Your own iron man: How to keep a diary and conduct tests

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

We have already built an annual training plan for a real iron man. Each training day in the Preparatory period was analyzed in detail. But you and I know that every plan is not perfect. Moreover, each plan requires constant revision. This happens because only one thing is constant - everything is constantly changing. You change as a result of training. Circumstances change - you have more or less time, the workout schedule in the gym has changed, and so on. The external environment is changing - the weather no longer allows outdoor training and alternatives are needed. Etc. etc. And if the adjustment taking into account external factors is more or less clear, then with the changes associated with your progress, everything is somewhat more complicated. The difficulty lies in one thing - in order to change something, you need to understand WHAT to change and HOW to change.

Today we will answer the question - WHAT to change? Naturally, for this it is necessary to analyze something. And in order to analyze something, you need to have something - the data that will form the basis. The athlete obtains this data from two sources: daily activities and tests.

Diarywhere we record what we do every day, allows us to look back and understand the reasons for the current results or condition. Tests, which are held once a month, allow you to understand the current level of trained skills, determine your limits and some training requirements.

Triathlete's diary

If you are serious and want to achieve certain results, you will have to keep a diary - humble yourself. I repeat - this is necessary in order to be able to analyze the reason for the results obtained and adjust your action plan. There is not much information to keep track of, but it is important to keep a diary every day, even if there is no training on that day. For convenience, I have divided the diary into several parts.

Wellbeing

What should you do right after you wake up?

1. Measure your heart rate.
2. Go to the toilet and weigh yourself.
3. Understand how well you slept.
4. Write it all down in your diary.

What and how to analyze?

1. The quantity and quality of sleep. Sleep is essential for a triathlete. If you do not get enough sleep, the workout may not be important. Therefore, if you see that the indicators are declining and you feel severe fatigue - look how you have been sleeping lately. Perhaps the reason is this. Poor sleep can also be the cause of overtraining.
2. Weight and heart rate. A change in heart rate by 10 beats or a change in weight by more than 1 - 1.5 kg can also be evidence of overtraining. Look at these parameters if you are looking for the reasons for the deterioration in well-being.

As you can see from the example above, for two days my heart rate was 63 and 64. At the same time, I didn’t feel that much sleep. On days when I had enough sleep and in the morning I felt asleep my heart rate was usually 56 - 58 beats per minute. Conclusion - you need to go to bed earlier.

Fuel

You can use one of the phone apps to track proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Or independently calculate based on tables presented on the Internet. I combine one with the other.

Analyzing nutrition, you must clearly understand the characteristics of your own body. Based on the table, I personally need to increase the proportion of proteins and fats, the reason for this is my strong thinness. Weight needs to be added a little.

The total number of calories consumed by a triathlete with a tight training schedule should be at least 3500 Kcal. But again - consider your own characteristics.

Analyze the changes in the balance of the BJU with a change in well-being.

Workout

The most important section of the diary. Do not forget to enter the data after training, while you still remember everything you did.

Explanations:

1. Avg. pace - average pace of the workout. In running and cycling, it is measured in min / km. Swimming in min / 100 meters.
2. Wed HR is the average heart rate for a workout.
3. Mach. HR is the maximum heart rate for a workout.
4. Z1 - 5 - time in intensity zones. How to define zones of intensity will be described below.
5. Total time - the total time of all workouts for the current week.
6. Comments - do not forget to provide any necessary comments on your workouts. If you have made any changes to the training process - indicate. For example, if you have changed the riding height on your bike, it is worth reflecting in your diary. Or if you have practiced a technique that changed the average pace - also indicate.

What and how to analyze?

From the point of view of analysis, everything is just simple. You can build a graph and watch in dynamics how this or that indicator changes. The most interesting is the pace. It is also necessary to analyze how your heart rate changes at an equal pace. If clear peaks appear on the chart, you need to go over all the parameters of the diary and understand what influenced the change. This can be the weather, and well-being, and sleep, and nutrition and changes in the training process.

Power training

Everything is simple here. We indicate what exercises were done, the number of approaches, repetitions and weight.

We look at how weight changes over time with the same number of approaches and repetitions.

Results of the day

At the end of the day, you need to take stock related to your well-being. To do this, indicate how tired you feel. How do you assess the tension during the day and the presence of painful sensations. We add specific feelings to the comments.

It is best to evaluate with only three options - strong, normal, low. If the rating scale is larger, it will only create difficulties in the assessment.

Results of the week

The weekly summary allows you to get a glimpse of how far you have met the plan in terms of time and distance covered.

Completed? Fine! No? Review your plan.

Testing

Below is a series of tests from the Triathlete's Bible

General rules for preparing for testing

• You will need an assistant to help you record your lap times, heart rate, perceived tension rating, and recovery intervals. You need to have a watch to control your pace. Also, attach the Perceived Tension Scale (Borg Scale) where you can see it at the end of each swim. It is best to conduct the test when there are few people at the test site. If possible, use the same route for repeated tests. If this is not possible, then at least the route must be the same length.
• Perceived stress scale (Borg scale).



• Avoid food intake at least two hours before the test. It is advisable to arrange a rest day for yourself a day before the test. It's good if you were resting or doing light exercise the day before.
• Warm up 10-20 minutes before the test. Write in your journal what kind of warm-up you used.
• If at any time you feel dizzy or nauseous, stop testing immediately. The goal of your test is not to achieve your maximum heart rate, but it will be a prerequisite for achieving the best possible results.

Pool Swimming Step Test

1. The test is a series of 100-meter swims at increasing speed, interspersed with 20-second recovery intervals.
2. Swim the first distance at low speed and little effort. The perceived voltage reading on the Borg scale shown here should be approximately 7. The assistant will record the time you have covered the distance and control the duration of the 20-second recovery interval. Once you complete your first swim, determine how high your tension was. Take a look at the watch that allows you to determine your pace, determine your heart rate at the level of the larynx within 10 seconds, report this data to the assistant. He will record this data along with the time he covered the distance. Get ready to start swimming again at the command of your assistant. During the warm-up process, it is a good idea to do a couple of practice swims in order to pre-work with the assistant the whole procedure of exchanging information. A heart rate monitor securely attached to the correct location on your chest will give your testing a greater degree of accuracy.
3. With each subsequent swim, gradually increase your speed and effort so that you complete it 2-3 seconds faster than the previous one. The circle on which it will become extremely difficult for you to breathe will need to be noted separately. When breathing becomes tight it means that you have reached the ventilation threshold, which is used to calculate your intensity zones.

The data collected as a result of the test will look something like this:

Highway Bike Step Test

1. The circle is 800 meters. Start the test at a very low speed - 21 to 24 kilometers per hour. After each lap, increase your speed by about 1.5 kilometers per hour until you reach your maximum. This usually requires driving 8 to 12 laps.
2. After starting the test, the assistant records your time and heart rate for each lap. The circle on which it will become extremely difficult for you to breathe will need to be noted separately. When breathing becomes tight it means that you have reached the ventilation threshold, which is used to calculate your intensity zones.
3. Approaching the assistant, tell him your heart rate. The assistant will record the data along with the lap time in seconds.

Gradient Circuit Running Test

1. The circle is 400 meters. Begin the test at a very low speed, completing half a circle for 70-80 seconds. After completing each half of the distance, gradually increase your speed until you have enough strength for it. Typically, you will need to run 6 to 10 laps to reach your maximum speed.
2. At the beginning of the test, the assistant, located in the center of the running circle, moves along its diameter so as to constantly intersect with you at each half-circle mark.
3. Shout out your heart rate two or three steps before the meeting with the assistant. The assistant will record this indicator, shout out the time in which you have completed this half of the circle, and will record both indicators. Increase your pace little by little so that you run the next half of the lap 3-5 seconds faster than the last. The circle on which it will become extremely difficult for you to breathe will need to be noted separately. When breathing becomes tight it means that you have reached the ventilation threshold, which is used to calculate your intensity zones.

Identifying Intensity Zones for Running and Cycling

Below are tables showing the heart rate values for each intensity zone based on your tests. In order to determine the heart rate in each zone, find the corresponding heart rate value in the TANM column, which corresponds to your heart rate value when the ventilation threshold is reached. The values in this line will be your intensity zones.

Unfortunately, these tables are only available for running and cycling. For swimming, you should be guided by your own assessment of the perceived stress at a certain heart rate.

Determination of intensity zones for a bike:

Defining Intensity Zones for Running:

Pace Testing - Race Against Time

All of our activities are aimed at maintaining a certain pace of the race for a certain time or at a certain distance. Therefore, the main test to determine the improvement in performance is the race against the clock. When testing, you need to consider:

• General rules for preparing for the test. See above.
• Running distance - 5 km.
• The bike distance is 10 km.
• Swimming distance - 1000 m.
• When calculating, keep in mind that doubling the distance, on average, reduces the pace by 10%. For example, if you ran 5 km at a pace of 5:20 min / km, then you will run 10 km at a pace of 5:52 min / km.
• Testing should be done at the pace that you plan to use in the race.
• Testing should be done once a month.

That's all for now. Next time, let's talk about the nutrition of Iron Man.

Good luck and patience in your sporting achievements!