Due to recent tragic events here in Austin, there has been much discussion regarding the mingling of cyclists and motorists, and what can be done to improve safety for everyone. These discussions start out with good intentions, but typically degrade to the “cyclists think they own the road” type arguments. For the record, in the three most recent incidences, the cyclists who were injured, two fatally so, were obeying traffic laws when struck.
The reasoning behind these types of arguments never fail to aggravate me. How many times have I mentioned my cycling to a non-cyclist, only to be then bombarded with stories of a cyclist who did something stupid on the road? Too many to count. As Pam LeBlanc mentions in this post for the Austin American-Statesman, “there are good cyclists and bad cyclists”, just as there are good motorists and bad motorists. Next time someone mentions driving someplace, try gasping and going off on a tirade about some motorist who cut you off in traffic, or failed to signal a turn, or… well, you get the idea. The former rant is for some reason more acceptable, which says an immense amount about our society. I look forward to the day this is no longer the case. Maybe when cars start to fly?
While as a cyclists, I do not have control over every other cyclist (or, as I like to call the real dangerous ones, “pedestrians on bicycles”), there are things that we as responsible cyclists can and should keep in mind while riding. I lead the Jack & Adam’s Bicycles Sunday shop rides, and last year I was prompted to write the following posts for the shop blog in an attempt to educate new riders, as well as remind veteran riders, that we also have a responsibility. While I support asking motorists to Please Be Kind to Cyclists, we need to also be cognizant of our responsibility in creating a synergistic relationship out there. Please (remember to) Be Kind… to Motorists! Part 1 and Part 2
Motorists, please KNOW that cyclists do not think they own the road, but we do have legal access to use ALL roadways, except highways, regardless of there being a bike lane. We are legally allowed to “take the lane” if there is no bike lane, and will do so to assure our safety. We are not doing it to intentionally slow you down, or aggravate you. When there is a bike lane, and we aren’t riding in it, it’s because it’s full of glass or gravel (things that could result in us crashing into the road in front of you), or parked cars, or pot holes. When we roll to the front of an intersection at a red light, we aren’t trying to annoy you, we’re trying to make sure all drivers see us, including the guy who’s waiting to turn left as soon as you drive through. We do these things to be safe and visible. Ride a mile in our shoes if you doubt me.
I do NOT support the recent request to charge any motorist who hits a cyclist with a DWI. Just as in motorist-motorist collisions, the cause of the accident should be investigated, and the party at fault should be held accountable. Too many of us are driving (and sometimes cycling) while distracted, or impaired in some way.
I respect all motorist and cyclists who follow the rules of the road, and do their best to accomodate all road users. Submitted with love and respect.
Tammy Metzger
Tempo Multisport
The Coaching staff here at Tempo Multisport know that developing sport-specific skills should be a high priority for anyone looking to have a long career in endurance sport. Logging countless miles in any discipline will provide diminishing returns in fitness, and do very little for your skill development. Remember, practice only makes perfect if you’re practicing perfectly (say that 5 times fast!).
So if you want to be a better, stronger, less injury-prone athlete, take an hour or two out of your “big mileage” plan, and learn how to “practice perfectly”.
May skills clinic offerings:
Swim Stroke Clinic with Video Capture
Sunday, May 13th – 2-3pm – West Austin Athletic Center
Join Coach Casey Arendt to learn swimming drills that will set you up for an efficient catch and pull-through and better propulsion through the water. Feedback will be given to each individual by our experienced coach, and HD video will be collected both above and below the water of all swimmers who wish it. Video clips and detailed notes on drills taught at the clinic will be provided free of charge to all participants. In-depth video analysis with suggestions on improvement is available for an additional fee.
Cycling Skills: Cornering, Braking, & Emergency Stop
Saturday, May 19th – 10-11:30am – Meet at Akins High School
If you’re participating in the CapTexTri, coming up on May 28th, depending on if you’re doing the sprint or the Olympic-distance event, you’ll be maneuvering 8-16 corners and 1-2 360-degree turnarounds on the bike course. With a crowded field, as this is sure to be, developing your personal handling skills, as well as your eye for sizing up the skills of those around you, can make the difference between a smooth, stress-free experience, and a nerve-racked, finger-crossing one.
Join Coach Tammy Metzger for this 90-minute cycling skills clinics where you’ll observe and practice proper cornering technique for a smooth, stable turn, as well as learn what to watch for with riders around you. Anticipating the line others will take, based on where they start their turn and place their body weight, will allow you to respond accordingly, and avoid a path of possible entanglement. With our guidance, and your subsequent practice, you’ll be ready to shine at CapTexTri! In addition to cornering, and 360-degree turn-arounds, we’ll cover the life-saving “emergency stop”, and braking technique for all the preceding scenarios.
**This clinic will be low-intensity, not a workout** Get your workout in early, then join us to polish those skills! All levels supported, but clip-in pedal use mandatory for proper execution of these skills.
Open Water Swim Clinic w/Coaches Casey Arendt & Tammy Metzger
Sunday, May 20th – 2-3pm – Decker Lake
Improve your sighting and water exiting technique, gain confidence in your open water swimming ability, and discuss race strategy such as where and when to start in your wave, rounding buoys and drafting. A 1/2 mile continuous swim is included at the end of the instructional session for those who are interested. Kayak supported. All ability levels welcome.
Ridiculously Photogenic Running w/Coach Eli Asch
Tuesday, May 22nd – 6-7:15pm – Austin High Track
Do you have that one pesky age-group rival who always outruns you? And do you dread opening your race photos email because you look like a natural disaster survivor? If so, then this clinic is for you! You’ll come away with a core routine, form drills, and some mental cues that are sure to improve your finishing speed and make you look like this guy—locks flowing in the wind, a smile like puppy dogs, and eyes like rainbows—while doing it!
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All clinics are $20 per person, pre-paid via PayPal or credit card. Become a member of Team Tempo Multisport and save 50%! Non-members Paypal $20 to tammy@trainwithtempo.com to reserve your spot today, or email us to arrange using your credit card directly. Team members may use card-on-file upon request.
Coach Eli Asch, says the best training for your goal race is non-goal races (as long as you have a plan).
Read on…
Most athletes, when we plan out racing seasons, have one or two key races we really want to do well in—our “A” races, the ones we’re going for a PR in, or maybe a top age-group placing. This makes sense; the human body can only be primed for absolute peak performance once a year (maybe twice, depending on which physiologists you believe) for a couple weeks at a time.
Along the way, of course, there are other races, and we want to do well in those, too, but because they’re not quite as much a focus of the season we might not do all the right things in our build-up for them. Sometimes they’re scheduled very early in training before we’re very fit, or during a high-volume block of training when we’ll be racing fatigued, or are only on the schedule at all because a friend bought you a couple beers and convinced you that slogging through mud pits, crawling under barbed wire, and running through electric fence would be a fun way to spend a Sunday morning. Sometimes they’re on the schedule as an excuse for a vacation (Bahamas Marathon, anyone?).
In my experience, it seems that most people have one of two attitudes toward these more low-key races: there’s the whatever response and there’s the blerg response.
The whatever response (personified by the child in the first video linked above) comes from people who just blow off these non-peak races, not worrying about their results, and then, when asked how it went, say something like “It was fun! I don’t know how I placed, but . . . whatever!”
The blerg response (personified by Tina Fey as she finds her boss dead in the second video above) comes from people who place a ton of importance on these early-season races, combing the results to compare their finishing time to last year’s or to age-group competitors’. These are the people you see saying “Blerg!” with their body language (or sometimes audibly and in more colorful language!) after they cross the finish line or check the results.
Despite their differences, both types of athletes—both the blergers and the whateverers—are missing out on a way that these low-key, early-season races can help them perform how they want later in the summer and fall. Rather than making non-peak races into fun runs or joy rides (like a whateverer) or focusing entirely on time (like a blerger), athletes should go into non-peak races with a specific goal of what they want to gain from doing the event and have a corresponding physical and phsychological checklist that will help them evaluate whether (or to what degree) they accomplished what they set out to do.
Let me repeat that again, for emphasis: In early-season races, don’t have an overall time goal, but rather know what you want to get out of the race and have a checklist of physical and psychological items that will help you judge to what degree you accomplished your goal for the day.
For example, maybe you struggle running uphills and are running the Run for the Water 10-miler in October as a tune-up for the LIVESTRONG Half Marathon in February. While you know RFTW’s hills are going to be a challenge for you, you also know they’ll make you stronger on the hills in Austin’s course. In order to make sure you’re really running strong on the hills (your goal for the day), your psychological checklist can include keeping a positive attitude every time you see an uphill ahead and your physical checklist can include a target of passing at least three people on the course’s uphill sections. Then, after the race, you can evaluate which items on your checklist you ticked off and which you didn’t, record your findings in your training log, and have some objective feedback regarding how much you’re improving as a hill runner. This is better feedback than focusing solely on your RFTW finishing time and will help you perform much better in the in the Austin Half.
This is just one of an infinite number of possible goals you can set for non-peak races: you can have the goal of finishing strong and judge your success by whether your last mile or kilometer is your fastest; you can decide you want to have perfect transitions and double- and triple-check your checklist and gear before and on race day; you can try to improve your position on the bike and have someone videotape you at several points during that leg to check whether you succeeded; you can work on coping with oxygen debt by getting your HR up to 180-185 for a short period early in the race and seeing how hard you can push after (this would be a painful one, for sure).
Anything you want to be better at in your peak race you can and should work on not just in practice but also in these early-season races. After all, what better way to practice how you want to perform in your peak race than in a race setting?
So get all of that blerging and whatevering out of your system, and get ready to attack your early-season races with a new attitude—and some specific goals.
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Join Coach Eli tonight near Zilker Park learn more about how to become the runner you strive to be! This month’s clinic will focus on the principles of designing run workouts which will get you ready to race–highly relevant as we approach the summer season! Topics will include which types of workouts are best done in heavy training weeks, down weeks, and race weeks, as well as how to identify over-training. We’ll also do a non-race week workout, so bring your running shoes and come to the workout ready to get after it!” $10 for Team Tempo members; $20 for non-members. Pre-reg to tammy@trainwithtempo.com (or just submit paypal pmt to that email address).
The coaching staff here at Tempo Multisport know that developing sport-specific skills should be a high priority for anyone looking to have a long career in endurance sport. Logging countless miles in any discipline will provide diminishing returns in fitness, and do very little for your skill development. Remember, practice only makes perfect if you’re practicing perfectly (say that 5 times fast!).
So if you want to be a better, stronger, less injury-prone athlete, take an hour or two out of your “big mileage” plan, and learn how to “practice perfectly”.
April skills clinic offerings:
Transition Clinic w/Mark Cathcart
Tuesday, April 10th – 6:30pm – Meet @ Zilker Park Mopac Parking lot (south of bridge).
Transitioning is a learned skill that is often under-practiced. Learn how to “keep it simple” for sanity and speed by our own multiple Age-Group Transition winner, Mark Cathcart. Bring everything you’d bring if you were doing a triathlon, including: transition towel, bike, bike gear, run gear, swim gear, etc. **This event is FREE for both members & non-members of Team Tempo. Come on out!**
Swim Stroke Clinic w/Coach Casey Arendt
Sunday, April 15th – 2-3pm – West Austin Athletic Center
We will begin with catch and pull-through technique refinement drills and then perform two swim time trials to determine your “critical swim speed”. This is the pace you should practice each week in your long interval sets to teach your body to pace evenly and quickly on race day. Come rested and fueled with a water-proof sports watch to keep track of your trial times, and fins / pull bouy if you have them.
Run Drills & Training Skills w/Coach Eli Asch
Wednesday, April 18th – 6:30-7:45pm – Austin High Track
We’ll focus on the principles of designing run workouts which will get you ready to race! Topics will include which types of workouts are best done in heavy training weeks, down weeks, and race weeks, as well as how to identify over-training. We’ll also do a non-race week workout, so bring your running shoes and come to the workout ready to get after it!
Open Water Swim Clinic w/Coaches Casey Arendt & Tammy Metzger
Sunday, April 22nd – 2-3pm – Decker Lake
We will work on mass starts, sighting, drafting, water exiting technique, and also go for a 15-20 min swim. Kayak supported.
Cycling Skills: Climbing & Descending w/Coach Tammy Metzger
Saturday, April 28th – 9-10:30am – Meet at Hatley Park, Rollingwood area
Learn proper body position and muscle recruitment for efficient climbing & stable descents. Learn both long, steady climbs, and short, steep attacks.
***All clinics (except Transition Clinic) are $20 per person, pre-paid via PayPal or credit card. Become a member of Team Tempo Multisport and save 50%! Non-members Paypal $20 to tammy@trainwithtempo.com to reserve your spot today, or email us to arrange using your credit card directly. Team members may use card-on-file upon request.
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Educational Lectures – FREE and open to the public
In addition to several skills clinics offerings, Tempo Multisport hosts a monthly educational lecture that is free and open to the public. This month our topic is….
Self-Coaching 101: Basic periodization structure & training phase focus
Learn how to structure your training season around your most important events, and what types of workouts to be focused on during each block of training. Also covered: signs/symptoms of under-recovery and how to avoid over-training.
Date: Tuesday, April 24th
Time: 6:15-7:15pm
Location: REI downtown (upstairs meeting room)
This month special guest My Fit Foods will be on-hand with delicious samples of nutritional goodness for all who RSVP ahead of time. Everything kicks off at 6:15pm, and will wrap up by 7:15pm.
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Why should you participate in High Five Events‘ Splash ‘n Dash? Tempo Multisport’s Coach Casey Arendt tells you why:
It’s September 15th, 2011, and I’m the newest triathlete in town, looking for a first-ever Austin event to give me a feel for the “scene”. I settle on the last Pure Austin Splash & Dash event of the season on Braker at Quarry Lake – ½ mile open water swim, 3k run, a hot dog and NXNW beer all for under $20? What’s not to like? I arrive early, set up my shoes and get in the water to “warm up”, but mostly to keep cool. Other athletes from the many training groups in town start to show up and greet their comrades. I hang around half-submerged and talk to another girl who’s not in group kit, and turns out she just moved here too. We hit it off. I wonder if the Texas Iron people are all Ironman athletes. I wonder if I would fit in with any of the other groups. I wonder if anybody would talk to me if I initiated? Being an introvert, I choose mostly to observe and just chat with my new unattached acquaintance.
The men start, the ladies line up, and we’re off! The swim circles around several platforms that are close enough together for easy sighting. The water is clean and just the right temperature, the wave size almost the same as a regular race. I push hard, feeling I have something to prove in the water since I’m the “new girl” and pride myself on swimming well. I zig-zag through the trailing men and exit a bit behind the super fast ladies, pull my shoes on and jog up the hill to the running path. It’s still well over 90 degrees at 6pm, but after my long pre-race soak in the water my core temp is low, and my jersey is still soaking, so I stay cooler than I expected. Three intense, flat, partially shaded laps later I stop my watch, wish I could have held off a few more surging runners, but am happy with a 10th place finish. Time for free food and beer!
As an Austin triathlete, I can see three good reasons for every one of us to show up to every Splash-N-Dash that we can this season: 1) Engage other racers in friendly conversation before and after the race, making new friends and connecting to our community; 2) Excellent open water swimming experience in race-like conditions; 3) Food and beer plus a quick 30 min race all for $15!!! Can’t beat the value.
The series runs every third Tuesday, April through September. You MUST register online prior to 2pm race day (no on-site registration), and most events sell out early, so sign up early! Each race is $15 if you’re already a USAT member (bring proof!). You can also purchase a season pass for $75 (basically one race free if you do them all, plus guaranteed a spot in each one with one click). First race is April 17th! Pre-race check-in runs 4:45-5:45 near the entrance to Quarry Lake behind Pure Austin, and the races begin at 6pm. See you there!
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
Looking for a fun, supportive race team to join? Check out Team Tempo!
