8/25    Tue     Masters Swim at Life Time Schaumburg.  6:30pm
8/27    Thu     ET Track.  Rotolo Batavia Middle School.  6:30pm
8/29    Sat      ET Run Club.  Herrick Lake.  8:00am
8/30    Sun     ET Bike Club ride.  LeRoy Oaks, St Charles.  8:30am clip in
 
9/1      Tue     Masters Swim at Life Time Schaumburg.  6:30pm
9/3      Thu     ET Track.  Rotolo Batavia Middle School.  6:30pm
9/3      Thu     Masters Swim. Life Time Schaumburg.  6:30pm 

                         Note: Now Tue & Thu nights!
9/5      Sat      ET Run Club.  Herrick Lake.  8:00am
9/6      Sun     ET Bike Club ride.  Beecher Center, Yorkville.  8:30am clip in
 
9/8      Tue    Youth tri training class.  Kroehler YMCA.  4:15-5:00pm. Register
9/8      Tue    Masters Swim. Life Time Schaumburg.  6:30pm
9/10    Thu    Youth tri training class.  Kroehler YMCA.  4:15-5:00pm. Register
9/10    Thu    ET Track.  Rotolo Batavia Middle School.  6:30pm
9/10    Thu    Masters Swim. Life Time Schaumburg.  6:30pm
9/11    Fri     Adult tri training class. Kroehler YMCA. 11:00am-12:30pm. Register
 

 

August found many of us finishing our triathlon racing season at either HRMS Naperville or Pleasant Prairie. 

 

HRMS Naperville is a special race right in our backyard.  Sponsored by our friends at HRMS and ET, this event is always a favorite.  We enjoyed two days of helping answer athlete questions at the Expo.  Then we cheered our friends to the finish on Sunday.  Congrats to Kristin, KathyF, CathyB, Melissa, Nancy, Laura, Charlie, Amy, TonyV, Kate, Mario, BillO, Keith, Kevin, JoeK, JennyG and Bill for a strong day in the summer heat.

 

One of our ET road trip races every year is Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.  Always ranked as one of the best run triathlons in the USA, this venue is enjoyed by the races and fans that come to cheer.  This year we had a great group of ETer's to hang with.  Congrats to Sue, Lynn, Suzy, Julie, Rachel, Sara, Michelle, Doug, Ravi, Jeff, Drew, Adrienne, Greg, Joe, Jen, Kent, Jennifer, Dan, Noelle, Paul, Mike and Manny for getting to the finish line in that heat and humidity.  Boy, did those wet and cool race towels feel good!

 

Enjoy all the great photos from our two race weekends at ET-Photo.

 

 

Five weeks from now, I will be in the final stages of an epic journey.  It was about this time last year that I started taking swim lessons with Craig.  Four weeks in, I brought up the idea of swimming the English Channel.  Talking to this young guy who was just a few weeks into "learning to lap swim," Craig was skeptical at best and asked me to think more about it over the next few weeks.  That pretty much sealed the deal.  Now a year later and only a few weeks out from my swim, I am the skeptical one and Craig is the confident one.  Training has been far from perfect the last few weeks.  Plagued by small little setbacks on most of my longer weekend swims, my mental condition has been challenged as well as my body.

 
I am on the last big push in my training.  Shooting for 16 miles tomorrow swimming around Diamond Lake and 20 miles in Seaside, Florida in two weeks, we are at the apex.  Last week this time, I was preparing for a 14-mile swim at Montrose Beach, as one of my last three big swims.  The longer swims have been the toughest for logistical reasons more than physical ones.  Coordinating 20-minute feedings for 6 plus hour swims on beaches where lifeguards will not let kayaks, inflatable support boats, or much else enter the water, has proven very difficult.  Luckily I was able to sell the story to the Montrose Beach lifeguards and they have been letting me keep food and water bottles in their rowboats.

Click here to read the rest of Todd's article.

 

What do you get when you have 10 young athletes and two tri coaches at the Fry Family YMCA?   Big FUN!!

 

Our last summer Youth triathlon training camp on August 11 rounded out a great summer of fun camps and clinics for athletes ages 6 to 16.  Coach Suzy and Coach Joe had a blast showing our up and coming racers the ins and outs of triathlon.  Clinics included technique instruction on swimming, running, biking and the all important transitions.  Athletes really enjoyed the afternoon and wanted to go out and race right away.  Many will be back again soon for the fall youth triathlon training class programs.

 

Click here to enjoy the photos from our August 11 camp.

 

You can learn more about our youth triathlon club at www.ET-Youth.com.

 

 

Race Director and ET Coach Craig Strong is pleased to announce the first annual Diamond Lake Open Water Swim Challenge.  Events will range from 1K to 10K in length.

 

Diamond Lake is located in southwest Michigan near Cassopolis.  It is a spring-fed inland lake known for the sparkling clear water for which it is named.

 

Click here for additional information.

 

Register at active.com.

 

 

 

Would you like to set a Personal Record (PR) during the 2010 triathlon race season?

 

Then off-season or winter base training is a critical component of your annual training plan.  Doing the right workouts, for the right amount of time and at the right intensity is the art and science of endurance training.

 

Sign up for our new adult off-season triathlon training classes where USAT certified coaches from ExperienceTriathlon will provide the perfect workouts to move your training to new levels.

Athletes of all levels from first timers to seasoned veterans are welcome!

 

Location:    Kroehler YMCA, Naperville

 

Forward Motion

Take Your Swim to the Next Level, Article 3 

 
My last two articles have stressed the pivotal roles of balance and leveling your body line in the water.  If you have been practicing the balance drills I prescribed, then you should be looking more and more like a kayak in the water.  It is important to continually return to these drills to make balancing your body an automatic part of swimming.  Remember that every swimmer, no matter how proficient, should work on balance. 
 
One of the most visible signs of being off-balance occurs during breathing.  When taking a breath, it is common to push down with your hand immediately upon its entering the water.  This is usually an attempt to get leverage to raise the head for air.  Doing so increases imbalance that produces a choppy stroke that has poor traction (often referred to as a "missed catch") and in turn has a weak underwater pull.
 
How can you fix this problem?
 

Click here to read the rest of Coach Craig's article.