GROUP WORKOUTS
Triathica is hosting FREE weekly group training sessions. These group sessions are a great way to break up the monotony of training alone and are also an excellent way to track your training progress.
The Group Swim will be held at Big Corona in Corona Del Mar every Wednesday. Swims are usually at 5:30 p.m. but will be held at 4:30 p.m. on OCTC meeting nights. Look for the Triathica flag by the lifeguard station near the jetty.
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Big Corona – Corona Del Mar From the 405 N take the Jamboree Road Exit Make a left at Jamboree Turn left at Macarthur Boulevard Turn left on to CA-1 Pacific Coast Highway Turn Right on Marguerite Turn right on Ocean Boulevard Turn Left at Breakers Drive Turn left to stay on Breakers Drive |
The Group Bike Ride will be held every Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. leaving from Triathica (one loop of Santiago Canyon with a Silverado Canyon out and back), and the Group Run will be held Sunday mornings at 7:00 a.m. also leaving from Triathica (about six miles through Whiting Ranch from Triathica). (The distances and the routes may vary depending on the level of the group.) Come join in on the fun!
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Triathica – Triathlon Training Center From the 5 Freeway: Exit Bake Pkwy and head east for about 4 miles Make a left on Rancho Pkwy South Turn right at the 3rd driveway 2nd building on your right Triathica is in Suite B on the right side of the building |
NEW MEMBERSHIP OFFER
Triathica is now offering a new membership deal through the end of August! Anyone who signs up for any type of membership before August 31, 2009 will receive one FREE in-house personalized training zone assessment (a $50 dollar value), one free video analysis of your choice in swim, bike, or run ($125 value), and a 20% discount* on all membership levels for those that qualify. This brings a Level 1 membership down to $40/month. (To receive 20% off membership, you must be associated with a club, organization, or group that is dedicated to multisport (swim, bike, or run)). There are no initiation fees and no contracts. All members have the luxury of using the state-of-the-art facility seven days a week.
Your free in-house training zone assessment could be in swimming, cycling, or running, you decide. Did you know that your training zones are different for every sport and knowing yours can be a great tool for creating your workouts, training more efficiently, and increasing performance? Knowing your training zones can really give you a better understanding of your body and its limits, which will, in turn, give you a better understanding of how you should be training in each sport.
We will take heart rate readings multiple times at specific intervals throughout a specialized graded workout. These numbers will tell us what your heart rate is at different levels of exertion in all three sports, how much power you can sustain on the bike for different lengths of time, what your race pace should be in the swim and run, and lots of other data specific to you.
The video analysis is done with our Dartfish motion capture software. You will receive a DVD mediabook that contains footage of your form from all different angles along with notes on what to work on so you can improve. This is a $115 value, and it is free with any membership this month.
Don’t wait too long to take advantage of the membership discounts, free assessment and a free video analysis of your choice.
Please call 949.273.6223 or come in to the facility to get more information on membership.
TRIATHICA GRAND OPENING SPEAKERS/EVENTS
Tentative Schedule as of 5.26.09
| Time | Speaker | Topic |
| 9:00 a.m. | Dan Plummer | Lightweight wheel demo |
| 10:00 a.m. | Jamie Flores | Bike fit demo |
| 10:30 a.m. | Jarrett Pflieger | Dartfish demo |
| 11:00 a.m. | Ron Saetermoe | Endless Pool demo |
| 11:30 a.m. | Tawnee Prazak | OC Tri on CompuTrainer |
| 12:00 p.m. | Dan Plummer | Carbon Sports Wheels |
| 12:30 p.m. | Jarrett Pflieger | CycleOps demo |
| 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. |
Ron Saetermoe | Starting Triathica |
| Kevin Koskella | Triathlon Swim Tips | |
| Russ Jones | Performing at PacCoast | |
| Larry Davidson | Getting to Kona | |
| Mike Collins | Measuring Performance | |
| Julie Swail | Beijing Olympics |
Ron Saetermoe |
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Ron is a serial entrepreneur having started several companies including Automotive Associates in 1990. Ron is the founder of Triathica, a company dedicated to those that want to “train like a triathlete.” Ron competed in his first triathlon while the sport was still young, in 1983. Since then he has competed in over 100 triathlons including Ironman Coeur d’Alene and Ironman Arizona. |
Kevin Koskella |
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With over 27 years experience in coaching and competing, Kevin Koskella is one of the top triathlon swim coaches in the U.S. today. He coaches masters and triathlete swimmers in San Diego and operates his website www.TriSwimCoach.com, a resource for beginner through intermediate level triathletes looking for help with swimming. The site features a free newsletter, tips and articles on triathlon swimming. |
Russ Jones |
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Russ has been a competitive athlete most of his life and spent much of his early athletic career doing marathons and duathlons. During his quest to make the Olympic team he ran a 2:18 marathon. His Olympic dreams came to an end when he was struck by a car in 1983. At one point he won his age-group in over 30 consecutive triathlons (winning numerous races overall). |
Larry (Lar-Dog) Davidson |
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Larry competed in his first triathlon in 2004 and has been addicted ever since. These days he’s a top age-group triathlete (M50- 54) and usually reaches the podium. He has completed over 20 marathons and has qualified for the Boston Marathon multiple times. In 2006 he qualified for Ironman Kona, in which he competed in 2007. In 2008 he won his age group at the Vineman ½ Ironman and 2nd at this year’s Wildflower triathlon (long course). |
Mike Collins |
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Mike started competing in triathlon in 1984 and raced as a professional from 1988 – 1993. Mike is a top age-group athlete competing primarily in sprint and Olympic distance races these days. Mike is the president of Multisports Orange County and is the head masters coach for Nova Aquatics. His extensive coaching background includes certifications in FIST bike fitting, Pose Method running and USA Triathlon. |
Julie Swail Ertel |
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Julie’s illustrious athletic career includes a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic games in water polo and her win at the Olympic Trials in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to earn her spot on the U.S. Olympic Triathlon Team. Julie finished 19th in Beijing and has since earned podium spots at numerous triathlons including the LA Triathlon, Malibu Triathlon and the U.S. Pro Nationals. Julie currently coaches for Irvine Novaquatics (NOVA) and provides private triathlon, running and stroke lessons. |
TRIATHICA’S GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION
About a year ago we had a crazy idea: Let’s open a gym that specializes in training people for triathlon. Well, that crazy idea is about to become a reality. I hope you’ll join us for the Grand Opening of Triathica and get familiar with what we can do to improve your swim, cycle and run performance.
Triathica is a place dedicated to those that want to “train like a triathlete.” We have the latest equipment, software and techniques to help everyone from the novice to the veteran athlete improve their performance.
Date: Sunday, May 31, 2009
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Lunch: 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (RSVP please)
Place: Triathica
26475 Rancho Parkway South
Lake Forest, CA 92630
949.273.6223
Activities:
-Guest speakers including:
- Julie Swail-Ertel – Olympian
- Ron Saetermoe – Triathica president
- Russ Jones – Former age group
national champion - Kevin Koskella – Expert swim coach
and owner of TriSwimCoach.com - Larry Davidson – Top age group triathlete and Kona qualifier
-Mini expo
-Dartfish video capture technology demo
-FIST bike fit demonstration
Bring your gear and try out our equipment:
– Swim in our Endless Pool
– Bike the OC Triathlon course with YOUR bike on our CompuTrainers
– Spin on our CycleOps 300PT indoor cycles with PowerTap technology
– Run on our Landice L9 treadmills
Why come?:
Free Triathica water bottle
Free Triathica “walk-in” coupon (for future admission to Triathica)
Free food (from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. with RSVP)
Free raffle
Free inspirational speakers
Directions: From the I-5 freeway, exit on Bake Parkway and go northeast
Approximately 5 miles turn left on Rancho Parkway South
Third driveway on the right
In the “B” suite of Automotive Associates building
Please invite other guest who may be interested in training like a triathlete. You can forward the invitation via the link on the right side of this page (invite guests using anyvite), not through your own email program. We will be sending out subsequent emails with more details.
Hope to see you here!
JARRETT’S 2009 NEWPORT BEACH TRIATHLON RACE REPORT
My pre-race preparation for the Newport Beach Triathlon on Sunday April 19th, 2009 started the day before the race. This was only my second triathlon ever, so at this point I was a little nervous.
On Saturday after I picked up my race packet, I decided to go down and check out the bike course in Newport Back Bay where I would be racing. Once I got there I pulled out my trusty light blue/hot pink, 1980s looking Trek 1100 road bike. It doesn’t look like much, but it gets the job done.
A few days prior I had upgraded from running shoes on flat pedals to actual cycling shoes with clip in pedals and cleats. I messed around with them for a few minutes in my neighborhood and WOW what a difference. I couldn’t wait to try them out on a longer ride, and what better time to practice with them than the day before a race right?
The bike course was FAST and AWESOME! There was only 1 steep hill on the whole course, which is something a 6’1” 185 pound dude likes to see. I wasn’t using much effort and I felt like I was flying. My first triathlon race ever was the Orange County International Triathlon in which I wore my running shoes on the bike. Needless to say my quads were fried after the bike portion, but on the bright side I did have the fastest T2 time.
My fast practice ride through the Newport bike course was abruptly paused when I happened upon a gathering of people on the side of the road standing around 2 women lying on the ground scratched up and grimacing in pain. Apparently a cyclist was coming down the hill and collided into somebody running along the path. Somebody was already on the phone with 911 and nobody seemed seriously injured, so I decided to continue with my ride, hoping this wasn’t a foreshadowing of events to come the next day.
I was almost done with the ride when the unthinkable happened. I was passing by an older couple and for some reason I decided to get out of aero position, just a gut feeling I guess, or maybe God trying to save my skin. Right when I was about to pass them, the lady decided to make a sharp left turn and investigate something on the opposite side of the path that interested her. She did not look both ways. I vice gripped my brakes and the only thing I could think to say was woah woah woah. My woahs must have got her attention because she stopped at the last second and I was able to narrowly avoid her a foot or two at best.
I’m a pretty nice guy so I didn’t bother turning around and yelling anything. Her husband was already doing enough yelling at her anyways. It was like he read my mind.
After my ride, I proceeded down to Corona Del Mar to make sure my open water swim capabilities were still lurking somewhere within. I hadn’t swum in open water since my first triathlon 7 months prior. I swam for about 20 minutes at a moderate pace. The water was freezing, but I felt comfortable with my stroke. I felt less comfortable walking down the crowded beach in a full body wetsuit with a bright yellow swim cap and goggles. Apparently this isn’t the “normal” thing to wear to the beach these days and I got quite a few looks. Oh well, now it was time to go rest for my race the next day.
I have a hard enough time falling asleep at night as it is, trying to sleep the night before a race is a battle I will probably never win.
I planned to be in bed before 9am the night before the race. Seems easy, but difficult for a night owl. To follow through with my plan, I had to decline an invitation to a friend’s barbeque so I could go through my pre-race checklist and make sure I had everything in order.
While I was going through my checklist I decided to pull my bike back out of the truck that I left there from the previous ride. Good thing I did because the front tire was completely FLAT. I had just put a brand new tube in that morning and it held up fine during my ride, so I still have no idea what happened. What I do know is that I am probably the worst tire patcher on the planet. After a few attempts I gave up trying to repair it and luckily found a spare tube lying around the garage, pumped it up, and everything was golden. I did get in bed early, but falling asleep was a different story.
I woke up the next morning with only about 4 or 5 hours of sleep, but felt surprisingly refreshed. For breakfast I had a protein shake with oatmeal, a banana, a little milk, and a tablespoon of peanut butter all chucked in the blender. It was only a Sprint triathlon so I didn’t bother packing any race nutrition. At this point I was actually less nervous than the night before.
I got to the race around 5:45am only to find a line of cars about a half-mile long, scrambling to pay $10 to park in the lot next to the race. I decided to park up the hill a ways and just walk/jog to the transition area for a good warm-up.
Saw a few people I knew while setting up my transition area. I felt relaxed at this point and just wanted the race to start.
After waiting at the waters edge for what seemed like an hour, the gun finally went off. I’m still new to swimming so I decided to go to the far right and stay out of the congestion. I may have to rethink this strategy since I caught up to the main pack quickly and got a few face fulls of feet and many mouth fulls of polluted sea water. About halfway through the swim I could have sworn I swam over a body floating below the water’s surface. It turned out to be some kind of drainage tube in the bay that caused the race officials to move around the buoys after the first wave had gone and make the course a bit shorter from what I hear, LAME. I must have not been the only one to hit it.
Heading around the 3rd buoy back towards the start, I probably had the largest and brightest object to site with known to mankind, the Sun. When I looked up to site and went blind for the next 15 seconds, I knew I was headed in the right direction.
Besides running into rogue pipes and slow swimmer blockades, I had a decent swim. I didn’t realize I was even tired or winded until I got out of the water. The everlasting run to the transition area didn’t help matters. It literally felt like a half mile.
I threw on my fancy new cycling cleats and headed out on the bike portion. What was probably my least favorite event in my first race turned out to be my favorite in this race. I felt great on the first loop of the two-loop course and passed a handful of people. Only about 5-10 people passed me the whole bike portion. By now I’ve grown accustomed to the buzzing whoosh sound of fast approaching disk wheels. Man I need a better bike.
Besides climbing the one steep hill on the course twice, the only time I felt really tired on the bike was on the way back from the final loop. There was a shirtless dude in front of me that I had been swapping position with the whole ride. I set my ego aside and decided to take it easy to save my legs for the run. Good decision.
After getting my foot caught in my shoe and narrowly avoiding a tumble at the dismount line, I ran into the transition area for a fast T2. Thank you Zoot Ultras.
Now its time to run. My legs felt like tree trunks….. Redwood trees…..Two General Shermans strapped to my hips.
I had done quite a few transition workouts, but I don’t remember the pain being this bad. I also thought my toes would need to be amputated from frostbite I had developed on the bike. I’m not sure which pain was worse. Not to be outdone in the pain department, my gut decided to develop a side stitch that would just not go away no matter what I did. I told myself I wasn’t going to walk, but I had to slow down 2 or 3 times from the side pain. The pain in my side didn’t leave until the very steep hill right before the turning point. Yes, running up the hill made my side pain go away, go figure.
After that large hill I was cruising. I guess running on flat ground after a very steep hill tricked my mind into thinking it was cake. I pushed pretty hard for the last mile and a half, not wanting to leave anything on the table. In my first triathlon I felt like I was setting the world record for the 100 meters in my sprint to the finish line. I wanted to make sure I was not going to have that much energy left in this race. I didn’t.
I ended up placing 7th in my age group (20-24) and was very pleased with my results considering the limited training time I put into this race (less than a month) and my ghetto equipment. I had a lot more fun at this race than my first one and I think Sprint triathlons are my new favorite distance.
Overall time: 1:23:19
Overall place: 107/661
Swim time: 13.13
T-1 time: 1:51
Bike time: 43:57
T-2 time: 1:04
Run time: 23.11
Age Group Placing (20-24): 7th
RON’S CALIFORNIA HALF IRONMAN RACE REPORT
My plans to be in bed at 7:00 p.m. on Friday so I could get eight hours of sleep before having to wake up at 3:00 a.m. Saturday didn’t exactly work out . . . seldom does. The last time I checked, my clock said it was 11:00 p.m. so I assume I got somewhere between 3 ½ and 4 hours of sleep. Funny how after doing over 100+ triathlons I still have trouble sleeping the night before.
Woke at 3:00 a.m. and had my usual breakfast of an English muffin with peanut butter and jelly, cottage cheese with blueberries and walnuts and a glass of OJ. Still wish I could drink coffee. Life would be so much easier.
Did my final preparations (you know what I mean) and loaded the rest of my stuff in the car. Noticed how calm and warm it was. Fantastic!
Got to the Oceanside pier at about 4:45 a.m. (I hate to be late for stuff.) Got out of the car to unload the stuff and noticed it was about 10 degrees colder and windy. Crap! Oh well, nothing you can do about it other than hope you forgot your bike or something so you don’t have to race. No such luck. Game on!
Got my stuff set up in transition and noticed my Gu flask holder was broken. Took out my trusty box cutter (always a good accessory to have . . . along with some electrical tape) and cut the thing off. Stuffed it into my Bento Box and was ready to go. After racing for over 25 years I don’t think I’ve ever had a race where something didn’t go wrong. Hopefully, this would be it for the day.
Caught up with a bunch of my bros. Everyone was nervous, but in good spirits. Several of us had estimated our finishing times so we could compare notes later. FYI, I predicted 5:15 which would have been an 11:56 improvement over this same race in 2008. Today was going to be a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run.
While my training was fine going into the race I still wasn’t where I could have been having finished IM Arizona in November and having to take time off to recover from hernia surgery. Never the less, I felt good.
The water temperature was 59 degrees and felt cold getting in and swimming to the race start (it was a wave start and we went off with the 18 –24 year old males). I’m guessing there were about 150 of us.
The swim went well but I didn’t push too hard. Got an elbow in the left eye, which filled my goggles with water. Had to stop twice to empty it out. Good swim – nothing to write home about.
T-1 was fast . . . fastest in my age group.
I have been working on my cycling (my weakness) for the past year or so. This has always been my weakness so I was hoping to improve on my time of 3:00 hours from last year. 10 minutes would have been nice. 9:33 improvement to be exact. Pretty good.
I borrowed Russ Jones’ race wheels again (I used them for IM AZ as well). Kinda windy for discs but noticed some of the top pros were using them so I was confident they would be fine. The only problem is that the rear cassette (gears) on Russ’ wheel only has 23 teeth where my normal, spoked, wheels have 25. That meant going up hills was going to be a challenge; and it was. There is one HUGE hill on the course and it took everything I had to make it up. After that my legs were none too happy! Anyway, I was thankful I had his wheels for most of the race and since he’s one of the top sprint age groupers (M50 – 54) in the world, the karma would be a good addition for the day.
My ass was killing me at about mile 45. The OCTC shorts simply don’t have enough padding. Next time, OCTC singlet and another set of shorts!
T-2 wasn’t quite as fast. I normally run without socks (not something you should attempt without practicing that way) so that was my plan on the day. Shoulda wore socks! Felt the blisters forming at about mile four. I think the problem, in retrospect, was the fact I didn’t lace them up tight enough. Oh well!
Saw most of my buds on the run. The run course is two loops so you get to see nearly everyone at least once. Quinton looked great. Larry looked focused. Scott looked like he was having way too much fun. Kirk? Not so good.
I developed a side stitch late on the bike and that continued on the run. Don’t know why they happen and I don’t know what to do to get rid of them. Probably around mile 6 – 7 it went away, however.
The run went fine without any real events. I passed a bunch of guys in my age group on my second loop, but most of them were probably on their first loop of the run course so it didn’t really matter. I did pass one guy that was on my loop. Always gratifying. He made it past me at one point, but faded in the end.
This year we did a lot more running in the sand. Just what your legs need in a 70.3-mile day! I nearly fell a couple times but survived it . . . just like everyone else.
All things considered, I was very happy with my day . . . a PR (personal record).
Overall time: 5:12:47
Overall place: 19/109 (17.4%)
Swim time: 30:57 (1:38 100 yd. pace)
Swim place: 11/109 (10.1%)
T-1 time: 2:48
Bike time: 2:51:01 (19.6 MPH pace)
Bike place: 31/109 (28.4%)
T-2 time: 1:57
Run time: 1:46:06 (8:06 mile pace)
Run place: 20/109 (18.3%)
TRAIN LIKE A TRIATHLETE
Many consider triathletes among the fittest people on the planet, and they would be right. Triathletes are unique individuals in that they go beyond “exercising,” and “working out” to delicately balancing all of the demands of normal life while training for THREE sports!
When we say, “train like a triathlete” we mean that Triathica provides all of the resources you need in order to compete in the sport of triathlon. Some of our clients are highly competitive and others don’t have any desire to complete a triathlon, they only want to train the way triathletes do.
Everyone is welcome at Triathica, whether you compete or not. The common bond between us is that we have a passion for triathlon. We love the sport and respect those that are in it.
Training for triathlon is different than training for other sports simply because there are three distinct disciplines involved. You can’t simply train like a swimmer, cyclist and runner; you must train like a triathlete. Training for each sport individually generally results in burnout, injury or both.
Comprehensive triathlon training goes beyond training for the swim, bike and run, but includes the other three equally important elements of resistance training, flexibility training and nutrition. Only by including all of these elements can one really reach their highest level of performance.
Triathica can provide you all of the help you need to reach your potential. For some that means making the podium in their “A” race, and others it simply means training like a triathlete.
DEALING WITH HEAT
Race season is heating up and so is the great outdoors. Anyone who has raced and trained in heat is aware that how well one can take it.
Here are some tips to deal with heat.
Hydrate Early and Often
Drink 16 ounces of sports drink an hour before you head out. Consume about six to 10 ounces of sports drink about every 20 minutes while training or racing. Sports drinks are better than water because they contain glucose and sodium (sugar and salt), which increase your water-absorption rate, replace the electrolytes you lose in sweat, and taste good, encouraging you to drink. It is very difficult to advise on the exact ratios of electrolytes, glucose, sodium, and protein to mix into your water bottles because it is so individual. Our best advice is to train using different types and ratios to see what works best for you the triathlete.
Determine Your Losses
Weigh yourself pre- and post-workout in each sport and be as specific as you can to the actual racing conditions to determine the exact amount of fluid you lose. There is a big difference between 80 degrees and 20 percent humidity and 80 degrees and 70 percent humidity. You need to know exactly how much fluid you are losing in each sport. Don’t guess!
If, for example, you lose two pounds during a 90 minute bike, it means you sweat about 32 ounces of fluid (remember to add in the fluid you drank during the ride). For future planning you can try to replenish your fluids at a rate of slightly less than 32 ounces per 90 minutes of cycling. It is difficult on the run to replace the entire amount of fluid that you lose during exercising but you do need to replace about 75 percent of what you lose with small drinks. You want to avoid the sloshing and fullness associated with drinking too much. Your body just can’t absorb the fluids as fast as you lose them.
We would also recommend you do the same after some of your longer swims. We do lose water while swimming.
DEVELOPMENT OF TRIATHICA
Triathica is working hard to meet our May 2009 grand opening date. Check out our blog section to see updates and check our progress.
TRAIN LIKE A TRIATHLETE
Many consider triathletes among the fittest people on the planet, and they would be right. Triathletes are unique individuals in that they go beyond “exercising,” and “working out” to delicately balancing all of the demands of normal life while training for THREE sports!
When we say, “train like a triathlete” we mean that Triathica provides all of the resources you need in order to compete in the sport of triathlon. Some of our clients are highly competitive and others don’t have any desire to complete a triathlon, they only want to train the way triathletes do.
Everyone is welcome at Triathica, whether you compete or not. The common bond between us is that we have a passion for triathlon. We love the sport and respect those that are in it.
Training for triathlon is different than training for other sports simply because there are three distinct disciplines involved. You can’t simply train like a swimmer, cyclist and runner; you must train like a triathlete. Training for each sport individually generally results in burnout, injury or both.
Comprehensive triathlon training goes beyond training for the swim, bike and run, but includes the other three equally important elements of resistance training, flexibility training and nutrition. Only by including all of these elements can one really reach their highest level of performance.
Triathica can provide you all of the help you need to reach your potential. For some that means making the podium in their “A” race, and others it simply means training like a triathlete.
