Benchmarks

Now is a good time of year to test yourself via some "benchmarks". Why? Because they allow you to learn a little more about yourself. Moreover, the results are bound to be disappointing, and they can only improve over time (assuming you actually do the necessary work to help them improve over time). We all have to start somewhere, so they say, and starting from the bottom gives you a pretty good platform in which to launch your FUTURE WORLD DOMINATION. Some of us (e.g., me) like this platform so much we stick around there our entire lives! I like to think that successful people simply wouldn't exist if losers like me didn't. You winners should be grateful for us losers!

Moving along, the following are the benchmark tests I have the bulk of "my" athletes do…

• 5-mile/8-kilometer run test @ 90% of his or her LTHR
• 1-hour indoor bike test @ 90% of the athlete's LTHR or at the athlete's IMT (Ironman Threshold…more about this in due time)
• 400 (meter or yard) all-out swim effort (all-out means ALL FRICKIN' OUT)

It is not without basis I use these durations or lengths.

For one, with the exception of the 400 (meter or yard) (eye)balls-out test in the pool, they relate to the same energy systems called upon on race day, assuming the athlete is competing in endurance triathlons and not my brilliant proposed sprint triathlon. Even the 400 relates to race day, however, in the sense that you'll be calling primarily upon your aerobic "system", though a fair extent is demanded of your often-latent anaerobic system. I hate to be the one to break it to you but what with the nervous energy and all, race day (even Ironman race day) is not just a long slow slog, physiologically speaking.

Anyway, each test is little more than a benchmark to allow you to see whether or not you're maintaining a baseline level of fitness or making gains in training, which, ideally, you should be, even now in November (though I will say that these gains shouldn't always be readily apparent). If you're not, you'll need to make some changes, fire your coach, or contemplate suicide. On the other hand (the one without the suicide apparatus), if you are making gains, be sure to keep doing what you're doing, as these tests relate closely enough to what the race will ask of you. (In general, I lengthen the tests for Ironman athletes, when time allows and the time is called for, and it's almost always called for.)

The 5-mile run test is no fancier than Phil Maffetone's or Mark Allen's run MAF Test. And speaking of running, why don't you run a search online and save me the trouble of having to write it all out? Please. In fact, I believe I've already run it by you here in the past, so you can search this blog, if you're fearful of leaving it momentarily (an understandable fear in my mind).

Anyway, the basics of this poorly-labeled "test" are to run (jog) 5-miles at a predetermined intensity (as gauged by your heart rate monitor) (usually about 85-90% of your lactate threshold heart rate), measuring your subsequent pace, finish time, perceived exertion level, conditions and each mile split en route. Yes, it's a rudimentary "test" (and hardly challenging) but it can tell you a lot, like just how pathetic your aerobic engine/development is.

The bike test is also simple and relatively easy. Ride one hour at a predetermined power output (one that relates to your goal race, and it's doubtful a FTP [functional threshold power] test does) and measure your heart rate response or at a predetermined heart rate while measuring your power output, preferably at race-like cadences in a race-like position on your race bike. Yep, you'll need a power meter.

Though I'm not a fan of electronic over-reliance or stuffocation, you should seriously consider owning a power meter if you don't already. That said, some of the fastest athletes I guide (read: Ironman winners) don't even use power measuring devices (though they do use power) and I'm certain they can kick your ass on a bike. Power is simply a tool; you're still the one who needs to do the grinding work. Again, and this is worth repeating, a power meter doesn't do the training for you; it simply lets you know what the training is doing for you! It's a meter, not a motor!

Anyway, this straightforward bike test also measures your aerobic progress (assuming it's progress!) and can easily be lengthened to two or more hours, to correlate to race day that much more closely. It's important that any benchmark test you do relates to your goals on race day. And on this note, I'm willing to bet that the ol' "Hour of Power" is likely less relevant to your goals than is a three-hour grind.

(Tangent! I myself have ridden a road bike since before pubic hairs began sprouting at the confluence of my anatomy. As such I possess a rather noteworthy FTP, higher than all but a few pro triathletes, despite my pencilneck weight classification. Still, the vast majority of these not-so-gentle-men would annihilate me throughout the course of an Ironman ride. So…does my high one-hour capacity for pain matter? The honest answer is a resounding "no". One must still do the work necessary to improve where it matters most, and it matters most AT THE FINISH LINE. All else is conjecture.)

The swim test is the most taxing of the three and may necessitate the need for a few cups of full-octane coffee ahead of time. The goal is to mix up the energy system requirements and swim at an ALL-OUT effort for approximately five to six minutes, or whatever length test gets you (or the clock) there in such a time frame. For some of us more flotationally-challenged triathletes this may equate to a paltry 300 short-course yards. For you gill-necked fish folks (i.e., freaks) this might mean almost as much as 600 long-course meters. Whatever the distance, keep it the same from week to week. And yes…you ought to be performing such an effort week in and week out, to see if your swimming is still weak, whether it's weak in or weak out.

I suggest giving the lifeguards a mental break this winter and working hard to improve your swim, so they can quit grinding their teeth on deck. This test will help you see whether or not you're making their jobs any easier. The goal: get faster, no matter what it looks like* (and without relying on all that stupid swim paraphernalia). Remember, in swimming it's all about rhythm, technique and then fitness. Indeed---and pardon the word-play here---it sucks to suck in the water.

*I hate to say it, but in the water, in general, you must look good to be good.