Ottawa Ironman

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How Do You Measure the Success of a Triathlete

The other day I was meeting with a new triathlete and it occurred to me that, before he had even started training, being a triathlete meant doing an Ironman. I don't know what it is about the people in our town, but for many, the measure of triathlete success means: you have to complete an Ironman. Many athletes have said to me after a race weekend that theyjust didthe Tri-a-Tri orjust didthe standard distance triathlon. I'm sure there are many Olympic triathletes who would be insulted if you told them theyjust dida sprint instead of an Ironman. An Ironman is a great long-distance event but it involves many more hours of training. For most people with a busy career and/or family, ....
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Ottawa Race Weekend - Virtual Finishers

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR OTTAWA MARATHON RUNNERS!! Gabi Porter, Glen Paradis and Anna Belanger have all competed their Ottawa Race Weekend Marathon challenges. Gabi, seen above with her dog Maze, was really pleased with her new marathon PB by 30 minutes. Stay tuned, she is on track to complete her 1st Ironman in Tremblant next! Glen has worked really hard on his distance running this Winter and brought his marathon PB down by 15 minutes!! IronGlen is hoping to strike back at the Tremblant Ironman in August! Anna, who is the local legend for hill repeats at the Beechwood Cemetery, has also trained hard all winter while finishing her Master's in Integral Coaching and running her massage ....
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Open Water Swimming - Tips to Tame the Anxiety Beast

Open Water Swimming - Tips to Tame the Anxiety Monster Regardless of why you want to swim open water, having anxiety is very common. What is it about open water swimming that creates fear in an individual? There are many reasons; the deeper water poor visibility Plants fish/creatures fear of sinking the unknown a wide-open expanse of water the cold… the list goes on, but you are not alone. Anxiety is perfectly normal and you can overcome it! Here are tips to consider: Take Control Mentally - Negative thoughts can take root in your mind and distort the severity of the situation. One way is to challenge ....
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Why You Don't Need the Gym to Get a Good Workout

The health and fitness industry has seen massive changes over the last year! People are preferring the convenience of doing workouts right from their home over travelling out to a gym. Think about when you first heard about personal training being done over video. Maybe you were skeptical of the benefits. You might have asked yourself if a trainer can really correct your form over a screen, or if the program would still be tailored to your goals. The answer to both of those questions is yes. I have been told time and time again how blown away people are by the virtual training experience. No more battling traffic, carving hours out of your schedule or cancelling last minute because your ....
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Why You Should Consider Staying on Zwift through the Warmer Months

Training in the winter is always challenging. The race season seems so far away. Add in cold, dark wet days and COVID, well you know where we’re going with this. Thankfully we had Zwift and our Virtual Cycling Program to provide us with a structured and periodized plan that tracks our fitness and recovery. It was great to have a program to keep us motivated, connected with our tribe, and on track, even if the race season seemed unsure. Now that the weather is warmer, many of you are jumping off your trainers and onto the road. But wait…..should you stop Zwifting? Absolutely not! Here are some reasons why we think you should ....
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Emily Graves Virtually Climbs Mount Everest

CONGRATULATIONS EMILY GRAVES!! She did it! Emily made it up Everest on Zwift. When she started her training plan, we figured it would take her 23 hours given her FTP of 113 watts. Aftercompleting a well-executed coached training plan, Emily pulled up her FTP to 152 watts. Sheincreased herendurance in Zone 1 and 2 and finished much quicker thanoriginally expected. Grab and drink, sit back and read herinspiring story of will, persistentplanning,consistent training and true grit! Emily Graves'Story:on virtually climbing Mount Everest on March 26, 2021 Why vEverest? It started with the Zwift concept (“Tron”) bike, those virtual multi/neon coloured bikes that ....
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Celebrating St. Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland. How we celebrate this holiday inside of Team Triumph is with a 5/10km run along the canal followed by a brunch, but due to COVID, this year we added in a Virtual Zwift Ride and/or a virtual, do-it-yourself run. This was just one of the challenges we issued to our members for March. Two of our members sent in how their Do-it-yourself St.Patrick's Day runs went. Pretty darn impressive. Dan Begin hasn't run a 10k this fast since he was in his 30's!! Anita ....
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Members Matter Inside Team Triumph

Member retentionis not a simple equation. It's a personalized approach to building a better relationship with each of yourmembers. It's about providing them with the value they are seeking and solving the problems they thought you could help with. Secondly, improving yourmembership retentionrate can also improve your rate of growth. With a more consistent consumer base, meaningful relationships between these regularmembers(and even between staff andmembers) are more likely to develop. This sense of belonging can drastically improve thememberexperience. Why focus on retention? Because you can’t afford not to. Experts estimate that it can cost as much as five times more to ....
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What is an FTP Test and Why is it Important?

What is an FTP Test and Why is it Important? A Functional Threshold Power (FTP) test is a 20 or 60-minute bike test to see what your anaerobic threshold or Zone 4 is on the bike. You ride at a hard effort throughout the test maintaining a steady cadence of about 80-90 RPMs. Take your average power minus 5% if you do the 20-minute test or take the average power for 60 minutes. We usually suggest doing the 20-minute test since 60 minutes is brutally hard for the average athlete to push and focus their highest power for! Once you have your FTP, you can then determine your other training zones. If you don't have power on your bike did you know that you can do an FTHR test? The Functional ....
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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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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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