Performance focused: Are you exercising or training?

 

I think it's safe to say that most endurance athletes love physical activity. Certainly it would be difficult to train for a long-distance event if there wasn't a strong passion for working out. But with great enthusiasm to exercise comes a caveat - just because you are exercising, this doesn't mean you are becoming race ready. 

Exercise (or physical activity) is commonly defined as anything that requires you to move your body and burn calories.

Training is viewed as working toward adequate levels of strength, endurance, speed and/or power for successful participation (and completion) of an athletic event. 

To make the difference easier to understand, exercising satisfies an immediate need and is done for the effect is produces today. Exercise is done for its own sake - either during or immediately after. But when you have a specific performance objective in mind (ex. preparing for an event), you must change your physiology to prepare for the demands of your event. 

Although all training is exercising, not all exercising is training. 

Training is done with the purpose of achieving a long-term performance goal. Training is a process that must be planned out to produce specific results. It's methodically organized with great thought and understanding of human body.  

Preparing for an endurance event requires a specific type of physiological adaptation. Every workout needs to have a purpose. Not all workouts require intervals or high intensity efforts but there needs to be a motive behind each workout in the plan. This is training. There's nothing wrong with working out with the primary objective of getting into shape, improving health or changing body composition, but if the primary purpose of the workout is to only burn calories or do what "feels right" on the day, this not only prevents performance improvements but it can also compromise health and emotional well-being.

The difference between exercising and training is how you approach the activity - not the activity itself. 

Training requires intention, purpose and focus. It requires planning of nutrition, commitment to the task at hand and a smart mindset to listen to the body. If you want to improve your health, exercising will do just that. But you don't have to train for an Ironman distance triathlon or marathon to be healthy. And just because you train for an Ironman distance triathlon or marathon, this doesn't mean that you will remain healthy (or become healthier). Training requires putting your body under a specific type of intentional load, forcing it to adapt through training stress and recovery. Not always is this healthy. That is why training requires so much more than just checking off workouts for the sake of completing a certain number of training miles or hours. 

Although endurance athletes are experiencing many changes to life, training and mental health during the pandemic, I do worry that many endurance athletes have turned into exceptional "exercisers." While it's great to stay physically active during a time of cancelled races, if you are seeking short or long-term performance improvements, there needs to be a systematic plan in place - with purpose and intent. Exercising your way through high volume, intense or random workouts will not give you the results that training can offer. More so, health can be compromised if you are not focused on the factors that can help your body safely adapt to training - like daily nutrition, sport nutrition, sleep, stress management, hydration and recovery.

Training takes work, it requires a committed mindset, it involves diligence with lifestyle habits (outside of training), results are not quick to achieve and it requires a certain amount of "embracing the grind."

But, with a structured plan and long-term goals in place, every training session provides an opportunity for growth and development.

And this is why training is fun - achieving a performance result when it truly matters, while also keeping the body in great health. 

Practical training without racing

In my previous blog post, I discussed the struggles that many athletes and coaches are facing during this time of cancelled races. 

Before I offer these tips, I want to remind you of a critical component of sport longevity and achieving athletic excellence. 

I've been a competitive endurance athlete for the past 14 years. I've had my share of setbacks but I have never lost my love for training. I contribute this to one thing: maintaining joy for the process and letting the outcome take care of itself.  

Many athletes experience burnout when preparing for an endurance event. The training journey rarely starts this way but when an athlete feels tremendous pressure on an outcome (race day success), the training becomes stressful, monotonous and tiresome. Although not every workout will be inherently enjoyable (improvements require hard work and stretching the comfort zone) and there are struggles in every athletic journey, maintaining joy for training is an important element of athletic development. When you experience a sense of pleasure and fun with training, you are more likely to experience an overall sense of satisfaction while staying motivated during the process. 

During a time of cancelled races, athletes are no longer training with a specific date in mind. Unlike in years past, when training would keep athletes motivated to work towards achieving optimal performance on a specific date, athletes are training in a state of uncertainty. Athletes who only know how to train with outcome-oriented goals will certainly struggle when there is no endpoint to reach a performance milestone. However, for those who truly enjoy the process of athletic development, it's a lot easier to find joy in what you are doing. I feel this is why some athletes are able to maintain focus and motivation without a race in sight. 

Even if you have joy for training, there will be struggles. For some athletes, this time has offered a period of soul-searching. Perhaps a break in structured training or stepping away from the sport is needed. We are living in a very stressful time and we are all on our own path of getting the most out of life. 

Here are some of my suggestions to help you get the most out of your training during a time of no racing: 

• Physically and mentally, you should not feel like you are training for a race. This style of training requires great dedication, focus and emotional energy. Now is not that time. 
• Be flexible - life is unpredictable right now, be willing to adjust without guilt or worry. 
• Go into workouts without expectations. No expectations = no disappointments. 
• Have a mix of structured and soul-fulfilling workouts. Around 40-60% of your weekly training volume should come from purposeful and structured workouts where you are mentally engaged and are physically prepared to execute. The remainder of your workouts should have freedom and flexibility so that you don't feel like you are showing up to an actual "workout" every day of the week. 
• Enjoy a change in your normal workout routine. You want to look back at this time of no races and feel as if you made the most of it. 
• Give the little details extra attention. Whereas the nature of race season typically leaves you time-crunched, exhausted and cardio-obsessed, give more attention to proper nutrition, recovery, mobility, sleep and strength training. 
• Dial back the volume. You don't need to be completing every long workout that you are used to completing at this time in the season. 
• Bump up the intensity. With a solid aerobic base, tissue resilience and muscular strength, spice-up your workouts with a bit of intensity. 
• Make the focus on maintaining your fitness. Once you have a race on the calendar, you can begin to progressively build your intensity and/or volume to prepare for the race. 
• Keep your foundation strong. Don't neglect strength training. 
• Gift yourself mini-breaks (up to seven days) from training structure. Without races, the monotony of training can lead to burnout and staleness with training. No need to be sedentary during the break but instead, spice up your routine with different activities. 
• Set personal workout challenges. To keep you accountable and to keep a high level of motivation and focus, having a challenging training objective is critically important right now. Whether a virtual race, a specific race distance spread over a course of a week (or weekend) or a self-defined multi-day challenge, you can experience some of the same mental and physical aspects that you would experience at a race. 
• Socialize. While keeping yourself safe and following CDC guidelines, connecting with others is very important for your mental health. Even if just once a week, looking forward to a workout with a training partner or small group can be a welcomed gift during this time of social isolation.
• Work on weaknesses. Be willing to step outside of your comfort zone and do the stuff that you typically push aside (or neglect) when you have a race on the schedule. 
• Work on your nutrition/diet, relationship with food and the body and sport nutrition. You don't need a race on the schedule to improve your dietary habits and fueling/hydration regime. 
• Communicate with your coach. Be willing to be vulnerable, open and honest with your life, emotions and needs. You have a big role in the coaching relationship - don't let your coach be a dictator. You deserve to have a voice with your training routine.
• Do what you can. Have fun. Don't waste away your previous/current fitness. Keep setting goals. Make the most of this time of cancelled races - however that may look for you. 

How to avoid training/exercise guilt

• Do you feel guilty when you make time for yourself to exercise? 
• Does your spouse/significant other/family/friends feel like they are low on your priority list because you are an athlete? 
• Do you have a hard time saying yes to your own fitness needs because you feel like you are always saying no to someone/something else? 
• Are you in a relationship with someone who doesn't understand (or fully support) your active lifestyle or training/racing goals? 

From the outside looking in on your lifestyle, it may seem like exercise is an obsession to you or that it must come before everything else in life. Despite having all the tips and tricks for integrating exercise into your extremely busy life, your mindset may keep you from staying consistent - because everytime you begin a workout you feel like you should be doing something else.

On our Trimarni Women-only private Facebook page, this topic was recently discussed and several of our female team members provided some excellent feedback, tips and advice on the topic of training/exercise guilt. I thought it would be beneficial to share some of their tips (slightly edited for anonymity) that apply to the topic of this blog.

• Triathlon first. It's your sanity, it's your you time, it's your self care. 
• You have every right to prioritize things in your life that are important to you and that keep you healthy. 
• People should support me in being my best self.
• You deserve to be with someone who lifts you up and accepts you for exactly who you are.
• I need to prioritize time for myself.
• On top of work, kids, family and understanding that you have to be flexible - you have to keep yourself sane & healthy - emotionally, mentally & physically for them and for you. 
• Find the compromise where you can stay true to yourself and what makes you happy, while still being available for others. 
• When my children were young, I would hire a sitter to get in a long run in. Self-care is so important, and I knew if I didn’t take care of myself, I couldn’t be a good wife, mother, friend, daughter. I don’t recall what the turning point was for them, but they all finally realized exercise is my therapy, and now encourage it. Take care of yourself and don’t question your passion.
• I use triathlon and endurance sports to balance me mentally and in turn I am a better wife, mother, daughter and worker. At times people in my life have expressed how they thought I was being “selfish” spending my time training when I could be doing something else, etc. I have come to realize more then ever (and my family has too), that I need to take care of myself in order to be able to take care of my child, family and nurture a healthy relationship. After overcoming a very long health issue, now that the mental and emotional aspect is more evident to them. I think they realize that it wasn’t me being “selfish” and prioritizing triathlon over them but rather taking care of myself. 
• My husband isn’t an athlete, and he doesn’t always come to my races, but he’s never questioned my time spent training & racing away from him and/or money I’ve spent to do it. You have to take care of yourself to be the strongest, best you for others. 
• Live a lifestyle that makes you healthy, happy, and the best version of you. I know that can be hard for a non-athlete to understand but you shouldn’t have to sacrifice that. It's not about prioritizing training over something/someone else, but that training is just part of who you are and a part of your daily life — because it makes you happy and healthy.
• I had a long term significant other who couldn't see that when I wanted to take care of myself and reach my athletic goals that it wasn't about him, it was about me. Getting off the couch to go for a run wasn't about not wanting to spend time with him, it was about me feeling good about me. Take care of you and you will be able to be the best person you can be. 
• You can't take care of others if you don't take care of you. It is a balancing act but triathlon helps make you the strong person you have grown into. That's what helps you be the best you, especially during hard times. 

Do you know someone who loves swimming, biking or running? Perhaps a friend is overcoming sport burnout/injury and is looking for a fun, new athletic challenge? To help grow the sport of triathlon (specifically, making it more inclusive for women, youth and various ethinic groups), my new book Athlete to Triathlete will simplify the sport to help individuals safely and confidently enter the sport of triathlon, while exemplifying that the sport of triathlon is welcoming to newbies and beginners. Athlete to Triathlete provides up-to-date information and expert guidance to make the triathlon training journey and race day experience safe, fun and memorable. You can pre-order your copy here for the 1/28 release: Athlete to Triathlete.

How to avoid the training plateau

It's not uncommon for an individual to start a training plan and experience quick results in terms of body composition changes and fitness improvements. These are two of the most enjoyed benefits of starting a new training plan or exercise routine. But sadly, despite being consistent with workouts and feeling strong enough to train harder and longer, results stop happening. If anything, it's more difficult to experience fitness improvements and you are tempted to make extreme changes with the diet or step up the intensity and volume - putting you at risk for injury and illness. And, you may even notice weight gain, particularly around the stomach area.

A training plateau refers to a period of time when the body is no longer responding to your exercise or diet routine. Although it's completely normal to reach a state of over-reaching, where you are unable to improve pace or mileage, only to experience a breakthrough in fitness after a period of tapering or planned recovery, a training plateau is different in that it's a wall that's difficult to break through. Despite feeling like you were once making quick fitness and body composition gains with the same style of training, you just can't seem to make progress or notice change.

When I started training for endurance triathlon events twelve years ago, my first year of Ironman training was pretty regimented. I did pretty much the same training week after week after week for an entire season. I gradually increased volume and intensity but the frequency and layout of workouts stayed pretty much the same every week. This was good for my body to adapt slowly to more volume in anticipation of my first half and full distance IM. I also found myself improving my fitness, changing body composition easily (not forced) and feeling more confident with each week of training. However, come the second year of Ironman training, I found myself gaining weight and struggled to experience any significant fitness improvements. I also got myself injured by trying to do more volume and intensity- assuming that more is better. Instead of taking forward steps with my endurance fitness, I was taking huge leaps backwards. 

Since that time, I have tried a lot of different training strategies to keep myself healthy, strong and fit as an endurance triathlete and the one thing that has helped the most with longevity and enjoyment in the sport, along with good health, is variability. I have not been injured in about five years and my body has gotten extremely resilient and strong. No two weeks look the same for my training as every week is different in terms of frequency of workouts, duration, intensity and sport. Instead of cramming all my workouts into the morning, I regularly perform two-a-day workouts to allow ample time for recovery and refueling/rehydration. I am not married to a certain time for workouts as frequency training has proved to be more beneficial for my body than longer miles. I will often do two bike or run sessions in one day to accumulate more volume but ensuring good form by not overdoing it in one workout. Every workout is of quality and I keep my easy sessions easy so I can go hard on intense days. I never count miles or get obsessed with paces but instead, go by time and focus on form and effort over metrics. Sleep is extremely important and I won't sacrifice sleep for a workout. My long workouts are never too long that I can't recover from them. I always eat before my workouts, use sport nutrition during all my workouts and focus on good recovery post workout. The rest of the day, I eat to nourish my body. These are just some of the strategies that I have adapted to my style of training, which has helped me continue to see performance and body composition improvements over the past few years. At the age of (almost) 36, I have been in this sport for a while as I haven't taken a break from long distance triathlon since the age of 24. However, I feel stronger, healthier and fitter than ever before. There's nothing magical, extreme or ground-breaking with my training other than I am constantly stressing my body with quality training sessions that vary week after week. Every week is new and exciting, which also keeps me from feeling burnt out and makes training fun and fresh.

If you are finding yourself in a training plateau, here are a few of my tips to help you break through the wall: 

1. Make sure you are focusing on good fueling and hydration before, during and after your workouts to minimize added stress on your body and to help you better adapt to training.
2. Incorporate strength training into your cardio-focused routine. 
3. Mix up the workouts in your typical routine so that you aren't doing the same workouts on the same days each day of the week. 
4. Add in more intensity (with appropriate recovery intervals) and reduce the volume. 
5. Get more sleep. 
6. Move more when you aren't exercising. It's very easy to add more volume to your training and become more sedentary throughout the day. 
7. Focus on quality instead of quantity/intensity. If you are experiencing chronic deep muscle and joint pains, an overall lack of energy, low motivation, feeling down, frequently getting sick or injured, you may be overtraining. Overtraining is not limited to a certain number of hours per week or the elite, but failing to properly recover between two sessions, match energy intake with energy expenditure and nourish your body with wholesome foods and proper hydration. 
8. Make sure you are eating "enough" to support your training load and timing nutrition properly around/during workouts. 
9. Focus on form over pace. 
10. Make a small change in your training to feel more energized, mentally and physically. Avoid making a drastic or huge change. Don't get fixated on needing to stick to the same routine every week. 

How to make training work in your busy life

Being an athlete is tough, especially if you are an adult athlete.

As an adult athlete, it can feel very overwhelming to try to dedicate enough time to every important component of your life. 

While it’s important to identify yourself as an athlete while training for your upcoming events, your primary role in life is much more than just being an athlete. Being an athlete is a choice and your training is a hobby. As you train your body for your upcoming athletic event, it is important that you do not neglect your parent, spouse, family or job responsibilities just to be an athlete.

In life, human beings have to make a lot of lifestyle choices. These choices help people function better in life with improved energy, mood, productivity and health.

As an athlete, these choices are extremely important as they help you adapt to training while keeping you in good health, but they help with the flow of your extremely busy life.

Life as an athlete is tough. It’s busy, it’s rushed, it’s packed and it involves a lot of decisions and planning. As an athlete, your life is like a puzzle and each piece of the puzzle makes up your ability to function well in life. Sometimes, it may feel like all the pieces are there and sometimes it may feel like there’s always a piece or two missing.

As an athlete, you don’t need every piece of the puzzle to be perfectly in place for you to function well in life but you need the pieces of the puzzle to be there. And for those pieces to be present, you do need to make a lot of decisions on a daily basis. These decisions will always be tough because there’s a lot of moving parts to your life - you have a responsibility to your family, spouse and job to show up, be present and take care of others but you also have a responsibility to your body to prepare for your upcoming event.

As an athlete, sometimes you will make decisions that are very easy and sometimes you will make decisions that are very, very hard. For you to achieve athletic excellence, you must be motivated to make decisions all the time – no matter how easy or hard.

For example, 6 weeks out from a key race, athletes are very motivated to make decisions. Athletes will not skip workouts, they will cut out alcohol and sweets, they will pay attention to the diet, they focus on good sleep and they remove outside stressors. Decision making is a great priority. These athletes are still great parents, they show up to work on time and they are great people, but athletes prioritize the decisions that are made, all in an effort to help with race day preparation.

Right now, making decisions is probably pretty tough as it relates to race preparation. It’s cold, you are too busy, races are far away, it’s no fun running on the treadmill, riding on the trainer is boring, the pool is too far away, it takes too long to cook, etc.

One of the easiest ways to make better decisions is to focus on the many lifestyle factors that can help you feel less overwhelmed with your training.

Although it's hard to change lifestyle habits, I can tell you that when you focus on good sleep, a healthy diet, good recovery, daily mobility, stress management, communication with your family and consistency in training, it’s a lot easier to function in life. Even though this may look like a lot to focus on, life actually becomes less overwhelming when healthy lifestyle habits are in place.  There are less missed workouts, you feel less overwhelmed, your body isn’t as tired and your body is more prepared when you get to that next stage of training. Your week just seems to flow very smoothly when you make good decisions with your lifestyle.

And let’s be honest – training makes you feel good and function better in life. So why push training aside when you feel overwhelmed??

It all comes down to your lifestyle choices. 

Training should not be a chore or an obligation but something that you want to do because it makes you feel good, it makes you happy, it makes you feel less stressed, it makes you a better parent and feel less overwhelmed and you are being a good role model to people around you.

I know that it’s hard to balance training with life and sometimes, training adjustments will need to be made and workouts will need to be missed. But, by being an active participant in your life and making great lifestyle choices (ex. plan ahead, be creative, communicate, manage your time well, be practical), you will find a way to make training less overwhelming in your busy life.

Training is not always fun but it's important that you enjoy your athletic journey so that one day in the near future you can look back and tell yourself that it was all worth it. 

The power in.....

It was just over 3 years when I crossed my 6th Ironman finish line in Lake Placid. Although every Ironman finish is worth celebrating, this one was extra special as it was the very first time that I raced for 140.6 miles with Karel on the course with me, and not on the sidelines cheering for me.
It was so much fun for us to share our race day stories with each other after the race. For the first time in 6 Ironmans, Karel actually understood all the emotions and feelings that happen during (and after) and Ironman.

2013 Ironman Lake Placid was a special race for many reasons but in looking back on the day when I told myself that "I gave my best effort ever", in order to qualify for my 3rd Ironman World Championship (just 10 weeks later), this picture below shows me how far I have come in just 3 years. 

Karel on the left, me on the right. 

This picture popped up on my memory feed on Facebook last week and the first thing that caught my eye was Karel's time.
I remember after the race in 2013, in the evening, I told Karel how incredible it was that he almost broke 10 hours in his first Ironman.
In my mind, covering 140.6 miles in the low ten hours was something that I never considered possible for my body and the thought of my husband doing it was insane.

But then it dawned on me.....holy cow, I was 6 minutes away from breaking 10 hours at 2016 Ironman Austria!?!?
And Karel was just 13 minutes away from breaking 9 hours at IM Austria!

 

Five Ironman finishes later after Ironman Lake Placid in 2013, I am now a 11x Ironman Ironman finisher, including 2 more Ironman World Championship finishes (4 total) and I have a 10:06.54 Ironman PR.... which still blows my mind that my body could race that fast,, for so long.
Thank you body!

As an athlete, I feel it's important to never limit your potential as an athlete and to always believe that there is room for improvement.

If your sport ignites your emotions, fuels your motivation and keeps you hungry for improvements, there's no doubt that a breakthrough performance is coming your way.
You just have to believe it will come but you can't chase times, look for shortcuts or rush the process.

When you think about progress, it's not just the major breakthroughs that you should be wishing for but instead, focus on the small improvements that are necessary components in your personal athletic journey.

While you may be hoping for big gains in fitness so that you can get faster on race day, small steps in your development are important milestones and many times, they don't show as improvements in times (ex. faster times, paces, higher watts, etc.) but rather, it's something within you that makes you believe that you are improving.

It's far too easy to only be happy when you see a faster time but if you are constantly expecting too much, too quickly, you may find yourself not enjoying your personal journey and consequently, sabotaging a potentially great race day performance.

Every athlete is going to have setbacks and losses and many times, you are not going to see a faster time, despite making a lot of forward progress. But remember that it's the steps forward that accumulate over time, which help you become a smarter, wiser, stronger and perhaps even faster, overall athletically fit and prepared athlete.

I realize that every athlete is different in terms of fitness background, support from others, athletic goals, motivation, mental strength and work ethic, but I believe that to be a faster athlete, simply training with the mentality to get faster, is not a wise approach.
Many times this backfires with burnout, sickness and injuries.

I've accomplished a lot in the sport of triathlon with several best time performances, much of which I never thought was possible by my body, without training longer, training harder, chasing times, abiding by a specific diet/fueling trend or focusing on specific times, watts or paces.

Instead, I have directed a lot of my energy into training smart and putting a lot of my trust into the power in the following, which ultimately, has helped me take my fitness to that next level.

It only took 10 years but at 34 years old, I feel healthier, stronger, fitter, more energized and more resilient than ever before. 

The power in......

Using food for fuel
Using food for nourishment
Having a great relationship with food
Staying in great hormonal health
Committing to training
Stay present during workouts
Always warming up
Daily mobility work
Not skiping steps
Training and racing without expectations
Setting goals
Racing with a resilient body
Reaching out to professionals for help
Not being stubborn
Being flexible
Not giving up
Not wasting energy on what other athletes/pros are doing
Not being a trend follower
No excuses
Staying accountable
Foundation training
Training smarter
Accepting that setbacks are normal
Accepting that bad workouts are normal
Staying patient

Working on mental strength
Visualization
Mantras
Support from friends/family
Having fun

Dialing in and constantly tweaking sport nutrition
Creating a strong body through year-round strength training
Getting stronger before trying to get faster and then getting longer
Selecting races appropriately
Planning/mapping out the season

Constantly improving skills
Being willing to fail in order to succeed

Being willing to change

Staying humble but confident

Not training or racing with a big ego
Always feeling grateful
Never taking a day/workout for granted
Thanking the body - daily

The point of diminishing returns - part III

Train smarter

At the most basic level, performance gains occur when the body adapts favorable to a training stressor.
Strength training, plyometrics, intervals, easy efforts, tempo or long workouts....there are many ways to stress the body.

You may be awesome at squeezing in or completing your workouts but don't forget that an overly stressed body when NOT training does not handle training stress very well.

Every training stimulus that you place on your body should be sport specific. This makes sense, right? You wouldn't sign-up for tennis lessons hoping to be a better swimmer?
With every week of training, there should be smooth progression. The training should not be rushed and steps shouldn't be skipped.
If you were not able to get in your 2 scheduled runs during the week, what makes you think that your body can handle a long run on the weekend? If you are not performing specific heavy gear, high cadence or high intensity intervals on the bike, what makes you think that your body can handle a 5 hour ride on the hills?
Workouts should be progressively increased overtime, with your current fitness level and any other limiters or restrictions taken into consideration. You or your training plan should never let you feel as if you should be doing more as it's through varying intensities and duration, with the right amount of recovery, that your body can positively adapt.
One hard or long workout every now and then will not make your season but if not timed appropriately in your development, it could set you back with an injury or illness.

As for endurance athletes, the ability to sustain a given effort for an extended period of time is dependent on how you train your body. Every time you train, you are (hopefully) improving the metabolic energy demands of your body. Specific to long workouts, it is imperative that you progress slowly so that you can train your body to supply sufficient delivery of oxygen to active muscle fibers and adequate fuel to support oxygen consumption within the cell for specific durations.

Yes, you can "get through" a long workout but are you turning into a great exerciser or are you actually training to change the physiology of the body?

As it relates to the sport of triathlon, there is a lot going on within every single workout in your training plan....burning calories is not the primary goal of training for an event.

You are redesigning your body's physiology so that you can improve maximal oxygen consumption, lactate threshold and economy, among many other physiological adaptations for three sports that you will eventually put together in a swim, bike, run sequence on race day.

Having an understanding of the physiology of the body during exercise is important when designing or following a training plan. When coaches, nutrition experts and athletes get stuck on one specific training ideology or fueling strategy and are resistant to change, the individuality of training is lost.

And when critical training applications are rushed or skipped, this can be concerning to the human body when training for an event as the body is overly stressed when training and performance adaptations for race day are not well accomplished in training.

I can't tell you how many athletes I have seen become burnt out, injured or sick when training for an event from having a training plan that didn't make sense for the athlete's life or fitness level. There are also athletes who get too consumed with following a training plan that relationships are disrupted, proper sleep is an afterthought and training volume or intensity can not be matched with healthy eating and fueling because there is simply not enough time in the day to fit everything in.
And I wouldn't be surprised if more than half of the athletes who arrive to an endurance triathlon event have failed to master a smart fueling and hydrating plan in training to be used on race day.

With so many different fitness levels of athletes, it's very important to consider your personal development in your sport to ensure longevity as an athlete but also to maintain a high enjoyment for training.

Considering that one of the main goals of endurance training is to teach the body to become a more effective energy provider, don't expect quick results.
To improve performance, regardless of your fitness level or experience, the most optimal training plan is the one that you can safely follow with great consistency, without compromising health.

Listen up athletes - Illness, injury, burnout and other health issues are not "normal" when training for an endurance event. Sure, endurance training is hard on the body but health issues can often be avoided.
Certainly, the more ambitious the individual or the newer the athlete, the body is going to be stressed a bit more in an effort to make the necessary physiological improvements to match race day goals.

I can't say it enough but if you want to maximize your performance and keep your body in good health, it's very important to have a smart approach to training, eating and fueling.

If you want to train smarter, answer the following questions to determine if a change needs to be made in your diet, training regime or lifestyle.
If something isn't working in your quest to be a better athlete, discuss with your coach or a professional who can help.

TRAIN SMART
1) How many hours do you have each day of the week and weekend, without life being negatively affected?
Factor in time to warm-up, cool down, change, commute to/from work, spend time with family, sleep, prepare food, eat, run errands, clean, pay bills, relax and fuel.

2) What have you been neglecting in life or in your training regime which can help you adapt better to training stress? 
The key to being an efficient athlete is to find the best way to improve performance with the least amount of training stress. Dynamic warm-ups, proper pre and post workout fueling and hydrating, fueling during long (75+ min workouts), strength training, interval training, meditation, mental strength skills, mobility work, sleep, stress management and meal planning are some of the many ways that you can improve your workouts without having to train any harder. 

3) Does your training plan and racing schedule make sense?
On a personal level, is your training plan ideal for your life, fitness level and goals? Are you making the necessary investments to be consistent with training? Are you committed to the work that you need to do to prepare yourself for your upcoming event? Are you trying to get by on your own or do you need help from a professional to help you in your journey?

4) How can you change/improve your daily eating, fueling and hydration regime to better adapt to training stress? The best physiological outcome that you can gain from training is an improvement in fitness. The easiest way to make the necessary improvements is to be consistent. You should be extremely focused on what you eat before, during and after your workouts to ensure that your body is adapting well to the training stimulus so you can continue to repeat the effort, day after day, workout after workout with minimal setbacks.

5) Are your current lifestyle habits, training plan, eating habits or thoughts on training, eating or life working for you?
If no, why can't you change or why won't you change?
In my experience as a coach and sport RD, it's very easy to get stuck on one way of eating, fueling and training.
Remember that the best strategy for you may not be what everyone else is doing.
Don't let life or your season slip by and one day you find yourself looking back, wishing you would have done something different or made a change when you knew you needed to change. 
Change is hard and it's scary.
If you can't make a change alone, reach out to a professional who can help. 

Preparing for base phase training

There are many names to describe the phase that occurs between the end of a racing season and the start of more structured, specific training stress. 

For the sake of the masses identifying with this blog topic, I used the word "base" phase in this blog post but as you may know, we use the word "transition" as well as "foundation" to describe the first phase after the off-season.

Other coaches have different names for this phase. For example, Matt Dixon with Purple Patch Fitness uses the word "post-season".

The transition (base) phase of training is critical to athlete development. As I mentioned in my previous blog post, preparation for an event is more than just putting in the miles.

As athletes, we are always developing and we are always training in some capacity.
In order to maximize fitness, season after season, it is important to follow a periodized training plan that allows for progression. There must be specific emphasis on peak season training as well as the training to start the season.

Within Trimarni, we create plans that are organized in a way that our athletes are developing skills, endurance and strength before progressing with more intense or longer training.

Therefore, it is important that coaches and athletes see each phase of training as a progression from the previous phase. 

A periodized training plan sets you up for a great performance at your most important events throughout the season. 

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With the off-season emphasizing little to no activity for many athletes, with a combined freedom to indulge a bit more than normal, it is extremely important that you are taking the right steps to prepare your body for your next phase of training. 

I often relate to the transition phase as the beginnings of building a house. No matter the size of the house, the price of the house or the builder of the house, every single house requires a strong foundation.  Without a strong foundation, the house will break apart overtime.

Would you buy a house if the builders rushed through the foundation? How would you feel if the house you have desired to live in for the next 10 years was built by construction workers who liked to take short-cuts, just to get the final product done faster than their competitors?

Regardless of how many years you have been training as an athlete in your sport of choice, we all need an off-season and we all need to follow that part of the season with a return to the basics, addressing weaknesses and of course, laying down the foundation to which upcoming training stress will be placed onto the body. 

For many athletes, the off-season is a challenging time in that an athlete either does too much or does too little. And for many athletes, there is an uncomfortable feeling relating to diet, body image and lack of structured activity.
It's really hard to get the off-season right but maybe that's because there is no right way. But you do need an off-season.
Every athlete is different and the goals of the off-season for one athlete do not have to match the goals of another athlete. Also, each season may follow with a different off-season. This year, I returned to light structured training after 3 weeks of an off-season (after Kona) but in 2014, I took 6 voluntary weeks off with very little exercise. 

So as you think about your next phase of training and perhaps, begin to get excited to train with more structure again, I find it extremely important to encourage you to make sure that your body is in great health before you begin training again.
You do not have to have race day fitness or a race day body image when you finish your off-season but you should be in good health before starting your next phase of training.

Although a mental and physical break are necessary for a smooth progression from one season to the next, it is important that you see the off-season as an integral part of your athletic development. We don't want to make the off-season too long as you do not lose all that you gained in the previous season. And when your off-season is over, it is important to have a smart return to training by building your foundation as you focus on getting stronger before trying to get faster, before going longer.
Not just training where you left off with high volume or high intensity.  

Regardless of what your off-season looks like or what you call your first phase of training post off-season, it is important that you set yourself up for a great start to next season with the following off-season tips:

-Even with the holiday season approaching, it is important that you address your daily diet. Every day, you should be focused on eating a wholesome diet to help nourish your body and keep your immune system in optimal health.

-Now is a great time to work on your relationship with food and your body when the training stress is low. Do not overlook how important it is to maintain a healthy relationship with food and your body throughout the season.

-Be sure to stay hydrated....with water, all day, ever day.

-Focus on good sleep habits and good stress management.

-As you approach your first phase of training (foundation/transition phase), you should not feel as if your training is extremely structured right now. Exercise to maintain a comfortable level of fitness but your lifestyle should not look like you are in peak training (early season is not the time to make sacrifices in life just to train).

-Create a positive workout environment. Be sure your workout space at home is ready for consistent training, you have reviewed pool lane availability times, you consider the days that are best for certain workouts, you are prepared emotionally and mentally for more structure in your day-to-day life (and you have communicated this with your spouse/significant other) and you are ready to make investments to train smarter.

-If you are dealing with any niggles/injuries/sickness - address it, consult a professional and take care of it now. 

As an athlete, you likely live a very structured life and you like to have a plan. 

Preparing for your upcoming season is more than just following a plan and checking off workouts.
There's a lot that you need to focus on between workouts to ensure consistency in training with a healthy body.

As you give your mind and body a break from training, your health is top priority in your off-season.

As you approach your first phase of training, be sure you are prepared for it.
Take care of your body now so it will take care of you next season.

3 tips to help you enjoy your training journey

 From the goal-focused newbie athlete who is determined to cross a finish line with a smile, to the elite who races for bragging rights, prize money and podium awards and everyone in between, it's very easy to feel the pressure to perform on race day and consequently, overlook a few key areas which may positively affect your training journey. And because almost every athlete will have an obstacle or two to overcome throughout a training cycle (ex. injury, life change, work stress, family obligation, sickness, etc.) it's important that you never lose sight of your goals and that you always focus on what you CAN do throughout ever moment of your training journey until you reach the start line. 

Without a doubt, it’s important that your voluntary, extremely active lifestyle is bringing you closer to your goals. But, participating in a race requires more than finishing a workout with tired muscles drenched in sweaty clothes, buying fancy equipment and gadgets and making traveling arrangements. 

Starting today, feel worthy of your “athlete” title.  You belong to a passionate and supportive group of active bodies and determined minds and there is nothing more self-defeating that constantly comparing your goals, body composition and paces to other athletes. You should always feel deserving of your “athlete-in-training” status as you are no longer an “exerciser”. Instead of wishing it was easier or searching for quicker results, take into consideration a few simple suggestions of how you can enjoy your training journey no matter what obstacles come in your way. 

   1) It’s not just about the miles –  Consider the many variables in your life that can positively affect your training consistency and health and can contribute to a balanced lifestyle, on top of the training miles. Among the top priorities: Sport nutrition before, during and after training to assist in intentional physiological stress. Strength training to enhance your cardio-focused routine. Stretching to encourage proper range of motion and injury prevention. A restful sleeping routine to help control appetite, quicken recovery, assist in stress and attitude management and to encourage stable energy throughout the day. Intentional active recovery and rest to prevent overtraining and to encourage consistency in training. Purchase, use and a basic understanding of training gadgets (ex. GPS and HR-enabled devices) to avoid haphazard training. Keep in mind that you are still training your body even when your GPS device is not running. 

     2) Developing a healthy relationship with food and the body – Eat a wholesome and balanced diet for fuel and for health. When it comes to changing body composition to encourage performance gains, your body will take care of itself when you are performance-focused and not scale obsessed. Avoid words like “off-limit, bad, guilty, chubby, fat and ugly” to guarantee that you are appreciative of what your body is allowing you to do on a daily basis and that you fuel and nourish your body adequately. Always thank your body for giving you a tomorrow and for helping you get to start lines (and to cross finish lines). 

  3) Don’t rush the journey- To make the most physiological training adaptations with the least amount of training stress, focus on your individual response to training. Training adaptations vary between individuals and there is no perfect training (or diet) plan. A properly planned training routine, alongside a carefully mapped-out racing schedule will ensure well-timed, peak performances thanks to a progressive, individualized overload. Develop a training routine that takes into account your current level of fitness, frequency, intensity and duration of workouts, past season successes and learning lessons, current lifestyle requirements and available hours of daily/weekly training, number of weeks/months until your A-races, short and long term goals, past or potential injuries/health issues and ability to recover properly between workouts. Your body is unique and it may not adapt to your training schedule like you had envisioned. Take a step back when you feel frustrated or discouraged and recognize what your body can do and then create a new plan. 

Challenge yourself and have fun!

There's a lot to balance in life when you choose to train for a competitive sport as an adult athlete. As kids and young adults, there are still responsibilities in life for student athletes but life certainly becomes a lot more stressful as you grow up. 

But despite all the stressors in life that we face on a daily basis, there's something so special about moving and using your body to relieve some of that stress. Many times the mind becomes relaxed at the start, during or after a training session. Other times, a tense body becomes relaxed at the thought of the upcoming opportunity to workout. 

Regardless if you are training or working out for fitness gains, it is important to have fun with what you are doing.
My advice is to change up the scenery every now and then to keep things fresh. Perhaps go to a new location to train (even if it is driving 10 miles down the road or maybe spending the night somewhere that is 2+ hours away), join others on a new route/activity or discover the new place that everyone is talking about.
In a busy life, it's very easy to get burnt out of something that you know makes you incredibly happy simply because it is just one more thing to add to your busy schedule. But because activity can help you live a more quality filled life, never convince yourself that you are too busy to move your body. Spend a little time every day on yourself and when you have the opportunity, go venture out of your normal routine and have some fun doing something new or different. 

Challenge yourself. Yep, that's what I will be doing with Karel today on our 85-mile ride. My body has not seen this much climbing in a long time (maybe not since 6-gap in 2009) so I plan to thank my body a lot during and after this ride.
We will be riding from our home in downtown Greenville to Ceaser's Head and then doing a loop (which we did on Thursday) by Hotel Domestique and on the roads that George Hincapie loves to train. 

Life is not without challenges and if you are an athlete, training and racing/competition is not easy. Embrace a challenge every now and then and take yourself out of your comfort zone. Of course, always keep safety and your health as the most important priority.
Depending on your race/event course, there may be hills, descends, wind, crowded or bumpy roads and less than ideal conditions. Sometimes you should embrace the things that you can not control and face your fears. Every athlete should accept challenging situations by practicing for those conditions and improving your physical and mental skills. Don't let race or competition day be your first day climbing/descending on your bike, running on hills, swimming in open water, riding in the wind, etc. 

As you enjoy the beautiful sights and experiences and thank your body for what it allows you to do, accept the unfamiliar, the uncomfortable and the unknown and see what you can accomplish with your incredible body and mind.

Happy training! 

Consistency + progress = success

It doesn't really matter what you call yourself..... athlete, fitness enthusiast or in need of improving overall health. When it comes to exercise, we all need to move our body on a daily basis and often. 

But when it comes to using exercise to reach a racing goal, the most important part of any training or exercise routine is consistency. 

It takes consistency to see progress. Because there's nothing more gratifying than sticking to a plan, the progress is an added benefit of having a well laid out plan and being able to stick to it. 

As a coach, one of the biggest pitfalls I see with athletes who are training for a race is devoting more time and energy to training than is needed to experience performance gains, not knowing how to lay out a season of training and not pacing properly at races (sport nutrition/fueling is often a big confusion for athletes as well). 

I also see this happening at the early part of a training plan. An athlete is excited and every morning there's an early morning workout or an evening workout (or both).
Certainly you need to have a minimum amount of training to adapt to training stress but I find far too many age group athletes are not considering the year as a whole and the specific types of training that must be done at specific times throughout the year. Instead, I see athletes just focusing on one week at a time, often trying to resemble peak training from season's past or not building a good foundation for when peak training actually needs to occur. 

Because we can't let injury and burnout be the only two deciding factors that a training plan is not working, it's important to understand why you may not be able to reach exercise-related goals. 

When was the last time you sat down with a piece of paper and pen and figured out how much time you have available to commit to your training program in order to be consistent? 

In your head you may think you have all the time in the world when you aren't working but after you factor-in sleep, meal planning, stretching, strength training, commuting, traveling/extracurricular activities, family obligations, chores/errands, etc. 

Here's an example of the time you may think you have to train: 

5am - wake-up

5:30am - 7am - workout

8:30 - 5pm - work

5:30pm - 7pm - workout

9:30pm - bedtime

So looking at this, you think you have 3 hours a day to train and if you love to train you are likely filling up this time training. 

Here's how I would plan the day with a "train smart" approach:
5am - wake-up
5:15-5:45am - pre-workout snack + foam rolling/dynamic stretching

6-7am  - workout

7-7:10am - stretching/refueling

8:30am - 5pm work

5:30pm - prep meals for tomorrow, cook dinner. 

6pm - 6:30pm - hip/core work or walk outside for fresh air
6:45pm - dinner

8pm - prepare for tomorrow (clothing/food, etc.)

8:45pm - evening stretching, relaxing

9:30pm - bedtime

Consider how important balance is in a consistent training plan and also, all the many ways that you can improve fitness besides just "training".  For if you can not adapt to the intentional stress load on the body, you will not be able to recover and rebuild for the next day of training. And if you can't adapt, you can't be consistent.  

For example, if you are training for an Ironman, it would be logical that you would not do a 100-mile ride or 2 hour run in your first 4-week block of training. But then ask yourself if it is logical to train 7-days a week and 4+ hours on the weekend in the first 4 blocks of training? The idea of training is to keep progressing, to build mental and physical strength, to teach the body how to be more efficient and to properly metabolize food for fuel. If you want to peak and reach your full potential properly, remember that training isn't about how many miles you can put in in 1 week but instead, how well you are able to adapt over 4 or 6 months of training. The magic doesn't happen in 1 week but instead what you are able to do with your body overtime. 

This same theory applies to time goals. Accepting your current level of fitness, if you want to be able to be x-fast on race day it's understandable that you likely are not that fast today (or else you would likely want a more challenging goal). So your training must be devised in a way that you can improve with your speed, power and endurance but not all at once. 

Quality training has many benefits - it keeps you balanced in life but also allows you to raise your thresholds, build strength, improve economy and power and build mental toughness all while building a strong body. This allows the body to adapt gradually and in a healthy way for consistent performance gains. 

The beginning of the year is a great time to feel motivated and fresh for your upcoming racing season or with a new exercise plan. 

But the key with any exercise routine is being able to maintain that excitement, speed and energy over the next 12, 16 or 20 weeks in order to see performance gains.

If you are not working with a coach, consider the Trimarni 5-week transition plan to help you build a strong, resilient body before you start "training" for your upcoming race. 

If you are a self-coached athlete, take a moment to write out your entire year for races and how you will build to peak for each of those races (and include recovery time as well). Prioritize your phases of training and include any important life moments that should be considered that may affect consistent training. 

After you do this, device a plan as to how you will be consistent with training in 2-3 week blocks at a time. Every day you should move yourself closer to your goal and remember that sometimes the plan may need to change but you can always stay motivated with your goal. 

Interested in a pre-built plan to help you train smart?

Trimarni has several to choose from.

Happy consistent training!

                          

Physiological adaptations to altitude: train smart

I remember my very first destination bike ride - beautiful Lake Tahoe in September of 2006. This was a very exciting opportunity for me to ride my bike somewhere new and to experience how much I love having gears. I had my tri bike less than a year but I instantly fell in love with climbing. Oh, this trip was also extra special because my "boyfriend" Karel (who I had been dating for less than 5 months) joined me for our first trip together. 

I guess if any guy would voluntarily ride his bike around Lake Tahoe with me for "fun", he would be a keeper. Lucky me!

As much as I love traveling to race and racing to travel, it's important that when I pick my races, I understand the variables that can have a positive and negative impact in my racing experience. I put a lot of time, effort and money into my race day planning and training so it is important to me that I am able to do my best on race day by controlling my variables. Because my best distance is the Ironman, I realize that spending so much time and effort to prepare my body physically for 140.6 miles is hard enough. Add in conditions that I can not properly physically prepare for and that becomes an entire different scenario. 

Although some athletes may be fine to race in an environment that has elements that are new to the body on race day, it is important prior to selecting races (or if you have them picked, to adjust race day plan properly) to address any limiters that could or may affect your race day experience. Although I live in Florida, my body loves to climb. I do not train on any hills but I know how to simulate race day conditions with my power meter to help me pace in different intervals which could resemble race day. As for racing in the mountains......not likely as I live at sea level in Florida. 

As for altitude, perhaps there may be a day when I will do a race out West in the mountains but for now, I love to race and I know my body will become compromised the higher and higher I go above sea level (especially compared to the athletes who I am competing against - who can live and train at higher altitudes than myself). This is why it is really important for athletes to properly pick races that suitable for successful race day experiences (weather considered as well). There's nothing wrong with a bucket list race but be sure to consider the physical, financial, time and mental investment you are making for your "destination" race and if are able to put all that hard work to the test on race day. 

In the Fall 2013 (vol 32, No 4) issue of SCAN there was a great article discussing endurance athletes who train at altitude. We have all heard "train low, live high" to maximize performance but there are a few things to pay attention to with altitude training. Whether you are choosing to train at altitude specifically for physiological purposes or traveling for vacation and hope to maintain your fitness/training routine, here are a few tips from the newsletter (pg 18): 

-Iron - make sure iron stores are adequate by being testing for serum ferritin before going to altitude. Ferritin concentrations below 20 ng/mL to 30 ng/mL suggest a suboptimal iron status that might not support blood based adaptations to moderate altitude. In some countries, such as Australia, endurance athletes with low serum ferritin are encouraged to take an iron supplement daily for 2-4 weeks before going to altitude. 

-Illness - start the trip when you are healthy; avoid the trip if you are sick. An athlete who feels unwell does not need any additional stress relating to the dry air and hypoxia associated with high altitudes. Instead, the athletes should rest and recover at sea level. 

-Inflammation - Research examining the efficacy of EPO (erythropoietin), a hormone that controls new red blood cell formation, in sick people demonstrates that inflammation reduces the red blood cell response to EPO. Because EPO is a cytokin (a signaling compound involved in the immune response), it is possible that other cytokines involved in inflammation also interfere with red blood cell production. That could mean reduced ability to transport oxygen from the blood into the working muscles - and that means early fatigue.

-Intensity - Athletes should avoid doing high-intensity exercise at altitude for a while. Although they may be excited to start altitude training, many athletes overdo it during the first 3-7 days. They then struggle to do high-quality workouts during the middle of the camp-or even worse, they become sick. Allowing the body a few days to get familiarized with altitude is a wise plan.  

-Intake of Energy - Eat enough: no dieting is allowed at altitude because the body needs energy to make red blood cells. although it may be easier to lose weight at altitude (due to a lack of appetite), the better time to lose weight is during the off-season. 

-Investment and interest - Altitude training camps can be extremely motivating and exciting. Athletes want to use this unique environment to build hope and optimism for upcoming competitions. 

Since I won't be racing swim, bike, run in the mountains anytime soon, I think I will stick with the snow sports when I have the opportunity to enjoy a snowy, amazing mountain view.
(picture from Oakley Women product testing trip in Utah)

The patient athlete

First Triathlon  2003

Ironman Wisconsin 2010

Ironman World Championship 2011

Are you a goal setter? Do you keep your eye on the prize day in and day out? My life functions the best with goals. I wake up excited to see what the day may bring and I go to bed, anxious for another opportunity tomorrow. I would assume that if you read this blog, you are motivated and passionate about health and fitness and I hope that you are spreading your wonderful energy to your friends and family in order to inspire others to live a more balanced active and healthy lifestyle.

In the case of making progress as an athlete - such as building endurance, speed, confidence, mental toughness and skills, it takes a lot of work and much like studying for an exam, you can't cram for a race in 1 week and expect great results. You may be able to fake your performance (unlikely in longer distance races) but the body is not going to retain much after the race. You have to be patient and not always do things happen when you'd like for them to happen.

There is a lot of continuous work that goes into great race day performance and the work is not always achieved in one season or in a few months. It takes a lot of effort to reach goals and many times, impatience keeps athletes from reaching what is very possible in the mind and in the heart.

We all know how to push when we are about to break and often times, we make progress this way. But then there are times when we push and make no progress and instead, move backwards. Not sure about you but I wouldn't want to be in a marathon and move  backwards when everyone is moving forward. The same thought applies to training. We each have our own ways to move forward but get caught up with rushing the process as to the "best" way or being like others and so, while others move closer to their goals by doing things their way, you may find yourself struggling to keep up. The mind may be strong but the body is tired, exhausted and burn out. Does too much too soon come to mind? Or perhaps, fear-based training?

Every athlete and fitness enthusiast will have set backs in life, set backs with fitness and set backs with goal reaching. Much like the satisfaction you get when you have a fantastic workout and physically feel yourself pushing to a higher limit, this same enjoyment should come from overcoming obstacles when you never thought that you could not succeed. By being patient, not only will you enjoy your great workouts even more but you will not feel overwhelmed when setbacks come into your path.

In training for 6 Ironmans (Placid being #6 in 6.5 weeks), I have learned that there is no "perfect" way to train for an Ironman. At the end of the day, you have to be patient with the process and most of all, you have to enjoy it. Many athletes, regardless of sport or distance of choice (racing or participating) have been limited in personal success because rather than accepting the progress that has been (and is still being) made, they search inside and out (thanks to social media/blogs/books/articles) for a faster, better or easier approach. New equipment,  a different fit on the bike, different nutrition, extreme changes in training...just a few that come to mind.

I think many active individuals (runners, triathletes) would feel comfortable using the title "type A" at times when it comes to training, racing, the diet, work and life.

" Type A personalities may have traits that lead to better performances in life and sport. Type A personalities generally have higher need for achievements and their behavior pattern is often associated with the success of an entrepreneur.

(Reference here)

Since I started competitive swimming at the age of 10 or 11, I have always lived my life as an athlete. My brain is trained to perform daily and because of that, there is not struggle to workout everyday (or move my body). I don't consider myself an athlete who stresses or over analyzes races, for my competitive spirit often desires the opportunity to be beat by those who are faster than me in order to help me push myself to be better. I try to look at the positives in every race rather than determining my success based on a finish place or time.

Because of my natural desire to be challenged in life, I have learned to enjoy the journey of reaching goals. The best journey is when you have your eyes set on a goal but you enjoy the journey more than the thought of even reaching that goal. Reaching the goal then becomes a bonus.

 If you know me well, I am an open book when it comes to goals and I am not afraid to talk about my goals and how hard I am willing to work for them. I've blogged about wanting to qualify for Kona at my Ironman's and other personal goals with my career.  I firmly believe that life has not been easy for me. Sports, school, life....I have encountered many struggles, obstacles and set-backs while trying to reach my goals.

So, therefore...patience is the most powerful weapon that I can carry with me in my journey of life.

If you are impatient and wish time to fly by, it's likely that you will struggle with reaching goals. Accumulation of hard work leads to great performances. Life, work, sports...even if you work hard but are impatient you will find yourself trying to take short-cuts or too many risks to try to progress too quickly.

You don't have to be an athlete to carry the unfortunate trait of impatience. Want to lose weight quickly? The fitness/supplement/diet industry can help you with that. Quick fixes and extreme efforts sell well. Instant gratification is what our society thrives off of as very few people desire to be the tortoise when you can be the hare. When people want results yesterday, it's no surprise that something that can be accomplished quickly is much more fulfilling than something that takes time to achieve.
Some progress is better than no progress. But if you have a goal and don't see extreme results in a week or two, how long will it take you to forget your goal and move on to another method to see if "that way" will be faster. Bouncing around from attempt after attempt is nothing more than feeling defeated by a challenge without realizing your true potential to achieve success.

There are no short cuts in life. I learned this about a year after obtaining my Master of Science degree in Exercise Physiology.
Wanting to do more with nutrition for active bodies and desiring to take my passion for public speaking and writing to the next level, I was told by many that I would need to obtain a Registered Dietitian credential to be qualified and licensed to "practice" nutrition.

For three years, I was forced to be patient. You can't rush time, especially when it comes to education. Unlike sports, doing more and wanting it now was not going to happen. The saying quality of quantity could not have been more true than during my 10 month dietetic internship. I learned more than I ever imagined and my initial dreams of having my own business and taking my passion for speaking to the next level were combined with a new love of clinical nutrition.

Throughout my dietetic journey, I also realized the true value of patience. Hard work in both sport and life will pay off but you can't expect results tomorrow if you haven't put in the time to learn lessons, to overcome obstacles, to feel defeat and perhaps, become someone who you never imagined you could be.


Life is not easy. I see nothing wrong with "I can't" being part of your vocabulary because you are acknowledging that something may not be possible that you are thinking about trying. But...how do you know it isn't possible if you don't try and get started now?

I have never allowed can't (for I have said it many times) to override "I can."

If there are any takeaways from this blog post, my hope is that you will never give up on your goals. Its much better to achieve a goal in 1,2 or 10 years than to think to yourself in 1,2 or 10 years....."what if I only tried a bit harder to be more patient with my approach and never gave up."

Train smarter to reach success faster

Back in September 2012, I spoke to a group of active women on the topics of eating and nutrition and performing beautifully. The focus of the talk wasn't to tell people what to do to reach performance goals or to lose weight but rather how to be smarter in the action steps or thought process to reach personal goals. If you are interested in checking out my recap of the event, here is the first of a series of blogs on the lecture. 

Not too long ago, I went to Iowa to talk to a group of runners at their annual banquet on the topic of "common mistakes made by runners - "how to train smarter to reach success faster." The event went better than I thought because I had no idea how many runners struggled with understanding topics such as designing a personalized training plan, how to understand and use training gadgets and how to focus on other aspects in life that can positively impact training/fitness gains beyond just focusing on the training miles. 

So, now that I am recognizing that triathletes and runners are becoming more and more overwhelmed, confused and exhausted by the sport....and everything that comes with it (training gadgets, gear, plans, sport nutrition, daily nutrition, stretching, strength training, sleep, mile-obsessed, periodized training)....I am trying to do my best to help others better understand how to train smarter to reach success faster. 

I am SO excited to  have the opportunity to speak at the upcoming Hammerhead Triathlon Club monthly meeting which has been connected with Trek Bicycles for a great, entertaining and educational evening. Trek Travel will be speaking about their upcoming travel trips and training camps and I will be talking about "Triathlon boredom - how to train smarter to train harder." If you can make it - we'd love to have you there! The event is free to the public and as always, come to meet other like-minded individuals who share a similar lifestyle and passion. You do not have to be a triathlete to attend - just someone who has fitness goals and a desire to reach them. 

For a little preview of some of the topics I will be discussing at my talk on Wednesday, I dedicated my latest Iron Girl article to the topic. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading! 


Train Smarter to Reach Success FasterBy Marni Sumbal MS, RD, LD/N




Are you an active individual who feels confused as to the smartest sway to train for your upcoming event?
Participating in a race requires more than just putting in the miles and finishing a workout with sweaty clothes. You should always feel deserving of your “athlete-in-training” status as you are no longer an “exerciser”. Instead of trying to be like everyone else, take into consideration a few simple suggestions of how you can train smarter to reach success faster.


1. It’s not just about the miles – Consider the many variables in your life that can positively affect your training consistency and health. Among the top priorities: Sport nutrition before, during and after training to assist in intentional physiological stress. Strength training to enhance your cardio-focused routine. Stretching to encourage proper range of motion and injury prevention. A restful sleeping routine to help control appetite, quicken recovery, assist in stress and attitude management and to encourage stable energy throughout the day. Intentional active recovery and rest to prevent overtraining and to encourage consistency in training. Purchase, use and a basic understanding of training gadgets (ex. GPS and HR-enabled devices) to avoid haphazard training.

2. Developing a healthy relationship with food and the body – Eat a wholesome and balanced diet for fuel and for health. When it comes to changing body composition to encourage performance gains, your body will take care of itself when you are performance-focused, not scale obsessed. Avoid words like “off-limit, bad, guilty, chubby, fat and ugly” to guarantee that you are appreciative of what your body is allowing you to do on a daily basis and that you fuel and nourish your body adequately. Always thank your body for giving you a tomorrow and for crossing finish lines.

3. Don’t rush the journey- To make the most physiological training adaptations with the least amount of training stress, focus on your individual response to training. Training adaptations vary between individuals and there is no perfect training (or diet) plan. A properly planned training routine and well-planned racing schedule will ensure well-timed, peak performances due to progressive, individualized overload. Your training routine should take into account your current level of fitness, frequency, intensity and duration of workouts, past successes and regrets, available hours of daily training, number of weeks until your A-races, short and long term goals, past or potential injuries/health issues and ability to recover properly between workouts.



Marni Sumbal, MS, RD, LD/N

Marni works as a Clinical Dietitian at Baptist Medical Center Beaches, is the owner of Trimarni Coaching and Nutrition, LLC and provides one-on-one consulting in the Jacksonville, FL area. Marni is a Registered Dietitian, holding a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology and is a Certified Sports Nutritionist (CISSN). As an elite endurance athlete, she is also a Level-1 USAT Coach and a 5x Ironman finisher. Marni is a 110% play harder, Hammer Nutrition and Oakley Women brand ambassador. Marni enjoys public speaking and writing, and she has several published articles in Fitness Magazine, Bicycling Magazine, The Florida Times-Union Shorelines, Lava Magazine, Hammer Endurance News, CosmoGirl magazine and Triathlete Magazine, and contributes to IronGirl.com, USAT multisport zone and Lava online.

Email trimarnicoaching@gmail.com

No-guilt nutrition on recovery/off days

Two weeks of quality training are behind me. It doesn't seem like a lot but I still have 6 more months to go before Ironman Lake Placid and without emphasis on recovery, there is no way I can progress with intentional exercise-induced stress and fatigue.

My body is going strong but to be proactive, I will rest my body and mind before I really need it. A solid 9 hours of sleep last night and I know a day off from training was needed since I am not a napper and nighttime is the only time I can rejuvenate and repair. I am a fan of active recovery (ex. swim, non-weight bearing activity) as a replacement for a day off but never when it comes with waking up with an alarm. Seeing that the drive to and from the gym may take more time than the actual swim, alongside feeling rushed, meal prep, etc. I didn't even need to think twice about not doing an active recovery/drill-focused swim this morning since I asked myself last night "What will I gain from this swim?" NOTHING. I'd rather walk Campy and stretch.

Sometimes active recovery does a body good but I do not associate active recovery with body-image control, feeling guilty about eating on off days or feeling "off" without a workout. All I have to think about is my upcoming week of training on Training Peaks and the day off is exactly what I need to help me out with the next 6 days of training.

A while back I wrote an article on nutrition on off/recovery days and I feel it is an appropriate time to share the article again. Seeing that we are almost into February, if you are sticking with an exercise resolution or if you just started your triathlon training/running/cycling plan to gear up for the upcoming season, it is likely that you still going strong and perhaps, haven't considered the beauty in rest and recovery.

The key with off days is to not lose focus of recovery. The idea of a planned rest day (whether Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday - depending on when you need the recovery to ensure a quality, consistent week of training) is to keep up with all the things that you need to do to ensure a great next x-days of training. Sleep, stress management, stretching and diet are key as you can not assume you will recover from the past 6 days or so of training just by not doing cardio or strength training and eating whatever you want and sitting around with tight muscles. Take that control that you have with the diet and exercise/training (which is likely the reason why you struggle with taking planned "off" days) and use that for your recovery day so that you will increase the chance of having consistent training all month long.

Thanks for reading!

Nutrition on rest days from exercise/training

Fearing the possible

Fear-based training.

I have mentioned it in the past and it is something that is very familiar to athletes who are training for individual-sporting events.

I think of it like a college student with a big exam on the radar. Two months to prepare seems like an eternity so it is unlikely that one would start studying that far in advance. Plenty of time, right? So instead of studying a little bit every day in order to retain information, days slip by and the student begins to get more fearful of the big day. One month away and the motivation is there but it is a bit sub par - the book is open but there is more goofing around and scratching the surface than really accepting the challenge ahead and that time is running out. Two weeks left and it is crunch time. Eek!
Long hours, exhaustion in both mind and body but there is not other choice at this point. Try to squeeze in 60 days worth of studying into 14 days and the only thought is "I wish I would have started sooner."

Fear-based training is not unlike the student who procrastinates until it is crunch-time. It's not uncommon for athletes to have a race on the schedule- months in advance- but there is a tendency have excuses or reasons for not focusing on the little things that will play out on race day and instead waits until he/she has no other choice but to at least prove to him/herself that she/he can do "it" in order to reduce anxiety.

Well, this blog post isn't about fear-based training. Instead, it is about fearing the possible.

What if you lived your entire life thinking about the what-if? What if you just got started a bit earlier? What if you dedicated yourself a bit more to the task at hand? What if you had a more open mind or a more positive attitude? What if you didn't wait until the perfect time to get started?

What would you do if you were not afraid to fail?

Over the past year in a half, I have been working with a mental coach, my friend Gloria who has helped me trust myself as an athlete and to believe in my ability to put my training to the test on race day. With the help of Karel, as my supportive hubby and coach, he has given me sets that I would have thought were never possible with my body and thus, he has shown me that I have the ability to reach higher limits with my training. These same athletic characteristics of believing in myself, wanting to challenge myself and being dedicated to the task at hand have also been very important in my personal life, specifically in my past education and continuing career.

As athletes, fitness enthusiasts or anyone who enjoys a healthful lifestyle, we are always wanting to better ourselves in both body and mind. Whether you are training for a race, looking for a new career, thinking about a life-changing decision or questioning an upcoming opportunity, we all have opportunities in our life to take something that we fear and to get out there and just try to go for it.

In our society, it seems as though many people are raised to want success. Seems kinda obvious, right? You wouldn't want to strive for failure in life when successful people are the ones who get the credit and attention.

But this comes with a bigger issue in that we have missed opportunities in life because of fearing failure. We question the "what if" and that scares us so we put off trying. We get frustrated at the first try and give up.

What's the worse that can happen? You don't get the job, you have to walk when you want to run, you don't lose those last 5 lbs, you get turned down, you have to wait until next time? Life goes on but at least you tried.

But then - what if the best thing happens? You get the job, you run faster than you could ever imagine, you lose those last 5 lbs, you get the opportunity you were wanting for, you don't have to wait until next time. Life goes on and now the possible has happened.

What I love more than anything about sports is the continuous opportunity to try. To try to become better, smarter, fitter, stronger and healthier. The opportunities are endless when it comes to seeing how close you can come every week, month and year to reaching your full potential and then you get to do it all over again the next year.

I remember at Branson 70.3 in September 2012 and having the run of my life. I had trained hard, worked on my mental strength with Gloria and I was hungry to race on a very challenging course. I had all the pieces together and all I had to do was put them together for 70.3 miles.

I remember on the 13.1 mile run that I was hurting...bad. It was not tolerable at times and I wanted to slow down. But I resisted. My mind had convinced my body that I would push and push until my body phsyically gave up. I trained too hard to not keep trying. My mind was not going to let my body surrender. I ran a huge PR off the bike, had the fastest female amateur run of the day, along with a new age group course record and placed overall female amateur. All because I refused to give up before I had to give up. It was a decision that I had to make over and over and over for one hour and 36 minutes..... and it was not easy. But when I crossed the line, I felt the feeling that I dreamed of as I was gasping for air and bracing my completely exhausted body. I was so happy that I went for something that I never thought was possible.

It was around 48-degrees this morning when I started my ride. Karel and I drove to Nocatee and we each did our own workouts (Karel did a run-bike-run and I did a bike-run).
I could have stayed inside on the trainer or I could have skipped the bike to go for a run. But instead, I told myself to not fear the possible. Why should I let the weather stop me from having a great workout? I dressed appropriately and I felt great on the bike. 

The set was hard...thanks Karel for making my legs burn. 

10 x 1 min ON/1 min OFF intervals (ON intervals are 110+rpm, power was way high and OFF are EZ spin)
Then right into 10 min Z3 steady.
Then 5 x 1 min ON/OFF intervals
The right into 10 min Z3 steady.
The rest of the ride was Z2.

I hit my power zones and my legs were burning on the on/off intervals. It was windy and cold out but I didn't let it stop me from achieving the possible.

Then came the fearful part. A set that in my mind was not possible. No way, absolutely not. What was Karel thinking when he wrote my workout in training peaks? I suppose my athletes think the same for me when I write their workouts :)

4 miles off the bike - start at 7:30 for first mile immediately off the bike. Then mile 2 at 7:25, mile 3 at 7:20 and last mile "fast/hard". No stopping in between miles.  

I had 1:30 on the bike to think about this set but I didn't. I kept my mind in the present and just like in Branson 70.3, I just went for it when it was time. What's the worse that could happen? I don't make the intervals so I run slower? I don't make the intervals so I have to walk? Certainly, it's not the end of the world and there will always be another workout. So, with running shoes, visor and Garmin 910XT on...it was time to fear the possible. 

Mile 1: 7:30 min/mile
Mile 2: 7:19 min/mile
Mile 3: 7:07 min/mile
Mile 4: 6:55 min/mile

These are the workouts that remind me why I love sports. Sunday it took me 4 long miles to find my rhythm and today, immediately off my bike I had it in me. I love the workouts when I have nothing to prove to an audience or a crowd of spectators but instead, to myself, all alone, outside and a few birds watching me from above. Always keeping in mind that I will save my best performance for race day, these are the workouts that remind that fear can be good or bad.

So, how do you want to live life? Fearing failure or making the possible happen?
Really, what's the worse that can happen?

You are so much stronger than you think. Don't be afraid to try.

Long slow distance - base building

Are you in the beginning phase of your season training? Likely you have been told that your training should be long and slow. Especially if you are an endurance athlete, in order to build aerobic capacity, you should be training at a very low heart rate, teaching the body to metabolize fat for fuel and should teaching your body how to get more comfortable being aerobic in order to prepare for your upcoming next phase of training.

Unless you are a very new athlete to the sport of triathlons  and are learning how to get more comfortable on the bike or in the pool, the focus right now in this "base" phase should not be 100% long, slow distance.  (I don't believe in "slow" running if it comes with poor form due to purposely trying to run slow as that can be damaging to the body. Keep in mind, the word slow is relative..what is slow for you may be fast to others.) If anything, steady is a better word and slow should be removed from your training vocabulary. Also - I don't believe in active recovery "run" days for triathletes. Get your sleep and stretch. Form-focused runs (which include drill work) are fine as a "workout" included in your plan but not on a day "off" from training to recover.

The focus of training is to make gains in fitness. A lot needs to happen with the physiology of the body in order to get faster and stronger. Certainly you can still want to get faster and stronger even if your primary goal is to finish an upcoming race. It's not all about racing fast and hard. It's all about training and racing smart.

I'm always thinking about ways to reduce training stress but still make gains. Fatigue is not something that I want to "train through" and I feel fatigue brings injury for fatigue brings poor form. Also, fatigue can come with slow distance because too much time is wasted in that "comfortable" Z2 zone.

As a coach and athlete, your primary goal on race day is to slow down the least and to pace yourself. The focus of training is to make progress so that as you continue with training you are becoming more efficient and economical with your sport. Eventually your current Z4 effort may turn into your Z3 effort on race day and you may find yourself pacing your way to a great race all because you trained your body properly throughout your periodized training plan.

We will all struggle with fatigue in training and racing. But why waste all your best efforts in training and so early in the season? Long slow distance may give you some miles on the bike to brag about in January but if you neglect some higher intensity efforts you may find yourself struggling with performance gains and the change for overtraining due to combining high volume and intensity on the weeks leading up to your big race. That's a BIG no-no....get faster now w/ a strong body (once again - strength training should be part of your training routine and a priority) and then gradually build volume. If you are training for an endurance event, your final prep should not be intense and extreme - avoid fear-based training. It should be specific to the distance ahead. When I trained for my last 2 Ironman's (Kona 2011 and IMWI 2010) I only did 1 ride over 100 miles each time. All my rides were around 4-5 hours, including steady state intervals (anywhere from 20-50 min w/ 2-5 min rest in between) with the power that I built throughout my periodized training plan. I saved my best performance for race day and had a nice big PR in Kona in 2011 and found myself racing very strong on the difficult IMWI bike course.

Use a little speed work to help your aerobic capacity. Instead of trying to resist fatigue with long hours on the bike or long running miles, focus on quality training. Every workout should have a warm-up where there is little focus on pace or speed. Monitor your HR, walk.slow down to control yourself, focus on good form and stretch dynamically (for running) before the main set. After your main set, cool down. That's how I schedule my workouts and same for my athletes. I don't care about miles but what they do within those miles. I'd rather do a 3 hour steady interval bike ride than 6-7 hours on the bike right now. Actually, for my fitness ability, I don't ever want to "train" for 6-7 hours on the bike because I know that I will benefit very little from being on my bike for that long. For running, I'd rather do 10 quality miles w/ intervals at a bit faster intensity than 14-18 miles of long slow running (OUCH).

The problem with long slow training is poor form and over/under emphasis on nutrition. It may work for some but I'd like to make better use of my time when I do my longer workouts. As much as I LOVE training, I like to feel accomplished at the end and know that my fitness on race day isn't made up of a few great workouts but rather many, consistent good workouts. I know my workouts are good because I review my training files. Great is something I say when I am feeling it during or immediately after a workout. It is how I describe how I feel about the workout - not necessarily a sign that I am making improvements aside from building mental strength.

SAT.

It was a tad bit on the chilly side but after my weekend in Iowa last weekend (-6 windchill), I can't complain about the cool 50-degree temps yesterday morning.
It was super windy so combined with the cooler temps I knew it would be a challenging workout. Again, no need to waste time on the bike riding slow for hours and hours when I could have a great workout sitting on Karel's wheel.
After Karel did his TT on his fixie (for the Ponte Vedra Beach Fixie World Championships - "aka" bragging rights among guys/girls who like to ride fixies) and I warmed up, I took off a few items that were keeping me warm and it was time to head to Nocattee for a few steady intervals.
Sitting on Karel's wheel has been years in the making. There are still intervals that he does that I can not "hang on" for but when it comes to Ironman or Half Ironman training, his Z3 effort is my low Z4 effort for power zones so it works really well that both of us can get a quality workout. I don't race an IM in Z4 but instead upper Z2 and my zones are determined from a 20 x 20 minute sustainable max effort power test w/ 2 min EZ in between.

The main set was the following
15 min Z3 (Karel)
2 min EZ

15 min Z3 (Karel)
2 min EZ

20 min Z3 (Karel)
2 min EZ

Steady upper Z2 for the remainder of the ride (Karel)

So while Karel was focused on his zones in Z3, here's how my workout on Training Peaks looked:
15 min - 168 watts, 138 HR, 88 cadence, 23.24 mph
15 min - 172 watts, 139 HR, 86 cadence, 22.4 mph
20 min - 164 watts, 139 HR, 87 cadence, 22.54 mph

There's a few things I'd like to point out as I know triathletes love comparing numbers. I've been working on my lactate threshold for years as cycling was not a natural sport for me so for me, my HR may look "low" but it is certainly not a HR that I enjoy to tolerate behind Karel's wheel. The wind was really strong and we did long loops in Nocatee so with every change of direction, there would be a need to change gears to keep a steady cadence. I am working on my cadence as I was a slow masher and now I am getting much better with a higher cadence. I do ON/OFF intervals to work on a fast spin (ON) which burns like OMG but it is making me better.
Speed is irrelevant in my mind when training as I can not hold those speeds on my own so I guess I will enjoy getting in more miles due to higher speeds sitting on Karel's wheel. So more importantly, the power is what I care about. My ability to maintain a certain wattage for a period of time. No matter the terrain, wind, etc. I need to be consistent with my effort. Karel is super steady so riding behind him gives me a great workout for this base phase of training.

We rode for 2 hours and 50 minutes by the time we finished the workout and cooled down and it was time for a 25 minute form-focused run off the bike (7:30 min/mile pace average) for me and for Karel (who has not been traveling like me so he has been doing a few more bricks than me) he ran for 30 minutes and covered more distance because he is faster.

After the workout - time for the Farmers Market!

SUN:
 

                                    

After sleeping in to get a solid 8 hours of sleep, we took our time in the morning and headed back to Nocatte for a run and a 30ish min recovery spin.

Karel did a bit longer run than me because I believe that every athlete needs to consider their own consistency with training before jumping in on group workouts (especially long ones). I have not had consistent weekend training for a few weeks so I can not rush my mileage.

Karel and I went our separate ways along the roads and paved trails in the neighborhoods of Nocatte and Karel finished with 1:30 of running and I had 1:20.
I am a firm believer in pace training and monitoring the HR. I am strict on form right now for me and my athletes so anytime form begins to struggle or get sloppy, it's time to walk or slow down.
I consider myself a better runner off the bike due to being warmed up on the bike so it takes me a while (more like 3-4 miles) to feel good on a long run.
I noticed my HR was a bit higher on warm-up than I wanted it to be in looking at my garmin when I started - despite me feeling good with  my perceived exertion/form. My perceived effort was fine but my HR was not where I wanted it. This could be contributed to several factors (a bit warmer today, legs weren't sore but felt a bit heavy - more quad dominant this morning, likely my hamstrings were a bit tight) so instead of pushing through with a high HR and struggling with form later in the workout, I opted to walk for a few minutes (1-2) every mile until I finally felt like I was ready for my main set. That came around mile 4. Like usual, I don't care about my pace or distance in warm-up..the warm-up is there for me to warm my body up for the main set. If no main set - there is still a focus for the run.

Main set: 

4 x 1 miles sub 7 min/mile pace (with good form - build into each mile) w/ 2 min walk recovery.
I carried my gel flask filled with hammer heed (1 scoop) for this run and refilled as needed.
I have my Garmin 910XT set on proper screens which allow me to properly pace my efforts.
I have a screen that shows current pace (so I don't go out too fast in each interval), current HR and time and another screen that shows lap pace (which is great for shorter intervals around 2-6 minutes), distance and time. I tend to use the second screen more. I also hit lap anytime I do an interval. Because it is set up on auto-lap for each mile, I do not need to hit lap when a 1 mile repeater is completed but instead, when I start the next 1-mile lap. Same applies for any other interval distance (2 minutes, 1/2 mile, etc.) - I always hit lap for it is much easier to review in Training Peaks. I also have a screen with the normal functions that most people refer to in training - total time, total distance, average pace and average HR. I tend to flip to this in warm-up and cool down without focus on my total distance. I stop when I am cooled down or my time has been reached and it is time to cool down. I don't run to complete x-miles in training. I have stopped plenty of times with x.90 miles or x.40 miles on my watch but no need to prove anything to get to the next mile. 

Mile 1: 6:53 min//mile pace, 149 HR
2 min recovery walk - 123 HR
Mile 2: 6:47 min/mile pace, 153 HR
2 min recovery walk - 123 HR
Mile 3: 6:47 min/mile pace, 155 HR
2 min recovery walk - 127 HR
Mile 4: 6L43 min/mile pace - 158 HR
2 min recovery walk - 126 HR

I couldn't ask for a better week of training. 11 hours training (which was my peak hours in Branson 70.3 prep), good sleep, good nutrition and good balance. A day off Monday, strength training Wed/Fri (including plyometrics on Wed) and 2 solid brick workouts (thurs/sat). The 35 min recovery spin with Karel after our run was the perfect way to end our training week. This was a week of quality and structure. I had a plan and a purpose and I look forward to doing it all over again next week. 9 more weeks of half IM specific training and then it is time to gradually move into more specific Ironman training. Build the form, strength and speed now and endurance will follow. Train smarter to get faster.

Quality - base building.

Blueberry pancakes and advice on New Year training

Now is the time when the weather makes it hard to get out of bed but thankfully, we have a new year to keep us motivated with our fitness routine. Perhaps you are gearing up for an upcoming race or have your eyes set on a few personal fitness/body composition goals. Whatever the case may be, don't rush the journey.

 

Sure, that is a saying that is often repeated and overly used but I am a firm believer that the process shouldn't be rushed.

 

Considering that I work with a lot of different types of athletes and receive emails from active individuals wanting to step up their training and/or exercise routine, I wanted to offer one bit of advice for getting back (or starting) a training plan.

 

Start with 2 weeks of "intro". It's very easy for athletes to get excited about training again and feel the need to wait for the perfect time to start. Or, feeling guilty or lazy after a break, go all-out in the beginning part of a training plan. When it comes to training or simply sticking to an exercise routine, we can often make it really easy to fail or feel defeated by simply expecting too much out of our mind and body. Like anything else in life, when we learn to do something new, we adapt by doing something over and over again. Just like in a sport or in training, we must "train" ourselves to perform optimally. Why this becomes so confusing for people, especially goal-oriented individuals who love to exercise, is that in order to adapt to training stress, training has to be consistent.

 

Giving yourself an intro week or two is a great way to remove the pressure that you have to be perfect w/ every workout and it also gives you a good marker of where your fitness is at this point. You can do a HR/pace test to assess fitness or my favorite, perceived exertion to give yourself a marker of what you are able to handle right now. Also, this intro week allows you to remove the need to push hard 7 days a week and gives ample time to work on skills and drills which are fundamental in quality training. Whether you ate a bit too much over the holidays, are ready for the "Reward" food because you earned it (we will save that topic for another blog) or are feeling excitedly nervous for your upcoming racing season, consider the stress you are about to put on your body and use a few weeks ahead of you to assess any weaknesses in your training schedule which may keep you from being consistent as the months progress. The number one problem I see from athletes is being caught in the miles or time spent training and forget about taking the smartest road to success. Sadly, athletes often take the long road which include junk miles, injuries, burnout, feeling like a zombie by the end of the week and even social isolation. It never has to be this way if you are gearing up for an event or striving to change body composition and certainly you should never be feeling this way by week 3-4 of a new training routine.

 

So, as you enjoy some of my homemade pancakes, consider sitting down with a piece of paper (if you coach yourself) or with your coach to decide on the best racing plan for your year and the best training plan to keep you energized, motivated and excited for the next 360ish days of this new year.

 

The pancakes pictured below were consumed on Sunday December 30th after a chilly and windy 38-40 degree ride in Florida. I sat on Karel's wheel for around 53 miles and we had the most brutal headwind for the last 90 minutes. After a long, hot shower and a tall glass of coffee, I had one thing on my mind that would make me feel incredible....pancakes. Enjoy!

 

 

 

Blueberry pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oats (uncooked)

1 tbsp. flax seeds

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup 1% milk

1/2 cup water

1 tbsp. honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup blueberries

 

1. In large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, flax and salt.

2. In separate bowl, mix together milk, water, honey and vanilla extract.

3. Make a well in flour mixture and pour wet to dry and mix until smooth. Add a little extra water for easy spooning for pancakes onto skillet.

4. On a non-stick skillet, medium/low heat, drizzle a little oil or use non stick spray. Pour ~ 1/4 cup batter on to tray and w/ back of spoon, smooth to make a flat pancake.

5. Cook for 1:30-2 minutes or until bottom begins to turn golden and flip. Cook other side for 1 minute.

 

 

 



Train smarter to train harder

Well, I'm happy to say that my injury is almost gone. YIPPE for being smart. What was likely about to develop into a really bad case of plantar fasciitis was minimized by icing, Alleve (since I rarely take anti-inflammatories, maybe 10 or less a year, they work when I need them to work), foam rolling, ball rolling and stretching. Realizing that I can still bike and swim, I did not "test" the injury at all with any running after my calf became extremely tight on Wednesday afternoon. Every day I am feeling better and better and I am more and more thankful that I acted before and did not react after the fact. No race but I'm likely back to running in less than 2 weeks. I'll take it!

I would say that I am 90% healed so I will wait until I can go a full day without feeling anything in my foot/calf and then I will wait 2 more days before I resume running. As a recommendation to others who are injured, do not neglect the other side of your body when you are injured.  The same focus I give on stretching and rolling (especially my ITB and piriformis which is a daily routine twice a day) is being given to my left foot.

Thankfully, I have learned that prevention is cheaper than medicine. But I can't hesitate to tell you that if you are someone who experiences ongoing or painful injuries, please get it checked out as you will waste more time and energy google-ing and trying to treat yourself. Visit a sport physician and then see a physical therapist. They know their stuff and they will give you practical advice and help you out to move in the right direction. Be sure to find one that specializes in your sport so that they are very familiar with your daily exercise routine and goals.

I am working on a few presentations for January and February in which I will be talking with running groups and triathlon groups on training smarter to train harder. As age group athletes, I feel there is a lot of confusion out there as to how we can reach performance goals or personal athletic goals and not feel overwhelmed in the process. One thing I am seeing a lot of right now is athletes who are eager to start "training" again and are jumping right back into structured training with all the intensity and volume added in like it was just yesterday that they were peaking for their A race. Or, the athlete has not taken a break (only to "recover" from the last race) and is going hard again.

I am noticing athletes with a lot of energy in the beginning of a training plan (especially at the beginning of the New Year) so any free time is being taken up with "exercise" - AKA "junk".

 For many of my athletes, they are in an unstructured structured phase of training. The progression to structured training can be hard for any athlete because you never know how the body will respond and with short term goals in mind during every workout, it's easy to want to do too much too soon because you feel good.

The transition phase to more structured training should be around three to four weeks depending on how long you took yourself out from structured training. It's good to take a break but what we need to avoid is losing fitness. We need a break for the mind and body and the first priorities when we get back into a routine is strength training, flexibility work, focusing on the daily diet (prior to working on "sport nutrition) and weaknesses. Keep in mind that as an athlete, you are training for adaptations to the physiology of the body.
If you are just "exercising" you are focused on achieving x-miles or x-amount of time.
When you are training, your body is under stress. Thus, the workout has a plan and a purpose. Changes in stroke volume, cardiac output, oxygen uptake, hemoglobin levels, lung capacity, resting heart rate, VO2, an increased size in slow and fast twitch muscle fibers and muscle hypertrophy are all adaptations that occur when you train smart.

Although I am all about balance in life and with sport, I constantly remind my athletes that it will get harder. For now, they can thank me now for periodized training and making consistent gains that will pay off by race day.

When you have a training plan from a coach or put together your own plan, avoid doing too much too soon. Be ok with having a lot of energy at first because you don't want to waste energy on the first month of training only to find yourself burnout and injured 7, 8 or 9 months down the road. I encourage you to think about your training in training blocks - perhaps 1 month at a time with goals that you want to accomplish in each month. Consider the other variables in your life such as diet, sleep, flexibility and stress management that will also play an impact on your progression in fitness.

Here are two really great reads that I came across to help you develop a healthier relationship with exercise/training and to help you train smarter. Any questions, send me an email or comment on my blog. I enjoy responding to comments personally via email (or phone call if needed).

The art of recovery - By Matt Dixon
Common Mistakes made by triathletes - By Wayne Goldsmith

Do you have time for an injury?

It concerns me that athletes think that stress fractures are simply a natural occurrence of being an athlete and training for an event (or trying to become more physically fit). I have never had a stress fracture and will do anything in my power not to get one. However, I have had my battles with long-term painful muscular injuries and I am constantly finding myself learning how to be a more proactive athlete.

 I realize that many injuries are accidents in that as athletes, we have a hard time recognizing a normal ache from painful, injury-provoking ache. And sometimes, accidents do happen such as rolling an ankle when running on uneven surfaces or crashing on the bike. But as athletes we are always teetering on the edge of getting injured because we like to push to see our limits and with a natural tendency to think "if some is good, more is better", simple decisions often come with major consequences.

As age group athletes, we are not paid to do a sport which ultimately keeps us physically fit. So, when it comes to an activity that you enjoy, that helps you burn calories, relieve stress, spend time with others and occupy your free time, why do you let your love for consistency outweigh your ability to be flexible and to be proactive? Sure, you can come up with a dozen reasons as to why you need to do that race or that training session but I have a feeling if you were to ask an athlete who is now injured or is rehabbing from an injury if he/she could have had a do-over, they would likely be jealous that you are not the one in pain or painfully having to sit on the sidelines for an undisclosed number of weeks/months. I'm sure they could easily answer, "was it worth it?"

 If only they would have listened to their instinct (or created one) and to not let a moment of  being in the now come ahead of thinking about the future.

As an athlete, I get it. It's tough to dedicate time, training and money for a race and then have to think about the possibility of not doing a race. Despite dedicating every training session to mentally and physically preparing your mind and body for the race, an injury causes you to stay in the present and regret the past. The future only goes so far as a finishing line and determination to get there outweighs any long-term consequences of your decision to do a race (or upcoming training sessions) with a body that is not physically and mentally healthy.

Without removing my athlete status, I will put on my coaching hat to help you decide if it is really worth it to train and race injured (or on the verge of an injury).

But I told everyone I was doing it and all my training buddies are doing the race. I don't want to miss out.
The one who has to live with an injury is yourself. Race with your training buddies injured, miss out on the upcoming weeks or months of training because you were caught up with peer-pressure or race-hype.  Consider your family, job, friends and your daily responsibilities which require a healthy body and mind to perform optimally on a daily basis. There will always be another race and you can still stay involved by cheering or volunteering at the race. More often than not, a missed race may only cause you to be out for 1/2 the time compared to doing the race. Thus, the quicker you will be back at it with your friends.

But I trained so hard for this race.
You trained to perform with a strong, healthy body and a strong race day performance comes when your mind is your only limiter. Put your ego aside and keep in mind that there will be other races. If you want to impress yourself with your fitness, do so with a body that is in not in pain before or during a race.

But I paid for the race and I don't want to lose my money.
Consider the time lost from training and exercise after you are rehabbing yourself to good health again. Time does not have a price tag. When you are injured you wish time would rush by so you can be back at it again. But when you are in good health you wish you had more time to enjoy the things you love. Consider next time to not register for a race until the day before, if possible. Decide if the price difference between registering early vs the day before is worth it when it comes to losing your money for early registration or having to not worry about losing anything by waiting until the day before a race and making the smart decision not to race.

But I invested so much time, money and energy in training for this race.
There should only be a handful of times in your racing career when you will need to make the call if the race is worth "it". Rather than involving your physical therapist, doctor, etc. all at once to magically heal you in x-weeks/days before a race, consider realistically if you really think that the odds are in your favor in that your team of magicians will heal you and allow you to race injury free and properly recover from the race. Realizing that even if you are experiencing an injury, there are ways to finish a race without doing more damage but you have to be realistic with your approach to racing with an injury. Consider the money for xrays, MRI's, physical therapy, time away from work and any other commitments or activities that may be affected with your decision to not race smart or to race in the first place.

But I think I am getting better. I'll just take it easy.
It's easy to get wrapped up in the race environment and not take it easy. Secondly, your definition of easy may be masked with pain relievers as you may be on the verge of healing but it will only take a matter of minutes or miles to put you back where you were before....if not worse. I have a two day rule. If you are experiencing an injury or pain, wait until you are 100% to assess your status if you should race or train again. Once you are 100%, wait two more days to be on the safe side. If you are 100% again after 2 days, you are good to go. If you are still questioning that lingering ache that won't go away or that is keeping your brain active thinking about whether or not you are healed or  not? Then you aren't ready to race or train again.

But I carbo-loaded or I am worried about my weight.
Simple. Consider not exercising for the next 2-3 months and that will answer your questions if it is really worth it to feel frustrated with your current diet routine or body image and to be even more disrespectful to your body by racing injured only to burn calories. How about thanking your body for all the good workouts OR if you have been struggling with injuries, consider evaluating whether you are eating to train or training to eat.

But I just really want to do it.
Really? Just for a t-shirt and a medal? Consider your racing career. Do you see yourself racing for the next 20 years or do you think only race by race...just trying to get yourself to the next starting line? Keep in mind that your body is impacted in some negative way, every time you take a chance racing or training with an injury. You can only take so many chances before you will experience long-term consequences for your actions. Sure, you  may be tough as nails and with a pain threshold that is unlike anyone else. Is it really worth it to explain to your family and friends that you are sad, depressed and emotionally drained that it was completely within your ability to take a few minutes to weigh the consequences  instead of coming up with a million excuses as to why you had  to do the race? Keep in mind that when you are injured, it affects everyone. Your family, your children, your pets, your boss/employees....everyone. There is a reason why you love doing what you do.

Your active lifestyle makes you feel amazing, healthy and well. Three things that can not be achieved with an injured body.

So, do you have time for an injury?
Make the right call. It's not worth it.