The Tri Town Times: 2/21/22

The Tri Town Times: 2/21/22

This week: Nils van der Poel "How to Skate a 10k" manifesto; unqualified to start?
Image: Ben Elumbaugh riding in Wilson Creek, Idaho.

Hi all,
 
Here is your weekly Tri Town Times newsletter:
 
Training thoughts and updates:
25 year old Swedish speed skater Nils van der Poel delivered one of the most impressive performances during this Winter Olympics. After winning the gold medals and setting new world records in the 5k and 10k speed skate, he published a manifesto appropriately titled How to skate a 10k. I highly recommend reading the document- but until then, here are some key insights:
 
  1. Don't cheat yourself while building your aerobic base: "The stronger I got aerobically, the more anaerobic sessions I could do later on. I purified the aerobic season. I only trained aerobically... I believe it was not to be efficient to do high intensity work all year around."
  2. Fuel your training: "During this season I ate a lot, probably around 7000 kcal per day. I gained about five kilograms during the summer to stay on the safe side when it came to preventing injury. I tried to eat a lot of fats so that my energy flow during the day would be more even."
  3. Control your intensity: "I dropped the hours to 25 hours weekly and tried to do as many of those hours on threshold as possible. It was important not to start off too hard so I always made a smooth transition from only going aerobic to reaching high levels of weekly threshold hours...I usually went a little under 4mmol/l in order to increase the total threshold volume."
  4. Be specific, there is not enough time/energy to do everything: "Some pro athletes say that, since they are professionals and can train as much as they like, they might as well add some weight training, and some stretching, and some core, and some technical sessions, and some training competitions, and some coordination sessions... All training sessions are performed at the expense of other, more efficient, training sessions, or at the expense of recovery after these sessions." 
  5. Find a rhythm of training that works for you: "I almost always trained after a 5-2 day training program. Training for five days and then resting for two days. My rest days were usually during weekends. In that way I could spend the weekends doing fun stuff with my friends. Usually I did not train at all during rest days. I rested both my mind and my body."
 
Shop Ops:
We are open today from 10am-6pm. Happy President's Day!
 
Quote that struck a chord:
"Being unqualified is never an excuse not to get started."
 
About 11 years ago, a friend and I opened a bike shop. For 8 years before that I had thought and dreamed of opening a bike shop almost continuously. A year after opening the shop I reflected on what I learned, and the key lesson was that I was more afraid of opening the shop than I should have been. I was afraid I needed more experience, education, and money. Ultimately, these were excuses to avoid taking action. In hindsight, I was never going to have "everything" I needed. Now, I simply focus on embracing the fact that taking action often dictates my future action. Getting into the work clarifies what skills and resources I need to work on and develop. This can actually save time and money by allowing me to focus on what actually works and what really matters.
 
 
Have a great week!
 
Antonio Gonzalez
Tri Town Bicycles
 
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