Ladies Night January 5th!

First Ladies Night of the New Year takes place on Thursday January 5th!

Join Tribalistic for a Brick workout at 6pm-7:30pm in the Lower MPR at Pan Am Pool.



For non-members there is now a $5 drop in fee to help cover facility costs.

Winter Camp Day 3: Paul Dyck Kicks Our Collective A$$ets

Paul Demos the single leg back lunge to hop

I'm friends with Paul on Facebook and a fan of his page for his personal training business, Creative Conditioning. Paul likes to publish quotes from his clients; things said to him in the heat of a workout. Such as:

"Hey Paul! Thanks for the best workout ever! Never thought falling asleep at a bomber game could be possible!"


Client: "Paul, Can I go home yet? Im tired and dont care if I get the whole Hour in."
Me: "I have a better idea. How about you go put your big girl panties on and finish off your last 5 minutes of core work!"


"Paul, I hope I croke when you're training me just so I can make you look bad" This was shortly followed by.... " Paul, that was 20, you lying sack of..." 


And 


"Paul, at the last bootcamp I went to I could wear my shirt twice and that was in +35c. Now we are only 15 min and I want to take this shirt off" 


I've been watching these quotes appear, here and there for the better part of the last year, so I should have known better than to think I could show up to a Paul Dyck workout, with a touch of a head cold, and actually plan to not sweat. I was, as the last quote said, soaked within 15 minutes. We all were. 

Except Coach Pat, who we all know is inhuman. 


We started with a dynamic warm up including running, those A's and B's thingies, some organ grinders (or whine makers as I think of them) and other variations on the theme. I used my sniffly status and my self-appointed role of club camp reporter to slack as much as I could *cough cough* Somebody had to take the pictures for the blog, you know. 

Dynamic warm up

After leading us through a few killer gentle stretches we were on to the main event. As a personal trainer, Paul often works with clients who travel and can't bring a lot of fancy equipment with them and aren't always guaranteed a gym at the hotels they stay at.  So our time in purgatory workshop with Paul was designed to give a great workout that could be done anywhere. 

What Triathletes look like at the start of a stair climb workout.

So, of course, we hit the stairs. And we did this:


Run up 3 flights single steps x 3 (with the down portion as recovery)
Run up 3 flight double steps x 3
Right foot lead one step at a time x 3
Left foot lead one step at a time x 3 -- you know, like how small kids climb stairs but lots faster. 
Then two legged hop up three flights x 3

What Triathletes look like at the end of a stair climb workout (Note: Coach Pat never stops moving)

Wow... you think you're a good athlete. You're a triathlete for cripes sake. You're guaranteed to have the most well rounded fitness out there. But you don't know nothing about fitness until you've done a few of these exercises. And that, ladies and gents, was just the warm up.


And why not another short video:

We then went into the timed set from hell which looked like this:

We had about 20 attendees (give or take) tonight. I count 9 finishers on my time list. And the rest were DNF's (including myself). This felt like, as someone who's name I won't mention (Gillian) said, "a s&*t kicking."  The photo of the sheet shows the podium spots. Pat, Jim T. and Cindy. And there were a lot of really fast people way down the list. Which just goes to show you that fast does not always mean most agile or strong or coordinated. In fact, in my experience, most strong individual sports athletes, will tell you how average they performed in their youth at team sports (baseball, hockey, soccer etc.).

Nothing like a good Burpee to help catch Coach "perfect technique" Pat, in a bit of an awkward moment.

A room full of triathletes hurting, A LOT. 

Things slowed down a little after that. We did some core and strength exercises with the rubber bands. And then some warm down stretching and that concluded a very thorough strength and core workout.

Rowing and Planking

Paul Demos the side-row -- "Squeeze those shoulder blades"

And it was nice to meet Paul's "slave-driver" side. By day, Paul is this really sweet, somewhat soft spoken, and definitely polite guy. I'll never look at him the same way again.  


Thanks Paul for what is likely the hardest workout I have done in a very long time.  I truly believe if you want to be the best athlete you can be these are the kind of exercises you need to work into your routine. I'm sold. I have a new respect for the boot camp style workout.  


For further information on any of these workouts or Paul's personal training, check out the Creative Conditioning website here. 


Given that we are all going to wake up unable to walk or lift anything tomorrow (except Pat and Paul), it is probably a good thing it is scheduled as a day off. We are back at it on New Year's Eve (Saturday) with the last winter camp instalment which involves the typical Saturday Brick which all Tribalistic Members have all come to love (starting at 9:00), followed by a pool session and stroke analysis using the club video camera (starting at 11:00 in the Pan Am Training Tank). This session will be lead by Tribalistic members, Head Coach, Pat Peacock and Chris Always-the-first-out-of-the-water Graham.    

Winter Camp Day 2: Shredded Tires and Greasy Bikes

James moved so quick it was often hard to catch him on camera without a blur. 

I don't know what it is, but James Dyker from Alter Ego Sports shows up at one of our workouts and something weird happens to someone's bike. Two years ago it was his own bike that went off like a shot gun echoing through the Aquatic Hall. A piece of plastic or some other unidentifiable foreign object went flying off his bike. I'm not sure we ever did find out exactly what it was but we thought somebody died.

Tonight Jim M was the victim of the curse. We all started smelling rubber at some point during the workout. I was about as far away from Jim as one could be and I could smell it. Then the tell tale, rubber flakes could be seen with the naked eye all they way across the room.  So it was worth shooting a little video to commemorate the moment forever on You Tube.

Jim was just peddling hard on those VO2 max sets. That's his story and he's sticking too it. (And now you are all sorry you missed the VO2 max sets, I just know it!)

James did his talk and it was a hodgepodge of everything we asked in the ultimate crash course on bike cleaning, bike fit, derailleur adjusting, saddles and shoes and saddle sores and having one leg longer than the other. Which could be my problem -- freakish but true.

James and the captive audience.

Kermit got to the be the victim tonight. A slight gear stubbornness downshift problem in the biggest gears had me ask James to give it a little tweak so everyone got to see not only how to adjust gear tension but exactly how dirty my rear cassette and chain are despite my bike's recent trip to the bathtub scrubbing.  But James loves to teach and share his knowledge and his enthusiasm is infectious and tonight he had a willing and curious audience.

And I'm so mechanically disinclined at a certain point some of the mechanical explanations started to sound like all the adults in the Charlie Brown TV specials.  But I, for one, am very thankful for the boys at Alter Ego who fix my bike whenever I need. So here is a quick list of highlights from the evening.

1. Alter Ego has some of the most highly trained staff in the city when it comes to a good bike fit. James equated it to buying your suits at the mall vs. buying them tailor made. You are always going to look better and feel more comfortable in something fit just for you. They have some fancy fit equipment there and fits range from about $100 to $300 -- with a discount if you've purchased a bike. Call the store for an appointment and details.

2. Don't use WD40 on your bike. Just don't.  There are other good cleaners and lubricants you can use.

3. All it takes is a old T-shirt shimmied in and out of your rear cassette to clean off the dirt.

4. Another no-no is pressure washers. They simply shove dirt in places where it shouldn't be and won't come out.

5. Sometimes minor shifting problems are nothing more than increased friction from too much dirt.

6. If you use orthotics when you run, don't use them on the bike. It is a completely different foot motion.

7. The saddle is everything. And don't be afraid to try many until you get it right.

And there was just so much more. More than I could take in. I swear by the knowledge of the guys and gals at Alter Ego. And if you haven't had a proper fit for your bike, please go do it. Think about the money you spend on physio, chiro, massage, and athletic therapy every year. Some of that cash may be saved with just a little bit of tweaking.  Spend the money on prevention.

So thanks to James for an informative evening. And thanks to Jeff for leading a painful great post-holdiay feasting workout.

Camp night 3 continues tomorrow night when our very own Paul Dyck from Creative Conditioning and the Wellness Institute (and Lululemmon poster child) leads us through a strength training session. Come one and come all. We've very much enjoyed the attendance of non club members at our event this year.

Winter Camp Day 1: Can You Move Like Mike Booth?

I know I'd like to be able to move like Mike Booth and I'm sure we all would like to be as fast as him, especially given his 4 Manitoba Marathon wins he has to his credit.  But Mike trains like a "normal" endurance athlete now (whatever normal means for endurance training ... we do not know) and hangs out at Massage Athletica on Waverley for a living and he joined us tonight at Tribalistic's annual Winter Training Camp to demonstrate functional movement assessment techniques and put us all on the hotspot in terms of our weakness and asymmetry issues that may be affecting our training and performance.

Mike put us through 5 Assessment Movements and helped us assess our own varying degrees of weakness, tightness, mal-alignment or pain which gave us each a pass or fail on each individual exercise. I, who has failed every flexibility test since I was 6 years old, failed all but one of these tests. Let's have various Tribalistic members demonstrate the movements.

With approval from Mike and Mike, Chris demonstrates a very important movement technique: the shoe tie

The Overhead Squat

Can you squat with your arms over your head without pain, compensating by favouring one side over the other, dropping your arms, leaning forward, or tipping up to your toes?  Me neither.

But Maureen did a pretty nice job. 

Front Lunge

Lunge with each leg dropping the opposite knee to the floor. The movement should be pain free, equal bilaterally, and include a heel plant. My main problem was leaning too far forward. Leaning or any other variation from the above description and you are compensating for hamstring weakness.

Heather looks great from the side but she demonstrated a definite favouring of the right leg and left sided weakness. While subtle, this constitutes a Fail on the movement.

Y Balance Quadraped

Involves balancing on one foot while stretching the opposite leg as far forward, laterally, and posteriorly with crossover without losing balance -- three times each leg. You should feel equally capable on both sides.

Wanna know an exercise to fix the weaknesses associated with this movement? Lay on the floor on your back with one arm straight over your head. Try and roll on to your stomach without using your legs or arms for momentum. Go ahead. Try it. I dare you.
Straight Leg

While laying flat on your back with your opposite leg extended, raise your leg to 90 degrees. Can't do it? Hamstrings are tight. Not getting to 90 degrees (I got to maybe 75 degrees) is not necessarily the biggest problem but, at the very least, both legs should be able to raise to equal heights.

Cherrie is looking mighty fine! I think I caught her on the down-swing on the picture snap.

Thomas Test

I knew this one would be deadly as soon as Mike demonstrated. Balance yourself on the edge of a table and lay back and bring one knee to the chest while the other leg drops down to straight. Or sorta straight. Test the flexibility/weaknesses associated with your iliac muscles and hip flexors.

Chris, Mr. Flexible, looks fantastic and provides a textbook demonstration.

And it would be terribly remiss of me to make fun of other's weaknesses without including myself in the mix. Leg not straight, couldn't even bend the dropped leg's knee to 90 degrees, can barely hug knee to chest. Is there any rating lower than a Fail??  I should turn in my world championship socks. This was definitely my weakest assessment movement.

Thanks to Mike Booth for an incredible and informative seminar. I always knew I was tight and it at times limits my mobility, I doubt I really knew the extent of how bad it was until tonight. If you have any questions or wish to contact Mike for his massage expertise or obtain your own movement assessment you can find the link for Massage Athletica here.

I wrote this blog off memory and not from extensive notes, so any errors are mine and not Mike's. And nothing I've written here should substitute for a professional assessment. (And Mike if you are reading this and you see any errors, email us and we'll fix 'em).

We had great attendance tonight (approximately 18 attendees including 7 non-Tribalistic Members) hope to see you all at the Next session tomorrow night: Wednesday December 28th from approximately 6-8 PM in the Pan Am Pool Aquatic Hall of Fame when James Dyker, Manager of Alter Ego Sports joins us for an hour long spin and then a seminar on all things bike mechanical.

Nutrition Tips

Here is a great link to some nutrition tips!! Not that anyone needs any tips for how to stay svelte over the holidays!

Poster Boy

Someone among us has been up to a little photo-shooting and looking mighty fine in some Lululemon duds at a location unknown. I went to the store just to spy his ugly mug on the wall. Wow, they know how to make him look good.

Sorry for the bad pic, I'm short. The picture is high above my head. That's Paul, if you can't make it out.

The St. Malo Triathlon is in Search of a Race Director

St. Malo Triathlon Video June 26, 2011

As many of you are aware, Colin Blanchette who was our race director for St. Malo the past three years has elected to step down from the role in favour of some new personal ventures. The Tribalistic Board is now in search of a race director for the 2012 race and has opted to first offer this opportunity to any interested club members before opening the position up to the Triathlon Community at Large. This is a paid position and Colin has indicated that he will be willing to provide guidance as necessary for the year. 

I have included the Race Director duties below. If anyone would like further information, please contact me by email at kimmitchell (dot) 11 (at) gmail (dot) com  

Regards,

Kim Mitchell

President, Tribalistic Triathlon Team

Main Purpose

Organize race events at the St. Malo Multisport Weekend, which may include the following:

·           Olympic and Sprint Distance Triathlons (and relays)

·           Try a Tri Triathlon

·           Long and Short Distance Duathlons

·           Long and Short Distance Open Water Swim

Responsibilities

·           Coordinate all race activities including planning, implementation, closure and reporting

·           Chairperson of the Tribalistic Race Planning Committee comprised of Coordinators in the following areas:

o   Permits and Sanctioning application/post race report

o   Merchandise/promotions and sponsorship

o   Equipment management

o   Volunteer Recruitment & recognition

o   Food & hospitality

o   Registration

o   Timing

o   Race Course (transition area, swim course, bike course, run course)

o   Communications (website)

o   Budget and finances

·           Identify, assign and establish timelines/deadlines for coordinators and volunteers in all areas of the race.

·           Provide race planning updates to the Tribalistic board of directors, monthly through the year and weekly starting Mid-May.

·           Manage and report on the finances of the race including race fee.

·           Prepare and present a final race budget for approval by the Tribalistic board of directors before February 1^st, 2011.

·           Liaise with the Triathlon Manitoba’s Race Management Committee Director.

·           Liaise with St. Malo community members (recreational commission, parks, police, fire department and public).

·           Liaise with participants.

·           Liaise and assist the Kids of Steel Race Director.

·           Ensure adherence to the Triathlon Manitoba sanctioning package.

·           Liaise with Race officials.

·           Attend at race event.

·           Start date:  January 1, 2012.

Hmmmm... Baking...

Who doesn't love dainties?
Refuel after the workout next Saturday Dec 17 with the Tribalistic holiday baking pot luck!
Bring along your favourite holiday treat to share!

http://blog.compete.com

Tribalistic will provide beverages but we ask that you please be "green" and bring your own mug.

See you there!

Tribalistic Winter Camp

Join Us on December 27-31 for some special winter learning activities!

Find the information on our camp flyer here.

On the menu, swim analysis, functional movement analysis, bike maintenance and fit, strength training.

Another Ladies Night Success!!

From December 1st Ladies Night...compliments of Melanie.
...next Ladies Night is January 5th, 2012!! (Non-members will be required to submit a $5 drop in fee beginning in January).

Recipe from Whitewater Cooks at Home ( one of my favourite cookbooks), the Chef from The Fresh Track Cafe up at Whitewater Mountain, Nelson BC. These things are super popular!

Energy Balls

Ingredients

1 cup sunflower seeds, toasted
1 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup dried craisins
1/2 cocoa powder
2 cups of peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 cup toasted coconut for coating

• Put everything, except coconut, in bowl.
• Mix ingredients together... works best with hands. You may need a bit more honey to hold it together.
• Scoop into balls, big'ish bite size balls, roll and roll into coconut.

Can be stored in freezer!

• Get creative with the dried fruits.... just use your favourite combination.