Month: August 2015

Don’t Let This Be You!

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Mindset
It has been a great summer so far.  I was able to take a nice break to “WORK IN” a little at Green Turtle Abaco, Bahamas.  I  had big plans of getting 8 hours of sleep a night, running, open water swimming and yoga every day!!!  Well… not so much!
The entire family got really sick, my plans went out the window and I eventually got sick as well.  So, I had to accept the situation and adjust.  I still got my meditation, yoga and some great free diving in between the diarrhea, vomiting and coughing!  But as you know, when this happens I lost some of my fitness.  When I got back to work and training I was not in the same physical shape as when I had left.
I could have picked back up doing my intervals, speed work and volume where I left off, but I have learned my lesson from previous experience.  Jumping back into training would have resulted in a pulled hamstring, tweaked back or other minor injury that could have been prevented.  I have dealt with this time and again with my athletes as well.  When you have taken time off from your consistent weekly schedule of training, you cannot just jump back in where you left off.  Sometimes athletes aren’t even aware that they have missed some key workouts but by keeping track of your weekly volume on a training interface like I use with my athletes on Training Peaks, you can keep track of your consistent or lack of consistent training.  When you do come back from taking some time off there needs to be a progression from a lower level of fitness to catch you back up to where you were before.  It won’t take as long as you might think.  Many times, I have tried and seen my athletes try to unsuccessfully jump back in, only to get injured and then need to take even more time off.
DON’T LET THIS BE YOU!  It is a frustrating situation and completely preventable without having to deal with a major setback.  So I recommend more frequent, shorter workouts at a lower intensity, drill work and some consistent sport specific strength training to get you back up to speed.  Take the time you need to build your volume and intensity back to where you were before the sporadic training started.  This is a proven method  I have used with myself and my athletes to get their fitness back and prevent injury in the long run.  Feel free to post comments and feedback!
Train Safe and Smart!
Wishing You Well,
Coach Erinne

Mental Skills; Do You Have What it Takes?

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Mindset

As many of my athletes are digging deep getting ready for some short course races here in south Florida I wanted to discuss mental skills and specifically short course racing and high intensity training.  Typically athletes racing short course will be pushing a higher intensity than those doing 70.3 or Ironman distance races.  It is just the nature of the length of the race.  For a sprint triathlon you can literally push your top end the entire race, but if you tried that for a long course race, you would most likely finish poorly or not at all. Mental skills are actually some of the most important skills any triathlete could have in order to be successful (short course or long course) and they are required at any level. If you signed up for the race to begin with you had to overcome your mental objections to do so and that is a mental skill in itself!

But, I want to get a little more detailed and ask the question “How do you get through the toughest of your training workouts?”  You know those days when you want to quit but have 3 more intervals or when it is SO hot, you feel you may pass out or when the finish line is 200 yards away and you start to sprint for it. What do you say to yourself to push through and get the job done?  This is what I want to know.

I have done some research and have also been using a few tactics that work well for me, but I would love to hear from you as well. Everyone is motivated by something different and driven by different motivators. So What Is yours?

Is it the pizza and ice cream after the race that helps you push though?
The chance at beating your local rival/ buddy for bragging rights?
Beating your own best time and creating a Personal Record (PR)?

I can tell you for me, always working to just be better than my last race is what drives me. I have been racing for almost 20 years, sometimes I am just happy to be out there and could care less how I do because I had been injured and couldn’t race for a while. Sometimes I am in shape but using the race as a measuring stick to see how much more into training I need to get if I want to PR. And Sometimes I am dialed in and ready to have my best race. Here are some strategies I have found that work for me and others I investigated:
COUNTING – Whatever the race/ workout I always use my counting tactic. When it gets tough I just start counting my exhales up to 11 and then start over. Simple and yet so effective to distract the mind away from the discomfort (pain!) This is called dissociative strategy- basically thinking of anything except what you are actually doing- it’s a great skill to practice to get through some tough training and racing.

Associative strategy: Focus on the job at hand and how you can make it better, relax shoulders, arm swing if running, form for swimming and running.  Another method is to recall prior tough training sessions or race results that ended well. Remember how good it felt when you succeeded before and really push to get those same results and feeling.  Say to yourself,  “I’ve been here before I can do this again.”
Goals: Achieving the life long goal can be a huge motivator so always reviewing your goals and why you are doing what you are doing can be super helpful in getting through a tough race or workout.
Repeating a positive mantra: “I am a strong efficient runner” vs “I suck at running” which do you think will give a better outcome?  Pain is temporary quitting is forever- one of my favorites!

Here is a link to one of the articles I referenced:
http://www.trainingsmartonline.com/images/Free_Triathlon_Articles/triathlon_psychology.pdf

And an awesome webinar that talks about mental toughness and it is a skill we can all attain!
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/blog/article/webinar-developing-mental-toughness

Now it’s your turn.  I would love to hear from you what strategies you employ when you need to DIG DEEP in that suitcase of courage.

I look forward to your responses so others can learn from you as well!