A bit before leaving work at Baptist Medical Center Beaches on Friday afternoon, I got word that Nick Vuijicic was speaking at the hospital. One of the case managers googled his name and up came a video that kept us all from working for a few minutes....
Every Saturday and Sunday morning as I am enjoying my coffee, water and pre-training snack, I enjoy searching for motivational quotes to give me the motivation and inspiration to get me out the door with the right attitude to see what I can accomplish for x-hours with my morning training session. I was having a hard time leaving my computer because I was so engaged in Nick's story as well as the message he sends to others. On Sunday, my friend Lindsay with USAT Triathlon posted something on her facebook page that I couldn't wait to share with my Trimarni facebook readers;
60 quotes that will change the way you think.
With Saturday being my last day of an enjoyable week of unstructured activity, following my half ironman last weekend, I had plenty of time to think about life....yes, one of those days were it's hard to not overthink.
You see, when it comes to training or nutrition, it's your life. You are responsible for you and ultimately at the end of the day, it is you and your body that go to bed to start a new, fresh day.
For if you are eating out with others, training with friends or hanging out with others, you have choices to make all day and every day. Resisting a piece of dessert may be tough when everyone else is eating one but you know you are satisfied and it isn't necessary at that moment in time.
For many people, saying no when it comes to food is really difficult and uncomfortable but remind yourself, at the end of the day, you are eating for you and others do not know your eating habits, nor your short and long term goals. You also don't need to explain or give excuses to anyone as to why you are doing something that you are doing...simply inspire, don't lecture....believe me, eventually they will follow and if they sabatoge you or put you down, ask yourself if they are someone in your life that is giving you energy or taking it away from you.
Don't be afraid to politely but confidently say "no thank you" - for it is your life, focus on you</i> Training with friends can be fun. It is mentally stimulating and at times, can get you out of your comfort zone. This is one area where athletes often struggle because there is often a struggle of finding the happy place in the middle. For training with faster people may keep you extremely fatigued and tired and lacking consistency and the understanding of what your body can actually handle depending on your upcoming race/event. For training with people slower than you may keep you from reach your goals - for not because you aren't being pushed all the time but rather, because on race day you have an expectation of what you want to accomplish and sadly, you didn't train your body to do so in training.
Don't hesitate to ask a trained professional to help you design a suitable training plan that will allow for quality training. Keeping in mind that it is your life and you need to focus on you - don't put too much energy is telling yourself what you need to accomplish every week with training. Rather, figure out how much time you have to devote to training and establish zones for heart rate, power, pace and even perceived exertion so that you are making the most of every training session - with or without training buddies.
This morning I had the pleasure of looking at Karel's butt for 2.5 hours.....despite it being a nice butt (what cyclist doesn't have a nice rear end??? :), riding behind Karel is no easy workout and there was little time to enjoy the scenery. :)
We had talked about this workout prior to leaving the house this morning and with my next half ironman in Sept (surprising announcement to come in 2ish weeks regarding my next half - stay tuned!!), I know I need to be pushed in all three disciplines for I improve the most in a short amount of time, when I am pushed.
And when I say short amount of time - 16 weeks goes by very quickly (believe it or not) so I make sure I am focusing on balanced training so that with every workout, I reap the most performance gains, as physically and mentally possible.
With Karel being my coach, he had all confidence in me that I could stay on his wheel while we both did the same set. (which is an excellent set for any long course athlete or athlete seeking build/endurance-type fitness)
Main set:
2 x 8 min Z4 w/ 2 min EZ
12 min Z3 w/ 4 min EZ
15 min Z3 w/ 4 min EZ
2 x 20 min upper Z2 w/ 2 min EZ
(brick run followed - 4 miles: all under 7:25 min/mile)
I was sure to focus on myself during this workout and with us doing many loops in Nocattee (safe roads - although wet this morning), I was mindful that if I got dropped I would be doing my intervals solo. Amazingly, I made every interval sitting on Karel's wheel! This is a huge improvement for me considering that this was a tough "long" workout for me because of the steady power that was required for each of the intervals. The focus was not on speed- just hitting the power zones at this point in the build phase of my training.
But as you will see below, it is possible to maintain consistent speeds with changing of power zones - all because of pacing and adjusting gears to control cadence and power. Karel's says "it's magic" how it all works out :) I am not sure how we did it but Karel was able to hit his zones and I was able to be really close to my zones and be extremely consistent with the intervals as well. This is one of the major bonuses in training with power- in that we were both going the same speed but my power and HR was different than Karel but absolutely within my capability.
Here's the stats of drafting behind karel (my data from my Garmin 500).
8 min: 166 watts, 139 HR, 23.9mph
8 min: 167 watts, 139 HR, 23.8mph
12 min: 150 watts, 133 HR, 23.0mph
15 min: 152 watts, 132 HR, 23.4mph
20 min: 136 watts, 125 HR, 22.3mph
20 min: 143 watts, 130 HR, 23.0mph (I was getting tired and not drafting very well so I was surging a lot to prevent getting dropped - thus the higher watts and HR for me)
Talk about consistency!
If I was alone, I would not be able to go those speeds but the watts are very similar (a bit lower than normal but still close) to what I would need to hold if I was riding alone. If you have any questions about training with a power meter, please let me know (email) - happy to help!
TIP:
This week, see if you can be more attentive to your needs and what works best for you. One of the best things in life is being in control over your choices and in order to be in control, you have to be a good planner. Think ahead, assess situations and determine the best game-plan to receive the most favorable results. Keep on performing beautifully!
Happy Monday!
Every Saturday and Sunday morning as I am enjoying my coffee, water and pre-training snack, I enjoy searching for motivational quotes to give me the motivation and inspiration to get me out the door with the right attitude to see what I can accomplish for x-hours with my morning training session. I was having a hard time leaving my computer because I was so engaged in Nick's story as well as the message he sends to others. On Sunday, my friend Lindsay with USAT Triathlon posted something on her facebook page that I couldn't wait to share with my Trimarni facebook readers;
60 quotes that will change the way you think.
With Saturday being my last day of an enjoyable week of unstructured activity, following my half ironman last weekend, I had plenty of time to think about life....yes, one of those days were it's hard to not overthink.
You see, when it comes to training or nutrition, it's your life. You are responsible for you and ultimately at the end of the day, it is you and your body that go to bed to start a new, fresh day.
For if you are eating out with others, training with friends or hanging out with others, you have choices to make all day and every day. Resisting a piece of dessert may be tough when everyone else is eating one but you know you are satisfied and it isn't necessary at that moment in time.
For many people, saying no when it comes to food is really difficult and uncomfortable but remind yourself, at the end of the day, you are eating for you and others do not know your eating habits, nor your short and long term goals. You also don't need to explain or give excuses to anyone as to why you are doing something that you are doing...simply inspire, don't lecture....believe me, eventually they will follow and if they sabatoge you or put you down, ask yourself if they are someone in your life that is giving you energy or taking it away from you.
Don't be afraid to politely but confidently say "no thank you" - for it is your life, focus on you</i> Training with friends can be fun. It is mentally stimulating and at times, can get you out of your comfort zone. This is one area where athletes often struggle because there is often a struggle of finding the happy place in the middle. For training with faster people may keep you extremely fatigued and tired and lacking consistency and the understanding of what your body can actually handle depending on your upcoming race/event. For training with people slower than you may keep you from reach your goals - for not because you aren't being pushed all the time but rather, because on race day you have an expectation of what you want to accomplish and sadly, you didn't train your body to do so in training.
Don't hesitate to ask a trained professional to help you design a suitable training plan that will allow for quality training. Keeping in mind that it is your life and you need to focus on you - don't put too much energy is telling yourself what you need to accomplish every week with training. Rather, figure out how much time you have to devote to training and establish zones for heart rate, power, pace and even perceived exertion so that you are making the most of every training session - with or without training buddies.
This morning I had the pleasure of looking at Karel's butt for 2.5 hours.....despite it being a nice butt (what cyclist doesn't have a nice rear end??? :), riding behind Karel is no easy workout and there was little time to enjoy the scenery. :)
We had talked about this workout prior to leaving the house this morning and with my next half ironman in Sept (surprising announcement to come in 2ish weeks regarding my next half - stay tuned!!), I know I need to be pushed in all three disciplines for I improve the most in a short amount of time, when I am pushed.
And when I say short amount of time - 16 weeks goes by very quickly (believe it or not) so I make sure I am focusing on balanced training so that with every workout, I reap the most performance gains, as physically and mentally possible.
With Karel being my coach, he had all confidence in me that I could stay on his wheel while we both did the same set. (which is an excellent set for any long course athlete or athlete seeking build/endurance-type fitness)
Main set:
2 x 8 min Z4 w/ 2 min EZ
12 min Z3 w/ 4 min EZ
15 min Z3 w/ 4 min EZ
2 x 20 min upper Z2 w/ 2 min EZ
(brick run followed - 4 miles: all under 7:25 min/mile)
I was sure to focus on myself during this workout and with us doing many loops in Nocattee (safe roads - although wet this morning), I was mindful that if I got dropped I would be doing my intervals solo. Amazingly, I made every interval sitting on Karel's wheel! This is a huge improvement for me considering that this was a tough "long" workout for me because of the steady power that was required for each of the intervals. The focus was not on speed- just hitting the power zones at this point in the build phase of my training.
But as you will see below, it is possible to maintain consistent speeds with changing of power zones - all because of pacing and adjusting gears to control cadence and power. Karel's says "it's magic" how it all works out :) I am not sure how we did it but Karel was able to hit his zones and I was able to be really close to my zones and be extremely consistent with the intervals as well. This is one of the major bonuses in training with power- in that we were both going the same speed but my power and HR was different than Karel but absolutely within my capability.
Here's the stats of drafting behind karel (my data from my Garmin 500).
8 min: 166 watts, 139 HR, 23.9mph
8 min: 167 watts, 139 HR, 23.8mph
12 min: 150 watts, 133 HR, 23.0mph
15 min: 152 watts, 132 HR, 23.4mph
20 min: 136 watts, 125 HR, 22.3mph
20 min: 143 watts, 130 HR, 23.0mph (I was getting tired and not drafting very well so I was surging a lot to prevent getting dropped - thus the higher watts and HR for me)
Talk about consistency!
If I was alone, I would not be able to go those speeds but the watts are very similar (a bit lower than normal but still close) to what I would need to hold if I was riding alone. If you have any questions about training with a power meter, please let me know (email) - happy to help!
TIP:
This week, see if you can be more attentive to your needs and what works best for you. One of the best things in life is being in control over your choices and in order to be in control, you have to be a good planner. Think ahead, assess situations and determine the best game-plan to receive the most favorable results. Keep on performing beautifully!
Happy Monday!
