NYX News: June 2024

the summer vacation challenge: balancing family time and workouts

Getting your training in – or figuring out how much training to do – while on vacation is the constant summer conundrum for triathletes. Coach Julie provides effective strategies to manage workouts while on vacation, ensuring you stay present with your family while keeping up with your training, in this article.

what to read / watch / listen to:
Coach Alison:

Watch: If you haven’t been watching the Olympic Trials, you are missing out. Team USA is one of – if not the – hardest teams to make, and the tight competition in the Trials makes for intense racing. Plus, following the trials just extends Olympics season, and who doesn’t want more Olympics?!

We still have four more days of track and field trials, including the men’s 5000m and women’s 1500m and 10,000m races. You can watch the main broadcast on NBC or every minute of everything on Peacock.

athlete win of the month:
Coach Julie: Alex Drue & Barb Koppel

There are times when the path to victory involves a stumble or fall. This was the case for Alex Dreu, who did not finish (DNF) at the Ironman 70.3 Victoria due to a near hypothermic swim. Her race ended prematurely; she cheered on her teammates but left feeling disheartened. In a contrasting scenario, Barb Koppel experienced heat exhaustion at the AG Nationals in Omaha. Her day also came to an abrupt end, and she too returned home despondent. They had both invested countless hours, foregone social events, worked relentlessly, and paid painstaking attention to the minutiae but failed to realize their full potential on race day. Yet, in the face of these setbacks, both Dreu and Koppel mourned their DNFs and rallied for redemption. Unprepared but undeterred, Barb tackled The Divide 50K, gritting her teeth to secure a respectable 3rd place in her age group. Meanwhile, Alex entered the Ironman Coeur d’Alene 70.3 and delivered a near-flawless performance, also clinching a 3rd place finish in her age group.

This ability to rebound is often the key differentiator between average athletes and true competitors. A rebound race isn’t merely a second chance or a do-over; it’s a testament to an athlete’s resilience, their ability to learn from failure, and their unwavering determination to succeed. When faced with disappointment, they don’t just lick their wounds and retreat – they reassess, they regroup, and they return stronger. True competitors like Dreu and Koppel understand that defeat is not a dead-end but rather a detour on the road to triumph. Their strength lies not just in their physical prowess, but in their psychological resilience. They regard every setback as a setup for an even greater comeback, proving that the real victory often lies in the ability to keep going when things get tough. This tenacity is what sets them apart and propels them towards success, time and time again.

did you know?
Coach Shana: Taking on the Heat with Ice

The Summer temps have arrived and that extra heat can impact training/racing by increasing your perceived effort, elevating your heart rate and increasing your sweat rate. We all have our go-to strategies to help deal with the extra hot, but here are a few new-to-me options that I have been exploring:

  • Carrying ice in your hands: at a hot race, in addition to munching the ice and/or putting some in your hat, race kit, or sports bra etc., take some additional ice to hold in your hands as you leave the aid station.  
  • Cooling arm sleeves: not only will the thin sleeves provide protection from the sun’s UV rays, but if they have pockets they can hold ice as well.  Great for a long training run that loops by your car/house where you have an ice chest stashed for a reload. I’m using the ones from Orange Mud.
  • Ice bandana: inspired by the world of ultrarunning, use a bandana that has a pocket for ice. After loading some ice, fold it in half to make a triangle then roll it up. Tie it loosely around your neck.  Not sure how comfortable having something around the neck will be but testing it out on my next long run.
meet a teammate:

Teammate: Coach Julie, resides in Encinitas, CA with her husband, John, and her two Vizsla’s, Roo and Mako.

  1. Favorite race: Ironman Coeur d’Alene
  2. Walk-out song: Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys
  3. 3 Words that family/friends would use to describe you: competitive, motivated, caring
  4. Worst style choice you’ve ever made: 1980’s lampshade perm coupled with culottes
  5. If you could have an unlimited supply of 1 thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? energy

NYX Endurance

Our mission is to develop an endurance community that empowers each member towards both individual and collective potential. At NYX Endurance, we believe in the relentless pursuit of better. We believe there is no success without suffering. There is no progress without perseverance. There is no light without darkness. #embracethedarkness

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