No DNF Coaching

You have to want it...

2009-11-23T05:48:00.006-07:00

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!

2009-09-20T17:51:00.004-06:00

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

2009-09-04T06:52:00.002-06:00

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...

2009-08-23T08:47:00.002-06:00

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!

Boulder Peak Triathlon 2009 Race Report

2009-07-21T04:41:00.003-06:00

Boulder Peak Triathlon 2009 Race Report

Well the 2009 BPT race has come and gone. Ideally this is not a race that “fits” into my schedule this year with Ironman Canada at the end of August and my need for longer recovery after shorter harder efforts like this, in fact as I sit and write this over a week later I am still recovering BUT it is by far the best local triathlon that I have ever done so as long as I am physically able I will make this a yearly endeavor. To that end, on to the race report.
I had low (ok zero) expectations for this one. My intent was to train right on through and just use it as a fast training day with a few beers afterwards. So the week leading up was filled with all of my favorite long course workouts including a 70 mile jaunt the day before that included a trek up to Jamestown. As I lay on the couch Saturday afternoon watching the Tour de Bore I could feel my legs just begging me not to race the next day. Well, tough cookies because running on tired legs is what Ironman is all about. So I mounted the race wheels, packed my bag, ordered up a pizza and called it an early night.

Race Day:

Slept great. It is amazing how you sleep when you could care less on how you will do. I did my normal morning routine and out the door at 4:45. What was cool about this year was the fact that I had 5 athletes racing the event as well so being able to chat with all of them in transition was such a welcome treat for me. I got my transition area ready, grabbed my wetsuit and down to the beach to wait for my start. Lots of joking through the nervous energy that was surrounding me. I did my best to calm it but it will be what it will be. On with the wetsuit and into the water for a very thorough warm-up. What a difference this always makes.

The Swim:

Well, my swimming has been stellar these days. Really had a breakthrough this year and my goal was to hop right on the front and go from the gun and see if I could blaze some open water. GO! And I was GONE! Other than a short navigating snafu to the first buoy I swam straight, strong and steady. I saw no red caps around me and when I started to pick off the blue caps and then the pinks, and greens, and yellows and blues I knew I was swimming well. Making the last turn I just kicked the legs a lot more and eased up a bit into the beach. Up the hill and down into transition. Off with the suit, on with the helmet and off on the bike…

The Bike:

Nice and easy up the first hill and then settled right in. I got right into the big ring and did not surrender him until Lee Hill. My goal was to push the bike hard and see what the legs would do on the run. I only climb Old Stage once a year…race day...because no matter how much I do it, it never gets easier. So like last year, I danced right up in with the usual amount of pain. A quick recovery and then big ringed it up the second climb and made the fast descent out of the canyon. Much to my surprise at this point I did not get passed by ANYONE. This is atypical. Up 36 and down Nelson and I was jamming along…no passers…lots of passing. Down 63rd over the rollers. I just grinded them out. Big Gears. Down the diagonal and into the res. You know you are having a great ride when your entire row of racks is empty. One of just a few (like 3) bikes where home at this point. Helmet off, socks and shoes on. Grab hat and belt and out on to the run.

The Run:

Ok…this hurt. Hence the big push on the bike and the fatigue from the week prior. Like the plan calls for, nice and easy until you hit the gate then start to build and at the turnaround negative split it home. Well again, no passers. Just cruising and doing a lot of passing. In fact no one coming in the other direction yet and I started later then everyone else so this felt really good. For some reason I could not ever get comfortably in a rhythm so I just kept on keeping on. It felt very slow. At the turnaround I saw my competition coming in the other direction and some of them were moving fast! Well that is all the kick that I needed to find another gear and hustle home. I did not let off the gas and believe you me I wanted to. I just kept pushing and thinking strong not fast. Strong. Go. Strong. Go. Well I got to the finish, no passers and a new PR by over 1:10 including the extra long swim. On top of that a top 10 in my AG (8th actually). I will take it.

The key here was to keep everything simple, be consistent and don’t over think it. Hard to do for most, but the benefits come to those that can. Most coaches and the industry itself want the sport to be complicated…this is how they make money. Simple and Consistent HARD work will always trump complicated any day.

The above photo is of me and one of the athletes that I coach. It was his first BPT and he rocked it. The sense of accomplishment on his face says it all. He works hard (sometimes too hard and you have to reel him back in.) But on this day he kept it simple, did not over think it and just executed against the day.

Onward and upward…

The Process of Recovery

2009-07-17T11:30:00.003-06:00

Recovery > Injury > Denial > Demise

The above process is not necessarily happen in concession but it is a process that we will go through periodically. We need to recover effectively to avoid injury. And even that is not a guarantee. Denial is something that will always be there but used differently depending on our views on recovery and when we have an injury. Demise is something that we want to avoid all together but if we deny ourselves the necessary time to recover pre or post injury it is sure to happen.

If we don’t recovery, then injury will be inevitable and denial will become pervasive. If we practice denial with any part of recovery or injury we will undoubtedly encounter demise. However, if we recover correctly, injury is avoidable and denial lies dormant making demise non-existent.

I write this because as type “A” personalities we must be ever conscious of our current state and what we need to do to optimize our overall well being. That means adequate training followed by adequate recovery. The challenge here is that the training part is usually not the problem. It really lies in the recovery and our mindset on how we approach it. No one wants to admit they are tired. That is denial. A good amount of tiredness and fatigue is good for building better fitness and adaptation to higher training loads. Unfortunately if we do not heed the warning signs and build in adequate recovery then injury is bound to happen. And if we deny the fact that we need to recovery or god forbid we are injured, demise is sure to follow.

I will be the first to admit that I like to train and I hate to rest when it is not planned. I like to push myself when I train and work hard. And when I start to get run down and feel a bit off then I visit that place called denial but I don’t stay there long. I heed the warnings and back off. This did not always come easy to me. In fact whenever I have “attempted” to push through I ended up sidelined even longer had I just backed off and taken a short break. The old saying “A stitch in time, saves nine…” applies here. Whenever that little voice tells me to back it off and I ignore him, he ends up being right. Now, if he starts to speak, I tune out everything else and listen to him. He is almighty. After all we get stronger when we let the training we have done soak by recovering and resting.

So for all you self coached athletes, you must balance training and recovery. Work hard when you can but rest harder when you need to. For all those coached athletes, the same applies to you. Your coach can only read your mind so far. If you are feeling like you need rest then you need to use judgment when executing the training program that has been laid out for you. I am not saying to go rogue, but to question and have a conversation with your coach. A good coach will ask the right questions to determine the type of fatigue you are under and the type of rest (active or full) you may need. Who knows, you may also learn a little more about your body through this process.

And if you are injured, feel free to go through denial. And when you are done having the pity party for yourself, focus your attention and energy on getting better. Forget about what you had planned to do or goals you may have had because they don’t matter now. After all they were created prior to your injury and for sure your injury was not incorporated into hitting those goals. Get well and then get back to it. You will come back stronger and have that much more of a fire in your belly to succeed.

The above photo is my active recovery kit. Simple and readily accessible.

Keep on keeping on…

Circles…why going round and round is not really such a bad thing.

2009-07-09T19:44:00.005-06:00

I am on a blogging frenzy these days. I like to write because it frees me of my inner thoughts and allows me to stay focused on all the other tasks at hand. Not to mention that while I try to maintain a simple exterior, I am quite complex on the inside so this lets me channel that need.

This is one that I have wanted to put down on paper for some time…

Circles. Life is nothing more than a bunch of them comprised to move us forward. Let’s start at the top with mother earth. It is round and rotates in a circle. It orbits around the Sun (round by the way) in yet another circle. The tires on our car, on our bike all move us forward in circles. When walking or running, the steps we take in essence make circles. When we swim laps in a pool, our arms move in circles and we go back and forth making yet more circles.

In short, everything we do is cyclic in nature. Meaning things have a start and an end and usually that start and end is at the same place. We go to sleep in our bed and wake up in it in the morning. A full cycle of sleep with the same start and end point. We leave our house to go to work and return to it at night. Like winter, spring, summer and fall. They all come and go only to return again. We go on a trip only to return home at some point. You get the idea. This analogy that can be played out on virtually everything we do day in and day out.

I will often hear people say “Well, I feel like am I just going round and round in circles and not making any progress.” Well, my response to them is yes, you are going round and round in circles. Like I said before, everything you do, day in and day out about making circles. In my world, I do not see that as such a bad thing provided that the circles you are making are furthering you towards your athletic goals.

Repetition is the practice to mastery…or something like that. In order to get good at something you must repeat it over and over and over. I like to use the rule of 21. It takes either 21,000 repetitions of a specific movement or doing the same routine for 21 days to form a habit. Guess what people? That is a lot of circles. So the next time you feel like you are going round and round in circles try to look at that as a good thing…because you could be on your way to greatness.

And for those of you that work directly with me, there is good reason behind all that repetition…up and down, round and round, back and forth, rinsing and repeating…and it is not just to bore the hell out of you!

Now go make some circles and keep on keeping on. The alternative is going straight off the cliff. I prefer the former.

The photo above is one of my favorite places to make those circles to move my agenda forward.

Kids...they are a terrible thing to waste!

2009-07-08T19:39:00.009-06:00

As I sit here going on day 12 without being able to see and talk face to face with my children it makes things really clear on why they are such special beings that can often be taken to much for granted. For those parents out there, it is probably very rare that you will ever be away from your children for an extended period of time until later in life when they are grown and moved away. You might be reading this saying if I only had 12 days like you without my kid’s, life would be so great. And don't get me wrong, yes the break is nice but in the same vein, the silence can be deafening.

Kids while special in their own right tend (and in reality do) sap all available energy from you with their needing of constant attention, fits of rage and sadness when things are not quite right, or their constant question after question because they want to learn something new…and yes they are sponges and are constantly learning from us both consciously and unconsciously. Whether we think it or not, they see and hear everything! We are teaching and they are learning even if we are not intentional about it.

As adults we just want them to be perfect but the definition of the word is loosely defined. We all know deep down that they will never be perfect. Because why should they be? We never were and I am pretty sure that to even this day none of us are perfect and never will be. But as parents and adults, It is our duty to shape their lives to the best of our ability and guide them to make smart informed safe decisions that will no doubt carry them well into life. Our kids learn from us very early and well those habits are never broken. We are a bi-product of our parents upbringing.

When we see kids misbehaving, we often question the parents ability to parent. It is real easy to sit on the sidelines and make the call but when in the game the objectiveness of decision making is thrown out the window and your kids are going to do what they want to do. So even as grown adults, we are still children to some and our parents will always see us in that light just as we will always see our kids as children know matter how old they grow to be. As parents I think we will always wish they would be different in some respect and would do things how we would want them to. But in reality, that is just not reality. They are after all individual beings with a unique genetic makeup and if they came with an owner’s manual, well where would we be able to use the word dysfunctional?

So I keep this post short and sweet…a little time away from your kids is nice but it will make you see them in a different light. And as soon as you are back together again, it is easy to get right back into the old habits. So keep this in mind when those old habits start to surface…with each passing day that goes on, that is one more day you don’t have with them any longer. You never get that time back. Period. In the end when they throw you a curve ball (and they will) that you were not expecting, just love them for who they are and say nice pitch. You may learn something. And if you read this and say well not my kids, they are perfect. Just tuck this little ditty into the memory banks and shoot me a note when you all of a sudden have to replay it…because you will.

The above photo was taken a few weeks back. What sweet little boys. If you could only have seen these 2 right after I snapped this photo…I longed for the break I am having now but I am ready for it to be done.

IM Kansas 70.3 Race Report

2009-07-07T07:19:00.003-06:00

IM Kansas Race Report: A bitter sweet day…

I had one goal going to Kansas and that was to qualify for Clearwater. I decided to go to Florida about 4 weeks prior for the 70.3 there in hopes I could snag a spot or at the minimum get a good intense session in some hot and humid conditions to prepare me for Kansas. I finished Florida in 5:02. Had a good swim and a solid ride and ran the best I could without be acclimated to the heat and humidity. All in all it was a good training day just not good enough for Clearwater on that day.

After arriving back home in Colorado I was not to optimistic about a good result in Kansas with the cold spring that we continued to have. I decided to keep the layers on as I was training while others seem to be peeling them off in hopes of warmer weather. I just made it warmer and more uncomfortable. You can't acclimate to the heat unless you train in it or at the minimum simulate it. The training for the next few weeks was good and consistent but nagging little injuries started to plague me. I seemed to shrug them off but never had those good deep quality sessions I had been longing for.

I felt good in the week leading up so I decided to do an open water swim and 5k run here in Colorado known as the Stroke and Stride the Thursday night prior to Kansas. We call this the endurance version of the Thursday night bowling league. As usual with the first time out in a wetsuit I got that hyperventilating constrictive panic attack about 500 meters in but managed to shake it off and have a really good swim. The swim training was right on par. I exited the water and slapped the shoes on and cruised out on the run. The intent was to just cruise and take it easy which I did. I was so relaxed that on the way back to the beach I rolled my right ankle in a pot hole and strained the tendons on my right shin. With 2 days to go to Kansas I was not optimistic I would even start the race let alone race it and I was sure there would be at least one DNF on the day…me. Not good when your lively hood is around race finishes.

I did all the things to help heal it…ice, compression, elevation and ibuprofen. No go. It was Saturday evening and I was still hobbling in pain. At this point I started to question if I had a stress fracture or not. I decided to palpate the area deeply to determine this so I could decide how to proceed on race day. Well during my palpation (yes I did study to be a massage therapist for about 4 months) I managed to release whatever was ailing me and for the rest of the night I did not have any pain and alas I woke up on race day with no pain. The day was starting to get better. I always say that race day somehow has a way of shaking things out.

Race Day: Zero Expectation’s
I really did not feel I had a chance at Clearwater so I jokingly said I was going to swim hard and bike harder and then shuffle the run. Well I wasn’t really joking. To race a good ½ Ironman you need to race it like an Olympic. The weather on the day called for showers early and clearing late. The start was overcast and relatively cool albeit humid. As we got in the water awaiting the start of our wave I decided to go right to the front. My swimming has been exceptional so I figured I would go out hard and find some fast feet and hang on. This proved to be the perfect strategy because the big barrel chested guy with the orca wetsuit pulled my arse all the way around the course and straight as an arrow. I exited the water with a PR swim split. A quick transition and a long run out of T1 and I was ready to slap it into the big 54 and go for it.

For anyone who thinks Kansas is flat…think again. Lawrence has some good rolling hills and I think they found every hill and put it on this course. No worries though because how I have been training these hills felt like bumps. There was only a couple of short nasty’s that I had to leave the 54 for but I was quickly back in it. The goal was to push super big gears, save the HR and give it a go on the run. I lost one of my bottles of nutrition about a ¼ of the way into the ride so I had to play damage control. I decided to save what I had left for the last 45 minutes of the ride and use Gatorade up until that point. My special sauce does not upset my stomach so I figured I would have that in my belly going into the run. Off the bike in what felt like a fast split (it was a PR in fact) as my bike was only one of a few in the racks when I arrived. Now that is a good feeling considering we were the 3rd from the last wave for the day. In fact I do not recall getting passed by to many folks during the ride (except the cheaters riding in packs) which meant I had a good swim and was holding them off on the bike.

Onto the run the legs felt great. I decided to wear my compression sleeves for the swim and bike to ensure my shins were in good shape. The goal of the run was to build every 3 miles or so and take a salt tablet every other aid station swapping with Gatorade for the first half and then the brown juice (coca cola) for the second half. There was a couple of hills on this course that we had to do twice. Again, they felt like lumps for how I had trained. At about mile 4 I got my chance to get some good Karma and Mojo for the rest of the day. Chrissie was on her way in for the win and waived me over for a quick high 5. I took the opportunity and this would prove to be the motivation I needed. I paced the run and built through out. The nutrition was spot on and when I saw Jim and he said 4:50 I thought he was busting my chops. I peeled the duct tape of the watch when I hit mile 12 and realized he was right. I turned on the turbo and finished in 4:51 for a new PR of over 9 minutes. My medal was placed around my neck by none other then Chrissie Wellington and I managed to get a quick photo with her as well (courtesy of www.asiphoto.com). It truly was a perfect day.

The only thing that would cap this day off was a trip to Clearwater. With only 5 spots and me being 34th overall in the AG that was not going to happen. Well, as the saying goes, it ain’t over till its over. I should have stuck around because they ended up giving my AG an extra spot and that would have (and did) rolled down to me. Had I been there to accept it I would be going. Oh well…it is what it is…a PR day in all 3 sports, a picture with Chrissie, another finish in the books and the knowing I could be in Clearwater because I earned it. What could be better then that?

Goal Setting is not an event but a life long process. It is a lifestyle.

2008-12-28T08:01:00.001-07:00

The above picture is of me (in yellow) and Mr.Mark Dayhoff’s 2nd grade class at Louisville’s Fireside Elementary. As part of North America Sports Adopt an Athlete Program and Ironman Arizona, I was able to implement a 9 week goal setting process with these kids around living an active healthy and balanced lifestyle. Every single one of these kids felt what it was like to set goals and meet their goals. More importantly they found the process challenging and rewarding. Some were easy and some were hard. Some goals were met and some were missed. But they pushed on and stayed focused for 9 straight weeks. I share this because of its importance whenever we change calendar years. Some of the thoughts below are exactly what I taught them. They are simple rules and apply to every one of all ages regardless of their goals.

With the end of 2008 fast approaching most are already thinking about their New Year’s resolutions for 2009. Resolutions are nothing more then short term goals (and that is being nice) that people set because they are unhappy with certain aspects of their life. Most resolutions I hear are fitness related and I can honestly say that 90-95% of all resolutions will not be met and will suffer the same fate of failure to only be resurfaced the following year. Why? Well, most will treat them as a one time event and not as life long commitment or lifestyle change. In order for any goal to have a fighting chance of being achieved, there needs to be a plan that encompasses a level of commitment that can only come with a simple, repeatable, sustainable process that allows it to happen day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Some say it takes 20,000+ repetitions to form a habit. If your resolution require you to do something just one time per day (for example: walk for 30 minutes), then in order for that to be a habit you would need to do that everyday for almost 55 years. That is what I call a lifestyle change. The magnitude of some of the resolutions that are set fail quickly because the task itself and the “end line” is just to much for anyone to fathom. So how does one be successful and stay on track in these instances?

Think small to go big, or put another way, go slow to go fast. (My kids hate it when I say that!) Why is it that health clubs love this time of year? It is because they get all the ambitious New Year’s resolutioner’s with lofty thoughts and major hangovers ready to make a change. Why do health clubs thin out around February and most memberships go untouched for 48 weeks out of the year? It is because most want the benefits and the results quickly and when it is doesn’t come that fast (and it never does) they throw in the towel. In this day and age everyone is looking for the quick easy fix and they do not want to do a whole lot to get it. Well, news flash for you, it does not work that way. You must take it one day at a time and you must do the work yourself. You did not get the way you are in a day, week or month (and I say it that way because only you can define what “the way you are” means) so don’t expect to change “the way you are” in that short amount of time either. Make the commitment to change, stick with your plan, take it one day at a time and chisel away and while the results will be incremental, they will be results nonetheless. Success is measured in small little victories and not truly appreciated until you are years down the road and you look at what you accomplished.

Regardless of the goals you set, the first order of business is to write them down. Having a plan or roadmap is the key to ensuring you stay on track. You would not go on a road trip without a map or build a house without a blue print; the same should apply for your fitness and health goals. Use a training log to plan your workouts. If you are one that is always on your Black (crack) Berry or computer, use a product like http://www.trainingpeaks.com for all of your planning and monitoring needs. Everything is online and you will get daily emails reminding you of the workouts that you have planned for that day. It can be a great tool to keep you motivated. One thing to keep in mind when defining a plan to get you there is to keep it simple and be consistent (remember the 20k repetitions to form a habit). It is not rocket science to get fit, it just takes consistent work and there is so many different ways to get there. Don’t get caught up in all the infomercial gimmicks that are out there. Making the plan simple will ensure you do it day in and day out. You don’t need fancy gyms or equipment to get fit. Pull-ups, push-ups and lunges combined with 30-45 minutes of walking 3-4 days per week are simple exercises and all you really need to get started. And all that stuff costs you nothing monetary. It just costs you time. Remember there is no easy quick fix solution. Being consistent day in and day out is what brings the results. If the task seems daunting, hiring a coach or personal trainer will get you off and running (literally) and will even provide that extra motivation you may need especially in these colder winter months.

Doing something is better then nothing. Often times when people get into a routine and start to get fit they start to do more and more. That is great. The challenge there is the mindset that often accompanies those results where they start to think if they did not do as much as they did the last time that they get no benefit. Well not true. We will always be met with schedule conflicts, unexpected meetings, a cold, etc… If you planned to do a 45 minute walk and only have 30 minutes, walk for the 30 minutes. Don’t skip it. 30 minutes is going to do something for you versus if you just looked the other way and did nothing. Know that you will have setbacks and hit roadblocks along the way, but getting back on track is the key to not failing. If you decide to fall off the wagon and visit the dark side, just remember that while it is a nice place to visit every now and then, don’t move there! Tying your shoes is the hardest part of embarking on any journey, but once you have that done, walking out the door is easy. Get up everyday, lace up those shoes, define who you want to be and take another step towards your goal.

I wish you a healthy and prosperous 2009!

2008-12-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

Balancing the Qualitative vs. Quantitative approach to training and racing. Simplified. 12/12/08

There is a lot of debate out there around how to train and more so how to interpret the physiological response to training specific stress so that recovery is optimized and peak performance can be achieved. Some say that it can’t be done without the use of heart rate monitors and power meters while others will say all you need is your brain and a willingness to listen to your body. Having just gone through a season where I faced a crossroad challenge with this very issue I will say that you need to have a balanced approach to both.

For simplicity sake let’s look at feedback coming from 2 sources:

1. Internally (your brain).
2. Externally (your power meter or HR monitor).

One is qualitative and the other is quantitative. Your brain gives you the qualitative feedback telling you things like this hurts, this is easy, I am tired, I am hungry, etc where as your power meter or HR monitor gives you the quantitative feedback with key information like what HR or Power zone you were in, max power, average HR, normalized power, etc. Both are extremely valuable data, but data is just data until you do something useful with it.

I look at feedback as a gift. This was something I learned back in my corporate days when conducting performance evaluations with my employees. But it is only a gift if delivered in the right mode and with the right context so that something constructive can be done with it. Your body does not always give it to you in a way you can rationally interpret it and your HR Monitor or Power Meter has no filter and gives it to you straight up. No sugar coating there.

So in theory, this should be relatively easy. Listen to the feedback your brain is telling you or listen to the feedback of your PM or HRM and you will be just fine. Well wrong, it does not work that way. While both are useful tools, it is not an either OR option. They need to be used in conjunction with each other and it requires the athlete to be open-minded and honest with themselves and their coach. More so, the feedback needs to be collected and interpreted in a consistent manner. The challenge here is that most of the time athletes can’t be honest and won’t be consistent. They lie to themselves and they lie to their coaches. Why? Because they do not want to admit weakness or failure in any shape or form. Very typical of type “A” overachieving personalities. We all want to improve, get faster, get stronger and when the feedback says otherwise we go straight into denial. Typically we just ignore and push on and while this is ok from time to time, when done constantly this can lead to some serious ramifications including injury, overtraining and chronic fatigue.

So with the advent of all this great technology as well as having access to probably the best intelligence data collection device available (your brain) why do so many people show up for races injured and over trained? In my opinion it all boils down to the “what” and “how” this feedback is used in an attempt to “predict” recovery and performance. For example: if you were driving your car and the gas gauge was on empty, you would not just hop on the highway for that long cross country road trip right? No, because you would be on the side of the road thumbing for a ride in a matter of a few short miles. No instead you would stop off and fill up with gas to ensure you started your journey on a full tank. Furthermore, as you head on your journey, the gas gauge will tell you (predict if you will) when you will be out of gas. So in this analogy, the dashboard of your car is your feedback mechanism. Unfortunately, the human body does not have a true dashboard with warning lights, bells and whistles. A HR monitor and Power Meter certainly does and can be construed as a dashboard, but they are not hard wired to your body to give 100% accurate information so there is always that level of doubt when using. Furthermore, those devices need to be pre-programmed with some information that YOU tell it and if that info is not accurate or honest, your dashboard is useless. So what is my point to all of this? Training and racing is every bit an art as it is a science and you need to balance the 2 for optimal performance. Still curious as to where this is going? Read on.

As a self coached athlete I like most out there jumped on the new gadget band wagon and bought a HR Monitor and GPS device so that I could monitor and dial in my training. Who would have thought (not me) that I would go on to have some of my worst performances as a result of training with these devices. Why? Because I decided to listen to what my HRM was telling me and not what my body was telling me. The big reason behind it all was the fact that I did not have the right information programmed into my HRM to train optimally. So I basically went 180 degrees in the opposite direction and gauged my training on inaccurate information. If I was supposed to be in Zone 2 then by all means I was going to be in Zone 2. The problem here was Zone 2 was not really Zone 2 but Zone 3. I did this for many years and over trained myself right into the ground because my “what” was all wrong in relation to my “how”. The dashboard was spitting out numbers that were all wrong and I was following it to the T.

Ok, so you are probably saying something to the fact that you are not so smart because everyone knows you need to have regular testing to ensure your threshold numbers are accurate and you are working in the correct zones, etc. While that is true, the fact that I needed to have the resources to do such a thing on a regular basis was a limiter. But ok, I wanted to get it right so I decided to get my lactate threshold tested regularly and dialed in my training zones. I was now training more optimally based on scientific feedback coming from my body. But the challenge here was the fact that this was still only an estimate. Why? Well for starters these numbers change as you become more fit and/or loose fitness and depending on when you had them taken they could be off because you could be fatigued going into the test. In order to have good numbers you need to have regular testing conducted and you need to be relatively rested going into the test. It is hard enough to get athletes to rest enough during their normal training. Now tell them they have to rest to test. I don’t think so. Don’t get me wrong, the benefits are there for this type of testing, but the reality is if you are not consistent here, this approach can be flawed.

So in short, training with my HRM exclusively still left me overtraining and consistently under-performing to what I was capable of. As I longed for that elusive breakthrough performance that I could never seem to achieve, I knew one thing was for sure. What I had been doing was not working and things needed to change. I needed to change. I had just started a coaching career and was really struggling with the philosophy on how I was training and now I was about to train my athletes the same way. Because my philosophy was to test it on myself first before I prescribed it second. I needed to get my stuff dialed in quick if I was to amount to anything valuable for my athlete’s sake.

So the challenge became how I balanced my need for information and technology with how I trained. I loved seeing my data post workout as it related to how far I went, how fast (or slow) I went and where I went but I hated when that damn thing beeped at me when my HR hit a certain number. Based on the data returned it may be saying to slow down…why? I feel great! Or it may be saying go faster but I was cooked and couldn’t.

It ended up stressing me out. I was getting mixed messages. It was really taking away from what I loved so much about training and racing. So what did I do about it? I decided I was going to find a balance between the two. I went back to my roots. I turned off all the warnings and changed the display to only show me the time of day. I still trained “WITH” the device but not “TO” the device. I continued to periodize my training so that I went HARD when I was supposed to and EASY when I needed to rest but used my brain to tell me what was hard and what was easy. I still recorded the data for the importance of the post workout analytics (which I will get to in a second).

This subtle and simple change in my mindset left me much more relaxed when I was training but still secure in the fact that I had the scientific data for the quantitative analysis later. I still needed to plan my training effectively which is where my coaching came in and I needed to establish some guidelines for myself as to “HOW” I would train now and “WHAT” I would do when certain warning signs would appear. I felt like I was on my way to something refreshingly different.

The next thing I needed to do was to figure out how I took my quantitative data that I was recording and marry that with the qualitative response from my body. Basically I needed to ensure that I accurately quantified every training session. Why? Because that is how I am wired. I like data. I love graphs and charts and I love to see it on paper. It is validating but it needed to be valid otherwise it would be useless. More so, I wanted to be able to plan an effective taper and predict how rested and ready I could and would be for those key races. Again, it is art and science. Should I taper 2 weeks or 3? What combination of hard and easy should I go during the taper? What is the right mix? Etc. If I had accurate representation from a data standpoint (quantified) of all my training sessions then building a model should be a snap. I did some research and found a software product called WKO+ made by www.trainingpeaks.com that I could use to build a performance manager chart using Training Stress Scores and Intensity Factors for each of my training sessions. During the free trial phase of the software I found that in order to get accurate scores for cycling, I needed to be using a power meter. Bummer, I don’t have one. Don’t have the resources right now to get one and did not want another piece of technology at this stage in the game to have to figure out.

I was not content with that and decided to still use the software but find another way to quantify my cycling scores. In short, I used GPS data to come up with a pace based formula to calculate a score for cycling. Depending on the terrain and wind conditions for any given workout, I would adjust the score accordingly to ensure it was as close to an accurate representation of the effort expended each time. I committed to using the same metric for the entire year to ensure a consistent representation. I used the default algorithm within the software for running and I came up with a pace based formula for swimming. I tested every 3 weeks in all 3 sports on the same course to ensure that my testing results (the metrics I was using to ensure accurate calculation of the scores) were staying consistent and up to date. I was now able to build a performance management chart with a little bit of manual intervention. As long as I tracked the data consistently then I should be able to predict an effective taper when I needed to. That was the key. Furthermore I could really correlate my perceived exertion of hard to what it looked like on paper and vice versa for easy workouts to really dial it all in. The quantitative data always tied out to my qualitative notes in my training log.

So I just went out and continued to train based on feel and I logged the data after every session. I was training more effectively just tuning into what my body was doing during the session. I was having a lot more fun and enjoying training for the sake of training. I had all of the quantified data for each session and I was progressing faster in a few short months then I had in the last 5 years.

There was only one race that I cared about in 2008. It was Ironman Arizona. While I wanted to perform well in all the other races I participated in, this was the big one and everything I was doing was in preparation for that race. So I decided to continue to train how I planned to and just log the data. Some races I took more rest going in then others but I did it using my gut feel. In short, I set 6 new PR’s this year and even won a couple of races flat out (A Boulder Stroke and Stride race and the 8 Hours of Duathlon event). I correlated these results to my refreshing new outlook on training and by just using my body for feedback. I let my brain tell me what hard and easy was and not my HR Monitor. I really maximized my ability to recover because when I was tired, I just rested and when I was fresh I gave it my all. The bar was upped and I was way outside of my comfort zone. I had the confidence that what I was doing was right and would pay off in the end.

With about 5 weeks to go before Arizona, I started to build my taper model. Was it going to be 3 weeks, 2 weeks, 15 days, 10 days, etc…? I kept track of which workouts were which throughout the season and started to plug those into the model. What I arrived at was about a 10 day taper with the preceding 5 days having 2 alternating full on rest days built in with hard sessions on the odd days. So I guess you could just say it was about 2 weeks or 15 days. I could predict where my overall fitness was going to end up and how rested I was going to be on race day. The model said I was going to have a banner day based on the training that I had done. But I still had to execute my carefully calculated race strategy of patience, pacing and fueling to finish off what I started. The end result was a PR of over 33 minutes, a bike split that was 20 minutes faster then I had ever gone in an IM before and a new outlook on how I would train and race from that day moving forward.

The snapshot above is my performance management chart. I only really used it to predict my taper for Arizona. But when I went back and correlated the data against the season it told a very compelling story. I trained hard when I needed to. I was rested and on form for the key races mid season. I buckled down for Ironman training and then I peaked for that one race.

· The blue line represents fitness. Notice that it builds then plateaus and then builds again based on the time and phase of the season

· The pink line represents fatigue. The higher it is above the yellow line the more tired you are. The closer it gets the more rested you are. It is very typical to see it high during the build phases and a little lower when you are racing and resting. Notice how it staggers denoting the hard and easy days of training. Stress then rest.

· The yellow line represents your “form” or predicted performance. The lower it is the worse you will perform indicating the excessive amount of fatigue and tiredness. The closer it is to the pink line the better you will be and when it crosses the pink line you can expect peak performance. Notice at the end of the taper where the yellow line is in relation to the pink. A very positive number indicating exceptional form on race day.

These are my takeaways from training this way during the 2008 season:

· Your brain is your best feedback indicator when you are out training.

· Your HR Monitor or Power Meter is a GREAT tool for post workout analysis but I don’t recommend you use them to train “to” all the time. There needs to be a balance and training “to” it on occasion is ok but it is best to leave the feedback mechanism to your brain. Capture the data but train on feel. Pretty simple.

· Go hard when you are fresh and rest when you are tired. Your body gains no benefit from training in a constant state of fatigue regardless of what your HRM says.

· If you are going to build a quantitative model for training and racing, do so with the premise that it needs to be correlated back to the qualitative feedback from your body.

· Use a training log to ensure you are consistently recording and tracking how you felt during your sessions. And be consistent about your field threshold testing in each of the 3 disciplines.

· During the taper, trust the process and the training you have done. While you will lose a bit of fitness you are gaining peak performance. Doing to much during this phase will leave you flat and broken. Less is more here…this is proven.

· On race day, listen to your body and follow your plan. Leave the electronics (including your watch) at home and just go out and race on feel. Listen to your brain and follow your gut, the 2 are never wrong.

· Keep it simple and have fun. Being consistent is the biggest bang for your buck. Doing something is better then nothing. Rest when you need to and go hard when you feel good.

· The right amount of intensity mixed with the right amount of recovery is paramount to a sound training program. Make sure it is grounded in reality with your ability and goals and you are guaranteed to improve.

The major point to all of this is simply one word...BALANCE. Both approaches are important. Being able to go out and train just on feel and then being able to quantify it using a mix of science and technology will make you a well rounded high performing athlete. It eliminates a lot of guesswork and makes training all that more fun.

On a closing note in case you are still skeptical if this can work for you, I put one of my athletes through this very same model. She was religious about keeping her workout log up to date and was by far the most consistent with her training. Actually, I have never seen any one more consistent then her. She rested when she needed to (reluctantly) and did the training necessary. In return, I had the data to build the model. Her taper was designed around this model and she PR’d her “A” race in a very big way. 90 minutes to be exact. And the best part about it for her was the fact that she did not have to even think about the analytics. In fact she did not have a clue that I was doing this behind the scenes. She just went out and did the training the way it was prescribed and I did all the heavy lifting with the analysis. A perfect coach-athlete relationship. The beauty here is that it can work for anyone.

Where am I going with this next? Well in 2009 I will incorporate the use of a Power Meter into my training and I will most likely have a few blood lactate threshold tests done so that I can even better correlate the scientific physiological feedback with my own internal feedback. My philosophy on training and racing will not change. I will continue to learn how to better use my body for feedback and structure my training in a way that I am optimizing stress and rest. I will continue to quantify it all using technology and science against how I felt so that I can better myself as a coach for my athletes so that when structuring their training it maximizes their overall experience to achieve the peak performance results that they deserve to have.

Get that monkey off my....Ankle! 2008 Ironman Arizona Race Report

2008-12-07T13:19:00.001-07:00

As a twist to the normal race report I thought I would take you through the day as it went on in my head. While I did not have the run that I was capable of, I did manage a breakthrough day. The Ironman Monkey is officially off my back, but he is still hanging on my ankle. I plan on squashing him on the next one leaving him for dead! Enjoy.

Pre-Race:

Is that the alarm already? 3:30am. Time to make the eggs.

Should I have a cup of coffee or just have the red bull…I need coffee.

I love the smell of French toast and eggs…I should after all I have only been eating it the last 8 weeks straight.

Do I have to use the bathroom already? SWEET!!!

I think I will take a hot shower to loosen up.

Should I put sunscreen on now? Nahhh…I will wait.

Do I have to use the bathroom again? BONUS!!!

I guess I should get dressed.

Is anyone going to get up and wish me well?

“Hey Carter, see you later. Wear your sneakers you are going across the finish line tonight pal!”

Time to go…is my wife going to get up?

“By honey, call me when you get down there.”

On the bus…man it is already full. There’s a seat next to Jeff.

“Good morning Jeff. Sleep well?”

There is a lot of aggravating people here this morning.

Come on lady, get on the bus. This day is not all about you.

Dropped off right in front…nice!

“Thanks for the lift!”

Did I forget anything? I am sure I forgot something. I am way too relaxed. This is scary.

Did I just put my fuel in the right bag? Better go back and check.

That volunteer must think I am a fruit loop going through my bags for the 3rd time.

Do I have to carry Scott’s frozen water bottles around all morning?

Where the hell do you drop off special needs bags? I am definitely in need of something special!

Phew, the tires held air all night. 105 PSI. Ready to rock.

Oh great, I am about to become everyone’s best friend with the bike pump.

Hey idiot, don’t forget to put your water bottles on. Damn I am way too relaxed.

I should find everyone to make sure they are all set.

“Sorry pal, I need to find 3 other people to pump their tires first.”

I need to find the bathroom again. Now I am worried. No Imodium today.

Damn that line is long.

Where is my wife?

“Jeff, what time is it?” 6:15am…oh boy it is getting close.

Will this line move faster?

Erin, where are you?

Finally…WHAT? Is my phone ringing while I am on the john?

“Hi honey, yes I am in the porto-potty.”

Better get my wetsuit on.

Shoot, sunscreen! Don’t panic now. I was relaxed and now I am rushing!

Just deal and move on…ok wetsuit on, I feel better now.

“Where do we get in the water?”

Come on people jump in. It will be cold no matter what!

Hey Heather Fuhr. She is such a class act. Ok, ok… I am jumping in! She can be pushy I guess.

Well here it goes…

The Swim:

Damn this water is cold.

Jeez there are a lot of people here.

To the right and up in front.

There’s the clock…hey Mike Riley

45 seconds to go.

Are they walking down the wall?

Where do all of these people think they are going?

Boom…damn that was loud.

Go Go Go!

Where did all these people come from?

I am getting hammered! Don’t panic. Breathe, breathe, breathe.

Is my hand dragging on cement?

Get away from the wall!

Hang on the Kayak and catch your breath.

Ok, go get them.

That feels better.

Long strokes, strong pull. Save the legs.

The turnaround already.

Keep it under control. Long and strong.

Ooooo…some feet. Hang on and glide.

Come on dude swim straight.

Can’t see anything in this water.

Ahhhhh the Mill Street bridge.

Start kicking…get some blood in the legs.

Last turn, 100 strokes and you are home.

Up the stairs…don’t trip.

1:05…not bad. Actually, that is freaking great!

Did I even swim? I feel awesome!

Where are the wetsuit strippers?

How long is this run out to transition?

Could they make this run out any longer?

Go figure, no seats.

Oh, there is one.

Take your time and put everything on.

Haste makes waste…seconds here give back minutes later.

Nice and relaxed…get going.

Sunscreen…yes…sunscreen.

It is cold…thank god for these gloves.

There’s my bike…and lots of other bikes. I had a really good swim.

Now the race begins.

The Bike:

Watch yourself on the mount.

This is where people wreck their day.

Where is my family?

I think that was Jeff’s family.

Must have missed them.

Oh hey there they are…”Heeeeyyyyyy”

Alright, settle down and get to work.

Get your cadence under control.

Should I start fueling? I feel really good.

Get aero. Low cadence. Nice and steady.

Feels a bit breezy out here.

There goes a pack of riders.

There goes another pack of riders.

“Come on guys…spread out!”

I am sure I will see them later.

Uphill and into the wind but I feel strong and fluid.

Stay aero and focus on cadence.

This road sucks. Watch out for the holes.

Quit complaining dude, this is not windy!

Keep drinking. Pace to fuel is the rule.

Watch the turn and stay wide of the aid station.

Time to pee, downhill, let it go.

Full bladder this early!!! Perfect!

Watch the rumble strips, get to the right, smooth pavement.

Nice and steady.

Got to pee again, ahhhhhhhh…”Hey Alex!”

That was embarrassing…well not really.

Lap 1 is in the books. Stay steady.

There’s the family again. They are sure having fun. They must really love me to stand out there all day!

“Heeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyy!”….thumb’s up.

Smooth and steady out of town. Keep fueling.

There is the wind again. A little stiffer this time but I feel good.

Slight downhill, I should pee again. Ahhhhhhh. I am WELL fueled!

Is that Scott? “Hey man! Nice and steady. Pace yourself!”

There goes Alex…he is flying!!!!

Watch the turn again. Grab some water. “WATER!!!!!”

Downhill…time for a bio break…Ahhhhhhh. I am really WELL fueled!

1 bottle of Carbo pro down. Special needs? Don’t need it. Keep going.

Nice and steady, when is the burn going to start.

Back into town…Lap 2 is in the books. I feel unbelievable!!!!

There is the family again…Thumbs up! They all look so happy!

Back up the beeline…this feels easier! I am getting stronger as the day gets longer.

Strong and long! That is my new mantra!

Keep fueling. Don’t force this last lap. The race is at mile 20 of the run.

Last turnaround…what? Head wind? No wonder that felt easy!

All downhill from here. Time to pee. Ahhhhhhhhhhh….

Is that Alex? “Hey man you ok?” Nice and easy from here on in.

110 miles! Boom baby. We are done!

I feel like I just rode 50 miles.

Watch the sidewalk…nice and easy.

Feet out of the shoes…dismount. Watch that guy.

Volunteers taking your bikes is sooooo cool. “Thanks!”

Nice and easy. Grab your bag and into transition.

Hey there is Alex. “Great ride man!”

Relax. The race is only just beginning.

Put on the compression socks. Take the dark sunglasses. You finished early!!!!

“Have a good run Alex!”

The Run:

Ok…let’s go. Nice and steady.

“SUNSCREEN????!!!!!!”

Hey Mike Ricci. “Nice to see you buddy!”

Ok settle in. I really want to go. DON’T!!! Hold back.

Short snappy strides. Let the shoes work.

Nice pace…looking strong Keith. “Thanks!”

Looking good Keith. Nice and relaxed. “Thank You!”

Damn, I am running strong!

A little fuel goes a long way. Less is more.

Mile 1, Mile 2, Mile 3…they are flying by.

Is that Alex? Is that Dan? “Hey Guys?”

“How you feeling Alex?”

Ok I can’t continue to talk or I will puke. “Can’t talk Alex, later!”

Ok settle back down. Race your own race. Control!

Mile 4, down the bridge, under the bridge.

Is that my mom? There they all are.

Thumbs up. “I feel good Dad!”

Short and snappy. Good form. Focus.

Mile 5, Mile 6, Mile 7

These are just ticking off. Keep fueling.

Mile 8, there is the bridge again.

There’s the family, smiles and waves.

Ok…lap 1 is done, stay in control here. It is getting warm.

WOW, looking good Keith. “Thanks!”

STRONG. Nice. “Thanks!”

I must still be running good. My feet are starting to hurt.

How much do I have left…forget that. Focus on now!

Mile 10, Mile 11

Ok these are getting harder now. Keep going. Walk the aid stations.

Pace and Fuel. Short and snappy. Good form. Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Mile 12, Mile 13,

Down the bridge and under the bridge.

Thumbs up to the family. Don’t let them see you suffering!

High fives for everyone. This is what it is all about!

Mile 14, Mile 15, Mile 16

These are getting harder. Keep fueling. You are nice and strong.

Mile 17…where is the bridge?

Ok, feed off the energy of everyone! “Heeeeeyyyyy, YEAH!!!!!”

Lap 2 is done. 1 to go. Keep it under control. Mile 20 is where is starts.

Looking Good Keith! Can’t talk now. Just wave.

This is getting hard! My feet are screaming!

Mile 18, Mile 19. Time to switch to coke.

I feel good…I wonder when the bottom is going to fall out?

Mile 20…finally!!! Ohhhhh Crap!!!!! Don’t tell me!

Sick! I can’t believe this. Ok… don’t panic.

Walk. Settle. Just focus on each step.

Run, Run, Run. Ok…running. Feel better.

Mile 21…should I drink. “COKE! COKE!”

That tastes good. Walk and run. Walk and run. Settle the stomach.

Down the bridge…there’s Dad. How you feeling? “Not good. Sick.”

Stop and talk to family. Get some energy.

“Hey Carter, you ready to finish this one today?” Yes Dad. “I will see you in 5 miles and take you across that line pal!”

Fist punch to the “C” man. That felt good…that felt right!

It is all about him now. Don’t blow it. Focus.

Special needs…don’t need it. 5 miles to go!

Up the bridge and then run.

Is that Jeff walking? “Hey man? You alright?”

Freaking hip injury again. He will finish! That guy is tough as nails!

Ok…this is hard. Why didn’t I just stop fueling.

Mile 23…need to get sick again.

Uggggghhhhhhhh!

Ok…run, run, run.

Mile 24, Mile 25. One to go! I did it!

There is Jeff’s family. Feed off them. Almost there.

“Yeaaaaaahhhhhhh!”

Go, go, go.

Just around the corner. How long is this street?

I hear the finish. I see the lights but where is the turn?

I want this done!!!!

There’s Carter and Erin!

“Hey Buddy, let’s do this!”

Does the time say 10:59:XX??????

Damn!!!! That was fast. Break 11?

Just run and enjoy with Carter.

“What do you think pal? Pretty cool huh?”

He is digging it! He looks so happy!

The finish. Hands up. SMILE!!!!!

“We did it Carter!” “Give me a fist punch” “Yes.”

This was a race I will never forget. I want to thank my family for their incredible support on the day and over the years. Mom and Dad, you travel far and wide to see me compete. I am glad you got to witness the breakthrough performance I had been longing for! Erin, Cam and Carter, you put up with a lot and I could not do this without you. This smile shows how grateful I am to all of you for that.

From Vision to Execution - An Ironman Arizona Reflection

2008-11-24T15:11:00.002-07:00

It has been about a year since the idea of starting a triathlon coaching business was born. When I embarked on this journey I had no idea that it (or I for that matter) would be where it is today. As I went into the final week of tapering for Ironman Arizona I had a little extra time on my hands from the reduced volume in training and found myself reflecting on how fortunate I felt that I was in this position. And then the pre-race nerves set in and the endless questions arose about the preparation for me and my athletes, all the ‘what if’s’ that could happen, did I forget to’s, etc…Was I about to panic? After taking a deep breathe and replaying the season, surprisingly no I was not. In fact, I could not think of one thing to fear going into this race (for myself or my athletes). In year’s past, I would be ripping people’s heads off about this time because I had myself so wrapped around the race and its end result. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to do well and wanted my athlete’s to do even better but I was very much at peace about what was done to this point to prepare everyone for this race. Now all we needed to do was go out and execute!

To back track a bit, when I started this venture a year ago I had no idea that I would have 4 paying clients let alone 4 paying clients racing Ironman Arizona with me. These athletes solicited my knowledge and guidance and entrusted me to get them to the start line and ultimately to the finish line. But on race day, it was really up to them to take it the last 140.6 miles. If feels a lot like sending your kids off to college (not that I know what that feels like...yet). But I know what my parents have told me. You raise them, guide them and shape them, and hope that the lessons you have taught and the hard work that they have done will carry them through on their next journey in life. Well, as a coach I feel a lot like a parent sending my kids off to College. There is a lot of pressure from that standpoint and I was trying my best to control it. At the end of the day, I had no doubt that they were prepared to the best of their ability and I had no doubt that they had listened and knew the strategies and tactics that I had laid out for them. I had no doubt that they would be the best they can be on what will no doubt be a very tough day. Was I worried for them? Yeah sure. As a coach you become more vested in your athlete’s success then your own. Again, just like you would never want to see your kids struggle or fail, the same goes here. But I had to just let go of it and trust that all would go according to plan.

The days leading up to the race were all about the final prep and relaxing with friends and family albeit wrapped in compression tights and socks. Combine that with a few beers chilling by the pool and you would think the freak show just rolled into town. I stayed relaxed by trying to make sure everyone else was relaxed. The time seemed to fly by in a heartbeat and surprisingly everyone appeared to be very relaxed, fresh and anxious to go. My almost lackadaisical approach left me in some what of a last minute panic as I found myself putting my gear together at the last minute. This was so unlike me and yet I loved the feeling of just going with the flow. My mantra was “it will be what it will be”.

Race morning I was able to catch everyone before we made the plunge into the cold murky water of Tempe Town Lake. There were anxious nervous smiles on everyone’s face. The smile indicated they were prepared; the anxious and nervous tone was nothing more then them dealing with the thought of the unknown. As soon as the gun blows, all that goes away. The rest of the day went by in a blur. I was able to see everyone out on the course at various parts of the day. All seemed to be doing fine despite dealing with their own bit of adversity at that moment. Some struggled with the swim, others with the bike and almost everyone at certain points during the run.

At the end of the day, of the 5 of us that raced Arizona; all made it across the finish line. The No DNF Coaching mission and philosophy was working. And for 4 of the 5 it was the fastest they had ever gone in an Ironman. One of them even had a PR of 1 hour and 25 minutes!!!! Finishing and going fast. Hmmmm...a novel concept. And for the one that did not PR, it was a personal best bike split which no doubt reflected that athlete’s form from the hard dedicated training he went out and did. All were awesome within the constraints they had to work from.

There is no such thing as a perfect race. But in this case I felt that all were nearly perfect in how they dealt with the challenges and went through the day. Some surprised me with their results, others impressed me with their ability to overcome adversity, and one even humbled me with their post race enthusiasm. I am impressed with every single one of them for to many reasons to name here and felt proud to have been able to be apart of their journey.

This was truly a perfect end to something that is just beginning.

The hardest training day I have ever had…An 8 Hours of Duathlon Reflection – 8/31/08

2008-09-15T19:59:00.000-06:00

I am short on words these days and quite honestly this post is overdue but hey I have been busy and priorities are priorities. I am posting this now regardless because this is a day that I keep drawing on even a month post race. This had to be by far the greatest amount of suffering that I did in a one day training session and I loved every minute of it.

The objective for this "training day" was to complete as many circuits of the 11+ mile bike course and the 2.6 mile run course in 8 hours in no particular order. You needed to be totally self sufficient with fuel, etc…no aid stations. Just you and the course for as much as you can give to it. My original goal was 5 circuits. You had to do a full bike/run circuit before you could mix up the order. I started off with a bike followed by 3 runs. Then proceeded to do 5 more bikes because I was feeling good. That meant I am now up to 6 circuits if I complete all the runs. I decided on 4 more runs capped off with 1 more bike for a total of 7 full circuits. Sounds simple and pretty low key right? Well not so…the mind games I played on myself through the day are what Ironman training is all about.

Because this was a training day and there was no clear finish line, you could quit anytime. Had enough, call it a day. Feeling hungry, call it a day. Tired, take a nap or call it a day. No one knows, no one cares. But like the obsessive compulsive competitive personalities that we are (ok I am), going out for one more loop is no different then an alcoholic having one more beer or a gambler playing one more hand. There was time still left on the clock and I don’t think I have had enough. We are all addicts in some way shape or form otherwise as triathletes we would not continue to repeatedly punish ourselves over and over. For most we certainly don’t know the meaning of the word quit. On this day, there were many times I wanted to call it a day but deep down I knew that if I did the head would not sit quite right on the pillow at night so I just hunkered down and pushed on.

While physically this was hard, mentally it was harder, You had to come into transition and check in before you went out to do another loop. The car is right there along with the food and the clean dry clothes. Scan the chip and you are committed to one more. I always say that tieing your shoes and closing the door behind you is the hardest part of any training day. Once you have done that, the rest will fall into place. You just need to tie the shoes and walk out the door. This is the number one rule for being consistent and being consistent is what gets results.

I am glad the mind persevered that day because I reaped the physical benefits out of the training, I achieved the confidence needed to be able to push through tough times and to cap it off; I was crowned the 8 Hours of Duathlon Solo World Champion. How sweet it is!

Being Human…A Timberman 70.3 Reflection – 8/19/08

2008-08-31T05:50:00.000-06:00

Ok, so the next time I plan to race following a week long vacation filled with late nights, lots of eating and beer consumption, hanging with friends and family…remind me to do it again! I would not have traded my race week for anything. Despite not having an optimal week of eating nutrition wise and while my result was not nearly as good as what I was capable of, I still pulled off a solid consistent performance on what was a challenging course on one of the warmest days New England had seen in many weeks. The week was filled with some relaxing moments along with some stressful ones. And while the race has come and gone, the week was filled with moments and memories that will last forever far more precious than any race result.

Pre-race prep:

The week prior to our departure, I had left one job and started another. It was very exciting but stressful in the same vein. We left for New Hampshire on a Thursday afternoon which turned into a very long travel day with a lay over (3 hours) in Chicago. But we were able to find a table with 4 chairs in the food court and a deck of cards that made the time fly by. Got to love when your kids can travel and roll with it like adults. We arrived in Manchester to pouring rain about 12:30am and by the time we got to bed it was 2:30am. Needless to say we all slept in. I left for Falmouth, MA. on Saturday morning to run the Falmouth road race which has been a long standing tradition with all my childhood friends since our college days. Basically it is an afternoon of waffle ball and beer, an evening of cards and beer. Limited sleep capped off with a 7.1 mile road race on Sunday morning. May the best man survive! This year, it was 1 hour of sleep (in my car of all places) and a personal best on that course by over 3 minutes. Hmmmm, maybe there is something to carbo loading with beer.

The rest of the week was spent doing some light training but mostly relaxing. I did have a kink to work out of my back from all that wiffle ball but thank god my sister is a massage therapist and she did some magic and I was back on track. Thanks Tracey! The Friday before race day, I was configuring the bike for my wife who was doing the short course race on Saturday. She had a little issue with getting out of the pedals and the bike went down bending the rear derailleur hanger. Luckily she was ok and after a slight freak out I just went to work and got it fixed. What could go wrong now? Erin had a great race on Saturday running what I believe was a PR off the bike. I then met up with the Louisville contingent and proceeded to get the bike ready for my venture the following day. After a quick training ride I took it to bike check-in where I noticed a HUGE gaping GASH in the front tire. Erin did say that the roads coming back into transition were crack ridden and very rough. I checked the bike in less the front wheel and went up to the expo where I was able to get a new tire and tube and make the repair. Potential disaster averted. A good dinner with everyone and an even better night sleep and I was ready to go.

Race Day:

I awoke at 4:15am with a very unsettled stomach. Started with the breakfast consumption:

· A can of Red Bull (Caffeine and calories)

· 2 packages of Apple and Cinnamon Oatmeal with Granola (The apples would prove to be not so good)

· A banana

· A balance bar

· 20 ounces of Gatorade

· 12 ounces of Nuun Electrolytes

· 2 Imodium AD’s (yep…not feeling good!)

We arrived at the race site in the front row. Thanks Jim! Checked in, installed the front wheel, setup transition area and proceeded back to the van to relax. Stomach still felt bad but it was getting better. Wetsuit on and down to the swim start.

The Race:

I had one goal for the day…try and run down a friend of mine starting 17 minutes ahead of me. There is nothing like a little carrot for motivation to make the day pass quickly. But I was not going to waiver from my swim and bike pacing and hydration strategy that has proved to be bullet proof this season. If I could catch him great, but if not I would wait until the last 5k of the run to make the move.

The Swim:

The wind was picking up a bit but I found open water quickly and just settled in. Did not even go anaerobic in the beginning. The sun and wind made it difficult to stay on course. At one point on the way back in I was at least 100 meters off course and had to reel that back in. 33 minutes and some change into transition. A little slow because of my sight seeing tour of Lake Winnipesauke but uneventful and well rested. Stomach still felt like a rock.

The Bike:

The tires were still full of air. Something I always check before departing. I decided to go with Arm Coolers today because they would act like warmers in the beginning and if the humidity stayed away they would act like coolers later when the temps rose. That was a good decision. There were lots of hills in the first 10 miles so I just paced them out and settled in. I needed to get my stomach in a place to consume fluids. I have found a full stomach will empty quickly if the HR stays low so that was the strategy. Fill it up and go easy and it worked. I got rid of a lot of gas (don’t mean to be gross) and everything settled right in. Picked up the pace and just rode on feel. No electronics for me again. I love racing this way. It makes the time go by and the only thing I need to focus on is me in the moment. I highly recommend this to everyone. There was lots of drafting but the Race Marshalls were out in force and giving penalties. Every time I went past the tents they were full of offenders! Triathlon is an individual sport people…it’s what makes it fun!! The last 10 miles of the bike were hilly just like the out so I just paced them up and shook the legs out and hydrated on the downs. Stopped consuming fluids about 6 miles out to make sure I had an empty gut for the start of the run.

The Run:

Into transition. Decided to keep the arm coolers on as there was very little cloud cover. The humidity was fairly low so I was ok with that. I could take them off if it got too hot. Shoes and hat on. Grabbed my flask of run nutrition and I was off. The course was a slight uphill for about 1.5 miles then some downs and ups before it turned around and you came back. It was much hillier then I expected. The goal was to find my carrot and run him down. I saw him close to the turnaround and he had a good 5 minutes on me. This was not going to be easy. I just paced on the way back. I was gaining on him at the half way point. I decided to pick it up on the second loop. It was getting hot so I took advantage of the aid stations and the snow balls…yep, a whole bunch of ice from the local skating rink. Nice touch! By the turnaround at mile 10 my carrot was in reach at about 2 minutes. If I don’t blow up I will have him caught with enough time for a victory stroll to the finish. On the way back I decided to gamble and run that one big hill (which I walked on the first loop). It’s all about saving those heartbeats. Well, never bet against the house because the house won. I overcooked it and was on the side of the road at mile 12 with the dry heaves. About a minute or so and I was back and just cruised it in. My carrot beat me by about a minute and a half so it was close but I was pleased because I raced a good race and am accountable for the result! 5:20:21 was a good time on a tough course and a slightly longer run.

In Summary:

While this race was important to me, my overall well being is even more important. There has been to many times where I have been wrapped around the axel regarding a race and most likely missed out on some precious moments. My family is my top priority and this trip was about vacation and spending time with them. Sure, I could have eaten better, slept a little more and not indulged in some things but for what…a couple of minutes…maybe. I have learned that life is short (and getting shorter with each passing day) and you need to seize the opportunities that make you rich in life. The definition of rich is personal to you. My definition of rich is having a bank account full of precious moments with friends and family that can't be replaced or recreated. Stressing over the little things does nothing for you (easier said than done) and ends up wasting time and energy. Not staying up late and having ice cream and fried dough (Thanks Judy!) with your family will probably get you a better time on race day but you will never get the memories back from the time you spent with them had you decided to go to bed early.

I would not have done anything different this week and feel blessed because of all the riches I have in my life. So the next time you are faced with making a trade off decision for a race, ask yourself if it will really matter at the end of the day. Live the day in the moment and deal with what you have in front of you at that time. Don’t dwell on the past and don’t stress about what you have not experienced yet. When forced with a decision, follow your gut. It is always right. But above all else, be human and enjoy life…after all, that is what you were put on this earth to do!

Peace…

Simplicity + Consistency = Results! A Boulder Peak Triathlon Reflection

2008-07-20T15:25:00.001-06:00

2008 was a year I set a couple of specific training and racing goals for myself. The first was to keep things simple and the second was to be consistent. Keeping things simple has allowed me to sustain a training schedule that would fit into my ever increasingly busy life. This sustainability has led to some pretty consistent behaviors that has allowed me to perform at a level that I have failed to do in the last several years. At this point in the season, this has proved to be a good approach. As I write this on a plane en route to the Falmouth Road Race in Massachusetts and then onto the Timberman 70.3 in New Hampshire, I find that I am less stressed about training and racing yet I am more fit then I have ever been. I am most certainly stronger and faster in all 3 disciplines. I am getting a lot more sleep but most importantly I am delivering results that that I have not seen in my past 10 years of racing. On top of all that, I am training less and have more balance in my life. I have even found time to play golf on a pretty regular basis which has benefited me mentally being able to disengage from the sport since my full-time job and coaching business is 100% focused on the sport.

Ok, so big deal right? So you are having a good season…blah, blah, blah. Well, why I think you should care is because I firmly believe that this approach can work for you and anyone else for that matter. See I used to be “that guy”…you know the one that gets so worked up about training and racing that it would almost debilitate me to the point that I could not even focus on anything else. And when time became tight, I would spend my time and energy focusing on being pissed off because I could not get the full training session in to the point that I would not even go out and even attempt to do the session. Why bother? If you can’t complete the session you should not even try. Wrong. Skipping workouts is not being consistent. I have found that when workouts are very complicated that this behavior is sometimes exaggerated because some athletes don’t know how to modify it to make it effective in the time you have available. Keeping the workout simple with a specific focus and desired outcome will make it far easier for you to ensure you head out the door and hit the desired outcome for the session regardless of the amount of time you spend doing it. Basically, maximize the time you have and make do with what you have to work with. Try not to get caught up in the hype and just do your best at every given opportunity.

With all that said, I thought I would take a few minutes and share my Boulder Peak Triathlon experience. I know I am a little late to the party but better late then never. Boulder Peak 2008 was a good day for me. I had a fast (and easy) swim, a surprisingly easy (and fast) bike (even with a small mechanical) and a steady (and solid) run in the heat. All in all, it was a consistent day. I had a simple strategy which was to use it as a training day. I had not fully recovered yet from Buffalo Springs 70.3 and started running more because my Achilles injury was on the mend. In addition, I always seem to do my best when I set myself up to be in a very relaxed state of mind. Now while I did not have specific time targets for the day I did set some goals to hit despite it being a training day…

Goals for the day:

Overall: End the day feeling like I could not have gone any faster.

Swim: Find some feet, conserve energy for the heat.

Bike: A safe descent down Old Stage and test drive the new ride.

Run: Start easy and negative split.

In summary, all the goals were hit. The strategy proved positive as I walked away with a personal best on this course. All my training this year seems to be insufficient as I often ask myself if I am doing enough since I don’t have that tired stressful feeling all the time. But what it is significant is my training is very simple and despite time constraint challenges and the like, I have been very consistent making use of my available time. These 2 variables have allowed me to stay on track and continue to progress. By the way, had a fellow coach (whose experience and judgement is trusted 110%) not told me that it was ok to keep it simple and just rinse and repeat, I might not have been in this position.

In closing, a simple results driven formula:

Simple = Sustainable. Sustainable = Consistency. Consistency = Results.

Keep your training sessions simple. Be consistent with your training doing what you can with what you have in that moment. Don’t over think it, just get out and do it. On race day, do what you have done in training and the results will be there. It really is that simple.

Goals vs. Targets. A BSLT 70.3 Reflection

2008-07-06T15:31:00.001-06:00

During this past week which happened to be a down week, I spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on last weekend’s Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon 70.3 around what went well and what I could have done differently. In the end, I don’t think I would have changed anything in light of my strategy going in, my goals for the race and the time targets I felt I could achieve. While a 5:21:48 is by no means my fastest at this distance, it was a respectable time (for me anyway) on what was a pretty challenging course on what turned out to be a very challenging day weather wise. Going into the race, I had low expectations of even being able to run. Due to an improper bike fit (seat to high) and some biomechanical issues (left leg shorter then right), I developed some tendonitis in the Achilles tendon that brought my running to an abrupt halt. Being a coach I probably should not have been in this position in the first place, but we all make mistakes from time to time. The fortunate side of it was I recognized this early enough and was able to correct the issues and was able to continue to ride but decided to play it safe on the running. BSLT 70.3 just became a “C” race for me. I did have a time target of sub 5 hours for this race originally and with about 5 weeks out this was very achievable. The key factors would be how well I could fuel on the bike and how hot the run would actually get. My #1 goal for this race was to pace and fuel throughout the swim and bike so that I could run well and finish strong. With about a week and a half to go I was able to start getting in some shorter (15-25 min runs) and managed to get in a 45 min (run/walk) about 6 days out all with no pain. Those sessions gave me the confidence that at the minimum I could at least run/walk the half-marathon portion of the race. When we arrived in Lubbock, TX on Friday and the mercury was nearing 100 degrees. To say it was hot was an understatement. While we have had some warm weather here in Colorado, it has been nothing like this. It felt like a furnace. We spent some time walking around and acclimating to the temps mentally preparing for the worst on Sunday. We awoke on Saturday morning to cloud cover and temps only in the 80’s and when we awoke on Sunday, it was cloudy and in the 60’s. We went from one end of the spectrum to the other. Now in the past, I spent a considerable amount of time worrying about the weather when in reality, it is out of my control. I learned to let this go…and coincidentally my last 2 races have been in the rain since I started doing this. Maybe my worrying had some control over Mother Nature but it came at a very high price. What I did know (but did not find out until 10 minutes prior to the race start) was that the forecast was calling for 80% rain and 100% wind. I added a new goal for the day which was to just roll with it and be sure to stay upright and don’t crash.After a 20 minute delay starting the race, we started the swim. Pretty uneventful overall. Found some open water and grabbed onto the feet of some unsuspecting soul that fortunately for me swam a straight line and I just hung on and saved all of my energy.

Out of T1 and on the bike but still no rain but sure enough at about mile 20 or so, the heavens opened and the rain and wind came and stayed with us for the duration of the ride. There were people flatting and crashing all over the place due to the conditions. I am not sure who was “racing” this course as I was just trying to keep things vertical and not get hit. The fueling strategy that I had worked out in the weeks leading up was working well. I am now on a 100% liquid diet trying to consume 300 kcal per hour on the bike and about 100 kcal per hour on the run. Some folks can tolerate more…I can’t and it gets significantly less as the day wears on so I have to be sure and have a lot of fuel in the tank at the start of the day and keep it topped off for the run. It goes back to not worrying about a lot of things and staying relaxed. Worrying burns calories. Period. At the conclusion of the bike I had no clue where I was time wise but the ride felt fast and I felt well rested with a lot of snap in the legs. The goal on the run was to hold back till the 6.5 mile turnaround and then let it rip on the way back trying to negative split the time. In hindsight, I held back a little too much since my average splits were 8:35/7:46 respectively for the out and back but I am not going to complain considering the lack of running I had on the legs. It was fun to run from behind and pick off a few folks in my age group towards the end. The day was a success despite missing the targets I had originally set. But targets are merely that, targets and sometimes we hit them and sometimes we are off the mark a bit. The real meat is in the goals you set for the day. If your targets are grounded in reality and aligned with your goals chances are you did not miss them by much if at all. So in short, know your body and what it is capable of in training. Define targets that are within your capability. Define a racing strategy with specific goals for each segment and execute the plan within the constraints of the conditions. You may hit your goals but miss your targets and you may hit your goals and exceed your targets. Either way, hit your goals and relish in the success of that and continue to learn about your body and most importantly learn from each race.

My Goals:

For the day: Relax, don’t worry, roll with the challenges.

Swim: Pace myself to conserve energy.

Bike: Go at a pace that I can fuel early and often.

Run: Negative split it.

Targets vs. Actual: 5:00:00 (5:21:48)

Swim – 31:00 (30:05)

Bike – 2:45:00 (2:58:42)

Run – 1:40:00 (1:47:41)

Transitions – 4:00 (~6:00)

Effectiveness and Balance

2008-06-11T16:04:00.000-06:00

Well it has been a while since I have posted and after recently finishing Stephen R. Covey’s book on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, I thought it would be appropriate to write about some of my reflections after reading the book and coming off a very relaxing weekend with my wife as we celebrated our 10 year anniversary. That's us above. I will preface this by saying that the views and beliefs in here are solely that of me based on my learning’s from the book. No one paid me to say any of this.As a triathlete, we are often perceived (and note that I said perceived but not necessarily ARE) to be some of the most highly effective people around. But in my travels and discussions with other athletes, along with my own personal experiences, it is amazing to me how many of us are just the contrary. See most don’t have a structured program (let alone a high level plan) around their training and racing and in most cases don’t have a clue about what we are spending our time on. We have no clue as to what the most important things we need to focus on (or if we do we are ignoring them) to improve to have a successful season. The demographics are showing that 30-55 year olds are making up the largest population of triathletes. This means that one can only assume that most will likely own a home, have a spouse and most likely children. On top of that we have full-time jobs and all the time consuming commitments that go along with the above. Add on the fact that in order to be successful at triathlon we need to be able to swim, bike, run, strength train and most importunately REST on a consistent basis. As one may conclude, most if not all available time in a given day has now been consumed. Bottomline, we are BUSY!!!! If only there were 25 or 26 hours in a day I know my life would be a lot easier to manage. So the question becomes how to make use of what little time there is in the day and make it the most effective while staying balanced across all the roles we play in life?I am of the belief that we are all natural born procrastinators. Meaning, we will put off spending time on the things that often times push us outside of our comfort zone. In a society today where every minute counts we should only be spending time on the things that will help us improve. Unfortunately, the majority of those things cause us discomfort as they are outside of what we are normally used to or comfortable doing. I have found that these types of activities will always be put on the back burner if they are not written down and staring at us constantly reminding us of our bigger plan. Now I won’t say that this is everyone but for the vast majority of us from time to time (including yours truly), this is the case. Gentle reminders of what is important are always important to insure we stay on track and balanced around our life goals. With all that said, I thought I would take the first 3 of the 7 habits and give my point of view on how they can be utilized for time sensitive folks to effectively plan their triathlon training and season goals (not to mention overall life goals) so that they can be the most effective at what they do. But I should discuss one more issue before I get into that. It is around change and growth. In order to grow we need to change our behaviors. If there is something in our lives that we don’t like, we change it and from there we have grown. But the need for change has to be acknowledged for it all to work. No change = no growth. Pretty simple.Ok…on to the habits.

1. Be Proactive – This is the first habit and is based on the mindset that change starts from within. In order to be highly effective you must make the decision to improve through the things you can influence versus reacting to external forces outside of your control. I always hear athletes after a race coming up with a whole bunch of excuses why they did not hit their goal time. And while some external factors are valid reasons (ie: wind, weather, traffic, etc…), what it really boils down to is the athlete was not proactive in their training to improve the things limiting them in the first place. They did not reflect on the past and put a plan in place for the future. They just went on and did the same thing they were used to doing (in some cases more because that = better) and hoped for a different result which by the way is the classic definition of insanity. My recommendation is this, sit down right now and identify your limiters. You all have a pretty good idea of what they are. Write them down. You are 50% there. Put them some place where you can see them. Now, incorporate them into your training plan. Every thing you do should be geared towards improving them. When you do, you have upped the bar. That is being proactive. You have identified that change needs to happen and by writing it down you now have something to work on. This is the first step to set you up for success.

2. Begin with the End in Mind – The second habit is based on a principle based personal mission statement extended into long term goals based on your personal principles. We all deep down know the person we want to be. Take a moment and look ahead 5, 10, or even 20 years. Put yourself in that place and now reflect on what it actually looked like in the years prior. That is your legacy. That is how you will be remembered if by no one else but YOU. Put a plan in place now for the future so that when you look back on it you acted on it in a manner that you would want yourself to been seen as. This can bode the same for your training and racing goals. If your ultimate goal is to go to Hawaii, well by all means start with that in mind. Now you can start to BE PROACTIVE towards that end goal. I encourage you to write down your end goals and then back into it with a personal mission statement that is based on personal principles that will serve as your charter to get you there. Guess what? You now have a plan.

3. Put First Things First – This third habit is based on the mindset of spending time on the things that fit your personal mission statement while observing the time spent building production and capacity to ensure it is balanced. Basically, this is where you identify the key roles you play in life and start to make time for each of them. You should again write these down and prioritize them in the grand scheme of life. Now, undoubtedly the role of triathlete is on there. So take that and figure out how much time you have to spend on that role as it correlates to your longer term goals. Now write down your personal mission statement and long term goals and underneath them write your limiters that you have identified by being PROACTIVE. Those limiters are the things that you put first when you have your triathlete hat on. You will have a list of things that go along with each role you play in life. Always put the most important ones first. If you have to choose one over the other, choose the one that will get you to your goals. For example, let’s say that my limiter this year is running off the bike. I concluded that I needed to run more off the bike but also that I needed to ride more so that I was not so spent coming off the bike. Now let’s say that the day got away from me and now I only have 1 hour to play the role of triathlete but the plan today called for a 30 min swim and a 90 minute ride. Guess which one I am going to choose? That’s right, I choose the ride. One might think I would choose the swim because I only have an hour but not so…I shorten the ride to 60 minutes because it is aligned to my goals. I have a few simple guidelines when training and one of them is the ‘something is better then nothing’ rule. By making whatever minutes you have count and putting your efforts towards the most productive activities, you are putting first things first, being proactive and keeping with the end game in mind.

I am now off to my son’s swim practice. It looks like I am going to have to skip that run tonight that I had originally planned because life caught up with me today. But I did get that ride in this morning which was the more important of the 2 workouts (hence why I did it first). I am a firm believer that there must be balance across all the roles we play in life for there to be overall effectiveness. I guess I am on my way to becoming a more highly effective person and triathlete. There will be more to come on the other 4 habits in a future post.

Until then, happy training

Peaks, valley's and those little moments.

2008-03-14T16:10:00.000-06:00

This post is my thoughts on the progression through life and how I feel that it relates to Ironman. I was recently invited by a good friend of mine to a Colorado Avalanche hockey game. There was a special promotion going on where tickets where cheap and you could stay after the game and play a hockey game on the Pepsi Center ice with referee’s, announcers and the like. You may be saying, so what? Big deal. Well if you were born and raised in Canada and grew up with hockey as your passion (like those of us that view triathlon the same way) you would think it was a pretty big deal. To ice the cake, several of the team members were allowed on the bench during the pre-game warm up and my friend was lucky enough to be one of them. See, this guy loves hockey! And as we stood at club level across the ice from him and watched him snap pictures of his favorite players as the skated around the ice you knew this was a special moment in his life…like a kid going to Disney for the first time. Pretty cool…

During the game I had the good fortune to sit next to my former boss that was ultimately responsible for bringing me to Colorado over 10 years ago. We were exchanging stories about what has been going on in our lives in the last few years since we were last together. He said a couple of things to me that I kept playing back over and over today in my head and had to put them down on paper.

The first thing he said was that life is too short to not be doing something that you were meant to be doing. Most don’t recognize it because that is the way it always has been and some recognize it but choose not to pursue it out of fear of failure. Those that do recognize it and do something about it are truly living life. The second thing he said to me as we where exchanging responses to the usual questions “So how are things? How is the family? Etc, etc, etc…” He said at the end of the day when you look at your journey line through life while it has its peaks and valleys, it will hopefully show an upward trend. We control what we do and how we feel which ultimately controls how high the peaks are and how low the valleys go. Hold that thought.

At the end of the 3rd period we where escorted through a door and out onto the seats of the lower level where we were allowed to sit to watch our friends play hockey. As we waited for them to dress we were all laughing and joking and then I saw my buddy come up to the doors to the ice. Under the bright lights of the Pepsi Center he stood staring out at the ice for a moment. It almost looked as if he was playing professional hockey waiting for his introduction onto the ice. Deep down I know that he has always wanted to play professional hockey and jokes about it constantly but for that one moment in time, it appeared to me that he felt that the dream was coming true. Really cool…

I decided to give him a call today and thank him for allowing me to share in the night and apologize for having to leave early because of the baby sitter back at home. He in turn said that he should be thanking me for sticking around to watch. It was such a special time for him to be able to do that because his friends and family were there watching on. He then said to me that “life is made up of small little moments like this that you live for and this will not be one that I will ever forget.” He gets it.

So you might be asking why I am writing about this. Well I think it bodes well for Ironman. At the end of the day life is a journey and your legacy is the wake you leave behind. You control which direction you go in and the speed at which you do it in. There will always be peaks and valleys along the way. The valleys will no doubt contain pain, grief and suffering and the peaks will be met with moments of joy, elation and sheer satisfaction. Your mindset determines how many of each you have. So as you go through the journey of Ironman remember that while it hurts to climb out of those valleys and up those peaks, when you get to the top of them they are the moments that define who you are. Hopefully it is those moments that you will never forget. As I tie this back to my earlier post on no expectations and little surprises, those moments when you have the perfect day are why we do this but you have to climb out of a lot of valleys in order to experience them.

So in closing, shoot for your goals and never stop climbing…embrace all of the peaks and their corresponding valleys and be sure to celebrate those little moments along the way.

No Expectations, Pleasant Surprises!

2008-03-10T16:16:00.001-06:00

I was fortunate enough to be able to run for the second time in the Canyonland's 1/2 Marathon in Moab, UT this past weekend and for me it was truly one of those days that you walk away from feeling like WOW, that is not what I had expected to have happen. For starters, this race is done through a lottery process only and sometimes you get in and sometimes you don't. Luckily for me, I was able to get in 2 years in a row but really did not expect to. The location is so unique and the scenery is so breathtaking that this is really a must do for any running enthusiast so for me to be able to run it twice I feel fortunate.

The family and I decided to leave for Moab on Friday morning and stop for a dip in the mineral hot springs in Glenwood Springs, CO. The kids had an absolute blast. I always heard that natural mineral hot springs had somewhat of a therapeutic effect for those with nagging ailments like a cold or injury...well, I had both so why not? After a couple of hours in the pool we hopped back in the car and made it into Moab in time to pick up our packet's and get to McStiff's for an early dinner. Pizza and a couple of Rock Amber's sounded good considering this was going to be a training day due to my foot dilemma (no run longer then 45 minutes in the last 3 weeks) and an oncoming head cold. To bed early and up at 5:30 am. My cold was gone and my foot felt surprisingly good. I opted for the Newton's, packed my bag, a little breakfast, a couple of cups (ok 4) of coffee and on the bus by 7:45 am for the trip up the canyon. 90 minutes sitting around in the cold (always fun) till the gun blasts at 10:00 am. The goal: keep your form, watch your foot, focus on HR and forget about time. The first mile was very fast for me (6:45 ish) and by mile 3 I was very settled into my pacing strategy. My HR was in check, foot was feeling REALLY good and my pace felt fluid. Mile 10 comes quick and I am not slowing, my form is still good, the foot is hanging tough. Mile 11 we come out of the canyon, take a left and a quick right at the Denny's and there is mile 12...1 mile to go. I decided to hit my lap button so I could not see my time. The race has been a success up to this point, well beyond what I thought I would be capable of doing therefore no need to push the foot, so I pull up slightly and enjoy the stretch into the finish looking for my family. I see my boys pop out from the crowd with those huge smiles filled with absolute excitement that their dad is running towards them. They see you as a champion and could care less about your time. They get high fives and I cross the line just shy of 1:35 for a new PR by over 5 minutes. I can't believe that just happened...what a surprise!

When reflecting on the day, I kept coming back to a conversation I had with Bobby McGee http://www.bobbymcgee.com/ about my running challenges in Ironman and he was offering some suggestions, one being to take the pressure and expectation out of the race and just run the race like a training day. I had zero expectations for this race because of what ailed me in the weeks leading up. I could have cared less what my overall time was going to be. Just being able to run it was enough. But still we all must have goals to push us and validate us. And I am by no means advocating that we don't have them. For any one that knows me, they would think I am nuts if I did but at the end of the day goals are nothing more then estimates or targets that we focus our training objectives around. They will either be hit or missed depending on the variables of the day (and there will always be variables). Either way, they are nothing more then a number that only you are emotionally tied to. The expectations placed on you around your goals are your own and no one elses...so have them but keep it all in perspective and by all means have some fun. After all that is why we do this. For me, this day while it had it's painful moments, it was very much a lot of fun.

So in closing, my advice to my athletes moving forward will be to think of their races as training days, be tactical but be flexible, focus on the process, be 110% in the moment but above all else, expect nothing but the unexpected and as an outcome you may be pleasantly surprised. More importantly though, every race is a learning opportunity and if you happen to have an 'AH HA' moment, then that race was a success regardless of the outcome. For me, this race is one that I will store in the memory banks to be used in future races when the going is tough and I need a little perspective. Days like this give me the confidence to move mountains but most importantly, they are validation for why I love this sport so much...its full of pleasant surprises.