Triathlon Tips: How to Survive the Race

It doesn’t matter how many triathlons I’ve done—and I’ve lost track of the number—but I still get race-day jitters. Make that race weekend jitters. I start to fear flatting on the bike, swimming through the crowds (I once got strangled by a fellow swimmer and pushed far under water by another), and running with not enough miles or bricks on my legs…as I’m packing my transition bag. The deer in headlights look? That’s totally me come race morning where I’m surprised I have it together enough to set up my transition gear and not forget anything.

But as scared, nervous and maybe even confused as I may have been before those triathlons, I’ve survived every one of them. Certainly not all gracefully as I’ve been kicked more times than I’d care to count in the swim, got that flat tire on the bike not once but twice, and felt my legs literally run out of juice when there were miles to go before the finish line. The battle wounds (I kid) may have healed but I still have the finisher medals, the materialistic proof that I survived.

How to Survive the Holidays...Without Packing on the Pounds

Holiday parties, social obligations, family dinners, nights out on the town. It's tough to squeeze these events into our already hectic lives. If there's one thing that gets the short end of the stick this time of year, it's not the parties but the workouts. Who wouldn't prefer to catch some extra zzz's especially after a late night out, avoid a dark walk to the gym, or grab some down time where you can just veg?

I know I'm guilty as charged. I've done all three this season. Skipped a morning workout (and that was minus the late night out) at least once by ignoring my alarm--or failing to set it. Skipped the dark walk to the gym after a long day in front of the computer (even though I really could have used the sweat session to help me think). And skipped--more like delayed--the workout until the last hour possible to watch hours of Christmas movies, lay on the couch and periodically doze off.

Turns out I should have read these tips from Lis Settimi and Catherine James, the co-owners of The Bar Method Chicago, the popular workout that merges the fat burning of interval training with the muscle shaping of isometrics and the elongating of dance conditioning, before Thanksgiving when my routine went haywire. The duo not only knows how to teach the routine that promises lean thighs, a lifted seat, flat abs and sculpted arms, but they also know how to keep you moving through the holidays and into the New Year. And as The Bar Method celebrates its fifth anniversary in Chicago in January 2013, here are their five suggestions to avoid feeling like a slug come mid-January.

Shop Small, Shop Local, Shop Small Business Saturday

I didn't wait in any Black Friday lines. I didn't score any Black Friday shopping deals. And this year I didn't even push my way through the crowds at the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza. 

I slept in. I worked out. And I learned that the best Black Friday deals I'd want to score happen on the fitness front--unless I was glued to my smartphone while braving the mall. Life Time Fitness had a membership deal that comped the joining fees--so did the YMCA (the Colorado Springs branches). Real Ryder Revolution warned to watch for package bargains on Black Friday. Train Chicago Studios held a free four-hour--or two-hour if you couldn't cut four hours in the saddle--Computrainer bike ride on the Ironman Canada course. Shred415 offered discounts on its packages and retail, and Urban Athlete featured a $35 per month membership steal. Now those are my kind of deals.

But I'm saving my shopping bucks for Small Business Saturday. Here's why I'm a fan...

• I need running socks. I mud-ified my new Balega socks on a trail run (should have occurred to me to wear the older pair with the holes in them since trails have mud) and desperately want a replacement. Plus we all know socks make good stocking stuffers for the runners on your gift list, and you're not going to find the blister-free variety at the department stores. Or at least I haven't yet.
• I'd rather avoid the Mag Mile crowds. Fleet Feet is less than a half mile from where I live and I can just as easily ride my bike to Universal Sole (as long as it's not freezing). So whether I ride my bike or I walk, I can get there faster than I can get to the big stores along Michigan Avenue or State Street. Besides, do I really want sweaters, fancy shoes, and fine china? Not really...my eyes are on running gear this season. And with Chicago being such a big, spread-out city, surely there's a store you fancy not too far from your front door.

Take 5! Refuel after the Chicago Marathon

Celebrate those marathon miles. Credit

You came, you ran, you conquered. Maybe finished is more like it. Either way, you earned that title of marathoner and the right to wear that medal around your neck to dinner, to bed, to breakfast Monday morning.

But now that you don't have to worry about logging all those miles, it's time to celebrate. You know, do all of those things you may have sacrificed over the last few months. Drink a beer--or a lot of it. Eat ice cream--OK, so that's my favorite post-race treat. Sit down, relax and veg out--again, that might be me. Here are my top five ways to refuel and refresh after Sunday's Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Nothing special, but I can guarantee that knowing I'll have some treats after the race will help carry me through it come Sunday. Sometimes it's the little things that get me through the tough miles.

1. Drink chocolate milk. Team Refuel's busy prepping for the Ironman World Championship, but that doesn't mean our muscles can't use a little chocolate milk to replenish after running 26.2 miles. I guzzled two cartons after my Ironman, a welcome change from the sports drink, which I'd like to think made my muscles happy campers come Monday morning. 

What to Know Before You Go...Run a Marathon

That's a happy Portland Marathon runner.

You've put in the training miles--or got as close as you could to logging them all. You've sacrificed sleep (not too much), a social life and some favorite eats. You've listened to all the advice, read all the articles, sat through all the pre-race talks. You've heard, read, said and thought so much about the marathon you're about to run that you may as well have crossed the finish line already. Not so fast.

It's race week. And instead of knowing all those words of advice you stored in your head over the course of training, you're forgetting them, confusing them or questioning their accuracy. Did I run enough miles? Will my shoes be OK? Did I pick a good race-day outfit? Am I eating the right foods?

Enough to make your head spin? Lucky for us, Scott Lewandowski, a regional director at Fitness Formula Clubs who's run several marathons, shared with us his preparation tips for the daunting 26.2.

• Review the course. Know the turns, the hills (or lack of should you be running Chicago), the bridges you'll run over. Visualize yourself successfully completing each mile.

This is Your Brain on Ironman

This is your brain...in Jell-O form.

This is your brain, not on drugs as the PSA once told us, but on Ironman.

Let me explain. I'm nearly two weeks removed from Ironman, and life should be back to normal, but it's so not. Except it's not life that's the issue, it's my mind. I think I lost half of it--or most of it depending on what day you ask me--in Lake Monona. My mind is foggy, hazy, unable to comprehend some basic stuff. I can't think straight, I can't wake up, I'm forgetful, I can't write--which means I can barely work since that's my job--to save my life, and I can't make sense of how hours can elapse and I have nothing to show for them. If there's such a thing as post-Ironman brain, I have it.

Giving the Best to the Rest: Vision Quest Triathlon Panel

What do I put in my special needs bag? johntrainor

You can train all you want--or have time for. You can ask friends how they did it--and beg for their tips. You can scour the internet and poke your head in triathlon forums, read coach's articles and watch course videos. But a lot of times, if you want expert advice, answers to all your questions--to avoid that deer-in-headlights look that I had the morning of my first Ironman--or need some pre-race poking and prodding to make that lingering injury go away for good, you have to pay for it. A trip to the bike fitter. A visit to the physical therapist or massage therapist. A nutrition assessment to dial in your food needs. Another pair of running shoes. Buying a teardrop helmet. Renting, or considering renting, race wheels. So many questions...but not always easy to find the right answer.

As long as you don't have a triathlon to race this weekend (sorry, Udder Half-ers), you can get your questions answered and go into your next triathlon even more prepared to tackle the competition, your old PR or your pre-race I've-never-done-this-before jitters. Vision Quest Coaching put together what they're calling The Best of the Best Ironman Wisconsin Panel, covering every aspect of triathlon with a special focus on Ironman Wisconsin and Ironman races. This triathlon-centered event will be held at Vision Quest Chicago on Thursday, August 9, and it's designed to make you feel more comfortable come race day. Trust me, all the riding up in Madison over the summer only takes out a small chunk of the race calculations.

Robbie Ventura will be moderating this panel, which has everyone from the bike fitter to the first-time Ironman finisher, and he'll help answer those pesky questions we've all been wondering. Do I really need race wheels? How can I have a faster swim (answer: draft like your life depends on it)? Where can I make up time in my sports that still need a little work? What's event day like? If you aren't equipped for your next triathlon after listening to this group, learning the answers to questions that other athletes have asked, and asking a few q's of your own (VQ encourages you to ask away when you RSVP for the event), then.... Well, that might involve being stranded along the Wisconsin farm roads--or Lake Shore Drive if the Chicago Tri is your thing--and no one wants that. Here's a taste of who'll be doling out advice on August 9.

Stitch a Flag for Team USA

Raise a flag, wave a flag for Flag Day. Credit: braveheartsports

A month's worth of groceries for an athlete: 15 stitches. A full set of weights: 1,600 stitches. Starting blocks for the USA Swimming Team: 125 stitches. A month of prepared meals for an athlete: 40 stitches. The stitches aren't priceless as the Mastercard commercial might suggest, but they do help to put a symbolic value on the fundraising needs of Team USA in an Olympics year and make fun, social and virtual. Each stitch costs $12, a small price to pay for helping to weave together an American flag that will accompany the U.S. Olympic Team to London this summer.

The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) launched this creative fundraising program on April 18, back when the London Games had 100 days until their opening ceremony. Nearly 60 days later, more than 10,000 stitches have been made to Raise Our Flag, which helps equip Team USA with some of its training essentials. When you get as excited as I do for the Olympics--please don't ask me to choose which one I like more, winter or summer, because it's tougher to decide every year--you can't help but love the chance to be more actively involved than simply watching on TV and following the results online.

ICGM, or When I Can't Get Motivated

It is possible to feel as lazy as this dog. Credit: paddynapper

My workouts: nil. My sleep: near insomnia (I know this because I've been watching episodes of Grey's Anatomy and The Big Bang Theory on my computer like it's my job to review them and then boom, it's 5 a.m.). My productivity: next to zero. Hopefully my dad doesn't randomly decide that tomorrow's the day he's going to catch up on his Fit-Ink reading or I'll be getting a lecture for even stating these facts let alone trying to explain them.

I think I have a case of ICGM, better known as "I Can't Get Motivated." It might not be a disease that you'd find in a medical dictionary, but it has symptoms and the possibility for a cure--or at least temporary relief. It's sad, and pathetic, that this revelation felt like my one moment of productivity in a sea on nothing-ness for the entire week. I didn't think that I could call what I felt a disease, but when Chicago Endurance Sports coach Holly Jamison spelled it out, I figured that I had to have a case of it. Or that it was legit to have a case of ICGM.

It's not because I'm a hypochondriac--that, my friends, is my sister's department, self-professed, anyway--but because I needed some sort of explanation for how I'd been feeling. And it was either this or loneliness. I didn't want it to be the latter because then it meant that I was truly failing in being strong on the independence train, something I had excelled at for more than eight months already and only have a little more than three left before my relationship's commuting year is over.

How to Train for the Chicago Women's Half Marathon

And we're running! Credit: lululemon athletica

It's one thing to sign up for a race. It's another to train for a race, especially when that race is longer than a 5K, 8K, 10K. Some of us can bang those out in our sleep, but it's the 10-milers, the half marathons and the marathons where we need to put a training plan in place to get us to the finish line. I know I've learned my lesson--on more than one occasion--going into races of those lengths blind. They're painful, they're slow, and they're no where near what I think I'm capable of running so I finish hungry for more. It's a bit of a vicious cycle that I know my parents, and probably husband too, are ready for me to put a stop to. And they also leave me injured, either sore beyond belief for a few days or sidelined for a few months.

Basically, you don't want to be like me. And if you've signed up for the inaugural Chicago Women's Half Marathon on June 24, a really cool race that's replacing the annual Fleet Feet Women's Festival held in July, you don't have to. Equinox and Fleet Feet have partnered to create Enhanced by Equinox, which will serve as the race's official training program. Lasting 12 weeks and starting on April 9, you'll gain plenty of miles underfoot to prepare you for the 13.1 on race day. But wait, there are far more perks to the $220 program, offering even more bang for your buck like recovery tips, stretching techniques and strength training. Here's a look:

Healing Powers

It's hard to believe that six months ago I almost didn't make it to the Boston Marathon finish line. Not because I've had glorious races since that limp, hobble, shuffle kicked in at 10K when it became too much to try to run. Not because I already finished another marathon, another one that I probably wasn't supposed to start in the first place. And not because I can walk normally, practice yoga on two feet instead of my knees that saw more action May through July, swim without dragging my feet behind, and spin sitting down the entire class.

Operating at near normalcy, minus the lack of speed and endurance when running and cycling, I almost forgot about my injury. That might be stretching it a little--or a lot--since I'm reminded nearly every day that I did have a tibia stress fracture, I still find myself using it as an excuse when I sit on the bike or have a slow run, and friends ask me about my leg at least once a week (which, don't get me wrong, I appreciate). From a mental standpoint, I'd like to think that I forgot. Because I pushed the constant nagging, the "woe is me" sadness, the depression that hit when exercise came to a near stand-still, and whatever other emotion that seemed to envelop every email, conversation and work project into a secret dungeon in my brain where I locked the door, tossed the key and couldn't return.

Love Those Leg Strengtheners

Can you do this? I can't.

Is it just me or is this Midwest weather wearing you down? We're still supposed to have a few more days left of summer, according to the calendar the autumnal equinox isn't official until early Friday morning, but it feels like our weather system has reverted back to the gloom, cold, ick that settled over the city in May and June. If there's any light at the end of the tunnel it's that the ski season comes closer every day. Not that I've had reservations for months to be in Keystone when it opens November 4, nor am I armed and ready to drop everything and dash to Arapahoe Basin or Loveland when they rush to be the first North American resort to open for the season. But I can be ready to go from a fit standpoint for the next time I am taking to my skis. That is, if I get in some leg training that's more than swim, bike, run (I'm having a hard time dropping triathlon dreams from my workouts) and truly focused on finding my best Lindsey Vonn...or Julia Mancuso...or Maria Riesch.

How to do it: leg strengtheners, especially those that'll get the quads, glutes and hamstrings ready for the day on the snow. Sounds simple enough, especially if you run and bike as much as I do (er, bike only since my running is still quite pathetic). But all that forward motion from pavement pounding and concrete cruising doesn't get you too far when you're on skis--that lateral movement can hurt, bad, if you don't prepare for it. Where to get started? Try these four moves, and a bonus one that Mancuso and Vonn make look easy (see above), from Buzz.snow.com that'll work your lower half for ski season. And even if you're not a skier, check them out. You can get some pretty rocking legs for Indian summer or any beach getaways planned for fall. 


How do you get your legs in gear for skiing?

Photo grabbed from Lindsey Vonn's Under Armour Workout.

How to navigate your workouts around Chicago's Air and Water Show

This is Friday's traffic--and it's blurry. It only gets worse.

I'd be putting it mildly if I said I disliked my fine city's Air and Water Show weekend. I hate it. But I don't hate it for what might be considered more normal reasons like it's crowded, it's hot and I'm not into planes (I do like the tricks and stadium fly-bys). I hate it because it alters my weekend exercise routine on the Lakefront--and it starts on Thursday when the tents start popping up. I learned my lesson last year when trying to finish my brick workout and had to abort my run north because I simply had nowhere to go that wasn't fenced off.

Forget biking: I'd either be pedaling at a snail's pace, walking my bike or riding circles around the Path's southern half. Instead I'll be packing up the car to drive out to Madison's hills. I know the course (I'd go to Barrington if I was better versed on the route), it's tough and I can reward myself with custard. Swimming: I doubt I'd find a place to lock my bike if I didn't go before the masses assembled. And if it's hot, I can only imagine people wading in our lap lake. While there are no guarantees that I'll rise early to beat those crowds (I've failed every other time I've tried to swim calm waters and pristine conditions), I at least made sure my mileage got done today. Then I know I can relax a little if I miss Saturday and Sunday and pick right back up again on Monday. Running: Even Fleet Feet had to change up the location of their hydration stations to accommodate the show and I'm not even going to get started on the crowds throwing me for a loop. As for a solution, I'm telling myself it's a good time to rest my legs. I'm not even close to 100 percent strong on my running legs just yet so I know skipping is better than slogging through. Marathon runners, I'm sorry if you have to run even earlier in the morning to avoid any potential mayhem. I'd say hope for rain, but I bet air show watchers come out anyway--the only thing rain stops is the show as I learned three years ago while viewing snippets from my living room.

But this routine-altering weekend doesn't have to be the end of the world as there are plenty of ways to avoid its craziness. Go early, go late--the show runs 10 am to 3 pm. Run elsewhere. Find a race out of town. And I could go on...

If the Lakefront is your running route, how did you switch up your workout to deal with the aerial entertainment (besides pray for rain)?

Kara Goucher's Nutrition Tips

Obsessed much with Kara Goucher? We are! We've admitted our love for this runner since before Fit-Ink existed (I couldn't wait to watch her run in Beijing and then was impressed by her third-place finish at the 2008 New York City Marathon). And you've probably read more than your fair share of Kara-related news over the years from what she's wearing at Boston to being pregnant to giving birth to son, Colt. But now we have one more. Here's some advice from this marathoner who recently clocked a personal-best at the 115th Boston Marathon, wrote a book titled Kara Goucher's Running for Women: From First Steps to Marathons (man do I want to read that for some motivation and inspiration), and was named one of the ambassadors for Dick's Sporting Goods National Running Month in May alongside Ryan Hall and Dean Karnazes. Goucher shared a few of her favorite nutrition tips--via press release--just in time for Nashville's Country Music Marathon, which is on Saturday, April 30.

1. Fat Can Be Your Friend. The good fats, that is, like from nuts, avocados and olive oil. Healthy fats, mainly the unsaturated fats in plant foods, are a critical part of a healthy diet.
2. Make Caffeine Work for You. Consuming caffeine before exercise can lower your perception of how hard you're working, enabling you to train harder for a longer period. About 1.3 mg of caffeine per pound of body weight is recommended.
3. Stay Hydrated All Day. Drinking H2) is not just for when you're training. Nothing will deplete your physical and mental performance faster than dehydration. Drink at least 40 to 48 ounces of water per day.
4. Snack, Snack, Snack. Eating a small 150- to 250-calorie snack between meals helps sustain blood sugar, keep your central nervous system working well and helps you avoid breaking down muscle to supply the needed fuel for the brain.
5. Supplement as Needed: It's extremely difficult to get from your diet all the nutrients your body needs, especially when it comes to fruits and veggies. So sometimes a supplement can help your body get its fill of all those nutrients. My go-to? Nutrilite Double X, a really potent multivitamin that helps my body get its needed nutrients, even if I have an off day for eating.

"I love connecting with other runners and feel fortunate to be able to share what I've learned along the way about good nutrition and more," Goucher says. And we'll gladly take her advice--even if only one of the tips can help develop Kara-like abs, legs or arms.

Want to see Goucher this weekend? She'll be at the Country Music Marathon expo signing autographs at the Nutrilite booth. Or simply find copies of her book for sale. Not a bad way to score some pre-race tips without even trying, or double-checking your menu choices for the night before the race.

Photo and information courtesy of amway.com.

How to Get Your Green On...in Ski Country

Wear green, eat green, drink green, see green (the dyeing of the Chicago River). Those are four simple shout-outs to St. Patrick's Day--add in a few "Kiss Me I'm Irish" stickers and some corned beef and cabbage and you're all set. Now many people might stop there, but I have another green thought on my mind that's just as prevalent as these others. Can I be green with envy? Not because I'm not Irish (not a lick), nor because there's no pot o' gold waiting at the end of my rainbow, not even a box of Lucky Charms. Instead it's because I left the snowy mountains before the St. Patty's celebrating began and I missed the at-home celebrating, the green river and the parade, that happened while I was skiing. But if I could be back skiing right now, here's how I'd want to bring out my green.

1. Ski a green run. Yes, totally obvious since those green circles can easily be had at just about any mountain, except Mt. Bohemia in Michigan's Upper Peninsula where you won't find anything less than black. But here's a challenge: can you name a green run that has an St. Patty's-themed name? Props if you can...my quick scan of some trail maps didn't turn up any Shamrocks, Dublins, Leprechauns or Emeralds like Al Roker's weather forecast did this morning.
2. Drink Guinness at après. You know you can have a Snake River brew or a Fat Tire practically any time you want so why not switch it up and toast with this Irish beer. A little known fact: you'll even be saving on calories.
3. Score a Pot O' Gold. If you're toying around at one of the five Vail Resorts linked to EpicMix--Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Heavenly, Keystone, Vail--all you have to do is check in with your pass or Peaks card and you'll find a Pot 'O Gold pin in your EpicMix. Following the tradition of receiving pins for Martin Luther King Day and Valentine's Day, anyone who hits the mountain on March 17 will be a virtual winner.
4. Look out for Leprechauns. Rumor has it that leprechauns were lurking around Heavenly, and not at its base areas but on the snow. Don't believe me? Read all about it here.
5. Wear green. The obvious answer to getting your green on, but when you have to think winter gear, it can be a little harder to do since it requires more than tracking down a green tee. But it can't be that hard to track down a green jacket, right? There's one hanging in my husband's closest that I would have made him use today if we could be out there. As for me, can I count my green Rossignols? Either that or I'd don my kelly green hoodie.
6. Snag a Shamrock Sticker. I've been eyeing these stickers for years, first catching a glimpse of one stuck to a helmet and most recently to a pair of skis. Not only is it cute, but tack it to your skis and you may have just thwarted theft.
7. Chow Cookies. OK, so cookies don't have much to do with Irish tradition unless you use green food coloring and a shamrock-shaped cookie cutter, but if a ski spot is offering cookies for free wouldn't you eat them regardless? Healthy eats aside, I like my sugar on a snow day, especially when I can snag it and keep on skiing. Vail and Breckenridge posted to their Facebook pages this morning that they'd be out on cookie patrol with a green theme, meanwhile Beaver Creek always serves up the chocolate chip variety at 3 p.m. at the Centennial base. Yum!
8. Hit the Green State: Vermont. Yes, that's right. The state that's known for its maple syrup (not green, obviously) also boasts a green license plate--or did the last time I played the license plate game on a road trip--with its motto the Green Mountain state. You can ski this mountain range by taking to the slopes at Killington or Jay Peak.
   

Whatever your St. Patrick's Day fancy and your method of mass destruction, here's one tip for the road. Add a Zym tablet to your water and sip it before you conk out for the night--it's been known to be a hangover cure-all. Your body will thank you tomorrow when it's ready to ski and ride, even more snow if the predicted storms leave fresh powder in their wake. That's one day you wouldn't want to be stuck in bed.


Photo grabbed from Vail's Facebook page.

From Forecasts to Fitness

Hey, Chicago! If there's one thing Amy Freeze is known for in the Windy City it's predicting the weather. From marathon to game-day forecasts, you'll find Freeze on FOX TV (for now, if you caught this story in Jan. 28's Sun Times), showcasing her skills as the Chicago station's Chief Meteorologist. But this Saturday at Fleet Feet Sports' Piper's Alley location, Freeze puts the forecasting aside to focus on fitness nitty-gritty. Freeze and her trainer John Hall will be motivating others as they share their fitness stories and the journeys taken through fitness.

Whether you need some motivation to get active this winter or you have yet to jump-start those New Year's fitness resolutions, prepare to learn, listen and work out at this free seminar that gets underway at Fleet Feet, 1620 N. Wells, at 10 a.m. After hearing a few of Freeze's accomplishments--running a relay from Madison to Chicago, climbing to the top of the Sears Tower and John Hancock Center, paddling the Shoreline Marathon, to name a few--all while juggling demanding jobs as weather woman, mom of four and wife, you'd be hard-pressed to return home and sit on the couch all day. Add in dynamic stretches, ways to work out in the winter and tips to build a strong core courtesy of Hall, who recently helped Freeze shape up through diet and exercise (if you thought she was fit before, she's even more fit now!), and you're set with an arsenal of fit tips to take 2011 by storm. 

For more details and to RSVP, check out www.fleetfeetchicago.com or call 312-587-3338.

Photo courtesy of Amy Freeze and FOX Chicago. Note: this was updated Jan. 28 and 30.

Make Marathon Miles--Or Any Distance--Faster

Have a need for speed? Searching for more marathon motivation or a way to get to the finish line with your personal best? Want advice that can stick with you or three ways to prepare your body and your mind for the challenge? It's not every day a coach offers up free tips--while we wish it was the case, more often than not we learn through trial-and-error, a training program or personal coach, or reading material--but Mike Thomson of CoreFitness Chicago, a coach, leader of Core Running classes and a Boston Marathon-qualifier, has some speedy secrets. And he let Fit-Ink learn three key rules, applicable to the marathon as well as any race on your schedule.

Visualize. Racing is 10 percent physical and 90 percent mental, so you want to know the race inside and out. Learn the course, its turns, its hills, its hydration stations and picture yourself running the route before the race. Then come race day when you hit a steep uphill, brace for a descent, or know that you need to refuel at miles 6, 12 and 18, your mind has already been there.

Taper volume, not speed. In the week leading up to the race you want to keep your speed but reduce the amount of training. Keep the epic workouts at bay especially those long runs and century spins. But do continue at the same intensity so you'll have that speed on race day.

Ban the expo eating. Free food? Who wouldn't turn that down? Well, you might want to if you don't want to mess with race performance. All of those energy bars, gels and gummies are great for giving you energy during a race or long ride, but that sugar high can spike insulin levels and dump glycogen if you're just sitting around. Don't use the expo as a grocery store unless you're stocking up for during or after the race.

That's not to say that these are the three golden rules of a fast race performance. Training, sleep and a good diet have to be present too or you might find yourself drifting off pace in the final miles. Or start off too quickly because you feel great (maybe leftover sugar-high from expo nibbling) and then sputtering at the end. Whatever the case, it's all about smart racing and smart prep. Posted by Kate

Five Ways for an Active Fall

The calendar says October but you think it feels more like late November or December where you let the belt buckle out a notch, stay off the scale and enjoy that holiday reveling. But alas we have yet to don our Halloween costumes—much to the chagrin of retailers who are already pushing holiday product—and we have yet to accomplish fall race goals. Whether you’re training for the next event or simply using the fall and winter to refresh for next season, consider these five ways to stay in shape and motivated without feeling like you’re training full-throttle. 

1. Test yourself at cyclocross. Combine road biking with steeplechase and you’ve got yourself a way to brush up on your bike skills, play around in the mud, and burn mass quantities of calories pumping pedals, hefting your bike over and through obstacles and rushing to the finish line. Plus it’s a sport that’s up and coming in Chicago seeing mass growth in the past few years that there are just as many newbies taking to the course as there are regulars so the pressure’s off.

2. Take up indoor riding. Carrying on a conversation pedaling along the Lakefront Path or along a busy street isn’t exactly the easiest thing. Nor is it much fun to have to bundle up when the mercury drops and return home from a ride chilled to the bone. But if you hook your bike up to a trainer at one of our indoor clinics and join a few other hearty souls, the conversations make the minutes fly by, and being protected from the elements makes the rides more enjoyable and consistent.

3. Take a break from the routine to cross train. You’ve gone swimming, biking and running—or maybe just running—all summer. But have you ever considered adding a new element to the mix? Try swapping out a running day for a pool workout or hit the bike.

4. Channel your core. Going with the cross-training theme, consider harnessing your energy, breath and movement through yoga. Add a yoga day to the routine to stretch out any tight muscles and improve flexibility in an attempt to ward off injury. While you’re sweating and balancing on your limbs, your body will be working to strengthen, even tone, tiny muscle fibers.

5. Strengthen with stairclimbs. Fall and winter in Chicago mean a circuit of stairclimbing events around the city’s and suburb’s tallest buildings. Your heart rate might sky rocket as you sprint up the stairs—94 flights if you register on Nov. 2 for the Hustle Up the Hancock in Feb. 2010, 103 flights if you sign up for the SkyRise Chicago on Nov. 15, or 80 flights if you choose the Step Up for Kids in Jan. 2010—but those lung-busting minutes will only help come spring. Plus the views from the top are priceless!

Photo grabbed from Dave Haygarth at flickr. Posted by Kate

Before You Bench Your Workout...

Turns out Lance Armstrong broke his collarbone in the bike crash that happened on Monday in Spain. He has to have surgery to repair his right clavicle and will be sidelined for roughly four weeks. He even expects to make it back in time for his next major race before the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia. How does he do it?

Even though the righty can't exactly write legibly or tweet, as he joked on Tuesday, I'm guessing he'll figure out a way to ride in his downtime. Maybe not at normal speeds or positioning, but it's not impossible.

When you're down and out, how can you keep your fitness up without hurting yourself even more, curbing your recuperation time or losing your fit levels. I broke my collarbone a few years back, right after signing up for the Chicago Marathon and the week before my first triathlon. While I couldn't race the triathlon and lost all of my arm strength, I was determined to train for the marathon and keep my legs strong. Here's what I did to keep the pounds from packing on (I wallowed in my misery with some ice cream treats) and the fitness from going out the window:

• Ride the stationary bike. I used to ride upright as part of my morning workout, but with my arm in a sling, my balance felt off as I sat upright. I switched to the recumbent bike and could pedal away. Granted I was much slower at times and it got uncomfortable, especially on my lower back, but I slogged through and managed to sweat enough to feel satisfied with my workout. Sadly enough, I judge many of my workout successes based on my sweat rate and how wet I am when I call it quits.
• Walk on the treadmill. This one didn't work as well as I had planned since it never revved my heartrate but I gave it a go when the bikes were occupied or I couldn't stand the thought of pedaling another day. It helped when I found good programming on TV because it was impossible for me to balance on the treadmill and read a book (just imagine another broken bone)
• Plan long destination walks outside. An obvious solution for a workout with a treat attached as the reward. Granted I think my husband was ready to kill me when I suggested that we walk from my apartment in downtown Chicago up to the West Lakeview neighborhood to get frozen custard. He relented since I suggested barreling through the lakefront crowds during Air Show weekend (if you've ever seen this Chicago sight, you'll know how packed it can get when the weekend has nice weather) so he could see the planes. The custard wasn't exactly his mission for heading outdoors and we'd usually bike there so the walk really needed to be enticing. In the end, our tummies were treated to frozen heaven on a hot day--and the one thing I could manage to scoop into my mouth with my dominant hand in a sling--and our feet were screaming for mercy after being tortured a 10-mile trek round trip. Don't laugh, but we forced ourselves out for another walk in the evening--only 2 miles tops--to partake in free Chipotle.
  
• Stairclimbing. I didn't actually try this while I was sidelined, but if you can avoid the stairmaster which might throw the body off-kilter, it could work. I climbed the stairs to and from work every day and the motion never hurt my collarbone, and living in a high-rise with two staircases stretching 50-plus floors, I probably should have visited the stairwells for a different workout. Stairclimbing is great cardio and perfect for building and strengthening leg muscles.

What suggestions might you have for working through workouts when you're not completely intact? I will say though, it's amazing the things you take for granted when everything is operational. But I digress. Yes, sweet treats ease my injury misery and that concrete was my walking reward. Photo grabbed from magicsmarties at Flickr. Posted by Kate

Multitask During March Madness

Before beer, burgers and basketball get the best of you this weekend, plan to maximize your time in front of the telly burning calories before you burn your brackets when your picks don't work out. Rather than sit and let the beer gut develop or start to feel sorry for yourself when you look at the scale come Monday morning, multitask during the NCAA tourney with some workouts that will help your training in the long run.

• Stretching. Any trainer--or at least those I've spoken with this winter about my own running issues--reiterate the need for proper stretching. Sometimes it's before working out, sometimes it's after, but either way you don't want to leave it off the schedule. Try hip bridges, wall sits, calf and hammy stretches, bicep and tricep pulls and more while the game is in play or on commercial.
  
• Take the game to the gym. Everyone is doing it, or so it seems when you glance around at the TV screens at the gym: pedaling on the stationary bike, using the elliptical or running on the treadmill while flipping between games. Thanks to technology and the TV hookups for individual machines it's even easier to squeeze in your workout and game watching at the same time.
  
• Cycling. If you have a trainer for your road/tri bike, set it up in front of the TV and instead of watching a spinning video or movies, keep the game on. I don't know about you, but a little motivation from athletes on the screen always keeps my workout in check--like Biggest Loser Tuesdays where I push through the last workout before the weigh-in. Mileage in the saddle during the winter only preps the legs for the upcoming riding season--and with spring finally arriving, that time is closer than ever.
  
• Core training. Admit it, the only way you'll get in those moves to strengthen your core is if you find the time to do it. TV time is a great motivator to start those crunches, lunges, squats and legs lifts. Pull out those stability balls for crunches, grab a medicine ball and pass it between a partner, practice your push ups and perfect your plank. Your body will love you when you really throw yourself into training season.
  
• Resistance band training. Use these stretchy bands to work your arm muscles with bicep curls, shoulders and delts with rows (if you can find a sturdy object to wrap the band around), or practice woodchops, triceps extensions, lateral rows and chest presses. You can also work the core with more lunges, squats and hip strengthening.
  

Not only will your body thank you after a combination of these moves and workouts, but you'll be less inclined to snack on junk food while sitting in front of the TV. Or if you still do, at least you'll have a calorie burn to cancel out some of the splurging. This is one change your body can believe in and might show results at the races too. And for even more at-home moves, check out some of these sites: Shape, Self, Fitness, Men's Health, Women's Health, and Fitness-at-home.com. Photo grabbed from upliftmofo at Flickr. Posted by Kate