Thursday, June 4, 2009

Summer Triathlon Coaching

The summer Triathlon class at DeLand's YMCA has started, and guess who the coach is. This is the first year that a class has happened after May. I took over from previous instructor, Kathy, who is an amazing triathlete herself.

The first class started out a little bit rough. Rain was coming down like a waterfall about half an hour before class. It was the first class, so I wasn't sure who was attending and I didn't have any contact information. Two of five students did show up and the third caught up to us later in the program.

Since the roads were wet and lightning could still be seen in the distance I had to improvise. I was planning to do some mid-tempo training on the bike and then intervals on the run. Outside of a bike trainer, I have yet to find a decent stationary bike replacement.

I had my team do a five minute warm-up on the bike and then 10 minutes at about 70% exertion. We then headed over to the treadmill where they did a 1:30 rest and then 400m, then a 1:30 rest, and 400m for 4 times. We then headed back to the bikes for 5 minutes of easy riding. We finished with another set of 4x400.

The original plan was to do a cool-down on the bike, but the sun peaked out of the clouds. We all agreed that we needed some fresh air, so we took the class back outside. We ran an easy 1 mile with some plyometrics mixed in half way.

Overall it was a great workout. They will have swimming on Tuesday and then I will see them again next Thursday. If you are interested, you can still join in, just contact the DeLand YMCA.