Episode 130: Short-Course Triathlon Racing and Multi-Day Training Camp Insights
In this week’s episode, Katie recaps her first race back postpartum at the Polar Bear Sprint Triathlon, sharing lessons on goal setting, transition practice, racing without data, TT bike handling, and what it felt like to truly “feel like herself” again in competition. We also dive into why sprint racing is such a powerful learning environment, how to think about race goals beyond outcomes, and practical tips for preparing for short course triathlon. Jim then reflects on a massive Mallorca training camp, including lessons on pacing, fueling, acclimation, group riding, and why fitness alone is never the full picture on big training days. We also talk cadence work, breathing, outdoor specificity, race prep, and the value of practicing the exact setup you’ll use on race day. Check it out!
Check out our form on racing accessibility for moms here: https://forms.gle/kLAVS6NtzJwYA7z27
Intro banter
Huge weekend for athletes whether that was marathons, half marathons, sprint triathlons, personal best long runs, long bikes. Congrats to everyone for getting after it this weekend.
Interesting that we both had recent experiences that gave us each three pages of notes for this episode. Racing and training are rich learning environments!
Insights
Katie:
Insights from Polar Bear Tri!
Note: In a later episode I will discuss some thoughts on racing accessibility for new moms; today’s focus is just some tips and takeaways from short course racing / dusting off the cobwebs after a racing hiatus.
My why / purpose (as an example of goal mapping):
I love the structure that training gives my life
I love the feeling of endorphins
I like to take on challenges
I love to learn through training and share what I’ve learned with others
Races help structure my training and provide more opportunities for taking on new challenges, learning, and sharing with others
Why polar bear sprint tri
Long distance training and racing is not compatible with my life right now
I was ready for bike and swim intensity sooner than run intensity, and wanted to structure that towards a goal
I also would not have pushed myself especially in swim without a tri on the books
Heavy cross training is a smart approach when running injury risk is highest in initial PP return period
I was going to be there anyway to support my FIL Dan and the Dartmouth Tri Team and I know the race well
Will have support from Connor, Colleen, Christian
Goals:
A goal: “Feel like Katie Clayton”
B goal: “Win or podium”
C goal: “Have a fun adventure day with Luke watching”
Some takeaways on sprint racing (I will talk more about each of these than the points in here; feel free to ask any q’s that come up too on the racing experience and we can riff):
Bike speed on race day comes from a combination of bike fitness (which can be built inside or outside) and aero/speed comfort outside. Best case scenario, you are doing intervals outside and have really good bike handling plus exposure to a wide variety of conditions
I had done a little bit of indoor bike prep, but with baby and city life constraints had only done 2 outdoor rides, one of which was on my TT bike. That mattered in terms of comfort with hammering hard outside, particularly on a very wet and very rainy day!
Transitions matter!
For IM and most 70.3 athletes, don’t stress transitions. For Sprint/OLY, these are a place to win or lose races/AG spots. Practice your transitions and be strategic!
Nothing in transition that you aren’t going to use
Socks (if using) un-balled; helmet un-clipped; glasses unfolded; lock laces wide and ready to slip on, etc.
Warmups matter!
Didn’t get to warm up for swim bc I had to breastfeed right beforehand (lol)
HR was SKY HIGH in the swim and a little dizzy after, which was not a reflection of the pace; more a reflection of having no opportunity to shake out the race nerves beforehand
Ideally, get in the water and get HR under control/settle
Cold/wet conditions - to layer or not to layer?
Gloves essential
Given I lost some time in transition, I might have skipped the windbreaker; but hard to know if that would have led to even sketchier conditions with the bike
Swim insights for prepping for a short pool swim - worked up to 525 continuous hard yards with weekly swim workouts over four weeks set up as:
12 x 50 RP (600 yards total)
8 x 75 RP
6 x 100 RP
3 x 200 RP
All on 15 seconds rest. By the time I got to race day, 525 yards continuous at that pace didn’t feel scary at all. This was a great progression for this effort and could be done for any distance of swim, even working up to 4200 yards at IM pace.
Thoughts on data free racing:
Not entirely my plan!
Wasn’t judging splits at all during, which was helpful for returning to racing postpartum
But may not have pushed as hard as I could have; stayed pretty comfortable the entire race
Glad I did it; doing it again would depend on the goals of the race
“Time trial” start / quiet courses in general can make it hard to feel like you are “racing.” Nice to have an extra push to go fast from competitors!
Test all of your gear beforehand:
Ideal tri kit for pool swim
Triathlon mode on watch snafu
Shoes with lock laces
Bike outside >1 week before race day → unplanned trip to bike shop
And a quick addendum on post race given A/B/C goals
Should have been more specific about B goal! “Win or podium” was what I wrote down, but I was ever so slightly disappointed that I didn’t win haha. If you want to win, say it! And if winning had been my A goal, perhaps I would have raced less conservatively or made different decisions with respect to transitions.
Jim:
Lessons from Mallorca Bike Training Camp
Day 1. Felt super good the first 2.5 hours — temperature was down and the body felt great. At 2.5 hours, the Euro boys drilled threshold+ on the flats. Combined with quickly rising temperature, two cookies plus a flat white, no recent training at hard group riding pace, my HR went almost to max.
The next Col was very tough. I was fit but experiencing serious GI discomfort, nauseous, HR elevated from the rising heat, sweating profusely, and an unexpected hard effort.
Which is to say — you can be fit, but that's not the complete picture on race day (or big training days). You have to pace correctly, eat and drink correctly, and acclimate to the environment. You can have big fitness, but if all you can think about is pulling over to run into the bushes, your day is compromised.
Racing is a difficult, complicated project. You have to bring all elements together - fitness, fueling, hydration, pacing, environmental conditioning, mental fitness - to have a day that shows your true potential.
This is why we encourage our athletes to get outside (to acclimate), to ride with groups (to learn about pacing — good and bad), and to dial in their nutrition, particularly on long training days. We have a lot to learn — or re-learn.
What Worked (and What Didn't) during camp
Fitness. I'm fit. Lots of riding this winter / spring is paying dividends. It doesn’t feel like peak fitness which is good for this time of year, coming off Base season and not quite yet to Specific period. If I felt in peak shape I would be worried!
My HR response was tons better this year than last year. Last year my HR dropped quite a lot - by almost 20 beats - from Day 1 to Day 4 because my cardiac system was tired. This year by HR never dropped and remained ‘normal’ for 6 days of significant riding.
Nutrition. Very good. I brought a lot of Maurten drink mix, SIS gels, PH tabs and LMNT for the week. (I forgot Nature Bakery bars - don’t tell our fake sponsor!) At training camps and races you often can’t get the products you train with so it’s important to bring a BIG bag of all the products you regularly use.
(Except for eating two huge cookies and a flat white on the first day before the day got really hot and the effort level went way high!)
I assumed, since Mallorca is a big bike destination, the local shops would have all the products I use. Turns out none of them had it and instead had products I’ve never heard of. Self sufficiency pays off. This also meant I removed a friction point of finding replacement products during the week.
Heat Acclimation. Zero acclimation. Heat was a killer. Remember to take it easy the first few hot days.
Pacing. Good when I rode my own pace. Not always so good when others were leading. Since I wanted to stay with the group, I was forced into riding someone else's game a lot.
Group riding. We recommend this all the time; you will go faster, harder, farther with a group. It’s organic interval training. Will it be uncomfortable sometimes? Yes! This will push us out of our comfort zone.
Riding to unknown terrain. Some of the roads we rode this year, I rode last year but many were new roads. Riding in unknown terrain is always challenging especially where there is a lot of climbing and you don’t know when the hills are coming and how long they are. Naturally, I rode conservatively a lot because I didn’t have a sense of when I could burn a match and when it was OK to go for it. Since my A race will be 7 days of riding in unknown terrain, I used this opportunity to not load a route or use ClimbPro on Garmin but ride by feel and ride steady. (After this experience, I’ll start using the Garmin ClimbPro function.)
If you can pre-ride your “A” race route it is worth minutes off your race time and give you a major mental boost knowing the course.
Athlete stress scores. From a coaching perspective, it was fascinating to lok at the post ride data of the athletes I coach. We rode the same distance at the same time and yet, due to our fitness and athletic profiles, we have, in some cases, very different stress score responses. TSS scores were different but digging deeper with Xert revealed MAJOR differences in how we ride based on how we generate energy.
Things I Did Right Before Training Camp
Train high cadence. I got cadence-lazy in the last few years, resulting in a narrow cadence range — which is OK for triathlon, but you need a range to respond in group riding environments. You should easily be able to spin up to 95–100 rpm at a moment's notice. It helps to keep cadence higher when riding with a group, takes load off the legs, and — like gears in a car — you use whichever gear the situation demands.
Pre-ride activation and stretching. I developed very tight hip flexors this spring from a lot of low-cadence climbing, which irritated my back. I was stopping every 90 minutes or so to stretch, and the pain was making riding feel like a job — a real joy killer. The fix: ~5 minutes of glute activation (bird dogs) and 5 minutes of hip/glute stretching before riding. Huge difference.
Belly breathing. To maximize oxygen delivery and keep the hip flexors open, diaphragmatic breathing matters. Big belly expansion on the inhale. Practice on the flats and downhills when you're not under stress, then try to carry that pattern uphill. You'll access more power, the hills will feel easier, and it should help with post-ride hip flexor tightness.
Look up & gratitude. It's easy to get too locked into the effort and miss everything around you. And acknowledge gratitude for being in a beautiful place with family and friends.
Packing List. I have packing lists for all types of trips and adventures. And the key is then updating that list when you are on that trip, especially for the little things that you forget (or don’t need). By week’s end, you’ll have a super dialed in list for that trip. Especially useful if you go to the same place at the same time of year annually.
Challenge of the week
Katie: For triathletes - transition practice!
Jim: If you own a TT bike, do all your key sessions on it outside. Or if you plan to put aero bars on your road bike, do it now so you can practice a lot before race season.
Gear pick of the week
Katie: Lock laces
Jim: Bicarb