Author: Agata

We have all encountered issues when on the road, either walking, running or biking courtesy of other people on the road. As bikers, runners or walkers, we need to stay mindful of people around us. I spend a lot of time on the bike paths of DC and Virginia and see groups of people blocking the path, dogs running on very long leashes and children playing with balls frequently. A friend of mine (also a triathlete) recently commented that people on road bikes zooming at high speeds don’t belong in the same space as ‘normal’ people. Hard to disagree, but there are plenty of other concerns to be had on the road. An acquaintance of mine got hurt zooming down the road when a kid swerved in front of him. He managed to miss the kid, but got hurt pretty badly himself. Sadly, if it’s a shared road, if you are a fast cyclist, this is a risk you are running. As much as it is up to parents to watch out for their kids, there will be moments like this. For walkers and runners: before you change your trajectory or stop, please quickly look over your shoulder to check if there is somebody coming up on you.

We should all wear lights and visible clothes when necessary and watch where we are going. Being invisible is not safe for you or for others on the road. My personal favorite experience on the subject: I was running on the Custis Trail along the Potomac early in the morning before sunrise and using my bike light (I lost my running light just a day before) to see what’s ahead of me. There is a section where you run along the street and face into incoming traffic, so it’s hard to see anything when headlights are the only source of light. There are occasional trees along the street, too – and that’s what caused the issue. There was a construction worker pedaling slowly on a bike (VERY slowly) and not wearing anything visible. He somehow managed to get himself between me and the trees, so he was invisible (and my light was too weak to make difference with oncoming car headlights). I almost had a heart attack when I realized I am about a foot away from running into a guy on a bike! I did dodge him. Why he didn’t pay attention to me will forever remain a mystery. Please don’t be like that construction worker: pay attention and make sure you are visible.

Something I believe we can all get behind: drivers need to pay attention where they are going. If I am wearing a shirt so bright that it pretty much glows, it’s the middle of a sunny day and you get close to running me over on a crosswalk, you are clearly not paying attention. Please do… I am doing everything I can not to be killed, so cooperation will be appreciated. Most often this takes the form of a driver looking at cars coming from their left as they are trying to turn right and just rolling through the crosswalk, frequently one you have been on way before the car showed up.

For cyclist, a big issue is being passed by cars. I have several friends who have been side swiped by cars who were too close. I know that in many countries there are laws regarding acceptable distance between a bike and a car. Unfortunately, that law is ignored so often that might as well not exist. Fun fact: first time a car was pulled over for speeding ever was by a cop chasing him on a bike.

Another issue that has been getting up there: bike shares and electric scooter shares. They have been getting left all over the place! Please try not to block the sidewalks, like guys on the picture above. I took it during my morning walk a block or so from the National Mall. I have heard in a podcast that people in many cities have been getting so frustrated that many bikes and scooters have been vandalized and cities have been passing stricter laws for bike and scooter share. I find it ironic that people who have skin in the game (bike or scooter they can use when they need it) are the ones that are causing harm.

And then there are dogs… Just this week I ran past a woman who seemed confused by me giving her a dirty look and I think she was trying to say something, but I couldn’t hear her over stuff in my headphones. I am sure her dog is perfectly nice, but leashes are required in America and for a good reason. Runners and cyclists get chased by dogs daily. Plenty of dogs tried jumping on me. Story from somebody I know: he was biking through the middle of nowhere and a free roaming dog (common in the Polish country side, at least back then) started chasing him. He was doing pretty well trying to escape until he hit some big bump and fell on his back, his bike on him. Fortunately, it scared the dog off and the damage was limited to (admittedly spectacular) bruises. If you are outside with a dog, you need to be able to control him/her and keep from creating danger. Period.

Oh, and while we are on the subject of dogs: please pick up after them and encourage peeing on the grass or generally somewhere where it won’t create another obstacle others have to dodge. In terms of poop: fortunately, people tend to be good about cleaning up. Sadly, we have geese. I have done plenty of fancy foot work dodging that 😉.

I know this reads more like a vent of a frustrated biker and runner, but I am confident that many of you have shared in these frustrations. That’s why this is part on of a two part post. Next week: laws and rules regarding bike paths, trails and road sharing around the world. If you’d like to share how it’s done where you live – please comment or email me and I will include it in my post. Also, if there are places you are specifically curious about, please reach out and I will do my best to research it for you 😊

I have only a bit over 2 weeks until my next marathon and it’s been a bit over 5 since Philly. I keep feeling guilty that I haven’t been running enough. It is partially because I just completed another marathon and have been calling it recovery. There is a burn-out component to it as well though. I have been staying busy with my biking and swimming in the meantime. We will see what the result of these 8 weeks of less running, more other sports will do to my performance (I am still doing my long runs every other weekend, don’t worry!), but here are my thoughts on the subject of monotony in training.

As you can see from the picture of my ‘Christmas Tree’ I posted on Monday, I enjoy variety of sports. I believe it is a huge part of my ability to keep going with the training. Pretty much every runner I spoke to around the time of their first marathon says that they don’t want to run ever again. Some of it is a desire to have the time back to yourself, but a lot of it is the monotony of doing the same sport day in and day out. Years ago, I read an interview with Shaun White (for those of you who somehow haven’t heard of him: an amazing snowboarder and skateboarder) in which he said he is happy to be a two sport athlete. He gets to rest from each for half a year and start missing it. Obviously, snowboarding and skateboarding use the same muscle groups, but you the point stands: we all need a break and some variety.

There are three types of variety involved in training (at least from my perspective): varying training your actual sport, specific cross-training for your sport and mixing in other sports. The first one is simple: you can’t do 6 miles (or whatever) at a steady pace on the same road day in and day out. Well, maybe some people can. Personally, I tried it. I even managed to train for a marathon doing everything on an 8 mile loop around my neighborhood. Let me tell you: it gets boring! It also doesn’t help you grow as an athlete. I kept pretty much same pace for all of my runs (except for the really long ones) for over a decade. Adding intervals and changing the route to include different hills and scenery has helped me improve by quite a lot and it feels less groundhog day-ish.

Then there is plain cross-training we all know, such as doing weights at the gym. Despite my initial skepticism (earlier in life, not this time around), weights and stretching help your performance in endurance sports. I am not talking about yoga – not my thing and I have read some studies that it may be detrimental to runners. I won’t pass judgement on it (well, not for the general public – I know where I filed it as it relates to me), as I am not a medical or sports professional. Everybody should make a decision for themselves. But regular daily stretching has helped me with various tight tendons and muscles and helped me with my various injuries (see the cracks and creaks post). Strength training is another cross-training must. I have taken to, in addition to regular training Diana gives me, doing a basic core workout on an (almost) daily basis. Stronger core definitely helps in triathlete training. It has helped me keep better posture during swimming and decrease leg drag. And who can say no to making that part of a triathlon more efficient?

Adding other sports into the mix is the other obvious (to me) idea. Majority of my experience applies to running. Being a triathlete is new (although I have tried the Olympic distance once before) and it helps with this concern. You don’t want to get so bored of your beloved sport that you won’t be willing to hit the pavement again. Lowering mileage for a period of time sometimes helps. Personally, I prefer varying the sports and it’s my lifeline. It also helps me be flexible with my workouts during tougher times, such as holidays or while travelling. Since my daughter was old enough to do her own sports, I have done marshal arts with her (strength, flexibility), swam during her swim lessons (ok, that’s a cheat – triathletes have to swim, but that was during my strictly running era) and did laps on my ice skates while she did her figure skating. I was able to squeeze in workouts on otherwise difficult days and did something different. And all of it was fun!

I love planning active vacation, too. Most of my friends actually ask me to go for a run before they wake up and burn off some energy, since I don’t get tired easily and they all end up exhausted by lunch (at which point I let them take a nap and go for a run 😉). Last weekend, I went skiing (see picture above) and I was teaching my 7-year-old how to ski. She can do a bit of it, but was scared and definitely slow during the first day. I can honestly promise you that trying to ‘do pizza’ with extra 50lbs of a person sliding on their skis and not helping is one of the most intense leg days you will ever have. And then try to dead lift those 50lbs by about half a foot to a foot in the air using only one arm, so she can get on the ski lift… You get the idea… My Garmin complained that I didn’t do enough steps and skiing was not on my regular workout schedule, but I had fun and did get some good activity done. It was only a 3 day trip, but by Christmas Day, I was happy to go for both a run and a bike ride. I love it!

Preparing for an iron man means that I have been spending quite a lot of time (for me) at the gym. I am definitely more used to exercising outside, so it’s been quite an adjustment. Based on advice from a friend, I have a personal trainer, who develops workout plans for me and once a week, we meet at the gym for some strength training.

Obviously, I want advice from Diana. Based on past experience, there are three risks in coming up with your own workouts: pushing too hard, not pushing hard enough or bad form. Some people may dismiss pushing yourself too hard as a real risk, but it happens. The best example I can think of for this is actually from many years ago from running, not weight lifting. I decided I wanted to do long runs and on my first attempt, I ran far away from home. I ran out of steam, since I wasn’t in good enough shape for runs that long and I considered calling for help. I managed to walk home eventually, but it was really awful. So: if you are planning your workouts, make sure you are not starting too steep. Usually it’s easier to know what you can do if you are further along in your training. I don’t think that not pushing hard enough needs much explanation. We all think ‘this is as much as I can do’ and quit. When you have a good trainer, they will push you to do a little more when appropriate (or a lot more if you tend to go really easy on yourself). Bad form is probably the worst offender on this list. Youtube tutorials won’t tell you that you let your knee drift to the side or you are overextending your shoulder and it will hurt. The latter one is a true story – Diana gave me an at-home workout and I apparently kept overextending my shoulder. It’s a good thing she was able to show me how to fix it, and, with help of ice packs, I recovered quickly. At a risk of sounding like a broken record: solicited professional advice is great. Seek it – it’s worth the money.

Then there is unsolicited professional advice. I go frequently to my neighborhood pool and one of the swim team coaches pointed out to me an issue with my form. He suggested how to fix the way I was holding and moving my head. It was great and helped limit neck pain bad form was creating. It also limited the drag. I am grateful for that and happy to listen.

And then there is unsolicited idiot advice… It can come from variety of people and with various motivations. Some of it is so blatantly bad that we can easily spot it and ignore it. Unfortunately, some comes from people we trust and it can lead to injuries. I have heard advice leading to bad form or trying to do too much. The one that’s my pet peeve is ‘gym dudes’ who think they know everything and dole out bad advice. It’s not always easy to spot and they are frequently buff, so they may be misleading. As a rule of thumb, I don’t listen to people who can’t back up their claims with some sort of credentials, at least a ‘personal trainer’ shirt. Although many personal trainers appear not to be licensed, so I am not even sure how much to trust some of those guys. Diana is most certainly licensed and has a Masters degree in the field. I trust her blindly. If she tells me to do something, I will do it (although I do speak up if something doesn’t feel right, as one should – your trainer is not you and can’t read your mind).

Here is the story that inspired this post: I was at the gym with Diana a couple of days ago, doing my arms workout. Side note: I am happy to say that I have been making great progress and even using significantly larger weights is less challenging than lower weights when I started. It was a bit chilly, so Diana was wearing a sweatshirt over her work shirt. I just got off a bit of a warm up and I was drinking some water. Some ‘gym dude’ decided to tell me that I should stop drinking water, so I would be lighter and could do more pull-ups. First of all: it’s training, not competition – I am trying to build strength, so making it easier is not really the point. Second: I already had somebody telling me what to do, so I was clearly taken care of (I was also standing next to Diana’s picture on the board showing all the trainers😆). And the third one was the really funny: his form was awful and he was really struggling with his workout. Quality over quantity, please…