Another tri season upon us, and I once again find myself in that situation of a race approaching and feeling behind in training. With the increased responsibilities in life each year, it certainly doesn't get any easier to fit things in. My passion for racing and this sport still remains strong however. This year should be particularly interesting. I am at an age now where physiologically I can still shoot for some PR’s, but the window is closing. I feel as strong as ever. I still don't feel like my strength is slipping. If I can muster up the time to train consistently and seriously enough, I may just turn in my fastest times this year. That's always motivating.
I'm recovering right now from a nasty flu, brought home by my son. Took five days of training out of me. I used to freak out when missing one workout, let alone five days of training. I've come to the realization that I, as well as most of the athletes I know and train, over freak about missing a day. Reality – if you have been training really well, you can miss up to 5 days before you see a performance decline. In fact, many times you'll feel stronger after a few days down. After training for so many years, as long as I eat well, I bounce back pretty quick from layoffs. Bizarre how last weekend, I did a four hour ride around Lake Warmaug on some very good hills and it felt quite easy, and then Sunday, I ran my Sunday run route which is challenging, to say the least, and that felt easy also. Monday comes around and I get the flu.
On a few of the nicer days of cycling thus far this year, I'd picture myself in what has become one of my favorite annual events – The Vermont Ride. If you are interested in doing this ride, send me an e-mail. I don't know when it will be yet this year. It has become extremely popular, so be ready to ride when the call comes in. There is some criteria that needs to be met in order to join the Vermont Ride, much of which has nothing to do with how fast you are. I like to keep the group to around 9 athletes. And oh yeah, there is rookie initiation.
Racing – I'm often asked why I don't race more frequently. I usually select a few big races each season. My weekends are extremely valuable, and I’ll weigh whether quality training or a local race will benefit me more towards my A priority races. Most of the time, the quality training wins out in a landslide. This is one of the biggest mistakes I see athletes make throughout the year. It’s not a mistake if they don't get frustrated from an “OK” performance at their A race. But if you get disappointed from under performing at your big races, maybe you should look at your prioritizing. This is especially true when training for an IM.
Cycling – the majority of triathletes need to focus more specifically on what their sport, triathlon, requires during racing, and train for that. I too often see on long rides, which is one of the key weekly workouts, triathletes riding a pace line, sprinting for a bit then settling in at an easy effort, jamming up the hills then spinning easy on the downhills and flats. This is great if you are training for a long bicycle race. But as a triathlete, the focus needs to be more on a consistent, steady effort in the aero position. A triathlete once mentioned to me, after I commented on his riding “technique”, that he was “a roadie at heart”. Give me a break. I asked him why he was doing tri’s then, and not road racing. Technically – I'm a bike tech weenie. I love the technology associated with cycling. A bicycle, in my opinion, is a work of art and one of the coolest pieces of sports equipment available. However, training is most important, then nutrition, then fit, then equipment. Wind tunnel testing on equipment shows benefits really only above 25mph. Work on getting a comfortable, aero position. Then, if you have cash to burn, you can get a disc wheel. But 90% of the triathletes out there would probably be better off with a light weight set of deep rim carbon wheels over a disc.
I had a chance to catch up on some Internet sites while I was down and out last week. It’s funny how trendy triathlon is. I was reading about one coach/pro triathlete and his mega training regimen and was amazed how many people were following him. It’s very important to read things with an open mind and not put too much weight into any one prescribed training theory these days. There are so many apparent experts out there that we can second-guess our training methods daily! Will the mega aerobic mileage, just get out and train regimen work? Certainly, if you have over 20 hours each week to train and lots of time for sleep and recovery. But at the end of the week, you need to feel satisfied about what you did. I would think that the majority of triathletes out there, with other priorities like work, family and friends would feel a lot better about getting in quality training without taking major time away from these other priorities. I know that when I put in a few major weeks of training building up to an Ironman, I always felt neglectful, which leads to dissatisfaction. I still believe the key is to figure out how much time you can realistically give to certain priorities of your life and then be do the very best you can with that given time.
I’m looking forward to Lake Placid in late July. It’s become a fun annual trip. If anyone hasn’t witnessed this race, make the trip up there. Go a few days before and train on the course a bit. I thought it would be more difficult to spectate this race, meaning, I thought I’d be jonesing to race on race day. Don't get me wrong, it’s still hard to “just” spectate, and I will race there again one day, but it’s fun to be on the support side. Plus there is some good beer to drink, while all the competing trigeeks are nervous and getting to bed early the night before.
Speaking of pre-race nerves, why is it that we overanalyze every little detail in the few days preceding a race, and how it may effect us on race day? Yet, we don’t give too much thought about what we are eating or doing the day before a Saturday six hour planned session. Sure, you want to take every precaution to make sure everything goes well race day, but sometimes you do everything right and you still don’t feel that great on race day. My point is to still do the things to set yourself up for a great race, but don’t sweat over them. I think the mental stress places a higher toll on us on race day then what we ate (within reason) the day before.
Connecticut Camp is in a week and a half and I’m excited about that. I wish everyone had the opportunity to partake in this camp at least once. I realize it is expensive, but it is just a very cool experience. One of those things that you have reservations about signing up for at first, and then, while at camp, you think “man, am I glad I did this”.
I enjoy the discussions lately on the board about motivation and why it is we do this sport. Let’s keep this board rolling. Maybe we’ll figure it out one day, but in the mean time, all this shared message board info I’m sure is helping one person or another in some way.
Keep on training!
EH
