Virtual Races for everyone

H guys,

Saw someone ask about virtual races today on FB.  I've done a few. They can be a lot of fun and some of these even offer medals!

I thought I'd suggest a few places where you can find virtual races tonight. Hope this helps you get through any isolation or cabin fever.  Stay fit and keep on keeping on.

Connect on Apps
Sometimes you want to race with friends. These apps allow you to connect real-time with others as you train.  To access all the functions you will need to subscribe.  However, it can be helpful to have your friends interacting as you train when you can't get out with them physically.


Zwift
Strava
Peloton Digital

Train alone but race against yourself and others: Virtual Races

Find Virtual Races of all Kinds 
Find Virtual races by distance below. Each Virtual race has links to its marketing page and registration page. Whether you are looking for a Virtual running event, Virtual cycling, or a Virtual triathlon you will find your race experience listed below. If you are a virtual race organizer, add your race to our calendar.

Yes.fit  Running

Dozens of races of all distances.  You pay a fee, like a race fee and log your runs until you complete the challenge.  You get a medal and a tee if you like.  I did the Ring of Kerry 100 mi race.  Many of these individual races are also part of a series that you can do to get a set of medals for the group.

Yes.Fit is flexible and a fun fitness challenge app that anyone can do. Start with shorter events and manageable workouts then progress to longer events and more strenuous challenges. Your new workout routine is based on your own pace and time frame that fits your lifestyle, schedule, and individual goals.

Virtual Triathlon
FREE
This is free, sponsored by USAT.  Sign up and get started on your own triathlon competing against other teams or join a team.
This FREE and convenient triathlon allows you to be a triathlete on your own time at your own pace.
Indoors or outside. Day or night. On a stationary bike and a treadmill or on a trail. All at once or broken into one leg per day. You decide. That’s the beauty of virtual racing – swim, bike and run where you want and when you want.
Regardless of your familiarity with a triathlon or your fitness level, anyone can participate in the #DreamingSeason Time to Tri Virtual Triathlon.

Tri to Triumph
Prices from $39 to $99

Tri to Triumph is a virtual triathlon that allows you to complete the triathlon distance of your choice, on your own time, in your own location.  No costly entry fees, no travel expenses, no race-day hassle or pressure, there are really no drawbacks!  Register for either a Sprint, Quarter, Half, of Full distance triathlon and receive an awesome Tri Tro Triumph super-soft blended shirt, custom-designed race bib, and epic heavy-duty finishers medal!  We will also have a duathlon option for any "non-swimmers," out there (see distance breakdown below).  With Tri to Triumph Virtual Triathlon, you can complete each segment of the triathlon on your own schedule!  Do it all together on the day you choose or break it into individual swim/bike/run days it's entirely up to you.  Furthermore, you can complete each part in the location of your choice, and YES... trainers and treadmills are absolutely acceptable!

Don't feel up to a solo triathlon? NO PROBLEM!! You can also get together with your training buddies and crush each discipline as a RELAY!
You can complete the Tri To Triumph anytime between January 1 and December 31, 2020! Or JOIN OUR VIRTUAL TRIATHLON COMMUNITY and complete your event on November 30, 2020.

The Trilife
Pledge to swim / bike / run your chosen triathlon distance throughout November.  You don’t have to complete it all in one go, that’s the joy of a virtual triathlon! And you can choose to swim indoors or in open water.
Sign up to the distance you fancy and start your journey towards earning yourself a piece of thetrilife.com virtual triathlon bling!

thetrilife Middle Distance – 1.9km (swim), 90km (bike), 21km (run)
thetrilife Standard Distance – Standard (Olympic) distance: 1500m (swim), 40km (bike), 10km (run)
thetrilife Sprint Distance – 750m (swim), 20km (bike), 5km (run)
thetrilife Super Sprint Distance – 400m (swim), 10km (bike), 2.5km (run)

The challenge is to complete your chosen distance during the month (and within a 48 hour timeframe).
It’s your race, your rules, so you do the disciplines and the distances in the order your choose and when they fit in with your schedule.

Kerrville Virtual Triathlon
Free, must be completed September 26, 2020 until October 17, 2020
Have you dreamed of completing a triathlon but haven’t been able to fit it into your schedule?  Or maybe you can’t make it out to Kerrville Tri this year.  Or maybe you’re just too nervous to do the swim, bike and run all in one day.  If this is the case – then The Kerrville Virtual Triathlon is for you!

With this virtual triathlon, you can complete each segment of the triathlon on your own schedule.  For example, you can do part of the swim on Monday, part of the run on Wednesday and part of the bike on Friday.  You can do each part in a location and time that’s convenient for you.

You’ll have from the actual Kerrville Tri event day September 26, 2020 until October 17, 2020.  That’s 3 weeks to swim, bike, and run. Results must be submitted by midnight on October 17th

The Kerrville Virtual Triathlon offers a Sprint, Quarter & Half Distance.
Debra Zapata Sprint Distance: 500m Swim, 14.5 mile Bike, 5 Km Run.
Sprint Distance Aquabike: 500m Swim, 14.5 mile Bike
Quarter Distance: 1000m Swim, 29 mile Bike, 6.4 mile Run.
Quarter Distance Aquabike: 1000m swim, 29 mile Bike
Half Distance: 1.2 mile Swim, 56 mile Bike, 13.1 mile Run.
Half Distance Aquabike: 1.2 mile Swim, 56 mile Bike.

The Conqueror Events
$30-$60 depending on whether you want both medal and t-shirt or one.   Races of all distances.  You'll need a connection through garmin, strava or other to report progress it appears. 

Transplant Games of America
Participants:
Transplant Recipients, Living Donors, Corneal & Tissue Recipients,
Bone Marrow Recipients, and International

BE A VIRTUAL WINNER TODAY!

On being older and an athlete

Hi guys,

Last week I got back from the Base Performance Camp.  It's four days of training and I loved it.  Here's the link for the camp in case you're curious.  The schedule pushes you as hard as you want to push.

BASE PERFORMANCE CAMP

Thursday  Short run, 3000-meter swim, 12 mi bike ride easy
Friday 3000 meter swim, Ride to Sugar Loaf for hill repeats Bike/Run short tough bricks and ride back.  (toughest day)
Saturday Choice on Bike ride 2, 3, 4 hours
Sunday Run clay trails up to 10 miles and swim 3000 meters

It's at the end of February and I've done it three times.  Love the NTC swimming pool and the bike rides around Clermont are pretty traffic-free, mostly on good trails.

FATIGUE
I did well for the first two days.  I kept up and pushed myself hard.  However, this year I couldn't take time off from work so I ended up working late at night to keep up with my telecommuting job.  By Sunday I was pretty fried.  I decided I had to step back.  Sadly I let myself sleep in a bit and then ran 3 miles and swam a mile in the pool at the park where my house is located.

While that was less than the planned workout, it was also still a lot of training in four days.  I had a lot of travel the next few days and by the following Friday, I was pretty done and needing to sleep extra.

This is what an older athlete deals with.  While the heart may be willing and the mind is all excited about the training plan, the body just can't keep up with the demands any longer.

A NATURAL CYCLE TO TRAINING: PRESSURE THEN REST
In my 20s, I was in Tae Kwon Do.  That was before we knew about periodizing training.  I would train 7 days per week, 2 hours each night after a full day of work.  I could usually keep this up for about a month before I just couldn't do it for a whole week.  I noticed back then that I was a LOT BETTER the week I returned after a good amount of rest.  While my TKD career ended with an injury at work, I did learn something about training that stayed with me.  Rest can allow the body to do a lot of repairs and actually jump-start your ability if you return after a short break.

Now at 62, I find I need to rest about 2 days per week.  I can sometimes get a yoga class or light weights in for one of those days but normally I'm needing about 2 days rest for each week of training.  For the Base Camp, I rested about 3 days in a row.

I won't say I was easy in my mind about that.  It doesn't make me happy to have to skip training even though I know my body is doing a lot of repair and building work...it still feels like doing nothing and skipping out.

THE DEAL  15 minute check out
Later I became a bodybuilder and I made this deal with myself:
On days when I just don't feel like training, I'll get up and go anyway but my deal is that I can leave after 15 minutes if I'm not feeling it.  Usually, I feel better as the endorphins kick in and I begin to enjoy the workout.  However, on the days when the 15 mins feel too hard to go on, I let myself leave and get the rest I need.

OVERTRAINING SYMPTOMS
So I guess what I want you to think about is how do you feel in your training?  Classic signs of overtraining are
1. Loss of emotional control
2. Fatigue
3. Loss of interest in training...feels more like work than fun
4. Minor injuries, clumsiness, falls, tripping, bumping into things
5. Loss of appetite
6. Insomnia (which makes everything else worse)

Eventually leading to major injuries.  On those days when you just don't feel like it, try my 15 min deal with yourself.  I think you'll find you learn to avoid injury and your training stays on a positive upward trend rather than cycling between extreme fatigue and exhilaration.

For an older adult, these symptoms can be compounded by the other physical issues we experience.  Less mobility, tendency to pull muscles or cramps, Less balance, and Inflammation.  It's important to know when to give yourself a break as you age.  Sure there are the older athletes that appear to be superhuman, but for the normal human, rest is important.  Get a good healthy meal, enjoy a good book and sleep a full 8 hours on those days.  I like to go walking the dog and bird hiking.  That way, I'm still outside and moving, just not with the same intensity as my triathlon training demands.

LOVE EVERY WORKOUT WHEN YOU GET SUFFICIENT REST
In a perfect world, you'll enjoy all the workouts and know you've accomplished something, but your body is also dealing with stress from mental and external sources and that can affect your ability to deal with the training stress.

So be kind to yourself.  Do a mental check and see if you are still feeling happy to train or if it's become overwhelming and like a dreadmill of one more chore to do.  Find that balance so that you can keep your training mojo and age and race gracefully.

Why am I doing that drill?

Hi Athletes!

I recently did a swim clinic with USMS.  I have to tell you that not only did it help my stroke and speed a bit, but it helped me to understand WHY I've been doing those drills!  For a person like me, knowing what I'm supposed to think about when I do a drill is important.  Doing a drill incorrectly or just doing it and not getting any improvement frustrates me.

So, I thought I'd share what I learned about the swim drills we do all the time.  These were done in the order listed to reinforce the learning from each with the subsequent drill.
The USMS stroke clinic was great because we had the coaches who had just gone through the training the day before at each lane and we got immediate feedback from them after every length.  We were in the pool for four hours that day.  Two hours were dedicated to Freestyle, the remaining two hours were for Breaststroke, Backstroke, and Butterfly.

I improved my swimming for all four strokes and felt like I knew what I needed to focus on for improving my freestyle swimming for Triathlon.  It was a lot of fun  I hope these help you to improve your stroke!

1. One goggle in, One goggle out

This is to focus you on good body position and breathing.
Swim as normal and when you breathe, make sure only one goggle is above the water.  If you have two goggles out, your head is lifting up and your legs will drop, losing momentum.  Keeping momentum, once you have developed it, is very important for smoother, faster swimming.  Keep your eyes open to know if you have one or two goggles out.  Caution: don't over-rotate!

2. Rhythm Drill
This is to focus you on proper breathing timing.
Swim with one arm forward, the other along the body.  The forward arm is the stroking arm.  Breathe only on the side opposite the stroking arm. Rotate the head keeping one goggle underwater when you breathe.  Keep body position neutral.  Practice breathing as the stroking arm pulls backward, recovering faster than the arm recovers.

3. Top Hat Drill

This is to focus you on proper head position.
Using a hand paddle, put the paddle in the tip-top of your head and try to swim normally without losing the paddle.  You may use flippers if you like and just use your arms in a  torpedo position to practice keeping the paddle on the top of the head.  Then add stroking to see if you can keep it there for a full length.  Keep a high elbow during the pull phase underwater.

 4. Head Tap Drill
This is to focus on breath timing.

While swimming freestyle, during recovery of the stroke, before putting the hand in the water again, touch/tap the head.  Your hand should be tapping the head after the breath cycle is done and the head is down in the water.  If you are breathing when the head tap occurs, you are breathing too long or too late.

5. Verticle Kicking Drill
This is to focus the kick on both sides of the kick, up and down.
Treading water upright in the water, keep the ankles floppy and work on getting a push from both directions of the kick.  If you are having trouble staying afloat, you are not kicking with both directions of the kick.

6. Streamline Drill

This is to focus you on your body position and learn how to streamline your body.
Stand on the pool deck and raise your hands above your head.  Place both hands one on top of the other and squeeze your elbows to your head.  Pull yourself up very tall, trying to get 2 more inches of height.  You should have your arms slightly behind your ears and your shoulder blades pulled together.  This is the best streamline position. Now get into the lane, and push off getting into this same streamline position for the push-off. Get your body tight very quickly to get the farthest distance from the push.  See have far you can coast in this position after the push-off.

7. Catch Up Drill

This is to focus on body alignment and breath timing, delaying the stroke slightly to get a glide benefit before the pull.
Push off in streamline position and glide before you begin your stroke.  When you do begin the stroke, leave the front arm out front until the stroking arm recovers to the streamline position, then begin the next stroke.  Keep your body long throughout the swim, working to reduce the number of strokes per length by 2-3.
Note: triathletes practice this for open water swimming to protect the head and goggles from stray kicks and slaps from other triathletes swimming closely during racing.

8. Paddle and Fist Drills
This is to focus your attention on catching water on the stroke with your whole arm.

Grab a paddle with the straps facing away from the hand.  Grab at the bottom of the paddle and hold it against the wrist.  Swim using the paddles in this position focusing on pulling water with the whole arm, using the paddle to feel the catch at the forearm.  Next, swim with the hand in a fist focusing on high elbow catch to get the whole arm nearly 90 degrees to the direction of the swim early, pulling through with the arm.   After two lengths with paddles and fists, swim half a length with fists and then open your hand and swim the balance of the length with open hands.  Notice if you are using the whole arm for the catch now.

9. Stroke Count Challenge
This is to focus your attention on swimming long, easy strokes.
Using what you have learned from all these drills, swim a length and count strokes using no fins or paddles.  From the first length count, swim 4 more lengths, trying to reduce the strokes per length by 1 each time.  Notice what worked.
Keep your body streamlined, tight and your stroke focused on high elbow and full arm catch to get more propulsive force.  Keep your ankles loose and get the full propulsion from both sides of the kick.

Being more efficient in your stroke, more streamlined and getting a better kick can really be helpful for older athletes.  As strength declines, efficiency can make up for that loss in many ways.  Getting a good body position with a neutral head is the first thing to work on because nothing is efficient without good body position!

My life as a female athlete..you can be one too at any age.

Hi Athletes, 

Women in Sport

 Women in sport have been limited in opportunities and limited in encouragement and limited by public opinion.  I've seen changes that have helped more women become athletes at younger ages than ever before.  I see young fit, athletic women enjoying that awesome feeling of being in the best shape of your life and competing with the joy this can bring.  Giving women choices and encouraging women should not be a special thing.  It should be as equal and open as it is for men. Ask yourself why shouldn't women be competitive and athletic?  USAT and Ironman activities to support women in the sport are great, but still not quite enough.

The History of Women Athletes before Title IX

I reflect on how things have changed as I have aged.  It's been an interesting ride through several sports for me.  In 9th grade in high school, I joined the gymnastics team.  One of four choices for women in sports in my high school  Gymnastics, Basketball, Volleyball or Track.  I had always suffered from low blood sugar and I think perhaps I had some gluten or sugar issues because each day I'd get sick about 10 AM if I had eaten cereal, which was often.  I wasn't very good at any sport and I was very skinny and uncoordinated.   I often had trouble with my endurance.  I was almost always last to be chosen for any team throughout grade school and high school.  

Gymnastics 
However, gymnastics came around about the time I began to mature and over time I began to fill out and my metabolism began to normalize a bit with exercise.  I was eating more protein and I was able to avoid cereal in the mornings as I could make my own choices for oatmeal or peanut butter toast.  In Gymnastics I gained flexibility, strength, and tone.  I was on the gym team in college for a couple of years but still not very good.  Although, practice 4 days a week for 2 hours did a lot for my flexibility, strength, and tone and taught me how to be an athlete.  

In that day and age, the years of 1972-1976, women were still not encouraged to be athletes and most exercises for women were diet and shape focused rather than endurance and fitness.  I ended up with a very muscular physique that was not "in style" back then but I felt great and was interested in continuing to feel that way.  In both high school and college, the women's gym teams had to use the periphery of the gym because the male basketball players were "more important"  We rarely had the gym to ourselves.  Women basketball players had to train at 5 AM because that was the only time the gym was available...read that the only time the men weren't using it.  

In the next few years, I had to quit the team because my education required that I go out of town every other semester for cooperative education on the way to my masters in engineering.  Once I left college I sought out ways to exercise again.  I joined the local Y and coached the girl's gymnastics team for a time and began training to be a judge in gymnastics but lost interest because I was no longer able to do gymnastics myself.  

Body Building
About that time I read a book by a woman named Lisa Lyon. 



From Wikipedia: Born in Los Angeles, California in 1953. Lisa Lyon studied art at the University of California at Los Angeles. There she became accomplished in the Japanese art of fencing, kendo, but found herself lacking sufficient upper body strength so she began weight training. This eventually led her into bodybuilding.[1]

Lyon entered and won the first International Federation of BodyBuilders Women’s World Pro Bodybuilding Championship in Los Angeles on June 16, 1979. This was the only bodybuilding competition of her career. She appeared in many magazines and on television talk shows, promoting bodybuilding for women. She also wrote a book on weight training for women titled Lisa Lyon’s Body Magic (ISBN 0-553-01296-7), which was published in 1981.[1]

Her stats as taken on October 1980:[2] Bust 37A, Waist 24", Hips 35", Height 5' 4", Weight 120 lbs, Hair Color brunette. At the time, she could dead-lift 225 pounds, bench-press 120 pounds, and squat 265 pounds.[3]

In 1980, she was one of the only women in this sport.  This type of physique received a LOT of negative reactions and when I began lifting I was advised that I would ruin my body and would become very unattractive as a result.  I ignored this advice. 

She wrote a book and I began to go to the weight room to lift weights from reading her books.  I also tried to join the master swim group but was terrible.  The best I did was swim breaststroke and at the first meet, I swallowed a ton of water and thought I was going to drown.  That was the end of that endeavor.  However, because of the gymnastics, I had a lot of upper body strength and weight lifting was easy.  After I would lift I would stretch to keep my flexibility and one of the men in the weight room started talking to me.  I turned out he was the martial arts instructor at the Y and he tried for months to get me involved in his classes.  I resisted until he offered to teach me for free for a month if I would attend.  I finally agreed.

Martial Arts

Once I began this sport a whole world opened up for me.  The instructor was correct.  I was a natural at this sport.  I began to train seriously not long after while still lifting weights.  As I got stronger and moved up through the ranks I was also competing more and more and winning almost all competitions I entered.  I began to consider what was possible for me in the sport.  I won the state championship in 1983.  I was getting a lot of flack from all sides, my work, my family, and my friends who advised me that this sport was not a real sport, that I was ruining my body, etc. The idea at that time was still that women didn't sweat and I was training 2 hours every night after work coming home soaking wet from my own sweat.  This was not "ladylike"  I was one of 2 female instructors in the school and of the students, there were about 5% females.  

This was not a place where women were flocking for classes.  

In the 1980s women were dressing up in cute outfits and doing cardio light with Jane Fonda.  I was beating up men and women every week in a ring.  I took my championship and despite needing my blackbelt (I was one rank below black at that point) I went to the national championship with a borrowed black belt from the master.  I didn't win but had I won I would not have been allowed to compete in the PanAm games anyway since the black belt was required.  I was excited however and in 1983 the Olympic Committee was planning for Tae Kwon Do to be an exhibition sport in 1986.  I was planning to train for the Olympics.  I achieved my 1st-degree black belt and I began to box with a golden glove boxer and spent most of my waking hours training or competing.  Then disaster struck.  I fell through a catwalk at work because someone had left a part of the catwalk out leaving a hole for someone to step through.  This injured my back L1, L2 and L3 were herniated and the pain became unbearable over time.  I had to leave the sport.  

I knew a guy in 1982 who was training for Kona Ironman.  He did go and I was inspired and added Ironman to my list of things I wanted to do eventually.  At the time I was otherwise focused, however, and in Ohio, I did know anyone else doing triathlons at that time.  

Body Building again

I went back to bodybuilding and spent a lot of time at Gold's Gym; the local hyper male steroid pumped gym. ( I have a lifetime membership at Golds from those days)  I had a partner for my training and she was about 5'4" and her body was pumped up pretty quickly.  Turns out it's much harder to build muscles with longer limbs. I never competed in this sport but spent a couple years at this sport until the back pain caused me to leave it as well. 

Yoga

After years as a tough competitor in sports that required hard effort, going to yoga seemed like nothing.  But because the back pain had nearly sidelined any activity at all, yoga was my only possible choice.  I was having trouble sitting for longer than 15 minutes and sleep was difficult.  I would take quite a while to stand up from sitting and the pain was never completely gone.  Another physical disaster struck me from my work next.  I was poisoned by Nutrasweet at the factory and this caused me to have CFS.  I was unable to work and went on disability.  After feeling sorry for myself for about  5 for months, I decided to just do what I could.  I went to a yoga class and after six weeks, the back pain was gone.  I still had CFS with all the problems; migraines, constant fatigue, loss of appetite, mental confusion, dyslexia issues, light sensitivity, and depression.  However, solving the back pain was a positive step.  I went back to school for my doctorate (tough at any time but try it with severe CFS!) and didn't exercise for quite a few years.  In fact, I got married, had a baby and started a very demanding new job, was the breadwinner for the family and put my husband through college.  We moved to KY and I began teaching yoga at the YWCA, donating the payments back to the Y for 8 years.  

When my daughter was about 6, I was feeling better and joined a local martial arts school 

Martial Arts

Back in martial arts, I wanted to gain my 2nd degree.  While I did manage to do this, I saw that competition in Tae Kwon Do had changed quite a bit from a focus on finesse, strategy and kicks to simply landing as many physically shocking punches as possible.  I tried to compete but even when I won I was beaten up pretty badly and I realized I was not interested in the competition and couldn't sustain that level of damage to my body and function professionally any longer.  I trained regularly and enjoyed it but the loss of competition was sad for me.  The sport was still not a place for many women.  

However the idea of what a woman's physique should be had changed.  Healthy, fit and muscular women were gaining acceptance.  Also, women's sports were becoming more interesting to the public.  The Olympics with women in Tae Kwon Do had introduced really tough female athletes to the world and younger women wanted to be like them.  Title IV was also beginning to have an effect with more women athletes graduating from college seeking ways to continue to be athletic.  

Divorce and just exercising

Once I received my 2nd-degree black belt, life began to get really tough.  Divorce and a new job took up a lot of my attention and I was unable to do more than about 1/2 hour every few days at the gym.  This extended to long after the divorce and eventually a new job in Chicago.  

Triathlon

In 2010, I saw a sign that offered to train me for the Chicago Triathlon if I would fundraise for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.  I was overweight, stressed out, depressed and not entirely sure I could do it, but my brother had died of AIDS in 1986 and I wanted to honor his memory.  I had figured the dream to do an ironman was long gone, but perhaps I could do a shorter one and honor him at the same time and say I had done it.  That year I completed the OLY distance triathlon at 4:52.  The old thrill of being an athlete and competing was awakened again that year.  I knew I had found something I could have fun with and I could pursue it at my fitness level.  I began the journey in triathlon, yet another sport dominated by men.  I had several bad experiences along the way.  I went to a computrainer site to train and was ignored and although I asked for help I got none.  I left without training.  I tried to join a cycling ride and was left behind within four blocks, never saw the group again and finally figured out how to get home disappointed and upset.  I went for a ride with friends, all male, who met a younger woman along the way, took off with her and left me in the middle of an unfamiliar area and it took me an hour to figure out how to get back to my car.  I was upset and disappointed and angry even though I had a good ride.  I became a coach and worked with other coaches but often with male coaches, anything I say is either over-ridden with mansplaining or corrected in public.  I quit contributing to teaching/coaching groups with other male coaches.  

Older Athletes in Sport 

Now more athletes are competing later in age.  Triathlon is probably one of the best sports around (besides swimming) that attracts athletes in their 70s and 80s.  I'm seeing many male athletes in the 70+ age group when I compete, who are competitive and do very well.  I see many more women 60+ these days as well. Waves of 25-30 for age groups of 60+ or 50+ are common.  Some male 70+ athletes compete in nationals who are faster than I have ever been in these races.  I like to see what age group  I'd be competitive with at nationals.  Often they are over 75+ before I'd be competitive at 63.  

Older Women in Sport

Check out the link in this title.  Women are competing into their 70s and 80s in small numbers but they are role models for me like Lisa Lyon was during my 20s.  They promote the idea that how you age is a choice.  It's not necessary to feel bad or be unfit.  However, most women over 50 have not had a chance to ever be an athlete in their lives.  Lack of opportunity and social pressures have limited their interest and access.  Even intrepid women can be discouraged from joining a sport by unwelcome behaviors I shared above.  How we encourage women is important.  Making the sport accessible and providing support for novices that express interest is very important.  Most males have done some kind of sport most of their lives.  This is not true for women.  We can't just open the door, we have to offer a helping hand as well.  

That's why I prefer to coach older women.  I want to share my experiences and make them feel they can be athletes, will be successful and are encouraged to continue when the going gets tough.  I know women can do well.  One thing most women are familiar with is persevering through adversity and pain.  That to me is the makings of an endurance athlete.  

Let's Talk about "Muscle Confusion"

Hi Athletes!

I've been reading up on the theory that confusing your muscles helps to build greater fitness.  There have been some recent attempts to prove/disprove this theory.  It's a rather confusing situation where there are two sides to the argument, both claiming this is valid and invalid as a training approach.

How Muscle Confusion Might Help  

The Truth about Muscle Confusion

Workouts Based on Muscle Confusion Don't Work

I think you'll see that there is not much agreement about this theory.  Personally, I believe the middle article has the best approach and I believe that just switching routines to "confuse" the mind and the muscles is not what is at work.  I believe one is preventing the body from adapting, which it does very effectively with routine, repetitive activities.  When you do not allow the body to adapt, you force the body to respond more rapidly and push your toning and fitness faster.  You also work other muscles that may not be the main power sources but provide balance and overall fitness in a way that routine activities do not.

Let's talk about your muscles in more detail: 

As Triathletes we often have non-routine workouts in our training program so routine workouts might not be an issue.  However, I posit, as above,  that beyond confusion for fitness progress, just using a variety of muscles, small and large is important for balance and overall tone and fitness.  So after reading this blog, you should not opt for a regular routine of training that neglects smaller muscle groups such as the triceps, abs, iliopsoas, and others you can see in the diagrams.



You may wonder, why should I care to know these muscles?  Mostly because you neglect to understand your body at your peril.  When you are doing a lot of training, understanding which muscles are firing for an activity and which are not in use, is important to know so you can make sure you work the "opposing" muscles as well for good balance and overall fitness.

You should also understand which muscles "should" be in use to make sure you aren't overworking the other muscles and neglecting to use the proper muscles.

BIKING MUSCLES 
For example,  in biking, your legs muscles should be firing in a succession (see diagram below) if you are pedaling as efficiently as possible.  If you are simply mashing down, you are likely overworking your gluteus and underworking your quads. However, also notice all the other smaller muscles that should be firing!   How can you fix this?  Try some one leg spinning and focus on pulling up on the backside of the cycle.  You'll quickly realize if your gluteus and your smaller abs are not firing because they will fatigue rapidly.  I suggest you do a few drills at the beginning of your biking and test out your muscle use. 
You may not be able to solve the issue of weakness of some muscles by simply biking, you may need to add a HIIT class or weight lifting.  I'd suggest using free weights and learning how to isolate muscles to help you focus on those specific weaknesses.

Note that the smaller Hip flexor is very important at the very end of the backside of the stroke.  This muscle needs to be strong but it also needs to be stretched regularly to keep from shortening and creating tightness on the run!

SWIMMING MUSCLES 
Let's consider swimming the same way.  Take a look at the chart for which muscles are in use for swimming.

Clearly this sport is at risk for a lot of routine for endurance athletes.  That means you are mostly using your Lats and Traps if you are swimming effectively.  You may be using your shoulder muscles which is a program destined to damage your shoulder.  Using alternate strokes regularly and drills can help you learn how to use the proper, large, muscles to get an effective pull and get faster.  Using weight training and also help you to focus on those correct muscles and build them up.

Note that while there are major muscles involved, there are also abs and smaller muscles required for the strokes.   Abs are particularly important for the pull back from the start of the stroke.  Neglecting your abs and focusing only on the major, larger muscles will eventually cause you to become slower and less fit!





RUNNING MUSCLES
Finally, let's consider the run.  Of course, we are using the legs but what specific muscles are you using?  Which ones do the most work?  Are you really using them? And more important, WHEN should you be using them?
Take a look at the cycle below.  Ask yourself when you run, "Am I really using all these muscles?"  You most certainly are using some of them.  But did you know you can end up not using your gluteus muscles well when you have poor posture or are focusing on pulling with the hamstring instead of the gluteus?

For all the reasons above, the fact that you use both large and small muscles, your abs and others for balance, staying upright, good posture, and starts and returns of cycles for all three sports, it's important to find a training program that keeps your fitness high by working all the muscle groups each week, preferable multiple times per week.  Simply swimming, cycling and running long distances will not prevent the deterioration of the smaller less used muscles due to shortening, weakening and losing tone.

CONFUSING THE MUSCLES 
Not understanding your muscles by simply following some trendy idea about "confusing" the muscles is likely to have your trends going south.  Knowing how to work all your muscles is important and could be said to "confuse" them but I'd prefer to think of it as focusing on whole-body fitness rather than single sport or just endurance fitness.  I believe that the idea of confusing the muscles is confusion over changing routines which help to involve different muscles and thus improve the whole body fitness.  Instead of the confusion approach which would involve doing standing free weight bicep curls one day and machine curls the next, these researchers have forgotten that doing standing curls with free weights actually is less effective at isolating the bicep than a sitting machine curl.  Thus other muscles are in use and the real benefit is that there are smaller muscles involved, not that the bicep is confused.  At least that's my theory from reading the research.  You can draw your own conclusions.  The bottom line is that you need to incorporate training that involves all the muscles beyond just doing long distances as a triathlete!

Over 50 athletes in particular need to include weights to keep balance and posture correct.  Did you know that hospitals and doctors use your ability to balance as a measure of your age and fitness?  This is because the smaller muscles involved in balance are the first to lose tone.  Even if you are
exercising regularly!  Try to work in balance exercises and time your ability to stand on one foot or stand on your head.  If you can balance on one foot for 60 seconds you are doing well.  The same goes for a headstand.    Turning yourself upside down by doing toe touches and headstands is also great for circulation.

Choosing a coach

Hi Athletes!

I've been doing a lot of shopping lately for a new coach, a new plan and new locations for training since I moved to Louisville, KY.  Some of you may find this helpful.  As always, I've done some research and included links in the titles for you to read beyond my opinions. :)

What to look for in a coach; 10 things I look for

1. Do I like the person I'm talking to?  I like to chat and find out about the coach, understand their style, etc, but first and foremost, do I like this person?  Why is this important?  Well, trust is a significant part of the coaching process.  I doubt you will completely trust someone you don't really like.  I find I sometimes don't know why I don't like a person, it could be their sense of humor hits me wrong, or their attitude is counter to my basic values...just about a thousand reasons could be there.  However, if I really like my coach, I'm more likely to appreciate their holding me accountable and accept their advice.

2. What is the background of this coach?  There are a lot of triathlon coaches.  You can hire someone who has a lot of experience from a broad perspective or someone who is very focused.  You can hire someone who focuses on elite and talented athletes or someone who works with beginners.  I prefer to ask if the coach has had experience in triathlon first, the learn who they have coached.  I want to now that the coach knows what it's like on the race course.  I also want to know if the coach understands me as an athlete.  If I'm the first over 60 female athlete they have ever coached, I know I'll be a guinea pig and possibly be asked to do training intensity that I cannot keep up with.  Here's my criteria in order:  A. (Agreeable) Likeable B Triathlon experience C Certifications D Understands over 50 athlete E Available

3. What distance are you wanting coaching for?  As a USAT and IM coach, I can tell you that coaching for the various distances (if you are really wanting to excel) is very different.  Shorter races require more short distance workouts with higher intensity, more interval training and probably more anaerobic training.  Longer distances will require some interval training and anaerobic training but far less since the focus is on getting your body ready for the extended demands of a long race.  Even if you really like the coach and they have great experience with your specific needs, if they specialize in long-distance and you're training for OLY or Sprint, you may want to consider a different coach.

4. Do you have a specific leg you need help with?  I can tell you that all coaches have a leg they enjoy and excel predominately in.  You can ask but a better way to see how they perform is to check out their racing record in www.Athlinks.com.  Click on the little caret at the top left and select "Athletes" and type in your coaches name.  You'll be able to see what races they've done, how they have performed, and specifically what leg they did the best in using the ranking.   Look at several races to see if that's consistent for them.  You may what to hire a coach who specifically coaches only one leg since that will give you some specific and focused training in an area where you want to improve.

5. What systems and methods does your coach use?  There are a lot of ways to collect data and work with an athlete.  Training Peaks, Strava, Zwift, Mapmyride, Garmin, etc all provide ways to share your data with someone.  Your coach may have a specific system they prefer and are most familiar with.  If you like riding with Zwift, but your coach uses Garmin or Training Peaks, you may have to use your tech skills to get those things linked.  If that's too hard, you may have to cut and paste your workouts into and email daily for your coach.  Using systems that work for you both can be an advantage in the ease of review and advice for your coach and for you to send your outcomes to your coach because if you're both using the same system, sharing is automatic and easy.

6. How much of a hardass do you want?  Do you want someone who will push you no matter what?  Do you want someone who will work with you and not get upset when you miss a workout occasionally?  Do you want someone who will help you revise a workout to figure in travel and other events that will affect your ability to complete the training?  Some coaches want your dedication and absolute adherence to their plan.  Some have too many other athlete accounts to spend a lot of time working through your specific issues.  Some coaches are very happy to help you adjust your training.  If you know you have a lot of issues with completing a regular training schedule because of an irregular work life, you might want to address this upfront.

7. What certifications does your coach have?  USAT Level 1-3 and Ironman certifications as well as USATF (running), USMS (Swimming) and a myriad of other types of certifications are possible.  Ask for the credentials then check them out.  Make sure your coach is current in these certifications (many require annual, biannual or other recertification tests) and make sure you understand what that certification indicates your coach is educated to do.

8. Local or Remote?  Coaching these days is being done remotely via some of the systems mentioned in #5 above.  That's great because you can hire just about anybody you like for the various reasons mentioned above.  BUT, the advantages of a local coach can be significant.  A local coach can actually see what you are doing, conduct regular testing while making sure you are doing the test correctly and generally create a better bond and understanding of your needs.

 9. Where does your coach normally want to meet?  Is this coach at your favorite gym?  Do they meet you outside for rides or runs?  Do you need to join a new place to get access to this coach's venues for training?  You may find yourself traveling all over the city to get your training done if you don't ask about this one.

10. How much does this coach cost?  A good coach should charge you about $100 per month with a one hour one on one included.  This is for low-level involvement, remote and little interaction.  The costs go up from there.  Some coaches have packages for training for a specific race.  You could be asked for $1500-$2000 for a 4-5 month training package.  This will be more intense and probably you should expect more interaction with your coach.  The real question is, what is your budget?  After paying for an Ironman Race ($700) and equipment ($500-$5000) and gym memberships ($1200), how much more can you pay to get that advice you need to make all those expenses worthwhile?  While some people think of all the other stuff first and try to fit the coach in last, you should probably consider your coaching with a greater priority than everything else.