Houston Triathlon Summit

So I just got back from a two day tri clinic with the world renowned triathlete, Andy Potts and his coach. This was not a training camp of sorts, it focused more on training/racing, goal setting, and technique. It was an awesome clinic put on by OnUrLeft/OnUrMark coach and race director Aaron Palion. Some parts I felt were geared more towards the beginner triathlete, but I definitely learned a ton. Sometimes its so much easier just to be able to ask a question without having to search the internet for hours to find the best answer. Hopefully this becomes a yearly addition to the OnUrMark events that can grow into something more like a conference with vendors and additional speakers in the futures. I left with tons of new knowledge I can’t wait to apply to my training this next season. Below is kind of a step by step account of what the weekend consisted of. If you like you can continue reading, or just stop here (you won’t hurt my feelings)

The first morning, when we checked in, we were greeted w/the best goodie bag ever. Some of Andy’s sponsors (Powerbar, HoneyMilk, and Nathan) really stepped up and donated tons of goodies. The first morning focused on swimming, and for good reason. Andy is one of the 3 fastest swimmers in the sport and is typically always the first out of the water at any race. Despite coming from a swimming background, he still spends a large portion of his training focusing on the swim. This is a common thread I am finding among the pros is that they focus equal amounts of time to every sport even if they are already strong in that area so that they can gain as much of a gap as possible between them and their opponents. So after a brief intro, we all headed down to the pool where we went over specific drills and really worked on feeling the water. Plus we got to see Andy swim! While we only probably swam 400m, I really felt like I gained more from that than any swim session that I could do by myself. That afternoon got a little technical for me discussing training and racing goals, heart rate training zones, work:rest ratios and feedback loops for training. Andy and his coach rely heavily on constant feedback and are big proponents of always training w/HR, watts, and pace for his training schedule. While I would like incorporate this more (and plan to) into my daily workouts, I’m glad that’s not the only thing Muddy focuses on. We then did a spin class workout consisting of a 1:1 work/rest ratio. Afterwards, we followed Andy through his weight routine. It’s not a lot of weights (focusing mainly on legs and core) but he emphasized how triathletes are definitely lacking in this area and I agree (myself included). We rounded out the day with a Q and A session. When I got home, it felt like I was returning home from Halloween w/my bag of goodies and proceded to dump it all out on the floor to better analyze what I had gotten.

The next day again focused on swimming in the morning with more drills and wetsuit tips. I actually swam w/my wetsuit in the pool for 200m. Never done that before. Afterwards, Jussi, Mark, and myself were able to squeeze in quick 10x100 set while everyone was changing. It was then more Q and A. We also had Memorial Herman Sports Science institute come talk to us about the importance of getting your LT and VO2 Max tested with them (which I’m doing the week after Christmas) and the other services they offer. We finished up the day with a treadmill run. Again we followed a sample workout from what Andy does in his training (although he does it at a much faster pace). Again we finished off the day w/more questions, some awards/prizes, and a great dinner. Now I’m off to Austin to incorporate all I learned into my training. PS – really looking forward to trying to working on my swimming.