# Panicking when swimming? Run pacing on hills? Training in the Aero Position? CSS tests? Your questions answered! | Ep 524

An episode of [Oxygenaddict Triathlon Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/951501034), 22 Jan 2025, 28 min.

Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/ea99f7d8/podcast/play/97371879/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-0-21%2F4578dcc2-58dd-f892-4013-44c252de2e23.m4a

This week Coach Rob hosts another "Ask me Anything", answering many of the triathlon training related questions that we've received recently. The questions cover topics like: Optimal gym bike resistance settings for bike training... How to manage panics when swimming... How to properly execute FTP sessions... How to manage run efforts on hills... The do's and don'ts of training in the aero position... How to incorporate swim club sessions into your triathlon training... Understanding the CSS swim test & interpreting its results... ...and much much more! * * * * * * * * SPONSORS * * * * * * * * Like what you heard in this show? Join hundreds of other age group triathletes making the most of their limited training time, training with Team OxygenAddict! http://team.oxygenaddict.com - The most comprehensive triathlon coaching program for busy age groupers. Book an application call to see if you'd be a good fit for Team Oxygenaddict for the coming 12 months here: https://team.oxygenaddict.com/consultation-call/ * * * * * * * * * * * * precisionfuelandhydration.com Precision Fuel & Hydration help athletes personalise their hydration and fuelling strategies for training and racing. Use the free Fuel & Hydration Planner to get a personalised race nutrition plan for your next event. And then book a free 20-minute video consultation with a member of the PF&H Athlete Support Team to refine your strategy. Listeners get 15% off their first order of fuel and electrolytes with Precision Fuel & Hydration. Simply use the code OXYGENADDICT2025 at precisionfuelandhydration.com, or click this link and the discount will be auto-applied at the checkout. * * * * * * * * * * * * Watch on youtube Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts

## Transcript

[0:03] Welcome to the Oxygen Addict Triathlon Podcast.
[0:05] We're brought to you every week by our sponsors, Precision Fuel
[0:08] and hydration.com. You can get 15% off your first
[0:11] order with the code Oxygen Addict 2025.
[0:15] Welcome to the show, everybody. I'm your host, coach Rob Willby,
[0:18] and every week we'll bring you an episode of this podcast to
[0:21] help motivate and inspire you. On this week's episode, I'm
[0:25] bringing you the second part of our Ask Me Anything Coaches
[0:28] couch where I've got loads of questions that people have
[0:31] either sent in via e-mail, via Instagram, YouTube, or some of
[0:35] our athletes questions as well. I really think answering these
[0:38] questions is going to help almost everybody who listens to
[0:42] the podcast. So I really hope that it works
[0:44] for you this week. OK, two quick things you can do
[0:47] to help us out, please. Firstly, if you do like and
[0:49] enjoy this episode, please consider following us on Spotify
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[0:53] That really helps us get shown to more, more listeners within
[0:57] those both those apps. And if you're looking for help
[1:00] or advice with your triathlon training, please get in touch.
[1:04] There's a link in the show notes to book a membership call.
[1:06] We currently have a special offer running for new members.
[1:11] It's a nine month membership. So as I'm recording this, we're
[1:14] still in January. So nine month memberships run
[1:17] all the way through to the end of September of this year, 2025.
[1:21] And if you're looking for training for an event sometime
[1:24] this year to in the summer or into September, it's the perfect
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[1:32] The rate is extra special. It's a cheaper rate than our
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[1:42] It's not quite as good as the rate as our returning members
[1:45] who we already coach. We offer them an even an even
[1:48] more special rates. If you're a coached athlete BIOS
[1:51] at the moment and you're wondering what we're going to do
[1:53] for you when it comes time for you to renew your membership,
[1:55] please get in touch. We've got details of that for
[1:57] you as well. But if you're not with us yet
[2:01] and it is probably the best deal, certainly the best deal
[2:03] we're going to do this year. So please get in touch with us
[2:06] for that. Have a look on the website
[2:08] already before you do so and look at the prices we already
[2:10] charge for monthly and for annual coaching.
[2:12] That'll give you a really good feel for what this sort of
[2:15] ballpark that we're in. And from there, if it sounds
[2:18] good, know that it'll be an even better rate and get in touch
[2:20] with us. So before we jump into this
[2:23] week's episode, I want to give a shout out to our sponsors over
[2:26] at Precision Fuel and Hydration. You can use their free fuel and
[2:30] hydration planning tool and you'll get a personalised
[2:32] strategy for your training and your racing.
[2:35] It'll help you understand your own carbohydrate, electrolyte
[2:37] and fluid needs. You can also even book a free 1
[2:40] to one video consult with PFNHS athletes support team and during
[2:44] that they'll be happy to help you nail your race nutrition
[2:48] plan, help you race a nail a plan to get it's your your
[2:52] carbohydrate needs, your electrolyte needs and your fluid
[2:55] needs sorted for your training sessions.
[2:57] So if you're an athlete who's struggling with cramp as you're
[2:59] doing indoor training at the moment, these are the people to
[3:03] talk to. Believe you me.
[3:05] All right, let's jump into this week's episode and talk
[3:08] ourselves through the questions and the answers that the
[3:11] athletes have sent in to us. Right.
[3:13] So first up, a question from Joel.
[3:15] Does it matter what resistance I'm on on a gym bike?
[3:18] If the gym bike's got power readings on, does it matter what
[3:21] what level I set the bike to? So the easy answer here is yes,
[3:25] it does matter. Think of the resistance on a gym
[3:27] bike as using gears on a bike outside.
[3:32] So you can get the same power output in a really big gear or a
[3:36] really small gear. And one of them you're going to
[3:38] have your legs spinning around really quickly.
[3:40] In another one, your legs are going to be going around quite
[3:43] slowly, but you're going to be producing a tremendous amount of
[3:45] force. And that's what the resistance
[3:47] controller on a gym bike does. Now we often get the question is
[3:51] what is the, what is the correct cadence to be riding at?
[3:55] And the answer is it's different for different people.
[3:56] But as a rough ballpark, we'll start out at 85.
[4:00] That's a good sort of in the middle number for everybody and
[4:03] from there we can then give you a bit more individualised
[4:06] information. If you're a bigger athlete or a
[4:09] more powerful athlete, you're probably going to find you more
[4:12] comfortable lower than 85 S, anywhere down towards 70 Revs a
[4:17] minute. If you're a smaller athlete or a
[4:19] less powerful athlete or a less strong athlete, you might find
[4:23] that you're more comfortable on the on the plus side of 85 S up
[4:27] 1995, maybe even 100 Revs a minute.
[4:31] And you'll see that if you look at the Tour de France or you'll
[4:34] see if you watch Iron Man triathlon on YouTube or the
[4:38] video plays there. The more powerful athletes tend
[4:40] to roll a bigger gear or to slower cadence and vice versa.
[4:44] And it's simply a form fits function kind of thing.
[4:47] If you've got more muscle mass, you're going to be more
[4:49] comfortable shifting the training load onto the muscles
[4:53] and pushing a slightly bigger gear at a slightly lower
[4:57] cadence, producing slightly more force, taking the if you like,
[5:01] taking the emphasis away from your heart and lungs.
[5:04] And vice versa, if you don't have as much muscle mass, you're
[5:08] going to need to shift to having your heartbeat a bit faster and
[5:12] having your leg go around a bit faster.
[5:14] That's, that's the easy answer. So it does matter what
[5:17] resistance you're on. I'd advise you to, to, to use
[5:21] what I said there as a guideline trend one way or the other.
[5:24] And then when you go for an outside ride, see what number
[5:28] you're comfortable at naturally. And if you're miles away from 85
[5:32] in either direction, then let's have a conversation.
[5:35] Let's work out why. And the reason it's so important
[5:38] for triathletes is and, and by that I mean it might not be so
[5:43] important for cyclists. The reason it's so important for
[5:46] triathletes to tend toward the 85 number is that tends to be
[5:51] the number that we run at. So our running cadence is
[5:54] usually about 90 steps a minute. And what we find is if on the
[5:59] bike, like the triathlon, we're pushing a particularly big gear
[6:04] at a low cadence or vice versa, legs going around really quickly
[6:08] at a really high cadence, that's very different to how your legs
[6:11] speed is going to be turning over when you're running.
[6:14] And so it's more difficult to feel comfortable getting off the
[6:18] bike and running off the bike. And that's especially true if
[6:21] you're a big athlete who's pushing a big gear at high
[6:24] force. You tend to find that your
[6:25] muscles will feel, in simple terms, really tired getting off
[6:29] the bike. So the 85 number tends to be the
[6:32] sweet spot. Try and get yourself to around
[6:35] that number and you'll find that really helps you're running off
[6:37] the bike. OK, next question from an
[6:42] athlete who is relatively new to swimming and relatively new to
[6:46] triathlon. I'm really getting a panic when
[6:50] I'm in the water. When I'm swimming, I find I can
[6:52] swim for about a length and then I'm really starting to panic and
[6:56] I have to stop and stand up and get my breath back.
[6:58] And it's not just that I'm out of breath, it's that I'm really
[7:01] panicking. So to this athlete and anyone
[7:04] who's going through similar things, I'm going to say you're
[7:07] not alone. It's really common.
[7:10] It's really common amongst beginner athletes and it's also
[7:13] really common amongst some athletes who are very fast and
[7:16] very talented and race really well.
[7:18] The feeling of panic that can come over you is very real and
[7:22] it can be very debilitating. So the first thing I'm going to
[7:25] say to you is it's usually associated with the fact that
[7:30] you are surrounded by water. And it's a very strange feeling
[7:34] to your body. You might be used to being out
[7:36] of breath on the bike or on the run, but all of a sudden having
[7:39] your head and your face surrounded by water can be a
[7:42] feeling that's very uncomfortable and not having
[7:44] control over when you breathe in and out.
[7:47] Because obviously you have to be able to turn your head to the
[7:49] side to breathe more oxygen in. That can be a sensation that
[7:55] causes you to panic on a very sort of a very deep level.
[8:00] So what are the ways around this?
[8:03] Well, the first thing is, if you can spend more time in the
[8:08] water, you're going to find that you gradually feel more
[8:10] comfortable in the water. And spending time in the water
[8:15] not feeling that you're swimming hard and not feeling that you're
[8:17] tremendously out of breath is the best way through this.
[8:20] So the first thing I'm going to suggest is slowing down the
[8:23] speed that you're swimming at. Really try and slow your stroke
[8:27] down. Really try and swim relaxed.
[8:29] Swim easy. You're not trying to swim fast
[8:32] because it's most likely that you can reduce these feelings of
[8:35] panic by slowing things down and not having to worry about being
[8:39] really out of breath. So that's the first thing.
[8:41] Let's slow things down. The second thing is making sure
[8:46] that you breathe out fully into the water while your face is
[8:50] looking down at the bottom of the pool so that when you turn
[8:53] your head to side to breathe, you've already exhaled all of
[8:57] the all of the last breath and you're ready to inhale the new
[9:01] breath. So that's something that's
[9:03] really going to help. It's really common that the
[9:06] sensation of panic actually comes on because what's
[9:10] effectively happening is we're hyperventilating.
[9:12] Or if you think of the situation where somebody hyperventilates,
[9:16] I think we've all seen this happen in school probably, where
[9:19] the advice is to get someone to breathe into a brown paper bag.
[9:23] And what's actually happening is that panicking and the
[9:26] hyperventilating and that hyperventilation leads them to a
[9:30] feeling of even more panic. And so it kind of goes around in
[9:33] a really negative cycle. If we can get you to fully
[9:37] exhale into the water, you can. You can clear all of the carbon
[9:42] dioxide out in one breath. And then as you turn your head
[9:46] to breathe, you can relax and breathe in normally, and off you
[9:49] go again. If you're swimming fast, what
[9:52] can tend to happen is, especially if you're breathing
[9:55] every stroke, you can effectively force the breath
[9:59] out, turn your head to the side, breathe in, force the breath
[10:01] out. And because it's an unnatural
[10:04] rhythm and you're effectively breathing more often than you
[10:06] need to, you can clear out all of the carbon dioxide from your
[10:10] blood without realising. And that leads to that exact
[10:14] same feeling of panic that happens to a person who has to
[10:17] breathe into the paper bag in order to get the carbon dioxide
[10:21] levels neutralised again. So it's very often to do with
[10:25] that sensation of not knowing what the appropriate ratio of
[10:30] breathing is and having got that wrong and then the carbon
[10:35] dioxide levels are wrong in your blood, you end up with a feeling
[10:37] of panic. So for a person who is learning
[10:41] to swim and being relaxed, what I'm going to advise is you
[10:44] breathe every other stroke. So if if we're saying that you
[10:51] would usually breathe on the right, if you can get yourself
[10:53] into a rhythm of breathing bilaterally.
[10:56] So breathe on the right stroke, then breathe on the left stroke,
[10:59] then breathe on the right. That tends to be thing that
[11:02] naturally slows down how fast you can breathe compared to
[11:06] breathing every stroke on the right.
[11:08] And that tends to help even out that feeling of or the problem
[11:12] of breathing too often initially.
[11:15] So you're not alone. It is a thing that people go
[11:18] through. But you can minimise the
[11:21] feelings, certainly the physiological feelings that are
[11:23] driving the panic. If it is to do with the wrong
[11:27] levels of carbon dioxide in your blood, you can deal with those
[11:30] by consciously slowing down your swimming and consciously
[11:34] controlling how often you breathe in.
[11:36] OK, next question, I've just completed the FTP session that
[11:42] you've set. It was 5 by 6 minutes at FTP.
[11:45] Should it feel so hard? I only just got through the
[11:49] session and at the end of it I was absolutely convinced that I
[11:53] was going to pass out or be sick or similar.
[11:55] So. So how should it feel?
[11:58] So first up, it is really common for an FTP set to be a real
[12:04] challenge to get through. OK.
[12:06] But you shouldn't be at the point where you feel like you're
[12:09] going to throw up at the end of it.
[12:11] So the best way around this to make sure that you're training
[12:16] at the appropriate level is make sure you've done an FTP test and
[12:19] that your FTP level is set correctly.
[12:22] And then make sure that you're training on the bike you did the
[12:25] test on with the power metre you did the test on.
[12:28] And obviously use heart rate in the background as a, as a
[12:32] secondary check to make sure you're not training so hard.
[12:34] When we actually dug into the data from this athlete, what had
[12:37] happened was it was a classic situation where they'd done
[12:40] their FTP test at home on the bike, and then they had to do
[12:42] the FTP set in the gym. They were using heart rate as a
[12:46] guide. And the heart rate had gone
[12:48] really high. And it had ended up that the
[12:50] first Rep had been too hard. They've thrown themselves into
[12:53] oxygen debt. They try to hit that same FTP
[12:56] level judging it from heart rate, but it ended up going much
[13:01] too hard and what the athlete would have seen if they were on
[13:03] the bike at home, I think they were probably 110 or 120% of
[13:07] their FTP power because in the first Rep the heart rate got
[13:11] driven all the way to the FTP level in that first Rep.
[13:16] This is a really hard thing to judge if you're training just on
[13:19] heart rate. Usually what we would see in a
[13:22] in a 5 by 6 minute interval session with a minutes recovery,
[13:26] your heart rate wouldn't reach it's FTP level during the first
[13:30] Rep or even during the second Rep and it'll probably only just
[13:33] get there during the third Rep. So it's very, very hard to do
[13:37] this accurately just using heart rate.
[13:39] It's very easy to do accurately using the power metre.
[13:42] So if you possibly can, you should you know, do the workout
[13:46] on the the power metre in the bike that you've done the
[13:48] training on. If you can't do that for
[13:52] whatever reason, it should feel hard, but it should feel
[13:55] comfortably hard. It should be that the last Rep
[13:58] feels like you're really ready for this to be finished, but you
[14:01] shouldn't be. You feel like you're about to
[14:04] black out or feel like you're going to be sick.
[14:05] It shouldn't be as hard as that. So for athletes who are new to
[14:08] this, I strongly encourage doing the first four to six FTP
[14:12] interval sets. Do them with the power metre
[14:14] that you did your test on, and then you can be 100% certain
[14:17] that you're training at the right level.
[14:19] OK, next question. I'm going out and I'm doing my
[14:23] runs on a hilly course. You've asked me to do this to a
[14:26] specific pace to run to Eace, but obviously it's really hard
[14:31] to hit this pace going UA hill. O When I'm doing a hilly run,
[14:34] should it be judged on pace or should it be judged on heart
[14:36] rate? O This is a really good
[14:38] question. We want your effort level to be
[14:41] the same going U the hill as it was running at Eace along the
[14:45] flat O. You're going to have to slow
[14:47] down a lot going UA hill and and a real lot if it's UA really
[14:51] steep hill. It's very hard to judge.
[14:55] Heart rate can help you here, but it's not a great indicator
[14:58] because it lags behind so much. So if you're looking down at
[15:01] your heart rate, yes, you shouldn't see your heart rate
[15:04] move up significantly from the level it was at running at E
[15:07] pace. And there's a rough rule of
[15:09] thumb for a hill that's not too steep, you can expect to have to
[15:12] run a minute per kilometre slower to to to get to the point
[15:17] where it's an appropriate effort level.
[15:19] So, you know, if you go all the way back to verse principles
[15:22] here, your perceived effort level shouldn't change as you
[15:25] start to go up the hill. If you feel as though you're
[15:28] making much more effort to go up the hill, then you're running
[15:31] too hard. Now there's a really good metric
[15:34] within training peaks that you can go and look at here.
[15:36] It's called Normalise graded pace NGP.
[15:39] You can only see it afterwards, you can't monitor it in real
[15:42] time. But what you can do is go back
[15:44] and have a look at your information after you've done
[15:46] the training session. Identify and drag and drop over
[15:49] the section of the hill that you ran U and see what the
[15:52] normalised graded pace was given for that section of the hill.
[15:55] So I used to do a a long hilly run every week or so that had a
[16:00] long uphill and a long downhill of about a mile.
[16:03] And I'd go and check the data afterwards and really focus on
[16:06] trying to get the NGP to be correct.
[16:09] And over time learned that for me, that metric of about a
[16:12] minute a kilometre slower was where I needed to be running up
[16:15] the hill in order for the NGP to be the same when I got back
[16:20] afterwards. You can use heart rate to try
[16:22] and monitor this as well. And again, it's just a question
[16:25] of learning to become in tune with your body.
[16:29] OK, next question from one of our athletes, Mark, what should
[16:32] I do if I can't hit 100% of FTP during an FTP session riding in
[16:39] my arrow position? Should I get out of the arrow
[16:41] position and and basically muscle it used with the
[16:44] handlebars to really power through?
[16:46] Or should I hold my arrow position, but that results in a
[16:50] drop of power. So the answer here is I want you
[16:53] to spend as much time as you possibly can training in your
[16:57] arrow position, even if that means that you can't quite hit
[17:00] the our numbers. And the reason for that is we
[17:04] really want you to train in the arrow position and deliver that
[17:07] power in the arrow position because then on race day, we
[17:11] know that it is, it's a power that's achievable relative to an
[17:16] FTP that was set in the arrow position.
[17:18] And so the same exact advice here goes for when you do in the
[17:20] FTP test, do the FTP test in your arrow position and test how
[17:26] much power can I put out for 20 minutes in the arrow position.
[17:30] And then we do the the training in the arrow position and then
[17:33] we race in the arrow position. It can be very, very tempting to
[17:37] get out of the saddle and push more watts out of the saddle.
[17:43] Sorry to to get out of the arrow position and push more watts out
[17:45] of the arrow position, but I would encourage you not to do
[17:48] that because what we want to do is train that position.
[17:52] It's very likely that you won't be able to put out as much power
[17:56] in your arrow position as you can sitting up.
[17:59] It's just to do with the way the muscles engage in the different
[18:01] position when you're sitting up and when you're sitting down.
[18:04] So it's really important we train that position it it will
[18:07] initially feel more awkward. It will initially need training
[18:12] into. So unless there's an injury
[18:14] reason you can't be in the arrow position, I would advise you to
[18:17] train in the arrow position. And even during, you know,
[18:21] during these interval sessions, if you can't quite hit the power
[18:24] numbers and it's dropping off a little bit, that's absolutely
[18:27] fine. I'd encourage you to think of
[18:29] the power in an interval session as like a 10% banding from 100%
[18:35] down to 90% if you could be anywhere in that area.
[18:38] I'm happy that you're getting all of the training benefit that
[18:41] we've designed that training session for.
[18:43] So it isn't a black White Pass or fail.
[18:46] If you're FTPS 250 and the Rep came out at 247 watts, it
[18:51] absolutely isn't failure. Anywhere from 225 to 2:50 is
[18:56] success. And I understand the drive of
[18:59] the Type A personality to have the numbers to be exact, but you
[19:03] really don't need to focus on it like that.
[19:06] All of our bodies, they have an actual rhythm to them.
[19:08] We, we wax and weigh in from day-to-day.
[19:10] There'll be days when you can hit the power of the entire
[19:13] session. There'll be days when, frankly,
[19:16] if you can hit 90% of the power numbers that you're looking for,
[19:19] it will be a real achievement. But as long as you're somewhere
[19:22] in that power banding, the session will be doing the job
[19:26] that it's set out for. And one of the things that I
[19:29] really want to underline is if you're on a day when you're not
[19:32] quite hitting the numbers you're hoping to, it is tempting to
[19:35] think if I get out of the arrow position, I'll be able to put a
[19:37] bit more power out. But don't do that.
[19:40] Let's train the position and then on race day, we're really
[19:43] sure that we've trained the position and we're going to be
[19:45] able to ride in that position. Because ultimately you will go
[19:48] much faster on race day if you can hold the arrow position than
[19:52] if you've managed to put 10 watts higher on your FTP.
[19:56] But you have to get out of the arrow position to ride in that
[19:58] position come race day. OK, Next question from one of
[20:04] our coached athletes. Can I attend a club swim
[20:08] session? I'm, I'm a member of a local Tri
[20:11] club. We've got BTF qualified coaches.
[20:13] Can I attend a club swim session and do their swim instead of one
[20:17] of the swims that set? So this is a great question that
[20:20] we get asked a lot by our athletes.
[20:22] So yes, if those conditions are met, if you go into a Tri club
[20:25] swim session and if you're being coached by someone who's been
[20:28] trained by the British Triathlon Federation or you know your your
[20:32] national body governing federation for athletes who are
[20:34] around the world in different places.
[20:37] I am almost 100% sure that a well designed club swim session
[20:43] will be very similar to to our key swim set of the week when
[20:47] it's either a CSS set or a CSS and technique set.
[20:52] Usually club swims will follow the the warm up, the drill, a
[20:57] pre build CSS main set and then a cool down.
[21:01] And so even if it isn't exactly the same as our swim that's set
[21:05] for you, that's going to do the job that we design it for.
[21:08] And I know that there's a payback on the other side of
[21:11] being at a pool where there's other swimmers there making a
[21:15] commitment to see you training buddies and training with them.
[21:17] There's a lot of value in that being with other people in a
[21:20] pool who are going to hold you to account and, you know, not
[21:23] let you get out halfway through the set.
[21:26] All of these things are really important.
[21:28] Where I would say that we're going to diverge a little bit
[21:32] here is as you get closer to your goal race, you're 70.3 or
[21:36] your Iron Man. Typically in the last 12 to 16
[21:39] weeks, our focus is going to shift from our key swim being a
[21:43] CSS focus swim. It's been an endurance focus
[21:46] swim. If your club swim set is going
[21:49] to hammer you with really high intensity swimming with
[21:52] threshold sets and above, I think you're better off doing
[21:55] your key swim as written by me. Either getting it done in a pool
[21:59] on your own or getting it done in open water on your own,
[22:01] because it's very specific to swim at the paces I've set for
[22:06] you at that point relative to your 70.3 or Iron Man race.
[22:10] When you swim, when you key swim switches to be your endurance
[22:13] swim. I think you're better off doing
[22:15] that on your own if the club swim isn't set up to be an
[22:19] endurance swim like that. But for the person who's asked
[22:22] us this, I've replied in detail. We'll go through the details of
[22:26] this nearer the time and we'll make sure you understand that.
[22:30] Next question. I've just done my CSS swim test.
[22:34] I swam faster for both the 200 and the 400 compared to last
[22:38] time, but my CSS pace barely changed.
[22:42] What's going on? I've run the numbers three times
[22:44] in the calculator. I'm sure something's wrong.
[22:47] So this is a this is another really common question.
[22:50] Sometimes even what might happen is you swim faster 400, you swim
[22:54] faster 200, and you CSS pace actually is a little bit slower
[22:58] than it was before. And that's a real head scratcher
[23:01] for people. So the way to think of this is
[23:04] the CSS pace represents, if you like, the balance between your
[23:10] endurance swimming and or your threshold swimming pace and
[23:14] you're faster than threshold swimming pace.
[23:18] And CSS pace is designed to be very specifically targeted at
[23:22] your CSS pace. So if one of your swims changes
[23:28] more than the other one at a faster rate, so let's say that
[23:31] you're 200 gets faster, but there's more of an improvement
[23:36] in your 200 than there was in your 400.
[23:39] What you might then find is your CSS pace will slow down because
[23:43] what's indicating to us is we need to focus less on your top
[23:47] end and have you swimming a little bit slower for your
[23:50] harder sets in order to make sure we've not got you swimming
[23:54] too fast too much of the time. So it is to a little bit hard to
[23:57] get your head round, but it isn't a problem.
[24:00] It's a feature of CSS swimming. So it's great news that you've
[24:05] swimmed a faster 400 and 200. That shows us that the training
[24:08] is working and that you're getting faster, and it's not a
[24:11] problem that your CSS pace hasn't changed, or even if your
[24:15] CSS pace has got slower. And if that does happen to you,
[24:18] if the CSS pace does get slower, I would encourage you to swim at
[24:22] that slower pace for the next set of swim sessions because
[24:27] it's going to target the right portion of your swimming.
[24:29] We're going to shift a little bit more towards endurance than
[24:32] we are towards the faster swimming.
[24:34] So it's great that some things change.
[24:37] It's great swimming faster. It shows the trainings working.
[24:41] Don't worry if the CSS barely changes or even if you get a
[24:44] little bit slower. OK, And the final question.
[24:47] I'm doing my first Iron Man this year.
[24:49] I've entered the event and I've been sent an e-mail about all
[24:52] the various extras that are available to me, hotels,
[24:55] accommodation. What do you recommend that I
[24:58] take advantage of? So there are lots of these
[25:02] things available. There are official hotel
[25:04] packages pushed towards athletes.
[25:08] If you can afford them, I think that's great.
[25:10] The the official hotel packages tend to be really well placed.
[25:14] I've been with with one of the official organisations in
[25:18] Nirvana years ago and it was, it was great in terms of I had
[25:22] nothing to worry about. After I got to Nice airport, I
[25:25] got picked up, they took me to the hotel, they helped me get my
[25:28] bike built. All of that stuff can be a
[25:32] massive stress relief at a time when you can do without stress
[25:36] effectively. If you're a person who's a
[25:39] little bit more looks after themselves, you might not want
[25:43] that. But if it's your first event and
[25:45] you're wanting to reduce a bit of stress and you've got the
[25:48] money for it, then I would say absolutely go for it.
[25:52] One thing I think it's really worth paying for if it's an
[25:55] option is to have a mechanic either rebuild your bike when
[25:59] you get to the other end or at least give it a once over before
[26:02] race day, especially if you've had to take the bars off.
[26:06] Having someone do that for you and it being a professional
[26:08] mechanic can really ease those sort of slight worries that you
[26:12] might have. If you've got to rebuild the
[26:13] bike yourself and you're not quite sure what you're doing,
[26:16] definitely make sure it gets looked over by a mechanic.
[26:18] Taking it down to the Expo, having someone do it, take it
[26:21] out of the bike box, rebuild it and give it to you.
[26:24] And similarly, having somebody do it for you after the race
[26:26] when you're really tired can be really invaluable.
[26:29] Now, if you're comfortable and happy doing that stuff yourself,
[26:33] if you know about a mechanic in your own bike, absolutely fine.
[26:36] But if not, IA 100% think it's something that's worth spending
[26:40] the time on. OK, wait.
[26:43] Well, listen, that just about brings us to the end of this
[26:47] week's episode. I hope it's really helped you
[26:49] out. To wrap things up, here are some
[26:51] discount codes and deals for you, Precision Fuel and
[26:53] hydration.com. You can use the code Oxygen
[26:56] Addict 2025 for 15% off your first order of electrolytes and
[27:00] carbohydrate fuel. And over at
[27:02] teamoxygenaddict.com, I think we've got the most comprehensive
[27:05] triathlon coaching programme that's specifically designed for
[27:08] busy age groupers. If you're looking for coaching
[27:10] for Iron Man or 70.3 triathlon this year, please check out the
[27:13] details of our packages on our website.
[27:16] And then we've got a special offer on for our nine month
[27:18] season long coaching package at the moment.
[27:21] Just contact us for details of the pricing on that.
[27:24] It'll be a better rate than anything that you see on our
[27:26] website at the moment. So I'd really love to talk to
[27:28] you if you're interested, there's a link in the show notes
[27:31] to book a membership call and see if you'd be a good fit for
[27:34] joining the team. So remember, there's links in
[27:35] the show notes. You don't have to remember them
[27:37] till next week. Have a great safe training and
[27:40] racing week. I'm coach Rob Wilby and you've
[27:42] been listening to the Oxygen Addict Triathlon Podcast.

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