The Road Show Begins

It’s time for us to “hit the road.”  During February, March, April and May we will be taking our show on the road.  This is the perfect time to meet us (the coaches) and learn about what the training entails and how you can fit it into your life!  Many times our Workout Leaders and past athletes make special appearances.  It’s great to see some old friends and meet some new ones.  We cannot wait to meet you!

Schedule, as of February 24:

Thursday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m.
Fleet Feet
1003 Farmington Avenue, West Hartford
860-233-8077

Tuesday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m.
Ladies Night at Hartford Stage for Motherhood Out Loud
50 Church Street, Hartford
860-525-5601
Come visit us in the lobby before the show.
Tickets can be purchased on the Hartford Stage website. Make it a true Ladies Night Out!

Sunday, March 14 at 12:00 p.m.
New England Air Museum
36 Perimeter Road, Windsor Locks
860-623-3305

We are very excited to be collaborating with the New England Air Museum for this event.  Bring your family and they can tour the museum while you spend some time with us. We’ve scheduled our talk to coincide with the arrival of “AEXEOUS.”  AEXEOUS is a one of a kind engineering marvel that is being used as a teaching tool to educate and excite children of all ages.  He is 12’ tall and he moves and talks with visitors. On Sunday, March 14, visitors to the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Conn. will be treated to a special show by an amazing interactive robot.|

Those women attending the Team Training New England talk can bring their families for a special admission rate: With every adult admission ($10), a child gets in for free (savings of $6).
Also, check out the attached list of libraries that give free passes to the museum!
Libraries with Passes
We just visited the museum and it was such a treat.  It’s something you won’t want to miss.

Wednesday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m.
Mandell JCC
335 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford
860-236-4571

Wednesday, April 14 at 7:00 p.m.
REI at Blue Back Square
71 Raymond Road, West Hartford
860-233-2211

We will be in the Coventry, CT in May.
Stay tuned for details!

An Aha Moment

For the past six months I have had the opportunity to switch places with the hundreds of women that have trained with Team Training New England over the past five years and now I REALLY get it!  I have been lucky enough that my fitness level has enabled me to compete in both Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons without a tried and true training plan.  My life as a mother of a three teenagers, a daughter of aging parents, my involvment in my family business as well as my coaching business didn’t leave me much time to train systematically.

When I completed my first triathlon in 2004, I was overjoyed. I felt that I finally found my calling as an athlete.  As I thought about the challenge of a longer distance triathlon, I knew that I couldn’t rely on my current training regime to get me to the finish line.   Like many of our athletes, I was experiencing first hand, the challenge and exhilaration of setting my sights on an event that I had previously thought of as unattainable.  My challenge was a 70.3 (half iron distance).

I needed to find the time to follow a training plan.  As Lynne would say, I needed to figure out how put myself on the top of my “to-do” list.

For the past five years, my training focus has been on our athletes – the women that we have had the privilege and honor to work with year after year – our “TRI-ladies”.  When I decided to attempt a 70.3, having never run or biked more than 10 or 40 miles respectively, I knew I needed more support and structure than I could muster on my own.

Last winter I came across a book by Sage Rountree called The Athletes Guide to Yoga.  I discovered that, in addition to being a gifted yoga teacher, she is a triathlete and a coach.  I imagined that it would be personally and professionally enriching to train with her.  An introductory e-mail quickly led to a two-day trip to Chapel Hill where we discussed training philosophies and options.  The next thing I knew, I had registered for the Beach2Battleship race in Wilmington, North Carolina in November 2009. I had six months to prepare. The late season race allowed me to find the training time I needed with my coaching season over and my children back in school.

What I hadn’t imagined was that my experience over the last six months would draw me even closer to the women that I coach.  I did miss training with a group of like-minded women but felt completely supported by Sage and my Team Training New England community  — not to mention my family!

Other than that, all of the ingredients were there:  (1) commit to an event that is outside of your comfort zone, (2) trust the training and (3) follow through to the best of your ability.

I am elated to report that once again the recipe worked!  Not only did I love the process of training, which in and of itself was gratifying and transformative, but the event exceeded my expectations.  I look forward to my next 70.3!

TTNE Gear

Whether it’s for you or your favorite triathlete, we have a great gift idea.

We’ve been field testing the thinksport™ water bottle to see if it meets our high standards.  Not to get all hyperbolic, but this is “not just another water bottle” that you get when you do a race. While it’s not designed to be used on your bike, it’s perfect for pre and post race hydration (or for keeping your coffee/tea/hot chocolate hot, hot, hot).

Double-walled stainless steel and vacuum-sealed, it keeps contents hot or cold for hours. You won’t feel the temperature of the contents. If you fill the bottle with hot liquid or put ice cubes in, you won’t grab a blazing hot bottle or a freezing cold one either.  The liquid inside stays the temperature that you started with.  We think it’s perfect for keeping in your car during the hot and cold months.  It also works great for race day.  You can keep your recovery drink in your transition bag and it won’t get warm while you’re out on the road.

To make this a little more personal, we customized these bottles with the  Team Training New England logo.

Here are the some of the other thinksport™ bottle features:

Removable internal mesh filter.  This reduces the chances of ice or tea leaves from being consumed during drinking.

Made with safe, non-toxic materials. Free of Bisphenol-A (BPA), lead, PVC, nitrosamines, phthalates.

Holds 12 oz or 350 ml of liquid.

Get your customized thinksport™ Team Training New England water bottles today.
We are not able to ship these products, but we’re happy to meet you and deliver them to you in person.

Each bottle costs $20 (including CT sales tax).
Cash or checks (made payable to TTNE) accepted.

Email Lynne or Janice directly and we’d be glad to meet you.

Stay tuned, we hope to post some other great gift ideas soon!

Let’s Get Moving

When I moved from New York City to West Hartford over six years ago, I was thrilled to be out of Manhattan and living in a less urban environment. I was moving to a home on a lake where I envisioned rolling out of bed for a morning swim, grabbing my bike from the garage and donning my sneakers where I could immediately hit the road.  It was a triathlete’s dream.  The reality is that living here has far exceeded my expectations when it comes to my training life.

But recently I realized that while I train even more than while I was living in New York City, I MOVE much less.  In the course of my days in New York City, I walked two to three miles a day, without even noticing.  I don’t do that here. I could walk to the Stop & Shop, it’s only a little over a mile away, but I don’t.  I could walk to the pool for a swim, it’s less than a mile away, but I don’t. Why? Because “I don’t have time.”  At least that’s the story I’ve been telling myself for six years.  

Now, however, I’m starting to do a little re-writing.

This fall, two seemingly unrelated events occurred.  The first was that I had surgery in November.  I plan everything, so this surgery was planned at a convenient time for me, my family and mostly my training. It was the off-season; thus I could accept the amount of time off necessary to recover.  Maybe physically I could use the time off, but mentally I thought I would go crazy.  However, the surgery was necessary and I would, I kept telling myself, survive this downtime.

The second event was that I discovered a book called American Idle; A Journey Through Our Sedentary Culture.  While driving, I heard the author, Mary Collins, speak about her book and the experiences that led her to write it on NPR.  I was intrigued and inspired by her interview.  At a red light, I wrote down the name of the book and immediately contacted her once I got home and requested a review copy.  (FYI, she’s currently a professor of creative writing at Central Connecticut State University).

I decided to read the book as part of my recovery. American Idle chronicles how the American people have stopped incorporating movement in their lives. Our ancestors, the hunters and gatherers, had to move to get their next meal.  This could mean up to 4 miles a day on foot.  For most Americans to get their next meal they only have to get off of their couches and walk to the kitchen. It’s easy to see how many of the health issues in this country probably stem from our lower levels of activity.

But as Collins’ book points out, “personal responsibility only goes so far; lots of things out there that we feel we can’t control contribute to our biblical levels of slothfulness.  Studies show that something as simple as a bike path near a neighborhood can increase people’s activity levels as much as 25 percent.”

My surgery and the discovery of this book were the perfect storm.  As I read, I started to think about how I could incorporate regular movement into my daily life as well as for my eight-year-old daughter, Sofie.

Sofie is a fairly active girl.  She has physical education (called P.E.) at school 4 days a week. On nice days, she’ll grab her bike and go around the neighborhood, plus this year she’s on a swim team. I still fear that as school gets more challenging and the computer, Sony DS and her iPod compete for her free time, she might lose that desire to just play and be outside.  As a very active adult, I didn’t want to just model healthy behavior, I wanted to create a situation where she could start to lay the groundwork for a healthy lifestyle that she would carry into adulthood.  Was this asking too much?

Collins points out that “with each succeeding generation, children spend less time in gardens, around streams, in woodlands…The rise in organized sports, with its emphasis on structured activities, coincided with the rise in obesity, as people became less and less at home with free play and other spontaneous movement.”

I realized that as fit and healthy as I am, what good would it be if my children were to become yet another statistic?

So I came up with a plan.  Sofie’s piano lesson is 1.2 miles away from our house.  We could give ourselves 30 minutes to get there.  We would wear headlamps and bike lights on our way home since once it got darker.

Now I still had to convince Sofie that this was a good idea.  Surprisingly, she agreed, with no argument.  On our first day, she walked a bit slowly.  She told me she couldn’t go any faster.  I told her if she didn’t pick it up, we’d be late.  We eventually got there and she was elated and proud when we arrived. We have walked every week for the past five weeks and her pace has picked up quite a bit.  This past Monday, it was a little rainy out. I told her we could drive and she said, “We have raincoats and rain boots, we can still walk. PLEASE??”  So we put on our rain gear and walked.

A side benefit of this healthy movement is the bonding time.  I was so focused on getting regular movement into our lives that I had no idea how much we would love just being together – outside – exploring.  We now walk to piano and swimming — three days of walking. As the weather gets colder, I’m breaking out the hats and gloves. Sofie is completely on board.

It’s been nearly two weeks since my surgery and my body is recovering nicely.  I have yet to swim, bike or run, but I feel great. Not including my walks with Sofie, I have walked every day for nearly an hour at a time. I never wear a heart rate monitor and I never know exactly how far I’ve gone.  For a data-driven, heart rate monitor-, gps-wearing, athlete this is revolutionary. These past two weeks have been life-changing for me.

I delayed this surgery for nearly three years for many reasons. Mostly, I didn’t think I’d be able to survive the time off.  I have not only survived, I have thrived.  I truly believe that getting outside, whatever the weather, has helped me heal faster both physically and mentally.

Mary Collins’ book has opened my eyes about what it means to move and connect with the world around us.  Thanks to her, I am connecting with my daughter in ways I never thought possible.  We both view our walks as adventures and our relationship is much better for it.

I felt the need to tell this story because as a coach I am always pushing my athletes to go faster and get stronger.  I now know that there are other ways to stay healthy and fit. It doesn’t all have to be so focused on “the workout.” Finding enjoyment in any kind of activity has a value as well.

I do plan on resuming my triathlon training when my body is ready. I also know that my walks will continue. Time is always an issue when it comes to prioritizing our daily lives, but it’s worth re-evaluating how we move throughout the day and in our lives. Here are two suggestions:

1.    Figure out where you can find 15-20 minutes a day to go for a walk.  It might mean a few less minutes on the computer or leaving the dishes in the sink.  Try taking a walk during your lunch break and eating a light lunch at your desk.  When shopping, park at the outskirts of the mall.
2.    Pick up a copy of Mary Collins’ book, American Idle.  Read about her fascinating story and transformation.  Learn about what has contributed to the vast sedentary lifestyle of over 65% of Americans.  Collins also suggests ideas on how we can change your own behavior as well as open your eyes to the obstacles we all face and how we might be all be able to be part of the movement movement.

I know that triathlons – both training and coaching for them – have changed and enhanced my life. But, movement for the sake of movement, without a transition or a finish line has also had a profound impact.  Yes, walking is almost like breathing, something many of us take for granted. But, this experience of re-learning how and why I move has re-energized me as I head into the new year.

2010 Training Program Registration Now Open

Ever thought about trying a triathlon, but had no idea how to get started?  The coaches of Team Training New England and Heart Zones Coaching know just how you feel and are here to help you every step of the way. By using a proven training methodology in Heart Zones and other unique Heart Zones Coaching tools, you will learn how to train smart, efficiently and effectively. Oh, and did we mention that you’ll also have a lot of fun?

Registration is now open.  Click here to learn more and sign up today!

Choose between our 8 week Sprint Distance or 12 week Olympic Distance Training Programs.

Our programs will culminate with the Massachusetts State Triathlon in Winchendon, MA.  You can choose between the following races:
8 Week participants sign up for the Sprint Triathlon: 1/3 Mile Swim, 10 Mile Bike, 3.1 Mile Run
12 Week participants sign up for the Intermediate Triathlon: .9 Mile Swim, 21 Mile Bike, 6 Mile Run

8 Week Sprint Distance Program

For the woman who never imagined herself crossing the finish line of a triathlon, this program is for you!  We will be with you every step of the way and you WILL cross that finish line, stronger, fitter and prouder than you could ever imagine.  We will meet on Wednesday evenings (6:30-8 p.m.) and Saturday mornings (7-9 a.m.)

12 Week Olympic Distance Program

For the athlete who has completed at least ONE sprint distance triathlon and wants that extra challenge.  We will meet on Wednesday evenings (6-8 p.m.) and Saturday mornings (7-9:30 a.m.).

I feel so grateful and blessed to be surrounded by so many like-minded women.  This experience has been life changing for me and my family!  — Marji (2006)