Gale Bernhardt says she divides athletes into two groups: “those looking to complete and those looking to compete.” The first type wants to meet a goal, such as finish a 10K race or do a sprint-distance triathlon; the second wants to achieve a personal-best time or win their age group in a race. For both groups, the same approach is needed. “You need a plan,” says Bernhardt, a trainer and coach who worked with the men's and women's triathlon teams in the 2003 Pan American Games and the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. A graduate of Colorado State University, she's also a cycling coach and recently joined Timex to offer free training tips and plans online. Bernhardt, who has coached athletes for 30 years, says people tend to exaggerate how much to do and make their training too complicated. She thinks a plan that includes 4 1/2 hours of training a week for 12 weeks can prepare an unfit person for a sprint-distance triathlon, while a fit jogger can spend two hours a week in a program and improve her time on a 5K. (See sample plans at timextrainer.com.) The advantage in having a plan - whether you're a novice or competing in a 100-mile mountain bike race, as Bernhardt has signed up to do Aug. 9 in the Rockies - is that it keeps you from overtraining. “The risk you run is that you'll get burned out or injure yourself” and not be able to participate, she says. Athletes preparing for multisport events like triathlons need a training schedule so they'll build the skills and stamina needed for each sport but not wear their bodies out in the process. Here are four more of her training tips: 1. Rest needs to be part of the plan. Weekly rest can be a day or days off of endurance training each week. There can be “active rest” workouts that are at an easy-running intensity or walking. In programs that last more than six weeks, Bernhardt uses a pattern of three or four weeks of higher volume and/or intensity training followed by a week of rest. In a rest week, she reduces the weekly training hours and retains some intensity. 2. Wear and use the proper equipment. If you're starting a running program, get fitted for shoes. Cyclists also need a bike that fits. 3. Monitor the intensity of your workouts. “People tend to go too hard,” she says. Using a heart-rate monitor is easy and will let you know if you're training at the right level. “It gives you permission to go easier on yourself,” Bernhardt says. 4. Focus on your health first, performance second. When people fall in love with a sport, they are so intent on improving that they will ignore signs they're overdoing it. “Take time off if you get a cold or the flu or have an injury,” she says. - The Denver Post __
