Stephanie T. D.

Stephanie has been a loyal TriSmart Athlete – working with us for over 3 years.

Stephanie was not new to triathlon when she started with TriSmart. She got started in the sport while living in Texas a few years earlier. Stephanie and TriSmart have been through a lot together. She has seen TriSmart grown from the early years and I have seen Stephanie go from being single to married to now a mother with a 1 year old daughter! Needless to say her training has changed a great deal during this time.

I met Stephanie at a Joe Friel training in February 2006. She had used the Triathlete’s training bible, to create her own training plans in the past. She knew how much work was involved in this process. She decided she wanted to have TriSmart do that hard work for her so she could swim, bike and run and not deal with all the behind the scenes analysis and planning. That year, 2006 was a GREAT year for Stephanie. She qualified for USAT National Championships and had a SUPER race.

In May of 2007 Stephanie got married so her training and racing got a bit mixed up throughout this time, but she kept at it as best she could.

In April 2008 Stephanie and Jason’s daughter arrived. Stephanie trained throughout her pregnancy and took the recommended 2 months off after her delivery and then got started again. She and I had fun with her training as I purchased some schedule software that works with my v02 testing equipment. This software helped me provide Stephanie with pregnancy and post-pregnancy appropriate training schedules, recommended by a exercise physiologist (who also used the programs on his pregnant wife).

In 2009, Stephanie is getting back into racing. She hit TriZou and Octomax quite well already this year and will do several more races in the St. Louis Triathlon Club series before the season is out. Working full-time, managing a marriage and a 1 year old, buying a new house, moving and selling her old house (and remodeling it!), taking on a volunteer position as Vice President of the St. Louis Triathlon Club – WOW! Through all this, Stephanie still keeps trying to train. Admittedly, not as much as she has in earlier years, but we keep trying to find the right number of hours, right number of workouts and right type of workouts to help her keep at it as best she can. When I met Stephanie in 2006 I was the Vice President of the St. Louis Triathlon club – what comes around goes around!

In the beginning of our coaching relationship, Stephanie attended a monthly group technique session. During these sessions I helped her with swimming, biking, running and transitions techniques. Around the time the baby was coming, she got away from these sessions and now recently she and I have been having more individual sessions to get her back on track in all areas related to triathlon.

It has been such a pleasure to work with Stephanie and I am honored she has stayed involved with TriSmart all this time. She and I both look forward to the time when her life settles down a bit and she can train a little more consistently and get back and improve upon her earlier performances. She’ll get there. Although she has cut back, the fact that she hasn’t stopped can not be underestimated! As long as you keep at it you lose SO MUCH LESS fitness. It is the periods of inactivity that hurt us the most.

Last but not least, I have to thank Stephanie for her help with the TriSmart website! Around December 2008 I had to find a new webmaster/programmer and Stephanie stepped forward to help me – thank goodness! I should have added that to her endless list of duties, responsibilities and hobbies above. Needless to say, Stephanie can be short on sleep sometimes. She’s about to shove off for a vacation out west – maybe she’ll get the rest she needs and deserves next week. Enjoy Stephanie!

Matt P

Matt P

It constantly amazes me how much training Matt P is able to accomplish. He is clearly organized and dedicated. With little kids, a wife and his own booming business (need a real estate inspection/ appraisal?) Matt is still able to keep up with his IronMan training hours. .Matt is going strong – maybe an ache or pain here or there that we don’t ignore and must address, but no injuries that have stopped his progress for long. This is BIG. When Matt joined TriSmart in January 2007, he had been plagued by injury. Our attention to any problem and changes to training to accommodate, have kept him going (as long as he remembers not to throw his son around and do his abdominal/back strengthening exercises J).
Matt has invested in the equipment an athlete needs to train in the smartest manner possible, particularly for long course racing. Last winter Matt bought a compu trainer so when he’s riding his bike indoors he can watch his watts and ride and experience various race courses. Matt is great about doing the various fitness tests scheduled by TriSmart, which monitor his progress and allow TriSmart to focus the training more specifically to his needs. TriSmart was able to create some very specific bike workouts for Matt to use on his compu trainer that would work him exactly at the right level, based on his unique abilities and skills.

Now Matt has invested in power for outdoors and a GPS for running. With every bike and run he is able to monitor two indicators to ensure his training is on track and/or recognize problems. Best of all, when he did his first ever ½ IronMan a few weeks ago at St. Croix (he picked one of the hardest races out there!). He was able to pace himself with power on the bike and pace on the run and his race was rock solid. Ask him about “the beast” when you see him sometime (the insane hill on the St. Croix course).

The 1st year Matt worked with TriSmart (2007) he focused on staying healthy and training for Escape from Alcatraz, St. Peters Rec Plex and the Mattoon 1/3 Iron Man. He had a good year. That fall, Matt signed up for Louisville IronMan August 2008.

Off and on from the beginning, Matt would get together with the coach to review technique in swimming, biking or running and through smart training he was very prepared for Louisville. He followed his race plan beautifully on the swim and the bike, then the over 100 degree heat got to him on the run. Nevertheless, he finished VERY well, but not as fast as we knew he could have in more reasonable conditions.
5
PARRIS, MATTHEW
165/101/200
38/M35/39 1:21:03 6:02:30 6:15:40 13:53:05
Although he was taking in fluids and electrolytes he just couldn’t keep up with his body’s demands and the muscle cramping he suffered was extreme. I give hims TONS of credit for perservering through that marathon as he did.

Matt planned to alternate years with IronMan, but when he got the opportunity to sign up for IM Canada after Louisville, he couldn’t resist setting that as his big A race for 2009.

St. Peters Rec Plex is on Matt’s schedule every year. It can be difficult to get fast at shorter distance races while training for an IronMan, but we work it in as best we can and Matt has performed. July 2008 Matt also did a great job at Iron Abe, an Olympic distance race in Springfield, IL. Matt enjoys bicycling with friends and we have worked to incorporate these rides into his schedule.

After Louisville in the fall of 2008, Matt decided to move to a higher coaching level that includes an individual session each month with the coach. At that point Matt put his mind to really improving his running form. He had made changes to his running form prior to that, but now was the time to make the Pose Method of running his own. Matt has been doing his homework and his running has been improving at a much faster rate because of it. We have also used these individual coaching sessions to get all his technology working smoothly.

Matt will be ready for Canada and hopefully it won’t be over 100 degrees during the run! For someone without a background in endurance sports, Matt has come a LONG way and his potential to continue to improve is EXCELLENT. His dedication and consistency in training is the key. Along with a wife I’ve always thought must be a saint J (but he is a SUPER great guy himself so I imagine they’re a fabulous match). Best of luck this year and forward Matt and thanks for trusting TriSmart to help you meet your goals in triathlon!

Andrea R.

Andrea R.

I’ve always thought of Andrea as the most glamorous TriSmart Athlete. (I hope no one is offended!) Well, now it is official! In the last weekend of March 2009 on the day the TriSmart Team was running in the rain at Queeny Park, Andrea was wowing a panel of judges. Was she swimming?…..no….biking of course!.....guess again….well, it must have been running?......sorry…

She was presenting her all around impressive self and supporting the Women’s Sports Foundation at the Mrs. Missouri contest. AND SHE WON!! Andrea is Mrs. Missouri. Check out the website! http://www.mrsmissouri.org/. She said the competition was tough and she’d never win. I couldn’t believe anyone could beat her. It’s great to be right!

Andrea is a great athletic talent. She played soccer at the University of Missouri and got into triathlons after her MU swimmer friend talked her into it. Soon thereafter she joined a triathlon team while living in Europe with her husband, who was playing basketball professionally after a stellar college performance at Kansas. Andrea has been competing in triathlons for several years and started working with TriSmart in April 2007. At that time she had a 7 month old and a 2 year old so she had tons of time to train and was getting more than enough sleep for all of us. Oh and she was never sick (…at least the other parents out there know I’m joking!..)

In 2007 Andrea did mostly sprint triathlons with an end of season Olympic distance at LSL. She has placed as one of the top 4 women at Lake St. Louis for few years running. In addition she has won several regional races over the years, including Ballwin and others. In 2008 with her kids a bit older we added more Olympic distance races to her schedule. This year, Andrea is starting her season early at the famous St. Anthony’s Olympic Distance triathlon in Florida at the end of April 2009. If the Mrs. Missouri responsibilities don’t take over her life she will be peaking for an awesome race at USAT Olympic Distance Nationals in Alabama in August and who knows….qualifying for Worlds 2010….it is VERY possible!


Andrea has worked very hard on all aspects of her triathlon skills and fitness. She completely changed the way she runs and she has mastered the Pose Method of running better than any other TriSmart athlete. I have to admit it! She is better than me (I’m coming clean here! – check her out in my video clips section on you tube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUHAZRx-Oz8).

Andrea told me a few months ago that she is very pleased with how she is running, particularly given how little she is running. Before we worked together she ran much more often and further and wasn’t as fast. I’m telling you….it is her SKILL not just her fitness. She did the drills and practiced and changed her ways – that is not easy to do! Coming from a sport like soccer the idea of practicing skills and doing drills was very much a part of her training and this is what it takes to learn to run better.

Over the past 2 years Andrea has also worked very hard on her swimming and cycling technique also. Originally Andrea did a group technique session with TriSmart each month and then switched to an individual session each month. It has been great to see her each month and go over what she should focus on next. She is competing at the very top levels of the sport with undoubtedly less training time than most of her competitors. Life demands a lot of a mom who runs a beautiful home, raises 2 great kids and becomes Mrs. Missouri, while her husband travels frequently with his job. I bet she even makes chocolate chip cookies for her husband (my husband just suggested I add that because he’d like some and he thinks I forgot how to make them). Well, you can’t do all that and train tons of hours. Andrea trains SMARTLY!

Congratulations Mrs. Missouri and have a great 2009 season Andrea!

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On a side note, Andrea and I had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with triathlon legend Sister Madonna Budder in May 2008. Any of us would be pleased to look like her when we’re 78!

Joe R

Joe R.

Joe has come a VERY long way in triathlon and endurance sports since July 2006 when he first joined forces with TriSmart. It has been exciting to watch him improve in the sports of triathlon and running.

Joe came from strength sports background – completely new to endurance sports. (Joe is the Base in the photo below, BUT he didn’t have any base as we endurance athletes use the word!). How many triathletes do you know who have a great photo like this?

When Joe started in July 2006 he was very out of shape and carrying some extra weight which he dropped pretty quickly through his training. His first race was a sprint tri in the fall of 2006. He is seen to the left as the second to last competitor in his wave exiting the swim.

Last year (2008) he completed Longhorn IronMan 70.3 in Austin, TX – his first race at the half distance! He’s seen to the right exiting the water in the top third of the entire field.

This year (2009) Joe is planning to hit Memphis in May while training more directly for IronMan Kansas 70.3 in June and then Steelhead 70.3 in August.

When he started with TriSmart he was running at a 10 min/mile pace in an anaerobic heart rate - now he can run a sub 7:30 min/mile in his aerobic heart rate zone. This is one of the parameters we measure and watch at TriSmart – running speed in the aerobic heart rate zone. Joe’s heart rate training zones have changed as he has become more fit - he is able to run faster at a lower HR – this is a KEY in endurance sports.

Joe got married to his lovely wife Caitrin in the summer of 2007 and as a result didn’t get to race as much as planned; but later that fall he started training for his first marathon which he completed beautifully in January 2008 with a time of 3:40.

The endurance Joe developed training for the marathon helped him move into training for the ½ IM last year quite nicely.

Joe keeps things interesting at TriSmart - he likes to consider lots of different scenarios. How many of you have done a race with a transition like this one! (see the svelt new Joe below from June 2008 after he smoked the One World Tri in Cinncinnati Ohio). Unfortunately, this picture doesn’t highlight his great new P3 racing bike that was his steed at Austin last fall. We’ll see that one in future pictures.


Thanks to Joe for trusting TriSmart to help him reach his sporting goals. Joe will continue to improve – watch out men 30-34!

Elena C

Elena C.

Elena C. is the ideal athlete to start out our featured athlete blog. Elena is TriSmart’s second client – look how many folks have followed her lead! She has surmounted some huge triathlon and life hurdles during these years.

Elena’s first virtue is her patience. Elena has a demanding job as an athletic trainer for a local physical therapy organization and is onsite at local schools. Our high school kids are lucky to have such a thorough and attentive athletic trainer. Unfortunately, the busy high school sports schedule cuts into her training time quite significantly sometimes.

Elena has initiative and goes after the toughest challenges. Open water swimming is daunting to many. Elena has dealt with and surmounted this challenge. She goes after open water swimming opportunities, even though they are difficult. She is s good swimmer, but things can be different outside of the pool. After successfully completing her 1st ½ IronMan last summer and swimming 1.2 miles in open water in rough Lake Michigan, who can argue that she has quelled any open water swimming concerns ……moving right along!

After fighting some health issues for awhile and while training for her ½ IronMan last year, Elena was diagnosed with celiac disease. This disease of the intestines can be controlled with diet and Elena has done a great job changing over to a gluten-free diet. This is a big change and it has been challenging. With this diet she can stay healthy and feel much better which will help her continue to improve in the sport of triathlon too.

There is no one more organized for a race than Elena. She knows how to prepare herself for race day in the sport of triathlon. The value of this can not be underestimated!

Elena enjoys the long distances and has developed her endurance. She has successfully completed several ½ marathons and many sprint and Olympic distance triathlons. She SMASHED her time goal for her 1st ½ IronMan last summer and we’re going after that same event again this year.

Elena has years and years of improvement ahead of her in all aspects of swimming, biking, running and related triathlon skills.

Thank you Elena for being a part of TriSmart!