Pandemic Purpose

My daily, solo sunset rides have been a wonderful way to find peace at the end of each day.

Pandemic Purpose

Chris Palmquist

It has been months since I have blogged – since right before the pandemic was declared. That was when everything about being an endurance athlete and coach changed. As I searched for the answers for my athletes and myself in this new world, I was hesitant to write anything for fear that it would be flippant.

I am still hesitant but as difficult as this year has been, I am seeing successes in my athletes and myself. These successes look much different than the race results of years past but many of them are triumphant and life changing. If we can move each day, we have preserved some control over our destiny in a year where much feels out of our control.

Athletes who are now working from home can now fit in a run or bike instead of having to commute to and from work every day.

Athletes who feel anxiety about an upcoming race can now focus on the joy of the training journey without that pressure.

Getting outside is generally the safest thing that we can do. And nothing is better for our mental health than to move through the outside air under our own power.

Things that are working:

Distance challenges – the GVRAT has an astonishing 19,000+ participants running and walking 1000+ km across Tennessee virtually.

Frequency challenges – Bianchi’s August Riding Challenge - ride your bike every day in August (outside and at least 5 miles) – a fun way to make sure you move each day.

Speed challenges – athletes working on getting their one-mile time down this summer with speed sessions and time trials at the track.

Strava challenges – finding segments and crushing them on Strava.

Nutrition challenges – eating at home allows us to reduce processed foods and substitute healthier options.

Team challenges - our team of five cross country coaches successfully completed the “Calendar Challenge” in April - running together the same number of miles as the day of the month.

Strength challenges – planks, push-ups, pull-ups and other body weight exercises require no gym and make a big difference.

2020 goals must fit into our lives right now. The stress of our daily lives is high – our goals cannot add to that in a negative way. Find a challenge or a goal that fits in and gives you the purpose that you need without adding to the stress.

Keep moving forward

In the end, we love endurance sports for the challenge of the journey, the friends that travel with us and the satisfying feeling of a goal accomplished. A pandemic cannot take any of that away from us. Keep moving forward and we will get to the other side.

How is Coaching Different?

How is Coaching Different?

Chris Palmquist

December 3, 2019

Many area runners just completed a marathon while raising money for a charity (bravo!). As a perk for their fundraising efforts, the charity provided them with a “coach” during the training process. Each runner had one or two phone conversations with a coach, then the coach assigned each of them one of three possible levels of training plans based on their running experience and fitness. The runners then followed the training plan with little interaction with their coach. The runners believed that they had a coach guiding their training, but I would argue that they did not. Let me explain by defining the different options that athletes have to guide their training and achieve their goals.

Basic: The Generic Training Plan

There are three general options for organizing one’s training for a seasonal goal.  At the most basic level, many athletes “coach” themselves. Their training may be random - simply running, biking and swimming when and where they wish during each week. Or the self-coached athlete might pick up a magazine, website or book-based training plan and follow it to the best of their ability. The pros of self-coaching include the ability to control your own schedule and the low cost. However, this athlete is less likely to reach his or her full potential. They are more susceptible to lose motivation or to become injured. Using (or not using) a training plan that was never tailored to the athlete’s goals, strengths or weaknesses will drastically limit results. And more importantly, the athlete has no-one overseeing his or her progress with an expert, caring eye. This can lead to burn-out, injury or lack of success.

There are some situations and athletes for whom self-coaching can work well. An athlete with significant prior experience might do well by following a generic or self-built training plan if they know when and how to modify it to avoid injury and experience the correct amount of training stimulus. This requires knowledge and confidence.

Intermediate: Custom Built Training Plan

The intermediate training option is when an athlete hires a coach to create a custom training plan tailored to the athlete’s specific goals, training objectives, strengths, limiters, energy and available training time. In this scenario, the coach and athlete conduct an extensive interview where the coach learns all the above characteristics of the athlete. Then, the coach designs a customized plan for several months of training for this unique athlete. The coach hands over the training plan, then the athlete takes the plan and “runs” with it independently from the coach.

The benefits of a custom training plan are that the athlete gets a unique, tailored plan at a low cost from an expert coach. The disadvantages to this scenario are that once the plan goes to the athlete, the coach will no longer be there to modify the plan, oversee the athlete’s progress, adjust for fatigue/illness/injury, give ongoing advice or to help with answers to all the questions that inevitably come up during training and racing. Even with the disadvantages, custom training plans are a big step up from a generic plan.

At Cloud 10 Multisport, we call these Custom Built Training Plans. Find out more here:  https://www.cloud10multisport.com/custom-built-training-plans

Advanced: Performance Coaching

The best way to train successfully and attain your goals is to hire a personal coach. A good coach will learn everything about you, your goals, restrictions and your abilities. The coach will work with you to set goals and training objectives that will lead to success. Based on frequent communication and analysis of your workout data, the coach will design and prescribe training for you that will fit into your life, push your limits, rest you when needed and progressively work towards building your peak skills and fitness. A good coach will do everything possible to limit burn-out, illness and injury. When your work or family schedule suddenly changes, a coach will modify your training accordingly.

A good coach understands both the art and the physiological science needed to bring out your best. Most importantly, a good coach cares deeply about your achievements – working as your partner every step along the way. At Cloud 10 Multisport, we call this Performance Coaching. More information can be found here: https://www.cloud10multisport.com/coaching

Invest in your passion, reach your goals

The charity runners thought that they had a “coach” guiding them through their marathon preparation. In reality, they were just following a semi-custom training plan – a very different experience from real, one-on-one coaching. Although, they all enjoyed being part of the charitable mission together, they may have had more success in their races if they had a personal coach helping them with the daily questions and challenges that always occur on a training journey.

If you are serious about your goals and want to match your efforts with the proper training, answers and caring that you get from a real coach, make sure that you hire a personal coach. The investment that you make in true coaching will be worthwhile.

Appropriate Endurance Athlete Holiday Behavior

So much good food. So many fun gatherings!

Appropriate Endurance Athlete Holiday Behavior

Chris Palmquist

For summer-sport endurance athletes, it is time to restore our bodies and enjoy the holidays. How do we get through the next few weeks with our health, 2020 goals and priorities intact? What is appropriate endurance athlete behavior during this very different season? Here are my recommendations for your last few weeks of the decade.

Training “Do’s”

·       Be more unstructured. Unless you are a winter-sport endurance athlete, this is the time of year to enjoy some freedom from structured training. Be active on as many days as you can but follow your heart and enjoy whatever feels best on any given day. This is the time to hike, snowshoe, cross country ski, rock climb, dance, ice skate, group exercise, fat-bike, holiday run or whatever sounds like fun on any given day. Prioritize any chance you get to be active with friends. Heal your body and mind from a long season of training with different motions and new experiences.

·       Get outside. Get some fresh air on your face – it will help your head and your health. Fresh air is still fresh air after dark too, so don’t let daylight hours limit you. Wear reflective, warm clothing and attach some bright, blinking lights, then find a safe place to walk, run or bike with your dog or with friends.

Training “Do Not’s”

·       Don’t perform race-specific workouts. Post-season is your time to transition from peak fitness (and fatigue) back to rested, recovered and ready to rebuild for next year. When you swim, bike or run, your workouts should not resemble your last race in distance or speed. Go easy, go shorter, be “playful.”

·       Don’t train with pain. Now is your chance to heal those lingering aches and pains. If it hurts to run, do not run. Spend a few weeks healing now so that you can run pain-free next year.

Eating “Do’s”

·       Drink enough water each day. Take your body weight in kgs and drink that same number of ounces of water each day. Staying hydrated is critical for staying healthy and feeling good during the holiday season.

·       Eat your vegetables. Vegetables are the most nutrient-rich foods that you can eat. Don’t let a day go by without several servings of vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables.

Eating “Do Not’s”

·       Don’t overeat added sugars. This is hard with treats, drinks and cookies everywhere you turn. Treat yourself occasionally to high quality treats and skip those that are not truly delicious.

·       Don’t overdrink alcohol. Savor one drink while at a party rather than several. Then get back to hydrating with sparkling water for the rest of the evening.

 Lifestyle “Do’s”

·       Sleep. Most of us need 7-8 hours each night to have strong immune systems, support good eating habits and function well as adults.

·       Enjoy social occasions, family and friends. Connect, gather and laugh with the people in your life.

·       Schedule regular restorative periods during busy days. Take a walk each day. Get up from your computer every hour or two. Practice mindfulness, meditation or deep breathing each day (even just 5 minutes can help).

 Lifestyle “Do Not’s”

·       Don’t try to be perfect. Perfection is unattainable and unimportant and unenjoyable. If you are a “Go Big or Go Home” person, you may really struggle as you will get frustrated by your lack of consistency during the holidays and just quit all together. Instead, ditch the perfection and try for a more attainable goals such as getting in at least a few minutes of stretching or moving each day.

 Enjoy these next five weeks and the friends, family and gatherings that come with this time of year. Your priority as an endurance athlete preparing for 2020 is to restore your body, mind and energy.

138.2 Miles at Ironman Louisville

I met Tolva one year ago as a much appreciated referral from a friend. His goal was a first Ironman finish at IM Louisville 2019. As we worked together for the year, Tolva’s favorite part of training were the swims. I met him at his pool three times and did under and over water videoing of his stroke. Each time, I gave him some specific stroke form flaws to fix and the drills and cues to fix them. He would then swim for a month on his own and do all the work required to fix those flaws by the next session. His Ironman swim pace dropped by 20 seconds a mile and he got so he could regularly swim 5000 yards and call it easy. Tolva tackled the bike and run training just as diligently but he always asked for more swims.

Last weekend was race day. Tolva arrived in Louisville to find that the swim would be cancelled. Disappointed, yes! He was looking forward to showing his hard work off in the Ohio River. Plus, this was going to be his first Ironman and now it would not quite feel like the full experience. Anyone who has tried to bike 112 hilly miles then run a marathon would tell him that he has certainly earned the title Ironman!

Undaunted, Tolva adapted to the new challenge and crushed the bike and run with family at the finish line cheering for him! Way to go! Enjoy that off season!

Always smiling! Tolva conquers Ironman Louisville!