photo courtesy of Brightroom.com

JIM DID THE POWERMAN COURSE – from the comfort of home.

CompuTrainer for Duathlon!
Jim Girand

    When I first got a CompuTrainer three years ago, I improved my time by seven minutes on the bike, sufficient to win my age group for the first time ever at the 1999 Powerman Alabama Duathlon!  Indeed, when I programmed the course into the CompuTrainer my time on the simulated course was within a minute of my actual time in the race itself.

    Now, fast forward three years to the same Powerman race in 2003. Like most committed users of the CompuTrainer I wanted to avoid the rain, wind and bad weather of the winter as well as the outright danger when cycling outside.  And I knew to be competitive I would have to train really intensively.  Part of the regimen was to do the Powerman course on the CompuTrainer once a week for the four weeks preceding the race.  By the time my last workout rolled around, I had my time down to 1:55 and knew I was ready for the race.

    Conditions on race day were grim.  The air was 39° at race time with gusting 30-mile-per-hour winds.  Because of those conditions, it was among the three or four hardest races I have ever done.  I caught the age group leader emerging from the transition area and just rode as hard as I could.  Sure enough, my "muscle memory" kicked in, my legs responded and did not fail me for the entire bike ride.  Indeed, I did the bike split within a few seconds of the time on the CompuTrainer in spite of those race conditions!  As a frame of reference, colleagues of mine in the older age groups were four to five minutes slower on the bike leg this year compared to earlier years and I was nearly dead even.  After exiting T2, I survived the last 8K run and won my age group for the first time since 2000, by one minute!  It was scary competition!

    All things considered, when conditions are that bad, dedicated and intelligent training enables competitors to concentrate and rise to the level of being an age group contented.  By coupling workouts like the Powerman course on the CompuTrainer, along with other complementary bicycle training, I was able to get my best possible bike performance, and just enough edge to win my age group.

    Many thanks to the people at RacerMate for providing a training resource that enables bicycle competitors to train while closely simulating the actual course as well as save time, avoid bad weather and the ever present danger of traffic.

Jim Girand is the 2003 Powerman Alabama 65-69 Age Group Champion and Vice-President of USA Triathlon

(reprinted from American TRI Magazine - Summer (1)  2003