Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club - Training Tips

August 20th, 2007

Tapering TipsAs you prepare for the upcoming triathlon, now is the time you need to start thinking about tapering. Tapering usually begins the week before your event day. Decrease volume and keep up the intensity. This is the motto you should use in you’re swimming, biking and run workouts.Complete rest or even slow training will NOT better your performance. Speed and power are the two things you lose first from your fitness when work load is decreased, so these must be your focus during this week before the event. Include short bursts of intense effort in all your workouts with lots of recovery time in between. This week you should not be doing any weight training. You don’t want to be tearing down muscle tissue or even try to maintain strength. Also be careful with your diet. Since you will be reducing your workouts your caloric intake should reflect that reduction. I suggest taking the two days before your event completely off. I also would recommend not introducing any new foods to your diet. Stick with food that you’re used to and drink plenty of water (not sports drinks) and get a good night sleep.The day before your event is usually when I recommend doing a combo bike-run workout. Keep it short. Anywhere from 20 min to 30 min on the bike and then a 10 min to 15 min run. All you want to do is get warmed up and include a couple of accelerations in each sport.Keep eating foods that are normal to you and drink your water. Avoid the temptation to try new sports foods and drinks at the event expo, and don’t overeat today. Do dinner a little earlier than normal and try to stay away from roughage.Event Day NutritionWhether you’re a novice triathlete or a veteran to the multisport world, here are a few tips you should remember for event day. Make sure to eat anywhere between 2 to 3 hours prior to your event. Eat something that you are used to eating, like what you’ve been eating before your longer training days. It should have approximately 200 calories. This is really not the time to try new things. Continue drinking water thru the morning and save the sport drinks for later. If your event is shorter than one and a half hours you really don’t need anything more than an electrolyte drink during the event. However, if you are going over that 1 ½ hours you will need to start replacing your fuel stores. Your needs are dependant on your weight and gastrointestinal processes, but it’s usually between 150 to 400 calories an hour. Hopefully you already have a plan that you’ve been practicing in your training. Post event you should just make sure you eat within a ½ hour of finishing and continue drinking fluids to replace water and salts that you’ve lost during your event. How can Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club and

Santa Barbara Athletic Club help you with triathlon training?Masters swim programs with superior coachingPrivate swim lessons for improving your stroke and techniqueSpinning classes and Life Fitness stationary bikes for training on bad weather days Startrac Treadmills for speed workExcellent community of triathletes at the clubsCertified Personal Trainers and CoachesComplete Weight Training AreaMassage TherapistsYoga & Pilates for balancing your bodyRegistered dietician on staff

Call the club today for a tour and a free trial pass!

Liz Groom

USAT Triathlon Level One Coach

NASM Personal Trainer

ssslizpt@hotmail.com

or Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club (805)964-7762 ext.44

 

COAC – (805) 964-7762SBAC – (805) 966-6147

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