Running Pace...

As multi-sport athletes, we are used to talking to a fellow athlete and hearing the words - "I am going on a 5 mile run today." This tells us that they are going for a specific distance, but what pace are they going to run and what pace should they run.

Pacing has always been a key to specific running and training. When to run what pace and why to run the pace is a very important key to run training.

Check out this article that details running pace and the associated efforts. For more information or any questions, feel free to email Jamie at coach@triyourbest.com.

Staying Healthy

During the spring time, most multi-sport athletes begin to bump their training up from a low key base building to a more intense build phase to get ready for their races. Also, in spring time, many allergies start to appear and the constant action of trying to stay healthy becomes harder and harder.

As we push our bodies into more training volume and more training intensity, it becomes harder and harder for our bodies and our immune systems to keep sicknesses, allergies, and diseases from attacking our bodies. So, not only do we have to keep a detailed log of our intense training, we also must be concerned with staying healthy and keeping our body free from sickness.

Check out this article that details ways to train hard, but also stay healthy. For any comments or any questions, feel free to email Jamie at coach@triyourbest.com.

Is Caffeine For Real?

Before any multi-sport event, you will likely see hundreds of your competitors sipping on their coffee. For many people, this is a morning ritual completed every morning as they rise out of bed. For others, this is a great way to get some caffeine, a stimulant, in them before the start of the race.

For years, there has been debates and debates over the pros and cons of drinking coffee. Although drinking coffee does provide a stimulant response from the coffee, there have also been studies to show the risks and dangers associated with drinking coffee.

As with most anything, drinking coffee before a race or a workout becomes very personal. What works well for you may not work at all for your training partner. Check out this article that details the benefits and dangers of drinking coffee before races or workouts. For any questions or comments, feel free to email Jamie at coach@triyourbest.com.

The Art of Recovery Nutrition

As many multi-sport athletes progress into their build phase, they will start completing more intense workouts that create more of a strain and place more stress on their body. As this happens, it is key to think highly of the recovery process.

Not only does the recovery process involve rest and recovering the sore muscles by icing and heating respectively, another key to recovery is the nutrition. According to most nutritionists and coaches, there is a key 30 minute window to really help with recovery by taking in recovery nutrition. As with any nutrition item, there are many questions and ways to use nutrition as a tool for recovery.

Check out this article that details how to use nutrition in a way to benefit your recovery process. For more information or any questions, feel free to email Jamie at coach@triyourbest.com.

Recovery Workouts

For many athletes, a "recovery" day does not necessarily mean a day off. Instead, it means a "recovery" workout. Many athletes and coaches think of a recovery workout as an excellent way to rid your body of the lactic acid built up in an intense workout. But, there are many other reasons for "recovery" workouts.

Check out this article that details some of the benefits of a recovery run. For more information and any questions, feel free to email Jamie at coach@triyourbest.com.

Quality Trainer Workouts

For many athletes, until the time changes and the weather changes, they are limited to doing 75% of their cycling indoors on the trainer. For many multi-sport athletes, they will find that just getting on the trainer in itself will improve their base and therefore improve their fitness and speed.

However, after a few weeks of purely pedaling on the trainer, it will be beneficial to incorporate specific trainer workouts into the athlete's schedule. This may consist of doing trainer specific drills that focus on improving form and improving efficiency. Or, this may consist of doing specific intervals that focus on building the athlete's threshold or improving speed.

Check out this article that details some trainer workouts for the build phase. Feel free to email Jamie with any questions or comments at coach@triyourbest.com.

Running Drills

As triathletes, many athletes concentrate highly on form by incorporating drills in their cycling and swimming workouts, but rarely incorporate drills in their running workouts.

Why is this? From our birth, we have grown up running - running around our house, running in our neighborhood, and just flat out running for fun. We were born with the instinct to run on our two feet which is different from swimming in the water and cycling on a bike that has 23cm wide tires.

Even though we were born with the instinct to run, there are still many drills that athletes can incorporate into their workouts to allow their run leg to become more efficient. There are cognitive drills, for example, counting your run cadence over the course of a minute to see if it is around the theoretical perfect number of 90 foot strikes per minute. There are technical drills, such as strides that incorporate fast turnover and a high knee.

Check this article out as it details some running drills to incorporate into your workouts. For more drills and any questions, feel free to email Jamie at coach@triyourbest.com.

Surviving the Open Water

For many triathletes, the first race of the season, and maybe the first race ever, will take place in the next few months. For many people, this open water swim start will be a very daunting task for many novice triathletes.

The open water swim start can be very frightening for many people. This is because the first part of the swim can become very much a contact sport for the first few minutes. There are many things a novice triathlete can do to help with this scary feeling. Check out this article that details some ways to improve your open water swim. Feel free to email Jamie at coach@triyourbest.com for more information.

The Many Ways to Train

As you begin to read the books and talk to coaches about how to train, one begins to feel engulfed on what to use for their training. Should an athlete use Zones based on a Heart Rate Monitor, should an athlete monitor their performance on a bike with a power meter, should an athlete use GPS to monitor their pace, or should an athlete go old school and go with perceived effort?

There can be made arguments for each type of training tool. Some provide very and precise training measurements while others provide useful, but more old school ways of training. In my opinion, it depends on the athlete and exactly what and why they are using the equipment.

Check out this article that details some of the different training tools and ways to use them. For more questions and information, feel free to email Jamie at coach@triyourbest.com.

Should I Stand or Should I Sit?

You are coming up onto Mile 10 of a 20K bike portion of the race. You know, from reading the race map, that within Mile 10, there is a .5 mile climb. Should you stay seated for the climb or should you stand for the climb?

The answer here depends both on your physical makeup and also the type of run that follows this bike. Because standing recruits more muscle and also places more stress on your physiological system, it will more than likely raise your Heart Rate faster than staying seated.

However, this may not mean that standing is less efficient than sitting. What if you can summit the climb 15 seconds faster than you could if you stayed seated. Then, depending on how much you have increased your Heart Rate, you may actually be more efficient standing.

The run following also plays a key in this question. If you have a shorter, faster type run following the bike and have trained well, then it may be wise to sacrifice a bit of efficiency for the faster climb - go ahead and stand. If you have a disproportionate race and have a 8 mile run following the bike, save your legs and stay seated for a little longer.

This is a very intriguing subject. Check out this article detailing more pluses and minuses for climbing and seating. For more information, feel free to email Jamie at coach@triyourbest.com.