Triathlon Journey

Couch to Sprint Tri: So Close, Yet So Far Away.

When training for a big event there comes a time when your training has picked up, but the race seems so far away. A time when you are sore all of the time and the workouts are only getting longer and more intense. You question if you started ramping up your training too early or not soon enough. Maybe you haven’t even registered for the event, even though you have committed to doing it and the longer you wait the harder it is to click submit.

Whatever the case for you, know that you are not alone. There is a time in your training that you start to get more focused…on everything. It doesn’t matter if it is on your aches and pains, gear, technique, or speed, it can creep up and make you question this whole thing.

This training should be fun and exciting, but it will also hurt and take time, thought, and perseverance.

Here are a couple of ideas for motivation:

Maybe getting on the forums are where you will find community or just learn what you need to know. Beginner Triathlete is a great place to start. Slow Twitch also has a great online community.

How about a triathlon podcast? Oh, the things you can learn that you never knew you needed to know.

Here is a serious, boot camp style motivational video. Listen to it before each workout if you must!

Couch To Triathlon Training – Week 7 Update – Putting It Together

Hello Runner,

I am sorry for the delayed entriess into the training log. This whole system was setup to show that it was possible to get past “busy” and trying for a Triathlon in 12 weeks.

With that said, the one thing that has fallen apart is the training updates. I continue to train, but I am also busy making StrideBox even cooler than it already is, and sometimes, that means delaying the “personal” training update.

This last week of training was awesome…

Putting It All Together…

This past week of training had some major breakthroughs, with swimming being the biggest one.

I have always been good in the water, but training for a Triathlon has made me a little weary, and more conscious of my energy usage and technique. After buying the Total Immersion Swimming book, I put the training plan included in the book into practice.

It was a slow process only being in the pool twice a week (and skipping my sick weeks), but I literally have retaught myself how to swim in a fluid, economical fashion.

And last weeks training in the pool really reflected that. I am continually putting together laps with 12 or fewer strokes per length, and getting out of the pool with energy to spare.

Next up for the swimming phase is taking it to open water. There are some great little parks with swimming ponds to get started, and I will for sure be hitting the river to swim the actual course before the race date.

Wait, I have to Swim, Bike, AND Run?

OK, so I knew this all along, but now that my training on the individual pieces is starting to go well, I am looking forward to see what happens when I combine them in some of the workouts going forward.

With individual workouts, I usually perform them at a high rate, and go until I am thoroughly exhausted. I know if I am riding the bike for 12 miles, I can hit a certain pace, and when I get off the bike, my legs will be toast. Same with the run. The swimming is probably the one thing I perform at a sustainable pace.

Combining these three into a seamless event is going to be a welcome struggle. Pedaling for 12 miles is different when I know that I’ll still have to run afterward.

Fueling The Machine…

(Before I talk about this, please let me tell you I am not a licensed doctor, lawyer, or CPA, this is only intended to tell you about my experience, and is not to be taken as medical, legal, or financial advice.)

Another thing that suffers when you’re busy is your eating schedule. Between the Moutnain Dew mornings, and the training at lunch time, sometimes it is a struggle to eat enough calories to keep this machine moving forward.

Some people go on a diet to lose weight, and end up with no energy to workout. This gives them a sense of despair when it comes to working out and feeling “tired” when in reality, they are not eating the right amounts of food (Salads are for bunnies).

If you’ve ever done a workout system like P90X, you know that their diet plan allows you to eat like a Barbarian, but still lose weight. Even though you eat a ton of food 5x a day, you are eating the right amount and types of calories to help you get through the workouts.

For me, what happened here is that I had a workout plan, but not a life plan. Fueling and keeping the right kind of fluids and food in my body has been a struggle, but now has been changed.

I won’t post my personal fueling plan, because all people are different, but it includes more simple lean calories that are easy for my body to process, while giving me the energy I need to train at my optimal level.

(Blatant sales pitch: StrideBox includes some smaller/lightweight fueling options that are good for pre-training as well as snack time to give you an extra push when you need it.)

That’s it for this week, Only 5 weeks left to train, and then it’s the big day. I think it’s time to invest in a wetsuit.

Just Keep Running.

Couch to Tri: You are your number.

It’s finally time for the great packet pick up… You are going to get your number and goodies and the coveted shirt! You open the packet and pull out your number on a handful of tyvek sheets of various shapes and sizes. Then a person insists they need to write all over your body in sharpie. You try to insist that they are crazy, but they don’t want to let you leave without it.

It can all be daunting, but let’s keep this moment exciting by explaining what numbers go where and why.

#1 – Your number is an important thing.

Find out what your number is and make sure your loved ones know what it is too. Make sure you always have your number visible. If you have a medical emergency, the event staff will be using your number not your name. If your loved ones hear, “Would friends and family of 1220 please come to the finish line”, you don’t want your family to wonder what your number might have been.

We take a cowbell with us to events (because clapping gets so tiring) and we put the number on the cowbell. As spectators we don’t have to remember anything and know that if I were to hear talk of an athletes number and something happening I can easily know if it is one of my racers.

#2 – Get your number written on you at packet pick-up.

The sharpie can be the dreaded marking or the coveted proof of your race. A lot of people want to wait, but just do it. It will save so much time and energy to put it on the day before. Don’t worry, it will still be there in the morning. Skip the pre-race marking line if at all possible.

#3 – Put the little sticker number on your helmet and the bike number on your bike frame.

A suggestion for you: don’t let the adhesive for the bike number be on your bike. The sticker should just stick to itself. It can take the paint off your bike.

The helmet number goes on the front center of your helmet.

If you aren’t putting these numbers on for the event staff, you should do it for yourself anyway. Life is so much easier when you know what stuff in the transition area is yours! I wonder just how many people have left transition with someone else’s bike and helmet? It really happens.

#4 – Don’t forget to wear your number on your run.

This is why people get fun race bib belts.

You don’t have to get a belt to put your running number on, just don’t forget to wear it. Depending on what you wear throughout your event, it can be difficult to know when to put the number on and what to put it on. You may not want to have it on in the water and bike, but you also may not want to try safety pinning your number to your shirt in T2.

Come up with a plan ahead of time so that you don’t sit in transition the day of wondering what you are going to do! You don’t need that kind of stress on race day.

Couch To Triathlon Training – Week 6 Update – The Easy Training Plan

Hello Runner,

Well, Week 6 is in the books, and there are only 6 weeks to go. Summer is here, and it is 95 degrees out right now. Luckily, it is a refreshing swim day.

Also, sorry for the delayed posting again, last week we packed and shipped our June StrideBox (good stuff inside). If you don’t get it every month, you are missing out.

The Simple Way To Do A Triathlon:

There is only one easy way to do a Triathlon… don’t do it. This applies to Marathons, Half Marathons, 10Ks, heck, any event that requires any sort of training is easier if you just don;t even attempt it.

The months/weeks/days waking up sore, or sitting in an ice bath, or dreading the stairs up to the second floor, or sitting down for an hour after a tough bike or swim is too much.

Waking up this past week and putting on my shoes has been a chore. I have been pushing every ounce of my body to the limit, mentally and physically knowing that in 6 weeks, I have to do something that 99% of the world will never even dare try.

It’s funny if you think about it, the race won’t be on TV. My mom and wife may check the results online, but none else will. Nobody will even know I did the race unless I tell them.

So Why All The Trouble?

There’s something special about this training thing that I have noticed in everyone I have met so far along the way. Talking to people at the pool, or after a run, they all like the fact that they are in charge, and they get to compete against themselves.

The race isn’t the motivation, its merely a tool to gauge your self motivation, your internal drive to want to be the best person you can.

And really, we even pay for the privilege to do these races. Even the medal and shirt can be bought on eBay for a fraction of the cost you paid to compete.

The True Measure Of Progress:

We’re halfway to the big Triathlon day, and I am in a little bit of a slump. I am halfway through my training, and I feel like there is so much longer to go. I’ve gotten better at some things, but really still feel like the hard work is ahead of me.

This is one reason I advocate physical handwritten training logs. I keep one, and I won’t share it here, as it incorporates a lot of extra stuff like mental mood, and daily happenings and thoughts. But it allows me one more thing.

It allows the quick and easy ability to see where I started, and how far I have come in the past 6 weeks. The mental attitudes, and physical glitches that affected my performance one day, or those bad habits I have overcome to make my swimming better, or the awesome scenery during my bike ride that took my breath away.

These are little things that Strava, Runkeeper, etc. just can’t match. Sure, I can go back and see my route, speed, and pace for anything I’ve ever done, but what about my mood, or the sunrise, or the huge business problem I solved during my run.

OK, I know those trackers will let me calculate my mood, and take photos, but are they that easy to reach… maybe there is one. I still prefer to put my mental state and progress into words rather than some silly emoji.

My Actual Progress:

This blog post went a different way than I thought. A little rant-ish, and I am sorry for that. I just wanted to truly share how I was feeling during the journey, and I guess you could say that I feel like there is a lot more to a training plan than just the daily activity. That, and it can’t go fast enough.

My swims, my runs, my rides are all going well, and all progressing nicely. I will have no problem going into the event in 6 more weeks. Waiting is the hard part.

It’s a bit of a sophomore slump. The excitement of starting has worn off, and the excitement of competing hasn’t yet hit.

But I’ve watched enough Disney movies to know that if there wasn’t a struggle, there would be no happily ever after.

Just Keep ~~Running~~ Training…

Couch to Sprint Tri: Triathlon Rules

The world of triathlon is filled with many, many rules. If you watch the Ironman Kona event, you will see people put in time-out for their bad behavior throughout the day. The best way to avoid being a rule breaker is simply to know what the rules are. Some of them are there to help you too!

The following is a summary of some of the triathlon rules and regulations from USATriathlon.org. Check it out for a complete list and more details if needed.

General rules:

You must complete the entirety of the course. No shortcuts. This is important to race officials down to a few feet of distance. If you get lost or make a wrong turn, you do need to re-enter the course at the same point you left it. The moral of the story here is to know your course! Check it out, drive it, look at the maps. It could save a lot of time and embarrassment.

No assistance during your event. No person should ever hand something to you, help you, pace you. This is your event alone. If you forget something, you go without it after the race starts. If you leave something in transition that you cannot complete the race without, you backtrack to transition. Your loved ones, coaches, and even the event staff need to know that they are simply available to cheer you on and support you post race.

Leave your mason jars at home, because glass is not allowed!

No headphones in Triathlon. This can be a tough one if you are transitioning to triathlon from running. Learn to go music free.

Don’t ditch gear on the course.

Keep it G-rated. Nudity is against the rules.

Swimming rules:

You are allowed to rest! There are people with kayaks, paddle boards, and boats. You can use them to rest as long as there is no forward progress. It isn’t sink or swim. You are allowed to touch the bottom if possible and you can move forward using the bottom if needed.

If you feel you are in distress, there are people all around you. All you have to do is pump your fist in the air and/or yell for help. But, if you receive official assistance, you will not be allowed to continue in the event. Your life is more important than finishing an event and sometimes people can have heart attacks from the stress of trying to swim with so many other people. So, be safe and smart. Remember if you just need a break you can keep going if you are just going to rest on the support when they are not moving.

Know your event’s wet-suit rules. There are specific rules based on the temperature of the water. Your wet-suit must be a triathlon approved suit, so don’t go wearing your emergency suit from the fishing boat you work on!

If your race director provides a swim cap, it must be worn.

Cycling rules:

If you are on the cycling course, you must be accompanied by your bicycle. No leaving it behind because you are a faster runner! But, this is important if you have a mechanical issue with your bike. If you can’t ride it, you can walk or run with it, but it must be with you.

While on the course, you must still follow all cycling traffic laws unless otherwise stated by the race director. Very few triathlons have closed courses. While there will be signs, police directing traffic, and volunteers, accidents happen and you are better off being safe rather than sorry.

If you pass an another cyclist who has been in an accident you must use caution and slow down when passing. I would also suggest letting the next volunteer or police officer know so they can receive help quickly if needed.

Wear your helmet! Not having a helmet on will result in immediate disqualification of a triathlon.

Follow the signs for mounting and dismounting your bike. You must slow down when directed to and no riding your bike within the transition area.

Place your bicycle properly in the corral in the transition area. You could finish the race in record time just to have it not count because you didn’t take the care to rack your bike.

Know your drafting rules.

Running rules:

I hate to be the one to break it to you, but forward movement in the form of crawling isn’t ok. We have all seen the finishes of people crawling to the end, but technically, it isn’t actually allowed.

See the couch to sprint triathlon training plan here.

Find out what gear you may or may not need here.

Get some easy tips and tricks for each event here.

Some tips and tricks for transitions here.

Read about James’ (StrideBox Founder) first, second, third, and fourth week of training.

Subscribe to StrideBox here.