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/

3S Dominates at the 15th Annual Huntington's Disease Triathlon

The 3S team force was felt on August 6, 2006 at the 15th Annual Huntington’s Disease Triathlon in both the Sprint and Olympic distance formats. It was a tough race day, as our very own Boris Fernandez puts it “Conditions were the worse I have ever seen since I have done this race and I am talking all the way back to 1999.”

Even with the choppy seas, windy bike ride and hot run, Boris took 1st over all with a 2:11:43, Juan Meza brought a 3rd on the 35-39 age group with a 2:35:55 and Sandro Dal Bosco secured a 7th on the 40-44 age group with a 2:47:22 in the Olympic distance event.

In the Sprint format, Caitlin Rembly delivered an impressive 1st over all with a 1:16:08 and James Dugan 1st in the 40-44 age group and 9th over all with a 1:11:35. Even after winning, James said it was his “worst swim in a few years, but a decent bike and run.”

On the fat tire division, Adam Parks took 2nd over all finishing with a 1:37:26.

As I said before, it is clear the 3S dominance was felt on the event.

Congratulations to all!


Juan

Race results are at: http://sommersports.com/results/2006/hdt/
Event pictures are at: http://www.photoreflect.com/scripts/prsm.dll?eventthumbs?event=0374006E

Cathy Parbst Wins the Championship and qualifies for the World Championships.

Cathy won the Regional Duathlon Championships on July 4th at Tradewinds Park and qualified to compete in the World Championships in Gyor, Hungary in 2007.

She turned pro after winning the Powerman Alabama Duathlon and realizing she was a very good runner and cyclist. She got started in multisport while living in Clermont, FL where she won the triathlon sprint series in 1998.

Cathy raced as a professional Duathlete in 1998 and 1999, where she was the first American and placing 12th at the 1998 Word Championships in Germany.

In the spring of 2005, she moved to Miami, where she now resides and has become an integral part of the team. She is still undecided about Hungary, but she says if she can find some sponsors, she will go.

Weather she goes or not, does not really matter, she is still a winner in and an example to follow for all of us.

Congratulation Cathy!

Juan

You can find more about Cathy at http://www.accursochiro.com/pt

Fantastic preformance by the 3S team on the Mack Cycle Triathlon Trilogy #2

A great day on Crandon Park made possible another excellent performance by the 3S team on the Mack Cycle Triathlon Trilogy #2, in Crandon Park, Key Biscayne, FL.

We had around 80 degrees with partial sunny skies; the water temperature was great, and just the perfect nice breeze that gave the day optimal race conditions.

Again the first one to cross the finish line is our own Tri-Strong’s Boris Fernandez who finished with a fantastic time of 50:08. Also, a great job by Sandro Dal Bosco who placed 4th in his age group (40-44) with a time of 1:01:33.

Team members Juan Meza, Bernie Brijbag, Joaquin Duro, Adam Parks, Tak Osawa, Miguel Molina, Pepe Rocha, Oscar Sosa, Lou Silva, Patricio Hernandez did great and improved their times as they keep climbing the charts. Our team secret? We are getting better together.

We want to thank our sponsor Swim Bike Run for assisting with emergency repairs, and to all the ones who passed by to cheer for our team. For overall results follow the link: http://www.multirace.com/triathlon/triathlonResults.aspx?Race=115
Here you can find a few of pictures I took after the race

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21906931@N00/?saved=1

Joaco

Strong field of Athletes show up at the Deerfield Beach Coca-Cola Classic Triathlon.

We were blessed with a beautiful fresh day and the atmosphere among athletes was friendly and fun. The Tri-Strong team delivered impressive performance that left the rest of the field dazed and confused. On the open division, Boris Fernandez finish runner-up with a time of 0:42:12. In the 35-39 age group, Juan Meza keeps climbing the charts with an impressive time of 0:49:25 to finish in 7th place, and Sandro Dal Bosco blew away the competition in the 40-44 age group with a time of 0:49:31 finishing in 1st in his age group.

When the others athletes approached us to ask about our training, we told them that the secret of our success was our Sunday mornings Rocky training camp.

Boris Fernandez


On the picture, from right to left are: Boris Fernandez, Sandro Dal Bosco, Manny Huerta and Juan Meza.

Check the race results at http://www.familyfitnessweekend.com/FFW-2006/results.asp

Tour of the Gables 5K run.

I want to congratulate a couple of Tri-Strong members for their effort in today's Tour of the Gables 5K run.The day was gorgeous and it was a pleasure to run through the Coral Gables streets and around the golf course. The leader of the club today was Bernie Brijbag who finished with a splendid time of 21:03 taking a 7th place out of 48 runners in his age group. The “Courage Award” went to my friend and running partner Silvio Marulanda, who stopped the clock at 22:16 taking 4th place in his age group. Her friend Claudia Segrera earned the “Debut Award” after finishing 12th in her age group with an impressive time of 26:20 on her first ever race. And finally the “Most Improved Award” went to Joaquin Duro who finished 17th with a mark of 28:29. I know, I know, I was the last one but someone had to carry the Tri-Strong flag and besides I did 2 minutes less than the Coconut Grove race a month ago.

To all, Congratulations for your great effort and keep training!!!!

Check the results here http://www.footworksmiami.com/results/results.asp

Un abrazo a todos,

Joaco

Congratulations to all the participants of the Runner's High Triathlon.

It was a great day in Key Biscayne and I think everyone had a great time. We had a lot of people participating and everyone did a great job! Racing the sprint distance, in an amazing third place on the 40-44 Age group with a time of 1:09:49, we had Sandro Dal Bosco (see picture). In the same age group we also had Takashi Osawa, with a time of 1:32:29 finishing in a fantastic 23rd place. In the 30-34 age group we had Leandro Nesi finishing on 18th place with a strong 1:25:00 and in the 35-39 age group, we had Juan Meza on 4th place with a time of 1:09:16. In relay we had two relay teams, the team Tri-Strong Relay (see picture) finished second with a time of 1:25:24 and the Swim Bike & Run relay finishing first with a time of 1:07:51.

On the Olympic distance course, a special mention goes to Boris Fernandez who won 1st place overall with a time of 2:03:53 coming in 0:08:03 ahead of second place and acquiring rock-star status at the event. In 4th place over all, we had Bolco De Pawlikowski with a 2:13:31 and Joyuanki Victore in 7th over all with a time of 2:15:07.

Congratulations to all!

Juan Meza


Please upload your event pictures so we can all see them at http://www.flickr.com/groups/trisofl/

Last but not least, everyone get ready for the next team event on May 20, 2006 in Derfield Beach (Coca Cola Classic/Publix Family Fitness Series)

Thursday morning practice at the Gerry Curtis Park.

Here is a picture of the crew after the morning training session at the Gerry Curtis track. It was a tough workout day -- like most workouts -- thanks to Boris, our Super Trainer. In the picture, from right to left, they are Juan Meza, Dr. Bernhard Brijbag, Sandro Dal Bosco, Joaquin Duro, Boris Fernandez and Joyuanki Victore.

Juan Meza

Race Calendar

7-May-2006 Runner's High TRI Miami Olympic and Sprint Triathlon
20-May-2006 Derfield Beach (Coca Cola Classic/Publix Family Fitness Series)
25-Jun-2006 Mack Cycle Key Biscayne Triathlon Trilogy #1, Crandon Park, Key Biscayne
15-Jul-2006 Ft Lauderdale (Coca Cola Classic/Publix Family Fitness Series)
23-Jul-2006 Mack Cycle Key Biscayne Triathlon Trilogy #2, Crandon Park, Key Biscayne
9-Aug-2006 Huntington (Olympic Distance)
27-Aug-2006 Mack Cycle Key Biscayne Triathlon Trilogy #3 - SFTS #5, Crandon Park, Key Biscayne
23-Sep-2006 Miami Beach (Coca Cola Classic/Publix Family Fitness Series)
7-Oct-2006 Cypress Gardens (Coca Cola Classic/Publix Family Fitness Series)
12-Nov-2006 2006 Miami Man International Triathlon - SFTS #8, Larry & Penny Thompson Park/Miami Metro zoo

Congratulations to everyone that participated in the Coconut Grove 5K/10K run.

We had in the 5K Boris taking 2nd over all (0:17:0), and Nahirobiht (0:23:49), Juliana (0:23:16) and Carlos Mendez (0:21:17) taking 2nd in their age groups. For the 10K, we had in third place age group Israel Sosa (0:44:40) and a special mention to Sandro Dal Bosco as he finished 13 over all in the 5K with a time of 0:19:33.

Once again, congratulations to everyone!!!