by Sue Aquila

"The doing of the doing is why nothing gets done."

Triathletes and business owners share a common trait: neither want to stay in one place very long. Place can be exchanged with the following: a chair, a market, a city, a marriage or a house. Both triathletes and business owners are objects in motion. As Newton states, "An object in motion, stays in motion." We resist changes in motion especially if you have a love for a sport that only involves one motion -- forward.

The challenge for the athletes and business owners is to turn off your cruise control. I am not asking you to stop your workouts or your business. I am asking you to be present. Apply the associative skills you use successfully when racing to the rest of your life.

by Kevin Purcell

Have you heard this recently: “Hey mate! How was your season?”

That question has made more than one athlete pause before answering. Why? Because we often experience success mixed with challenges -– if not flat out road blocks; and for most of us it is easiest to verbalize the good times. What if someone was a bit nosey and asked, “How did your life go this year?” Most of us (if honest) would have to pause. Life can be tough.

Sometimes roadblocks are not of our own making. More often we have a hand in them. With objectivity, we might even be able to identify recurring themes. If we are honest with ourselves recurring themes can be the most difficult to undue because they are part of us.

by Marilyn McDonald

In place of a workout this month and in conjunction with AC's article last week, I’d like to share my ideas on strength training. It’s a good idea to get in the gym in the off season, and for some people, it may be a good idea year round.

In our off season I think it’s beneficial to add in the gym and make it a priority for a few months. It can help rehab any imbalances you may have and build new strength. Building your strength in the off season can be as key as building your base for making improvements to handle the key sessions and racing later in the year.

by Gordo Byrn

One of the most popular articles I’ve written was a piece from 2000 where I explained what I did to qualify for Ironman Hawaii. It’s somewhere in the archives of XTri.com. At the time, I thought that I’d done pretty well. As it turned out, I was only scratching the surface of my potential.

With the results of our team fresh in my mind, and my inbox humming with the Kona Dreams of top triathletes, I thought I’d revisit the topic but focus on what it takes to perform on the Big Island.

by Chuckie V

To most athletic types the term “body composition” is little more than being viewed as being a lean, mean, fighting machine. The phrase essentially refers to the proportion of fat and fat-free mass in the body; a lower proportion of body fat theoretically leads to a healthy body composition. It’s something I’ve never had to worry about. Or so I thought.

by Alan Couzens, MS (Sports Science)

With a minimal amount of equipment you can set up a more than adequate home gym in your own garage. Your own space where you can mix up exercises as you see fit, you have enough floor space to actually do some integrated, functional whole body movements (that will help you as an athlete!) and you can actually have some fun and do some crazy stuff without attracting the attention of the gym Nazis. Yes, for the early season you can get a good mix of functional hypertrophy training, muscle balance training (pre-hab) and general aerobic conditioning with a very limited amount of equipment in your own garage.

by Kevin Coady

Most northern hemisphere long course athletes have finished their 2010 season and are plotting and scheming how they are going to improve their race results for next season. At some point they will likely ask themselves or their coaches something like, “If I trained 13 hours per week and did an 11 hour ironman, how many hours would I have to train to break 10 hours?”

I have an education background, so I am trained to say that there are no such thing as stupid questions; so I won’t say it. But I will suggest some better questions that might give an athlete a much better chance at improving his or her results next year.

We’re doing things a little different this month and are profiling one of the EC coaches: Marilyn McDonald. Marilyn is a former elite equestrian show jumper, a former elite triathlete with a win at Ironman Malaysia and multiple top 10 places on her resume, and most recently was an elite cyclist in the pro peloton. Marilyn is also married to elite triathlete and ironman champion Chris McDonald.

by Vince Matteo

This is the time of year when my training load is reduced and my calorie requirements are less. In an effort to keep my weight within reasonable limits, I attempt to cook healthy meals with fewer calories. While low calorie meals are typically bland, nothing could be further than the truth with this tasty entrée. Enjoy!

I've had first hand experience with my body composition's impact on my race race performance. In the past two years there was 15 pounds between my heaviest and lightest race weights. Some well-chosen words from an outside observer kicked me into that change. Was I really willing to push myself through hours of training and then hinder it with poor nutrition?

It's easy to believe the "I train so much I can eat what I like" mentality, but the truth is, poor diet leads to poor training and racing. There's a time for eating what you like and that's the holidays or after a major race. When we're preparing for an event bad nutrition is like skipping major workouts.

by Jonas Colting

I'm writing about Naked Health in my latest book and have divided chapters into Naked Training, Naked Food and so forth, with the word "naked" working as a metaphor for something primal, genuine and unspoiled. There's no chapter on Naked Racing though. The truth is that this wouldn't be a metaphor but rather something from real life. I've raced naked. Literally. With just a pair of goggles.

Let me tell you, goggles alone won't make you feel dressed!

by Sue Aquila

Ten years ago, I was 40 pounds heavier and sedentary. Every time my daughter shows her baby pictures I cringe. I believe running and later, at the suggestion of a friend, triathlon saved my health and eventually my life.

As I started my athletic journey, I learned to apply the principles of my business to improving my body composition. The same principles I use to maintain a profitable business I apply to managing my body composition.

by Mimi Winsberg, M.D.

Since October is body composition month, I thought I would take the opportunity to discuss an important triad of disorders particular to female athletes. This triad is most often seen in sports that emphasize leanness, or where low body fat offers an advantage. Having just returned from Hawaii where the typical athlete looked to be about 5% body fat, I can safely say that triathlon falls in this camp.

by Gordo Byrn

One of the most interesting things about being inside Endurance Corner is access to the case studies from our highest performing amateurs.

I’ve been paying attention to our best athletes and a few counterintuitive things have stood out. I thought that I’d share them with you.

by Bob Albright, D.O.

“Enhanced lactate clearance, increased VO2 max, maximization of ATP formation and free radical clearance.”

Wow, sign me up!

I’m a generally optimistic guy -- really -- but a substance which does these things would seem too good to be true. Guess what, it seems it is.

by Justin Daerr

When I was about 12-13 years old, my father started reading “The Zone” books. He was at a point in his life where his health started to become a priority and numerous health books started to appear in our house. Out of curiosity, I started to read through some of these books and eventually I became more and more interested in improving my health. Considering the fact that I was entering adolescence, my motivation was probably not the same as my father’s, but my interest never really waned from then until now. My cynicism for the “next big thing” might be greater, but prioritizing my health continues to exist.

by Vince Matteo

I've been working my way through the squash family lately and I discovered spaghetti squash along the way. Its texture and appearance are similar to spaghetti but it contains fewer carbohydrates.

Those looking to cut down on the calories will find this recipe easy to make and quite tasty. Enjoy!

by Marilyn McDonald

As the race year comes to a close we are all starting to take our season break. Some of you may even be thinking about the program to get ready for next season.

One thing you’ll hear come out of a lot of athletes' mouths as the off-season rolls on is, “Oh boy, I’ve packed on a few pounds.”

During this period, it’s okay to take a mental and physical break and allow ourselves a few treats. This is the time that it's okay to allow yourself a little more flexibility on how much and what you eat.

by Gordo Byrn

Given that October is Nutrition and Body Composition Month on EC, I thought that I’d revisit the key areas to remember as we head into the holiday season.

For all of us, nutrition starts before we are born. Our current body is the product of decades of choices with a strong influence from the habits that were passed along by our parents. Given the inertia we face, lasting change must be incremental and simple.

by Alan Couzens, MS (Sports Science)

Before Marilyn posted her recent workout of the month she offered me a sneak preview so that I could comment on describing the workouts using EC terms. I was forced to e-mail back to her that when it comes to EC zone descriptions, those workouts were "hors categorie," that is, beyond our current categorization (another advantage to having diversity -- such as those with bike racing experience -- on the EC coaching team).

by Larry Creswell, M.D.

Who hasn’t said, at some point or another, that my heart “skipped a beat”? As it turns out, the heart rarely “skips” a beat in the literal sense, but there are a variety of abnormal heartbeats or heart rhythms (called arrhythmias) that cause us to feel like our heart skipped a beat.

When the heart “skips” a beat, the heart rate becomes irregular. More often than not, this involves an extra heartbeat (such as a premature atrial contraction, or PAC) or an arrhythmia. Today, we’ll talk about one of these arrhythmias -- atrial fibrillation (AF). This is the most common arrhythmia that affects athletes.

by Gordo Byrn

This past weekend, several thousand people gathered in Hawaii -- to race, to dream, to visit Albert’s floating espresso bar... my hat’s off to them. They heard the calling and followed their hearts.

September was my brother’s birthday and he pinged Facebook with the observation that he was a bit sad that Chuck Month had come to a close. I commented, “why stop at a month,” and a friend of our’s replied that I’d been enjoying Birthday Month for 40 years.

My buddy blew my cover!

by Marilyn McDonald

Some of us are starting to take a break from the regular tri season and are starting our off seasons. Others have one or two races left and then are headed into that rest period. As you head into the fall and start to rest up, I think it's a good idea to look at some fun winter things to improve yourself as an athlete.

It's important to mentally freshen up by removing yourself from your normal sessions and routine. A great way to do that is through workouts that still maintain fitness, but help you learn new skills and develop some athletic movement outside your usual range.

Slater Fletcher broke out big this year, qualifying for Kona at his first iron-distance race at the inaugural St. George Ironman. Since then, he’s qualified for Xterra Worlds for the second year in a row. Because that wasn’t enough World Championship events for him, Slater was accepted to compete in this year’s Ultraman.

For those keeping count, that’s three huge events in two months: Ironman World Championships in Kona this weekend, Xterra World Championships in Maui at the end of October and Ultraman World Championships back on the Big Island at the end of November.

He recently took some time to answer a few questions about his great year, give some insight into his training and explain why he wanted to go for the Aloha Triple.

Alan Couzens, MS (Sports Science)

With the Tour of Utah still very fresh in my mind and body, I thought it might be a good week to chat through some of the key considerations in absorbing the mammoth training load of a training camp.

by Kevin Coady

For the age-grouper with two races in a year, getting ready for the second ironman of the season is a different challenge depending on how quickly the athlete can recover from the first IM and how early he or she raced the first IM of the season.

There are four situations in which athletes might find themselves, depending on their ability to recover.

by Gordo Byrn

I enjoyed Marilyn’s article last week. On the face of it, Marilyn was writing about training venues. However, there are nuggets in there about creating a successful athletic life, as well as insights into what makes Team Sexy tick.

Having spent last week with a group of over-achievers at our Utah Camp, I’ve been thinking about satisfaction. Where we live, what we do, with whom we do it -- over the short term, it can feel like we have little control. However, over long time horizons we have a huge impact on our lives.

Each of us will create our own lives. You might as well do it right, in your own style.