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Faster at Ironman??... Not so fast… (rev) Many talented athletes hit the wall
either during races or in their performance because they lack the
patience and approach these events like a 10K running race or a boxing
match… Besides being a major physical challenge, long distance
endurance training and racing are a mostly a management
challenge… Effective management requires realistic goals, data
gathering, fact finding, structure, plans, knowledge, strategy, and a
disciplined and patient execution. Some cold facts observed and learned: ·
If you are a talented athlete, you will
be faster than most untalented athletes… The few that have better race
results simply train and race smarter than you.
·
When competing against equally talented
individuals, it’s how effective and smart you manage your training,
nutrition, and racing what will determine the result. Not how hard you
train or race… You can only be faster than the people that are making
the same or more training and/or racing mistakes… ·
All-out racing and toughness are to be
used very sparingly and only within a carefully developed racing plan.
Heroism applied at the wrong time will make your race slower and will
give your competition an advantage. –
Successful athletes are ready to give it all, but at the right
time…NOT before... ·
Increasing training volume and/or
intensity too fast or at the wrong time in the training program raises
injury potential and will not allow peaking at the desired times. ·
The right amount of resting / recovery
is a key element of successful training. Not enough rest will inhibit
progress and raise the potential of injury and sickness. ·
To become truly competitive against
your peers, successful athletes develop and execute a multi-season plan
of carefully developed trial & error experiments… They learn about
their bodies, gather, analyze, and correlate data, work on the gaps,
learn to train and race smartly, understand strategy, adapt… ·
At the start of a race, the set of
external and internal conditions define your maximum performance
potential for that day. The way you manage your race pace and food
intake will determine whether you will reach that potential… Or
not…
·
Emulating champion triathletes in
training and racing seldom helps… The most successful athletes find
their own ways working with a coach that helps … The training
methodologies that work best for them. · Few athletes who have been successful have been self-coached.
As you advance in your fitness and your
performance potential, the progress
becomes more difficult and the risk of injury rises significantly…
Your training requires specificity, patience, and the careful analysis
of data, correlating nutrition, intensity, volume, recovery, heart
rates, etc., to come up with the ideal protocols and strategies…
Training and racing slowly become a complicated management challenge…
See chart below…
HAPPY (and SMART) TRAINING !
_______________________________________________________________________________________ 01/04/10 Happy New Year 2010!
We are very excited to start this new year with all of you! Not only will we help each of our athletes reach their highest potential, but we are offering a great schedule of team events to keep everybody motivated and challenged throughout the year. We chose some high quality local races and many out of state running and triathlon events. Some events are very competitive and others are more fun oriented. We hope you'll find one or many events that you like and let us prepare you for it! Let's all make this a wonderful 2010!!!
Happy training! Coach Bettina ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
racelab is building its training team for the Ironman Arizona... training for success racelab specializes in the complexities of preparing triathletes for long course Ironman events. Because of the length of such race, participants will subject their body and push their mental fortitude to its limits. Triathletes attempting Ironman distance events will burn between 9,000 and 14,000 calories, so, besides the 2.4 miles swim, 112 mile bike, and the 26.2 mile run, nutrition becomes the fourth discipline and the training programs and race strategies need to include nutrition. Besides providing our IM trainees the most comprehensive and scientifically based training, including the necessary knowledge, individualized program, lab tests, technique, equipment advise, nutrition requirements, personal attention, and strategies, racelab offers the most motivating, supportive, and fun environment in town. If you are signed up to participate in the 2009 Ironman AZ or any of the 2009 Ironman events, give us a call to discuss your plans and how racelab can help you. Click here for details.
7 racelabbers qualify for Boston at the Tucson Marathon… December, 2008 Had a good time in Tucson where several Racelabbers ran the Tucson Marathon or Half Marathon… On the long course, Josh came in 5th overall clocking 2 hrs and 44 mins… Considering that this year he has concentrated in training for triathlons, this not bad at all… Besides Josh, 6 more Racelabbers qualified for Boston 2009… It was a perfect day on a beautiful, challenging, and fast course. Congratulations to all…
Ironman Arizona - November 23, 2008 Patrick Bless - Obliterated his PR (9:01!)... very structured training... and a negative split race strategy... Marisol Calvillo - First Ironman... Great pacing to finish strong! Rob Gerden - First Ironman... Flying through the last running loop! Phil Petersen - First Ironman... Conquered the swimming and then raced strong! Ashley Robota - First Ironman... Incredible race finishing strong and in 5th place in her age group! Michael Strickland - First Ironman... Tough run but toughed it out like an IRONMAN! Heinrich Sickl - Our honorary racelabber from Austria... Tough run... But still a 9:22...!
We are very proud of you!.... Ready for IMAZ 09?
November 10, 2008 Dear racelab team! We
are slowly approaching the last part of the year and, before we know it,
we’ll be sending out our Holiday Greetings and thinking about New
Year’s Resolutions!!!! It
has been a very successful year with many wonderful stories, great
events, big accomplishments and lots of fun and memorable moments. We
want to congratulate you for all your achievements and to thank you all
for your trust and your dedication to the sport. The
running races are in full swing with many big events coming up, like the
Tucson Marathon, Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon, the PF Chang’s Half and
Full Marathon, and then a number of smaller, fun races that keep us
busy. The
triathlon season is almost over. There are just a few smaller races, and
the BIG one: Ironman Arizona on November 23rd. With
the end of the triathlon season and the difficult economic situation, we
are focusing on keeping the team together and on providing you with
different choices to stay active. We
put together a new program in addition to re-structuring the current
programs to offer you a variety of services that will allow you to enjoy
the team activities and prepare for the next season, while keeping you
motivated and happy J. NEW SESSIONS Trail
Running The
perfect addition to any road running or biking program, since it
promotes balance, coordination, strength and it forces you to work on
different plains in order to counter act the repetitive motion of road
running or biking. It will strengthen your legs and increase your leg
turnover while keeping the workout fun and interesting! Improve
your bike handling skills and pedal stroke by including mountain bike
sessions in your training. If
you are totally new to mountain bike or are more experienced, you’ll
have a blast during these sessions and will be challenged and motivated
at the same time. This
is the perfect workout to relax and enjoy the scenery or to use it as a
non pounding, higher heart rate workout. It is also a great way to
invite and motivate your “non active” family members and friends to
work out in a “less intimidating” setup and atmosphere. We
love the interaction and conversations going on during these
sessions!!! WE are planning a hike at the Grand Canyon in
May!
NEW GROUP PROGRAM racelab
– Group A
new program that includes ALL racelab sessions (up to 11 group sessions
per week in a variety of disciplines):
You
will be able to participate in as many group sessions as you want for
only $95.00 per month!!! (less than $2.15 per session). All
sessions will be structured the same way the current sessions are: for
all levels, focused on skills, technique and efficiency, and the team
environment. We
are also putting together a calendar of events for the upcoming year,
offering something for everybody!!!! In
addition to learning and practicing other activities, these sessions
will help you develop new skills and strengths that will improve your
performance in your favorite discipline. Of course we will
continue to offer the individualized training schedules and a
combination of different programs to meet your personal needs and goals
(and your budget). OTHER PROGRAMS GIFT CERTIFICATES As
always, please don’t hesitate to contact us should you have any
questions. Happy
training!!! Bettina Warnholtz - President / Head Coach
Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) the best long distance runner of our time, crosses the finish line to win the 35th Berlin Marathon, in Germany, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008, breaking the marathon world record in 2 hours, 3 minutes, 59 seconds. This is Haile's 25th World record!
- 4:43.9 minutes / mile! - 103 times around the track at 1:10.98 minutes / lap...
Wednesday, October 29, 2008 The 2008 SOMA Triathlon was again a hit... The bike was a little crowded but RedRock did a fine job as expected... We had 37 racelabbers participating... Many PRs / happy races. Two DNFs due to bike problems...
One of our SOMA participants was Josh Terwoord (25) who is also part of racelab's racing team... As a runner he started training with racelab ~4 years ago. During this time he ran a marathon PR of 2:35 hrs. coming in second overall in the Air Force Marathon. 18 months ago he started training for triathlons... His first Half IM race was the 2007 Soma Triathlon... He finished his second Half Ironman (SOMA 2008) on Sunday... Here is the report submitted to racelab's head coach: From:
Josh The
breakdown: The last two months of the year are upon us... Still with lots of action... Ironman AZ and a bunch of running races; Tucson Marathon, Phoenix 10K, Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon, etc... We'll see you there!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 The SOMA Triathlon is taking place this coming weekend and racelab will have 30+ participants... Good luck to all of you! Good luck to all participants! Next is Ironman AZ... Training has been hard through the Summer but we are confident that all of you will be ready... We'll see you all there! This past weekend we had the opportunity to train and have lunch with some racelabbers, racelab's racing team members Jeanine Cordova and Patrick Bless, who brought along his good friend Nils Goerke (who came to Phoenix from to wrap up his training for IM Florida). "Strangely" enough, the conversation veered into IRONMAN TRAINING. IM pros Nils (who was 31st in IM Kona in 2007) and Patrick (who was 58th) have been training for Ironman distances for a combination of almost 25 years under the tutelage of various coaches, so the conversation got pretty deep considering the passion racelab's coaches have on this subject... Here are some of the points that were discussed and agreed upon: - Advanced Ironman distance training is different than training for shorter races... Even 1/2 IM distance... - It requires patience and the discipline to gather and analyze a significant amount of data (heart rates, physiological thresholds, nutrition, resting habits, temperatures, even blood work, etc., etc....) - The correlation of this data to actual training and racing performance defines, with time, the optimal individual training programs... - Tracking and improving fat metabolism (your ability to burn fat during higher intensities) is a key element since it simplifies race nutrition strategies and lowers the possibility of having digestive system problems.... - The discipline and structure to analyze data will get you to perform at your maximum potential.... - Patience will give you the time for you (or your coach) to gather and analyze the data and to train long and slow to improve your fat metabolism.... - Patrick trained throughout the Summer with Torbjorn Sindballe in Flagstaff to participate in IMAZ... Nils flew on Wednesday to do IMFL... They should do pretty good considering the careful training they have done... Can't wait to see how they do. Viel Glück (Good Luck)!
On another note, a good friend of racelab, Kiel Marley will soon open a new CAFE / BIKE STORE! The Trailhead Cafe will be a place where athletes can gather and socialize (good coffee, beer, snacks)... Where they can also buy, improve, and fix their bikes... Very cool concept!.... Stay tuned... SE corner of Glendale and 16th St... One block of SR51... Later... Gus
Saturday,
May 10, 2008 tri,
tri again It's
hard to believe that it was 3 weeks ago now that I was floating on
my back in the middle of the lake, desperately trying to catch my breath
and wondering how I was going to make it back to the shore. It
was my first "open-water" swim. I had rented a wetsuit
and it was the first time I had ever worn a wetsuit, too. Up until
this point, my triathlon training for the swim had only been done in
pools. It's a lot easier when you only have 20 strokes till you reach
the other side. You touch the other side, take a nice deep breath and 20
more strokes. Back and forth it goes. It's also a lot easier when you're
just doing drills, focusing on one specific aspect of the swim and
not having to swim continuously with nothing to hold onto. But
here I was, in the middle of the lake, in no way prepared for the
challenge that stretched before me. I was freaking out inside,
totally panicked, hyperventilating. I would try a few more strokes,
then roll on my back, catch my breath, and try again. I eventually
made it back to shore, stumbling as I tried to muster the strength
to walk upright, feeling so totally defeated. My
coach saw the frustration and fear in my face. She tried to help me
relax and just focus on small parts of the swim, like my breathing, so I
wouldn't panic. But for the rest of the time, I only swam 20
strokes out from shore and 20 strokes back. Even still, I had a
hard time catching my breath. I wondered how I would survive the
swim in my first triathlon 2 weeks away. I walked
away from the lake that day feeling so depressed and defeated. Fast
forward to today, 3 weeks later... I completed my 2nd sprint
triathlon! If you would have asked me a little more than a month ago if I
thought i would have even been able to do one, I would have looked
at you like you were crazy. My coaches kept encouraging me to sign up,
but I felt so insecure in my swimming abilities, that I kept
putting them off. I had signed up for triathlon training as a way
to stay in shape through cross-training. Running alone was too stressful
on my joints, and I also needed motivation to keep training. I
figured, if I had a group to do things with, it would make me more
likely to get it done. And
so here I am today, a little sore, but a lot more confident in what I
can do... and I've thought about where I started and how far I've
come (knowing that I still have a long way to go), and it's taught
me a really important lesson... never give up. The key was to keep
showing up, keep doing the swim. After the first disastrous-feeling
open-water swim, I showed up the next week and did it again. And
for the first 20 minutes I was hyperventilating and panicking
again. But I learned to relax, to not fight and kick so much, to
breathe-- and by the end of the swim, time had flown and I wasn't
ready to stop swimming! Honestly, that still just blows my mind. By the
next weekend, I was excited to get into the Sea of Cortez for my
first triathlon-- and I did pretty well. I was relaxed and
didn't hyperventilate or have to roll on my back to breathe! What an
adrenalin rush... I had faced my fear and won! (Even if I
didn't win the race-- and even if a granny beat me to the finish line!) So I
guess what I want to say is that whatever you're struggling with in
life at this given moment, just keep plugging away... Don't
give up. Don't
fight and kick so much. Go
with the flow... And
don't forget to breathe! Back
in the water tomorrow... Tracy "Whether
you think you can, or whether you think you can't, you're right."
-Henry Ford
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2:03:59!
triumphant
