Overtraining for Triathletes

Triathletes are mostly type A personalities, with a subconscious thought that more is better. They also have to handle three sports that overlap themselves with a competitive season of more than six months. The propensity to overtrain is high, but there are a few things that we can do to avoid it. I am going to use Jack Daniels’s (the running coach, not the whiskey) definition of overtraining because his is the one that more simply and clearly defines it. Overtraining is “training more than what is actually needed to perform at a level that can be attained with less training”.

Overtraining has devastating consequences for athletes, like feeling mood changes, increased cortisol (stress hormone) levels in the body, decreased testosterone levels, and altered immune status. All these changes will plateau performance or decrease performance.

So, how can we avoid this state? The first thing that all good coaches recommend is to rest and recover after big efforts. Improvement happens during the resting part of training. During rest the body has the time to adapt to the stimulus it has just received. If you do not give the body rest time, the next time you apply another stimulus the body will not be ready for it and you will not assimilate it. Remember this simple rule: one hard day, two easy days. You will be safe and will gradually improve if you follow this principle.

Another piece of advice from the top is to keep a training log. There you can monitor volume, intensity, resting heart rate, weight, general health, how a workout felt and any other variable that will give you feedback on your progression. A very important variable is sleeping patterns. If you start having restless sleep check how your workouts are feeling. If that is giving you another red flag then back off you training because something is out of balance.

Another important strategy that you can use to avoid overtraining is periodization. (some periods where you back off and some where you tax yourself more) By changing the systems of the body that you are stressing, you dramatically reduce your chances of overtraining and injuries. Aerobic development involves lots of time running, swimming or biking at low intensities. With this type of training if the athlete overdoes it stress injuries are going to knock on your door. Anaerobic training is based on strong efforts with little rest in between each set. If you overdo these the hormone cortisol, is going to run all over your body disrupting your sleep, altering your heart rate, and changing your mood, not a fun state! So periodization, and being conservative are the words of wisdom here. There is a saying in the athletic community that it is better to undertrain than to over train. There are also plenty of medical studies that show that for twenty-one days a decrease in volume at the same intensity will not reduce performance.

Finally, remember that ultimately we do training to be healthy and happy and to improve our performance. Overtraining is a state of the ego. Avoid it because it is a waste of your valuable time and effort.


Boris Fernandez

3S takes on the callenge at Ft. Desoto

The Tri-Strong members took the challenge and travel the distance to the Ft. Desoto Coca-Cola sprint event. According to Adam Parks, the conditions where beautiful -- ”While I was walking out to the start I saw a couple of dolphins swimming around. The water so warm, like a bath tub, and almost no wind made for calm flat water [for the swim].”

The 3S racers made a great effort since some had just completed the Huntington Olympic Distance Triathlon the weekend before, but the extra effort was all worth it. Boris Fernandez though tired from a strong effort at the Huntington’s race settled on the bike to take a 1:30 lead for the 5K run after an un-stellar swim. Boris said his leg did not respond that day and he finished 2nd overall, good enough to take the lead in the Elite series point standing.

Sandro del Bosco had a break-through race. He had an amazing swim for the 800m distance to get out of the water in 13 minutes, very good for his weakest link. He had one of the fastest bike-split of the day to finish in a well deserved 16th in the 40-45 age group against a very strong field. Adam Parks finish the day in a great note. He had the fastest bike split of the Fat tire division to finish 3rd in that category.

Ft. Desoto race results can be found at http://www.familyfitnessweekend.com/FFW-2006/Results/FtDesoto/FtDesotoTriDuSplits.pdf

Boris.

Great 3S Turnout at the Mack Cycle Triathlon Trilogy #3

The team had a fantastic performance at the last event of the trilogy and the series over all. For overall results follow the link to http://www.multirace.com/triathlon/ and the series results are at http://www.multirace.com/triathlon/2006TrilogyPoints.aspx

Here you can find a more pictures of the race http://www.flickr.com/groups/trisofl/