After spending the better part of last decade as a student of the sport of triathlon, it has become very apparent that I thoroughly enjoy sharing my wealth of knowledge with others. I have been incredibly lucky to learn from some of the best athletes and coaches in the sport. My knowledge, coupled with an innate desire to teach others, makes coaching the perfect fit for me. Coaching mixes two of my strongest passions, education and triathlon.
Karel and I had a dream in 2014 that we would both try to qualify for the 2015 Ironman World Championship at Ironman Wisconsin (2014). We planned out a season of race-cations including St. Croix 70.3 in May, Ironman Austria in June and then Ironman Wisconsin in September and made sure that our training had us peaking with top fitness come IMWI race day.
“Cross Training,” what is it? The simple definition of cross training is, simply put, training in activities that are different than your primary sport. Physiologically speaking, however..... “Physiological adaptations in response to physical training are highly specific to the nature of the training activity. Furthermore, the more specific the training program is to a given sport or activity, the greater the improvement in performance in that sport or activity.” - J.H. Wilmore, D.L. Costill, W.L. Kenney
In writing November's article on endurance tips, it was hard to narrow down to just a couple of items that would be the most bang for the buck, so to speak. Therefore, I decided to continue last month's theme and expound upon a few more components for great endurance.
For most endurance athletes, there comes a time each year when they are evaluating what is next on their calendar. Many athletes choose to just continue down the path of race, race, race, race, then the weather gets cold, so they do marathons, half marathons, and more race, race, race. At some point, the body is going to start to reject this mentality and regiment. Overtraining can cause a deep level of fatigue that only rest and time away from the sport can cure. This is where “offseason” comes into play.
After you have made some strength gains in the gym, the time is ideal to build sport specific power. The goal is for the strength gained in the gym to translate into added swim, bike, and run power. Here are some high resistance intervals you can do in the pool and on the roads to build strength and power for each of the three sports. As these intervals involve explosive movements, you should be warmed up before beginning them to reduce the risk of injury. The first time, just do one interval toward the end of your workout. Assess your body’s response to the first interval to determine how many you will do the next time, and gradually increase the number of intervals.
What zone am I in? What’s my cadence? How many calories have I burned so far? I bet I can catch that cyclist in front of me. OH WAIT, I’m not wearing my heart rate monitor! Slight panic sets in before a headwind blast off the Hudson snaps me out of it. Tri season is over. I’m not supposed to be “training.” My therapist said I need to practice simply enjoying my occasional ride to work. Appreciate the views along the Westside highway, gaze at the changing leaves in Riverside Park, ride around the pedestrians with patience rather than anger. OK, I’m not REALLY in therapy for my type-A, rigid, all-or-nothing personality, but I’m sure many of you can relate. Now that we are entering winter, especially in the Northeast, what is your off-season plan going to be?
