/> The Tri Guru

How To Not Bail On Your New Years Triathlon Resolutions

Triathletes for the most part are crazy people. We don’t need extra pushing compared to most people. If you’re anything like me though you probably have a huge list of goals that span across all aspects of your life. So here is the secret sauce to getting to the next level in your multi sport [...]

You Have To Have Goals! You Have To Have Goals!

TheTriGuru’s Favorite Tri Bikes

Road bicycles and triathlon bicycles are a weakness of mine, I love them. If you haven’t had the chance to ride ridiculously expensive French made carbon fiber bikes I definitely suggest it. Once you through your leg over an 11 lb road bike that almost climbs itself up hills I think you’ll be hooked too. [...]

look-596-ultimate-triathlete-bikes look-596-ultimate-triathlete-bikes

5 Tips To Give You Your Best Triathlon Ever

All of the preparations have been made, and boom it is race day. There are a few things you can do to make the race day better that you don’t usually think about, especially if you haven’t raced before. Since you put all of the effort and resources into racing think about these things while [...]

triathlon-finish-line triathlon-finish-line

The Tri Guru’s Top 5 Mental Training Exersices

Triathlons are grueling events and extremely physical, but many competitors don’t realize how mental races are either. It is relatively easy to know what kind of physical training and recovery you should do but what kind of mental training for triathlon should you be doing? How often should you be practicing your mental training? Here [...]

mental training for triathlon mental training for triathlon

Is P90X for Triathletes and Endurance Athletes?

If you’ve seen the commercials you’ve probably been motivated to give the P90x system a shot. The commercials are very impressive, people physically transforming themselves in a relatively short period of time. It looks good to get shredded, but would the workouts help triathletes? I think it depends let me explain why. P90x is a [...]

is-p90x-for-triathletes is-p90x-for-triathletes

How To Not Bail On Your New Years Triathlon Resolutions

January 4th, 2012 admin
You Have To Have Goals!

Triathletes for the most part are crazy people. We don’t need extra pushing compared to most people. If you’re anything like me though you probably have a huge list of goals that span across all aspects of your life. So here is the secret sauce to getting to the next level in your multi sport life and other aspects of your life for that matter!

Write down your triathlon goals!

If you don’t write them down how are you going to know what they are? Create specific and actionable goals and write them down on a piece of paper. There is something very powerful about actually writing down what you are intending to achieve. If you don’t write them down or even choose your goals it is like going on a vacation with no destination in mind.

Get Specific!

Some dude sat on his couch last November and watch Ironman Hawaii and said, “Wow, that’s cool, I’d love to do a something like that someday…” and sadly something and  someday never came. Make sure that you are specific about your goal and you’ll be far more likely to achieve that goal. If you know exactly what you want to do it will be easier to break it down into steps. Having a goal of “becoming a faster runner” in 2012 is a lot more ambiguous than saying I am going to shave 2 minutes of my 10k or I am going to swim a 100 in under a minute.

Break Down The Goal Into Smaller Managable Action Steps

If one of your training goals is to lose 47 pounds this year and get under 12% body fat or whatever break the larger goal into smaller steps. Set this larger goal of into smaller increments and set bench mark dates in there to make sure you are going to be on track. Sometimes big goals seem so daunting that it can seem like you’ll never get there but if you have small goals along the way it can be way easier to monitor your success and celebrate or adjust along the way. Also when you are training for triathlons it is super important to write down your work out activity to see what is working and what isn’t. If you don’t already have a format for recording your workouts you can use my free training diary that you can download here.

Attach Pain and Pleasure To Your Goals

Once you have your goals written down give yourself some motivation. This is where having a buddy to help you can be powerful. What needs to happen to make you follow through on this goal of yours? Maybe if you don’t do something then you’ll owe someone money or set up a bet with a friend with a with a terribly embarrassing result if you don’t follow through. Don’t give yourself an out and remember, fear of loss or pain is usually a bigger motivator for people than the prospect of gain. When doing this step it is extremely important to make sure that you find someone who will hold you accountable so don’t choose your friend who is too nice and won’t make you follow through.

Post Your Goals Where You Can See Them

If you remind yourself a few times a day what you’re trying to achieve you’ll be way more likely to achieve them. Put them up where you can see and reflect on them several times a day. If you don’t you’ll end up thinking about them when you are making your next New Year’s resolutions.

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Get The Edge On Your Races! Check Out Beyond Transition!

June 27th, 2011 admin

If you’ve ever decided to do a triathlon out of your area that one of your friends hasn’t competed in then you know the difficulty of trying to piece together your best guess of what race conditions will be like. It is frustrating to not know what to expect. I can think of several races where I was ill prepared because the race didn’t have the support on the course or something that I wasn’t expecting that would have been great to know before hand. That’s where this cool site www.beyondtransition.com comes in handy.
www.BeyondTransition.com is a site that details triathlons all over the world and lets you know what to expect. Be sure and bookmark the site, friend em on facebook or however you stay connected so that you can have this as a resource. The site is free which is awesome, and they use research on races to get the scoop on the terrain, conditions and other important things you’ll need to know on races. They admit they don’t have all of the details on every race in the world but they have a ton of info on over 100 of what they consider the top races, which they’re working on expanding rapidly.  Check out the site, it is a great idea and a great tool to use in your future racing!

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TheTriGuru’s Favorite Tri Bikes

June 26th, 2011 admin
look-596-ultimate-triathlete-bikes

Road bicycles and triathlon bicycles are a weakness of mine, I love them. If you haven’t had the chance to ride ridiculously expensive French made carbon fiber bikes I definitely suggest it. Once you through your leg over an 11 lb road bike that almost climbs itself up hills I think you’ll be hooked too. I worked in a high end bike shop and got to be around some of the coolest bikes in the land and that is where my obsession escalated. The problem with bikes is they’re expensive and usually you have to choose just one, so I thought I’d give you my bike obsessed opinion of my favorite bikes. Just as a disclosure, I’m not getting any free bikes or gear here, just letting you know what I think. I’ve broken it down into three major price ranges to fit almost anyone’s budget for a new bike.

$2,000.00 and under triathlon bikes:

The Felt S22 priced at $1,599.00

 

If I was buying a bike for under $2,000 I would think pretty hard about maybe just getting a road bike. At this price range you’re a bit limited on what kind of frame materials you can get because you’re pretty much going to be getting something in aluminum. Once you get above this 2,000 mark you’re going to have more options and you’ll start to have access to carbon frames. A good option too is buying last year’s model because you’ll be able to get more for your money and typically nothing dramatic has changes. All this being said my favorite bike for under 2,000 is the Felt S22. It is made of 7,000 series aluminum and a pretty decent mix of components including some Shimano Ultegra derailleurs. The Bike looks pretty cool too which helps you to look fast at least. The whole thing weighs in at just under 20 lbs, according to Felt anyways. This bike will definitely feel harsh on long rides because the aluminum is a stiff material, but overall I think the bike would perform nicely for someone jumping in to do sprint distance or olympic distance races. I did my first Half Ironman on a heavy Trek 1,000 road bike so you could definitely finish a longer race. The first piece to upgrade on this bike would definitely be the wheels though!

$2,000 to $5,000 Triathlon Bikes:

The Look 576 Retailing at $2,899.00

Just a slight move in price brings a lot more as far as bikes go, we can now begin to look at carbon fiber triathlon bikes. This price ranges has some serious options but my favorite and highest value bike is the Look 576. The bike is cool and has some great features about it, but it isn’t a super common bike in that you see all the time. With a Sram Rival build the bike retails at $2,899. The components are pretty good, and the bike comes with some nice training wheels, although I would still upgrade the wheels to maybe a set of Easton EA90 Aeros and I’d still be under the 5,000.00 mark. A really cool feature about this bike that I love, that other may not is the seat mast that  has to be cut when you get fit to the bike. This is cool because then the bike is custom tailored to you, but this could kill your resale value if you can’t find someone with a similar build to you. The seats can be adjusted by elastomer bands by about 3cm once the cut is made. There is also another version of the same bike that has the normal seat adjustment screws. The frame weighs in under 1100 grams which is pretty good and it is also made in France.

$5,000 and up:

The Cannondale Slice Hi Mod Retailing at $6,899

If you’re going to be putting down some serious money you’re either going to be investing a great frame and building as you go, which is most likely for most people or you’ll be buying the whole thing all at once. If I was dropping the money I would prefer to have the bike built to exactly my specifications which means I wouldn’t want to be getting a bike from a company that produces its own components like wheels, handle bars etc. simply because I don’t think you get your money’s worth. An example is Trek and Specialized for example. If I’m dropping 10k on a bike, I would much rather have Zipps or Mad Fiber wheels rather than Bontrager or Specialized brand wheels. The Bike I really like for this price category is the Cannondale Slice Hi-Mod. The bike comes equipped with Sram Red, some killer parts, Cosmic Carbonne Aero wheels and is a pretty awesome bike overall. Cannondale’s BB30 bottom brackets are bullet proof and the bikes are stiff! The bike is priced at $6,899 which is actually a pretty sweet deal and a lot of bike for the buck. Throw is some aero wheels and you’ll be styling!
If you’re new to the sport you’re in for some serious sticker shock, especially if you have a non triathlete spouse! You get what you pay for though and bikes can last a long time when well maintained. Be sure to try as many different geometries, and frame materials to compare rides as you can before you take the plunge. I’d love to know what you think below and let me know what your favorite bike is by leaving a comment.

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5 Tips To Give You Your Best Triathlon Ever

June 20th, 2011 admin
triathlon-finish-line

All of the preparations have been made, and boom it is race day. There are a few things you can do to make the race day better that you don’t usually think about, especially if you haven’t raced before. Since you put all of the effort and resources into racing think about these things while you’re training.

  • Find out what kind of food and drinks that the racing will be giving out at feed stations, and train with them. Half iron man races typically have a sponsor like gatorade, so if you only train with cytomax and you hate gatorade or it doesn’t agree with your stomach then plan accordingly. They also serve Coke as well and that typically isn’t a training drink that people try out. Who knows it may work well it may not but try it in a few training sessions to know for sure.
  • Don’t try eating something new for breakfast. Stick to what works and try different foods before workouts that are similar to race conditions. My favorite pre race meal is original cheerios.
  • Fight the urge to wear a jersey that you buy at the event. At one race I saw a tri top that was on sale and I didn’t own one before the race. I figured I needed one and I hadn’t ever worn one. Next thing I know I’ve got the worst sunburn and it rubbed under my arms weird when I swam and hurt the entire race.  Changing stupid things like that on your race day is stupid, stick with what you are training with because even little set backs
  • Have a race strategy. Knowing your pace, your meal plan and your course strategy all help you to feel confident in the race. Since there are so many things that are beyond your control having a plan makes you feel more at ease, at least it is something that I like to do and makes me feel more relaxed and in control.
  • Take a dump before the race. Ewww… gross… I know. Races are early in the morning and maybe you’re not on the morning routine but running a race with full intestines is a recipe for disaster. You can train your body to go at a certain time of day. Make it a habit of going first thing in the morning, it helps.

The majority of these tips follow the golden rule: Don’t do anything in a race that you haven’t done in training.  Use your training to mimic your racing as best you can and use it as a test ground for new techniques and ideas

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The Tri Guru’s Top 5 Mental Training Exersices

June 16th, 2011 admin
mental training for triathlon

Triathlons are grueling events and extremely physical, but many competitors don’t realize how mental races are either. It is relatively easy to know what kind of physical training and recovery you should do but what kind of mental training for triathlon should you be doing? How often should you be practicing your mental training? Here are the 5 top mental training exercises I use to mastering your mental training.

  1. Practice positive self talk: when your working out don’t talk or think poorly about yourself or your performance. Don’t say I can’t and I won’t, instead say I currently struggle with or I am working on. If you let your mind think you can’t do something then you will stop short.
  2. Write down short term goals that push yourself but can be accomplished and post them in places where you will look at them frequently. This is a great way to keep yourself focused on your goals, and when you begin to make improvements in your fitness it helps to boost your confidence and will cause you to re-think what you can achieve. An example is shave 15 seconds of my 5k or whatever you are incorporating in your current training schedule. It is good to have large goals also  but when you create short term goals you can see progress more quickly, and usually when you see results and improvement quickly you’re more likely to stick with something.
  3. Smile when you work out. Chrissie Wellington does it so it must help! But seriously changing from a frown to a smile makes a big difference in your attitude when you’re doing a difficult workout and this doesn’t come naturally for most people. It takes practice, so focus on smiling.
  4. Visualize yourself having positive race results and achieving your goals. Visualization is powerful, think about yourself completing each leg of the triathlon or race, think about going fast and see yourself flying through the course. It helps build confidence and removes doubt, stress and pre race anxiety that will hurt your race performance.
  5. Make affirmations and say them out loud. The act of you actually speaking out you achieving your goal in the form of an affirmation has a huge effect on your subconscious and lets you believe that it is possible. If your goal was to qualify for Ironman Hawaii for example then your affirmation would be “I will qualify for Ironman Hawaii this year.” Saying it out loud makes you think about it and hear it and will solidify the belief that you can achieve it!

Your mind and how you think has a huge impact on how well you can race and train there is no doubt about that. The best triathletes build their confidence and help improve their performance through mental training, and most people don’t focus on this aspect of triathlon. One of my favorite triathletes of all time, Tobjorn Sindballe, stressed how important mental training was to his performance, and I remember one year when the conditions were TERRIBLE at California 70.3 and he finished in the 3 hour 40 minute range! He said that he knew his competition was suffering but that he knew that he liked the conditions so it made him happy. Having confidence makes the difference. Try these things and you’ll see benefit I know it!

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