When it comes to triathlon racing, 2020 has certainly been an unfortunate year. However, we need to look forward - toward 2021. And as you think about the remainder of your off-season I hope you will draw inspiration from these athlete stories. Each athlete has had a great deal of success during 2020 with their out-of-the-ordinary training, and I hope you will be encouraged to try some of these ideas with your own training.
Thinking positively, if you were battling some health or injury issues, this has been a good time to address those issues instead of battling through the injuries in hopes that you simply make it through the next race. This has been the year to make yourself “Bulletproof”! Which is something D3 Head Coach Mike Ricci likes to say. And if you havn’t tuned in to fix those niggles just yet, it’s not too late.
As triathletes, we invest a chunk of our lives training in swim, bike, run and of course, strength. However, if we remove that need to hyper-focus on specific workout metrics, such as heart rate, power pace, duration and intensity, what gives way is more training freedom.
One of the athletes I coach, Karen R., went this year without an Ironman to focus on. In it’s place, she found enjoyment in her epic, and I MEAN EPIC adventures on her mountain bike and through trail running. The beauty and the sites of getting off her tri bike and into the wilderness gave her a renewed sense of training. I noticed that athletes found a fresh new world off the pavement and on beautiful trails. Athletes bought off road (mountain or gravel) bikes, or if they had them, they pulled them back out of storage.
And not coincidentally, guess what happened when Wild Rice (Karen R.) got back on her TT bike? She had her best FTP ever! A historical best FTP improvement by 8.9%! Unplugging from the data of power actually allowed her to get more out of the training because mountain biking is about using the terrain to dictate your intensity.
Let’s take a look at Keith G. He crushed more races this year than anyone, and 90% of them were off-road and non-traditional from mountain bike stage races to Otillo swim/runs. I can't tell you how excited I was to hear about the awesome adventures he was having! When he got back on either his road or TT bike, he saw 5-20-60 minute power numbers and new found strength! See the chart below. Was he still running and swimming? Yes, yes he was! But the alternatives to triathlons helped him find new gains in his triathlon fitness.
Keith’s Power Numbers
Duration in MinutesTT bike Power % improvement Road bike Power % improvement1min20%5min6%22%12min7%10%20min7%0%60min12%4.5%
Many athletes that I worked with this year found new challenges from 6 hour bike distance races on or off road, or events that took them off the traditional triathlon path. Events we would most likely be more reluctant to do during a traditional triathlon season. Tasi K. chased and dramatically improved his 1 mile personal best by 25 seconds running a 5:58 mile thats an 8% improvement!
Another athlete, Dana W., has turned her home into a ranch for retired horses. Talk about strong! Limited traditional training with hours of physical tough labor and she’s as fit and as fast as ever - and happy! Reduced training volume, but smarter with each workout and she has become a faster and stronger athlete. She just ran one of her fastest 10k’s in the past 5 years, on a solo workout!
In talking to anyone that ventured off the triathlon path, even just a little I could tell they miss racing because it’s what they love. But they are not sitting idly by. They are loving the fact they are getting outside, finding a different challenge and looking at life and its simple pleasures; one day at a time.
A lot of gravel and mountain bike adventures are also more friendly as you avoid the stress of angry motorists. And it's what I call “natural intervals”, little tiny peaks and valleys in power, controlled by undulating terrain. You work harder without realizing you are, without the stress and anxiety of having to hit the exact interval. In many ways it unleashes the psychological attachment of a metric. But fitness still climbs! Isn't triathlon about having fun in the process to peak physical fitness? Not every day is rainbows. But the freedom in training, the beauty in nature, it’s something to consider - if you haven’t already!
So, get off your TT bike, bike and run off the pavement, mix it up, you might be surprised with what a different routine might offer. More strength durability! Better psychological edge! Fun experience!
Steps To Trying Something New:
Your psyche might thank you for it. Your experiences will be worth it. Whether you want to push your limits or explore, 2020 and early 2021 are your opportunity to take on a new lesson in training, and realize you can be very fit with a different approach.
Remember, your off season is a great time to go explore and be non-specific, and as you get closer to your event in 2021, you put a little more specific focus on your workouts. There will be time for race-specific training. So for now, not every workout needs to be in erg mode on the trainer within 1 watt of target. Start with unspecific natural intervals and work towards your race season with a gradual build to more specific focused workouts. Just know, as long as you're out there moving, exploring and being active, it can help you both mentally and physically in the long run.
Have fun, be safe!
Coach Jim Hallberg believes that every one of us has the capacity to improve our efficiency, get stronger and run, bike or swim faster. Sure, it takes time, dedication and discipline but it’s possible. Working with an experienced coach can make sure that your efforts are targeted in the right areas to make sure you reach those goals!
Jim's Coaching Credentials
In the fall of 2018, I started working with Francois, who lives in Malaysia. He was looking for a coach who could coach him using Power (using a Stryd Power Meter) vs. Heart Rate. I remember asking him why he wanted to use Power vs. Heart Rate and he explained to me that living basically on the equator meant that the high vs. low temps for the year varied only about 2 degrees. On top of that, the humidity was close to 100% every day and his HR was always high and his pace was always slower than if he ran in a different climate (temps in the 50-70F range). The environmental factors he has to contend with in Malaysia all lined up to our developing training based on Power.
We started out with a plan to achieve Francois’s goal of earning not only a Boston Qualification but also to hit a personal best (PB). We had a few challenges; one being that Francois had just turned 50. Frankly, I’m never deterred as a coach by someone’s age especially when an athlete is as motivated as Francois is, as I know we’ll figure out a way to reach the goals. He always asks me great questions and makes me think things through. That’s a benefit of working with smart people – they challenge you and they make you smarter. The experience I’ve gained from working with an athlete like Francois is priceless. It's my opinion that you can continue to learn, no matter how long you've coached.
The last known test we had for Francois was in 2017 and his CP (Critical Power) was 257. We have since come to call this his ‘off-season’ CP. Going back to the Fall of 2018, Francois has a CP of 239, then a month later he improved to a CP of 248. A few weeks later, I estimated his CP to be in the 260s as he had a few workouts that included 5x5’ and 6x5’ intervals leading into the Tokyo Marathon. To hit the 260s once might be a fluke, but he hit those numbers 3 weeks in a row, and that’s when ‘training is testing’, in my opinion. There are times that you don’t have to test to know that an athlete has improved and this is one of those times.
Going into the marathon we decided on a power goal of 250 for the race. Looking at the race file, Francois produced 249 watts for the 1st hour, 252 for the 2nd hour, 248 for the 3rd hour, then 242 building into the finish. He finished with a 3:26, with an NP of 249 and a pace of 7:47 which amounted to his PB and a Boston Qualification for 2020. How exciting!
During this marathon training time, we had Francois strength training, along with swimming and cycling too. He was well balanced with at least 2 swims and 2 bikes per week. While these weren’t his strengths these other sports helped him become stronger overall. On top of that, racing in a few triathlons gave him something else to focus on and that let him put himself out there in an athletic sense. He did well in these triathlons and I think he sees the upside to multisport training.
Due to the pandemic, Boston 2020 didn’t happen and then Francois ran into a hamstring issue that we’ve been working around. But his CP has moved from 253 this past September to 269 in November. And that is a lifetime best! We are pretty confident he can get another PB in his upcoming marathon in 2021.
Francois recognizes his training consistency, but he is also extremely self-motivated. Both of those are a testament to his success. He shared with me that he believes these were additional keys to his success:
From a coaching perspective, I recognize these factors as contributing to his success:
All in all, it's been a pleasure to work with Francois and I look forward to more PBs in the future!
Coach Mike Ricci's coaching style is ‘process focused’ vs. ‘results focused.’ When working with an athlete, their understanding of how and why they are improving is always going to take precedence over any race result. Yes there is an end goal, but in over 2 decades of coaching, experience has shown me that if you do the right work, and for the right reasons, the results will follow.
Mike's Coaching Credentials:
I suspect there is at least one thing that everyone in this country can agree on, there is a lot of misinformation and outright lying out there in social media and in the news. We won’t all agree on what was a lie or misinformation, but we will agree it is rampant. Unfortunately, that situation (misinformation) extends to our sport as well.
An article I recently read from a respected triathlon publisher got me thinking about just this topic. I am going to leave the name of the article out of mine, but it makes the recommendation that we avoid or limit our running on concrete because “it’s the hardest on your body”, compared to asphalt, dirt and grass. I have often heard that advice, but the engineer in my brain said this makes no sense especially when running in today’s running shoes. Even running bare foot, I can’t imagine you can tell the difference, both are hard.
My first thought after reading the article was, I have to put my engineering brain to work and come up with some numbers. Google spared me a lot of work when I found this. I was right, only when asphalt reaches a temperature of 60 centigrade (yes, centigrade!), does asphalt get soft. At 20 centigrade it is still a bit softer than concrete but with shoes with some cushioning the extra load on your joints is not in any way significant. Even without shoes, the cushioning in your feet absorbs much of the difference. This time of year (winter) concrete and asphalt are almost equally hard.
Here’s the thing though, you don’t have to be an engineer to realize that the advice in the article is not on solid ground. Is that a pun? All it takes is to be a bit skeptical and start asking the obvious questions. Can my puny 120-200 lbs make a dent in asphalt falling from a few inches about the ground. Even with the accepted factor of 3x5 times your body weight spread out over the surface area of your foot it’s hard to picture noticing the difference.
That same line of thinking goes for many aspects of our sport. For example, I got a lot of ridicule from friends when I first got serious about triathlon and my obsession about making myself and my bike as aero as possible. I was an early adopter of carrying my fluids on the bike behind the saddle and between the aerobars. My second tri bike was a Softride beam bike (current one is a Dimond Beam bike). The problem with the first one was all the wires outside the frame. I could not solve the brake and shifter wiring but did find I could store my spare tire (rode tubulars back then) inside the beam. I could also tape the signal wire for my bike computer down the back of the downtube. More extreme than that, I purchased this, a Never Reach water bottle. When I saw the first Trek Speed Concept in Kona with no exposed wires, I felt vindicated.
Again, I don’t think you needed to be an engineer to reason that something was at least odd with the early Tri Bikes. Many had very aero looking tubes but had wire hanging out in front of them, the derailleur wires in front of the downtube (banging on the tube sometimes) and the brake cable along the top tube). The last time that arrangement was found on aircraft was in the early days of flying. The drag created by the wires even though many were thin was enormous. They vibrated when flying making a bigger area being presented to the wind.
One of the latest new ideas is disc brakes. Clearly, they add drag. Question is, how much? It turns out that if well implemented on the bike not a huge amount. Offsetting that is time saved going into corners. You stop much faster with disc brakes. On technical courses, like Ironman Ireland, which was also wet last year, disc brakes would have been a big advantage. For Kona or Arizona (not this years shortened course) rim brakes would be better. I can’t afford two tri bikes and for safety when training any future tri bike for me will have disc brakes. If you have not ridden a bike with disc brakes you should get a demo or rent one. It might be an expensive decision, but it could also save your life.
Understanding the pros and cons of some of the new ideas in the sport, and old, does require a bit more head scratching and perhaps education but fortunately there is Google and some books. One of the more recent ones I have read is Good to Go by Christie Aschwanden. Lots of good thoughts on how to read through the hype and misinformation in our sport as well as specific analysis of some of the products out there.
Google is great if you dig deep. One thing I add to search arguments is “Scientific Studies”. That will often help you bring up independent studies, independent of the product developer. As Christie explains in her book, studies conducted by product manufacturers are often poorly conducted and suspect. That added search argument is also handy for anything medical or diet related.
So with encouragement, I ask you to use your brain as you read about things related to our sport. If your knowledge or intuition tells you something different, explore the differences and come up with your own conclusions.
Coach Simon believes that the key ingredients in a good coach/athlete relationship are regular and open communication, mutual respect, and keeping it fun for the athlete and their family. My training programs are developed with those ideas in the forefront.
Simon's Coaching Credentials:
Motivation to take up the sport of triathlon and stick with it, is, let’s face it, challenging. Three sports, four counting the important strength training, a job, a family, friends, and a few other things are hard to work into a typical workday. You can’t slack off during the week and try to cram on the weekends (it does not work well with the sport or a family). Keeping all parties involved happy seven days a week is the challenge. While winning races is a great motivator, very few triathletes win races, and the vast majority have to find other motivators. And, winning by itself can’t sustain a long streak of many years of participation. If it could then I think we would see many more professional triathletes retiring to the ranks of age group athletes.
To perform in a triathlon at the level that brings a smile to your face while doing a good job while blancing the rest of your life takes sensible objectives, good time management, an appropriate training plan, and a healthy lifestyle (outside of the training). It does help to have a supportive family. Indeed that is necessary, but it must work both ways or something will fail long term.
Two of my friends had a great solution when they, and their children, were younger. Both could, if they focused on nothing but race results, win. The solution: alternate the years when one of them was focused on winning but maintain fitness indefinitely. The result, their two children, not exactly children anymore, are fine athletes.
I have had the pleasure of coaching an athlete for the past 3+ years who has been an active athlete for a long time with a busy job. At 62, David Goforth, was working 50-60 hrs./week in the defense business, enjoying his family, plus other interests. He is still working and traveling for work (less in the last year for obvious reasons) at 66. Most of the years he has been a runner with a very respectable marathon PR of 2:56 when in his 30’s. Biking was, I am guessing, a diversion until triathlon caught his interest around 6 years ago, swimming came along with the triathlon idea (he has made great progress with a sport he learned at almost 60).
Adding a regular dose of biking and running while still working has not been easy. The solution has been some very early morning workouts as this picture from his Training Peaks log attests.
If you can’t read the fine print the average start time is around 5 am with one as early as 4:30 am. As an athlete myself, now in my 70’s, I can safely say that this is not the norm for most of us older athletes. David’s dedication is an impressive show of motivation! My early morning workouts start later than 7 am.
Consistency is a key ingredient in any endurance sport and is something coaches love to see in their athletes. Keeping this up the past year is especially noteworthy. Proof of that is here.
Yes, there are some weeks where he did not make it to plan (grey bar) and six went over (dark blue) but this was good even in normal times.
It’s rather easy to understand David’s motivation to stay active most of his life. A tour of duty in Europe certainly helps, here is his short story of those days.
“I have done marathons in Lincoln, Nebraska (my first), Washington DC, Berlin (my best), Helsinki, Oslo, Rome, and other places few have heard of.
When I went to Berlin it was still in East Germany and an occupied city. As we ran through the city we could see the East German/East Berlin guards watching us run through the city since some spots were near the wall. But the support the West Berlin citizens gave the race with music, cheering, people leaning out their windows banging pots together was remarkable. After the race, I took a tour of East Berlin and was followed by the German Secret Police since I was an American serviceman in uniform.
When I ran in Oslo I paid for sitting on the city docks and eating a bunch of freshly caught and steamed shrimp. I would not recommend gorging yourself on shrimp the day before a race.
As part of the Rome Marathon, which started in the Vatican, the Pope came out and addressed the runners and blessed all of us before the race.”
So, what has been motivating David Goforth the last few years? Just staying fit is no guarantee of avoiding health issues, if you doubt that idea take a read of The Haywire Heart (Chris Case, Dr. John Mandrola, Lennard Zinn ). Unfortunately, heart troubles caught up with David a little before we started working together. Fortunately, his condition while worrying at times and limiting somewhat (his medicine limits his HR) has not stopped him from training and racing. He has been encouraged by his doctors to keep up the training in moderation to stay as healthy as possible. He has also run into some other older age problems in the last few years keeping him from racing a triathlon. Last year he entered his first triathlon in quite a while. Not the fastest for sure. Ironically it was the running that let him down the most, but he finished.
People like David are themselves motivation for others, mostly younger, to get going and stay in the sport. Athletes of all ages make triathlon what it is, a wonderful community of people living a healthy lifestyle spanning lifetimes.
Coach Simon Butterworth believes that the key ingredients in a good coach/athlete relationship are regular and open communication, mutual respect, and keeping it fun for the athlete and their family. My training programs are developed with those ideas in the forefront. I work with athletes to develop both short term and long term objectives that work well within the context of the other things they have going on in their life.
Coach Simon's credentials include:
As we enter the holiday season perhaps you are beginning to think about gift ideas for your favorite athlete or being asked what you would like as a gift this year. What’s not to like in giving or receiving gifts? In speaking with some of my athletes and family members, here are the top favorites I have compiled.
Swim
Bike
Run
Random
I hope you find many Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. Enjoy this holiday season.
D3 Coach Brad Seng knows that challenging days and subpar workouts are inevitably a part of the triathlon landscape, as are the times when you’re feeling great and everything clicks. He believes there are lessons to be learned from experiencing both. Sometimes having to fight for a workout is just what’s needed to achieve an important breakthrough in mental conditioning.
Coach Brad's credentials include:
Consistency is Key to Fitness and Success
At the very end of 2019, Rupert Daniels decided he was going to hire a coach to help him train for IM Italy in September. However, as is the case with all athletes in 2020, his plans were soon thrown for a loop when Covid arrived. In spite of the fact that races were being canceled and training was becoming increasingly harder to schedule, Rupert decided to remain focused and consistently hit his workouts in the hope that a new IM would open up later in the year. It was this consistent training that allowed him to race Cozumel 70.3 as a tune up event with only 3 weeks notice. His race results: A PR under far tougher conditions then his previous best which was 4 years earlier. This result was without any race specific pace training.
In breaking down his year we can study his PMC below. The first thing to note was the steady two-month ramp-up to his desired weekly hours and intensity of training. The deliberate ramp is required to allow the body to adapt to the training and help minimize time off due to overuse injuries. The second thing to notice for the year is the consistency of training. Over the past year, Rupert has completed 423.5 hours of the 448 assigned workout hours (94.5%.) With the exception of the planned overseas trip and a business trip just prior to his decision to sign up for IM Cozumel at the end of November, his PMC has no big peaks or valleys. The slight downward slope when he recognized his target race would be canceled was a deliberate, planned reduction in weekly hours. Finally, the final upward slope begins his ramp up for an Ironman at the end of November.
The key takeaway from looking at the graph above is that fitness gains and success in our sport is driven by hitting a high percentage of specific workouts. He made decisions in his training and personal life that allowed him to hit the workouts while staying healthy and injury free. He prioritized recovery when it was important and substituted workouts when lockdowns prohibited “standard” triathlon training. With Rupert’s consistent, diligent training, it is highly likely he is going to follow up his new 70.3 PR with an outstanding Ironman race in Cozumel next month.
Coach Bill Ledden knows that true success in the world of triathlon isn’t simply about crossing the finish line. It’s about the process of setting goals, being determined to reach them and most importantly, the learning that takes place along the way.
Bill is a both a USA Triathlon and USA Track and Field Certified Coach. Learn what his favorite quote is right here.
In July, I shared an article highlighting a conversation I had with Jesse Frank, Human Performance Engineer at the Specialized Win Tunnel, and shared his Top 8 recommendations to achieve better aerodynamics. This follow-up article goes deep on a simple idea that Jesse and I discussed in further detail. This aero concept will definitely make you faster on the bike—with no new equipment. It’s called “The Shrug”.
Having a super-slammed aero fit on your bike is of no value if you can’t hold the position. And, having a lower front end setup isn’t necessarily more aero. That’s right friends, the glossy photos of tri bikes with raised saddles and lowered bars isn’t always the fastest setup. If you are uncomfortable or can’t actually stay in the aero position on your bike for the duration of your event, you don’t have the best setup.
Jesse shared examples of professional athletes testing faster in the tunnel when they adjusted the fit to raise the front end of the bike. In one case, they raised the bars several centimeters!
The bottom line here is one that gets mentioned over and over—get a professional fit that takes into account BOTH aerodynamics as well as comfort (the ability to produce power in position). And what about that position?
The Shrug
In order to maximize aerodynamics, you want to get your head out of the wind as much as possible. As Jesse noted, and I shared in my last article, heads are not aero. So the more you can do to bring your head down—not looking like a “periscope”—the faster you’ll go.
To accomplish the position, you don’t want to look down—it’s dangerous to take your eyes off the road and if you have an aerohelmet with a tail, it’s less aerodynamic to have that tail up in the wind. Instead, you need to be able to lower your head.
The shrug position, sometimes also called the turtle, is your answer. This is a three-step process.
1. Lower your head
2. Pinch your shoulder blades together.
3. Shrug your shoulders toward your ears
This is not generally a very comfortable position at first, but it’s a position you can train to be able to hold. With practice, your shoulder muscles will get stronger and you’ll feel more comfortable holding this position. You might start with a set of 5-10 x 20” shrugs on a minute or more of “rest” (coming out of position). Build your sessions from there until you can hold the position for a longer continuous period of time.
Think about a bungee cord that is attached to your front hub on one end and your chin on the other.
After my conversation with Jesse, I began practicing the position and I’ll share that the day after my first 10 x 20” session, I was a little sore in my neck. Over time, it became easier to hold the position for longer periods of time so be patient as you make this improvement.
Even if you can’t ultimately hold this position for an entire long course race, you can still use it strategically during racing—employ it going into a headwind or on long straightaways, for example.
Jesse mentioned that some adjustments to fit may help you hold the shrug position. You might increase stack height and/or widen your arm pads. My stack height isn’t super-aggressive so I didn’t adjust there, but I widened by arm pads by about four centimeters. And that extra width allowed me to get into a deeper shrug, while also feeling more comfortable breathing in position.
If you’re flexible enough, you might be able to get into a deep enough shrug that the top of your back can be seen above the top of your helmet from a front view.
Remember that this is not just a race day position—you’ll need to practice in training!
Coach Dave Sheanin believes that becoming “triathlon literate” is key to meeting your goals. Triathlon is indeed a lifestyle and like the other important areas of your life, knowledge is power. I encourage you to explore the nuances of the sport, be open to new ideas and ask questions – of yourself, of fellow swimmers, cyclists and runners, and of your coach.
Coach Dave is both a USA Triathlon and Training Peaks Certified Coach. Learn what his favorite quote is right here.
As winter approaches ever so quickly, NOW is your time to make important nutritional changes that will give your training a boost through the winter. There is no reason to wait until the New Year. To get started, take an inventory of your goals for the winter, assess where you are (be realistic), and start building a plan to achieve those goals. Give consideration to these questions:
In addition to the above questions, there is typically a shift in the type of training that you do during the off-season. Maybe you’re an avid skier, or maybe you take the winter to regroup for the spring (or you are leaning into the D3 Training-to-Train program). Regardless of how you intend to spend your off-season, it’s a changing time and with that comes opportunity. Change brings growth and that is what we are all looking for, right? Okay, maybe not around our midsection!
After you’ve done this self-assessment, it’s now time to work on the aspects of nutrition that will support you in achieving your goals. One of my most powerful tips is encouraging you to plan ahead. In the realm of nutrition, planning ahead is key, and important to your ability to make good nutritional choices. The following are six examples of how you can support yourself nutritionally and give you the inspiration to plan ahead.
The following are some of my favorite recipes for the fall. You can exchange or remove pretty much any food item to make it your own. Enjoy!
Chicken Soup
3 quarts filtered water
1 tbsp lemon juice
4-6 tbsp coconut oil
1 medium free-range organic whole chicken or turkey (change up the meats, grass-fed ideally for beef) (bone-in)
8 organic carrots, sliced
6 stalks of organic celery, sliced
4 organic zucchini, sliced
3 medium organic onions, peeled and diced
4 inches of ginger grated
2-4 tbsp Celtic sea salt or “real salt” (brand at health food store)
1-2 rutabaga or turnips
1 large bunch of parsley
Place water and all ingredients into the crockpot and turn on low to medium for 8-10 hours. 30 minutes before the soup is done add the parsley. If using a whole chicken remove the chicken and take off the meat from the bone, put the meat back into the soup, and discard the bones. Put over rice or quinoa.
Seafood Chowder
1/4 pound prosciutto (optional)
1.5 lb of salmon fillets (skin and bones removed or use other white fish)
1 head of cauliflower chopped
1/2 pound scallops, shrimp, or clams
1 cup leeks, sliced
2 zucchinis chopped
2-3 cloves garlic
2 cups carrots, diced into small pieces
2 cups low sodium vegetable stock
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
1 tablespoon fresh or dried dill (or use Cherry Creek Seafood Seasoning from Savory Spice Shop)
lime juice to taste 3-4 tbsp
black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp nutmeg (if using extra dill skip this)
sea salt to taste
Steam cauliflower and put it in the blender with some of the coconut milk until smooth.
In a large, separate, soup pot, cook the chopped prosciutto until browned and crispy. Add the leeks and garlic and continue to saute until the leeks are tender. Add the carrots and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add the chicken stock, coconut milk, cauliflower mixture, dill, and black pepper and bring to a simmer for about 45 minutes or until carrots are tender. Add the salmon filets and other seafood to the soup, make sure they are covered. Let simmer until the seafood is no longer transparent and the salmon can break apart easily. Stir well, breaking apart the salmon, and cook until all the pieces of salmon are tender. Serves ~8.
Blueberry Crisp-Almond
1.5 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4th cup coconut oil
4-5 cups blueberries
½ tsp cinnamon
2 tsp coconut flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine almond flour and salt. Stir in ¼ cup applesauce and set aside. Put fruit in a bowl with cinnamon, coconut flour, melted coconut oil; toss together until everything is coated. Place this mixture into a casserole pan that is 8x8 inches. Sprinkle the almond meal topping over the fruit. Cover and bake for 20 minutes (uncover for the remaining 5 minutes). It is done when blueberries are bubbling and the top is slightly browned.
I can share endless information about the benefits of eating healthy and the effect it has on our mood, recovery, sleep, detoxification, energy, and performance, but without making the choice to change, it doesn’t really matter. So, NOW is the time.
ACTION SUMMARY:
Choose your changes and start now. Get excited for the new season and the new you!
Nutritionist Megan Dopp is a registered Dietician from Colorado State University. Megan has over 14 years of experience in the nutrition field and has adapted to all of its changes with research and education. She is passionate about learning what is best for each person and focuses on finding the root cause of problems. She specializes in Athletes, Wellness, Gastrointestinal distress, Autoimmune diseases, Heart disease, Cancer, Diabetes, Food Allergies, and Weight Imbalance.
As a coach, this past nine months of helping triathletes through a global pandemic has presented many new and unique challenges. At the forefront is the health and safety of my athletes, friends, family, neighbors, and the population as a whole. COVID has affected me; personally, my 83-year mother was in the hospital for four weeks with the virus, and my middle daughter is a nurse and was assigned to a COVID ward. So, I understand how COVID stress can affect a person’s motivation, and COVID is still a variable that many of us are trying to process. I think it’s essential for every athlete to take a personal inventory of where they stand on their participation in a healthy lifestyle and their training goals.
An individual’s commitment and motivation to adapt to long term and life-altering changes to live a healthy lifestyle and commit to training often involve multiple actions and behavioral changes to achieve their goals. Many individuals are at different stages of readiness or willingness to adapt to a healthier lifestyle; some may have started exercising more frequently or monitor their nutritional intake. The state of readiness or the state of change that an individual resides is a significant element in the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior (Glanz, 2020). The Transtheoretical Model has been used in behavior research and has been useful in explaining and predicting such behaviors as eating habits and physical exercise (Glanz, 2020).
The Transtheoretical Model theorizes that there are six key stages of change in health behavior: pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and termination (Prochaske, & Velicer, 1997).
The Transtheoretical Model theorizes six key stages of change in health behavior that can help an increase in activities that can lead to a healthier lifestyle. If an individual can modify their behaviors through self-efficacy, the Transtheoretical Model action and maintenance stages can be achieved without outside intervention. Still, self-efficacy is not always obtainable for segments of the population. Many barriers can limit an individual’s journey from pre-contemplation to the action stage of the model. Additional motivation such as training partners, a pre-determined training plan, or the help of a coach or personal trainer may help an individual into the action stage and prevent relapse into the model’s termination stage.
With the possibility that life and racing may return to a sense of normalcy in the not to distant future. Now is the time to take inventory and determine if your desire, determination, and discipline are ready to meet your healthy lifestyle and racing goals. Use the Transtheoretical Model to assess your state of readiness and make any adjustments to move into the action stage. Stay healthy and see you at the finish line.
Coach George Epley strives to understand what makes you unique, and then finds the best way to fit those elements together to help you reach your full potential. He has a passion for knowledge and believes it’s the key to maximizing your potential. His credentials and additional training philosophies can be reviewed here.
References
Glanz, K. (2020) Social and Behavioral Theories. e-Source, NIH, https://obssr.od.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Social-and-Behavioral-Theories.pdf
Prochaska, O, J., Velicer, F, W. (1997) The transtheoretical model of health behavior. American Journal Health Promotion, doi: 10.4278/0890-1171-12.1.38 Prochaska, O., J, DiClemente, C. Six stages of behavior change model. Research Gate,https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Transtheoretical-Model-stages-of-behavior-change-Note-Adapted-from-Prochaska-J_fig2_267096772
To say this race season has been unique is an understatement! The COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges to athletes and coaches across the globe. One of my athletes, Boris Bourdin, resides in Spain which was one of the hardest hit European countries with strict lockdowns. Going into the season his target goal race was IM Austria originally scheduled for July 4th. It would eventually be postponed to September and ultimately cancelled.
As you can see from Boris’ PMC chart below, we had an effective early season building his fitness heading into 70.3 Oman in early February. Once COVID hit and he was on a strict lockdown (48 days of no outdoor activity other than for food/groceries, doctor appointment, dog walking, etc.) you can see his CTL (fitness) score drop significantly. During this timeframe we increased his cycling frequency (all trainer rides), at home strength/TRX sessions, swim cord/dryland sessions and some indoor running using his apartment complex stairwells. We focused on consistency and staying active as best he could. Cycling sessions included a mix of easy/recovery rides, technique & big gear rides and sweet spot/FTP work. He attended many of the D3 Q-Training sessions. Those were Zoom sessions the D3 coaches held during quarantine for swim cords, core, biking and run activation. Here are his data points pre/post COVID:
Once his lockdown ended in early May we were able to re-introduce the running and swimming. Fortunately, he had access to open water initially and then his local pool. One of the first things he commented on when getting back into swimming was how strong he felt in the water with his aquatic posture due to all the swim cord, dryland and strength training he did during the lockdown. He was noticeably swimming faster and more efficiently. Per his PMC chart you can see we were able to start re-building at the end of his lockdown with steady gains in his overall fitness. He had a slight drop in his CTL in mid-June to early July with a family vacation and then we once again saw a nice upward trend with his CTL as we worked towards the rescheduled IM Austria in September.
In late August we received word that IM Austria was being cancelled and we had to make a quick decision on what to do with the options he was provided by WTC. Fortunately, IM Tallinn in Estonia was looking quite hopeful and only two weeks before the rescheduled IM Austria race date. At this point the heavy lifting of his IM prep had been done and it was simply a matter of cutting back some volume to allow for adaptations and recovery going into the race.
The overall race day experience was quite different with new COVID guidelines in place, but Boris effectively executed his race day plan to a personal best in 12:22. It was an incredible journey for him and I am very proud of his efforts throughout the year!
Coach Brad Seng has coached a wide variety of athletes over the past 10 years and he can tell you this: while there’s no substitute for consistent training and proper nutrition, a strong fitness base is just one part of the equation. A breakthrough can also be as simple as working on your mindset, fueling your success with sound mental strategies. Coach Brad’s credentials and career highlights can be viewed here.
“I’ve got it.” Those words were the first sentence of Mike Reed’s Facebook post on March 29, 2020. Of course, I already knew. It was early in this pandemic--before we knew what we know now. Certainly before we knew everything--triathlon and otherwise--would be canceled.
Mike’s 2020 plan was aggressive. It included the Boston and NY marathons, two full Ironmans in early and late fall, and a few other half Ironmans and half marathons tossed in just for good measure. Mike joins the 55-59 age group next year and this was to be a big year to set up being the “young kid” in the new age group--with 70.3 worlds and Kona qualification as 2021 goals. 2021 is still looking good, but 2020 got wiped out--in more ways than one.
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Everyone's reaction and response to COVID is different, and you should seek a doctor's advice before pursuing any training when you are injured or sick. Mike had a career as a medical practitioner and consulted with his doctor and other medical experts; with his knowledge plus Coach Dave's coaching expertise, the two were able to get Mike back on track. This is a case study of his journey back.
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“I’m on my ass. I get winded walking upstairs. My resting heart rate has jumped to 50. [From his normal 38 bpm.] And the worst part is feeling like I’m not getting enough oxygen. It creates panic. The thought of taking a long walk is not even close to appealing.”
Want to see what COVID-19 looks like to a coach? The shaded blue area that looks like a cliff is “fitness”.
Mike’s Training Peaks calendar is always green. Relentlessly green. We saw only red after the morning workout on March 27th. The next time we saw any green was nearly 3 weeks later when Mike “hammered out” his first ride back on a Monday--20 minutes at 50 percent power on the trainer to see if he would be able to breathe through a workout. Boston would have been two weeks out.
In March, a two-hour run was no big deal. Tuesday’s workout title was “Walk--can be brisk”--a 30-minute affair, if he felt good enough to be out that long.
We built back gradually. It took over 6 weeks to build back the fitness that Mike had lost during the two-weeks he had been flat on his back. Although the general rule-of-thumb is about a 3:1 ratio for building back fitness after time off, it still felt fast. This ramp is testament to the shape Mike was in before he got sick and the discipline he employed during the comeback. Early workouts were ridiculously short and easy as compared to what he had been doing, but Mike followed the plan as written and soon we were able to extend distances and eventually add intensity back into the mix.
We put our eyes on an early-June Olympic race within driving distance of his home in Florida that hadn’t been canceled. Then, that race got postponed to mid-July and we were thankful for the extra time to get prepared. In mid-June, Mike injured his leg--something we’re still factoring into the training--and the runs moved to the elliptical. But throughout the early summer, Mike continued to make progress and his metrics ultimately exceeded those he had going into COVID. The “blue cliff” had become a canyon with a higher plateau on the other side.
On July 19th, the Treasure Coast Oly race went off in socially-distanced fashion and Mike toed the line--finishing 4th overall on a 90+ degree day. Mike ran 7:30 pace off an hour-flat bike in those hot conditions. Mission accomplished!
We’re both looking forward to what 2021 will bring. Simply having opportunities to race will feel like a win, but we have a couple of qualification boxes to check as well.
Coach Dave Sheanin believes that becoming “triathlon literate” is key to meeting your goals. Triathlon is indeed a lifestyle and like the other important areas of your life, knowledge is power. I encourage you to explore the nuances of the sport, be open to new ideas and ask questions – of yourself, of fellow swimmers, cyclists and runners, and of your coach.
Dave is a USA Triathlon Certified Coach and Training Peaks Certified Coach
Adjusting to a New Life and Putting Things in Perspective
The header photo seems to say it all about our situation right now in regards to training and racing. Lay back and enjoy it, go with the flow. I also love these animals - otters.
How we are managing in a very different world of a pandemic and economic depressions has been covered by many a better writer than I. But, I thought sharing about how I am dealing with things both as an athlete and as a coach might give you some ideas to help yourself during this challenging time. In the absence of thinking and strategizing about an upcoming race, something I am doing a lot these days when out for a bike or run is letting my mind drift to the past. This reflection has helped me deal with the circumstances of today.
In a triathlon nutshell, I have over 150 triathlon starts with 1 DNF and that breaks down as 20 years as a USAT All-American, 27 Ironman finishes, and 15 in Kona (6x on the podium!). I am a credentialed triathlon coach with multiple governing bodies. But it takes a journey to build a resume - so join me on this reflection and hopefully, you will rediscover your own self by reading my story, and learn what motivates you. I challenged myself to figure out what motivates me to do what I do, and mission accomplished. Read on, it will surprise you! Plus, at the end, I share some ideas about things you can do to stay connected to this sport and inspired to train.
Staying active has been part of my life since early childhood. I was a Track and Field champion in what most of you call Jr. HS and HS, Secondary School to us in Ireland. Rugby, field hockey, cricket, and yes baseball were my team sports. I added in Fencing my last two years in Secondary School and got good at it getting on the Irish Jr. Fencing team and competing in the Jr. World Championship. That was my first exposure to international competitions. It was a wonderful way for a young person to see the world through the eyes of so many athletes.
About 20 years of inconsistent bouts of exercising, running, and swimming (when near water) followed. I came here (USA) to follow a passion, aviation, attending a technical Jr. College at La Guardia Airport (NY) in ’67 just before hitting 21. My earliest and fondest memories of running in the USA were when I took my first landladies’ dog, a very poorly cared for (they never took him walking) German Shepard named Rex running along the edge of the airport. The apartment I lived in (top floor) is still there complete with the same dog warning and statue. The area we ran on is now occupied by terminal buildings and parking lots. It was a noisy route perhaps the reason for the hearing aid now stuck in my ear.
One other sport I learned in Ireland was sailing. In 85/86 Ingrid (my wife) and I cruised in our sailboat down the east coast to the Bahamas. I started running regularly and swimming, to catch dinner or take a bath. I have been running year-round ever since. Just under 30 years ago I did my first triathlon, Oyster Bay in NY, and 10 years later my first IM in Lake Placid. The break from swimming this year is the longest for me in 30 years and this is the first year in over 30 that I will probably not do a race (I have not completely given up the hope that I might do one or two this Fall).
When it first became apparent that I would not be racing this year I started to think about what really motivates me to do what I do. Was it the racing and winning, I have been good at that, or something less ego soothing? My worry was that my long-held notion, I did it because it was fun, good for my health and the endorphins of knowing I was fit, might prove wrong. I have always admired those that never finish on the podium and sometime near the back end keep racing and training. Clearly their motivation is very much the joy of being able to just do it. I am going to try and convince you, that while racing and winning have provided a lot of motivation for me it is far from the total picture.
Special Days (Training)
A yellow Labrador Retriever my parents got when I was about 17 in Ireland started a lifelong affair running with dogs. It did not take long after our first outing together to find that she was a big part of my motivation. Rain or shine she wanted to run every afternoon when I got home from school. Rex took over that role when I got to NY and then I was dog-less for 20 years. The same 20 years when I was very inconsistent with my running.
The motivation to run regularly got a big boost when we took off on one of our sailboat adventures for a year of cruising. Our route took us east to Martha’s Vineyard the summer of '85 and I realized quickly that running would let me see much more of the places we visited and as it turned out, meet more people. Up to this point in my life I had not run much more than 5k, and that changed almost immediately, as the prospect of something new to see kept luring me around the next corner or over the next rise in the road. Martha’s Vineyard served that up in spades and I got out to the far eastern end of the island on sandy roads.
The Chesapeake Bay proved to be a great place to run. The best memory there was an early morning run when we anchored at La Trappe on the Choptank River. Little did I know that I would race there 15 years later (Eagleman). The memory is really not about the run, that eventually was fun, but almost getting arrested. I was stopped by local police as I was rowing to a landing. They wanted to know if I had a PFD (personal floatation device), I did not. I was rowing an inflatable dingy designed to work at a life raft should our boat sink. La Trappe Creek was not more than 4 ft. deep at low water in the middle of the creek. I was threatened with arrest when I got a bit “upset” that they had pulled me over. Shades of Alice’s Restaurant. I pleaded guilty and paid the fine, by mail.
Georgetown, SC provided some fun. On the advice of an Irish friend who had moved there, I took off looking for a plantation site with slave quarters. It was a rather typical southern morning; humidity was high, and it was hazy. Finding the slave quarters still fully intact was a bit of a shock, clearly this place had been used long after the Civil War. High hedges blocked the view around the next corner, it lured me on again. Someone else was out for a morning walk, a large alligator. I turned around.
Many more runs were logged on that trip, many times I got lost and had Ingrid wondering where the hell I was and what would she do without me, not a good prospect as she could not sail the boat on her own. We flew back to Georgetown on Great Exuma in 2013 where we had spent almost a month in '86 and where my Mum and sister visited us. I got lost again searching for the now abandoned airport near George Town. Georgetown looked sad, once the center of tourism on the island it was suffering badly. A large resort on the north end of the island had sucked the life out of Georgetown. But I got in some memorable runs and lots of swimming.
My first race, a 10k, since HS was back home in Ireland. My Mum was still alive and came up to watch. It was a two-loop course through the town (Ballytore) where my sister lives. Her husband, who had become a strong runner, joined the fun. I was doing well the first time through the village and then the wheels fell off. My Mum, who had not seen me race since my winning days in HS expressed dismay when I was not in the lead pack crossing the line. Worse, my brother in law crossed ahead of me and had time to get us both a pint before I finished. Sill I was hooked on a steady diet of running as long as I could round some new corners or climb a watch tower.
This one I found near the old airport in Great Exuma.
Dogs were back in my life as I started preparing for my first tri. We had been lucky, two of the guide dogs that we had cared for as puppies came back to us on early retirement (which is another story). We had a wonderful park, West Hills in Huntington NY, just about all to ourselves in the early mornings. I only saw one regular in the park, a lady about my age with purple hair and a Husky mix dog. Both Jamie and Hanna (the Husky) became good friends.
The West Hills community was home to Walt Whitman and his extended family. There were several homes we ran past that his uncles and aunts lived in as well as his own. It was a magic place; it was not a big park but with some short road sections you could run trails from the Long Island Sound to the Atlantic. In the winter, at the top of Jane’s Hill, the highest point on Long Island at 410ft, you could see both waters if you climbed a tree, in the summer not so. Here is what is on a plaque at the top.
Sea-beauty! Stretch'd and basking!
One side thy inland ocean laving, broad, with copious commerce,
steamers, sails,
And one the Atlantic's wind caressing, fierce or gentle—mighty
hulls dark-gliding in the distance.
Isle of sweet brooks of drinking-water—healthy air and soil!
Isle of the salty shore and breeze and brine!
To make runs more interesting I named trees or parts of the park after my friends and family members.
September 13th, 2001 we were still in shock and Ingrid exhausted; she had not got home much before 10 pm two nights before. Ingrid worked for a publisher in Greenwich Village (Workman Publishing, most mothers know their most famous book, What to Expect When……). She had watched the towers collapse from a balcony at her office on Broadway. Then walked her longest walk ever, with thousands of others, to the Queen's side of the 59th St Bridge where the son of one of her work collogues met them with a car (everything had been shut down in Manhattan except shoes). Despite the emotions (we had lost a neighbor), I could not stop training, my first trip to Kona was a month away. And, I needed something to get my mind off what had happened.
Hanna, Jamie and I headed into the Park at daybreak on the 3rd, something felt very different. The birds seemed especially chatty, otherwise, it was eerie and quiet. As I ran down a trail I had named after my best Irish friend who had recently died, at 50, it dawned on me. West Hills had taken a journey back in time to Walt Whitman’s days. No corporate jets coming and going from Farmingdale Airport 4 miles away, no 747’s coming into Kennedy, no road noise from the Northern State Parkway and sideroads that bordered the park. It became a very emotional run.
Unlike this year, we did have a race in Kona that year (2001) and it was like no other. We felt together in a way that I had never felt before. It was very obvious that the world felt our pain, US flags where everywhere, we were facing a new challenge to the world together. Sadly, this did not last, and we now face the exact opposite.
Sometime in the next two years Hanna helped me set my lifetime 5k PR, and that included time for her to have a dump.
Moving to Colorado in 2005 put a new spring in my step, new corners to go around and new mountains to peak. It helped make up for a loss of dog companionship, Hanna had reached the end of her running days the year before we moved. Also new were new human friends thanks to the Boulder Tri Club, Fast Forward Sports and then D3. It also helped to discover someone who’s bike pacing matched mine, loved dogs and ran great races, Barry Siff. To fill the gap between Hanna and our current dog Rita we started dog boarding. That, at times, was a hazard to my running but it never resulted in a serious fall.
Rita recharged my running just when I needed it as I hit 65 along with coaching help from Bobby McGee and Gordo Bryn. There is nothing like a happy dog face to keep you going. There have been very few times that I have run without her over the past 10 years. She never quite got the idea of doing hill repeats but long and steady or up mountains just dandy. Of course, doing this off-leash was the best and when I could she would cover twice my distance.
2020
This was a planned year off from IM racing. There was a notion that I might try to qualify for Kona this year for 2021 when I age up. I had the same plan in 2015 the year before I hit 70 but it really was not a year off, I trained hard for Oly Nationals and Cabo IM. 2020 is really a year off. It will be interesting to see if this pays any dividends next year.
What have I concluded as the 2020 end of season racing approaches with no races insight is that writing this piece has helped me realize I can and do enjoy the training. But no question I do like to race, and I miss it. My training volume is back where it was when I was only training for Olympic events and less. I have not done a lot of speed work and obviously there was a big absence of swimming for about 3 months. I am enjoying the pool more now than in recent years. I think because there is a 50 min time limit, swimming in a pool for much more than an hour becomes rather boring. There is no question that year in - year out training for an IM with 15-20 hr/week for several months is mentally very hard, I am enjoying this reduced volume.
I have always done some of my riding alone, but I do enjoy one or two companions especially on the longer rides. I have been lucky since coming to Colorado in finding others who ride at my pace. After a month of solo work, the motivation became increasingly challenging. The solution was a surprise, more indoor rides. I had discovered the Rouvy App allowing me to ride all over the world (so far just Europe). In May I started thinking about a gravel bike, thanks to a review of the Open U.P. in Bicycle Mag. I took my time researching bikes, fun in itself and got in some demo rides on the Open U.P., Specialize Diverge and Cervelo Caledonia. I now own a Cervelo Aspero. New roads to discover lay ahead and it does feel a bit safer on the backroads of Boulder, CO.
Rita just celebrated her 11th birthday (Ingrid her 80th). She, Rita, is still keeping me company when the sun is not too high and hot, we ran 17k early before 8am last week.
I am not worrying any more that the lack of racing will end my love to be outside and exercising. If, and I fear it might, we do not get back to something approaching normal racing for over a year I think I have found the way to keep things going.
Satchel Page, one of baseball’s great pitchers and a good source of quotes said “Don’t look behind you, something may be catching up". He also did not think that running was good for a pitcher, “just jangle around loosely to keep the juices flowing”. The ideas have some merit but looking back is fine as long as what you are looking back at is a positive, or you learn something positive from the negative. Running is great in the right doses. We, Triathletes, are a lucky bunch, lucky in that we can indulge in a very time-consuming sport. We may not have races to look forward to at the moment, but we can step back and think about how we have progressed, take a look at why we really enjoy doing this sport and find ways to make it more fun. The best time to do that is when you are out doing it.
We can also experiment much more. I have written about this in another article earlier this year as have some of the other D3 coaches. These were all about trying new things in the offseason but that is really only a limited time. Now we have the opportunity to really test out a new way of training more scientifically. Change one thing, keeping the rest of your training constant, and see what happens after 8-10 weeks when it should be measurable. Adding or changing strength training, diet, and sleep are some options. Sleep would be a great one since many of you are working at home now. My guess is that if you tend not to get quite enough sleep and add 45-60 min to real sleep, not just lying in bed, you would see results in 2 weeks or less.
Two years ago, I was very lucky to meet and get to know IM legend Bill Bell. Bill, when he retired, was the oldest athlete to finish an IM at 78. He was still racing short events into his upper 80’s and was in Kona in 2017 at 95! Sadly, for us, he passed away this winter. He sure lived a good one and could not have any regrets. He and others like Lou Hollander and Jim Ward have long been my heroes in the sport. They went through a lot more challenges in their lifetime than anyone still racing today. The 1930 depression (the numbers today are worse, but the impact on everyone’s lives was, I think, far more disruptive) and WWII.
I don’t know when my racing days will end but I think this pandemic does have a silver lining for me. I am no longer dreading the day when my racing days will end. After that there will be more time to see what’s around the next bend and over the hill.
IDEAS FOR YOU
Here are some ideas for the next few months (some already discussed above).
While I may have struck a pessimistic note up to this point, I am starting to think about racing next year. It’s presenting a dilemma and not just because things are still so uncertain. I already have 4 races in mind that should rate an A priority, too many. It’s going to take some careful planning and it is something that can’t wait until the last minute. Pent up demand is going to make for races filling up quickly once it is clear we are on the right track to putting this pandemic in history books.
Coach Simon Butterworth admires the baseball player Satchel Page and believes that the key ingredients in a good coach/athlete relationship are regular and open communication, mutual respect, and keeping it fun for the athlete and their family. My training programs are developed with those ideas in the forefront.
Simon is a:
We triathletes sure love our gadgets. We have power meters to measure our bike and run efforts. We measure and record our strokes per lap, RPM and cadence.
While these tools can be useful to help us understand our effort and recovery better, they can also become a crutch. Learning to train and race without technology (by feel) should be a KEY step in every triathlete’s career.
Relying too heavily on these technology tools can lead to many issues. In training, data anxiety can result in sub par training efforts. If you don’t hit your pace or power for the first set, you may perform poorly on the following sets, “I’m just not feeling it today.” On race day these tools can sometimes hold you back. If you blindly follow your watch you may miss out on the breakthrough race by not pushing past your “race pace.”
Learning to train by feel or at Relative Perceived Effort (RPE), allows for a deeper understanding of how our bodies react to different conditions and efforts. One such example is when the weather is hot and humid, heart rate is higher than it would be in cooler conditions. This higher heart rate will require an adjustment to your threshold pace or threshold power. If you learn the effort required for your LT pace or power, (a rule of thumb would be the point where you can only talk in short bursts) you can gage efforts in all conditions.
Understanding RPE can insulate you from some of the stresses on races day. If your batteries die mid-race, no problem. If you forget your power meter at home, not an issue. You can still perform well even without modern tech gadgets. The first IM athletes didn’t have any of these technology tools and still managed to race hard and put down stellar times.
With all of this technology, we sometimes forget that each of these sports are actually quite simple. Just get out and swim, bike, and run while listening to your body.
Below are a bike and run workout that will help you to “get a feel” for different paces.
In the main set, make the change in each set by feel without looking at your Power Meter. Once you have settled on the new effort THEN look and see how close you came to the correct effort. Do this for each change in effort from IM to 70.3 and back.
Warm up: Cadence
MAIN SET: Repeat 3 times
Cool Down
5 min. @ 40-50 % of FTP
Cover your watch (except for time).
There should be a noticeable change in pace at each step. Learn to “feel” different race paces.”
Warm up
Cool Down
8 min @ 3-5 RPE
Coach Bill Ledden knows it’s one thing to have a solid training plan, but an entirely new world opens up once you understand the reasoning behind the individual elements! That’s why my goal as a coach is to develop the whole athlete rather than just the technical side.
Bill is a USA Triathlon Level 1 Certified Coach and USA Track and Field Level 1 Certified Coach.
If you’re taking your aero advice from random social media posts or perhaps worse, the forum of a certain triathlon-related website, pay attention to what follows! Jesse Frank, Human Performance Engineer at the Specialized Win Tunnel, dropped some knowledge on D3 based on the research and experiences in the tunnel. Some top take-aways:
Where Should I Put My Bottles?
If your bike has integrated hydration storage—a bladder in the frame, nose cone, or behind the seat tube as on the new Specialized Shiv—that’s going to be the most aero position for your drink of choice by far. If you need to carry bottles, the most aero spot is out of the wind, behind your butt. However, a rear carrier is not likely the best choice for bottle placement if you’re only running one bottle because the aero penalty for sitting up regularly to reach back for that bottle is significant—enough to wipe out the advantage of the placement.
Instead, the first place you should put a bottle is between your arms on the aerobar extensions. For some setups (but not all—a lot of questions get an “it depends” answer from Jesse when it comes to “what’s the best” kinds of questions) having a bottle between your arms is actually faster than not having anything in that space. But regardless of aero, the biggest benefit to this placement is the easy access and limited need to break out of aero position to access it.
If you’re running two or three bottles, place one between your arms and the other(s) on a carrier behind your seat (out of the wind). Drink from the bottle up front and when it’s empty, swap it with a rear bottle.
The worst place for bottles from an aero perspective is on the frame. The wind isn’t kind to “vertical cylinders”. If you need to put a bottle on the frame, the downtube is a better spot than the seat tube (it’s less vertical on the downtube). Aero bottles do make a difference if you need to put a bottle on the frame, but it’s harder to swap an aero bottle with other bottles elsewhere on your bike.
How Fast Do I Have to be Riding for Aero Position to Matter?
As long as you’re moving above about 12-14 mph, you should be in aero position. A lot of triathletes will come out of aero at higher speeds—particularly as they begin to climb a hill. Stay aero even if you’re not going super-fast! Obviously, the faster you’re going, the more aero matters, but even riders who think of themselves as “slow” will benefit from staying down on those aerobars!
Are Disc Wheels Always Faster?
If you have access to a disc, always use it when you’re racing on a flat or slightly rolling course. (There are obvious considerations for windy courses and individual rider comfort controlling the bike.) On courses with big climbs, a deep-profile wheel might be a better choice. (Another “it depends”.) Most discs carry a weight penalty over a deep section wheel—that can make a difference on the climbs.
How Should My Aerohelmet Integrate into my Bike Fit?
If your aerohelmet has a tail, it should lay flat on your back with no (or minimal) gap. Part of the aero position is your bike fit and part of it is the way you train yourself to hold position. (Actually, a great fitter will take everything into account—it doesn’t matter how aero your setup is if you can’t hold the position!). Limit or avoid looking down at your Garmin, lifting your head up, or turning side to side (except as needed for safety). The more the tail of your helmet is in the wind (not laying flat on your back), the less aero your aerohelmet becomes!
Are Helmets with Integrated Visors Faster?
They certainly look pretty cool, but those visors are only faster than wearing glasses (or nothing at all—not recommended) if they cover your ears. A number of “road aero” helmets have visors that simply replace sunglasses but don’t wrap around the sides of your head. If your ears are exposed to the wind, there’s not an advantage to the visor setup. Perhaps the best quote of the entire discussion was “heads are not aero”. Aerohelmets with wrap-around visors that cover your ears are faster—the Giro Aerohead is a good example.
What Is Something That Jesse Sees Triathletes Doing That Makes Him Shake His Head…?
Wearing loose-fitting clothing on an aero bike will negate all the advantages, and then some, of fancy and expensive equipment and fit. Jesse estimates that even something as simple as a wind-breaker worn on a cool day, could easily cost 4 minutes in an Oly and 15 minutes over an Ironman-distance race!
An example of the difference equipment can make: With his access to the Win Tunnel, Jesse tested himself on the setup he rode for his first Ironman race. He had a decent tri-bike with a good fit, an aero-helmet and a tri suit in that race—all good choices. Then he re-tested on a new bike (but held the fit constant), a textured speed-suit, and a new-technology aero helmet to see the difference. It was 8 minutes. Jesse had missed out on a Kona slot by 8:40 that year. He’s a great runner—I think if he had been able to see his competition, he would have run up to that slot!
How About the Advantage of Shaving Down?
On the bike, depending on how hairy you naturally are, shaving legs generally results in a bit more than a one-minute savings over 40k. Want to squeeze out every possible advantage? Shave your arms for another 12 seconds. Facial hair doesn’t make an appreciable difference. As noted above, you’re already in the “heads are not aero” realm anyhow.
What Should I Do With My Hair?
If you have hair that’s long enough to flow out of the back of your helmet, leaving it in a ponytail should be your last choice. Braids test fast in the tunnel, but even faster is putting your hair in a bun that tucks under the tail of your helmet.
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Look for part two of this article in coming months. I’ll share more of our conversation and a tip about aero position that anyone can take advantage of—without spending money on new equipment or a professional bike fit.
A quick personal note: In addition to coaching D3 athletes, I’ve coached the University of Colorado Triathlon team for 10 seasons—first with Coach Mike and now with Coach Brad. I’m sure both of them will agree with me when I say the greatest reward of coaching collegiate club athletes is not the national championships (of which we have 8 in the past 11 years) but rather seeing our athletes graduate and go on to really great things—on and off the race course. Conducting an interview with an emerging leader in aerodynamic research and application who also happens to be a former athlete I coached for six years through his undergraduate and graduate education—whom I got to see (and hopefully help) grow from a teenager full of potential to a mature (he’d probably argue with me on that one) professional, respected in his industry—is a true honor that warms my heart.
Want to connect with Jesse directly? Slip into his DMs, as the kids say...@jfrank32
Coach Dave Sheanin has an overarching belief that becoming “triathlon literate” is key to meeting your goals. Triathlon is indeed a lifestyle and like the other important areas of your life, knowledge is power. I encourage you to explore the nuances of the sport, be open to new ideas and ask questions – of yourself, of fellow swimmers, cyclists and runners, and of your coach. Whether you’re training to win or new to the sport, the most accomplished athletes are those who are open to coaching, eager to take on new challenges, and are committed to continuous improvement!
Dave is a USA Triathlon and Training Peaks Certified Coach.
During these strange times, some folks are struggling with loss of races, camps, group workouts and camaraderie.
Here are a few things you can do to address the loss.
Time Heals.
Place yourself two years into the future when things are different. You are two years wiser, with two years more experience.
Now look back on the you here today. What do you tell yourself, the self here today, from the you two years into the future? Do you have advice, words of encouragement, some wisdom to impart? Do that now.
Bring a Resource.
To add even more to the advice from the future, add in another person to join you two years into the future. This could be a real person, someone from your past, maybe even a fictitious character, but someone who you respect and admire. You and that person are now looking back on the you here today.
What would they both tell you from the future to help you navigate these strange times?
Sit with their advice for a bit, then select the choicest bits of their advice, and put those bits into practice, right here, right today.
Will walks us through these techniques in this helpful video.
https://youtu.be/LELTWUX-Olk
Mental Skills Performance Coach Will Murray often hears triathletes saying that the sport is at least 50% mental and 50% physical, but I’ve come to notice that they spend very little (if any) time doing mental training. Fortunately, it’s easy and fast to train-up your mind to help you achieve your triathlon goals. I’ve been lucky enough to bring these mental conditioning techniques to first-time athletes and Olympians, kids and seniors, triathletes who want to finish the race and those who are gunning to win.
Will is a USA Triathlon Certified Coach and holds a Practitioner’s certificate with more than 100 hours of advanced training in Neuro-Lingustic Programming.
Take a moment to be grateful for the opportunity to swim again! Likely there are new restrictions that will alter your swim as you knew it, but try to embrace what you can do versus lamenting what you cannot do. Share your enthusiasm for getting wet again!
Before you jump back in the water, to regain your pre-break swim fitness, know that you need two weeks for every week you were out of the water. Sorry to be the one to deliver the hard facts! And on that mark, here are six things to be aware of as you return to a regular swim routine.
1. Start back with a slow progression and focus on technique. Running uses the 10% rule, I am okay with 20% for swimming. That means increasing your swim volume by 20% each week.
2. When you return to the pool, try to forget any bad techniques, and relearn the correct movement patterns. This is a great time to have your stroke analyzed by a coach or via video analysis.
3. Be patient. You cannot rush fitness. It will take time for your body to adjust to swimming again if you have maintained run and bike fitness that is a bonus as your body knows how to process glycogen and dispel lactic acid.
4. Quality. Start back with easy swimming, mixing in critical drills, to reinforce the proper form.
5. Frequency: swim every other day for a few weeks for 20-30 minutes versus 1 hour, 3 times a week. This allows you to work on drills and form without fatigue.
6. Hold off "testing" Give yourself 2 weeks of swimming before you test how fast you are. Get your feel for the water and then give the following set a go:
There will be ups and downs and aches and pains after a long break, but embrace the sore arms and shoulders! Stay healthy and swim with a smile.
I'm just going to come out and say it ... chocolate milk is one of the best recovery beverages for after a tough work out or sporting event! It has a great carbohydrate to protein ratio (3:1) for refueling muscles (scientifically proven). It contains 9 essential nutrients naturally occurring, including key electrolytes for rehydrating such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium. This beverage also contains high-quality protein that will help rebuild our muscles. The best part is it tastes great and is refreshing. Chocolate milk contains all of this and can help you get the most out of your recovery from your workouts.
Why does chocolate milk help recovery?
Diet is very important to everyone’s health and if you include a challenging exercise routine or participate in sports, recovery becomes even more critical. You need to replenish your hard-working muscles with fuel, help them rebuild, and be ready for the next time. The fact that chocolate milk contains 9 essential nutrients and the ideal carbohydrate to protein ratio gives it a large advantage over other commercially available drinks.
When you exercise you sweat and not only are you losing fluids when you sweat you’re also losing electrolytes. Drinking chocolate milk after exercise can help replace those essential electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
Athletes need to replenish electrolytes after their tough workouts. Drinking milk after exercise can help replace essential electrolytes that are lost in sweat, including sodium, magnesium and calcium. Some scientific studies have even shown how chocolate milk could rehydrate you then other commercially available recovery beverages.
Are there other benefits of drinking chocolate milk after exercise?
Another study done at the University of Texas, Austin, found that chocolate milk can do more than just help muscles recover, it can help build lean muscle mass too. The results of the study showed that drinking chocolate milk after the workout helped build more lean body muscle due to the quality protein while also losing fat (most likely due to additional muscle created). The average lean muscle built was about an additional 3 lbs per participant. Chocolate milk has a great carbohydrate to protein ratio that balances out the refueling of muscles.
So, the next time you or someone in your family has a hard workout or sporting event, be sure to remember to have a nice cold glass of chocolate milk and take advantage of its nutritional benefits!
Do you know what the essential nutrients in Chocolate milk are?
Nick Suffredin is a former scientist from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) where his primary responsibility was to support the GSSI physiology research program. His targeted research was testing elite professional athletes to enhance their hydration and nutrition intake to improve their performance. He is currently working for Post Holdings, Active Nutrition Division, and has made himself available to D3 athletes for personal consulting for race day fueling.
ATTITUDE!
When you bring your best attitude toward the process and the circumstances that are presented, you can achieve excellent gains within a short period of time. D3 Coach Jim Hallberg shared a nomination for athlete Hunter Saunders and reflecting on their initial five months working together acknowledges that they've seen tremendous growth during that time, and despite not being able to race, it's Hunter's attitude that is helping the progress.
Hunter is positive and realistic (which is part of the trick too!). He has plans to do an Ironman but recognizes that it may not happen this year. Coach Jim says, "Hunter is truly loving the training. He keeps rising to the occasion, taking on the personal training challenges I am giving him and it is building his confidence in what he can do."
In his Q&A Hunter reveals a remarkably personal story about how he got into triathlon and what it means to him every day. "I look at every day not as work, but as an opportunity to silence distraction, harden my resolve, and attack my weaknesses." This attitude toward life, it is an outlook that many of us hope to achieve, and Hunter is living it.
1. What is your athletic background and what were some of the goals you originally intended to race/do this season?
I was a successful competitive swimmer for almost 20 years before I was sidelined by a shoulder injury. With the newly found free time and a relentless need for challenge and exercise, I picked up running and road cycling, never intentionally working toward triathlon. Fast forward a decade and I was asked to sherpa for a training partner at IM Louisville, and later that night she brought me to see the midnight finishers. It was a night that changed my life. The attitude, camaraderie, and pure emotion (not to mention the noise) fellow competitors and pros poured into bringing all those dreams across the finish line was all it took. I decided right then I needed to be a part of this sport and community for the rest of my life.
Over the past number of years, I have faced extreme hardships in areas of my life: death, divorce, suicide, physical and emotional abuse. All converged to strip me of everything I had spent a lifetime building, forcing me to face myself at the bare core with everything torn away, completely exposed, and answer the question: are you going to capitulate or survive? And while everyone has a different why, I saw myself in those faces in Louisville - behind the tears, the joy, the exhaustion. I recognized the sacrifice, the desire, and the relentless pursuit of something so personal many don’t know how to bring forth the words to describe it - and the pursuit of something so crazy to those outside the sport they just look at you cockeyed and ask “uhh… why?”, to which we all answer: “exactly."
So my goals have been a little broader than distance/time and are deeply personal (as many other’s also are), but 2020 was to be the season I really focus on competing at my best level. The only problem was as a lifelong DIY-er that I had absolutely zero idea what that was or could be. So that’s why Jim and I connected and started working together. The results speak for themselves and the progress we’ve made in 5 short months has been beyond remarkable. The man knows what he’s doing, and I get the relentlessly fun job of executing what he puts in Training Peaks. No joke. It’s awesome.
2. How have you had to modify those goals? What kind of impact has that had on your mindset?
Certainly. We all have. In addition to missing the competitions themselves, I’ve deeply missed the community. That’s starting to get better now that things are loosening up (I’m in Utah), but there’s still going to be a long way to go before things return to normal.
My mindset has always been focused on the process not only the final result. Races get pushed, swim starts get canceled due to weather, your legs just don’t show up off the bike that day for whatever reason, it’s windy, it rains, etc. In my opinion focusing one's personal payoff on that single A-Race event is tantamount to building a nuclear launch protocol with a single point of failure. It’s not if, but when things are going to go sideways. So to me, being in love with the process is the key to my personal growth and discovery. The hours spent on the bike, on the run, and doing endless laps in the pool, are where I have the time and opportunity to dig deep and to sit quietly with that person at the core of who I am. To clarify, simplify, galvanize, and amplify. In this way, I look at every day not as work, but as an opportunity to silence distraction, harden my resolve, and attack my weaknesses. Hate the wind on the bike? Go ride the windiest route you can handle until it doesn’t matter. Hate the rain? Run or ride in it as often as you can. Hate the open water? Keep going over and over until you don’t think about it. Everyday I have the opportunity to work on one or more of these things. To not to would be a waste, because there’s no guarantee in life that we ever make it to race day. If I didn’t love the process and my coach, and got run down by a bus next week, I wouldn’t want my last thought to be “what a colossal waste of time…”. Deeply loving the process, I get to say “I was the best version of myself right up to the end."
3. Is there something that stands out from the D3 training and/or community that has helped you stay focused on your goals?
Jim is an amazing coach. The coach/athlete relationship takes time to resolve, because it’s ultimately built on the foundation of trust. While it’s only been 5 months, Jim has quickly figured out what I need to hear (or not hear), and is dialed into what duration and kinds of physiological stress my body responds to. He’s also been great at hearing and understanding me (even if half my analogies make little-to-no sense). It’s this nucleus of trust and the continued building we do every week that feels super tangible to me, and I’m excited to see where this takes us. I obviously haven’t coached with anyone else in the organization, so I can only hope everyone else is getting the same experience I am.
4. What advice can you share with other athletes who are stuck in a mindset that they cannot race right now and that makes motivation for training tough?
Racing is not, and should not, be everything. In fact racing is sort of like a little graduation day - a celebration of all the early mornings, late nights and other incalculable sacrifices you’ve made and invested in each and every day. That shouldn’t have to change just because we can’t race. (Side note: Jim would call me out in a second if I said I wasn’t disappointed when my races got moved this year! Absolutely was.) But find a way to love the process. Love the incremental improvement for the sake of improvement itself. Reframe your why in these terms. Invest in hardening yourself and transforming weaknesses into strengths by deliberately attacking them. No better time to do this than when we have flexibility in our training and we’ll likely never have as much flexibility as we have right now.
Collaborate with your coach to find creative ways to do this. For example, Jim and I started running and cycling power challenges at different intervals to mix things up, yet the result was a different and better understanding of where I exist as an athlete on the spectrum of scenario-specific endurance. It was unexpected, motivating, and led to small changes that yielded immediate results!
Whatever you do, just… keep... going!
There are endless quotes about attitude and we think Hunter rises above them all. He lives each day through a lens that is inspiring. We are proud he is part of D3 and know you'll enjoy meeting him when we are able to return to racing.
SPIRIT!
He was supposed to do his first IM (Texas) in April, and instead, he participated in the 5/4/24 challenge on that day. He wrote his coach, Laura Marcoux, a post-workout comment from that day about how he was imagining himself sprinting across the finish line on the last 5-mile segment at 1:00 am. Laura shared that she did a double-take about that comment because it was at an average pace of 6:23/mile!
When Coach Laura wrote Joel's nomination she got right to the heart of being a triathlete and what has given Joel the motivation to keep pushing through during the setbacks of the pandemic. "Joel is the epitome of the Ironman spirit and it breaks my heart that he hasn't been able to hear his name announced as an Ironman. He has kept his spirits high with everything up in the air and actually just ran a half marathon PR yesterday, and continues to improve his bike FTP as well. He's been so committed to not only his training, but also being open, vulnerable, and balancing training with prioritizing his family. It's hard to be new to this sport and not get the payoff of racing, but it's just so obvious to me that Joel was made for this!"
Race cancellations have been tough on everyone, but what we do with the situation, how we handle it, that's within our control. Through his Q&A, Joel leads us down a path to better understand how our essence, our spirit, our true enjoyment of it all can make a difference day today.
1. You had plans to race IM Texas this past April, but like so many athletes, your race was canceled. You are ready to be an Ironman and that's a training rhythm that takes a lot of focus and planning. What adaptations did you have to make to get through that news to keep yourself moving forward? And, how did you refocus yourself/what have you been focusing on?
Urgh, it wasn’t nice was it!? We can all relate to that sinking feeling of disappointment when the cancellation email message hits. Thankfully, Coach Laura texted as the news broke and said “It’s OK to be disappointed! Take as long as you need.” As all of Laura’s athletes know when she says that, you take it! A few pizzas, beers later, some go-to music, movies and family hangs did the trick. It wasn’t long after this that we were in lockdown and working from home and homeschooling, and as you know, we endurance junkies can’t stay still for long! So it was back to training and a case of keeping up the workouts, but tweaking them to build strength and speed, rather than the volume build needed for an IM.
2. Coach Laura has shared that you've had some pretty sweet PRs (regardless of not racing) and found new training boundaries. Describe how that feels and how it might encourage you to keep pushing yourself.
Most of us are goal orientated, and if you listen to guys like David Goggins, it won’t be long before your trying to master your mind, push your limits and become an elite navy seal! In my case it stopped at pushing my limits, but I am committed to doing this again and again.
3. Is there something that stands out from the D3 training and/or the D3 community that has helped you stay focused on your goals?
Yes. It’s truly one of life’s treasures to find something that you’re passionate about and makes your soul happy! What’s even better is to find a community of people that share that passion! It helps normalize the things that other people in your world consider crazy!
4. Laura shared that she thinks you are made for this! 'This' meaning triathlon and all that it brings - the intensity, the training, the pay-outs and rewards. Someone's spirit is the nonphysical part of a person which is the seat of emotions and character. Joel, that is what we recognize in you. Digging deep to push yourself and ride the ups and downs of triathlon takes spirit. Our #4 question is: What drives you to be a triathlete?
To be honest, my drive comes from the sheer LOVE of doing it! Whether it’s swimming, cycling or running I tend to get into a state of mind where all of a sudden the world feels like a better place! My main weakness is that I get lost in my own world a bit too much and need to learn to bring my wife, kids, and other close family and friends on the journey more.
5. What advice can you share with other athletes who have had to adjust and get through the agony of training for a race and realizing it's not going to happen.
I actually think that endurance athletes are better prepared to deal with disappointments in life, mainly because we deal with so many curve balls throughout each season, from painful and debilitating injuries to time sucking and frankly annoying bike mechanicals mid-race! So having the goalposts moved (pretty seismically!) in 2020 is HUGELY disappointing but also a GREAT OPPORTUNITY to shift focus and still get fulfillment and joy out of this season!!
We are pleased to share Joel's story because he recognizes that triathlon is a journey. While IM Texas didn't happen, there are other opportunities to dive into to become a better athlete, and Joel is embracing each of them. #D3Powered
PATIENCE!
Two years ago she finished IM Choo, and then five days after that glorious finish, Daniela was in a car crash. She had an incredible road to recovery with brain therapy for the concussion and two shoulder surgeries. Fast forward to 2020, and she's starting from scratch with a D3 Pre-Built Training Plan written by Head Coach Mike Ricci.
In a recent Facebook post to Team D3, she shared, "It’s taken a long while, and today I finally saw gains again. I was able to raise my FTP 15% and I'm looking forward to getting my FTP back into the 160s. I’ve been patient and have followed the training plan."
Daniela stayed in contact with the Team during her recovery, and we got a sense of her inner strength. She has steadfast, firm beliefs in 'the process', and that carried her through the challenging recovery. Unless you've experienced something similar, you cannot begin to imagine how it feels to be sidelined for so long from something that you love doing. Her patience through all of this has been remarkable. And she's found herself having to continue tapping that patience as we navigate the quarantine and race cancellations. Daniela is the kind of person you cheer for, you want her to be successful because you know she is all heart. She's in life at 110%!
We know her Q&A will teach you the importance of being patient.
1. During your recovery, you had some significant injuries to contend with. Please describe your journey through recovery.
After the accident I really had to go back to zero, since I had a concussion to deal with. The first few months I was dizzy ALL the time, it was horrible. I tried to run once, and at mile 1 I thought I was going to pass out, so that was it for running. I tried swimming, and after a very short - and slow - and painful time in the water (my shoulder kept “crackling”) I got out of the water, and spent the next two days in bed completely out of commission because of the horrible headaches and dizziness. Biking outdoors? No way! I was terrified of being a danger for myself and others out there. Too risky to even try! I tried riding indoors, and the head pressure was so severe, I basically hung the towel then. There was absolutely no way for me to do anything.
I started going to physical therapy, and after two months of not seeing any progress, I got an MRI that showed a labrum tear on my left shoulder, which could only be fixed with surgery. I started going to brain therapy for my concussion and spent months going there. I had no idea how severe it was, everything made me dizzy. It required so much effort for my brain to do mundane things, I was exhausted all the time. More than once I found myself crying between the aisles at Costco, with my husband (or my mom) holding me while I walked. I was so overwhelmed with sensory input, I couldn’t walk at a regular speed on my own. It was awful.
My accident was October 5th, 2018 which was 5 days after IM Chattanooga (which was also my birthday, and the reason I chose that race); and I went into surgery the following March. All that time, I couldn’t do anything. Zero training for someone fresh out of an Ironman felt like a punishment. I was severely depressed and started taking medication for it (the lack of endorphins and adrenaline is very real).
After the surgery I started rehab physical therapy with Julie H. (also a D3 Team member!), and she was wonderful. That basically became my training. I would see her 2 or 3 times per week. I couldn’t lift a 1 lb. dumbbell without it kicking my ass. It felt like it was going to take forever! And it was humbling to see my once fit arm back to zero. My shoulder continued to be “stuck”, and after 3 months my surgeon determined a case of frozen shoulder, so back into surgery I went to get all that scar tissue broken down. Sounds gross? Yep. Because it is!!
After the second procedure, they sent me home with a robotic chair to move my arm constantly and not let scar tissue rebuild. It was inside my pain cave, next to my bike. My treadmill and bike were standing by, and I had to sit in the chair for 6 hrs (at least) every day. It became my job (and it’s not as fun as it sounds!). I watched all of the X-Files seasons again … that’s how much time I had to sit there.
I didn’t exercise at all for a year, and that’s when I contacted Coach Mike to help me rebuild my fitness. Since I had used his training plans to complete IM Boulder in 2016 and IM Choo in 2018 (with great success), I figured he was my best bet to get back to it without injury. So he customized a plan for me, and I started very easy. I didn’t focus on how fast or slow I was going, but the fact that I was moving. That was the process. A million drills in the water. I had to re-train myself to be patient, and trust the process. Those words are powerful and true! I had to forget about my previous milestones and start again. Very humbling! Being winded or feeling so out of shape during a workout … sometimes it was tougher than other times. I kept going. I have only ridden outdoors one time since October 2018. It was in early March 2020, right before COVID, and it was a short ride with my husband. I was terrified of crashing or having forgotten how to ride! I've been strictly indoors otherwise.
3. Is there something that stands out from the D3 training and/or community that helped you stay focused on your goals?
The D3 community is simply the best! So many people I haven’t met in person and yet, by wearing the D3 Colors, I know I’m in good company, and part of a pack of like-minded supportive, and positive people. I was looking forward to seeing everyone at the holiday party, they’re such fun. I felt so weird going post-accident in 2018 and feeling like crap, it was still fresh; but the team peeps, and of course Mel and Mike were super supportive. Then at the 2019 party I was so happy and hopeful for the new year, to tackle a race, maybe even two. Spirits were high for sure! Thanks to this team I got to meet my super bestie Wendy, another Venezuelan lady from the team. I’m ever so grateful we connected!.
She’s become my partner in crime, Zwift badge hunter buddy, and an awesome friend. I think one of my favorite things about the D3 Team is that the sense of camaraderie surpasses whether you’re a pro, or middle of the pack, or back of the pack athlete. The love and encouragement you get is the same across the board. Everyone’s success is celebrated equally. Because we all know how much that means! I love that. I will forever be a D3 member!
4. Now, spring of 2020, you are reaching training targets that you haven't seen in a couple of years and you are ready to race! How are you managing the race cancellations and reschedules?
Now with COVID coming along, my life has changed severely. I just started working for BCC Live, the company that sets up all the audio and video for all the Ironman and Rock’n’Roll races (my dream job), and with everything canceling or getting postponed, it is basically a double whammy position. I can’t race, and I can’t work any races …. argh!
I decided when the quarantine started, that regardless of what happened (my race being canceled or not) I would continue to train, and work on my weaknesses, like core strength, and keep building my FTP on the bike. Using this “extra time” means getting enough sleep and have good nutrition because I’m home all the time, it has allowed me to spend more time “in the lab”. Some days suck, some days I see tons of success. I continue to trust the process. I was lucky I already had the now coveted swim bands in a sweet set up on the wall with hooks. I had asked my husband to make it for me for my rehab. Go figure!
5. What advice can you share with other athletes who have to be patient with recovery, injury, changes to racing because of COVID?
The best advice for this tough times. Stay positive. Count your blessings. If you have a roof over your head, food on your plate, and your family is healthy, you're already rich! Take it one day at a time, continue to train and build fitness, that fitness will "stay in the bank" when we're finally ready to race again.
I've personally have been leaning pretty hard into the Ironman Virtual Club events, and I'm basically "racing" every weekend with their VR series. Some times I push more than others, and I have surprised myself with efforts I didn't think I could do, and achieve PB times in sprint and Olympic distances. I'm always looking forward to the weekend as it feels like the most social event, with the live stream and the pros racing in their pain caves or living rooms. Seeing that reminds me that we're all weathering the same storm.
Another thing to add, take advantage of all the content D3 is providing us with. Attend the Zoom meetings, participate in the Challenges (even if they sound crazy). Like Coach Will said, when else would you tackle "Everesting" during race season? A coach's answer would probably be: Don't! Now, the coaches themselves are doing the crazy challenges! Join in, test yourself, and have fun with it. You may surprise yourself
And last but not least, in the words of RuPaul, "If you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?"
Love yourself, be kind to yourself and others! We'll come out of this stronger, we just have to keep putting in the work.
We could not be more proud to recognize Daniela for everything she's been through, and for everything that she does to improve, get stronger, and live her dreams! #D3Powered
