Pro Bike Racing to Ironman Triathlon in One Season

Her name is Liza Rachetto, she's a pro bike racer (PrimalWear/MapMyRide Pro Women's Team), she's raced the women's Giro d'Talia multiple times and she's directed the US Women's National Team at the Women's Tour de France. This year she's doing ANOTHER Ironman.

Yep, she's pretty bad ass and here's a great piece about how she raced as a pro and got ready for Ironman Canada 2012!

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Finally I have reached “taper” time in my training plan, therefore I have extra time to write and relax. It has been a whirlwind of a year/season that began with a series of criteriums in Victoria, Australia on January 1^st to racing in the women’s Giro d’ Italia last month! This was just six weeks before I should be preparing for my Ironman Triathlon. Regardless my coach approved Giro Donne and said it could only help my anaerobic fitness. Two weeks after finishing I completed my first ½ Ironman distance race and won the overall, guess he was right. Let’s hope the momentum continues as I try to qualify for Ironman Hawaii World Championships in October.

I’m doing my final days of taper preparation in Boise, Idaho, my hometown, where I am familiar with the terrain and a perfect altitude of 2800ft, and a short 10hr drive to Penticton where I will race in my 4^th Ironman.  Yet, it has been a 13 year hiatus with a knee surgery, transition to professional cycling, year of retirement from racing due to an autoimmune diagnosis and getting married.  I have been incredibly fortunate to use my bike racing and personal training/coaching experience to help me in this renewed challenge. However, there is always balance of life, health, career and relationships that need to stay in check along the way! In this article I hope to give a well-rounded outlook on training and racing at an elite level but will also provide guidance to the amateur athlete.  

First off, I currently race and train as a professional cyclist in my 8^th season.  One of the most valuable tools I have is my coach (Craig Upton), he provides me a weekly training plan so I can turn off my brain and focus on the workout at hand. I can also plan this training around my work and travel schedule, last minute adjustments are made as needed. He also coaches elite triathletes and has a very good program on setting up these workouts. Secondly, FOLLOWING the plan is critical. By going TOO hard, TOO long or executing poor recovery can be detrimental to the remainder of the week’s workouts- learned the hard way.

I also took on a nutritional coach (Stacy Sims) in the final weeks before my Ironman to advise and give me a detailed program on what I needed intake prior to and on race day.  Fortunately she has created her own drink mix OSMOnutrition.com based out of Fairfax and I am very lucky to have her time and coaching. Please make sure to practice what you will be eating or drinking on race day and before. Since you have put all the training and sacrifice into your event preparation, be kind to yourself and fuel your body accordingly!

So now that I’ve covered some training and nutrition there are other critical components including recovery and support.  SLEEP, yes I said SLEEP. I find that many athletes try to maintain a social life or add in that early morning training to neglect a critical component of their much needed recovery.  If you are still tired from the weekend’s hard workouts or a weekly interval session, do what you can to get a few more zzzzz’s during the week, it will make a world of difference.  Along with this can be a friend, spouse or therapist to provide some extra support leading up to the event. Spoil yourself and get that extra massage or spa treatment. At home see if you partner will fix a few of your meals or do your chores for you, these little things will go a long way when you can put your feet up! Yes, I am spoiled to have a husband (Jono Coulter) who has provided unconditional support during my last few weeks of training.

Staying  Motivated to Train. Just one year ago, I opened active.com to register for this ever popular race. I was anxious to sign up, nervous and butterflies rumbled in my stomach as I clicked on the icon [I ACCEPT] $625 later, ouch I had registered for 2012 Ironman Canada. Many questions stirred in my mind, “who would my training partners be?” “Where would I even swim??” “Would this negatively affect my cycling?” As the year went on, I learned to really enjoy the variety and new challenge. I found 2 good masters swim programs, realized I didn’t need training partners- but my GPS to keep me honest and social media to post my workouts or MVP to crush a few hills with friends on. SO much has changed in 13 years, I’ve slowly grown to adapt to the new ways of Tri-Training in 2012 and its fun!