Your coach is watching you

It's easy to cut deals with yourself when you train alone. When no one is watching, you can go a little harder/easier when you feel like it and you can modify a workout based on your mood and energy. You can skip the parts of the workout that you don't like and you can add/shorten a workout based on what you feel makes you feel the best on that given day. Although coaches would like to assume that athletes follow training plans as written (with only necessary modifications applied based on time constraints and energy to ensure quality training), I think any athlete would agree that a group training environment (or having a coach with you when you train) forces athletes to give an effort that they wouldn't do on their own, not to mention complete the entire workout as planned. Seeing that training alone gives an athlete a tremendous amount of freedom to mentally check-out, modify or adjust a given workout as the athlete feels fit, you may find that you are limiting your athletic capabilities when training alone. An easy fix to this is to pretend like your/a coach is always supervising your workout.

Here are a few tips to bring to every training session.

-Show up "on time" -Don't cut the warm-up short

-Understand the workout purpose before you start the workout

-Don't make excuses

-Don't be afraid to fail

-Give your best effort, on that day

-Only compare yourself to a past version of you (not another athlete)

-Don't stop the workout until you complete the entire workout (unless you are sick, injured or form suffers)

Far too many athletes fail to reach their full athletic potential simply because they lack the motivation and discipline needed to execute well for every given workout. 

If you follow a training plan, it's important to not let yourself think that you know better than your coach and that it's ok to modify workouts based on what you feel like doing each day. 

It's important to trust your coach and trust your training plan as every workout (and week of training) has a clear purpose in your individual fitness journey. If your gut tells you that your training plan is not ideal for you, discuss with your coach before you begin to coach yourself by modifying your assigned training plan workouts. It's far too common that athletes will feel the need to do more intensity or volume thinking that the harder and longer you go, the fitter and faster you become. 

Sadly, this is not always true as specific workouts are needed at specific times in training. At Trimarni coaching, we focus on getting our athletes strong before we get them fast and then they are ready to go long. Too much volume and intensity will often lead to injuries or overtraining. 

A smart and well-laid training plan ensures development and proper physical adaptations to prepare your body and mind for race day.

Always give your best effort and hold yourself accountable to the work that needs to get done to help you get your fitness and health to where you want it to be by race day.

If you are interested in a Trimarni training plan, visit our website to learn more about our Olympic, half and full Ironman 20-week training plans. Every Trimarni training plan is designed to help you develop your skills and fitness to properly prepare for race day. We can assure you that you will never get bored with our workouts and you will be able to fit your training into your life as you prepare your body for your upcoming event. If you are in need (or love) triathlon education and are looking for a team environment (even if you train alone), consider joining our Performance Team with the purchase of your training plan. For only $50/month, you have access to our private Trimarni team Facebook page, Trimarni sponsor discounts, discount to our training camps and you receive a weekly educational "check-in" email (either as a handout or video) from Karel and myself. Every week we discuss an important topic that will help you become a smarter triathlete. Even if you join the Performance Team now, you still receive all past handouts (since December). Check-in topics already discussed include:

-Sport nutrition -Daily nutrition -Long run nutrition -Race day execution - olympic, half and full Ironman -Motivation -Bike skills - ex. riding in the wind

-Staying accountable to training -Swim skills -Planning a race-cation -Team approach to training -Training stress -Training metrics -Mobility -Sleep And more!

Train smart and enjoy the journey

Thank you to all the athletes who applied for 2015 Trimarni coaching! We reached our capacity before our deadline and we look forward to the opportunity to work with an amazing group of inspiring, motivating and hard-working age-group triathletes in 2015.

If you are interested in applying our coaching methodology to your training, we will be offering our NEW 8-week transition plan in the next few weeks, which features specific strength training exercises that will yield positive results in swim, bike, run fitness. The transition plan will also help you build a strong foundation as you work on form and skills.

We will also be offering the transition plan WITH our pre-built running and triathlon training plans.

Stay tuned!

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What comes to mind when you think of the word “smart” in relation to an athlete? Perhaps doing this well or perfect or being able to execute or not miss a workout? Well, certainly smart athletes are not perfect and are not necessarily the best at everything.

Smart athletes are patient, they do not rush the journey, the focus on the little things and they do not continually search for a better/quicker way. 

As a coach and age-group triathlete, it’s wonderful to see a rise in the number of race-seeking, active individuals. However, with a growing community of athletes, you may find yourself immersed in a triathlon or running-bubble with SO many tips, tricks and suggestions. I can honestly say that there are way too many "coaches" out there with way too much information available as to how to train "right". This doesn't mean there are way too many bad or unprofessional coaches as I feel there are many wonderful, caring and passionate coaches but certainly with so many experts comes a lot of "smart" ways to train. Seeing that there are many paths that one can take to get to the final destination, the ultimate goal for an athlete is to always determine the best road for your goals, your body and your lifestyle.

By knowing a coaches philosophy and how he/she coaches athletes, you will be able to identify the best coach for you in order to train "smart."

From the goal-focused newbie who is determined to cross a finish line with a smile, to the elite who race for bragging rights, prize money and podium awards, there’s no need to feel overwhelmed when it comes to taking the smartest road to success. 

Bottom line is that it’s important that your extremely active lifestyle is bringing you closer to your goals. Therefore, training for a race requires more than just checking off assigned workouts and finishing a workout with sweaty clothes and sore muscles.

Now a days, it seems like there are a lot of heavy exercisers out there who are training for races. The training is haphazard and the plan is not periodized or even favorable for optional performance goals. There are a lot of hours spent training that do not correlate to subpar race day performances.  There is a quick rush toward volume and there is little emphasis on strength training, recovery, sport nutrition and most importantly skills and form. 

When was the last time you fully rested your body before starting a training plan? And then, when was the last time you spent 4,6 or even 8 weeks perfecting your strength, form and skills before starting your "real" structured training?

Depending on how you answered these questions, do you think that you are doing things the "right" way or focusing too much on the end results instead of the journey?

There is a large number of athletes out there, of all fitness levels, that never take the time to create a solid foundation before training stress is applied. In other words, before you start decorating the house (the fun stuff) you must make sure the foundation is strong (which takes time and patience).

If there are two things that you should carry with you throughout your season (starting now), here are two that should always be on your mind: 

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. 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. There is no magic number of hours that you need to train a week to prepare for x-distance run race or triathlon. What's important is how you use your available hours. You must accept that the hours you have to spend on training are enough because any more hours would compromise sleep, diet, work productivity, family and social life. Periodize your season so that each phase builds on the last.
  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 regrets, 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. 

Happy Training!