After years of research, sports science updates, and coaching, I’ve completely updated my comprehensive training guide, The Triathlete’s Training Bible, in a new fifth edition. Available this January, you can order now to get yourself ready for spring training and race preparation. The new 5th edition has been updated to include: A whole new intensity program that allows athletes to choose which methodology works best in determining zones An emphasis on low-intensity training as a way to build greater fitness without going hard too often An option to use a polarized approach to training, whic ..read more

Thoughts on Training #6 was about having an annual plan for your training. A carefully considered plan promotes motivation, persistence, patience, and consistent training. At the heart of successful training is knowing where you want to go and how you’ll get there. Helping a very tired rider at the end of a long workout. Little Things That Get in the Way of Training What are some of the little things in our heads that can get in the way of training? You may, for example, think that the base period is a waste of time when it’s actually the most important time of the season. How much you accompl ..read more

In Thoughts on Training #5 I looked at motivation and how it ebbs and flows for everyone. Some days you’re motivated to train and some days you aren’t. It’s those low motivation days that often need addressing. External motivators, like bringing on a coach or a training partner, almost always get you out the door. Of course, an occasional low motivation day could also be your body trying to tell you something. Maybe it needs some rest and can’t get your attention any other way. If that’s the case, and it quite often is, you may need a day off or perhaps an extended rest and recovery break of a ..read more

In Thoughts on Training #4 I mentioned the role of persistence and patience in training. Persistence is all about the unrelenting drive to accomplish an achievable goal. Nose to the grindstone. Daily reporting to a blue-collar job. That’s persistence. Patience has to do with faith—faith in your training. Measurable fitness changes don’t happen overnight. It takes a few weeks of persistent training to realize the results. Until then you must have a belief that you are training as you should. If you change how you train every couple of weeks because “it doesn’t seem to be working,” you’ll just a ..read more

In Thoughts on Training #3 I wrote about the biggest obstacle many self-coached athletes experience – inconsistent training, or frequently missed workouts. There is a fix for this, but it’s hard to identify and even harder to incorporate. Why are you missing two or more workouts in most weeks? It could be lifestyle. Or motivation. Or responsibilities. Something is standing between you and the seldom-missed workouts. After reading that post, and assuming you are guilty of inconsistent training, you need to give considerable thought as to why this is happening and focus on fixing this performanc ..read more

In my previous post, I wrote about one of the common mistakes of self-coached endurance athletes – training too hard. By this I mean too much zone 3 and too many moderate-to-hard workouts in a week. Now I will make brief comments on what your training should primarily focus on – your limiters Focus on Your Limiters All athletes have limiters that are holding them back from achieving better race results. In my Training Bible books I show how to identify and improve those limiters, which is critical to your success. The primary focus of your training should be on “fixing” these limiters (while ..read more

I tend to make things more complicated than they need to be. You probably know that if you’ve read any of my books. That point was driven home to me this week when I reached out to Andy Kirkland, PhD a lecturer at the University of Sterling in Scotland (MSc Sport Performance Coaching). I’ll explain why. I’m just starting research for my 18th book (someday I’ll tell you why this is so weird for me given my grades in school). For that book I have been working on a chart to “simplify” one of the most complex areas of training for sport – workout intensity. It can be hard to nail down for any numb ..read more

Featured Senior Athlete: The Iron Nun Sister Madonna Buder (picture below), often referred to as the “Iron Nun,” is the oldest woman to ever finish an Ironman© triathlon (the oldest man is Hiromu Inada at age 85 in 2018 in Kona, Hawaii in 16:53:49). In 2014, at age 82, Sister Madonna crossed the finish line at Ironman Canada in 16:32:00, well under the 17-hour cutoff, some 27 years after her first Ironman at age 55. Much of her bike training at that time consisted of riding to church or to a lake for a swim. Running often included a jog to the local penitentiary where she visited inmates and r ..read more

Intro Last week I posted Part 1 of Fast After…60? …70? In that piece I explained the advantages of cross-training for athletes in their 60s and 70s. One of those advantages is that cross-training allows you to maintain your aerobic fitness. Taking one or more days off means a loss fitness. I know that many athletes disagree with me on that thinking that a day off somehow improves fitness. It does not. You may come back the following day feeling much stronger, but that isn’t increased fitness you’re experiencing but rather increased freshness. You’re simply rested. If taking days off was all on ..read more

  Introduction About the time I turned 70, nearly a decade ago now, it dawned on me that there were very few books focused on senior athletes—those in their 60s and 70s. And since I had just come through the 60-69 age group I had some personal experience on what worked and didn’t, at least for me and probably for many others. I also was interested in what the research had to say on the topic senior athletes. So I went to my publisher with the idea for such a book that might be called “Fast After 60.” The publisher disagreed. They felt the 60-something market wasn’t big enough to warrant p ..read more