Friends of the Devil News
Episode 3 of the Tri Pod – Coming Next Saturday (5/8)
The Friends talk about getting prepared for their first race of the season and what goes into getting all your gear ready. Then Nate and Elliott talk about how they handle their race day jitters and figure out what’s worse, bad drivers or bad roads, foggy goggles or sweaty sunglasses. Brought to you by Tri Blisters (triblisters.com/devil), available wherever you get your podcasts.
What’s the worse part of training?
There’s a lot to love about training. Hitting a new PR on that Strava segment you’ve been working on, the sense of accomplishment after a long BRICK session, the giggles induced by saying “Fartlek” aloud. But what about all the other stuff that comes with the good. What is the worst part of training?
Nothing ever works for Elliott
Listen, let’s keep things in perspective here. Any day that I’m able to get out of bed and go out and train is a good day. It means, I’m not injured, and everything in my life is in a state that I can focus on my training. Keeping that in mind, almost anything can be boiled down to a simple pet peeve when it comes to what’s the worst part about training.
I’d say, things that suck about training can be broken up into 3 categories. Things that are dangerous, things that are annoying and things that are demotivating.
The most identifiable worst thing about training are things that are dangerous. This include things like terrible motorists on the roads. It can also having to swim in open water alone because you don’t have a training partner or a viable public swimming location. It can also mean excessive heat during a training session that can leave you dangerous dehydrated or overheated. But let’s face it, it’s mostly the motorists. Each of these things totally suck and can put out of the triathlon business (and life) permanently. They jump to the top of the list.
Then there are the things that are annoying, and they are legion! Nothing ever seems to work the way it’s supposed to. Why, just this week I had to deal with goggles that wouldn’t stay sealed, a Garmin that kept failing to sync, a profile design aero hydration system that leaked Gatorade all over my front brake calipers, a swim cap that decided my head was the last place it wanted to be. The list goes on and on and on. These are the kinds of things that drive me nuts as an athlete but ultimately, don’t have the greatest impact on my training.
Then, there is the category that encompasses what really are the worst things about training. These are all the things that can demotivate you as a triathlete and truly make the sport less enjoyable. While there are lots of examples, they typically amount to working on something really hard with an exception of excellence, only to fall short of that goal. It could be a focus on nutrition to get yourself down to racing weight only to blow up like a balloon after losing that focus. Or it could be totally bonking on a 10 mile race pace run after spending many training sessions focused on speed work. Just recently, I got to take Quintin (my 3 year old QuintanaRoo PR5) out on the road for the first time this season (he spent the off season on my trainer downstairs). Every time I looked down at my bike computer, I was looking at 22(ish) mph. I was feeling great the whole ride. But when I got back home and uploaded the data, my average moving speed was only 19.3. It stuff like that, where I thought I was doing well, only to have my bubble burst that truly is the worst part of training.
No reason not to keep going.
| Training Update | Last 2 Weeks | Year to Date |
| Swim | 8600 yds | 33,930 yds |
| Bike | 94.01 mi | 499.09 mi |
| Run | 11.53 mi | 123.8 mi |
| Strength | 1h 52m 57s | 33h 18m 31s |
Nate doesn’t like drivers…
I forget who the athlete was, but I read an interview a few years ago and he was talking about the difference between: “I have to go out for a long training run today” vs. “I want to go out for a long training run today” For whatever reason, that has always stuck with me. It seems like one of those simple trick your brain things. I try to keep it all in perspective…I’m fortunate enough to get to go for a run or ride my bike.
That being said…sometimes training really sucks.
That being said…sometimes training really sucks. Here is my list in not particular order:
-70% humidity or greater
-85 degrees or greater
-inattentive drivers
-aggressive drivers
-most drivers
-cyclists that’s don’t wave back
-runners that don’t wave back
-tire punctures in the first or last 5 miles of a ride
-sweat dripping onto your sunglasses
-road closures
-when you misjudge the depth of a puddle and have to finish your run with one wet foot
-headwinds
-when the idiot lacrosse team has a rager during a freaking pandemic and campus goes on lockdown so your pool has to close.
-too many beers the night before a long ride
Most of these are pretty trivial…but some or not. Wear a mask and get vaccinated. Put the phone down when you are driving. Slow down and give cyclists plenty of room when you pass.
Don’t be a dick
| Training Update | Last 2 Weeks | Year to Date |
| Swim | 0 yds | 17,252 yds |
| Bike | 152.4 mi | 1006.2 mi |
| Run | 26.5 mi | 186 mi |
| Strength | 0h 0m 00s | 0h 0m 00s |
Friends of the Devil 