It's not always sunshine and nice breezes

Some athletes have an unrealistic expectation that every session should be a great one. That every training run should be faster than the one before it. That every day you should feel fresh and strong. That if you're tired, you should just quit the session and do nothing.

Every training day, just like every day in life, isn't a sun-shinny day. You've just got to put the work in, and stay the course. Yes, if you're constantly tired and not giving yourself the right recovery, you're doing something wrong. But just because you're tired, or not setting a new PR in a session, doesn't mean you're doing things wrong. If you don't have fatigue, you can't get fitter, it's a basic premise of training and performance.

So stop beating yourself if your session isn't a "home run," or if you feel like it needs to be perfect. There were many poor training days in the past, and there will likely be more in the future. If you know the goals of the session, and have a more marco/global plan, you will be fine.

Coach Vance

USA Triathlon and NCAA Triathlon - Next Step

Big news today out of the world of triathlon, and the growth of the sport at the collegiate, NCAA level....

http://www.usatriathlon.org/news/articles/2015/4/042315-ncaa-grant-awards.aspx

Pretty impressive to see a major D1 progam from the PAC-12 make the investment in a triathlon program. Excellent that other schools involved too, but when a big player in the sports world jumps in, that says a lot.

The sport continues to gain momentum.

Coach Vance

Test Workouts and Data

One of the biggest reasons I use data with athletes isn't to simply stare at numbers and restrict athletes with the numbers. It's actually to help the athlete see their improvement, raising their confidence as the key events near, so they are on the start line, prepared and believing they can perform well. Yesterday, an athlete logged this in TrainingPeaks, which shows the value of the data from test workouts, and how it affects the athlete's confidence, excitement, and even sense of fulfillment from the work they are doing...

Monster day on the bike. I noticed last year I did this exact same workout 17 days out from Nationals also. Check out the comparison:
Today's Wattage by 5 min: 415, 395, 404, 403, 400, 393, 395, 398
Last year wattage by 5 min: 348, 370, 347, 345, 349, 334, 325, 333

The workout was 8x5 mins, with 2 min recovery. And he was the one who went back and looked up the workout from the prior year, and listed the numbers from the session, not me. The data was so clear to him and his improvement, he was excited to look back and see how it compared.

This athlete is preparing for USAT Collegiate Triathlon Nationals in a few weeks. Last year he set the bike course record at Nationals, so seeing this big of improvement in his numbers, he knows he is capable of even better this year, and excited about it. That success in training is the basis for his mental preparation and focus on the startline, able to focus on himself, not worrying about the competition, or other things out of his control.

If you don't have data to compare your workouts, and track how your training is going, you're missing an opportunity to be truly confident and mentally ready to race.

Coach Vance