I will post pictures and more details in the coming days, but I can’t be more prouder of the Midshipman of the triathlon team. Collegiate triathlon is not a small sport anymore and it takes more than a fluke to win. It takes hard work, discipline, and some talent to bring this many individuals together to perform on one day. I would have said it takes some luck, but that is something we definitely lacked today. You can’t let luck bail you out, you just gotta be good.
So, this is a time killer for me, as I am sitting around waiting for the Lonestar Half Ironman tomorrow. Actually, I am doubling up this time, coach and athlete. I am racing the half ironman that goes off an hour after the midshipman start their 1/4Man (nearly an Olympic distance race, with a short swim). In two weeks we have Nationals, so this is a great prep race. The mids can come down here and have a pretty laid back race scenario at a very, very well run race. Keith Jordan with Endorfun Sports puts on races that are some of the best around. He puts on two official 70.3 races, but there is not much difference in how each race is run, very classy.
As I posted some pretty silly pics of some really classy mids, I believe these guys get it. These guys are just a club level team at a school full of Division I programs. Most of the team is composed of former Div I athletes from basketball to swimming. They are totally embracing the triathlon lifestyle. Laid back, having fun, making jokes, but all the while getting ready to throw-down on race day.
Hopefully, I will have more pictures and great results to post soon.
Good to go?
(super hero triathlete, he flies tomorrow in Galveston)
Back when I was in high school and college, it was always different being around my coaches in the weeks leading up to the big races. I needed someone to lean on for encouragement, but my coaches always seemed a little distant. We are now 15 days from the National Collegiate Champs in Lubbock and I am now feeling the stress they felt.
Three weeks ago I wrote out a schedule that seemed a perfect ramp up to make the midshipmen ready for this weekend’s prep race and then sharpen them over the final two weeks. Honestly, now it is staring me in the face on a couple sheets of notebook paper and I know why my former coaches used to be in a different world. I think they were actually trying to get into my mind/body and figure out exactly what I needed. At this point, I am enjoying the stresses of making changes along the way. However, it is the time when I am not talking with the mids on the phone or e-mailing or texting that my mind begins to get the better of me. I start to reconstruct the previous weeks and lay-out more hypothetical plans. I listen to talk radio to go to sleep at night, because if I was left to my own internal conversations I would be up all night going through these scenarios.
Being the athlete is easy, you have control. Being the coach (as an athlete) is fun, but not easy. In 15 days, I am going to want to be on the start line for each of them and not have to stand on the sidelines reminding them to relax or yelling splits or telling them to go to the arms on the run.
With 15 days to go, it is good to know I am headed to Texas to race with them at the Lonestar Triathlon. I am racing the half ironman while they are doing the quarterman. This weekend is more about the prep than the race in my opinion, so I don’t have much concern for how the race goes for them. We need to work on the kinks of pre-race. The 36 hours prior to the race should be the best, as I work to try to get in their heads and work on any more changes that need to be made to the plan.
Every year this date rolls around and I pretty much only have one thing on my mind all day, my sister. It’s Pam’s birthday. It has now been three and a half years, since we lost Pam to depression and each year the distance seems to grow exponentially. For me this year is huge as I move on to another stage in my life, getting married in June. In the couple years following the end of her battle, I was asked if I had siblings and the question pained me. Once I am married, people won’t ask if I have siblings, but will want to know if I have children and how many. It is all just conversation. Recently, I have had people even assume I was an only child. I don’t fault anyone for these assumptions and in my awkwardness, I normally don’t correct them.
This week, at my gym an older woman passed. She was older, but actually only in her mid-fifties. She swam many of the same sessions I did, just down a couple lanes. She was very nice and walked many of the same trails that I run, often waving hello. Little did I know, she too was battling some form of depression. Now her passing is sad, but it does anger me that people whisper things about her suicide. They talk of her likely depression in a very distant tone. It brings me back to my anger with my own dealing with Pam’s battle with depression. If depression were not thought of as something you can cure, by “just sucking it up,” then maybe those with the disease could get the proper treatment.
This is my tiny little attempt to bring out some thought on depression. It is a disease that is caused by altered chemicals in the brain. One can’t just “suck it up.” Therefore, if you know someone who has the disease, don’t whisper, give them a hug and let them know you are there. They may not take your help, but just maybe they will have a little more will to fight their battle.
I have been looking forward to this week for about eight months. When I signed on to work with the Naval Academy team, we decided on a couple training weeks to get together and do some serious work and face-time with as much of the team as we could muster. This is the week of the spring break training trip. At one point, we had about 10 signed up to head south, but due to some un-triathlon related injuries (Kyle Hooker is being missed by all) and some unfortunate family situations the number is 6. However, it is a SOLID group of six young triathletes.
For the week, I am working my schedule into theirs which makes for some interesting dynamics on the trails and roads and in the pool. For example, today was a relatively short day, which started with the weekly 4k set and then a fun 56+ min run. In the pool, I am swimming in our slowest lane and not feeling bad about it because the fastest lane has some former USNA swimmers. Today I was rockin’ with a former USNA hoopster, Sarah Simmler class of ‘10 and a Minnesotan runner/skier, Nate Wallace, class of’11. They have taken to the water much more impressively than my first couple years in the water. Had this been a month ago, I would have been asked to depart the lane. However, they were keeping me just so stoked to be in the water and I was literally pushing 8 seconds/100 better than February. I had my best swim of 2009 and have Sarah and Nate to thank for it.
After the swim, we headed out to Orange Trail, a beautiful, but hot and unshaded dirt road in the outskirts of Clermont. There we did a longish run with some intervals. I had the great pleasure of being joined by Nate, again, and Scott Terry ‘10, a fellow Virginian and former USNA swimmer. I don’t want to brag about this guy, but he has kept me literally on my toes with regards to running thus far this week. He got off the bike just before me at a triathlon on Sunday and despite passing about 10 other guys, I only made up .2 of a second on him. I am running pretty well these days. Today, he easily hung with me and was looking almost as smooth on the run as he does in the water.
I will be sure to add some more late in the week. Good to go? (as all my athletes recall me ending our conversations)
I am back from training in Clermont and have enjoyed some beautiful weather in Boulder upon my return. Workouts are a bit tougher at altitude, but life is good as I can train and then spend the rest of the day with Bogart and the evening with Lara. Life is good!
However, I am a bit miffed by the powers-that-be around Ironman and have not been able to get into Brazil. The race directors want me to bid on an e-bay auction. Frankly, that is repulsive and absurd to pay 1200 bucks (the average bid) and then still have to pay to get there. It would be cool to cherry-pick a fast race, but something is telling me not to pursue that race. Instead, I have changed my thoughts about the North American races and am going to hit up Ironman USA in Lake Placid. The timing on this will not be ideal, so I will just have to go there and get a Kona slot, so I can enjoy a fun late year ironman, simple right?
Seriously, I am stoked about this idea as I have quite a few close friends from Final Kick headed to the race (some to include one of my former riding buddies Marco) doing their first. The support should be some of the best I have had at a race and seeing all my fellow Final Kick family out there suffering together will only make it that much more fun. I totally feed off this kind of stuff, so that is my calling and I am in for Placid.
Finally, as I was planning my training trip with the midshipman, I realized that I could sneak up to Virginia Beach and run the Shamrock half marathon. This is going to make for a sick trip, but being inside the 10 day window I should be at Shamrock with some good fitness and make a solid showing. Last time I was there, Jerry was literally attempting to will me under the elusive 70 min barrier (I went 70:04!), so I have some work to finish on that course. I will also stick around for a couple days after to see friends and family.
I am looking forward to planning out the next couple weeks as training is getting dam tough and it is getting to crunch time for my Midshipman who are less than 8 weeks from the big show in Lubbock.
This week I have taken a week away from the unpredictable weather of Boulder to partake in a week of very consistent training in Clermont, Florida.I have joined a very eclectic posse with a ridiculously wide range of talent.What I have learned over the couple years is not what your training partners are able to do talent-wise, but what they are going to do consistently.I am currently hangin’ with JZ, Brandon Del Campo, and Carole Sharpless, my normal gym and swim crew.
-JZ- no need for an intro, she dicatates the swim workouts and overall schedule.She and I have the same coach, so this is working pretty well. My intervals are faster for biking and running, but we can often roll the w/u’s and c/d’s at a pretty level rate.
-Brandon- aka BDC- All-American age grouper who could/should race on the pro-line, and like myself is a former collegiate runner.He and I have that long history of running during virtually the same time period, only he was on the left coast at UCLA and I was on the right coast at USNA (left and right here are political statements, as well).He resides in Boulder, and can bring the hammer on the bike.
-Carole- The crew clown who is coming back from nasty injuries. She moved to Boulder last year and works for TRAKKERS. With a history in swimming (key word history), she has turned herself into an all-around tough chick who has a hard time listening to those who hold her back.
Goals for the week are simple, hit each workout, especially since there are even less distractions than I would find in Boulder.Swim every day, even if it is just a 2k after a long day in the saddle.Finally, get ready for camp/spring break here in March with the midshipman.
Thus far, I am hitting all the marks and having a dam good time doing so.Frankly, my only concern is with Bogart back in Boulder.Lara is going to work every day and taking Bogart to doggy daycare.That means the young puppy is playing hard for about six to seven hours a day and apparently sleeping as well as I am (like a rock for nine to ten hours a night).Bogart can barely climb the stairs at night to get to his bed/crate.We are both working out and building strength and fitness. However, I am a bit worried that Bogart’s fitness curve is looking exponential and that I am going to have a task exercising that little dog into exhaustion when I get home in five days.
In 2005, I had the privilege to meet the most dominant triathlete in U.S. history, Scott Molina. I was still in the Marines and was preparing for my first Ironman. I was at a camp/ironman seminar and I was intrigued by his methods of training and coaching, so intrigued that 10 months later I asked him to guide me in my pursuit of achieving my potential in triathlon. My method of selecting a coach looked like this:
#1- I had met him and enjoyed his personality.
#2- He could kick my ass or at one time could have kicked my ass.
#3- He had mentored and coached athletes similar to me.
Scott easily fit these parameters, and for three years I confidently hung, on his every word and guidance. I learned so many details around the sport and learned to push new limits of training and racing. I made gains all around even as I increased my training when I left the Marines and entered the pro ranks. I had seen many guys go backwards, and I was happy to qualify for Kona my first year as a pro. However, I continued to have a sub-par run (relative to perceived potential) and a general plateau at the Ironman distance. It is great to never have gone over 9:35 for an Ironman, but frustrating to only improve by 1% over three years of hard work. I am certain the frustration was mutual. Some friends have asked me why I moved on, so I wanted to share and explain that it was time to find a way off the plateau. To be associated with an amazing talent, innovator, and mentor like Scott was invaluable.
So, my parameters changed as I moved forward:
#1- I had met him and enjoyed his personality.
#2- He understood the sport (hopefully through participation)
#3- He could talk circles around me on the physiology side and could explain how to achieve my goals through very detailed training.
In departing Scott’s guidance, he left me with two areas where I need work (my swim and nailing the details around my troublesome hammy). The parting shots were most helpful and know that I am taking them forward. It would be silly for me to go into detail as to how my amazing new training approach is guaranteed to take me to a new level. With accuracy, I can let my friends and supporters know, the detailed training with Dr. Phil Skiba, M.D. (www.physfarm.com) has begun, and it will be months before we know if it is really working.
The view has been great from the high plateau, but it is time to see what it looks like from a higher peak.
Lara and I went out to the O.C. this past weekend for two occasions. The first was for Lara to do the Huntington Beach/ Surf City Marathon. She worked all winter at her running (along with wedding planning, puppy training, and her job-which is real work!). Her performance showed a bit of fatigue from doing life things and her ability to persevere. It was a good day for her, 3:49, and she will enjoy a little bit of a break now.
The second reason was for pre-wedding festivities, west coast style. Her parents had an open house, NOT an engagement party, and we got to hang out with many of her family and friends out in SoCal. This was a very quick four hours of socializing that came the night before the race. It was a good distraction and made the trip to SoCal more purposeful.
Onto the subject line:
I also ran on Sunday, but only ran the half marathon. It is barely February, and I raced a half marathon, and it went dam well! On Saturday, along with standing around at an open house, I also turned an easy 30 minute run into a 53 minute running tour of Irvine. Yes, once again, I got lost during a run (not a race, at least). I won’t say it made me significantly tired, but I would not call a hilly 50+ min run ideal the day before a fast half marathon.
A year ago, I was nursing a badly tweaked hamstring and continuing to try to push through a problem that was not getting resolved. Now a year removed, and with little solid training, yet, I pushed through 5:32 pace (5:31 and 5:29 in the final miles!). This morning, my legs are not too tired or sore, and I am, of course, more excited to put my head down and really get into the training for 2009. Seventy-two minutes is not a fantastic half marathon time, but once again, it is February 1st.
Last week Joel Myers, Final Kick’s semi-official blogger, allowed me to share a little more with the Final Kick family. I will attach a link. He does a fantastic job of really doing a great entertaining interview. He has interviewed several really fun and quality people associated with FK to include the President of the club and Renee High, an olympic trials marathon runner. His work is a great blend of letting people know more about members of the club and pure fun sarcasm. I have a sneaking suspicion he may be branching out to get some interviews from some more worldly known studs to complement his prying into the Final Kick crowd.
I am currently hanging in Annapolis with the Naval Academy triathlon team and having a blast. I have the privilege of working with a very hard working and extremely talented group of triathletes here at the Academy. We are only twelve weeks out from the Collegiate Nationals and training is becoming VERY important. Between now and April the weather in Annapolis can be bitter, like right now when it is about 30 degrees and borderline rain/snow. This calls for lots of indoor riding and internal motivation. I could literally brag about how internally driven these future leaders are, but I will wait until April 19th when I can feel comfortable giving the whole story of their greatness.
