What is Your Limiter?

We can get lost in all the numbers of heart rate, mileage, wattage, hours per week, and more.  Eventually, you can't see the forest for the trees.  You can train like crazy to improve one aspect of your abilities, but if it isn't what's holding you back, you're actually wasting your time.  

It is to your advantage to take a step back and do a quick assessment, no matter what your skill level.  Here is how you do it: 

1. Go for a typical workout.  Warm up, and then get settled in.  For this test to work, you need to be a nice and ready, aware of your body and ready to listen to what it's telling you.
2. Gradually push yourself to the breaking point.  Slowly increase your effort until something finally keeps you from going any faster.
3. What was it?  If you couldn't catch your breath, then you need more aerobic work.  If it was muscle failure, then you need strength-increasing gym work.  If it was overall weakness, then it was fueling.
4. Now fix it!  Spend time working on the issue that needs the most attention and you. will. be. faster.

Remember - You should do this test for all three disciplines.  You may have strong running legs but weak biking ones.

Fierce Twist Yoga

Triathlete and yoga instructor Fred Williams joins us for some more helpful moves.  Today's installment is all about the "Fierce Twist."

Find out more about Fred here -

www.enduranceyoga.com

www.tritrainingfrenzy.blogspot.com

twitter.com/enduranceyoga

www.youtube.com/enduranceyoga

Tahoe Finish Video and THANKS! :)

Right click here to download

Thank you so much to everbody that made the Tahoe swim happen.  Morgan, JAMIE!, Garrett, Rob, Emily, Kai, my brother Mike (the most badass swimmer I've ever met), my dad, and especially my mom for throwing me into swim lessons when I didn't want to learn.  

Being the first Texan to make it across 22 miles of Tahoe is incredible.  There will be a podcast with additional audio and more coming out in the next week, so stay tuned and come back to the site.

If you enjoyed this story, follow Nyad as she swims over 100 miles in the open ocean from Cuba to Florida - 

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Angela Naeth WINS Boulder 70.3

Showing what a little time off can do, Angela Naeth finished first at Boulder 70.3, ending her string of seconds.

If you feel like you are head-butting into a wall and know you can do better, take a break.  It allows you to re-organize and restructure, making for a straighter path to your goals.

We naturally feel like we will lose too much fitness if we take time off, but that's usually the opposite of reality.  If you are already putting in all the time you have, then you might just be over-revving at a slight deficit and getting overtrained.  A nice break will boost your performance quite a bit.

Way to go Angela!  We knew you could do it.  May this be the first of many!

The Comfort Zone

"The Comfort Zone" is a dangerous place.  Sure, it's comfortable, but it's also The Land of the Average.  Look, there are enough people in that group already to take care of its business; they don't need your help.

The issue at hand is that the comfort zone doesn't make for change.  If you want everything to remain the same, then continuing to do what is comfortable and not challenging yourself makes sense.  The problem is, you will either lead change or change will happen to you.  When change happens to you, it is most often change that you have no control over and change you don't want.  In fact, it's usually a "happens" that can be lumped into that wonderful phrase, "Sh*t happens."

The comfort zone can be illustrated perfectly with the difference between recreation and training.  If you are out for recreation, you are basically in the comfort zone, just enjoying the swim/bike/run with no specific goal in mind.  If you are training, then you are pushing yourself to reach a goal.  

You cannot improve yourself without pushing past the boundaries of your comfort zone.  Luckily, you can use the comfort zone as a tool to improve yourself.  It's simple - Just ask yourself if you are going at a pace that: 1. Everybody else would be going at if just out for a recreational jaunt and would put you in the middle of the pack. Or 2.  One that would put you at the lead of the pack so others are following you.  If you answered the former instead of the latter, you should know that you will continue to get the same results you have always gotten.  Not exactly productive use of your "training time", huh?

It's that slight difference that you can apply 24/7 in all your endeavours.  It also happens to be the difference that puts you in charge of change instead of change happening to you.  It's not a huge change in pace, by the way.  It's only ever so slight, but it makes all the difference in the world.