As a triathlete, you may not consider the need to cross-train very often, as you’re already juggling three sports (swimming, cycling, and running), and if you’re smart, strength training for lateral movement and stability. Here in Austin, the triathlon season will be coming to a close after the Kerrville Triathlon Festival, and after a short break from all activity, you might want to consider rowing for a change of pace.
Rowing has always been known as an excellent aerobic conditioning activity. Contrary to some misconceptions, rowing is mostly a lower body exercise, with the addition of a “pull” at the end that results in stronger back and shoulder muscles. By adding a rowing regimen to your plan, you’ll be working the same muscle groups needed to be a strong triathlete, while giving yourself a needed mental break from the usual routine. Properly executed, this should bring you back to triathlon training in excellent physical condition, and with renewed excitement for the sport you love.
Team Tempo has partnered with Flywheel Fitness for all our indoor cycling needs, but few of our members have ever been instructed in proper rowing technique, which will be an excellent cross-training option for marathon training, kicking off next month. As part of our September team meeting & social, Flywheel Fitness owner, Sara-Mai Conway, also a member of Team Tempo, gave us an introduction to proper rowing technique and form.
Everyone agreed we got a great leg workout, while learning something new and FUN! Keeping yourself mentally fresh is a big part of the puzzle, so remember to try new things… especially new things that translate well to the activities you already love… like ROWING! Hope to see you at Flywheel soon, and maybe even out on the water this fall.
If you live in Austin, Texas, unless you’re a complete recluse, chances are you’ve been photographed by the lovely and talented Annie Ray. Her photo booth travels the city, capturing the excitement and cheer of a myriad of social events; from hi-jinx at The Highball, to charity events such as the Capital of Texas Team Survivor annual fundraiser, and even local weddings. Everyone loves Annie Ray’s way of capturing the moment, and keeping those memories fresh. Lately she’s been branching out into editorial photography, and we’ve seen her images in many publication, both locally and worldwide.
I’ve been a big fan of Annie Ray’s style of photography for many years now, so when we were looking for a team photographer, she was at the top of my list. This past month we had our first team photo shoot, and it was a blast! We look forward to another shoot in the fall, as we head into our training and fundraising for the LiveStrong Austin Marathon.
By Carol Gibson
There are two things that new triathletes typically worry about more anything else: surviving the swim, and having to change a flat tire. The swim, of course, is an inevitable part of the race, and a flat tire can definitely throw you off your game, but it’s not a deal breaker. With practice, any athlete can handle these concerns quickly and with ease. But what do you do when you’re brand new to cycling and your bike’s mechanical issues are far worse than a simple flat tire?
For Brittany Baker, member of Team Tempo Multisport, the answer was easy – you find a way to keep going!
On September 5, 2011, Brittany competed in her second triathlon, the sprint distance at the AVIA Austin Triathlon. A pleasant and slightly breezy morning brought out nearly 2,000 athletes and over 400 volunteers to the downtown Austin venue.
After a respectable swim, Brittany ran to the transition area and grabbed her bike. The bike she bought off of Craigslist about a month prior to the race. The bike that had a “tune up” at a bike shop. The bike she’d ridden less than 10 times before the race. The bike that was fine except for one major issue: the crank arm that attaches the left pedal to the rest of the bike was loose.
“The AVIA Austin Tri started out great,” she said. “However it took a quick turn for the worse in the middle of my second leg. After finishing my first lap on the bike course, I started noticing my left pedal/shoe feeling loose.” A cycling novice, Brittany knew something was wrong but assumed it had to do with the clipless pedals she’d recently installed. Within a minute, her left crank dropped off her bike.
“It started getting looser and looser and all of a sudden my entire crank fell off, with my shoe attached to it. I thought ‘Really?!’ I wobbled for a few seconds barefoot on my left and still clipped in on my right and eventually just fell over.”
Two volunteers quickly rode to her aid. “Do you have a flat?” one of them asked. Brittany, still on the ground, held up her bike crank arm with her cycling shoe still attached to the pedal. The three of them reattached the crank arm but could not find the bolt to secure it. Frustrated and holding back tears, Brittany was faced with a choice: head back into transition, put up her bike and accept a DNF (did not finish) next to her name, or dig deep and trust that her right leg could handle the last eight miles of the course by itself.
Brittany dug.
“I didn’t want to stop the race. My friend from California and boyfriend were at the race supporting me and I DID NOT want to just walk into transition half way through and say “Well, I’m done!”
“Running is my favorite leg and I wanted to get to that part of the race. I figured I already made it this far so what’s eight more miles? I continued the remaining eight miles – pushing only with my right leg and concentrating on keeping my left leg in tight. At some parts of the ride I was going so slow I felt like I was going backwards.”
Finally, Brittany rolled into the bike dismount zone. As she dismounted, the crank arm fell off again. This time, she picked it up and ran into transition with one shoe on her foot and one shoe in her hand- still firmly affixed to the pedal. With just a scratch on her right knee, she racked her bike and began the run. “I was so excited to be off that bike that I just ran like crazy!”
Brittany & her broken crank arm, post-race
Brittany finished the race and earned her medal. She felt it the next day, both the soreness in her leg and her race time. “I still had a great time at the race although my time turned out awful! One thing is for sure- I’m not scared of my damn bike anymore!” she laughs.
A Tempo athlete may slow – but the Tempo doesn’t stop.
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An unlikely triathlete and reluctant runner, Carol Gibson loves to share stories about living in Austin and her own adventures living an active (and sometimes not-so-active) lifestyle. You can read about some of her races at http://randomprofanity.blogspot.com/, follow her on Twitter at @gibsonic or just wave when you see her and her dog, Johnny, enjoying the Lady Bird Lake hike & bike trail.
In order to reach your full endurance potential, it is essential to implement a block of long, slow distance (LSD) training. Adaptations that occur in this phase were discussed in 5 Reasons to Go Slow, and won’t be repeated here. Once this base is established, improvements in performance can only be achieved through training additional systems and areas of fitness. Here’s five reasons why you should …. Go fast!
1. Learn to suffer
High intensity efforts have been documented to result in negative emotional responses, so if you want to go fast, you have to learn to suffer. Pushing past negative or limiting self-talk can be learned. As my good friend and fellow-triathlete, Monique Jutila, told me many years ago, “You don’t have to slow down, you just think you do!” Learn how to suffer in training, so you can embrace it during your competitions.
2. Increase your VO2max
Your maximum ability to consume and utilize oxygen, referred to as VO2max, has genetic limitations, but can be greatly increased through appropriate training. Ideally, you want to spend 20-30 minutes at your current VO2max effort per training session. Not EVERY training session, but the sessions that are focused on building this area of your fitness. How frequently you implement these sessions depends on your current fitness level, and your ability to recover from the training stress. Remember, no recovery = no adaptation. Consult an experienced coaching professional for further guidance in establishing your maximum workload.
For cycling, the power meter is the most accurate way to train. Runners should use a track and go by timed laps, as GPS units can be problematic during short efforts. Heart rate monitors are another good tool, and while heart rate and VO2max percentages don’t match up across the board, the pace at which you achieve your maximum heart rate (HRmax) is also your VO2max pace. Determine your HRmax, and do not push an effort that is faster than that value, or your ability to repeat the effort will be compromised, thus decreasing your total time at VO2max and lessening improvements. Only do the minimum effort you need to get the maximum adaptation. Here are a couple typical VO2max sets:
- 5-7 x 5 minutes @ VO2max w/5 minute recovery between efforts
- 2,3,4,5,4,3,2 minutes at VO2max w/equal recovery between efforts (2 mins on, 2 mins off, 3 mins on, 3 mins off, etc.)
3. Increase your functional threshold
A high VO2max is a pre-requisite for professional level sports, but the athlete with the highest VO2max doesn’t always win the day. Think of VO2max as the horsepower of your engine, and functional threshold as how finely tuned that engine is. The term “threshold” gets a lot of press, and can be a confusing concept. Lactate threshold, ventilatory threshold, anaerobic threshold, power threshold, functional threshold… all are valid terms depending on how the “threshold” was measured. I prefer to step away from expensive, and oft-times inaccessible, laboratory measurements, and base functional threshold on actual performance values. For cycling, use an 8 – 10 mile time trial, and for runners, use your best 10k pace. Carmichael Training Systems has a unique approach to testing triathletes that I’ve found correlates well to performance values, and results in less stress out of competition:
CTS Triathlete Field Test: 8 min Cycling TT – 10 min recovery – 8 min Cycling TT – 10 min recovery – 8 min Running TT
Once you’ve established your functional threshold values, be they power or hear rate based, include efforts at this threshold in your training plan. Do not combine a VO2max session and a threshold session, as you’ll most likely fail to do either at an optimal level. A typical threshold session may look like this:
- 3 x 7 mins at threshold effort, 3 min recovery between efforts
- 2 x 20 mins at threshold effort, 5 min recovery between efforts
These efforts will increase the pace you can maintain before muscle fatigue sets in, and are most applicable to long, steady efforts, as in triathlon.
4. Retain muscle mass as you age
If you’re not one who’s interested in besting your times, or gaining a podium finish, you might be
John Turner, age 67, photographed by Etta Clark
thinking, “I don’t have to go fast… I’m just out there to have fun!” Well, sorry to say, you couldn’t be more wrong. It’s a well-documented fact that we lose muscle mass as we age, leading to weakness, and difficulty in activities of daily living. Research is showing that individuals who maintain a high-level of training loose much less muscle mass, as different muscle types respond to different types of training. The muscle that atrophies as we age can be retained through proper attention to diet, and physical activity that includes some high-intensity efforts.
5. Maintain high VO2max as you age
Decreases in VO2max as we age can be greatly mitigated with adherence to a high level of training. In fact, master’s category athletes who maintain competition-level training have been shown to have much higher VO2max values than inactive men less than half their age, and only slightly lower values than younger competitors. The old adage, “use it or lose it” applies, so don’t use your age as an excuse. Get out there and get after it!
Bottom Line
Whether you consider yourself an athlete, or just want to stay fit and have fun, including some higher intensity intervals in your training will benefit your mind and body. Don’t let a training plateau steal your motivation. Get out there and push yourself, as appropriate. You’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish with the right guidance and focus.
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Tammy Metzger, M.Ed. is a multisport coach, and owner of Tempo Multisport LLC in Austin, TX. She holds a Masters of Education in Sport & Exercise Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin, with additional concentration in Sports Science & Nutrition. Tempo Multisport offers endurance sports coaching to athletes across the nation. For more information, contact tammy@trainwithtempo.com
Tempo Multisport now has a triathlon team… and we couldn’t be more excited about it!!!
We kicked off our first week with 14 members, and expect numbers to grow as word spreads about this inclusive, affordable team. Enjoy the camaraderie and support of a co-ed team environment without the necessity of purchasing an intensive, expensive coaching program; more in-depth coaching options are available at substantial discount to team members who want to partake of our coaching expertise. That’s not to say coaching isn’t included at the basic level; Member benefits are many, and you can find a complete list on our team page.
BettyDesigns.com
We hired the extremely talented Kristin Mayer at Betty Designs to come up with a design for our team kit, and the results were as expected… stellar. Here’s a little teaser (photo left).
We’re ordering high-quality Sugoi kits, and if all goes as planned, they will make their racing debut at the first of our target races, the AVIA Austin Triathlon! You’ll also see us in big numbers at the Kerrville Triathlon Festival; Sprint, Olympic, & Half Iron distances.
We’d like to give a huge THANK YOU to our inaugural team sponsors. We’re pretty picky about who we ask to partner with us, and are honored to represent the following businesses and products:
Jack & Adam’s Bicycles – More than a bike shop, more than a triathlon shop, Jack & Adam’s is an integral part of the Austin triathlon community. Their support for every triathlete, from the complete newbie to the professional, is well known and appreciated. Thank you for all that you do!
Flywheel Fitness – This indoor rowing and spinning studio in south Austin is a local start-up deserving of your patronage. The owners, Sara-Mai and Patrick, have over 25 years of rowing experience at the elite level, and want to bring their passion to the everyday athlete – YOU! Their support of local charities, such as Capital of Texas Team Survivor, is to be applauded. All classes at Flywheel Fitness are sport-specific, coached sessions of the highest quality. Check them out, and watch for both Sara-Mai and Patrick as they crossover into racing at local triathlons at part of Team Tempo!
Advanced Bodywork Center – Behind every good triathlete is a knowledgeable bodywork master! Michelle Hittner, owner/operator of Advanced Bodywork Center, is a master masseuse, as are the rest of her staff. Trust these highly-skilled athletes to work out your aches & pains, and keep you training hard for your next goal.
Tri Team Transport – Trust this local business, owned & operated by the one and only Pro Triathlete Natasha Van Der Merwe, to safely and efficiently transport your race bike to select venues. I recommend opting for the extra package which includes picking your bike up out of transition. Once you finish the bike segment, you don’t have to see your bike again until you get home (and let’s face it, sometimes you don’t want to!).
nuun – Replenish electrolytes while protecting your metabolic-efficiency and avoiding excess carbohydrate intake. The smart athlete likes to have control over their caloric intake, and with nuun, it’s in your hands. This Seattle-based company led the electrolyte tab revolution and is deserving of your support. Thank you nuun for your continual support of endurance sports communities nationwide, and saving us all from overly sweet rehydration.
ISM Saddles – Loose the nose, and save yourself from unnecessary pain, and possible future dysfunction! Our parts are much happier now that we discovered ISM! Check out this NY Times article for greater detail on why you, too, should be riding on ISM Saddles.
Christine Estrada // Interactive Consultant – Christine turned a very rough website into a polished work for us. Her design skills far exceed what you now see before you here, but we hope to employ her full caliber at a future date, so watch for some exciting website changes in the not-too-distant future. In addition to interactive consultant extraordinaire, Christine is a Seattle-based cyclist, endurance athlete, and outdoor enthusiast. Check out some of her amazing adventures by clicking on her link above.
SPIbelt – Thank you SPIbelt for creating the perfect “Small Personal Item” belt for an active lifestyle. The SPIbelt can be used for many things, but most-impressively, you can now carry your iPhone along on runs and it will not bounce around! Swear it. For racing, the SPIbelt doubles as a race belt you can carry your nutrition in. We love this product.
Stay tuned to our sponsor page for future announcements!
