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For most endurance athletes, the off-season approximately spans from the end of October through the Holidays. It's the time we get to let the foot off the gas and recover from a long season of pushing our bodies. However, that doesn’t mean we necessarily take a break from physical activity, and we also don’t continue to keep the same intensity and volume as we did during our season. So, how should we spend our time training in the off season? What is the right balance, and how do we strike it? To help answer these questions, I’ve listed 5 Ways to Maximize Our Off-Season
While there’s a lot we can accomplish during this more relaxed time of the year, it’s important to focus on a few key objectives. And they may be slightly different for each individual, but generally speaking here’s what we want to do:
So, with the off-season upon us, let’s try to make it as productive as possible. These five objectives will help guide our efforts and optimize these precious few weeks where we are not meticulously following Training Peaks or whatever training plan we are beholden to. Taking a break, getting strong, focusing on our weaknesses, becoming intentional about our training, and using this time to make changes, allows us to maximize this lull in our season. By doing so, we can almost guarantee that our next season will see the benefits of our off season work! I know several athletes (myself included), who have sometimes avoided a seemingly ideal race, simply because it has a hilly course. And for many amateur runners, that’s with good reason. Every time I race - and sometimes just when I’m out on a training run - I see people mismanage the hills, which always comes back to haunt them later in the run. They then assign themselves the label of ‘not a good hill runner’, which many times follows them throughout their running career. And sure, there are some that naturally excel at hillier courses- but for the grand majority of runners and triathletes, they have never been taught how to run hills effectively. Let’s take a deeper look at why we run hills and address how to do so more effectively.
The US (and a good part of the rest of the world) has been experiencing a serious heat wave. In fact, one of the storylines of the ongoing Paris Olympic Games has been the high temperatures. And just like Olympians, for most endurance athletes (and those just looking to stay in shape), hard training and exercise doesn’t stop for hot weather.
Over the years, I’ve posted about how to exercise, train, and race in the heat on a few occasions. We all know the dangers of dehydration, heat exhaustion, and even heat stroke that are associated with strenuous exercise in hot conditions, yet even the most experienced among us can still get things wrong. At best, we end up with a poor training session, and at worst we can end up with a trip to the ER. Most of us have done the “low and slow” pure aerobic efforts in hot temperatures- whether that be in a race, or just a training run or ride. But what about when we have to do threshold work, or Vo2 max repeats, or hill sprints? Do we just forget about those hard training sessions during 4 months of insufferable heat? Herein lies the conundrum: How in the world can we SAFELY execute high-intensity workouts in hot, humid conditions? Let’s dive in: Caitlyn Clark is already one of most impactful athletes in women’s basketball- from her days as the Nation’s All-Time leading scorer at Iowa, to becoming the first player in WNBA history with 100 points and 50 assists in their first eight career games. However, with all her talent, her team is near the bottom of the league, with only 2 wins in 9 attempts.
The answer to why this is the case, is something that endurance athletes and weekend warriors alike can learn from. In a recent ESPN article we gain insight as to why one of the best players in the world is seemingly unable to help the team perform- and we can learn from this critical principle: The historic Boston Marathon took place a few weeks ago, and Ethiopian Sisay Lemma quite literally ran away from the men's field to win the world's most famous road race. What struck me about his performance is that this was his 4th attempt at this iconic event. He finished 30th one year, and dropped out the other two. But he kept at it. He kept grinding away and persevered even in the face of seemingly constant failure, and was finally rewarded for his endurance- not just over those 26.2 miles a few Monday’s back, but for the years and years of plodding away at a goal, regardless of the numerous setbacks he experienced.
Over the past few months, I’ve had several conversations with athletes and personal training clients alike about how to overcome setbacks, or how to endure when things don’t go to plan or just plain get hard. For some this could mean grinding away at an athletic goal- and for others, it could be the challenge of juggling the priorities of family, work, and training. Possibly it's struggling with a physical illness or injury that just won’t heal. Or maybe it could be a serious mental health challenge that just won’t allow us to feel good. There is no easy solution for every situation that involves persevering in the face of adversity, whether that be voluntary or not, if we take a step back we can identify a few things that can help. At the risk of grave oversimplification, here are three keys to help us continue to endure in the face of a challenge- in both racing and in life: Over the past few months, I’ve had several conversations with athletes and personal training clients alike around nutrition. With both beach season and race season just around the corner, everyone is asking about how to create the right nutrition plan. So, what is the ‘right nutrition plan’? That’s a complicated topic, and it’s different for everyone.
But HOW we create a plan can actually be fairly straightforward for both endurance athletes and those simply looking to tighten up their diet. While there are numerous aspects to consider, we can break down most of these into three important factors or questions to ask regarding any new approach to nutrition: In late February, many struggle with the resolutions they set for themselves. As I stated, in my last blog post, only about 8% of Americans maintain their New Year’s resolution, especially in the health and fitness area. Simply because it is hard to change habits, and requires lots of determination, dedication, discipline, and sacrifice, regardless of the goal.
And while I am not a huge fan of using “motivation“ to move us toward action (motivation is an emotion that ebbs and flows, while discipline is a skill that can be learned and improved), it can be a useful tool to help move us forward from time to time. As such, I thought it interesting to consider some of the incredibly motivating athlete performances in the endurance world which have occurred in the past few years. And then recognize the sacrifices that those particular athletes make to become great. Maybe as we reflect on these herculean efforts and the sacrifice and discipline it took to achieve them, we can find the determination to continue to persevere when our desire is low and our discipline is weak January is the quintessential time to make changes in our lives - those all too-familiar New Year's Resolutions. For millions of people, that means working to achieve health and fitness goals throughout the following year. However, most well-intentioned resolutioners start with a bang and end with a fizzle. In fact, Time Magazine states that an estimated 80% of people quit their resolutions by February, and only 8% actually stick it out to the end of the year. And, well it's that time of year again (end of January) and statistically, many of you may have already fallen short of your goals.
Why is it so difficult to change? Why can't we just, well- simply DO IT?! As human beings we have the tendency to take the path of least resistance, which is usually the anthesis of change and the enemy of success. While there are many reasons we may fall back into our old ways we can boil it down –at least in part– to willpower. Or as is the case in most of us, the LACK thereof. As the days get shorter and the temps get cooler, our activity levels drop, and we tend to eat more. A lot more. In fact, the average American gains 2+ lbs over the six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years. And it’s not just the holidays that lead to weight gain. The CDC estimates that over 40% of Americans are overweight or obese. That statistic is alarming, but what is downright frightening is that the CDC also states that obesity is linked to our Nation’s top killers: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and even some types of cancer. So, what do we do to avoid succumbing to statistics like this? If we need to lose weight, how do we do so successfully? (Hint: it DOESN’T involve trendy diets or repeatedly starving ourselves of calories.)
Over many years I’ve worked with countless clients on some aspect or another relating to weight loss- whether that be a primary goal, or a secondary one. During that time, I’ve found there are a handful of changes people make who are successful at losing weight and keeping it off. Here are my top six: As endurance athletes, we spend hundreds (if not thousands) of hours preparing physically for a specific event, or series of events. We work tirelessly to improve our speed, endurance, strength, and technique for our respective discipline (or disciplines in the case of triathletes). Many resort to spending thousands of dollars on gear, coaching, recovery tools, performance nutrition, and a host of other expenditures in hopes to improve performance just a little bit. However, there is one glaring gap that many athletes - or even weekend warriors - neglect: the mental side of performance.
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