After I've been asked for tips on how to improve the fastest and easiest way in triathlon, I've written down a few of my thoughts here. It's not an essay now, and it's rather bullet-point, so check it out for me.
First of all, after a certain level performance increases almost happen never fast and above all never easy 😉
What does “a certain level” mean? Beginners often achieve very quick success or improve relatively quickly. Simply because they usually come from a lower level.
Example:
Back then, a friend at my university in New Zealand taught me to juggle three balls within an hour at a party. Now juggling three balls is not too difficult, but it was still enough to impress the girls back then aber But as soon as even one ball is added, it becomes extremely difficult and time-consuming. To get the curve back: we now assume that we can already juggle three balls.
a real self-image
Be realistic about your performance! In order to really keep improving, it is of no use to you if you compare your performance with weaker athletes, the average or the overall field. Your focus should always be on the faster, because that's where you want to go, right? The easiest way to improve in triathlon is when you improve your weaknesses is working. The athletes almost always focus on further improving their strengths. But the potential lies in the other disciplines! Do not come to terms with the thought that you are, for example, bad swimmers, but finally tackle it.
I felt that way with swimming this year. Due to my shoulder surgery last year, I wasn't able to get back into the water until December. And very little either. I did not swim very much, but I concentrated on technique. I wasn't able to really start symptom-free swimming training until May. Actually much too late for the season. I could not swim the amount of time it often helps. At a certain point it went back on the shoulder. So I asked two top swimmers. My friend Sven Bergner gave me the tip about the Chuck Norris swimming pool and Michi Reiwe created a 6-week emergency training plan for me, but it was tough. Actually from then on I was only sprinting the whole time 😉 The result was 54 minutes, a swimming time in Roth that was 2 minutes better than my previous best performance.
curiosity
That brings me to the next point. How do you best tackle it? Quite simply, ask, ask and ask again. What do the athletes do better or differently who always pull you away in the individual disciplines? Orientate yourself to these and look at their training and just ask them. It is not a sign of weakness and there is no need to be shy about it. Very few will turn you away if you honestly ask for their opinion. And if so, that tells you a lot about their character. There is another benefit to being curious. This enables you to avoid mistakes that the vast majority of triathletes have already made, and accordingly to accelerate your own learning process without having to step into all the traps yourself.
reason
The knowledge gained in this way must then be transferred to your own situation. This does not mean that you simply take over your training from others 1: 1 or that instead of 3 times a week you now run 6 times a week straight away. Choose changes wisely. Over the years, those athletes who remain injury and disease-free develop most successfully.
Possible improvements within a 1-year period are almost always overestimated, but improvements within a longer period of eg 10 years are ALWAYS underestimated!
Using your own common sense naturally also applies when it comes to regeneration and injury prophylaxis. But later, separate points in Part 2.
Having fun in competitions
They still exist, the training champions. They blow you away in every unit, but when it comes down to it on day X, then suddenly they “run away” to the finish line. It sounds a bit paradoxical, but to be good at competition and to be able to torture yourself, you have to have fun with it! You know it, when something is really fun and fun for you, then it just runs out of hand and time passes so quickly that you hardly notice it.
In order to achieve this, and I only read that in a book recently, I just find it absolutely logical: Do not be afraid of poor performance in competition!
All the nervousness, fear and tension before a race is based solely on your assumption that on day X you will not perform as always, that something will go wrong or go badly. You have done the necessary training, persevered for hours in the icy cold, counted endless tiles, why in the world should you not be able to call up your performance now? If you can get rid of this thought, then this alone increases your competitive performance.
You can support the whole process if you expose your body to the coming loads well in advance. This means that you have to contest smaller competitions in the preparation phase without worrying about the results. Just cycle there and start! It doesn't matter what place you occupy, it's just training. Especially if you are one of those athletes who cannot do this because they don't want to start anywhere in top form. Think about this for a moment. These athletes do not start because they are afraid that they will not meet the "supposed" expectations of the others! What is the reason for that? Don't take yourself too seriously, nobody cares what you have in preparation for results. And if they do, then they will experience a surprise by the season finale at the latest 😉
In addition, and I don't know many people like that, you should also put a lot of pressure on in training, that is, just spend a few hours (depending on the target distance) at the competition pace. It's tough at first, but the body gets used to it. There is no more effective way to build self-confidence before important races when you know that you could easily reach the target speeds during training.
Mark Allen, the 6-time Hawaiian winner once said: “I'm training so hard in preparation for Hawaii that the actual competition feels like a Sunday ride. Up to running kilometer 21 I see the day as one of my long training units, the competition only starts from kilometer 21. "
skin in!
krelli