Results of Fundamentals of Swimming Class

Perry B. is training for Gulf Coast Half Ironman Triathlon. He writes:

I swam 1,750 meters yesterday without stopping, my first non-stop mile. I felt great swimming and swam consistent laps. When I started your Fundamentals of Swimming class I could swim 50 meters before I wanted to expire. A week after your class ended I am now able to swim a little over a mile straight. I really do appreciate it.

Photo: Perry at Big Spin

Beth Todd Wins Fitnesswave Body Composition Challenge

Beth Todd won the Body Composition Challenge put on by Fitnesswave TN.

She lost 19 lbs in 12 weeks though a strategy of swimming, stationary cycling (BIG SPIN) and changing her eating habits.



Beth Todd will be speaking at the Triathlon and Fitness Expo on Jan 10. Her talk will be entitled View from the back of the pack; What it takes to keep going.

Fitnesswave TN is a full service testing program that offers VO2, Resting Metabolism, and Body Composition testing. Fitnesswave TN link here.

Beth Todd in her own words:

I have been struggling with obesity for almost 20 years.. I turned 50 this year and now more than ever I have a sense of urgency to get fit. When I went to Fitness Wave I was embarassed to get dunked and feared facing the "numbers". David Harris said something to me that helped me get past this " You have to know where you are to get where you want to go." He was right. I am glad that I did not let fear hold me back from taking this challenge.

One of the things I learned this past 12 weeks is that anyone that wants to make a physique change whether it is 5 pounds or 50 needs these test. David helped me to set a realistic 12 week goal which was important so I would not get discouraged.

I am so excited that I won this challenge! I plan to use my prize of free testing for a year to help guide me towards my ultimate goal of being healthy and fit. I can tell a difference all ready in how my body performs with just 19 lbs lost. I can't wait to reach my goal in 2009!

Posted by Stephen Taylor, Nashville Triathlon Coach

Frank Fay PR's in the 5K

Frank Fay has completed 10 weeks of STtrainer group training focusing on running, swimming, and strength training. He is currently utilizing a training plan for his goal to do a PR in the Country Music Half Marathon.

In Frank's words: Hey Stephen. Here are the final results. 39 overall out of 300. 5th in age group. Final time of 22:23. This is a 5K PR for me. This bests my previous best time by 1:01. I have really just started my speed work and should be able to get closer to 21 min.

Note: PR ='s Personal Record.

STtrainer Athletes Are Leaders

Mindy Craven is one of the most high-achieving stars that I have the joy to coach. In her first full year of endurance sports, she did ten triathlons including the Great Floridian triathon--Ironman distance.

To finish the year off in true Mindy fashion, she paced one of our friends Andrew Hutchinson through the Memphis Marathon. Unlike Mindy, "Hutch" is not the most consistent when it comes to training. She ran the race with him, made sure he paced himself wisely (again not his strong suit), and even made him walk the aid stations so he would hydrate and take nutrition.

STtrainer athletes are leaders.

Mindy (2nd from left) and Hutch (3rd from left) after Memphis Marathon.


Mindy kicking it in at Music City Triathon.


Mindy after finishing her ironman. We were all so proud of her.


Looking cute...one of the benefits of endurance sports.

Jason Haggard at Crankmas Alley Cat

Okay most people will have no idea what that title refers to....

Jason "Trash Talk" Haggard occasionally writes a column in my Friday Fitness Fax newsletter. He placed 6th out of 40 riders in the Crankmas Alley Cat race Saturday, which is an urban bike race in the bike messenger style of riding. You need to know the town in addition to being comfortable riding among traffic. This particular race consisted of checkpoints where racers purchased food to donate to the needy.

The group that puts these Alley Cat races on seems to allow all kinds of bikes, so you don't have to worry about breaking your neck on a fixed gear. Then again, isn't style worth a little bit danger?

Stay abreast of future Alley Cat races fixedgearnashville blog.
Cyclists may also be interested in Nashville Urban Bike League discussion group.

Memphis Madness!

Several STtrainer triathletes raced the Memphis Half Marathon as part of their off-season training.


Amber Lai (pictured above) writes:

I wanted to update you on the St. Jude Half from the weekend. Kevin Harrington, Carrie Gay, and I all completed the race. It was both Carrie and Kevin’s first half. They both did really well. Carrie’s goal was under 2:30 and her official finish was 2:16:20. Kevin’s goal was under two hours and he finished in 1:58:52.

I had a great race as well. I started out really relaxed. I haven’t been training very hard so I didn’t have high expectations for this race. I just wanted to have fun and finish in under two hours. Pretty much as soon as the gun went off though (or 8 minutes after it since I was in the 4^thcorral) I felt great. The first mile was the slowest partly due to all the traffic (8:40 mile) but then I pretty much held between an 8:10-8:20 every mile after that. I saw Stephanie Honeycutt at about the halfway point and that was pretty exciting to see a friendly face cheering. I ended up finishing the race in 1:48:44 which is over three minutes faster than my PR (1:51:59) so needless to say I was very excited.

I am looking forward to starting tri-training again soon. I am planning on signing up for your class again in January.

Western Australia Smackdown

Phil Theodore takes over an hour off his Ironman PR with an 11:39 at Ironman Western Australia. In one year he has started the sport of triathlon and completed two Ironmans.


Phil is very systematic in his training. He has to be because he is a businessman, husband, and father of two. He stays consistent in his training even though he frequently travels for work.

Dewberry Does It

Ashly Dewberry broke the 3 hour barrier with a 2:58 at the Memphis Marathon today. Ashly trained very hard this fall for Memphis...Not only did he qualify for Boston, he broke the prestigious 3-hour marathon mark.


Pictured Ashly Dewberry (on left) with his wife Catherine who ran the half marathon.

Ashly did several things very wisely in training for this race. #1) He ended his tri season with a period of rest. After doing Ironman Louisville he made sure to recover before staring the marathon training. #2) Prioritization. He did not try to train like a triathlete, he focused on running. He structured his training to go after this specific goal and did not try to be a jack-of-all trades.

Grand Canyon Adventure Run

Two days after Ironman Arizona Susan and I went for a little run in the Grand Canyon. We ran from the South Rim to the Colorado River at the bottom and back. The total distance was about 15 miles.


We left at 5am in the morning. Our flight left Phoenix at 8pm that night meaning we needed to leave the Grand Canyon by 2pm.


The early morning start gave us a chance to see the sunrise from down in the canyon. The colors changed as the landscape flooded with sunlight.


We saw a couple dozen deer in and around the canyon....here is a video of one little Bambi we encountered.

When we got to the river at the very bottom we were hanging out on a nice little beach. I had a surprise for Susan....I proposed to her. Fortunately for me she said yes!




The trip back up gave us a chance to further enjoy the flora and fauna that this beautiful park has to offer.


Susan had commented on the way down that the people hiking up looked tired...and she learned why.

If you ever get a chance to visit it I highly recommend the rim-to-river-to-rim. It is much easier than the rim-to-rim-to-rim that I did last fall. The video for that is here.

The best part of this trip was the chance to spend some quality time with Susan. It is easy to get caught up in the Type A/Competitive mentality of triathlon racing. I highly recommend if this is you to remember that adventures don't have to have a clock running and final ranking place.

This is why I race.....

I invited my personal training client Scott B. to watch online while I raced Ironman Arizona. Though he used to bicycle, he had fallen into a sedentary lifestyle until a few months ago when we started working to gether.



Scott has already started to experience the benefits of exercise: better fitting clothes, more energy, fat loss, muscle and strength gain, and improved posture. But I consider my most successful work when I introduce a client to the love of a fitness lifestyle.



To my surprise Scott was a quick study of Fun Run jogging, in addition to the gauntlet of personal training exercises pictured here.



Scott texted me the day after my race, when I was feeling quite down about my results:

"Congratulations! Checked on you through the day and watched you finish! I've just registered for the Country Music Half Marathon on April 25th."

This made it all worth it for me.