How this triathlete prepares for race season

It’s triathlon season! Last weekend was the first sprint triathlon in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. I didn’t plan on racing this season opener as I knew I wouldn't have the time to commit and didn't want to add stress with my full time school load and part time work schedule. However, I did get out and support my speedy husband, Anthony and the rest of the Friends Who Tri Club team.

Anthony and I just joined the newest triathlon club in Fort Worth and look forward to joining the group for swims, bikes, runs and a whole lot of fun. FWTri Club has been around for about four months and already has almost 100 members! If triathlon is something you are interested in and want a group to join, I suggest you check it out as membership is only $60 a year and you get a club tech shirt when you join! If you don't live in the area, I'm sure you can find some sort of training group. Believe me, it makes the long training days so much better when you have friends by your side.

Although I didn’t race this past weekend, I have been increasing my endurance workouts and continue to strength train twice a week but have added more stability, strength and power exercises to my routine. I’m on a mission to drop 2% body fat in the coming months and continue to build lean muscle to increase my race performance and have some great trainers at work helping me out. So as I watched my friends kick butt at the St. Patty’s Day Tri, I began mentally preparing my season checklist.

On Wednesday I decided to get stuff done! First, I visited Liesel Streich from Limitless Endurance to get my VO2 Max bike test complete. I took my triathlon bike to Fort Worth as we would be setting it up on a computrainer which is then connected to a very expensive machine that measures your cardiovascular endurance through a breathing tube that is connected to the athlete. Definitely a Darth Vader moment if you check out my photo below.  VO2Max (or maximal oxygen uptake), is one factor that determine’s an athlete’s capacity to perform sustained exercise and is linked to aerobic endurance. This measurement is generally considered the best indicator of an athlete’s cardiovascular fitness and aerobic endurance. From this test, we wanted to find my lactic threshold to compute my five different heart rate training zones. Lactic threshold is a point during exhaustive, all out exercise at which lactic acid builds up in the blood stream faster than the body can remove it forcing the athlete to slow down. Knowing this number makes it easy to train for an endurance event as you don't want to hit that number too quickly during training unless your workout for the day requires you to push your limits. 

Luke, I am your father!

My lactic threshold happens to be at 173 beats per minute and I peaked during this test at 185 beats per minute. These values according to my age and weight state that my fitness level on the bike is SUPERIOR! The fitness level scores range from Very Low to Superior with four categories in between. I am happy to be in great endurance shape as I build on my long mileage for Ironman Tahoe and can now begin using my official heart rate training zones to train efficiently.

My next stop that day was to meet my very first marathon run coach from 2004, Manuel Rodriguez. He had some great tech shirts printed that I ordered and wore it for the first time today. Can’t get any better than this when you're training for an endurance event. 

After picking up my shirt, I dropped off my bike at Velo Gold Bicycles with Joshua Clark. Josh is the best service specialist in the area and he has a full shop of people’s "bike babies” to prove it. As soon as I walked in the door he immediately noticed the set up was all wrong. It was kind of funny as Liesel had just said the same thing an hour before. Kinda sad to think I did Ironman Canada with that same set up a few years ago. After I pick up my baby from getting tuned up, we’re gonna make some adjustments that will hopefully make me a little faster on the bike.

I finally arrived home that night and was happy to see that my recent purchase on eBay was sitting on my doorstep. A new helmet! After one afternoon of running triathlon errands, I am more excited to continue to pick up my training and kick arse this season. It’s gonna be a great year and I hope you’ll continue to follow my progress.

The Sterling (I don't feel worthy of an aerohelmet just yet!)

Feel free to contact me if you want information on getting Run or Bike V02 Max tested or need more information on Velo Gold Bicycles. Until next time, Re-Calibrate your brain, don’t complain and just train! J