50 Tips...for One Day
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
This is from an article my coach provided for me. Some aren't relevant, but some are incredibly interesting and poignant...more to me, probably, which is why I'm positing it -- so I'll read these over and over again and not file the email away and forget about it.
In reading the list, though, I couldn't help but think, All this for only one day?
IRONMAN TRAINING TIPS
HERE ARE 50 TRAINING TIPS TO GET YOU TO THE FINISH LINE OF THE ULTIMATE TRIATHLON.......Are you a Super Athlete? If so this ARTICLE is not for you. Are you normal? Do you have a job, family plus limited training? Read on........
1. Train your mind as well as your body.
2. If you don't feel well, take a day, or a week, or whatever it takes off, until you are better. Training when you are unwell is the road to no-where.
3. It's better to get to the start line, healthy and slightly under prepared than unhealthy and over trained. You need to be hungry.... for this event.
4. Get to the race site two days before kick off and get a good nights sleep two nights before the race - don't bother going to the Pasta Party if it's the night before the race, because you are only going to get psyched out by "go faster" hair cuts......
5. Take your own emergency supplies of water and drink on the run.
6. Practice drinking and eating on the run during training and buy yourself a running belt.
7. Be prepared for a bad moment during the swim - relax, go onto your back and think your way out of the crisis before starting again slowly.
8. Be prepared for several bad moments during the bike. The second hour of the bike ride is the DANGER HOUR. The adrenaline rush from finishing the swim has dissipated and there is the dawning realization that there is a very long day ahead - with only two wheels for company. You must remember the big picture i.e.: the finish line.
9. Be prepared for MANY bad moments during the RUN - You can Slow Down and Walk at this stage.
* The Golden Rule is to keep on moving to the FINISH LINE. * See the marathon as a 13 Mile Shuffle. When you have got 1/2 way, every step is closer to NIRVANA, sorry the finish line. Try to jog for 8 mins, then walk for 1 or 2 mins. This means your ticking off a mile every 10 mins. This is 4.20 marathon pace, (I managed 4.13 in Aberfeldy using these tactics). * Walk before you have to, no matter how good you feel. Any one who says that they can run the entire marathon without stopping is seriously deluded. You must stay on the correct side of the red line.
10. Try to fool your body and your mind.
* During the swim, focus only on the swim. Reward yourself with a tick in a mental box, when you hit dry land. * During the bike, focus only on the bike. There is no point in worrying about the run because you are not actually on the run course. * During the run, think only of the finish line. It doesn't matter if you walk, shuffle, jog, limp etc.
11. Dave Scott never ran more than 13 miles between winning successive Hawaii races, so why should you? The key to your successful completion of an Ironman is open water swimming and long bike rides. You can always walk during the so-called run stage. The more running you do in training, the higher the chance of injury.
12. Use Vaseline on all your moving parts in T2 before starting the run. Put on running socks with the greatest of care. If you rush, you will put them on in such a way that you will blister. You will have enough to worry about for 4 or 5 hours of the marathon other than avoidable and unnecessary blisters. If one part of your body hurts particularly (hamstrings, Achilles, wrists, whatever,) focus on everything in your body that is not suffering. Think how great it is that your, for instance, trapezius muscle is absolutely fine.
13. Have a hot shower before the race starts to get your muscles warmed up.
* Do not do a run warm up. It does not make a lot of sense at 5.00 a.m. if it's going to be a good 7 or 8 hours before you're actually putting on your running shoes for real.
14. Try to get a hot shower after the swim. It gets rid of the salt/slime, but also is a reward for your efforts so far. It's something to look forward to during the swim.
15. Reward yourself during the bike. What is your favorite snack? If it's a doughnut, then carry one with you as a reward for getting to mile 56 mile/mile 80/mile 100 whatever. If you feel like you need a reward every 10 miles, then get off your bike to go the loo, stretch your legs etc. i.e.: you control the race. It must not be allowed to control you. You're in charge, not it.
16. If you are a coffee fan, then make up a flask of black coffee with several spoonfuls of sugar and leave it in T1 or T2 and have a cup. It not only acts as a reward but also peps you up for the next few miles.
17. If it's hot during the race, think how tough it is for all of your race rivals, but not for you, because you have trained for exactly these conditions.
18. If it's cold and wet and windy during the race, think how tough it is for all your race rivals but not for you, because you have trained for exactly these conditions.
19. Forget 17 and 18 because you do not have any race rivals. Be prepared to be beaten by a Granny with a shopping basket on a "sit up and beg" bike. The only think that matters is You getting to the finish line. Focus on you and do something about your race. You can't control anybody else's race, just yours.
16 Reward yourself after the bike. Grab a hot shower, it will take 5 minutes max and you will more than make this time up on the run because you will feel so good. You are trying to fool your body into thinking you have had a seven-hour sleep as opposed to a 7-hour bike ride and that you are now ready for a wee jog.
17. Practice Swimming the distance in the pool. In fact do the 5K Swimathon in March. This is a great physiological plus. You will then know that on race day you have already covered more than the race distance.
18. Practice open water swims and get up to one hour done in the water.
19. Dress for a bike ride for the bike section. You may have bought a very snazzy pair of trunks and a very thin vest that shows off your golden tan, but you are going to do a 112-mile on a bike, so dress appropriately. You will probably be cold for the first hour of the ride if you are competing your Ironman race in the British Isles - why not use arm warmers?
20. Do not attempt to take food and drink for the whole 112 miles of the ride, otherwise your bike will weigh the same as a Sherman Tank. If the first feed station is at mile 20, then just take food and drink for 25 miles. Have you practiced taking food and drink with one hand from a Marshall at a roadside? Thought not, so get off your bike (again, see it as a reward) and take what you need to get you to the next feed station.
21. Not withstanding 20, squirrel away an emergency energy bar in your puncture pouch underneath your seat.
22. Learn to eat and drink plenty on bike training runs. If you train sensibly at low speed and you are eating and drinking enough, then your 50/60/70 mile training rides should not see you crawling over your back door on your hands and knees.
23. Build up to a 5-week cycle. * Week 1 - swim the distance during the week in 2 or 3 sessions, plus one bike ride, plus one run i.e.: you can have up to 3 days off that week. * Week 2 - cycle the distance in 2 or 3 sessions, plus one swim, plus one run. * Week 3 - run the distance in 2 or 3 sessions, plus one swim and one bike. * Week 4 - this is a reward/rest week. Just have one swim, one bike, and one run * Week 5 - the biggest week so far. Do the race distance inside 7 days. Make sure this week coincides with an easy family/work week. Get a "week 5" in at least 4 to 6 weeks before the main event. You should however, still be doing a 60 or 70 miler 2 to 3 weeks before the event.
24. You will run the chance of injury if you persist in long runs after long bikes. You are training for a long swim followed by a long bike, followed by a long jog/walk on race day only.
25. GETTING TO THE FINISH LINE IS WINNING THE RACE.
26. Do the three-day Ironman organized by the Triangle Club in May, again it's a physiological plus. You will of course be under prepared for this, but you must learn how to suffer.
27. Adapt your long sessions for suitable days in your calendar, but it is sometimes absolutely positively essential to go out and do a long ride in appalling weather. After all you cannot pick your weather for race day. You must be prepared for every conceivable condition that may afflict you on race day.
28. Finishing the Ironman is 65% physical preparation, 30% mental preparation and 5% luck. You need a little bit of luck, but sometimes the more sensibly you train the luckier you get.
29. Do some short races earlier in the season. You will do surprisingly well coming off a long training regime.
30. Although you can't train long and hard with speed work (because you will just break down and get injured or get a cold) don't throw out the speed work altogether. Why not throw in a week of speed sessions in all three sports so that you know your training will be short and sharp and you will be in the shower several hours ahead of schedule.
31. You stand more chance of getting a cold than of getting injured. Take cod liver oil, a multi vit and/or Elagen Sport. Do not try anything you don't trust. You could do a lot worse than simply eating 5 bits of fruit/vegetable daily. The answer to you getting to that elusive finish line does not lie in a box of pills but inside your head - and heart.
32. Cut out the mult vits 24 hours before the race, they will just make you need to go the loo a lot more on race day.
33. Carry a loo roll in your kit bag on race day.
34. You will be convinced in the week leading up to race day that you are coming down with the lurgy/dengi fever/hong kong flu. This feeling is normal. This is simply a case of Rampant Race Paranoia.
35. You will be very tired for up to a week before race day. Again this is entirely normal, your body does not want to use any extra energy or go up the stairs at work. It is already trying to save all necessary energy for race day. Your body and mind are a lot smarter than you think they are.
36. Get your bike sorted out early in the year. It doesn't have to make Lance Armstrong green with envy, it just has to be comfortable. * Don't sacrifice Comfort for Potential Speed. * Your aim is to get to the FINISH LINE, not break a world record.
37. Do you need a new pair of running shoes? They say you should replace them every 500 miles. Get them well worn in before race day.
38. Who loves you? Can you get them to the race site? You will get an indescribable lift by seeing them after the swim, during the bike and the run and especially on the finish line. It's as much their victory as yours, when you cross that finish line.
39. On race day, make a game plan, stick to it.
40. Have game plan no. 2, 3, 4 & 5 up your sleeve if you need it. Be prepared to adapt, adopt and improve on race day. Go with the flow. Conditions may be different to your training, these are outside your control.
41. Err on the side of caution, always keep something in reserve. Do not get sucked into a macho "race". You have no idea if the plonker passing you at mile 2 on the bike has any more experience of doing an Ironman than you have.
42. YOU WILL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO GET TO THE FINISH LINE (Repeat this line 100 times after school)
43. You cannot win the race during the first 5 mins of the swim, but you can lose it, take it easy, keep the breathing under control and get into a routine.
44. In the swim, all you have to do is swim 1 more minute; on the bike ride all you have to do is cycle 5 more miles; on the run all you have to do is jog one more mile i.e.: give yourself realistic bite sized targets when the going gets tough. Don' t think of the enormity of what lies ahead of you, think of what you can do at this very moment during the race to control your destiny. All you need is one more stroke, one more spin and one more stride.
45. Eat whatever you like, whenever you like, during your training; the odd glass of wine after training will not do you any harm either. As important as swim/bike/run, is rest and especially sleep. Go to bed on the same day you got up.
46. Get to the GYM - its enjoyable and you need a strong back and a strong set of ABS during the second half of the race.
47. You have to be selfish to train for and to complete an Ironman - remember that and recognize that fact and apologize to your loved ones in advance.
48. If you have anything left in the tank, pour it out gradually from mile 20 on the walk/jog.
49. Smile as you cross the finish line and thank your family/toy boy for all their support, then have a good cry to yourself.
50. Do not think about training for 3 weeks, or racing for 6. Reward yourself. Get back to Normal. Do not feel guilty about not training. This is what you trained for........
51. Just remember, no one ever said it would be easy.
Posted by Erin 9:57 AM