Kelly Bruno is an awe-inspiring endurance athlete. Undaunted by a below-the-knee amputation at a young age, she persevered to become one of the premier athletes in the world.
The following is a brief interview with Kelly which delves into this year’s competitive season, her workouts, and how she finds the motivation to work full-time and train for the most grueling endeavor in athletics, the Ironman.
AtLarge: Kelly, tell us a bit about your competitive season this year. You have had quite a busy and successful one from what I understand.
Kelly Bruno: That's right. It's been one hell of a season. I kicked it off with an Ironman back in April. That's a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and a 26.2 mile run. It's considered to be the ultimate endurance challenge by most athletes. It's difficult just to finish, and even more so to finish well. I wanted to do it in less than 14 hours which would beat all past records for a female below-knee amputee. I did just that, finishing with a time of 13:57:28. I've also done a few shorter distance events like the New York City PC Championship Triathlon. I finished first in my PC category, but was mostly using it as a training run for longer events, so I didn't place great in my age group. The hardest events are all coming up with a half Ironman in about a month, potentially the Army 10-miler, and all building towards the Hawaii Ironman Championship in mid-October.
AtLarge: Your upcoming competition in Hawaii is going to be the biggest of your life. Tell us a bit about your physical preparation and mental state as you gear up for the big one!
Kelly Bruno: Well Chris, I'm training 6 days a week. Normally, I stick to 1.5 hour workouts during the week and 3-4 hour workouts on the weekends. I try to get in the water for a good solid hour at least twice a week and usually take my bike out for at least one long ride (60 - 100 miles) on Saturdays. I go for a long run on Sundays. The rest of the week I work on speed and lactic acid threshold training on my bike and for the run. Most weeks I also try to fit in 2-3 resistance workouts. Just the basics; benches, rows, dips, squats, and deadlifts to build strength and protect my joints. My training always walks a fine line between volume, intensity, and overtraining. I'm sure you understand; for those of us non-professional athletes, we've got 9-5 jobs that leave us pretty wiped out at the end of the day and finding the right balance of the aforementioned training variables can be very difficult.
I'm in a constant struggle to get in the right kind of nutrients ... office jobs don't work well with respect to the kind of nutrition athletes require. This is why AtLarge has been so important to me during this season.
The mental preparation comes with the distance. To finish an Ironman you have to be able to "tell" your body to keep going, or to pick up the pace, even when it doesn't want to. You have to be able to visualize yourself crossing the finish line even when you know you still have 4 hours to go. It really is an endless race. Even when you've finished the longest event (the bike), and are well over two thirds of the way done, you still need to run a marathon. Frankly, it flat intimidates me! It is all about making yourself take that next step, not necessarily finishing the race. You live for the moment, not thinking too far into the future lest you lapse into a form of hopelessness.
AtLarge: I’m intimidated just reading it! I cannot imagine the mental fortitude it takes. I have nothing but the utmost respect for extreme endurance athletes.
You make an interesting point about 9-5 jobs and training. I think many of our readers would love to find just a spark of the motivation you harness in order to accomplish your training while holding down a full-time job. Do you have any advice to that end? How can they find the motivation to get to the gym after a rough day at work?
Kelly Bruno: I find it easier to get motivated for a workout when I'm training for a particular race. Setting a goal or having a competition down the road that you're training for will provide powerful motivation on a day-to-day basis. That said; it can still be very difficult to get motivated when you know your big race or competition is a few months off. You're tired from a busy day at the office and it'd be so much easier to go home, sit on the couch and watch reruns of the Simpsons. One remedy I use is to throw my workout clothes in a bag in the morning and head straight to the gym after work. This helps to eliminate the temptation of chilling out in front of the TV.
Once I get to the gym, with so many people working out around me, it's a lot easier to get motivated. Energy begets energy, and when I get moving I just fall into the routine. I also envision how good I’ll feel when I’m done. When I am at work I often feel like I am a hamster on a wheel. It seems like the work never ends and I just move from one task to the next. With training there are definitive parameters and a feeling of accomplishment when each session is completed and that in and of itself is motivating.
Finally, I am a highly driven individual. My motivation stems, at least in part, from a near obsession to do well in my sport of choice. I am constantly seeking improvement, to be better than the last time. This “compulsion”, if you will, seems to be a requisite of high level athletic (or any other endeavor) achievement. Your readers may not experience it relative to athletics, but they can get a taste of it by choosing to compete in their training modality of choice (biking, running, strength training, bodybuilding etc.). Doing something you love competitively will always elicit feelings of motivation.
AtLarge: Kelly, you mentioned getting in the proper nutrients. What supplement(s) have most benefited you in your training?
Kelly Bruno: The high volume training regimen that my sport demands necessitates proper post-workout (PWO) nutrition. I use AtLarge’s MAXIMUS as my PWO shake of choice. I use it because it offers a high quality protein blend, a solid amount of carbohydrates, and contains other beneficial ingredients like inulin and flaxseed oil. The inclusion of inulin in MAXIMUS has proven to be of particular benefit to me. During my training I consume gallons of water and many sugary beverages and gels. The inulin has done amazing things to my system.
I also use AtLarge’s ETS extensively. I find that it shortens my recovery and also reduces joint inflammation which is a concern due to my regimen of 20-30 miles per week of running and over 100 miles of cycling.
AtLarge: Tell us a bit more about your strength training. At what level of intensity do you train? Is your goal the building of strength, or more along the lines of maintenance?
Kelly Bruno: Well, I've never done traditional endurance athlete strength training. The main reason I go into the weight room is to get stronger, so I lift to get stronger. Too many endurance athletes do “endurance lifting”. To me that's silly. If you want to get better at running a marathon, then run. High rep squats aren't going to help. They might help sprinters, but not distance runners.
During the early part of my season I'll lift upper body twice a week and lower body once since my legs are usually shot from running and biking all week. I tailor my upper body routines for general strength gains and to strengthen my shoulders for the repetitive rotation of freestyle swimming. I will usually do max work of doubles and triples on the flat bench press and then throw four 45s on the row machine for a couple of sets. The rest of my lifts vary from week to week, but I always include some rotator cuff work since my shoulders take a beating when I swim. Triceps work (dips are a favorite) is another must since they are essential in the pull phase of the freestyle stroke. In short, I stick to the basics, go hard and heavy and then go home.
AtLarge: You mentioned speed and lactic acid training above, can you delve into that a bit?
Kelly Bruno: The goal of speed and lactic acid threshold sessions is to increase race pace and an athlete's lactic acid threshold. Basically, these workouts are beneficial for getting faster and helping with climbing recovery. For example, ever gone out for a jog, felt fine, hit a hill, then had to stop at the top to catch your breath? That is what this form of training addresses. In addition, you aren't going to get faster by doing long, slow distance workouts every time you train. Yeah, you'll be able to cover the distance without a problem, but you won't get much faster at covering that ground or climbing up hills. Even Ironman training requires this sort of adjunct work.
AtLarge: Kelly, thank you so much for taking time out of your incredibly busy schedule to correspond with me. Daniel and I wish you the best of luck for your upcoming competitions!
To see and read more about Kelly, check out her sponsor page and also hee own website at www.kellybruno.com
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