unlock your racing and training potential with her books “deep dive” into the female athletes needs.
Tristar ♀ female athletes these resources have been designed for you to help dial in your unique physiology as a woman. A variety of topics ranging from training, sleeping, nutrition and body composition management to achieving a break through workout and race.
In this coaches corner we discuss how our athletes should pace and prepare for a stand alone run or “foot race”. The pacing and planning that we use to maximize your race-day whether you are a runner or multisport athlete.
Tristar Athlete, you have done the training and have your race plan loaded and ready to go. When to ride hard vs ride easy is a science when racing. Wind sheer that greets you as your ride is exponential in nature, meaning it takes much more power to ride even one mile an hour faster and especially true the faster you go. In fact, eventually there is a terminal velocity that even the strongest of cyclists will face.
Becoming a better cyclist and improving your speed potential as an athlete can be enhanced by working on your power to weight ratio or “watts per kilo”. In this coaches article we have published our watts per kilo calculator to see how weight and power impact your current ability and future bike racing potential.
Learn best practices as an athlete when taking on a long run. This key workout can be enhanced when you understand the goals and needs of how to execute it properly.
FTP testing can be challenging both mentally and physically. Our interpretations around this key metric are useful in determining how to adjust your training and zones. Learn more about how to think about your performance output after this key test.
A video analysis review of run power with Tristar Athletes Jose Alvarado. This was an 8mile trail run at altitude, we review his pacing, power, and heart rate data.
During your swim training you may find that the planned training stress vs actual can be quite different. There are a few rules to follow towards having more accuracy in your swim training data.
Part of being an athlete is dealing and coping with injuries. How you navigate them at get back into training as soon as possible is what can keep you making gains in endurance sports. Follow these concepts to keep the downtime to a minimum. -Tristar Coaching Staff
