Taper Week

This is the last week before the Poconos 70.3 Half Ironman, which is now only 5 short days away!  Last Saturday, after getting my bike fit done at High Road Cycles, I embarked on my first 50 mile bike ride.  This was something I mentally needed to do, because I had a lot of pain on my 40 mile ride and going for another 16 miles like that might not have been possible. 

At my bike fit, Isaac helped me and he really shortened my reach, adjusted my seat height and position, and tweaked my handle bars.  Let me tell you on my 50 mile ride I felt like I was on a new bike, I felt great.  I looked down and was like, wow we've gone 10 miles already - usually I'm like oh geez how have we gone only 3 miles, it feels like 10.  I had no pain in my back, numbness in my feet, and didn't get any shooting pain in my ankles like I did on my 40 mile ride.  Something that Issac said during my bike fit really stuck with me, he said, "it shouldn't hurt to ride your bike" which really resonated with me.  I said I thought your back should feel sore after bike riding and that you would have some discomfort...and why because that's all I've known on my bike.  Ironically this is the same thing that I encounter with people when they tweak their diet and go Paleo, they realize that all these little things that used to plague them clear up - like headaches, stiffness in their joints, being tired after eating a big meal, stuffy nose in the morning, etc.  All this is "normal" so when you change to a Paleo based diet you get the same feeling that I experienced when I got my bike fit! 

AC International Triathlon

This weekend marked my second to last triathlon for the year...getting me ready for my big athletic endeavor this year (and ever), the Poconos 70.3 Half Ironman which is fast approaching on October 2nd. 

The Race Details: The Atlantic City International Triathlon
.9m Ocean Swim
22 Mile Bike
6.2 Mile Run



Mine is blue and white, but same design



What's new for me this race is that I experimented with some new foods trying to stay Paleo while getting more fuel in me on the bike and I got a new race outfit.  I finally got a real tri suit.  It's from Zoot and a one piece which is great because that means my top won't ride up and I don't have to worry about pulling my shorts off along with my wetsuit in transition...but it's really tough to get on and off, especially if you're in a port-a-potty.  The good news is that I had no problem with the suit, but at this Tri we had regular bathrooms with plenty of arm and leg room, so the port-a-potty check will have to happen in the Poconos.

Summer Heat Wave

Much of the country is currently in the midst of a summer heatwave, when the mercury rises on the thermometer (do they even make thermometers with mercury in them anymore?) you need to make sure you are keeping yourself cool.  It's important to stay hydrated and really listen to your body in the heat to avoid injury and to avoid heat related illness - you don't want to sideline your performance or your weekend plans because you didn't take care of yourself in the heat.

Its especially important to take care of yourself if you've decided that you're going to continue working out in the heat - especially to all of the people that are running outside and doing Crossfit it's important that you know what heat related illnesses can feel like so if you start to feel any of the warning signs you can dial back your training or your workout.  Just because it's hot doesn't mean stop training, but it does mean train smarter and make sure you're prepared by hydrating throughout the day and staying in tune with your body.

What can you do to prevent the heat related illnesses?  Here are a few tips, this is by no means a comprehensive list, but simply a few things to think about over the next few heat filled days.

1. Stay hydrated - drink lots of water and if you're exercising make sure you replace electrolytes that you're losing.  You can do this without Gatorade (gasp) through Coconut Water - I recommend VitaCoco which you can get at Wegmans and Whole Foods, and through Electrolyte enhanced water available with that name at Trader Joe's or Smart Water in the grocery store.

2. Avoid things that dehydrate you - primarily watch out for caffeine and alcohol - if you are drinking either of these make sure that you're increasing your water consumption as well.

3. Avoid the direct sun and being outside during the hottest time of day (11am - 4pm) - if you're outside, seek out shade and if you can find a cool place to be during the hottest hours of the day.  Go to the movies, grocery store, or shopping mall if you don't have air conditioning at home.  If you are outside wet a towel or bandanna with cold water and drape it across the back of your neck - it will provide a nice cool feeling even if you're out in the heat.

To avoid heat exhaustion and heat stroke make sure you are dialing back when you see the following signs. Signs of heat exhaustion are a severe headache, nausea, vomiting, and a feeling of severe weakness - if you are feeling any of these symptoms make sure you take a break, get out of the heat, and rehydrate!

Heat stroke can be fatal, it occurs when the your body can no longer regulate its temperature relating in severely elevated body temperature causes an altered mental state, dizziness and ultimately can lead to a loss of consciousness and potentially kidney failure. 

What are you doing to stay cool?  And how are the increased temperatures impacting your training, planning, and performance?

Philly Olympic Tri

Last weekend on June 26th I participated in the Philadelphia Insurance Olympic Distance Triathlon here at home in Philadelphia PA.  It was my first tri of the season, which I would have preferred to be a sprint but since I'm gearing up for the Half Ironman this October, I signed up for the local Olympic Distance (.9m swim, 24.8m (40K) bike, 6.2m(10K) run). 

I was a little bit nervous for this tri since usually I'm doing something shorter to start and I hadn't gotten too much training in on the bike.  I had done one 17 mile ride, 1 20 mile ride, and then 2 brick training sessions at Valley Forge National Park: 15 mile bike followed by a 5 mile run, and the second a 10 mile bike followed by a 3 mile run.  The sprint tri was on Saturday and the Olympic on Sunday, for the Sprint they had great weather and the river was below 78 degrees so it was wetsuit legal for the swim. 

Getting Better Faster

As an athlete that is training for running a race, competing in a triathalon, competing at a Crossfit competion or just trying to be better at whatever other sports you do-you should consider incorporating High Intsity Training (HIT) and Intervals into your workouts because it helps you to get better faster.  Most athletes want to get better but don't always understand how.  Too many of us fall into a training rut and continue to do what is comfortable - always doing the same flat 5 mile loop, biking at a comfortable pace, not pushing yourself during a WOD in Crossfit.   So how do you break out of your trianing rut and actually get better and in most cases faster?  In Crossfit we talk about "getting comfortable with being uncomfortable" which allows you to train your body at a higher intesity and reap the benefits of a great workout that doesn't take that much time.  Let's take a practical example, in running if you want to get faster you can't just add more miles of long slow distance.  To run faster you need to practice actually running faster; pushing yourself at a higher intensity and achieving a faster speed - a novel concept right.  How many runners out there actually do this regularly?

So how do you actually do this practicing "fast" stuff?  Through high intensity training and doing sport specific interval workouts lilke 400m, 800m, and mile repeats where you run almost as fast as you can and your goal is to get faster each time, achieving negative splits, with a reasonable amount of rest/recovery in between.  Doing repeats and tempo runs (where you run for a set/goal pace for a set amount of time or miles within a run) are how you get faster when you're training for a race - running longer at a slower speed only gets you to a point where you can cover more distance in a single run - which has its time and place in trainign as well but you don't have to do it as often as you think if you throw in more high intestity workouts.  I have to admit, I find every reason not to do the repeat workout or tempo run that is scheduled into my training plan because they are tough to do - especially on your own.  One reason I like to have a running training plan when I'm training for a race is because it schedules speedwork into my week, so that it's harder to avoid doing it because I have to write on my plan that I missed or didn't complete that workout.  Once I started adding these "speed" workouts to my training regime, I  quickly noticed better results and faster times both in my regular training runs and most importantly in my races.  At first it was difficult for me to realize that I can get a better workout in 20 minutes when I'm working at a high intensity, verses working out for a full hour at a much lower intensity.  Like most people I come from a background where I thought longer was always better than faster; people ask you how far you biked, ran, or swam not how fast you do it.

So how does my Crossfit training fit into all of this?  Crossfit is fundamentally based around the concept of using high intensity training to make you better, especially in workouts like FRAN one of the Crossfit benchmark WODS.  21-15-9 reps of Thrusters (65# Ladies / 95# men) followed by Pull ups as fast as you can is meant to push you HARD.