Depressed after finishing your Ironman? Here's what might help!

Ahhhhh, PIDS (Post Ironman Depression Syndrome)! So common. In fact, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who does not experience this. You've trained hundreds of hours, have had support from every sphere of your life (Family, Friends, Co-Workers, etc.), you've built up to a huge day of racing and you then experienced an incredible day with thousands of people along the course cheering you on. Then, within 48 hours, the banners are down, Ironman Village is turned back into a vacant skating oval and the "Welcome Can-Am" signs are up, welcoming the "next" group to come into town. What's not to get depressed about?

What my suggestion is: Go back and relive your day. Think about all of the great (and all of the painful) moments of the day and what you were experiencing at the moment. "Revel in the Glory" so to speak. You deserve it. That will help. Tell your friends about your experience, but try not to kill them off with hours of Ironman tales. And finally, write your game plan for next year: what  were the strengths and weaknesses of this year's training and racing? What would you change for next year? What specific weakness would you spend time developing? It doesn't matter if you're doing another IM in 2012 or not. You're likely to be planning SOME event, so make plans around that. I think you'll find that the internal (but written) debrief process and forward thinking will get you out of the depression and into an inspired state, motivated to move on to an even better 2012.

At least, that's what works for me and what I suggest to my athletes!

Ironman message to my Team in Training Gang

Team- You may notice that there is nothing scheduled as a group training event for next weekend. That's because several of our past & present coaches and TNT participants are racing at the Ironman in Lake Placid. It's hard not to point out that every single one of them were once in your shoes, doing their first triathlon with Team in Training and looking at the event (in most cases a sprint distance race) as a huge undertaking. Well, they  fell in love with the sport (like many of you will) and continued to race and step up their game to where they are now at the Ironman level.

Now, I'm a coach who views Ironman as an event that's not meant for everyone. Some people excel at shorter distance events. Many, many have very busy lives with careers, family, social obligations and schedules that just don't permit the commitment to training for the Ironman distance. Some, just love racing sprints and Olympic Distance events. And that makes them no less of a Triathlete. For me, when I first started racing triathlon, having come from a running and cycling background, there was only one Ironman event in the world and it was still a relatively small group of people on the lunatic fringe. But I came to love the sport and got myself into an excellent state of fitness racing mostly Olympic distance events. It's not the distance of the event that gets you in amazing shape, it's the commitment to train for your chosen distance.

Our bodies are amazing machines (it's well known that "God doesn't make junk"). We gradually increase our riding, running and swimming and our bodies respond by making physiological changes to adapt to a higher level of performance (which reflects the type of training we're doing). Like scar tissue, the body rebuilds muscle fiber stronger to avoid the cellular level damage that's done while training, to avoid having that damage repeated the next time. We train differently for short events than we do for long events. The specific training that we do determines how the body responds so we can become very fast at shorter distances, or in the alternate, get to where we can go very far without fatiguing. The key ingredients to whatever type of training you're doing is commitment and consistency. Without both of these in place, not much will happen.

As for our coaches and Team in Training alumni who are racing next weekend...these guys have worked really hard over the past year to be ready. Wish them a wonderful day and an experience that will produce a warm glow for a lifetime. And if you have any possibility at all and you want to see an Inspired Performance to where you're ready to explode, come to Lake Placid next weekend to support them and cheer them on...and for bonus points, be at the finish line at midnight to see the entire town of Lake Placid plus all of it's visitors come out to support the last finishers in what is likely to be the best party you'll be part of for years to come.

Chuck

Peaking v. Tapering!

Going into the final few weeks before a key race (particularly long course or ultra) is not about tapering! Tradition has referred to the taper just as it has called for a pre-race carbo loading pasta dinner! Many of my friends and athletes are putting the final touches on their training for Ironman Lake Placid. For those that I'm coaching, the mantra that they're hearing is that they are not in their taper. There's still important work to do that the image of a taper would not conger up.

The last 2 weeks prior to race week is more accurately referred to as a peak period. I stress the distinction between the terms Taper and Peaking for a couple of reasons I think are very important. First, there's a huge psychological reaction to what you do when you're tapering. You tend to take training less seriously.  You focus on resting (important) and no longer feel the necessity of completing every workout. Secondly, tapering as most people see it, is a significant drop in training volume. While that's true in the peak period, it's only half of the equation. So here's what happens when an athlete is "tapering" as opposed to following a Peak Training Phase.

1. The commitment level goes down. If you're tired during a taper, you tend to blow off the workout and just rest and relax.
2. Your training volume and enthusiasm for training goes down. You'll go out for a ride or a run and make it more of a social event than a workout in preparation for an event that you've been training for over the past year. As a result, your pacing will get slower and you'll likely start feeling "stodgy"  which becomes a vicious cycle.
3. Your weight starts to climb. It's likely that your appetite will not go down at the rate your training volume does. The pounds (that you really don't need to carry around on race day) start to mount.
4. As a result, your race will not be optimum or reflect the work that you've put in.

A Peak Period, however, differs in this sense:

1. You push through the temptation to slow down, but understand the importance of rest between workouts.
2. The training volume you're doing goes down, but your intensity goes up. You train at a higher heart rate or power zone and do "mini-races" at race pace and above. You'll continue to feel the fatigue for several days after you reduce volume, but before very long, you'll start to catch up and feel much more rested and refreshed. Your pace will be fine tuned and you'll start to feel very sharp in your training.
3. One of your key focuses will need to be on nutrition. Volume of Calories has to be proportionate to volume of training. The quality of those Calories also needs to be watched carefully. You may have "gotten away  with" eating anything during your high volume ramp- up, but that's not likely to continue now. Carbohydrate holds three times its weight in water so the more starch you put in your system, the more you'll weigh and it's not linear given the water retaining quality of CHO.
4. Some of you are aware of, or are using the Performance Management Chart on Training Peaks. If you are, you know that you are looking for the "Yellow Line" or Training Stress Balance to come up to zero, while the other lines (Acute Training Load and Chronic Training Load) to come down. For those not familiar with this valuable tool, the key is that you need to rest, but too much rest is damaging just as too little rest is. The balance is in following a good 2 week peak period that consists of race-like intervals at lower volume than you've been training at, getting good sleep and rest when not training, and watching your nutrition very carefully.

The final week (Race Week) is looks almost like a third Peak Week, but with volume (again) reduced substantially and work being short but fast. Again, rest when not training is critical and a good nutrition plan (normal eating, not feasting) is paramount to your success.

Wishing all of my Inspired Performance Coaching Athletes and friends great success in your upcoming race, and as I always say: "Follow the Plan!" and Have Fun.

Camp Sold Out!

Our Triathlon Training Camp at Lake Placid™ is SOLD OUT. Twenty- Five athletes ranging from Sprint and Olympic distance people to experienced Ironman competitors will be at training with us beginning on Thursday evening, June 23^rd. A Welcome Reception will get everyone acquainted on Thursday and training will start early on Friday morning,  with campers meeting at lakeside ready to swim at 6:30 AM.

We appreciate the support and thank our sponsors who include Infinit Nutrition, Computrainer, Excel Orthopedic Rehab, Wicked Fast Nutrition and Clif Bar. Our camp is conducted by Inspired Performance Coaching and Training Bible Coaching and co-directed by Chuck Graziano and Tom Manzi, both USA Triathlon Certified Coaches and Training Bible Elite Level Coaches.

Congratulations Quassy Competitors!

Congratulations to Inspired Performance Athletes Elliott Albirt and Rich Kiser for great performances at the Rev3 Quassy half. And congratulations also to all the Team in Training coaches and alumni who raced as well. What a great group of people. Dinner for 40 at Maggie McFly's? What a great time. Now back to training and preparation for the next big race on the schedule for this season.

Massage Therapist at Camp

Just arranged today for a massage therapist to be set up at the Northwoods Inn for us during camp. We'll have an advance sign up for appointments during some down time that we've built into the schedule

We're close to filled. If you know anyone who is interested in coming up to camp, have them sign up now while we still have a couple of slots open! Sign up here.

Training Camp Itinerary is up!

We're getting really excited about the way our Training Camp at Lake Placid is shaping up. There is a detailed preliminary itinerary now posted at the Inspired Performance Coaching website. Please take a look if you're registered for the camp to see what's in store. If you're not yet registered for the camp, take a look to see if this is something that would help you in your training and racing. We have just a few slots left before registration closes, so please sign up if you'd like to participate! Remember that there are a limited number of rooms at the Northwoods Inn that offer a special rate for our camp. Information on how to get the special package will be sent to you once you register.