So We Begin

Basta: He's the athlete. Also, he's the husband.

Me: I'm the coach. And the wife, of course.

He has the natural athletic ability.

I have the interest in figuring out how the body can work most efficiently. That covers a wide range of topics, like sports physiology, nutrition, kinesiology, psychology, medicine . . .many others. I like reading this stuff. There is so much so-called expertise out there. Through the wonders of the internet I can find a fascinating article by a PhD at a respected research institution on a given topic and then find another fascinating article by someone equally credentialed that directly contradicts it. Isn't that great? I find that I disagree with a whole lot of the mainstream opinions and lean towards the 'cutting-edge' and 'novel approaches.'

Like, remember when most nutritionists were saying that a low-carb diet would result in organ shutdown and death? And now most are recommend eating only whole, unrefined carbs and to limit the intake of high GI starches. Good. Finally.

Remember when the dietary advice was to avoid saturated fats like the plague and the consume very little fat overall? Then it went to mono- and poly-unsaturated fats being ok. Now it's being realized that there's not a darned thing wrong with fats at all. In fact, the human body can survive quite nicely on a diet of fats alone. Amazing. Yet how many people do you know still try to eat low-fat? I shake my head. The body needs fat.

Remember when the recommendation with running was to hit heel-first, then roll onto the outside of your foot and then push off the balls of your feet with strong quadriceps contraction to produce the most force and speed? This is where the term, 'pounding the pavement' comes from. A lot of high-school track coaches still teach this. A lot of people still swear by this. This running style led me to a chronic problem with ITBS, a pulled hamstring, and plantar fasciitis. These injuries then led me to find both Chi Running and the Pose technique. These saved my running career.

There are a world of examples like this. I intend to rant about them as I go along here. For now, let me state where I am with my thinking about these topics now:

Diet: The South Beach Diet pretty well sums it up. Eat whole, organic, unprocessed, unrefined foods. Eat a wide range of whole, fresh veggies (preferably local and organic). Eat hormone-free, preservative-free proteins in abundance. Eat fats without fear. Avoid the four whites: white rice, white sugar, white flour, potatoes. My only quibble with SBD is that recommends avoiding saturated fats with no supporting research. I don't think saturated fats are bad for you.

Running: Chi Running, as stated above. It rocks. Seriously. This is THE ANSWER to elimination of running injuries and to effortless long-distance running.

Swimming: Total Immersion. Rocks. Completely and totally rocks. It is THE ANSWER to effortless long-distance swimming. I, like hundreds of thousands of others, am convinced of this. My best friend at work who swam in college is not. This is a good part of what I enjoy about these topics so much. There doesn't seem to be a completely clear-cut answer to anything and what works for me may not work for everyone. That's a good challenge if I ever saw one.

Biking: Here is my weak spot. I know there must be as much technique involved in biking as there are in the other two sports. I am reading about this. Pedal technique is key, it appears. I'm hoping to learn this soon enough to teach it to Basta in time for him to practice it and build his speed in time for his big event. The bike is his weakest event, and it's probably the most important to triathlon. Must work on this. I bought Eric Harr's "Ride Fast" book and am thinking about getting a CompuTrainer. I don't know that effortless biking is possible. I've certainly never heard that term like I have with swimming and running. But I know we can get faster than we are. Much faster.

Health: Don't take drugs into the body unless absolutely necessary. Don't strap or brace or support or bind any body part unless it is broken. Don't let anyone cut you except as a last resort.

But back to the coaching thing. I read this stuff. I enjoy it. But I try to apply it to my own sorry triathlon career and I see mediocre results. I am injury-free, yes, and that's huge. I am a lot more comfortable and these events aren't such a struggle now, true. But I'm not fast. I am a middle-of-the-pack age grouper. I probably always will be, too. Unless I just outlive everyone and continue doing triathlon forever. By the time I'm in my 70's Sister Madonna Buder ought to have given it up, so maybe I'll have a chance at a first then. I'm fine with doing this for fun and fitness.

But Basta. Oh Basta. He's athletic. He's lean. He's wiry. He's fast. Yes, he's 53 years old so the best he will ever be is a fast age-grouper, but that's a lofty goal. Those old guys are competitive.

He started triathlon last year, basically following me into it. He showed some talent and placed third in his age group in a couple smaller events. He thought he was pretty hot stuff. Then he did a few bigger events, ones with around 200 guys in his age group, and he placed mid-pack. He was surprised. And disappointed. He wanted to do better.

His training program, self-designed, involved doing whatever workout sounded good on a given day, for however long he felt like or had time for that day, with the ultimate goal of being able to complete the distances of the next event.

I kept trying to get him to put a little more thought into his workouts but he didn't want to read the articles I'd found or have to think so much about his workouts. He just wanted to do.

So we hit upon this brilliant idea: Let me design a program for him. What to do, every day. Intervals, Tempo workouts, Distance, Drills. Technique. Nutrition. The works. Be his coach, in other words. He doesn't want to have to learn this stuff. He just wants to be told what to do and see results. That works for me.

And so we go. I've never done this before. Though I have a lot of opinions on a lot of these topics, I've never put together a whole program designed to peak an athlete for his main event. I'm excited about the challenge.

Basta's big event is the Oceanside Half Ironman on March 29, 2008. I bought the Triathlete's Bible by Joe Friel and have been relying heavily on it for the program I'm putting together.