WIBA: 2008 in Pictures!

Well a fun time was had by all who attended the 3rd annual Wisconsin Brick Adventure in Madison, Wisconsin a few weekends ago, and now the photo gallery is up to illustrate the highlights! Many thanks go out to J. Korn for the photos, as well as for the weekend SAG support.

Online Registration Closes for WIBA: 2008

Online Registration is now closed for the 2008 Wisconsin Brick Adventure in Madison, Wisconsin. All are welcome for the semi-supported workouts throughout the weekend; if, however, you would also like to participate in the free clinics and event meals, please email WIBAinfo at Gmail dot com to reserve one of the last few seats. Spots will be reserved on a first come first served basis. For more information, or to confirm your name is on the participant list, please visit WisconsinBrickAdventure.com.

See you in Madison!

A Peek at a Training Week

Emily Cocks and TriSaraTops

It's time again for another peek at a training week, this time with our newest recruit, TriSaraTops and her Vision Quest coach, Emily Cocks.

Well it's without a doubt our little sister is in great hands with Emily, who grew up in Albion, MI and was a four-year varsity swimmer and honorable mention All American, as well as an Olympic trials qualifier in the 100 meter breaststroke at U of M. Currently Emily lives in Chicago, IL with her husband Andy and their two cats, Storm and Jaromir. In addition to coaching for Vision Quest, she is now the assistant men's and women's swimming coach at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Emily's main triathlon focus is the half-Ironman distance, two of her favorite races being St. Croix 70.3 and Escape from Alcatraz.

"I use triathlon as an excuse to travel to great destinations - so far it has taken me all the way to Australia and New Zealand. I also love to challenge myself physically and mentally, and training and racing allow me to do that on a regular basis!"

Emily goes on to describe Sara's general season plan as follows:

"Sara is making her comeback this season after having a baby. She has started off the season exceptionally well with a five-minute PR in her half marathon just this past weekend. Her focus this summer will be the Steelhead 70.3 in St. Joseph, MI. To prepare for this race, Sara will be focusing on increasing her training volume along with adding in some intensity in all three disciplines.

She is also going to do a smaller triathlon (Olympic or Sprint distance) in July to help get ready for Steelhead. This will give her a measuring stick to see how her training is going and allow her to get into racing mode after taking some time off from triathlon to become a mom. She is excited and confident heading into the summer, which can only serve her well in preparing for her upcoming season."

Follow Sara's finely tuned training and progress by visiting her web site, and be sure to check in next time for the verdict on Tri-Cajun's efforts to convince his coach that beignettes are the perfect recovery fuel...

Podium Worthy Perspective

The photo above is brought to you by Evotri teammate, Bolder, who just raced the Napa Valley Half Ironman this past weekend in fine "sub-fun" fashion.

Taking in the sights, visiting wineries and truly making the experience of his race the focus of his trip rather than the splits is a perfect example of his new philosophy this year towards training and racing. Together with his Vision Quest Coach, Karyn, the two are going to see if Bolder's "minimum training for the maximum results" philosophy will carry him through the quickly approaching Ironman CdA race next month.

It seems to be working out quite well so far. A few days before the Napa Valley race, Bolder had this to say about slowing down and smelling the roses:

"At my previous training levels, I would race at 20mph, and run at sub-10. From a swimming perspective, I've always been used to getting lapped. But now, I get excited when I ride above 20mph and below 10... I'm living the life I've always wanted to live."

We'd call that podium worthy perspective for sure. Congrats to our fellow teammate on a great race (and here's wishing him a Happy Birthday today too!). For more, be sure to check out Bolder's recap.

WIBA Registration Is Open!

Welcome to the third annual Wisconsin Brick Adventure. This event is still totally free, and will consist of clinics, cool sponsor surprises, and semi-supported brick workouts on the Ironman Wisconsin course from June 27-29.

Workouts this year will be planned by the cream of the crop coaching crew from Vision Quest Coaching, and all pace levels will be accommodated and led by veteran Ironman Wisconsin athletes. If you've ever been curious about the IMWI course, now is a great time to come and check it out.

As a note, you don't need to be signed up to race Ironman Wisconsin to participate; it's just a fun weekend of pushing all conceivable physical limits alongside old and new friends. Registration closes June 25, so sure to check out the tentative weekend itinerary and register ASAP at WisconsinBrickAdventure.com!

Team Evotri Spring Training in Full Swing!

Before the sun came up on March 6th the team was up and moving, ready to kick off their season with baseline fitness assessments at the Vision Quest Coaching headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. Some drove a few hours, some flew in the night before, but once inside those doors it was unquestionable that they were a team and that this was the beginning of one incredible a year.

The day began with a warm welcome from the Vision Quest staff, and immediately it was clear why this facility was one of the fastest growing skill shops around. From the state-of-the-art equipment to the vast experience and professionalism of the staff, there was simply no questions in the athletes' minds that that they were in the best hands possible for each of their unique endeavors this year.



Once initial greetings were exchanged among the crew, Rob and Dave of Vision Quest introduced the team to VQ affiliates from the Chicago Blue Dolphins. Swim professional John Fitzpatrick would be assessing the team's swim strokes in the double wide Endless Pool, which was outfitted with cutting edge underwater video recording equipment and a mounted flat screen TV. While the first group hit the bikes with VQ Founder, Robbie Ventura for blood lactate testing, the other half of the team executed their swim sessions and came out armed with new skills and new drills to maximize their efficiency and strength in the water. Their attitudes after the fact were unanimously confident. Look out Lake Michigan, Team Evotri is coming!

After the team's swimming and LT analysis, they hit the floor with Nancy, VQ affiliate and functional assessment extraordinaire. She put the crew through the wringer of grueling strength, flexibility, balance and movement tests, and encouraged them every step of the way. When all was said and done the team sat together and reflected on the simply unmatched, precision machine that was Vision Quest Coaching and their affiliates, and at how each member of the corresponding staff was the embodiment of such.

Thanks to the spot-on scheduling, the team moved through their morning evaluations and were then treated to a round table talk on Power with Robbie Ventura. The experience was intoxicating, and the athletes found themselves gripped by his vast knowledge and magnetic personality. Rachel, CycleOps super star, elite cyclist, and true friend of the team, was also on hand to lend her expertise and support. Between the two, the team felt bulletproof in the knowledge that they had a clear advantage in training and racing with Power.

A big thanks goes out to all the people from VQ, CycleOps, and the Chicago Blue Dolphins who made the team's spring training kick off a huge success! Thanks also to Lisa Parsiola and James Korn for their moral support, and to James as well for the awesome featured photos of the day.


(Click the Picasa logo to view the layout of photos in their entirety.)

A Peek at a Training Week

Dan Shelley and Iron Wil

Coming down from back-to-back years training up to the big 140.6 can be tricky, so when the gurus at Vision Quest Coaching learned that Iron Wil wanted to get stronger and faster, lean out, and have a blast this year, they brought forward their balance master, Dan Shelley, to line it up.

USA swimming and cycling certified, Dan's coached 44 conference champions in the Big Ten, Ivy League, Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Midwest Conferences, as well as 14 All-Americans, 3 National Champions and 3 Olympians. He's been intregal to the success of the swim teams at Brown University and Penn State, and is currently the head swim coach at Lake Forest College in Illinois. The definition of an optimist, Dan's high energy, positive attitude and laid back style are the perfect compliments to the focus, drive and dicipline that landed him a 10:28 Ironman Swizerland PR. This year he'll guide Wil down the path to her goals one training week at a time, let's take a look:

"So far so good for Iron Wil in 2008. It's early in the season and this phase of training is primarily submax (aerobic) base work. Wil is doing a great job managing her workouts, and her body composition as well through a new nutrition plan. These first few weeks will provide a solid foundation for the higher intensity, race-specific workouts to follow. The more specific we can be mirroring her training with the efforts required in her "A" races, the better she will perform. Not having an ironman on the calendar this summer also gives us plenty of flexibility as we look to the first races of the season.

Next up: We will be running a full range of performance tests at Vision Quest in early March, which will allow us to most effectively plan workouts using appropriate wattage/power on the bike. We will take some time for early season stroke adjustments in the pool as well, and in a few weeks will start to shift gears with her training and up the intensity in all three disciplines. I know she is ready...are you? Look out 2008 triathlon season!!! Here comes a VQ supercharged Wil!!"

All new focus, all new balance, this will undoubtedly be a powerhouse team in 2008. Follow along with Wil's daily nutrition plan and training log by visiting her web site, and be sure to check back next week when we take a peek at one of Bolder's training weeks!

A Peek at a Training Week

Stan Watkins, Ruben Figures and Chris Sweet

Our friends at Vision Quest knew we had a golden boy heading to Kona this year, and pulled out a few of their big guns to help him along the way. As he slowly returns to nights of uninterrupted sleep, Chris Sweet, his wife Cara, and their new little boy are gearing up for an exciting year to say the least.

Level 3 USA Cycling coach Stan Watkins, along with Power Bar Team Elite member and Kona veteran, Ruben Figueres, will be flanking Chris this year on his road to the big island. Like all the Evotri members and their coaches, this is truly a team within a team.

Ruben, a former member of the Nike Barcelona team with a crushing 1:08 half-mary PR, is overseeing Chris' swimming and running, while cycling guru Stan dials in his speed and power on the bike. With decades of experience between them, here's what the dynamic duo have to say about Chris' training so far:

"We are working on building a good base while maintaining some short intensity efforts to keep Chris's aerobic system in tune, and are being careful to stay away from sustained anerobic efforts. We have merged Chris' Training Peaks plan so we can see how he handled last year's training, observe the progressions, and evaluate both his improvements and any limiters in order to give us a better view of how to design his training leading up to the big goal in Kona. Right now we have Chris spending about 10 hours a week training, and from early indications he is ahead of where he was this time last year".

Ahead of the game even after a winter's worth of sleepless nights?? Clearly, his competition should be nervous. Tune in to Chris' website for more on his training and racing as the season unfolds. Next up on our Evotri/Vision Quest team profile, we take a peek at one of Iron Wil's training weeks.

A Peek at a Training Week

Katie Bolling and Rural Girl

It's only January, but ever since people shook hands a few weeks ago the team of Vision Quest elite has been pulling out all the stops for Team Evotri.

Rural-Girl's coach, Katie Bolling, is pictured here leveling the field at the competitive Spirit of Racine half-Ironman race, and has already begun molding our small-town girl into a big time threat. Katie has Michelle building up her base by hitting the trainer and the pool on the days she's not out winning snow-shoe races in the frozen farmlands of Wisconsin, and is amped about her fitness this early in the season. Surely shaving an hour or so off of our Rural Girl's Ironman time and securing that coveted Kona slot is well within reach. Let's take a peek at a Kona hopeful's week so far:

"Triathlon training is definitely moving along as I expected. Since beginning my formal training with coach, Katie Bolling of Vision Quest, I have been putting in 12.5 - 13 hour weeks. Right now I am in the "base-building/volume mode" as Katie describes it. This phase will continue through mid March. The focus right now is on steady efforts at 65% of my max, and the purpose is to create a solid foundation upon which to build.

I've been working on long, steady swims with a lot of focus on drills and pulls so far, and have also been focusing on increasing bike strength and core/strength work 2 times a week to help improve my overall performance and stamina. A safe build on longer efforts in running and biking is also in the plan. Katie assures me that "being smart at doing a steady and conservative base-build" will help ensure that I reach my goals! She makes it sound so easy!"

And there you have it, look out Madison! Be sure to check back regularly for periodic updates on Michelle's progress both here and on her blog.

We'll be profiling all the members of Team Evotri and their superstar Vision Quest coaching partners, so stay tuned. Next up we take a peek at one of Chris Sweet's Kona bound weeks!

Chris' Initial Baseline with Robbie Ventura

Chris checks in with Robbie Ventura and crew for some initial baseline action!

Power Packed Workout to Start Your Engines!

As we come out of the off season, many of us may find it hard to get back into the swing of things. Fitting structured workouts back into the routine can prove to be just as much of an effort as the workouts themselves, so Angie Sturtevant, Director of Fitness at CycleOps, offers the following power packed hour:

No Time to Train?
Handle the Time Crunch With On/Off the Bike Circuit Training!

"Whether you are cycling for weight-loss, fitness or performance, cycling alone will not completely develop the muscles used while riding. The key fundamentals to success must go beyond simply tossing on riding miles and needs to incorporate cycling specific strength training into your total training program. Not only is strength training important for performance, but it is essential for health and longevity. But many people simply don't have enough time to squeeze all of the training needs in, due to their multiple responsibilities...work, parent, spouse, home manager, pet owner, holiday season, multi-sport athlete, etc.

On & Off The Bike Circuit Training is a time-crunch effective approach to put in the training miles and hammer out the strength building reps in one training session. In general, circuit training is a valuable method to develop all around weight management and fitness, while cyclists can reap the additional rewards by incorporating exercises that evoke a significant positive transfer of strength to pedaling performance.

Circuit training sessions are structured as a series cycling intervals in succession with exercises performed off the bike, in between. The benefit is increasing the amount of motor units that fire during a muscle contraction to boost power, strength and muscular endurance, NOT muscle mass. This will improve neurological pathways in the central nervous system that control muscle use, educating muscles that they are building strength to move a bike…..not move a weight. Additional benefits include increasing metabolic rate & energy expenditure, improve mobility and core stability and reduce body fat. Plus, the variety prevents boredom and creates a fun training session, in a short duration of time.

To ensure appropriate training to meet your goals, the exercises selected should be particular to the movements that simulate cycling. Cycling specific exercises followed by cycling itself strengthens neurons, persuading muscles to take those amps of power and brute strength and use it to pedal the bike. This will ensure that your choices count, as you have developed a system based on specificity and the dynamics of the activity. The training transitions to cycling performance.

The optimal off the bike exercise choices would include the squat, leg press, lunge, step up and plyometric jumps. This training can include weights, cables, tubing, stability balls, machines or just your own body weight. If your goal is to develop power, focus on less weight and quick rate of the movement. For muscular endurance goals, use high repetitions. To develop brute strength, utilize hefty loads, moving the weight at a slow rate. Immediately after performing sets of the exercises get on the bike and perform an interval specific to your cycling target goal of strength, pedaling efficiency, high intensity training, boosting threshold or aerobic conditioning. The body then recognizes and retains muscle memory as to why the strength training is being applied, while achieving overall fitness benefits.

Sample:

* 5:00 On The Bike Warm Up @ 50-60% Threshold Power @ high cadence.

* Off the Bike 1 Legged* Squats 2 Sets of 10 Reps, progressively increasing weight.

* 6:00 On The Bike Tempo @ 90% Threshold Power @ high cadence. Toss the legs easy for 1:00 prior to Tempo effort and 1:00 prior to getting off the bike.

* Off the Bike 1 Legged* Leg Press 2-3 Sets of 10 Reps progressively increasing weight with each set.

* 6:00 On The Bike Tempo @ 90% Threshold Power @ low cadence. Toss the legs easy for 1:00 prior to Tempo effort and 1:00 prior to getting off the bike.

* Off the Bike Step Ups* 2 Sets of 10 Reps progressively increasing hand-held weights with each set.

* 6:00 On The Bike Tempo @ 90% Threshold Power @ 1:00 high cadence and 1:00 low cadence, repeatedly. Toss the legs easy for 1:00 prior to Tempo effort and 1:00 prior to getting off the bike.

* Off the Bike 2 Sets of 1:00 Plyometric Jumps.

* 3-5 x 4:00 On The Bike Criss Cross Threshold @ 1:00s 70% Threshold Power; 2:00 90% Threshold Power; 1:00 above Threshold Power, repeatedly 3-5 times.

* 5:00 On The Bike Cool Down @ 50-60% Threshold Power @ high cadence.


Total training time to perform both strength and cycling = 60:00.

* Develop muscular balance and simulate cycling movement.

On & Off The Bike Circuit Training is an excellent time-crunch way to get both your strength and cycling training accomplished in the same session. There are numerous combinations you can create and incorporate into your program. This technique will assist in losing weight, reducing body fat, boosting fitness and cycling specific strength & power and instill in the body that the strength training is to transfer to cycling performance."

Angie Sturtevant
Specialists in Sports Performance
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