- Five things that we can learn from fast triathletes.
(swooshing)
- By salty, I mean sweaty.
(swooshing)
- Rest weeks are down weeks.
They're not done weeks.
(swooshing)
- What's up, trainiacs?
Today I want to talk about five specific things
that every single FAST triathlete does,
because they all do 'em, and we all should too.
Number one is that they're consistent.
They're consistent over days, weeks, months, years.
The game plan for every one who has got to be
a very elite-level triathlete has been
to be as consistent as possible.
Ideally, having workouts almost every single day,
sometimes two a day, with the odd day off here and there.
You won't find too many high-level triathletes,
or even really successful age-groupers that do things like
having really big days followed by multiple days off.
It's much better off to have little bits of workouts
every single day, as opposed to smashing yourself
on the weekend and then not doing anything all week,
because you're really busy.
That's why I say that triathlon should be a lifestyle,
not something that you do when you have time.
If you only do it when you have time,
you're probably going to be like panic-training
and doing bigger workouts to catch up than you need to be.
You're gonna be better off, you're gonna be injury-free,
you're gonna be faster, if you do smaller workouts
more consistently even on rest weeks.
Rest weeks are down weeks.
They're not done weeks.
I like that.
The second thing that all fast triathletes
do is, they follow a plan.
Never will you see a fast triathlete that just shows up
every single day going, "What am I gonna do today?
"What do I feel like doing today?"
No!
They might be listening to their body,
which I'll talk about in a bit.
Most triathletes have a very structured week-by-week,
month-by-month, almost year-by-year build
where certain weeks are intentionally hard.
Certain weeks are intentionally meant to rest.
Certain periods of months are designed
around the bike, or the run, or the swim.
In the case of our training group,
we basically know three weeks ahead of time,
just about what every single workout
is going to be for the next 21 days.
From that, we also have a really good idea
of what the system is going to be
of the training plan for the next three to four months
all the way up to our next race.
I think one of the keys to being consistent
is taking the decision process out of your brain
every single morning, or afternoon.
If you have just a structured plan that all you have to do
is open up your plan every single day,
like you can at triathlontaren.com/coaching.
All you have to do is follow the plan and put in the work.
It takes out that mental chatter that puts doubt
in your mind about whether you should even be working out,
or how hard you should be working out.
Now as I just mentioned, the third thing that all fei ...
(mumbles) feist?
The third things that all fast triathletes do is,
they know their body.
Over the past few weeks, I've been doing videos
about how to figure out your run pacing,
how to figure out your bike pacing,
your swim pacing, using your heart rate
and your power data, your perceived exertion
to know what your pacing should be.
I often get a lot of questions from people saying,
"Hey, what should my run pacing be?"
It's like (blowing with lips) I don't know.
I'm not you.
I'm not out there putting in the miles like you are.
You are the only person that can know what your run pacing,
or bike pacing, or swim pacing, should be.
Now, there are all these videos that I've been doing
that I've linked all around here
and in the description below to help you figure that out.
In a perfect world, what you want to get to
is the level that say Coach Pat is at,
where he races, besides the bike,
without any heart rate monitor, any computer.
He knows, basically down to a couple of seconds,
what his pace is just by feel.
You only go through that by doing really purposeful workouts
that are measured, that are intentional.
See? A coaching plan.
And listening to your body about how hard it feels,
if it's manageable, if you can sustain it,
if it's a race pace that you should be going for.
Do that, and then it's less of a guessing game
by the time you get out onto the race,
because that guessing game could lead to total disaster.
Now when you get to the race, the fourth thing
that all fast triathletes do is,
they already know their nutrition plan.
I will link to a video.
Bam! Ba-ba-ba-ba-bam!
Right up there, that is a 24 hour triathlon nutrition plan,
that will give you a really good base of where to start
when you're figuring out your nutrition.
What you should be doing and the training leading
up to a race is testing out what electrolyte drinks,
what bars, what chews, what gels work for you.
What the timing should be, how much of it you need.
You can start with the guideline
of the video that I gave you there,
but you need to know what works for you,
and you need to have tried it in training.
You shouldn't be getting to a race and saying,
"Well you know, uh, well I think, you know,
"when I start crashing, and the medics
"have to be pulling me across the finish line,
"THAT is when I'm gonna take a Gateorade,
because I'll know then that I need it."
No, every single high-level triathlete
that's been in the sport for a long time,
they know exactly what, when, how,
and why they're drinking it depending
even on ideal conditions, bad conditions,
moderate conditions, windy conditions,
sunny conditions, salty conditions.
By salty, I mean sweaty.
By sweaty, I mean hot.
Dial in your nutrition before it
becomes a big problem in the race.
And the fifth and final thing that all fast triathletes
do is, they take care of the house.
They build the foundation.
They make hay when the sun shines.
I don't think that one applies.
But what they do is, they take care of their body
aside from all of the triathlon training.
You can't just go and smash yourself day in and day out
and expect no repercussions to happen.
Your body gets little miggles and little tiny injuries
and muscles actually kind of form when they,
they loosen up during the workout, and then stiffen up.
They do that in the wrong place sometimes.
So things like massages, compression boots,
compression sleeves, physiotherapy, little bits
of maintenance routines, little bits of strength work
in the off season, using foam rollers and sticks
to roll out any parts of your body that are aggravating you.
I don't know a single triathlete that's been successful
by being in the sport for a long time,
that hasn't had to go through taking care
of their chasse, making sure that they can continue
to train week in and week out.
Because, if you just go and smash yourself day
after day after day, you're going to get injured.
It's going to happen.
It's almost a guarantee.
You can't just train blindly like a bat out of hell
and expect not to have to do some things
in the off season, in your downtime,
to take care of your body and let it recover.
So there you go, trianiacs, that's it.
Those are five things that consistently,
every single fast triathlete that I know does
to allow them to continue to be fast and get faster.
Dig in.