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Found cat/kittens update - ADOPTED!

Around 4pm on Friday April 4th, I told Karel that I wanted to spin my legs. Typically Friday’s are my swim-only days but it was warm and sunny outside and I was itching to be outside. I rarely ride my bike on a Friday afternoon but when I do an easy spin by myself, I typically ride on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. However, something was pulling me to ride up and over Paris Mountain so I told Karel I was going to ride my bike on our Paris Mountain loop. I left a little after 4pm and headed up the mountain. After 1.6 miles, I was nearing the top of the 2-mile climb and I was looking forward to a fast descent to the other side of the mountain. As I was climbing, I was shocked to see a small cat and two kittens in a muddy ditch on the side of the mountain. The cats didn’t move when I stopped as they all seemed to be in shock by the situation. I quickly called Karel and told him the situation. He was planning to go for a swim that evening but he stopped what he was doing at home and drove the ca...
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'25 Early Season Training Camp - behind the scenes

  We held our first training camp in March of 2014 (picture above). It's wild to think that it was 11 years ago when I told Karel that I wanted to bring our coaching athletes together for a group training camp.  At the time, we lived in Jacksonville, Florida. Clermont, Florida was a few hours away and the perfect location for a triathlon training camp. After a successful first camp, I started planning the next camp. We learned a lot and I wanted to make it even better. A few months later, we moved to Greenville, SC. We continued hosting our early season training camps in Clermont for a few more years, while also holding a second training camp (endurance camp) in our new home of Greenville, SC. 2020 was the year of our last training camp in Clermont, Florida. The world shut down due to Covid the week after we finished our camp. Since then, we have held all of our triathlon training camps in our incredible playground of Greenville, SC. Over the past few years we have added ...
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Muscle vs Liver Glycogen - what's the difference?

  Bonking. Hitting the wall. Lights went out.  Whatever you call it, lack of energy doesn't feel good.  When muscle glycogen stores are depleted, the muscles do not receive the fuel needed to produce energy. When liver glycogen stores are depleted, the liver is unable to maintain blood glucose levels, which are crucial for brain function. As a result, the body shuts down to slow you down in order to protect your health.  Although proper fueling and hydration during workouts is key for slowing the rate of glycogen depletion, the most important strategy for optimizing energy stores is to start the workout with adequate energy on board in the muscles and liver.  By consuming enough carbohydrates throughout the day to meet energy needs, and maximizing recovery nutrition, your fuel tank will be more filled, which means it will take longer to run out. In other words, would you rather start a road trip with a full tank of gas or a tank that is 1/4 filled? But unlike a ...
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Triathlon Racing in Cooler Temps (IM 70.3 Oceanside tips!)

The 2025 Ironman Pro Series kicks off in North America on April 5th with Ironman 70.3 Oceanside in Southern California. The event has its challenges because of the weather. The water is cold, the morning starts off chilly and by the time athletes start the run, the weather is perfect. Racing in cooler temperatures presents unique challenges for athletes but with a few adjustments to your fueling, hydration, gear and pacing plan, you can set yourself up for success. 👊
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Fatigue - how much is too much?

After 19 consecutive years of long distance triathlon, it's crazy to think that I am preparing for my 24th Ironman distance triathlon. 😮  I can tell I'm carrying around a lot of fatigue but if I would have listened to my body (and mind) every day this week, I wouldn't have finished any workout (let alone started the session).  Fatigue is an important component of endurance training but it can be a slippery slope. You need to endure challenging workouts and accumulate training stress to optimize fitness but if you push your body too much, you put yourself at risk for getting injured, sick or overtrained. While some athletes are guilty of ignoring noticeable signs that the body is experiencing unexpected fatigue, others are guilty of constantly skipping and modifying sessions during times of good (and needed) fatigue.  Are you good at knowing when to push through and when to back off?
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Fiber in the athlete's diet

Carbohydrates receive a lot of attention among the endurance athlete community. Recently, endurance athletes have reported consuming well above 90g carbohydrates per hour. As a result, athletes are demonstrating impressive performances during extreme endurance exercise. Because energy needs are high and carbohydrate stores are limited in the muscles and liver, high carb intakes have provided great value to athletes who are expended a great amount of energy during continuous efforts of long duration and/or intensity.   However, with "high carb" being all the rage these days, daily fiber intake has become an afterthought. This doesn't fair well when a significant portion of Americans consistently fall short in meeting dietary fiber goals due to diets high in processed, refined and fast food. Although we know fiber is an essential component of a healthy diet, consuming fiber around (and during) workouts is well, not so healthy.  As with most sport nutrition guidelines, ...
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2025 Gravel Skills Camp

This weekend we held our third gravel skills camp in DuPont State Forest. We welcomed former gravel skills campers and a few new faces. We spent over 11 hours, spread over two days, discussing, demonstrating and applying important bike handling skills for riding off road.  On Saturday, we met at Fawn Lake parking lot and discussed PSI and puncture repair kits. We then rode out to the airstrip and spent the next two hours discussing and working on specific skills (ex. cornering, descending, stopping, heavy feet/light hands). We took a break for lunch and ate in the parking lot and around 1pm we headed out on our adventure ride through Dupont forest and around Cascade Lakes. It was a beautiful day with warm temperatures in the upper 60s.  On Sunday we met at Tuxedo park in Zirconia, NC. We started off with a refresher of skills around the lake and then headed out on an 8-mile road ride before hitting the gravel into Dupont. We had a 4 mile steady gravel climb and then did a loop...
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