This is a strength workout you can include into your training almost anytime of the year. Having a strength program integrated into your triathlon specific training plan can help keep injuries away, recovery faster, increase strength which will help you become faster. As I tell my athletes whether they are beginners or advance “in order to become faster you must first become stronger”
 
The warm up should be done with full range of motion and a steady pace. Do not rush through the warm up but if you are lacking time do at least 4 of the mobility drills and ease into your main sets.

WU:
Each movement is 10 reps each side (if pliable) and the WU should be done 2x.

• Wall Angels
• Iron Cross
• Plank to Squat
• Quadratic T-Spine Rotation
• Lunge Circle (each leg)
• I T Y Shoulder mobility (hold each pose for 2 seconds)

MS: 
Power:
40sec rest between sets / 2min between rounds.

• 4 x 5 Box Jumps 
• 3 x 8 Medicine Ball Toss - This is to be done against a wall. Catch the ball in a 1/4 squat position then throw the ball up against the wall. This is to be a fast movement.

 
Strength:

• 90 sec between sets / 3min between rounds.
• 3 x 8 Box Back Squats - Set a box behind you so you hit the box when your legs are parallel. Drive through your heels, keep your chest up and core tight to prevent your back from rounding.
• 3 x Max Pull Ups (assisted w bands if needed)
• 3 x 10 Kneeling (lunge stance) 1 Arm Shoulder Press - If your left knee is touching the ground, the weight you are pressing should be in your left hand also. This helps with instability so make sure to keep your core tight and torso upright. Limit lower back extension.

 
Accessory:
30sec rest between sets / 2min between rounds

• 2 x 10 Barbell RDL
• 2 x 10 Staggered Stance One Arm Row (cable or band)

 
Core:
30sec rest between sets / 2min between rounds

• 2 x 12 Barbell Roll Out
• 2 x 20 Russian Twist w medicine ball
• 2 x 14 Superman/Superwoman

 
CD:
10min light static stretching & foam rolling. Hydrate and refuel your body with nutrient dense foods. 

Thank you to Rogue Tri Performance for the strength workout! 

Anna graduated from OSU with a Bachelor's of Science in Biology and Joseph graduated with a Bachelor's of Arts in German with a minor in Anthropology!

Jaden graduated in the winter with a Bachelor's of Science in Math from OSU!

Sierra gradated with a Bachelor's of Arts in Sociocultural Anthropology from OSU. In typical endurance athlete style, she skipped the graduation ceremony and decided to run a 212 trail running relay instead. Go Sierra!!

And last, but not least, Jeremy graduated from Cleveland High School. He now has no excuses to help us out at every event!

Giovanna raced the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon last weekend. She placed first in her age group! Here is her mini post-race report:

The race was really fun! Very international, and although there were lines, it was well organized. Before I started, I was terrified about the run. When I started, I lost my goggles jumping off the boat, but the swim was not as bad as expected because a kayaker gave me another pair which miraculously fit, so all was fine. The bike was HARD. Not a lot of elevation but steep ups and downs and CA roads are really bad (really rough). The course was littered with bikes with flats, and there were a fair number of wipe outs too. Mostly around speed bumps. The run was also very hilly but that took the pressure off being fast. I biked and ran with people I met along the way- everyone was really nice.
In a nutshell, I would go back. It was super expensive, but understandable when you see what goes into it. I talked up BTW events to everyone I could. Hopefully I sparked some interest. I was approached by someone who had done Trifest and loved it. He will not be there this year as he is going to France, but he plans to come back. That’s about it.
I think the best thing was that I had no expectations, so I couldn’t let myself down!

These low sugar, high Omega-3 bars are perfect ride food, or just a post ride snack! No baking required! Thanks to Rogue Tri Performance for the recipe!​

Ingredients
1.5 cups Dry Oats
1 cup Enjoy Life Perky’s Crunchy Flax (or grapenuts)
1/4 ground flax
1/4 cup mini semi sweet dark chocolate chips
1 cut dried cherries
1 cup nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup agave (or honey)
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup Nutella
1/4 cup chia + 1/2 cup water - let sit to make a gel for a few minutes
 
Directions
Mix all ingredients & chill to set. Makes 20 bars. Cut 5 rows & 4 columns in 8x11 pan. Individually wrap and freeze.

Nutrition Facts 
Per bar: 159 calories, 7gm fat, 1gm sat fat, 22gm CHO, 5 gm protein, 3gm fiber, 46mg sodium, 716 mg omega - 3. ​

Rogue Tri Performance knows how to spice up breakfast. Yum!
 
This is one of my favorite breakfasts to have. I sometimes add hash browns or sliced potatoes with some sourdough toast to make it complete.  It does take some time to make but if you pre-make the Hollandaise sauce and have everything else ready, you can cut the cooking time down.
 
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 25 mins
 
Ingredients

1. 3 English Muffins cut in half
2. 6 slices Canadian Bacon, bacon or ham
3. 6 eggs
4. Hollandaise sauce (recipe below)

 
Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400º F. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Place bacon on a fully rimmed baking sheet (edges on all four sides) that has been topped with a wire cooling rack. Bake until the meat has browned, about 15-20 minutes.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of water to each cup of the muffin pan. Crack an egg into each individual indention, taking care not to break the yolk of the egg. Place in the oven along with the bacon the last 9-10 minutes of cooking.
4. Place English muffins on another baking sheet. Spread with butter and place in oven at the same time as adding eggs.
5. As your bacon, eggs, and muffins are baking, prepare your hollandaise sauce. Pour into a serving container.
6. To assemble Eggs Benedict, place English Muffins on each plate, top with one slice of bacon. Using a silicon spatula, gently remove a poached egg from the muffin tin, draining on a thick kitchen towel before placing on top of the bacon.
7. Drizzle with hollandaise sauce and serve warm.

 
 
 
 
**Hollandaise Sauce 5min
 
Easy Hollandaise Sauce Recipe
 
This recipe for easy blender hollandaise sauce is a quick and simple version of the classic hollandaise sauce recipe.
 
Prep Time 5 mins
Total Time 5 mins
 
Servings: 1 cup
 
Ingredients

• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 8 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• pinch of cayenne pepper optional

 
Instructions

1. Melt the butter in microwave or in a small pot over the stove. Allow the butter to begin to bubble, but not reach a full boil.
2. As butter is melting, add egg yolks and lemon juice into your blender. Blend at a medium to medium high setting until the egg yolk lightens to a light yellow color. This will take about 20-30 seconds.
3. Slowly drizzle the hot butter into your egg yolks while your blender is at the medium setting.
4. Add hot water as a final step in blending your hollandaise sauce.
5. If you prefer your hollandaise sauce a bit thinner, add hot water a tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition until the hollandaise reaches the consistency you prefer.
6. You may add more lemon juice if you prefer more lemon flavor in your hollandaise, as well.
7. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper to final hollandaise sauce (optional)

Best done in the middle of your training phase, this tempo workout requires you to continuously increase the intensity of the work section as the time spent working decreases. It’s a short, but challenging set where you start off relatively easy, but you end up above your FTP.
 
Adding this workout to your training will help your body get used to performing negative splits (a good thing) and help increase your lactate threshold. Higher intensity workouts help increase your performance in a multitude of ways, but make sure to slowly build up these workouts during your training phases.
 
This workout is best done on a trainer indoors to minimize distractions and interruptions, this set can also be done outdoors on an open road. Your cadence should be above 85.
 
Warm-up

• 4 min Zone 1
• 3 min Zone 2
• 1 min Zone 3
• 2 min Zone 1

 
Main Set

• 5 minutes at 55­–65 percent FTP (Rate of Perceived Exertion: 4/10)
• 4 minutes at 85–90 percent FTP (RPE: 6+/10) 1 min endurance recovery
• 3 minutes at 95–105 percent FTP (RPE: 7+/10) 2 min endurance recovery
• 2 minutes at 105–110 percent FTP (RPE: 8+/10) 3 min endurance recovery
• 1 minutes at 115–120 percent FTP (RPE: 9/10) 4 min endurance recovery

Repeat complete set for your set distance or time.
 
Cool-down
5 min easy spin

Thanks to Rogue Tri Performance for the workout. Email the head coach, Michael, for more information!

It was another big weekend for the Posse! All 12 of the Posse who raced placed either in their age group or overall!  

Sprint duathlon:
Quincy won the sprint duathlon for the 7th year in a row. Spencer placed second. Kate placed fourth overall, winning her age group, and had a crazy fast sub 7-minute 5k. Hannah placed second in her age group. 

Sprint triathlon: 
Keller won by over two minutes, with a time of 1:00:01. Alleck had the second fastest swim on the day and went on to win his age group. Joseph had the third fastest time out of the water and placed first in his age group. 

Olympic triathlon:
Aaron won by over 3 minutes with a tie for the KOD (King of the Dune). Bri placed second in her agr group. Suzanne placed first in her age group. Mike F placed third in his age group. Ken placed second in his age group. 

Not to mention the countless other Posse members that worked tirelessly all weekend to make this event happen. 

Having good technique and speed is important to being an efficient swimmer, strength is the key to not only a good swim, but a good bike and run. You need to be strong enough to hold your form later in the swim. This workout helps with swim strength so you can stay strong throughout your entire swim and rock the bike / run.
 
With any workout and training plan, make sure to give your muscles some time to rest, heal, and actually get stronger before pushing yourself too fast.
 
This workout uses RPE (rate of preserved exertion) for its intensity. Change the number of sets to your desired volume.
 

​Warm-up:

• 200 swim easy
• 4 x 100 as drill 50, swim 50
• 4 x 50 as 25 build to 8/10, 25 at 5/10; 20 seconds rest
• 2 x 50 Kick (your choice) 6/10

 
Main Set:

• 4 x 100 swim, build by 25 to 7/10; 10 seconds rest
• 2 x 200 with paddles at 7/10; 15 seconds rest
• 400 with pull buoy at 6/10; 20 seconds rest
• 4 x 50 swim at 7/10; 5 seconds rest
• 200 with pull buoy at 7/10; 15 seconds rest
• 400 steady, strong swim with paddles at 8/10

 
Cool-down:
200 easy swim
 
Total: 3100


Thanks to Rogue Tri Performance for this workout! 

We are excited to announce our June coaching partner: Rogue Tri Performance! RTP is a triathlon coaching group based in Southern Oregon. Michael Gallagher, the head coach at RTP, has an impressive list of accomplishments and we are lucky to have him! Continue reading to learn about Michael!

About Michael:
I have been an athlete most all my life. I started out in running then found the sport of triathlon through a friend. After my first race I was hooked. I have done races from sprints to 1/2 Ironman and running from 5K to 50K. I started my coaching career over 6yrs ago as a swim coach for a masters team where I learned everything I could about swimming and team building. From there it evolved to personal training, strength & conditioning, triathlon coach, to being a coach for multiple clubs/teams. Right now I am the owner and coach for Rogue Tri Performance which coaches athletes all over Oregon and the US including some international athletes. My athletes range from beginners, top age groupers, to a Team USA athlete who I trained for ITU Worlds and a former Elite ITU Triathlete from the Caribbean. 
 
Besides coaching athletes from all over I am also a coach at Southern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay, OR. At SOCC I am the assistant XC coach (men/women), assistant strength & conditioning coach for our Mens / Women’s Swim team, and the head strength & conditioning coach for the Women’s Soccer team.
 
I have also been a guest speaker at Southern Oregon University & for the Ashland High School X/C team.

Some of my achievements include:

•             Assistant swim coach to the Fort Lauderdale Masters swim team where I helped them win back to back championships.
•             Triathlon Coach for the Fort Lauderdale triathlon club.
•             Featured in Triathlete magazine, USA Triathlon magazine & Competitor magazine.
•             Featured on Ch12 News (ABC)
•             Head coach for a Team USA Triathlete & an ITU Elite Triathlete.
•             Former lead personal trainer at a nationally recognized health club.
•             Former Co-race director for 3 local triathlons in Southern Oregon.
•             Multiple top 10 finisher.
•             Mentored by Swim Coach Marty Hendrick who was inducted into the Broward Sports Hall of Fame in 2014.
•             Ambassador for ZIPP Wheels, SRAM, Feed Your Crazy, First Endurance, Honey Stinger, Salmon Shoes.
•             Sponsored by Edge Performance (New Earth) Supplements & XTERRA Wetsuits.

 
 
About Coaching 
I have done a Best In The West Triathlon before (Oregon Dunes) and got 2nd in my age group. It was a while ago but last year I was a club sponsor at your other large triathlon events and loved how Blair put on the events. They are so well run, organized, and everyone seems to have a great time. This year I have some races lined up but since I am getting married and wanting to travel Eastern Oregon for hiking, some of my races I might not be able to make or I will end up doing them as training. I love coaching and pushing clients past their limits and having them achieve their goals, just as I like pushing my limits and trying new things such as mountaineering. Its a sport I have been looking at for sometime and want to give it a try next year to cross off my bucket list.