February is National Heart Month so when better to think about heart rate training! This Q will help you learn more about HOW to utilize heart rate in your training. Below, I have responded to the most commonly asked questions.

One of the most significant life changing moments for me was when I became a Mom. The added responsibility of taking care of another human being has been extremely overwhelming, and the sacrifices along the way have been endless. The days of just worrying about myself have come and gone. Today it is all about balance and finding that happy medium, which does exist…if you let it.

When I first entered the world of triathlon almost two decades ago, I followed the path of so many - I dove in head first, not knowing what I was taking on. My first race was an Olympic Distance, followed quickly by a Half Ironman Distance, and then by an Ironman distance. Although an athlete growing up, more than 10 years had passed since my high school glory days, and to say that I lived a sedentary lifestyle was an under-estimation. I was an attorney in New York City and all what I did was work. But as I approached 30, I became tired of being stressed and unfit, so in January of 2000 I hopped on the treadmill and did a two mile run. It nearly killed me.

I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with a variety of athletes, their abilities ranging from beginner triathletes participating in their first event to experienced, elite age group athletes. Regardless of their experience or ability level, the common thread for all is their pursuit of a personal goal. Being integral to helping athletes achieve their personal athletic successes is highly rewarding. What makes it such a positive challenge is the fact that every athlete is different. Each athlete has different means and availability for training, differing levels of motivation, and individual attributes that make them respond to training stimulus differently. What is consistent, however, are a number of factors I believe will result in individual success. Outlined below are what I consider these top eleven factors to be. Why eleven? Because we know that #11 always misses out on the top 10 list.

Being in sport, especially triathlon, requires much from the body. We do what we can to recover well, rest, prehab before we rehab, foam roll, stretch; but sometimes, injury creeps up, and BAAM, the season has been diverted or finished before due time. Our grandeur thoughts and visualizations of an epic race season do not come to culmination, and will most likely NOT happen. It will happen to anyone in sport. I guarantee it. A setback or injury will sideline us from either a short term, or the long-term goal.

Winter can be depressing for many runners, cyclists and triathletes. It can often mean more time on the “dreadmill”, the indoor trainer and/or bundled up for slippery runs. I’m not going to lie I spent many years doing that- hours upon hours on the trainer in the winter, running on the dreadmill several times a week when conditions were nasty outside. However too much of this indoor training over time can eventually burn you out. If it hasn’t happened already consider yourself lucky. If you live in an area that sees a fair amount of snow there are other options you can build in to supplement your base training that will not only offset the boredom factor of indoor training and be a lot more fun, but also can build significant fitness! Wherever possible I try to build adventure into my own training and the athletes I coach.

A little over two weeks ago, I ran the New York City Marathon. It was a race I had always wanted to do and to experience. The year prior, I had run a qualifying time for NYC at the Philadelphia Marathon, and so I figured, why not? Because it’s such a unique race, but also hugely iconic and sought after, I thought I would write about the experience for those that might be interested in doing it in the future!

Talking to other athletes (pro and amateur) and poking around on message boards, one of the most common things I hear when it comes to Ironman training is people saying “I don’t want to train for Ironman because it will make me slow.” This statement drives me crazy, and it’s time to rant about it…

I’ve spent half of my life in endurance sports, from Cross Country Running, to Road cycling, to all distance of triathlon, and everything (well, most things) in between. In all facets of these sports, we often get caught up in the results – our outcome-based goals – and try to force our way through training in order to get to that desired result. Beyond the training, however, there are a few other key characteristics and traits that we need to possess for us to truly approach the desired outcome. These are things that folks at all levels require – from spin-class enthusiast to IRONMAN athlete – in order to properly tackle their fitness dreams.

We bought a studio! Sorry, let me rephrase…QT2 Systems, LLC bought a studio! A cycling studio. Ok, so I’m a little late with this. We bought it a year ago. It is exactly what we always wanted to do, but simply never saw as a feasible option, because the start-up costs would be such a tremendous obstacle. Well, sometimes feasibility has a way of working itself out. Somebody builds it out, exactly as you would have wanted it, creates a business around it, runs it, and then comes to a point where life simply takes them in a different direction than originally planned. That’s pretty much how we found ourselves with a studio.