TRIATHLON TRAINING CONFUSION

This week after attending a workshop on Nutrition and Psychology for Endurance Athletes and doing a book search for the latest triathlon books, I realized how confusing making the best training choices can be.  As a self coached athlete, I want to research the latest and greatest training programs, nutrition plans, race strategies and gear.  Once you start digging into the different areas and networking with other triathletes and coaches, you really see how trendy these areas are.  Everyone thinks they have the latest and greatest approach to gaining an edge on their competitors.  Many people and professionals think they have come up with the best plan to help athletes reach the finish line or achieve a new PR.  Look around and see some athletes getting leaner and faster.  Look the other way and see other athletes getting injured and struggling with nutrition.  Sometimes, one area improves, while another takes a nose dive.  Many are starting over again after having to take an extended vacation from the sport due to injury, illness, work, family, or burn out.

While I take on the daunting task of choosing the best strategies for myself, I am lost in triathlete confusion.  One trend is to mix things up to trick your body into being prepared for the stresses placed upon it and not to repeat the same old routine, while another coach may recommend a consistent program to train your body through memorization ("muscle memory").

The other night I attended a talk where there were 4 different approaches regarding nutrition.  I will focus on this area when discussing TRIATHLON CONFUSION because it is one of my greatest needs to get leaner for Ironman Training.  Each member of the panel had strikingly different approaches to eating for performance and health.
Approach Number 1:  Raw Foods:  Eat 80% raw foods to get the greatest benefit from foods in their most natural state so the body can break them done.  You need amino acids vs protein so you can find the essential amino acids through a plant based diet.
Approach Number 2:  Paleo:  Return to simpler times when diet came from sources in their most natural form without chemicals, additives or preservatives.  This way of eating includes meat, fish,  organic veggies and fruits, and nuts (excluding peanuts, legumes and grains).  People that practice this diet are often into CROSSFIT training where you do short burst of continuous high intensity exercise.
Approach Number 3:  Metabolic Efficiency:  Teaching the body to utilize fats more efficiently by minimizing intake of grains, increasing healthy fats and proteins and reducing sugar and eating a combination of nutrients together during meals.
Approach Number 4:  Eat a balance diet 80% of the time without eliminating any food group.  Shop on the exterior of the grocery store and indulge 20% of the time.
PSYCHOLOGY of NUTRITION For Endurance Athletes:  Eat to Live/Train, Do not Live/Train to Eat, Avoid the Ripple Effect (doing everything because your teammates are doing it), and Life is a Journey, Not a Guilt Trip so if you are going to indulge, enjoy it.  Food should not be a reward for training, it should be used to fuel your body.  If you are struggling with weight, look at what you are eating and why.  If you are craving the same foods, underlying emotional issues need to be addressed vs craving a variety of foods, your body may actually need to be replenished.

I wish I could be as committed as each of the panel members to a specific diet, but there is something about each plan that I feel I could not "LIVE WITHOUT".  I love vegan food, but I do not want to give up meat.  I love healthy fats, but I do not want to give up grains.  What in the world is wrong with whole grains and lean meats.  And give up sugar......the whole world is made up of sugar and a spoonful helps the medicine go down!  It seems that triathletes are trying to move toward low carbohydrate diets for more fuel efficiency in burning fats and runners are still eating carbs, just choosing healthy whole grains.  I would love to just go exTREME (to the raw side, to the meat side, to the fat and protein side, and to the outside of the grocery store), but my history and personality won't allow me to put up too many boundaries (ask my family...I turn into a horrible monster).  I think I am still exploring what will work for me with the help of a nutrition coach and plenty of books.  I know the deeper I get into training, the better food my body craves.  I think Approach Number 4 fits my philosophy the closest, but I will continue to study the forever changing science of nutrition and the latest and greatest in how it affects performance.  I just know that I am carrying around a 20 lb weight trying to run, bike and swim and it is going to be so much easier to move when I can shed my fat suit!

Then you have other training decisions to make like distance, intensity, frequency, weight training, flexibility, power, agility with thousands of approaches.....go long, go short, skip the meaningless miles, etc etc.  We will save that for another day.  What voice do you listen to?

This week, I also learned that sometimes all you have to do is SHOW UP, to be a WINNER.  I met my friend from Seattle in Tucson and we raced in the USA Duathlon World Championship Event held in Oro Valley.  She wanted to qualify for World Championships in Spain.  I was not training for this event, but I did not want to sit on the sidelines, so I decided I would just train on the course and I signed up for the race.  They invite the top 17 athletes in each age group to participate in Worlds and so everyone in my age group was invited as there were only 16 (and I finished 15th!).  It was a humbling experience because without a swim, I cannot get a head start on the fast runners and the field was filled with fast athletes who came from all over the US to compete for a spot.  I had to just enjoy being out there and accept bringing up the rear on a beautiful fall day, on the rolling course with the rugged rocky Catalina Mountains in Tucson. 

It then dawned on me, that I would be in my new age group in two short months even though my birthday is not until August.  Thinking about moving up into the 50s and it actually happening are scary and exciting at the same time.  I have to accept that I am getting older, but I don't have to accept that my performance will not improve.  Look at the 89 year old who was the final finisher who crossed the line with a crowd of cheering athletes welcoming him home.  They save the best for last.  So back to training we go!  I had a great training weekend with a 3 mile run Thursday night on the duathlon course, 10 mile run with some hills and 11 mile ride on Friday, Duathlon on Saturday 5K run, 35K ride, 5 K run and finally a 10 mile climb up Mt. Lemmon (20 mile round trip) while my friends made it to the top for the cookie.  No cookie for me today.....but there will be a cookie in my future because I am getting HUNGRY!