Cool Trick for Workout Music

If you want music during your workout but don't want to or can't bring a music player along, there is a simple trick to carrying a tune in your head:  Right before you start, play one of your favorite songs with headphones and then turn it off during the best part.  Your brain will keep repeating the tune in the background while you train.  It works surprisingly well.

Still, you should also take care to not let a song you don't like be the last thing you hear.  This results in a very annoying tune in your head that you just can't shake.  Ungh.

In other news, I was sad to see one of my ultra-running heros, Anton Krupicka, was injured pretty badly the other day.  Heal fast, my friend!

The Floating Rest Day

I decided to quit doing "rest days" on a specific day of the week this year and have enjoyed great rewards from it.

The problem:  Taking a rest day every Monday or Sunday or whatever most people do is not as beneficial as one would hope.  Sometimes you feel great on those days and could do a workout, but you can't, because it's your rest day.  And then, some days you are beat down, but you have to to go run or whatever because it's on the calendar.  Ouch!  

The solution:  Learn the signs of needing some rest and then take the day off when you need to.  If you wake up with an elevated heart rate or you feel the need to sleep in, then rest!  You will come back to training stronger than before and continue your improvements faster than if you kept on training, beating yourself down.

Allowing yourself to use floating rest days is a more sophisticated and elegant approach to training.  It takes a new level of discipline to "let go" of the calendar and do it, but it is very worth it!  I trained with less volume this year and got much faster using this method, and you can too.

Enjoy your training!

Podcast - Ironman Texas 2010

Click Here to Listen to the Show!

Hey, everybody!  Welcome to another awesome episode of ZenTri!  We have race audio and a review of Ironman Texas, audio from RAAM training Team Feat of the U.K., and audio and review of 13.1 race with Emily!

Links to heart rate and speed graphs for the bike and run. (Coming shortly) 

Video of the IMTX swim start

Other good stuff - 

Link to The Honey Badger One-Hour Workout.

Click here to download or listen!

Podcast - Interview with Ben Greenfield about Using Numbers Vs. Feel.

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We are very lucky to have fitness expert Ben Greenfield join us for this episode.  We discuss the hot topic of whether or not to use heart rate monitors, bike computers, and power meters while training and racing.  The answer?  Sometimes.  Listen in to get all the details!

Also, we have Zen Thoughts, This Week in Awesome, and the always killer Training Log.  Hop on in, the water's perfect!

Link to The Honey Badger One Hour Workout.

This Week in Awesome Links:

Hector Picard Ironmans with no arms!

Layout of Alcatraz swim.

Click here to download or listen.

Compression Gear

He should try a compression scarf next.

I was recently asked if I use compression gear.  My answer is, "No, but I would."  

Compression gear has several purposes.  1. It helps channel blood flow you get the good stuff in and the bad stuff out faster.  Old people use it to improve circulation.  2. It reduces vibration, which in turn causes fatigue.  3. It can protect you from UV rays, so you don't get sunburned.

All around it's good stuff.  I had some compression socks, but my feet are so ginormous that they hurt.  I'm a little more inclined to try some of the ones that go from your ankles to your knees instead.

So that's really about it.  And make sure to check out the Epic5 going on right now!