Tag Archive for ‘triathlons’ at The Change Catalyst

« Older Entries

Tag Archive for 'triathlons'

Week 14: 20 week countdown to Singapore Half-Ironman

Published

Warwick

on December 18, 2011

in Health

. 0 Comments

Base 1 Phase (third week of four)

Cold weather week. Got very cold and windy during the week. Could feel needed a lot longer to warm up and it was harder to output a decent effort. On the bright side, got through 7 sessions with steady effort and consistency is the key to building up a solid endurance base. Training races next month should be challenging and I feel the work I have done this month will help make them a not-too-painful event!

Monday; Long swim. 2km. 4×500m sets. Tried out new swim watch that calculates number of strokes and efficiency index. Looking forward to playing around with it a bit more.

Tuesday; Two sessions. 30km / 60 mins on the bike in small chainring RPE=4 and then a solid 30mins run through the park RPE=3/4.

Wednesday; Long run, 100 mins, RPE=3-4, beautiful sunny day.

Thursday; Rest day.

Friday; Very short bike ride. 30 mins. Very cold, winds and sunshine. Nice.

Saturday; Long bike ride. Grinded out 60km. Sunny, very windy, extremely cold. Small chainring effort. About 2 hours 40mins.

Sunday; Long run 90mins, 15km. Very cold, no wind, nice when the sun came out. Small group run. RPE=5

Total: 7 sessions.

*RPE means Rate of Perceived Exertion and relates to the intensity of each session. I have stopped using a heart rate monitor [although I used one for a couple of years] because I want to exercise more by ‘how it feels’. RPE = 10 is full-out effort, while RPE = 1 is just enough intensity for the session to be called exercise. Endurance sports requires a good base of low intensity effort and over time building up intense efforts with longer sessions.

Upcoming races - signed up.

5km swim in Lake Taupo, New Zealand on 14 January 2012

Half Ironman at Lake Wanaka, New Zealand on 22 January 2012

3.3km Ocean swim in Wellington, New Zealand on 29 January 2012

Half Ironman in Singapore on 18 March 2012

Full Ironman in Busselton, West Australia on 9 Dec 2012

Results

Half Marathon in Changhsu, China on 27 November 2011: 1hr 56mins for 22km course.

Autumn in Century Park

Pictures from the Beijing Olympic Triathlon July 2010

Published

Warwick

on July 8, 2010

in Health

. 0 Comments

Ready for the Swim

At the finish

On the Up on the Bike

20 week plan to get ready for Ironman China triathlon

Published

Warwick

on October 12, 2009

in Uncategorized

. 0 Comments

Ironman Logo I just watched the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii which for the professionals is an 8 hour race and the final cut off for all participants is 17 hours. It is a grueling race in high temperatures and humidity which requires many months and years of dedicated training to get to the start line.

The race is a 2.4 mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112 mile (180.25 km) bike and a marathon (26 miles 385 yards, 42.195 km) run.

Just to finish is a victory and the attraction for me is the consistency of training and executing on a plan that is essential for a safe completion. Add to that, great positive people who are interested to raising their standards, a need to understand body nutrition and a whole range of great kit. You can see the attraction for The Change Catalyst!

This week I am starting a 20-week training program to get me ready for the Ironman China on 14 March 2010. The outline of the program is on Beginner Triathlete here.

Getting ready for this race is going to test and push my discipline and time management. Finding 20 hours a week to exercise will be a challenge. As will getting out 6 -7 days a week during winter! But along the way, I will reinforce the benefits of setting an intention, making a plan and making it happen. Which is a great habit that all successful people doing without thinking about it. It’s going to be tough but at the end of the race to hear the words, “You are an Ironman” - the effort will be worth it!

Learn more about Ironman racing on wiki here.

Looking forward to Ironman Triathlon World Championships in Kona Hawaii

Published

Warwick

on October 9, 2009

in Health

. 0 Comments

Ironman Logo One of the ways I train myself in mental discipline and goal acheivement is through the world of triathlons. It’s perfect for keeping healthy with a variety of disciplines (swim, bike, run) and distances.

This weekend will see the Ironman distance World Champs at the home of triathlon in Kona, Hawaii. The stories and lives of the professional and amateur (age-grouper) athlethes are amazingly inspiring. It helps me keep grounded and in awe of the human potential.

To learn more on this race and the Ironman triathlon, you can start with these links:

See coverage from official web site here at Ironman.com

For a list of all the past winners of men’s and women’s races in Hawaii from 1978-2008 check this out.

For great interviews with the pros listen to IMTalk’s Kona Special.

11 Lessons from a triathlon race

Published

Warwick

on August 12, 2009

in Health and Skills

. 0 Comments

Lessons from Triathlon racing

I just completed a personal best time in the Gansu triathlon in Western China. As I was going through the process of preparation and observing my team-mates from Shanghai Triathlon Club, I realised that there were many useful lessons in preparing and competing in an endurance race.

I am going to share these lessons in detail over the next several tips, here is a summary to get you started:

Lessons from Triathlon Races:

1. Do your best - The only way to learn is to stretch yourself.
2. Enjoy it - Remember to look up and enjoy the process while it is unfolding.
3. Run a race of one - The only person you are competing against is yourself.
4. Finish healthy - Identify your bottom line target.
5. Finish with a personal best - Set up some stretch targets.
6. Win the mind game - Prepare for the mental challenges ahead.
7. Consistency is the key to good preparation - Understand what it takes to succeed.
8. Stress free preparation - Lay the groundwork for a good on-the-day performance.
9. Test the conditions - Experience the environment ahead of time.
10. Know the rules - Some broken rules are going to ‘cost’ you.
11. Develop self-awareness under pressure - Keep a clear head at all times.

There are lessons in any project that requires careful preparation and execution. Have a look out for future tips as I expand on these lessons and show how they can be relevant for activities other than sports.

High Performance Tips: The Art of the Taper

Published

Warwick

on June 18, 2009

in Health and Skills

. 0 Comments

Taper down to increase your performance We are all looking for ways to increase our performance given the resources given to us and the time we have in the day to dedicate to our given goal - whether that be work, play, family or community.

A technique used by endurance athletes before a race is called the taper. Like the funnel picture here, this involves reducing the volume of training in the week or two before a race. So if a triathlete is training 16 hours a week in the build up phase, during the taper she will reduce training volume to 8 or 10 hours.

While this may seem counter-intuitive, there is an important reason behind this. In short, this allows the body to repair and store up energy which increases performance in the race. A lot of athletes find this lowering of training a challenge. As competitive driven individuals who are used to pushing themselves as far as they can, to step back and train within themselves can be hard. As I am training for a race now, I have just entered my taper phase. I realized that this technique is applicable for all goal-setting.

Have you ever found yourself getting into a routine - albeit a high performance routine - and then asking yourself “Why am I doing this?” “What is this all about?” and if this is accompanied by questioning your own ability - you may need to taper.

If you have been pushing your new business development constantly all month and although you feel good progress has been made, you are not sure what comes next - take a step back. Take a day or two away from the activity of generating new business and put yourself in a different frame of mind. Call up an old and trusted client (or friend) and take them out for a coffee or lunch. Instead of trying to sell them, treat it like a fact-finding mission. Use your curiosity to learn more about their lives, ask them questions about their industry in general and perhaps even ask them to give feedback on your sales approach. This will strengthen the quality of your sales technique. Instead of hammering it to make 15 sales calls a day, take your time to make 3 quality calls. During your taper phase, see if you notice anything different or what you have learned that you can add into your toolkit.

High energy and passion are essential for success, but once a month add in a taper phase where you slow down, work within yourself and become more observant and “sponge” up new ideas. Enjoy the breakthroughs. Success in life is like an endurance race not a sprint so taper your way to higher performance!

One more week to first triathlon race of the season!

Published

Warwick

on June 15, 2009

in Health

. 0 Comments

Well it’s been about two months since I started the long road to fitness. Joining a gym really helped and I have been averaging about 15 sessions a month. The last month have been tough with many “brick” sessions of back to back cycling and running. This prepares the muscles to race tired - which is very important in triathlons.

Honestly, my body is feeling pretty exhausted. I gave myself a day off on Saturday to rest and sleep up. It was a big help. Although I do not have any aches and pains due my slow build up of exercise, I did not realise how much the brick session drained me. Doing a run only yesterday felt so good!

With 7 days before the race, I am only doing a few gentle workouts with a couple of swims thrown in. I will also carb-up during the week on pasta. Although I am not a nutritionist and there are many schools of thought on endurance diets, there is something reassuring about bowls of pasta. My goal for this race, as it’s my first of the season, is to get through safely and in a reasonable time (around 3 hours). With the other four to five races planned through the summer, I will look to drop some weight and that will probably mean a more protein based diet.

Once again during this process of change, I am surprised at how easy it is to achieve a consistent change when there is a fixed target in mind. I wonder why I can’t keep this going throughout the year. Certainly, I have to put aside the excuses of busy travel schedules and packed work calendars. Even though I spent last week in rural parts of China at a friend’s wedding, I still squeezed in several treadmill runs between the continuous banqueting.

I am looking forward to this first race, and see it as the first step in my continued journey towards better health. And perhaps to a faster race time of 2hours 45 minutes!

Fitness Program Update: Still on track

Published

Warwick

on May 22, 2009

in Health

. 0 Comments

I revived my exercise program about one month ago and I have been consistently taking small steps on my running. In this time, I have had 23 exercise slots. I started by just walking, then added in a minute or two of running, and now am moving into my run/walk program. I do a 5 minute warm-up and 5 minute warm-down and now I am doing a 4 minute run / 1 minute walk module. This means that I run for 4 minutes, then walk for 1 minute. So I am running about 50% of the total time of my work out (including the warm ups and downs).

As I use a treadmill, I can work with speeds and heartrate to guide my progress. Currently I run between 9.0km/hr and 7.0km / hr. At the same time I observe my heartrate. It is currently within 50-60% of my maximum heart rate which is acceptable for base training. I talk about how to calculate your maximum heart rate here.

So now that I am building up my time running, I adjust total work-out time (20-35 mins), speed while running (my target is 10km/hr) and my heartrate (so I can do more exercise with less exertion). The biggest lesson here is that small and consistent is the only way to build up a healthy fitness level.

I also have a target for my first triathlon of the year: an Olympic distance in Suixian in Henan province in China. Here’s to a healthy year for you and your family.

Take control of your life: Drop what you don’t need

Published

Warwick

on April 24, 2009

in Health and Skills

. Closed

For as long as I can remember, I have hated gyms. As a nature lover, they stand for all the things I don’t value. Indoor life. Stuffy. Repetitive, loud music. I have never joined a gym and the only time I visit one is when I am traveling and I visit the hotel fitness center.

I just bought a gym card. Interested to how why? Why I would change my deep seated aversion to gyms? In a nutshell, it’s because this attitude wasn’t serving me anymore.

I recently moved to the suburbs of Shanghai. My preferred exercise is swimming but there are no pools nearby and although it’s outside the city center, the roads are not that great for cycling and I am still aware to avoid pollution (which brought on an asthma attack last year). I actually have a negative mindset about running to go along with my anti-gym attitude so I rarely jog outside anyway.

I have a target of competing in a couple of triathlons this year and want to beat my personal best. My target is to finish between 2 hours 30 minutes and 2 hours 51 minutes. When I looked at my resources, I found that with no pool, a busy work schedule and not much training, I had a perfect combination of excuses. I enjoyed this for a few weeks after moving, but finally got irritated enough with this inertia and still wanting to pursue my goal of completing up to 5 triathlons this year, that I had to revisit my two beliefs: I don’t like (and am not good at) running and I don’t go to gyms.

Just two minutes from my apartment is a gym equipped with the latest treadmill and cycling equipment. There is even an outside pool which opens in the summer. I challenged my previous beliefs. I set up a time to visit the facilities and - to be honest- they have some nice kit. I decide to sign up for a membership when I realised that this was the only chance for me to pursue regular exercise - essential for a healthy triathlon finish.

In a recent trip to Beijing, I also realised the benefits of combining running with treadmills. Technology is way cool. You can measure speed, heart rate and calories burned which are all useful to gradually increasing fitness. I want to avoid exercising too much too soon.

I worked out my maximum heart rate here. Importantly, I can also find out that as a beginner ( I have been inactive for way too long to have any base fitness) I should only exert my heart to 50-60% of its maximum. So now I have a heart rate target. When I am on the treadmill I can set a 30 minute jog to take me no higher than the heart rate I punch in. This helps me exercise in a very precise way that helps me bring my body up to higher levels of fitness in a sustainable way.

By opening myself up to challenge an old belief that it not serving me anymore, I realised that I could now exercise more sustainably and scientifically. Which is good because it means I can now accurately predict my times for the run section (and the cycle section when I get onto the gym bikes).

Most of all, I now have no excuse not to exercise as the gym is a couple of minutes walk away from my door. Also, a motivator for me, is that now I have paid money for the membership, I will want to make sure I can get a good return on my investment. Already this week I have started with some gentle fast walks (I record all the measurements) and can now plan an exercise program to support my goal of competing in more triathlons. Just one week ago, I really couldn’t see what I could do. But the fog has now lifted.

What belief or habit do you have that no longer serves you? They might be holding you back from living with abundance and achieving all your goals and dreaming. If you need support by working with a coach, contact me.

Set some health targets

Published

Warwick

on February 13, 2009

in Health

. 0 Comments

Ever feel annoyed, depressed, down with the world, lazy, or just lacking in energy? Chances are - in my non-medical opinion - you could do with a little more exercise. I find that whenever I let the world to get down on me, I realize that it’s been a couple of weeks since I had a good swim or cycle.

So set some health targets. Easy to set, hard to carry-out! It’s easy to say I will exercise three times a week, but why do we get so easily distracted? Very few people regularly exercise three times a week for a minimum amount of 20 minutes of aerobic exercise. But this is often cited as a minimum of exercise to keep healthy. I tried this way and it didn’t work for me. So I use a different approach - it’s more fun and has a higher chance of keeping me on track and motivated.

Set output targets (not activity targets)

The big flaw with most “x-times per week” exercise programs is that they are activity-focused and this - while being a good way to exercise - is not particularly motivating. Perhaps this explains why the vast majority of people who take out gym memberships (often in January) never go after month three. Repetitive tasks in a gym is just too boring. There are a few ways around this. One of my friends hired a physical coach to motivate her with new challenges and this can work for the duration of the coaching. I prefer an output based approach to exercise. My health goals are based around triathlon races. This year I have a target to complete four Olympic distance races from May to September. Having these races in my calendar, gives me clear targets for my exercise schedule. I know that 12 weeks out I need to be doing regular exercise and this provides me with the motivation to time block exercise into my calendar.

Set a range of performance targets

Even though I am an age-grouper (amateur) triathlete I still set a range of targets for myself. When I started out two years ago there were:

1. To finish healthy

2. To finish ahead of my training partner

3. To finish in a “good time”

4. To finish in a personal best.

It’s always my primary goal to finish healthy. I cannot afford to be in hospital on a drip for a couple of days after the race - mainly because I hate hospitals and wasting time!

If I feel good about my performance during the race, I may look out for my training partners and want to finish ahead of them. If things are really good and I feel good on the run section then I may push the run and finish in style and seek out a personal best. But simply finishing healthy is a victory. Set yourself a range of health goals that allow you to be successful across the full range. When I finished a half Ironman distance race in Hainan in 2008, it was in a much slower time than I had expected due to the blistering heat. But just to finish that race, in which many professional athletes had dropped out, was an achievement in itself.

Have fun with a group

The final tip is to join a group of people who also share the same love. Whether it’s a dancing group, the swimming or cycling club, you will draw a lot of motivation from the fact that you are surrounded by people with similar interests. Use the best performing people in these groups to spur you on. Have fun, but certainly, have some health goals this year.

The Change Catalyst