Triathlon History III

We have spoken about History and triathlon in the past, and we gave you some numbers. We also showed you why Simon Lessing started to lose when having won four world titles in a row before the year 1999; the then new  drafting format during the bike and his running technique were the major players.  We´ll continue with Triathlon History which should be useful; otherwise, it is (his)tory and a bunch of data together.  We also spoke about teamwork in April, 2012.  The Germans have tried teamwork with the females and worked fine in Hamburg this year.  Their runner, Anne Haugh, left the water a minute behind the pack and Svenja Bazlen was able to take her to the first pack and Haug was the winner sprinting from far.  This last time in London, Anne Haugh was a 1:30 behind after the swim and Anja Knapp was unable to take her to the first pack.  We saw that Haugh is uncapable to cut the gap by herself on a flat surface as London (perhaps not a 1:30 deficit).

Simon losing against Gaag.

16 avr. 2012

WHAT A CYBERNETIC TRIATHLON HISTORY IS

History should be written to avoid falling into a trap (See Mental Fatigue, January 25, 2012, in this blog).  I went to a conference dictated by León-Portilla, Wikipedia says: Miguel León-Portilla (born in Mexico City, February 22, 1926) is a Mexican anthropologist and historian, and a prime authority on Nahuatl thought and literature.  During the conference, he mentioned: “I found an Aztec Codices in a remote village, but it was written in a “Scribe” notebook; I asked for the original and they answered: ‘We copied the old one into this scribe. It was impossible to keep the old one’…THIS IS HISTORY.”  

 

Human beings are getting faster for centuries.  In endurance sports athletes can compete for longer than an hour above 90% of their capacity.  VO2 max should be high and according to our training.  If we train slow pace, even if our VO2 max is high we compete at a slow pace (see VO2 Max and The Second Sin, February 26, 2012, in this blog).  As part of History, Victor Plata, our friend spoke about the need of teamwork in triathlon in and out of competition.  He even proofed that it works.  We have done it with our athletes since the beginning of our team.  The better the athletes understand and feel teamwork, the better the results.  Sports and live itself have become more and more tactical.  We need a good teamwork in order to achieve our dreams.  Without teamwork Cris Boardman would not break the record for the hour cycling or Armstrong would not win seven times in a row the Tour de France.  Gregory Bateson spoke about it in the 70’s, Mind and Nature, 1979.  “Too much schooling and little education” happens in sports also.  Lack of teamwork has to do with little education.

Empirically we experimented with our athletes, and we know that 15 heart beats per minutes can be dropped by drafting after a mate biking at 40k/min on a flat surface.  This dropped in heart beats means 30-40 watts approximately on a flat surface.  That is the reason why some athletes were able to run in London even though they do not have enough biking power.  It is too risky to stay expecting that Sven Riederer, Richard Murray, Stephen Justus pull the train to catch the first pack.  Mario Mola ended up in third place at London and the rest of the ones resting on the second and third packs were able to run, positioning themselves well at the finish line.  As a historic piece, Riederer stopped after the bike in Stockholm Triathlon this year because he burned out after the bike when he tried to catch the first pack.

Aaron Royle gave some data regarding the bike at London Triathlon for elites.  He appeared to help a little to pull the pack because Alistair Brownlee was literally “herding” the first pack to keep the first pack rolling (please see minute 35 of the race in the video by the ITU) that ended up losing close to a minute (second pack was more than a minutes behind after the swim). Royle averaged 324 watts for the course, and because this is a “flat” surface, his average is for the majority of the athletes sitting on the peloton regardless of Royle´s weight. Vidal recorded 360 watts in different races on “flat” surfaces.  I have posted Vidal´s measures in previous posts in this blog.

 

We will focus on the Mexican team which I know better.  The strategy to follow in order to get someplace needs to be teamwork (see the previous post regarding London Championship).  There is a triathlete in the Mexican Team that is not allowed to participate because according to our Federation, he is unable to follow the leaders in the water; however, he has done it in the past and has been able to place himself 25^th in a the Worlds Championship that took place before the 2008 Olympics.  He won the age group category at London riding faster than the elites the 40k in a time trial format.  He could be the perfect domestique for Grajales. 

It appears that winning will belong to teams or to superathletes like the Brownlees or Gomez.  A real team is needed to counterbalance these superathletes and not to expect that Riederer, Murray and the like pull the train to have the chance to be in the top ten.

1	Francisco	Serrano Plowells	MEX		01:44:48	00:09:47	00:02:41	00:57:00	00:02:35	00:32:48
2	Charlie	Graham Brown	GBR		01:48:25	00:10:01	00:02:23	00:59:58	00:02:27	00:33:37
3	Danny	Russell	GBR		01:48:40	00:10:13	00:02:43	01:01:06	00:02:42	00:31:58

TRIATHLON LONDON CHAMPIONSHIPS

Triathlon has become more strategic than previous years after the Brownslees.  Simon Lessing started to lose after the new format of racing –drafting- started in the year 1999.  He was one of the best riding the bicycle but lost all his advantage when drafting format started.  His running form and ability was not at the level of continuing winning.  The game becomes what is called, A WET RUN.  In the peloton most of the riders on the second pack just want to reach the first one and everybody dies after reaching the first pack where the Brownlees and the Gomez are, except the ones that stayed sitting in the pack waiting for the wet run.  That was the case in this race.

 

The Gomez and Brownlees will keep winning because there are better swimmers, better bikers and better runners.  Any strategy is good for them.  The rest of the cake will be for the ones sitting in the second or third pack or if the ones in the first pack are lucky enough to tolerate the pace on the bike, they could finish in the top ten.

Alister Brownlee has been working on how not to get bored with this form of triathlon racing and ventures different strategies to break the monotonous race.  He attacks and breaks the first pack and at the same breaks the second and third pack because the speed and accelerations increase.  He is a champion playing his own game for the public.  THANKS ALISTAIR FOR THIS GIFT.

 

The females accepted that this is a wet run and do not even bother to ride the bike fast.  That has been the case since this format started in 1999.  The Germans tactic of waiting for the “domestique” became a joke because the leader did not appear and when they were together, she could not keep up with a fast pace.  The strategy worked well for them in Hamburg when they won; but she needs to become a better swimmer to stay at least a minute behind the leaders.  This is something that would change body shape and the possibility of a wet run.

Francisco Serrano won the Age Group Championship with a two minutes lead over the second racer on the bike.  He rode faster than the elites for the 40k.  So, there is a lot of space to play with.  We know how hard he has worked on the bike since he was dropped at the Beijing Olympics when he tried to sit on the wheel of the two leaders.  Congratulations Francisco.  You could be the perfect “domestique” for Grajales; the same way the Germans work with the female team.

Triathlon and Efficiency for Beginners

Newton, following what Archimedes said: “Give me a fulcrum and I will move the world,” developed his laws regarding acceleration and motion.  As we should know from basic education, the fulcrum and the acceleration are key elements of the technique to perform a movement efficiently; meaning, producing acceleration with the minimum energy possibly.  The efficiency of the movement can improve practicing timing applying energy when on the fulcrum; finding the fulcrum in a matter of milliseconds with each circle of movement.  The faster we find the fulcrum while perfecting the timing, the better we perform a movement.  The success of a high performance coach will depend in how he/she will help the athlete to achieve a full fulcrum and the best timing.  Most of the time learning will depend on the educational background of the athlete; it has nothing to do with the so call talent but basic education 101.

Look at the cheetah running; he uses two fulcrums while running a cycle, the two front legs at a different time. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuyeVN7PuTM

The cheetah changes on the air the fulcrum twice.  Humans are unable to changes once on the air the fulcrum (for the majority of mortals) while running a cycle, this is the greatest disadvantage.  The reason is that humans do not find the fulcrum at the right time and the timing is not there.  “Time out of joint” would say William Shakespeare. Another reason to be fair about humans, it is that we move erected and the cheetah is horizontal, one change on the air would be fair when we are erected.  Look at German Silva changing on the air. 

Sometime we can compensate by increasing cadence.  Increasing cadence is good and it is desirable, but we need to change fulcrum with one cycle all the time first.  When you do your easy run change fulcrum all the time on the air and you will training right, it does not matter how fast you go as long as you change fulcrum.  Even the bear can do this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxqO3fAFXuU

Now you know a bear runs.  Think of yourself moving horizontally like a bear, find your fulcrum and accelerate.  When you swim, you are horizontal and you need your hand to hold the water, at the same time you need to have a balance to move forward while holding the water.  It is just like a bear running.  Jason Lezak, the man that has the fastest 100 meters in a relay, says that it took him six years to improve his balance in order to catch the water the most effectively he can.

Think about how to find your fulcrum while baking.  I will write a post next time.

Froome, Brownlee and Triathlon Cycling

After the last competition in Stockholm, we have the watts measured by Laurent Vidal.  Thanks again to Vidal for this opportunity to learn some more about cycling.  Vidal produced 368 watts during the 40k; meaning 5.5watts/kg.  This number places him as a Pro Domestique in a cycling team.

Vidal rode two minutes behind the Brownlees for the 40 kilometers ride.  Following the curve power-speed below, we noticed that the Brownlees probably pedaled the same watts in the flat surface of Sweden than when competing in Kitzbuhel, Austria, for Alistair.  Except that the competition in Sweden was flat instead of hilly like in Austria.  Let’s take a look at the graph when comparing watts and speed over a flat surface. 

http://www.americanroadcycling.org/articles/PSL/WiddersHump/WattsSpeed.htm?frm=bkmrkImg2OrgFirthMalcomChart#02/11/08

If we follow the curve we can see that Brownlee went close to what it was predicted for Kitzbuhel, 425 watts during the competition as average.  It is close to the wattage of Chris Froome during the Vuelta a España 2011 time trial when he was recorded.

http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/Z3JDD63H2UVGP77YSXNITPULAE

Total
0:00:00 - 0:56:43

Total Time: 0:56:43

Distance: 47.48 km

Energy: 1379 kJ

TSS: 86 (0.96)

NP: 411

VI: 1.01

Pw:HR 7.85%

EF: 2.80

Gain: 276 m

Loss: - 263 m

Grade:0.0 %

VAM:292

W/Kg:5.8

	Min	Avg	Max
Power (Watts):	0	405	766
Speed (km/h):	24.4	50.2	73.8
Pace (min/km):	02:28	01:11	00:49
HR (bpm):	91	147	169
Cadence (rpm):	20	94	114
Elev (m):	832	930	1040
Temp (C):	<28	30	35

Froome was able to go 5 kilometers per hour faster.  It is related to the terrain, but it is also related to the efficiency while cycling.  Efficiency is closely related to technique; meaning effective cornering, cadence while cycling, peaks and accelerations, aerodynamic posturing, etc.  We should learn how to improve efficiency while riding which is done by improving technique.  Armstrong (doped or not) improved his efficiency over the course of seven years that he was tested by Dr. Coyle, 2%.

Vidal could be a good Pro Domestique in a cycling team, according to Coggan.  The numbers given by Vidal, and knowing that he pedaled in the second peloton two minutes behind, mean that cycling has become even more important than swimming or running in triathlon.  According to the numbers, triathletes are average swimmers and average runners compared to the one sport athlete.  The Brownlees need more efficiency to fight for a podium in an elite international criterium biking race, even though they can generate the watts needed when we see what Froome can do with less wattage.

Triathlon in the elite international competition has become a good cycling criterium race for average swimmers and runners.  That is what Alistair showed this last race.

Allen & Coggan Race Category Table
	Men					Women
	5 s	1 min	5 min	FT		5 s	1 min	5 min	FT
	24.04	11.50	7.60	6.40		19.42	9.29	6.61	5.69
	23.77	11.39	7.50	6.31		19.20	9.20	6.52	5.61
	23.50	11.27	7.39	6.22		18.99	9.11	6.42	5.53
World Class	23.22	11.16	7.29	6.13		18.77	9.02	6.33	5.44
(e.g., international pro)	22.95	11.04	7.19	6.04		18.56	8.93	6.24	5.36
	22.68	10.93	7.08	5.96		18.34	8.84	6.15	5.28
	22.41	10.81	6.98	5.87		18.13	8.75	6.05	5.20
	22.14	10.70	6.88	5.78		17.91	8.66	5.96	5.12
	21.86	10.58	6.77	5.69		17.70	8.56	5.87	5.03
Exceptional	21.59	10.47	6.67	5.60		17.48	8.47	5.78	4.95
(e.g., domestic pro)	21.32	10.35	6.57	5.51		17.26	8.38	5.68	4.87
	21.05	10.24	6.46	5.42		17.05	8.29	5.59	4.79
	20.78	10.12	6.36	5.33		16.83	8.20	5.50	4.70
	20.51	10.01	6.26	5.24		16.62	8.11	5.41	4.62
	20.23	9.89	6.15	5.15		16.40	8.02	5.31	4.54
Excellent	19.96	9.78	6.05	5.07		16.19	7.93	5.22	4.46
(e.g., Cat. 1)	19.69	9.66	5.95	4.98		15.97	7.84	5.13	4.38
	19.42	9.55	5.84	4.89		15.76	7.75	5.04	4.29
	19.15	9.43	5.74	4.80		15.54	7.66	4.94	4.21
	18.87	9.32	5.64	4.71		15.32	7.57	4.85	4.13
	18.60	9.20	5.53	4.62		15.11	7.48	4.76	4.05
Very Good	18.33	9.09	5.43	4.53		14.89	7.39	4.67	3.97
(e.g., Cat. 2)	18.06	8.97	5.33	4.44		14.68	7.30	4.57	3.88
	17.79	8.86	5.22	4.35		14.46	7.21	4.48	3.80
	17.51	8.74	5.12	4.27		14.25	7.11	4.39	3.72
	17.24	8.63	5.01	4.18		14.03	7.02	4.30	3.64
	16.97	8.51	4.91	4.09		13.82	6.93	4.20	3.55
Good	16.70	8.40	4.81	4.00		13.60	6.84	4.11	3.47
(e.g., Cat. 3)	16.43	8.28	4.70	3.91		13.39	6.75	4.02	3.39
	16.15	8.17	4.60	3.82		13.17	6.66	3.93	3.31
	15.88	8.05	4.50	3.73		12.95	6.57	3.83	3.23
	15.61	7.94	4.39	3.64		12.74	6.48	3.74	3.14
	15.34	7.82	4.29	3.55		12.52	6.39	3.65	3.06
	15.07	7.71	4.19	3.47		12.31	6.30	3.56	2.98
Moderate	14.79	7.59	4.08	3.38		12.09	6.21	3.46	2.90
(e.g., Cat. 4)	14.52	7.48	3.98	3.29		11.88	6.12	3.37	2.82
	14.25	7.36	3.88	3.20		11.66	6.03	3.28	2.73
	13.98	7.25	3.77	3.11		11.45	5.94	3.19	2.65
	13.71	7.13	3.67	3.02		11.23	5.85	3.09	2.57
	13.44	7.02	3.57	2.93		11.01	5.76	3.00	2.49
Fair	13.16	6.90	3.46	2.84		10.80	5.66	2.91	2.40
(e.g., Cat. 5)	12.89	6.79	3.36	2.75		10.58	5.57	2.82	2.32