Help Centre

Welcome to the BCA Strava clubs. This is a community of BCA (and Non-BCA) athletes who come to together and support each others training from around the world. Join now by clicking the link below and help the community grow. BCA Running Club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/bcarunningclub BCA Cycling Club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/bcacyclingclub BCA Triathlon Club: https://www.strava.com/clubs/bcatriathlonclub

You may have a lot of questions about getting a training plan so BCA has done its best to answer your questions below. What if the plan does not fit within my schedule/calendar? One size shoes that fits all is not a saying that works a BCA. Everyone is different and has a different schedule. Which is why BCA can make some adjustments to your training plan once you have uploaded to your TrainingPeaks calendar. So if you need a particular day off we can accommodate that. Alternatively, if you would prefer a more personalised approach to your training plan then you can check out the link below, to the personalised pre-built training programme service. BCA - Personalised Pre-Built Plan: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdmNOtHARJJnUDAasr8o6w-EzRmjc6G1J6tMTiCsAZ8jicKgQ/viewform What if I have no time for family? This will not be the case with BCA training plans. The aim is to keep you improving while ensuring you have time for family/friends and a good work like balance. You may find yourself in a position were your an advanced athlete, but now don't have the time to keep up with the advanced plan. BCA works around this by offering the elite plan then you can take out some of the workouts so you have time, but still have workouts challenging enough to cause adaption. I am afraid I will get the wrong plan, can I swap? Yes, don't worry about getting the wrong plan, within 14 days off purchasing the plan you can swap your plan for free (assuming same value). To make life easier, you can answer a few questions to give BCA the necessary information for us to choose the right plan for you (this should take about 5 minutes). Click the link below to do this. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScuGin-4FAkMU5sex_RN_ftievhDXg9nYi99B6nFDuwRcYpjg/viewform I don't know anything about training would this still be suitable for me? Yes, BCA plans as designed for everyone from complete beginner to experienced. We provide lots of additional free training guides and information to help you learn more about training and preparing for an event. If you have anymore questions then please let us know. Email: info@breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com

Your half marathon race pace will vary depending on your ability. You will learn your half marathon pace over time and get a better feel for what it is like to sustain the effort. During training you will tempo and threshold intervals to help develop your ability to tolerate intensity expected during a half marathon. Your half marathon pace will vary depending on your ability. The below table provides you with a rough guide to help you navigate how to pace the effort. Half Marathon Pace: As you will be running in a group and you may feel nervous you heart rate may be a little higher compared to the corresponding pace. You can use data to help you find which pace is best. For example take a look at your peak pace graph in training peaks under dashboard along the top. You can then see what your best pace is for your target time. If you have any further questions or need any help please let BCA know. Email: info@breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bca_endurance/

Your marathon race pace will vary depending on your ability. You will learn your marathon pace over time and get a better feel for what it is like to sustain the effort. During training you should have a marathon pace session once a week to help you with this. Your marathon pace will vary depending on your ability. The below table provides you with a rough guide to help you navigate how to pace the effort. Marathon Pace: As you will be running in a group and you may feel nervous you heart rate may be a little higher compared to the corresponding pace. You can use data to help you find which pace is best. For example take a look at your peak pace graph in training peaks under dashboard along the top. You can then see what your best pace is for your target time. If you have any further questions or need any help please let BCA know. Email: info@breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bca_endurance/

As the season comes to an end it is time for two things, the first is take your end of season rest and the second is to think about what you want to do next season. This article covers how to plan next year and review your past season. Season Review: When conducting a season review you need to make a comparison between what you set out to achieve and what you did achieve. This is why you need to be as clear as possible when setting your goals as it is then easier to make meaningful comparisons. For example if you aim was to increase your FTP by 20 watts in three months and you only increased your FTP by 10 watts, it is much easier to see whether you achieved what you wanted. Although the harder part if trying to understand why you did or didn't hit your targets. Which is why BCA has laid out a series of questions below to help you analyse your season. - At what point during your training did you feel you were making the most progress? - At what point during your training did you feel you were making the least progress? - Which training workouts did you feel worked most and least? - What were the strength in your ability that helped you hit your goals? - What were the weakness in your ability that prevented you from hitting your goals? - Do you feel you put in enough time into your weakness? - Was there anything that felt lacking in your training (including nutrition etc.)? - Did you feel tired or as if you were not working hard enough and when? Have a go at answering the questions and see if you can find where it was going well and were it went wrong (if at all). It is also very helpful for yourself when reviewing your season to read your post workout comments, this can give you very good insight as to how you were feeling at that present moment. If you don't add post workout comments it is strongly recommended, all you have to do it write a couple of sentences summing up how you felt and the reasons why. Plan Ahead: Now you have a good idea of what happened last season, so you can now make a better plan going forward. There are different types of goals you can plan for yourself which are laid out below to help you think about what to do next. Improve upon last year. - Perhaps you achieve what you wanted last year but now want to progress even further. Try something different altogether. Maybe last season you completed a long duathlon now you want to pursue an IRONMAN. Retry what you couldn't do last year. Possibly you didn't hit your goals last year now you want try again. The most common goal is the first one, for example, maybe your goal last year was to reach Cat 2 now next season you want to hit Cat 1. Cat 1 races can be longer and the intensity can be higher, so you may need to increase your overall training volume and increase the time you can ride above your FTP to reach this goal. To do this you could move from an intermediate BCA race plan to an advanced BCA race plan. Have a go at defining your goals, feel free asking BCA for help and guidance. Email: info@breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com BCA Training Plans https://www.breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com/training-plans Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bca_endurance/

If you have a triathlon or swimming plan you would have noticed there are a lot of two letter acronyms within the swim workouts, this article explains all of them. Swimming Drills: CH = Closed Hands (fists) To complete this drill swim freestyle, but with your hands in a fist. PU = Pull (buoy between legs) Your legs will not be in use, but your arms should follow front crawl. KB = Kickboard (only legs) Arms out in front holding a kickboard, legs kicking as normal (freestyle). SA = Single arm (freestyle) Complete freestyle, but only using one arm. Other arm should be out in front. Change arm every length. SC = Sculling Legs kick as normal, however, you move the water in front of you by pushing your arms laterally (in and out). HU = Head-up front crawl Breath every two strokes, however, before putting your head in the water look out in front to see your direction. This will help with open water swimming. CO = Choice This means you are free to choose which drill or stroke. HP = Hand Paddles Complete freestyle but use hand paddles to increase the weight your arms carry. PO = Polo Stroke Complete freestyle as normal, however, keep your head above the water so you can see out in front. The aim is to improve your navigation when it comes to open water. Swim Strokes FS - Freestyle BS - Breaststroke BC - Back Crawl BU - Butterfly

The BCA training plans come in power and pace by default however, some of you may train in heart rate, which is why this article covers how to change the units in your workouts. Once the training plan has been loaded to your TrainingPeaks calendar click on the workout you want to change form power or pace to heart rate. Then click on the workout structure (the blue section which shows the workout). Once you have click this you will see along the top of the workout is a section called units. Click on the drop down menu to change to the units you want to use. You can see in the screen shot below an example of were the units drop down menu is. In some cases when you change the units from power or pace to heart rate you may need to change the range of the intensity for the workout. It is best you take a look at the heart rate training zones in the link below to see if anything need changing. Bike Training Zones https://www.breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com/post/setting-your-bike-training-zones Run Training Zones: https://www.breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com/post/setting-your-run-training-zones If you need any help please get in touch with BCA. Email: info@breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com

To find found how to set up your training zones for the swim, bike and run, see the below links. Swim Training Zones: https://www.breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com/post/setting-your-swim-training-zones Bike Training Zones https://www.breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com/post/setting-your-bike-training-zones Run Training Zones: https://www.breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com/post/setting-your-run-training-zones Email: info@breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com

This article goes through how to set-up your Swimming training zones based off your CSS (Critical Swim Speed). CSS Test First you will need to complete an CSS test, which is two tests consisting off a 200 meters effort and a 400 meters effort. The CSS test take less than an 40 minutes, the protocol used in the BCA training plans is below. Warm-up 100 m @ Z1/2 w/ 5 secs rest + (FS = Freestyle) 050 m @ Z1/2 w/ 5 secs rest + (PU = Pull (buoy between legs)) 050 m @ Z1/2 w/ 5 secs rest + (KB = Kickboard (only legs)) 050 m @ Z1/2 w/ 5 secs rest (FS = Freestyle) Rest 30-60 seconds Main Set 200 meters @ max effort Rest 3 minutes 400 meters @ paced max effort Cool Down 200 meter @ cool down using any stroke you wish in zone 1/2 CSS Zones Your CSS is your 400 meters swim minus (-) your 200 meters swim divided (/) by 2. Example: 200m = 3:16 mins/100m 400m = 6:49 mins /100m CSS = 6:49 - 3:16 = 3:33/2 CSS = 1:46 mins/100m The below table shows the training zone ranges for swim paces. Within BCA training plans you receive an excel document (within the link to the training guides) which you can use to calculate your CSS and zones based of the below. Table 1: Swim Pace Zones Setting up Zones Once you know your CSS go to your settings in TrainingPeaks by clicking on your name in the top right of your TrainingPeaks calendar. Then along the left hand side of the setting click 'Zones', you will then see 'Default Heart Rate'. Scroll down till you see Speed/Pace. Under this click the drop down menu in 'Add Activity', click swim, then click add on the right. Once you have done this you will see the below appear. Next, simply input your threshold (or CSS) click 'Add Zone' then fill in your training zones based of the tables above or the BCA excel spreadsheet provided in training plans. When you have finished filling in your zones click 'Save and Close' in the bottom right. If you have any questions please let BCA know. Email: info@breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com

This article goes through how to set-up your run training zones based off your THP (Threshold Pace) and THR (Threshold Heart Rate). Threshold Pace Test First you will need to complete an Threshold Pace test, which is a 30 minute paced max effort. The Threshold Pace test take less than an hour, the protocol used in the BCA training plans is below. Warm-up 03 mins @ 70-75% of FTP (3/10 RPE scale) 15 secs @ 100-110% (9/10) 01 mins @ 70-75% (3/10 ) 15 secs @ 100-110% (9/10) 02 mins @ 70-75% (3/10 ) Main Set 30 mins @ paced max effort 100-110% (9/10) Cool Down 08 mins @ 50-55% (2/10 ) Threshold Pace Zones Your Threshold Pace is your average pace from the 30 minutes. For example, if your average pace was 4:31 min/km, your Threshold pace is 4:31 min/km. It is very important that you complete the test along (complete without training partner). The below table shows the training zone ranges for pace. Within BCA training plans you receive an excel document (within the link to the training guides) which you can use to calculate your Threshold Pace and zones based of the below. Table 1: Running Pace Zones THR Zones Your Threshold Heart Rate is your average heart rate from the 30 minutes. For example, if your average heart rate was 181 bpm, your Threshold Heart Rate is 181 bpm. It is very important that you complete the test along (complete without training partner). The below table shows the training zone ranges for heart rate. Within BCA training plans you receive an excel document (within the link to the training guides) which you can use to calculate your THR and zones based of the below. Table 2: Running Heart Rate Zones Setting up Zones Once you know your Thresholds (THP/THR) go to your settings in TrainingPeaks by clicking on your name in the top right of your TrainingPeaks calendar. Then along the left hand side of the setting click 'Zones', you will then see 'Default Heart Rate' appear and under this click the drop down menu in 'Add Activity', click run, then click add on the right. Once you have done this you will see the below appear. Next, simply input your threshold (you do not need to fill in your Resting Heart Rate or Max Heart Rate) then click 'Add Zone' then fill in your training zones based of the tables above or the BCA excel spreadsheet provided in training plans. When you have finished filling in your heart rate zones you can follow the same method for pace. Once you have finished both click 'Save and Close' in the bottom right. If you have any questions please let BCA know. Email: info@breakawaycoachingandanalytics.com