By LifeSport’s Paul Regensburg
After a good nights sleep to recover from yesterdays epic ride, day two of the Lavacamp kicked off with a seminar on swim technique, drills, and open water strategies. The purpose of the seminar was to send the camp participants home with an understanding of unique differences in swimming in the open water versus the pool. The take home messages for swimming in the open water included:
Increasing and maintaining turn-over
- Increased rotation
- Low head position
- Utilizing bi-lateral breathing
Putting theory into practice, the athletes headed to the Lagoon of the Hilton Waikoloa Village, to implement the open water swimming concept through a series of drills and short workout. Some of the key drills being practiced were:
- Single Arm Lead – kicking with one arm extended at the front emphasizing a high elbow with the other along your side
- Switch 3 – Start with a Single Arm Lead then take 3 strong strokes and pause with the other are leading - repeat
- Single Arm – Swimming with just one arm with the other arm at your side (as opposed to leaving the other arm in front)
- Fist Hypoxic – Breathing each 5 strokes and each time you breath you alternate swimming with fists and regular hands
- 3 Breast/3 Free – Take 3 breast stroke pulls alternating with 3 strokes of regular freestyle – all with flutter kick
Next it was time to practice starts, drafting, and exits in our mini workout which had many spectators from the hotel intrigued and cheering for the athletes. There was particular emphasis on drafting - some studies have show that drafting can have a benefit of up to 8%. This can be significant time in swim results of a race.
After a short break for lunch, the group gathered for a nutrition seminar in the afternoon with LifeSport Coach, Bruce Regensburg. Bruce explained the kind of nutrition needed for racing distances ranging from sprint to Ironman. The main content covered in the seminar was:
- Have a proven race nutrition/hydration and it will translate directly into your athletic performance
- During your race, start hydrating on the bike immediately and eating after 10 minutes
- Plan to consume about 2/3rds of your food on the bike
- Use only tried and true carb foods in the race
- Drink 15 to 20 min and eat every 20 to 30 min (Race dependent)
- Keep something in your stomach at all times on the bike and run.
- Do not over eat or drink during the race (Sloshing)
- Have a contingency if foods don’t work.
The nutrition seminar was wrapped up with athletes developing their own personal race day nutrition plan, from breakfast to dinner, according to the athlete’s individual seasonal goals.
The day was concluded with a group run along the beautiful country roads of Waimae. Waimae is a headquarters for the famous Parker Ranch and has quite a different ecosystem than the coastal areas. It is situated at a higher altitude with cooler and wetter weather than Waikoloa which makes for a greener back drop and softer surfaces to run on. The group had a mini seminar on run form and drills to implement into their base run. The key run form concepts were:
- Head position determined by keeping eyes focused on the horizon
- Keeping the elbows tucked in
- Hands travel higher and setting the rhythm of the feet
- Maintain a quicker cadence for running off the bike
After the mini clinic, the group headed out on their 60 minute base run in the picturesque setting and ended the day on a high. Today was a great day of learning and it was time to relax and absorb the new techniques and ideas from the day.
