The Flow Experience
Races are going to be challenging at some point or another. Whether it’s getting through the long ride or getting into a rhythm in the swim leg, it can be challenging to keep a high effort for a long time, without losing focus and losing speed.
Some races will be better than others. That’s just the nature of racing at your personal limit, sometimes things won’t workout. Even just feeling an unexpected difficulty part way through a race can cause make you lose focus, having a negative effect on the remainder of the race.
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A Letter to my Younger Self
You are going to face many ups and downs. Your life path is going to have rocky footing, unpredictable weather and random mudslides. You're going to fall down but you're going to get back up. You’re going to fall down again, and continue to get back up. It is going to become a constant cycle of ups and downs. Treasure the ups. Soak in every detail of all of the good times and commit them to your memory. Remember these moments during the down times, knowing even better times are ahead.
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The Culture and Tradition of Ekiden
The new year is a special time in Japan, filled with rituals and beliefs about what will bring good luck and longevity, people welcome another year eating long noodles and rice cakes (mochi). During this time, there is another feeling in the air; it is not obvious to the unsearching eye, but is powerful, widespread, and seemingly indiscriminate.
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5 Quotes to Motivate You Through Your Triathlon Journey This Season
Triathlon is an inspiring sport. But sometimes, it can seem nearly impossible to break through the negativity and low-points to stay motivated. The only thing more dangerous than a hard-working, talented triathlete is one who has the motivation to move mountains.
Here are 5 quotes to keep you going when you're struggling in your pain cave, sweating in the hurt locker, and devastated with despair:
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Don't Rely on Your Resolutions
The new year is here and thousands of determined individuals set out to create a better life for themselves through motivation and a new outlook on life. That’s all fine and dandy until February when 95% of them are back to their normal routine. I’ve never really supported New Years resolutions and mainly because of how rarely people actually follow through with them. If you’ve set out some resolutions in the past and had achieved them then props! I’m happy for you, but why did you need the calendar to change for you to start? If it’s important to you and something you want to achieve then don’t wait for an excuse to start, just start!
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Getting to Know T1 High Performance Athlete, Koulie Athens-Hunsberger
My days of running date back to when I was 6 years old practicing with the cross-country team at my elementary school. I wasn’t particularly good, but I enjoyed going to run with them. At my school almost everyone practiced with the cross-country team after school. It was just something to do; I never really thought of it as training.
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Meet Jason Klein, the Newest Member of the T1 High Performance Team
I grew up in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a suburb outside of Philadelphia. During High School, I began running cross country and track. In school, I always strived to do my best, and I tried to translate the same approach to running. However, I found myself frequently injured, and despite good training sessions, never racing at the level I had hoped.
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The Year in the Life of a Professional Triathlon Coach
This holiday season I have had the tremendous pleasure to meet up with many old friends and acquaintances. Usually, the most common response I get from each of them is: "Kyle! It looks like you've been having lots of fun!" It's got me to reflect upon my career and the amazing joy and blessing it is to be a full-time professional triathlon coach.
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Getting to Know T1 High Performance Athlete, Catherine Alcorn
Twenty four years ago two people living in Red Deer Alberta brought home a beautiful baby girl. Their plan? Reinforce the importance of education, the health benefits of sport, and the power of independence and hard work. They registered her in competitive swimming, where she excelled and placed nationally. Her goal was to be an Olympic swimmer in the 100 and 200 butterfly. Unfortunately the universe had other plans. Grade 8 rolled around and while all of the other girls went through massive growth spurts the baby girl who was now an extremely awkward teenager was stuck at a measly five feet. Hours of hard work resulting in a year long plateau devastated our young hero. Coming to terms with the fact that her competitive swimming dream was over, she turned to running. She ran x-country and track and field for her high school and experienced instant success. Little did our ex-swimmer know that despite being able to spend hours in the pool daily, a person shouldn’t spend hours running. Plagued with the beginning of many injuries to come, our hero had to back off from running and try to find something else to fill the empty void. Through the insight of a family friend, the wise parents bought her a road bike for her sweet sixteen and convinced her to try triathlon. They drove her to races across the province, cheering her on as she exited the water first, dropped to last place after the bike and then sprinted her way back up to the podium. Little did they know this was the initial spark of a dream that has only grown with time.
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The Great Balancing Act: The Triathlete Self Identity
I moved up to rural northern Alberta in 2015 after graduating from nursing school. I went to school in Toronto mega-city. I got experience in some of the major teaching hospitals and swam six times a week with an awesome masters group called “Masters of the Universe” - the name says it all.
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Getting to Know T1 High Performance Athlete, Eric Dokter
A long time ago in a galaxy similar to this one, a triathlete was born. Well, not really. I wish I could tell you I’ve been doing triathlon since I was a kid, but that’s just not the case. Like 90% of boys growing up in Canada, I started skating before I could even walk. I played hockey from age 4 until I was around 19.
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Vacationing Without a Bike? Is that Even Possible?!
Going away on vacation and not able to spare the room to take the bike? This is such a common concern that triathletes have, but use it as an opportunity - not a stumbling block.
Here are 4 tips that every travelling triathlete should use to get the most out of their training abroad.
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