Rapid Snail Racing
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Expert Triathlon, Fitness and Healthy Lifestyles Coaching. At Rapid Snail Racing, we combine passion and expertise to elevate your triathlon journey.
Led by Robert and Rachel Welsford, our coaching harnesses their Ironman World Championship experience. Founded by Robert and Rachel Welsford, Rapid Snail Racing embodies a passion for triathlon coaching across all distances. Our story is steeped in teamwork and experience, inspired by their Ironman World Championship journey. Together, we aim to inspire and guide aspiring triathletes.
Training more but improving less? You might be building fatigue instead of fitness.
Comment TIRED if recovery has gone missing.
Visit the Link below or our Link in Bio for more information:
https://www.rapidsnailracing.com/services
The plan was working—until it wasn’t.
In the first Coach’s Table, we shared how we were carrying our Ironman fitness into a 10-week Spartan build: more strength, more hills, more trails—and, because apparently that wasn’t enough, a HYROX race for Coach Robert.
Then September 8 happened.
One mountain-bike crash changed the training plan, stopped Robert’s build and created a very different question: how do you prepare for a start line when recovery has become the priority?
Coach’s Table 1.5 arrives Sunday.
This is the update we never expected to film.
09/24/2026
The Shellraiser has completed his week 9 training audit. 🐌
COACH ROBERT (9 days to HYROX Toronto): Taper is in effect. Volume is down. Easy aerobic work, sharp intervals, no new stimulus. The Shellraiser's verdict: "I find this deeply uncomfortable to watch. However. The science supports it. Carry on."
COACH RACHEL (23 days to Spartan Trifecta Blue Mountain): Hill sprint repeats. Grip training. Blue Mountain-specific vertical prep. The Shellraiser's verdict: "This is entirely correct. Possibly still not enough hills. Keep going."
The Shellraiser is genuinely conflicted. Two coaches. Two races. Two completely different training realities. One snail trying to make sense of all of it.
Here's what isn't conflicted: the Shellmates showing up this week to root for both of them. If you're following the countdown — HYROX on Oct 3 and Spartan Trifecta on Oct 17–18 — drop a 🐌 in the comments and let's make some noise.
“Season-End Strength”
By late September, your body has collected months of training adaptations. You’re stronger, fitter, and mentally tougher than you were at the start of the year—even if you don’t feel it every day. Recognize your progress. Celebrate the work. You earned every bit of strength you’re carrying now.
🐌 WEEK 38 CHECK-IN: JUST START THE WARM-UP
Don’t feel like training? Make a deal with yourself: just do the warm-up.
Walk for ten minutes. Spin the pedals. Swing a kettlebell. Stretch the bits that currently sound like a bowl of breakfast cereal.
Once you start, you may keep going. If you don’t, you still moved—and that is infinitely better than becoming permanently fused to the furniture.
Coaches Robert and Rachel are still moving as Spartan training continues to deliver hills, trails, heavy objects and several opportunities to question their recreational choices.
Follow us on Strava and join the RSR Strava Club:
https://trirsr.club/strava
Drop a note in the comments and tell us how you’re getting started this week!
Speed Optional. Starting Mandatory. Coordination Highly Recommended.
09/22/2026
11 days to Goodlife HYROX Toronto. 🐌
Here's what actually happened this September.
On September 8, Coach Robert went over his handlebars on a mountain bike trail at high speed. Back injury. Training has been on hold since. This was not the planned final build into race week — it was an involuntary two-week rest while the body recovered.
HYROX Toronto is October 3. He's going.
The fitness built through July and August doesn't vanish. The body recovers. The race is still on. This is just a different version of the final stretch than we planned — and honestly, it's probably a more interesting one.
Coach Rachel is 25 days from Spartan Trifecta Weekend at Blue Mountain and in full build. She did not crash. The Shellraiser notes that this shows better judgment.
Two coaches. Two very different Septembers. One October race season.
Shellmates crew — we want to hear from you. Are any of you racing this fall? Whether it's a 5K, a triathlon, a Spartan, or your first HYROX — drop your race in the comments.
Let's get loud for each other this week. 👇
09/22/2026
The finish line is not the end of the plan. It is the start of recovery. 🐌🔥
Whether you just crossed a triathlon finish line or survived a Spartan course covered in mud, cramps, questionable life choices, and possibly half a banana from an aid station, your body needs time to absorb the effort.
Recovery is where adaptation happens. Sleep, hydration, easy movement, nutrition, and patience all matter. The goal is not to rush back into training. The goal is to rebuild so you can come back stronger, healthier, and ready for the next adventure.
Check out the blog for practical post-race recovery tips to help you manage soreness, fatigue, nutrition, mobility, and the dangerous urge to sign up for another race before your legs work again.
https://www.rapidsnailracing.com/post/post-race-recovery-for-triathlon-spartan-events-how-to-reset-after-70-3-ironman
🐌 Speed Optional. Recovery Mandatory.
09/21/2026
Happy Monday, Shellmates. Let's talk about this community for a second. 🐌
Coach Robert is 12 days from HYROX Toronto. Coach Rachel is 26 days from Spartan Trifecta Blue Mountain. We are both deep in the grind of final race prep — and every week, the athletes in the RSR Shellmates Tri Club on Strava are doing the exact same thing alongside us.
This is what community training looks like. Not everyone is doing the same race. Not everyone has the same goals. But everyone is showing up, logging the work, and cheering each other on.
If you're not in the Shellmates Tri Club on Strava yet — join us. It's free. It's open to athletes at every level, from first-timers to veterans. And it's one of the best parts of what we do at Rapid Snail Racing.
Link in bio, or search "RSR Shellmates Tri Club" on Strava.
https://trirsr.club/strava
Here's to another week of training. Let's go. 💪
Did you move today?
Tell us what you did. Running, riding, swimming, lifting, stretching or walking the dog all count.
Speed Optional. Movement Mandatory. 🐌
09/20/2026
Sunday post, and a two-part one today. 🐌
Part one:
If you haven't watched "Redemption in the Rain" — our Ironman Ottawa 2026 race documentary — it's on our YouTube channel. It's 20+ minutes of what race day actually looks, sounds, and feels like when things don't go according to plan. It is genuinely one of the best pieces of content we've ever made, and we're proud of it.
Ironman Ottawa 2026: Redemption In The Rain
https://youtu.be/Z9cxB-5LbCE
Part two:
We've been getting more questions recently about ultramarathon and trail running coaching at RSR. The short answer is yes, we coach ultra athletes — and we love it.
Ultra training teaches things that no other format quite does. The relationship with suffering changes. Pacing becomes a felt skill rather than a number on a watch. And the mental fortitude built in a long training block for an ultra carries into every other race you do.
Have any of you done an ultramarathon? Or is it on the list? We'd love to hear from the ultra community in the Shellmates crew. 👇
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