Tom speaks with attendees of recent Ramblewood Health Club Triathlon Seminar. Tom spoke on many topics including periodization in training, heart rate-based training, proper forms and drills, and weight training. For more information on future seminars, or to schedule a triathlon seminar, please e-mail Tom at tom@tomtroutcoaching.com

I’ve been on a structured weight training program for about 12 weeks now through MarkAllenOnline, and it has made a tremendous difference in the amount of power I am able to produce for a prolonged period of time on the bike. I am also a faster runner now, despite gaining about 1.5-2 pounds in muscle weight over the last 2 months.

I used to be of the opinion that too much structured weight training would make me inflexible and “slow” due to a pound or two of weight gain. I also used to think that if I simply put enough aerobic time in on the bike or during the run…especially pounding up hills, than I would never have to spend time in the weight room. Contrary to this belief, weight lifting has actually reduced my need for “padding” my training log with additional hours of moderate aerobic training….just to make myself feel better. In fact, I have been able to comfortably handle the aerobic workload Mark has laid out for me, while becoming stonger each week. I am now convinced that a structured weight program consisting of about 10-12 key exercises specific to triathlon is essential to increasing muscular endurance, power, and ultimately speed. All of this….in exchange for a reduction in overall training volume. It’s a pretty good trade off, if you ask me. For a minimal investment of time per week (I average about 1.5 hours/week in the weight room), I am stronger than I was with about 15-20% more training volume 2 years ago. This isn’t rocket science….it’s just plain common sense.

Clermont, Florida…..home of the unofficial triathlon season opener for me for the past two years. To be racing in April, when you live in Michigan, is a wonderful feeling!

I arrived in Clermont shortly after 6 a.m., received my race packet, then began to set things up in the transition area. The temps. were very cool that morning (about 50 degrees), and the winds were howling (20-30 mph).

After a quick warm-up ride and run, I made my way to the start in Lake Minneola. The water was hovering at 69-70 degrees, so I felt better in the water than standing in the blowing wind. The lake was very choppy, so I felt the need to conserve a little energy for the first 2/3 of the swim. I saw Spencer Smith at the starting line looking like he wasn’t planning on conserving anything out there. As it turned out, he crushed the next closest competitor by over 8 minutes.

Sticking with my strategy, I took the swim conservatively and managed to come out of the water 22nd overall and roughly 3rd in my age group. Still, I felt that I should have pushed a little harder coming back into shore. I had a quick transition, and headed out onto the blustery and extremely hilly bike course. The sun started warming things up a bit, but it was still struggling to hit 60 degrees.

I have been working hard in the weight room this winter, which helped me with a very good bike split. Through the hills and wind, I nearly matched last year’sbike split set on a calm day. I managed to move into 1st in my AG and roughly 6th overall coming of off the bike. Since we started in heats, I wasn’t sure where everyone else was, so I just ran my planned strategy. My first mile was around 6:17, then a 6:10, then a 6:03 to round out the 3rd mile. I saved myself slightly until the last 2.5 miles of the run, then poured it on finishing the last two miles in around 5:50/mile.

Later, I found out how I had finished and was very pleased with the result. Mark Allen and his coaching staff have provided me with excellent workouts, and a solid strength training plan since February.

I feel that things are progressing nicely, and I’m looking forward to my first peak race of the season….the Sylvania Half Ironman on June 12! I’ll be racing the Borgess Half Marathon on April 30 - mostly as a training run - so look for another race report soon after that race as well