• Squat holds: 3 x hold in squat position for 1 min (rest interval: 1 min)
• Slow-Motion Push Ups 3 x 5 reps (RI:  1 min)
• Pull Up hold (chin over bar) 3 x 10 sec (RI:  1 min)
• Dip Bar Knee Raise – hold in up position 3 x 15 seconds (RI:  1 min)
• Squats 1 x 50 reps (RI:  1 min)
• Push Ups 1 x 20 (RI:  1 min)
• Recline Rows 1 x 10 (RI:  1 min)
• Dip bar knee raises 1 x 15 (RI: 0)
• Crunches 1 x 25 (RI: 0)
• Side lying leg lifts – 30 reps each side

You may experience one or more of these:

• little or no motivation to be productive
• sluggish body
• negative emotions about ability or image, often including negative self-talk

I had one of those days yesterday.  I wanted to do a tough workout, but I just didn’t have it in me that day. My body felt tired.

Here’s what was on the plan:

• 5 x 5 barbell floor press 75# (I don’t have a bench, so I do these on the floor)
• Squats 2 x 40
• Push Ups 4×8
• pull ups x 10
• Walking lunges 3 x 30 (15 each leg)
• Leg raise (using ab straps hanging from pull-up bar) 2 x 12

I got through the floor press and squats fine, but didn’t feel so great on the push-ups (yes, the pressing had me already in a fatigued state, so not a huge surprise — plus I did a whole bunch of push-ups in recent days).  Pull-ups didn’t go well either.  I ended up cutting the workout a little short, as follows:

• 5 x 5 barbell floor press (I don’t have a bench, so I do these on the floor)
• Squats 2 x 40
• Push Ups 2×8
• pull ups x 5
• Leg raise (using ab straps hanging from pull-up bar) 1 x 10

My conclusion is that I probably just needed a little more recovery.  So today is an easy day for me, and tomorrow I will hit it hard again!

Unless you are injured or sick with a cold, I think it is generally a good idea to at least start a workout to just see if you can push through and get to a better mental place.  A lot of times as we start a workout, we may feel sluggish, and the sluggishness simply reflects that we aren’t warmed up yet.  If you will give yourself 10-20 min to get warmed up, you may find that the mental “blahs” and physically sluggishness go away and that you start to feel better!  And, sometimes, the satisfaction of getting a workout done is just what we need to make ourselves feel better when we are having an “I don’t want to do anything today but take a nap” day. This satisfaction from a workout is one of the reasons I advocate getting workouts done in the morning, so that you can start the day out right, knowing you have already checked one thing off the list!

But, if you still just aren’t feeling it after trying the workout, then cut it short and move on.  Give yourself permission to let it go, and start planning for tomorrow’s workout when you are going to kick some a**!

I set up equipment beside the Fastlane pool and my training partner and I took turns in the pool swimming freestyle (moderate pace). While one person was swimming, the other person did the strength exercises. I used 45 sec to allow a small transition time from pool to deck and back.

The Workout

3 rounds:

1 min swim
45 sec front squats with barbell 45#
1 min swim
45 sec kettlebell swings 16kg
1 min swim
45 sec overhead press with barbell 45#
1 min swim
45 sec ring rows
1 min swim
45 sec plank

Any of you who knows me or has followed my blog for awhile knows that I am a big proponent of strength training, in addition to swim/bike/run, but not everyone shares this same passion for cross-training. A lot of athletes and coaches are in this camp:  “to get better at swim/bike/run, you need to train swim/bike/run, and any time spent doing any other cross-training takes away from that specialized training.”  I think that is true, to a point.  However, my own experience is that strength training builds a better foundation for sport specific training, preventing injuries and allowing for better performance overall.   Additionally, most of the folks I coach are interested primarily in overall fitness, which puts them in a different situation than a professional triathlete, for example.  (And perhaps I need to clarify what I mean by “strength training.”  I do not simply mean training for strength, but rather training for balance, strength, power, and flexibility.)

Gaining popularity is CrossFit (CF), which takes the model of “just train in your sport and nothing else” and turns it on its head.  As they state in the CrossFit Training Guide, “CrossFit is not a specialized fitness program but a deliberate attempt to optimize physical competence in each of ten recognized fitness domains.” (See CrossFit Training Guide, p. 6)  The crossfitters train in short, intense bouts (3 days on, one day off or 5 days on, 2 days off) in these ten fitness domains: cardio-respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordnation, agility, balance and accuracy.  However, the longest run you might see as a CrossFit workout is a 5k run, which for us endurance types, just isn’t that much.  Hence those in Camp 1 (swim/bike/run only) tend to be a bit dismissive of the CrossFit way of training. (CrossFit also does not endear itself to the triathlon community when they scoff at the fact that Outside Magazine called Mark Allen, 6-time Ironman World Champion, the “fittest man on earth.” (See CrossFit Training Guide, p. 16))

The latest flavor of CrossFit, which has been getting quite a bit of attention, is CrossFit Endurance (CFE), which uses CrossFit training principles and modifies them to apply to single sport and multisport endurance athletes.  CrossFit Endurance seems directed specifically at triathletes, seeming to recognize that there is a technical element to triathlon.  In other words, it recognizes that you do actually have to swim, bike, and run to be proficient at triathlon.  As with the main CrossFit website, Crossfitendurance.com specifies Workouts of the Day (“WODs”) which train many of the fitness domains listed above.  For those who need additional strength work, they add a strength workout a few times a week, and then there is also a specified “endurance WOD” to be done in either swim, bike, or run. They put into the mix short intervals, long intervals, and “stamina” workouts (which are more like a “tempo” workout, up to 90 minutes max). There is no “long, slow distance” (LSD) aerobic training.

Disclaimer here:  I am not certified in CrossFit or CrossFit Endurance, although I have 1) studied it, including reading the Training Guide used for Level I Certification, the CrossFit Journal, and the CrossFit Endurance website, and 2) trained at a CrossFit “box” with a CrossFit Level I certified trainer.  Based on my study of the CrossFit Endurance website, it looks to me that a typical week for a triathlete following their program would be something like this:

• Mon: Strength + CF + Swim short intervals
• Tues: Strength+ CF + Run Short Intervals
• Wed: Strength+ CF + Bike Short Intervals
• Thurs: optional CF + swim Long intervals
• Friday: optional CF or complete rest day (no endurance WOD)
• Sat or Sun: Bike or Run Tempo/Time Trial (Stamina WOD) — Do just one tempo/time trial WOD per week on an off day from CF, and take the other weekend day off completely.

I do not really have anything against this program, except that I like to swim/bike/run more than twice a week, and I’m not quite ready to give up completely on aerobic workouts.  I also think that a lot of people who jump into this kind of program without really easing in very (very!) carefully are likely to get injured in a short amount of time because it is very intense. Adequate recovery will be the biggest obstacle to success. Another big problem is the time factor.  Although the workouts are short, relatively speaking, the CFE program nevertheless requires two-a-days on most days, and for a lot of working folks with families, it is just too much to ask.

Still, it’s a program that has some appeal, at least to me. I have been thinking for some time now that there should be some optimal balance between S/B/R and cross-training, and I feel like CFE is a step in that direction, although it may be weighted too much toward the CF side, and perhaps there is still a sweet spot to be reached.   It may be just a matter of where you are coming from. If you are a triathlete first, CFE may have too much of an emphasis on CF, but if you are coming from CF and want to do a triathlon, it may be just the ticket.  In my case, I was a triathlete first, and did strength training second.  First, my strength training was pretty standard stuff.  Then I found Hyperfitness by Sean Burch, which is a great training book — one of my personal favorites.  That program is very similar to CF, but without olympic lifts.  The dynamic strength and power movements (and movement combinations) are frankly way more interesting than just getting on a machine and pumping out 3 sets of 10 reps.  I discovered CF later, but still didn’t follow the CF program the way it was designed. I just did my regular tri training and then threw in 2-3 crossfit-style workouts as a bonus.

Given that I enjoy CF-style workouts as a supplement to my training, I have been interested in designing my own program closer to the CFE model, just to see how it goes.  My next event is a half-marathon, about 2 months away.  Theoretically, I suppose that under the CFE program I should train just for running as my one endurance sport, but I am a triathlete first and foremost, so I am continuing to train in all 3 disciplines plus CF/Strength.  My plan differs from the CFE template in that I still include an LSD workout, and I have an optional technique swim on my “off” day.  Another key difference in my plan versus CFE is that I am using periodization for my long runs, so within my overall plan, I have 4-week macrocycles that include 3 weeks of build with 1 week of recovery.  My weekly plan for the next couple of months looks something like this:

• Mon AM: tempo run ~45 minutes (but “tempo” portion of it is only 15-20 min in the middle of the run)
• Tues AM: swim short intervals
• Tues PM: Strength + CF
• Wed AM: CF
• Wed PM: run short intervals at the track
• Thurs AM: Strength + CF
• Thurs PM: Bike short intervals (on a trainer in the garage)
• Friday:  Off or technique swim (drills plus easy swimming)
• Sat: Strength + Swim Long Intervals
• Sun: Long Bike, Long Run, or Brick (Bike/Run) — I am alternating emphasis on bike versus run each week to help with recovery, avoiding injury

All of the CF/Strength training is done in my garage gym.  I do not necessarily use the WODs on the CrossFit mainsite or the CrossFit Endurance website, although I do use CrossFit WODs and other CF-style workouts.  I am using some of the workouts posted on the CFE website for short and long interval training (although the pool workouts I have to convert to time workouts rather than yardage workouts because I use an endless pool instead of a lap pool).

As of this weekend, I am finishing up week 4 of the plan (the first of 3 macrocycles).  So far, it is going okay, although I have had to shuffle things around a bit with the extreme heat. For example, I simply cannot do track workouts on Wednesday evenings right now when it is >100 degrees.  Just wouldn’t be prudent. So I’ve been moving those to Thurs AM.  I have had some days in which I have felt like I was not recovered enough, and this usually is most evident in a run interval workout, when it becomes difficult to hit my intervals.  In some cases, I have skipped a workout to get some extra recovery, but for the most part I have hit my workouts as programmed.

The ultimate question will be how the half-marathon goes, but I’ll give more updates as the experiment progresses.

With the increasing popularity of Stand Up Paddling in Austin, there are several places from which to choose for rentals.  Unfortunately, we got off to kind of a bad start this morning with our rental place.  We had a reservation for 9 AM, and then when we showed up, the guy said that they were overbooked and could we please come back at 10?  The good news is he was going to make it up to us with free SUP rentals. So we walked down the way a bit on the trail and killed some time watching dogs jumping into Town Lake to fetch tennis balls.  At 10, we returned, and there was no one at the SUP place.  Finally, around 10:30ish the guy shows up again and said some other dude was supposed to have come at 10 to give us our boards, but there you have it, he didn’t.  Anyway, we did finally get our boards and we got ‘em for free!

It had been awhile since the only other time I have tried SUP, so I was rusty.  My companions were first-timers.  It’s a little tricky at first getting used to balancing on the water if you aren’t accustomed to it, but in a short while it becomes more comfortable.  Basically you just start out on your knees and get some momentum, and then stand up, with feet shoulder-width apart, facing forward.  SUP is a great cross-training workout because the paddling requires you to use your core.  And, of course, having to balance requires core plus it makes you use a lot of smaller muscles in your lower legs.  It was rather windy on the lake today, so we had some challenges with gusty winds and being human sails — just to make it a little more interesting.

On a hot summer day in ATX, SUP cannot be beat for a fun cross-training workout — just to mix it up and do something other than swim/bike/run.  That said, I will probably not be in the group doing “SUP yoga” anytime soon. 

First of all, consider doing an active vacation, such as a cycling tour.  Obviously, the easiest way to stay fit on vacation is to choose a vacation that has exercise as its primary focus.Another option is to make active choices while on vacation.  For example, when you get to your destination, rent some bikes or sign up for a walking tour.  I’ve had some really great adventures over the years by renting bikes in Seattle and making my own tour, signing up for a bike tour in Boston, trekking a peat bog in Ireland.  Other options where there is water include renting kayaks, paddle-boats, or stand-up paddle boards. These offer different ways to see a new place, and they are fun, too.

If all else fails, just find a way to get in some short workouts wherever you are.  Running and bodyweight exercises are the easiest because they require no special gear.

The focus of my vacation was a triathlon race, but driving from Austin to New Hampshire with kids is no small undertaking, so we broke up the drive over about 5 days with sightseeing stops along the way, such as the Civil Rights Museum and Graceland in Memphis, and a Civil War reenactment in Gettysburg.  On the return drive, we went to Hershey’s Chocolate World in PA and Mammoth Cave in KY. With all that driving and with kids in tow, it is pretty much impossible to get in “regular” triathlon training.  The hotel pools, although great for kids, are pitiful for swimming (it takes about 3 strokes to cross).  The hotel fitness rooms are pretty sad, too.  One I went to had 3 treadmills, only one of which actually worked, and even that one was not that great.

But was I deterred?  Heck no.  I managed to get in short (15-30 min) workouts approximately every other day, by mixing up bodyweight exercises with short bouts of running.  The race venue was at a ski resort with a lot of outdoor activities, so when I wasn’t racing, I was mountain biking, hiking, or kayaking with my kids!

Here are some ideas for workouts in a pinch.  (Remember to do an adequate dynamic warmup before starting any workout.)

• Hotel Run Intervals (boring, but effective): many hotels have a parking lot that goes all the way around the hotel so you can run around the hotel through the parking lot.  Do 10 laps, alternating hard effort with easy effort on each lap.
• Hotel New Hampshire (Do 4 rounds of the following as fast as possible):
  • 15 jumping jacks
  • 15 push-ups
  • 15 squats
  • 15 sit-ups
  • run around the hotel (or approximately 400 meters)
• Gut Buster (3 rounds of the following):
  • 10 pushups
  • 25 crunches
  • 10 pushups
  • 25 reverse crunches
  • 10 push-ups
  • 25 sit-ups
  • 10 push-ups
  • 30 seconds hold in the plank position

Try some of these workouts on your vacation this summer to stay in shape.  If you have other ideas for staying fit while on vacation, post a comment!

Happy trails, Placid Athletes!

Results:  16 out of 90 among the female teams, with a time of 2:35:37.5 (faster than last year’s time of 2:42:41)

As they put it on their website, “The Urban Assault Ride™ is the biggest bicycle scavenger hunt series in the nation! Here’s how it works: You and your teammate will set out on a city-wide quest for ‘checkpoints’ on your favorite two-wheeled steeds.  At each checkpoint, you’ll drop your bikes and complete a funky/adventurous obstacle course, then remount your bikes and hit the streets for more.  The goal is to complete all the checkpoints in the shortest amount of time. You choose your own route and checkpoint order. ”

Start/Finish: Fiesta Gardens Park

Off-Limit Streets: (These streets can be crossed but not ridden. Bike lanes on these streets are permitted.)

• Mopac (Loop 1)
• I-35, 290
• Lamar
• Guadalupe between 24th and 45th

This year’s Obstacle Checkpoints were the following (Checkpoints can be reached in ANY order)

• Ozone – 3202 Guadalupe St # C
• REI downtown -  601 N. Lamar Blvd
• Rowing Dock – 2418 Stratford Drive
• Pease Park – 1100 Kingsbury St.
• Rogue - 500 San Marcos
• Bicycle Sport Shop- 517 South Lamar Boulevard
• Metz Pool – 2407 Canterbury St

Mystery Checkpoints: There were 2 mystery checkpoints which all teams had to locate in addition to the obstacle checkpoints above. The first clue was a photo of a big red boot, and that was the clue that led us to Allen’s Boots on South Congress.  The clue there was something along the lines of “Jim Carrey, minus scary, to east 6th St.”  This second mystery checkpoint was Jim Jim’s water ice at 615 E 6th St in downtown.

Our strategy was to go first to the initial mystery check point so we would have info on the second mystery check point and make a decision about checkpoint order.  We had to think some about the clue for the 2nd checkpoint, so we decided to go on west to some other checkpoints until we had it figured out.  We covered the checkpoints in this order, and they had the following obstacles:

• Allen’s Boots — Get the clue, and a piece of beef jerky that we have to turn in at mystery checkpoint #2
• Bicycle Sport Shop — ride the big wheels!
• The Rowing Dock — “hillbilly raft ride” is what they called it.  We had to jump into the river on some innertubes tied together and paddle around a buoy shaped like Shamu, and then return to the dock.
• REI – 3 legged obstacle course — tie partners’ legs together with a bike tube and go over and under some poles, and through a hula hoop
• Pease Park – use the bike tube sling shot and shoot some Keen shoes into a shopping bag
• Ozone Bikes — put together a puzzle that shows the Clif Bar logo, and then lift that tower of blocks overhead without it falling down (not easy, let me tell you!)
• Jim Jim’s — turn in the beef jerky
• Rogue Equipment — one person rides on the handlebars of a BMX bike while the other one pedals
• Metz Pool – jump in the water and retrieve 3 different varieties of New Belgium beer

Unfortunately, I did not get any good photos due to technical difficulties with my smart phone, but the Statesman has some pretty good pics here.

I won’t say the conditions were pleasant, though, but that’s due to the wind.  The swim was the worst part of the race, due to a lot of chop in the water.  A lot of folks were having poor (panic attack) swims, and mine was definitely worse than what I typically do at this race (this was my 3rd time to do the Pflug tri).   The first half of the swim was noticeably more choppy, but coming back in to shore the water seemed to smooth out a bit. In any case, the chop was coming from behind on the second half, which is always better than having waves in the face.

The bike course starts out for a short distance in the north direction, so there was a good tail wind, but as soon as you make the first right turn, BOOM!  Major wind.  Another right turn a few miles in, and it is full on headwind.  The best part of the bike course is later, on a slightly downhill straightaway along the freeway frontage road with a pure tailwind, and speeds >30 mph.  You have to love that!  Then back a couple of miles toward the lake there are more winds to be fought before a final tailwind into transition.  A lot of people were really surprised by the severity of the winds, and I have to say that although we’ve experienced some windy conditions out there, it was at least as bad as — if not worse — than the worst training days we’ve had on the course.

The run is on a crushed granite trail around the lake, so flat and kind of twisty-turny, with (again) multiple changes with respect to direction from which the wind is coming.  Hats were flying off of runners.

Even though I was disappointed in my swim, the bike/run were good, and I felt solid.  Some days the legs just feel good, and this was one of those days!  I don’t have my official time, but it looks like it will come in slower than previous years based on my watch splits.  But that’s okay, it was a solid effort in difficult conditions.

Next on the agenda: post-race massage and ice bath!

Well, folks — pretty early on in the month that goal was thwarted when I missed a day, and then later in the month I missed a few more days.   Although I think it is a reasonable objective to try to do something daily for some period of time (e.g., as a “jump start” to training), the practical reality is that things come up, and “life” interferes with training from time to time.  In that case, the every-day-for-30-days challenge  fails (in the strict sense).

Comparing this challenge to last year’s IronMonth Challenge (complete the equivalent in training of 4 Ironman triathlons in a month), I believe that, for most people, a better structure is to set a mileage or time goal over a certain time period, such as running 100 miles in a month, or training a minimum of 5 hours per week.  This way, you have more flexibility to adjust and adapt as the situation dictates.

In any case, the challenge was not a failure overall:  I did spend a significant amount of time in the pool (after having been out for an extended time) and made some improvements in my stroke, and attained familiarity with the quirks of my new Fastlane Pool.  I have enjoyed my time in the water, especially as the temperatures have warmed up this month (notwithstanding the freakishly cold weather we are having this week in Austin).

Now I am moving on to training for my summer races!

This morning I had my usual Thurs AM strength training workout (barbell cleans and front squats with some running thrown in), so the swim was workout #2.