Shay-Nay-Nay

 

Howdy! Welcome to another week of the insanity that is winter off-season training in Texas.

SHOWNOTES!

• On the way to swim, driving like Dukes of Hazzard.


• I've reached workout Nirvana.


• Getting lots of sleep.


• Eating simple foods.


• PX90 is some crazy sh*t.


• Should hummus smell like dog farts?


• I'm so charged, I say it twice.


• Working out seven days a week.


• Be efficient on the Internet.  Don't navel gaze in triathlon.


• Morning run in the snow with Roxy.


• Made a Texas snowman.


• Out on a singlespeed ride.


• The benefits of big gear riding.


• Reading awesome emails.


• Shay-Nay-Nay

Cayman Wipeout

Hey, freaks! Another week in the life of Ironman training for you here. Show notes in a second, but first, let's announce the FIRST EVER "IF I HAD A BEARD, I'D LOOK REALLY COOL" CONTEST. Post a link to a picture of your true BeardCore potential in the comments. Here's mine -

SHOW NOTES!

• Breathing tips.

• Kai wipes out. :(

• And gets right back on! :)

• After a swim - diary of a mad swimmer.

• Non-alcoholic beer is awesome.

• Tips on shoes, socks, plantar fascitis.

• Cover art from ZenCam. Find out more by sending him a twitter message at twitter/buckwilde59.

• Is direct email the new blogging?

• My hummus recipe could quite possibly save the Universe.

• First syllable stuttering is actually just buffering.

• Heat regulation with Roxy.

• Pullups.

• It's Roxy's birthday.

• Pete's Cayman Island triathlon report.

• Shout out to Dan.

• Back at the cold pool.

• Get your sleep. Or you'll eat like a pig.

• Team Triabetes.org.

• Emily is doing Ragnar next year!

• Moving to a seven day workout week.

Quantum Spinach

I've started coaching and have another week's worth of random Zentri goodness. Enjoy!

Shownotes!

• Emily's Abs.


• Quantum Theory of Difficult People.


• Nuclear Spinach.


• Other stuff.

Surfing the Fear

Just a nicely chilled episode of training fun.

SHOWNOTES!

• Let's go on a bike ride!


• This ride sucks!


• Injury report.


• Fear.  What's your triathlon fear?


• Random blabbering.


• Check out www.fitnio.com!


• Donation by Gordon.

Push/Pull Runs - A How To

I get a lot of questions about how I do my infamous Push/Pull runs. I am a huge believer in this workout, so I'll post how I do it here.

What is a push/pull run and why do it? A typical triathlete doesn't do enough core workouts to build strength that makes long distances easier. If you have a strong core, you can go farther, faster because you can hold your body together when other people get tired and their form starts falling apart. With all the working out we already do, who wants to spend time lifting weights?

I got really tired of running and running and watching my upper body strength waste away. It is just a little unbalanced to be able to run a marathon but you can't do 3 pullups. Enough said.

Push/Pull runs use muscle confusion and make you one hell of a swimmer. There is a school of thought that "muscle confusion" (Working out in unpredictable ways. Google it.) is a more effective workout. Also, pushups are regarded as probably the best full-body workout. They work your abs, back, shoulders, arms, and lots more. The pull ups work out the same muscles that pull you through the water. Do these workouts for a couple of weeks and you'll notice some real power improvement in the pool.

The bottom line? You feel much, much stronger, your muscles tone up nicely, and you burn off weight faster. And it's fun as hell!

OK, enough talk. What's the workout?

• I started off by doing a set of push ups every mile when I run, 3 times a week. This run is usually a 6 mile run.


• I do the same amount of push ups each mile. 12 pushups might not seem like much once, but the 6th time at the end of 6 miles... that's a workout.


• It is important to pause, drop and do your pushups, and then pop right back up and start running again. The muscle confusion and head rush is lots of fun.


• I suppose you could do pull ups every mile as well, if you carried a pull up bar with you everywhere. Instead, I do them before and after the run, and in the middle if I'm doing my usual three mile loop. I do each set until failure.


• In the end, a typical Push/Pull run will give me around 84 push ups and 25 pull ups mixed in with an hour run, but only adds about 10 minutes to my overall workout. Done 3 times a week, this a huge improvement in overall core strength and stability.

Give it a try and enjoy!