I find it fascinating the reasons people are drawn to this sport. Indeed the reasons people choose what they do as recreation can be telling about whats going on in their broader lives. I know it rings true for most of the triathletes I’ve ever known.
What most endurance athletes have in common is a need [...]
One of the biggest challenges I have found as a participant of various sports is following the end of the road before I turn down the side streets. What do I mean?
There are as the old saying goes many routes to the same destination. If you point north and keep driving everyone ends up somewhere [...]
I’ve come across a lot of press releases,pro interviews and anecdotes on this topic
Story goes likes this………..hey you multisport athletes- combined time wins not who’s the fastest at each discipline- if you want to win at multisport you’ve got to train for it right so stop focusing on one sport at a time and then [...]
One of the greatest benefits of starting any race is simply to participate.
Lets look at this in contrast. On one hand sport can be uncompromising, requiring unwavering dedication and “all or nothing” if you aspire to pursue it at the highest level. This is essentially a description of a professional approach or that of an [...]
When a large glassy set of swells roll into a point break surfers suddenly down tools, scramble to the beach and make the most of it when its around.
When sentiment towards a company improves they scramble to secure cheaper equity funds on the back of a rising share price
When the fish are around the trawler [...]
Context before Content
Lets play marketing cliché buzzword bingo …..
“the method, the way, the system, the philosophy, the secret, the patented formula, the unique principals, our proprietary systems, our proven methodology, step by step easy to follow content, world champion endorsed product, more successful athletes than..insert hyperbole, etc etc”
Everyone is looking for that special formula aren’t they? – in business [...]
We are now approaching the colder months here. Those readers in the Nth. Hemisphere will make the point that Australians dont face nearly the same challenges as they do. To a large extent this is true but there are some common considerations for all athletes in facing the change of season
It is well accepted that [...]
How you set up your training environment is critical for long term success and enjoying your sport.
Ask yourself the following questions………..
Do I drive for miles just to get to training?
Am I always tired or late to training?
Do I get to train in the best part of the day?
Am I getting social stimulation ?
Am I getting [...]
Everywhere I go there’s another cooking show on TV……….I seem to have been sucked into the vortex of both “My Kitchen Rules” and “Master Chef”…..so what have I learned?
Key Ingredient- there should be a “hero” of a dish- a nice cut of meat or fish that is cooked perfectly- there is no need to augment [...]
This one came up again today…..I received an email that started like this:
Quads smashed, everything tight, couldnt make the pace of the intervals…..should I drop Fridays session etc?
Navigating the line between fatigued and f#$%ed is tricky especially for the inexperienced athlete .
The whole idea of training hard is to force the body to adapt- this [...]
Think about this for a moment……….the vast majority of age group endurance athletes go through the last 2 hours of an event toward the bottom of their aerobic range
why? why does someone who has an aerobic range of 120-160 bpm chug around an IM marathon at 130bpm
answer- the legs have given out well before an [...]
You’ve just knocked out 1hrs 45 mins run and you are half an hour from home, starting to feel a bit ragged but otherwise HR,stomach, hydration etc etc are ok
Do you :
a. Wind it down a bit and nurse yourself home OR
b. Crank it up and make it uncomfortable for the last half hour?
The decision [...]
“I have riders doing longer TTs and long training rides with a ceiling power output, in teaching them to TT well I want them to not exeed a certain figure based on their FTP”
I absolutely cringe when I read comments like this, as it goes against basic exercise training principles.
I’m all for putting caps on [...]
This is a subject that has occupied my mind a lot of late. Triathletes spend a LOT of time trying to analyse the techniques of the best, the equipment of the best, the training of the best. Why?
Its one of the things that sometimes bothers me most about some of the coaching faternity as well
Lets [...]
One of the better interviews I have listened to for a long time was an series of interviews with the old dog coach Brett Sutton
Here’s the link to the two podcasts on IMTalk (if you can handle the raspy kiwi voice of Bevan James Eyles)
http://www.imtalk.me/home/2010/12/13/imtalk-episode-240-brett-sutton-part-1.html
http://www.imtalk.me/home/2010/12/20/imtalk-episode-241-brett-sutton-part-2.html
Our key take outs/draft notes as follows:
-Training around the world is [...]
How often does your state of mind alter according to the weather outside, who is going to turn up, how well you slept the night before etc…..? I wonder how many people take this into consideration when they decide to execute a pre-planned training session written over a week earlier?
Very rarely if ever is this [...]
There are many similarities between growing trees and training to improve your long term perfomance.
Lets talk trees for a minute………..
When you first plant a tree you need soil thats in good condition- something thats got enough nutritients and moisture in it
You’ll need to water it regularly (but not too much or all the nutrients will [...]
Endurance sport is an extensive aerobic pace workout right ? Speed doesn’t really come into to it right? Speed work means going “lactic” right? Speed work means going to a track or veledrome donning spikes and smashing yourself right?
There will always be a debate about nomenclature and frankly I’ve got better things to waste my [...]
We all deal with time restraints. We all have to deal with boredom in our training at times. Many of us travel for work or live in “sub optimal” training environments.
I often get asked what are the “bang for buck” sessions, the ones I would do if I only had 30 mins to an hour
Interestingly [...]
We all remember that classic scene of Rocky Balboa on the come back trail…repeated multiple times. But the most memorable was the first transformation from the guy down on his luck and using frozen beef to punch his way back to sporting glory. Rocky symbolises the resurrection of the down trodden and frail former alpha [...]
Are you the guy who goes to the supermarket and stocks up with a weeks food or are you someone that does a little trip to the grocer every night on the way home? Do you like to read 10 chapters of a book in a sitting or the whole lot?
Do you try to run [...]
Everyone who has done year basic psychology knows about fight or flight responses right?
Some things to consider on Fight or Flight Responses
Fueling/Stomach Performance
If you get out on a race course and panic, work yourself into a bundle of nerves and pray for this experience to end then what chemical reactions does that set off?
Like any [...]
You’ll find as many theories on where to put your long run in the program as the number of stars in a galaxy.
Some basics to consider
-When you race a triathlon you do it on tired legs right?
Certainly there is merit in putting the long run the day after the long bike. Especially more experienced athletes [...]
Does the “effort” come before “pace” or vice versa?
The vast majority of the literature on endurance training talks about using physiology markers to determine training intensity.
This is a well founded and accepted logic that goes like this:
-Execute a training session at a determined work rate. For example Ride 4 hours at 150 bpm or 4 [...]
You’ve just entered your first Ironman- its a year away
How far out do you start “training” ?
There are many people that will tell you start now
On the other end of the spectrum there is a widely held view that people can only focus on an event for so long
Typically this is between 10-16 weeks out [...]
Here’s some good motivation from a girl who has been to Kona 3 years running………..
Affirmations, mantras and quotes. I have a gazillion of them.
No matter what your sport – no matter what your passion – a lot of people believe in self-talk, affirmations, and reassuring, empowering quotes from other passionate, successful people.
An equestrian show jumping [...]
G’day guys,
There are lots and lots of different ways to taper for a race and I’ve tried my share of a few and tried a few out on the people I coach. I’ve used a 5 week taper, 3 week taper and 10 day taper and even a reverse taper.
I’ve also had what I thought was the perfect [...]
I recently, bought the latest issue of Inside Triathlon, it’s the first tri-magazine I have bought in a long time. What caught my attention was the article on Lance Armstrong and how Chris Carmichael will prepare Lance for Kona. The article also asks some other coaches to give their personal insights as though they were [...]
We worry about a lot of things in triathlon. Triathletes are guilty of more analysis paralysis than a team of space shuttle engineers. We study technique, food intake and heart rate on a daily basis spending thousands in search of perfection. Why? All in the hope that the cocktail of our prodding, primping, sculpting and [...]
Whats the right way to train? How do I get to Kona? What do the quick guys do? Is there a magic formula?
I recently participated in a discussion about what the best age groupers do that separates them from the not so good. Here’s my key points-
Consistency over anything else leads to greatest improvements
Quality [...]
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