Water Quality of life

We try to be BPA free, HFC free, and sometimes even take it as far as to be gluten free but are we really free of radicals and healthy? In my professional life I deal in water quality and I was noticing how much we expose ourselves to high levels of Chlorine as we spend hours in the pool.

You may or may not know this but Cl is a powerful oxidant and is used in bleaching and disinfectants, as well as an essential reagent in the chemical industry. In pools its used as a disinfectant in the form of a sodium hypochlorite tablet or solution.

However, Cl has also been used as a weapon in the gas phase. So that shortness of breath you experience during your workout may be cause from the over chlorination of your pool. The facility should have a highly trained water quality specialist administering any pool treatments. Dont be afraid to speak to the manager about this issue. Its a delicate science in getting the proper balence for the pool and it condinually changes with pool temperature and amount of use. The purpose of this post to bring to light the issues and spark some questioning on your behalf.

Happy Swimming

What I learned

This is an old draft post of a few things I learned during my training for the Syracuse 70.3


Training:

Quitting your job just may be the best thing you can do for your training, it takes a lot of time from your busy life and some things are going to get cut in the process.

I've tried gels of all kinds, but so far blocs are my fav and upset my stomach the least on the run. They are easist to injest while running (least sticky) with minimal water.

A great pre-race meal: Chicken with oil/pasta and some bread. Lots of water and have great sleep 48 hours before race morning.

Drink 16oz per hour on the bike during the race
Eat one gel or fuel replacement every 45 min.

Swim:

Cheap drug store wax ear plugs work the best and really help you not panic in open water.

90 full pull through

Hand enters the water just about ear to top of the head

time in open water is the only way you will learn to swim straight.

butterflies and mixing up your strokes can keep your shoulders loose and increase range of motion for a better and faster freestyle stroke.

Do not warm up in the water on comp day, you will be wet and have to wait around cold. Do some drills and some runs.

Bike:

One leg intervals can improve crank efficiency and teach your legs to push pull.

Baby powder in on the tube will decrease the number of pinch flats you get, so will pumping up the pressure to 90-110 psi

Run past the mount line if its congested and then just hop on.

Run:

Shallow breathing when not recovering is more efficient
That everyone has a different weekly regiment quantity that they can handle and quality is always more important.

Its a good idea to mix it up as well.

Need A Vacation?

A conversation the other day made me start to think of what perks we gain from our employer other then the agreed upon salary. It just so happens that New Belgium Brewery gives their workers a free trip to Belgum after their 5th anniversary with the company. My response to that was, "I can go to Belgium now, and not have to wait five years." Suggesting that I dont wait around for a company to reward me, I reward myself.



This got me thinking of Kona and other destination races, but mainly Kona. Triathletes work hard to get to the championships and that Hawaiian vacation. Its almost like their type A nature wont allow them to just book a trip until they think they have earned it (and in this case earning it at 12-22 hours of training a week for up to 8 months of the year). To support this theory what is the first thing people ask you after you say you just finished a marathon or Ironman? "Did you train for it?" Of course you did, and im not sure why people ask such a dumb question, but it does get asked.

Moderation is certainly key and the best way to be well rounded, happy and healthy. So remember to take a vacation every once in a while to recharge your batteries and switch things up. Experience life before it passes you by.

Build your house with steep walls

That was the advice of a pro cyclist thats a world champion indoor and outdoor and TT
On Tuesday night of this week we had our RMTC meeting at Retul in Denver to discuse bike training and bike fit. Retul was nice enough to host a massive crowd of 70 packed into their fit/show room. And this was the advice he gave:

Shift before you need to
keep a 90-110 cadence at all times (even up hill)
And view your training as if you were building a house with steep walls. Meaning as little base prep as posible but including Anaerobic Zone training.

What Does Training at Altitude Smell like?

Defeat!

I was coming off a great training week as I gear up for my first race which is in 2 weeks the Shamrock 8k in Virginia Beach, VA but what goes up must come down and man did I get down! I came down with a stomach bug that has derailed my training. Ive been on bed rest for the last 3 days, barely eating, barely moving unless you count running over to the bathroom every 20 mins excercise.

The good news though is that I survived whatever nasty little bug that tried to take over and ill be able to run again in time for the race. On top of that, today I got my Runners Roost uniform. Pictures of tri uniform coming soon.

Turning Over A New Leaf

You've heard of former NCAA swimmers and runners turning Triathletes, well I've got a new one for you...Pole Vaulter turned endurance athlete. It seems such an unlikely story but let me clue you into why I thought it was a great idea, and how its even possible in the first place.

First lets take a look at what each sport entails both physically and mentally. Field events generally incorporate speed, strength and jumping ability or reaction time. Pole Vault is all of that with the use of an implement to further your success. You need the foot speed of a short distance sprinter, the jumping ability of a long jumper or high jumper, and the power of a shot putter. The idea is to run as fast as you can with a 15+' pole about 100 ft and plant that into a 2x2 hole in the ground while at the same time jumping as high and tall as you can. Basically its like running into a wall full steam with your arms out and trying to keep them straight. After you leave the ground a lot of physics take over, your kinetic energy bends and loads up into the pole as potential energy as you swing upside down, then uncoils and tosses you higher and higher as you throw yourself over the bar and to your back to a safe landing.

Im used to hard Olympic lifting, repetitious short springs, fighting a pole to bend and throw me in the right direction, analyzing data and videos, dealing with fear and inner conflict. I was there to use my tools, my knowledge and fight the goal, fight the world. Release pent up energy both mental and physical.

flip the switch and you have endurance racing which is an equally hard mental challenge but instead of dealing with it in short portions, you have to wallow in the decisions being made. Strength, flexibility, technique and external tool utilization are similarly involve in being a triathlete, as well as its included numbers game.

So what transcends the boundaries? Shoulder strength for one. In pole vault they are your pivot point and must therefore be highly developed and flexible to take the stresses placed on them. They are not utilized in the swim for propulsion, on the bike to take some weight off my legs and on the run for that final arm pumping kick.

Another great advantage I have is my running form. It had to be dam near perfect on the runway since I needed to have the exact same run within 6" each and every time. My running is efficient and powerful, with the addition of some endurance since no practice was less then 40 or so jumps and a meet was an average of 9 jumps full throttle.

Training wise, I have mental capacity and body awareness to make better decisions and can handle the lifestyle of having to practice at least once a day. I also know my Olympic lifts and have the tecnique that of any major lifting competitor, so im able to extract every ounce of power outword.

My endurence season has now come to a close and im spending more time on lifting and cross training then I am actual running, biking or swimming. Today I visited a Crossfit gym Flatirons Crossfit for the first time ever. They are a big name in the Western section having sent 2 (male and a female) to the Crossfit games. I have previously dabbled in Crossfit WOD and interval training but they take it too the next level of intensity when they start racing these workouts instead of just trying to get through them. Anyway the owner and I had a chat and he seems to beleieve that you can do 80% Crossfit training and still achieve your triathlon goals. Seems like a Cinderella story to me. Can you imagine not having to bike 300 miles plus a week or having to run countless hours to get your 60+ miles in each week? In the coming months im going look into this. I have been moderately successful at making the switch so far having not cut out on putting in my practice time, but trying to figure out how short intense training can translate to endurence.

Until then, make sure you are conducting proper technique in running, swimming, aero positioning, Olympic lifting and save yourself the wasted energy. Dont handicap yourself from the start, or worse...injure yourself.


Lift:

Snatch: 4x5 90,90, 115, 115
Split snatch: 3x3 115,115,115

Not bad considering it was my first time with snatch in 6.5 years