Posts tagged Training
10 Fundamentals of Creating a High Performance Settings
Jan 30th
The ten fundamental laws of having a great high performance sports system are:
- Find talented athletes (i.e. put in place a talent id program);
- Increase (effective and targeted) funding to high performance sport;
- Increase the focus on finding, training and developing world class coaches;
- Increase the focus and funding for sports science, sports medicine and analysis technologies;
- Increase the access to high quality international sporting competitions;
- Provide world class high performance sports facilities, e.g. training facilities, gymnasiums, competition venues;
- Recruit, train and retain quality sports management staff;
- Put in place ongoing “audit” and continuous improvement systems;
- Invest in the latest equipment, technology and IT;
- Manage the system through an integrated high performance sports system network – typically Academies and Institutes of Sport.
This is from a recent Sports Coaching Brain Article. Great read. However a good setting only creates a setting it does not create winning athletes.
Why Medals Matter
Nov 1st
A great take on training motivation and why you should have lofty goals instead of weak ones.
Medals Matter by Simon Whitfield
2008 Totals
Dec 31st
I nailed my SBR goals for the year:
2008 (Goals)
- 3000 Miles Cycling
- 600 Miles Running
- 150, 000 Yards Swimming
It was a good year for me. A lot of changes, most for the best. My numbers were good, and a huge change over 2007. I log everything now, have a coach, some serious goals, and a happier more fulfilling life than I started the year with. I like my life.
Simon Lessing Quote on Training
Oct 4th
“Now lot of athletes feel they can bide their time and hide behind gadgets like power taps and heart rate monitors and fundamentally lose the notion pure hard work gets you to the finish line. I see it all the time. Athletes look for the easy way out. They buy expensive equipment aero helmets training gadgets – power taps, and constantly hold themselves back. They have notion that it is easier to do it that way. But the bottom line is this is a hard sport. You have to swim, bike and run and the combination makes for a physically grueling, tough sport. There is nothing like hard work.” –Simon Lessing
While I think this holds true, the gadgets can help if you use them properly, but I do read race reports all of the time from people trying to hold back and lower their HR and their Watts, I go full out and races and I have always figured if I blow up, I messed up in training, not in racing.
Ice Baths
Aug 28th
The first time I had a ice bath was two months ago, since then I have been using them on any bike rides 2+hours, and any runs over 7miles. The next day I always feel great. I ran 15miles recently, and felt good enough the day after to still train.
They help recovery time, by contracting your blood vessels and slowing blood flow. When you then warm up, blood quickly rushes back and helps ‘clean’ out waste by-products of the damage done by running, working out, riding hard. Anytime you work out you create micro-tears and essentially destroy your muscle. You then get bigger, stronger, faster during the recovery process.
I fill the tub, with cold water and then add ice. Sometimes if I dont have ice I just use cold water. I can easily stand the cold water only. The ice adds a good amount of extra chill, I enjoy the baths. Some people can not stand the cold as well, and dress warm up top. I choose not too, and will even eat a post-workout PB&J sandwich while I sit/lounge.
When I was in Hungary a few years ago, I went to a bath house, and then had a horse shoe shaped ice bath, that was designed for people to walk into and then quickly out. I loved staying in there, until I would almost black out and then going back into the saunas.
More Info:
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=8731
http://speedendurance.com/2008/05/11/ice-baths-for-workout-recovery/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/health_and_fitness/4286038.stm