Before I was really interested in triathlons I was a runner. I fell into the trap of thinking that because I was running that I could eat whatever I wanted to and that did not turn out too well, especially on the weekends. As I mention in my journey to triathlon in my about page, I signed up for a half marathon and decided it was time for a change. I knew that eating healthy would probably help but I had no idea how to get started. Sit around long enough at night and you will inevitably find that you will see infomercials on Snuggies, gold coins, and workout programs. I happen to find the latter as I was somehow engrossed by a P90X commercial. You see, I had attempted P90X before and all I remember is wanting to die and being extremely sore the next day, so I stopped and gave up. What I caught my eye during the infomercial was the nutrition guide. Apparently this crazy program teaches you how to eat right too. So, for some reason that I still am not quite able to identify I made the decision that night that I was going to complete P90X with the meal plan if it killed me. The Monday after we got home we started P90X and never looked back!
WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH TRIATHLON?
I bring this up because triathlon training is a completely different ball game than weight loss. No doubt if you train correctly you will have some weight loss but I know many frustrated triathletes that are pounding the pavement day in and day out and aren’t getting the results they thought they would get with triathlon training. Some of this frustration can be solved with nutrition and some of it is simply because the focus of triathlon training does not have a focus of weight loss. Having already completed P90X I was able to compete in my triathlons with a single minded focus in competing without worrying if the scale was going to show weight loss the next morning after my workout.
Also, P90x made me a better all around athlete, period. P90X is a very dynamic program with lots of variations. Workouts focus on upper body, lower body, strength, cardio, plyometrics and yoga. With all this variety P90X taught me functional fitness that I could apply to being a triathlete which I was able to apply to my triathlon training which has reduced my potential for injury and able to endure the ever changing schedule of a triathlon training program.
Leave a Reply