We had an excellent thread on IM bike pacing over on my board the other day. I suggest that you read every post from Rich Strauss in this line of posting -- http://www.coachgordo.com/cgi-bin/config.pl?read=33995.

Appropriate bike pacing is fundamental to getting the most out of your fitness on race day.

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Descending

If you are like me then we both need help with our cornering and descending. I asked Cam Brown for some help and he came up with a new tip that helped me. When heading into the turn, apply push down on the inside handlebar (this would be the side closest to the turn). This tips seems to help me get my balance right and has made a material difference for me.

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Compression Shorts

Following a tip from Coach V and my massage guy, I've started wearing compression shorts on my aerobic, long and faster runs. I am quite fit these days so my recovery improvement may have something to do with muscular adaptation. However, the shorts appear to be reducing muscular damage from running. Not a scientific study (!) but I decided to order another couple of pairs. I got mine here --- http://www.internationaljock.com/compress.html

If you do purchase then simply buy the "right" size. Don't size down for extra compression.

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Mental Skills Training

The top topic this month is mental skills training. I thought that I'd share my IMC strategy with you so that you can apply what makes sense to you.

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Visual Cues -- at the entrance to my bedroom and on my walls are various signs that remind me of certain things. Some of these signs are "power words" that I like to use (excellence, persist, JFT). Others are quotes and sayings that appeal to me. I've also pasted some handwritten notes of key workouts as well as some emails from people that I respect. Finally, I have put down my key goals for IMC.

Mental Cues -- each day at some stage I will reflect on a certain aspect of my up-coming A race.

When I am training steady pace and feeling particularly powerful I will think about the most important aspect of the course that I want to associate with that sport. For example:

Swim -- strong around the turns, strong on the return leg

Bike -- strong through the rollers, strong in the out-and-back, strong on the gradual climb up the Yellow Lake valley

Run -- light and smooth climbing out of OK Falls, fast and smooth along the lake

I also like to use race cues to refocus when I am under technical pressure during a tough session:

Swim -- if my stroke goes then I ease off a touch, stay long and think about being under control in the first half mile

Bike -- if I get choppy then I ease off a touch, lift my cadence and think about smooth riding through the out-and-back

Run -- when things get tough then I ease off a touch, run tall and think about running up Main Street

For the last interval of every track session I think about running fast in the final out-and-back along Lakeshore (this would also work with tempo and upper steady work).

When training alone, make a conscious effort to incorporate some of this training into your day. Be a bit careful, though. I swam into a wall this morning thinking about being powerful. Good swim split but I nearly cracked my head!

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Those are the key areas of the IMC course.

Each of us will have certain areas of the race that might concern us. Incorporate these into your visualization starting today. It makes a huge difference. There's no need to wait until race week. The deeper you program success, the better the results.

We are aiming for near automatic execution of our race strategies.

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