Squad Training Propels Kalletta Caldwell to Victory
The Athlete:
After over a decade of successful multisport training and racing, athlete Kalletta Caldwell was forced to take her first break from the sport. She was in a severe accident requiring five facial and oral surgeries. Post-recovery, she was desperate to get back into shape.
With a strong drive and a collegiate athlete background, Kalletta was well suited to multisport training. However, post-injury, she felt she was struggling to get back into the flow, and there was a disconnect between her training and the outcome.
The Challenge:
Kalletta knew she needed a change. Now in her 40s, she was applying the same training plans and approach she’d used in her 30s, but not getting the right results. She was pouring on the hours of training, expecting her body to react the same. But, no matter how many hours of training or different workouts she did, she never found speed gains and was left with high amounts of fatigue.
In her search for the right solution, she began to contemplate new coaching. Kalletta knew coaching was expensive, and finding the right fit was the key.
On long runs, Kalletta began listening to the Purple Patch Podcast and discovered Purple Patch Founder Matt Dixon’s philosophy was something she believed in. She was hooked into the Purple Patch methodology, and as soon as Squad training program was announced, she knew she had to sign up. So, Kalletta began her Purple Patch journey to reclaim her prior performance and find that speed again.
The Solution:
Immediately, Kalletta found a deep alignment with the Purple Patch approach of training for the time-starved athlete. She loved quality over quantity and training smarter with an intention. Both of these things were at the cornerstone of her Purple Patch development.
Kalletta began to tackle every workout with purpose and found the detailed ‘why behind workouts in the Squad as empowering. She was finally executing workouts properly and able to hold herself accountable. What surprised her the most was the online community and education. Even after over a decade of multisport training, she was learning new things from coaching experts in the community, as well as peers. Kalletta even found herself feeling stronger than she’d ever felt before using strength bike work (our special sauce) and hill repeats. When it came to race day she was a much stronger cyclist and runner.
Most important for Kalletta was quality over quantity. Kalletta was the first to admit that she never truly understood what it meant to take it easy on an easy day until she found Purple Patch. She began listening to her body and gave her body a rest when it was asking for it.
The Results
As they say, the proof is in the pudding. Kalletta could not only feel the difference in her training approach, and subsequently her body, but also the results began to improve quickly.
Kalletta got her 5k race time down to under 20 minutes for the first time in years. She improved her open water swim pace due to specific sighting workouts and the utilization of a snorkel. And, a little old brag from coach Matt, Kalletta has won overall in the last six races she’s competed in and set 3 course records. It’s safe to say we’re all very proud and happy to see the success that Kalletta has found.
We’ll leave you with our favorite quote from Kalletta: “Trust in the process, ask a lot of questions when you need to, and trust in yourself.”