interesting clinic?
So, I'm heading to the Multisport Expo this Saturday, looking forward to a good day. Doing a swim clinic in the morning, a group of us are getting together for a deep dive into WKO, and then Coach P's talk, followed by the computrainer TT.
In the afternoon, there's a clinic being held, with the following description. I'm considering going, but having a hard time wrapping my head around whether this is just interesting engineering masturbation with no real application, or could have some value. Love to hear your thoughts.
Brief Description
This 90 minute workshop will review the benefits of better sport mechanics for swimming, cycling and running. This review will be specific to triathlon, and will include interactive analysis of previous videos captured by Coach Jesse. It will be carried out via QT2’s sport specific analysis software and will include comparison to world-class athletes made accessible to every age-grouper. The workshop will be a combination of presentation and real world examples via video.
What will you learn
(1) How the implementation of proper sport mechanics which will lead to improved speed and fewer injuries in all three sports. This is free speed, so don’t pass it up! (2) A real world understanding of why certain postures or positions are advantageous. Stop guessing at why you should have a “high elbow” on the swim, or a “high cadence” running.
What else you will learn
(3) How improved cycling mechanics/position will lead to more comfort, better aerodynamics and faster times on the bike and how these positions should be balanced with your ability to run well off the bike. (4) The importance/relevance of video analysis in the sport of triathlon and why this is the absolute best way to assess sport mechanics. Walk away with a better understanding of body mechanics with Jesse’s video examples.
Oh, yeah, and it's $45. If it were free, I'd be there with bells on (I seldom pass up free info). Just having hard time figuring out if I want to drop $45 on this, and thought I'd seek other opinions.
Thanks!
Mike
Comments
Sounds like someone has some video software and a technique analysis service they want to sell and are using the clinic to introduce it to people. If that's the case, they should make the clinic free...that's what I would do anyway.
Mike, if you decide to go, please report back here with what you learn, your impressions of the presentation, etc. We'd be interested in your opinion. Thanks!
Yeah, that was kinda how I started feeling about it after reading the description. If I decide to go, I'll definitely write up a summary of my thoughts. I still owe you guys a summary of the Phil Skiba talk, which was great.
Mike -
Which time slot are you doing the swim clinic?
Mike:
Of course, if you go, you'll risk exposing yourself to this sort of thinking:
"At long distance races, ... lack of durability is the major determiner of time loss for most people. Meet critical volume [27 to 33 hours a week at max], and you will beat most people around your speed potential even though they may be faster than you at short distance racing."
I saw on someone's blog (not Jesse K's) right after Kona some video analysis of the top racers running form, e.g., Alexander vs. Lieto. It only reinforced the devastation to one's run which results from too aggressive a 112 mile bike. I think form is the least of one's worries in an IM; stength and pacing ("Work works" and race execution EN-style) are far more important.
"It’s simply because most pro Ironman athletes are able to meet their critical volumes, while age groupers are not. The pros are able to maintain pace, while most age groupers significantly slow down at some point during the race. For example, if I wanted to be a top pro Ironman triathlete, I would want to meet the critical volumes for the event plus the additional 50% bike volume.
For a pro Ironman triathlete, this equates to about 3.5 hours of swimming, 23 hours of biking and, about 7 hours of running. This is a total of about 33.5 hours of training for the final build week before the race."
Yes, the reason why people don't race well is because of training volume. That's the answer to everything, not learning how to actually race. And the lessons learned by training 33.5hrs/wk are completely applicable to the typical AG'er training 12-16hr for Ironman.
FYI, pink font = ST code for sarcasm
.
yeah, I've read some of Jesse's thoughts on training, and have to laugh at the idea of his critical volume philosophy.
As poor a fit as the quantitative approach is to age group training volume, it does seem like a potentially good fit to mechanics analysis...
At this point, I'm leaning towards not paying $45 for a sales pitch, or to learn 'why' I need to have high elbows. But I still sit on the fence.
Mike