Recovery

I'm sure we all have heard this word over and over in Endurance Sport, most of the time it goes in one ear and out the other. About 10 years ago I was lucky to be around Irish 3k/5k/10k record holder Mark Carroll. He also ran 2:10 in New York not to long ago, after dealing with some injuries he retired from International Competition and now Coaches at Auburn. Anyway our Coach at the time was Brother John Dooley (in my mind one of the best Junior coaches in Irish History) Well Bro Dooley always talked about the important of recovery and we used Heart Rate monitors on hard workouts and to take our resting HR which we recorded along with our weight/mileage and food in our logs which he looked over weekly. As much detail as possible to see how our bodies were handling the training volume and lifestyle stresses. Back to Mark ! he would stress the importance of running really easy on recovery days to allow your body to absorb the work from hard sessions. I would think, really this guy runs 7:30 for 3k and then runs 7:30min-7:00min pace on his easy days ?? It didn't make sense to me, until some 9 years later I fully started to understand the meaning of RECOVERY. If your confident in your body and your ability you don't need to go hard day in and day out in training. Everything needs to have a purpose and RECOVERY has a major purpose in you getting stronger. There is a good chance the person winning the race your in, is not the one who is training the faster or the most he knows his body the best and trains the smartest. We need to be in tune with our body and know when it is time to push hard in training and when to fully recover.
Recover is not just rest, its about been smart and using all in your power to get your body stronger. Something to remember after you crush a good workout is your less fit when you done with the session, as you just brokedown your body. Now its time to rebuild and repair. For me its straight to the water bottle to drink down my Endurox R4.
http://www.accelsport.com/product-info/EnduroxR4.html
It has the prefect mix of 4:1 carbohydrate to protein to assist my body get recovered and allow me to become stronger,faster and fitter.

So train smart and ask yourself about is the purpose of the workout ?

RW

The Script - Rusty halo

What a day today !
It ranks as the best of the year so far. So many positive things goes on right now. Music is a big part of my life, especially Irish bands. U2, Snow Patrol and The Script are top of the list.
Sometimes when you listen to an Album there are the obvious hits that you like and they get all the play. I've seen The Script live twice and "Rusty Halo" has become one of my favorite song off their first Album, the song has so much energy and so much meaning for me.

"Everyone's running from something
But we don't know when it's coming
So we keep running and running gotta"

I feel like its coming so hopefully I get to shine my Rusty Halo in 2011.

Below is a video of the boys, if you want to check out the song.

Interview Friday: Shawn Johns

One of my ageless training partners bust on the Tri scene in 2010. An interesting guy and a man who loves to workout. Lets find some more out about Shawn.

Give us some background on yourself ?: I am an Alaskan Native and Sioux Indian that was raised in the town my dad grew up in Juneau, Alaska. I started running with my parents during the 1970's running boom.

Rumor has it that you are making the jump to the Ironman in 2011. Can you confirm and explain the reason why?: There are a few reasons why I am making the jump to the full ironman distance in 2011. One, early in the 2010 season, we both spoke about signing up for a full ironman and qualifying for Kona. That was what got the idea going. And two, now that I have raced Clearwater in 2010, I thought I would set a new goal in 2011 and try and qualify for the Ford Ironman in Kona, Hawaii.

Last year, you had a pretty good season. What in your mind was the highlight ?: My biggest accomplishment was placing 3rd in the 45 to 49 age group division at Ochsner Ironman 70.3 New Orleans, LA. and qualifying for Foster Grant Ironman World Championship 70.3 Clearwater, FL. That was my biggest highlight of the season......an excuse to go to one of Florida's nicest beaches! One other highlight was racing a PR there in 4:21:57. That was good for 16th place in my division. Hopefully, I can do better, I think I have lots to learn, this is only my second season racing triathlons.

What are your goal for the 2011 season?: On May 7th, I will race my first full ironman at St. George, UT. I hope to place high enough in my division to earn a qualifying spot for Kona.

You are always on the 7am and 10am DC Velo rides. Two local Bad Asses Chuck Hutch and The Muscle always are pushing the pace. Who do you prefer to follow in a break away and have a chat with ?: My first answer is, you don't want to be the guy following either of them. But if I have to chose it would be Langley, he actually will let up a little to let you go by. With Chuck, forget it if he is on is TT bike! Its always good to talk to Chuck, he always has words of racing wisdom if you ask. He can't help it he lives for racing! Or is it racing to live!

Been Native American, I'm sure Billy Mills was a role model for you. Also you probably have watched Mill's amazing final lap from 1964 many times. Have you even had a race finish were you untapped your inner strength to kick like Mills?: Not like that, never! How could you, this guy was racing for a gold medal! My greatest kick and finishing 1st was my senior year of high school, when I won the region five cross country championships in Ketchikan, Alaska. I went out in first and stayed in first and won by 2 seconds.

How is your Training going right now?: I am in the phase of adding volume on top of volume! Last week I did my longest ride of the new season. I rode both the 7am DC Velo ride and 10am rock creek ride for a total of 114 miles when I got home. Last week my longest run was a 11 miler and today my new longest run is a 14 miler. As for swimming I am now pushing 14,000 meters a week. Soon that will go to 16,000 meters a week. Goals are to get swimming to 16,000+ meters a week, biking to 300+ miles a week and running to 40 to 50 miles a week.

What is one piece of training equipment that you can't live without?: That's funny you ask that question, I was just thinking today about how my road bike is my go to training partner. Have you ever seen the movie with Mel Gibson, "We Were Soldiers?" In the movie, Mel tells his soldiers that the Sioux had their horses in battle and that they, the soldiers, would have the helicopters. He said, referring to the helicopters, "Men, and this will be our HORSE!" As a Sioux, living in the city, I call my road bike my modern day horse.

Your a young spirit and love to log the yards and miles. Do you see yourself riding your bike at 90?: Yeah. If my knees don't give out and I can still see.

Finally, have you ever set the dogs on anyone?: Oh, you remember, I have two Jack Russell terriers. No, I have never let them go after anyone or thing. They are to unpredictable in what they are capable of doing, so I have to keep them close. At times they do run out my front door and get after what ever is flying down the road....................and they are wicked fast!

Cheers mate. We are expecting some wicked fast running out of you this year !

Robbie

One Step Closer

Monday was Martin Luther King Day. I ran a small 10km race with my buddy Zac to check our fitness and for me to knock out a time for the European Duathlons which are in Limerick, Ireland this year. This race is my focus for the next 90 days. I was lucky to have the one and only Mike Wardian to run with and help me hit the pace. Mike is a great guy, we set out with the goal of running 5:12-5:14 which was what I needed to run a sub 32:30 effort to show my fitness is coming along. I ended up 31:58 and felt decent.

More exciting news is I have pretty more finalized my racing schedule for this year. I got to say triathlon is really hot right now there are so many great opportunities for people to race. A few are in my backyard and will be priority races for me. So watch this space for the list ! Check out the new 5150 series.

Last week was a great week of training, I got some good work done. Highlight of the week was the Saturday 7am DC Velo ride, I had so much fun riding off the front with Chuck (charleshutcheson.blogspot.com) and an exciting up and coming Dutch pro rider Nick Mulder http://www.nickmulderracing.com/ .

Just like my other two sports, I'm feeling my cycling is coming around and I'm getting into bike shape. I sometimes wonder, what is I just biked and didn't run or swim. Instead of logging 80-120 miles a week and did 300+. We all have those what if questions ! Maybe in 10 years I will be a Cat 1 and just ride my bike. Lets call it phase 3 of my sports Career. Until then I have a master plan to get the best out of myself in triathlons.

Enjoy your training and remember to thanks your Training Partners.

Robbie