Triathlon is Important, but so is LIFE

What does a fledgling professional triathlete do after his last race of the season?

He does NOT go on vacation to an exotic tropical island.
He does NOT kick back and spend time on the couch.
He DOES throw himself into his coaching business and programs.
He DOES spend more time with his wife and family.
He DOES get a little bit more sleep at night.
He IS less grumpy and tired than normal.
He DOES enjoy life and play some Settlers of Catan.

Leading into Austin 70.3 I spent some time evaluating where I was at and whether I was on the right track to accomplish the goals I have set for myself. For the last two years I coached myself and am very much glad I did. It was a great "experiment," and I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know my body better and learning to fall back in love with the sport. I made some big gains in my swimming to where I'm a pretty consistent 26:xx swimmer over 1.2 miles. I'm severely lacking in the bike department though and have yet to produce the 13.1 mile run off the bike that I think I'm capable of.

Before Austin 70.3 I was talking to a  few people about coaching for 2015 and after the race I made the decision to work with Kurt Perham, over at PBM Coaching. I'd run across Kurt, at a collegiate development camp after Age Group Nationals a few years ago and liked his personality from my brief interaction with him. We talked a few times on the phone and I was impressed by his perspective on sport and life. He's a level 3 USAT coach and coaches other elite triathletes and cyclocross racers and I've seen the results his athletes produce. He has the scientific background knowledge which I respect but he doesn't want his athletes to be governed by their watch and power meter.

Ten weeks into training with Kurt, and I am absolutely loving the routine of training and the freedom it's brought me to focus on the other things I have going on every day. I'm looking forward to each workout instead of second guessing myself whether I should do more or less. The problem with self-coaching is that as an athlete, we are very emotionally involved with what we're doing and each workout can become a bit of a roller coaster. Removing that stressor and placing it on someone else has free'd me up to think quite a bit less and just "get the work done."

Rainy Saturday's call for the local garage group ride

Even though I feel like I'm training quite a bit less than I was in January last year I am way more CONSISTENT than I was at this point last year. Because I don't feel like I have been doing much training I am itching for my and chomping at the bit to work hard and push myself. In Kurt's own words, "that's a powerful place to be as an athlete." This time last year I was putting in a lot of volume but I was also very tired and barely hanging on each day. That's not a good place to be in mid-January when my last race of the year is in late October. On top of that, I'm actually swimming, biking and running as good or better than I was at this time last year! So basically... I'm in better shape, I'm stronger, my body is fresher and I want to do more!

Along with the better adjusted training load and mental release from thinking about it, I have much more going on in my business and professional life that actually inspires me to work harder. Every day I am hands on with anywhere from 30-50 athletes coaching them in the water, at the track or on the bike. As I work with these athletes and preach to them that they must pursue excellence every day it inspires me to lead by example in my own life. If I demand excellence from my athletes on a daily basis why shouldn't I demand excellence of myself? Many people may not realize it, but I'm inspired every day when I work with moms, dads and students who are juggling school, family and a business but also have made a commitment to health and fitness in their own life.

We all have busy lives balancing family, school, work and many other things. I have an immense respect for people who place their marriage, family and work as their first priority but also value their own health and fitness. I'm at the point in my life where I admire and respect the commitment level of the athletes I coach more than the fellow professional athletes I line up against on race day!

It's looking like my first half of the race season will be very similar to last year:

March 15- Monterrey 70.3
April 19- NOLA 70.3
May 3- Tri-Tyler Half
May 25- Captex Olympic

I'm extremely excited about this year and all the opportunities and changes ahead. I hope to see many of you on the roads and at the races. Remember to enjoy the journey, love your family and work hard.  Thank you for inspiring me to the best I can be on a daily basis.

Austin 70.3 Race Report Part 1: The Build Up

I don’t usually do full, lengthy race reports but after the “Guess my bike split” competition I feel I owe it to those who participated to give them some insight into my race and the training that led up to that performance.

After a lot of down time in June and July while I was getting my business ready for our fall programs I got back to some decent training in August. This was derailed when I crashed at a weekly Tueday night group ride and sustained a concussion. I took a bit more time off, raced a couple times and dropped out of a few races. It was very hit or miss as I was listening trying to listen to my body and not push too hard. It was about 6 weeks before I felt “back to normal” and wasn’t getting any headaches or feeling occasional nausea after a hard workout or race.  At this point I knew I was still in decent shape just from staying active and I had the itch to race but wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to a 70.3 distance. Finally, about 4 weeks out from Austin I decided to do it since A) It’s so close, and B) I’d paid the Ironman pro membership for the year but only raced 3 times so I would actually lose money on the year if I didn’t do a 4^th race. So I signed up.

With only four weeks to prepare I did a few key sessions a week but didn’t try to overload my body too much. I’d had decent results at a few events this fall with minimal training and knew I was better off going to the line a little underprepared but fresh. In those four weeks I did FOUR longer(ish) rides of 50-65 miles. Each of those included 60-90 min of race pace intervals at 245-260 watts. They varied between 15 min, 10 min and 20 min efforts with a 45min tempo the weekend before. Each of those rides I got a bit stronger and though my ride time stayed at 2:50-3:05 for every one, my TSS increased by about 10 for each ride.

For running I did TWO longer(ish) runs during the build up. Once of them was a 13.3 mile run at 7:30 average and a couple breaks because I was running with a group. The other was an 8 mile tempo run at 5:47 pace that came out to a little over 11 miles after warm up and cool down. I also did one hill repeat workout and one speed workout on the treadmill (8x3 min efforts on 1min rest). I knew my heart and lungs were strong but wasn’t sure if I’d fizzle at mile 10 of the run due to lack of volume.

For swimming I swam 2-3 times a week with masters. Never more than 9000 yards in a week but my times were still good and I was confident I would be fine in the water.

The weekend before Austin I did a 50 mile ride with a 48 min tempo at 282 NP on rough, hilly roads. I felt strong and smooth and was hoping I could hold 260-265 for 56 miles in Austin.  After that ride I got off the bike and ran 5 miles at 6:05 pace. I didn’t feel great on that run but I didn’t feel terrible and I knew there was nothing more I could do.

As race day approached I was confident and excited to give my best effort for the fitness I had on that day. A lot of people have asked me what I thought my bike split was going to be. I wasn’t totally sure and obviously I didn’t care what it was if I hit my power numbers. I’d worked with Ryan, over at Best Bike Split to do some modeling and based on my goal power and we were getting a split of around 2:19 for holding 263 watts NP. I was thinking I could go somewhere around there and even if I rode a little slower I would hopefully come in around 2:20-2:21 still.

Training Tip Tuesday #15- The Run Workout Edition

Last week we talked about running. This week the discussion continues with some of my favorite, and I think, most beneficial running workouts. Each run has a time and place of the year that it is most appropriate but that differs for each athlete and what race they are preparing for.

Overspeed
Purpose: neurological firing, turnover and fiber recruitment
Interval: 30, 40 or 60 seconds.
Pace: Roughly 1 mile race pace or even faster
Recovery: Equal rest to the work interval. So- :30 on/:30 off, :40/:40, etc. Though sometimes I may change up the recovery as an athlete gets more fit.
Reps: 10-20
Summary: These are best done on a treadmill but a track can also be used. If you're using a treadmill then make sure and set it at 1.5% grade to offset for wind resistance. I like to leave the treadmill belt running and just hop off and straddle the side.
DISCLAIMER: Be careful hopping on and off the treadmill. You don't want this to be you-


Long Tempo
Purpose: Both mental and physical strength, aerobic conditioning
Interval: 30-60 minutes
Pace: Roughly 20-45sec slower than your open half marathon pace.
Recovery: There is none
Reps: 1
Summary: This is a long, aerobic tempo run to help you develop stamina and practice maintaining a strong pace for a long time. It's mentally challenging as much as it is physical. I usually warm up 10-20minutes, do a few drills and strides then get down to business. This can also be done as part of a long  as you usually accumulate a good amount of mileage during this workout. Don't try to race this workout. The point isn't to run as fast as you can it's to run an extended time at a hard but sustainable effort.

800's
Purpose: Anaerobic tolerance
Interval: 800 (or a distance that gets you roughly 2:30-4minutes of running)
Pace: Hard. Ok, actually like 5k pace
Recovery: 1-2min between reps
Reps: 4-8
Summary: I associate these workouts with pain. Pure, un-adultured pain. In this case pain leads to faster running though so I'm all for it. This is the kind of workout you do as you are approaching a key sprint or Olympic distance race. It teaches your body to tolerate (or possibly reject) large amounts of lactate which we need to do for running a hard 5k or 10k off the bike.
DISCLAIMER: Not responsible for any vomiting, wrenching, soiling of ones pants or accidental urination.

Hills
Purpose: To make you stronger and create more suffering
Interval: 100m (20sec) all the way up to 1mile or around 5-6minutes.
Pace: Whatever gets you to the top
Recovery: To the bottom
Reps: 4-12
Summary: Short ones, tall ones, steep ones, long ones. Hills are good for you. Most people don't like them but I actually love hill repeats! They are excellent for building strength and a secret way to get speed work in without the same risk of injury as running on the track. Triathlon isn't so much about pure speed when running it's about strength running on tired legs. Depending on the time of year and the races coming up I'll do anywhere from 20sec hill repeats to 4ish minutes. A grade of 6-8% is ideal but you can also use a treadmill. Hill sprints are similar to overspeed and long ones can be similar to mile repeats or 1200's. The difference is that you usually have a full recovery because of the jog to the bottom. This makes longer hill reps a VO2max type workout. Many people run hills on their long runs and think they're getting the benefit but it's not the same as truly running as hard as you can to the top of something tall, turning around and doing it again. Maybe you could do something like this-



These are just a few of the workouts I do throughout the year but all of them have a place in my program and in those of the athletes I coach. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions about how to execute any of these workouts properly. Run strong!

Training Tip Tuesday #14- Once a Runner

Winter is an excellent time to work on your running. While biking on ice and snow isn't particularly safe and sitting on the trainer for 4 hours isn't especially appealing, it's relatively easy to pop out the door for a 30 minute run even with snow on the ground and sub freezing temperatures. For myself, I absolutely love running during this time of year. Here in Texas, the mornings are often just cool enough for a long sleeve and gloves. The cold crisp air is so refreshing and nothing starts the day right like a good run as the sun starts to peak over the horizon.

I think a lot of time we take the wrong approach to running during this time of year. In this post give some pointers on how to structure your run training to lead to a better, faster, healthier run in 2014. I've come up with a few basic guidelines that I follow during my winter running.

Increase frequency before duration
Running is a skill. Just like anything in life, if you want to get better at doing something you need to do it more. But running MORE doesn't have to mean running longer. In fact, as Matt Dixon talks about in this article- http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2014/01/07/winter-miles-summer-smiles there is a lot of fatigue and musculoskeletal stress that comes with completing a "long run" year round. I'd encourage you to read Matt's article as he is one of the best coach's in the business and knows his stuff. If you are already running three times a week for 30 minutes then instead of increasing to 40 minutes each run try to add a 4th run of 30 minutes on a different day. More advanced athletes may run twice a day some days. Two runs of 45 minutes each still equals 90 minutes of running in a day but you stay fresher and run with better form and quality. One thing I do with some some of my high school runners who are prepping for track season is have them do an easy "shakeout" run in the morning of 20-30minutes. This run is very, very easy and I'll often have them do some light drills and strides to open up their hips and prepare their body for a hard workout in the evening. This is a common practice with many cross country programs.

Emphasize technique
Many people don't realize how important technique is in running. We know it's important in the pool because we see that 50 year old, overweight, former collegiate swimmer jump in the lane next to us and start knocking out 1:05 100's. Coach's have come up with all sorts of catch phrases over the year to cue their athletes into certain aspects of running technique- "run tall," "hips forward," "pump your arms." Ever heard those before? It's easy to forget technique though when you're at mile 24 of the marathon and you just want a hamburger and something soft to lay down on. This time of year is the time to work on technique so that it becomes habit and you don't HAVE to think about it when you're grinding out 20 milers in the death of summer. I like to have my athletes do lots of drill work during this time of year. I have a few different videos I've found that give good instruction on how to properly perform a variety of drills. I've shared the one with Lauren Fleshman before which you can see in my top 10 tips to supercharge your offseason. Here's another one I like to use also from another well known runner.




Most of these drills are fairly basic and if you find yourself struggling to complete them then… you know what to work on! As we run we want to have a  quick ground reaction time and running drills will help you feel light and bouncy. Plus, you may learn some sweet moves you can break out on the dance floor.

Run really, really fast
Similar to the plyometric training we talked about with running economy, running very fast for a short duration can help you run more efficiently. Short sprints of 10-30 seconds in length with a full recovery aren't long enough to accumulate lactate or cause your form to break down because of fatigue. Instead they will engage your neurological system and help you recruit all sorts of lovely muscle fibers. You can do these sprints on the track, a grass field, the road or a treadmill. You can do them on flat, up a hill or even down hill. A simple set of 10x :30 on/:30 off will do wonders for your leg speed and turn over.. Just make sure you are fully warmed up and build into the efforts before you try to lay down some mad 100m speed. I learned my lesson last year when I got a bit carried away on some 100's (I love sprinting) and left my calves in knots for weeks. (On a side note- I've discovered that my calves are much less susceptible to getting tight when I am strength training regularly. I believe this to be because my core and hips are most stable while running so I'm not putting as much stress on my lower legs).

Run really, really slow
No, I'm not contradicting myself here. I recommend that the vast majority of your running during this time be done at a very slow pace. If you're not doing drills, strides or specific overspeed work then keep the runs easy and at a conversational pace. Like Matt talks about- think about our form while running and don't have any "bad footsteps." Many, many people I see get carried away while running and every run ends up being a tempo. They don't realize it but they want to "get a good workout in" and so they slowly ramp up the pace every run and end it breathing hard and feeling accomplished. The problem is they may have just sacrificed their form and not really accomplished anything. It may be a struggle because your overall training volume is lower and you're not fatigued from hard workouts. That's ok. Enjoy the feeling of running easy and feeling fresh. It's ok to pick it up occasionally if you're feeling especially frisky but don't turn every run into a Z2/Z3 tempo run.

It will be time to start running some hard workouts soon enough so enjoy this time of year to increase your frequency, work on your technique and get some pop in your step. I'll be happy to challenge anyone in a dance-off consisting as long as it consists only of running drills

Training Tip Tuesday #13: The 6 Million Dollar Year

It's a new year. That means new plans, new goals, new ambitions. Here in America we are really, really good at goal setting. We love to make plans about how we're going to improve, what we're going to do better and the incredible new breakthroughs we're going to have! The problem is that the actual work required to reach those goals isn't as fun and grandiose as the idea is. Before you think I'm pointing fingers here I'll be the first to admit that I struggle with this as much as the next person. The process of coming up with ideas and planning new things is FUN. No work is required yet! It's the working at it that sucks.

Many of us are told from a very young age to "dream big," "shoot for the stars," that we can be "anything we want to be." Others of us maybe didn't receive such encouragement as youths but we've developed big goals and dreams for ourselves along the way. We always want improve and make ourselves into a better version of ourselves, that's the whole goal of triathlon right? To get better, stronger, faster than before. I mean… we HAVE the technology.



The Ironman motto is- "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE," and we try to embody that in our every day lives by constantly attempting the impossible. (Then immediately blogging about it and instagraming all the photos we took).

Well I'm not here to discount that or rain on any parade. However, as we think about next year and begin planning our season I want to explore the idea that maybe we don't need to do anything incredible or drastically different to get better. Maybe we don't have to have 1700 followers on twitter or 89 likes on our Facebook post to be a success. Maybe we don't need to take our training to a whole new level or do anything radically different.

Success in endurance sport is usually marked by quiet, consistent hard work. Whether you're a fan of WWE wrestling or not (I'll come right out and say it- I'm not), this quote by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson sums up the point I'm trying to get across quite nicely-

"Success isn't always about "greatness,' it's about consistency. Consistent, hard work garners success. Greatness will come."

My goal this year is to be the best triathlete I can be. I want to be successful. I have big goals, big dreams and big aspirations. But one thing I've realized is that success in triathlon doesn't come from one incredible workout or one amazing session. It comes from consistent and quiet dedication to the task at hand. I don't need to do anything crazy. I just need to show up, day in and day out.

So my goal for this next year isn't just to win races or qualify for the world championship. It's to be consistent, maybe quiet at times, but to get the work done.

A Bible verse that I've been reflecting on a lot lately is 1st Thessalonians 4:11-

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands…"

I don't really like minding my own business or being quiet but maybe it's something I should work on.

So here's to 2014. Here's to big dreams and a strong work ethic. Here's to quiet, unassuming dedication to excellence. Here's to your best season yet and the fruition of your labor. Nothing crazy, nothing new. Here's to getting the work done.

Training Tip Tuesday #8- A Look at Running Economy: Part 2

Last week we discussed what (the deuce) running economy is and why it is an important marker for endurance performance. Being able to use our precious oxygen in the most economical way possible is extremely advantageous whether we be racing sprint triathlons or Ironman. Originally I was going to talk about how we can improve RE this week but after further review of the material I've decided to extend this discussion one more week. This week I'll be covering some of the various biomechanical, physiological and anthropometric characteristics that effect RE. This doesn't necessarily mean you should start employing an intervention method to enhance RE. It's simply a sampling of variables that effect RE. NEXT week I'll talk about specific interventions that might help you improve yours. There is one in particular that is easy to implement and carries a host of benefits. Below, I've highlighted a few of the interesting and relevant factors effecting RE. Once again, the Saunders article is my primary source along with some confirmation from various other articles.



Anthropometric Characteristics

I'll place my bet on skinny calves all day long

Since none of us have control over how tall we are, how wide our pelvis is or the size of our feet I'll brush over these factors relatively quickly. The biggest take away is that less body mass on the extremities is conducive to better RE. Small calves are better than big calves when it comes to running fast. This is also part of the reason we wear lighter weight shoes in racing. Less mass at the extremities means less effort to move that mass and less oxygen required.

Physiological Factors

It's generally accepted that a higher percentage of slow-twitch muscle fibers is associated with better RE. We'll touch on this more next week when we discuss specific interventions to improve RE but more running results in an increase in oxidative mechanisms and enzymes. From the Saunders et al., article- "An increase in the respiratory capacity of skeletal muscle permits trained runners to use less oxygen per mitochondrial respiratory chain a given sub maximal running speed." Quite a mouthful I know but the takeaway is this- improving our aerobic energy system makes us more economical.

Stride length

Research has shown that RE is best with a self-selected stride length during running. That is, RE gets worse when subjects consciously tried to shorten or lengthen their stride different from how they normally stride when running. I don't think this has to mean that we should never try to adjust our stride. Most of these studies were done on well trained individuals running at a speed of 8-10 mph (7:30-6:00 min/mile pace. For a well trained runner that is a fairly relaxed pace and they have undoubtedly run hundreds and hundreds of miles at that pace and become very economical. Below we'll discuss the difference between over striding and heel striking. I believe that correcting over striding is a good thing. There is also a difference in whether our stride length comes from in front of us or behind us. If you aren't already running sub 7:00 or 6:00 min/mile pace for a half marathon than don't completely throw the idea of adjusting stride length out the window.

Footstrike

Oddly enough, HEEL STRIKERS were found to have better RE than forefoot strikers! Utterly shocking and utterly conflicting with what is the current day trend of forefoot running. Personally, I don't think HOW the foot hits is the ground is quite as important as WHERE it hits the ground in relation to our center of mass. I will try not to climb on too much of a soap box here but I definitely think this point deserves note. There is a difference between heel striking and over striding. Over striding is bad, heel striking isn't necessarily bad.  I don't think the issue of over striding should be fixed by focusing on what part of our foot touches the ground first but where the foot touches the ground. Many elite runners are known to be heel strikers and I know of at least one extremely successful triathlon coach who actually tries to coach his athletes to become heel strikers.  It's a point worth considering anyways.

Flexibility

No consensus was found on this issue. Some studies found that improved hip flexion and extension resulted in improvement in RE. Many others have found that poor flexibility actually resulted in better RE. This is thought to be due to better elastic return of energy because of stiffer joints, muscles and tendons. My personal belief is that there is an appropriate level of flexibility and that each person is different. Some people are naturally quite flexible and don't need specific stretching exercises to stay that way. Others, I think, can benefit from stretching muscles around the hip that allow them to have full range of motion during their running stride. If tight hip flexors are preventing you from extending fully at the toe off phase of your run stride then you might benefit from stretching your hip flexors.


I want to be careful in mentioning these various variables that coerce to generate running economy. Many of them might seem contradictory. For instance- if a self selected stride length is best then why might flexibility and increased hip extension improve my RE? None of what I've outlined above are interventions that should be taken to augment RE. I will cover that next week. In the meantime I wanted to paint a broader picture of the issue in hopes of eliciting better understanding. Another confounding is that each individual is different with a different physiological, anthropometrical (I just feel really smart typing that word) and biomechanics make up. Even among elite runners there is a wide discrepancy in stride mechanics, muscle fiber type and flexibility. My goal is to educate and elicit thought.

ipsa scientia potestas est

Knowledge itself is power

Training Tip Tuesday #7- A Look at Running Economy: Part 1

Ahhh running economy. That elusive, mystic enigmatic variable we have heard reference to but aren't quite sure exactly what it means. We shall attempt to delve into the intricacies of this nebulous term and hopefully come out better informed and wiser on the other side. In this post I will do my best to explain the definition of running economy, what it measures and the implications thereof.

Much of the information on running economy I will present today comes from a review article titled, "Factors Affecting Running Economy in Trained Distance Runners (Saunders, Pyne, Telford & Hawley 2004)." In their article, Saunders et al., summarizes the information on running economy gathered from over 100 pieces of literature. For the purposes of this post I will be mainly referring to the Saunders, piece. If you have questions about the other sources and references please feel free to contact me and I will be happy to provide the references for you.

What the deuce is running economy, you ask? Well, allow me- "Running economy (RE) is typically defined as the energy demand for a given velocity of sub maximal running." Say whaaa???? To put it more simply, running economy is essentially how much oxygen we use to run at a given speed. RE is measured at a much lower speed than maximal intensity because it's not very applicable to see how efficient we are with oxygen while sprinting. The reasons for this are 1) because sprinting 100m has little to do with the aerobic energy system and 2) because we don't sprint a 5k, 10k or marathon off the bike. It is much more applicable to find out how efficient we are with oxygen while running 10k pace or half marathon pace than running 4:00 minute pace for 200 meters.

An example protocol for testing RE would be to have all subjects perform a 10min run at 8 mph (7:30 pace). During this run the subjects VO2 and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) would be measured. (RER shows what percentage of fat versus carbohydrate our body is using for fuel. An RER of 1.00 reflects 100% carbohydrate utilization to fuel the working muscles). Having better running economy basically means that we need less oxygen to run at a given intensity. I don't know about you but I'm all for conserving every spare O2 molecule I have when I'm racing hard trying to beat the fellow next to me.

This helpful little graph from the Saunders paper shows how two elite level runners can have nearly identical values for their VO2max but have drastically different running economy (and different 10k times).

With RE it isn't about how fast or how far you can go, or how high your VO2max is, It's about how efficiently you can use the resources (oxygen) you have while running at a given intensity.

This is important because racing is all about efficiency. The goal of a race is to get to the finish line as fast as we can. Now, if we can conserve energy by being more… dare I say economical? This will allow us to go faster at the same level of effort.

To put it another way- lets say my "threshold" intensity is 50 mL of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (mL/kg/min) and I can run 7:30 pace at this intensity. If I can improve my running economy so that I only have to use 45 mL/kg/min of oxygen to go 7:30 pace, that means that I can now bump my intensity back up to 50 mL/kg/min (my threshold) but I'm now running 7:15 pace instead of 7:30 pace. I'm running at the same intensity but my pace is faster at that intensity because I'm more economical That means I'm going faster and more likely to beat you!!

Hopefully this exiguous attempt at analyzing running economy was somewhat enlightening and didn't confuse the issue more. Next week I'll discuss ways we can improve running economy. In the meantime feel free to chime in with comments, questions, complaints or disagreements you may have.

Until next time!

Saunders, P. U., Pyne, D. B., Telford, R. D., & Hawley, J. A. (2004). Factors affecting running economy in trained distance runners. Sports Medicine, 34(7), 465-485.

Training Tip Tuesday #3- Define "Offseason" (And Why It's Important)

As a precursor to what will follow in the rest of this post I'd like to say that most of us generally consider the offseason to be the time around the holidays in October/November/December when Christmas cheer and many delectable drinks and desserts are abundant. If you're the kind of athlete that trains pretty consistently year round from January until whenever your last race is in October then yes, this time of year is and NEEDS to be your offseason.

IF however, your someone that took a fairly extended break earlier in the year because of work commitments, injury, lack of motivation, or you were too busy building a backyard spaceship-

Then you've already had your offseason. It's perfectly fine to keep training through the winter if you had an extended summer of not training. The offseason doesn't have to be the same time of year for everyone but it's important that it occurs at some point. Many people have 2-4 offseasons unplanned offseasons throughout the year as they take a break between races or focus on other areas of life and that's perfectly ok. It can be intentional or completely unintentional. The important thing is that you come out of it rested, recharged and ready for more tri fever.

I thought about trying to come up with my own clever and unique definition for the word, "offseason." Unfortunately, I'm not very clever even if somewhat unique, and so I decided to stick with what's tried and true and rely on old Merriam for his (her?) explanation-

Offseason- "a time of suspended or reduced activity; especially :  the time during which an athlete is not training or competing."

Pretty succinct I'd say. No racing or training is what constitutes the groundwork for a fulfilling offseason. The importance of this time of year cannot be underestimated. Bernard Lagat, (Never heard of him? 2-time Olympic medalist in the 1500, 5 time world champion, American record holder in the 1500, 3000 and 5000. Yeah, the guy is fast.)

 takes 5 weeks off every year. I repeat- Bernard Lagat takes 5 weeks off every year. 5 weeks of absolutely zero activity other than running up and down the sidelines at soccer games for his kids. 

In the era we live in where less is no longer more but more is more it can be very difficult for driven triathletes to take some down town. Will you lose fitness? More certainly you will- Article about losing fitness, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We don't see Lagat freaking out about his VO2max dropping by a few points. No, we just see him enjoying some down time then getting back to kicking butt the next year after he gets back in shape. It's impossible to maintain a high level of fitness year round so don't try!

As triathletes we are always looking for a new goal, deciding what weaknesses to work on in this offseason, selecting races for next year (heck, a lot of us are already REGISTERED for races next year since they sell out so fast). The point is that we have a hard time really taking a step back and forgetting about triathlon for awhile. We jump from triathlon season, to marathon season, to technique focus back to tri season. It's just too much and the overall quality and focus of the regular season will suffer as a result.

I'm just as guilty. I still have one race left this year but I've already started thinking about how I'm going to do better NEXT year, and train even HARDER and go even FASTER. I have to reign myself in and stay in the moment. I used to be petrified of the offseason. I just couldn't stand the work I wasn't doing to get better. But I was always shocked at how amazing I felt when I started training again in January after an extended Christmas break. I had boundless energy while training, I wasn't dog tired (yet) and my body wasn't worn down by a long season. I had forgotten what it felt like to feel good and feeling good felt good!

Especially if your last race wasn't exactly what you hoped it would be it can be hard to let it go and still take a break. You want to get back to work immediately so that you never have a poor result like that again and can rectify the problems that caused such a terrible race. Don't do it. Resist the urge. Turn your back and run, no- walk slowly- in the other direction. Your body and mind will thank you.

Training Tip Tuesday #2: Approach the Line With Confidence

The irony of me writing this advice after the worst race I’ve had in quite some time is not lost on me. However, the rational still stands true- we have to approach the starting line confident that we will give everything we have to give that day and come out with a good result.  The last big race of the year can be very foreboding. It’s the accumulation of many, many weeks and months of preparation. On the other side of this relatively small snapshot in time is the offseason. A bleak period with long, dark, cold nights, no training or immediate race in sight and only the final memories of our last race of the year and what experience that brought us. That’s a scary thought and especially if our “A” race has us lining up against some of the best in the world it’s not a very comforting one.

Here are a couple tips I’ve found to be very helpful when facing a big race:

11)   Treat it like just another race. By this point in the season you’ve probably raced at least once or twice already. Some of us may have competed 10 or more times while maybe others have only done a few local races. Nonetheless, you’ve been through the routine, you’ve lost your bike in transition, you’ve waited in those long porta-pottie lines, maybe you’ve even forgotten something absolutely crucial like bike shoes (or insoles- true story, I did that last year), goggles or a water bottle. In summary- this ain’t your first rodeo. If you think of the big race just like any other race you’ve done- that is, maybe you don’t think about it too much, then there’s no reason to get worked up about it and you won’t have to combat those energy draining nerves.

22)   Look back over your training log from the year. Hopefully you keep some sort of record of the training you do throughout the year. If not well… I’ll address that in a different post. If you do have a log then get it out and start flipping through the year you’ve had. You’ve come many, many miles since the start of this season. You’ve probably had way more early mornings than you wanted and suffered a lot more in sessions than you originally planned to. Sure, there are some blank days in there and times you completely bombed the workout but let your eyes gloss over those and key in on the successful days you’ve had. Look at how you’ve knocked out some really good days of training even when you were tired. Recognize the strength you’ve shown grinding through sessions and sometimes even smashing them despite being fatigued. Draw on all of that for confidence and know that the hard work just doesn’t go away. You can execute on race day just like you’ve executed in countless training sessions.

33)   Know that all you can do is do your best. As cliché as it sounds to just “do your best,” it really stands true when it comes to racing. Pre-race anxiety comes because we are comparing ourselves to our competition or a time standard. If you remove all expectation of performance and just determine to give your best effort on the day then there is no need to be anxious. You KNOW you can push yourself hard because you’ve done it in training. You know what pain is, you know adversity, none of those things are new and you’ve triumphed already countless times in your daily training and life. A race is just another chance to give the best effort you’re capable of and push yourself as hard as you can.

44)   Be grateful for the opportunity to race. The physical talents we have are a blessing and the ability to do a triathlon should not be taken for granted. Many people race for a cause or after having overcome cancer or another disease. What a great reminder of how blessed we are to be fit and well enough to compete.

55)   Celebrate. Racing is a chance to express the hard work you’ve done. Treat the race as a celebration of your health, your fitness and the journey you’ve had along the way. We spend most of our time on that journey and racing is just a chance to commemorate all the good (and miserable) times we’ve had along the way.

So good luck with whatever races you have left this year. Relish the opportunities you’re given. Seize the day and have fun!!