Mary Eggers

I have been fortunate enough to have been working with triathletes for the past 5 years, which has allowed me to see… a whole lot of things in terms of training. It’s great to have an objective view on what people are doing in their season planning, it’s hard to be objective when it comes to ourselves.

Time and time again I see the same mistakes prevent athletes from hitting their potential each season. Here are my five top mistakes on how triathletes blow their seasons:

1. Trying to maintain peak fitness year  round. Joel Friel popularized the concept of periodization, yet it’s been what athletes all over the world have been doing for years. Periodization in a very simple sense means: planning your season in a progression, giving yourself the right load at the right time to peak at the right moment. Part of periodization is rest and recovery both in the macrocycle and microcycle. Triathletes who wish to peak for a summer Ironman race should not be in peak fitness today. Want some easy proof? Take a look at winter running series….. a very high percentage of  those triathletes who are out aiming to win winter running series fail to reach their potential in their summer races. Rather they should be spending this time focusing on building their base, progressing through the right load at the right time and planning to peak for their big race. These athletes maintain a “pretty good” level of fitness year round but fail to hit that next level when it counts. To get stronger, you have to get a little weaker first. You rest, take some time off, and then rebuild the house.

2. imbalance of disciplines. Being a swimmer I can say this: swimmers are the worst at balance. Many swimmers put in 5+ hours in the pool each week, and less percentage wise on the bike and run…… because they believe  since swimming is such low impact, it doesn’t matter, or they want to maintain a certain level of “swim fitness” all of the time. These athletes might turn out a sub one hour swim time in an Ironman, but the difference between a 55 minute swimmer and a 1:05 minute swimmer is all too frequently made up in transition or if that 1:05 swimmer rides a 5:55 versus the 6:30 Ironman bike split the first athlete puts in. Those extra 2 hours they waste in the pool are better spent on the bike or run, or maybe even recovery. Swimming counts, it’s not recovery. The better plan for them is to swim smarter, work on technique and take the 55:30 swim (instead of the 55:00) and be faster elsewhere.

3. Not knowing your zones: I spoke with an athlete this season who had a miserable Ironman, and didn’t have one clue as to determining their heart rate zones. When I asked how they planned their season, their answer was that they went out and rode their bike as hard as they could each time they rode. Same thing with running. It was no surprise their Ironman was a very different day than they had anticipated. Their plan, lacked a plan! Whether you train by heart rate or by power, you have to have a framework to work within. Even if it’s perceived exertion. This lets you work in the right zone at the right time, allows you proper training load at the right time. Not knowing your zones is like an athlete telling me they want to lose weight but won’t weigh themselves. How do you know where you are improving or not improving? Working in the right zones is crucial to progression. It teaches you more than you think you will learn. It plays a role in nutrition and nutritional issues.

4. Paying too much attention to other athlete’s plans. Two athletes who are relatively the same speed, same weight, even the same age…… should they have the same FTP? Lactate Threshold HR? VO2 Max? Good lord no. The worst question you can be asked as an athlete by another….. is what were your test results? Why is that the worst? Because the athlete who is asking is trying to compare apples to oranges, and they will end up harming themselves and their own plan in the future. Your numbers are your numbers. They are your eye color, your DNA. My FTP is 245 right now. What does that mean in comparison to you? ZERO. My LTHR is 180. What does that mean for you? NOTHING. If we are “the same” in terms of ability, gender and age we should still have different numbers. I see way too many athletes get caught up in what others are doing, trying to emulate plans, guess results, etc. Get your testing data, I say don’t get involved in someone else’s results because they mean nothing to you. Yours are yours.

5. Ignoring nutrition; You swim, you bike, you run. You spend a lot of money doing so. You travel to races. You track your HR, power, mileage, hours. You periodize. You don’t get caught up in other’s plans. But you can low it all by ignoring one simple thing, nutrition both on and off the field. We know how much an impact body composition has on your training and performance. We know how much daily nutrition had to do with the same. Race day nutrition…… many will focus on that and fail to execute that plan in training and fail to look at their general nutrition. This is the missing link in our sport, it’s tough to look at, but if you are serious about your results, get serious about your food.

6. Not being open. To change and grow you have to be open to change and growth. Without openness you will not grow, you will not improve, you will not become stronger. Does the wind scare you on the bike? Then be open to improving. Get out on windy days, learn to ride in it. I see too many athletes living by strange rules, a box they place themselves in because it is “mentally safe” to be there. If you are happy with stagnation then stay there. If you want improvement, you want to excel, you really want to reach your personal best you have to get out of the box of fear. You have to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations. You have to be able to take a hit while swimming and not have a panic attack. If I freaked out each time someone hit me in swimming I’d be nowhere. And I have sustained a grade 3 concussion in the water. I have crashed my bike, I have been hit by cars while running. If I freaked out each and every time the wind picked up I’d miss out on opportunity. Instead you look at those difficult moments and environmental situations as opportunities to help you become stronger. If you can’t be open to that, then learn to be happy remaining in the same spot for the next 5 years.

All of the above have one thing in common, you don’t have to work any harder in your workout. You just have to drop the story. Get over it, get on with it, and have the best season ever!