Your Complete Knowledge Center
D3 University is our library of articles and videos from the D3 coaches and other experts to help you train and race your best.

What Does it Take to Make an Ironman Cry
Coach Simon Butterworth was invited to give a talk at the Iron Gents and Iron Ladies annual dinner held during Ironman week in Kona. The invitations are given to all athletes over 60. The MC for the evening was Cherie…

Enhancing Race Performance the Week Before your Race
During the week or two before your big race, you may be tempted to do some things to enhance your race performance. You have extra time on your hands due to reduced training time during your taper period, and you…

Ironman Alaska Logistics
Ironman Alaska Logistics Notes See the full race report here: [LINK] Race Clothing: Most people wore several layers during the race. We had about two hours of rain on the bike and at least that much on the run (with…

Ironman Alaska Race Report
Ironman Alaska was an amazing experience and I just couldn’t be happier about having been a part of this inaugural event! Overall, I am very happy with my day even though it wasn’t a perfect race. I had a flat…

Activation plus More Ideas for your Pre-Race Warm-Up
As he watched the sea of athletes at a recent triathlon race in Arizona, it dawned on Coach Brad Seng just how important pre-race warm-ups are especially as we ease ourselves out of winter training and into early-season triathlons. It’s easy to…

Triathlon Coach Learns by Racing Back to Back Days
Self-coaching allows opportunities to experiment with training methods and plans on myself before unleashing them on my athletes. Over the winter, as I looked ahead to my preparation for IM Alaska in August, I searched for a 70.3 tuneup race…

Stay in the Game: Lessons Learned from the Ironman 70.3 World Championships
How many times has something gone wrong for you in a race? If you are like me, the answer is – almost always. If you race triathlon at any distance, it is rare that you will have the “perfect race.”…

New York City Triathlon: a 20 Year Memory
I have no doubt that some of you have been thinking things must get better in 2022. I am of course talking about Covid and its impact on our lives and racing. I am feeling optimistic and have been thinking…

Thermoregulation
Thermoregulation: the maintenance or regulation of temperature – Meriam-Webster Thermoregulation is a process that allows the body to maintain its core temperature in a state of equilibrium. While it is important to maintain this in both cold and hot environments,…

Remember Fueling as you Return to Racing
As racing calls us back to the start line, it’s important to remember your fueling strategies for race day. It’s important to give yourself time throughout your training to test your planned strategies because you never want to sabotage your…

Return to Racing with a Firefighter’s Mindset
In recent weeks we have seen numerous races taking place across the United States. As a coach, it has been very refreshing to be able to have the familiar pre-race conversations about race day execution and strategy. It has been…

Acclimating to Race Day Conditions
The upcoming summer months of high temperatures and poor air quality pose a threat to an athlete’s endurance performance. When evaluating an upcoming racecourse, proper assessment of the potential race day environmental conditions is critical to maximizing race day performance.…

60 Seconds to Calm Your Nerves on Race Day
You have an icky feeling in the pit of your stomach the night before or morning of your race. You know the feeling—butterflies or churning or queasy or something. Your brain notices that feeling and makes a judgment about it—nervous,…

Oceanside 70.3 – 2020 Course Preview
If you are racing this course – you want this information! Coach Julie Dunkle shares a number of important strategies and tips to help you race this course successfully!

How to Get Faster by Developing your Internal Pacing
Why: Why should you develop your internal pacing when you have everything you need right in front of you on digital display? In a race, you probably know what your paces, heart rate, and power should all be ahead of…