Over on the Zen Tri Podcast, I did another joint interview, this time with Helle Frederiksen, and her partner Ben Powell:
Also check out the "Ask us Anything" thread on Slowtwitch where Helle and I answer your questions:
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Check out this interview I did with Fitter Radio Fitter.co.nz
Good morning everyone and welcome to Fitter Radio Episode #036 This week we are delighted to bring you an interview with one of triathlon’s most experienced and successful professional coaches JOEL FILLIOL! Joel has worked as Head Coach for Triathlon in both Britain and Canada and coached Simon Whitfield to Olympic Silver in Beijing. He works via camps around the world, and online, and his athletes include Kyle Jones, Sarah Groff, Mario Mola, Richard Murray, Jordan Rapp and Helle Frederiksen who last weekend pulled off a stellar performance winning the inaugural Challenge Bahrain! We also talk fasted training, post marathon recovery and we launch our FITTER RADIO LONG DISTANCE IMNZ TRAINING CAMP (#fatadapted)!
Itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/nz/podcast/fitter-radio-triathlon-endurance/id854311930
http://traffic.libsyn.com/fitterradio/Fitter_Radio_Episode_036.mp3
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Read this interview with Richard Murray on the Nature Gym blog by Jason Bailey. Rich talks about his his winter plans, his reflections on the season, and where to from here:
http://thenaturegym.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/into-winter-with-richard-murray.html
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Check out this podcast Jordan Rapp and I did with Zen Triathlon:
We review Jordan's Ironman Arizona performance, how the season progressed, generally training philosophy and more:
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Here is a good article on Alicia Kate on the WildMantle.com site:
Q: What is the hardest obstacle you have had to overcome?
A: Being told I wasn’t good enough. I used to represent Canada and switched to the United States when I was being denied the opportunity to compete internationally. I desperately wanted to try and qualify for the Olympics, and instead I received a multi page document from Triathlon Canada about why I wasn’t going to make it. Needless to say, I now proudly represent the United States!
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Alicia Kaye reports from her first 70.3 finish in Muskoka Canada:
"I was genuinely nervous to race my first 70.3 I attempted one over two years ago; I was unprepared but decided to race is last minute after a race I was planning on doing was delayed by one week. My blood sugar crashed so badly that I was hallucinating and was unable to finish the race. So, here I was again, much more prepared this time and with a very specific nutrition and race plan. "
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Jordan Rapp is back with another insightful reflection on his race at the Princeton 70.3:
Ironman 70.3 Princeton
Princeton, NJ ✮ 2014.09.21
Economics is the science of explaining tomorrow why the predictions you made yesterday didn't come true today. - Demotivators
My father is an economist. I'm not sure why exactly I mention this except perhaps to postulate that some of my wondering "what if?" is inherited. My father is somewhat of an exception in that he does not think of economics as a hard science, but more of a way of thinking about certain types of monetary issues. He's a macro-economist (so different than the now super popular Freakonomics guy Steven Levitt), and he tends to be more a big picture guy. But he's a good critical thinker, and I like to think I've followed in his footsteps in that regard. One of the core tools of economics is the "natural experiment." This is when you get a chance to look at a data set that you couldn't - or wouldn't - be able to create for moral, ethical, logistical, or various other reasons. The various Freakonomics books are basically elegantly told stories of creative natural experiments.
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Nice job Rachel Klamer winning the battle of the sexes race in La Baule France yesterday - the women had an 8 min head start over the men - one prize purse for all, first across the line.
Richard Murray was 3rd male and 5th overall - good fun format.
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Sarah Groff has an article on ESPNw:
Triathlete Sarah Groff finished second in the world rankings during the 2014 season, behind American teammate Gwen Jorgensen. She was also the top American finisher, in fourth, at the London Olympic Games.
My fiancé Ben is a pro runner, and with two athletes in the house, our kitchen is stocked with whole foods and high-quality ingredients. We love food and we love cooking. Here's what we're currently eating:
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Tommy Zaferes exits the water in Las Vegas
Tommy Zaferes reports from his recent racing including the Aquathon World Championships in Edmonton, the Super Sprint racing in Las Vegas, and the Pacific Grove triathlon in California:
"After Kelowna I wanted to stay in Canada to be able to watch Katie (and my squad) race the Grand Final in Edmonton. I ended up driving Paula Findlay’s car the 10hrs from Kelowna to Edmonton and had an amazing homestay with her family. I figured since I was going to be in Edmonton, I might as well race Aquathlon Worlds before the “real” races started. Unfortunately I ended up getting a virus the night before the race and spent the majority of my race preparation in the bathroom. Since there were only a few men on the start list, and money went five deep, I decided to start the race anyway. It was pretty terrible. I lead out of the water, but after 200m in the swim I was already destroyed. I got passed by three others on the run (and ran what would be equivalent to about a 17:30 5k) and finished 4th. Good enough to make $750 for 20min of effort. I would have liked to have a world title, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes."
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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."
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Alicia finished 2nd at the 2014 Hy-Vee Triathlon
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. "
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Jordan Rapp raced the WTS 70.3 Ironman World Championships in Mt Tremblant Quebec
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
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Alicia Kaye Chicago Triathlon 2014 Winner
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.
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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
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Mario Mola and Joel Filliol
ITU World Championship Series 2014 Podium
ITU WTS Grand Final 2014 Podium
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Helle Frederiksen and Alicia Kaye Celebrating 1-2 in the Hy-Vee Triathlon
"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."
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"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
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