Off Season Training Recommendations: Enrichment, Renewal, & Joining A Cause Close to Your Heart

Winter challenges our wellness goals. Here are some strategies. First of all, surrender a bit to the hibernation inclination. Get refreshed. Take time to learn. Maybe enroll in a class. Read. Write. 2nd: Plan something: a project, new goals, an athletic event, or travel. Set some benchmarks toward achieving your goals. 3rd: Experiment with new recipes & better nutrition. What’s best for you: Low Carb, High Carb, Paleo, Vegan? 4th: Choose a cause that matters to you and get involved. Find the tribe(s) where other like-minded individuals are working on the same mission. Sign on and be a part of something greater than yourself.

Here's the Sporting Our Spirit mission.  Active Grief Relief has been a focus of mine for some time. What is it? Active Grief Relief is a program to help individuals set back by grief (all different kinds of grief) get back to really living life. Grief is about loss: the death of a loved one, a divorce, a job, friends, a lifestyle, health. Grief brings about some crushing setbacks to the way you used to live your life, to your natural momentum. Manageability of the grief process can be supported with sound fitness. That’s a fact!

The SOS program proposes fitness, good company, and nature as prescriptions against becoming “stuck” in sadness and sorrow. It works. We can & do help. We are different. We talk less and move more. Anything from walking around the block to an ironman is possible. For us, at Sporting Our Spirit- the key target group, the number one focus, is all those who have suffered the loss of a loved one due to suicide, and maybe even attempted suicide themselves. Survivor & grief support is not "trendy".  People don’t want to talk about it. Never mind talk, some can’t even think about it. Yet suicide and loss reside in and plague so many families. This is the day & age of endurance events.  Events for the cause of, grief relief and suicide prevention & survivor support are incredible rare. Do you know of any?

In the past, I have been discouraged (maybe just my ego) by the smallness of my tribe and the quietness of our voices. Let’s (together) remember, there IS such a thing as "the power of one". Well, for Sporting Our Spirit, make that the power of two. Josh Shadle, my Boulder, CO son, is certainly invested in SOS. Our goal is to bring hope through the same vehicle that gave us hope: move, get physical. Small steps progress to bigger challenges. And everyone at sometime is affected by grief. Want to help?

In review, this winter, consider: resting more, learning something new, trying new foods and recipes, planning future travel and challenging events and goals, finding & joining a tribe that is doing good for a cause you are passionate about. 

Naples Triathlon: Paradise Coast International Triathlon, 9/22/13

This is a review regarding an Olympic distance triathlon set to take place in Naples, FL 9/22/13. It was well-written, with lots of detail. I hope you find it helpful. Special thanks to Erik, a triathlete who lives in Naples & will be competing in this one.

Here's the race organizer's website.

Here is the low down on the Olympic tri course in Naples at Sugden park:  The start/finish line and transition area is nicer than most venues with good free parking and really nice bleachers for friends and family to hang out in comfort at the finish line.  The transition area specifically is paved so no worries about mud or wet grass.  For the swim, it’s a lake and pretty nice.  Its an old, deep, rock quarry which obviously breaks into the aquifer making the water temp somewhat cool, especially when the surface gets churned up after the first wave. (certainly it is cooler than the Gulf!... but won’t be wetsuit legal, so get any brilliant… I mean, ‘buoyant’ ideas)  The bike is obviously pancake flat, with exception of a couple of extremely small bridges in the ritzy neighborhoods, but it has a lot of turns, curves and cross streets, so it may be confusing (even to locals) if the organizers don’t have enough marshals to direct you… and it cuts across a few major highways… so be sure to have good breaks and watch for cars  (this organization does not have many volunteers and cops stopping traffic like the non-profits do and they don’t have any closed roads… usually).  Then, for the run, let’s call it the “economically diverse run”.  It cuts through differing types of neighborhoods from rough to ritzy out and back, but you may find your biggest encouragement will come from the rough parts because the gated community is no doubt full of head scratchers who care less about a triathlon.  In any case, it will be lonely out there until you reach the last quarter mile and finish to a cheering crowd in the grandstands.

Lastly, this organization usually lacks on post race yummies, so BYO food and drinks.

Understanding Lactate Threshold (LT), Run Training Tolerance

Understanding Lactate Threshold- the basics for beginners and intermediate athletes, especially triathletes- swimmers, bikers, runners.

I am in Boulder, CO working with my son on his Boulder Sports Recovery business: All Sports Recovery Club. Please check it out. Come in and visit: http://allsportsrecovery.com/Default.aspx

Friends and athletes that I train back in Fort Myers, FL asked me to review what I meant by time trial (TT) testing for lactate threshold. I put some thought into my explanation, so I felt it might be helpful to others.

Explanation: LT is lactate threshold. It is very important to know what your tolerances are in expending energy (meaning how hard you are working at your training). If you are working harder and demanding more oxygen than your heart can pump to your muscles, you will have to quit, bonk, or hit the wall, so to speak. This is obviously NOT the goal. In training, we try to find the magic number (and to improve that number)  where the exercise load you are demanding of your cardiovascular system does not exceed its capability. As you advance your conditioning, athletes and coaches do interject harder intervals to improve LT. Thus, you can run harder, longer with proper conditioning.

Heart rate is one way to ID your LT zone. Pace and power are two other ways. Most runners (and cyclists, even swimmers)  should, after at least two weeks of consistent conditioning, have an idea of what pace they can maintain for about 8-10 min. This is an average (pace) even with some breaks (aka, rest intervals: RI). Most athletes if well-conditioned can sustain at LT output for up to one hour. Most beginners and intermediate athletes can sustain LT pace for somewhere between 5-10 minutes. This is something that smart training (especially with good coaching) improves.

People with power meters on their bikes can tell how many watts of power they can expend. Cadence, pace, HR, & power can all help you on the bike to find LT (threshold or tolerance).

Important!! To know these LT numbers is to (1) tell you how effective your training is, (2) make you a smarter, more confident racer/trainer. Thus, you know when you are on track. You also know when you are not pushing hard enough or pushing too hard.

A common heart rate test for LT on the run is 3 x 10 minutes with 2 minute rest intervals (RI) slow run or walking recovery intervals between the 10 minute run sets. Ideally, you want to find a pace you can run that doesn't change more than 15 seconds on all three 10 minute run sets. You also need to know preliminary heart rate zones. I can help you with this. To find your heart rate zones for training takes about 2 weeks of conditioning to establish. So don't test for LT until you've begun your conditioning.

Warning: make the TT (time trial) test fit your conditioning. I have assigned LT tests for 2 x 8 min. when someone was out of shape or even 2 x 3 min. Don't go 3 rounds of 10 min. when HR is sky-rocketing and pace is collapsing. The tests has shown enough data. Your fitness stinks, you are not well, or something else, try again later.

Tools: A Garmin 305 is what I use. I could conduct this test on myself, unassisted. The Garmin 305 or newer will track: time, heart rate, and pace. You can also use a Garmin 205 combined with a heart rate monitor.  For example, you can set the heart rate monitor (HRM) to beep when your heart rate (HR) hits the high end of your LT zone and or drops below your low end, such as 148-152 beats per minute(bpm). Athletes with very different paces can use similar HR settings. One athlete may run an average of 8 min. per mile, while another runs 12 min. per mile, all at LT heart rate zone of 148-152. Keep your eye on the Garmin for time only. Try not to look too much. Looking at your watch too often can effect your HR. Start and stop the watch between the 10 min. intervals and also on each of the recovery breaks. How fast your HR drops is an important indication of conditioning. It's a good sign of your fitness when your HR quickly drops (aka, recovers) after you slow down. If you remember to start and stop the watch every time, you can do this test on your own with a Garmin (alone, if 305 or newer) and Polar HRM. Polar and Garmin are my choices. There are many other options. The Garmin will keep a pace history of all the 10 min. intervals along with the 2 min. recovery sets.

Let me know if I can help you further. If you provide me with some of your run times, I can help you establish a base pace for your LT test. Time Trial tests really should be done every 3-4 weeks for each discipline (swim, bike, run).

Good Luck!
Coach Susan Kelly
http://www.sportingourspirit.com/
Youth & Junior Elite USA Triathlon Certified Coach, NASM Personal Trainer, Level II USA Triathlon & Level II ASCA (swim) Certified Coach

Sporitng Our Spirit Healthy Oatmeal for endurance training

Breakfast at home in Nova Scotia.

"Butt- kicking, butt blasting Oatmeal"

    Serves 2

1/2 c long cooking oats,
1/8 c red quinoa grain,
1 apple (Gala or Fiji) chopped finely,
1/8 to 1/4 c chopped dates,
3/4 c water,
1/2 almond milk (unsweetened)
1/2 c skim milk (optional, or can use another milk-like topper before serving)
2 TBSP raisins,
1 TBLS ground flax seed,
2 TBLS or about 10-12 whole walnuts,
2 TBSP real maple syrup (optional),
1 tsp ground cinnamon

In a medium saucepan, simmer the quinoa, chopped dates, and chopped apple in the water on medium, then, med/low heat for about 10 min.

Add in oatmeal, raisins, and almond milk. Cook & stir frequently until chunky but creamy, about 10 min.

Pour into bowls. Top with ground flax, cinnamon, almonds, syrup, & skim milk.