Madrid ITU Triathlon World Championship Series – Day #2

After a team dinner last night, most of us turned in early (for Spain) around 10 pm, which apparently just when everyone starts to head out for dinner. Managed to actually sleep for about 11 hours – and I can’t remember the last time I had that much sleep!

Today so far has been much been traveling to the pool with the athletes for a mid-morning swim and then following up with any medical issues. So far everyone appears in great shape and the work has pretty much been done by Dr Alex Keith, a chiropractor from Palm Beach, Florida who has worked with USA Triathlon and the elite level triathletes for the past two years, including a trip to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

It’s been interesting watching the different preparations that some of the athletes take leading up to the race. Jarrod Shoemaker has been working with his MAT (Muscle Activation Therapy) specialist, Pam Minix to fine tune a few things in the last couple of days.

USA Triathlon National Team member Jarrod Shoemaker working with Pam Minix

Jarrod Shoemaker has been looking to take advantage of a lot of different sports medicine techniques from his use of MAT to also utilizing the NormaTec MVP pneumatic compression system that was first widely seen in use at last year’s Tour de France by the Chipotle-Garmin cycling team and their team physiologist, Dr. Allen Lim, PhD. The thought is that the compression pants help “flush” the legs after a workout to help improve and speed muscle recovery. 

Jarrod Shoemaker recovering with the NormaTec MVP pneumatic compression device