In the post “Zwift and Training”, I wrote about joining the 2017 Zwift Women’s Academy which is held every year in August and September.
After the academy, I joined the Endurance Lab by Team ODZ which allowed me to continue the academy experience which I enjoyed.
The Endurance Lab is a group of international coaches, mental skill trainer, nutritionist, and athletes who come together for affordable group training and sharing of knowledge and experiences. Optional one-on-one coaching is available.
The Endurance Lab experience paid off in ways I didn’t expect. The Lab transformed how I train. At age 63, I am suppose to get slower. This year I got faster on the bike. I do sprint triathlons out of Lake Sammamish State Park. This year, I came in first in my age group. Thank you Coach Ian!
So, how to get faster? There is no silver bullet. However, there are endless ways to change and experiment at any age to become faster.
Experiment and have endless curiosity. Learn from a variety of experts and other athletes. I like to follow Dr. Stacy Sims, a human performance researcher and Coaches Corner by the Endurance Lab. I follow regional blogs TheHappyTriathlete by Ann Sloan and Training Thoughts by Chris Bagg Coaching.
At times experts will disagree. A good coach can provide perspective navigating the maze of information.
The Endurance Lab transformed how I train and race by these changes:
- Increased core strength work.
- Increased glut and one leg work.
- The hard workouts became harder and purpose focused.
- Switched to bike training by watts instead of heart rate.
- Switched to swim workouts with pace targets.
- Added some high cadence bike drills > 110 rpm.
- Added low HR running (MAF). Easy will make you faster.
- Switched to the run/walk method for long runs at 4/1 or 3/2.
- Added a little butterfly stroke to swimming. The power of you can do it!
- Raced with watt and pace targets customized for each race.
- Lastly, biked a lot indoors using Zwift. I like biking indoors.
These changes may seem more complicated. Instead, the changes simplified my life and helped save time due to leveraging technology.
- Run and bike workouts came programmed ready on Zwift or my Garmin.
- Strength workouts came with videos. I clicked on the videos and followed.
- With each race, the bike watt targets were taped to my bike computer. The run plan was pushed to my watch for race day.
In addition to the Lab tweaks, I did run interval workouts on a cushioned synthetic track to reduce the risk of injury. I had a video-taped run evaluation at Corpeo Sano and made corrections. I also decreased stress (i.e. retired from working full time). To swim the butterfly stroke, I took a few lessons at my local gym and used fins. As I became more efficient with the stroke, I stopped using the fins.
I like to do a yearly test some time during the year. The test is to ride a point-to-point stretch of flat low traffic road in the Snoqualmie Valley (4 mile stretch) super hard. My 2019 time was the fastest ever since 2014!
Dec 20, 2019 Update
The magic worked again. ODZ Endurance Lab offered a group 6 week training block ending in a multi-day cycling race. The program had meticulous sequencing of the various workouts and incorporation of rest days.
With the training, I raised my bike FTP (functional threshold power) by 9 watts! FTP represents the highest possible power output over 60 minutes.
At the end of the 6 weeks, I raced the Zwift Women’s Team Championship. I went up a category to the next faster group!