Month: August 2024

How Dialing In Your Nutrition Helps Your Performance – Meet Rockstar Richard Gomez

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Nutrition, ROCKSTARS

Rockstar Triathlete Richard Gomez

Coaches Notes: Richard has made some amazing improvements in just 4 months – it has been wonderful to watch!  Faster times in swim, bike and run and no more meds for reflux. As a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach, this is ultimately the biggest and most improvement I like to see, because without good health you won’t achieve faster times and improved performances.  Way to go Richard, thank you so much for trusting the process and following the plan to the “T.”  When you do that, these are the results that are possible being part of the Gold Group!  Can’t wait to see what happens when we go VIP soon for your Ironman Journey!

Age: 43

Profession: Construction Manager

Why you chose FCC to help you on your triathlon/health and wellness journey? 
I had been doing triathlon’s and training on my own for a year and a half. After completing my first Half Ironman (Augusta) in 2018 I realized that if I really wanted to complete a Full Ironman I needed some help; specifically on the nutrition side. I did not feel well after my race; I was eating whatever I wanted and I really was just plateauing on my training. I had met Erinne through my sister in law a year ago during a Mack Cycle race. After my Half Ironman, and deciding I was going to try for the Full, I decided to give her a call and see what her group was all about. After a couple of meetings and attending a few of her classes I was sold.

What is your “A” race for this season? 
Lake Placid Ironman 2020

Please share your BIG goals: 
Getting my nutrition and reflux to a point that it does not affect my racing. Get my weight down to 150 lbs. and maintaining. 6 Hour Half Iron; Full Iron under 14 Hours.

Tell me about your successes so far: 
Before starting Erinne’s gut healing Nutrition I was taking prescription Omeprazole daily for my reflux and could not take any nutrition while running as it would cause my reflux to flare up. Since starting her program the end of January I have not taken one pill for my heartburn and am able to finally take in nutrition while I run. Plus I am weighing 151 lbs. and have been maintaining. (lost 25 lbs)

What were some of your biggest Improvements in performance for the each of the following? Swim: Bike: Run: Nutrition/Health: Please include any Personal Records and Goals achieved: 
My swim pace and form has been drastically improved. I have PR’d every swim since I started training with Erinne. Biking was my strong suit before training with Erinne; however she did point out my bike fitting was not ideal. After getting this adjusted, my comfort level on the bike has been drastically improved, making my run transitions seamless. Aside from my nutrition, running has been my biggest improvement since joining Full Circle. When I started with Erinne my goal was to be at a sub 10 minute mile in a sprint triathlon. My last race I averaged 8:49 per mile. Almost two minutes better than my goal only after four months of training; and that is even with the fact that I had tendonitis that kept me from running for three weeks. Nutrition, I can’t say enough. Not more reflux or heartburn; I have lost 25 pounds; my diet is better than it has ever been, yet I am never hungry or craving junk food; I have cut back on my booze intake; and most importantly I am able to eat while training.

Name 2 or 3 things that have made the biggest difference in your journey:

1. Nutrition and understanding how what I eat affects my training.

2. The tribe/group structure really does help push and motivate me on the days I don’t want to get up

3. Having someone to critique/observe your form really helps identify little form issues that you will never catch when training on your own.

What excites you the most about being involved in triathlon? 
The sense of personal accomplishment and enduring the mental strain associated with endurance racing

What would you say to another person who was on the fence about joining our training program? 
First, getting with Erinne to understand your nutrition is life changing. Never really understood how important this was not only for the physical, but for my overall balance of Mind, Body and Soul. Second, as I stated above, the importance of having someone with Erinne and her teams expertise and knowledge to observe you and make subtle adjustments to your form, technique and training is immeasurable.

If you’re ready to take your nutrition to the next level, join us for Nutrition Essentials. We are getting ready to start the next cohort so book a FREE, no obligation call to see if Nutrition Essentials is the next right step for you! This could be you!

Erinne Guthrie is a USA Triathlon Level II Certified Coach since 1999 and Chief Motivating Officer at Full Circle Coaching, LLC since 2010. She has been training, racing and coaching triathletes since 1997, Member of Team USA and Competed in over 150 races. She is also a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 3, USMS Level 2 Master’s Swim Coach, Metabolic Efficiency Expert and Motivational Speaker, Mom, and much much more.

How was your Race? Discover the importance of Post-Race Reports

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Mindset

An important aspect of racing triathlons is evaluating what happened after the fact.

I wanted to share an example of a post-race report, which I ask all my athletes to give me after each race.

It is an excellent way to celebrate the wins because there are always some, even when the race does not go as planned.

And it’s a great way to set the next training block goals with specific things to focus on.

Mark Testoni came to me last year ready to start training for his 1st triathlon.

The day before our first session, I got a call from his wife because he was in the hospital after being hit by a car on his bike!

He had some pretty serious shoulder and Achilles injuries and starting training would have to wait.

We worked on getting him healthy enough to attend the February 2024 Ultimate Tri Camp, where he leaned into learning about all the technique work with the video analysis and testing.

Over the past four months, he has worked very smart and hard to make it to the start and finish line of his 1st Triathlon.

Even though it did not go perfectly – he got a cramp in his hamstring on the run, which is his strength, and had to walk most of it – he still achieved the goal: feeling confident at the start, crossing the finish line, and feeling hungry for redemption at the next triathlon.

Congratulations, Mark! It’s official- you are a triathlete!

In true triathlete style, the road to success, just like life, is not linear.

Thanks so much for allowing me to share your report and trusting the process of my Triathlon Transformation training program

You did it!!!!

Here is his post-race report:

Pre-race/prep.  Very positive.  Build previous cycles felt good.  Open water practice with Coach E and my own couple of sessions helped build a measure of confidence. Felt strong. Taper provided refreshed body. Ate clean days approaching race.  Solid sleep Friday night b4.  Saturday in bad at 8:30p rose at 3a.  Solid 5+ hours of sleep according to whoop which is great for me when I heave early wake ups.  Breakfast of 2 eggs and a small portion of oatmeal and blueberries.  And a banana on the ride to KB. Consumed about 24oz of fluids event morning. 

Arrived at venue early, followed warm up recommendations for run. Glute/hamstring was tight but no worse than previous few days. Set up was good. Didn’t forget anything. (Your checklist is great!).  200 yard warm up swim.

 Swim.  Confidence building to just do it.  Conditions were perfect for a first time person.  Calm.

Positives—completed it.  Experience. Body contact with others. Never felt panicked. Stayed relaxed. Increased my freestyle time vs back swim over previous workouts in open water. Decent transit from ocean to transition area.  Also feel like I’m doing better getting on my sides and driving some torque. Hard to imagine me doing this 4 months or so ago at camp—so thanks for bringing me this far.

Where I need to work.  Just about everything related to form—catch.  Kick consistency, core strength and maintaining body position. Need to keep building endurance. Among the slowest swimmers in the field.  217th out for 237.  (At one point, I thought I saw a rock on the ocean floor pass me 😂). 

Transition #1.  Slow—bottom half of the field.  Gear/nutrition sets up worked.  Socks took time. Need more practice and work towards barefoot, at least for short events. Jogged out and got on bike fine.

Bike.  Very solid.  

Positives.  Body felt good and strong.  No issues coming off of swim.  Good position. Ramped the speed up.  Average 181 power, nominal power 200 and 21.6 mph.  Cadence average 89. HR average 141.  42 seconds faster than May duathlon on same course.  29th out of 237 in field biking.  Consumed a caffeine gel pack after the bridge turn.  Consumed about 15 oz of fluids on the ride.  Set up for the run well

Where I need to work.  Looking forward to your cycling assessment.  Body position, improve cadence.  I can go faster given the engine.

Transition #2.    Better, middle of field.  Sat on ground. Nutrition and gear set up good. Jogged out of transition area. 

Run. A tale of 2 cities … eased into the pace and the glute/hamstring and Achilles felt pretty good.  Built to about an 8:45 or so pace. At .8 mile water station with a turn,I made a bit of an awkward moves reaching for a cup of water and felt the hamstring pull/strain. Could not continue the pace.  Slowed to a walk for a bit. Worked to stretch it a bit as I walked.  Intermittent jog/ walk for the next mile.  Was able to build to a slow jog the last mile brought the pace up to between 10-11 minute mile. Labored across the finish.  10+ minutes slower than May duathlon on same course.

Positives.  We did everything we could to get the injured glute/hamstring ready.  Took the chance — Wasn’t meant to be.  Good cadence out the gate.  Very pleased with how I eased into it. After the injury, battled it to finish without causing further damage.

Where I need to work.  Need to get the leg past these minor injuries and look forward to your assessment of my form etc.  I can run well—at least historically—just need to get a good healthy baseline and build. 

Overall.  Conquered the swim and battled through an injury.  Learned a lot. So great to interact with other FCC athletes and see them podium and do so well yesterday. At 

The beginning of the journey and ever confident to get better.

Post race day—getting the hamstring massaged today.  Full massage later in the week.  Compression pants

Thanks for your coaching to get me through this first event!

Eat This, Not That

by fullcircle, posted in Blogs, Nutrition

It can be so confusing when you want to start to eat healthy but you see and hear so many conflicting things on the news, in magazines and from your friends.

I wanted to share with you my “Top 11 Eat this, NOT that” choices you can make to start eating healthier.

Some of my suggestions you may understand and others may surprise you.


Eat Grass-fed butter NOT processed vegetable oil spreads
Eat Coconut aminos NOT Soy sauce
Eat Full fat organic yogurt NOT No/low fat fake flavored yogurt
Eat 1 ingredient coconut or almond milk NOT commercially farmed cow’s milk
Eat root vegetables NOT processed whole grain pastas and breads
Eat white rice NOT brown rice
Eat more fat Not processed carbs
Eat Free range organic animal protein not farm raised commercially raised animal protein
Drink spring water from glass bottles NOT filtered water from plastic bottles
Eat wild caught fish and shrimp NOT farm raised fish and shrimp 
Eat Chia seeds/ hemp heart pudding not processed oatmeal 

If you are interested in leveling up your nutrition, book a call with Coach Erinne to learn more about our upcoming Nutrition Essentials Program. Book your free call here.

Erinne Guthrie is a USA Triathlon Level II Certified Coach since 1999 and Chief Motivating Officer at Full Circle Coaching, LLC since 2010. Creator of the Triathlon Transformation. She has been training, racing and coaching triathletes since 1997.  She is also a CHEK Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 3, USMS Master’s Swim Coach, Motivational Speaker, Metabolic Efficiency Specialist, Mom, Mermaid and much much more.