Advanced Periodization: Going from Age-Grouper to Professional (Part 3/5)

Posted on December 19, 2011 by ryan

In part 2 of 5, I discussed classical periodization in more detail and laid out the major limiters that are associated with it. Now, I’ll get into the thought process I used while designing Kristi’s training program for 2011 that would avoid the common pitfalls of classical periodization.

In 2010, Kristi had been training between 20-30 hours a week and was having a moderate amount of success with high volume and high intensity workouts. It was clear to me that she was spending a lot of time training and not seeing the results that she was seeking. It became my challenge to design a training program for her that would ensure the following:

  1. She would have the correct amount of energy for each workout, based on the specific workload demands.
  2. She would be able to recover properly between workouts since different physiological systems require different recovery periods
  3. Ensure she would have compatible workouts from a neuromuscular, energetic demand and/or technical complexity.
  4. Ensure her workouts were highly sport-specific in order to meet the demands of the large amounts of training stimulus she would need to earn her pro card.
  5. To provide her with a training program that would allow for multiple peaks throughout 2011.

With those goals in mind, I designed her training program using an alternative to the traditional periodization that was mentioned above. My goals for Kristi’s training program were:

  1. Focus her workloads on a minimal number of targets.
  2. Design three smaller “blocks” of training per mesocycle instead of 9+ prescribed blocks of the traditional periodization model.
  3. Shorten her mesocycles (2-4 weeks) to allow for physiological, biomechanical and morphological adaptations without the accumulation of excessive fatigue.
  4. Allow her to peak for multiple races in 2011.

That being said, here’s a short recap of the first five months of  Kristi’s 2011 season: I started working with Kristi at the end of January 2011, the same day the she finished her last treatment from a serious illness. Over the next 3 months, Kristi would suffer an injured calf muscle, severe case of bronchitis, and to top it off, three cracked ribs and a bruised lung in the first 50 meters of an ITU race in Mazatlan. She was healthy enough to start training in early May, with less than a month to prepare for 4-5 races across the country in May and June.  It was clear that she was not going to be able to get any real training while driving across the country, so we used that time to simply get in as much training as we could, making the best use of what we had available.

We reset her training on Monday, July 4th, which left us 12 weeks until the big race in Buffalo, NY with the Chicago Triathlon as a tune-up race at the end of August.

In part 4, I’ll dig into the concepts behind block periodization to include some of the key early workouts that laid the foundations for Kristi’s success.

Posted in Break Through Athletes, Coaching, Periodization, Professional Athletes, Racing | Comments Off

Advanced Periodization: Going from Age-Grouper to Professional (Part 2/5)

Posted on December 16, 2011 by ryan

In part 1, I discussed the basics of classical periodization in triathlon and went a little bit  into the type of training that Kristi had done in 2010. Here in part 2, we’ll get more into the specifics of classical periodization (aerobic endurance, muscular endurance, etc…) and point out the major flaws with such an approach in triathlon.

Joe Friel has written a series of outstanding intro-level books on endurance sports training, where he termed the mesocycles as base, build and peak phases that most athletes and coaches are familiar with. He then sequenced targets in a very common sense fashion (figure 2) with the general abilities of endurance, force, and speed skills and the more specific or advanced abilities such as muscular endurance, anaerobic endurance and power.

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 2: Pillars of triathlon training

Traditional periodization promotes a methodical approach designed to develop multiple targeted abilities at the same time (endurance, speed skills and force in the “base” phase). This basic sequencing, from general to specific, which is promoted by traditional periodization, also provides its major limitations to everyone except low-level athletes!

Kristi was trying desperately to develop an aerobic base, muscle strength, balancing hormone levels in training, developing motor skills, general speed, technique, mental and technical skills.  Each of these targets requires specific physiological, morphological and psychological adaptations, many of which are not compatible. The lack of compatibility of multi-targeted training causes a conflicting response to training, which is not advantageous.

The major limitations to the traditional periodization that Kristi was using include:

  1. Conflicting physiological responses produced by “mixed” training directed at multiple athletic abilities.
  2. Excessive fatigue elicited by prolonged periods of multi-targeted training.
  3. Insufficient training stimulus from medium to low concentrations that are typical in mixed training.
  4. The inability to peak for multiple races throughout an entire season.

It’s pretty clear to see: by approaching training in this method, the athlete is limiting their ability to reach their full potential through training. In part 3, I’ll get a lot more into how I  approached her training program in 2011 to remove the major limiters above and a summary of the first half of2011.

Posted in Coaching, High Performance, Periodization, Professional Athletes, Training | Comments Off

Advanced Periodization: Going from Age-Grouper to Professional (Part 1/5)

Posted on December 15, 2011 by ryan

This is post 1 of a 5 part series on the theory of periodization, both old and new, told in the context of professional triathlete Kristi Johnson (@Kristi3D) and her journey from age-grouper to professional.

Earlier this year, I started coaching Phoenix area age-group athlete Kristi Johnson, whom consistently finished in the top-10 in most of the local races. When we first met in January of 2011 to discuss coaching, she made it very clear that her goal was to earn her elite triathlete license (“pro card”) from USA Triathlon by the end of 2011… which she did in September! In this five-part series, I will explain the advanced approach I took to her training that took a good age group athlete and built her into a professional triathlete.

One of the first questions I asked Kristi: tell me about your training over the last 12 months. She described the “periodized” approach she had taken to her training that she had picked up from a listening to a few of the Phoenix area coaches and people talking at some of the local triathlon shops. She described building up a huge base early in the year and then adding intensity to her workouts as she got closer to race day… this is what everyone was doing so it had to be right.

Periodization is a term in endurance sports that is used frequently by coaches and athletes alike to describe how they break up their training. By definition, periodization is breaking up larger periods of time into smaller, more manageable chunks of time to maximize the training during the smaller blocks. Figure 1 illustrates that classical periodization models (linear, reverse or undulating). The full year (macrocycle) is broken up into the smaller and more manageable chunks which are referred to as mesocycles, which are also referred to as phases (base, build, etc…).

 

 

 

 

Figure 1: Traditional perdiodization scheme

This style of periodization was first used in the 1940’s by the Soviet Union and first published by Tudor Bompa in the 1960’s. It has be written about in hundreds of triathlon books and taught to coaches by USA Cycling and USA Triathlon for as long as they have been certifying coaches to provide them with a basic set of guidelines for structuring and planning training.  By proposing a sequencing of different targets or goals in training such as general to specific or extensive to intensive provides a good starting point for a new coach.

In part two, I will go into the basics of classical periodization and it’s main limiters, which is why I chose to take a different approach with Kristi in 2011.

Posted in Break Through Athletes, Coaching, High Performance, Periodization, Professional Athletes, Training, Triathlon | Comments Off

Going for Pro: The Pursuit of Excellence (part 2)

Posted on November 17, 2011 by ryan

OK, here’s part two of the article, which gets a lot more into the details of Kristi’s 2011 season. Hopefully you will find something in this series that will assist you in your training.

Confidence

In general, this is something an athlete either has or they do not. Levels of confidence can certainly fluctuate with racing and training, but there has to be a baseline level for success. My general rule of thumb is, success breeds confidence, with the other side of that coin being confidence not only influences but breeds success.

Confidence was my biggest challenge with Kristi, especially at the beginning. She was used to training 20-30 hours a week; I initially limited her to 12-15 hours, eventually working our way up to around 20 hours per week. She was used to hours and hours of riding and then miles and miles of running… super high volume with intensity being added in as she felt. This is NOT how I operate as a coach- aerobic training has a limit, especially for higher caliber athletes. Our initial goal was to develop a decent aerobic base (aerobic endurance) and then started on muscular endurance. The first race Kristi was set for was the Lake Havasu triathlon in March with the first big event being the Continental Cup race in Mazatlan, Mexico. We used a combination of output:input calculations and fatigue rates to determine when to add in the more sports-specific training.

Kristi was, at best, skeptical of the training once we got rolling at the end of January. Her overall volume was decreased by 25-40% compared to what she was used to, with a lot of interval work on a CompuTrainer and treadmill.  She was now using the full array of training tools, which was also new to her, but ultimately the difference maker.

Here are three examples throughout the 2011 season illustrating the ebb and flow of confidence as the season progressed. The first half of 2011 turned out to be mess, an injured calf muscle in mid-February allowed us to swim, but cycling was painful when intensity was added in (see motivation and discipline above). She was not able to run pain-free until close to the end of March. That being said, in early March, we retested her functional threshold power (FTP) out on the Beeline, with Kristi having very little confidence prior to the test due to the new style of training. I parked the car at the gas station and she headed out for the time trial lacking confidence. When she returned, she had a huge smile on her face, having ridden the loop at least 5 minutes faster than she had ever ridden it and upon analyzing the power file, she had raised her FTP by close to 15% in just over 45 days! She headed into the race at Lake Havasu with a high level of confidence and ended up setting a new PR with haphazard training due to the calf injury.

Close to the end of March, Kristi came down with a nasty case of Bronchitis, which killed most all useful training for the two weeks leading up to and through the ITU race in Mazatlan. After cracking three ribs and bruising a lung and her liver 50 meters into the swim in Mazatlan, she was restricted to cycling only for most of April and it was relatively low intensity for the first couple weeks since breathing was a serious issue. Roughly two weeks before Wildflower, Kristi was able to get back in the pool and roughly 10 days before Wildflower, she was able to withstand the jarring of running. Needless to say, she had a very poor result at Wildflower; to say her confidence was at an all time low would be an understatement.

At this point, we had roughly 25 days of training before we left for a 54-day road trip where she would first toe the line in the Capital of Texas triathlon in Austin at the end of May. We did what we could to prepare her to compete for a top-3 finish in Austin and the other events on the schedule.

Training for triathlon is a process that takes time. On May 1st, we had three solid weeks to train in Phoenix then we had to hit the road. At best, it was the equivalent of cramming for a comprehensive final exam. We used a lot of high-intensity interval training to get the most out of her time, which provided some quality results, but the main question going into CapTex would be if three weeks of training was enough. Ultimately, Kristi finished in the top-20 in Austin, which was a major positive, but there was still a large gap between where she was and where she needed to be for a pro card. When she crossed the finish line, she was happy with her time, but not her placing. The most interesting thing she said was that her effort would have won her just about any triathlon in Arizona that she had raced in the past, but was only good enough for a top-20 finish on a national stage. This was another big hit to her confidence, even though she fully understood why the result was so poor. It is my opinion, it was after that race, in which Kristi had hit a new low in confidence, she started to make the changes mentally, which eventually earned her a pro card in September.

After CapTex, we were left getting in what training we could as we drove across country. After a so-so race outside of Chicago in early June, in conjunction with the cancelation of the next race in Monroe, WA, we decided to reset her training. She spent the next 3 weeks reestablishing her aerobic base with the goal of racing a half-iron distance event in Bend, OR at the end of June. Considering she had been cramming for an Olympic distance triathlon, her results were not too bad at the HIM distance.

At this point, neither Kristi nor I were really happy with the results from the first half of the season, but that had to be taken with a grain of salt. In reality, a calf injury, bronchitis and cracked ribs had pretty much destroyed the first half of the season. I’ll dedicate another couple posts to the training decisions that I made as a coach since at this point they seem to be erratic and lacking results.

After Bend, we spent a week in Monterey, CA coaching at a youth and junior Skills Camp and then a long weekend in Coronado, CA which was time “off” for Kristi, with no organized training. At this point, as the coach, I was not the slightest bit concerned with where we were at and was very confident that as soon as we returned to Phoenix and Kristi could get into a regular training routine we would not have a problem. Kristi on the other hand, was not quite as confident.  After a long conversation, Kristi begrudgingly acknowledged the lack of results was due to the rash of injuries and illness.

When we got back to Phoenix, we were finally able to get into a solid training routine to build her up specifically for the last race of the season, the Nickel City triathlon in Buffalo, NY.

The most noticeable change in Kristi’s confidence came in early August after a swim test and then again in late August after the Chicago triathlon. I had Kristi do another 200/800 swim test on August 1st; she was not very happy when she got out of the pool. She thought her times were slower, but after we looked at her swim times all the way back to when we first met, she had indeed had a major breakthrough in the swim! In seven months, with a lot of work on her technique and some well written swim workouts, Kristi was able to cut close to 15 seconds off her 200 time (anaerobic portion) and one minute off her 800 time (aerobic portion, over 10 seconds per 100). This test was the tipping point, for Kristi’s confidence, she was now firing on all cylinders with 8 weeks until Buffalo!

She went to Chicago to race in the Chicago triathlon at the end of August, where she set a new PR on the bike by 6 minutes with fierce head and crosswinds on the entire ride. At this point, we entered into the realization phase (peak phase for all of the classical periodization fans) and Kristi was flying.

The end result: Kristi earned her pro card in Buffalo, finishing third in a field full of females that were there for the elite development race and a full age group field. In Buffalo, she got off the bike in 4th place, behind three elite development girls; afterwards, she said she never had a doubt she would run them down. With four miles to go on the run, another elite development girl was starting to close the gap on Kristi. Instead of freaking out, she said she was able to relax and fall into a solid pace that not only held that girl off, but ultimately extended her lead by over a minute. Not only did her motivation, dedication and training pay off, the confidence she had built up since July is what made all the difference.

 

Focus/Purpose

Focus and purpose is the next attribute that I’m concerned with. Focus is something that an athlete either can or cannot do initially, but can be improved with solid coaching and guidance. Purpose on the other hand requires a deeper understanding of exercise science, and is helpful to have a coach that understands the science. As a coach who provides continuing education seminars and webinars for triathlon coaches around the globe- understanding the science behind the coaching will make all the difference for an athlete. Understanding topics such as pacing, thermoregulatory feedback, metabolic rate and fatigue will take an athlete from being average to good, or from good to professional!

With Kristi, there was no doubt she could focus, that was simple. Kristi’s understanding of training was… let’s say, basic. This was not Kristi’s fault, when we first met and started working together, she was not a coach. She was operating off what she had heard at the local tri shop, from talking to coaches in the valley and other athletes she met. One of my largest challenges was teaching Kristi about how to train at the next level; to train and recover like a professional.

As I mentioned above, the antiquated approach to periodization was the first thing that had to be changed. From there, we worked diligently to understand topics such as recovery, pacing, fatigue, tapering and training/racing intensity. Kristi questioned me every step of the way and picked up on it quickly, realizing that each workout and the subsequent recovery created a single brick.

From there, it was up to Kristi to keep building the bricks and putting them together to create a wall, which was evident by her putting together solid races this fall and achieving her goal for the season!

 

Patience

Without a doubt, this was and still is the most challenging for Kristi. She wants results and she wants them now, even though she understands that training for triathlon and getting faster is a process, it takes long-term planning and patience. Malcom Gladwell wrote an outstanding book “Outliers,” where he argues the 10,000 hour rule: it takes roughly 10,000 hours of doing something to become one of the best in a given field. In triathlon, that can be 10-12 years… Kristi has been racing for the last seven. Looking more closely at patience, there is long-term and short-term patience.

Long-Term Patience

In triathlon, this is simply letting the training process take place, which takes time. You cannot cram 12 weeks of training into 8 and expect to see the same results.

Short-Term Patience

With the athletes I coach, especially the elite/professionals like Kristi, there are three parts of the short-term patience that I preach religiously to them: there are 3 things an athlete has a lot of control over, focus on them:

1. The quality of the current workout

Each athlete, to some extent, has the ability to control the quality of each session in terms of the effort they put out and the mental aspects/motivation of each session

2. Food/Fuel Choices

Each athlete has the ability to control what they eat and drink on a daily basis. The ability to fuel your body before and after a workout and the regular food choices can make a huge difference… crap in = crap out

3. Rest and Recovery

The third thing an athlete can control is the amount of sleep they get and how they recover between workouts. In order to see an increase in performance, an athlete has to recover from workout-to-workout.

Kristi did an exceptionally good job controlling the three variables above, which, in my opinion, was the final push she needed to earn her pro card!

Posted in Coaching, High Performance, Racing, Triathlon | Comments Off

Running on soft or hard surfaces?

Posted on November 8, 2011 by ryan

I had an interesting article forwarded to me by a client about different running surfaces and how that effects your body while running. Moral of the story- be careful who you listen to when getting training advice from… just because someone has completed a marathon or triathlon does not make them a subject matter expert. Just because something worked for them does not make it correct for everyone- I have a broken watch that’s right 2 times every day.

The key point of the article is this:

“It seems obvious that the forces on your legs and feet are different depending on whether you run on soft packed dirt or on hard concrete. Why aren’t injury rates affected?

An answer that many accept comes from studies that addressed the question indirectly. In several of them, study subjects ran on plates that measured the force with which they struck the ground. Instead of varying the hardness of the ground, the researchers varied the cushioning of the shoes. More cushioning approximated running on softer ground.

Over and over again, studies like these found that the body automatically adjusts to different surfaces — at least, as mimicked by cushioning in shoes — to keep forces constant when foot strikes plate.

That finding makes sense, Dr. Warden said. If you jump from a table to the floor, you automatically bend your knees when you land. If you jump on a trampoline, you can keep your knees stiff when you land. Something similar happens when you run on different surfaces.

“If you run on a hard surface, your body decreases its stiffness,” Dr. Warden said. “Your knees and hips flex more. On a soft surface, your legs stiffen.” Running on a soft surface “is basically a different activity,” he said. “

You can find the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/health/nutrition/19best.html?_r=3&src=tp&smid=fb-share

Posted in Running | Comments Off

Arizona State University Triathlon Program

Posted on November 7, 2011 by ryan

Last week on Tuesday, I was named as the head coach for the Arizona State University Triathlon program! This was very exciting for me, it has been a job that I have had my eye on since I started coaching triathlon in 2006.

The sport of triathlon is still considered a “club” sport by the NCAA at this point. My goal and that of my colleagues across the country is to change that in the very near future. While it will be an uphill battle, the sport has started at the grassroots and is the fastest growing sport in the United States.

Bad news: ASU does not have a well established tradition in triathlon. Good news: we have a handful of athletes that are capable of competing at the highest levels of collegiate triathlon. We have a lot of hard work to do before the USAT Collegiate National Championships in April, but we’ll get it done.

Posted in Arizona State University Triathlon, Collegiate Triathlon, NCAA Sports | Comments Off

Going for Pro: The Pursuit of Excellence (part 1)

Posted on October 14, 2011 by ryan

Going for Pro

It takes a lot of guts for an amateur triathlete to make the decision to attempt to earn a pro card. The requirements are incredibly stringent (finish as a top 3 amateur in a race that has a professional field with a price purse over $20,000 or have 3 races where the athlete finishes within 8% of the overall professional winner [if the winner is 2:00, 8% is a 2:09]). Many, many athletes attempt this each year, with a lot more failing than succeeding. Once an amateur has made the commitment to go for pro, it takes an incredible amount of dedication, sacrifice and very hard work for an amateur athlete to make the leap from good to excellent.

That being said, I would like to discuss the five main attributes (motivation, discipline, confidence, focus/purpose and patience) that an athlete brings to the table, from the mental side of the house. One thing my elite athletes are tired of hearing me ask: “What are the most important six inches in triathlon?” You’ll have to get to the end of the article for the answer. For the post, I will use Kristi Johnson’s 2011 season as an example to illustrate my points. Kristi earned her elite license (pro card) at the end of September, perhaps her coaches view, which is what this is, will shed some light on these topics for anyone who is wanting to make that leap. Another quick note- these are my opinions of the season, as her coach who had the pleasure of guiding Kristi through many ups and downs, which culminated in her achieving excellence.

 

Motivation

Motivation is the first thing that I was looking for with Kristi, to see if it was genuine or being driven by an outside influence. Motivation must come from within an athlete in order for it to be genuine; Kristi needed to be driving from within, in a very personal way, not from an outside source like someone telling her she could never be a pro because she didn’t have what it would take.

It was clear within a few conversations that Kristi was definitely motivated from within, nothing was going to get in her way of achieving this goal. After multiple discussions about her previous training, it was clear Kristi was accustomed to high volume on top of high volume and then intensity on top of intensity approach, she was going as long and hard as she could for the majority of the year. I was able to rein that in, but it was like pulling teeth. Everything she had heard hanging around the triathlon shop was indicating that was the way to go and she was very hesitant to change that.

On top of that, it was very clear that nothing from her personal life was going to get in the way either- training was her first priority, school, work and her personal life was not going to get in her way.  These were all signs and indicators that Kristi was genuinely motivated from within.

 

Discipline

The second thing I look for with someone who wants to either become a professional or to be a top age-grouper is discipline. On the surface, everyone has discipline- they get out and do the workouts, but with me, it has to go deeper than that.

The discipline to get your workouts in on a daily basis is not that tough for someone that is committed to complete a triathlon. Discipline, on a daily basis, does not create excellence- discipline on a weekly and monthly basis creates excellence! Discipline is getting out of bed when its cold and dark outside and making sure the workout gets completed as prescribed.

Having the discipline to go hard when the program calls for it, having the discipline to go easy when the program calls for it… that is the type of discipline required for excellence.

Kristi illustrated that discipline from the word go! We started working together at the end of January, after she had taken over three months off of training due to a broken elbow and being sick. Within a few weeks of resuming organized training, her calf was starting to bother her, which ultimately started to limit her ability to run. This was not going to stop Kristi, within a couple days, she was at Spooner Physical Therapy (www.spoonerphysicaltherapy.com) where she was able to run on their AlterG treadmill (reduced gravity treadmill). She showed the discipline to get up earlier than normal to make the trek to Ahwatukee in order to get her runs in.

On top of the training discipline, Kristi also dedicated herself to the little things that she had never paid attention to. From supplemental strength exercises, foam rolling (tptherapy.com) and nutritional choices, she demonstrated the discipline that was ultimately needed to become a professional triathlete!

In the next post, I’ll cover the remaining three attributes (confidence, focus/purpose and patience) and how they played a key role in Kristi’s becoming a professional triathlete.

Until next time,

Coach Ryan

 

ps: To answer the questions of what the most important six inches is in triathlon: the six inches between your ears!

Posted in Break Through Athletes, Opinion | Comments Off

More OUTSTANDING results from BTMS adult athletes!

Posted on October 1, 2011 by ryan

The rest of September continued as a great month for BTMS athletes of all ages!

We sent two of our elite athletes to Buffalo, NY to race at the Nickel City Triathlon, which was a pro card qualifier. Kristi Johnson (Phoenix, AZ) had the race of her life, with a brand new PR by 7 minutes, which was good enough to earn her pro card! Kristi is now the only second* American female professional triathlete in the Valley that is able to race any triathlon as a professional (please see the bottom of the blog post for a correction to this)! Kristi’s performance is even more impressive considering she raced against the Elite Development Race field of females since the actual EDR was canceled, with its participants put into the non-drafting field.

Kai Karlstrom (Chicago, IL) also had a great race, finishing 12th overall against the Elite Development Race field with a 35:21 10-km run off the bike, which was good enough for the 2nd fastest run split of the day! This was Kai’s first full season of triathlon and his third Olympic distance triathlon he’s ever done!

Andrea Hart also raced at the Hy-Vee Triathlon in early September, winning her AG with a solid 2:29… great job Andrea!

A quick update on Mike Thomson: his performance at the USAT Age Group Nationals earned him a spot on Team USA for the 2012 AG World Championships!

Ironman Wisconsin really tested the BTMS athletes that were on course. Christine Davis gutted out (pun intended) some GI issues on the bike and run to finish her third Ironman and Joel Harner completed the event in 12:00 after suffering a concussion during the swim and Jeff Mote had a solid day finishing his second Ironman!

At Nathan’s Tempe Triathlon, Beth Kovatch finished her first ever Olympic distance triathlon, which was an outstanding accomplishment! Ryan Petry also raced at Nathan’s; he won his age group and finished 6th overall in an early season race! We are expecting big things out of Ryan in 2012!

Keep up the great work Break Through athletes!

*Correction (3:45PM 1OCT2011): to clarify,  As of September 16, 2011, USA Triathlon published a list of athletes that meet their criteria to be a professional triathlete, which is defined by USAT as “this license is for athletes wishing to race as an elite in any USAT sanctioned event at any distance (from sprint to ultra) and format (triathlons, duathlons, off road events, winter events, etc.). This license costs $39 and expires December 31 of the year in which it was issued” and can be found here: (http://www.usatriathlon.org/member-services/elite-athlete-qualification). According to that USA Triathlon list, there is only one (1) female American professional triathletes in the Phoenix area whom hold a “triathlete license” as of September 16th, 2011, with Kristi earning her card on September 24th, 2011.

The second American female is Kathy Rakel, in Litchfield Park. To round out the complete list of ALL female triathletes in the valley is Angie Axmann, whom is German. The word is, Amy Kloner has also moved to Phoenix, but that has NOT been updated through USAT.  For the complete list of professional triathletes (as of Septmber 16, 2011), as determined by USA Triathlon, please visit here: http://www.usatriathlon.org/member-services/elite-athlete-qualification and look for the link titled “2011 Elite License Holders 9.16.2011″ or click here to download the pdf: http://assets.teamusa.org/assets/documents/attached_file/filename/49410/Elite_Application_2011_Season.pdf.

If the USA Triathlon list is not accurate, please contact me and let me know: ryan@breakthroughmultisport.com

Posted in Break Through Athletes | Comments Off

BTMS athletes are crushing their races!

Posted on September 7, 2011 by ryan

August and the first part of September have been a highlight reel for Break Through athletes! On the long course stage, Tye Eckert and Jeremy Brizzie went to Louisville and had great races respectively!

We sent two of our youth athletes from the Break Through Elite Racing Youth and Junior Triathlon Development Program to the USAT Youth and Junior National Championships in early August. Jessi W. 14th overall and Andrea A. finished 6th overall! That’s a solid start to what we hope, is a soon to be nationally recognized youth and junior program!

 

 

 

 

At the Olympic distance, our athletes have added to our total of impressive results! John Myers rocked a new PR at the USAT Age-Group Nationals.  Break Through Elite team member Mike Thomson hammered out another PR of 2:06, which was good enough to make the USA Triathlon World Championship team in 2012! Andrea Hart made it to the start line despite an injured bicep and had a great day of her own to put a cap on her spectacular 2011 season!

 

 

 

 

One week later, Break Through Elite had two more athletes race in the Chicago Triathlon! Kristi Johnson made the trek out to Chicago from Phoenix to have an impressive finish at 13th overall and Kai Karlstrom finished 20th overall, even after suffering some respiratory issues part way into the run that forced him to walk for a couple minutes. To round out our athletes in the Chicago Triathlon, Jeff Mote, who is finishing his largest training block for IM Wisconsin had a solid day, as did Mike Gleason, who is ramping up for IM Arizona later this fall!

 

 

 

 

Mike Thomson, who came down with a serious case of the flu on Saturday, before the Chicago triathlon made the trip to Des Moines this past weekend to race in the HyVee US Championships. While not near 100%, Mike was able to put forth a solid enough effort for 22nd place against some of the top triathletes in the nation!

 

 

 

 

To finish off the results so far this month, Jessi W had another great day at the Anthem Triathlon in Phoenix, AZ winning the U17 AG and finishing as the 7th overall female, beating quite a few grown men along the way! On top of that, Ryan Petry also raced at the Anthem Triathlon, finishing first overall, only one week after crushing a 104 mile moutain bike race at 9,000 feet… GREAT job Jessi and Ryan!

 

 

 

 

Next week, we have quite a few skilled athletes heading up to IM Wisconsin, and in the rest of the month, at least three of our youth athletes racing at the IronKids US Championships in Iowa, adult, youth and junior athletes competing in a local AZ race and a TriFamily Racing youth and junior race out here in AZ! We are looking forward to even more outstanding results!

Posted in Break Through Athletes | Comments Off

Posted on August 14, 2011 by ryan

June ended in Monterrey, CA on Friday with a small triathlon for the campers, which was a blast to watch!

After the camp, it was back in the car and down to Coronado, CA for the 4th of July and then back to Phoenix.

Upon returning, I really picked up the tempo for developing the youth and junior program, which has already been announced.

 

For the adult Break Through athletes, they are continuing to dominate the races they enter. Andrea Hart rocked the Kansas 70.3 and the Muncie 70.3 with some outstanding results. With the majority of the other BTMS athletes preparing for late-summer Ironman races, more great results are on the way!

 

Coming up, look for more articles on the BTMS adult and some solid training articles too.

 

On the youth and junior front, the Break Through Elite Racing Youth and Junior Development Program is up and running! We are currently have 10 young athletes that are on the squad and growing daily! Two of our youth girls went to the USA Triathlon  Youth and Junior National championships in San Diego last weekend. Andrea finished 6th and Jessi finished 14th in the nation.. the program is off to a great start!

If you know of anyone 6-19 years old in the Phoenix area or 12-19 across the country that are interested in triathlon, please have them email me (ryan@breakthroughmultisport.com)

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off