That is quite a simple statement.  Clear and concise.  No magic trick or anything else required.  Yet, this is the hardest things for many athletes to implement in their training, just saying ‘no’.

It is very easy for an athlete to fall into the trap of going along with a crowd.  For many of us it is impossible to say ‘no’ to our fellow athletes.  We are more concerned about what others may think about us than we are about our own goals.   This mindset is disastrous in sport and life.   Let’s get down to the simple truth.

Simple Truth:

It is none of your business what others think of you. You have no control over the thoughts of others and their opinion is inconsequential

to your goals.   In order to succeed in sport and life, you sometimes have to put others opinion aside and do what is right for you!

What does this mean?

This simply means that in order to succeed:

1.  You need to know what your goals are
2. You need to have a burning desire to meet your goals You can’t let the opinions of  others influence whether or not you get your training accomplished. There will be days when what you “have” to do in order to succeed will not be what you want to do.
3. How many times have you been invited to a training session that doesn’t fall into line with your training needs?  We all have friends that we like to train with.  Training with others is fun and can break the monotony of the training routine.  Sometimes we just have to go it on our own.

Let me give you a few hints on how to still enjoy training with others even if you aren’t evenly matched or your workouts are very different.

• Treadmills are a great way to run with a partner.  You will have company and you can do your workout .
• Bike trainers are much the same as the treadmill.  You have a captive audience to play with you.
• Swim workouts… let’s face it,  you can’t talk in the middle of a lap but the wall is a great place to hang out.
• Track workouts, you can pass out high fives all day long no matter what speed everyone is running.

I hope that these tips help you to meet your goals!

Join our experienced coaches and staff Memorial Day weekend 2013 for an all-inclusive, long course triathlon training camp experience that will prepare you for racing Lake Tahoe and beyond. Build the confidence, skills, and mental strategies that will set you up for a season of success!

Lake Tahoe Training Camp Information-1

We often do something very similar when we are preparing for an event.

Would you purposely set yourself up for failure on race day months in advance of your big race?  Would you willingly sabotage your big event?

Of course you wouldn’t!  That would be plain crazy, yet many unknowingly do just that.

Quick Exercise:

Let’s pretend that you are signed up for an Olympic Distance race.  The swim is against the current and is never wetsuit legal, the bike has three major climbs and the run is anything but flat.  The weather for this race is notoriously hot and inhospitable.

Right off the bat you know that this is going to be a challenging race.   You can set yourself up for success or failure depending on how you think about the race and your training.  Let’s go through two different thought processes.

Negative Nancy:

• It’s going to be brutal out there.  It’s always so hot for this race
• That swim is going to be hard, I hope that I can make it
• I hope that I can ride strong on the hills, is my gearing right?
• The run is going to hurt
• I hope that there is enough aid out there
• Is there any shade on the course?

One of the most common goals that athletes come to us with is the desire to lose weight. This can be an extremely frustrating situation for many. As they increase their volume of training, they fail to see results. The reason for this is many myths people have about how to fuel as an athlete correctly.

Before I get into this, I have to give a disclaimer. I am not a registered dietician. I cannot prescribe medical nutrition therapy. If you want a health professional to assist you further, you should seek out a registered sports dietitian (www.scandpg.org). However, I have had training to assist athletes with nutrition and to reinforce proven nutritional principles that I will briefly touch on here. In this short article, I’m going to give you some food for thought (pardon the pun). We’ll talk more about race day nutrition later in the program.

Becoming Efficient

The name of the game is creating metabolic efficiency. We have to teach our body to use food as fuel and to use it efficiently. That means changes in what we eat, when we eat it in relation to where we are in our training cycle. This is a year-long endeavor!

Believe it or not, less is more – the goal of efficiency. You will find that you do not need as much food and sports nutrition products as you have been currently using. Your body is an incredible machine! You have a lot more stores in your body than you think. In fact, do yourself a favor and forget about “carbo loading” before a race. We already have internal carbohydrate stores of 1,200-2,000 and internal fat stores of 80,000+ calories. What do all the extra carbohydrates turn into? Fat. End of story.

Let’s See It!

One of the best exercises, once you commit to making the change is to take the 30 day challenge. For an entire month, take a picture of your dinner plate of food. How is it divided up among these food groups: Lean Protein and Healthy Fats, Fruits and Vegetables, and Whole Grains? Once you have your picture, send it to your designated accountability partner: someone who is doing this with you, someone who will scold you or applaud you. Post it to the Tri201 group on Facebook. Make your food as colorful as possible. This exercise keeps you on track and you’ll get creative with it. You’ll learn to seek out great choices.

Remember too that serving sizes are quite smaller than what is served. 3 ounces of meet is about the size of a deck of playing cards. One ounce of cheese is about the size of 4 stacked dice. 1 cup of mashed potatoes or broccoli is the size of your fist. 1 teaspoon of butter or peanut butter is about the size of your thumb.

Good Nutrition Takes Effort

Good food is more expensive than bad food. Why is there a national obesity epidemic? Well, many people can only afford macaroni and cheese or ramen noodles. Here’s a simple rule that we try to live by: “If it comes in a box, it’s probably not good for you.” Think about it next time you are cruising the grocery aisles.

Learn to cook. The other “boxism” that we live by is “If you have to talk to a box to get it, it isn’t worth eating.” Good nutrition takes planning and thought. It is a commitment to change but it will change your life and how you feel.

Recommended Reading and Expert Resource

If you are serious about making a change, I cannot more strongly encourage you to get Bob Seebohar’s book Metabolic Efficiency Training (www.fuel4mance.com). (Bob is a USAT Level III Elite coach, Past Director of Sports Nutrition, University of Florida, Past Sport Dietitian, United States Olympic Committee; 2008 Olympic Team Sport Dietitian; Olympic athlete Triathlon Coach; Ultra-endurance athlete; among other distinctions.)

We will re-visit these principles in more detail later. I just wanted to get you thinking: Less is more. Skip carbo loading. Don’t talk to a box. Don’t cook from a box. Learn to cook. Take the challenge.

Cheers! Coach Eric

http://team-magic.com/events/busterbritton/bbt_vip.pdf

We are pleased to announce the we will be working with Embrace Sports this March offering several training holidays for runners and triathletes.

The Pre-Marathon training session will run from March 3rd-10th.

The Triathlon training session will run from March 10th-17th.

Training Holidays are just the ticket when it comes to kick starting your season and taking it to the next level.

Can you imagine daily runs by the ocean, beautiful trail runs, biking in the country, time trailing to the southern most tip of Europe and open water swimming in the ocean every day?

This is your chance to make 2012 your best season ever!

What to know what you are capable of? Immerse yourself in a week of fun training with professional coaches and like minded individuals.

Amaze yourself!

I have a lot of athlete patients coming in when the weather starts getting cold. As your body tries to adjust to the winter weather there are a few key home therapies that can help minimize your chance of injury. You may already know and do a few of these but if not, here are three that will help you reach your maximal potential during winter months.

Start Warm

Injuries that occur at the beginning of exercises can be avoided by properly warming up. When it’s cold outside do not just wait for your body to warm up naturally by starting cold. Raise your temperature beforehand and avoid those “easily-avoidable” injuries. For example – Get dressed for your exercise and right before you leave do two sets of jumping jacks with a set of pushups in between. If you warm up inside your house your temperature will rise quickly in your gear and then you’ll be nice and warm for the exercise.

ICE, ICE, ICE

There is a reason why you see ice being thrown on a professional athlete the moment they get done performing. Even in the winter months it is important for you to cool down those muscles and reduce inflammation after you exercise. If you feel something “new” or have a “hot spot”, ice and stretch it after you finish. Remember, all chronic injuries have a start date.

Don’t Ignore Injuries

Lastly – If something hurts, take care of it. Some people never take a break from exercising. Do not let an injury ruin the your next event. Do whatever you need to get back to where you want to be. Taking time off will not cure all injuries, so be proactive and find someone to help you if you need it. I use Active Release Techniques (ART) on all of my patients due to quick recovery times and immediate improved function in many cases.

Train Smart, Race Hard!
Walter Olsen, DC

For more information on ART go to www.activerelease.com
or come in and see us at P3 Chiropractic and Sports Care, www.OlsenDC.com (Previously Olsen Chiropractic)

Let’s consider this typical example:

Joe Triathlete is training for an Olympic Distance race. He wants to qualify for Nationals at this race.
He has a training plan that calls for 10 workouts in any given week. This plan have been put together according to Joe’s schedule and availability.

Joe misses an average of 3 training sessions per week or does not perform the workouts as designed for various reasons. Simple math will tell us that he is already doing only 70 % of what his training calls for. This, in and of itself is a C- in just about any public school in America, in many it is an F.

How do we get Joe to be an A student?

Consistency is the key element here. It isn’t the responsibility of Joe’s coach to do the workouts. It is Joe’s responsibility to do the workouts. If Joe can only do 5 workouts a week then he is the one who has to let his coach know that he can only do 5 workouts a week. Until Joe finds it unacceptable to miss a training session, Joe will be a at best a C-.

Athletes who only complete a portion of their training cannot expect great results on race day. They haven’t done what is necessary to achieve their goals.

Athletes who make a total commitment to their training have the best results. These athletes have realistic goals and don’t make excuses when it comes to doing what is necessary to achieve them.

How do we become an A student?

• Set realistic performance goals
• Be realistic about time available
• Get the work done
• Don’t take shortcuts
• Don’t make excuses