Every fall, triathletes finish their season and, typically, shut down until January — and wipe out months of hard-won fitness. Research shows just eight weeks of reduced training measurably drops aerobic capacity. The alternative: use October and November to reset your baselines and build cycling power with three focused bike trainer workouts a week, a power meter, and a notebook.
The truth is most athletes who get hurt during a race season don't get hurt because they trained too hard. They get hurt because they trained inconsistently, ignored signals their body was already sending, and possibly added one thing too many at the worst possible time.
One of the most powerful predictors of performance is your self-talk. How you speak to yourself matters. The internal conversations that you have with yourself can make or break your training journey and race day results.
By incorporating progressive, gradual, and quantifiable training, you will not only get faster, you will reduce your risk of injury.
Did you know that your muscles wouldn’t work properly without fascia? Ever feel stiff, sore, or just not as flexible as you'd like? That’s the fascia. It’s like a stretchy web that holds everything together and helps your muscles move smoothly. It surrounds your muscles, bones, and organs. When it’s healthy, we move like a ninja. But if it gets tight or dehydrated, we feel sluggish and stiff. As an aging athlete, I have noticed I need to pay extra attention to my fascia. So, how do we keep it happy?
Let’s not sugar coat it, training really sucks sometimes. Even on easy days, you may feel like you are swimming through Jell-O or running on quicksand. So, when should you start to be concerned about the frequency of feeling like crap? That’s where the rule of thirds comes into play.
The first quarter of the year (Q1) is an interesting time of year for us triathletes. The stress, travel, and excesses of the holidays are over. But the really hard, specific training for our summer target events is still several months away. What to do? This is the perfect time of year to work on setting good habits, while you have the extra physical, mental, and emotional capacity to really focus on them.
To beat the heat and keep your training consistent, here are a few tips for training in hot weather.
Athletes with strong mental resilience can handle discomfort, setbacks, and fatigue, and stay focused with a determination to push through.
Want to get stronger and faster? Include recovery in your training plan.
