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Coping With Covid – A Race Director’s Perspective (Fitspeek 106)

If you are spending some time on the road this Canada Day why not take Fitspeek along with you. This week’s feature interview is with one of those rare people in our country who actually makes a living from triathlon.

Calgary’s Angie Woodhead is the owner and race director for Dynamic Race Events. Of course with Covid 19 this year, there isn’t any racing going on so how does she deal with the financial hit that she has been dealt? You’ll find out in our interview!

We also chat about how she became the race director as well as how those tough decisions to cancel the races this year were made.

And because summer is here, in our Fit Tip of the Week, I have some sound advice on how to handle those warm weather runs that you’ll be doing. Rounding out the show is Mikey’s Top 5 List. The ATC head coach will be sharing some of his favourite pre and post race foods. Hear it all now by pressing play below.

Helping you get to the finish line of your fastest, or first event is Tri*Joy } The Spirit of Multisport. E-mail us for a free Zoom consultation and goal-setting session to get on the road to fun and fitness. kknnheinze@yahoo.com

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Fitspeek 100: Robert Johnson’s Undefeated Season

Fitspeek celebrates episode 100 with BC’s King of Shortcourse Triathlon, Robert Johnson. Johnson dominated every race he did last year and had a perfect track record, most impressively scoring the overall win at the National Championships in Kelowna.

In our conversation we examine not only his wins but also we reflect on how he approached his season and how that made it extra enjoyable.

To kick off the show, ATC Coach Mikey Ross is back for another Top Five List. Mikey gives suggestions about how to harvest the gift of time that many people have been given, as a result of this health crisis. Listen to it now by pressing play below.

Fitspeek is brought to you by Tri*Joy} The Spirit of Multisport. We remind you to wash your hands (try vinegar!) before and after you go to buy those healthy groceries. And when we are given the all clear, we would love to help you get to your first or fastest finish line. Based in Mission, BC, we are your local triathlon coaching service.

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And in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.

Kenny Rogers sang in his hit “The Gambler” you gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, know when to run.

I think of those lyrics quite often in my training for triathlon. Having been both a coached and a self-coached athlete in my 29 years in the sport, I am sometimes thinking of whether I am going too hard, too easy, too short, or too long, in my training sessions. Even with a plan in place, the mind can drift, the body can revolt the soul can wander and wonder.

There’s a lot of causes for this deviance. Sometimes it’s when I am training with people and I want to keep up or stay social. Sometimes it’s when I had shitty or inappropriate food in the couple of hours leading up to a session. Sometimes, it’s when I’ve been a bozo and not had anything to eat before a substantial workout. Sometimes it’s when I have more important stuff to do. Sometimes it’s on the verge of getting injured or sick.

So, what to do, what to do??? That’s where decades of experience and confidence can come into play. The universal training axiom of “consistency over time = success” is always the first thing to consider. It really can cut through the laziness and negative self-talk bullshit that we tell ourselves in those critical minutes, which I believe are the 10 minutes before and the first 10 minutes of a session. Those 20 minutes will usually determine if you do the workout, if you cut it short, or if you modify it on the fly. None of these three choices are evil things, unless of course they constitute more than about 10% of your training sessions. If it is more than that, then you’ll need to do some honest reflection regarding your current training program.

But how do you make that decision? If it is your body telling you NO, that’s a pretty easy decision to make. Unless it isn’t. And what I mean by that is, what if your mind is lying to your body? The best way to sort things out is to put on your favorite workout music, get into your workout wear, and go give it a try. (of course this won’t work if you are doing a swim session) I call it the 5 minute rule. If your body is still protesting, then pulling the plug is most likely the wisest choice. If, however, you are just feeling lazy or sluggish, it’s a good idea to persevere but just for another 5 minutes. After that 5 minutes, reassess how you and your body are feeling. Chances are your body will be ok with the session but your mind needs something to change. That’s when I like to honour that deviance but still do a workout, just not the one that was planned.

This happened to me on Thursday. Thursday is always trail intervals day. Some stupid foods choices two hours before, however were playing games in my tummy, and although I likely could have executed the workout as planned, I wouldn’t have been having any fun. At this point in my triathlon career, the fun factor is becoming more and more influential. Instead of doing the intervals, I changed the workout to be the same duration (about an hour) but I nixed the hard stuff, it just became an easy run where I could focus on my stride and my technique… at a super-low intensity. It was fun! And it gave me an opportunity to focus more intensely on stuff that I had been neglecting. I still got the session in. I still burned off some holiday calories. Furthermore, the easy session allowed me to totally crush my evening cycling session, something that usually suffered because of the residual fatigue from the noon hour intervals.

Gaining your experience through consistency over time is your ACE to play when you do triathlon training. It’ll give you the insight, patience, and wisdom to help you decide what to throw away and what to keep.

In that same song, Kenny also sang you never count your money, when you are sittin at the table, but that’s a lesson for another day.

With our low client to coach ratio Tri*Joy gives you the attention you deserve to maximize your potential. Looking for a triathlon coach? Look no further than us! E-mail me at kknnheinze@yahoo.com to book your free in-person consultation & goal setting session.

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Going short to get faster: Fitspeek 79 with Winston Guo

In Fitspeek 79 we hear the second part of our interview with Winston Guo. He tells us about his progression as an athlete through stages he likes to call Winston 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. We also get to find out about his favourite post-workout foods!

Also in the podcast we have another edition of Fit Flops. We tell you about a piece of exercise equipment that would likely get thrown out of your local coffee shop! What could it be?

To be used (ineffectively) in the privacy of your own home)

To end off Fitspeek 79 we have the top 3 female & male finishers from the races that went off in the heavy rain at Cultus Lake earlier this month. As always, Robert Johnson was the king of the standard. Hear the podcast by pressing play right here.

Fitspeek is brought to you by Tri*Joy} The Spirit of Multisport. With regular progress assessments to keep you motivated and in – person consultations we help you take your training to the next level. Email kknnheinze@yahoo.com to book your free in person goal-setting session.