Training - Page 3

Using Pickle Juice for Triathlon Training and Racing

Pickle juice? Yes, you read that correctly! Pickle juice could be that magical piece of your triathlon training and racing nutrition that is missing right now. When describing the nutrition strategy I used during Ironman Wisconsin, I typically get the most questions about my consumption of pickle juice: You really drank that? How did you carry it with you? Why pickle juice? Did it really work? Let me enlighten you. Yes, I really drank it. I drank 2.5 ounces at mile 40 of the bike course, 2.5 ounces at mile 80 of the bike course, and another 2.5 ounces at mile 13 of the marathon portion. While some athletes opt to carry a small amount of the juice from the…

Nutrition / Training

TriDot

Mental Training for Triathletes

When preparing for a triathlon event, you wouldn’t wait until race day to prepare your legs, lungs, heart, or even your gear. So why ignore and neglect your mind? In fact, some athletes might argue that preparing your mind is more important than your physical preparation, especially when it comes to long course triathlons, such as IRONMAN. The truth is, the most physically fit athlete can easily be derailed on race day if mentally unprepared. Many athletes think of mental training as pushing their physical limits by mentally blocking out pain or ignoring the desire to ease up or stop. This is, of course, a part of mental preparedness; however, mental training goes far beyond this concept. Techniques and practices…

Psychology / Race Strategy / Training

Jared Milam

Three Power Threshold Training Points to Always Remember in Triathlon

Power threshold training, for the purpose of this blog post, is the training done on the bike in order to increase your Functional Threshold Power (FTP). FTP is the maximum sustainable power one can hold for a given amount of time. Increasing your FTP is perhaps the most important thing you can do for your cycling. An athlete with a higher FTP will be able to hold a faster pace more comfortably than an athlete with a lower FTP. For example, if Tim’s FTP is 225 watts and he’s holding 85% of that power for the bike leg of an IRONMAN, then Bill who weighs the same as Tim and has an FTP of 200 watts must hold a higher…

Bike / Training

Elizabeth James

How a Medical Breakthrough Led to a Triathlete Nutrition Breakthrough - Part 1

A young Connecticut family faced overwhelming emotion when doctors diagnosed their son, Jonah, with a metabolic disorder. This rare condition prevented Jonah’s body from converting stored carbohydrates (glycogen) into energy (glucose). To maintain adequate blood-sugar levels, Jonah needed to be fed with a feeding tube every two hours. These feedings included the nighttime hours, preventing Jonah (and his parents) from ever getting a full night’s sleep. Determined to improve Jonah’s quality of life, his parents led research that resulted in the scientific breakthrough of SuperStarch, a complex carbohydrate that steadily releases glucose. This slow release enables a body to maintain steady blood-sugar levels for hours. While this scientific discovery had, most importantly, a positive life-changing impact for Jonah, the family…

Nutrition / Race Strategy / Training / Triathlon

Elizabeth James

3 Steps Toward More Effective Triathlon Training Recovery

“Anyone can work hard. Do you have the discipline to recover?” – Lauren Fleshman, U.S. champion in the 5000 meters, 2006 and 2010. After finishing a beast of a workout where you hit all of the intervals and managed to keep your pace despite fatigue, your mental confidence should be high and you should be another step closer to reaching your goal. And you will be – if you recover correctly. Sadly, many athletes do not understand that without proper recovery their grueling sessions are doing more damage than good. After a tough training session, your body is in a fatigued state. You have broken down tissues and muscles, and your energy stores are depleted. The following three steps will…

Recovery / Training / Triathlon

Jared Milam

The Triathlon Swim: 3 Key Insights Part 2 - Sighting

Yesterday we initiated a conversation on the three key insights for the triathlon swim by discussing the importance of the start position. Today we’re moving on to an even greater insight – sighting. Sighting What will often separate one who has trained for the pool from one who has trained for the triathlon swim is the ability to ascertain the shortest distance between two points. Hours upon hours of obtaining proper technique and superior swim endurance are all reduced to nothing if you don’t know how to lift your head out of the water to “sight” a buoy. A focus on swimming faster with little concentration on direction is a silly gamble to roll the dice on for a few…

Swim / Training / Triathlon / TriDot Training

TriDot

6 Signs You Might be Overtraining for Your Triathlon – Part 2

Take the demanding nature of triathlon and add to it the highly motivated, type A athletes who participate in this multi-disciplinary sport and you have a recipe for… overtraining. It doesn’t have to be that way. In the last blog, we saw that constant aches and pains, decreased performance, and an increased heart rate are indicators that you could be overtraining. Here are a few more factors to be aware of: 4. Emotional mayhem Closely related to an increased morning heart rate is a general irritability and moodiness that often accompanies overtraining. As your body is overtaxed, so is your emotional well-being. Are you more irritable about insignificant things than normal? Are you a challenge to be around, snapping and…

Training / Triathlon

TriDot

6 Signs You Might be Overtraining for Your Triathlon – Part 1

Take a demanding sport composed of three equally difficult disciplines and add highly motivated, goal driven, type A personalities, and you’ve got the recipe for overload and overexertion. Unfortunately, the byproduct of these converging factors is often overtraining. But fortunately, there are some basic warning signs that, if recognized and attended to, can minimize the consequences of overtraining, if not prevent it altogether. 1. Aches and pains The most obvious warning signs of overtraining are chronic aches and pains and constant muscle, bone, and joint soreness. This isn’t the typical achiness that accompanies a rough practice or race but a constant state of fatigue and physical rundown. Six-time Ironman World Champion Dave Scott explains, “Indeed, there are times throughout the…

Training / Triathlon

Jared Milam

The Top 3 Triathlon Metrics Most Triathletes Ignore But Shouldn’t – Part III

Previously in this series, we’ve discussed the top three triathlon metrics most triathletes are ignoring but really shouldn’t. So far we’ve covered Functional Threshold and Bike-to-Run Factor. Lastly, we’ll analyze your Race Execution Percentage (or under the TriDot System the RaceX %) by learning what this is and why it’s so important. Race execution as a triathlon metric may sound strange, but it’s more obvious than you might think. After all, executing on race day is what this is all about! TriDot uses predictive analytics to improve and predict your performance. For this reason, our proprietary tool, RaceX, is highly instrumental in projecting performance so you can intelligently achieve what you didn’t think was possible. I’m often surprised how many…

Training / Triathlon / Triathlon Metrics

Jared Milam

The Top 3 Triathlon Metrics Most Triathletes Ignore But Shouldn’t – Part II

Yesterday I introduced the first of three triathlon metrics many triathletes are ignoring but shouldn’t: Functional Threshold. This is a key data metric athletes need to know to improve power capabilities in order to optimize their training and performance. The second key metric the triathlete in training should be paying attention to is their Bike-to-Run Factor (B2R). TriDot uses this key data point to effectively and efficiently train athletes in the bike and run disciplines for the best and most optimized results. As many of you know, half and full distance IRONMAN triathlons are bike and run discipline heavy. If your focus is on long course triathlon, the Bike-to-Run Factor is an especially essential triathlon metric. Bike-to-Run Factor is the…

Training / Triathlon / Triathlon Metrics

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