Matt Giunta writes Remember how good it felt to cross the finish line at your first endurance event? How can we sustain these feelings over many seasons? Is it possible to generate feelings of race day fulfillment on a more frequent basis during training?

Evolution of a Triathlete:
In the beginning of your triathlon career, your improvements were likely to be quite dramatic and came mostly from common sense. Perhaps you increased your training volume, replaced the mountain bike, and joined a master’s swim team. Maybe you modified your diet when you realized the power of foods as endurance fuel. At some point during these nascent times, you started calling yourself a triathlete.

If you’ve been racing for a few years, there’s a good chance that your progress has reached a respectable plateau. Your equipment is fancier and more expensive because you need it to be. Your race schedule may shift around a bit, but you’ve developed a plan that works and you know how to execute it well. The joy of simply finishing an endurance event is now secondary to the always elusive PR.

Recognition of Progress:
Across the spectrum of abilities from sprint newbies to Kona veterans, each new season offers us a chance to refocus on our strengths and limiters. With three sports to master, equipment to buy and maintain, and time management issues on par with NASA, it’s easy to lose sight of what makes us happy about this sport. If a breakthrough performance is what you seek, these are the big and little things that can add to your sense of fulfillment along your journey:

• Maintain a detailed training log to keep track of your training and racing experiments.
• Record your progress through regular fitness testing.
• Seek small but consistent gains in fitness.
• Don’t accept your limiters as insurmountable. Continue to push your envelope!
• Do the uncomfortable things that you know are good for you but you never got around to doing last season. (You know – alternate side breathing for the swim, stretching, core exercises, and weight training!!)
• Always train and make adjustments with a purpose.
• Acknowledge your training partners for developing your strengths and helping to overcome your limiters.
• Do more of the maintenance on your equipment yourself.

It can be surprising how much impact these small changes can have on race day. Last season, I was vigilant about recording my nutrition and hydration needs for each workout during my training in the heat of summer. This practice resulted from a disappointing result at a hot and humid Timberman in 2005. It was cold and rainy at Timberman last year, but my new knowledge would be put to the test at the Great Floridian. Although race day temperatures exceeded 90o F and few PR’s were broken, I was most satisfied with how my nutrition plan worked and kept me going strong throughout the day when many others dropped out.

Enjoy your 2007 season, and try some small changes for some big results!