All coaches have different approaches to rest and recovery, but they are united in agreement that recovery is essential to training. Athletes – it’s part of the reason to have a coach that is watching over you. It is our job to get you to the starting line of your races as prepared and as healthy as possible! If you do nothing but smash yourself with workouts, at some point, your body will let you know with an illness or an injury. One of the biggest responsibilities as a coach is to watch out for training stress, work stress, life stress, relationship stress, even fun stress – to help you plan around it so your training can continue without interruption. And the key is: BALANCE.

We are not here to be the No Fun Police when you sign up for three marathons in five weeks, having never run further than four miles in your life. We don’t like it when we have to harsh your social media brag style by letting you know that it’s not always a great idea to run 50 miles the day before your first ironman. We’re here to help you chase the things that you want – whether that is fun with friends, racing new distances, or shooting for a big PR. And we are always going to be watching out for the amount of stress that your training and racing schedule is applying.

Does that mean that your coach is always going to shake their head when you want to do a crazy event with your friends, or try piling up new distances? Of course not! But aligning race-day-expectations with training-and-life-stress realities is part of the ongoing conversation between any athlete and any coach. We love us some smashfests! Bring on the 50 mile run, or the 100×100, or the marathon mania. But let’s work together to make sure that you are prepared going in and recover properly coming back out.

What’s the best way to help your body prepare and recover? Embrace the rest days and the recovery workouts. Give your body the time and space to refill. Let your easy runs be SO VERY EASY! Rock that 45 watt easy spin or that 30 minute flop swim. These workouts are actually when you are giving your body time and space to recover, which directly contributes towards building your fitness forward.

Bottom line: you hire a coach because you have goals that you want to reach, and your coach wants them too! Take your recovery and your rest seriously, and you’re one step closer to reaching those goals.

I remember my first year training with a triathlon coach. I had done a few races on my own, but wanted to move up to the 70.3 distance. I decided to join a group because I enjoyed training with other people. When I started in the sport I was very overweight, so by adding in some activity I naturally lost weight. But as I continued training, I noticed my weight wasn’t shifting, so I started cutting back on calories. Well, that’s when I learned the hard way why cutting calories and heavy training aren’t a good match!

My workouts started to suffer. I could no longer hit the power numbers or paces that had been easy, just weeks prior. I was tired all of the time. My muscles ached simply from walking up stairs. I went to my coach to figure out what was going on and the first question she asked was, had I changed any of my fueling? I proudly told her that I had cut back to slim down to a better “race weight” – a term I kept hearing – and was startled by her strong reaction. “Now is not the time!” She was right. Your body needs fuel to get you through hard training sessions, to repair afterwards, to give you what you need in order to perform at your very best. And fueling doesn’t only matter during sessions – paying attention to proper nutrition all day is what is needed to gain fitness.

Now, does that mean that losing weight during training won’t happen or that it is a bad thing? Not necessarily. Everyone is different. You may find that it is natural to lose some body fat or add some muscle as training progresses. But it would be a mistake to rely on a number on the scale to measure your health. Instead, measure your successes in watts gained on the bike, weight lifted in the gym, or seconds gained in the pool and on the run. Those are the goals you should be chasing while you’re training for a race!

Does this mean you shouldn’t pay attention to the quality of the food that you eat while training? No, of course not. In heavy training, it’s often wise to avoid an excess of sugar/alcohol/processed foods – although you don’t need to avoid these things all together! Just consider your day as making sure that you are getting in a good balance of food that is fantastic fuel. Choose wisely when you’re going to indulge in food that might lead to less than stellar workouts the next day.

Nutrition can be all about balance. There are times in the year when you’re not chasing goals or working out crazy hours where you can work on your body composition in a different way. But while training, it’s essential to make sure that you are getting in enough calories, and the right kinds at the right time, to support your training. Fuel well, train hard, and race fast!

Team Amazing Day athletes finished off 2019 strong and are starting 2020 with a bang. Happy New Year!

October 13th

Steve H raced Ironman Louisville in 9:03:37 (32 minute IM marathon PR)

October 19th

Lauren K raced the aqua bike at the North Carolina 70.3

October 26th

Jennifer C raced her first 70.3 at the Cal Tri LA in 6:17 (AG win!)

Melissa G paced the 2:35 group in the Colony Half Marathon

Emma G, Hope H and Coach Kaitlyn raced the Eerie Erie 5K

November 2nd

Erin D raced the Race to Resources 5K (1st Overall)

December 7th

Emma G raced the Santa Stampede 5K in 29:56

December 8th

Jennifer C raced the Indian Wells 70.3 in 6:04 (bike, run, and overall PR!)

Coach Katie raced the Indian Wells 70.3 in 5:46

December 15th

Melissa G raced the Candy Cane 5K in 27:27

Hope H (33:15), Russ K (32:38) and Coach Kaitlyn raced the Superior Stocking Run 5K

December 22nd

Melissa G raced 2 5Ks in a row! The Candy Cane 5K in 27:27 and the Jingle all the way 5K in 27:57

January 1st

Emma G (31:12), Hope H (34:05), Coach Katie and Coach Kaitlyn raced the Resolute Runner 5K in icy conditions!

January 5th

Erin D raced the Dirty Bird 15K (AG win!)

January 19th

Melissa G raced the Cocoa 5K in 29:29

Debra D raced the Houston Marathon in 4:53 (first marathon!)

January 25th

Emma G raced Frosty’s Frozen Five Miler in 49:53

January 26th

Erin D raced the Chilly Cheeks Trail Race 11K in 1:17:10 (2nd AG!)

Alexandria C raced the rainy and cold Chicago Half Marathon in 2:02

Hope H (1:06) and Coach Kaitlyn raced the super hilly Yeti Chase 10K

This January, I went through creating 2020 goals at work and in training. It has me thinking a lot about how similar the goal setting process is in both arenas. 

While you’re planning your race calendar for 2020, it is also a great time of year to decide on your goals for the year.  Races are part of those goals, but what you want to do in those races or outside of racing is still something you might be figuring out.  When we talk about goals, it’s easy to throw out the standard “get faster” or “get stronger”.  While great goals, they are way too vague and hard to measure at the end of the year.  In my office we talk about “SMART” goals and I think that concept should be applied to your season goals. 

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound.  Specific goes back to what I said before.  It needs to be something that isn’t vague, that can follow the rest of the parameters.  When you’re sending your goals to your coach, think about how you’re going to measure the success of the goal.  For instance, if your A goal is a ½ marathon, do you have a specific time to go for?  Or maybe it’s your first, so the measurable goal is a finish, or keeping to your race plan. 

I think achievable is a little looser for me in training.  A pie-in-the-sky goal isn’t a bad thing, but I think having at least one goal where you know that if you put in the work, it’s achievable can be a good confidence boost.

Relevant I think is fairly simple in sport.  If your A race is a bike race, you probably don’t want all of your goals to be around running or swimming.  Although, if your A race next year is already scheduled and is a run, then maybe one of your goals is around running. 

Time bound gives us a finite amount of time to finish the goal.  Although goals can always be moved due to life or health challenges, I think it’s good to have a time that you want the goal to be competed.  Obviously race based goals have a specific time frame already established, but if you’re looking for something different like a power test goal or a lifting goal, try to set a day where you want to have that achieved. 

Hopefully you can take some of this to sit down and brainstorm your 2020 goals.  Your coach is always here to help you fine tune your thoughts and decide on some great goals.

Here’s to an amazing 2020!!!

-Coach Kaitlyn

A great end to summer racing for Team Amazing Day athletes!

July 4th

Coach Katie, Coach Kaitlyn and Russ K raced the Superior Mile.

Jill A raced the Myrtle Beach Independence Day 5k in 26:07 (1st AG)

Allison S raced the Myrtle Beach Independence Day 5k in 26:21 (2nd AG)

July 7th

Shannon M raced the Muskoka 70.3 in 6:22

July 13th

Steve H raced the Double Mussel Sprint Triathlon in 1:16 (1st AG)

Jennifer C raced the June Lake Triathlon in 3:50.

Mike K raced the Muncie 70.3 in 6:12

Kelly D raced the Lake Zurich Triathlon in 2:35 (3rd AG)

July 14th

Sarah L raced the Boulder Peak Triathlon in 2:44

Steve H raced the Musselman 70.3 in 4:47 (for the double – 1st AG and 5th Overall)

July 21

Erin D Raced the Double Trouble 15k in 2:24

Emma G raced the Black Hawk Trail 10k in 1:31

July 28

Jenny B raced the Ohio 70.3 in 7:15

Coach Chrissy raced the Ohio 70.3 in 6:50

Staci H raced the Traverse City Triathlon

August 4

Lauren K raced the Lake Logan Olympic Triathlon in 2:37 (2nd AG)

August 10

Melissa G raced the Hot Trot 5K in 28:27

Coach Kaitlyn raced the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half Marathon

August 11

Steve H raced the Steamboat Sprint Triathlon in 1:13 (1st Overall)

August 12

Staci H raced the 2 Mile Swim for Grand Traverse Bay (PR)

August 25

Staci H raced the Traverse City 70.3 in 7:19

Jennifer C raced the Lake Tahoe Olympic Triathlon in 3:58

September 1

Erin D ran the marathon at the Labor Pains Endurance Run in 6:04

September 8

Monica C raced the swim leg of the Pumpkinman Half Ironman

Jennifer C rode the Tour de Tahoe

Sarah L raced Ironman Wisconsin in 11:42 (30+ minute PR & 7th AG)

September 13

Steve H raced the Littlefoot Triathlon in 58:30 (2nd Overall)

September 21

Melissa G raced the 10 mile Tough Mudder in 2:43

September 22

Melissa G raced the Plano Half in 2:30

A great spring for Team Amazing Day!

April 3

Steve H raced the Cherry Creek Time Trial in 20:44 (Win!).

April 13

Lauren K raced the Ville to Ville Relay Run.

April 14

Steve H raced Ironman 70.3 Florida in 4:55:38.

April 24

Steve H raced the Cherry Creek Time Trial in 20:08.

April 28

Erin D raced the New Jersey Half Marathon in 1:42 (PR).

Beth F raced the New Jersey Half Marathon in 2:11 (PR).

Allison S raced a 10k (PR & 4th AG).

May 4

Emma G raced the Furry Scurry.

May 4

Sarah L raced Ironman 70.3 St. George in 5:39 (10th AG).

May 11

Karin O completed the Skagit Classic.

Jennifer C raced the Paiute Meadows Trail Half Marathon.

May 16

Steve H raced the Cherry Creek Time Trial in 19:46 (PR).

May 25

Staci H raced the Bayshore Half Marathon in 2:10 (course PR).

Shannon M raced the Fort Ritchie Swim Fest (2nd place in mile & 3rd in the 2,250)

May 27

Lauren K, Emma G, Kaitlyn H, Russell K, Sarah L, Steve H and Coach Katie raced the Bolder Boulder 10k.

June 2

Beth F raced the Independence Triathlon.

June 15

Jennifer C raced the Rock Tahoe Half Marathon in 2:16.

Monica C raced the Swim in the Patriot Half in 43:50.

June 21

Allison S raced a 5k (2nd AG).

June 23

Kelly D raced the Pleasant Prairie Sprint Triathlon (2nd AG).

Steve H raced the Boulder Sunrise Sprint Triathlon (3rd Overall).

Coach Katie raced the Boulder Sunrise Sprint Triathlon (1st AG).

June 29

Steph C raced her first 70.3 – Steelhead in 5:51.

Emma G raced the Lookout Mountain Sprint Triathlon.

This post comes from a recent conversation I had with Coach Katie. I’ve been struggling with some health issues that have affected my training and one of my workout notes went like this: “I feel like my body is giving me the middle finger right now.” Her reply was something along the lines of, “if that’s the conversation you’re having with your body, then that’s what your body is going to do.” I interpreted that to mean, I am creating a self-fulfilling prophecy instead of managing what I can and being kind to my body so that it can heal and maintain health. I’ve bounced back from injuries and sickness many times in my life, so I needed to realize that I will bounce back again. As athletes, we demand a lot of our bodies, and we need to reciprocate with kindness for that which allows us to tackle all of these amazing events.

We’re getting close to racing season; for many, it has already begun. That means we are ramping up workouts as we prepare to smash ourselves as we chase our goals. Alongside of that ramp sometimes bring little niggles or sickness from travel and stress. There are a lot of posts on our team page about when to shut down training in regards to being sick, but are we always 100% honest about this with our coaches? Have you ever had “just a little cold” and trained through it and then it turns into a not-so-little cold? Are you always honest about strains and tweaks that you feel during or after workouts? Have those ever turned into something more?

Illness, injury and stress can majorly derail our training, which means missed workouts. So how do we successfully navigate our training season through these road blocks that may pop up?

With illness, the most important thing is to give your body what it needs – rest. For the most part, it is not a good idea to train while sick. Shut down hefty training, get more sleep, eat more plants, cut out the crap. Your body will thank you by healing faster. Workouts done with low energy and unsuccessful execution will not help build your fitness. It’s challenging to be patient here…but critical.

Injury can sneak up on you. You get off the bike and with a small ache in your knee. Is it from tripping the day before, is it the bike fit, or is there something else going on? It’s important to keep track of those niggles to see if there is a pattern or if it’s getting worse. If you think it might be related to the bike, get a professional to look at your bike fit. If it’s happening during the run, check your shoes or your run form. There are things you can adjust to prevent a niggle from becoming an injury.

And then, stress. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all quit our jobs and just sleep and train? I play the lottery in hopes that some day I can, but while I’m still living in the real world, there are ways to manage it. That’s a huge benefit to having a coach vs. a training plan. We help you manage life around training. Another tool in your box is self-care. Foam roll. Stretch. Prioritize recovery after workouts.

The bottom line is be honest with your coach AND yourself about everything going on in life. Help us help you. It’s our job! And be kind to yourself when things do derail your training. Life happens. It’s how we respond to it that matters.

Team Amazing Day athletes are off to a great start in 2019!

January 1

Jeannette M raced the New Day New Year 5K in 23:29 (1st AG).

Erin D raced a New Year’s Day 5K in 22:00.

Beth F raced a New Year’s Day 5K in 29:59.

January 12

Lauren R raced the Disney Half Marathon (13′ PR).

January 20

Russ K raced the Yeti Chase 5K in 28:23.

Kaitlyn H raced the Yeti Chase 10K in 1:00:04 (PR).

January 26-27

Ashley S raced the Coyote Hills Trail 5K in 30:51.

Emma G raced the Frosty’s Frozen 5 Miler in 52:50.

Karin O raced the Prison 5K in 27:38.

February 3

Steve H raced the Super Bowl 5K in 21:57.

Russ K raced the Ralston Creek 5K in 28:13 (2^nd AG).

Kaitlyn H raced the Ralston Creek 5K in 28:16.

February 23

Emma G raced the Snowman Stampede 10K.

March 7

Sarah L raced the Skyline 5K in 23:29.

March 16

Emma G raced the Canyonlands Half Marathon in 2:11.

Stephanie C raced the Salt Lake City Half Marathon in 1:53 (5^th AG).

Erin D raced the Shamrock Shuffle 5K in 21:06 (PR & AG win) .

Beth F raced the Shamrock Shuffle 5K in 27:30.

March 20

Steve H raced the Cherry Creek TT (3^rd OA).

March 24

Lauren K raced the Millikin Earth Trail 5K in 27:14.

March 27

Steve H raced the Cherry Creek TT (1st AG).

March 31

Lauren K raced the Carmel 10K in 54:18 (PR).

Sarah L raced the Carmel Half Marathon in 1:41 (5′ PR).

Jennifer C raced the Encinitas Half Marathon in 2:09 (PR).

This is something that I have spent a lot of time working on for myself.  It was the cause of some tough training and way too many emergency pit-stops in the bushes!   After struggling with pit-stops, especially on long rides and runs, I knew something had to change.  First, I asked other people about their nutrition strategies and tried to copy that – without any positive results.  I went through years of this until I found out what was right for me versus what “they” used or what the current fad was that I “should” try. I’m not going to tell you what YOU should be eating or drinking, either. Hopefully I can give you some tools to find your own plan that works for you.

What is fueling? I consider it not only what you’re going to put in your body during your race, but what you’re going to eat the week before and the morning of your race.  All of this can influence how your day goes and needs to be thought out and practiced.

First of all, I’ve had a lot of athletes who put off working on their fueling program until they are a month away from their goal race.  I’ve even talked to athletes where I’ve asked them what their plan was a week ahead of time and they didn’t have a plan yet… ooof!  As a coach, I make sure that my athletes are working on their nutrition strategies from the beginning so that it’s completely nailed down by the time they get into their long workouts.

Daily Nutrition

This was part of the puzzle for me.  I had to find out what kind of foods were helping my body versus irritating my digestive tract.  There are many ways to do this, and there is no one right way for anyone.  You can start out by trying different foods leading up to your big training days, or you can try eliminating certain foods pre-race, or you can go to a doctor and get tested for your food sensitivities.  I ended working through a combination of these things. I found that dairy can irritate my stomach, so I generally try to avoid it before big training days and races.  I’ve also discovered that alcohol, or foods high in fiber, aren’t great for me the night before a big race.  The first marathon I did, I ate a big salad as my pre-race dinner thinking that would be “healthy” fuel…oops!  Now, I reduce my fiber 2-3 days leading into big races. 

Additionally, do not try to reduce calories while in heavy training to try to lose weight.  This can be very damaging!  Your body needs all those powerful nutrients to keep you going through the hard workouts.  Not eating enough is a big mistake, and it can turn training into a struggle.  So please, please, please EAT.

Training & Racing Nutrition

There are a LOT of different options and opinions on this topic. The most important thing is to figure out what works for you, then repeat it diligently. From my experience, fueling with solids or semi-solids is what works best.  On the bike, I use fluids for hydration and I get all of my calories from solid food.  On the run, I switch over to semi-solids like chews which works well.  The bottom line is you need to practice what you’re going to use.  My rule of thumb for my athletes is: as soon as you’re going out for longer than 60 minutes, you need to be fueling and/or hydrating during your workout.  Make sure to pack exactly what you think you want to use during your race and time it just as you would during a race.  Use these workouts to figure out the best ways to carry your nutrition – bento box or bike jersey, waist pack or run shorts… there are a lot of possibilities. 

For this blog post, I really want to emphasize the importance of practicing your fueling plan.  It’s definitely the fourth discipline in triathlon and can be just as important, if not more important than fitness in any sport.  If you do not get your nutrition dialed in, it can negate all of the hard work you’ve put into your training.  So please, talk to your coach and make this a priority in your training. 

For most triathletes, January marks the beginning of training. Whether it’s short course or long course, most triathletes are starting to increase volume and time in the pool. Many athletes are coming off of off-season where volume is lower. Likely this means the shoulders (and body) feel pretty good. And, as Coach Kaitlyn noted in her off-season blog (https://teamamazingday.com/blog/) this is the time triathletes should be working on drills to improve stroke form and efficiency while slowly increasing volume.

Have you ever focused on drills but feel they are not helping (or they are so hard)? Do you ever feel that no matter how much you try to correct swim stroke techniques from your coach, you just cannot seem to correct them?  Do you ever have shoulder pain in the front or top of your shoulder, or into the side of your shoulder or biceps? If so, mobility, stability and strength in your shoulder, back/core and hips may be to blame!

This series of articles will discuss mobility, stability and strength issues commonly seen in triathletes and swimmers and provide some mobility, stability and strength exercises you can do to correct these impairments, decrease the risk of injury and become a more efficient swimmer.

Do you have any of the following?

• • Shoulders that are rolled forward

• • Increased thoracic kyphosis (like a hunchback)

• • Shoulder pain

• • Difficulty breathing to your non-dominant side

• • Trouble flattening your back against the floor

• • Low back pain

• • Tight hip flexors

• • Swim faster with pull buoy than without

Any and all of the above can be hindering your swim stroke, speed and efficiency!

This series of articles is not about HOW TO swim, but how to make sure you have the proper mobility and stability throughout the kinetic chain (read feet to your head) to make sure you can properly perform a free-style stroke. This article will address the common impairments most triathletes (and swimmers in general) have in mobility, stability and strength and provide exercises to both correct these impairments and/or prevent them as training load increases to keep your shoulders happy throughout the season!

Shoulder Mobility:

During the entry phase of the front crawl/freestyle, you need to be able to reach your arm fully overhead.  The ability to perform this motion is dependent on your shoulder joint, shoulder blade and your thoracic (between the bottom of your neck and low back) spine. When your arm reaches overhead, your shoulder blade needs to be able to rotate upward and tilt backwards.   If your shoulder blade is unable to achieve these motions, you may have limited mobility as well as create an impingement (and pain) in the front of the shoulder.

What causes these mobility restrictions? It is usually a combination of two things: decreased thoracic extension and tight pec (specifically pectoralis minor) muscles.  Due to spending a lot of time sitting in front of a computer for work, as well as time in aerobars when cycling, triathletes tend to have decreased thoracic extension, which is necessary for the shoulder blade to properly move along the rib cage. Additionally, for the same reasons, the pec (chest muscles) are often shortened, especially with increased swimming volume.   If these muscles are tight (in addition to the lats), they keep the shoulder blade forward and do not let the shoulder blade rotate backwards and can impinge on the rotator cuff muscles.

Here are a couple of mobility exercises you can do to ensure you achieve/maintain proper thoracic mobility and pec muscle length to ensure proper biomechanics at the shoulder to achieve full range of motion and decrease risk of shoulder injury:

Thoracic extension over Foam Roller

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/thoracic-extension-on-foam-roller-for-neck-pain/vi-BBPdbbS

Tips:

• • Make sure head is resting in clasped hands to decrease any cervical stress

• • Bring elbows together to really get into the thoracic spine in between the shoulder blades

• • Keeping your butt on the ground, reach upper spine/shoulders/neck towards the ground

• • Do 10 repetitions in a nice controlled fashion in one spot and move along the thoracic spine

• • From ribs to bottom of neck

With Trigger Point ball:

https://www.shannonstephensyoga.com/blog/2018/3/19/6-yin-poses-and-myofascial-release-techniques-that-free-tension-in-the-upper-body

Tips:

• • Put 2 tennis balls in a long tube sock and tie a knot at the end; place each ball on either side of the spine

• • Arms straight up toward the ceiling

• • You can bring both arms overhead together, or one arm at a time

• • Pay attention to how each side feels compared to each other

• • Exhale as you bring arm(s) overhead

Thoracic Rotation:

SAS T-Spine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj4hvPXJC9o

Tips:

• • Hips and knees are both at 90 degrees

• • Keep knees and hips stacked

• • Inhale and reach top arm out in front of you

• • Exhale, rotate to bring top arm/shoulder down to other side without moving your hips

• • Let your head follow your top arm

Pectoralis Minor Release:

https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/how-to-erase-shoulder-pain-with-self-myofascial-release

Tips:

• • Place tennis ball (lacrosse ball, trigger point release ball) under your collar bone toward your shoulder

• • Lean up against a door, on the floor, on the floor with the ball on a yoga block)

• • Move your arm overhead and/or into external and internal rotation

• • Breathe

Try out some of these exercises and see if you feel limited in any of your mobility. Let me know how it goes!!! Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Next article will address mobility deficits in the back and hips and how they affect your freestyle!

Coach Chrissy is a triathlon coach with Team Amazing Day who works with all levels of triathletes from beginners to athletes with a goal of qualifying for Kona. As a Doctor of Physical Therapy, Coach Chrissy is focused on injury prevention of her athletes through movement analysis and corrective exercise prescription to improve limiters in all 3 disciplines in triathlon. Note this information is general information. If you have pain or any issues, please contact a local physical therapist for evaluation and treatment. Feel free to contact coachchrissy17@gmail with any questions.