Olivia Vallone

Pt. 2 of the 2024 Season is ON!

After a brief mid season break to re-charge, Paula is ready for a big month of racing. She had an impressive first half of the season, racing 6 times - twice in T100 and twice in the 70.3 Pro Series, winning in St. George and Mont-Tremblant. Her win in Mont-Tremblant was especially impressive as it came just hours after she claimed her third consecutive title in the Canadian Road Cycling Time Trials. STORY HERE Paula has been putting in the work racing consistently, and is inspiring as a complete, all-round professional. She is currently ranked 8th in the world.

This Sunday, Paula will be racing Challenge Beijing, the non-draft Olympic distance race at Beijing Expo Park in Yanqin, China! This will be the first of three races Paula plans to compete in this month, prior to The UCI Cycling World Championships and T100 Ibiza. This will also be her first Olympic distance race since last year at St. Anthony's where she finished on the top of the podium.

Challenge Beijing has undergone a total makeover since the last time it happened (pre-Covid), but it's back and promises one of the most exciting line ups of the season. Some of the best triathletes will be traveling to China from all over the world, Including: Julie Deron (SUI)  - the most recent Olympic silver medalist, Ellie Salthouse (GBR) - this year’s 70.3 Boulder champion, and Lucy Byram, who’s coming in hot after a strong finish in T100 London. The men’s field is just as stacked with Olympian Henri Schoeman (RSA), powerhouse Marc Dubrick (USA), and the T100 Wild Card to London runner up, Kyle Smith (NZL). 

This field promises a race you can’t miss! You can follow the race from a live stream and updates available at www.challenge-family.live.The race starts at 7:30 am local time, this Sunday, September 8th.

Heather Jackson finishes 5th at UTMB CCC!

The 100km ultra trail race (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc Courmayeur - Champex - Chamonix) is one of seven races featured in the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc event that takes place every year at Chamonix in France. The race covers about 101 km / 63 miles and holds over 6000m /19,000ft of elevation gain!

Heather earned a bib for the race after finishing in 7th at the Western States Endurance Run back at the end of June. Since then, she has been gravel riding in the mountains and recently crushed the Leadville Trail 100mi MTB race as well as the WAHOO Steamboat Springs MTB trail race.

Eric: "I honestly thought she'd be a little underprepared for all the vert, given the time she's put into gravel the last couple months... but once again, l'm blown away!"

Despite her recent shift to gravel racing, Heather was far from unprepared. She conquered the terrain with each step and climbed through the mountains of France, Italy, and Switzerland like an absolute BOSS!

"She was just made to do this physically and mentally. She's got that go-all-day engine and truly loves bigass days on either the bike or run"

This race is one of most renowned events in the trail running scene and it was so cool to see Heather tear it up out there! Her quick pivot and ability to adapt highlights how a touch of spontaneity can keep things exciting and lead to remarkable success. Don't be afraid to test yourself beyond your comfort zone! Heather has become an icon in the trail running scene, and we really dig her fearless approach to tackling challenging feats this season. You can follow her awesome journey more closely on instagram @hjacksonracing !

New YouTube Show!

While Paula was Wining 70.3 Tremblant and Canadian TT Champs, Eric and Flynn represented TTL at Adventure Van Expo in Hood River, Oregon. On the way over Mt. Hood, they ran trails, swam in rivers, and camped in the woods like a couple of animals. Swim-bike-run, maximum fun.

Click to watch Flynn galavanting through the woods, stay to watch Eric ride really fast down a really narrow trail!

Check it out!

Podcast

PODCAST 🎙️

Last week on the Pod, we discussed:

🥶 Are cold plunges actually beneficial?

😵‍💫 How to make your training more fun

🚐 Our favorite van accessories

🚵 The best bike for your first XTERRA

✍️ TTL Pictionary!

🤔 Are super shoes effective for slower runners?

⚠️ Saddle durability

💨 Why we don't recommend doing TT efforts on a paved bike path

🐕 Nick's unfortunate encounter with a chihuahua

⏩ The most aero tri suits

⏰ How to acclimate to race in different time zones

🛑 Pit Stop: Gear Check! 🛑

Our partners at Castelli recently uploaded a great guide on how to take care of your race and training kits. Here are some tips you can follow to keep your kits smelling fresh and feeling great!

Washing

The most important steps of kit care take place during washing, here are some reminders to help you avoid damaging your product.

- Close all zips and Velcro

- Hand or machine wash at no higher than 86° F with a small amount of detergent

- Do not wash with fabric softeners, conditioners, bleach, etc.

- Hang or flat dry, and do not tumble dry

Washing Water Resistant Fabric:

Castelli's softshell and Nano Flex fabrics will inevitably lose their water repellency over time, but there are many techniques that can be used to prolong the fabric's water resistance.

- Tumble dry on low heat for 20 minutes

- Iron under very low heat and be careful not to melt fibers

- Apply a spray-on durable water repellent (DWR) treatment

Check out their product care guide for additional details!

Podcast Shoutout!

Back to school season also means NCAA Triathlon is back! It can be challenging to find the right corner of the internet to get the full scoop, so definitely check out the Wave1Performance Podcast for all things relating to NCAA Triathlon!

This initial episode interviews Cliff English, Head Coach of Arizona State University. Cliff is a 7x National Championship Coach at ASU, 4x Olympic Team Coach, has coached multiple national team members from 2000 to present. He also has coached dozens of elite, U23, and Junior National Championship wins and podiums alongside coaching over 250+ wins in the non-draft circuit. Cliff covers all things related to NCAA Triathlon, how to make the sport better, adversity he had to overcome that shaped his coaching career, and much more in this inaugural episode.

Click here to check it out!

Partner Product Shoutout: WAHOO Roam Bike Computer

Huge screen, great colors.

Need the maximum screen real estate and ultimate GPS accuracy for the ultimate adventure? The roam is the big, badass, 4x4 version of the Bolt cycling computer and it will rock your world. Huge screen, great colors, it almost begs you to zoom and scroll on the map while riding to see where that little squiggly line of a road goes.

Don’t forget! We recently curated a partner product section on the site to feature our favorite products and help people find best stuff! Triathlon requires a LOT of equipment, and finding the best gear for the best price can be a bit overwhelming. The goal of this page is to help you narrow it down!

Play

Stay stoked,

-Eric & Paula
(and Olive, the intern)

Comments

Like the app format for these bulletins! The emails with them get buried sadly fast in the inbox. Like being able to come to the app when there’s a free min 👍

— Tom