Tridot Coaching

Since joining the Tri4him triathlon team, I have learned about a training system called, Tridot. Tridot is a scientific triathlon training system that is research based that takes the guess work out of training. Do you ever feel that you are guessing with your training? You know what you need to do: swim, bike, and run with some hard efforts and some easy. But do you ever wonder how much to do for each discipline? And at what intensity and for how long or how often? Do you ever wonder what you should really be spending your time on? I was in that boat before I started working with former Olympic triathlete, Barb Lindquist. Simply training will create results, especially when individuals are new at the sport, but this isn't long lasting. Eventually, we plateau with training, which can be mentally defeating. Tridot takes out all the guess work. It is scientific and individualized. With Tridot you will find results with training less and more effectively. You will be better able to utilize your time (get more bang for your buck!) and will know the training "hows" (how long, how often, hard hard, etc.). It is awesome to have this effective approach to training as it can help you get the results you want while balancing your time. This scientific training helps open the door to more time outside of training so you aren't sacrificing the things that really matter in life! You won't have to guess any more if what you are doing is actually going to help you reach your goals. Pretty neat! Check it out! www.tridot.com

Race Prep Update

Since I am healthy, I find I am in a new spot this season! An exciting spot! Ross and I quickly reflected after our morning swim and pointed out what a blessing it was to be getting ready for Lifetime Minneapolis (www.lifetimetri.com) and not having to figure out if I was going to be able to complete the run or not. Last year I was battling another injury and had to take the race one step at a time and determine on the spot if I was going to be okay to run. Not fun. But at this time last year, I just wanted to race so badly. It has been a learning curve with juggling training in between races that are pretty close together, but a good learning curve. :) Lifetime Minneapolis is one of my favorite races-it was where I qualified for my pro card in 2010! Anyway, I can't say enough about the course. I know I have posted about it before, but the bike course is pretty fun as it has a lot of turns to keep things interesting! The two loop run course makes it fun for spectators as they can see you multiple times. This helps me too-who doesn't like cheering?! :) The Minneapolis area really reminds Ross and I of East Grand Rapids--so a familiar feel for us. The race staff is also very supportive and excited to be putting on a race. I know athletes are well taken care of at Lifetime races! I will be posting updates as I continue my prep for the upcoming race! Thanks for checking in!

5150 St. Louis

Let me just start by saying what a blessing it has been to be healthy and able to fully train! Praise God for that! This is my first season being able to race this much at this time of the year. Anyway, Ross and I enjoyed another weekend together traveling through the country. (Ross helps so much with all the race travel--I couldn't do this without his help!) After Muskoka, which was a hilly course, we were sure that St. Louis was going to be flat. The profile on line didn't look that intimidating. Well, it fooled us! The run at St. Louis was crazy hilly! ha. Soo...the flat race plan went out the window.
The race took place at Innsbrook Resort just outside of St. Louis. The resort was woodsy and hilly with long gradual hills and long steep hills...you got it all! We saw deer, horses, turtles, and lots of little lakes on this resort. It was neat. Oh and there was a golf course in there as well! The lake we swam is was non-motorized, which was so nice. It was warm too-my kinda swim! I had fun warming up the day before the race with friend and pro triathlete, Amanda Hahn-Peters and Ross.
The morning of the race came and I didn't sleep well at all! I usually can sleep pretty decent, but not this time for some reason. I went through my pre-race warm ups and felt quite loose--sweet! I was really focused and ready to rock. (I decided to wear my xterra speed suit for the swim even though the water was quite warm. I feel it gives a bit more buoyancy in the water and I like the feel of it.)

I had a great start to the swim and could see the leader for the first half of the swim. I settled into my groove and came out of the water about 4-5th! I headed out for the bike and was pretty cautious to not over smash my legs since the was so hilly. I had to be smart and I felt I accomplished just that. I was controlled on this ride, which allowed me to be ready to run off the bike. I haven't felt this good off the bike yet so I was pretty excited. I remained focused and process driven. I started out strong and controlled and built as best as I could in the middle third of the run. There were some killer hills in there where I wondered if I would have to walk..for real. Going down a couple of them felt like my quads were going to jiggle right off! My feet were just slapping the ground like crazy-it was like I had to put the "breaks" on a bit to keep from falling. The run went on quite a bit of gravel roads, which I liked. It was better to have that soft surface especially on the downhill portions.

I passed 2 girls ahead of me on the run, which was super exciting. I really didn't know where I was at place wise. So I just stayed focused because I knew Laurel Wassner was not far behind! Once I saw 2 miles left, I tried to be risky and let myself go. I knew there were a couple more big hills toward the end so I had to be smart not to loose it on these. I hit one hill towards the end and was like, "holy cow, what do I do? I feel like I am walking...do I just move my feet faster? drive my knees harder? ahh!" haha, it was pretty steep feeling at this point! I made it-whew! I also visualized being pulled upt he hill-that actually kinda helps. The next hill was long, but more gradual so I was able to tackle this one as I recovered some on the downhill that was right before. The finish was mostly downhill with a really short steep section up the grassy part rounding the finish line. Those short steep hills are killer! I was really bent over just trying to muscle up this little thing...haha. I was bent at the hips-bad form! ;)

Anyway, I powered through and ended up 3rd. I was excited about this! I was able to stay in the zone mentally and managed to stay process driven. It was a cool feeling! I was happy to sport the Tri4Him jersey on the podium too. The race announcer pointed out to the crowd during awards that I was wearing Tri4him gear. Neat! Thank you Champion Systems for providing our gear! The race was run very well-definitely want to try and do it again!

I am now prepping for Lifetime Fitness Minneapolis on July 13th ( www.lifetimetri.com). This is a familiar race for me. Fun race venue with a great bike course. There are a lot of turns, which keeps it interesting! Now I know the run course is flat for sure. :)