Looking back at a year of triathlon training

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This coming weekend, I will be competing in my third and final triathlon of the 2011 season, the Danskin Women’s triathlon at the amazing RecPlex in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. I am very much looking forward to this race because it's an all-women's race, which lends itself to an upbeat and encouraging race environment.

As the race approaches and my triathlon-specific training winds down, I find myself reflecting on the last 5 months of workouts. April and its many, many days of rain and cold limited my outdoor biking but seems so long ago now. May really got me in a groove as I prepped for two races in June, which flew by. I took a few days in July to relax and take a break from training since I had done two races two weekends apart and my next race wasn't for a while. Those days were great for my body and my mind. I realized I needed a little break from the focus and discipline of my training and that I was craving some changes in my workout. I started attending TRX classes with my neighbor and fell in love with it! If you're not familiar with it, google it and you can learn all about it. Basically it's a resistance training system that uses your own body weight and requires the use of your core in every exercise. It has almost replaced my weights routine because it can target every muscle. The best part is that even though it's not swimming, biking, or running, TRX is extremely helpful for my tri training - it will make me stronger and faster for the Danskin Triathlon in Wisconsin.

July also brought about something I look forward to every year - the Chicago Beach Soccer Tournament. It is hands down my favorite sporting event of the year. Beach soccer is a blast as well as an incredible workout. The tournament, which took place the last weekend of July was a perfect segue into August; it brought some fun back into my training and energized me for the home stretch. That momentum and knowing there was just one race left, has motivated me to work hard this month. I am confident I will be proud of my preparation when I get to the starting line on Sunday morning.

My reflections have also led me to discover that I have a tried and true method to my workouts. For me, it is all about quality not quantity. I don't workout every day of the week but rather fit in 3-5 days per week, about an hour each time. My motto is to make every workout count, so I go hard almost every single time. If I'm going to run, I either run a fairly short distance (3-4 miles) at a hard pace, or a slightly longer distance (4-6 miles) and build in interval training. To me, interval training (alternating periods of hard/fast pace with moderate pace) is the single fastest way to improve and maintain cardiovascular fitness and a great way to improve speed.

The key to making it intense and effective is to make sure your "on" pace is quite fast and that the "off" pace is not too easy; you want to challenge your active recovery ability. I personally like to do on/off intervals that are equal in duration or sometimes for short segments of the run even do a shorter off interval. Depending on your active recovery ability, you may need to start out with an “off” interval that is 2-5 times longer than your “on” interval. You'll figure it out as you go.

Just keep in mind that you want to be able to sustain your “on” pace for the whole interval and you want to choose an “off” pace that allows you to recover but is not too easy. Interval runs also get more out of your run in a shorter amount of time.

Lastly, I've been thinking about how differently I am viewed as an athlete by various groups of people. My non- or casual athlete friends always seem so impressed with my training for and completions of triathlons. They wonder how I have the energy for it and how I fit it in with two little kids. They complement me and make me feel like an elite athlete. Then, when I am training with other triathletes, many of whom have competed in multiple Ironman races, I know full well that there is a big difference between us. They must look at me, who sticks primarily to the sprint distance, and think of me as a baby triathlete. I've wondered what to make of all this...who am I as an athlete? I'm realizing that I'm somewhere in between. And I'm realizing that no matter what, I'm a triathlete and I'm so proud of that!

Brooke

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