Archive for September, 2017

Earlier this week, I planned an early morning river swim at the break of dawn. Last minute, I decided to wake up my oldest daughter and invite her to come along to kayak…she quickly accepted. She giggled as I shivered jumping in the water and then spent the next 30 minutes matching my strokes with her paddle.

At the Giant Acorn Triathlon, Coach Erin Horil took 2nd overall in the international on Saturday and then followed this with an overall win the next day in the sprint. Also, in the sprint EF junior Abby Church followed Erin to take 2nd overall and Florence Lamirand 6th overall while Emme Cate Heilbrun and Anderson Church both took 1st place in their age groups. Also, we want to congratulate Kenneth Steingold on his first sprint distance – you have come so far this season! In the international, Bill Deaton took 1st, Ale Stankaitis 2nd, Scott Evans 3rd, and Dawn Carter 3rd (after a mechanical on the bike) in their age groups while a ton of other EF athletes had super strong races setting new PRs including Matt Myers, Monica Woodward, Mary Jane Willis, and Lori Green.

We are entering a season when many of our athletes are approaching their “A” race of the season. This can bring about many emotions, some positive and some negative. A simple look at the race website can raise our heart rates 20 beats. Emotion is a good thing, but it needs to be channeled appropriately.

Giant Acorn is a great race that mirrors the same course as the Spring Kinetic Triathlon. This write-up will cover a few things we want you to consider going into this race.

Today, we see youth athletes pushed earlier and earlier to train at higher volume levels, specialize in single sports, and compromise long-term potential for short-term gains. Unfortunately, this epidemic is leading to higher levels of burn-out, injury, and poor mental health. Instead, we must recognize that youth athletes are not built like adults and therefore their training should look very different. Furthermore, a 9-year old athlete needs very different workouts than a 15-year old athlete. An understanding of youth physiology will clarify this. I will present this in 2 stages of development: pre-puberty and post-puberty.

In the 70.3 World Championship, Beni Thompson claimed the World Title for her age group. Matt Myers continued his tear with a huge PR in the Sprint. Andrew Rose had a great race and is now turning his attention to Kona. Tim Brown also had a solid race, despite mechanical issues on the bike. Kate Palavecino and Parker Spencer also had strong races in the 70.3 World Championship.