Triton News – HOT Triton Tidbits!

BOZEMAN TRIATHLON CLUB
NEWS SUMMARY

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Triton Winter Camp – This weekend, 1/29-31. Snow continues to fly at Homestake Lodge! Coach Mandy says ski conditions are “sweet.” Should be a great weekend of skiing and racing. Skate skiing galore. Serious Rudy Project swag for Triton campers, too. Only three reservations remain. Contact Coach Mandy for details, reservations. mandy@homestakelodge.com.

USAT Pacific Northwest Region Winter Triathlon Championship – This Sunday, 1/31. Unleash the hounds!  We’re still receiving entries, and have already exceeded the number of racers over last year. Over thirty, as of yesterday. Beginners are absolutely welcome. The winter triathlon format itself is just beginning, emerging. So, just join in the fun. Put on your Powder Hound game face, the camera crew is ready! Hope to see you on Sunday at Homestake Lodge. Register at www.active.com.

Triton Indoor Cycling – MultiRider program SOLD OUT. Free use of the Triton CompuTrainer remains available to all Tritons. Schedule via the new Triton Scheduling Platform here – http://bit.ly/6pTOy9. This link will always be available on the Training Ahead section of the Triton blog, too.

Triton Annual Meeting – The Club is planning to meet at the end of February, say on a Friday, to primarily develop and organize spring and summer program(s). Meeting venue and date ideas are welcome. Additionally, if you are interested in volunteering to serve as a Club coach, director, or in some other capacity, please bring it on, and let us know soon. Greatly appreciated. Other suggestions welcome. Email Laurie lthatcher@lycos.com  or Art art.thompson@yahoo.com .

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QUOTABLES
DO WHAT YOU CAN AT THE MOMENT – Dave Scott
TRAIN WITH A PURPOSE – Michelle Blessing
NEVER JUST GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS – Jason Lezak
TRAIN ON – :o)

Functional Threshold Test

Good morning, Tritons!  Great job yesterday to those who rode at CrossFit 4800 and did their threshold test.  As promised, I wanted to further explain how you can calculate your power zones (similar to your heart rate zones) for training purposes.  But first, I will explain the test and some things you want to consider when you take the test next time.

Warm-up:  Approx 30 minutes (15 min easy spin, 5 min hard – but not all out, 5 min easy spin, 3 min hard, 1 min easy spin).  You want to always do the same warmup for your tests.  Keep everything as consistent as you can.  If you ride at 6 pm, then ride at 6 pm for all your same tests.  By keeping all aspects consistent, you are ensuring that you are getting good and accurate results of where your fitness level is at.  Don’t forget to also get the same amount of rest before each test.

Main set:  20 minutes of as hard as you can go.  Remember, in order to get faster on the bike, you need to not only get stronger but also get more efficient on the bike.  While everyone should always strive to improve their power on the bike, they should first consider their efficiency first before they concern themselves with their average wattage.  If you are on a triathlon bike, ride the bike as you would in a race – get into your aerobars.  You are not very efficient by sitting up and “mashing” the pedals. 

Functional Threshold Power (FTP) is your average wattage for the 20-minute test minus 5%.  This gives a more precise estimate for your FTP, which usually encompasses a 60-minute test.

Cool-down:  5 minutes of easy spinning.

Power zones (from Training and Racing with a Power Meter by Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan)

Active Recovery             <55% of FTP

Endurance                         56-75% of FTP

Tempo                                 76-90% of FTP

Lactate Threshold          91-105% of FTP

VO2 Max                             106-120% of FTP

Note:  From my personal experience (both training and coaching), don’t get yourselves wrapped up in numbers.  I know that some of us are very analytical, and love to crunch numbers and get everything dialed in, which is GOOD…if applied properly.  If you are this type of person, channel most of that energy into your race-day nutrition (especially you long-course athletes).  As far as exercising and workouts go, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY.  Most, if not all, elite-level athletes do train with a purpose…but they train also by how they feel.  DON’T BE A SLAVE TO THE NUMBERS!!  Monitor your heart rate first, then make note of your wattage.

Hope this helps.  Happy training everyone.

Aubrey

Powder Hound Winter Triathlon & Camp

Hey everyone! A last reminder about the early bird deadline for the Powder Hound Winter Tri. Grab some friends and do it as a team, or go solo. It should be loads of fun and a good time all around – racing, music, food, beer, and (hopefully) sunshine! Early bird deadline is today, January 16. Print off a form on www.homestakelodge.com/events or sign up on www.active.com.

Also, we have a great weekend planned for the Triton winter tri camp. We’ll be doing lessons and wax clinics. There will be lots of time for free skiing, or game playing and hanging out by the fire in the lodge. Don’t forget to sign up!

Hope to see you the last weekend in January.

Snow and Ski conditions at Homestake Lodge: We have good skiing right now. Its been warm and we haven’t received a lot of snow yet this year, but the conditions are surprisingly good. There are some thin spots out there, but other than that the skate skiing is super.

Powder Hound Coverage in USA Triathlon Life Magazine

The winter edition of USA Triathlon Life Magazine was published yesterday, including some nice coverage of the Club’s Powder Hound Winter Triathlon.  See article below. Post press, the USA Triathlon Pacific Northwest Region selected the Powder Hound as the home for the 2010 Winter Triathlon Region Championship. For more information on the Powder Hound, the linked Tritons Winter Camp, and the Championship, please see the 11/4, 12/9 and 12/22 blog posts. Thanks to USA Triathlon, USA Triathlon Life Magazine, the USAT Pacific Northwest Region, Pacific Northwest Council Chair Ann Gilbert, and Managing Editor Jayme Ramson for the following Powder Hound Winter Triathlon article. Republished here with permission. Join us on January 31 for a day of snowy triathlon fun.

Wetsuit Deal

Hi folks!

Hope the computrainer ride went well the other night.  I recently had an opportunity come up for deals on wetsuits.  XTERRA Wetsuits contacted me and offered some killer deals on their wetsuits.  Right now, you can save 50% on most of their suits.  The current rate is good until the end of January!  They will still have discounted rate after this month as well.  If anybody is interested in this deal, please contact me, and I can give you the information.  They offer a 2 year warranty along with 30 day refund, and 30 day size exchange.

This can be another great option aside from the wetsuits that Tony at Fleet Feet offer.

Thanks much!  See you on the trails!

matthewbryanparks@gmail.com

406 580 7987