October 2008 Archives

There is a lot written about how to prepare before a triathlon race or a significant triathlon training session. Carb-loading and achieving a proper hydration level are always mentioned with respect to this.

There is also lots of information about sports nutrition and hydration needs during an event or training session.

What is sometimes lacking is attention given to what a triathlete does after a triathlon race or training session in terms of recovery.

This is particularly true when it comes to training.

As the sport of triathlon continues to grow in popularity, more and more triathletes are organizing themselves in ways to enhance their experience and improve their performance. A triathlon club is one way of doing this.

I'm in the process of starting one myself.

So, you decided to take up the sport of triathlon. You hopped into the water at your local YMCA pool and began swimming laps. Things were fine for the first 4 laps, but then on lap 12 you couldn’t quite remember if it was lap 11, lap 12 or lap 13.

The next day, you went for a run on your nearby greenway. You were pretty sure the distance was about 6 miles. But later that night you got to thinking. “I wonder what the exact mileage of my run was today. I once ran a half marathon in 1 hour and 32 minutes; I wonder if I ran at that pace at any point during my run today.”

A few weeks later, you get to wondering how many miles you have been averaging each week in swimming and running. You do a guestimate but it would be nice to know for sure.

Hmm… sounds like you need a sports watch!

Many triathletes are now in the off-season of their year-round triathlon training plan.

The term “off-season” is somewhat misleading because it seems to sound rather passive and uninspiring. You don’t really associate ideas like growth, progress, and accomplishment with something termed the “off-season.”

But the truth is, what you do this off-season is immensely important and will largely determine your in-season triathlon performance. One way or another, either through improvement or digression, how you handle the next several weeks in your triathlon training is critical.

Let’s say you are one of those tri newbies who started getting into the sport of triathlon last spring.

You did your open water swimming and hit the roads biking and running in the warm summer sun. You succeeded in completing your first triathlon, and now it’s on to bigger and better things in your triathlon goals.

But now the cooler fall temperatures have arrived, daytime hours are shortening, and winter is just around the corner. Perhaps your mindset on cycling is to hang your bike up in the garage for the winter, and start doing spin classes at the YMCA.

With the proper cold weather cycling gear, there’s no reason why you can’t continue outdoor bike training during the cold weather months.

If you are a triathlete in Southern California or Florida, you are perhaps not as affected by the cold weather temperatures the rest of the U.S. has already begun experiencing. It’s October and the cold weather months are quickly approaching.

What follows are some guidelines for choosing cold weather swim gear, plus tips for cold water swim training.

There is a mental and spiritual side to the sport of triathlon that is every bit as important as the physical aspects of training and competing.

There are numerous mental obstacles a triathlete must contend with, and ways the sport influences people on a “spiritual” level, including our self-image, peace and contentment in life, and our most important relationships.

Fear, feelings of failure, stress, obsessive compulsion, disappointment, and burn-out are just a few of the challenges most triathletes will have to deal with at one time or another. My goal in the next few posts is to cover some of the most common mental and spiritual aspects of triathlon.

This particular post is about self-image.