There are so many athletes and triathletes that inspire us to work harder, perform better and push ourselves to the limit. There is always something to learn from those that have worked hard to achieve their goals. Here are 5 excellent triathletes that have pushed themselves to the limit and gained outstanding and worthy success throughout their careers:
Erin Baker
Erin Baker – Hailing from New Zealand, Erin is considered one of the best female triathletes of all time, winning a total of 104 out of the 121 races she joined.
Dave Scott
Dave Scott- he is a 6 time winner of the Ironman World Championship, holding the joint men’s record and is the first person ever inducted in the Ironman Hall of Fame.
Paula Newby-Fraser
Paula Newby-Fraser – she has won the Ironman World Championship 8 times, winning won 24 Ironman races overall between 1986 and 2002, later competing in ultra marathons.
Craig Alexander
Craig Alexander – Australian Craig is the 2008, 2009 & 2011 Ironman Triathlon World Champion and currently the course record holder.
Mark Allen
Mark Allen – is joint holder of the mens record of 6 wins of the Ironman World Championship and winner of the ITU World Championships in 1989.
Hydration is essential for everyone, but particularly those that exercise – particularly athletes and those that train hard. Water is key – but it can sometimes get a little boring from time to time. But there are ways to make your water a little bit more interesting whilst at the same time gaining some adding nutritional benefits.
A few ways of adding taste to your water include:
Adding freshly squeezed lemon and lime juice
Adding fresh mint and ice
Adding crushed strawberries and mint
Freezing blueberries and adding them to lemon water
Adding freshly squeezing orange juice and grated ginger
Adding slices of cucumber
There are many different combinations which you can experiment with and as well as added taste, they are great for helping cleanse the body. Fresh lemon and lime juice contain vitamin C, which is an essential vitamin which is a powerful antioxidant – vital for a strong immune system.
February is the perfect time to ensure you are on the right track if you are considering any of the upcoming marathons in March:
Sunday 1st March: The Dendy Park Urban Run has a 50km ultra marathon, 42km marathon, 21.1km half marathon, 10km, 5km and 2km events.
Sunday 1st March: Gordonvale Half Marathon, 10km & Family Fun Run, Queensland.
Sunday 1st March: The Orange Colour City Running Festival has 2km Junior Dash, Full Marathon, Half Marathon, 10km and 5km run/walk events.
Sunday 8th March: The Port Macquarie Running Festival has a half marathon, 10km, 5km and 4km running and walking events.
Sunday 15th March: The Darlington Half Marathon and 8km is organised by the West Australian Marathon Club.
Sunday 22nd March: The Nerang State Forest 9km, 17km, 25km and 50km Trail Race is in the Gold Coast, Queensland
There are so many different runs across Australia in March and now is a great time to consider entering one – and training for it! If you have never completed a marathon or long race before, you could try doing a run/walk mix for 5km. There are many different options, whether you are an experienced runner or not. If you have not started training, there are a few things to consider:
Diet – Are you incorporating the right foods into your diet to ensure you are fueling your body correctly?
Hydration- Are you hydrating before and after exercise correctly?
Exercise – What type of training are you doing currently? Are you doing enough training to complete a 5km run?
Stretching – Are you ensuring you are stretching enough?
Trainers – Are you training with the optimum footwear to prevent injury?
If you are considering completing an event in March, ensure you are getting the right balance of exercise and rest as well as monitoring your diet in the weeks ahead. Consider speaking with a personal trainer at your gym to help get you prepared!
ALTITUDE SERVICES NEARS COMPLETION OF RANDWICK RETROFIT
Altitude Services has been working closely with John Thompson Racing Stables over the last couple of months to retrofit two existing stables at John’s Randwick based training/racing facility in Sydney, NSW in preparation for the lucrative upcoming 2015 Autumn Racing Carnival.
“We saw the impressive work that Altitude Services had completed at other racing facilities here in Australia. We read the supportive scientific information on the system and decided to invest in the technology. A legal 1-3% performance improvement at our level of racing is a huge advantage” commented John.
“John’s facility posed a unique challenge for our building team” commented Altitude Services General Manager, Rod Cedaro. “In previous situations we’ve either built new systems from scratch, or been forced to retrofit poorly constructed, but purpose built, altitude stables. John’s circumstances were different. Here we were faced with existing stables that needed to be converted right beside normal horse boxes. We had to ensure that the area was effectively sound-proofed whilst modifying the existing stables in the context of the overall existing training facility. I think we’re all pretty happy with what has been achieved, on time and on budget. We can all now look forward to an exciting and successful Autumn Racing Carnival.”
The retrofit works commence
The retrofitted stables take on a whole new look and feel.
The Hypoxic running gear arrives.
The Hypoxic running gear is placed in position for fit-off.
They look great and all are excited about the upcoming Autumn Racing Carnival!
41. Running is the most physically demanding sport of all for triathletes. Swimming is technically the most demanding, cycling demands the most time and running is physically the most demanding of the three triathlon disciplines. It places the most stress on your body and causes the most injuries so build up to it more slowly than the other two and ensure you have good biomechanics in it.
42. A change is as good as a holiday. Mix up your training. Don’t always do the same things week in week out. Not only will this keep you fresh mentally, it’ll also ward of the potential for overuse injuries by mixing up the surfaces on which you run, the terrains you run over and the intensity at which you go.
Mix up the terrain when training
43. Heart rate monitors are a great tool – use them. Get yourself a heart rate monitor and learn how to use it appropriately. Most people that buy a heart rate monitor have no idea what information they can get from it. Used correctly, heart rate monitoring can help improve your performance considerably.
Heart rate monitors are great
44. Refuel post exercise. Research suggests that the first 90 minutes post exercise is the most crucial time during which to restock your muscle glycogen stores and speed your recovery rate. As soon as you finish training have a carbohydrate rich food source on hand ready to eat.
Eat carbohydrates post workout
45. Fuel up during competition. Your body can store enough muscle glycogen for about 90 minutes of continuous hard training/racing. Ideally you should be ingesting (via appropriate food sources or fluids) about 60-80 grams of carbohydrate per hour of hard training or competition.
46. Recovery starts during the previous training session. Maintaining hydration status, eating adequate carbohydrate during a training session not only aids the current training session, it helps to ensure your recovery process is underway so that you can train more effectively the next time you venture out.
47. There’s no training like racing. As you get closer to your key races use small, less important events as lead up races to help sharpen and lift your performances to a higher level.
Small races are useful when training
48. Rest and recovery are just as important as training. Most novice triathletes don’t recognise the importance of rest and recovery. This should be built into your training program. Learn how to “periodise” your training program. Understand the notions of meso, macro and micro cycling your training to ensure you stress and allow adequate recovery and “down” time – a break from formal training at the end of your competitive phase.
49. Choose your running surface wisely. Given the choice running on natural surfaces like grass is better than asphalt which is better than concrete. Concrete is your worst choice to run on.
Running on grass is ideal
50. Change your running shoes regularly. The mid-sole of your running shoes, which provides them with all of their shock absorbing characteristics, have a life of between 300-500 kilometres. Replace your running shoes regularly to ensure optimal shock absorption.
Replace your trainers regularly
51. Horses for courses. Just as different race horses specialise in running under different conditions, different types of running shoes are made for different terrains. Know what sort of terrain you intend to do most of your running over and buy your running shoes to compliment (a) the characteristics of your foot and running style and (b) the sort of surface over which you predominately intend to run.
52. Know your foot type and gait characteristics and choose your shoes accordingly. There are three basic foot types: (i) pronators who “roll” in, (ii) neutral foot types who hit the ground and move evenly along the foot from the heel (point of landing) to the toes (point of take off) and (iii) supinators who “roll” out.
Pronators are the most common foot types (up to 85% of all runners) and require good “medial” support – along the “inside” of the foot. Supinators and neutral foot types are about equally as common and typically require less support but often more shock absorption as such foot types are typically rigid and stiff with poor innate shock absorption characteristics and hence prone to ailments such as stress fractures.
Whilst this isn’t the definitive/complete/exhaustive list of running do’s and don’ts, by heeding at least some of the suggestions within you’ll find yourself spending more time on the road running and less time with the physio or doctor getting over injuries.
