3° of Triathlon Newsletter
Vol 1, #5 June/July 2017
TAVA TALK
When the newsletter deadline falls during a week of graduations, triathlons, end-of-school year and holiday weekend things tend to fall through the cracks... Here we present you with our combined summer edition of the newsletter.
We are officially one year old now! How exciting is that? Our membership has grown to above 50 members and we're making an impact on the local triathlon scene. We had a very nice birthday party put together by Jacque and Marcie. Thank you to those members that were able to carve out time in their busy schedule to celebrate with us.
Special thanks to our sponsors for the swag they sent for our goodie bags. Mountcastle/Turch for the coffee mugs, Infinit for the coupons and product, Gnarly for the product, Xterra wetsuits for the race belts and buoy giveaway, RoadID for the giveaway, and KT tape for the product! We also purchased samples of Body Glide because who doesn't love a club that gives away free LUBE?
Race season is in full swing and it's been so fun to see so many of you at the area races and read about your successes and challenges at destination races! Seeing our aqua and orange kits on race day is exciting and is definitely getting us some attention in the triathlon world.
3 Degrees was out in full force on the race course and the volunteer pool at both the Salute to Military Tri and the Montclair Tri. I was able to actually race Montclair and I got a bit giddy each time I saw one of my club mates out on the course. It solidified for me what all of this is about--sharing the love and challenges of a crazy sport with like-minded individuals! It's equally awesome to see so many of our members earn a spot on the podium! Great job, athletes!
With turning one, that means many of you have membership renewal due. We hope that you'll join us for another year of 3 Degrees greatness. Remember that renewal is $50. We have been able to keep dues lower in part to so many of you volunteering at local races--which puts money in our bank account! Thank you for that! We hope that you've found value in being a 3 Degrees member of the past year as we have valued having you be a part of this. If you are on the fence about renewing, please share with myself or Steve your hesitations or opinions on what we can try to do to make us more valuable to you.
Remember that participation is the best way to experience the club--when you get around us, you'll see that we do have a lot of fun together whether we are racing our training.
Speaking of training, please keep an eye on the Facebook page as we are constantly posting training opportunities. Open water swims in Montclair are happening weekly at various times so please try to join us for one of those if you'd like to get your feet wet in the lake! There are a lot of ride opportunities as well, ranging from local rides in Montclair to longer, challenging rides on Skyline Drive.
Also, when signing up for races, do not forget that REV3 offers a discount code for any volunteer that is $25 off a race and VTS/MTS offers us a team discount with our members only code!
Sizzling Summer Tri is in just a few weeks and I would love to see as many of you out there as possible racing or volunteering! Please! :-) Following that, our next big appearance as a team will be at the Prince William Half Marathon and Patriots Triathlon Festival in Williamsburg!
As I close this session, please do not hesitate to contact Steve or myself with any questions or suggestions. We really want this to be YOUR CLUB and we want you to be happy with your club!
Hope to see you on the course soon!
Swim, bike, run, FUN!
Tava
FIRECRACKER RIDE!
We will ROLL OUT promptly at 7:00 AM from Nokesville Community Park so please get there in plenty of time to pee, air your tires and chit chat.
Cue sheets posted for different speeds and distances on the 3 Tri Members Facebook Page. (If you are not on Facebook, email Tava)
This will be a no drop ride. EVERY LEVEL IS WELCOME. We will divide into groups with a ride leader for each group. PLEASE VOLUNTEER TO LEAD A GROUP if you are going less distance. For example, main group -- going for 4 hours / 16 mph pace. Second group approx 12 mile ride / 14 mph pace.
Any questions, just ask! Let's celebrate our INDEPENDENCE and RIDE LIKE THE WIND
Tuesday, Jul 4, 2017, 06:30 AM
12562 Aden Road, Nokesville, VA, United States
The Bike Stop / Warrenton
Bike Trainer Tape
Infinit Nutrition
Mountcastle Turch Funeral Home
XTerra Wetsuits
Rev3 & VTS/MTS
3 DEGREES OF TRIATHLON - RENEWALS DUE!
$50 renewal fees!
Refer to the email you received from Marci!
Get to know: Megan Yeuger
Hi everyone! I’m grateful to have met Jacque and a few more of you at the Montclair triathlon this year, as up to this point, I’ve been kind of a ‘ghost member’ of the club. I haven’t been able to make it to too many events, but I’m hoping to change that this season. I grew up in this area and have always played some type of sport, soccer and softball growing up, cross country in high school and I finally got to try rowing in college. I was overseas and out-of-state for awhile after college: Peace Corps, recruiting overseas for a State Department exchange program and then grad school in Indiana. I came back to Lake Ridge in 2011, got back into rowing, got back into shape, and from there I’ve gone on to become certified to teach indoor rowing, cycle, and BODYPUMP.
I had always wanted to do a triathlon, so when my gym bestie (and fellow 3 Degree member!), Annalisa Holmes, mentioned Montclair a few years ago, I was excited! We trained together and had so much fun with the race! This most recent one was the 4th year I’ve done Montclair. It’s been the only race I’ve managed to do so far, but I did just sign up for the international/Olympic distance at Patriots in September! Eeeek! I’m excited to tackle a new distance and maybe next year, I’ll try a half Ironman (and now there’s written proof I’ve said this!). I’m hoping to make it to a lot more open water swims and to work on my technique leading up to Patriots. At Montclair, I was joking with Tava that she might want me to turn in my 3* t-shirt once my swim time posts! All jokes aside, I have lots of room for improvement and this great, knowledgeable group to help me get there!
Outside of training and teaching classes at the gym, I enjoy hanging out with friends and family, being outdoors, watching movies, and relaxing with my mini-Schnauzer, Oscar.
As I mentioned, I hope to squeeze more swims and training sessions with the group into my schedule. I look forward to meeting and getting to know more of you!
Get to know: Chris Mayers
Hi, I'm Chris Mayers and I have been a member of 3° Tri Club for about a year. Let me be clear; from the beginning, I never intended to be a triathlete. I retired from the Army in 2015, moved to Montclair, and was told by my wife that I should join the Triathlon Committee (she and Tava Jo go way back).
In my first year of being part of the committee I saw the difference between the thinking of a local event director and an international event director. Bringing on REV3 seemed huge... hell I'm a runner and I knew these guys. At the Triathlon, I volunteered at packet pickup, where Tava introduced me to the team. At first I thought about trying this sport out; but didn't know where do you start training for it? So I opted to volunteer and see what this sport, and mostly transition, was all about. I was amazed at how kind triathletes are, I saw athletes talking to each other. I was mostly impressed seeing elites, riding thousand dollar bicycles, giving advice to a mom who is doing the sport for the first time using an old hybrid bike. The education I received in volunteering was great. I really seemed to identify with the good nature of the sport.
At this point, I should let you know, the three domains of triathlon aren't so foreign. In my youth, and throughout high school, and while in the Army I was a competitive swimmer. My event of choice was the 500 m freestyle. While in high school I raced criterium in the Maryland and DC race circuits with Team Extreme, sponsored out of Laurel Schwinn in MD. Lastly, throughout my Army career I ran, picking up the fun of running with my children, joining Team RWB and really getting into the Northern New York running scene. My favorite run was and is the 18.12 challenge, running from Watertown to Sackets Harbor, NY. So individually I understand the training principles and race techniques of each discipline; yet, I never thought about putting it all together.
Joining a club was important in order to find a training foundation and other athletes to learn from. I participated in a few training rides and more importantly open water swims. On June 18, 2017 I completed my first triathlon in 1 hour 44 minutes, using dollar store goggles, and my 1993 Schwinn Paramount. Individually, these splits were my worst times but it was my first tri so I'm happy with the results. In looking back I can see where I would need to change my training philosophy from I-only-have-time-to-run to fitting in smart training. But that's for next year. My next event should be the Quantico Tri. Next year I'd like to compete in Kinetic, the REV3 Sprint Series, and the Quantico Tri. Also next year I'd like to podium in my age group at Montclair. So I'll be adding many bricks to next year's training plan.
Training: ZEROS
Anyone that has heard me speak or trained with a program that I have provided knows that I am not a fan of zeros. It is not that a "zero" in your training log doesn't happen occasionally, but I don't plan for them. The primary reason for this is that a planned zero combined with one or two unplanned zeros during a week can easily derail what goals you have been preparing for. This may seem unusual to some so when I further state that I would NEVER purposely plan to regularly take Monday's off you may ask why?
So...from my perspective, here's why - Because if Monday starts the training week, you don't want to start off with a negative. Unless you are a professional athlete and can get in all the training you need in a five or six day period, one full day off at the very start of your training puts undue pressure to complete your plan by Saturday or Sunday. The type "A" person that most competitive triathletes are means that not meeting your goal can make you feel liked a failure.
Often times what will happen then, in order to overcome a poor start at the beginning of the week is that an athlete ends up trying to make up for it with too much volume in a two or three day period. If this pattern is repeated it can develop into an overuse injury. So for me, a planned zero in the training log is something I try to avoid if at all possible. Of course that doesn't mean zeros don't happen, they just aren't planned for.
When building your weekly plan I have previously recommended using the 3X3 Weekly Training Method. By doing so you will need to consider having a Primary and Additional/Alternate session for each day. The Primary session is the one you NEED to do. It's scheduled for a time (morning or mid-day) when you may have more control over your daily schedule. The Additional session can be done after the Primary is completed and as a second workout that adds to your base fitness and helps accomplish meeting your minimum goal of completing at least three sessions in each sport, three times per week. Hence 3X3.
Endurance fitness is built over time and its main attribute is that workouts build upon previous workouts. If you come from an endurance background in an individual sport you have that much more over those athletes that have no athletic background at all because you most likely have a fitness foundation and understand routines. You know that every workout is not going to feel great. By rotating sessions to ensure that you have a balance between swimming, biking and running, you will also feel the ups and downs of good and not so good workouts. Sometimes it's important to have sessions in the same sport scheduled for back to back days and other times you will need a day in between the individual sport in order to be fresh for the next time you train in that sport. By planning your schedule with Primary and Alternate/Additional sessions each day you will be able to build upon workouts but also feel recovered so that you can still complete three or more sessions in each sport during the week.
From my experience it takes about three years of continual and effective training to be able to actually train at higher levels. When a person first starts training in the three sports that make up triathlon they usually make immediate gains because everything they do is more than what they were doing before becoming a triathlete.
Eventually by adding some two-a-day sessions and longer rides and runs the progression continues. Until it doesn't. An athlete reaches a plateau that requires a change in the training schedule. Most often that means training at higher intensity and training longer. In order to fit all of this training into your schedule it is critical to use all seven days in the week to spread load the volume of your effort. If you are doing the minimum nine weekly sessions then skipping one day a week will short you one or two key workouts and will have you performing only 2/3 of the sessions in a particular discipline. If life circumstances take another day from you then you may miss another session and you now will have difficulty completing 1/3 of your sessions in a single sport.
For most triathletes without a swim background, swimming is the first toe dropped from your schedule because it's so time consuming to get to a facility compared to riding or runner from your house. Therefore, the typical triathlete tries to get by with one or two sessions a week even though they would never consider doing this with riding or running because those totals would seem dismally low. Following the 3X3 plan is really critical when this happens. Even 30 minutes used effectively at high intensity reaps big benefits in both performance and calorie burn especially in the pool because form deteriorates in a longer session and that is when poor habits start. For bike and run sessions doing two shorter sessions of 30 minutes or so will provide good intensity and is actually better for burning calories than a single 60 minute session because the body is still working harder after two workouts instead of one.
If you can be content with making a plan that doesn't plan for zeros but understand that your log will have some scattered throughout the year due to normal life influences, you will be a better triathlete for it.
Doug Marocco is a 16X Ironman finisher with 9 trips to Kona and the Hawaii Ironman World Championships but has never participated in the infamous "Underwear Run" .