Tucson coach offers quick workouts for time-crunched triathletes

Jen Lynn, a USA Triathlon certified coach, knows that most of her clients fit in their workouts around full- time jobs and family responsibilities.  She’s a full-time mother of three who has completed Ironman Hawaii and Ironman Arizona, so she knows how to carve out training time for long runs and rides. She customizes training plans for amateur athletes in Tucson to help them reach their goals.

Through Desert Endurance Multisport Coaching she offers a Spring Training Camp for the first time this year. “I’m using local triathlon clubs to recruite athletes from colder places to come train in Tucson’s warm weather.” The camp runs March 9-13, 2011, and athletes will stay at Embassy Suites-La Paloma . “We’ll be hitting all the great riding and running areas around Tucson,” she explains. “We’ll run in Sabino Canyon and Saguaro National Park. We’ll bike up Mt. Lemmon and do Gates Pass.”

Her advice to athletes for the new year: “Make sure your goals are reasonable and measureable.” For example, “Don’t just say you want to run faster, state the distance and the time you want to achieve,” she encourages.  For a running event, determine the finish time goal and break that into minutes per mile. Training runs should  include different days of running slowly, at race pace, and faster than race pace for short interval training.

“Write it down and tell all your friends,” Lynn continues. That way, the athlete is accountable to their friends, not just to themselves. “The great thing about coaching is someone with experience plans your workouts, and you are accountable to the coach for completing or not completing a workout.” She uses Training Peaks software  to work with her athletes. “They log in to see the workout, then log in again to tell me if they completed the workout, how they felt. It’s also great software for tracking weight, body fat, and nutrition.”

Most of her athletes are currently in the base phase of training for half-Ironman triathlons  in July. The half-Ironman is a 1.2 mile swim, 54 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run. “Right now, they’re doing 2 work-outs each of swim, bike, and run, with two rest days per week. But in the last three months before the event, we’ll do more race-specific training, and they’ll be putting in more hours per week.”

Close to the date of the goal event, she’ll ask her athletes to do a brick workout to stimulate the race. Bricks are combinations of swimming and biking, or biking and running. “I’ll have them do a 40-mile bike ride at race pace, keeping the heart rate in Zone 2. Then follow it immediately with a 4-mile run at race pace.” After cycling, legs feel different and triathletes need to know what to expect in the early stages of the running phase. She continues, “The next day, they’d run 10 miles at Zone 2.”

Many of her athletes are part of the Tucson Tri Girls team which offers encouragement and training for all levels of triathletes, from first-timers to Ironman competitors.  Lynn coaches TriGirl Christy Holliger who is preparing for Barb's Race, a half-Ironman in northern California.  Barb’s Race provides an opportunity for women to complete a half-Ironman triathlon while raising money to support women facing a cancer diagnosis. “That’s my A-race,” says Holliger. It will be her first race at the longer distance; she’ll also compete in shorter races in Arizona like the Rio Saldado Triathlon in May. And she plans to ride in the Tour of the Tucson Mountains for long-distance cycling.

Asked about her last few days of training, Holliger replies, “Sunday I did a six-mile interval run, it was hard. Monday, I did a speed-endurance 30 mile bike ride, a bit more challenging than I’m used to pushing myself.” She continues, “Today is 1400 yard swim time trial. Tomorrow is Lactate Threshold run test.” Holliger emphasizes, “I really want to push myself, to build a strong base, so I don’t complain too much about hard workouts. I want to increase my endurance and get stronger.”

With icy weather predicted later this week, Tucson runners might try Lynn’s treadmill workout: 5 min warm-up jog, then every 5 minutes raise the treadmill grade by 2%, and finish with a 5-10 minute cool down. This workout simulates uphill running for a total of 40 minutes. 

In this part of the training year, Coach Lynn also tells athletes to get into the gym for strength training. “I have them do core work like planks, they work on balance using a bosu ball, and we also strengthen the lower back.”

For beginners considering a first triathlon in 2011, she recommends two short races in Arizona. The Tucson Triathlon will be held at the University of Arizona; registration opens on January 1 for the May 22 race. In addition, Tri for the Cure Arizona is anall-women’s triathlon in Chandler on March 20.

Lynn’s coaching services are $150 per month with an additional $100 initial set-up fee. But for readers of this article, Lynn will waive the set-up fee. So now is a great time to try triathlon, with an experienced coach guiding you through a training plan designed specifically for you!