Why Distractions Make You Slow

We got a great question on the forums about constantly changing your swim route in a race that made me think about this video -

Notice there's no "The more you know.." NBC jingle at the end of this bad motherf*cker.  Cavendish is not making a PSA for little kids.  This is about a subject that elite athletes have mastered.  And Cavendish wins.  He wins A LOT.  He focuses on the kill and doesn't spend any time debating on if he should or shouldn't change course.  

Which leads me to this little blog post I found today.  I twittered it and was not surprised to find lots of people loved it.  They love it because, deep down, it rings true and we know it.

The next time you go out for a workout, remember that pain is a symptom of performance.  If you want to improve, you better be willing to put in the effort.

How to Get Back Into the Pool!

Thanksgiving Week Workouts Review

A change of scenery - trail running in Tyler, TX.

It was a nice week of fewer workouts, more family stuff, and a little bit of travel to the Piney Woods of Tyler Tx. I managed to squeak in 11.5 hours of solid training, most of it higher quality than usual. No swimming this week; just biking and running. Click on the links to see the workout's full HR graphs and speed charts.

Monday - 1 hour run, 6.5 miles

Nice night run, starting off easy with the dog, hitting target training effect about 45 minutes into it and then coasting the rest of the way home.

Tuesday AM - 1 hour Bike, 15.5 miles
1 hour ride on the rollers, doing "The Hunted" - the latest video from The Sufferfest.

Great video and you can see from the chart how I was hammering home the sprints at the end. Highly Recommended.

Tuesday PM - 30 minute run, 2.93 miles

Short evening run. Cold, crappy weather. Wasn't feeling it, so cashed it in for a nap.

Wednesday - Day off.

Thursday AM - 1 hour run, 5.4 miles

Running barefoot on treadmill. Working on form and nutrition. Emily was gone, running a Turkey Trot 5k with a friend.

Friday PM - 3 hour bike, 50 miles

Truly a rockin' ride. Nice and hilly, mostly on a quiet toll road and country roads in the Piney Woods of Tyler, TX.

This ride was all about working on proper nutrition and I nailed it. HR graph shows ultra-smooth pattern, even with the big hills.

Saturday AM - 1 hour run, 6.3 miles

One of many weird and fun items I find while out running.

Still in East Texas. Took off to the east and just ran like crazy wherever it took me. Ran through some woods and down a highway, turning around at an Exxon station and headed back. Found a license plate on the ground.

Started off chilly but warmed up. Also started off with a really high HR for some mysterious reason, but it settled down quickly. Great run!

Saturday PM, part 1 - 1 hour bike, 18.4 miles

1 hour on the rollers, going pretty hard, staying at the top end of my target HR zone (125-135 BPM). Went over 135 quite often. Got off the bike and went straight to the treadmill. HR failed to log on this one for some reason.

Saturday PM, part 2 - 1 hour run, 6.94 miles

Great fast barefoot run on treadmill. Hovered around 7.1 mph for a long time. Pushed this one to upper end of target zone, but stayed below 135 BPM for the most part.

Watch kept trying to pick up bike sensor, since it was right next to the treadmill. No HR graph since I just used the treadmill's numbers instead.

Sunday AM, 3 hour bike, 48.2 miles

Legs very sore from last few days and also lost a few pounds over past couple of days, undoing damage from Turkey Day.

This ride was a bit confusing to me. Felt like I needed to abandon the plan of 1 scoop of Perpetuem per hour at about 70 minutes in, and look what happened. Was it too much fuel? Too little? It felt like too little, but I'm a poor judge of this. Something to continue working on for sure.

Weekly Totals:

Cycling - 7:57 hours, 131.4 miles
Running - 3:34 hours, 28.10 miles
Not a bad week for a lot of family stuff going on. Really enjoyed the reduced hours and hanging out with family. Made huge progress in getting the HR up for more workouts and looking for more improvements on the nutrition for long rides.

How to be Successful at Triathlon

The secret to success in triathlon is to learn to love and understand the sport, not setting specific goals.  Vow to keep learning and you will be happier with your triathlon lifestyle every day!

Thinking about coming to ZenTri Base and Nutrition Camp?  Check out this video and sign up here!

ZentriCamp Bike Fit from Romain Fournier on Vimeo.

Krupicka Minimalist Running Video

The video is about a shoe, but it's really about so much more than that.

To be successful at triathlon, you have to devote a lot of your time and attention to it.  This is nearly impossible until you reduce the uneccesary distractions so you can focus.  

Anton Krupicka is an amazing ultra runner that gets the job done, and I always suggest that people check out his blog for inspiration.

Enjoy the ride!