Winter Focus: Triathlete's Training Bible Product Review

The off season is a great time to relax, recharge, and find focus and motivation for the upcoming training push into next year. This year I undertook some "light" reading compliments of my friends at TriSports.com. It was a fun experience to read about training from another perspective and to connect the dots of what could be missing to maximize my training. Read below for my take on the "Training Bible".

The Triathlete’s Training Bible : 4th Edition – TriSports.com Product Review

Background of the Triathlete’s Training Bible:

Joe Friel made his mark on triathlon long ago with his first edition of The Triathlete’s Training Bible, and to his great credit, he did not stop growing when he achieved success with his first book.  Sports Science is an evolving field a lot like nutrition and other fields that try to identify  what can be done to maximize the ability of the human body.  As he mentions in the foreword, this book is for “high performance” and is meant for those who have some understanding of what it takes to train for triathlon regularly.  As a doctor of physical therapy and certified strength and conditioning specialist , I thought this book would provide an interesting read and an opportunity to  compare the current exercise science research with the information provided in this book.

Key takeaways on what the training bible can teach a triathlete:

1. Succeeding in triathlon requires work on the mind and the body.   Proper goals, focus, and purpose are as important as training volume, intensity, and rest.
2. Determine the Three Physical Metrics to determine fitness:  Aerobic Capacity, Anaerobic Threshold, and Economy.  Develop your basic abilities, aerobic endurance, muscular force, and speed skills, then your advanced abilities, muscular endurance, anaerobic endurance, and sprint power, in order to improve your physical metrics.
3. Learn  to manage your training load.  Utilize tools of pace charts, heart rate, and power to create zones of training that allow you to apply an appropriate training stress and also successfully rest.  In the book you will be able to use the information to create your custom zones.
4. Plan your year based on your goals and your longest race/A race for that year.  Then drill down to determine training periodization with weekly volume and finally daily planning.
5. Develop triathlon specific skills early to gain your competitive edge as it takes less time to maintain those skills after they are learned.  Use warm ups to practice motor patterns and hone your skills.
6. Mimic sport specific motions during weight lifting to maximize the benefit of your gym/strength training time

Why I like this book and recommend it:

I’m a firm believer that many athletes know just enough about sports science and nutrition to be caught in fads and poor training regimens.  For most triathletes, this book is as good as taking an entry level exercise physiology class in college.  It’s important to take the time to gain full and diverse knowledge about your body and training.   From this book, a triathlete can acquire an improved in-depth understanding of how the body adapts to loads of training, during rest, and to periodization which will help the athlete listen to their body with improved success and less guessing.   Triathletes can learn about all of the concepts of training during the preliminary chapters of the training bible.  Knowing how and why the body responds to training allows an athlete to find increased value in what sometimes seem like endless hours of training and commitment.  Once these foundations of knowledge are established, the reader is then provided with workouts and explanations of workouts in order to apply those concepts.  Examples of brick workouts and ideas of how to vary training are found in the appendices.  Personally, I love how Friel lays out specific workouts for each of the abilities that a successful athlete needs; this allows the reader to further test themselves and improve specific weaknesses.  We all avoid certain types of workouts that are our least favorite but this book can help you understand if what you’re avoiding is actually a true weakness as well.  Bottom line: Utilizing the training practices in the book will allow triathletes to specialize, properly overload, and adapt their training for maximum benefit and time efficiency.  

Happy Swimming, Biking, and Running!

The Runner's Tea: Athlete Review

After discovering The Runner's Tea from a friend a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be accepted as a member of "The Runner's Tea(m)" and I have been trying it out on a regular basis the last few weeks to see how my now frequent coffee replacement holds up in terms of energy, performance, and to other teas I have tried.

The Runner's Tea makes three distinctly different teas with two matcha based teas (powdered ceremonial grade green tea) - Ginger Berry and Citrus Mint - and one oolong based tea - Recovery Tea.  The teas contain additional flavoring from combinations of mint, cinnamon, ginger, tumeric, ginseng, orange peel, cayenne, lemon balm, hibiscus, and lemon grass.  Matcha Tea, at least in the athletic circles I am in, is one of the hottest health crazes out there, giving the other craze for beet juice good competition.  A quick internet search will tell you that Matcha, or powdered green tea leaves, provides a much higher level of antioxidants than traditional green tea, as well as specific properties that improve memory, concentration, and endurance.  Personally, I have spent enough time in healthcare that I have seen and heard of a lot of different products and methods.  I look for items that are sustainable health habits as I have no love for terrible tasting cleanse items and the like.  Tea is a well established way to achieve health benefits of antioxidants, hydration (nutrition tidbit -caffeine does not dehydrate you but they may make you run to the bathroom sooner), and a caffeine boost.

My Runner's Tea Review:

All three flavors are different and can meet an individual's needs at different times; however, my favorite is the Citrus Mint.  The Berry flavor was a bit strong for me before running, especially 30 minutes before, where I found it was a flavor I would taste at times during a run, so it didn't settle with me quite as well.  In the teas, I love the light heat from the Cayenne and feel it augments the flavor of the mellow smooth minty tea.  The recovery blend contains oolong tea, so I still go elsewhere for a pre-bed tea but the recovery blend does include one of favorite ingredients to add to any personal recovery tea: turmeric.  I add additional turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon to the recovery blend which I find augments a relaxing flavor and a little extra anti-inflammatory punch.  That said, I don't partake in any caffeinated tea after 3 pm - so it is not a tea I drink before my occasional recovery naps in the afternoon.

Performance-wise, I feel good after drinking The Runner's Tea, I have energy and no difficulty keeping it down when running soon after.  I found indigestion to be a problem with coffee too soon before a run, while this tea settles well.  The mint may be the primary reason it is smooth and calm in the stomach once it goes down.  Overall, my race performances haven't changed, and I wouldn't expect replacing my caffeine source to lead me to immediate PRs, but a healthy alternative that is easy on the stomach puts me at ease that I won't be holding onto my gut in regret mid-race.  The peace of mind that you aren't overdoing it with caffeine or chemically energy drinks is nice to have.

All-in-all the price is fantastic for a premium tea and especially with the continually rising matcha prices.  If you are looking for something that tastes good, has additonal health benefits, can help stave off inflammation and upset stomach, and will also provide a caffeine and performance boost then I'd definitely recommend giving it a try at www.therunnerstea.com where you can get 10% off with the code: RTNIC2015

Happy Tea Drinking and Happy Running!  Cheers!