racelab

racelab
Newsletter September 25th, 2013 
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Coach's Corner
  
The single most important and rewarding thing for a coach is to see the athletes improve. The improvements come in many ways: refined technique, more endurance, better recovery, improved economy and efficiency and faster times! And then there are the other improvements that occur on a deeper level; a personal change that reflects confidence, stability, humility, determination and so many more.
As you all go through this process, each one at your own pace, you may not realize the huge difference from when you started this journey, to where you are now. If I could show you the "old" you and you could compare it with the "new" you...then you'll know what I'm talking about. 
One of the most powerful aspects of training with a group, is the support and the chance to share this transformation with people who are going through the same process as you are.
There is a small detail, that can turn this extremely positive environment into a burden and consequently make it negative...if you let it!
It is when you start comparing yourself with others, especially when you feel you are not doing as good as the rest. This feeling can demotivate you and can lead to a high level of frustration. The interesting thing is that more often then not, many compare themselves with others on things they do worse, but rarely do so with things they do better. 
It is very important to understand, that each one is unique and that each one reacts and adapts differently . There are too many factors to consider: body dimension, muscle fibers, flexibility, strength, ability, coordination, body awareness, experience, level of fitness, genetics, childhood, etc, etc,...even personality!

This has to be a competition with you and you only! 
How others do is outside of your control!

The goal for you and for us, is to make you a better, stronger, faster athlete, regardless of what others do or how others respond. 
Your plan is designed with that goal in mind...specifically for you!

During all these years of coaching, I've seen that many athletes who improve the most from the beginning, get more impatient with progress and get more frustrated, even when their improvement is huge and exceeds their initial expectations.
The rate of improvement is not linear. At the beginning it is easy to make big progress, but it gets harder as you get faster. That is why at a higher level the training gets more complicated and more detailed and each aspect has to be taken in consideration. It is easier to improve a marathon time by one hour from 5:30 to 4:30, then it is to improve 5 minutes from 3:00 to 2:55. 

When you let us do our part as coaches and you do your part as athlete, improvement is eminent! ...just be patient!

When in doubt...ask the coach! 

Bettina
Dear Team

Congratulations to a great race at the Lifetime Tempe Triathlon! racelab had 39 athletes doing this race, plus so many fans out there! We had 8 first timers who successfully finished, even without a wetsuit!

Bryan Anderson - Olympic
Rafiqul Islam - Olympic
Nate Finden - Olympic
Molly Petrone - Olympic
Lisa Pivin - Olympic
Richelle Miller - Sprint
Jeffrey Grynkewich - Sprint
Emily Davison - Sprint

The yellow was well represented at the podium too:
Bev Crupi - 1st a/g Sprint
Melanie Bearden - 1st a/g Olympic
Greg Hedger - 1st a/g Olympic
Andy Krebs - 3rd a/g Olympic

I don't have all the data comparing the times with previous races, but so far I've heard of many having PR up to 15 minutes!

We also had a few marathoners out there:

Cory Hove qualified for Boston again in Omaha
Ellen Camp was 1st in her age group in Maui
Katherine Camp also ran Maui
James McDonald also ran Omaha

And then we had some racelab representation at the Portland Triathlon with Christine and Barry Steinbock!

A race is never easy, and some are harder than others. What counts is the effort put forward and being able to adapt to particular situations and conditions on that particular day. There is always something to learn from a race, whether you know you did your best, or you think you could have done better. If you have any concerns or if there is anything specific you know you need to work on, please talk to us. We need to know how you did and how you felt in order to address any issues and help you do better next time.

As always, I couldn't be more proud of each of you and the whole team! It is days like that that make each effort worth it and that keeps us wanting to do more!

Congratulations to all!

Bettina 
racelab CLINICS

OPEN WATER SWIM #3
September 29th

We've had great groups at the Open Water Swims!
With Soma and Ironman coming up, we want to have as many of these swims as possible. Our next one is coming up next weekend!

6:00 AM Group Run at Reach 11
Breakfast after the run at AJ's Pima & Pinnacle Peak
11:00 AM carpool to Bartlett Lake
12:00 PM Open Water Swim at Rattlesnake Cove
Remember to purchase a Tonto Park Pass!

PLEASE RSVP 


MENTAL READINESS
October 2nd - 6:30 PM
Destination Kona
  
The mind is a powerful tool that can serve us positively but also negatively if we allow it.
Most struggle mentally more than physically with the training and racing. The more you learn to deal with it, the better you'll train and race, and the more you'll enjoy the process!
Please do everything possible to attend this clinic!
If this clinic interferes with your training, please contact Bettina to adjust the schedule!
 
Please RSVP
https://www.facebook.com/events/696075763755045/ 
IMPORTANT RACES
 
RUNNING! 
The post-triathlon season from November to March brings about a lot of really great running events that racelab has been a part of for years. Here's a list of them. Contact us to get the discount code.
 
12/14        Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon (discount)
2/1/14       Sedona Marathon, Half, 10K, & 5K (discount)
3/1/14       Phoenix Marathon, Half, 10K
3/23/14     AZ Distance Classic Half (discount)

There also some great events throughout 2014 that we regularly attend and their registrations are opening soon. Some, like the Vineman 70.3, are in incredibly high demand and need to be registered for immediately! Here's a couple of those:

10/?      Old Pueblo 50 Miler Registration Opens
11/1      Vineman 70.3 Registration Opens 

These lists will grow in upcoming newsletters. Mark your calendars though and don't miss out on anything! 
HOPE IN MOTION

This week we started the marathon training program Hope in Motion, from the Phoenix Children's Hospital. 
 
This is a charity program, where people sign up to run a marathon or half marathon, in honor of a patient in the hospital. The runner will raise funds for the hospital while training for the race. 
 
There are already 60 participants in this program and the marathon race will be PF Chang's in January.
We are very happy to be part of this great cause!
 
If you are interested in participating or know someone who would like to do this, please contact:
 
Clayton Zenner
Special Events Coordinator
Phoenix Children's Hospital Foundation
p (602)933-2640
czenner@phoenixchildrens.com
Table of Contents
Dear Team
racelab CLINICS
Important Races
Hope in Motion
Group Training Sessions
Upcoming races
facebook
GROUP TRAINING SESSIONS
-----------------------------
 
 
 THIS WEEKEND
 
Saturda
September 28th 
 
6:00 AM
Denny's in Fountain Hills

___________________ 

  

Sunday 
September 29th
 
6:00 AM  
Reach 11
 
10:00 AM 
SWIM SESSION 
CANCELLED 

 

11:00 AM
AJ's on Pinnacle Peak and Pima

 

12:00 PM
Bartlett Lake
Rattlesnake Cove
----------------------------
 
 NEXT WEEKEND
 
Saturday 
October 5th 

  

  6:00 AM
BIKE RIDE
South Mountain

 

-------------------------

Sunday 
October 6th

  

6:00 AM 

GROUP RUN 

Tempe Center for the Arts

 

7:00 AM

RACE FOR MAGGIE'S PLACE

Tempe Center for the Arts

  

10:00 AM

SWIM SESSION

ASU

Student Recreation Center



For more information click here:

 

UPCOMING races

 

October 
10/3      Splash N Dash 
10/6      Maggie's Run
10/13    Splash N Dash
10/19    Open Water Swim

November  
11/9      Splash N Dash
11/10    Open Water Swim
11/3      NYC Marathon
11/3      Woman's Half  Marathon
11/17    Ironman AZ

December 
12/8      Tucson Marathon
12/15    Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon
 racelab in Facebook

 

We have two racelab accounts in Facebook:
 
The racelab page is open to the public. It serves as an informational tool to let the public know what we are about and what we do.

 

The racelab group is a closed group, where only active team members are accepted. This account serves as a tool for the team members to communicate in a more controlled environment. 
Please make sure you belong to both accounts so that you don't miss important information. 

Contact Information
info@racelab.com
www.racelab.com
480-502-9975

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