training

The previous post was about skills. Key to improving skills is adequate flexibility. With flexibility, more is not always better. What you need  is just enough. This is particularly true with running, where too much flexibility will result in a loss of economy and can increase the chance of injury. When we don’t devote time to flex work, when all we do is swim, bike, and run, our muscles adapt to a limited range of motion. Eventually, this will cause trouble in the knees, hips, shoulders, lower back … just about any joint except maybe your nose.

If you are like me you are experiencing an explosion of AI promotions offering to write your Emails, fix your photos, and just about everything else short of washing your windows. For athletes, this includes coaching services.

The training process is not complicated. Apply some stress to your body and later on, while you are asleep, your body will respond in ways that make you faster and more powerful. The same activity trains your brain to perform the necessary movements as efficiently as possible. 

As a general rule I do not advocate epic training days. There is clearly a tradition of bragging rites, in cycling and triathlon and perhaps even swimming, concerning eight hour bike rides and twenty mile runs, and similar feats of endurance. Then there is research that shows a peak cost/benefit at three to four hours on the bike, and one and a half to two hours of running, beyond which the training effect declines while the risk of injury increases.

In our casual thoughts and conversations we often use words without being overly specific as to their meaning. Consider the words motivation and commitment. How should we apply these to our athletic training? Do they mean the same thing in other situations?

Motivation

Motivation is a force or stimulus that encourages us to act. Picture yourself sitting in your favorite chair, all happy and comfortable. Then, along comes thirst. You find the energy to pause the movie you are watching, get up, walk to the refrigerator and grab a cold beer. 

It was back in 2011 that I got the crazy idea to run a marathon. I blame Frank Smith, the owner of Island Triathlon and Bike. I had been riding for years. Never raced. Just commuted to work every day and did the two Century Rides every year. People still remember me for that. "Still riding you bike to work?" I'm never sure how to answer.

Workouts generate stress, which we athletes feel as fatigue. Later, as we rest, our body shifts into repair mode. It is during this time that the rewards for all that hard work are received.

Training for triathlon means packing workouts for three different sport modalities into each week. Let me suggest a neat trick to help prevent your schedule from driving you batty - developing a routine.

For many of us, the word routine carries negative connotations. To have an exciting day sounds more desirable than a routine day. But, when it comes to athletic training, establishing a routine is a great way to create the opportunity to get things done. If your plan is to train when you can, you won’t.

A good relationship between athlete and coach is necessary for success. To that end, it helps the athlete to know something about the coach’s philosophy. In the coming series of posts I aim to lay out my coaching principles, my goal being to shorten the time required to get to know me.