Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Catching up on March in Arizona

The first few days of March, here in Arizona were great, training was going well, I was getting great feedback from my athletes about their training, and I was getting some private tutoring WKO+ lessons from Joe Friel.
The weekend of March 6th , Training Bible Coaching had a booth at the TRIFEST EXPO in Tucson, the expo was outstanding, lots of people stopped by to see Jim Vance, Joe Friel, and myself. The only problem was that on Wed night before the Expo started I became sick with a stomach virus, probably the worst virus I ever had. I lost 8 lbs in 3 days and by the time I got to TRIFEST I was very weak and unable to really enjoy the festivities. Joe and his wife Joyce stayed at our place for the weekend, but they kept their distance from me and my wife Sandy, who, by the way, ended up getting this virus. I did start feeling better by Tues off the next week, just in time for my client Richard Costello of Las Vegas to come train with me and also attend our TBC Tucson Camp. At the camp we had coaches Adam Zucco, Jim Vance, Rob Kelly, Joe Friel, Lindsay Zucco , Jeff Vicaro. and myself. We had over 20 athletes from all over N. America an 2 European pro triathletes attend the camp. We rode all the famous Tucson loops, Gates Pass Mt. Lemmon, and the west part of Tucson out in the desert. The coaches led groups in swim instruction, cycling skills, run technique, etc. Most of the athletes were from out of state and they loved the AZ weather which was in the 80s, and of course loved all the places we had them train at. Tucson is truly the place to train in winter and spring when getting ready for the season I'm very lucky to be spending time here in 2009.
I'll continue the March update in my next post.

See links to Southern AZ rides:
http://www.roadbikerides.com/ride/view/mt_lemmon_/117

http://www.roadbikerides.com/ride/view/gates_pass__mccain_loop/113

Thanks for checking in.~tom

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Feb. Sunset-Tubac ,AZ


Catching Up- Feb 2009

Sorry about the delay on getting back to my blog. Due of travel, starting up new coaching clients, conducting training camps, TBC Annual meeting, getting educated on WKO software,training an average of 17 to 22 hours a week, I finally have time to get back to the blog.

Our trip x-country was very fast, we got from NJ to AZ in 3 days. The first night we stayed in the Knoxville, TN area, the second night we made it to Abilene , TX. Once in Abilene it's easy to make AZ by mid afternoon since no one goes slower than 90 miles per hour in W. Texas. I think I missed my calling as a Indy car driver!! We arrived at our home in Tubac , AZ on Feb 3, where it was 75 degrees. It was hard to get any serious house work done the first few days here in AZ since the weather was so perfect and all I wanted to do was get on my bike and ride, which I did. My training picked up considerably the month of Feb since just about every day in Feb was above normal temps in high 70s, low 80s, which made it easy to swim, bike and run without bad weather interfering with training.

On Feb 13th I met Joe Friel in Phoenix and we flew to our annual Training Bible Coaching meeting in the Chicago area. Most of our TBC coaches were present for the weekend,which was quite educational, with lots of coaching topics covered including WKO presentations by Joe. It was a very upbeat weekend to be around all of our coaches and to spend time with Joe picking his brain on coaching topics. By the time Sunday arrived I was ready to fly back to AZ since Joe and I ran in 3 degree weather on Sunday morning. It was cool to be sitting n O'Hare and knowing I was flying back to sunny AZ instead of NJ in Feb.

The rest of Feb flew by, the athletes I coach were all moving into heavy duty training and lots of interaction took place between us in the last few weeks of the month. This was an exciting month for me and my athletes since most of our interaction was centered on how we were going to accomplish our objectives to reach these race goals. My athletes have some lofty goals such as having personal bests at both Ironman and Half-IM distance races, qualifying for Hawaii IM, qualifying for Team USA for World's, and moving up from sprint distance racing to Olympic distance racing. One of the athletes even set a goal to complete the Ironman distance on 3 consecutive days, more on that in a later post. I have an incredible group of athletes this year, all self -motivated and not afraid to take a risk and stretch their goals. This race season is going to be awesome for me as coach.

The remainder of Feb was very smooth, both Sandy and I become adjusted to the Tubac, AZ lifestyle, I became more organized with my coaching, training, and everyday responsibilities. We are living a dream down here in Tubac, I'm very lucky to have what I have, and without Sandy I wouldn't be living this dream. Feb was wonderful.
I'll post a March update this week.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Leaving NJ Feb 1 for Arizona for four months of training and sunshine

My wife Sandy and I will be driving from the Jersey Shore to our other home in Tubac , AZ (http://www.barriodetubac.com/ , http://www.tubacaz.com/) on or about Feb 1. This will be the first time, since we owned the home that we will spend extended time there. we plan on about 4 months. We will be enjoying some of the best weather in the US and will be able to train on some of the best roads and hills for cycling, and trails for running. We also have use of a 25 meter outdoor pool which is about a 3 minute walk from the house. This Arizona stay will be a dream for me since I plan on training for a big time summer race here in the N. East. I also intend to race in the Southwest this spring since their season starts in early March. I'm hoping to come back to NJ in late May as fit as I can be for my new 60-64 age group.
I will try to post on this blog a few times a week to let you guys see what's happening in Arizona. Also keep in mind, I can set up individual or group training camps in that part of Arizona. I can also set up lodging. So feel free to contact me if interested, tmanzi@trainingbible.com . I'm also helping direct a tri camp in March in Tucson, for Joe Friel's Training Bible Coaching company. I'll post info below.
Stay tuned for more posts to this blog.
See camp info below.

Tom Manzi
Regional Manager Joe Friel's Training BibleCoaching
http://www.trainingbible.com/
tmanzi@trainingbible.com
732-948-3572
AZ-520-398-8183
"You bring the passion, we apply the science"

CAMP INFO:
Athletes,
TBC would like to invite you to come train with our TBC athletes , as well as some of the TBC coaches, March 12th-15th in Tucson. We're calling it a "camp" but this will be a little different. This is an INFORMAL environment for us all to train together, meet each other, and for TBC coaches to see all of you at least one time in each sport. We wanted to do this for 2 reasons. 1. TBC wants to show our appreciation to all the athletes . We know there are a lot of camp options out there, some are very good, and most are very expensive. $500.00 and up for 3 days. We want to offer this to you as an athlete for only $100.00. It is our way of trying to give back to you.2. With the budget of $100/ athlete we will not be able to guarantee we hire a lot of coaches and experts, but we will have Joe Friel, Adam Zucco, Jim Vance and Tom Manzi to assist all of you at the camp. We expect a few more coaches to commit. The main purpose of the camp will be to build fitness and if the athlete wants, a coach will review what is going on with you as an athlete. ( you can read about each coach at http://www.trainingbible.com/)

We have reserved a discounted rate at the The Inn Suites for out of towners. The hotel also has a lap pool!
WE WILL HAVE VO2 TESTING for an additional $125-
The camp will include:* Maps of all our rides* At least 1 coached workout in a pool* We will all do Mt. Lemon together in a time trial start so we all get to the top at the same time!* A lot of riding* Hopefully some guest speakers (although my experience is most people just want to train while there)- Joe Friel will be giving a talk* At least 1 really fun dinner somewhere. It will be partially covered by TBC, but you might all have to chip in (again, the budget)If you want to come, please let me know ASAP. If you have a friend you think might want to come, let me know. The camp for NON COACHED athletes will be $300.00 ( Tucson Tri Girls members will have same fee as TBC coached athletes $100)

Below is the hotel info.
Inn Suites We need to book a minimum of 10 rooms for group rate of $99 per night-The name of our group, when they call for rooms is, TrainingBible Coaching Tucson Camp-this will give them the discounted rooms, see tel # below to call for reservations. Room rate: $99Complimentary Daily Breakfast Buffet included (not just a cont.Breakfast--full breakfast)Complimentary Happy Hour :))Can ride from hotel out of downtown, bike lanes all over.Can ship bike to hotelConf. rooms will be available for coach presentations6 lane lap pool for our use Hotel info:http://stmarys.innsuites.com/I-10 at St Mary/Speedway)475 N Granada AvenueTucson, Arizona 85701(520)623-8922 Fax(520)622-3000 Phone

Monday, November 24, 2008

Test Post 11/24/08

Checking to see if I can post

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Test Post

Starting blog Jan 3, 2008