Did your race result suck? Maybe it's your nutrition...

Here is a very important excerpt I read from coach Vance, 6 common mistakes athletes make on nutrition:

1. Not knowing the exact number of calories, (or fairly close to exact), that you're consuming in training and on race day. Without actual quantification of what you're taking in, it's nearly impossible to know if it's too much, too little, or just right.

2. Not keeping a training log which details the nutrition you used and tried, so you can perfect it.

3. Testing your nutrition plan for race day when training at an intensity which doesn't match race intensity. On race day, if you're going harder than you are in training, then don't be surprised if suddenly your stomach doesn't jive with what you're putting into it.

4. Using a concentration of calories which doesn't match what you'll use on race day. When the concentration changes, the interaction of the calories with your stomach changes, especially if the concentration is stronger.

5. Many top athletes follow a strict diet, only to change it entirely during the week or two before the race, claiming "carbo loading". Worst thing you can do is dramatically change your diet before the race. Don't do it. It's worked fine for you, stick with it.

6. More is not better. Less is better. Try to get your body trained to need less calories during a race.

Hopefully one of these items was what caused your, less than stellar, race result and now you can work on it for better results next time!

"Pain is temporary...quitting lasts forever"
Jason Ngai

How long would I take to complete a marathon?

Think back to you last great running race or great training run...

Remember how well you did?!!!

At the end of the race (assuming it wasn't a full marathon), did the thought ever cross your mind, "I wonder how long it would take me to complete a full marathon?" Well if it did, then I have a great online tool for you to use from the Runner's World website!

Click here for the Runner's World Training Calculator.

All you need is your recent running race or training run results. Then just enter them into the calculator, it will plug your data into some fancy formula and it spits out your estimated finishing times for specific running distances, like a full marathon. It's great!

Now please note that these are estimates of your potential finish times. There are other variables that could affect your performance on race day like how you fuel yourself and/or how hilly the course is.

For example, I plugged in my training run from today (5K) and the results are pretty accurate to what I expected. Here are the results from my data:



Try it out for yourself and let me know what you think about your estimated results. Have fun!

"Pain is temporary...quitting lasts forever"

Triathlete Strength Training: Exercises

According to Triathlete's Training Bible by Joe Friel, the 3 basic abilities for successful multisport racing are:

• Endurance
• Force
• Speed skills

Triathlete strength training helps improve the Force ability. Given it's still early in the 2010 season, now is a good time to get into the gym and lift some weights. What exercises do I do? (You may ask.) Well, for triathletes these are some exercises with load goals that help in your 3 disciplines:

• Squats (1.3 - 1.7 x Body Weight)
  
• Seated Row (0.5 - 0.8 x BW)
  
• Crunches
  
• Standing, bent-arm lat pull-down (0.3 - 0.5 x BW)
  
• Leg Press (sled) (2.5 - 2.9 x BW)

Good luck with your training!

My 2010 Race Season

03/27: California Ironman 70.3 (Oceanside, CA)
04/11: Santa Cruz Half-Marathon (Santa Cruz, CA)
05/01: Wine Country Metric Century (Santa Rosa, CA)
06/19: Tri 4 Fun #1 (Pleasanton, CA)
06/27: Giro de Peninsula Full Century (San Mateo, CA)
07/31: Full Vineman (Windsor, CA)
08/21: Tri 4 Fun #3 (Pleasanton, CA)
09/19: Tri 4 Real (Pleasanton, CA)
10/03: Rock n' Roll Half-Marathon (San Jose, CA)
10/24: SV Marathon (San Jose, CA)

Let me know if you are planning to enter any of these races so we can train together!