Alleckson, Ciaverella, Watkins, Lowe, and Thompson on the QK

Good Luck to my athletes Aleck Alleckson (M35), Garren Watkins (M35) and David Lowe (M65) as they race IM Hawaii Saturday.

This place doesn’t seem to get old. I have 9 qualifications in as many years I’ve been a triathlete, 2004 being my first time racing here. This race comes with some baggage as well, as I have only started 6 prior races here and have finished 5.
I  always enjoy the Island, and I entirely love the concept of a true world championship for Amateur triathletes. What I mean by “true” is simply based on the history of this place, and the evolution of the race. This event had 28 qualifying Ironman races in 2012, and will have 29 in 2013. Of these races, with the exception of 3, there are 50 total qualifying slots for the average 2500 amateurs throughout the race series.  The M45 group had an average of 4 qualifiers per race this year, and thus around 110 Ironman qualifiers and a few from the 70.3 series races out there as well as the 3 IM events with double the slots for a total of around 130. Throw in those from the lottery and a total of 170-190 M45 athletes is typical. Of these, there will essentially be 28 Ironman M45 division champions here, with the exception of a few that are injured, or cannot race for whatever reason. This is the environment I enjoy. Head to head with the fastest assembled men in each division, on one day. Those that have never been hear or raced here, and say to their friends, “good luck, we know you can podium”, either have no idea how competitive this race is, or just don’t understand what Kona is. The year my wife Ann went entirely undefeated, breaking course records in her Ironman, 70.3 as well as ITU, and being crowned world champion in ITU as the top female amateur….she was 6th, missing the podium by just a few minutes.
So, it is important to remain grounded. Important to know where you stand. If you were 3rd in the division, or received a roll down and you had a good qualifying race? There is a 99% chance or greater that you will not podium (nothing is 100%). For myself? A goal of top 25 in the M45 would place me amongst the group of division champions who have also qualified here. I have placed in the top 50 a few times, even on those years I came in as a division champion, which placed me in the second tier. So, top 25 is a realistic goal for someone in the middle of the age group at age 47. I realize anything can happen, and my training this season has gone very well, setting me up to capitalize on any others who don’t have a stellar race, and thus I am prepared to reach for more and not to “settle” if I am having a good race.

Pulled out 20 years of written logs last week. 11 years of competitive running and the past 9 years of triathlon

I pulled out my logs last week. Yes, 20 years of training and racing, 2 years per log.
Writing down every workout, how I feel, logging summaries of blocks going into races, tapering, and recovery.
This has allowed me to make simple analyses of past performances and repeat the things that lead to good performance, and eliminate those workouts or techniques that are not as effective. Since I entered triathlon in 2004, and raced Hawaii that year, I have documented each season. I have not fully repeated every season, but have subtle tweaks, thus enabling me to capitialize on the effective strategies and techniques. Even once I found the best coach I could hope for, who sent me workouts each week for 5 years, I wrote down everything we did together, and offering him feedback based on direct evidence. Maintaining a good old fashioned written log allows me to quickly reference races, big weeks, and summary pages. This is how you create foresight.

Summary of workout block Time Trials going into IMWA, my PR of 9:11 in 2007. I did this the week prior to race day. This allows me to quickly reference data for future training.

This is how you learn from mistakes and repeat the positive workouts that lead to positive outcomes. This is how you improve. In my case racing at age 47, this is how you either maintain year to year, or keep the losses to a minimum. So, if you do not do this as an athlete, don’t count on your coach to do it for you. This is the athlete’s responsibility. In coaching Aleck for his 3:16 marathon at Kona in 2011, I drew from effective running workouts I utilized in 2004 and 2005, over 6 years ago, after studying my logs. This is effective. If you don’t utilize this strategy, then you are missing a component that can make you significantly better.

The Seven Deadly Sins
Gula
Luxuria
Superbia
Wrath
Acedia
Avaritia
Invidia

The controlled emotional state of resentfulness for events that that may or may not be under our control. The state of anger will lead to a negative effect on a person’s  thoughts, behavior, feelings, view of the world,  and will diminish your physical well being. Negativity will leas to an emotional distraction, and will undermine your goal as an athlete. Of those previously discussed, anger is the characteristic that can be completely under your control and thus, the consequences of one’s choice to alter the outcome of an event.

Athletes I have trained become angry when they don’t have results they wanted. Yet, their goals are far too lofty. An athlete doesn’t keep a log, is unorganized, and never has an inclination to analyze their season. Yet they are angry season after season when the improvements aren’t there.  Angry because they expect upon hiring a coach they will automatically improve

We make choices. We choose to react to events or results. Reaction with anger wastes time and energy, and leads to no positive outcome in endurance sport.

The Fallout
I have been quietly training to high fitness all summer, since CdA. My ankle injury from IM Texas in 2011 has been pain free for 6 weeks and my running has gained nearly 100% strength. My cycling is as strong as ever. Lastly, my swim, upon attending numerous masters sessions with Dennis Baker this summer, is the strongest it’s been for 3-4 years. So, going into Kona this year, well prepared and ready to race from start to finish. Taper has gone perfect and my fitness has grown to its highest level of the year, a week before race day.
So, cycling down Alii 5 days prior to race day, along the sea wall, my front wheel struck the edge of a reflector. This burst my tire and flipped my wheel 90 degrees, launching me off the front and right of my bike. I struck the sea wall with my left chest and neck with my head over the wall looking straight down at the rocks about 8 feet below. Instead of continuing to flip onto the rocks, somehow my legs settled downward, drawing my weight backwards and I fell back off the wall onto the pavement. After the fallout and a couple hours in the ER, I have 2 distracted rib fractures and a fracture of the transverse process of my 2nd thoracic vertebrae. Some ugly road and wall rash on my hip, back, right leg, and left arm. The next morning it was clear I had whiplash injury with severe spasms in my neck and shoulders. The distracted rib fractures of stretched my intercostal nerve, resulting in sudden burning pain across my ribs that’s nearly unbearable for about 5 seconds, and occurs without warning over and over again.
I knew immediately upon crashing that I was out of the race. All those years here, and my first crash here.

I have appreciated all the comments by those close to me regarding my situation. The comments “oh my God Dave you must be devastated” or “man that has got to suck sooo much” do not bother me. I presume those (with good intentions) that have commented to me in this way do not realize I can qualify here every year and have raced here 6 times. So, to me, I realize the race will be here another day. This Saturday however, I cannot race.

When a friend of my told me he would be unbelievably pissed off, and why I was not angry with the whole situation I explained to him that it is a total waste of emotional energy to be angry. Events cannot be changed, I’ve raced here 6 previous times, and it’s not the “most important” thing in my life that I race Hawaii. I will simply race again…that’s it. It is difficult to understand for some I suppose, because they place ironman events on such a high level compared to other things in life. More importantly, have diminished foresight to realize racing is just what it is…racing. I’ve been racing endurance events for more than 25 years now. I understand that I will simply race again, and events that occur that alter immediate plans cannot be reversed. Dirk Bockel, 3rd last year at Kona in 2011, broke his hand on Monday of this week. Luke McKenzie coming in best shape of his life 2 years ago injured his back a couple of weeks before Kona. There are numerous examples of high level pro’s, who are racing for their income for the year, sponsors, and their livelihood, who incur injuries right before their biggest race of the year. Yet, Dirk and Luke both show up throughout the race week at Kona at all their media events, their autograph and appearances, etc. This is the mind of an athlete. They don’t dwell on events that cannot be changed, and they don’t allow anger to alter their outlook.

Anger is the first and acceptable reaction to an unwanted or unexpected poor outcome to an event.
Take a moment to realize the immediate past cannot be changed. Then begin looking to the future, and how the behavior you embrace may alter the events to come.  Utilize negative events to draw from and instead re-gain focus on your goals, even if that means placing your current goal on hold.

When someone you know has a negative event happen to them that prevents them from competing in a race they’ve trained 6 months for? Instead of saying, “wow that sucks for you” or “you must be devastated” or “man that’s terrible for you”….
instead try…
“Dont’ worry you’ll race again” or “You’ve been down before, you’ll be back soon”, or “You’ll get ’em on the next one”. This takes your projection of negativity, and changes it to allow positivity to infuse into the situation.

Glass half full.

Big day at Ironman Coeur d’ Alene 2012 for the Portland racing team, Ironheads Multisport! Although not all represented in our photo on race week, we had 30+ teammates racing this year, and another 30+ spectators.

Ironheads Multisport Racing Team, 2012 IM CdA squad

Congratulations to my Summit Performance athletes at Ironman Coeur d’ Alene. The podium saw 4 of us, and 3 secured Kona qualifications. Thus far for 2012, Summit will have 4 at the start at Ironman Hawaii. With 3 races left for a few of my athletes, I could have up to 4 more. As was apparent on race day in Coeur d’ Alene, things have to come together nearly perfectly to secure one of the very few slots to Hawaii. Mistakes, errors in Judgement, and adversity occur, but the margin of error is much less with the 50 total allocated slots for Kona. I say “nearly perfect” because the perfect day is actually a fantasy we chase in sport. There are very few, if any perfect days in a sport that requires determination, focus, and the ability to develop contingency strategies throughout a very long day of competition.
David Lowe 12:36, M65 Champion
Kaytee Petross 10:37, F30 5/118
Aleck Alleckson 9:51, M35 5/272
Bill Thompson 10:01, M35 10/272
Michael Owen 10:04 (PR), M30 10/252
Bonnie Jensen 11:26, F35 10/122
Bob Rakoz 11:10, M45 11/201
Darin Shields 10:49, M45 20/201
George Camera 11:07 (PR) M30 51/252
David Christian 11:12 M35 56/272
DJ DeAustria 12:06 M45 69/201

Settling in on the bike

So you believe that staring straight in front of you during the entire race is more Aerodynamic? Well, you are wrong. I took this photo of Armstrong at the TdF on his 50k time trial, and on the right is a pic of Luke McKenzie. The most Aero position of the head is angled or looking down with the front surface area of the helmet contacting the air, rather than the face. Of course passing, cycling through areas with spectators present, and cornering you want to keep your eyes in front of you. However, on those long stretches and long ascents/descents, looking down, keeping an eye on my watts, only glancing up intermittently to keep site of the road directly in front of me is the best strategy. This is free time, and this technique should always be taken advantage of. No the fairing/tail does not have to be laying on your back to be aero. The more surface area of the leading edge of the helmet that contacts the air, the more aero you will be. This is presuming 75% of your chest isn’t upward smashing into the air. If your position is this? Just forget about aerodynamics. These details become especially significant when you have 22 miles of headwind in each of 2 loops. I have not only said this to my athletes that choose to ride with our group on many occasions, I have heard it in seminars in which many of my athletes have been sitting with me. If you forgot this strategy it’s probably because you don’t practice it on your relentless weekly time trials.
So, the race in summary?

The Good: Patience resulted in a 2nd place finish in M45 and my 9th Kona qualification and hopefully, October will see my 7th start at Ironman Hawaii.
The Bad: Headwinds out about 22 miles to the turn-around on both loops resulted in slower times on the bike. If you are a speed or time oriented athlete, you likely ran into some issues with this.
The Ugly: Dare I say? The swim again. No issues with wrist as that is 95% healed. Just swam off course a bit and didn’t negotiate the field well.

So this was in my fortune found in my dessert cookie the evening before the race.
I finished up my pile of white rice, chicken breast and egg whites. I had the confidence to know I would be in contention off the bike, and my swim would be fair to average. However, the unknown would be my ongoing right navicular (ankle) fracture, now a chronic stress fracture,  and a full thickness tear of my Peroneus Brevis tendon, as remnants from Ironman Texas in May of 2011. This prevented me from utilizing my full running build up throughout the season, with a total of 5 runs over 16 miles in the 6 months going into CdA. My runs were not only cut short, but prior to Texas I was trotting at 7:20-30 pace for my ten 18 milers going in, and for Cda I was topping out at 7:50-8:10 pace for the few long runs I was able to complete. Of those, the end of the runs would be the routine…ankle pain, then fluid building up, then inability to put pressure on the midfoot, and finishing up the final 10 minutes running on the balls of my feet to relieve the pressure on the ankle and many times running 10 pace or walking.

So, I showed this fortune to Ann, then slid it into my pocket. I realized that I would not need luck to finish this race, but would need to utilize patience and strategy. I usually think I have had very good luck in racing, but when I actually think back to the 8 podium full ironman finishes covering 3 age divisions in the last 7 years, and 3 top 26 overall male finishes,  then maybe luck doesn’t have much to do with it. A great single race once every 2, 3 or 4 years verses good races consistently every year? I think the athlete with ability will remain consistent.
So both pro and amateur athletes who do not care to pay attention to details, lack the ability to discern their mistakes and thus cannot correct them, and do not have the foresight to determine what is needed to race effectively over 8-10 hours will get lucky here and there. However, they will lack the consistency, which I personally believe characterizes the ability of an athlete in his or her sport.

Bad luck in many but not all circumstances,  is what we bring on ourselves due to the refusal or inability to adapt, or deduct various scenario’s based on the real-time race situation. So with my injuries on race-day, I took it slow through transition, mounting and dismounting the bike carefully, and staring directly in front of me for most of the 26 miles on the run, avoiding every rock, crack, ledge, and potential surface that would result in a torque to my ankle, and thus leading to a DNF in this race. I was fortunate to not have any “bad luck” during the run despite a period of significant pain in the ankle from 2.5 to about 3 hours, but I increased my odds of not having an issue by paying careful attention to what is directly in front of me…not for 3, 5 or 12 miles, but for 26 miles. In addition, I opted to run on the dirt trail along the paved course every single chance I could get throughout the entire race, knowing that avoiding the pavement, even if that meant taking long turns on the outside, it would buy me 5, 10 or maybe 20 more minutes of running pain-free. Locking on 7:55-8 pace even though my heart rate was 112, 22 beats lower than my typical ironman marathon, allowed me to get as far as I could without pain. Allowing the 2 M45 to pass me without choosing to run with them or keep them even in sight would buy me time. I was able to lose the critical 3 additional pounds in the 2 weeks going into the race even though it was very difficult on some days of self-sacrifice. This allowed me to maintain strength while increasing my power:weight ratio on the bike, in hopes to gain a minute or two to buy me more time on the uncertain run.

So in the end, you make the decisions or lack of decisions that lead to various outcomes of your race, and you are the master of your own result. Luck is a minor contributor, but ability to execute in training and on race day far outweigh. Lastly, sure…had I got a flat I would not be going to Kona and that’s bad luck. But, that will not happen every race fortunately.

Finishing the first loop. I purged 11 ounces of my nutrition drink at mile 40 and discarded the bottle upon counting how many doses I would need to get to special needs. This lightens the bike up a bit on the hills, even if only for a few hills and if only 11 ounces, this can translate to a couple of seconds over the course of an hour.

The 7 Deadly Sins
Gula
Luxuria
Superbia
Tristitia
Acedia
Avaritia
Invidia

When projected inward, the motivator.
When projected outward, the destroyer.
With the positive connotation, Superbia, or Pride, refers to an inner-directed sense of attachment. This emotion requires the development of the strong sense of self-confidence, and can result in the athlete’s mastery of the ability to overcome external adversity.
When directed outward however, pride can result in an inflated sense of one’s own personal accomplishments, and an inflated over-confidence during both training and competition. This in turn leads to an unrealistic expectations, which leads to poor decisions that are directed by emotions rather than objective outcomes, and eventually leads to a sub-optimal race performance.
Aristotle alluded to a consensus that a person who thinks they are worthy of greater things, but is actually unworthy of them based on prior actions, is vain. However, those that accomplish greater things in the belief that their prior actions and suffering has led them to that point, carry pride.
This paradox can be difficult to manage.  The subtleties associated with an athlete’s mismanagement of the emotions associated with pride can undermine training, racing, and ultimately the goal. Fortunately, whether an athlete internalizes or externalizes the trait is not inherent, but rather a learned behavior. You choose to project confidence, and you choose to project vanity.
Swim:
When you are on your 20 x 100 set and someone in the lane beside you passes you, do you feel the need to go with them or beat them to the wall?
Bike:
When you are on a time trial or long hill with a group of others, do you have to show you can be the first one finished? Do you have to be up with the leaders even though you are clearly over your target efforts?
Run:
You are on your track workout and people are on the track as well. You push those final stretches in to be certain everyone see’s how fast you are running?
These simple examples are the externalization of pride, and characterize the vain athlete. This athlete cares only what others may think of them, and will sacrifice their performance on race day in order to look awesome in a workout. This athlete projects vanity, which is actually a mask to hide their own insecurities.
Do you believe it is easy for me to watch someone hitting the wall before me during an entire 4k swim? Stare at someone’s back on a long hill knowing full well I am well under the red? Trot in at 6:30 pace on a mile track interval when others are running past me at 6 pace? Projecting vanity is the easy way. Internalizing your pride is difficult many times, but is more healthy. Knowing you can do something, yet withholding, is far more difficult. You learn more about yourself as an athlete by staying one half step behind someone then you do in front of them.

I tend to project facts of someone asks me something regarding my training or racing plan. When asked how I projected myself on the bike before ironman CdA, I would simply answer, “I’ll have the strongest or one of the strongest M45 bike splits.”  I don’t interpret this as externalized pride/vanity, but simply stating the fact of my bike fitness for that race.
When asked how I projected myself on the run before ironman CdA, I would answer, “I don’t know if I can make it past 18 miles. Beyond 18, my ankle may not hold up and if I am in too much stress, I’ll drop out.” This is again stating the facts on my injury going into that race.

Fortunately I was able to manage the ankle injury through the marathon

Losing the race on the run:
I knew inside myself that I would likely get off the bike in first or very close to first. Then I knew I would hold close to 8/mile pace on the run in order to get as far as I could before the final Kona slot passed me. I did not know when or if this would happen. I remained quiet regarding my pre-race predictions. On the run, as the M45 first and second place positions passed me running only 15 sec per mile faster at the time, I had to swallow my pride and stick to my plan. Running with them or close behind them at 7:45 pace may have resulted in me walking at mile 20 and throwing my Kona slot away before I could even contend for it during the last 10k. At mile 18? I was in a bit of pain every time I struck my right foot, and is was much worse on the downhills. I struggled to mile 22 with confidence I could finish at my current 9/mile pace, but unclear where the 4th M45 was behind me. Upon being told by fellow teammate that the M45 2nd was only 2 minutes in front of me, I did the math. Realizing that is 30 sec per mile to make up presuming he is running 8:30 pace, I got on my toes and forgot about the pain as I lifted my pace to 7:15.  I told myself I was a runner and I would not allow myself to lose a position or a Kona slot by just a few seconds, especially with 4.2 miles to go.  I could manage 30 minutes of pain. I allowed my pride to internalize and drive me, and the pain subsided. I was able to over-take the 2nd place position at mile 25 and secure a definite Kona slot.  The consequences of  racing my own race, and not racing my competitors’ early on in the run resulted in a different outcome for me.
Had I allowed my vanity to control my race early on? The circumstances could have very well been different and I am confident I would have either walked or dropped late in the race.

To sum it up?
Internalizing pride can be used as a driving force in training and competition, which results in both physical and psychological advantages.

Externalizing pride is vanity. This athlete is too occupied looking over to others and measuring himself up.  He is too busy looking down at others slower than him. Thus, he can never see what is up in front of him, and will lose site of his goal.

In short, walk quietly….but carry a big stick.

The 7 Deadly Sins (2)

Gula
Luxuria
Superbia
Tristitia
Acedia
Avaritia
Invidia

Pleasure is legitimate when controlled. Similar to an athlete’s gratification during aerobic and muscular development, the process of maximum efficiency without damage.
Luxuria, or Lust,  is the self-destructive drive for pleasure out of proportion to its worth.
This is of course, one of the primary limiters I’ve seen in athletes in the past 17 years of running and triathlon coaching.

When trained correctly, an athlete can attain a high level of fitness. Without trust in a coach or without the insight to self-evaluate, this level of fitness can become a crutch.  The ‘more is better’ method of training is common, and is in fact is one of the primary limiters of many athletes. “If I ran 6 minute pace in the final weeks going into my key race in June, then why not build to 6 pace in January, then I’ll be able to go 5:15 pace by June.” The repeated injuries, poor race-day performance, chronic fatigue following “break through workouts” in February prior to a key race in August are all sequelae of an athlete’s self-destructive drive for over-achieving results. I have numerous examples of athletes who believe they and race sub 9:45 Ironman or girls who believe they can race under 10 hours, and yet their personal bests are 90 minutes slower than their goal. Poorly thought out goals, especially arbitrarily setting lofty goals that are inconsistent with the realistic achievements based on past performances can lead to greed in a program. This of course leads to under achievement on race day.

Speed
The lust for speed without consideration or realizing the gravity of the potential poor outcome, verses the small additional benefit.
I ran 6 x 800 last week of which my goal was 3 minutes. All were with a 400 jog recovery in 2 minutes. My splits? 3:00.65, 3:00.42, 3:00.78, 2:59.85, 3:00.25, 3:00.92. The rest intervals? All on 2 minutes with the exception of one at 1:59  (I saved these on my Garmin for those who would like to see my splits at CdA). Now, I very well could have run to a 2:55, 2:45 and even 2:40 the way my legs felt…fresh and lively and HR in low Z4. However, with my Ironman marathon goal pace (if I can finish the run due to ongoing ankle injury) on race day, of 8-8:10 pace, 2+ minutes per mile faster for 800’s is plenty fast to gain the benefit I need metabolically.
So why not run faster if my legs feel great? I could have, but the risk of potential injury lies in pushing beyond the 95% range of effort, and I felt I was around 90% as it was. The take home points in this is the concept of “knowing” I can run faster, but choosing not to do so at the risk of potential injury. This also ties in with the Gluttony blog last week, wanting more and more without consideration of the potential negative consequences. This holds true in life, and is a concept evident in not only one’s professional career, but in their personal and athletic traits as well.
The long run scenario of an athlete pushing faster and faster throughout the run, throwing caution to the wind, because they feel like they will gain additional benefit by stressing their legs. Hopes to gain strength by tearing down. I ran a whopping 8:20 average per mile on my 17.5 mile long run 2 weeks ago, and before that, 8:30 pace for 14 miles on two occasions. Was it difficult for me to “trot” at this slow pace? No it wasn’t.  I am aware of the benefits I am gaining by this. Of course, running 7:30 pace for 17 or 18 miles was entirely possible for me, but the risk of worsening my ongoing right ankle injury was in my mind. You see, by running slow, I was able to actually complete the run and an hour later, felt like I could easily run again if needed.  Did I not gain any benefit at this slow pace long run? Do I even have to explain this? My own lust for speed is always there. I showed my neighbor boy Ciaran my running log from 1994 when I trained with Maher and I think he was a bit surprised to see my splits on the track for my typical 6 x 1 mile workout on Tuesdays (4:38-4:41 range, and all with a 2 minute jog 400 recovery continuous run), as well as my 20×400 workout on Thursdays (59-62 seconds per 400, and all with a 1 minute jog 200 recovery continuous run). I remember how fast I was when I was 29 years old. For me, I actually have run a sub 31 minute 10k and a 15 minute 5k, and I know what it’s like to run fast. Still, I have to withhold my lust to go anywhere near those types of paces or I will not ever reach my age adjusted potential in racing.
Simply put, I would choose to utilize my “speed” on race day.

Swimming is no different. This is why I establish swimming pace zones for my athletes. Now, it’s not necessarily for the purpose of an athlete holding “exactly” 2 seconds faster than T0/100 pace, or T+5 pace for instance. It’s purely an attempt to teach the athlete that there are actually various paces in the water, and swimming long intervals, short intervals, medium length tempos, and long slower swims all have a purpose. Just like running, all function to increase various metabolic states that improve performance over time. Constantly pushing in the anaerobic state utilizes the entirely wrong system that is more conducive to long open water racing. I said constantly…not never. Hard intervals are necessary when done with some concept of timing and how they influence the over-all plan. Jumping in masters and just hammering every workout? Sure…then see how you do 5 months later on race day. This is evident in comments I hear and read on Facebook each and every winter regarding on how strong someone is in the water and how fast they are getting. On race week or the week after the race? I don’t see any comments on how fast the race went….just another excuse on wind, waves, temperature, blah blah blah.

Power
This is probably one of the most blatantly ignored concepts I see in both amateur and pro athlete’s I’ve known over the years. The lust for wattage on the bike, whether climbing, time trialing, or just riding….this is the silent killer that can undermine an athletes race performance each and every time.  Running is a bit more obvious in that the potential damage being done becomes readily apparent many times when the lust for speed becomes too great. However, on the bike, without the impact dynamics associated, the over-consumption of the utilization of power beyond what is necessary is more insidious.
I have heard (too many times to count) over the years, after seeing an athletes power file and their watts being 1 sometimes 2 entire zones too high for a time trial or longer ride…”but coach, it felt easy”.
The “felt easy” comeback after being caught under-mining the coaching program is by far the most common excuse and cop-out that I have heard over the years.  This is the athlete giving in to their lust for more power, without a clear understanding or foresight on the potential implications down the road as race day approaches.  You ride with other athletes that have Ironman bike splits 30-45 minutes faster, so you then time trial with them, ride hills with them, and ride long with them. Yet, as race day approaches you become more burnt out, and have another mediocre race.

The foresight? Well, consider this. Those athletes you are riding with are riding their intervals in middle Z4, uphill in Z4, and averaging their rides in Z2. Yet you are in Z5 on your intervals, Z5 or Z6 on the hills, and averaging mid to high Z3 for your ride. Thus, you over-train while those you are attempting to ride with who are 30 minutes faster on race day are in their proper zones. Thus, on race day they go on to race another consistent race or improve, while you have a mediocre or slower bike split that is fraught with excuses.
“But coach, the only way I can improve is to ride with people faster than me…”and the cycle continues. The lack of understanding, the lack of trust, then the lack of results.

Speed and Power, the deadly duo
Ahhh, the lust to be like those that are simply faster than ourselves. Now this is not a poor goal. But, it is commonly an unrealistic goal. The lust for speed and power will lead to unrealistic goals for where you are in your development. This does not mean that someday, if your core genetic physiology allows, and you have the psychological fortitude, you could be as fast as those 90-120 minutes in front of you in an Ironman. However, as I’ve stated numerous times to my athletes, goals must be achievable, and incremental.  The lust to achieve far beyond your current ability will leave you frustrated, because you will fail each and every time.
If my coach Sabatschus, who has biked a 4:15 bike split in Ironman were to go riding with me and we did a 45 minute TT at “Z4 power”, would I bike side by side with him? God forbid…pass him? Knowing my coach as a 365 watt threshold and mine is 275?  Try to imagine my long runs with Coach Maher, who ran a 2:10 marathon and 29 min 10k, when he would trot at 5:30 pace with Steve Jones (the marathon world record holder at the time 2:07, and Maher’s coach). Now picture myself, an aspiring marathon running with a 2:30 average marathon, 20 minutes slower than my coach…and I catch them and run with them on their long run at 10 minutes faster than my PR marathon pace. Do these examples sound hysterical? Well, I see these examples in real-time. Right now. This season….in triathlon.

“I follow your plan 90% coach”, yet that other 10% is an upward trend to push too hard in both cycling and running, well then you are responsible for your own gamble.  I have clearly stated to Aleck Alleckson (9:26 Kona at age 38), that yes I do change workouts from my coach, who has more knowledge in his finger than many coaches out there…however, I subtract from his program because I sense my legs are not recovered yet or I have a long shift at work, etc. Yes, I find myself backing off workouts here and there, and sometimes taking a workout right off my schedule. I have virtually never “added” to the pre-existing program.

Self Control, and Controlling your workout
Try cycling and running with others that are similar or a bit slower than you Ironman based on their actual results. This will allow you to control your workouts, and remain within your physiologic parameters that result in improvement based on your own ability. This is far better than working out with those more than 5% or so faster, as this will lead to you not having control in the workout, and leads to the temptation of pushing too hard when unnecessary. Try purposely time trialing behind someone 30 seconds and running 5 seconds behind someone, even though you know you could over-take them….don’t.
This not only trains your mind to cope with someone in front of you, but will lead to increased self-awareness and self-control. These learned behaviors translate in to a better executed race.  If an athlete passes you on race day, you will be more resistant to the temptation to race them, thus deviating from your own race plan. Those athletes who create their own competitions in their own mind are those that lust for acknowledgement. However, they want this in the workouts day-to-day and thus, when everyone is paying attention on race day…have sub-optimal results.  Psychologically, those athletes that spend so much energy in workouts racing others, and even racing themselves, could find themselves mentally fatigued on race day. Trust me, I’ve said it many times…save your racing for race day. You will then be able to achieve something beyond what you may believe you are capable of.  If you are on the receiving end of this? Be the bigger athlete, resist the urge to “show them what you’re made of”, and practice control in your workouts, and you will be rewarded on race day and will then be able to let loose and show everyone what you are made of, and those results will be real, and in writing.

The sport of triathlon has been built on the commodity of emotion.  This is a positive attribute to the sport I firmly believe. However, do not allow the emotion to result in a lust to over-achieve by training and competing based on other athletes goals. Allow your coach to guide you in the development of your own personal goals. Take a step-wise approach with a long-term plan, and do not expect immediate results if the goal is lofty (dropping 60-90 minutes off Ironman to gain a Kona slot for instance). These things are not impossible, but are far more probable with a plan of realistic incremental goals met along the way.

Goals should be realistic based on who you are as an athlete
Goals should be incremental based on prior success
Goals should have a defined path to achievement
Goals should not be based on others’ abilities. Be your own athlete

Firstly,  BIG congrats to those Summit Performance Athletes completing a very difficult Ironman St George on May 5th.
David Christian, M35 28th in his highest placing ever in an IM
Scott Sutton, M25 and completing his first ever IM and did it on one hell of a day
Eric Mcrae, M45 who battled the elements all day and never ever gave up
You three should be justifiably proud of your accomplishment.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

I’ll make an attempt to convey some historical character flaws, by covering one per blog over the next few weeks. This is by no means an attempt to relate a religious connotation to cycling, running, or triathlon. However, the historical relevance is undisputed in it’s direct correlation to the flaws I commonly see in athletes. Flaws that are commonly ignored by athletes, and are, in fact, the crutch that holds them back from achieving their goals in sport. The 7 deadly sins.

Gula
Luxuria
Superbia
Tristitia
Acedia
Avaritia
Invidia

Gula
The over-indulgence and over-consumption of anything to the point of waste.
In discussion at Summit Tucson camp this spring, I suggested that athletes should in fact, allow themselves to function throughout the day with hunger twice a week, typically on the recovery days. This is presuming the athlete has put a quick thought into recovery from the workout(s) preceding the recovery day (Sat, Sunday big workouts, followed by Monday recovery day). I asked David Christian what his method was in dropping 10 pounds off his prior “race weight” going into IM St George and he replied, “Monday’s were the key.” David recovered properly off his weekend workouts, and on his lighter day Monday would eat very light, without consuming any unnecessary calories. This lead to a 1-2 pound weight loss per week.
Eating light can of course harm an athlete, and those athlete’s that I see eating a salad after a 70 mile bike ride or 16 mile run are in fact, harming themselves in terms of recovery. “Eating for the workout tomorrow” is another common misnomer and while not entirely incorrect, is not the optimal approach to proper weight loss. “Eating for the workout just completed” will allow for more rapid recovery, and will then lead to optimal successive workouts. I showed athletes at Camp how it is simple to estimate how many carbohydrate (THE rate limiting agent in exercise and the critical agent to replace between workouts for optimal performance) is needed based on the length and type as well as general intensity of the workout. This included the baseline carbohydrate needed for normal function of bodily systems on a day to day basis. Once you know this, and you know how rapid glycogen synthesis occurs (also detailed at camp), then it’s easy to estimate how much you need in the 24 hours following a glycogen taxing or depletion workout.
“Do not confuse fatigue with hunger” is another concept I attempted to reinforce at camp. If you ride 80 miles, and you take proper recovery after, then eat the correct quantity of carbohydrate and protein 2 hours later, then more carbs before bedtime to assure proper glycogen synthesis over-night…then you feel a bit fatigued the next day. Well, that is due to the lack of repolarization of muscle fibers associated with a labor intensive workout completed 18 hours prior. If you have taken the proper amount of carbs and protein to recover from that workout, and the additional amount for your normal physiology, then you are done! If you only have a swim the next day or a very light short run or spin, then it is unnecessary to consume high carb food just because you have some residual fatigue. This leads to weight gain. This is exactly how some athletes actually gain weight during a camp. Gaining weight during a training camp simply means the athlete does not know how to eat and does not have a concept of how to properly recover, simple as that. A coach may disagree with this but sorry, they are wrong. You can lose just a small amount of weight at a camp (caloric weight not water weight) and get away with it, but the optimal outcome is to remain iso-caloric, meaning very similar weight before…and after camp.

So, confusing expected residual fatigue with hunger. This indirectly leads to gluttony. The more common form is more simple. Its about your conscious decision to make the wrong choices in you diet to simple please yourself. Ordering the big  piece of cake, eating the 1/3 box of cereal at night, the 2 cups (4 servings) of ice cream, the full-fat buttered popcorn, the full-fat dish at PF Changs, the fast food, etc. Now these are quite obvious. The more subtle choices are those of eating a candy bar on a ride instead of a protein bar, and justifying it by thinking “I’m burning plenty of calories today”, or “I know pro’s that do it (and I know many athletically ignorant pro’s). Choosing to skip the 400 calorie recovery drink and opting to get the cheeseburger and fries instead. Choosing whole eggs, cheese,  and sausage for your omelet instead of egg whites, no cheese, and substitute mushrooms for sausage. Whole-cheese vegi pizza instead of simply asking them to weight out 1/3 of the normal amount of cheese when you order. Yes I can go on with numerous examples of gluttony but I think you get the picture.

Now, I am a firm believer in reward behavior. The benefits of this concept are well established. This is why I bought crispy bacon and 1/2 order stuffed french toast with my breakfast the day after IM St George, and even though I pulled out of the race, I still had one hell of a ride and a 12 mile brick, and thus rewarded myself. This is far different from eating this type of breakfast every weekend after a long run or long ride.
I had 2 McDonald’s cheeseburgers the night of St George as well (12 grams of fat each), and I specifically remember the last time I had a McDonald’s cheeseburger, and it was in November of 2005, the night of Ann’s first qualification for Kona (I was rewarding myself in her accomplishment!). This is not a load of bull, this was the last time I had a cheeseburger from McDonalds. Now, every ironman I have some form of reward meal, as well as the next day, but it simply varies each time. Regardless, you can bet it will be something I have deprived myself of for many months going into the race, and thus is even more pleasing after I’ve “earned” those meals.

I discussed self-deprivation in a prior blog. This is a powerful strategy in the psychological preparation for a key event. In fact, I bought 2 packages of Pretzel M&M’s (5 grams fat each) 3 days before St George. I am certain David, Kelly or Ann didn’t notice because this was not my intent, but I purposely left both packages on the kitchen counter and walked by them every day  going into the race. Each time I saw them, and especially in the evenings, the urge to open one and eat the entirely unnecessary pre-race calories was there. However, I deprived myself intentionally in those days going into the race, and I became stronger because of it. I had one of the packages the night following the race while packing my bike and trust me they were far better in that moment then if I had given in to my desire to eat them pre-race. What was my solution in those day’s going into the race?  Instead of opening the candy, I ate a low-fat greek yogurt, a red grapefruit, or rice and eggs. It was a simple as that.

We, as a society, are generally raised to “finish everything on your plate”, and this leads to bad behavior habits as adults. In addition, as I explained at camp, you will not pass out or die if you allow yourself to be just a bit hungry throughout the day. You do not have to place calories in your mouth each and every time you feel the slightest bit of hunger, or when your bored. Instead, allow yourself to remain a little hungry through the day. This is not just a practice of self deprivation and a method to increase your psycological strength, but it’s physiologically an advantage. By maintaining lower insulin levels, and thus higher glucagon hormonal levels throughout the day, your metabolism remains catabolic. Slight catabolism throughout the day will make you stronger by maintaining the shift to fatty acid metabolism, and preventing the anabolic state that results with insulin secretion. This will in turn lead to a slightly higher efficiency of fat utilization. Sorry to disappoint some of you but “organic” does not translate to “low calorie” or “good for you”. Some of the most unhealthy people I know eat almost exclusively organic and/or vegan. This is not a pass to consume massive amounts of calories.

Finally, the opposing character trait to gluttony is temperance.
Practice temperance
Practice some reasonable self-deprivation, but also reward yourself occasionally
Stop being weak, and become stronger
Regardless if you are a 14 hour ironman athlete, or an 8:30 athlete
This applies to all

On the bike course with David Christian. David has reached his highest fitness as a Triathlete and is ready to go

My Disadvantages going into Ironman St George

1. Crash last week with non-displaced fracture of right hand
2. Worked 75 hour work week, 7 consecutive nights ending Friday 8 days out from race day
3. Still hampered by cartilage damage from right ankle fractures 50 weeks ago
4. Only 5 Long runs of 2 hours, longest run of 2:10 one week ago
5. It’s hot
6. It’s windy

My Advantages going into Ironman St George

1. Crash last week with non-displaced fracture of right hand
2. Worked 75 hour work week, 7 consecutive nights ending Friday 8 days out from race day
3. Still hampered by cartilage damage from right ankle fractures 50 weeks ago
4. Only 5 Long runs of 2 hours, longest run of 2:10 one week ago
5. It’s hot
6. It’s windy

Ready

March 3rd is my first race since May of 2011. After the summer off with my mid foot fracture, an attempt to initiate running in October increased my confidence as I ran 5 days nearly pain free, but then side-tracked with an L2-3 disc herniation which laid me up until December.
So, it begins in the second week of December, very easy 10 minute pace jogs and light trainer spins as well as a couple 1200 meter swims per week. I continued the slow progression and in January was up to 10 mile runs at 9 pace, still spinning indoors on the trainer but my bike fitness was rapidly developing as usual. Swimming…well, not too motivated at a peak of 6k per week.
Big camp in end of January in Tucson allowed me to log 45 miles of running, primarily on dirt, and my first two 16 mile runs. I realized my left foot (Navicular) remains injured as the pain begins about 1:45-2 hour mark of my runs, even at an easy 8:30-9 pace, and rapidly becomes disabling as I slow down to 10  pace in order to ease the pain with foot strike. Regardless, I was able to log my single outdoor long ride of 5.5 hours during that week with 8K climbing so fairly happy with outcome. Since the camp, 1 ride outdoors and one additional long run of 16, and a moderate run of 14 miles.
“Ironman Prep”?
Since initiating my training early December 2011:
Number of outdoor rides = 6
Number of long runs 16 miles = 3
Number of Bricks = Zero
Race weight = 158 lbs. Wow I actually hit this one. Right where I want to be.

There are no miracles
I greatly appreciate the wishes of all my friends and athletes with the “you’ll kick ass” and “dont’ worry you’ll hammer” comments throughout the week. However, I hope this is just people being nice and not an attitude that actually believes that someone with minimal outdoor training and 10 weeks into an Ironman prep can just go out and race at a high level. This is not reality. I wonder sometimes if people actually think I take drugs or something….I mean, I’ve run 3 long runs. My Chronic stress level on the bike is at 42.5 and going into Ironman Texas last year I held a Chronic stress of 62 for the 6 weeks going into the race. In mapping my chronic stress last year in the final week of Feb? Yep…42.0. So, yes I AM in a very similar fitness now, compared to my fitness this time in 2011. So, sure I am confident I could race a half ironman fairly well. However, I could not have raced Ironman Texas in March of 2011…I continued to build on my stress levels unitl Texas in May. So, it is not much different this season. I simply am not at the physiology or preparation to have an outstanding race. This is reality. If I don’t adjust my race strategy…it will end in disaster.

Hope is not lost
in that….I am hopeful that the 3rd M45 at New Zealand could be me.  No, I don’t have this false sense of ability that many in this sport have…thinking I can just waltz in to an ironman and win the division. Sure, I have won the M45 division in 2 ironman races in the past two seasons, but I was in far better endurance fitness for those events. Hence my cockiness (I am certain you’ll remember) that I put into writing going into those events. Such comments from IM Texas such as, “Texas yellow bellies” and IM Brazil on, “my plan to take down Glah”. You will not see these types of statements for IM New Zealand…because I am not confident in this race, because I know I cannot rise to the level necessary to win a division in a WTC ironman event.

However, IF I can manage to find another 10 miles on my ankle in the marathon, despite not doing one brick yet this year and only riding one ride over 60 miles….a 3rd  place finish will likely be the final qualification slot to Ironman Hawaii. Last time I raced down here was Australia in 2007, in which at age 42 I was able to post a 9:11. Yet, that was the only Ironman since taking up the sport in 2004, that I missed the Hawaii slot with 5th place in the M40. The final Hawaii slot that year was 3rd  place and was a 9 hours….beyond my reach. So, I am fully confident that there will be those from Australia as well as Asia competing here again given that New Zealand sold out in March of 2011. I full expect the top 2 M45 athletes to be under 9:30. For me? impossible on this course in my current fitness.
However…3rd…now this remains possible for me.

The unknown factor is my foot. My third 16 miler last week was uneventful until the 1:50 mark and we passed from dirt trail to pavement. Within 2 minutes on pavement my left ankle became sore to the point that it shut me down from 7:30 pace to 10 pace over the final mile.  Fortunately,  I finally received a complicated ankle brace in the mail 2 days ago, which was backordered. I ran my final run of 14 miles yesterday, 8 days out from race, in the brace. The pain was present but tolerable. The brace definitely helped, as I was able to hold 8:40 pace on the same road I was running 10 pace a week ago. The drawback is that the brace takes a good 2 minutes to put on and secure the 6 straps, and must go over a sock that rises 1/3 up my shin so the brace doesn’t scrape the skin.
So, I suspect my T2 will be a good 4 minutes and I will be running the marathon in a long cycling sock.
Still, there remains the unknown. What happens when I get to that 2 hour mark, around 15 miles, and need to run another 90-1:45 minutes on this ankle?
We will see. The strategy is to have Ann tell me what place I am off the bike as I finish the first of 3 laps on the marathon. If I am not in a significant lead on 3rd place…then I drop the event and call it my first brick of the season at 8 miles off a 112 mile TT.
This is not life and death…it’s only an ironman. I won’t be crawling across the finish line for a 6th or 8th place just to say I finished.  If I am not in direct contention for a Kona slot, I will save my legs and chronic injury for ironman CdA in June.
I’ve done enough of these to realize, yes…there are more to come. As well, I am a realistic athlete. I don’t put myself up on some “fitness pedistal” when I know I am not there. Likewise…I know what it takes to get to Kona having 8 qualification races myself, and I know what it takes to win a division. I won’t lie to myself and think I will be blessed with some gift of performing far and above my fitness level on race day next week.

So, thanks for the good luck wishes to those who have emailed and texted. Off with Ann today Friday, and we arrive Sunday 6 days out. I will of course squeeze in another longer ride of 2.5 hours Sunday evening or Monday morning with about an hour of inervals. Not much of a taper but in this particular case, I am gaining strength from each workout so I think only a 3-4 day taper is necessary. Thanks Olaf for you guidance and confidence in me.

After the race, some much needed solo time with Ann as we plan on some drinking, eating, and sight seeing on the South Island.

Ask Yourself

1: Do I feel pressure to bike or run the same loop at the same or faster pace/time?
2: Do I feel uncomfortable falling off the back on a group ride or run even though I am tired?
3: Do I feel pressured to be toward the front or at least finish toward the front on every group workout?
4: On a typical ride or run, and an unknown rider passes decisively, do I lose pride? Do I feel pressured to have to catch up to him?
5: Do I often go out for a ride alone or with others as a nice aerobic or recovery pace and it turns into the world championships?
6: Do I believe that riding less than an hour or running less than 30 minutes is a waste of time and not worth the trouble?
7: Do I feel riding in low Z2 Power on the bike is just too easy for me and is a waste of time?
8: Do I have to be 1/2 step in front of the person jogging next to me, even on an easy recovery run?
9: Do I begin and end any rides with sore legs? Do I have to meet a predetermined pace on all my runs?
10: Am I proud of my average speeds and my record of “climbs won” on rides, and believe that others really care?
11: Do I swim a pace within 2 seconds per 100 pace whether I am swimming a 600 or 3 x 200, or 4×150 sets?
12: Do I have to be the first one to touch the wall when swimming adjacent to someone I don’t even know?
13: Do I look at other swimmers in lanes beside me and create my own personal race with them, even though they are doing a completely different workout?
14: Do I think swim drills are a waste of time and when doing drills, can’t wait to get them done so push the pace on them?
15: Have I had another mediocre season with a specific reason for each and every single sub-par performance in every race?
16: Lastly, do I find myself in “peak” fitness 3-4 months prior to a key event, and workout performances trickle downward as the race approaches?

If you answered “yes” to any one of these, then you are at risk, and the more you answered yes, the higher your risk of another mediocre race. The zone 3 syndrome. This is part of the chronic over-training syndrome I see in many athletes I have trained with, and have coached.

I consider “zone 3 syndrome” a power zone 3 problem typically on the bike, but more of a pace oriented problem on the run and in the pool.  On the bike, heart rate is not useful as a determinant of this syndrome. This is because you can easily produce power in zone 3 and remain in heart rate zones 1 and 2, especially as you become fit, and even on long rides.

The Fallout
“Awesome” or “PR” workouts, then periods of several missed workouts due to fatigue.
Running slower or feeling fatigued in the water for sometimes weeks at a stretch, missing numerous key workout variables.
Cancelling workouts.
Inability to “go fast” for the short periods necessary as prescribed by the coach.

Some riders unfortunately, especially  ironman athletes, train like this week after week. The log looks great, yet they consistently run 10-11 hour ironman races when they have the physiology and endurance to run well under 10 or run 5 hour half ironman when they should be near 4:30.  They lose their podium slot, they lose their Kona slot, they may drop out. They always have an excuse that’s unrelated to training preparation. Even athletes who should break 12 hours in an ironman, yet race to a 12:45, 13 hour or slower. Pro men who race inconsistently ranging from mid 8’s to 9:30 or repeated DNF’s, and can’t figure out why the huge variation in performances. It effects every athlete, at every level.
“I was fatigued”, “too much salt intake”, “not enough salt intake”, “dehydrated”, “too hydrated”, “running shoes didn’t fit right” , “head cold race week”, “too hot”, “too cold”, “bike made funny noise”, “changed my bike position race week”…..do I need to go on with these actual excuses I have heard in the past? The excuses vary widely but never encompass the method of training in the several months prior to race day.

Know Yourself
So many athletes try for too much too early, or just try to shoot for the moon for a race in one giant leap instead of taking a few steps into the water first. Realize that maybe you should not be in “peak fitness” and feel like conquering the world…4 months from race day.

Don’t Be Proud
Be confident. I am hardly ever at my “race intensity” in workouts, and very few people have seen me race. I am a completely different person when I race. Much of this is because I am physically prepared, and race consistently, even with adversity. More importantly, I am emotionally prepared. I believe spending too much time in the “race zone” emotionally in workouts tends to burn an athlete out.

Envision
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am all about detail and creating a mental vision of the race in workouts, but that’s mostly in terms of nutrition and visualizing my goals during my TT training, run speed work, and key swim sessions. This does not mean I recreate the race setting as far as race intensity goes. My longest time trial on the bike was 50 minutes at 250 watts going into California 70.3 in my prep for ironman Texas in 2011. My normalized wattage for nearly every ride was in the middle to higher end of zone 2, and average wattage low zone 2. So, how is it possible with an average wattage of 190-200 in workouts and my best effort of 250 watts in a 50 minute time trial, that I was able to average 257 watts for 56 miles at California? If this seems impossible to you and you think I’m bull-shitting, then you lack the knowledge. If you’re a coach and don’t understand this, you should re-evaluate your skills.

Race Results
So, the zone 3 syndrome athlete tends to put too much into workouts, not  resting enough, and not really racing all out.
Just marginally competing ride after ride, run after run, and swim after swim. Then they lose their competitive spirit on race day, the day that counts. They lose the “snap” in their legs, the mental awareness that should increase during the race, but instead the fatigue sets in early.
This athlete can’t wait until a “3 week taper” or the upcoming rest week because they are chronically tired. When it comes time to do an interval in Zone 4 or Zone 5 power? They cant muster up the performance. Likewise, they hit power goals for the first 50-75% of an interval and then trickle off.  So, they don’t get much benefit of near-threshold and threshold training.  As a consequence,  they can’t generate consistent strength throughout their key race.
The result is a  race at  or perhaps only 20-30 watts above their “recovery ride watts”.
Trust me, it only gets worse on the run.

6 months of training wasted. Then, for the next big race…all over again.

Here’s a  piece of advice. If it doesn’t work for you, try something different. Something different doesn’t mean more work. Train in your own element. Stop lying to yourself and your coach by using your own created “don’t ask don’t tell” policy. Stop tweaking every single workout upward because of your insecurities as an athlete and mistrust of your coach.
Uncover your weaknesses, expose them, then eliminate them.

Save the racing for race day.

Big congrats to Summit Athletes Aleck Alleckson and Garren Watkins. Aleck set his all-time personal best at 9:26, Ironman Hawaii couple weeks back, smashing his prior marathon personal best of 3:20 with a 3:16. To think…running was Aleck’s limiter and weakness when we began together 2 years ago. Aleck took his weakness and turned it into, arguably his strongest segment. Garren Watkins, of whom I’ve worked with now into the second season, who missed Kona by a few minutes at South Africa last year. Garren had the unfortunate bike crash couple weeks before Wisconsin and missed about 6 bike-run workouts the final 2 weeks and all of the swim workouts due to wrist injury and road rash. His first time back in the water was at IM Wisconsin. Garren gained his qualifying slot by his refusal to allow the negative events of the crash diminish his desire to qualify. Very proud of these two, and of course all my athletes…but especially these two who have gone above and beyond what I thought they were capable in their final races of the season. The good news for them is…neither has reached their potential.

The year has been uneventful. My injury at IM Texas left me temporarily disabled for the summer, thus cancelling my season progressively, the most recent cancellation Austin 70.3. I was encouraged last week at IM Hawaii when I was able to string together 4 runs during the week for a total of 14 miles. However, my back spasm that occurred on IM Hawaii race morning prevented me from workouts for another 10 days post Hawaii. I was about to lose my mind by Wed, 5 days later, when the sudden spasm would force me onto a knee. Now nearly 3 weeks later, the spasm is down to a moderate level and I can ride again. Regardless, this is the first time I’ve experienced something like this and I definitely have a new respect for those who live with low back issues on a chronic level.
So, I am hopeful with a month left before IM Cozumel, I can muster up some running to get to maybe a single 2 hour run prior to the event. As of now, running an hour this week with a back brace and 9:30 pace seems very slow, but I’ll only have to wait and see how it all pans out over the next couple weeks. I am confident if I can get a good month of running in before the race, I can jog into a 3:40-45 marathon there. With a solid bike split and average run, hopefully that will gain me the final Kona slot for 2012, and allow me to race “freely” at New Zealand and Coeur d Alene in 2012.

Unforgiven
It’s hard for me to express the depth of my feelings of those events that day. I was angry and frustrated, and continued to be for the next several months. This selfishness I suppose in inherent, but in other ways I’m correct as well. I should have been frustrated. I entered the medical profession to help people and that is the bottom line. This is self-evident in my desire to see those around me succeed, not only in sport, but in life. My life has been altered for the positive by several people in my past. My father, my highschool coach Dave Medley, my marathon coach Peter Maher and my wife Ann to name just four. These four hero’s not only changed my life but imprinted that desire I have to guide others on a positive path that will lead to success. So, contrary to what some may have said regarding my motives in helping others…they will not, and cannot understand, because they arent made up of the same stuff as I am.
This personality trait is probably what resulted in the guilt I felt from being so angry at something that was not only out of my control, but could not have been altered by anything I could have done. So, regardless, my anger, frustration, and unforgiveness has recently led to forgiveness.

Two Years Ago Today
I lost a friend. I still have some echos in my memory when I am alone on my bike, riding through the deep forest along the edge of the cascades, on the same routes Rob and I would ride. Those times we rode together and our personal discussions I won’t forget. Is it coincidence that Rob appeared in a dream I had last last week when I was sleeping on the floor in the only pain free position I could find? No, I believe this connection was developed throughout the week as I lived and worked in almost constant low back pain. This was something Rob lived with throughout life, only relieved by high dose anti-inflammatories, steroids and strong self-awareness. God I am so weak when I think of what he went through. So, it was this I think, that reminded me of my relationship with him. His chronic disease leading to nearly debilitating back pain, a prognosis of only slowly becoming worse, and no foreseable cure. His chronic depression that only rarely manifested itself, in that he kept it swallowed amongst his friends, frequently giving out hugs and a lot of laughs.
The thoughts of my past with Rob will not fade away, as there are just too many reminders. Rob taught me how to swim in 2003. He taught Ann how to swim in 2004. We rode alone together many times, ran, and drank together, when our busy lives allowed.
So yeah, when I was swimming the IM Hawaii swim a couple weeks ago, out alone off wide,  I thought of my first race there in 2004, which led to the awareness on why I was there. My friend Rob was one of the major factors that led me to my first race in Hawaii that year. Rob spent about 2 months three times per week walking along the pool beside me and coaching me along. My first long ride was with Rob. He invited me out with his teammates on Veloce Cycling. Rob stuck with me as I fell back on almost every climb. This was Feb of 2004, and by June I felt unstoppable as I entered my first IM at CdA, missing podium by 30 seconds but finishing well within the Hawaii slots. Rob gave me a huge bear hug when I returned from Idaho that week and I specifically remember his, “I told you you would do it” comment in my ear as his arms wrapped around me. His desire to qualify for Kona persisted and despite his chronic arthritic disease, he always had this in the back of  his mind. I coached Rob intermittenly thoughout the years, and in 2007 we both agreed that we would qualify for ITU Worlds for the following year. I remember sitting alone with Rob that following year, a few days before the ITU race, and discussing the future of our team, the direction, and our perceptions on life. Despite our polital and social differences, we understood each other well, and we knew this when we talked. Rob went on to have, without a doubt, the best race of his life that  weekend in his ITU race that easily converted to a sub 10 hour ironman. That was the happiest I’d seen Rob in awhile as far as race results go, and his confidence to make an attempt at Kona qualification was once again gaining momentum.
I didn’t see Rob much upon our return, as he later moved to Colorado for a new job. He visited his loved ones frequently though, and I saw him on occassion. The following fall, 2009, Rob, Grant and I with our girls, spent the weekend in Hood River for the Cyclocross series. Over beers, a few glasses of wine, and some good music that night, I raised my glass and thanked Rob for enhancing my life. I decided to do this because of the uncertain future ahead with Rob no longer living in Oregon. I needed to let him know that he was a pivotal factor in my relative success in triathlon and simply reminded him of that. I think he knew this because the three of us raised our beers and he looked me right in the eyes. So, I knew I got the message across to him. I needed to tell him this.

This was the last thing I remember saying to Rob. He was gone about a month later.

Closure
Rob gave me a thin leather necklace the week I left for my first Ironman Hawaii race in 2004, and on it was a bike chain link from the chain he used when he rode across America to raise funds for the Ankylosing Spondylitis Association. That 2004 is still my slowest race ever as a triathlete and was the most difficult to endure. I joking cursed Rob when I got back telling him that necklace gave me bad luck. Yet, still to this day, that is the most memorable race of my life because of what it took just to finish. So, I pulled out my original necklace from 2004, and wore it for Ironman Brazil in 2010, and have in each Ironman since. The necklace now has 2 bike chain links on it. The original one Rob gave me, and the one from his bike chain given to all of his friends at his memorial service in 2009. I enjoy that moment of solitude in every ironman somewhere in the middle of the marathon, when my body wants to shut down and my mind is tired. I felt this in Brazil, Kona, Arizona and Texas. It is at this point I feel Rob’s chainlinks bouncing off my chest, and it brings me back to center.

I think the anger and frustration in part originates from the lack of closure regarding his death in 2009.
I can safely say that all of his close friends probably had the feeling of emptiness and regret that they couldn’t help him. This I think was the primary factor that led to my feelings of regret, and anger at the loss we had all experienced.
In my dream last week, I awoke on the floor to a noise outside. I was alone and it was dark. I looked out onto the deck and with only the reflection of the moon, there was Rob, standing there looking at me through the window. I faded back to sleep, then awoke again and realized it was just a dream. I thought of Rob as I fell back to sleep, from our beginning in the pool in 2003, through our camps in Bend, the solo rides and the races. As I fell asleep, I felt Rob everywhere around me. I spent nearly two years over-coming the anger phase of his death, and it faded away in just those few minutes. I miss my friend. Such is life, and I am fortunate to have reminders to bring those memories back to me.

Horizons
The fact is that no one can possibly know what Rob felt and what he went through. His loss left an emptiness amongst everyone that knew him I’m certain, and it is still felt by his absence. It is human nature that we take things for granted, and become complacent with our lives and those around us. Why do we only realize this after loss.

I shed my anger a couple of weeks back and I am in a good place with Rob now. I am so happy that I was able to tell him how I felt about him that fall in Hood River, even though it may sound trivial. Rob greatly enhanced my life as well as many others around him. Regardless, there will be a new horizon every day. It’s difficult to over-come injury in this sport that we train all year and bank our fitness on a single one day event. However, with my injuries this year and in year’s past, you just move on and look toward the next horizon. We can’t predict the future, but there are some friends and family we can always count on. They will always be beyond that horizon despite adversity that we are living through in the moment. This should be remembered, and tell those you love that you count on them and they are important to you. Don’t live with regret that you didn’t tell them how you feel, and how they’ve improved your life, once they are gone.

Rob, it’s just not the same without you here.

Congrats to Aleck Alleckson, who posted a 15 minute course personal best 4:22 at Lake Stevens 70.3 couple weeks back, getting off the bike first amateur, and finishing 4th amateur overall, his highest finish overall in a WTC event. Well done!

Good luck to my athletes in their upcoming ironman races:
Ryan Jasperson: Louisville
Eric Stimach: Louisville
Evan Deutsch: Canada
Tim Winestorfer: Canada
DJ DeAustria: Canada
Joshua Monda: Canada
Jim Zuba: Canada
Garren Watkins: Wisconsin
Bill Thompson: Wisconsin
Fred Doucette: Wisconsin

With the exception of one athlete above being injured, all of my men have the chance of gaining the elusive Kona slot.  There are many that would say that simply based on odds alone, the chances of this many athletes qualifying from a single coach of 25 athletes is pretty slim. Last year at IM Canada, 6 of my athletes qualified for Kona in this single event, and it is highly unusual for nearly every single athlete to have a great day.  I do believe in all of them however, and yeah…I think the odds are with them all.  If each executes well, solves potential problems that arise, remain patient throughout their race, and go deep enough when necessary, then they will have done everything they can. It is at this point one can confidently say they’ve given it all they’ve got.
I am confident they will give it their all on race day. However, there are no guarantees.
Most athletes that have the ability to qualify for world championships simply need to break that mental barrier. This is difficult to coach into someone because I can’t get into someone’s head at mile 16 in the marathon and guide them to that place they need to be. Finding your way to success is  individually driven. No coach can give you all the answers, and nobody can lead you to that place from which you need to arise. The level of pain and fatigue, the process of solitude, and eventual discovery has to come from within yourself.  When you’ve reached your potential, the fatigue, pain, and solitude simply disappear. You feel yourself as part of a collective that is self-driven toward the equivalent goal. This is what’s magical about this sport. When I raced ironman Texas, running on a blown up swollen ankle, as I began to jog, then run harder and harder…the sensation of pain faded away. This level of consciousness in a 46 year old striving to win his division is no different from a 30 year old pro trying to win overall. The connection is there.
I wish all of my athletes the best in their upcoming races, and hope all can reach their own level of success.  Like I told you all in our meeting on Sunday, when you are falling off the pace leading into the final 12 miles of the marathon, when you are feeling sorry for yourself, thinking about the heat, letting your mind wander…you have got to re-focus. You have got to find your way out. Once you do this, you will understand, and you will realize just how conspicuous it is, and how it was always right there in front you… that next level of consciousness.
Race to the best of your ability, and draw every ounce of energy from within yourself to the very end…then you will succeed. This, is guaranteed.

See her fall
With my recent diagnosis of a tendon tear, a ligament tear, and fractures as a consequence of my fall at ironman Texas…I wore a stabilization boot for 6 weeks, minimal swimming, and spinning every other day on the trainer in zone 1. This evolved after a month into 2 complete weeks of nothing. My repeat MRI 6 weeks after wearing my boot, and 10 weeks after ironman Texas revealed no change whatsoever in the diffuse edema in my Navicular, while the other 2 fractures have entirely healed. The tendon and ligament tear are not of consequence because in my strength testing, my orthopedic surgeon tells me I have enough compensatory strength to forego any surgery. However, the edema in the Navicular means another month of no running (or elliptical). The bright side is that I can ride “normally” outside, of which I began 2 weeks ago come Saturday. I have fallen terribly out of race fitness and completing 2 hours on flats resulted in a 2 hour nap last week. It’s getting a bit better after a few rides and last Sunday’s 54 miler with Ann was not too bad on me. Did 3 x 10 min TT in Z4 yesterday with Aleck of which I averaged my California 70.3 watts…uhhh and in that race was 2.5 hours not 3 x 10 minutes.…I’ve lost my race fitness.
This is relevant in that my wife had the entire year off in 2009 due to multiple stress fractures. I don’t know how she did it. We both love to run and looking back from where I now stand, and seeing her sitting on the couch every day I would return from a 16 mile run or 70 mile ride….I know how she feels. We don’t want to lose the addiction. We don’t want to go through the time it takes to achieve the level of fitness we once had… once we have significant time off, at this critical age when each year a little is lost.
Ann swallowed all of it that year, was patient, and was relentless in her treatment recommendations and therapy. I remember this well as it seemed for 5-6 months she was constantly involved in her treatment at home. She was discouraged yes, a bit depressed, of course. However, she maintained foresight and kept her mind on the goal of ironman Brazil in May of 2010, which would be her first Major race since Kona in 2008. I’ve had injuries of course, but having a stress fracture is different. You feel every little ache, and you become increasing aware of the risk of a full break if you push at all, and a full break results in a metal plate fixation, and probably a full year off.
I have the upmost respect for Ann, and fully understand her extended time off from 2009 and how difficult it is to have to cancel races like ironman Hawaii after racing so well a few months before.

See her rise
Patience leads to perseverance. Ann came back in 2010, at age 40, to race a personal best 9:48 on a much more difficult course than her prior 9:52 PR, finishing with a 3:19 run split that was the fastest women marathon of the day at Brazil.  She ran into 6^th overall that day, and after nearly a year off. She would go on to have a great season and be chosen USAT female masters triathlete of the year. The psychology involved in Ann’s will to succeed is something most, and I emphasize most, athletes do not possess. This is just plain fact. Thinking you have “it” and having “it” are two completely different scenario’s. I am fully confident if Ann had entered the sport when she was 28 instead of 38, she would be posting times well under 9:30 in ironman. This perspective is quite remarkable to me…she was 40, and many people compare her to women who are in their late 20’s. Her progress really is amazing to me
So, why, when winning the division and placing as a top amateur, out competing many pro’s would she want to stop a 4  year winning streak, and become a pro athlete?

I was told by a popular professional triathlete a couple of years ago when we were discussing the difficulty of attaining pro status in the U.S, compared to most other countries in which you simply have to claim “pro” , and using triathlon as a potential means to make money in sport.
I asked him jokingly, “when did you know to go pro, when you start beating half of them?”
His answer was quite simple. “No, it’s when you are beating all the amateurs.”

I smiled because I knew what he was talking about. It’s not necessarily out performing other pro’s, but it’s about challenging yourself.  If you become good enough in this sport to finish as the top amateur, break amateur course records…over and over again, then the point of becoming a pro is to increase your awareness, and to better yourself.
So, while Ann is over 40, why would she give up all the winning to maybe grab a top 10 pro position in an ironman and be tagged as a “slower pro”?
If you do not understand this inherently then you may not understand with an explanation, but I’ll try.
The reason Ann decided to become pro (which, by the way, she qualified in 2007 with her ITU world championship top Amateur performance), was not because she thinks she can race side by side with girls that are 10-15 years younger than her. Does this surprise you? Ann took her pro card because she wanted to challenge herself, derive a set of achievable tasks, as well as some improbable (but not impossible) goals.  She is simply satisfied with her performances as a top amateur for now. Outside of Kona, she has been undefeated in her division in each and every race outside of Kona, since 2006.  Some athletes  want to discover some things about themselves.  She may not have the success compared to her amateur performances while racing pro, but if you see it as a concept of only “winning” your division in races, then this may be one of your limitations as an athlete. Yes sure there is a point in life when you are aged to the point that all you have is the division to compete  (myself), but certainly if a person is consistently finishing in the top 12 overall then maybe they should not throw in the towel.  Competing with this sense of a long-term goal is something that many and athletes I’ve known, and coached, simply do not understand.  How much strength does it take to go from a top cyclist in your division and as an amateur, and finishing overall champion, to finishing in the lower half of the field? This is taking the road less traveled.  Those that take the easy road will, in the long run, be less successful. Ten years from now…Ann will not be sitting around the pub table talking the “I could have been…I should have been….” The fact is.  She is living without regrets.
I’ve never been so proud of Ann as I was last week at Steelhead 70.3, watching her compete out there by herself, while many of the amateurs drafted in large packs and yes the women are even more guilty than the men (due to the 4 second gap, TT start in pairs), and I know this because I saw them drafting in packs of men on the bike course, and let them know it as well.  Yes Ann got off the bike in last place, and then ran into 15^th…out running 7 pro’s 10+ years younger than her.  None this matters however, because her field of competition was 22 women, nobody else. Coming off the bike in last place, and watch her remain more focused than I’ve ever seen her on the run, clicking off 6:40’s on a hilly and technical run course was one of the proudest moments of my life with her. On her first lap completion I told her she was in 19^th…was there any notion of calling an audible and quitting? Was there a look of discouragement on her  face? No. She was focused, staring straight ahead and coming through the second lap in 17^th, negative splitting as she ran the final 5k, capturing a couple more and finishing 15^th. This strength of character is not found in many people. The complete focus and remaining entirely on the race plan is exactly why she should be racing with other pro women, even those far younger. Ann’s success at Steelhead will carry her into Wisconsin in a few weeks and regardless of the outcome, from this she will rise, and grow.
This…is guaranteed.

Ann races to 6th fastest pro run split at Steelhead 6:40 pace

So it goes
For me, I have cancelled my only other race prior to Kona, Timberman 70.3 and will cancel Kona. Standing on my foot spectating for a few hours at Ann’s race last weekend showed me I am not ready. The deep aching in the mid-foot is my Navicular, and the edema in the  bone is undoubtedly unimproved. I may attempt to begin running in October, a week before Kona. If this goes well, then I’ll race Austin 70.3 a few weeks later in order to gauge my bike power fitness going into ironman Cozumel in November. My 4 month span off after ironman Texas was the result of my unwillingness to allow adversity to over-take me.  With 5k to go, running steady 6:50 per mile pace and my high overall placing in a strong pro field…I simply was not going to walk it in. Was it worth it? Does this even need to be asked?
I can’t foresee the end result of this injury, but I have to remain realistic and try to keep my head high. I will likely start the swim at Kona, as I am still registered in the event. Will I ride? Who knows…every race at Kona has been a learning experience for me. So, I may learn a piece of information, or encounter some new adversity I will learn to overcome during the event. This may help me in the future, when I plan to push for a high M50 finish there in a few years. I will just take these things day to day. I may use the week in Kona  to gain some much needed quality miles on the bike in order to prepare me for Cozumel as well. This option is still being considered.

I have to thank my athlete Bill Thompson for giving me the idea. My plan is to learn how to mountain bike this winter and race some Xterra, in hopes of gaining a future spot  for Maui if I don’t break my legs. Doing the “double” (IM Hawaii and Maui Xterra) would be fun and challenging, esp with the only 2 M45 slots available in the regional Xterra events. However, Bill brought up the “triple”, adding Vegas 70.3 worlds to the mix and this really got my mind thinking. Regardless, gaining a Vegas 70.3 2012 slot at Austin October 21, then gaining a Kona slot for 2012 at Cozumel in Novermber are my immediate goals for the end of my season. The hope is that I can go into CdA in June with my slot and go out with some specific goals and not have to be concerned on the Kona slot. As well, qualifying for Vegas as early as possible will allow me to take some time to learn how to ride a mountain bike this winter and spring, and subsequently race a couple of regional Xterra events. Male 45 carries 2 slots to Maui championships in Xterra. What are the odds of someone who has not, and can’t mountain bike…grabbing one of those 2 slots in a regional qualifier? I think the odds are very slim at best. However, I am not interested in what I can do…it’s what I can’t do that drives me.  You can dream of your accomplishments, or you can wake up and actually do them.

As far as my injuries go, year after year, I’ll keep collecting the scars, and I’ll become stronger. I would rather this then not be there at all.
So it goes…I’ll try to begin running on grass here shortly since I have been off nearly all summer. I’ll begin the cycle of gaining strength on the bike again as I start working with Olaf Sabatschus again next Monday.  If I decide to start the swim at Kona, who knows I may ride. All experiences lead to potential gains. This, is guaranteed.