Jun 23, 2015
Ahhhh…The stress of Life, Weather, Food and More…
Ever wonder how a coach comes up with a training plan for you? Well, it’s based on the theory of adaptation. You apply a stimulus and through a series of changes the body adapts. The process is actually very complex through muscular changes, cellular changes, and thorough recovery, but the goal is to change the body in some way. Unfortunately, your body doesn’t know the difference between training stress, work stress, family stress, nutrition stress, and heat stress. Too much stress and your body doesn’t respond, and in fact it goes the other way. With so many triathletes having big races coming up in the late summer and fall, it is imperative to understand the effect that stress can have on your training days. Ever tried Mile repeats after working 8-10 hours on your feet and answering questions all day? Ever tried a 3 hour tempo bike in the 90 degree heat after poor nutrition the night before? We can’t control some aspects of our careers or things that come up in LIFE, but what CAN we control to assure a great day in the training realm? We can control our emotional state before a workout…no need to get all excited about a hard bike or run – that only has an effect on cortisol levels and everbody will respond differently. Nutrition is everything…if we take in carbs before a run, the way our body works is different than if it was running on our own fat stores. Taking in no fuel during a long bike will severely deplete the protein stores and affect recovery and adaptation. Ensuring proper recovery with a protein/carb mix 30 minutes after a workout will help provide the building blocks for adaptation. What about our summer friend, the heat and humidity?! Muscle recruitment from the very start of a workout is changed in the heat, and the needs of the muscles are different during this time of year. Recovery and sleep are huge!Everyone is affected differently by stress and has different reserves, and everyone’s lives are different and have stress in different forms. While we can’t control everything, learn what you can to ensure a great training day and proper adaptation. When “life” gets in the way, then dial back and monitor nutrition, sleep, and recovery even more. As coaches we want to individualize the process to ensure each athlete “adapts” appropriately for their goals. Understand how your life is at the moment and we can adapt what we can control. As silly as it sounds, we want you to be the best YOU that YOU can be because in the immortal words of Dr. Seuss: “Today you are you! That is truer than truer than true! There is no one alive who is youer than you!”
Coach Sami
Grandma’s Marathon: Shay Hutchings: 3:18 Huge PR! Sporting purple power arm warmers and being totally relaxed in all new shoes and clothing. (the airlines lost his luggage). Nothing was going to affect this cool Rockstar! Coach Kristen Smith for another solid Marathon at 3:48. She has her eyes set on the big race in SWEDEN!Blueberry 5K: Bringing home the hardware was Lynda Smith with a 5K PR, and Roxanne Pearson and Ashley Frank for beating the heat! Ashley took 2nd in her age group and she’s not stopping there!
Lots of the Without Limits Team out there biking at the Tour De Blueberry and having some fun putting in miles, helping others train, and just representing!
Eileen Gonzalezs – 64 miler
Lauren Stephenson – 32 miler
Jack Carroll – 64 miler
Stephanie Crews – 64 mile + 16!
Beth Brampton – 32 miler
Holly Cunningham: her longest bike ever at 64 miles
Lisa Kerr: her longest bike ever at 64 miles
Kelli Kerkhoff
Chad Towne
Sue Bark
Clark Wadlow
Matt Wisthoff
Lawrence Landrigan
Susan Shafer
Lauren Stephenson – 32 miler
Jack Carroll – 64 miler
Stephanie Crews – 64 mile + 16!
Beth Brampton – 32 miler
Holly Cunningham: her longest bike ever at 64 miles
Lisa Kerr: her longest bike ever at 64 miles
Kelli Kerkhoff
Chad Towne
Sue Bark
Clark Wadlow
Matt Wisthoff
Lawrence Landrigan
Susan Shafer
Our athletes have been training hard in this heat and keep positive. It’s hot training days like these that will make us stronger
and faster when we get some cooler weather. Until then, we make the best out of it and stay hydrated!
Brooks Smith and Shawn Horton had a great race in Roanoke Rapids at the Roanoke Canal Half Marathon. It was a tough trail race and proved to be more like an obstacle course race. They both had a great time and said that adding strength into their training plan has made a huge difference. Way to push through in the heat!