Training outdoors is best -- when it's warm enough!

Looking for a local pool or open water area to swim in to train for your first triathlon? If you are new to Boston or are a veteran, we have put together a list of scenic and welcoming places that allow swimmers to train and might add diversity to your training program. Some of these places are great for running or cycling to as a destination. Google map their location and try them out and let us know what you think.

Here is our list of outdoor ponds, lakes and ocean locations. Feel free to email us and let us know of ones you like that we may have missed:

Crystal Lake – Newton Center, MA

How to Get There: T-accessible
Details: Approx. quarter-mile across. 7 – 10 minute swim one end to the next.

Walden Pond – Concord, MA

How to Get There: Car or bike (12-15 miles from Boston)
Details: Approx. half-mile across, long. 14 – 19 minute swim across.

Farm Pond – Sherborn, MA

How to Get There: Only accessible by bike (unless you are a Sherborn resident)

Lstreet – South Boston, MA

How to Get There: Car or bike.
Details: Ocean water - Can swim continuously for an unlimited time.

Gath Pool – Newton, MA

How to Get There: Car or bike - must be Newton resident or friend.
Details: 25-yard pool

Masters Programs

Here is a list of local programs that have coached workouts in the mornings and evenings all throughout the year. Call if interested in finding out more about their programs…

Boston University Masters Swimming – Boston, MA
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Cambridge, MA
Cambridge Masters – Cambridge, MA
Boston Sports Club – Waltham, MA

Base your goals on what you can reasonably handle with your life, work, travel and family responsibilities.  You cannot perfectly adhere to a program all the time with other life constraints pulling at you.

Build up Slowly - breathe… take your time, don’t start out with too much too soon. Remember injury can set you back and who likes pain.

Everything takes time – Baby steps, pick out  your workout clothes the night before so no excuses to not do what training you intended to do.   This makes  it easier for you to not back out and stay on track.

If you are feeling depressed and unmotivated - Sometimes the act of motion, of leaving your home to get to the new hiking area, group run, etc… helps to inspire you and set in motion a new found energy that can change your mood.

Set weekly, monthly and seasonal goals – map out your schedule ahead of time.  Sign up for a few races, or charity events, summer bike, kayak or hiking tours  as long term goals that will be fun and rewarding.  These will be great ways to see the success of your fitness training.

Make the commitment - to yourself, a friend, trainer, coach.  Make sure you tell someone and be accountable to them.   Even letting friends know on “FB” or “Twitter”.   I find writing it down helps.  Create your own blog.  When I was training for my first Ironman, my running coach, who was also training, and I both kept an online log, which really helped me stay accountable.   An audience inspires many to be successful.  Try it out, and it  is fun, you never know who will be reading.

Your ideas thoughts and inspirations… Please let us know.

1. Maintain your cardio fitness. Too cold to cycle outside? Join a Masters program for swimming, increase your running distance, or just add more days of week to your running. Take a spin class, or a coached bike class.  I sign up for the Fast Splits cycling class taught in West Newton, MA and hop on my bike Computrainer to keep the cycling legs strengthened from the summer.

As the winter months drawer closer, try cross country skiing or skate skiing, which are two both excellent aerobic activities. It also gets you outside for that much needed vitamin D.

Another great endurance activity is winter hiking or back country skiing. I have tried these two winter activities and it was the most invigorating challenging new sports to learn. There is a huge learning curve from knowing how to dress, to skiing and hiking while wearing a heavy pack and knowing how to stay warm and dry. It certainly teaches you how to handle the cold and you also learn how to hike and ski in the dark. Check out the AMC for courses and weekend getaways.

2. Bump up your strength-training program. Keep squats and lunges in every program and after every cardio session during the week. It helps to hire a coach or trainer to put a basic program together for you. You can keep that core strong as well by implementing some Medicine ball work as well as learning the five basic principles of Pilates. Once you understand this you can add to any exercise you do, as well as everyday functional activities.

3. Decrease your caloric intake and portion sizes. Now that you won’t be doing 50 – 100 mile rides throughout the shorter and darker months, this severe decrease in activity will slowly catch up to you and add to your waistline. Most triathletes and endurance riders gain on average 5 – 7 lbs during the winter months easily. Has this happened to you? Make it easier on yourself and get back into the Spring for 2010 by just cutting back on portions and continuing to eat 3 meals a day plus 2 or 3 small snacks. I continue to be amazed by my 3-year-old daughter who eats that way and am so surprised that we lost that method of eating as we grew into adults. I am curious how many athletes and clients do eat this way? For some it is very difficult because of work constraints. It takes a lot of preplanning but in fact gives you more energy throughout your daily living.

The Comfy Chariot

Your precious bundle of joy has taken a lot out of you. You are a feeding, changing, and napping machine. You need time for yourself and time to fit exercise in, so how are you going to do this?

First things first. Invest in good exercise equipment you can use to make it easy to exercise with your newborn or toddler.

Buy a jogging stroller or bike carrier. We ended up buying the Chariot when Carly was over a year. It is meant for cycling but has attachments for jogging, and cross country skiing. We liked it better then the “Bob Jogger” which was our original jogging stroller purchase.   I found the Chariot handle bar to be lower down and easier on my shoulders. Good for all weather conditions, when it is cold or raining and has a plastic shield for protection.

A second extremely versatile investment is a Hiking carrier, I like the Ergo.

Ergo Carrier versatile for long walks & hikes or super market shopping

You can use it walking, supermarket shopping, and hiking up small mountains.

Now you need to use the equipment that you purchased…

Motivate yourself by first planning ahead and visualize what your day will be like –

Get all your gear and baby needs ready the night before, so you can’t back out. One of the biggest issues I have and most people have is motivation. Don’t sabotage yourself by not being prepared with all your baby accessories ahead of time.

Baby items - blankie, snacks (everytime I go out for more then hour I bring plenty of snacks always a peice of fruit and crackers), books, some toys not a whole lot. Change of clothes, wipes, & diapers.

Mommy items - water, wallet, cell phone or extra bag for food shopping.

What I have done to help get me out the door and have a purpose is to plan an activity around our run or bike ride. Either food shopping, going to the bank, library and or a coffee shop destination are convenient things to do to get you out the door. Other times I have scheduled classes for Carly that I can coordinate our runs or rides around. For instance, I signed Carly up for gymnastics class in Newton at Excell gym, which is about 5 miles away. I ran there with her, had the class and walked home.

Closer classes were the Y in Newton. We ran there only 35 minutes away took the swim class and walked home.

Carly’s naps would occur usually after the class on the walk home.

It is not as easy as one thinks. As you know you have another human beings needs who are constantly in flux affecting your abilities to get what you want done, so sometimes you need to go with the flow and try not to have too tight a schedule for your exercise that day. I try not to plan too much else if I am going to do a long training day with Carly so we can go with the flow. Her needs take priority but usually if we discuss what we are planning to do ahead of time Carly is more often then not going to want to do it.

Some fun Adventure Activities and Exercise days we have done:

1. Bike to Walden Pond and lunch in Maynard — This was about a 45 mile biking day. Took the whole day to do, stopped and had lunch with a friend in Maynard and went to Walden Pond. This I admit was a long one but Carly did fine.

Run into Boston - take Commuter train back home

2. Run into Boston and visit Dad for lunch bonus take the train home - 11 mile run into Boston checking out all the sites, Brookline, Kenmore square, Boston Public Garden and Common, Swan boats, Fanueil Hall and harbor run into World Trade Center.

3. Bike to Coffee Shop in Natick and Swim in Farm Pond — Get to swim at a pond we would not be able to get into if we drove, because they don’t allow non residents of Sherborn by car but allow them if they are on bike.

Carly Chariot rides to "Charles River Coffee House" Natick, MA

4. Train into Boston — Goal was to go to a Spanish music class at an open house for Pine Village, a new school opening in the South End.  Along the way, we  got to play in two new parks in the South End.  Bonus adventure, we ran into the “Life is Good Festival” on the Boston Common.  Carly napped in stroller on our trek home through Boston, Kenmore Square and Brookline  and then got to take the “Green line t” from Brookline Reservoir. Last walk was from Newton Center- back to West Newton.

Carly exercises in Ellis Memorial Park in the South End

5. Hike up the Blue Hills with friends – in Ergo. Carly got to nap and then take in all the sights and sounds of  nature.

Mentioned in this blog are various adventures to do with one toddler in a city and suburbs close to home.  Having two or three children, you will have to consult with another professional who can give you tips in that area with that expertise!  Are there any adventures you have done with your child you would like to share? I am always looking for new ideas to encourage my clients to do and to try with my daughter.

After riding my third century ride for the season this past weekend, I realized  that there is a lot that goes into riding that many miles in day. It takes a lot of emotional and physical energy to psyche yourself up to do the ride. If you are unprepared with your nutrition and equipment you can be faced with a more difficult and challenging ride.  Here are a few things to think about and prepare yourself for before you embark on your first century ride of the season.

Check the weather forecast - depending on the temperature, you will probably need a rain jacket in case it rains this will come in handy if the temperature drops and help significantly to avoid hyporthermia.  Lather yourself in sunscreen, even if it not sunny outside.

Dress Code -  Wear a jersey that has 3 pockets, one large enough for a rain jacket, another for food that travels in pockets easily, money, cell phone, & identification.

Shoes - Have shoes that have a cleat system that does not bother your feet.  A shoe with a wide base can spread out the pressure of one’s feet .   A small base can cause pressure points and lead to severe pain.  During long rides some people’s feet may swell and get numb from the heat and cause circulation problems from drinking too many fluids. Make sure your cleat system works for long rides. I recommend Look pedals or Dura Ace.

Hydration & Salt Intake - this is very important, you will be sweating out alot of salt. You need to replace this with either a hydration drink that has a lot of salt or with pretzels or potato chips. A favorite of mine is V8 juice, it has 720 mg of sodium and makes you feel replenished after your drink one. It really works! Nuun tablets, are a great new product I just learned about and are easy to transport on long rides. One tablet takes care of a 16 0z bottle of water and gives you calories, sodium and potassium.  For very hot days, some athletes take salt tablets, because some electrolyte drinks do not supply enough sodium. I have used these on long rides that were very hot and proved to be very helpful.  Lava salt tablets are an example of a product that is geared to endurance athletes.

Be cognizant of taking at least 2 - 3 breaks to rehydrate, you will not be able to carry enough hydration to finish a century so you have to stop to get more water.  Fill up your water bottles, and stretch out your legs. This is well needed to help get you through the ride.

Fuel - Eat  lots of calories during your ride so you don’t “bonk” (hitting the wall, or depleting your glycogen reserves).  This should be experimented on your rides leading up to your century ride. Not only are you hydrating you also need to refuel yourself.  If you feel like you are losing energy on hills and your pace is slowing down then it might be too late, the “bonk”   has already hit. You will want to eat before the bonk !

Many cyclists eat while on the ride if they are comfortable with their bike handling skills and have fuel that is easy to access.  Powerbars, Gu Chomps, or Cliff Shot Blocks are now packaged well to eat while riding.  Bananas are also easy to carry and eat.

Pace yourself - Go easy at the beginning, follow someone else’s wheel to start, and then help share the work.  100 plus miles is a long way. If you feel good and have lots of energy  by mile 90, then you can takeover leading, and are justified in pulling and letting others draft behind you.

Find  riders you feel comfortable pacing with for 100 miles.  Eventually groups will weed out and you will be riding with those that are just your pace.  Let the process take its course and you can all pace line together and help one another in the miles that really start to hurt.

Try to have fun and enjoy the scenery, and realize each long ride is a learning experience which helps prepare you  for upcoming century rides.

Let me know what has worked for you, and happy training…

I would like this blog to be a place where clients can share their stories and concerns and I will try to write on topics that seem relevant to balancing it all and increasing one’s knowledge of how to maintain one’s fitness while having a family and work life. At the same time I will write about the latest in fitness and wellness topics. Please let me know what you want to hear about as well and I will do my best to write about it. I am excited about this new medium !