TRITON

Interesting blog post on the Trek Toronto Triathlon Team‘s blog about how an athlete, training for an Ironman race, finds her love of abstract art—particularly Mark Rothko’s paintings—pairs well with her state of mind during training and racing.

For me, Mark Rothko’s huge colored rectangles in the Abstract Expressionists show offer a perfect visual for the loaded “blankness” of my own facial expression on the long 5-6 hour rides I’ve been doing. It’s an expression that my training partners and coach have come to know well.

Full post here.

CNN’s medical expert, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is taking part in the Nautica NYC Triathlon in August. For the past few weeks, CNN has been promoting their Fit Nation Triathlon Challenge, which chronicles the training efforts of six athletes who will take part in the race with Dr. Gupta.

There are some interesting resources there for triathletes. Their latest update is on the importance of training safely.

All of this has made me think more about being safe during training and not trying to do things beyond what I am able to do. I have made incredible strides in my fitness and endurance, but I still struggle as the workouts increase.

Although this is becoming easier I will never say that it is easy. This is hard work and often times tests the limits of our minds and bodies.

The full post here.

Joe Friel, a triathlon coach, lists six of the most common mistakes that triathletes make during their training. The list appears on the Triathlete.com.

1. Poor ability to pace properly
Almost all triathletes start the bike leg of the race at much too high an intensity and then fade as the race progresses. They start the run on tired legs and generally have a poor race (except for the first 5K of the bike).

The fix: Athletes must learn to negative split races. This starts with workouts. Intervals must be done with the easiest first and then progressively get harder. Steady state/tempo workouts must start under control and gradually get faster to finish strong. Athletes must learn to be patient in workouts and apply that to their races while ignoring what is going on around them.

The full list can be found here.

Chrissie Wellington, speaking to a reporter after winning the Challenge Roth race, talks about how important it was for her to give the race everything she had.

The quote I found most interesting comes early in the clip:

“I really want to finish a race where I feel like I’m absolutely spent…”

Another interesting point Wellington makes is her belief that the sport of triathlon is reaching a global audience.

From Competitor TV.

My thoughts on Paula Findlay in an article by reporter John MacKinnon, writing in the Edmonton Journal:

“People keep saying to me, ‘What’s the secret of Paula?’ There’s no secret. She works incredibly hard, she’s focused, she has dedicated coaching and you can sum that up by saying she’s engaged in the relentless pursuit of (excellence).”

Read the full article here:

If you’re competing in your first triathlon or if you’re a seasoned pro, you’ll no doubt need to understand the importance of being prepared. Race-day preparation is a two-pronged approach, as it requires both mental and physical preparedness.

Good preparation starts in advance of race day, especially in terms of physical ability. Yet, an important part of race day is the mental preparation, some of which can’t be fully applied until race day.

Here are two tips that can really help out on race day.

1. Mind Your Business:

Try not to get into other racers’ way. Instead, take time to focus on yourself. Not doing so invites nothing but stress. If you’ve done the training beforehand, you should feel confident in your abilities. So, save the cramming and the last-minute stressing. Focus on yourself and visualize what you’ll have to do to finish the race. Don’t stay around people who are panicking and nervous, they’ll just stress and distract you.

2. Arrive Early and Be Aware of Your Surroundings:

Try to get a feeling of where everything is. Where is the transitions, the washrooms, the bike station, the water station, etc. Come early, register, and take some time to walk around and get used to your surroundings. By the time the race starts, you’ll be somewhat familiar of your environment. Every place has their own special quirks to take into consideration.

Keep these two things in mind and you’ll have a more successful day at the race.

Triathlon triathlete and 2008 World Champion, Chrissie Wellington, on nutrition.

We are bombarded with messages like ‘lose 100kg in 10 days by only eating Jelly Babies’; or ‘eat 20 grapefruits and shed 25inches in 24hours’. Forget the majority of these fads. Healthy eating for athletic performance is not rocket science (I am fortunate not to suffer from any allergies or intolerances). The basic principle is this: keep it simple, eat natural foods as much as possible, balance intake with output and everything in moderation.

Sound advice for all athletes.

Full post here.

Jennifer Purdie from Triathlete.com, outlines tips for swimming in cold water.

For those of you participating in races where the water is still cold and wetsuits mandatory (despite it being summer), Hoffman offers up these five tips:

1. Use two swim caps or a neoprene hoodie and booties.

The full list is here.

I get a lot of questions about the importance of choosing the right equipment, especially by athletes new to triathlon.

Though choosing the right equipment is important to your overall training methods, obsessing over the equipment is not.

It’s a form of procrastination—a way of avoiding the real work of training. It’s a common trap and not just among athletes. Writers are some of the worst at this type of procrastination, but we won’t get into that here.

Obsessing over the small differences between one set of bikes over another is not going to improve your power on the bike, have any effect on your fitness in the pool, or overall make you a stronger athlete. The only thing it will do is put you off training.

Remember, every minute spent obsessing over your tools and equipment is a missed opportunity for quality training. Any athlete worth his salt will tell you that equipment is important, but it will not make you a better triathlete. Only training and hard work will do that.

In my time as a triathlete, I’ve seen all kinds of excuses as to why athletes can’t find the time to train as they should.

While it’s more common than some would have you believe, athletes have bad habits. Sometimes, these bad habits creep in as soon as athletes take up a new sport. Soon, these habits become more serious mistakes later on and can hurt their chances of achieving the kind of success they wanted.

Two of the most common mistakes are:

1. Some athletes do not train hard enough. Some believe that if they stay on the bike for an hour or two, once a week, that they are doing more than their share of training. This can’t be further from the truth. As your training increases, your body will adapt, meaning it will require your training to increase in intensity to maintain and achieve your desired shape. In other words, you have to strive to push yourself. If you can do 20 minutes of hard riding, great, but if you can push that to 25 minutes or 30 minutes the next day, then go for it. It’s the increase in intensity and commitment that will make definitive changes.

2. That’s not to say you have to push yourself all the time. Doing this will ensure you either end up injuring yourself and putting yourself behind, or giving up entirely because you’re putting too much stress on your body and mind. Like I’ve said before and written on this site in previous posts, there is a balance that has to be achieved in order to get the most out of training. This balance is important short term and especially for the long term. Find the balance that will allow you to succeed in both your triathlon training and in life.

There are a lot more that I can touch on in other posts but these two are good for now because they’re the foundation for most of the others.