One of the timeless questions of any competitive endurance athlete is, "How can I become just a little bit faster?". Your first reaction is likely to focus on harder training and speedwork or even more speedwork. These two options are in fact the first "weapon" of choice for most of us. More and harder training sounds like a good plan, right? But this may not be the right thing or the smart thing for you. The "smart" part being the key ingredient here. Take a look at the Training Pyramid.

     The goal is to go faster and stay healthy at the same time, a tricky balancing act. There are two extremely different, but equally important paths necessary to achieve this objective. The first and by far the most important element, is to establish a good training base. Without this base, the top of our pyramid, Stay Healthy, is unattainable. The base allows the body to acclimate to the rigors of repetitive training and provides the foundation for the next step, speedwork. We have long emphasized the virtues of establishing this training base. For running, building up your mileage slowly is an absolute necessity. Without doing so leads directly to an injury, you won't have the opportunity to pass Go or collect $200. Always keep that 10% rule in mind… don't increase your weekly mileage by more than 10% of your previous week's mileage. Be patient; build up the running miles slowly. Likewise for cycling and swimming build that base. Try doing a 50 or 60-mile bike ride without first building a base. Your neck, shoulders and rear end may never forgive you! A consistent training routine will be far more beneficial to reaching the top of our pyramid than a couple of high mileage cram days trying to "catch up". Jumping in the pool after several weeks off and swimming 5000 meters with a masters group is not how you build the base. Again seek a consistent routine, stick to it and build that base!

     As indicated in the Training Pyramid, once you have a good base you can turn your attention in two somewhat totally different directions. First, let us take a look at the science and technology leg. What do we mean by science and technology? Well, our goal is to get a little faster right. Science and technology won't help you too much with your running or swimming, but when it comes to cycling, technology is the leading and winners edge. When you consider that up to 80% of the energy you expend on the bike is used to overcome aerodynamic drag you need to look at technology for all the help you can. Due to technology and in particular the application of wind tunnel testing to bicycle frame and wheel design, this is one of the areas where you need to look to find that "little bit faster" stuff. If you haven't taken notice of recent innovations in tri-bikes and aero wheel design you should. First, if you don't have aero bars, get them. You can't get aero and be competitive without them. New bike fabrication techniques and materials have made bikes lighter and more aerodynamic, which represents a significant potential for improved performance. You still need to place the human engine on the bike saddle, but with less aerodynamic drag you expend less energy per given rate of speed, which can translate to faster bike times and subsequently faster run times. There is a high price tag associated with these technological innovations, in particular aero wheels, but aero wheels do in fact provide a SIGNIFICANT performance advantage. Next to aero bars, aero wheels will give you the most bang for the buck!!

     Now let's turn our attention to the Speedwork leg, but on the way, pay close attention to the Train Smart corner. Once you are satisfied with your base, incorporate speedwork into all of your tri-sport training. Don't assume that speedwork is just for your running workouts because it's not. Interval speedwork on the bike and in the pool is also paramount to lowering your times. But above all, be smart, stop at the train smart corner before charging into the speedwork. Think about your speed workouts and don't overdo it.

     The whole process is a balancing act with the ultimate goal at the top of our Training Pyramid, Stay Healthy. Base + Speedwork + Technology = Peak Performance!!