Sunday, April 8, 2012

How I Train on the Road

Since some people asked me to put out some of my pointers I figured I'd throw down some of the ways I manage to train for my first 70.3 on the road and continue to train on the road.



1. BE FLEXIBLE- be sure you aren't too stuck in your training plan and be sure you coach is flexible too. I try to let my coach know when I am going to have to play around with the plan but my schedule is so busy sometimes I don't tell her ahead of time. For this last trip I emailed her to let her know I may not be following the plan and her response "Take me with you." This is why we are a good match. My flexibility paid off on this last trip when TriRunner302 asked me to join her at a spin class. It wasn't my speed bike day but with a switch from swim to bike I ended up getting in a great ride.

2. HAVE GYM MEMBERSHIPS- I have 2 nationwide memberships. That doesn't mean I always have a gym near me to use so I suck it up with hotel gyms and sometimes even pay a couple bucks to guest membership at a gym. It is less than ideal to spend more money but sometimes when it is the only option.

3. RESEARCH OPTIONS- a lot of areas have community pools that I have used for 2 bucks. I do a little google research and ask some people who are from the area. I have really lucked out in some areas finding great pools.

4. MAP A ROUTE- some hotels have mapped runs for you. But if you map your own be flexible to enjoy a slightly different route. I had a planned route one time came across a bike path and ended up getting to enjoy running with deer that morning. PLEASE- make sure you tell someone where you are headed and have someone know you are going and when you get back. Safety is important.

This past week I got to enjoy one of my favorite travel run routes- the national mall. It wasn't the hill repeats on my plan but it was a great run with the little bit of cherry blossoms left.

5. KNOW YOUR STROKE COUNT- if you know your 25 yd stroke count you can estimate how big a hotel pool is. I know I am about 16 strokes in a 25 yd pool so if I can get in about that many its around a 25yd pool but less I can estimate how many yds each length is. This has paid off even this past week at my hotels- one was a shorter pools and one was about 25 yds.

6. PACK OPTIONS- pack your workout planned clothes and equipment but be sure you pack the just in case stuff and don't forget the gels and nutrition. If you don't have a run planned pack the run shoes just in case. Its a bummer to have time to do the workout but not have the gear.

While talking about swimming in hotel pools- Since most hotel pools don't have the markings for walls and the pool floor to know where you are. It is best to practice your open water sighting to know where you are and help sight a flipturn. Also- probably one of the only times I actually work on my open water sighting.

It helps if you realize you do the best you can while training on the road. Sometimes the recumbent bike is the only option but at least I am movin my butt. Some days it is best to get up early and get the workout out the way. Some days the sleep is what I need and I'll get it done later after working. I find on the road it is usually nice to have it out of the way since you never know what will happen. Though some days if I haven't gotten a great nights sleep it is nice to get the extra hour of sleep.

I know my travel schedule isn't going to change much anytime soon so I will keep mulling around any more pointers I can think of. Please feel free to add any that help you when you travel.

3 comments:

  1. You go girl! That's a good tip on the pools!

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  2. This is awesome. Definitely RTing this. =)

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  3. Good job fitting everything in while on travel

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