New Friends and Skills at TriDot Ambassador Camp

The inaugural TriDot Ambassador Camp drew 80 ambassadors from across the U.S.

The progression of my triathlon journey was so evident last weekend.  It’s been a little over two years since I started on the TriDot training program and one year since I became a TriDot ambassador.  When TriDot announced the Ambassador camp, I declared my February birthday present to my husband Mike.

I trialed TriDot through its preseason project in late 2017 to get started training for my first 70.3 race.  Two months of free of training -- what did I have to lose?  I fully expected it to be some sort of marketing ploy, rather than the game changing program that it has been for me.  Seeing progress in my performance after two months and feeling like it was giving me good direction, I stuck with the plan “for a little while”.  After all, I was probably just going to do this one 70.3 and then go back to doing sprints and Olympics through my self-coaching methods.  It didn’t turn out that way.

Back then If you had told me that I would go on not only to run farther without injuries than I ever had, to finish the 70.3 feeling strong, and to declare that same day that I thought I could do a full Ironman, I wouldn’t have believed it.  Within a couple months after finishing Ironman Atlantic City 70.3, I signed up for Ironman Maryland and applied to become a TriDot Ambassador, seeing how life changing this program was for me.

For the last two years, I’ve enjoyed the camaraderie of the IAMTriDot and TriDot Ambassador Facebook communities.  It was such a thrill to arrive at camp and meet so many virtual friends face to face.  It began on Thursday night when fellow CT resident Kristin -- my weekend roommate -- showed up at my house for next morning’s early JFK flight to Austin, TX.  It wasn’t hard to spot fellow TriDotter’s at Austin’s airport – our TriDot and Ironman apparel was a dead giveaway!  

On Friday afternoon the staff welcomed us and led a social run along the river followed by dinner at Austin’s Faregrounds, an upscale food court with many dining options.  While it’s always great to be in the company of fellow triathletes who share your passion for the sport, our language around the dinner table took it to a whole new level as we talked about years on TriDot, “Train X”, “Race X”, and all of the parts of the country represented by our gang of 80 attendees.

Trying out my new Roka wetsuit at Barton Springs

On Saturday morning, I was so excited to swim in Barton Springs, an expansive, three-acre sized fresh water pool I had seen in Triathlete magazine years ago.  The spring-fed pool maintains a temperature of 68-70 degrees year-round and was a great opportunity to debut my new Roka wetsuit.  After a quick hot shower, we walked over to our reserved section in Zilker Park for breakfast and a presentation on running biomechanics by Coach Jeff Raines.  Wow, I was blown away!  

Jeff is a running encyclopedia, and I quickly realized how much I have to learn to become a faster and more efficient runner.  This was further evidenced as we moved into an hour of running drills.  Jeff would expertly demonstrate a drill and we would clumsily give it our best effort.

Coach Jeff Raines leads in running drills

By lunch time, we were famished!  Fortunately, a variety of ethnic food trucks are a short walk away from Zilker Park.  After lunch, we quickly dropped off our gear at the hotel and headed outside for a running shoe discussion.  Jeff must have a room dedicated to all of his running shoes given the plethora of brands and models he displayed.  Then we put all of the running theory to practice with some fartlek, tempo, and fast paced running intervals.  The key things I learned through these running sessions are:

• Your body generally should have a 3-6 degree forward lean, but 10 max.  Your fists should not come higher than your breast nipple.
• Most age groups athletes should be shooting for a 160-180 cadence.  It will be lower if you have long legs and short torso and higher if you have a shorter stride. Your cadence should not dramatically change with your pace – for example, upon reviewing my Garmin data after our running intervals, on our fastest interval, my cadence hit 193 and it’s no wonder that I blew up!
• Your vertical oscillation (which can be measured if you have a foot pod with your Garmin) should be a max of 2 – 2.5 inches or you are not using your energy efficiently
• For Z2 pace, you breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth with a longer exhale than inhale.  For Z3/4, you breathe in and out through your mouth.  And for upper Z4 and above you will be taking a longer inhale and shorter exhale.
• A Hoka thick soled running shoe has the same heal to toe drop as a minimalist shoe, making them essentially the equivalent for form but with added cushioning

After finishing a little extra running to hit my long run workout and a quick shower, it was dinner time.  Our bus descended upon Matt’s Famous El Rancho, an Austin Tex-Mex institution since 1952.  It’s fitting that Matt was an Olympic cross country gold medal winner runner in 1942 before founding his restaurant.  

The dinner conversations got deeper as I learned the story of how Yoli, whom I had met on the social run, had escaped Venezuela and gained political asylum more than a decade ago, leaving behind her family and an established business to start over rather than face jail.  I learned how Coach Tri Silk, whom I had previously met at Eagleman 70.3, is an FBI agent by day and a coach on the side to help athletes like Adam, sitting next to him.  Adam had gastric sleeve surgery and through a combination of the surgery, a new diet and exercise he lost 230 lbs. and finished Ironman 70.3 Augusta this past year!

Swim session at Austin Aquatic and Sports Academy

On Sunday, we headed to the Austin Aquatic and Sports Academy, with a large 25 yard by 50 meter heated pool.  Coach Raines shared with us some swimming tips which we then had an opportunity to practice in the pool.  For me, Coach JoJo recommended I focus on my entry and catch.  My need to focus on this was not new as it’s what my swimming video analysis had revealed last year.  But the proposed solution was different – rather than focusing on bringing my fingers and hands down perpendicular to the water (which according to the coach I wasn’t doing anyway because my hands were smacking down flat in the water at times), she wanted me to punch the water at a downward angle and then do my catch.  It seemed counter intuitive but the theory goes that you will then set yourself up for a better pull.  I worked on it at the session, but then upon returning home as it’s becoming more natural, it definitely feels more efficient.

A key Sunday highlight was hearing from CEO and founder Jeff Booher, with whom I had spoken at the bar Saturday night.  I had recently listened to a TriDot’s podcast in which Jeff shares how the preseason project and the company has evolved – it’s a fascinating story of having the vision that there is a better way, the belief that you can chart a path that’s never been done before, and the guts to make it happen.  

CEO Jeff Booher gives us some TriDot insight

Part of what makes TriDot so special is that its staff is grounded in and actively lives a solid set of core values.  Jeff Booher has hired and empowered an awesome, competent, caring and humble small team.  Coach John Mayfield, VP of Athlete Services, trained with Jeff in the early days and ultimately quit his lucrative banking career to pursue his new passion.  Coach Elizabeth James, who recently turned pro, gave me a big hug as we met in person for the first time after she had helped me understand why my Eagleman run was tough and had given me the confidence I needed for Ironman Maryland.  Andrew the “average triathlete, voice of the people”, a former television producer, is the newest member of the team and the moderator voice of TriDot’s now popular podcasts.  Coach Jeff Raines, as I’ve previously described, is just plain awesome in his knowledge.  

Cindy meets her constituents live!

And Cindy Reeves, is the customer, friendly, operational powerhouse making all of the logistics and support run smoothly.  Cindy has probably interacted with every athlete in some capacity and it was touching to see her warmly greet and hug people and put faces to names.

It was remarkable observing how we TriDot Ambassadors share the same temperament, values and behaviors that TriDot’s staff exhibit.  Humbleness, gratitude, and focus on the next step of each of our journey’s was on full display throughout the weekend.

Airport farewells with new friends!

New Zealand Bike Ride #4: Alps 2 Ocean Great Ride, Twizel / Aoraki Mount Cook, South Island

All of our rides had great scenery, but we saved the most scenic ride for last.  Even the name of this trail, “Alps 2 Ocean”, has you at hello before you ever commence the ride.  Once again, we only did a portion of the ride – but if you were so inclined you could ride all 360km of this trail starting at the Aoraki/Mount Cook village and riding all the way to Oamaru on the Pacific Ocean.  Doing the end-to-end trail requires a short but exciting helicopter hop across the Tasman River (which we didn’t do).

Since we were staying in Twizel, we rented bikes from Lakeland Explorer and followed a local trail until we connected to the Alps 2 Ocean trail in the middle of an expansive pasture with mountain views off in the distance.  We were mostly by ourselves with an occasional cyclist or walker appearing in the distance.

Perfect picnic spot!

And then we arrived at Lake Pukaki with its turquois-blue waters juxtaposed against the snow-capped Aoraki Mount Cook on this blue-sky day.  We followed the trail around Lake Pukaki bathed in the delight of the lupine flowers and awe-inspiring, stunning lake and mountain views. It wasn’t hard to pick the perfect picnic spot.

We followed the trail to the end.  Continuing on would have required riding a stretch on the road, which was less scenic and populated with enough fast-moving vehicles that we decided to turn around.  We had considered adding on some additional kilometers and taking a different route back along the canal, but fatigue was setting in (I later realized I was coming down with a cold) so we returned via the same route to Twizel to complete a 25 mile ride.  We walked around the town, with me enjoying fresh fruit ice cream and Mike enjoying a bakery pastry as our reward for our cycling adventure.

New Zealand Bike Ride #3: Central Otago Wine Trail, Queenstown surroundings, South Island

Having developed a fascination with suspension bridges and loving cycling and vineyards, this trail was packed with fun!  We rented bikes first thing in the morning in Arrowtown from Arrowtown Bike Hire and road to trail along a creek which led us to the Otago wine trail.  This is just one trail that makes up a whole series of trails of one of the Great Rides.  The trail that inspired the creation of the New Zealand Cycle Trail network, the Otago Central Rail Trail follows the old railway line between Clyde and Middlemarch.

The highlights of the Wine Trail included two suspension bridges we had to cross, one of which was quite long.  The trick is to not look down and not have too many people the bridge at once!  We also came to the Kawarau Gorge Bridge, the world famous, original bungy jumping site.  Seeing even the most fearful people give it a go, it was tempting, but the vineyards were beckoning us.  The vineyards are all right along the trail so we stopped at a couple of them before turning around just as we approached the town of Gibbston for the return.

Bikes and wine: our favorite things!

We had thought ahead this time to bring a picnic lunch.  Like toilets, picnic tables abound in New Zealand and we found one in a scenic spot high above the gorge.  We made it back to Arrowtown mid-afternoon and felt fulfilled with our 25 mile ride so we returned the bikes and enjoyed a walk around historic Arrowtown, which reminded us of the Colorado Old Western towns.

Picnic lunch overlooking the Gorge

Arrowtown to Gibbston

New Zealand Bike Ride #2: Lakeside Trail; Mountain Trails to Huka Falls, Taupo, North Island

We had visions of doing one of the 22 Great Rides which is in Taupo, but upon investigating our options, we opted for other equally great trails, but they were not part of the Great Ride.  Doing the Great Ride in Taupo requires more advanced planning since there are not bike rental shops at the trail head, but there are tour companies that will do delivery and pickup.  There are plenty of bike rental shops in Taupo so we walked in one and reserved ours the day before our ride.

Lakeside Trail

We spent our morning doing an easy and leisurely ride along the lakeside trail.  With Lake Taupo being the size of Singapore, this 16 mile roundtrip trail only covers a small portion of the gigantic lake.  This trail includes paved, gravel, and off-trail detours as you weave among the walkers, but it was more maneuverable than many bike trails we ride on in the U.S.

After lunch in Taupo, we were game to try an intermediate trail.  We wanted to go see one of Taupo’s key attractions, the Huka Falls, and biking seemed like the perfect way to get there.  The trail follows the Waikato River, which is the longest river in New Zealand, running 425 kilometers through the North Island.  We came to our first view of New Zealand bungy jumpy off a platform built out from the tall cliff.

Start of Waikato River Trail

Continuing on, we came to a bike park where Mike tested out his not so extreme skills.  This was just the warm up for what was to come.  The trail got steeper, sometimes narrow and with obstacles.  It provided for a more adrenaline-filled ride compared to the scenic riding we had done thus far.  There were a few times when I had to get off my bike, but we felt like we had accomplished a feat upon arriving at the falls, especially compared to all the people disembarking their buses.

The Bike Park

Testing my skills and great views!

Huka Falls

Home of Ironman Events!

We decided to take the alternative, easier trail along the other side of the river back.  Some of the trails are under construction and we may have missed a trail head because we found ourselves on a paved road back part of the way.  Back at the bike shop in Taupo, we clocked 10 miles, making it a total of 26 miles for the day.  We were ready for happy hour back on our beautiful AirBnB deck overlooking the lake!

Our morning lakeside ride

Our afternoon ride to Huka Falls

New Zealand Bike Ride #1: Motu Dunes Trail, Opotiki, North Island

 The Motu Dunes Trail is one of the 22 Great Rides.  While staying in the beach town of Ohope, we made the 40 min. drive over to Opotiki and rented bikes from Motu Cycle Trails, which was close the trail entry.  Early in the trail, we encountered our first - of what would become many in New Zealand – suspension bridge.  We quickly discovered that in addition to riding on the opposite (left) side, bikes are installed with the brakes on opposite sides (so the left bike is the rear bike). This easy trail got us warmed up on mountain bikes, as we realized how even small hills on a mountain bike can require more dramatic shifting than on our road bikes.

This beautiful trail follows the coastline so we were treated to constant views of amazingly empty summertime beaches.  The trail threw in fun surprises like a boardwalk through marshland.  

Once the gravel trail ends, the trail continues on a very lightly trafficked road and connects with some of the intermediate trails in the hills.  We rode the road for about a mile and then turned around for our return.  One of the options would have been to take the bike rental’s shuttle up to the top of the hills and ride down through the intermediate trails to the Motu Dunes trail.

Since we hadn’t prepared a picnic lunch, we returned after 17 miles to Opotiki where we got a fish lunch at a local fish shop / restaurant.  We contemplated more afternoon riding but the jet lag kicked in so we decided this was a great warm up ride for what would come next.  We also realized the distance you can do on a mountain bike pales to what you can do on a road bike.

"Great Riding" in New Zealand

Our most scenic ride - the Alps 2 Ocean Great Ride

Mike and I recently visited New Zealand for our 25^th wedding anniversary, and our number one activity was cycling the numerous, wonderful trails.  We had visions of doing both road biking and trail riding, but upon arriving we discovered the trails are really where you will find the best cycling.  In fact, the roads are fast driving (100km/60mph), rough-paved, and two lanes with no shoulders, making road biking very unappealing with questionable safety, which perhaps explains why you will be challenged to even find road bike rentals. But who needs roads when you have endless off-road trails for all abilities.

New Zealand has become known for their trail riding thanks to New Zealand’s Cycle Trail organization and its creation of 22 “Great Rides”, an idea that was born in 2009 at a government ‘jobs summit’.  During our two-week travels in the North and South Islands, we enjoyed four scenic and fun-filled trails.  We opted for half-day or day long rides, but there are many options to do these Great Rides end-to-end over multiple days.

There is enough bike “hire” (rental) supply that you probably do not need advance reservations for half- and full- day rides.  Since we were in peak summer season, we did make advance reservations for a couple rentals, but we probably could have found rentals without them.  A full-day rental costs around $50-55 NZD (~$35 USD) and since the trails are free, you can enjoy hours of low-cost adventure and fun.  It was helpful to do advance research to know what trails we wanted to ride, and we even planned some of our itinerary around the places we wanted to ride. If you want to do more than a day ride, you would want to make advance plans and reservations.

Painted mural on toilets

For the most part, the trails are well-marked so while there were a few times we wondered if we were going the right way, we never got lost.  You do want to plan for lunch.  On our first ride we assumed we could find food along the way, partly because the bike renter said there would probably be food stand mid-way, but there was none.  From then on, we always packed lunch and snacks and enjoyed some awesome picnic spots.

Music serenading toilets!

And here’s perhaps the best part – I never once had to pee in the woods!  Toilets abound and they will be the nicest and cleanest outhouse / porta potty / public toilets you were ever encounter. A couple of them even serenaded me with music.

 My subsequent four blog posts cover each of our bike rides, two on the North Island and two on the South Island.

Bike Ride #1:  Motu Dunes Trail, Opotiki, North Island

Bike Ride #2:  Lakeside Trail, and the Mountain Trails to Huka Falls, Taupo, North Island

Bike Ride #3:  Central Otago Wine Trail, Queenstown surroundings, South Island

Bike Ride #4:  Alps 2 Ocean Great Ride, Twizel / Aoraki Mount Cook, South Island

For an overview of our full trip, including our itineraries for the North and South Island, please see my 3 part series on the Intrepid Tourist.

Journey 140.6: Gratitude

Diane, Eric & Barb were everywhere!

We have so much to be grateful for in completing our first full Ironman.  The weather cooperated for the first time after 2 70.3 races in torrential rain, a cancelled swim at Eagleman, and a cancelled Martha’s Vineyard race due to Hurricane Dorian.  Neither Mike nor I experienced any accidents or major injuries in our journey.  The race day mechanical Gods were on our side.  Neither of us had any severe reactions to the multiple jellyfish stings.  But most of all, we had amazing support from our friends and family.

The training got tough in August.  The long runs and rides cut into social time when we had summertime guests. My sister Barb had yummy brunches awaiting us and pre-made meals for our week ahead.  She made sure I was well stocked with biofreeze to treat my foot tendonitis.

Barb is a great nurturer!

Our Martha’s Vineyard Cycling Club was there for us on Sunday long rides, and some even rode further with us when our long rides turned longer than the ride.  Wayne, a former Kona competitor, would slow down his normally fast pace and keep me company, giving me advice on Ironman pacing.

The TriDot coaches and community were with me every step of the way.  From the Ironman race tips and race recon webinars to a call and reach out from Elizabeth James, one of the most caring coaches on the planet, I gained the confidence I needed to do a full Ironman.

Diane and Eric came for The Martha’s Vineyard Tri, but when it was cancelled became our training partners for a peak training weekend.  Diane accompanied me on my longest run and made 15 miles go by faster and easier than I imagined.  Eric miraculously didn’t stop after his intended 6 miles and kept going with Mike.  After the hurricane passed, we enjoyed a long ride around the Island. Diane accompanied me for my longest swim in choppy waters and helped boost my confidence that if I could complete 2.4 miles in those conditions in 1h50, I would be good come race day.

The Iron Parents & Dog!

Mom and dad watched Barb’s dog Bella so she could come support me at the race venue.  Numerous friends, family, colleagues and Philly Tri Club members tracked our progress during the race.  Every time I went over a timing mat I was reminded of the support I had in places as far away as Costa Rica, Germany and London.  When Mike and I were driving down to Maryland, I was playing his secretary while he drove.  I was so touched by his German client’s email wishing us both well that it brought tears to my eyes.

Diane & Eric presented the birthday cake!

During the race weekend, we were so touched and honored to have Diane, Eric and Barb as our support crew and cheerleaders.  From making dinner, creating a birthday cake for Mike and our housemate Linda, to picking up our gear and cleaning the AirBnB, they were there every moment.  They captured photos, video and loudly cheered us on.  In fact other people commented how they were EVERYWHERE on the course!

No one ever completes an Ironman alone.  Mike and I want to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts who helped get us to the finish line and make the day special.