LifeSport Coaching works with some of the finest multisport athletes in the world. The coaches strive to supply these athletes with workouts that have a specific physiological purpose while providing inspiration. These training sessions are often trying, but when tackled with zest, result in world-beating performances.

This series offers a little peek into the training diary of LifeSport’s elite athletes. Note the workout adjustments included at the end for athletes of various abilities, experience and fitness levels.


Athlete: LINSEY CORBIN
Distance: Ironman
Hometown: Missoula, Montana
Coached by: LANCE WATSON

WORKOUT
Warm-up: 15 minutes of easy riding, 15 minutes of single leg drills, 15-30 minutes of building tempo effort, activation set of 5x1 minute building effort to goal TT effort.
Main set: 20 minute time-trial
Cool down: 10 minutes easy riding, 15-30 minutes of tempo effort, 15 minutes cool down.

WHY I LIKE THIS WORKOUT
Corbin: “The 2.5-hour trainer ride with a 20-minute cycling time-trial on the trainer is one of my favorite, as well as one of my most challenging weekly workouts. Not only is riding the trainer mentally challenging, but it also allows me to have control of my wattage and effort. Due to the fact that I don’t have to pay attention to traffic on the road, I am able to pour my entire heart into this workout, and that is exactly what I do.

"Once the time-trial starts, I call it 'going to that place.' When I am at 'that place,' my head is down, my heart rate is near max for 20 minutes straight, sweat is constantly pouring from my body, my eyes are shut tight, I can’t listen to music or television, and I am focused on working as best as I can for every single minute of the time trial. Because I am working so hard, I break this workout down into minutes, and I focus on how I am going to ride the next minute more efficiently than the previous minute.

"Throughout the season, Coach Lance Watson has me perform these 20-minute time-trials … even when it is sunny outside! Depending on the time of year, I may have different goals for the ride such as focusing on a higher cadence, riding in over-geared efforts or all-out tempo efforts.”

Coach Watson: “Ironman athletes often get stuck in a 'more is better' rut, especially with cycling volume. The question is, 'How do you ride fast if you never ride fast?' While endurance is critical in long-distance triathlon, if you want to increase your pace and potential for Ironman riding, you need to address cycling power and threshold output as well. This is even more important for a younger, developing Ironman athlete like Linsey who is in her mid-20s. Twenty-minute all-out time trial is short enough that the athlete can really have a go at it. The trainer standardizes the effort so that the test is repeatable as well.

"One of the challenges of coaching is to use the facilities that are local to the athlete in a way that challenges them in a progressive manner."

NOVICE ATHLETES
An athlete lacking in bike strength will benefit both physically and mentally from adapting Linsey’s workout as follows:

The benefits of this workout for both novice and intermediate athletes is that you are working at threshold and above for a major part of the workout, and that you are required to focus on maintaining a particular effort level for a set period of time. Both of these are useful skills to take with you to the race start line.

Warm-up: 15 minutes of easy riding, 5 x [30 seconds left leg only, 30 seconds right leg only], 15 minutes of building tempo effort, activation set of 5x1 minute higher cadence pedalling (increase to 100 rpm+).
Main set: 10 minute time-trial – ride strongly and distribute your effort evenly over the full time period.
Cool down: 10 minutes easy spin, maintaining a cadence of 90rpm, 10 minutes of tempo effort (zone 3), 15 minutes easy spin to cool down. Stretch.

INTERMEDIATE ATHLETES
Warm-up: 15 minutes of easy riding, 5 x [30 seconds left leg only, 30 seconds right leg only], 15 minutes of building tempo effort, activation set of 5x1 minute higher cadence pedalling (increase to 100 rpm+).
Main set: 2 x 10 minute time-trial – ride strongly and distribute your effort evenly over each time trial period. Spin easily for 5 minutes between each effort
Cool down: 15 minutes easy spin, maintaining a cadence of 90rpm, 15 minutes of tempo effort (zone 3), 15 minutes easy spin to cool down. Stretch

Note that these workouts are designed to be carried out on a trainer. You can do them outside but you will need to stay aware of other road users at all time.

When riding indoors, make sure that you have good supply of fluids and drink regularly during the workout. A fan will help cool you down making your performance during the workout that much better.

An experience and certified triathlon coach will be able to help you integrate these specific trainer workouts into your overall program to optimise your training time and race performance.

LifeSport head coach Lance Watson has coached a number of Ironman, Olympic and age-group champions. He enjoys coaching athletes of all abilities who are passionate about sport and personal excellence.

Visit LifeSport.ca or write Coach@LifeSport.ca (phone 250-744-3648) for coaching enquiries.