- Mitchell Reiss
- I have been meaning to write about my prior coach, Mitchell Reiss, of ETPA America for quite some time. He steered me in such a great direction. He began my true journey into becoming a competitive triathlete. Most importantly he kept me injury free. I continue to think back on the workouts he provided for me and philosophies he instilled in me.
- 80% of what I know about triathlon has come from Mitchell. I cannot thank him enough for the care and sophistication he provided in his programming.
- Reasons for leaving:
- The time difference lead to difficulties in our phone communications
- Personal budgeting
- Excited to start my own programming and explore new options via self-coaching
- Self-Coaching
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- Started this after Worlds 70.3 (September 2015)
- Won a small race here in Kona, broke my marathon goal time by running a 2:54 at Honolulu Marathon 2015
- Qualified for the 2016 Worlds 70.3 at Oceanside with a 2nd place in my Age Group running a 1:21 half-marathon
- Another PR and 2nd in my 25-29 age group at Honu 70.3
- Allowed myself to have a very flexible training program and did my best to train with other serious athletes and friends as much as possible
- This was not possible before when I was under a more strict training regime.
- This had its pros and cons. I often worked too hard by going on big and strenuous rides and runs with friends because it was fun!
- Spoke with Craig Alexander last year while he was in Kona and he ironically explained to me all of the benefits of self-coaching (ironic as he has a coaching company)
- Started in mid June 2016
- So far so good!
- The easy workouts have helped me recover a lot quicker than normal
- The hard stuff is hard
- The mobility and functional training has been really interesting and helpful (feeling looser hamstrings in general)
- Matt Dixon is the head coach and I have down a few computrainer classes with him at Shift formerly known as Velo SF in San Francisco. He is amazing. His approach is well rounded and realistic. His clients are all athletes I’ve always admired from EMJ buddies to Jessie Thomas, Sam Appleton Tim Reed and even a few other friends of mine who are indirectly coached by him (coached by coaches who are coached by Dixon).
- Within the first real week with Purplepatch they had me do a benchmark testing. Each discipline was focused and short and on different days. They had me do a swim, run then a bike time trial. The order of this is well intentioned. Each one was preceded with robust warm ups and heart rate increasing exercises.
- Benchmark #1 Results:
| Benchmark #1 | |||
| SWIM | RUN | BIKE | |
| Duration of Data Gathering | 400 yards/200 yards | 20 minutes | 20 minutes |
| Total Time/Distance | 4:58/2:20 | 3.53 mi | N/A |
| Average Speed | 1:14/100yd/1:10/100yd | 5:43 min/mi | N/A |
| Maximum Speed | N/A | 5:34 miin/mi | N/A |
| Average Heart Rate | N/A | 172 bpm | 155 bpm |
| Maximum Heart Rate | N/A | 179 bpm | 180 bpm |
| Average Power | N/A | N/A | 292 w |
| Maximum Power | N/A | N/A | 423 w |
| Average Cadence | N/A | 186 spm | 88 rpm |
| Temperature | Low 70s F | Mid 70s F | Room temperature |
| Warmup? | Robust Purplepatch programming | Robust Purplepatch programming | Robust Purplepatch programming |
| Data Tracking Tools | Garmin 920xt | Garmin 920xt, Garmin Premium HRM | Garmin 510, Garmin Vector Pedals, Garmin Premium HRM |
| Environment | Indoor pool | High-quality track | Stationary trainer with fan |
| Location | Mariner Square Athletic Club | Piedmont High School | Innersport Chiropractic |
| Link | https://www.strava.com/activities/616424740 | https://www.strava.com/activities/617553936 | https://www.strava.com/activities/618704595 |
| Miscellany | Had lane to myself; pool did not have gutters | Partly cloudy; perfect sunny running weather; negative splits per the miles; Justin Green sporadically ran with me for a few 800s | Computrainer set to appropriate resistance and increased resistance as necessary |
David Wild 