Training and racing abroad

So, you want to travel to a foreign country, see some sites, stay fit and maybe even race.  Training and racing abroad is a great experience and with a little bit of planning, you can make the most of your time abroad.  Here are a few things to consider before you depart, during travel and once you have arrived.

Pre trip – Make a list!  Sounds simple, but is most helpful.  Take a few moments before you depart to educate yourself a little bit more about where you are traveling too.  Paper maps are quite helpful to keep handy in case Google maps or the Garmin is not working.   Make extra (Paper) copies of passport, credit cards, travel itinerary and any contact info in case you loose anything or your smart phone gets stolen/lost or won’t charge.   Notify your credit card company of the dates you plan to travel to avoid delays making any purchases.  Arrange for transportation to your accommodations ahead of time instead of trying to figure it out when you arrive and are tired. 

Travel – Allow enough time to not have to rush.  Check in, baggage, customs, all take a little more time than domestic travel.  Have a small amount of local currency when you arrive to cover anything that may arise.   Wear comfortable and functional clothes/shoes for travel.   Sometimes you have a lot of walking to do along with baggage and possibly a bike box.

Food & Hydration - Drink plenty of water on the plane and during the travel day.  Pack a few snacks in case you have delays or not feeling like eating the airline food.   However, be aware of any food restrictions of your destination country, as you may have to declare items you are brining into country on your customs forms.  Some countries you cannot bring certain foods in at all so, don’t bother bringing it along unless you plan to consume it on the plane or on any layovers.  

Time change – Give you body a few days to adjust from the travel.  Best thing I have found to help this is upon arrival get some kind of easy workout in.  You are an athlete after all.  Helps the body loosen up from the flight/train and starts getting your reset on local time.   Set an alarm to get up the following morning on local time as well and keep drinking water!

Rules of the road, local customs – Here in Australia, when you ride a bike, you must wear a helmet otherwise be subject to a fine.  Also, vehicles travel on the other side of the road compared to the states, so when you step off the curb, or merge into traffic look right first.  Speed limit signs are in KMH not MPH.    Dining out in some countries the tip is already include in the bill. 

Check out the course – Course knowledge is always helpful so plan on driving or riding part of the course before race day to get more familiar.   Pay attention to road surfaces, wind conditions and what parts of the course are and are not open to traffic on race day.  Great to get in the water at the swim finish area so you can get some land based objects to site on for the end of your swim.

Where are you going to travel next?  Don't forget the camera!

Make it a great week,

Coach Eric

What happened to common sense... if your exhausted... REST!

Aristotle, who is the first person known to have discussed "common sense". He was describing the ability with which animals (including humans) process sense perceptions, memories and imagination (phronein) in order to reach many types of basic judgments. But only humans have real reasoned thinking (noein).

I think endurance athletes are loosing touch with things a bit in particular their common sense.  Often times I hear athletes say they were exhausted and wonder to myself, "why are they going to attempt a workout today".  Now I know sometimes one can become tired from training and you need to stress the body from time to time to gain some improvement.  But, if you had just raced an IM a little over 3 weeks ago and I am hearing you say you're are exhausted, don't ya think it might be better to take the day off instead of creating more fatigue which continues to delay the full recovery process.

People, when are you going to get it?  Do you need to be sick, fevered and injured before you stop training or take a much deserved break?  I am seeing this more and more with age group athletes who train like professional athletes, while working a full time job.  Sure you can train like them in a physical way, but there is no way you are going to recover like they do because you just don't have that much free time for naps, weekly massages and general downtime to rejuvenate.  Some age group athletes eventually gets to the point of being so run down from lack of adequate rest, combined with pushing their training limits, that even a 3 week taper is not going to bring them to race day fully prepared.  Always better to be 10% undertrained than 1% over trained when going into your priority races for the season.

Take the runners from Kenya, when they are done for the season, they are done.  Some will not run for 2 or 3 weeks some not even for a month.  They just take a complete break, no cross training, just total downtime.  I belief this downtime allows them to maintain the focus and intensity when they are training.  Most elite Kenyan runners run 2 times a day and some 3 times a day.  They usually start with a morning run around 6am, after that return to bed to rest for the main session around 10am. Lunch and more rest and some will run again in the afternoon.  Now I know this is the elite, but my point is by having the real downtime, it allows them to hit a very high level focussed bit of training when called for.

In the western world, 2-3 weeks of downtime is going to drive the type A athlete and those around him/her completely NUTS!  I have written about this before and will continue to do so in future posts, TRAINING IS RECOVERY BASED!  Easy means easy, hard means hard, day off means, day off.  Combine that with some common sense and you may just reach your next goal healthy and happy.  Pay attention to your self talk.  Are you saying "I have to workout" vs "I want to workout"  When the have to's start becoming the norm,  overtraining, burnout and injury are getting bigger in the rear view mirror for sure.

If you need help, get it.  There are plenty of great coaches out there who can help you balance the training load with all your other activities.  Don't be afraid to do a little less especially if this is supposed to be your off season.

Make it a great week!

Coach Eric

You are what you eat!

The foods we eat help nourish our body/mind for optimal health.  But, not all foods are created equally. 

There is debate whether organic foods are better from a nutritional standpoint than non-organic foods.  But the bigger picture I think lies in the use of pesticides on non-organic foods.  

Switching to an all organic diet can be more expensive, especially if you live where growing your own produce is challenging.  One thing you can do however is to try eating organic on what the Environmental Working Group calls "The Dirty Dozen".  Some research suggests that by going organic when purchasing these foods, you may be able to eliminate up to 80% of the pesticides in your diet. 

"The Dirty Dozen"

• Apples
• Celery
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Grapes
• Hot Peppers
• Nectarines
• Peaches
• Potatoes
• Spinach/Kale
• Strawberries
• Sweet Bell Peppers 

So, try making your local farmers markets and the organic produce section a frequent place to shop for your fruits and veggies.

Make it a great week!

Coach Eric

You can make a difference!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to run a local Halloween 5K here in Fort Collins that the CSU Triathlon team was hosting.  The morning weather was crisp, and the skies crystal clear making for a perfect running day with the fall colors in full bloom.  This would be a different race experience for me as I would be pushing an athlete for Athletes in Tandem.  During my life, I have been fortunate to work with all kinds of athletes in the water, on the bike or run and on the ski hill, that have have been challenged in one way or another.  But this day was different.  My athlete James was counting on me 100% so he could feel the warmth of the sun on his body and the wind in his face as we zoomed around the CSU campus.

Warming up and learning how to steer properly

We lined up at the start line and once the gun went off settled into a good pace.  James was very vocal during the run and when we passed people along the course he was always raising his hands and just genuinely fired up.  He is a competitor for sure.  A couple of the other Athletes in Tandem athletes passed us during the race and when this happened, he would look up and stare at me for about 5-6 seconds.  If I was reading his mind correctly I think he was telling me "could ya move a little bit faster"

The 5K went by very quick and we made it to the finish line along with all the other athletes.  *Note even on a cool morning, running in a full tiger costume can get quite warm, but worth every drop of sweat!

Post race

Sometimes we take for granted all the choices we have for our own health and wellness.  Today was a humble reminder that not everyone has those choices.  So, I leave you with this challenge to do these 2 things as often as you can.  

1.  Keep making the most out of everyday as no one is promised tomorrow. 

2. Take the time to make someone else's day, just a little bit better.

Make it a great week!

Coach Eric

Happy Shoulders... Happy Swimmer

Dog paddle is a great drill!

In order to train consistently for swimming or any other sport, one needs to remain healthy.  Deliberate, focussed practice must be implemented in all training sessions.  That combined with consistency in your training will give you the best chance to progress.

Check out this video "Prevent swimmers shoulders...Injury prehab program" that the folks at Vasa Inc made back in 2010.  Simple, effective, sport specific exercises that will keep your shoulders healthy and swimming through the winter months.

Make it a great week of training,
Coach Eric

Fall Fitness

The long days of summer are fading, but that does not mean your health and fitness needs to fade as well.   From an exercise standpoint, there are plenty of things you can continue doing this fall to maintain your summer fitness gains.  In addition to exercise, two other things play an equally important role in maintaining optimal fitness and they are balanced nutrition and adequate sleep.   Just imagine if we could do just those three things consistently how much better we would feel every day. 

#1 Regular Exercise – The benefits of exercise are to numerous to list. There are so many great ways to get exercise especially living along the Front Range.  I would encourage you to have a variety of activities to choose from.  Variety is the spice of life and participating in different forms of exercise is a great way to cross train and help keep overuse injuries down.  With the weather changing, you may need to take some of your exercise indoors, or just get some better gear to handle the cooler weather.  Either way, you need to keep moving regardless of the temperature.  Exercise is probably one of the best ways to change your mood.  Think about it, when was the last time you finished a workout and felt depressed, or grumpy?  Yes, you may be tired, but it is a good tired that in turn may help you with #3 below.  Whether you exercise by yourself or with a group just be consistent in trying to get some movement each and every day.

#2 Balanced Nutrition – Similar to sleep, everyone is going to have their own specific needs depending on age, level of activity or trying to lose, maintain or gain weight.  A balanced diet of foods is fuel for optimal mental and physical energy.  Here is a simple thing to do that just requires a little bit of discipline.  Find out what you are really eating every day by keeping a food journal.    Try the journal for three days and write down everything you eat & drink.  This can be a big eye opener for a lot of people in terms of how much or little they are eating as well as the quality in food choices.  Often times, just the act of keeping a food journal will help you make better food choices.   From this you will have a better idea on what foods you may need to add to your diet as well as those that may need to be consumed in more moderation or eliminated to maintain a healthy body composition.

#3 Adequate Sleep – Our own personal energy level could be one of our most valuable resources and sleep plays a big role in this.  With adequate sleep you have a much better chance of success with #1 and #2 above, so make it a priority.  People have different sleep requirements, so the key is finding out what yours are and then doing your best to get those zzz’s.  Some people do fine on 6-7 hours a night, others need 8+ and teenagers can never seem to get enough.  Proper sleep allows our bodies to rejuvenate and recover from the day’s activities

We all have 24 hours each day, no more, no less.  Make the choice to get a little exercise each and every day.  This combined with balanced nutrition and adequate sleep is a great recipe for maintaining a healthy mind & body! 

Make it a great week of training,

Coach Eric

Run drills then hit the trails!

Fall color along I-70 Vail, CO

Fall is a great time of year to get out on the trails for more XC running.  This also means that if you have been running mostly on the roads with flat, level surfaces, your ankles and muscles of the lower leg may need a little tuning up. Here are some basic running drills that you can incorporate into any run as part of warm up, during the run or cool down.

Have a GREAT Monday and hope you're making the most of your day.

Coach Eric