Coaching – Sage Rountree

Active Yogi: When Discipline Becomes Overuse

May 20, 2013 – 2:27 pm | Permalink | Active Yogi, Coaching, Recovery, Training and Racing, Yoga

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, as I explain in my latest Active Yogi post.

As athletes and as yogis, we spend a lot of time building comfort with discomfort. This is the purpose of training: We stress the body so that it can grow stronger. Without the stress of this discomfort, we miss out on adaptation, and thus the opportunity for growth. Similarly, yoga asana teaches us to grow comfortable with discomfort, whether it’s burning quads in Chair Pose or the challenge of trying our first Handstand. Our adaptation to these stimuli makes us stronger and more flexible, and the tools for staying present we develop in uncomfortable situations help prepare us for all life’s challenges.

Share: Racing Lowlights and Highlights

May 15, 2013 – 1:37 pm | Permalink | Coaching, Media, Race Reports, Training and Racing

Several of you have already shared wonderful (and wonderfully awful) stories of good races gone bad—crashes galore, broken glasses, broken noses, missing the start, missing the finish (!). (I’m working on a piece on the subject, about which more soon.) Any race—running, paddling, kids’ fun runs—is game. If you have a story to tell, I’d really love to hear it, and I made this three-question survey to collect your response! It should take less than five minutes total to complete. Thanks in advance for your time.

Take the survey →

Sage Advice: Moving off a Plateau

May 10, 2013 – 3:19 pm | Permalink | Coaching, Recovery, Sage Advice, Training and Racing

Last night, I spoke to a fantastic group of women at Great Outdoor Provision Company in Chapel Hill. Most were beginner triathletes and triathletes-in-training preparing for the Ramblin’ Rose races, a series of beginner-friendly triathlons and running races staged by Endurance Magazine. (In the photo, my face, captured midsentence, echoes the terrified expressions some of them had while contemplating the swim.)

One attendee asked me a great question. She’d been training for a while, pushing herself, and wondered why she’d hit a plateau and wasn’t getting any faster. Naturally, this is a major issue that could stand deep investigation, but in a casual Q&A setting, here are two things to look at.

1. Underrecovery. All the hard work in the world isn’t going to pay off if you don’t give it time to soak in. Just because you can string three workouts back to back many days a week doesn’t mean it’s a great idea. It can have the opposite of the intended effect, actually making you slower and dampening down your ability to hit the high notes—the fast paces and heavy efforts—in your workouts. Without these peak workouts, there’s no fast race; without recovery, the peak workouts are useless. For more on this, read The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery, my manifesto on how not to train (now in Spanish and German!).

2. Complacent workouts. When you train alone, it can be tough to push yourself that extra bit—to reach for those high notes. When you stay within your comfort zone, or only just beyond it to the start of your discomfort zone, you aren’t applying enough training stress to encourage your body to adapt by growing stronger. Group workouts and training partners can help you break your way through this plateau, by encouraging you to give a slightly greater effort than you’d do on your own.

When you hit such a plateau in training, it’s like you’ve attenuated your wavelength, dampening it down to a comfortable middle range. Your body needs the low points (recovery) and the high points (hard effort) to supercompensate and move you to the next level of ability and speed. Combining these two remedies—resting more and working harder—should help get you there.

“Race” Report: Francesca’s Unvitational Forty-Miler

May 6, 2013 – 3:26 pm | Permalink | Coaching, Race Reports, Recovery, Training and Racing

segue

As I alluded to in my Active Yogi post today but didn’t explain clearly on social media, even as I was posting photos last weekend, I traveled to Memphis last weekend for a special event: Francesca’s Unvitational Forty-Miler. (Unvitational, as virtually no one wants to be invited to run 40. And for the acronym FU40.) Francesca, aka Kika, her Italian nickname, is my BFF—our friendship dates back to 1987—and a ferocious trail runner. She joined me at the Mt. Mitchell Challenge, my forty-for-my-fortieth race, in 2012. As our birthdays are in August—and August is NOT a time to run 40 miles in Memphis—she planned an April event, laps around the lake at Herb Parsons park east of town. It wasn’t a race proper, either; it was a casual event. Kika suggested charities for her friends to donate to, and ordered some cool stainless-steel pint glasses as swag for folks who showed up to run, bike, or walk some of the course.

caddy

(As an aside, you know it’s going to be a great weekend when you are exposed to such luxe and varied transportation as this airport police officer’s three-wheeled motorized vehicle and Elvis’s pink Cadillac within two hours of landing.)

Before

With some help from my sponsor PowerBar and a trip to Kroger, we stocked Kika’s trunk with the essentials (read: junk food) for a day’s jaunt in the woods. Another friend from high school, Hillary, and the wonderful Olivia from Birmingham, constituted the core crew. Hillary, Olivia, and I joined Kika on the first and last of the four laps; in addition Olivia and I did lap 2 with Kika and a few fantastic locals, and Hillary did number 3 with Kika and a number of Memphisians. Memphis has a thriving running community supported by the fantastic Breakaway Running. (Kika took me there on Sunday—what a great resource and what a kind store founder, Barry!)

During

What a joy to participate in an event outside the usual routines of stressful race travel! There was no packet to pick up (though Kika had thoughtfully prepared race bags for us with gels, chocolate, socks, shirts, and the local running club magazine), no alarm clock to set (Kika turned on Donna Summer when it was time to get up), no hard start or finish time. I didn’t even wear a watch. An even greater joy was focusing on a loved one’s spirits and success instead of my own performance. It was such a treat, I may never race again!

After

It was a surprise to me to feel less sore than I expected to after running 30 miles. (Maybe Twix have magical recovery ingredients when washed down with Coke.) Instead, I enjoyed the sleepy fatigue of having spent an active weekend in a cool city with dear girlfriends and not enough sleep. FU, 40! Cheers, 40! Auguri, Kika!

Active Yogi: Dealing with Soreness and Fatigue

May 6, 2013 – 2:38 pm | Permalink | Active Yogi, Coaching, Recovery, Training and Racing, Yoga

Some events make you sore. Some training weeks make you fatigued. Some days do both. In my latest Active Yogi post, I consider the effect soreness and fatigue have on your yoga practice (and give a little postview of the FU40 event in Memphis).

A week ago, I visited my best friend, Francesca, in Memphis, where she was running 40 miles to celebrate her imminent fortieth birthday. Struck by one of those ideas that seem to pop into the mind fully formed during a long run, she planned her own do-it-yourself event in a park outside town and invited some friends to join her for a lap or two around the lake. Several of us did one, two, or three of the 10-mile laps, while Francesca gamely did all four and felt good enough to drive when we went out for pizza and beer that evening.

Scheduled: Running Summit

April 30, 2013 – 11:15 am | Permalink | Coaching, Recovery, Training and Racing, Yoga

I’m excited to be presenting on athletic recovery and on yoga at the 2013 Running Summit in Morristown, NJ, August 17 and 18. This will be a fantastic event for runners and coaches alike, offering continuing education credits for USATF and USA Triathlon coaches and NSCA trainers. I’m especially looking forward to hanging out with my colleague Matt Fitzgerald, one of the best writers around in any discipline, and to hearing Joe Vigil speak, as I was scheduled opposite him at USA Triathlon’s Art and Science conference last year. I hope you’ll join me—we can share a meal!

Scheduled: Yoga for Runners Clinics

April 24, 2013 – 6:30 pm | Permalink | Coaching, Human Interest, Training and Racing, Yoga

In late May, I’ll be visiting western Canada to present free clinics on yoga for runners at MEC stores (thanks, prAna, for sponsoring!). The dates are set; times will be posted soon:

MEC Vancouver, Sunday, May 26
MEC Calgary, Monday, May 27
MEC Edmonton, Wednesday, May 29

I hope to meet you there!

Event: Girls’ Night Out at GOPC Chapel Hill

April 23, 2013 – 1:29 pm | Permalink | Coaching, Training and Racing

Join me (that’s not me pictured above!) at Great Outdoor Provision Co. in Chapel Hill on Thursday, May 9, 6:00–7:30 p.m.

An evening of high fives, great clothing, and practical information to get you psyched for the Ramblin’ Rose Triathlons (Raleigh’s race is May 19, Chapel Hill’s is October 6). Bring your questions and get psyched for your upcoming races.

I will speak on training, equipment, and how to make the most of your transition between stages in triathlon. There will also be snacks and giveaways, including copies of The Athlete’s Pocket Guide to Yoga!

Free and open to all! Read more on the GOPC site.

Girls’ Night Out at Great Outdoor Provision Co.: Postview and Preview

March 15, 2013 – 5:15 pm | Permalink | Coaching, Training and Racing

It was an honor and a vast pleasure to speak at the Great Outdoor Provision Company in Raleigh last night on the joys of triathlon. Most of the women present were preparing for their first-ever triathlon, and it’s so fun to calm fears and answer the dozens of questions your first race engenders. Joe Miller from Get Going NC was there, and he captured these 12 tips for first-time racers.

If you were present or are interested in doing your first race, these links might be helpful:

Ramblin’ Rose Triathlon: Get Faster, or Happily Finish, from Endurance Magazine
Getting Started in Triathlon, from the Athleta Chi blog
Race-Specific Training for Triathlon and Duathlon
Ramblin’ Rose Events

I’ll deliver an encore talk at the Chapel Hill Great Outdoor Provision Company on May 9, sponsored by my friends at prAna. (Bonus: you can make up a Mother’s Day wish list while you’re there!) There will be fantastic giveaways from Endurance Magazine, as well as snacks! Thanks to everyone who joined me last night—and a special thanks to Chuck Milsaps and the GOPC crew, who saved me a few chips and a cup of sangria to enjoy after I spoke.

Event: Girls’ Night Out at Great Outdoor Provision Company

March 13, 2013 – 7:58 am | Permalink | Coaching, Training and Racing

Join me tomorrow—Thursday, March 14—from 6:00 to 7:30 at Great Outdoor Provision Company in Cameron Village, Raleigh, for a girls’ night out event focused on the Ramblin’ Rose Triathlon. There will be snacks and drinks! Details here.

I’ll talk about transitions, staying calm, and ways to enjoy the race. If you aren’t signed up yet for this fantastic beginner women’s triathlon, sign up today—the entry fees increase tomorrow!

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