CLAfitness.com CoachLesley.com
  • Home
  • About CLAFitness.com
    • Coach Lesley
    • CLA Fitness Team
    • CLA Support Team
  • Services
    • Why hire a coach?
    • Running
    • AlterG / Anti-Gravity Treadmill
    • Triathlon
    • Overall Health and Fitness Goals
    • Consulting
    • ChelanCamp >
      • ChelanCamp FAQ
      • ChelanCamp Schedule
  • Training Blog
  • Contact
  • Resources

CLAFitness.com Training

The Road to Ironman - 9 months to go

11/29/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
We hope you are enjoying the Holiday! It happens that it's a gorgeously sunny but cold day here in the Pacific Northwest. But we all know that won't last. We'll be back to the cold, dark and wet days of winter.

However, we are already dreaming of a spectacular August day in Canada in 9 months! Three-quarters of a year to go!  So much time…..So little time! And we are deep into the holiday season. What does this mean for your Ironman plans and dreams?

A Definite Off-Season

We’ve got a big year ahead of us! Regardless of what your goals are in nine months, it’s important to remember that neither performance nor fitness is in a linear progression. Rather, your performance and achievements are cyclical. Heavier volumes of training with the concurrent mental investment should be followed by planned periods of rest, both physical and mental. This means having periods of less volume and less intensity and a chance for you to mentally take a break from the day to day grind of training are important components of training. 

But, I'll lose fitness. I’ll gain weight. I’ll get really crabby! As discussed in our last blog (The Courage to Rest), planned rest periods can be one of the most challenging aspects of training for athletes. We know! But if you want to keep moving forward and maintaining your passion for your sport, you have to learn to love those breaks in sport.  

Ok, love might be a strong word! Let’s say that we want you to understand and accept that a lighter training load strategically placed will only help you on your journey to Ironman all that much more.

Enjoy those Holidays!

It happens that nine months to go with Ironman Canada just hits a time when it’s dark, wet and cold here in the Pacific Northwest and generally not any better in the rest of the country. This is perfect for getting in some training but not too much. Enjoy the time with friends and families. Be present when you are with others and not just thinking of how can i get a long run in to burn off that extra piece of pie. 

Take time to have fun. Don’t worry about a few missed workouts and for sure don’t try to make up workouts. No workout today is going to be what makes or breaks race day nine months from now. But, relaxing and playing might give you just a bit more on race day.

Moderation is key at this time. It is the holidays but moderation includes food and drink choices too. For sure have those fun holiday treats and balance them out with good food choices at other times. Try to keep your schedule somewhat sane. We know how hard this can be. Aim to get enough sleep even though you are too busy! If you are traveling for the holidays, try to plan ahead as this will allow you to make better choices at the time. 

Take this time to play!! Snow sports. Hiking. Yoga. Fitness classes (maybe even with a friend you can’t normally train with). Be wary of only high intensity right now as this is the time that building low intensity aerobic fitness is a primary goal. Ironman is a long day and requires a huge amount of aerobic fitness. Aerobic fitness is developed over a long period of general aerobic work, not hard workouts. Don’t think any activity that is not swim, bike or run as a waste.  In their own way, all of these cross training activities are preparation for the season ahead. They are using different muscles in different ways and will only serve to make you stronger. So go ahead and explore! 

Now remember we said this is the time for moderation. So that means this is not the time to stop everything and hibernate. Yes we know that can be very tempting on really cold, dark, wet or snowy days but we promise you will be much happier come spring and come August if you kept up at least some type of fitness.

Check-In (Again!)

As we discussed in the last Road to Ironman blog, this is the time to invest less time in specific workouts  and more time focused on any physical therapy or strength training exercises that will help you start the next season off right. If you have injury issues or other physical limiters, work now to resolve them and bullet-proof yourself as best as you can. You want a good foundation to take off from. Take ten minutes to do those exercises you know you need. Everyone has these exercises! If you have a hard time remembering, add a calendar appointment on your calendar. Make a goal of getting short strength routines in a few times a week and make sure to pat yourself on the back when you get them in!  

During this time as you are out playing in the snow, hiking or trying some new things, watch for the thoughts that crawl into your head about last season. Do you have the same conversations even in this play? 
  • This is too hard
  • Why I am doing this? 
  • Is it worth it? 
  • I’m not as good as others
  • I can never finish faster
  • I suck

This is a great time to work on developing more mental skills for the season ahead. Think about what you were thinking during your last event. Are there negative comments you can re-frame or mantras you can start to use now to help you through? For each negative thought, try to think of a couple of positive thoughts that would counter. “I am to slow” can also be re-framed as “I am getting stronger”, “I am working on the little things that will help me improve and get faster”.  

Remind yourself that this is a journey and at least half the fun should be this journey. Where did you start? How far have you come? Did you work hard last season and do the best you could do on any given day? Then remind yourself of this. Even if not every day was the day you had hoped for if you gave it your best then be proud of that. Look where you have made gains. Maybe your swim technique is better or you are no longer struggling with shin splints. Most of all remember, you are still a work in progress!

Get Ready!

Look at your gear. Is there anything needing repair or maintenance? Do you need to replace anything or were there things that you found you were missing last season? Do you homework and figure out what you need then hit those end of the year sales and prepare for the next season. 

For the next blog in the series, we’ll be starting with more technical aspects of the sport skills you need for Ironman. The goal will be that you especially focus on those skills you feel are not your strongest.

See you in the new year! 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Adventure
    Aqua Jogging
    Bad Race
    Basebuilding
    Bent Over Reverse Fly
    Bicep Curls
    Bike Trainer
    Biking
    Black Canyon Ultra 100k
    Boston Marathon 2018
    Bucket List
    Calf Muscles
    Canoeing
    #CLAFitness2020in2020
    #CLAFitnessMovementBingo
    CLA Team
    Corona Virus
    Corvid19
    Covid-19
    Creative Fitness
    Cross Training
    Cut Back Weeks
    Deep-water Running
    Depression
    Dryland Swim Routine
    Early Season Triathlon
    Easy Run
    Eccentric Calf Raises
    Event Report
    Fall Changes
    Falling On A Run
    Feet Elevated Clamshells
    Fueling
    General Training
    Gift
    Glute Strength
    Goals
    GPS Watch
    Grit
    Group Run
    Heat
    Heat Training
    Hiking
    Hill Running
    Hoka
    Holiday
    Hot Weather
    Hydration
    IMAZ 2017
    Inactivity
    Injury
    Injury Prevention
    Injury Recovery
    Intentions
    Ironman
    Ironman Arizona
    Ironman Canada
    Ironman Training
    Keep Moving Forward
    Lactate Threshold
    Losing Fitness While On Vacation
    Marathon
    Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome
    Mental Training
    Motiva
    Motivation
    Muscle Matters
    New Year's Resolutions
    No Training
    Nutrition
    Open Water
    Pacing
    Panic Training
    Paris Marathon 2019
    Periodization
    Plank
    Podcasts
    Post Race Blues
    Power Hiking
    Protein
    Quarantine Workouts
    Race
    Race Course
    Race Day
    Race Preparation
    Race Recovery
    Ragnar Relay
    Ragnar Ultra
    Recipe
    Recovery
    Reflective Gear
    Registration Anxiety
    Rest Day
    #restdaybrags
    Rest Day Brags
    Reverse Clamshells
    Road To Ironman
    Runner Buddy
    Runner Gift Guide
    Runner Safety
    Running
    Running Economy
    Running Gear
    Running Orthotics
    Running Partner
    Running Shoes
    Running Watch Tips
    Run Versus Walk
    Seattle Stairway Foot Tour
    Seattle Stairways
    Self-care
    Shin Splints
    Should You Train When You Are Sick
    Sighting
    Sitting
    Sleep
    Speed
    Strength Training
    Stress Hormones
    Strides
    Summer
    Swimming
    Tales From The Day
    Tales-from-the-day
    Taper
    Team
    Tempo
    Trail Running
    Trainer
    Training Anxiety
    Training Benefits Of Heat
    Training For Life
    Travel
    Travel And Training
    Triathlete
    Triathlete Gift Guide
    Triathlon
    Tripping
    Tuck
    Ultra
    Upper Thoracic Mobility
    Vacation
    Vegan Chickpea Salad
    Video
    Virtual Races
    Walking In A Race
    Western States
    Winter Weather
    WSER
    Year End

    Archives
    Our prior blog is available here: LINK

    November 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017

    Author

    Is there something you'd like the CLA team coaches to address? Let us know!

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • About CLAFitness.com
    • Coach Lesley
    • CLA Fitness Team
    • CLA Support Team
  • Services
    • Why hire a coach?
    • Running
    • AlterG / Anti-Gravity Treadmill
    • Triathlon
    • Overall Health and Fitness Goals
    • Consulting
    • ChelanCamp >
      • ChelanCamp FAQ
      • ChelanCamp Schedule
  • Training Blog
  • Contact
  • Resources