Training Practices Part 2 – Duathlon, Triathlon, Ironman
June 27, 2010
Are you a Triathlete or Duathlete ? Then maybe you’re finding it hard to slot training-time in with work and family.
This is the second article that gives you some key principles that can help with your training. If the first article isn’t just above this one, then you can find it at Duathlon Training.
Holistic Fueling
Unfortunately many endurance athletes use the rigor of training and a speedy metabolism to justify a diet that is incredibly calorie dense (as it should be), but also high in foods that can damage their performance, immune system, heart, hormones and overall health. If they improved their diet , maybe they wouldn’t have to train so much ! With an exercise program that’s already very difficult for the average human body to absorb, a triathlete or duathlete must adopt a nutrition system that supports complete health. The solution involves focusing on promoting rapid recovery, fighting inflammation, reducing potential toxins, and powering the immune system . A healthy meal plan includes food that help to prevent inflammation, nutrition supplements, avoids common traps while grocery shopping, and gets a perfectly balanced ratios of protein, carbohydrate and fat. When your cells are firing on all cylinders, it feels great during a long day race. Providing your body with good, balanced food is crucial in making sure that your body remains in top condition and avoids any damage as a result of high intensity training and racing .
Time Flexibility
There will be days when you can’t complete a planned workout or you have to mix-n-match workouts in order to attend an important board meeting, make it to your kid’s soccer tournament, or go to a holiday party.
Because cycling and running programs involve a lot of different blocks of training, a good workout plan is one that’s organized so that it can be incredibly flexible. Then when you need to, it can be re-arranged without disrupting the overall effectiveness of the course of training. For example, one week in your schedule might involve Monday and Wednesday cycling and strength training sessions, Tuesday and Thursday runs and a Friday rest day. Workouts should be easy to shift to different days , or even select a different day for a rest day. Flexible weekends are important too – choose which days to complete the workouts depending on whether Saturday or Sunday is best for you .
You may have heard that the average duathlete or triathlete runs 30 and cycles 300 miles a week . And possibly you’ve heard stories of the year long sabbaticals from work, the neglected families, the ruined marriages and the obsessive life style that results from the really difficult attempts to maintain a normal lifestyle while training; or that the majority of these individuals walk across the finish line and have a complete lack of confidence and preparation for the race, despite giving up their lives to barely even complete the race!
Plans actually do exists that allow you to make good use of your time and still have a life and some reviews of these can be found here: Duathlon training
