My Championship Journey: jubilation, $100.000 and a crippling ‘red card’

Helle Frederiksen write on her win at Hy-Vee and challenges at Mt Tremblant 70.3 Worlds:

"I contemplated how best to write this post as it covers two very contrasting events and two very different sets of emotions. There has been no easy way around it. I’ve not wanted one event to out way the reality of the other. Yes I won Hy-Vee and claimed the biggest prize purse in the sport this year, $100.000. Yet on the other hand, 7 days following my biggest career achievement I found myself on the roadside of the Ironman 70.3 World Championships, in tears, crippled by emotion and suffering an overwhelming sense of disbelief."

Read the rest of Helle's report

Alicia Kaye Reports from Hy Vee 51.50 Championship

Alicia Kaye reports from her 2nd place finish at the Hy-vee Triathlon, the 5150 Series Championships:

"I desperately wanted to win Hy Vee, and I put together a very good race but Helle’s race was exceptional; she deserved to win with that kind of performance.  I got asked a lot if I was disappointed and some people assumed I was, but I just wasn’t.  I had raced my hardest and my friend and training partner won! So it was a great day. "

Read the rest here

Jordan Rapp Reports from Mt Tremblant

Jordan Rapp reports on his experiences at the 70.3 World Championships in Mt Tremblant Quebec - always insightful with his analysis, and useful process for any athlete to get behind the scenes to how we work:

- Some Highlights below:

 "For my part, a hard effort. An honest effort. Couple good takeaways. Some weaknesses exposed. Rebuilding takes time. Another step forward."

"In almost every case, the factors that led to a bad race were the result of conscious, intended decisions. Most of them were just decisions about what - long-term - was most important to work on, especially with a near-term focus on a great performance at Ironman Arizona in November and a longer-term focus on a return to world class Ironman racing and having a long view on building the foundation for that. None of them were really the sort of strategic-type training decisions where you think that some aspect of the race is going to be critical but then it turns out not to be."

"But I don't actually think I'd change anything about how I prepared, except maybe - as I've said before about this season - getting started on it a few months earlier. I needed to do the work I did - the big long rides in the mountains, the work on getting foot speed going again - to rebuild the foundation that it's best to lay those specific skills on top of."

"I think my mistake was in thinking that feeling pretty good was a reason to be more cautious. I wished I'd done more Friday. I had three weeks of great workouts where I'd had a hard Friday and had come back even stronger on Saturday and then strongest on Sunday. "

"The too much rest is most common when you are nervous and afraid and still finding your fitness, as I was in 2011 after my crash and this year after a disastrous year in 2013. I had a good rhythm. I think if I'd just trusted in that and kept it going, I think I would have had a better race in Tremblant."

"Failure is when expectations does not meet reality. I was never going to win this race. But that needn't have been a failure. The failure was in not racing to the level of my preparation. But I feel encouraged that Joel and I have some ideas about why. "

Read the rest of Jordan's report here

Alicia Kaye Reports from Chicago

Alicia Kaye reports from her win at the 2014 Chicago Triathlon:

 had a bit of equipment drama pre race. My beautiful and very fast Shimano disc was crushed on my Southwest flight from Denver to Chiago.  Based on the damage it looked like TSA rearranged the wheels in my bag a bit when they were inspecting it and the bag must have had something very heavy on top of it.  I travel with two sets of wheels, so I rode my clincher Shimano DuraAce 50 rear wheel on race day.  Jarrod spent the next 48 hours trying to find me a new disc wheel for Hy Vee.  

Read the rest 

Kinesio Tape, Athletic Performance and Self Belief

Our squad physio Paul Westwood ( @triathlonphysio on twitter) has written an excellent article with case studies from our experiences:

"Sure, an athlete may feel better after they’ve put some tape on but I prefer athletes to get better. Western medicine panders to pain far too much, we have gone too far to the left; running injuries, despite all the intervention, seem to be increasing; pain thresholds are getting lower and chronic pain is out of control. We need to get back to the days when if we sprained an ankle, we’d limp around for a few days but then get moving again and back to our sport – running without fear."

Read the full article here

Mola wins World Championship Silver

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ITU World Championship Series 2014 Podium

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ITU WTS Grand Final 2014 Podium

Hy-Vee Triathlon: Training partners dominate women's event

"Helle Frederiksen felt she needed a change after finishing 27th in the 2012 London Olympics triathlon competing for Denmark.

So in early 2013, she went looking for a new coach. The move to Joel Filliol and his client, Alicia Kaye, proved to be a stroke of genius."

Read the rest of the article

First-time father, Canadian triathlete Kyle Jones still getting some rest

"There are times when life has to take centre stage.

Canadian triathlete Kyle Jones became a first-time father to son Zack just over two weeks ago.

“It’s been awesome,” said Jones. “Obviously, my wife (Kelly) has done a lot of the work so far. She’s up with him two or three hours in the night and I’m able to sleep through it. She’s been kind to me.”

Now, the proud pappa is aiming to deliver the form that earned him first- and second-place finishes in Edmonton the last two years.

“Ever since I started coming here, it’s gotten better every year,” said Jones. “Winning in 2012 (his first-ever ITU win) a great moment. This year has had its ups and downs, but I feel like I’m running in good form at the right time."

Read the full article on Kyle Jones at the Edmonton Sun

Jordan Rapp - another Sunday Ride

https://m.facebook.com/Rappstar.Racing

Alicia Kaye wins Chicago

Alicia Kaye won the Chicago Triathlon today, part of the Lifetime Fitness Triathlon Series.

Sarah Groff's True Story

A timely article on Sarah Groff from Team USA.org

But Sarah Groff has also had a banner year, finishing on the podium right behind Jorgensen in the London WTS race in May — just under two years after she finished fourth at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

“It took a couple of years and persistence, but I finally earned a podium in London,” Groff tweeted after the race. “And yes, it moved me to tears.”

Read the rest here

Living the Tri Life - ITU Kelowna

Tommy Zaferes reports from his win at the ITU Cup in Kelowna

Open Water

Banyoles Lake, Spain

Czech Gold for Frintová

A nice article on Karlovy Vary and the history of the race, as well as Vendula's win:

“I really wanted to win on home soil but the race definitely didn't go as I planned. I was so surprised when I was first out of the water and then didn't really know what to do on the bike. As I was riding with an Italian girl for first 10k till she got dropped and I was in solo breakaway with still keeping the same time to the chase pack. I didn't want to waste too much energy because there's WTs Stockholm and Edmonton Grand Final. But I was only caught in the 6th from 7 bike laps. I was a bit worried that my legs won't be too fresh for the run but it worked well at the end.
It's always special to win at home and I'd like to thank the organisations for a great event and the people for cheering me. Karlovy Vary is a beautiful city with very tough and honest course.”

Jordan Rapp - Sunday Ride

Jordan Rapp checks in from his Sunday ride sporting the JFT kit

Zaferes wins Kelowna

Tommy Zaferes won the ITU Cup in Kelowna - his second win in two weeks. 

Frintova wins Karlovy Vary

Vendula Frintova won the ITU European Cup in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic - CityTriathlon