Ottawa Ironman

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Climbing for a Good Cause

This past Valentines Day we challenged our members to take part in the SHARE THE LOCAL LOVE Climbing Challenge WHAT A BLAST THAT WAS! We had a crew of about 18 who climbed just over 1,500m to the top of Mt Vent Top and did it in about 2 hours and 15 mins. Of course, once we got to the top everyone wanted to rack up some kilometers for the challenge so we whisked down the hill! Meanwhile in Mt Tremblant...Here's Pauline's report: "Well, some of the Mont-Tremblant contingents of Team Triumph took up your challenge Julia and climbed the mountain. There were seven of us: Debi and Neil, Sophie and Francis, Renée and Andy, and me. Together, we climbed over ....
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The Pursuit of Recovery

A common topic that comes up with our athletes is the question around overtraining and when to take a recovery day or week. As a triathlon coach, we do all of the strategic planning to put together an appropriately structured training plan but how each athlete reacts to the training stress can be completely different. As the science of exercise progresses, we are learning that metrics are a great tool to use for monitoring training stress. Using the Training Peaks coaching software, your coach can test for your training zones in all of your sports and then monitor how much training stress you accumulate. This Training Stress Balance (TSB) score is usually a pretty good indicator ....
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Everest Challenge w/Emily Graves Part 1

Over the holidays, Emily Graves reached out for some coaching to achieve a goal of climbing the equivalent elevation and distance of Everest on Zwift. After analyzing her current metrics and zones, we put together a structured plan to get her to the finish line. Part 1 was to get her to Base Camp.Now that we know Emily's current abilities, we can build on that to plan Part 2 of her training. Here is her report: A triage between, and a test of #mindbodyspirit ! This rookie 54-year-old cyclist hit basecamp (4500 meters) and will now progress to train for the full Mount Everest (8849 meters) climb on March 26. It was a bit of a rocky start as my wattage was high (I thought there was ....
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How Do You Enjoy Your Oatmeal?

It's well known that athletes not only like to eat, but they like to talk about eating. Recently during one of our Virtual Cycling Club rides where we converse on discord, the topic of "How do you like your oats" came up. Not a single one of our members liked their oats the same way. There are even a couple of rebels who will switch their morning oats out for another grain like Quinoa, Buckwheat or Millet. Here we share some of our member's favourite ways to eat their morning cereal. I like to blend in a little chocolate Athlete's Blend protein which contains all of the Essential Amino Acids we need to power up my workouts, combined with some collagen to protect my joints ( ....
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Sleep and It's Relationship to an Athletes Performance

So many variables affect how we perform as triathletes. The right balance of work/rest, hydration, nutrition, strength training, stretching, and sleep all contribute to our performance. In this blog, we'd like to talk about the importance of sleep as part of recovery in an athlete's training plan . Few people appreciate the physiological benefits that take place during rest, especially sleep . While sleeping , the body releases growth hormones to repair the damage from the day’s training stress and to strengthen our bodies weakened by training. According to a 2013 article in the Strength and Conditioning Journal, sleep “has been ....
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Who Needs Races when you have Challenge Events?

We are athletes and we love a good challenge! A good challenge is why we race and that's also what motivates us to train. With no live races going on, it continues to impress me how so many of you in Team Triumph are being creative in finding your own ways to challenge yourselves and or trying one of our challenges. Read below to discover what challenges are going on! What is going to challenge you in November?? FRED CARLE RUNS HIS FIRST HALF MARATHON....IN THE WOODS!! Running a half marathon for the first time is a challenge in itself but Fred lives inGatineau and loves to escape into the woods for his runs. He decided to train up to the half marathon distance and complete ....
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Swimming Math: Why Technique Trumps Fitness in Swimming

Why Technique trumps Fitness in Swimming Ever wondered why when you compare your times for a 100 m all-out sprint vs a 100 m at your regular pace you are only able to shave off a few seconds? All that extra effort and so little to show for it! What is holding you back – is it swim fitness, or drag, or an inefficient pull? Let’s look at the math (or you can ignore the math and just read the conclusions) For a swimmer swimming at a steady speed, the forward thrust force developed by the swimmer is equal to the drag force holding the swimmer back. The thrust you can generate is dependent on your stroke rate and stroke efficiency and ....
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Luc Lapensee Runs Home to Plantagenet!!

LUC LAPENSEE RUNS HOME TO PLANTAGENET!! With so many races being cancelled, our members are looking for new and creative ways to dream up personal challenges to keep them motivated to train. When all of Luc's marathons were cancelled, Luc got in touch and asked whether it would be possible for his personal training plan to include a 60km Ultra Marathon from Ottawa to Plantagenet. Being his long time coach, I knew that Luc has what it takes to do a long run so of course, I agreed!!Luc keeps busy in his life as a branch manager at Lumen while alsorunning the family Binerie business in Plantagenet. He thought why not add a little more fun to the mix and run home! We ....
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Bruno Completes the Ottawa Marathon

BRUNO BARIL RUNS OTTAWA MARATHON!! Bruno contacted Coach Julia during the Summer to get a custom training plan on Training Peaks. As a young and busy military officer living in Petawawa, his schedule can quickly be thrown off if he goes on a gruelling course. Despite the challenges, one of his goals was to run the Ottawa Marathon which he was registered for but the actual live event was cancelled due to COVID. So we planned for the race to happen on Sunday. He came to Ottawa to run the course and we had a great chance to meet-up to plan his race. He was super happy to report that he PB'd by 1 minute under his last Ottawa marathon in 2014. After the race, he reported that the ....
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Run Off the Grid 50km race

This Saturday September 26, our Onboarding Coordinator Brenda completed her second 50km trail race. The race was held in Mattawa, Ontario. It was the 10th annual running of the event that the event organizers lovely names 9.5 due to COVID restrictions not allowing them to run the event as they had in years, but they were happy to have 100 participants attend. They ran a 12.5km, 25km and 50km race. It was Brenda's first time at the event, but her run partner Fay #448 had run the 12.5km distance last year with a friend, so had some idea of what the terrain was going to be like, BUT 12.5km is a little different than 50km. In previous years the route is alternated, but due to COVID ....
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Virtual Cycling Club - A. Laidlaw

This program provides the intensity of workout I was looking for as well as the structure, accountability, and a nice bit of social interaction. I have found myself setting some goals again for my fitness and having fun tracking them on Zwift, Training Peaks and Strava. Thank you, Julia and all of Team Triumph for once again pushing me to work harder and to have so much fun doing it." A. Laidlaw

Thank You Team Triumph!

Julia, I want to thank you for all you are doing for the Team Triumph community. I am so very glad we found Team Triumph (maybe 5 years ago?) not only for myself but for Claude as well. You have changed so many things for us -how we work out, what activities we do (like swimming for me..which I am now in love with…who knew?) and helping Claude to focus his dream to do an Ironman. And very importantly you have introduced us to so many wonderful people many of whom we now count among our good friends! I am so happy that your small business has survived when so many others have had to close. The closing of the OAC would have been much tougher for me (and for many others in TT I imagine) if I did not have this community.

Keep up the great work!

Ann L.

Grateful during COVID19

A huge thank you to my Triathlon coach, Julia Cooper-Aimers. She took the time last week to drop off (from a distance because of COVID19 restrictions) some tri shorts I ordered along with a well-appreciated note to remind me that there will be ups and downs and that things will get better. She has gone above and beyond to support all of her athletes and our Team Triumph club, by providing almost daily strength, yoga, and spinning videos that have been uploaded to Youtube for anyone who needs a little motivation during these challenging times as well as many words of encouragement. I am grateful for her support and encouragement. ❤️

Anita Lacelle Taylor

Awesome Swim Program

Training with Team Triumph for 7 months (so far) made me faster and stronger while building nourishing connections with like-minded fitness nuts and shattering the expectations I had of myself. TT is a crew of inspiring people pursuing epic individual goals and encouraging each other along the way. Julia and her team have expert knowledge and provide a thoughtful evidence-based group program that works. I am privileged and thankful to have Team Triumph in my neighborhood and can't wait to get back to the pool!

Alex Bourne

Putting Members First

I want to thank you for always putting our well-being at the forefront of your business model. You suspended face-to-face programs in a timely manner, leading the way in a fitness business world that took much too long to respond and put their members’ health and the community at risk. You « triumphed « in quickly acting to flatten the curve.⁣
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Your caring nature resulted in a series of innovative and fun virtual sessions and opened them to the community. I am missing the live interaction now that I am working for a few months but I appreciate that I can access the videos according to my schedule. Yin/yang session tonight, just what I needed.⁣
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Not to mention the check-ins, the home deliveries, the charitable events. Priceless.⁣

Simone Rose-Oliver⁣

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