Why Female Triathletes Make Great Coaching Clients (and What You Can Learn From Them)

The easiest triathletes to coach are the ones that communicate openly about how they feel.  On the other hand, most men don't have a knack for doing this naturally.  

A coach needs to know much more than just distance and time.  It often takes me a few sessions to get guys to start opening up and tell me how they are really feeling.  Once guys get over it, then things really start to flow.

One of the reasons scientists theorize women live longer than men has to do with their doctor visits.  First off, many men won't even go to the doctor in the first place.  When we do, we just grunt like a caveman that everything's fine and can we leave now.

Even if you don't have a coach, you can learn from this fact.  Talk to yourself and others around you about how your workouts make you feel, not just how fast you went for how far.  When you bring up that odd pain in your knee or that you ran out of go juice on mile five, you've laid something out on the table that now has the opportunity to get fixed.

"Goldilocks Good". What It is and How to Get It.

"Goldilocks Good" is a concept about flow and effort, more specifically about how to achieve a state of happiness.  So how do reach this point of "Goldilocks Good"?

Research shows that people are happiest when being challenged.  Win the lottery, sell your company, or retire, and soon you will find yourself looking for a new job or some kind of interesting work to do.  If there is no work, then we get bored.  Alternatively, be presented with bone-crushing hard work, unsolvable dilemmas, or uncertain outcomes, and then we feel overwhelmed and in despair.

Challenges that are neither too easy or too hard for the individual present an interesting picture.  The individual executing at that perfect level of difficulty is not only very happy, but he/she also loses track of time.  The hours or days just fly by without effort.  Joy ensues.

The loss of time tracking is the prime indicator of "Goldilocks Good" or "Flow", both of which can also be described as Zen.  You become so mindful of interacting with your challenge, nothing else seems to bother you.

You can easily apply this to triathlon training, racing, and meal preparation.  Being "in the zone" means to push yourself to a level of perfect counterbalance of the challenge when working out.  If you begin thinking outside of the workout, becoming strained or wondering about the finer methods of underwater basket weaving, then you are going too hard or too easy.

The same goes for eating.  Nutrition isn't supposed to be a battle of good vs. evil, twisting you between the two.  When you are cooking a meal or sitting down to eat, you already instinctively know what is good and bad.  You also already know where you stand between certain bad foods and good ones.   Just avoid the bad and eat the good with a nice effort and enjoy the challenge.  Dump all the baggage and do what you know is right.  Going to extremes will make you unhappy.

Once you know that this is how science can categorically find and define happiness, it a lot of fun to play with.  Spend the day putting the the right effort; not too hot, not too cold, but just right, and you'll be living "Goldilocks Good".

Effort

I will never forget the time I was struggling uphill at the Buffalo Springs 70.3, thinking I was giving it my all, when another guy flew by me on the bike... with one leg.

You think you are trying your hardest, but believe me, there's a whole other level of effort inside you.  @Trijon was just telling me about Rajesh Durbal, a triple-amputee that raced with him at a recent Orlando triathlon.  Trijon got to talk with him and was extremely motivated and I bet his view of effort has been changed forever.

You are capable of far more than you ever imagined.  The world is ready for you to do it.  Heck, the world wants you to do it.  We are just waiting for you to show up with your best effort.  

Video of Danskin Triathlon Start Waves

We had a great vantage point of the start of the Danskin triathlon.  My son fellow broadcaster and I perched ourselves way out on the end of a dock on the water and got front row seats.  You can tell I'm a bit enamoured by the stand up paddle boards.

I spoke with the owner of the water rescue group The Expedition School and it turns out we have a mutual friend from college.  More from her later. :)

Austin Danskin Sprint Triathlon Review

(Guest post by Emily Rhodes)

Today I did the Danskin Women's Triathlon in Austin, TX after not having done a tri in almost 2 1/2 years. My nursing bud, Gwen, talked me into doing it. She did this race 10 years ago for her 40th b-day and wanted to celebrate her 50th by doing it all over again. I was all for it. So, for the past few months, our friendship was strengthened as we trained together for this race.

Being that we are both hospice nurses and that the race benefited breast cancer research made it an even cooler experience. During packet pick-up at the Austin Convention Center, they had "Team Survivor", which consisted of 65 breast cancer survivors who participated in the race with us come up to the stage where they received a standing ovation. It was so moving to see this amazing group of women. It was especially moving for Gwen and I as we see daily the devastating effects that breast cancer has on so many women. I did the race in honor of my preceptor in nursing school, Kathleen Mynar, who is a 5 year breast cancer survivor as well as the many special patients that Gwen and I have had the privilege and honor of caring for as hospice nurses.

The race was a sprint that consisted of a 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike and 5k run at Walter E. Long Park (Decker Lake) in Austin, TX. There were 1573 participants with 15 waves in the swim and the overcast day made the heat a little more bearable. The water was perfect - maybe mid to upper 70's with a small amount of seaweed at the end. The bike was a little hilly, kind of like the Marble Falls triathlon course. The run was mostly off-road and unfortunately wasn't very scenic. It was laid out in such a way though that allowed friends and family to see their loved one multiple times throughout the run, which was nice. Finally, I was able to run across the finish line with my amazing 5 year old son, Kai, which was an incredible ending to a great day.

Overall, the venue was okay, but I didn't feel like it really captured the beauty of Austin. All-in-all though, it was for a great cause and we had a blast. Gwen and I can't wait to do it again next year! :-)