For both beginners and iron athletes, it’s time to hit those hills and develop race strength

Hills and strength work will be staples for both short- and long-course athletes this month, says Dermott Hayes, as he prepares your bodies for the hard work that’s to come…

For short-course athletes aiming for sprint and/or Olympic-distance goals in 2017, the race season can still seem a long way off. So at this time of year, it’s crucial to build – and then maintain – strength.

Strength is an often-undervalued element of a triathlete’s fitness regime. If you regularly complete strength-training workouts in the gym then continue to do this; if you don’t hit the weights then the sessions here will aid you in getting stronger and that’s why more hill work is included at this time of year.

During longer runs and rides, aim to climb hills efficiently. You should use good form without getting to the top of hills completely spent and needing to recover; it should just flow. For the shorter interval sessions with a focus on power, however, then aim to hit the hills hard and create fatigue during the efforts. The phase will also see you beginning to practise the transition phase from bike to run in the brick session.

During this phase, the duration of training time will have increased so consider how you manage your effort through each session and week. Don’t blow yourself up over the course of a week and have it affect the following sessions. You’re still at a phase where you’re building stamina and it’s vital to adapt gradually. The following months will focus on speed and pace, so ready your body now for the hard work that’s to come.

CLIMB AND REPEAT

Hills, hills and more hills. There’s a sense of repetition with long-course racing and, while that may be a struggle for some, it should be factored into training. So continue to include lots of hilly runs and rides in preparing for your long-course race. Attempt to find new routes that offer new challenges; if you struggle with short-term power on steep climbs then it shouldn’t be overlooked.

Also get to grips with the areas of tri that you find difficult. Try different body positions on the indoor and outside sessions during hill efforts, aim to improve efficiency and be more confident at how you approach the slopes.

This month the long-course interval sessions have an element of ‘speed endurance’ about them; this isn’t all-out raw power and it’s not a plodding pace. Speed endurance refers to the ability to hold near-threshold efforts for longer periods of time. In long-course racing this builds your ability to hold better pace over long efforts, so even the short and hard efforts are crucial to long-course racing. Finally, we’re introducing the use of a pull buoy (PB) in the swim sessions to promote greater shoulder power and an increased awareness of your stroke. 220