Blisters and Black Toenails: Adventures of a Racing Junkie

Post Season: Time to build new habits

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 09:21:00 +0000

Now that your race season is in your rear view mirror, it's time to focus on building a solid foundation for your next season of racing. What you choose to focus on in the "off season" will directly influence your next season. Many people approach the off season with goals of improving something in regards to their swimming, biking and running. This usually takes the form of many hours spent doing drills, working on skills or building strength in the gym. All of those things are important but they are only part of the picture.

What many people don't think about focusing on are the small daily habits that support your training efforts. Things like sleep, prioritizing recovery and mobility. These are the first things to fall to the wayside once training volume starts to ramp up. I am 100% guilty of this, especially with mobility work. I've made a promise to myself to make this a priority in my off season with the goal of developing this into a habit. Here are some of my tips on tackling it all.

MOBILITY WORK

Utilize your down time

The biggest stumbling block people face is thinking they need to do an entire routine all at once. That was where I struggled. Now, I break it down. I will do 5 minutes in the morning, then another 5 minutes at lunch. Or, if I don't get the opportunity to do that, I will do it after dinner while watching a bit of TV. There is absolutely no reason you can't foam roll and stretch while watching TV.

Integrate it into another activity

This was one of the best suggestions I've heard. Add 5 minutes of mobility work to a dynamic warm up before a run or a ride and include some more in your post workout stretching. Are you starting a strength program? Doing a short mobility routine BEFORE you start lifting will help to prepare the body for additional load and will enhance movement function and overall performance. It also helps to reinforce neuromuscular connections. I will be working on two mobility routines, one for upper body days and one for lower body days that I will do before I lift any sort of weight at the gym.

RECOVERY

Stretching

So many people treat recovery as something secondary. The older you get, the more important recovery becomes. I'm not just talking about taking a rest day. I'm talking about post workout routines. What you do / eat immediately after a workout directly affects your recovery and ability to perform your next workout.

Many of us skip stretching. I'm guilty of that from time to time. Now I make sure I do at least 5 minutes of stretching post run BEFORE I even go into the house. Because the minute I go inside, I will focus on something else. Sometimes I will break my stretching out into chunks throughout the day. If I know I'm going to be spending several hours sitting, I will make a point of getting up every hour to stretch for 5 minutes or so. The most effective time I've found to stretch is actually in the evening before I go to bed. Stretching before bed helps your body enter a relaxed state more quickly and stay in a deeper sleep for longer periods of time (sleepadvisor.org). And we all know that a good night's sleep is one of the most important keys to recovery.

Once again, you can do this on the floor in front of the TV so there is no excuse. You can find a great series of stretches here

Hydration

This is the one I struggle with the most. I can go for hours without drinking any fluids. When I worked in an office, I used to have a pitcher of water I'd keep on my desk and make a concerted effort to go through that pitcher twice during the day. Now I'm not always sitting down at a desk so my hydration has become much more sporadic. But guess what? There's an app for that. Just like food tracking apps, there are water tracking apps. I'm using Water Reminder but there are SO many options available. I like the graphics, simplicity of use and the fact that it tracks ALL your beverages, not just water. There is also a hydration tracker on Garmin Connect but I haven't figured how to use it yet. By using this daily, my goal is to stay on top of my fluid intake.

SLEEP

Post season / off season may seem like an ok time to be a little lax with your sleep habits but I would argue that it's even MORE important to make sure you're getting quality sleep. Weeks of poor sleep leading up to when you resume a regular training routine will leave you feeling flat and fatigued before you even get started.

Sleep is an area that many people struggle with. Life stress and environmental stress can play a huge role in the quality of your sleep. All too often we are glued to our phones right up until we go to bed. And we even sleep with them beside our bed. More often than not, we have TV's in our bedrooms, which is another source of stimulation. Sometimes our bedrooms become dumping grounds for laundry that's been folded but you didn't have the energy to put away so it's still sitting in a pile on a chair or on your dresser. This mess can also create feelings of stress.

There several things you can do to promote better sleeping hygiene which should ideally result in a better night's sleep.

1. Ditch the phone and all electronics at least 30 minutes but ideally 1 hour before bed.

2. Use a proper alarm clock vs. your phone. Keep your phone in a separate room. I plug mine in the bathroom overnight.

3. Turn your bedroom into a sleep cave. Cover up or remove any lights from electronics. Buy black out curtains or use a sleep mask.

4. Keep your bedroom free of clutter. If your room is clutter free, you are less likely to be stressed by the piles of stuff lying around as you try to fall asleep. A cluttered room can effectively clutter your thoughts.

5. Turn the temperature down. Turning the temperature down in your bedroom helps to facilitate sleep. Your body temperature naturally decreases as you get ready to go to sleep so making sure your room is on the cooler side helps speed up that process. The ideal temperature is anywhere between 15 and 22 degrees celsius for adults.

6. Keep your bedtime consistent. As with anything in life, consistency is key if you want to see improvement. Our bodies like routine so create a bedtime routine and do your best to stick to it.

I've been making a concerted effort to cut out my screen time at least an hour before bed. We already keep the temperature low and the bedroom dark which has helped immensely. My bedtime is fairly consistent as well. The other thing I've been doing before I go to bed is mixing a scoop of magnesium bisglycinate (I use Metagenics Cenitol) in a half a cup of ice cold tart cherry juice. Magnesium is supposed to help you relax. Tart cherries are naturally rich in melatonin and they also contain good amounts of tryptophan. The combination of the two has been so beneficial to my sleep, especially with my reduced training volume.

Off season is the ideal time to start working on the smaller things that can lead to big gains when you start to ramp up your training again. The best way to create a new habit is to choose one thing and work on it daily until it just becomes a part of what you do. I've found that scheduling it into my day made all the difference for me. Once you've mastered that one small thing, move on to the next. It won't happen overnight. Changes, much like training effect, take time to produce results. Stay consistent, be patient and the results will come.

6 Tips to Planning Your Next Race Season

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 12:19:00 +0000

Fall is here and for most people in the northern hemisphere that means triathlon season is over. Some of you may opt carry that fitness into late season half or full marathon, others have chosen to take some time off from structured training to chill out and enjoy moving for the fun of it.

This is also the time of year that many people start planning their 2020 race season. Early bird pricing for many races means most people commit to races well in advance without giving too much thought to how to structure their training in terms of building and recovery between races. This can result in lacklustre performances in key races, which results in an unhappy athlete.

How do you avoid this?

1. Race Selection. When you sit down to plan out your season, pick your goal race. I have some tips on how to do that here

2. Where to start? Figure out where your fitness level is currently at. Be honest with yourself. Did you spend the last 3 months after your last goal race sitting on the couch and binge watching Netflix? Or did you give yourself a bit of recovery time and then resume some easy training? If you are starting from square one, then you're going to need a longer build than if you kept up some activity post race.

3. Work Backwards. Once you've chosen your A race and you've figured out how long you think you'll need to build towards it, work backwards to figure out your start date.

4. Other races. Most of us like to do more than one race per season. The key here is not to "over race". You have to allow for sufficient recovery between events. The shorter the distance, the less recovery necessary. Here are some examples of recovery times for various distance triathlons:

* Sprint: 1 week

* Olympic: 2 weeks

* 70.3: up to 5 weeks

* Ironman: roughly 8 weeks

If you're a runner:

* 5 km: up to 5 days

* 10 km: up to 5 days

* Half marathon: up to a week

* Marathon: up to three weeks

This can vary depending on age, gender and time in the sport. Men tend to recover faster than women and the younger you are the faster you recover. If you are newer in the sport, it will take you longer to recover than someone who has been in the sport for longer.

5. Test early and test often. Do some testing to figure out where you are at fitness wise. If you're a runner, sign up for a 5 km race, plug your race time into an online calculator to figure out your current training paces and go from there. If you're a triathlete, you'll need to test swimming and cycling as well. For swimming, you can do a 1000 meter time trial or a CSS test. On the bike you can do either a ramp test or an FTP test.

6. Make your plan and stick to it. If you are an athlete that doesn't need the one on one guidance a coach can provide, there are plenty of great resources for online training programs. Online training platforms, Training Peaks and Final Surge have stores that you can purchase plans from a variety of coaches. There are also a ton of fantastic books out there. The Triathlete's Training Bible by Joel Friel and Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 Triathlon are a couple that I've read.

You invest a lot of time and money into racing so taking the time to map out your season before it starts will give you the best of chance of success. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. If you're not sure where to start or you don't want to think about planning, I will have 3 spots for my one on one coaching opening up November 1st. If you're interested and want to know more, shoot me an email

Do you plan your race year out in advance or do you wing it?

What I've Tried: Brubeck Body Guard 3D Pro

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 13:00:00 +0000

As someone who pretty much lives in spandex, I've become quite particular about what I wear when I'm working out. Gear has to be comfortable, functional and it has to look good. Look good, feel good, go fast, right?

I recently had the opportunity to test out some products from Brubeck Body Guard. Brubeck is a Polish company and their production facility is located in a town called Wola, that is historically known in the textile industry. The production chain is located in the European Union and they control 100% of the process and quality. Nothing gets outsourced outside the EU. They also manage to recycle 80% of their waste products. To top it off, all of their products are REACH and Oeko-Tex 100 certified which means that their products are free of harmful substances. I think if we took a good look at what most of our workout wear was made with, we'd probably be surprised at what was in there.

Brubeck offers a several different types of active wear, including merino wool base layers, which I hope to test out when the weather gets colder. This time around, I tested a running top from the 3D pro line as well as their cycling shorts.

The first product I tried were the cycling shorts. When I opened the box to check out the shorts, I was surprised that they weren't constructed the same way as traditional cycling shorts. They were made out of a knit fabric vs. lycra. They were also almost totally seamless, including the waistband, which I found interesting. The chamois seemed thinner than a normal cycling chamois. It was also grooved. The legs had a network of silicone grippers along inside of the hem at the front of the shorts, which is a feature that I prefer on my cycling shorts. I am not a fan of the elastic gripper that makes your legs look like sausages.

I figured I'd jump right in and test them out on a super hot, 3 hour ride. I was immediately struck by the fit. I have to be honest, I prefer bib shorts to regular shorts so I was a bit skeptical that I'd like these. I don't like things digging into my waist when I'm riding. The fact that these are made of knitwear and are seamless meant that they didn't have a traditional waistband so they didn't dig into my waist. They felt like bib shorts but without the hassle of straps. And they stayed put when I was riding because they are high waisted. WINNING!

Despite the humid weather, I didn't feel sweaty and gross by the time we hit the coffee shop post ride. The seamless knitwear allows the skin to breathe because there are two layers. The inner layer wicks moisture away from the skin and there are 3D zones on the thighs that form air circulation channels to help keep you cool. I distinctly remember sitting on my bike and feeling the sun on my legs but not feeling hot, even though I was wearing black shorts.

Where these shorts really shine is the chamois. The high density open cell foam does a great job at offering good padding, but it's the grooves in the chamois that help keep it from bunching and allow for some good airflow as well. I found these to be exceptionally comfortable. I could have easily ridden more than 3 hours in them and I'm pretty sure there wouldn't have been any shifting around on the saddle. After I'm done with all my structured training, I'm looking forward to taking them out on a really long ride to see how they fare.

The second piece I tried out was the 3D Pro running top. The 3D pro technology is a "spatial yarn design based on a 3D mesh fabric. It has superior moisture absorption and enhances the air circulation inside the garment structure" (as per the Brubeck.com website). I have a tough time regulating my body temperature these days (thank you hormones) so on hot days I tend to wear super light and loose tank tops so I don't have much touching my skin. The 3D pro line are snug fitting, almost seamless tops. The top I got was a t-shirt style and I thought Oh boy, I'm going to be a big sweaty mess in this. I wore it on some of the hottest days we've had and I can honestly say that while it felt hot out, I didn't feel hot. Not at all. I was sweating for sure, but I wasn't soaked. I never felt like I was overheating either. When I came back from one of my hotter runs, I touched my back to see if the top was actually wet because I didn't feel wet. Sure enough, I was wet but the 3D pro technology kept me feeling dry. I was pretty darn impressed. And the top is a beautiful blue colour that I absolutely love.

I am very impressed with this gear. The fit is great and the functionality is even better. I still have a long sleeve base layer to test out as well so watch for that review when the weather gets colder. Brubeck has an extensive line of clothing over in Europe so I'm really hoping to see even more of this fantastic product here in Canada.

Disclaimer: I was given this product in exchange for an open and honest review.

Clermont 2020 Camps

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 12:00:00 +0000

I know it's only the middle of July and it's hard to wrap your head around the fact that winter is 6 months away. But it will be here before we know it. Which is why we wanted to get this out there now. I also know that many of you have been waiting for dates and details on this so you can start planning your out your 2020 trips / season.

What am I talking about? For those of you that are new to this blog, I’m talking about our Clermont Training Camps. Eric D’Arcy and I have been hosting these camps since 2018 and they’ve sold out every year. Clermont is located in Lake County, Florida and is a hotbed for triathlon training. It’s not uncommon to see pros training at the National Training Centre (NTC) or running along the Waterfront Trail. Clermont offers great cycling options, open water swimming, trail running as well as a top notch training facility at the NTC. It’s the perfect place to escape winter and get in some early season volume.

After some great suggestions from our campers this year, we have decided to do things a bit differently in 2020. We will be doing two weeks again but the format has changed slightly. These are the offerings and dates for next year:

February 2 to February 8th: The Fierce Females Camp. This camp is geared towards the beginner or middle of the pack female triathlete. If you've ever wanted to experience a triathlon camp but felt intimidated by the thought, then this camp is for you. The focus of this week will be skill development and confidence building, in addition to volume. I promise you, it will be a transformative week.

Getting ready to run on the infamous Clay Trail

We will cover everything from nutrition, strength & mobility to goal setting. We limit camps to 8 athletes so we keep the coach to athlete ratio low. This year we are implementing some pacing guidelines for cycling so we can keep the groups closer together. Your average speed on the bike for a 2 hour ride should be between 22 to 25 kph.

February 16th to February 22nd: The Open Season Camp. This camp is geared towards athletes that are at the intermediate level and are looking for a high volume, informative week of training. The focus of this week will be skill refinement in all three sports in addition to volume.

Swim skills with ex pro triathlete, Sara McClarty

We will cover everything from nutrition, strength & mobility to goal setting. Once again, space is limited to 8 athletes so we can keep the coach to athlete ratio low. Pacing guidelines for a 2 hour ride would be 26 to 29 kph.

New for this year, we will be including food for lunches + some snacks, in addition to breakfast foods. Coach Eric and I will once again be cooking dinners for the week so you can all focus on recovery. This is YOUR week to train and relax.

We will also be including downloadable maps for all the rides. You will have to have either a Strava or Ride with GPS account.

For full details and itinerary click here

Big Day on the VanFleet Trail

Open water swimming at Waterfront Park

Happy Campers!

6 Tips for Getting your Coaching Business Started.

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 10:23:00 +0000

Those of you that have been reading this blog from the beginning probably already know the story. The question has come up several times in the last several months so I thought I'd tell the story again and offer up some tips to people looking to get into the coaching world.

This blog was really how I ended up getting my start in coaching. In the early days of this blog I documented my goal of running a sub 1:40 half marathon the year I turned 40. I talked about my training, my diet, things I loved. It was essentially an online diary. I crushed that sub 1:40 goal and ran a 1:35. That was in 2011. In 2012, I had a very successful year of racing, either winning my AG, or the overall masters title at several different races. I was a self coached athlete at the time and I had put a lot of focus on strength training and speed work. I talked about this often in the blog and on Instagram. I did a lot of research into structuring a running plan and how to build strength work into it. I firmly believe it was all those early successful races that opened the door to coaching.

I didn't come from an elite level sport background. I played soccer during high school and not at any sort of high level. That was it. Everything I knew about running, I learned through trial and error, reading and talking to other runners. The same with triathlon. I am a student of the sports I love. Plain and simple. At first I had friends ask if I would coach them. So I said sure. It seemed like a natural fit for me. I loved helping people work towards a goal with a solid plan. And that's how it all started.

Before I quit my full time job to pursue coaching full time, there were a few things I did.

1. Get certified. There are plenty of certifications out there, look at one that makes the most sense for you in terms of your goals as a coach. Personally I felt having a certification made me more credible. Certifications also make sure you stay on top of your education and growth as a coach.

2. Figure out what your niche is. Is there something in your sport that you have a lot of experience with or have done a lot of research on? Do people come to you for advice on that particular thing? If so, consider that your niche. Put it out there when you start marketing.

3. Determine your worth. Research other coaches in your area and see what they are offering for what they are charging. I started off a little lower than the going rate in Toronto simply because I was new to the industry. I knew that as my business grew and I learned more, I would bring myself up to the going rate in my area.

4. Utilize social media to get the word out. If you have a blog, blog about it. If you are on Instagram, post about it. I did both things BEFORE I left my full time job so people were aware that I'd be accepting new athletes. Set the stage so people know when you'll be open for business.

5. Build your brand. In the age of social media, this is so important. The internet is filled with potential clients. How will you get them to hire you? Think about ways you can engage with people and share your knowledge. If you are offering something of value, people will follow and potentially become clients.

6. Approach local clubs and see if you can work with them. I coached cycling with the Toronto Triathlon Club for two years. That was additional income over and above my private coaching clients. It got me out of the house and in front of potential new clients. It also helped me get outside my comfort zone and work with a group, which in turn added another piece of knowledge and experience to my coaching.

I can honestly say that getting into coaching was the best career decision I've ever made. I am a "helper" and I always have been. It just took me 45 years to figure out where I was happiest helping and this is it.

If you have any other questions related to coaching that I haven't answered here, don't hesitate to comment or email me. I'm always happy to chat!

Keep on chasing those dreams!

~ Coach PK

photo courtesy of Edison Yao

Look out 2019!

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 14:10:00 +0000

Happy very belated New Year!

It’s been a while since I’ve sat myself down and typed an update. It always seemed very hard to find the time. When you’ve got 20 hours to kill in a car and you don’t want to use up all your data, you’ve got nothing BUT time. So here we are.

There has been a lot that’s happened in the last few months. I’ve hired a coach (Sarah Russell at Sustainable Athlete Endurance), I’ve gotten back to regular running and, the biggest news, I’ve taken a position as the Head Coach at BlackToe Running. That was a giant step outside my comfort zone but it has been such a fun and rewarding experience in the few months I’ve been there, I’m so glad I accepted the position.

photo: Edison Yao

I closed out 2018 feeling ready to put my nose to the grindstone and really put in the work both personally and professionally in 2019. Going into year three of PKPC I certainly didn’t envision I’d be where I am now. That being said, I never really had a specific vision when I started my coaching business. I just knew that I wanted to help athletes get across the finish line happy and healthy.

I won’t say it’s impossible to grow a business without a plan but it certainly helps to have some sense of direction in terms of where you want things to go. It’s very much like training for a race. You should have a plan and be willing to put in the work if you want to see results. I have struggled with that over the last year, probably because I always felt like I had the time and then I’d put things off or I’d forget about things because something else came up that demanded my attention. My focus was always shifting.

Which is why I’ve chosen the word FOCUS as my word for 2019. It is a reminder that goals don’t magically happen. They require focus and dedication to achieve them. I’ve got big goals this year, especially racing wise, so once again I will be sharing my trials and tribulations. Speaking of racing, I’ve flushed out the majority of my 2019 race schedule. The only thing that is undecided is whether or not I run a fall half marathon and try to qualify for the 2020 New York City Marathon.

This is where you will find me in 2019:

Great Clermont Triathlon (Olympic) March 16^th,

Florida 70.3 – April 14^th

The Diva Half Marathon – June 9^th(racing with the BlackToe Team!)

Muskoka 70.3 – July 7^th,

70.3 World Championships – September 7^th, Nice, France

The Diva Half marathon with be the first stand alone running race I’ve done in 2 years. TWO YEARS. That’s saying a lot about where my relationship with running has been over the last little while. But I’m finally feeling strong and healthy and running is actually starting to feel better so I’m excited to toe the line at stand alone running event. Especially since it will be with my BlackToe ladies.

This is a step up in number of races compared to last year as well. I think it’s pretty much perfect, although I have a feeling I will probably struggle a bit mentally in August. One more reason for me to have a coach to make sure I stay focused on the task at hand.

I put a call out on Instagram stories asking what people wanted me to write or talk about and the overwhelming response was strength training, followed by nutrition. So I will work on getting some posts out on those topics. If you have any other topics you want me to talk or write about don’t hesitate to email me or DM me on Instagram.

Happy Monday!

4 Tips to Picking Your Goal Race

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Mon, 10 Dec 2018 12:06:00 +0000

As a coach, this is the time of year I have athletes coming to me to help them plan out their seasons. Some athletes have already chosen and registered for a goal race. Others know they want to step up to a longer distance but aren’t sure what would be a suitable first race. Others are looking to qualify for world championships. So how do you go about picking races?

Michael Liberzon, a fellow Toronto based triathlon coach, posted a funny flow chart in his blog a few weeks ago that actually inspired this post.

Many athletes will end up registering for races that their friends or training partners are doing. Especially if these athletes are members of a triathlon club. I see this all the time with the Toronto Triathlon Club. I think this is great as it really fosters the feeling of community, as well as providing training and traveling partners. If you don’t have this sort of network, or choose to do your own thing, here are a few things you should consider when picking your goal race.

Terrain: If you live the Prairies, then picking a race like Mont Tremblant or Muskoka might not be the best choice if you’re not used to climbing. Yes, it’s possible to train for this sort of terrain inside on a trainer but, I know I would find that to be really boring. And for me, boring = a loss of motivation to train.

Ocean, Lake or River: If you’re a confident swimmer, then any body of water will probably be fine. If you’re less confident then a river swim might be a better option. My first and second 70.3 swims were in rivers and that really helped alleviate stress about being “far away” from shore in case something happened. Think about what’s available to you to train in and go from there.

Flying or Driving: How far you’re willing to go to race will either limit your possibilities or make the possibilities endless. Flying to a race will present a whole different set of variables that you probably won’t have to deal with if you’re driving. Driving to a race allows you to bring extra of pretty much everything whereas with flying, you are a bit more limited in what you can bring with you. If you are an athlete that likes to control as much as possible heading into a race, then driving may be a better option for you.

Goals: If you are looking to snag a qualifying spot for either Kona or the 70.3 World Champs then you’re going to want to be more strategic about picking your goal race. If Kona is your goal then find a race that plays to your strengths as an athlete and then hope that you’re the fastest in your AG on the day. 70.3 WC spots are a little easier to come by as the destination changes every year. When the WC came to Tremblant in 2014, I raced Luxembourg 70.3 and they were pretty much giving away spots. The guys we were sitting with at the awards said that most Europeans won’t travel to do the 70.3 WC, they only really care about Kona. I know at Lake Placid 70.3 the spot in my AG rolled down to 20^thfor the WC in South Africa. I think spots to this years WC will be in high demand in North America as well as Europe. So if that is your goal and you don’t want to travel to the other side of the world to try to get a spot, once again, pick a race that plays to your strengths and crush it.

What races are you registered for in 2019?

Off Season Strength Training - Part One

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Wed, 28 Nov 2018 10:30:00 +0000

If you’re in the northern hemisphere, chances are your triathlon season is done, or very close to being so. Your weekly training volume should be decreasing as should the intensity of your workouts. This lighter load in training volume is the perfect time to either increase your strength sessions, or, if you’re like the majority of triathletes I know, add it back into your routine.

As I coach and personal trainer, I program strength work into all my athletes training plans. I know when schedules get tight, it’s almost always the first thing to go but I cannot stress enough how important it is to maintain some kind of routine over the course of your entire season. Done with proper technique, weight training will help keep you injury free, and will help improve strength, power and muscular endurance.

Much like a triathlon training plan, strength work should also be periodized. Off season is the time to start working on building strength for your following race season. Once your build phase starts, your strength training plan should change again to allow for the additional training load. And of course, during your race season, your plan should change again with a focus on maintenance. I will delve into how to structure a periodized strength training plan in a future post. For now, I’m going to focus on some of my favourite exercises.

LOWER BODY

Since running and cycling are essentially single leg exercises, it makes sense to do some of your off season training that way. This way you work both of your legs individually and can focus on building strength equally. When doing things like squats, you may think you’re working both your legs equally but I guarantee you that one of your legs will be working slightly harder than the other. This is why single leg training is an integral part of a strength routine. When I'm just getting back into the gym, I start with unilateral exercises to work on fixing any imbalances that I may have developed. From there I will build into heavier lifting.

Form is SO important with all of these exercises. As is mind muscle connection. We often just go through the motion of the exercise without focusing on feeling the muscle work. This is why I suggest doing all of these lower body exercises with body weight first so you understand the movement and can focus on feeling the muscles you are using.

There are endless possibilities when it comes to lifting weights but these exercises are my favourites for developing strength.

Step up

These are a simple exercise that can be done on a box or a bench. The surface should be stable and big enough for you to stand on. You can do these laterally as well to change up your plane of movement. I like these because they really help you focus on the push up / off. I also like to add a knee drive on the opposite leg to mimic running stride.

Split Squat

I used to do these with my foot elevated on a bench but was recently shown an alternate way that I find so much more effective and comfortable. Instead of using a bench, you use a Smith machine, lower the bar to just below knee height, grab the squat bar pad, wrap the bar and rest the top of your foot on that. Doing that avoids the awkward twisting of your foot and toes that usually happens when you use a bench.

Note: Don't look at the ground when doing this, look ahead!

Lateral lunge / Reverse lunge

Strength training provides the perfect opportunity to change up how we move. I think it’s so important to include movement in alternate planes, especially in off season strength work, which is why I love lateral and reverse lunges. Everything we do is done in the sagittal plane so moving in alternate planes challenges other muscles that we don't normally use.

Single leg deadlift (RDL’s) + traditional deadlift

The single leg RDL is a great exercise to work on balance and stability as well as targeting your posterior chain. I do these without weight to start and gradually add weight as my form improves. I would be remiss if I didn't include barbell deadlifts as well. When done correctly, they are fantastic for working your entire posterior chain.

Single leg squat + barbell squat

A quick search on You Tube will bring up a million different variations of single leg squats. My suggestion is find one that you can do with proper form and do it. The same goes for barbell squats. Your ankle and hip mobility will dictate what you're able to do.

UPPER BODY

Swimming isn’t the only activity that requires upper body strength. Think about how much time you’ll spend hunched over in your aerobars in an Ironman. What does your form look like at the 20 mile mark of a marathon? If you’re like the majority of the population, your shoulders are slumped over and your form has gone to shit. This is why training your upper body is just as important as training your lower body.

And just like your lower body, you will probably find that you have imbalances in your upper body as well so working on building strength with single arm exercises is a good way to start your strength training program.

Again, proper form is crucial. Always focus on good posture. Keep your shoulders back and your chest lifted. That way your core will also stay engaged.

Single Arm Row (cable or dumbbell)

Personally I prefer using a cable machine for these as I feel I have better control of the time under tension than with a dumbbell.

Single Arm pull down (cable)

This is a fantastic exercise for your lats. If you do this correctly, it should mimic the pull phase of your swim stroke.

Push Press

This is an explosive, compound movement that works both upper and lower body. It's definitely one that should be perfected at a lighter weight before progressing to a heavier weight.

Chest Press (single arm dumbbell)

Doing a single arm dumbbell chest press really allows you to feel the engagement in your core because of the imbalance it creates. It's as much about training your core as it is about training your chest. The great thing about doing these unilaterally is that you end up working both sides of your body. If you're pressing with your right arm, your left obliques will fire to help stabilize your torso.

Once you've managed to develop fairly equal amounts of strength on both sides of your body, you can progress to more traditional lifting like deadlifts, back / front squats & bench press.

If you're new to strength training, I would strongly suggest hiring a good personal trainer / strength and conditioning coach so you have someone watching and correcting your form. Because if you're not doing these right, then you defeat the purpose of the exercise and, you may even get injured.

Now that you have some ideas as to what to do in the gym, stay tuned for my next post in the series: Periodizing your strength plan.

Question: Do you strength train throughout your race season? If not, why?

4 Reasons Triathletes need a Road Bike

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Tue, 18 Sep 2018 09:52:00 +0000

I'm of the belief that you can never have too many bikes. A quick look around our garage is evidence of that. If you are familiar with The Rules, then you know the correct number of bikes one should own is always n+1. If we had more room, I think there's a good chance we'd have more bikes.

When I started in multi-sport back in 2003, I bought a $500 used road bike. It didn't quite fit me but it did the trick. After a few races, I knew I wanted a triathlon bike (aka a TT bike). Especially since I was planning on doing Ironman. So after my first season of racing, I sold my $500 road bike and bought myself my first triathlon bike. Ironically I didn't end up using that bike for my first Ironman, I ended up using a road bike with aerobars because I was totally freaked out about not having enough power to climb on my TT bike (I did Ironman Lake Placid). Yup, after I bought that fancy new TT bike, I ended up buying ANOTHER road bike about 6 months later. Do you see a pattern here?

I kept that road bike until 2015 when I sold it. I put a LOT of kms on that bike. I looked forward to riding it at the end of every triathlon season. It signified riding for the sake of enjoyment vs. having to ride with a specific purpose. I purchased another road bike just before I sold that one. It may surprise you to know that I do about 70% of all my riding on that bike. Yup, 70%. I'm chalking that up to riding with a cycling club, although I've done a fair bit of indoor riding on it as well.

So, why do I think you need to hang on to that road bike?

1. Position. The geometry on a road bike is much more upright than a TT bike. Spending all that time in aero (forward flexion) isn't always the best if you have any sort of lower back or neck issues.

2. Bike handling skills. Yes, TT bikes are meant to go fast in a straight line but that doesn't mean you should neglect learning how to ride a bike. In my experience, better bike handling skills generally equals more confidence on the bike. This can translate to faster bike times simply because you're not afraid to descend, or you don't need to unclip to turn around a pylon in a race. Road bike geometry allows for much better handling across the board from cornering to climbing.

3. Develop better all around leg strength. TT bikes put you in a more aggressive, forward position. So you are situated on the nose of your saddle vs. sitting ON your saddle. This changes the angle of your hips into a more quad dominant position. That's not to say that you're not using your hamstrings BUT, one of the important things on a TT bike (aside from aerodynamics) is to help save your legs for the run. By utilizing your quads more, you "save" your hamstrings for the work they're going to have to do on the run. On a road bike, because you're in a more seated position and your hip angle isn't as closed in, you will effectively use more of your leg muscles while riding.

4. Safer to ride in groups. See #2. Because road bikes handle better and lack aerobars, they are much better suited to group riding. And when I say group riding, I mean riding in a pack. I know most triathletes don't ride in a pack but we do ride in groups, especially in the off season. Have you ever tried drafting off someone in a group ride on a TT bike? I did once and it was terrifying. on my road bike, I can ride beside someone comfortably and not feel like I'm going to swerve into them if I take my hands off my handle bars. There is a reason most cycling clubs don't allow TT bikes on club rides.

So all of you folks that are thinking about getting rid of your road bike when you upgrade to a TT bike, you may want to think twice. Your trusty road bike deserves just as much love as your shiny new TT bike.

~ Coach PK

Clermont Camp 2019

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Fri, 07 Sep 2018 13:30:00 +0000

HAPPY FRIDAY!

I know there are a bunch of you that have been waiting for this announcement since Eric and I first posted about it a few weeks ago. Here it is. Clermont Camps 2019. Notice I said CAMPS. Last year was so much fun we've decided to offer two weeks for people to choose from.

Week 1 is February 10-16th and week 2 is February 17-23. The Family Day weekend is in there so you will either have a day to recover when you come back or, you have one less day of vacation that you need to take. And, it's not March Break so flights will be less and you won't have to deal with hordes of screaming kids when you land in Orlando. Win win if you ask me.

A few things have changed this year. We are staying in a different house, one that we think is much nicer, AND, the coaches are going to cook dinner for you. Yup. You read that correctly. All you guys need to do is show up, do the work and practice recovering properly after your workouts. Let us worry about making dinner. Breakfast foods will be provided so campers will have everything they need. Lunches will be your responsibility.

Camp Costs

$1100 Early Bird (October 31st)
$1300 November 1 - January 31st)

Accommodation is as follows:

1 - Queen + Ensuite $400
1 - Queen, no ensuite $350
6 - Singles, shared room - $300 per person

Camp will start at 2:00 pm on each Sunday. We will be doing one airport pick up on each Sunday.

Expect approximately 8000-12,000m of swimming 350-500km of riding and 3-5 hours of running during the week.

We are working on adding some more fun stuff this time around as well as bringing in a special guest for our NTC swim sessions. WOOHOO. Keep your eyes peeled to this space for the itineraries!

If you are interested, follow the link to reserve your spot. If you have questions, please contact either Eric or myself. Space is limited as we are looking to keep the coach to athlete ratio small, just like last year.

Phaedra: pkperformancecoaching@gmail.com
Eric: eric@limitlesscoaching.ca

https://limitlesscoaching.ca/…/limitless-coaching-clermont…/

Getting ready to run the Clay Trail

Swim session at the NTC

Big day on the Van Fleet Trail

Hello, is it me you're looking for..?

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 18:34:00 +0000

Yes, I'm alive! And maybe you weren't looking for me, LOL. I totally just dated myself with that title...

In all my years of writing this blog, I've never taken a hiatus this long (almost 5 months!!). Truth be told, I've been spending most of my time over on Instagram. But, there's something to be said for the written word so I'm back.

A little catch up for those of you that don't follow me on IG. We came back from Florida at the end of March to less than stellar weather in April. I didn't actually get outside on my bike until May 1st. But, this summer has more than made up for our lacklustre spring. It currently feels like a jungle outside it's so wet and humid. But I will take it.

Race wise, I crammed 3 races into 6 weeks. Maybe not the best idea, especially since 2 of the 3 races were sub-par performances. Back in June we did Hawaii 70.3. I had no real goals for this race because I wasn't sure how the heat would affect me. I did my very first open water ocean swim and I absolutely loved it. It was my favourite part of the race. The bike course was the middle 1/3 of the Hawaii Ironman course - it was essentially one big climb and then a descent. I had hoped to come in around 3 hours and I just squeaked under that in 2:58. It was hot and windy and that kinda cooked me for the run. The run took place on a golf course (yup, we ran on the greens!) and it was a mix of grass and pavement along with some pretty short and steep hills. I ran at comfortable pace for the first 17km and walked through every aid station on the first lap to make sure I drank and got ice and cold sponges. The second lap I went through the first few then at 17km decided I had enough in the tank to drop the hammer so I did. I missed the podium by just under 2 minutes. It wasn't my goal to get there but knowing how close I was and where I could have made that up, bugged me for days afterwards.

Smile every mile!

The #RickyBobbyTurns50 Crew

The trip itself was amazing. We had a blast with our friends and I'm so glad we opted to go because I don't think we ever would have gone there otherwise.

Two weeks after I got back from Hawaii I did the Welland Long Course race. I had a horrible swim a decent bike and a fantastic run. I clawed my way into 2nd place in the last 400m of the run. It was really nice to finally nail a solid run off the bike. I thought that bode well for me for Muskoka two weeks later.

Muskoka 70.3 was my goal race of the season. That was where I hoped to qualify for the 70.3 World Championships. My AG was pretty stacked. They changed the bike course so it definitely played to my strengths - less steep climbs, more rollers. But, I did not have the day I hoped to have. My swim was alright but as soon as I got on the bike, my legs felt flat and my heart rate was super elevated. I rode well within my power range but watched the watts I could hold drop throughout the race. With about 15km left on the bike I threw up. I was drinking my race fuel and it went down and then came right back up a few minutes later. I was aiming for a 2:40-2:45 bike but I came in at 2:49 with legs that felt like lead. I went flying out of T2 and as I got going my legs felt a bit better. At least for the first 2km and then I started to get a side cramp. That's when everything started to go sideways. I started to have a tough time keeping nutrition or fluids down. Every time I drank, I felt like I was going to throw it right back up so there was a lot of stopping and walking. My stomach was not happy. I suffered through that first loop and then I finally clued in that I should try to have some flat coke or pepsi because I know that settles my stomach. So that's what I did at the 9km mark and by the 11km mark I felt better. I started taking in a bit more fluid / nutrition but the damage was done. I was running on fumes. I did manage to catch 3 women in my AG though but it still wasn't enough for a podium spot. Once again I missed the podium by 2 minutes. I was heart broken.

I knew there was only one Worlds spot in my AG so I figured there was no way I'd get it but, I thought I'd stick around anyway just in case a spot rolled down. Patience has never been one of my virtues but it certainly paid off in spades that day. The woman that won the 60-64 AG didn't show up so her spot rolled down to my AG, which was the biggest and myself and another woman wanted it. I finished ahead of her so I got the spot. I started crying. Definitely not the way I wanted to get the spot but, it's done. I'm headed to Nice next year and I can't wait!

I am currently enjoying a very unstructured summer. I really feel like I needed a mental break. I lost that fire that I had at the beginning of the year and I need to find it again. So right now, I'm not thinking about next year. The most planning I've done is paid for the race and booked a place to stay. I am very torn about my goals next year - if any. Part of me wants to muck about like I did this year, but maybe with a *bit* more focus and only do the 70.3 WC, with maybe a few sprint races thrown in. The other part of me wants to see what I'm really capable of with some guidance and someone to be accountable to and tackle one, maybe two 70.3's leading up to the WC in September. That also means I NEED to stay healthy and of course I can't help but think about the last time I worked with a coach, I ended up getting injured and not being able to race. But, I didn't realize I had all these underlying issues so, there was that. Now that I know there are certain things I need to be doing, hopefully I will be better off....

I also have to realize that I may have to give up some of the things that I really enjoy, like riding with Morning Glory. But, I also know that I was incredibly dissatisfied with both my 70.3 race performances this year so there's that. The question I am currently wrestling with is, how bad do I want it?

Only time will tell.

I may not post every week, but my goal is to get back on here and share training tips and some of my adventures. I got tired of posting weekly recaps - it just felt a bit redundant and I'm sure it didn't always make for interesting reading. So, my goal is for this blog to be a place where I share my knowledge as much as possible with some stories thrown in for good measure (and entertainment of course).

It's nice to be back!

~ Coach PK

Monday Musings: And just like that, it's over..

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 18:31:00 +0000

Hello!

This time next week I will be writing from my living room couch back in Toronto. We are in our last few days of our time down south and I feel like I only scratched the surface of all the things I wanted to see and do. 8 weeks seems like a long time but in the grand scheme of things, it isn't really. Throw in a week of training camp + a week with a guest for said training camp and time flies quickly. That being said, I had a BLAST these last 8 weeks. I went to Disney, we hosted some USAT athletes, toured around the Gulf Coast, met some internet friends, ran my first triathlon camp and rode my bike A LOT. As of today, I've ridden a total of 1,775km during my time here and I still have 4 days left. I've averaged over 200km a week on 2 wheels. Suffice to say my running and swimming have suffered a little bit. But I figured they would when the riding here is SO good and all I want to do is be out on my bike. I will be doing an FTP test as soon as we're back to see how much I've improved and if my Garmin head unit is accurate in it's predictions.

Selfie at the Leafs / Lighting Game in Tampa. The Leafs blew a 3-1 lead and lost 4-3. Still a good game though!

The old pier at Anna Maria Island

IG / FB meets in IRL: Alison a.k.a Racing Tales and I met up for a hilly ride.

I am very sad to be leaving. I love it here. That's not to say I hate Toronto, because I don't. It's just different here. The pace of life is much slower and I generally feel much more relaxed. Seeing the sunshine every day probably helps with that immensely. That and the fact that EVERYONE here is so friendly. All that being said, it will be good to be home and back into the land of our regular health care providers. Both G and I have beaten ourselves up pretty well. Even though Clermont is touted as a great training place, they don't have the sports therapist staff to back it up. We found a great RMT but there isn't anyone in the area that practices ART or FST. We'd have to go to Orlando for that. It's mainly because the athletic population is actually quite transient. People come in to train from January to the end of April and then they go back to where ever home may be. Clermont is growing at a rapid rate as evidenced by all the new homes that have appeared over the last year but it is a suburb, so it's attracting a lot of young families. The demand for the athletic care just isn't there yet. But perhaps it will get there down the road. I'm pretty surprised that I've managed to hold up to the volume. Things are just starting to get cranky and sore, probably because I had a 3 week period where I hardly did any of my physio exercises (sorry Lauren!) Life happened and I fell off the wagon. But I'm back on it now. I'm still going to need some good old fashioned manual therapy when I get back to get me back to 100%.

Even thought I'm sad to be leaving Florida, I do have some fun things lined up for when I get back home. I will be leading a free run clinic for beginners at Lole Yorkville on April 18th. I've also signed up to do a cycling skills workshop on April 7th, which will be really helpful in improving my bike handling skills and passing along those skills to others. And, on the really fun side of things, I'm going to see Franz Ferdinand on April 8th. I'm shining up the dancing shoes already!

And PKPC athletes, keep your eyes peeled for an email from me in regards to a new partnership with Xact nutrition. It's all about helping you guys #fuelyourgoals 😀

Catch you all back in The Six....

~ Coach PK

Monday Musings: A Magical Week

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Mon, 05 Mar 2018 21:53:00 +0000

Happy Monday!

The dust has settled and the house is quiet once again. This past week was a big one! We hosted some elite triathletes for the weekend, I went to Disney for the first time and I celebrated another trip around the sun.

Last December, one of our coaches here, Sarah McClarty, posted in the Clermont Triathletes FB group that another USAT coach was looking for a home stay for 3 athletes that were coming in to race the draft legal race in Lake Louisa State Park. It happened to be the same weekend as my birthday. Gary asked if I'd be ok with having some athletes stay with us and I said sure why not. The girls emailed us shortly after to introduce themselves: Sophie Chase, Ellie Abrahamson and Mary Alex English. They were arriving on the Wednesday and staying until the Sunday. Fast forward to January and I book a trip to Disney for the day with friends of mine that were going to be visiting. I booked it on the same day the girls were arriving. Oops. Turned out that they weren't going to be arriving until much later in the evening. That meant that I could stay and watch the fireworks at Disney and still make it home before they arrived.

WHEW.

I never went to Disney as a kid so I never really understood what all the fuss was about. I always thought that adult Disney fanatics were a bit crazy. Now that I've been there, I totally get it. Especially if you went as a kid. It is a pretty amazing place. I am thankful that I went with my friends David & Elyse - they are fanatics and they know all the ins and outs of the various parks. I trusted my trip to them completely and I had a blast. I'm not a big ride person, mostly because they scare me, but I went on Space Mountain and another roller coaster and I was totally fine. Space Mountain was a bit disorienting at first because you're in the dark but it ended up being a pretty fun experience. And none of the rides are terribly long so even if you are a bit freaked out, you know it's not going to last very long.

I got there just after 10 and we were in the park by around 11. I was given two buttons to wear, one that said it's my first time and another that said it's my birthday. Sure it was a bit early but whatever. I was celebrating all week, ha ha. Every single staff member (or cast member as they are referred to here) wished me happy birthday. Definitely made for a fun day. I wasn't sure if I'd last until the evening fireworks but the day flew by. There is so much to see. They even do a full on parade at 3:00 pm every day.

Yup, that's a fire breathing dragon!!!

We saw some shows went on a bunch of other rides and wandered around. Surprisingly the park wasn't that busy. Yes, there was a lot of people around but it wasn't as insane as I had imagined. Thankfully! Knowing that our guests were coming in later in the PM I stayed for the fireworks. I wasn't disappointed. Disney definitely knows how to put on a show.

Pre fireworks

I was back home by 9:45 pm, totally sweaty and exhausted. I really wanted to go to bed but I knew the girls were coming so G and I stayed up until they arrived around 11:15. We met them all, along with Jarrod, their coach and got them settled. They were still on west coast time so they stayed up for a bit while G and I went to bed. G got up to swim the next day but I opted to skip that and hang with the girls in the morning to make sure they were a-ok. They had to go pre-ride the course but before they could do that, they had to assemble their bikes. They had no idea how to really do that so G would come in and check on them from time to time. Their coach told them they had to have their bikes assembled and ready to go for 9:15 am. I headed out with a couple of friends to do a ride before he got there but I heard he was a little annoyed with them when he arrived.

The girls were racing on Saturday but G and I had committed to doing a charity poker ride that one of my other friends here had told me about. It was leaving from Winter Garden and was finishing at The Crooked Can which is a great local brewery. Any ride that ends with a beer is a good ride, in my books. We got to Winter Garden at about 7:15. It was COLD. And by cold I mean 10 degrees celsius, which, when you've been used to 28 to 30 degrees celsius, that feels cold. My toes were frozen and I wished that I had worn full fingered gloves. We collected our score card and rolled out with the group. There was a lot of chit chat. Again, one thing I've noticed here is that people don't know how to ride in a group properly. And they wonder why cars here yell at them. There were a few guys trying to maintain some order and give directions but, it was a bit disorganized. We did stick together which was nice as there were all levels of riders. I figured it was going to be an easy ride for me so that was perfect. Last week was a hard week of training so it was nice to just cruise for a change. We collected all our cards and headed back to Winter Garden. I had a crappy hand, but not the crappiest so I didn't win a prize. There was a prize for the best / worst hands. G and I sat around for the draw prizes and then went to get a beer. Well, I had a beer. We then hit a patio for lunch and after lunch we headed home. I am not a good day drinker so I was ready for a nap. But I rallied an managed to keep my eyes open, ha ha.

The girls came back and filled us in on their race. We were checking their progress online. We had figured that Sophie would probably win but she wasn't showing any splits after the swim so we figured something happened. When she got back we found out what went down. Her top tube snapped. So, she was out. She was PISSED. But Ellie and Mary Alex rallied and came in 4th and 3rd respectively. Ellie is an insanely fast runner. She ran a 16:35 OFF THE BIKE. That works out to 3:19/km. WTF. She was so nonchalant about it too when we told her her split. She had no idea, ha ha ha.

It was so awesome to have the girls with us for the weekend. On the Thursday night I made dinner for everyone and we sat around and chatted for a long time. They told us about their experiences so far. All of them are VERY new to the sport. This was only their second race. They were recruited from various track programs. They weren't necessarily the fastest or highest ranked but they fit a certain body type that USAT is looking for. They had to pass a swim test and a run test to see if they had potential. The cycling they would learn. All 3 of these girls are swimming 750m between 10-12 minutes. They're averaging around 35-37/kph in pack as this is draft legal and then running anywhere between 16-18 minutes OFF THE BIKE for a 5km. So amazing. What I found really interesting was their mindset. For them it's a job. They had no real feelings about the sport like age groupers do. It was kind of strange. They thought G and I were awesome because we went out and trained on our own vs. being told to. I thought that was funny. It's just normal for us. I suppose if I had started at a high level in the sport, my mindset would be different as well.

L to R: Ellie, Mary Alex and Sophie

They left us yesterday to take over an Airbnb in downtown Clermont for the next few days then they're off to Sarasota for another weekend of racing. We'll be cheering for them for sure. Before they left they gave us a card and a signed USA Triathlon cycling jersey, which I thought was super sweet. I'm SO glad we got the opportunity to do this!

Even with all the goings on, I still managed a solid week of training. I'm working my way up to a 400km week of cycling. That's my goal for our last week here. So there will be plenty of time in the saddle over the next little while. I'm trying not to neglect other things as well but there is only so much time in the day. This is how last week went down:

Monday: OFF - when Training Peaks suggests you may need an extra day off because your form is so low and you're not feeling so awesome, you take the day off.

Tuesday: 2650m swim in the a.m., followed by an 80km hilly ride to the Yalaha Bakery with fellow TTC'ers Kim Robinson & Halley Georgas. I got the eclair I didn't get last year. All is right in the world.

Wednesday: 9.7km run with 4 at tempo pace. My legs were feeling pretty heavy after the previous days ride but I still managed to nail my paces. Then off to Disney where I spent all day on my feet.

Thursday: 83km on the TT bike with Halley on the Van Fleet Trail. It was SUPER windy out. Definitely a good day to be on the TT bike. And I did my second brick of the season, we ran 12 minutes off the bike.

Friday: OFF. I had planned on doing my long run but I wasn't feeling so hot when I got up so I decided to give myself the day off. I woke up with a headache that was bordering on a sinus attack so I chilled out.

Saturday: 72km ride

Sunday: 16.5km long run with 4x2km race pace repeats followed by a 36km spin along the trail for coffee.

Totals:

Swimming: 2,650m (UGH)
Cycling: 271km
Running: 26.2km

Total time: 13h 17 minutes. My TSS this week was 742 vs 801 and I felt pretty good for the most part. Accumulating this much fatigue is new for me so I'm trying to be careful and really listen to my body. I don't know how far I can push things, but I don't think that I want to dip much past -35 in form. I've gotten down to -28 and I felt pretty tired but not totally smashed. I was toeing the line for sure though. A few more negative points and I think I would have been toast.

Tomorrow Eric is flying in and we're getting ready for our first camp that starts on Saturday. The weather is looking like a roller coaster ride for the next two weeks so I'm crossing my fingers that the rain stays away at least!

Anyone else been to Disney World? What was your experience like? Have you gone back again? I'd go back again but I think I'd go to Epcot instead.

Happy Monday!

~ Coach PK

Monday Musings: Halfway There

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 22:07:00 +0000

Hello!

I'm still here, I'm just not spending a lot of time online. Honestly, it's the last thing on my mind when I've got spectacular weather and great people to hang out with. If I'm not out training, I'm either sitting on the back deck reading or working. Weekends are spent out and about exploring. There is always something going on. It's funny how last year I thought that 2 months was going to be a long time. It's not. It's far too short when you've got places you want to see and people you want to visit.

It has been between 28-31 degrees celsius every day for the last two weeks and that is going to continue until this weekend. It's made for some excellent heat training that's for sure. I have had to pay extra attention to hydration. I learned that the hard way on a long run last week. I'm not really sure what I was thinking but I only brought one bottle with me on an hour and 10 minute long run. I went out at 9:30 am and ran along a part of the trail with NO shelter. And it was super windy. It was like running into a blast furnace. To say I caved was an understatement. Strava assigned me an extreme suffer score and my Garmin told me I'd need 3 days to recover. Needless to say I've learned my lesson.

I've done a LOT of volume in these last few weeks. More so than last year. But I came to Florida in much better cycling shape than last year as well. I certainly didn't think that when I did my first FTP test back in November, but things do come back quickly if you stay the course and do the work. My body is actually feeling ok. I've been doing mobility work several times a week, along with my physio work. I've been getting to the gym more often as well since it is so close. My cranky SI joint seems to be happier these days. I've been on my road bike most of the time but I took my TT bike out this past Saturday and I am very happy to report that my back managed to hold up ok. And it wasn't like I was just spinning my legs. These were hard efforts with climbing. I was a bit sore / tight after I got off the bike but once I started moving around, I was fine. I'm going to keep doing all that I'm doing and hope that things keep improving bit by bit.

I do have a few bits of exciting news to share. I will be leading a beginners running workshop at the Lole Yorkville store when I'm back in Toronto in April. WOOHOO! I will be hosting 4 workshops in total. The first two are geared towards beginners. I am working on topics of discussion and I will be giving people a plan they can follow that will get them up to running for 30 minutes straight by the time the group meets again at the beginning of July. I'm really looking forward to this!

The second bit of new is that I have finally gotten a PKPC kit in the works. I've gone with Louis Garneau and they've created an awesome design that I absolutely love. For now I've gotten tri and running stuff done but I may end up getting some cycling stuff made as well given how much time I spend on my road bike. We'll see. Next up - HATS! I want a technical trucker hat and a regular running hat so if anyone has any recos, let me know.

So that's been the update. Nothing crazy to report. I've started a few blog posts on some topics of interest but they will require a bit more research so stay tuned for that at some point in the next week or so.

On to the fun part - TRAINING! After my epic weekend at the Hunter Allen Camp, I took a couple of days off and then got sick, so I ended up taking another day off later in the week. Needless to say I was well rested coming into this past week. This is how last week unfolded.

Monday: 35km easy spin to Winter Garden for coffee with G.

Tuesday: Skipped swimming due to a late night watching the Olympics. 13km long run with 3x2km repeats that completely killed me. 30 minutes of Upper body & core work followed by a 30 minute mobility class.

Wednesday: 30 minute easy swim (1554m to be exact)

Thursday: 100km ride with "Centre Hill Gang". Nice easy 5km spin to meet the group, followed by roughly another 5-10km at a civilized pace and then the hammer got dropped and I hung on for dear life for the next 75km. It was nice to actually have to work hard. I haven't pushed myself too hard since I've gotten here and this ride was just what I needed. I stopped for a coffee and a smoothie on the way home so I'd have enough gas to take the long way home so I could get my first 100km ride of 2018 in the bank.

Friday: This was going to be a tempo run but given the previous days effort, I did a recovery run instead. I then hit the gym for a 40 minute full body session, followed by a 40 minute swim.

Saturday: Just under 60km TT Fun with the Swim Like a Pro Tri group. I took Tom Sawyer out for his first outdoor ride of 2018. I was surprised at how comfortable I was for most of the ride. I'm not in the most aero position but I definitely seem to be able to crank out the watts on this bike. I've been contemplating changing my fit to try to get a bit more aero but I may save that for the off season. I know there is a trade off. I may get more aero but loose more power. I'm not sure what's better. I'm also not sure if my back will be able to take a more aggressive position. I do know that my neck and shoulders were totally fine at the end of this ride, which is NOT normal for me. So something has changed in my mobility through my upper back and neck. The bike was followed by a short run but I didn't know they were running so I didn't bring my running shoes. After the run we did a short open water swim. I swam about 1000m I think. My Garmin said 817m but I went around the 400m course twice and did about another 100m out and back. So something is up.

Sunday: 90km with the Epic Cycles crew. This was a SPEEDY ride. I do find riding with this group to be a bit stressful as no one seems to want to take charge and organize HOW we ride so the pack is a little messy. I try to stay close to the front where it seems to be a bit more organized. I did have a 20 minute run off the bike scheduled but that didn't happen. I was tired and hungry so we made lunch and I did some work.

Totals for the week:

Swimming: 4,567m (I kid you not!)
Cycling: 284km
Running: 20km <----- NEEDS WORK

I keep saying I need to work on my running and I've been better this year than last year but the bike always seems to take precedence. My bike V02 max is now better than my run V02 max. Funny how things have changed.

Total Time: 14h 22 minutes. Total TSS for the week 801. Which is the highest it's been in a while. Which is also why I thought it would be a good idea to take today off, even though I felt ok. I know this week is probably going to be another big one in terms of cycling. I've got 4 longer rides on tap, one of them will probably be a really easy / fun ride but it's still time in the saddle. I'm doing a Poker Ride on Saturday in Winter Garden. It's my birthday and I figured that would be a fun way to get out and do something different. It also ends at the Crooked Can Brewing company so REALLY how could I say no? Beer + Bikes = awesome.

Happy Monday!

Has anyone ever done a poker run / poker ride? I've done a run but this will be the first ride. It's gonna be FUN!

Monday Musings on a Tuesday: When Opportunity Knocks

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 14:17:00 +0000

I had a hangover yesterday.

But it wasn't THAT kind of hangover. It was an exercise hangover, ha ha. This past weekend was nothing short of amazing. Actually, the last 4 days have been amazing. All because I offered up my time.

This past weekend, I got the opportunity to be a part of a Peaks Coaching Group Women's cycling camp led by the one and only Hunter Allen. He's kind of a big deal in the world of cycling with power. It all came about on Wednesday when a friend of a friend here in Clermont posted that she was looking for another female rider that was willing to cover off her "C" group of riders. I thought why the heck not. I'm always looking for new people to ride with AND, it was all ladies which is even better AND, I'd get to learn from one of the best in the business.

The camp was an intro to power and cycling skills camp. I've been training with power for almost 4 years now so I understand the basics but in terms of real in depth analysis, I feel I have some gaps in my knowledge. And I know my cycling skills need some work as well. What better person to learn from than Hunter and what better environment than with a group of likeminded women. It was a no brainer.

It also gave me the opportunity to meet Julie McKenzie, who is the friend of my friend Marianne. Julie added me on Facebook shortly after my second trip to Clermont in October 2016. I never got a chance to meet her last year so when she posted on Facebook that she needed some help with this camp, I jumped at the chance. It was one of the best impulsive decisions I've ever made. You know when you say yes to something and then you second guess yourself and think oh shit what have I done? Every single bit of worry or apprehension I had completely evaporated within 10 minutes of meeting the awesome group of ladies I would be spending the next 3 days with.

There were 14 ladies in total, not including me. One from Canada (Winnipeg to be exact), one from Bermuda and the rest from various places across the US. It was a diverse group in terms of abilities but all of these ladies knew their way around a bike. A few of them were racers, a handful were triathletes and the rest were just women that really enjoyed riding their bikes. All of them were there for the same reason - to improve their skills and their knowledge.

The camp started on Thursday night with a 2 hour talk about cycling skills and the basics of power and why it was a more reliable metric than heart rate. Hunter touched a bit on the metrics in Training Peaks but the big ones he focused on were TSS and IF (Intensity Factor). That two hours flew by. I have notes scribbled in a notebook that I have to decipher when my brain is up to the task, ha ha.

The next day was divided up into two main workouts. The first 2 hours of the day were spent doing drills, getting the group comfortable riding in a group with other people around them and learning how to handle their bikes in a group. We did some wheel touching and shoulder leans while riding in circles on grass. That was incredibly unnerving but my partner, Sarah, and I managed to do it. Not without a lot of nervous laughter though. We then headed off to a parking lot to practice steering and cornering. I haven't gotten the hang of the steering technique that Hunter taught us, but the cornering was much better. Especially cornering to my right. I'm much more comfortable going fast that way vs. cornering left. I now know what I need to work on.

The best kind of bike gang!

From the parking lot, we headed off onto the newly paved Hancock Trail to learn how to pace line. We rode along there and then up the back of Sugarloaf Mountain and then down the front side. I had such a blast on that descent.

Coming back along the Hancock Trail

Heading out to Sugarloaf Mountain

We then turned around and headed back to the hotel for lunch and a group data analysis session. I found these sessions to be so insightful. Hunter would download everyone's Garmins and upload the files to WK04 and then analyze areas he thought people did really well on and areas where they could improve. He then gave suggestions on things they could do to improve.

Post Ride data analysis

Saturday was our longer ride (90km) that consisted of a 1 minute power test (up a hill) as well as a 20 minute FTP test. I have never done an FTP test outside. It was evil and awesome all at the same time. The course they mapped out had some good climbs but some good descents as well. We were also dealing with a massive headwind and a lot of heat. This past weekend temps were in the high 20's low 30's. It was hot. We did that after close to 45km of riding already. It was hard. I'm not used to doing a TT on my road bike either. I came away with an FTP of 207w according to Hunter. He went with my normalized power (218w) for the 20 minute segment because the course was hilly and it wasn't a steady state effort like it would be on the trainer. It's not where I was last year but it's getting closer. I suspect by the time I come back from Florida it will be close to where I was heading into my peak training last year.

Megumi taking off on the start of her 20 minute test. You can see the first climb in the distance

Sunday was spent learning about rotating pace lines. It was a little touch and go at first but once we got going, we did a pretty good job. It's not an easy skill to learn and if you are nervous in a group or you're unsure of the skills of the people that you're riding with, it makes it challenging. Once we had that down, we stopped on a flat stretch of road and learned how to sprint. We practiced learning how to shift in the drops while being out of the saddle (AHHH), how to let the bike rock back and forth. We then started sprinting. We did some sprints in the small ring and surprisingly that's where I had my best power effort of the day, ha ha. We then moved to big ring sprints. Once we had practiced those, we started racing each other. Julie and another woman, Mia, who is an elite road racer and coach from Wisconsin, raced against each other and the speed was just incredible. Mia hit 1000w. ONE THOUSAND WATTS. I can't even FATHOM that. I think my max was 586w.

Sarah and I sprinting

After we had sprinted our hearts out, Hunter broke us into groups. I was with Julie's group. We strategized, rode down to the start and rolled out.

Our plan was for Julie to cover the breaks and then the rest of us had to keep Katherine, our sprinter sheltered. But the other team went on the attack right away and threw us for a loop so we all just ended up chasing people down the road. For the second race Hunter gave us a strategy he wanted us to stick to. We were going man to man so Julie assigned each one of us a person to mark. We rolled out again and the jostling for position started. This really felt like a race, there was a lot of moving around. Katherine, who has raced for years, knew what to watch for as the rest of us were just hanging on for dear life. I was near her at one point and I could hear her saying they were forming a lead out line. I watched to see what Mia, a veteran racer, was doing and she was obviously pulling Lynda, who was the woman that I had to mark. So I stuck to Lynda's wheel like glue. I could see them moving up through the group and over to the right hand side of the road. I kept on Lynda's wheel. Mia was getting closer to the front. I knew if she got past the front of the group, that would be it. A small gap started to open up on the right. We were getting close to the finish line. I was pretty sure I heard Katherine saying watch Mia and Lynda. The gap opened up a bit more so I thought I'd catch them off guard, shoot the gap and sprint to the line. I didn't think Lynda could out sprint me if I got the jump on her so I went for it. I didn't hear or see anyone coming after me but I knew someone would. Sure enough, just as I got to the finish line, I see Mia's wheel come up beside me. I'm pretty sure she caught me right at the line. Had I waited another 15-20s, I think I would have gotten to the line first. But DAMN was that ever exciting. I totally get the adrenaline rush. That was a LOT of fun.

Back at the hotel we went over our data again. I got some insights into where my weaknesses are and how I can improve them, which was immensely helpful. Hunter also looked at people's overall fitness trends if they had a lot of data on their Garmins. I only had data from the end of December so there wasn't a lot to look at but you can definitely see the training load build over the last little while, ha ha. This weekend resulted in a massive peak in fatigue so we'll see how the next few days go. You know you're tired when your Training Peaks app tells you that you should consider taking a rest day, ha ha. So I took yesterday off and was still feeling a fair bit of fatigue this morning so I skipped my swim. I may go later in the day as long as it doesn't rain.

I covered 239km on two wheels last week, the majority of it over the weekend. That also included 1844m of climbing! It's been a long time since I've cycled 3 days in a row or climbed that much in 3 days (hello indoor riding!) It wasn't what I had planned for the weekend, it was a million times better.

I can't even begin to thank Julie enough for bringing me in to the camp and letting me stick around for the weekend. It was an experience I won't soon forget. I hope to cross paths with these ladies again.

Dinner out at the Crooked Spoon

What I've Tried: Heart Rate Variability Monitoring

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 14:36:00 +0000

If you've seen my IG stories then you will have seen snippets of me talking about HRV. What exactly is HRV? HRV stands for heart rate variability and it is the variation in time from one heart beat to another. I'm sure you're now wondering why you should care about it. Well....I'm going to get up on my heart rate training soapbox now and tell you why.

Despite how good exercise makes us feel, we have to remember that it is a stress on the body. Our bodies can't distinguish between exercise stress and other stress. If you train with heart rate and pay attention to your data, you will notice changes in your resting heart rate over a point in time. This can be due to increased cardiovascular fitness (your heart rate becomes lower) impending sickness (your resting heart rate is higher than normal) or dehydration (resting HR will also be higher than normal). Many things can affect your heart rate.

Your heart is controlled by your autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is the involuntary part of your nervous system. This system breaks into two more branches, called the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches. When you're under stress, the sympathetic part of your ANS is active. It puts all systems on alert. The other branch, the parasympathetic branch, is the relaxed part that just goes about it's business when you're in a relaxed state. When your heart rate increases, that means the sympathetic branch is more active. Your heart rate beats in a more regular rhythm when you're stressed. That also means that your HRV (time between heart beats) decreases. (source)

When you're more relaxed, your heart rate decreases and beats only to meet the body's requirements. If you've ever taken your heart rate manually, I'm sure you've noticed that your heart rate doesn't always beat like a metronome. In this state, your HRV increases. Meaning that the time between beats increases. Because of these differences, HRV is a great indicator of the balance between the activity of the 2 branches of the autonomic nervous system and therefore it's an indirect measurement of stress. Higher HRV means lower stress. Lower HRV means higher stress (source)

Heart rate offers athletes as to how their body is responding to the stress of exercise as well as any other stressors they have in their life. Garmin and Polar have factored this into their watch technology with their versions of recovery advisors. They measure the stress put on your heart through your effort and give you an estimated time to full recovery. I say estimated because everyone is different. Some people recover faster than others. Also, what you do post activity will greatly affect your ability to recovery. If you don't eat and rehydrate immediately after a workout, that will delay your recovery. If you don't sleep well, that will also affect your recovery. There are several external factors that can affect how well you recover.

How do you know when you're fully recovered? That's the tough part for a lot of athletes. These days with all the technology available to track our fitness, there really is no excuse not to track your recovery. The latest Garmin (735xt) has an HRV recovery feature in it. And you can download various apps that will also track your recovery by monitoring heart rate variability.

For the last year I have been using HRV4Training. It is an app that I downloaded on my phone. I think it was $13. I chose this one because it didn't require a heart rate strap. The last thing I wanted to do was to sleep with my heart rate strap on. No thank you. Instead, this app takes a reading from your fingertip. According to the creators, this is just as accurate as using your heart rate strap because "current generation phones can be used to detect changes in blood volume during a cardiac cycle by illuminating the skin and measuring changes in light absorption using the camera" (source).

HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT?!?!??!?!

How it works:

When I get up in the morning, I go and get my phone (I don't keep it in the bedroom) then go back and lie down. I fully relax and let my heart rate come back down before I take the measurement. The measurement takes 1 minute and it's quite bright since the uses light in addition to the camera. The app can link to Strava and Training Peaks so it can collect your workout data for analysis. Once the measurement is done, you answer a series of questions based on your training, how you feel, how your training was, if you're sore, if you drank any alcohol the night before etc. Based on your answers and your HRV, it will tell you if you're good to go, if you should limit intensity or take a rest day.

The app also allows you to track your CTL and ATL (fitness and fatigue). It gives you a V02 max estimate. You can analyze correlations between various things like sleep and heart rate. You can analyze HRV trends to see if you're adapting to your training. There is SO much information and data in this app. If you're a data junkie, then you'll love this app.

Current bike fitness over the last 2 months. As you can see I've had a few hard bike workouts in there.

This is based on my last 2 months of riding. Some de-conditioning happening + going a bit too hard on my last two rides means that I have to be careful with my effort over the next little while.

Even though I'm in the moderate category for injury, my training is still considered well polarized.

So how does this affect my training? I still plan my workouts for the week, but I will adjust my intensity accordingly depending on how well I've recovered. So there is always a plan B depending on what my HRV score says in the morning. No more powering through workouts when I really should be taking it easy. No more dogging it on days that I am totally able to go hard. The thing that really changed in terms of my training schedule is my regularly scheduled day off. I used to schedule one day off a week religiously regardless of whether or not I needed it. Now, I will do a short easy workout, usually a swim or a restorative yoga class vs taking the entire day off. Sometimes there are days where I mentally don't feel like doing anything and I'm feeling a bit tired so even if my HRV is within normal ranges, I will still take a day off because while I may not need to physically recharge, I need the mental break from training. As a result, my training has become a bit more fluid and I have yet to feel any sort of burn out.

Training this way has definitely made me pay more attention to recovery and patterns that start to emerge when I don't necessarily take the best care of myself. The older I get, the more important tracking recovery becomes.

How to you track your recovery? By feel? By resting heart rate? Or not at all?

Monday Musings: Finding my Groove

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Mon, 05 Feb 2018 13:30:00 +0000

HOLA!

I can't believe we've been here for a week already. It feels like longer. Probably because we're fairly familiar with Clermont. We've settled into the house quickly. I'm still working on figuring out a routine as I have friends down there that are on different training schedules so I'm trying to work in company for workouts when I can. Especially bike workouts. I'm comfortable riding on the Trail on my own but not out on the roads outside Clermont. There are a fair bit of bike lanes here but I don't know exactly where all of them are. That being said I have mapped a few routes on Strava that I think I'd be ok doing on my own so we'll see how I fare over the next few weeks. I've also got to finalize our camp routes as well.

Surprisingly it was Wednesday before I actually got out on my bike! Monday wasn't the nicest day so I finished running around getting groceries and house supplies and then went to the NTC to do a weight workout. Tuesday was chilly and my friend Marianne asked me if I wanted to join her for a run on the clay trail and since I hadn't done a long run the week before I figured I might as well. I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to run the trail with some company. G isn't running right now due to his knee so I wasn't sure when I'd get the opportunity to run it. Wednesday was the first really nice day of the week so I took to the trail and rode into Winter Garden. I can't believe how much has changed in the last year. There is so much new development along the trail it's crazy. I do think if we are going to bite the bullet and buy a place here, we need to do it in the next couple of years before prices start to get higher. We did end up spending some of Saturday afternoon driving around looking at houses in some of the new developments. I can't get over what you can get here for under $300,000 USD. It's insane. Realistically if we really want to make this snow bird thing work, we'd really have to downsize in Toronto into a condo. OR, we move out of the city. Both not really ideal right now. So, looks like I need to start buying lottery tickets, haha.

Sunday was a day off for me and G was still taking it easy so we went to the local farmers market in downtown Clermont, stopped at The Energy Lab for the BEST coffee ever and sat on the patio for a bit. We dropped our purchases off at the house, hopped back in the car and went exploring. We ended up in Tavares at the worst Wendy's in the world. From there we opted to head to Mount Dora to check it out again. We went last year but didn't see anything of interest. Turns out we actually missed the turn to go into the historic part of the city. D'oh. We didn't miss it this year. As we drove in we realized that this weekend was the 35th annual Mount Dora Art Festival so the town was HOPPING even though it was raining. We'll definitely be back to explore further. There looked to be a lot of interesting shops and a bunch of awesome restaurants. It's only about a 45 minute drive from Clermont so it may even warrant a bike ride out there for lunch or coffee.

Mount Dora Art Festival

I watched some of the Super Bowl, but went to bed with about 10 minutes left. I was happy wake up to see that the Eagles won. Tom Brady has won enough, it's nice to see someone else at the top, ha ha. My fave commercials of the night: The Doritos Battle Rap followed closely by the NFL commercial with Eli Manning and Odell Beckham dancing. SO funny. All in all it was a lovely first week here.

This is what went down workout wise:

Monday: 45 minute lower body strength session with a 3km run. 1.5km run to the gym and 1.5km run back

Tuesday: 16km clay trail run, followed by a 30 minute mobility class. SO good!

Wednesday: 48.8km ride to Winter Garden for coffee. I went out in the afternoon and it was SO windy. I had forgotten just how windy it gets here. It made that ride fairly challenging!

Thursday: SLAP swim in the 50m pool. Holy smokes, that was so hard. I hadn't swam in over a week and this was a tough workout. I do love swimming at the NTC though. So awesome.

Friday: Run to and from the gym - 3km, 60 minute full body workout then a really easy 20km spin with G on the trail

Saturday: Another ride to Winter Garden with the Cycling Hub. 53.4km And of course a stop for coffee afterwards.

Sunday: OFF

Swim: 2500m
Bike: 123km
Run: 22.4km

Total time: 9h 43 minutes. I was supposed to be on a recovery week this week time wise (just under 7 hours) but I was just so excited to be able to be outside I got a little carried away. Luckily my workouts were mostly all easy with the exception of my swim so my training stress wasn't too high.

This week, I'll be getting much more stuck in with my training along with working on some other blog post ideas I've had swimming around in my head so stay tuned for that!

Happy Monday gang! Don't dread Monday - look at it as another opportunity to create something amazing. Master your mindset!

~ Coach PK

Monday Musings: We have arrived

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 13:09:00 +0000

Hello from somewhat sunny Florida, ha ha. It's overcast this morning but it's WARM so that's a-ok with me.

We left Toronto on Friday and had a pretty uneventful drive down to the US. G had to do his visa at the border so we had to stop for a bit. The process was pretty smooth, I think we were in and out in 30 minutes or so. The weather was awesome on Friday, sunny and 3 degrees when we started and it climbed steadily the further south we went, so we had a really smooth drive. We drove into Charleston West Virginia on Friday night after spending the majority of the day on the road. Saturday was our big day on the road (almost 9 hours of driving). We drove from Charleston to St. Augustine, Florida. Last year we stopped in Savannah but it was still roughly 6 hours to Clermont from there so this year we opted to at least get to the top of Florida so we only had a couple of hours drive to Clermont. That way we could spend a bit of time exploring in the morning before we hit the road. We did a day trip to St. Augustine last year and loved it so we thought it would be nice to stay the night there. G and I went for a bit of walk on the beach in the morning and then I left G to continue his walk and I went for a very sweaty run. It was 17 degrees and very muggy. I only had my tights and a short sleeve dry-fit t-shirt in my overnight bag so that's what I ran in. OMG I was drenched. At least it got me used to the heat.

Going through West Virginia on our first night

Walking along the beach in St. Augustine yesterday morning

The house we’re in this year in pretty freaking awesome. It’s in a newer development within walking distance to the NTC. Being in a newer development, it also has a POOL. WAHOOOO. The house we stayed in last year was a very old home with no real useful outdoor space which was a shame given how awesome the weather was. This year, I intend to take full advantage of the upgraded outdoor space. Here's hoping the weather cooperates!

This past week was nuts. For some reason I thought it would be smart to schedule all my appointments in the week before we left. UGH. So much scrambling! It meant a lot of missed workouts but whatever, I know the next two months will give me more than enough time to get some solid work in. My back was also causing me some grief so I opted to skip a swim to let it rest. I really wanted to come to Florida feeling as good as possible. I don't want to spend my time here sitting on the sidelines. So let's just say I had a really good recovery week, ha ha. I'm going to spend my morning planning out my next few weeks here.

So, this is how my big time recovery week went:

Monday: OFF

Tuesday: 9km run with 4km at tempo

Wednesday: 2450m swim

Thursday: 45 minute ride, 1 hour of strength training

Friday: OFF

Saturday: OFF

Sunday: 6km run around St. Augustine with 2km at tempo pace. Easy to do on the flats!

Total time: 3h and 50 minutes. I am clearly very well rested, haha.

Today I'm headed to the NTC for a swim and probably some strength training and then the afternoon will be a Training Peaks review day. Last night we met up with a couple of our friends from here (Hi Marianne & Butch!) and I was talked into doing the Cherry Lake Duathlon this weekend. I always say make sure your first race of the season isn't your first brick. OOPS. I had planned on starting brick workouts this week so, looks like I'll get ONE in before the race on Saturday.

Now it's off to Target to do some grocery shopping.

Happy Monday gang!

~ Coach PK

Monday Musings: Hitting the Road

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Mon, 22 Jan 2018 13:01:00 +0000

Happy Monday!

Well Mother Nature blessed us with a reprieve from the polar vortex this weekend. It felt like spring out it was so nice! I hope you managed to get out and take advantage of it. Looks like the brutally cold temps will be staying away for the next week, which means we *should* have a fairly uneventful drive down south. Yup, we're headed back to Clermont for two months. I'm super excited! But first, the massive task of packing. UGH. And of course this coming week is when I scheduled all my appointments. Because I somehow thought that would be a good idea. Ha.

I have some exciting news to share! I have been accepted as a Lole Ambassador! They were looking for a female run coach to round out their roster of Ambassadors so I got the spot! This means I get to host 4 (or more) events at the Lole Yorkville store, all running related. It also means that I get a discount on my favourite clothing brand. I live in their stuff. I also train and run in it so this is a huge win / win for me. The most fun part? I will be hosting a clothing party as well! I'm not sure where or when just yet but I have some ideas so stay tuned for that. Guests will get a discount too. WOOHOO.

Anyway, I'm trying to head to Florida as healthy as possible since I will be away from my normal health care practitioners for a couple of months and I don't want to have to go and see someone down there as it more than likely won't be covered on our extended benefits. So, I'm trying to get 'tuned up" as much as possible, ha ha.

Speaking of which, I had another fascial stretch therapy session this past week and she focussed on my upper body. Wow. I am feeling SO much better in the pool. My chest feels so much more open and my shoulders don't feel as tight. My shoulders were a bit of a mess. So much so that my therapist took a picture of the difference.

Crazy right???

I'm definitely feeling much better through my chest and upper back. I could still use a bit more mobility through my t-spine but I'm sure that will come if I keep working at it. I can really feel the difference in the pool, which is fantastic. G commented that I'm swimming much better. I think my form is a bit better too. Now I just need to work on my catch a bit more. My goal is to be able to swim between 1:40-1:45 in a half ironman distance swim. So I've got a bit more work to do.

I had a big week of workouts planned but by Friday I was feeling a bit run down. I hadn't slept well for a couple of nights (thank you hormones!) and it caught up with my on Friday. I had a swim and a run on tap and I did neither. Saturday I thought I felt better (my HRV said otherwise but I ignored it) and I got on the bike and tried to ride for 2.5 hours.

I made it 10 minutes in and couldn't settle my heart rate so I pulled the pin. This time next week I will be able to ride outside for as long as I want so I am not going to worry about trying to cram anything in this week.

So instead of the monster week I was hoping to have before we leave, I had a meh kinda week. But it's better than nothing. This is what went down:

Monday: 1 hour sweet spot ride. Felt really good.

Tuesday: 35 minute run (6.7km). I was supposed to have some tempo work in there but some poor food choices for lunch made that NOT happen. I followed that up with 15 minutes of lower body work.

Wednesday: 2750m swim. This felt good. I was a bit sore from the FST treatment the night before but otherwise I felt ok.

Thursday: 60 minute strength session. I did almost the entire workout I had my class do. 55 minute V02 max ride in the p.m. That didn't go over so well. My legs were toast (not surprising given I did my strength work first, duh). The hard riding also bugged my lower back. So I made it through half of the intervals and then called it a day.

Friday: OFF

Saturday: OFF

Sunday: 2650m hard swim, followed by a 13km run home in the a.m. Then I did 60 minutes of strength work with my class in the p.m. The GoPro came to the pool yesterday so there was some goofing around.

Totals for the week:

Swim: 5400m
Bike: 71km
Run: 19.7km

Total time: 8h 10 minutes.

How was your week of training? Have you had poor food choices ruin one of your workouts? What did it for you? Mine was having Chipotle for lunch.

Happy Monday!

~ Coach PK.

Monday Musings: Back at it

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Mon, 15 Jan 2018 13:30:00 +0000

Hola!

I know some of you enjoyed reading about my weekly workouts so I'm bringing Monday Musings back for my build up to my two 70.3 races this year. It's definitely going to be an interesting year given that my two big races are 5 weeks apart. We'll see how this old bod of mine holds up to that.

This past week was my first really solid week of training since the beginning of the year. I'm feeling pretty good save for my low back, specifically my right side around my SI joint. It seems to get stuck and irritated and I'm still trying to figure out why. Some of it is core control for sure but I also feel that my lack of rotation in my T-spine doesn't help. So I'm slowly working on fixing that. Thankfully it's not preventing me from working out but there are days that I feel it and it bothers me.

This was my first week of experimenting with 10 day hard / easy format to see how I feel and how my body reacts. After 10 days I'll probably take a rest day, just to play it "safe" even if I am feeling ok. Sometimes I find taking a rest day a mental necessity vs a physical necessity. I'm being much more "intuitive" with my training right now. By intuitive, I mean if I feel good physically and mentally on my scheduled rest day, instead of taking the day off completely, I'll do an easy activity, usually a swim or yoga. Something that isn't overly taxing. I'm also using HRV4Training which monitors my heart rate variability to let me know whether or not I'm fully recovered and can proceed as planned or if I need to limit my intensity for the day. It hasn't steered me wrong yet and I've been using it for a year now.

So, on to the fun stuff. What did I get up to this week?

Monday: Upper body strength workout

Tuesday: 13km long run

Wednesday: 2300m swim in the am, and a 1 hour endurance ride, short upper body workout in the p.m.

Thursday: 40 minute zone 2 run and a 1 hour mostly lower body workout - I actually did most of the workout I was teaching, which was a blast.

Friday: 1900m swim with sprints, 1 hour sweet spot ride. My legs were feeling pretty sore from my strength class, ha ha.

Saturday: 2 hour mostly endurance based ride. I had planned on doing lower body work afterwards but my body decided it needed a nap. So I slept for about 40 minutes and then wasn't motivated to do anything else afterwards, ha ha.

Sunday: 2650m swim. I had a 35 minute run on the schedule and put it off until after my Strength clinic. Big mistake, because once I got back from that, I had no desire to get my running stuff and go out for a run. LOL. So much for the Lululemon 40/80 challenge badge on Strava.

Totals for the week:

Swimming: 6,850m
Cycling: 4h 13 minutes
Running: 20.6 km

Total time: 10h 22 minutes

That's slightly higher than normal volume for me this time of year but I'm building my time up for when I get to Florida. I know I'll probably be between 12-14 hours / week of training if it's anything like last year. When you have the opportunity to ride outside for two months in the winter, you take full advantage of it.

How was your week of training? Who else is chasing some big goals this year?

~ Coach PK

What I've Tried: Fascial Stretch Therapy

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Tue, 09 Jan 2018 13:27:00 +0000

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that I am a big proponent of self care, from regular foam rolling, to mobility work to massage, it's all an integral part of being a healthy injury free athlete.

Sometimes, you get to a point where these modalities may not be enough to help you feel or move better. That was where I was at the end of last year. I was having nagging SI joint issues, so I started working on engaging my core. I also noticed that the range of motion in my legs had changed. I felt like my hips and hamstrings were so tight that I couldn't stride efficiently. Massage helped a little bit but within a few days I would be right back to where I was before my massage. Something was up.

I read about fascia a few years ago as more and more research was being done on it's function and role it plays in mobility in the body. Fascia is essentially a web that runs around our muscles. It is a band of connective tissue that is found beneath the skin and it attaches, stabilizes, encloses and separates muscles and internal organs.

Fascia will thicken and shorten when any of your tissues are under stress, whether that be from poor posture, injury, surgery or long term exercise. Shortened fascia can result in limited range of motion. And limited range of motion can cause a host of other issues in your body. It's a domino affect.

So how do you stretch fascia? Doesn't regular passive stretching help with stretching your fascia? It can help a little bit if done correctly but most of us stretch too deeply, usually to the point where were feel a bit of pain. Your muscle will respond to that by tightening up, thus defeating the purpose of stretching in the first place. And since fascia is deep within the muscle, it's very difficult to target it effectively without some assistance.

Enter Fascial Stretch Therapy, or FST for short.

What exactly is fascial stretch therapy?

The simple explanation is that it is assisted stretching, performed on a table, using stabilization straps to hold limbs in place. Traction is a major component of the therapy. This is the description from Performance Bodywork: The therapist will apply gentle traction to the joint being targeted, opening up the joint and creating space for increased range of motion before taking the limb through the movement pattern, paying attention to the fascia restrictions that may need to be addressed.

I have to say I've never experienced anything quite like it. It is not meant to be painful and if I felt pain, I had to let my therapist know. There were points where it was uncomfortable but if I managed my breathing, it helped with the discomfort. I was twisted into all sorts of positions that I wouldn't have been able to get into myself. After the treatment, I felt looser and lighter. When I went for a run the next day, I felt like an entirely new person. All of the restriction I had been feeling was GONE. Even my SI joint pain felt better. This was a game changer for me.

Why is it so effective?

FST targets fascia at the deepest level, which is around your joint capsule. This forces the muscles around your joint capsules to relax. If your joints start to get restricted, your mobility becomes compromised. Compromised mobility leads to a feeling of stiffness and you'll notice decreases in performance. As we age, we also begin to lose flexibility. All of this can create a recipe for injury.

Currently, FST isn't covered under most extended benefit plans unless it is performed by an RMT (registered massage therapist). Many personal / athletic trainers offer it as a service and several pilates studios also have practitioners. I went to Body Harmonics, which is a pilates studio, for my treatment. You can find your closest practitioner on the Stretch to Win website. There are different levels and types of practitioners from level 1 to level 3, fitness specialists, which are usually athletic trainers, or medical specialists, which are usually RMTs, kinesiologists or physiotherapists. I saw a level 3 fitness specialist. She was amazing. The higher the experience generally the more expensive the therapist, at least at Body Harmonics. A level 3 practitioner is $115 for an hour and a level 2 practitioner is $105 an hour. It was worth every penny. That being said in future I may try to find a registered RMT so I can claim it through my extended benefit plan because if you're in rough shape, like I am, it's going to take more than one treatment to sort everything out.

I feel like FST has given my body a re-set. As someone who has struggled with mobility issues and nagging injuries over the last couple of years, I feel like I am getting close to being back to where I was 5 years ago in terms of my mobility level. I'm starting to feel like I'm physically ready to rise to the challenges I've set for myself in 2018.

Has anyone else tried FST? Was it a game changer for you?

2018: The Year of Purpose

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 12:40:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

Alright, I'm a bit late to the party but I was seriously enjoying my down time over the last few days. New Year's Day was spent in my lounge clothes, watching movies and making pretty things for my new side hustle. G took Tuesday off so we got a ride in, took the Christmas Tree down and then tackled the storage cupboard under the stairs in the basement. It was filled with SO. MUCH. CRAP. that we haven't touched since we moved in so we did a huge purge. Now there's room to actually hang some coats and put away our winter boots.

There's something about a good closet cleaning that just makes you feel lighter. Less tethered to shit. I am always amazed at how much crap we accumulate. It feels good to get rid of all the unnecessary stuff.

Which brings me to the reason behind this post. Over the years I've seen people talk about setting intentions for the New Year vs. resolutions or goals. One of the ways to set intentions is to choose a word that will guide you throughout the year. That really resonated with me this year so I thought about it for a while. I always have goals but they are usually only athletically oriented. I wanted something that was a bit more all encompassing. So, I asked myself, how did I want to live in 2018?

My answer: with purpose

So I chose PURPOSE as my word for the year. I chose it because of its duality. It is both a noun and a verb. You can have purpose and you can be purposeful.

noun: the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists

verb: have as one's intention or objective

Last year was an exploratory year - it was about creating a path. The path has been created, now it's time to move forward with purpose.

Here's to a happy, healthy and purpose-FULL 2018

Have you ever chosen a word of the year to live by? If so, what was it? What is your word this year?

~ Coach PK

2017: You Were a Good One

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Sun, 31 Dec 2017 21:10:00 +0000

Happy New Year!

I'm still alive! I know I've been M.I.A these last couple of months but I haven't felt like I've had much to share and truth be told, I've been busy focusing on building my coaching business and working on a bit of side hustle as well (more on that down the road). I've been spending more time on Instagram, telling snippets of stories there. But I will come back to blogging in 2018.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas. Ours was pretty low key, especially since G was sick. That meant I went to my parents on my own. He's starting to feel better but it's been a pretty slow process. I'm crossing my fingers I don't get it. I've dialled back the workouts these last two weeks just to balance out all the other activities. I find this time of year we can really stretch ourselves far too thin and then we try to cram in training and we inevitably get sick. I didn't want that to happen this year so I skipped a few swims, did some easier effort rides vs anything too hard and made sure I got adequate amounts of sleep. A "few" swims turned into two weeks out of the pool but I will get back there soon. 😁 Especially since I've got a big ass goal for 2018. I put it out on Instagram a couple of weeks ago and I'm putting it out there again. It scares the crap outta me but I want it. And you HAVE to WANT it, especially if it's a longer distance race and you know you're going to have to put in the time in less than ideal training conditions.

So what is the big ass goal? I want to qualify for the 2019 70.3 World Championships. I have chosen Muskoka as my A-race, which means I need to put in a lot of time in the HILLS this year because I want to absolutely crush that bike. My run needs to improve a fair bit as well. I am currently working out the kinks in my body to help provide a much more stable core for when I start to add regular speed work. I've seen some glimmers of my old running self so I have high hopes that I will be able to find some of that lost speed. I just have to make sure I remain healthy. That is KEY.

The fact that I made it through a very successful season of racing with no major issues was huge, especially after my disappointing 2016 season. As I said on Instagram, 2017 was fan-fucking-tastic. It exceeded my expectations many times over. My main goal was to get to the start line of Tremblant 70.3 healthy and ready to race. Everything else was just a bonus.

My 2017 instagram #bestnine

Professionally, this has certainly been a year of growth. I have to pinch myself sometimes because I can't believe I'm finally doing my own thing. People keep asking me if I miss my old job and the resounding answer is NO. I miss the people but I do not miss the business at all. I am still finding my way and figuring out what works and what doesn't in terms of running a business. It's taken me a long time to get into a groove and I'm still working on developing a solid routine.

I am thrilled with how well this first year has gone and I'm SO thankful to all the athletes that have trusted me with their training this year. It hasn't been all sunshine and roses however. There has been some self doubt. Things have seemed daunting at times. But as the saying goes, Rome wasn't built in a day and I have learned to plan accordingly.

I'm looking forward to planning some fun events for 2018, in addition to the two I've already got on the calendar: The Limitless Tri / PKPC Fun in the Sun training camp in March and a beginner's swim clinic with Coach Jason from Tri-Train on January 20th. Today's first annual Fun Run was awesome and my crew has given me some excellent ideas for 2018 events. They may or may not involve beer and running. 😃

A handful of the PKPC crew!

Thanks so much to everyone that has read my ramblings this past year. I know I have been a very sporadic blogger this year but I am aiming to change that in 2018.

Here's to a happy, healthy and KICK ASS 2018.

~ Coach PK

The Root of the Problem

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 17:49:00 +0000

I'm still here! I've been struggling with my focus lately. I feel like I've got too many irons in the fire and I'm not sure which one to pull out first. I also haven't really had the time to sit down an properly WRITE. So I've decided to put myself on a weekly schedule where I allocate ONE full day a week to writing. Hopefully that will breathe some life back into this space!

If you follow me on Instagram stories, you will have seen an underlying theme for the last few weeks. I have not been myself. I have not felt like myself. I don't know how else to explain it other than I felt "off" both in body and in mind. The fact that my body has felt off has kept me from moving the way I would like to. I have not been able to do much without some kind of pain afterwards, whether it be in my knees, my shoulders or my lower back. My plan was to get back to lifting weights but I couldn't even manage to do that without pain. I was starting to get incredibly frustrated and very discouraged. When things you love to do start causing you pain, you start to feel a bit lost.

I went to see my osteopath and sure enough my pelvis was slightly twisted. That was causing me to compensate elsewhere. My osteo helped fix things and get me back to my normal but I knew there was still work to be done. I needed to figure out what the root of the problem was.

Enter my friend Lauren, The Running Physio. I needed someone that could assess things and give me the tools to get back to normal. Given my complaints and my symptoms, she suspected that things were stemming from my lack of core activation. The fact that I have had two abdominal laparoscopies also comes into play (I had endometriosis). There was never any sort of rehab after those surgeries because they were considered "minor". I would beg to differ given how long it took me to recover after my first one. I never gave those surgeries a second thought. They solved one problem but probably created another.

So in addition to the mobility work that I have been doing, I am now doing physio work. I'm really trying to focus on the mind / muscle connection. I know that probably sounds kinda hokey but it's really SO important. Muscle activation is controlled by the brain and our nerves. When a muscle contracts, that's your brain sending a spark through your neural pathways. Generally we can feel a muscle when it's working, especially our larger muscles. But sometimes we can't. In those instances, I've found that putting pressure on the muscle itself will help trigger it to start firing. I do this a lot with my left glute when I'm trying to activate it in a single leg stance. I used to get a lot of funny looks when I did this at the gym, ha ha. I didn't care, I was going to do whatever it took to get that sucker firing!

My current self care arsenal...

The physio work I'm doing is targeting my deep core muscles. I'm not doing crunches or leg lifts. Nope. The movements are so much more subtle. They have to be in order to re-program my body. That's essentially what this is. A giant reboot from inside out, ha ha. In the week and a bit I've been doing these exercises I'm feeling much better all around. I'm running better and I'm actually swimming better. Amazingly I'm starting to be able to rotate in the water, which was a problem for me previously.

So here's to doing all the little things that will hopefully add up to a stronger and healthier me in 2018. Cause I've got some goals to crush next year. More on that in another post down the road. Right now, I'm here:

What little things are you doing to make you stronger?

~ Coach PK

Go to Training Gear

noreply@blogger.com (Phaedra Kennedy) — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 13:50:00 +0000

A few weeks ago I put a call out on IG stories to see what people would like me to write about on the blog. I covered one topic last week. This week I'm going to talk about gear that I love and use. This is NOT a sponsored post, these are products I've bought with my own dollars.

Let's start from the ground up.

Shoes:

I spent most of the last year running in On running shoes. Specifically the Cloud Flow and the Cloud Surfer. I much prefer the Cloud Flow, it's a very sleek, light and responsive low profile shoe and it was my go to racing and training shoe this year. The Cloud Surfer is also quite responsive but I found it to be much bulkier. I put over 500km on the Cloud Flows and I think I could probably squeeze out another 100km or so before I have to say goodbye to them.

I've also been running in the Hoka Clifton 3's. I like the fact that they reduce impact but I'm not totally in love with them for anything longer than about 12km. After that my feet start to hurt.

Socks:

I am SO picky about socks. My go to for training runs or running races especially longer races, are Ijinji's. Yup, the toe socks. They keep my feet blister free. For triathlon racing, I have been loving Swiftwick socks. The longer ones offer a little bit of compression which is great over a longer distance ride and run. Why do I wear two different kinds of socks for similar events? Simple. It's all about the ease of getting them on. Injinji's are not pull on and go type socks, because you have to make sure the sock is pulled up over each toe. So I have a back up in the Swiftwick.

Bottoms:

My go to gear for tri shorts for years has been Zoot. Specifically the Zoot Ultra series. The design of the chamois is perfect for me. There is no seam underneath the chamois which means there is no chance of any sort of rubbing on your girly bits unless your shorts are too big and they start bunching. Many other brands place the chamois ON TOP of a seam, which for me, is a recipe for major angry kitty and some kind of chafing. Coeur is another company that makes their tri shorts the same way (they coined the slogan "no angry kitty", ha ha). This year I finally embraced the one piece tri suit and I loved it. It's not the easiest thing when you have to go to the washroom but for racing, it's extremely comfortable. It doesn't ride up, you're never pulling your top down, nothing.

For running, I actually run in my older Zoot tri shorts a lot because I like the functionality of them. They have built in, easy to access pockets so it's easy for me to stash a couple of gels and my keys. I'm also a fan of the Oiselle "Roga" shorts. They fit well, don't ride up too much and the waistband is fantastic. For tights, I'm a big fan of Oiselle. I have two pairs of their tights, the Portman tight and the KC tights, which they no longer make. They are comfortable, functional and stylish. In fact, I've worn both as leggings with tunics and boots! That's a win / win for me!

Oiselle KC tights

Sports Bras / Tops:

Most of the time when I'm working out, I prefer to wear tank tops with built in bras so over the years I've worn a lot of Zoot tanks. Now that I've put on some weight and my breasts have come back with a vengeance, I only wear tanks with built in bras when I'm on the trainer or working out in the gym so I don't have to worry about any bounce. Even when I was leaner, I still wasn't that small. More like I was a small in the back, big in the front kinda gal. That's why I was thrilled when Moving Comfort started making bras that were based on bra sizing vs. just small, medium, large. I review one here. The range of bras available now is amazing. Manufacturers like Brooks and Lole are taking into account band and cup sizes and are making sports bras that are functional, supportive AND cute. No need to hide them under a tank top any more! I'm currently in the market for some new sports bras so when find something I like, I'll either update this post or do a separate review.

So, there you have it. Most of my go to gear from the bottom up.

What are your favourite go to pieces? Any new companies you're really loving?

~ Coach PK