by Coach Suzanne | Mar 18, 2025 | Training
Introduction: The Self-Coaching Dilemma
Many triathletes choose to self-coach—sometimes out of preference, often out of necessity. Hiring a coach can be expensive, and for athletes who enjoy flexibility and independence, managing your own training can be rewarding.
But self-coaching comes with challenges. With so much information out there, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Without a clear plan, athletes risk training inconsistently, overloading their schedule, or failing to make real progress. And without external accountability, it can be hard to stay on track.
This guide is here to help. Whether you’re new to triathlon or refining your approach, I’ll break down how to plan your season, structure your training, and track progress effectively. The goal? To train smarter, not harder—so you can reach race day prepared and confident.
Let’s get started.
Before diving into training, it’s important to define your why. Are you training to complete your first race? Improve your performance? Stay active and healthy? Your motivation will shape how you plan your season and structure your workouts.
Choosing the Right Races
Picking the right races is the foundation of a well-planned season. Start with these key questions:
- What’s your priority race? This is the event you want to peak for.
- Will you do supporting races? Smaller races can serve as stepping stones, but too many can lead to burnout.
- What distance makes sense? A sprint, Olympic, 70.3, or full Ironman requires different levels of commitment.
A smart approach is to center your training around one main event and, if desired, add one to three supporting races that fit into your overall progression.
How Many Races Should You Do?
There’s no perfect number, but balance is key.
- If you’re doing an Ironman, one or two tune-up races (a sprint or Olympic) can help.
- If you love racing, you can structure a season around a series of similar-distance events rather than a single peak race.
- If you’re new to triathlon, fewer races allow for more focused training.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Trying to peak for every race. Your body can’t hold peak fitness year-round. Overracing leads to fatigue and inconsistent results.
- Overloading the schedule. More races aren’t always better. Too many events can interfere with proper training and recovery.
- Following someone else’s plan blindly. What works for your training partner or favorite pro may not work for you. Your plan should fit your fitness, goals, and lifestyle.
By setting clear goals and planning your season strategically, you’ll train with purpose and avoid common pitfalls that can derail progress.
2. Assessing Your Starting Point: Where Are You Now?
Before building a training plan, you need to understand your current fitness level. Skipping this step can lead to unrealistic expectations, training plateaus, or even injury. A simple self-assessment helps set a realistic starting point and ensures that your training is tailored to your strengths, weaknesses, and available time.
Key Metrics to Measure
Every triathlete has different abilities across swimming, biking, and running. Evaluating where you stand in each discipline will help you structure your training effectively.
- Swim: Can you swim continuously for at least 500 meters? What’s your pacing for 100 meters or 100 yards? If you struggle with endurance, efficiency should be your top focus.
- Bike: Do you know your functional threshold power (FTP) or longest comfortable ride? A strong aerobic base is key for longer races, while power and speed matter more for shorter ones.
- Run: What is your current pace for different distances? Have you had any past injuries that impact your ability to train consistently? Endurance, speed, and durability all factor into your plan.
Additional Considerations
Your fitness level in one sport affects the others. A strong cyclist may have the aerobic base to build run endurance quickly, while a lifelong runner may need more time to develop bike power. Be honest about your background and consider the following:
- Time available to train. Just because you have 15 hours a week doesn’t mean you should use them all. Consistency matters more than volume.
- Age, injury history, and experience level. Older athletes may need more recovery, and those with past injuries should structure their plan around avoiding setbacks.
- How fitness in one sport carries over to another. Endurance training in one discipline helps overall aerobic fitness, but skills like swim technique or cycling power don’t automatically transfer.
Taking the time to assess your starting point helps avoid common mistakes, like ramping up training too quickly or following a plan that doesn’t match your current ability. A realistic foundation leads to steady progress, better race results, and a more enjoyable training experience.
3. Structuring Your Training Season: Building a Strong Foundation
A well-structured season isn’t just about logging miles—it’s about progressing systematically to ensure steady improvement while minimizing fatigue and injury. Training should be broken into distinct mesocycles, each with a specific focus, so you arrive at race day in peak condition. Skipping phases or pushing intensity too soon can lead to burnout or plateauing before your goal event.
Mesocycles: Phases of a Training Season
Each mesocycle lasts between two to four months and gradually shifts the focus of training. These phases ensure you develop endurance, strength, speed, and efficiency at the right time for optimal race performance.
Foundation Phase (2-4 Months, Early Season)
Goal: Establish a broad endurance and strength base before adding intensity.
Focus Areas:
- Aerobic base—building cardiovascular fitness with low-to-moderate intensity work.
- General endurance—longer-duration efforts at controlled paces.
- Global power—introducing strength and low-intensity power work without overloading the system.
Preparatory Phase (2-3 Months, Mid-Season)
Goal: Bridge the gap between base training and race-specific intensity.
Focus Areas:
- Strength endurance—developing fatigue resistance with longer, moderate-intensity efforts.
- Speed endurance—progressing to sustained high-intensity work to prepare for race demands.
Specialization Phase (1-3 Months, Pre-Race Season)
Goal: Peak for competition with race-specific workouts.
Focus Areas:
- Race simulations—controlled efforts to identify strengths and weaknesses.
- Progressive race-pace training—increasing duration and intensity to mimic race conditions.
- Peak workouts—sharpening speed and fitness with strategic tapering.
Additionally, this phase includes specialized work such as:
- Power—developing high-intensity output with short intervals.
- Skill & efficiency—refining mechanics to maximize race-day performance.
Additional Training Phases
Beyond the main mesocycles, certain phases play a crucial role in a balanced training plan:
- Transition Phase: Recovery period between seasons or following an intense training block.
- Strength Training: Integrated throughout the season with shifting emphasis depending on the phase.
Applying This Structure to Your Season
Every triathlete follows the same fundamental training principles, but how these phases are applied depends on experience level, race schedule, and goals. A first-time Ironman finisher needs a different approach than a collegiate triathlete racing sprint distances or an experienced age-grouper targeting multiple peaks in a season. Here’s how the mesocycles adapt to different scenarios:
Here is a general overview of what to focus on in each mesocycle:
- Early Season (Foundation Phase): Higher volume, lower intensity, skill development.
- Mid-Season (Preparatory Phase): Moderate volume, increasing intensity, race prep.
- Late Season (Specialization Phase): Race simulation, sharpening, tapering for peak performance.
This structured progression ensures that you don’t plateau too soon or overtrain before race day. By following a phased approach, you’ll steadily build fitness, sharpen your skills, and arrive at your key race ready to perform at your best.
Applying This Structure to Different Types of Triathletes
NCAA Triathlete Competing in Sprint-Distance Events
- Early Season (Foundation Phase): Moderate volume, lower intensity, skill development in all three disciplines. Strength training for power and injury prevention.
- Mid-Season (Preparatory Phase): Increased intensity with threshold and race-pace intervals. Focus on transitions and pacing strategies. First races used as benchmarks.
- Late Season (Specialization Phase): Race sharpening with short, high-intensity efforts. Minimal tapering, as peak performance is needed across multiple events.
Adult-Onset Athlete Training for Their First Ironman
- Early Season (Foundation Phase): Higher volume, lower intensity. Focus on aerobic endurance, swim technique, and bike durability.
- Mid-Season (Preparatory Phase): Long endurance efforts, brick sessions, and race fueling practice. Progressive race-specific intensity introduced.
- Late Season (Specialization Phase): Peak long sessions before tapering. Race-specific workouts fine-tune pacing, nutrition, and mental preparation.
Experienced Age Grouper Peaking for Multiple Olympic-Distance Races
- Early Season (Foundation Phase): Balanced training across all three sports, with moderate volume and a mix of endurance and technique work. Strength work emphasized early.
- Mid-Season (Preparatory Phase): Intensity increases with threshold and speed sessions. Early-season races used for pacing and strategy refinement. First peak race near the end of this phase.
- Late Season (Specialization Phase): Training structured around race schedule. Volume and intensity fluctuate, with strategic tapering for priority events.
Conclusion: Building a Strong Foundation
A successful season starts with clear goals, an honest fitness assessment, and a structured training plan. Whether you’re training for your first Ironman, racing multiple Olympic-distance events, or competing at the NCAA level, a well-organized season ensures steady progress and reduces the risk of burnout or injury.
But planning is just the beginning. In Part 2, we’ll get into the details of structuring workouts, tracking progress, and making smart adjustments along the way.
by Coach Suzanne | Aug 29, 2024 | Training, vo2, Workouts
Understanding VO2 Max Workouts
VO2 Max workouts push your body to its limit in oxygen consumption, which allows you to run faster, bike harder, and swim with more power than during easy endurance sessions. But the goal isn’t just to hit these high numbers; it’s about how these efforts can enhance your overall performance. Typically, VO2 Max is achieved during an all-out effort lasting 3 to 8 minutes, depending on your genetics and fitness level. While elite athletes may sustain their true VO2 Max for a full 8 minutes, most people find it difficult to maintain such intensity for long.
Only by performing a variety of VO2 Max workouts can you truly understand the effort required and how long you can sustain it. However, holding a VO2 Max interval is challenging and often painful. Fortunately, there are strategies to make these workouts more effective and manageable.
The Power of Interval Training
The key to effective interval training is to use shorter bursts of effort combined with rest periods, allowing you to accumulate more total work than you could in a continuous effort. You can reach your VO2 Max within about 30 seconds of starting an interval at the right intensity. However, once you stop or slow down, your oxygen needs diminish, your heart rate slows, and you’re no longer at VO2 Max. When you begin your next interval, you’re starting with a partially depleted “bucket,” meaning you can reach VO2 Max more quickly if your rest intervals are shorter and more intense.
So, how long should those intervals be? Tabata intervals (10 seconds max, 20 seconds rest) will touch on VO2 Max but are best for anaerobic conditioning. Billat’s 30-30 intervals (30 seconds at VO2 Max, 30 seconds rest) are a great introduction to VO2 Max efforts, especially for beginners or early-season training, with minimal risk of injury. Her research also shows that after a 4-6 week block of VO2 Max work, just 2-3 minutes of VO2 Max work per week can maintain your gains. You can cycle your VO2 work early in the season to see benefits, taper off in the spring, and resume before or during race season. If you can tolerate longer intervals (2, 3, 5 minutes or more) at your VO2 Max power, you’ll pack in the most time at this high intensity.
Measuring Your Progress
When deciding on the power level for your intervals, your 5-minute power output is a close estimate of your VO2 Max effort. While true VO2 Max can only be confirmed through lab testing, using your 5-minute power as a target for VO2 intervals is a practical approach. The key is to apply physiology correctly, have a plan, and track your progress. One way to measure progress is to complete a 4-6 week block of VO2 intervals, then reassess your all-out 5-minute power or see how long you can sustain a specific power output after the training block.
Integrating VO2 Max intervals into your training can significantly boost your performance. Whether you focus on shorter or longer intervals, the most important part is to have a clear plan and consistently measure your progress.
Six Workouts Every Triathlete Should Do
These workouts are designed to push your VO2 Max by incorporating intervals that challenge your cardiovascular and muscular systems, improving your ability to sustain higher intensities over time.
Swimming VO2 Max Workouts
- 30-30 Intervals (Billat’s Style)
- Warm-Up: 400m easy swim
- Main Set: 10 x 50m at VO2 Max effort (about 90-95% of your maximum effort) with 30 seconds easy swimming or complete rest between intervals.
- Cool Down: 200m easy swim
- 3 x 300m VO2 Max Repeats
- Warm-Up: 400m easy swim
- Main Set: 3 x 300m at VO2 Max effort with 4 minutes rest between intervals. Aim to keep your pace consistent across all three intervals.
- Cool Down: 200m easy swim
Biking VO2 Max Workouts
- 5 x 3 Minute VO2 Max Intervals
- Warm-Up: 15-minute easy spin, gradually increasing intensity
- Main Set: 5 x 3 minutes at VO2 Max effort (aim for 110-120% of your FTP) with 3 minutes easy spinning between intervals.
- Cool Down: 10-minute easy spin
- 30-30 Intervals
- Warm-Up: 15-minute easy spin
- Main Set: 10 x 30 seconds at VO2 Max effort (around 120% of FTP) with 30 seconds easy spinning. Repeat for 3 sets with 5 minutes easy spinning between sets.
- Cool Down: 10-minute easy spin
Running VO2 Max Workouts
- 6 x 3 Minute VO2 Max Intervals
- Warm-Up: 10-15 minutes of easy running with some dynamic stretches
- Main Set: 6 x 3 minutes at VO2 Max effort (around 3k to 5k race pace) with 3 minutes of easy jogging between intervals.
- Cool Down: 10-minute easy jog
- 10 x 400m VO2 Max Repeats
- Warm-Up: 10-15 minutes of easy running with strides
- Main Set: 10 x 400m at VO2 Max effort (about 90-95% of your maximum pace) with 1-minute rest or slow jogging between intervals.
- Cool Down: 10-minute easy jog
Do you have a favorite VO2 workout? Let me know in the comments!
Read up on the science behind Vo2 Max intervals:
Daniels, Jack. Daniels’ Running Formula. 3rd Edition, Human Kinetics, 2013.
Billat, Véronique L., et al. “Interval Training at VO2max: Effects on Aerobic Performance and Overtraining Markers.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, vol. 31, no. 1, 1999, pp. 156-163.
Laursen, Paul B., and Martin, D. C. “Training for Intense Exercise Performance: High-Intensity or High-Volume Training?” Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, vol. 19, no. 1, 2009, pp. 1-10.
Seiler, Stephen. Interval Training, Long Slow Distance, and the Science of Endurance Training. Sports Science Exchange, Gatorade Sports Science Institute, 2010.
by Coach Suzanne | May 2, 2023 | Swimming, Testing, Training
- Change your thinking from strokes per minute to seconds per stroke. Instead of frequency, think period. This allows you to do faster analysis of your swimsperiments. 20 strokes @ .9 sec/stroke = 18 seconds. Vs 20 strokes @ 68spm = ?? (Can’t do that math in the pool quickly)
- You need to test/ train tempo in a measured setting before you can use it in open water since you can’t measure progress very well
- Since pace is the result of stroke rate x Stroke length, paying attention to those 2 variables will help you learn a lot about yoru technique without timing yourself (you can always multiply them to get the time, or look at your watch) But you can’t look at yoru watch until you’re done with a set, so learn to count strokes well.
- Each hand entry counts as a stroke (the watch is inaccurate, except for how variable you are, the actual numbers are not helpful)
Some experiments to start with.
Use a comfortable tempo (70 spm = .86 sec/stroke), and swim 2 sets of 3 x 25. (So 6 x 25 total)
No breath, right breathing only, left breathing only, repeat. Rest for 5-10 beeps between repeats
Count your strokes.
Be sure to start your first stroke underwater after a consistent # of beeps off the way (3-5 find out what’s comfortable, and be consistent so you can compare)
Progress to 50s if you can taking 1 breath per 50 plus 1 at the wall (open turn on all 50s for comparison) Count your strokes.
This is a fun simple experiment that will usually tell you what you may already know…that breathing reduces stroke length, and that one side is better / worse than the other. You may have to practice counting strokes before you can be consistent with yoru experiments. A poolside notepad with a ball point pen is great for tracking different things.
Now with data, you can create a hypothesis…
Example (after warmup)
Tempo .85 sec/stroke
6 x 25 as Breath Right only, breath left only, no breathing, repeat. Rest 5-10 beeps between repeats, 5 beeps off wall before first stroke. count strokes.
Stroke Counts by length:
| 1: 20SPL |
4: 21 SPL |
(Left only) |
| 2: 18 SPL |
5: 19 SPL |
(Right only) |
| 3: 17 SPL |
6: 18 SPL |
(No breathing) |
Results show left side breathing adds 3 strokes every 25 yds compared to no breaths At .85 sec/stroke, you’re adding 2.55 seconds / 25 yards due to the slowing down from breathing left. Over 1 mile that’s 2.5 minutes. Right side is better than left side, saving .85 seconds / 25 yards if you only breathed right.
You’ve learned a lot from this simple experiment.
Hypotheses:
- if I practiced alternate breathing I’ll save 1 stroke / length (as opposed to same side breathing). Test it!
- If I improved my breathing form I’ll save 1-3 strokes per length. Choose a skill, and practice incorporating it into your stroke with and without a breath. Practice without a tempo trainer ,then practice at a slower tempo (since thinking about your skills will take longer). Maybe add .15 – .2 seconds to drill with the TT and practice. You can repeat the test set above at this new tempo and while the stroke cont will / should be different, you can still measure the results and see if you’re improving without having to have a coach, video or time yourself.
This is just 1 test set and 2 ideas that emerge from it. There are infinite numbers of tempo sets you can do as part of improving your technique. Kirsten or I can share more, but try this one if you havn’t yet and see what you can learn.
Affiliate Link:
by Coach Suzanne | Jan 7, 2018 | Mental Skills, Power, Training, Triathlon
Stop Working Out and Practice Instead
Is Training by Heart Rate Better than Training by Effort?
Do you use a power meter or heart rate monitor for every cycling workouts? Do you know your training zones by heart? Do you regularly execute a threshold test set every 4-6 weeks throughout the year as your fitness improves? If so congratulations are in order…or are they?
Executing a workout well often means hitting prescribed training levels such as a target heart rate or power zone. But an even more powerful training skill to master is nailing the effort level without out prescriptive guidelines. Instead of having a pre-determined target to hit, you ride (run/swim) by effort following the guidelines of the workout and tuning in to your body’s response and signals.
- How long can I sustain this effort?
- Can I work at this level of dis-comfort for another 4 minutes without fading?
- Can I repeat this focus level for another three sets of the same activity?
- Is this recovery level easy enough that I can do another hard effort for the next eight minutes?
Nailing the workout intention when using effort alone means you’re in tune with how your body is responding to effort that day. But it takes practice!
Failing is a Step Closer to the End Result
The first time you execute a workout like this, you may, in fact, you will fail miserably. You’ll start too hard and won’t complete all the efforts. You’ll finish too easily and not hit the desired intensity. You’ll look at your heart rate tracing after the fact and see a line that looks like the profile of the Hilly Billy Roubeaux instead of even like the Sahara desert. In other words, your efforts were all over the place, rather than steady, even and repeatable.
You’re thinking, “But coach, just give me a power target and I’ll hit it”.
Success in triathlon is not always about hard work. It’s more often about being in tune with your body on a consistent basis and relying on that instinct you’ve developed on race day. Power training is fantastic, but there’s no substitute for your intuition about your own body’s performance.
There’s a recipe for developing this instinct. Given any specific task, complete the workout in a “practice” mode. You’re not trying to build fitness, nail a heart rate zone, get anaerobic, VO2 max-ish, or wherever the effort falls on a physiologic scale.
You’re trying to tune your instincts to hit the intention of the workout. ie “go hard for an hour”, “run easy for exactly 30 minutes”, “execute three evenly paced efforts with 2 minute rest at the maximum of your ability”.
Prescriptive vs. Descriptive Training
It may be hard to see how it’s different to hit a power range for three eight-minute efforts, versus doing the same effort without targets and going just by feel.
The first is “prescriptive”…your efforts are given by your coach or your spreadsheet of training zones. But your spreadsheet doesn’t know your body’s ability on that specific day, and your coach won’t know unless you are in a daily training environment or communicate intensively on a daily basis.
In the second example, the power is “descriptive”. You or your coach look at your power levels, effort or heart rate zones AFTER you complete the workout instead of before or during.
You improve your ability to understand your body while executing a practice session, rather than a workout. While practicing, you’re also developing the specific fitness needed to improve your fitness and master the pace, master the effort and tune into your body.
On race day, it matters less what your power or heart rate targets are…it matters more if you’re operating within your body’s ability to cross the finish line having used your energy wisely and finishing in the fastest time you’re capable of.
Fitness Follows Mastery
Once you master the workout you can learn to push your abilities while still maintaining the practice intentions. Maybe it takes you three ‘practice sessions’ to do an evenly paced 3 x 8 minute effort with 2 minutes rest. “But Coach,” you protest again loudly…”If you’d just give me a target, I can do it right the first time!” Right…but that’s not the point.
Building fitness is easy. Anyone can prescribe hard workouts. Online training simulators like Trainer Road, Zwift and Sufferfest can help you do testing sets, tell you how to crunch the numbers (or do it for you) and give you back more training sets to do. That’s algorithmic.
But coaching is an art and racing well requires practice…not just fitness.
Practice executing specific workouts by listening to your body. Repeat these efforts to do it “better”…more evenly paced within the workout guidelines. See what your heart rate and power were AFTER the effort is done. Are your efforts even or ‘hilly billy’? Is each effort similar to the previous or do they get less intense as you get more fatigued? Or is the first effort even and the second and third efforts ragged?
Practice Perfect the Push Performance
Photo: Nils Nilsen, Triathlete.com
Reread the workout guidelines and see if you executed it well. If you did, congratulations! You now have a baseline. Next time you try it, see if you can push just a little bit more. If the workouts are well designed, you’ll be building the fitness you need, but more importantly, building your reservoir of body sensing, pacing and confidence in racing.
Chris McKormack, two time Ironman World Championship winner, explains this concept well in a blog post called, “Keep it simple“…
“Training is about teaching yourself to understand your boundaries and then slowly pushing those boundaries up. You need to know how to feel those and where they are!
I say go out and try to get in touch with your perceived exertion and your body rhythm at least a few times a week in all the disciplines of our sport. Most of the time in training, especially when I go to a new town, I often test myself by doing the following. I leave the hotel room for a run and check the clock before I leave.
I then say to myself, ok I am going to go and run for 1 hour. When I come back I try and see how close to that hour I actually was. I take no watch with me nor do I set any preconceived pace. I run freely and try and feel my way to understanding just how long I have been running by my surroundings and my pace and effort. Funnily enough, the fitter I get the better I am at getting very close to the hour.“
Ride “Blind” and Benefit
During your next training session, try putting black electrical tape over your power meter or heart rate monitor. Turn off Zwift and Trainer Road and go old school while listening to tunes, or watching a scenic youtube video. Learn to “practice” rather than “workout”. You’ll tap into a new set of skills needed for triathlon speed, success and enjoyment.
by Coach Suzanne | Oct 1, 2016 | Training
Last week I rented a small SUV while I was at the Long Course World Championships in Oklahoma City, OK. Normally I rent compact or economy cars because they’re less expensive and I don’t have a need for a lot of cargo room. But invariably, by the end of my trip my back and neck are tired and sore from the low, molded seats that these cars usually come with. So on the spur of the moment I upgraded to an SUV. My back was really really happy with that decision! But I had two close calls while driving on the highway, trying to switch lanes and noticing that there was a car in my blind spot.
I’m used to the blind spots on my own vehicle, and therefore know where and when to look and for how long before I switch lanes. I was a bit surprised to have this happen twice…once on my right and once on my left in this rental SUV. It didn’t take more than one occurrence though, because as soon as I knew there was a blind spot and where, I knew to look for it before switching lanes.
Improvement Requires some Type of Feedback
Normally in order to locate your blind spots you need some type of external feedback. Hopefully it’s not a car accident that becomes your first warning a car was too close to you. Typically I look in my mirrors, rear view, then side view, then finally I turn my head to check for anyone there…in that blind spot that I’m used to. IN this new car, I had to look further back and for a second longer. But once I knew it was there, it became routine to check and I had no further close calls over the weekend.
Applying “Blind Spot Reduction” to Triathlon Training
How does this story apply to triathlon training? WE all have blind spots in our own preparation for the sport. Whether it’s a fitness blind spot (Doing only long slow distance and no intervals?), possibly a sport balance blind spot (you like running the most, so you skip all your bike rides?), or often a technique or skill blind spot (not sure when to shift gears, or how to smooth out your swim stroke?)
A blind spot means we can’t see it. We need some type of external feedback to identify it. So chances are, unless you train often with a variety of friends, hire a skills or technique coach, or sit down with someone to review your training and preparation you may not know where your blind spots are.
I can guarantee one thing, though…if you can locate them, they will almost automatically improve! Just like my rental SUV story. Once I knew they were there, they became a non-issue.
How to Find your Own Blind Spots (Hint: If you already know about them, it’s not a blind spot!)
If you become aware that you preferentially skip bike rides to go for a trail run, then maybe you’ll be more inclined to get in an extra trainer ride this winter or sign up for a spinning class. Pay for it ahead of time or buy a punch card, and you’ll be more likely to go.
Even if you enjoy swimming and feel skilled, seek out a qualified swim coach in your area, or someone who can do video analysis from good quality submissions…and get some outside feedback on your stroke.
How to Specifically Ask for Outside Help
Take a swim or run clinic. Ride with a different group of people. Join a local tri club’s weekly fitness session. All of these are ways to get objective feedback especially if you ask for it! How do you ask for feedback? Just pick out someone who seems confident and comfortable, or perhaps there is a coach attending and let them know your concerns. Ask questions like:
- Can you watch me shift during these rolling hills and let me know if I’m using my gears appropriately?
- My right shoulder gets sore when I swim longer than 1/2 mile, especially when I am forced to breath left. Can you take a look at what could be contributing?
- I can’t seem to increase my pace when I try to run intervals. Can you let me know if you see anything that could be causing an issue?
You don’t have to know the answers, and you also don’t need to Know what your blind spots are. You only need to be aware that all of us have them. Blind spots are even easier than weak spots to address, because the simple act of becoming aware of them opens up all sorts of avenues to create lasting improvements.
I’d love to hear from you. What kind of blind spots have you discovered in the past? How did you address them?
by Coach Suzanne | Jun 9, 2016 | Injury, Training, Triathlon
Coach Suzanne leading a skills clinic while wearing a walking boot!
It is important to monitor your progress through an injury so as to know where you stand. This is made much easier once you start monitoring yourself while healthy so that you have something to compare it to. When you are injured, monitor how you feel every day. In general, how do you feel doing different tasks, at different times of the day. At the end of the day, it’s up to you to monitor how you’re feeling and set goals for yourself.
- Recovering from an injury requires dedication and hard work for a triathlete in order to get back on track
- When one is injured,monitoring what aggravates the injury, how it is recovering, and what hurts or doesn’t hurt is important to track and look back on progress.
- The best way to improve when one is healthy is by monitoring ones progress, which may be done through software like Trainingpeaks.com (not an affiliate link, although I do use them).
As I write this, I am edging my closer to a start line. My body is close to full health and as my fitness builds, soon it will be race time again. Nothing excites me more than the thought of battling with the best in the world. But how did I get here? How did I, and so many others, get through such a long period of injury?
Professional triathlete and current holder of the fastest half-distance time by a female 3:55:50
