Show up and support the local tri-geeks!

On March 3, 2008 Masters Athlete Magazine named the top 10 triathlon places for adults over 30 to live, train and compete:

• Boulder, CO
• San Luis Obispo, CA
• San Diego, CA
• Austin, TX
• Tucson, AZ <-- I can vouch for this one... I live here :-)
• Kailua-Kona, HI
• Twin Cities, MN
• Clermont, FL
• Lake Placid, NY
• Chicago, IL

They used a point rating scale of 20 and while none was perfect, Boulder almost was. They based the ranking on climate, terrain, training facilities, events and the number of local tri-geeks.

• Training Partners
• Coaching
• Professional bike fitting
• Focus on weak sports
• Nutrition
• Recovery and rest
• Planning
• Hydration
• Eating while training and racing
• Staying in the Now
• Affirmations
• Mixing it up with cross-training such as Yoga

I recommend making some S.M.A.R.T. goals to help you achieve your first or fastest triathlon.
SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based.

For me the triathlon is not a sport, it’s a lifestyle. I have balanced my life around it. At this time, my relationship and work take a higher priority. For others, family will top the list. You will have to determine for yourself how much time or what sacrifices you’ll make to
achieve your goal. Being single at the time, I could devote the 30-40 hours a week it takes to train for an Ironman distance. Of course I had other interests, some to stimulate my mind and other activities to calm it. I can’t emphasize enough that for me it’s a spiritual, mental, physical and social lifestyle.

Triathlon Training Tools

• A Journal or Log with pencil, to keep track of where you’ve been and where you can go. To avoid injury it’s important not to increase workloads too much too soon.
  
• Dave Scott’s or another Pro’s Triathlon Book to use as a guide
  
• Equipment check list
  

Triathlon Planning Basics

Planning to do a triathlon takes prioritizing and dedication to the goal. Anyone can probably do a sprint or short course triathlon with a few months training, but anything serious like a full Ironman takes at least a year’s training in my honest opinion. Everything being equal, a fit marathoner, biker or swimmer could tackle a half Ironman and complete it with 6 months of training. They might fare ok in a full Ironman
with 6 months training depending on their abilities and the speed in which they complete it.

Professional triathletes weekly mileages total as much as 400 miles for the bike, 70 miles for the run, and 15 miles in the swim. Which is proof that if you can survive the training, the race is frosting on the cake. These training distances
take 40+ hours per week.

The goal for a successful triathlon will be to reach a weekly base of three times the distance you want to race and hold it for 6-8 weeks, then sharpen skills with speed workouts (1 each run and bike) for 4 weeks and then taper 1-2 weeks before the race.

Everyone has their strong and weak sports, and need to develop the weaker sport. For me it was swimming so I joined a master’s team to get the regular instructions to improve my stroke. And for biking I went on group rides and slowly learned
bike etiquette, jargon and equipment.

Adjust Training
Adjusting your daily training schedule when needed is the key to success. If you feel tired
physically or mentally, take a break and be fresher the next day. There are other certain clues to tell when to avoid over-training. Abnormally high heart in the morning, an inability to sleep, or rapid weight loss are signs. I took my pulse every morning before getting out of bed to see how my body was recovering. It’s important to find that balance of the mental, physical and spiritual.

Creating situations that resemble race day are very effective in optimizing a race plan. Practicing your transitions, and brick workouts or combining two sports back to back, can help you reduce your times and prime your body. The body doesn’t switch from biking to running gracefully without teaching it.

Race Morning
Rehearse in your mind what the day will be like.
Some call it visualization, and it’s an important part of preparing your body for the stresses to come. Nervousness and that sleepless night are all parts of the survival instinct so go with it and enjoy the excitement. Butterflies are indications that the body is preparing to protect itself.

Using your race day checklist, lay out all your gear in the space provided and go over the sequence you’ll follow. Make sure your towel is there to wipe your feet of gravel. Put your bike in low gear, have your helmet with gloves and sunglasses right there on top for the bike transition. Your running shoes should be opened up and have quick lace locks to reduce time. Half un-wrap your Power Bars now. Not wearing socks might initially save time but you could lose it if running becomes painful due to blisters.

During the Race
If you plan to finish in the optimum time you must pace yourself.
Two ways to tell if you’re pacing properly are:
1.) using a heart rate monitor or
2.) going by the perceived effort method.

The first is easy enough if you have a heart rate monitor. The second is probably easier still, you just don’t go so fast you feel like dying. Some keep within the ability to speak in a normal tone while riding or biking. Many have had better results using the perceived effort method than using a heart rate monitor that held them back due to conservative estimates.

Remember that if one plan falls through, that doesn’t mean the whole day is shot. Lost goggles, flat tires, blisters, these all happen and make for an interesting day. But don’t let them ruin your event, it’s the stuff great stories are made of.

After the Triathlon
If you bit off more than you can chew or even if you didn’t, you might not be enthusiastic about another triathlon real soon, but if statistics are any indication, you’ll be back for more. So you might want to remember where you had trouble or things that will make you faster next time. Did you feel comfortable in the swim? Had you practiced your transitions so they seemed second nature? Was spending all day in the aero-position too hard on your back? And did your legs feel like spaghetti fresh off the bike? What do you need to plan in your training next time? Now is the time to take note.

If you want to hear from someone who’s been there, done that, use your favorite search engine to find the race you are interested in. Simply type in *race report* and the *name of the race* without the asterisks, and that might find you a description of the race or race distance you’re interested in. I have a few race reports on this site including my Hawaii Ironman race report.

Some things to make the day go easy

• race day check list
  
• A Sound Mind
  
• A Sound Body
  
• A Sound Spirit
  

Pre-Race Don’t Fear

You’ve done all you can do, now is the time to relax. Faith and fear can’t occupy the same space at the same time (at least that’s what Einstein said. Well, kind of;-). Just remember that it’s hard to sleep the night before a big race so try and get a real good night sleep two nights before. Many people have literally spent a sleepless evening the night before without any effect of race day performance, so don’t worry. I make sure I lay everything out the night before. I pin my numbers on the proper clothing and put the numbers on my bike and helmet. There’s nothing worse than realizing you don’t have pins or tape to attach your numbers 30 minutes before the start. Which brings me to the next tip; get to the race at least one hour before the check-in time. Most triathlons have waves and you might not start until 2 hours after the first wave, but all the good bike locations will be taken if you wait. And you’ll get in the way of those competing.

Quite often there will be a briefing the day or evening before the race. This gives both the race director and participants an opportunity to clear up any last minute issues. Most races also require a bike and helmet check. The helmet usually needs to have plastic shell over the ANSI approved core. As for the bike, they will usually spin your wheels, check the brakes, and give your handlebars and or aero bars a real good tug. They basically are checking safety items, not how much you spent;-)

Preparation on the morning of the race

This includes everything from visualization, prayers, inflating tires, laying out your gear, to sun block and final pit stops. I put my bike stuff in one group and run stuff in another. I go over the course maps, re-check my gear and crack dumb jokes just to break the tension. Some people are friendly and some are concentrating. I go with the flow and remember the race is the icing on the triathlon lifestyle. Don’t forget my race day check list.

The-Race Enjoy…

In the early stages I like to dis-associate by enjoying the scenery or daydreaming, middle stages, concentrate on the here and now; and in the ending stages chant, “it’s too late to quit” over and over. Just remember to stay in the here and now, and to enjoy the moment.

The Swim
Seat yourself in the crowd accordingly or you’ll get swum over by faster swimmers and that can be very intimidating. Find your pace and swim long strokes and stay relaxed, making sure not to spend too much energy. I like to head to the outside edge away from the crowd and swim alone, more experienced swimmers like to catch a draft off other swimmers. Drafting in the water seems to be acceptable and is commonplace.

Transition 1
The transition starts the minute you stand up from the swim or pass by the timer. I suggest taking your wetsuit down to your waist while still in the water. Some take it all off and sometimes there are people there to help you. You can wear your singlet with number attached under your wetsuit and that saves putting it on later.

The run from the beach to your bike can be downright painful on the bottoms of your feet so grin and bear it. Having some water and a towel ready at your bike to wash grit off your feet can make a big difference. I like to lay out my towel on the ground and then arrange everything out on top of that leaving enough space to use the towel as a mat.

Having everything laid out in bike/run groups makes both transitions easier. I put all the run stuff out of the way of my bike stuff. I keep my helmet, gloves and sunglasses together resting on my aero bars. I wear a tri-suit which has a chamois crotch on shorter triathlons. I put some Vaseline under my bike seat and rub some on when I start chaffing my legs too much. Some people like to have the shoes already clipped into the pedals. I half unwrap a bunch of Powerbars and have one ready to eat right away. I also have some fluid ready and leave the container but make sure I’ve got some more on the bike. Depending on the distance, I do or don’t wear a Jersey but make sure it’s got what I need in the pockets. And I make sure my bike is in the right gear so I don’t have to strain or break the chain trying to get away fast. Remember, you have to have your helmet fastened at all times in the transition area and on the course.

If you look at the transition time for the winners in all distances including the Ironman, you’ll see that they are less than 2 minutes. In order to have a short transition you basically run from the swim to your bike and put on your glasses, helmet and go. The shoes are fastened to the pedals so you can slip into them later. The winners swim, bike and run in their swim or tri-suit.

The Bike
The bike takes the longest amount of time; so good aerodynamics and form are essential. I always monitor my pedal stroke and cadence to keep effort and heart rate at optimum level. Nine out of ten pedal strokes go to overcome wind resistance so if you don’t have aero bars, you might reconsider. My lower back won’t take to many hours down in the areo position so I take a break here and there. I like get up and out of the saddle on hills just to work new muscles. The time out on the road gives you plenty of time to hydrate and feed your craving body.

I try to eat one Powerbar and two water bottles per hour. To save lots of time due to repairing flats, I finally learned my lesson and got Mr Tuffys. But I still watch out for glass. And believe it or not some even pee off the bike to save a minute.

Transition 2
Coming into the transition area remember to keep your helmet fastened but you can stretch your legs, get out of your shoes and remove your gloves. Go over the next moves in your mind, shoes, singlet, etc. I made the mistake of not wearing socks on the run once so beware of little short cuts you haven’t tried in practice. Do not attempt anything new in a long distance race. You need to train and practice everything you will do on race day. I use lace locks so I don’t have to tie my shoes. You can get them at a camping store. If it’s real sunny I like a white
sun visor or hat and douse it with water at the aid stations. A spotless pair of sunglasses is good to have also.

I like a dab of Vaseline behind my armpits because I chaff there and put some down by my crotch where the running shorts chaff me. I take another big gulp of liquid I keep at the transition and off I go.

In order to have a fast transition, you need to practice getting out of your bike shoes and into your running shoes fast. If you want to be comfortable, take your time and change.

The Run
Starting the run is probably the weirdest feeling of the whole day for me.
I was a runner before a triathlete but getting those legs to turn over the first 1\2 mile can be tough so I take it easy and slowly build up speed. Concentration here is really important for me. Am I carrying my arms right? How’s my form? Am I breathing too hard? If I’m lucky I cruise the first half of the run and then bare down and give the second half all I’ve got. I say lots of prayers and mantras and really concentrate on not pushing myself so hard I injure myself, but hard enough that I can catch the person in front of me.

Post-Race
Now is the time to eat lots of carbohydrate, protein and drink fluids. It’s equally important to drink plenty of fluids during the remainder of the day. For me food never tastes so good.
You’re bound to have some post race blues due to endorphin let down in a day or two so enjoy the glory now and don’t worry about racing again for awhile. And how about a big fat cigar?
Put one of those rubber ends on it so you don’t have to taste it also.
Be good to yourself for the next few days, you deserve it!

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. –Anais Nin

In training you should not increase your mileage by more than 10% each week or increase any daily long run by more than 10%. If you want to get faster, your weekly schedule should include one long endurance run, a speed work and easy days to work out the kinks. The speed workout will teach your body to be mechanically efficient and work without oxygen. As you progress you can add a tempo run to ingrain the proper pace in your psyche so on race day you don’t go all out at once. One day a week should be a rest day with no running, and the remaining days you can run an easy 2-3 miles unless you’re a die-hard seasoned endorphin addicted veteran.

For a endurance athlete, the long run is the most important workout of the week. It teaches your body to burn fat, builds muscles, adds blood capillaries to increase circulation and boosts confidence. Studies have also shown it increases mitochondria, the work-houses of the cells. The long run should last 1 1\2 hours and up and increase no more than 10% or 15 minutes per week. Beginners will need to build up to this slowly but the rewards will be great. This is the workout
that makes you an endurance athlete and a triathlete is an endurance specialist. It’ll help you get faster also. The best pace for the long run is one or two minutes slower per mile than your marathon pace. If you don’t know what that is, then don’t run any faster than you could run while carrying on a normal conversation. Beginners should only do one long run every two weeks. Seasoned veterans long runs shouldn’t exceed 3 hours.

Of the above suggestions, speed work is the most challenging and I recommend joining an organized team to make it a lot easier. Speed workouts generally consist of a 2 mile warm-up, varying lengths of short distance track work such as 400’s, 800’s, 1200’s and then a 2 mile cool-down. It’s hard to run around a track alone so if you want to train by yourself and hate the track, you can pick up the pace in the middle or your medium distance runs. There is a method called fartlek which deals with this type of training.

Tempo runs are 2-3 miles up to 10 miles in length. These are run at a speed a little slower than 10K pace. The purpose of these is to teach your body to run fast and relaxed; imagine yourself as a gazelle with Nikes on.

There are lots of books and magazines to help someone serious about getting faster or running further, my favorite is “The Complete Marathoner” by Runner’s World and their Web site has tons of great info on all distances.

To help me enjoy running physically, mentally, and spiritually, I find the writings of the late Dr. George Sheehan to be very inspirational. He has written many books of which “Running and Being” is probably the most popular. George taught me that it’s ok to run and cry (emotions)at the same time.

• A Couch
  
• An HDTV or Computer
  
• A Bed
  

Recovery is rest, sometimes a day off, sometimes a week or month off. To everything, there is a season. With triathlon training, 80% of all injuries come from errors in judgment so sometimes it’s best to take time off, train easy or cross train in a totally different sport. The no pain no gain theory is incorrect, mostly. The body gets stronger by pushing it to the optimum level of stress and letting it rebuild the tiny microscopic tears in muscle fiber. If you don’t let it rebuild, it rebels and you end up injured.

There are several ways to tell if you’re starting to over train.

• Elevated morning pulse
  
• Rapid weight loss
  
• That tired and\or cranky, don’t want to feeling
  
• Soreness
  
• Times aren’t improving
  
• Inability to sleep
  
• Diarrhea
  

Studies have shown that it’s volume, not intensity, that’s the major cause of over training. So if you’re getting stale, focus on speed and less on distance. With the new philosophy of periodization it’s better to use speed workouts later in the training cycle than in the beginning.

If you wake up and just don’t feel like going for that 18 mile run or that 75 mile bike, think about cutting down the distance rather than scrapping the days training. Cross-training is always the best way to avoid burn out and still stay fit. Aerobics, roller-blade, bowl, ski, row, the list is endless but remember that when a rest day is needed, the best thing is just that… REST. And that means doing absolutely nothing.

Joining a group is the easiest and fastest way to learn and get better. With the bike being the longest event of a triathlon, this is where you can make or lose the most ground. You won’t make up an hour on the run that you lost during the bike portion of a triathlon so learning to ride well will pay large dividends. There are lots of bike clubs that ride on weekends and most make allowances for the slow folks. You will get faster in all three sports if you train with people who are faster, they will pull you along, or push you to your comfort zone. If they are really generous, they will pass on all the little tips and tricks that are needed to ride in a group. As in swimming, connecting up with others takes that irksome sameness out of training. And with biking, you can carry on a conversation while riding. Save that being alone stuff for race day!

Bicycling with others will help you learn to ride with the pack and teach the benefits of drafting during long rides. Keep in mind drafting is illegal during most races and quite a controversial topic for triathletes. The point to be made is wind resistance requires 9 of 10 pedal strokes so getting aerodynamic is just plain smart. A pair of aero-bars is one of the cheapest ways to get faster.

Another important point in learning the bike technique is the pedal stroke and cadence. You might think it requires lots of strength to power up the steep hills but in reality, you need to spin your pedals 60 RPMs or more. Just like counting seconds it’s easy to tell when you’re on the mark, I do it by counting 1-1000, 2-1000, 3-1000 etc.
One revolution per second puts you at 60 RPMs. Rather than standing up and pushing down hard on the pedals, you sit and pull up and push down using the entire stroke cycle, kind of a square box technique. You will save your knees if you always spin instead of using force. Using clip-less pedals paired with the stiff sole shoes will help you get more out of each stroke by reducing energy lost to flex and wasted movement.

One good long ride between 30-70 miles and a few shorter rides during the week should get you in good shape. If you are doing your first short distance triathlon, your long ride won’t need to reach more than 25-30 miles. Remember to stay hydrated by carrying water bottles and have some food available so you don’t bonk. That’s where the pockets in the back of those funny colorful jerseys come in handy.

Swimming fast requires the very wise choosing of parents and years of dedicated practice. Most of us will never swim a mile in under 17 minutes, but it can be fun and rewarding with some time and effort invested. Swimming fast is more a matter of technique than strength. It takes the longest of the three triathlon events to master since it is the most technical. My expectations were that I might not get a lot faster, but that I wouldn’t be quite so tired when I finished. I was right. Learn to swim efficiently instead of faster and you will have plenty of energy left over for the bike and run.
There are master’s teams (anyone older than high school age) located in every community. Joining a masters team is what helped me get faster.

For triathlon training you get faster by swimming 5 days a week to get the feel of the water and doing lots of short distance drills. You can start out easy by swimming 3 days a week and get into the habit of making the swim a priority. Remember that if you swim long slow distance then you’ll be good at long slow distance. To get fast, you need to swim fast! It makes it a lot easier to push yourself to swim fast when you are in the company of others. It’s impossible to see yourself swim so that is where the coach is helpful. As much as you might think your technique is good, a coach can see your imperfections that have the potential to slow you down. Overcoming the resistance of water is your main goal. Some practical lessons I learned were to: watch my hands entering the water at 10 and 2 o’clock, keeping them at my sides and not crossing over, bending my elbows to save my shoulders, and saving my legs with a mild kick.

Open water swimming, whether in the lake or especially in the ocean, can be intimidating. I recommend reading John Walker’s excellent Open Water Swimming Tips to help you be prepared for the event. Wetsuits are used in the triathlon when open water temperatures make it difficult to stay warm. They usually are not allowed when the water is above 75 degrees. Wetsuits can make a slow swimmer faster by keeping the legs higher in the water. They generally don’t help an already fast swimmer. When you swim in cold water keeping your goggles from fogging up is a real trick and here are a number of solutions.

Most triathletes come from a running background therefore swimming is their weakest event. Less than 20% get any form of swim coaching. You can increase your chances of being better by joining a team. On the other hand, only about 15% of the total energy expended during a triathlon is in the swim portion so regardless of how fast you get, the real gains will be in the bike and run portions.

That is little consolation if you’re afraid and worried about surviving the swim in the first place. Experience counts for a lot and practice will not only gets you to Carnegie Hall, it’ll get you in and out of the water and onto the bike. Swimming in a large crowd is no easy feat. You’ll not only have to build your confidence level by putting in time in the pool or lake, you’ll need to place yourself in the right spot on race day.
If you’re not sure where you belong when entering the water on race day, then you belong in the back of the pack. Having faster swimmers crawl over you is no way to start your first triathlon.

If you’re not sure whether to join a team, can’t join a team or don’t want to join a team, but would like some new workouts every week, you can find some on-line at SWIM 2000. Personally, I built up my confidence by teaching myself with small tips from lifeguards until I had the courage to join a master’s group. I wish I had joined sooner.

“I am only happy when I am swimming like a fish” Duke Kahanamoku

MAHALO!!!