“Nutrition plays a key role in enabling all triathletes to engage in quality training, but it becomes even more important after the bulletproof teens and early 20s when you may be able to get away with short cuts in the diet every now and then.”

“Nutrient dense, healthy foods including whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and quality proteins are required for both performance and health.”

– Pip Taylor, professional triathlete [via triathlon.competitor.com]

Bottom Line:  Nutrition matters, triathlete or not.  Fuel up with the good stuff.  You’ll feel better. 

Today I had a great run along the Provo River trail.  Even though the weather was not ideal (wet snow, cold, windy), I decided to head out anyway. 

You never know what weather will be like on race day (hopefully not snow!) so it’s always a good idea to make sure you’re mentally prepared for anything.  On ugly days it’s easy to convince yourself to hit the treadmill or bike trainer instead of going outside.  But the bonus is if there’s less-than-perfect weather on race day, it’s always nice to know that you’ve trained in something similar.

Do you ever train outside even if there’s not-so-great weather?

Just be the best you can be at whatever you do.  Always a great thing to remember.  Just wanted to pass it on.  Thanks @GaleBernhardt.

Just want to make sure I can do a 1/2 marathon for mental reasons.  Planning on a half-iron late in the season and want to mentally know I can do the distance.  Is that weird?

The best part of any race.  The finish.  Whether it’s a local sprint tri with only a handful of entrants and spectators or an Ironman with thousands, crossing the finish line is always awesome. 

If you’ve been there, you know it.  If you haven’t, find a way to get there.  Have a great training week!

I love triathlon training because it’s a lot less boring than doing the same thing over and over each day.  That’s what drew me into the sport.  I was tired of going running everyday and never changing anything.  For me, that was boring. 

With triathlon, everyday is something new.  It’s a different workout and a new challenge.  The different disciplines in triathlon, for me, keep working on my fitness fresh and fun.

How did you get into triathlon?  What’s your story?

[Quote Source: Triathlon 101: Essentials for Multisport Success, by John Mora].

What’s up triathletes!  I need your help today.  My wife (you can barely see her head in the pic above) has been talking about “maybe” doing her first triathlon.  She’s on the fence about it and I need your help to convince her that she should.  Please share some good experiences (or bad, if ya want to) you had during your first triathlon. 

Doesn’t matter if you’ve only ever done 1 triathlon or done more than 100, or if you finished last or consistently finish first, just send positive tri-vibes her way! 

The triathlon she’s thinking of doing is 350m swim, 10 mile bike, and 5K run.  Pretty short and sweet, but the bike scares her the most.  She’s comfortable in the water and comfortable running, but the bike is the scary part.  A little love, support and encouragement from the triathlon community might help her decide to jump into the sport we all love. 

The idea is to have a bunch of comments below that I can show her so she can feel the triathlon love. 

Thanks and feel free to share this with all the triathletes you know!

Well, there ya go.  That’s how to be a successful triathlete.  Good luck! : )

[Source].

[Image via ZonkBonk "Triathlon 101"].

If you’ve ever been on a treadmill for a long time, this is what it seems to feel like.  This is from the “Triathlon 101″ cartoon by Ben Boyd and Bob Babbitt.  If you’re a triathlete, you’ll find some of these pretty funny.