07/23/2020
Congratulations to another amazing Kretschman Multisport athlete, Lucia Cecchetti!
Lucia came to me in the spring,
having completed quite a few triathlons-sprints, olympics, & even the 70.3 distance, but there was still so much more to learn!
She has been a model student, soaking up every detail of what goes into being a successful athlete: Nutrition, Hydration, Training zones, Technique, Mental focus, Sport specific strength training, Recovery, Injury prevention, etc...
There are so many important pieces to the puzzle!
In this unprecedented time, all multisport races have been canceled, at least until September.
It takes a very high level of mental tenacity, to train hard for a race that may be canceled, but I encourage every athlete to just visualize that the race is going to happen, and it will remain on their schedule as a “mock race”...meaning an “all out” race effort.
After carefully evaluating all of her performances in training, I set goal times for her swim, bike, & run in her “mock race” (since race was canceled), on July 12th.
I set times for each discipline, that were faster than any of her times in training, because I knew she was capable of them. I believe in my athletes, they just need to learn to believe in themselves!
With no organized race to attend, Lucia mapped out an open water swim (where she practiced a few times), a bike & run course, which were the exact distances of her canceled race. She set up her own transition area, so even quick transitions were mastered.
I could not be more proud as a coach, when she uploaded her
“race” results.
She beat my predicted goal time on the swim by more than 3 minutes, &
had a faster bike AND run than predicted goals!
I am ecstatic with this, on so many levels:
No one has been able to get much swim training in, since pools have been closed. She grabbed on to any opportunity to swim in some open water (safely of course, with a wet suit, and swim safety buoy), & although cycling is not her favorite discipline, she embraced every cycling workout, worked hard and has improved so much!
Her run has improved by leaps and bounds… Literally!
So let’s review; no benefits of an organized race, no carefully mapped courses, no cheering spectators to encourage you, no aid stations or nutritional support…
The focused, driven, competitor is still successful because it comes from WITHIN.
The challenges are personal.
Goal times, personal mindset, & mental focus...
We worked together on her specific nutrition/hydration/electrolyte plan,
as well as “heat management”, especially when humidity levels are high, in addition to the ambient temperature...
And she just nails it every time!
Knowledge is Power!
CONGRATULATIONS Lucia!
You are AWESOME, DEDICATED, & TENACIOUS!
I am honored to be your coach!
Let’s KEEP GOING!!
