October 6, 2005 (Thanks to the Bikers Edge, Transition Tri Club and Dave Ference for an informative evening.)
Dave Ference is one of Utah’s most successful and dominant multisport athletes. His decade-plus commitment to the sport is evident by his results. Look at the results of any race that he has participated in and you will see his name at or near the top. He typically wins any local race he enters and has been at the sharp end of the field in some of the nations biggest events.It was a 1983 channel surfing escapade that led him to the sport. The image of Ironman legend Dave Scott racing towards victory mesmerized him. A resonation was felt and he knew his life had changed. Ference prevented his family from changing the channel further. This should not have been a surprise to them though. Athletics were not new to him. Ference grew up playing soccer, hockey and spent time on the swim team. The myriad of sports kept him active through all seasons. Ference did his first tri shortly after high school.
Ference’s results come up quick with a Google.com search. You will find his time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 15 seconds at the 2000 Utah Summer Games stands as the fastest time ever on the Olympic course. In 2002 he led the Ironman Vineman race from nearly start to finish. It wasn’t until pro Peter Kotland passed him on the run that he relinquished his lead. Ference completed the challenging course second overall in 9 hours, 37 minutes and 9 seconds. Many Utah triathletes have heard about his performance at the 2003 Ironman Florida. He finished 41st overall in a deep field of nearly 2000 athletes, qualifying for the Ironman World Champoinships in Hawaii finishing in 9 hours, 23 minutes and 58 seconds. He is no stranger to the Ironman World Championships, having gone at least 3 times according to Tri Hive research.
Most people might think that he devotes his life to training. This is not the case. Commitment to his chosen priority can be seen in all aspects of his life including his successful law practice and commitment to his daughters soccer team.. The coaching commitment has required extensive planning. He knows where he will be nearly every Saturday between now and September of 2006, all for the love of his daughter and team.
His jump to the Ironman distance was delayed due to family obligations. The training sacrifice needed to excel at the distance was postponed for a better time in his life. It was during his time as a young father and law student that he focused solely on Olympic distance races. When his kids grew older he made a brief jump to the ½ Ironman distance, and then onto the Ironman distance.
While his family was young Ference would spend most of his training time indoors on his stationary bike trainer or treadmill. After the birth of a new child he would put the new arrival near his bike trainer. This acclimatization was required to train the child to the soothing hum of the bike trainer. He also logged countless miles on his treadmill, eventually breaking the belt on the rig. Ference had a repairman look at the damage. The treadmill specialist exclaimed “Sweet mother! I’ve never seen one like this before. You need to buy a new treadmill.”
There are many aspects to Dave Ference’s training strategy that has made him into an elite age grouper. From his undeviating commitment to each sport, each day, to the specialized daily themes, the methods are incomplete without the other. His strategies have worked for him; however, he is quick to state that there is no cookie cutter approach. Every athlete has unique strengths, weaknesses and circumstances that must be addressed. Athletes must be weary of plans suggesting they are for everyone.
Nothing in Ference’s plan is more important then building the aerobic engine. He considers the aerobic engine to be the foundation of his fitness. This is his starting point for each year. Building the aerobic engine requires frequent training sessions at a low intensity. An athlete creating a solid engine through the off-season will be able to move to the intense sessions later on with ease.
Ference trains in all three sports six days a week with some sessions lasting only 15 to 20 minutes. This doesn’t bother him, though. He feels that even the smallest of durations in a given discipline will reap large rewards if maintained over time. During his talk he reminded the audience that a three mile run session, done three times a week would give the athlete over 450 annual running miles if done with an unwavering commitment. 15 mile bike sessions done three times a week will give the athlete over 2,300 miles. It is this focus that has created his athletic engine. No workout is too small. Many athletes fail to realize that the small workouts help build your foundation for the year.
Ference expressed that many athletes misuse intensity over a season, creating frequent injuries or illness for themselves. He has come to understand that there is a time and a place for the exhausting efforts. His high intensity sessions are not initiated until he is three to six weeks away from his first race of the season, realizing that if he were to begin intense sessions any earlier he could ruin his season. Ference feels the body is not equipped to handle intense efforts throughout a year.
“I promise you this,” said Ference. “You have to trust me. Slow aerobic training builds your engine.”
Ference keeps his training very general throughout the off-season, focusing on the foundation for the upcoming year. However, the simplicity of each day is not done without purpose. He has very specific goals throughout the week. Ference uses a daily themed system created by four-time international distance champion Simon Lessing, a system in which elite age-grouper Jeff Cuddeback has successfully refined. The system identifies a focus for each day of the week. The themes are used year-round but slightly altered to match the timing of the season.
The duration of each workout within the theme depends on the distance the athlete is training for. Ference stated that the athlete following this system might be able to perform well at age-group national championships (international distance) and follow up with a decent performance at the Ironman World Championships without radically altering the training plan. Two workouts would vary in distance if using the themed system. They are the long bike and the long run.
Below is each day defined.
Day 1 – Long Run
- Aerobic effort.
- 85-100 rpm (take smaller strides if necessary)
- Run on mixed terrain (hills/flats)
- To be done all year-round
- Up to 18-21 miles for Ironman Training (7-10 for Olympic Training…13-15 for ½ IM)
- Do Not Flirt With Anaerobic Efforts
- Do Not Worry About People Passing You
Day 2 – Long Swim
- Aerobic effort
- Long Sets (300 to 600 meters/yards long)
- Long warm-up (up to 1500 meters/yards straight)
- Focus on form (high elbows. Think about kick speed. Choose either 2 or 8 beat kick.)
- Do Not Worry About People Passing You
Day 3 – Long Bike
- Aerobic effort
- Opportunity to flirt with nutrition strategies
- Ride mixed terrain (hills/flats)
- Spin
- Practice all riding positions (Standing/In Aero Bars/On Aero Bars/On Hoods/Etc…)
Day 4 – Speed Swim
- Swim hard 50’s to 100’s
- Long Recovery Intervals
- You are not building endurance
- Push yourself out of your comfort zone.
Day 5 – Speed Run
- Track work (400’s, 600’s and/or 800’s)
- No longer than 1 mile repeats
- Pace should be faster then you would run in a sprint tri or 5k. Faster then you would ever run in a tri. Know what it is like to suffer.
- Build through each interval and build through the set.
- 1st interval should be slower then last interval.
- Build and maintain pace.
Day 6 – Speed Bike
- Ride on a flat or mild incline
- Procedure should be similar to speed run procedures
- Slowly build to top speed (Top speed should be faster then you would ride in a triathlon. You should be very uncomfortable.)
- 1st interval should not be too hard. 2nd not bad (and so on, slowly increasing effort)
- Intervals should be 10 to 15 minutes long. No longer.
- You do interval 9 & 10 to get to 11 & 12
- 60 to 90 second rest intervals. No longer then 2 minutes.
- Spin through the recovery intervals.
Notice that there is no day 7 included. Ference suggested that an athlete should have one day completely off. He personally feels fitter when beginning his Monday workout after the Sunday respite.
As previously mentioned, Ference suggested a harnessing of intense speed work until three to six weeks before your first race. In the off-season his run speed session will be no quicker then his 10k pace. The same applies to the bike. He does not exceed his race pace during this engine building time. His high intensity sessions begin in the spring, not the winter.
Ference noted that caution must always be observed when applying the intense speed work. He recommends two rules created by Kenyan runners that focus on the implementation of speed and endurance.
Kenyan Rule #1 – The maximum amount of speed work in a week should be 10% of your weekly run mileage. (i.e. – If you run 20 miles a week you should only have 2 miles of speed work.
Kenyan Rule #2 - Do not increase your weekly mileage more then 10%.
The model Ference follows creates purpose for each day and nurtures both slow (endurance) and fast (speed) twitch muscle memory. If an athlete chooses to do any additional workout it is to be done aerobically. Athletes using the system successfully should apply intensity only to the assigned workouts.
This system has helped make Dave Ference a balanced triathlete across all distances. He has incorporated the strategy into his lifestyle, becoming routine. His commitment to the plan has helped him rise to a level few ever experience.
If you have followed us through the first two parts of our Dave Ference clinic report on www.trihive.com you know that one thing is for certain, Ference is undeviating in his ability to train day in and out. We have been given a view of how he structures each day of the week and know that it is not dependant on volume. It’s the day-to-day frequency that builds his fitness. Through a “themed” schedule he has a purpose for each day. You can view the daily themes on the web reports at www.trihive.com. If a workout does not fit within a theme it is done at an aerobic level. He refuses to change a theme and will religiously apply workouts only when assigned.
“You have to create aerobic and anaerobic muscle memory,” says Ference. “You must train slow and fast twitch muscles.”
The strategy helps him cover all of his bases so he is ready for battle in nearly any triathlon distance.
Some athletes focus exclusively on one of triathlons three disciplines. He maintains a balance between the three sports. This even keeled approach makes him a power-house in Utah triathlon. The off-season however is the perfect time to work on your weakness. The speed work will be applied closer to the triathlon season.
“Speed and endurance are the spices. Shorter, frequent workouts are the meat (filler).”
Ference does the occasional brick or back-to-back sessions including a swim-bike or a bike-run; however, he keeps the routines aerobic. He suggests that athletes wanting to go anaerobic to do so in only one of the two disciplines. He considers back-to-back anaerobic work to be a race.
Ference will also add an occasional off-season strength training session feeling the sessions help keep the fast twitch muscles “honest.” He doesn’t feel that the workouts should be long and should focus on large muscle groups and strength weaknesses. He recommends a typical endurance athlete regimen, lifting lighter weight with higher repetitions (12 reps x 3 sets). An organized athlete should be able to be in and out of the weight room in 10 to 15 minutes.
If athletes are feeling fatigued Ference prescribes a recovery week. Recovery week means no weight lifting sessions, no anaerobic work and a minimization of the long run. These recuperation weeks may not be necessary in the off-season.
Thanks again to the Biker’s Edge and Transition Tri Club for hosting the clinic.
Popularity: 7% [?]
