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TriCoachGeorgia

The TRUTH (maybe): A Never Ending List

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Some of what I learned from Triathlon in 2012 and beyond:

 

Charleston SC 70.3

Don’t let this happen to you!

  1. Taking performance enhancing drugs makes you a twat and a cheat
  2. Racing lighter is better
  3. Eating lean keeps you light
  4. Training heavier makes your faster if your race weight goes down
  5. Burn fat as much as possible
  6. Go easy on sugar and get your carbs from healthy sources
  7. Ucan generation is a game changer for race day nutrition
  8. Listen to your coach unless you like being injured
  9. Don’t listen to your coach on race day if you feel really good
  10. Tackle your weaknesses
  11. Make lots of friends in lots of places
  12. Do fun races
  13. Don’t take yourself too serious
  14. Give back to others
  15. Youth triathlon is better than adult triathlon
  16. Flip turns are hard to do.
  17. Test yourself in training but not daily
  18. Recovery is more important the older you get
  19. It is ok to have rivals if it is healthy competition
  20. Have the best race you can on the day
  21. Try not to set a time goal
  22. Use glide heavily in areas that chafe
  23. Figure out what shoes feel best and run in them
  24. Blisters suck, really suck
  25. Train with people that help you remain centered
  26. Get out of your comfort zone on occasion
  27. Coaching is a lot like therapy
  28. Indoor training is much better than people give it credit
  29. Try to have one big race per year
  30. Try not to let your self-worth ride on that big race
  31. Have strong opinions about training but be willing to listen to other ones
  32. Affiliate with good shops, clubs, and teams
  33. Fit over everything else when buying a bike
  34. Aero = faster
  35. Comfortable stiff bike shoes are very important too
  36. Dig deep on race day
  37. Over train for the distance your racing
  38. Ironman is not the promised land but its close to it
  39. 70.3 is the best distance for me and most of us who have busy lives
  40. Make sure your family is on board with things
  41. If it hurts, don’t keep doing whatever your doing until you get it checked
  42. Have great support people on your team including PTs, masseuses, strength trainers, etc.
  43. Stretching and rolling are stupid although Thai massage seemed to help so maybe that’s not fully true
  44. The mental game is more important than you think
  45. More miles works for me to go faster but not for others
  46. Less miles = need to be harder miles.
  47. More swim yards does not mean you will go faster
  48. In the water, quality > quantity
  49. It’s never too cold to swim until its too cold to swim
  50. Closer races are easier to do than further races
  51. The best race directors are ones that get you out of there asap
  52. Rev3 races are better than WTC races but you can’t qualify for Vegas and Kona there
  53. You are a scumbag if you cheat (yes I repeated that one) but this is geared toward the bike drafter and the course cutter
  54. Family and friends present at races makes them more enjoyable
  55. Yelling and cheering at someone during a race does in fact make them go faster
  56. Racing a lot is tough due to the sleep disruptions and logistics
  57. Triathlon can be expensive but it’s a worthy investment
  58. Short course races are painful but fun and over quick
  59. Find ways to have the quickest transitions of your AG
  60. Always carry Benadryl
  61. Just because they are selling something doesn’t mean you have to buy it
  62. Have answers to questions you will ask yourself prepared ahead
  63. Environmental conditions like heat/humidity, cold, wind, etc are things you have to learn to tolerate
  64. L.A. Woman by the Doors is the best triathlon song ever (MOJO RISIN!!!)
  65. You are not faster if you have a cool nickname, but it can’t hurt
TriCoachGeorgia

Are You an Over or an Under?

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Look at people’s belly buttons some time. You will notice that some are innies and some are outies. Triathletes are kind of like belly buttons. They are creatures of habit. They either nail their workout to the T, cut it short, or overdo it as a rule. They either overeat and gain weight or underfeed and lose weight. Both approaches hurt the athlete’s performance.

You can make an argument that each approach to hitting the numbers is worthwhile. Mrs. Slayer, for example, has a 10 mile run lined up yesterday in preparation for the Athens Half Marathon (http://athhalf.com/), and what does she do? She hits 10.00 and stops the watch. Likewise, she monitors her caloric intake as a rule. Her discipline is admirable like many of yours.

I, on the other hand, have a 30 minute run on the books. What do I do? 45 minutes.  After a big workout, I get out a box of ice cream, even if it’s low carb, and go to work!  At least I have done so in the past.  This is the pattern for both of us. Others eat unhealthy and find ways to cut the workout they have short. Bottom line, we all have patterns of repeatable behavior.

When former world champion and current Augusta 70.3 champ, Mel Hauschildt (www.melissahauschildt.com) was in town with me, she told me she never overdid her training program. Her longest runs were 90 minutes at a time for the entire year. I, of course, was aghast as that is a medium run for me. I would also watch her eat pretty healthy as a rule (even some lambchops from my fave www.Chops and Hops.com).  As a side note, they comped her meal (but still haven’t re-named the House salad to the Haus salad)!

She would naturally would be someone to emulate per her results, but some of us just can’t help it. OR CAN WE?

The triathlete has to ask themselves why they have a compulsive need to overdo the workouts or to eat excessively. Or why  are they quitting early? Are we insecure, competitive, driven by parental or important figure messages from childhood? Is it weakness, laziness, disinterest, something else? The one who nails sessions are eats right probably has less questions to ask himself or herself. Unfortunately the over and under crowd have to answer to their coach and/or themselves.  Sometimes professional help needs to be sought (like at www.positive-outcomes.com – haha).

Although not ideal, a coach has to navigate these behavior patterns and try to get the maximum performance out of the athlete without incurring injury. They have to, in a sense, out think the athlete. Perhaps, plan a 14 mile run when they really want a 16 mile run for the over and  vice versa for the under. The coach with the compliant athlete has to do no such thing.  Helping out with accountability regarding general nutrition and weight can be another role of the triathlon coach.

At www.TriCoachGeorgia.com, we have a comprehensive training plan that not only will help you maximize your performance, we will also hold you accountable and encourage you to seek help if its needed. We realize that athletes are people and people are fallible. They can benefit from an objective, outsider viewpoint about what may get in the way of overall success and goal achievement. We may see your training more clearly than you do as you are less objective. This may cause you to re-examine your characteristic position as an over or an under, and move towards being the best you, you can be!

TriCoachGeorgia

Facing Your Limiters in Triathlon

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What better time than now to go APE?

Many of us age groupers are winding down our seasons, or have already raced the big race, though some still have that big one on the calendar. Regardless, the racing season is tapering off and we are setting our Autumn and Winter schedules up, planning next season’s race schedule if not done already, and trying to regain some balance in our lives. The taxation of the racing season is less pressing and we can step back. There are a few simple steps to take now that can have a huge impact on your performances next year, and we all love to see a positive trend over time.

Considering the concept of return on investment or best bang for the buck, here are the steps I suggest you take:

Assess

If you haven’t a good idea of what your limiter(s) is/are , then it’s time to go back through some of your race results and see your relative rankings in each discipline. Were you a one weapon or two weapon racer? Did you show less prowess in transitions and/or was nutrition your downfall? Did you have solid efforts across the board but suffer due to poor response to stress on mass or wave swim starts, mechanical problems, weaker back halves of races? There are many ways to examine the question at hand.

Begin by listing what areas you have to work on, and then rank order which will give you the biggest benefit next year on race days. Then get some baseline times for various distances, paces, watts, heart rate zones, what have you through some easily obtained testing protocols. This will give you a great starting place to compare back to.

Plan

For some the swim is their downfall, for others the bike, and some the run. Some need across the board improvement. If you suffer on the swim, consider hiring a personal or group swim instructor, join a masters’ program, design a winter training program that allows for at least 3-4 days of swimming, review YouTube videos of good swim form, consider signing up for a swim only race, and begin to attack your limiter. Cycling and running plans are widely available online and there are ample opportunities for group rides, spin classes, group running programs, and road races.  Make sure you set realistic goals, dedicate yourself and have the proper support at home and in the water or on land. Mini goals along to a larger goal may be a good way to get where you hope to go without getting frustrated.

Execute

Now get it done. Delegate where possible, consider changing your work schedule to accommodate, set the alarm if you need to. Track your progress through free or pay sites online, many of which are linked to social networks. Don’t be afraid to publicize your goals if it will help you meet it. Develop some training buddies that will help hold you accountable and some regular times to meet and train. People are creatures of habit and there is something comforting in routine.

Conclusion

Attacking your limiters now will pay off in a big way when the racing season is back upon us. Going APE is the way to maximize your time investment in a structured and balanced format. Triathlon is a lifelong pursuit, so have longer range vision about your improvements.

Coaches like the ones at TriCoachGeorgia.com can help you now, which will help you later. We have a track record of helping people achieve their goals and doing the same as triathletes ourselves. We make time to help our athletes go APE. Send us an email or call us. We are eager and willing to help you with comprehensive offseason planning that will enable you to best DYJ (Do Your Job) next year!