What if I FAIL?   Oh, but darling, what if you FLY?!" 🦋 - Coach Mackenzie

Thanks for joining us in welcoming coach & pro triathlete, Coach Mackenzie, as we feature her as our esteemed guest Coach of the Month.  Mackenzie is a USAT certified coach for Team Madison. She has been competing in triathlon for 21 years and coaching for 15. She acquired her B.S. in Kinesiology & Coaching and Masters in Exercise Physiology. She is also a former D1 runner and elite cyclist. ​Based in Eugene OR, Mackenzie also an instructor at the University of Oregon, and is also an energetic entrepreneur, an aspiring realtor and is not afraid to get dirty renovating houses for future owners.

Out & about in Eugene: Mackenzie & Roo the Adventure Dog

Mackenzie's coaching philosophy:  “Triathlon is a lifestyle sport that is becoming one of the most diverse and powerful ways to explore and test the human limits." Mackenzie believes that all athletes have hidden potential and room for improvement. She uses her education and experience to help her athletes accomplish the impossible. With a strong and supportive athlete-coach relationship, Mackenzie can help you take a client's triathlon training and racing to the next level.. whether its winning the AG or qualifying for the World Championships.

We're excited to see her back out at the big races! So, stay tuned for more. And don't be shy at all: feel free to reach out to Coach Mackenzie and introduce yourself.. ​ Contact her at www.kenzmadison.com  or directly at [email protected] ​ or find her here on instagram: @kenzmadison or here on facebook: @kenzmadison

   One of my favorites; who doesn't love a great swim set! - Coach Mackenzie 

I'm sure you'll discover and agree, getting to know Mackenzie is a delight. Talking about workouts, she mentioned that she just swam this set with one of her athletes just the other night. As she describes, "It helps with power, speed and also race pace. Most triathletes and swimmers spend too much time in one area vs. really challenging themselves at various paces and using paddles the correct way. This allows for proper rest, but also can correct form, increase strength, speed, power, threshold and body balance in the water. It's a great overall workout that can rack up the yardage and intensity while being manageable and helpful in so many ways." See what we mean! Give this workout a go..

Warm Up: 700 yards 200 swim 200 pull 2x 150s: 100 drill, 50 kick Main Set: 3000 yards, down-ladder format 1x 500, on your interval base time*          *that's baseline 100 yard freestyle pace time, +:15 seconds rest 10x 50s on :50, if coming in on 35-42 secs  on 1:00 for base 50's 40-50 secs ​and then.. 1x 400, on your interval base time*  8x 50s, same time as the 10x50's   and then.. 1x 300, on your interval base time*  6x 50s, same as above ​you get the idea.. 1x 200, and then the 4x 50s and lastly..​ 1x 10o, and then the final 2x 50s ​ Cool Down: 100-200 easy All summed, that's a hearty swim session, coming in just shy of 4000 yards; we like it!

Coach Mackenzie Madison in proper streamline form. Notes on this workout: For added fun, Coach Mackenzie mentions that you can pull for the distance blocks, always focusing on form & body-balance.  She also likes to increase the strength component by adding paddles to the 50's of increasing size (if equipment access makes that possible) as you get further and further down the distance ladder. And, workout yardage can be adjusted by starting at the 400, or 300 and moving on down at that level.