You have to want it...

The so called "off season" is here. Ah yes a term that means something different to some but not most. This was a term I used to use when the racing season was over and I could pull that phrase out of my... when I needed an excuse to skip a training session. Instant justification for laziness. Well I no longer use that term to make excuses. Instead I use it to drive me to push forward. Why? Because the difference between winning and losing is all in the details and sitting on the couch because it is the off season is a detail I don't want as a contributing factor to my results. Off season is nothing more than a phrase the weak and lazy use to be well weak and lazy.

Now that may seem a bit harsh. But the reality is true. Yes, we all need to take a "mental" break from structured training but that does not mean take a break from training. While you are "resting" the rest of us are driving our agendas forward. I think of racing as war. Going in half fast will leave you a bloody mess. Rest on your laurels and you are sure to get burned. If you think you can come back even stronger next year after a long break. Think again. Each year we age, it becomes harder to maintain and improve fitness levels. The risk of injury becomes higher, our needs for recovery become greater which means less training time just to get back to where you were before your little sabbatical.

The bottomline...you have to want it and you have to want it now and not in May. Getting to the pool when it's cold takes determination. Grinding out miles on the trainer requires drive and running on that treadmill demands persistence if you are to improve. There is just no magic pill and no easy way out. So train your way out. If you don't want it, that's fine. But no excuses next summer. You after all are accountable for your actions or lack of action.

Plan your races now. Sign up and get them on your calendar and then get to work. Because there is no more off season. And those that say there is are just using this phrase to sit and click on those cold snowy days.

Need motivation? Using software like http://www.trainingpeaks.com/ and WKO+ to monitor, analyze and plan your training will ensure you have the information to know where your fitness is, if you are doing to little or to much. There is nothing like the performance management chart to tell you you are slacking.

I won't get into what you should be doing. That is individual to you and your goals. If you want guidance in that area, I am here. Shoot me a line and we can talk. But by all means go and do something because out there somewhere someone is and they are planning out their attack to stick it to you.

Redemption Day! Another first…and a good one at that!

I decided to do a sprint distance triathlon today. (I only signed up a week ago after seeing that the weather would be nice) My intent here was nothing more then to get in one more good effort. It’s hard when you have good fitness to just let it go. So this race was a perfect timing coming only 3 weeks after Ironman Canada which was not the way I wanted to end the season.

I was optimistic I would race well since I have stayed consistent with easy swims, bikes and runs since Canada. Nothing with much intensity but stayed mobile and healthy. So I knew this race would hurt and that it did but I knew I had the fitness to push it. With all of my nutritional woes with Ironman I decided I would try a different pre-race strategy to see if I had the will power to see it through. I won’t divulge the details but let’s just say yesterday was interesting and today it felt like it was right.

The swim…was wet. Duh. Perfect water temps (70’s) so a full wetsuit was in order. I did some hard efforts warming up trying to get the HR primed for the effort. The gun blew and I was in the red zone in about 30 seconds and stayed that way for the entire swim (and race actually). Out of the water in 11:20 and light headed from the effort. Ended up catching the wave in front so the last part of the swim was more chaotic then the first part. I struggled with the removal of a wetsuit sleeve while in transition so that slowed me a bit. I even managed to knock my helmet and glasses off my bike in my fit of frenzy trying to remove the suit. Fear not, I recovered. Out onto the bike…

The bike…was a challenge. Doing long course races, I like to take the first 5-10 miles to get my rhythm and then start the big gear grind. Well in a sprint you only have about 2 minutes to find your rhythm other wise the train will leave you at the station. There is no grinding here. It is hammering and this is where I really felt like I did not have any legs. Ironman bike training does not prepare you to race sprints. I did not get comfortable until about 6 miles in when I managed to get down some flat coke. I got about 8 ounces in over the course of the ride to set me up well for the run but the legs just never felt quite right on the bike. Off the bike in 30:20 (24.5 mph avg) with a much smoother transition to the run. Feet don’t fail me now…

The run…was rewarding. Onto the course I could see the one guy in my age group that passed me up in front. He was about 30” up. For the first ½ a mile it looked like he was pulling away but then he started to fade. Just as I thought…he pushed to hard on the bike. At about 3/4’s of a mile in there is a gradual descent size hill. Short quick shuffle and I had him within 20 feet by the time we reached the top. All those hill repeats paid off. At this point I could see down the back side and there were not many people out there. Lots of collegiate team jerseys and no one else really. Doing the quick math I figured this guy was leading my age group. Like Drago said to Rocky, “I must break you!” was a thought I kept playing over and over so I was determined to do so convincingly. When you are hurting but then faced with an opportunity like this the pain just goes away. I decided to hang onto his feet for about another ¼ mile until I was not breathing that heavy. I could hear him really gasping for air so I decided to take him. When you pass someone you do it with conviction and you do not look back. With about 200 meters to the turnaround I overtook him and then turned on the gas at the turnaround. I continued to push to the point that I was just this side of blowing up. With about a ¼ mile I looked back and no one was there so I backed it off just a tad so that I could keep my breakfast in my belly. 20:25 on the run and about 5 minutes to get my land legs back.

So in short, 1st place age group and 9th overall on this Oktoberfest celebration. A sweet beer mug and a new pair of zeal optic sunglasses to boot. A couple of sweet prizes to put a cap on what I consider to be a very successful season.

August…A month of first’s and worst’s

The month of August 2009 is not a month that I will ever forget. In fact it is a month that I will hold near and dear to my heart for a couple of different reasons. It is a month that I will draw upon for strength when I am down. But I will also use it as a catalyst to fuel my drive reminding me of how vulnerable we can be.

I was focused on 2 races that I have never finished before. The Boulder 5430 Long Course Half Ironman and Ironman Canada. The 5430 was a race I DNF’d back in 2003 as well as 2006 (Although 2006 was by design as I was racing Ironman Canada 3 weeks later that year). But still it was a race I had yet to see the finish line. Additionally, I was in the final build up for Ironman Canada at the end of the month. I also DNF’d this race back in 2006 (that time I was pulled off by EMT’s) The end result of that experience ultimately left me with the desire and drive to start my coaching business so that others would not make the same mistakes I had made.

As the month began, my parents decided to pay us a visit the first week of August and the 5430 was just a training race so I even gave them the option to not come. They would not have anything to do with that. For some sick and twisted reason they like getting up at 4:00am and standing out in the hot sun all day just to watch their son abuse the hell out of his body. Well on this day in August, I did my entire family proud by setting a new Personal Best (PB) at the Half Ironman distance. A 4:43 on a day that I did not rest for and had to hold myself back so that I would not be trashed for the training I still had left to do. This was the 2nd personal best at this distance in less then 7 weeks and ironically on a day that I got to race along side Chrissie Wellington once again. My previous best at this distance was in Kansas back in June when I had the same opportunity there as well. Now if only Chrissie was racing Ironman Canada would my dreams be realized. I recovered from this race in about 3 days leaving me about 10 more days to put the final touches on my Ironman Canada training. To say I was on fire was an understatement; I was smoking everything in my path and leaving nothing but ash in my wake. My confidence going into Canada was extremely high and so was my fitness.

Now on to Ironman Canada. The last 10 days of training were relatively uneventful. I got some good quality in and the intensity was right there. In fact I hit some personal best mean maximal efforts in those last 10 days. I was rested and recovering nicely and all systems were a go. I was 100% in control of the variables that I could control. However, when I arrived in Penticton the Wednesday before the race, the weather was looking to be warm under cloudless skies. I learned a long time ago that you just deal with what the day throws you and don’t worry about the weather because you can’t control it. Just have a plan to deal with it. Well I embraced this and in fact welcomed the warm weather because I had a plan and it involved being conservative. I knew that if things went well I would pass everyone in that last 13 miles of the run. Well on race day, we got the heat, we got the wind, and with that wind we even got the bonus of all the smoke and ash from the neighboring forest fires that have plagued BC all summer.

The race summary in short started with a personal best swim exiting in 1:03 and a course personal best bike ride of 5:49. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I come off the bike because I can now control the race with my own 2 feet. The run was all about being conservative. In fact I was really conservative on the way out and it showed from a time perspective averaging 9+ minute miles. But more importantly it showed on how I felt. I felt great! At mile 14 I paused at a porto-john for a bio break and that proved to be fatal. It had to be 150 degrees inside that thing and the smell was enough to kill you. As a left the porto-john I grabbed some aid from the station and about 200 meters I was on the side of the road puking my guts out. While trying to be optimistic that I could come back from this I quickly did the math and with 12 miles to go, deep down I knew the game was over. Well I did the walk run shuffle to mile 15 where I grabbed some Pepsi. The result of that I can equate is to a missile launcher used in ground combat. You know the ones where you drop the missile into the tube and it shoots right out. That is an ugly sight with a couple ounces of Pepsi. When this happened I knew the race was over. I was now in full blown triage mode and resorted to walking the last 12 miles home to conserve energy to ensure a finish because after all that is what I went there to do. Finish first, do well second. Every mile I tried to fuel and every mile I left my mark on Penticton. At about mile 25, my friend Jeff caught me and we ran it home for the last mile. Neither of us had the day we were ready to give. But we both proved mentally strong getting through it despite the setbacks.

So in closing, August was a month of personal bests and personal worst’s. I set my personal best half ironman time and set my slowest ever full ironman time. I even managed to have a run split that was slower then my bike split. That is something you don’t really ever want to have on your results let along having to admit to it. But I will tell you that I will take that over a DNF any day. I spent the next few days after Canada looking for another race that I could go and prove who I really am and what I was capable of doing. After all, expectations where high for me whether real or perceived. But after a few days of reflection, I already proved in the month of August who I am and what I was capable of. I was able to prove that I am a dad, a son, a husband, a friend, a triathlete and a coach who is human and can deal with face of adversity and pull through during tough times. I lead by example and I take the good with the bad. I am strong when I race and I am even stronger when I get knocked down. The long and short is I have nothing left to prove this season. I have set my sights on some unfinished business for next year.

In the end, it is not how you celebrate the good performances but how you tuck those memories away to deal with the bad ones. It is easy to race when you are doing well but it is hell when you get knocked down and kicked in the teeth.

So the next time you have a good result celebrate it and enjoy it. And when you have a bad result or rough spot in a race (and you will) and ultimately get knocked down ask yourself this; do you stay on the ground getting kicked and give up or do you get up and fight?

See you back in Penticton 2010 for the third and final battle of this long fought war.

There is nothing like that first time...

When you go faster then you have ever gone before or complete a distance you have never tried before. Whether that is in training or in a race, there will only be that one time that it is the first time and it feels like nothing you have ever felt before.

I have been slow to the computer over the last few weeks putting the final touches on my Ironman Canada preparation, the kids returning to school and fall soccer quickly approaching. No excuses, just reality.

But I did want to put down on paper the incredible accomplishment had by ALL No DNF Athletes on Sunday August 8th 2009 at the last 5430 Long Course Triathlon. There were 6 of us racing. 3 of us have raced this distance before and 3 had not. When the day was all said and done, there were 3 less ½ Ironman virgins in the world and there were 3 new individual PR’s set at the distance.

I want to congratulate Mark Dayhoff, Jason Oeltjen and Craig Quincy on putting together a fantastic season and capping it off with 1st time finishes at the ½ Ironman distance. I told each and every one of them that going from Olympic to ½ is a whole different animal and to approach it with a conservative finisher’s mindset. Each did just that and had to battle their own small little war inside their head throughout the day but all persevered and finished with a smile and for a few a courtesy visit to the Medical Tent. No major catastrophe’s be told and all wore their medals with pride. Way to go boys! It was a pleasure to watch you progress over the season.

Secondly, I want to congratulate Michele Van Pelt and Richard Morgan for setting new PR’s at this distance and on this course. Michele bested her time by about 5 minutes from a few years ago. Rich bested his time from last year (2nd time going this distance) by over 10 minutes on what was considered hotter conditions this year. Again, both had to push through barriers like everyone else as the race is too long to not have them come up.

I always say that it is not the obstacles that we have to face but how we actually face them that makes the day special. So good on all of you for killing it out there.

You all did your coach proud on this day!

The picture above is 3 people smiling and celebrating their new PR’s!