Tri Zones Training

Tri Hard, Live Easy Newsletter -- April 17

Tri Zones Training would like to welcome you to the Tri Hard, Live Easy Newsletter! You will receive this newsletter every week during the spring triathlon season, between now and Danskin (June 8). Here you will find news and information about training, details about upcoming events and workshops, and a Training Tip of the Week. Through this newsletter, we hope to inform you of the many resources available to you while you train for spring triathlons including Danskin, Skeese Greets Women’s Tri, The Rookie, and CapTexTri. For more information about training resources, visit our web site at www.trizones.com. And feel free to forward this newsletter to any of your friends who are training for triathlons this spring!

This Week:
1. Skeese Greets Women’s Tri – early bird deadline has been extended through Sunday!
2. News 8 Austin to feature Tri Zoners every Sunday between now and Danskin
3. Donate your old formal dresses!
4. Pure Austin Splash & Dash Summer Series
5. Question of the Week - "Should we be incorporating weight training into our routines?"
6. Upcoming training events and workshops
7. Training Tip of the Week – the BIKE

1. Skeese Greets Women’s Tri – early bird deadline has been extended through Sunday!
The Skeese Greets Women’s Tri, on May 18, is a great little triathlon where you can “tri” it all out and see how your training is coming along!!  It will be extremely beginner-friendly, with a small participant pool (no more than 500 women) and short distances (300m swim, 11-mile bike, and 2-mile run).  Produced by Stacy Keese and the terrific folks at Jack and Adam’s, you know this will be one VERY FUN and well-organized race!  The early bird deadline has been extended through Sunday – register early and save $10!  For more information, go to www.skeesegreetstri.com.

2. News 8 Austin to feature Tri Zoners every Sunday between now and Danskin
News 8’s Veronica Castelo is training with the Tri Zones Training South Women’s team and has been bringing her camera with her to the workouts!  She will be hosting a weekly series that follows her training, and that of other Tri Zoners, on a weekly segment called Ladies Without Limits.

This Sunday, April 20, is the first of the Ladies Without Limits series!  It will begin airing in the 4:00pm hour (Veronica said probably about 4:12), and will air every hour for 24 hours (through the 3:00pm hour of Monday, April 21).  Veronica said that this Sunday will be a medley of training and race footage.

Next Sunday (April 27) will begin a series of profiles on Tri Zones team members!! The first person to be featured will be Cassie Burt, of the South Women's team. Then Veronica said she'll likely feature two or three more women (one per week), then do a segment on swim, then one on bike, and one on run, and so on. 

The Ladies Without Limit series will air every Sunday (starting in the 4:00pm hour, and running once an hour for 24 hours) from now until Danskin.  Tune in to News 8 to watch highlights of our spring training season! 

3. Donate your old formal dresses!
The 'Specially for Children section of the Dell Children's Hospital is seeking our help!

The First Annual Hungry Bunch Prom will be Saturday, May 10, 6-9pm at the Dell Auditorium at Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas.  They are currently seeking donations of fancy dresses to be able to provide a shopping party for the girls to come and pick out a free dress (being on treatment for cancer or a chronic blood illness can be a huge financial stressor for families so they didn't want to add an additional, unnecessary expense for them).

 Dresses of all sizes are needed, as the program is open to patients 12 years and older.

"One of the biggest reasons we are sponsoring a prom for these teens is very often these patients do not have the opportunity to go to their school proms because they are sick or may not feel comfortable attending if they are dealing with visible side effects of treatment (one of the biggest ones being hair loss).  Or they don't live long enough to their junior and senior years when they are able to go to their proms.  It's the first time we are doing it so we don't have a very big prom budget so are going to rely on lots of donations.  Any assistance you could provide to help us get more prom dresses to be able to provide more choices to the girls would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again for your interest!" Cynthia Fitchpatrick , childlife specialist.

If you are interested in donating a dress, you have several options:

• Please drop it by the Austin Film Festival office at 1145 W. 5th Street, Suite 210, Austin, TX 78703 (Monday – Friday, 10am-6pm, 478-4795) by Friday, April 25 at noon
• You can drop if off at Love, 1000 S. 1st Street Tuesday-Friday from 11 am -6pm.  April 11-23. 
• Call Cynthia Fitchpatrick at 671-0016 to get directions to bring them to the outpatient Children's Blood and Cancer Clinic.

4. Pure Austin Splash & Dash Summer Series
The Splash & Dash is a multisport event held at Quarry Lake at Pure Austin North. The swim will be one loop of the lake (approx. 750m) and 3 loops on the running trail (approx 3 km). Wave starts will be utilized, depending upon the total number of participants. Water and other nutrition products will be available. Please bring your own swim gear & running gear. Swim caps are required. Results will be posted online. Awards/Prizes for the top finishers.

100% of your entry fee goes back to you. The $10 covers the cost of insurance, safety personnel, and supplies. The rest will be used to prime the post event picnic. Stick around for hot dogs, chips, and tasty beverages! Bring your own food and drink and you may use the grill.

Lifeguards and safety personnel will be present, but this is not an event for first time open water swimmers. Noodles, swim buoys, or other swim aides are not permitted.

Upcoming dates: Every 3rd Tuesday of the month, April through September starting at 6 PM (4/15, 5/20, 6/17, 7/15, 8/19, 9/16) For more information, go to http://www.highfiveevents.com/events/splash-n-dash/

5. Question of the Week - "Should we be incorporating weight training into our routines?"
Strength training can definitely be very beneficial.  But for beginners, sometimes it's hard enough to fit in one or two swim, bike, and run workouts each week. If you have experience in doing the sports AND in making it all fit in your schedule, adding strength training can reap big rewards.

If you’re going to include weight training in your regimen, you should do several sets of lower weight -- that's better for enhancing your strength without adding lots of muscle mass and bulk. The opposite would be high weight with one or two sets -- to exhaustion... this is good for body-builders and football players, not so good for triathletes.

One thing to consider is what kind of strength work you're doing and how it will affect your next workout. For example, you wouldn't want to do an upper body strength workout in the morning and then go do a swim workout that evening.  Or you wouldn’t want to do a lower body strength workout on Tuesday only to do a hilly hilly bike ride on Wednesday.  So it takes a lot of balance and smarts - I'd recommend working with a personal training who can integrate strength training into your workout calendar.

An easier way to do it may be to incorporate resistance work into your swim, bike, and run workouts:
Swim - paddles, kickboards, etc.
Bike and run -- HILLS!

If you only have a small amount of time for strength training, it may be better to focus on CORE strength.  That reaps benefits in so many ways -- having a strong core helps increase stability, improves form, and reduces injuries.

6. Upcoming training events and workshops
Yoga for Runners and Cyclists Workshop
April 19, 2:00pm, Austin Kula Yoga, $30
If you often feel stiff after workouts, you know you need to work on flexibility but don't make the time, or just want to avoid getting injured, this is the workshop for you! We will work on breath control, body awareness, and yoga postures to stretch the body and mind and bring more clarity and focus to your workouts. You will walk away with a yoga routine you can use for life! www.austinkulayoga.com

Pre-Season Triathlon Clinic
April 19, 1:00 or 3:00, Jack and Adam’s
Join fellow triathletes for a seminar that discusses the basics of triathlon training and racing for both beginner and advanced athletes.  You will learn tips from USAT Certified Triathlon Coaches and local pros for how to enhance your training and improve your performance over the 2008 Tri Season.  Short distance:  1:00 – 2:30.  Long distance:  3:00 – 4:30.  Topics will include:  equipment, tri distances, transitions, training options, nutrition, injury prevention, and setting up your season. http://www.austint3.com/t3/jaclinics.htm

Hill Country Running Company Grand Opening Party
April 19, 10:00am – 6:00pm, 215 South Lamar, Suite E
We'll have an informal fun run, food, drinks, give-aways, and much more!
Schedule of events:
10:00 a.m. - Doors open
11:00 a.m. - Informal run on LBJ Lake Trail
12:00 p.m. - Free food and drinks available from Austin Pizza and Sweet Leaf Tea, Etonic will provide beer, Nuun-tinis for sipping, plus water and more! Our neighbor Lift Cafe will be doing free smoothie samples for everyone as well!
12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. - Drawings every 15 minutes, including free items from: AVIA, Etonic,Timex, Clif Bar, Pearl Izumi, Moving Comfort, Inov-8, Nuun, Austin Pizza and more!
5:30 p.m. - Grand prize drawing for a complete AVIA shoe and running kit!
All day long there be tons of free swag, shirts, bottles, and more!
www.hillcountryrunningcompany.com

Texas Round-Up 10K, 5K, and Family Mile
April 26, 8:00am, 9th and Congress
The Texas Round-Up is a statewide initiative that strives to improve the health of Texas through education and promotion of physical activity and healthy living. www.texasroundup.org

Hill Country Ride for AIDS
April 26, 8:30am, Krause Springs
You'll experience some of the most breathtaking scenery in Texas, along with a group of riders and volunteers that make the event feel less like a competitive race and more like a family reunion. There is a 10 mile Muleshoe Route, a 50 Mile Main Route, and a 20 Mile Olympic Extension Spur Route, totaling 70 Miles. So challenge yourself. Make a difference. Support your community. And get ready to have the time of your life!  In addition to the Ride, we have a new way for kids and the entire family to enjoy the Hill Country Ride with the 2008 Kids Safari Adventure! We will have fun games and challenges for all levels and abilities of kids 4-12 at several different stations or “pit stops.” www.hillcountryride.org

Ranger Triathlon
April 27, 8:00am, Texas School for the Deaf
The Ranger Triathlon is a USAT sanctioned event that is being hosted to benefit the Texas School for the Deaf Physical Education Programs. The purpose of the Ranger Triathlon will be to offer kids ages 7 years and older and "first time adults" the opportunity to experience a multi-sport event in a safe and positive environment. While competition is always part of any race, it is not the primary focus of this race. The main focus for the participants their families and the community is to have FUN! www.rangertri.com
Distances:
Juniors (7-10) 100m Swim/3 mile Bike/. 5 mile Run
Seniors (11-14) 200m Swim/6 mile Bike/1 mile Run
Adults (15 and up) 200m Swim/6 mile Bike/2 mile Run

7. Training Tip of the Week – the BIKE
The most important step towards having a good bike ride is comfort.  Does your bike fit you properly?  Is the seat high enough?  Are your handlebars at the proper height and distance?  Does the position of your seat need to be adjusted?  All of these are important factors towards having a comfortable ride.  And you’ll get more power with each pedalstroke if your bike fits you properly.  Take your bike to any local bike store and ask for a bike fit. 

Many beginners ride on mountain bikes – at a beginner-friendly race like Danskin, you’ll see at least 50 – 60% of cyclists on mountain bikes or hybrids.  If you are riding a mountain bike, you might want to consider purchasing slicks – those are slick tires that will make your bike go faster than if you use the knobby tires.

Many race courses in central Texas are quite hilly.  It is important to know how to shift gears on your bike so you can go up and down the hills more easily. Rather than coasting, you’ll want to go ahead and use your bigger gears and keep pedaling while going downhilll so you gain momentum that will carry you partway up the next hill.

It’s best to maintain a cadence of about 90 rpm (you pedal 90 times per minute) while you cycle, regardless of how fast the bike is actually moving.  If your cadence is much faster than that, you’ll feel like you’re pedaling wildly out of control and you might start bouncing in your seat.  If your cadence is much slower than that, you’re pushing in a gear that’s too hard and you’ll tire your legs too much for the upcoming run.  Change your gears so that the amount of resistance you feel as you pedal is just right for maintaining a cadence of 90.

If you haven’t been doing so already, it’s time to practice drinking from your water bottle while you’re riding.  It’s important to stay hydrated during a triathlon, but it is more important to ride safely and not swerve every time you look or reach towards you water bottle. Practice before the event, or consider a personal hydration system that you can wear on your back. The bike ride is the best time to be drinking water or sports drink, because it's too late to drink while you're on the run course.  A good rule of thumb is to empty at least one full water bottle during the bike leg of the race.  In your training rides, challenge yourself to have an empty water bottle at the end of each ride.

On race day, you must have your helmet on your head and buckled at the chin before you even touch your bike to take it out of the transition area.  Walk your bike to the bike exit of the transition area and look for a line on the ground, called the “mount line” (there will be volunteers there to point it out to you).  Both of your wheels must be across this line before you are allowed to mount your bike.  Please do not stop right where you are to mount your bike – be aware of the athletes behind you and to the side of you.  Sometimes it’s best to walk your bike a little off to the side before you get on.

During the race, be sure to ride single file and to the right.  It is against the rules, makes it difficult to pass, and is simply dangerous to ride two-abreast during a race (or three-abreast, or four-abreast – which has happened!).  If you need to pass someone, always pass on the left (never on the right!) and do so quickly.  It’s helpful to call “Passing on your left” as you go by.  As soon as you pass, be sure to move back to the right side of the lane.  If you hear someone calling “on your left” as they’re passing you, be sure to hold a straight line as they pass.  This is not the time to reach for your water bottle or do anything else that might cause you to veer off position.

Use your gears to get up and down the hills with a comfortable cadence.  Your legs will thank you during the run.  And enjoy the scenery – most bike segments are beautiful rides!  Take time to look around and enjoy the scenery.

As you approach the end of the ride, during the last half mile or so, shift down to a lower gear and spin easily – this will redirect some of the blood flow in your legs and allow you to have a better run.  Some people even stand up on the pedals and coast for a few meters, tensing and relaxing different muscles.

As you approach the transition area, look for the dismount line (volunteers will be telling you to stop and dismount).  You must be off your bike before your front wheel crosses the dismount line. 

Congratulations!  You just finished the bike portion of the triathlon!  Two-thirds of the way there!!

 

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If you have questions about triathlons, submit them on the discussion forum at www.trizones.com. Happy training!