It’s time once more for my top 10 endurance sports lessons from last year. My 2014 race season began in March with the St. Paddy’s Day Dash & Bash, Greenville, SC, and ended in November with the Crooked Road 24 Hour Ultra, Rocky Mount, VA. In between were multiple 5K races, three sprint triathlons, my first ever duathlon and the epic Medoc 10 miler trail race. In other words, it was a pretty darn excellent year for this old, fat man on a mission.
Now I find myself relocated to Upstate South Carolina from East Tennessee, struggling to get it together for another year swimming, riding the roads and running trails. New venues, new races and hopefully new training partners. Let’s look at a year’s worth of learning.
Drum Roll!
Count the High Fives
12. Count all of your Personal Records (PR or PB if your British). Try to include high fives, bad jokes, improvised training fuels, times you wore your bike jersey inside-out and not just times, laps, miles and minutes.
Turn off the TV or Laptop Already
11. Sleep is vitally important to your recovery. A few simple changes can make a big difference.
Tips from the National Sleep Foundation
Get a Blender and Go Green
10. Green smoothies are easy, tasty and nutritious. Last year I did a week’s worth of green smoothies. I was convinced going in that it would be a horror story, but to my surprise, these vegetable and fruit concoctions are a great addition to your nutrition.
Smoothie Recipes from Real Simple
Run, Bike, Run
9. Duathlons are fun. I did my first duathlon this year and while the last 5K was harder and slower than the first 5K the 21-mile bike on the New River Trail on my ancient steel Trek 470 was awesome. I might even go back.
Measure, Research, Bike Fit, Break In
8. The path to a more comfortable bike saddle is a little complicated but worthwhile. It’s a process that begins with determining the width of your sit bones (ischial tuberosities). Then you get advice from your friends and/or LBS, and research saddles of the proper width. I went with the Cobb Plus. Then you double check your bike fit because if it ain’t right a new saddle won’t make much difference. Finally you have to ride on the new saddle long enough for your butt and it to get used to each other, at least 6 to 8 weeks. Then if it’s not working out start over. Some trial and error cannot be avoided.
Cervélo’s Four and A Half Rules of Road Saddles
Every Triathlete Tells A Story Don’t It
7. More voices make for a better blog. Last year I reached out to fellow endurance athletes for content, and they delivered big time. Thanks to Kit Hayes, Viktor Kimmel, Steve Stout, Coach Brett, host of the Zen and The Art of Triathlon podcast, Timmy Waites at Rocky Top Bicycles and Janine Pleasant, swim and triathlon coach for their contributions to SBS. Their stories, insights and tips made the blog better. Special thanks to Leah Gembarowski Smith for providing photos for the Foothills Sprint post. Want to add your voice in 2015. Hit me with an e-mail.
More Trainer Time = A Better Season
6. Your bike trainer is your friend, your very best friend. I spent three or four workouts a week last winter on my Kurt Kinetic road machine and when Spring came I was a better faster rider. It was a stark lonely existence just me, my road bike, the trainer and a kitchen timer for intervals. This year I’m using TrainerRoad software, and so far I love the interactive workouts.
Bike Radar’s TrainerRoad Review
You Can Find A Group Ride
5. Group rides make you better. I’m a big guy, and I’ve earned my reputation for being slow. I’m sort of the American version of James May (AKA Caption Slow) only without the fashion sense. For a long time I rode my bike alone convinced that I couldn’t find a group ride. The Greeneville Cycling Club and the Five Rivers Cycling Club proved me wrong. I found support, motivation and friendship in both groups.
Get Your GPS to Log Your Workouts
4. It’s very likely you want a GPS watch. It’s not just shiny and geeky. It’s also a labor saving device. If you use it for your bike and running workouts you can automatically generate a workout log. Review that log and you will become a better athlete almost guaranteed. I use a Garmin 310XT, want a Garmin 910XT and dream about owning a Garmin 920XT.
Blister Prevention
3. There more blister solutions for marathons and ultras than just band-aids, moleskin and duct tape. Leukotape kept me blissfully blister free during my 38-mile trek at the Crooked Road 24 Hour Ultra.
I had a major breakthrough in my swimming last year which leads to the top two lessons from last year at least for triathletes.
The Only Cure for Open Water Dread Is Open Water Swimming
2. The secret to confident open water swimming is to do a lot of open water swimming. Find a group of triathletes you can swim with, preferably with kayak support and get out there. Try short distances to start with and swim parallel to shore. Check out the SaferSwimmer™ Open Water Swim Buoy. It makes a lot of sense for open water swim training and gives you a place to put your car keys.
You Can’t Evaluate Your Own Swimming
1. You need a swim or triathlon coach. There is just no substitute for a live human being to analyze your swim stroke and tell you that you are making the same mistake again and again until you just want to cry. Don’t worry in the water nobody can tell. He or she can also help you identify solutions to your complete inability to breathe at the correct point in the stroke and maybe get you to stop doing that weird thing with your left arm. They can also refine your swim workouts, provide motivation and give you the benefit of hard-won experience. Thanks again Triathlon Coach Janine Pleasant.