Archive for May, 2007
By Charlene Waldner “Without rest there is no training”. This is a quote my swim coach Neil Harvey told me a while back and I’ll never forget it. What is the key difference between a pro and an age group athlete? It’s not how many hours they train, but more importantly, the quality and time spent recovering, napping, feet up, and hours of deep restful sleep. There are many studies which support that sports performance will be significantly impaired by poor sleep patterns. The easiest way one can improve physical performance is with high quality, uninterrupted sleep for overnight recovery. The quality of your sleep is just as important. Disturbed, poor quality and restless sleep will interrupt the sleep cycle. However, individuals need to reassess their own time management for duration and sufficient number of hours needed. There is overwhelming evidence demonstrating that poor performance and mental alertness are related to poor sleep habits. We live in a society that drives us to sleep less and work more. We consume copious amounts of caffeine and other stimulants, thereby encouraging our bodies to fight against natural responses. Everyone can function at different levels of required sleep. Some people can get by on 4 hours a night, most need 7-8 hrs, and athletes may demand 10+ hours. Athletes require more sleep to recover, and repair damaged muscle tissue from the demands and stresses of training. Quality sleep enhances growth hormone production needed for tissue repair and muscle rebuilding. Physical effects of poor sleep are: Psychological and mental effects of poor sleep: Ways to improve Sleep Quality: Sometimes a good night sleep or a recovery day should take priority over a training session. Think about it – if you’re tired from lack of sleep, are you really getting the benefit of the workout?
Alex Mrosczyck-McDonald Some people are natural born runners, while others have to encourage their inner runner to emerge. Here are 5 tips that, if incorporated regularly into your training, will help you to work your way up in the pack. 1) Transition run. After you return from a long ride, no matter how tired, take at least 10 minutes, and up to 40 minutes, to run right after getting off the bike with as little transition time as possible. Teaching our muscles to run efficiently and fast after cycling requires physiologic and anatomic adjustment which can be trained and practiced and as we all know, practice makes perfect. 2) Vary your training pace. Running at the same pace or intensity all the time will teach your body to run that speed. However, “that” speed is often not our projected “race pace” and in addition your running will stagnate without new stimuli to encourage constant physiologic and anatomic adaptation. Therefore, make sure you run various paces through a training week or cycle. For example, long slow distance (LSD), tempo, track workouts and striders are all run at different speeds, which help to keep your run progressing and moving forward. 3) Frequency. Running 7 days a week is not necessary. However, running 4, 5 or maybe even 6 days a week can have benefits. Each run does not have to be long, the goal is frequency. In fact varying the distance throughout a training cycle can help to keep things interesting. Even a 20 minute run after a hard workout or the next day can have neuromuscular benefits and “teach” your legs to run efficiently while fatigued by recruiting different motor units. 4) Drills. Although no one really likes taking the time to do drills, they can help to reinforce proper form, mechanics and increase efficiency. Once a week is all that is really required, and can be performed before or after a run, however, the effort should be high and you should not be significantly fatigued before starting the drills. I recommend three drills 3×20 each followed by 3×20 striders. Some of my favorite drills are high knees, butt kicks, pull-throughs and skips. 5) Head for the hills. A great way to build physical, as well as mental strength is to incorporate hills into your training. In addition, proper technique can help increase hill running efficiency. While ascending, keep your body vertical with respect to gravity, as a result you will be leaning into the hill at the same time, drive your knees forward and up while concentrating on a quick explosive push off. While descending, maintain your upper body perpendicular to the slope, as a result it will feel as if you are falling down the hill, keep your foot strike beneath your hips and not in front, as this applies a breaking force. It will initially feel as if you are going to fall, however, with practice it will become more natural. As with any endurance sport, changes will not be seen right away, and simply “doing more” will only lead to burn out and injury. There is no substitute for consistent and progressive training; however, the above approach with a little patience will help you to take your running to the next level.
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5k run, 30k bike, 5k run
I was squeezing this race in between the Honolulu Triathlon and the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. After a disappointing run in Honolulu, I hoped that the stiff competition and racing on my day to day training course would sharpen my skills for Alcatraz. I have always considered this one of the hardest races of the year. The run is not flat and is intense from the gun. The bike starts off with a nasty few miles of climbing and the second run leaves no room for catching your breath. It is an intense course that surely eases the pain for the remaining races on the schedule.
A few grapes and a lot of water later, and I was beginning to feel pretty good. The icing on the cake was a massage from Mark Dauenhauer, 208-365-3176 (Mark was giving massages after the race) that helped me recover much faster than I would have otherwise. Thanks Mark! Thank You volunteers! I thought the race was organized very well and had a fantastic time. It was tremendous to see all the people out there enjoying their fitness on a wonderful day. Thank You race sponsors!
The International Triathlon Union (ITU) announces today a new deal with major U.S. broadcaster, Fox Sports Net (FSN), to telecast its World Cup series. Covering four races, the FSN debut features the Mooloolaba BG Triathlon World Cup from Australia airing on Tuesday, July 3 at 3:00 PM local. Three more races air on consecutive Tuesdays at 3:00 PM local, showcasing the Ishigaki world cup from Japan, the Lisbon world cup from Portugal and the Richards Bay world cup race from South Africa. “This deal marks an important step forward in our media strategy,” stated ITU Director of Media and Television, Brian Mahony. “Our goal is to distribute the world cup series as widely as possible and the U.S. is an important market for us.” This latest agreement, which guarantees a minimum clearance of 50 million U.S. homes, comes at a good time for the ITU, which has recently announced deals in several countries including Russia, Greece, Croatia, Sweden, Italy and India. The ITU television series consists of an hour-long show from each of the BG Triathlon World Cup and World Championship events. The show is currently broadcast in over 117 countries on major networks including ESPN International, BBC and Sky sports. Airing the show in the U.S. has a personal significance for triathlon - the sport was founded in San Diego in the early 1970’s. “Giving triathlon visibility in the birthplace of the sport is an important step forward for us. This deal will help the sport and our athletes gain recognition in one of the world’s major sports markets,” said Loreen Barnett, Executive Director of ITU. “FSN looks forward to working with the ITU to bring the BG Triathlon World Cup to the U.S. audience,” said FSN Acquisitions Manager Josh Oakley. “These tremendous competitions are the perfect showcase for U.S. sports fans to catch an early glimpse of athletes they will see racing in next year’s Summer Olympics in Beijing.” To learn more about ITU TV and its international broadcasters please click here.
HONOLULU, Hawaii (May 20, 2007) - Two Americans have added their names to a prestigious list of triathletes to have won the USA Triathlon Elite National Championship. Andy Potts (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Princeton, N.J.) and Julie Swail (Irvine, Calif.) claimed the honors by winning the overall titles at the Honolulu Triathlon on Sunday. It marked the first triathlon national titles for both athletes. The wins also earned the pair the first slots at this summer’s Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro and the ITU World Championships in Hamburg, Germany. Second place Americans Sarah Haskins (Colorado Springs, Colo. / St. Louis, Mo.) and Brian Fleischmann (Colorado Springs, Colo. / Jacksonville, Fla.) also qualified for Worlds. Potts, one of the top triathlon swimmers in the world, used his specialty to gain an early lead, For Potts, it was a satisfying win after finishing as runner-up the last two years. “I always like to race from the front, take advantage of my strengths,” said Potts. “I had a great winter and improved my whole skill-set. I was glad I was able to put it all together today and take it from the front. I had some nice help from Brian Fleischmann out there on the bike. Brian worked really hard and I was glad to see he got on the podium and his efforts were rewarded as well.” For Fleischmann, it was his third national championship runner-up finish in his career. On the women’s side, 21 athletes started, but it didn’t take long for the race to narrow to five competitors. Swail, Haskins, Laura Bennett (N. Palm Beach, Fla. / Boulder, Colo.), Sara McLarty (Colorado Springs, Colo. / DeLand, Fla.), and Sarah Groff (Boulder, Colo.) exited the water as a group, worked together on the bike and entered T2 within seconds of one another. But it was the run where Swail, Haskins, and Bennett began to take control. The three raced together throughout the majority of the 10k course, before Bennett fell off the pace and Swail and Haskins approached the final mile neck and neck. It was Swail, however, who was able to use a surge to separate herself from the defending champion Haskins and eased into the win in a time of 1:52:33. Haskins finished in 1:52:54, with Bennett finishing third in 1:53:12. McLarty and Groff grabbed fourth and fifth, respectively. “It hasn’t really sunk in. I’m just blown away,” said Swail, when asked what it means to be a national champion. “I always expect to do well, but to me this is a very important race because I qualified for the Pan Am Games and World Championships. That was what my focus was today.” “I was very pleased with my race strategy today. I had great partners in Sarah Haskins and Laura Bennett. We worked hard on the run and ran together, side by side. It was just a matter of who could kick it in at the end. I have been working on my speed work and it paid off today. I ran very steady, very comfortable the entire run. With 900 meters to go, I decided to pick it up for about 100, going all out, and steadily took a steady pace for the next 800.” The elites shared a $30,000 prize purse in this international points race that served as an ITU Continental Cup and first event of the five-race USAT Haul to the Great Wall series. Three Under 23 athletes also secured their spots at this fall’s ITU U23 World Championships. Ethan Brown and John Dahlz will be traveling to Hamburg for the men, with Jennifer Spieldenner earning a spot for the women. Visit the race website for complete results: www.honolulutriathlon.com USAT Elite National Championship Elite Women 1 Julie Swail 19:00 0:43 56:18 0:44 35:50 1 1:52:33 Elite Men 1 Andy Potts 17:45 0:43 50:57 0:41 32:22 1 1:42:27 USA Triathlon Elite National Champions Year-by- Year Year Men Women |
