Latest article from www.xtri.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Avoiding early season setbacks” is a common theme on triathlon, cycling, running, etc. publications/websites at this time of year. While it is only the last week in January, some of you might still be receiving this advice a little too late. Additionally, many people follow all the rules and do all the right things only to find themselves in the exact same place.

Ok, so here you are. You made all these fantastic plans for this upcoming season. You were going to eat right, train hard, recover better and, most importantly, go faster. Then all of a sudden you get sick, you get injured, you get overworked, or just generally get off track. At any rate, your idea of a perfect season has slowly drifted away. If, and when, this occurs, you should do your best to keep the following in mind:

1. The perfect season does not exist. When you sat down to write out your season plans and goals you might have forgotten that no season in the past has gone perfectly according to plan. No matter how well we plan or how hard we try, we will never be granted a perfect season simply because life does not work in a vacuum. “Perfection” is ultimately subjected to our reactions to life’s curve balls. Always doing our best, in every given scenario, is all we can ask ourselves.

2. Stay in the moment. If you find yourself recovering from an illness, injury, or some other life circumstance, it is important to stay in the moment. Do not get caught up in missed opportunities and be wary of trying to ‘force fitness’ with constant ‘make-up sessions.’ Instead, consider what got you here in the first place and make the appropriate decisions that will help you get back on top of your game.

3. Success, in racing or otherwise, happens in spite of bad things occurring. “Bad things occurring” mean this: people who succeed don’t have better ‘luck’ than you or me. This is somewhat of a continuation of my first point, but I think it deserves some extra emphasis. Every time I have let my ‘bad luck’ get the best of me I have lost the race before the gun even went off. My bad attitude would not even allow me the chance of having any level of success. Do not let the same thing happen to you; as I said before: do your best no matter what.

When life challenges you, just smile and get back out there. As trite as it may sound, we cannot control what happens to us; we can only control our reaction(s).

This past weekend I had the pleasure of competing in the 4^th annual Challenge Wanaka Event on the south island of New Zealand. I raced to a 4^th place finish last year and I returned this year with hopes of improving on that performance. I did my preps for the 2009 edition in Australia, but this year I opted to stay at home in Boulder for my training. I had some interesting challenges with the weather, but I still felt good about my conditioning in the final lead up.

Wanaka had been experiencing some cold weather in the weeks before the race and when I showed up the lake was less than 13 degrees Celsius. We had nice race-week weather which likely moved the temperature up a couple degrees, but it was still one of the coldest swims I have done. Last year we had warmer water, but fairly rough conditions. This year the swim was dead flat and fairly uneventful for me. I ended up pulling the second pack of the swimmers around the course and I exited the water side-by-side with eventual winner, Richard Ussher (NZ).

After a mediocre T1 (but way better than T1 last year) I was off on the bike. A couple of riders, including Ussher, pulled away from me quickly during the opening 40K of the bike (which is very hilly); I tried to close the gap, but they proved to be too strong on this section of the course.  As we headed out of town to tackle the meat of the bike course I was concerned that a group of three had formed up the road and I was left in no-man’s land. This was not how I had hoped for the first couple hours of the race to unfold.

Nevertheless, I felt good and I settled into a nice rhythm about two minutes off the group. I forgot how rough NZ chip roads can be, but I had plenty of alone time to take notice. The bike is a one-loop course with one short out-and-back at the 160K mark. As a result, I had to wait quite some time to see how my position on the bike was developing. At this point I could see that Ussher had ridden off the front, but 2^nd and 3^rd place were within about three minutes.

I was not in the position I had hoped for coming off the bike (4^th), but I looked forward to seeing what I could do on the run. I settled into a nice rhythm after the first few Ks and around the 6K mark I heard that 3^rd place was only 30 seconds up the road. This motivated me as I have never finished 3^rd in an international race and within about ten minutes I had taken over the 3^rd place position.

The first loop of the run continued fairly uneventfully and around the 17K mark I could see that 2^nd place still had over 3 minutes on me. As we returned to town and headed back out for the second loop I got a split of about 2:40 to second place. The gap to second had not come down for 21K, but all of a sudden it dropped about 30 seconds.

I continued to tick along and I wasn’t sure whether or not anything had changed, but around the 28K mark I could actually see second place running on the trails. After exiting the trail section (10K to go) it looked as though the gap was now only a handful of seconds and by the top of Gunn Road (8K to go) I took over 2^nd place.

In 2008, when I was racing Ironman Canada, I managed to run into 4^th place with about 5 miles to go, only to be passed by the former 4^th place runner in the last mile (and subsequently finished 5^th). As a result of this, when I moved into 2^nd place on Saturday I started running scared and I never slowed down until I crossed that finish line. Only then was I content that I wouldn’t be caught. This fear is likely what helped me post the fastest run split of the day as well as a new marathon PR.

Last year and I came off the bike in 2^nd and finished 4^th. This year the exact opposite occurred. Perhaps I can find a way to ride like last year and run like this year in the future, but for now I am quite pleased with how things turned out. Wanaka has been good to me for the past two years and I really enjoy racing there. The race is like no other. If you are looking for an honest course in a beautiful place, head to Wanaka next January.

cheers,

justin

Tomorrow afternoon I will start my 30 hour journey to the south island of NZ. My brother and sister-in-law will be joining in LA so at least I’ll have someone to talk to for most of the trip.

Its freezing in Boulder at the moment, but the training for this race has gone fairly well considering the time of the year. I spent a little over two weeks in Tucson before Christmas and that seemed to give me a nice boost of fitness after returning to Colorado 2+ weeks ago.

I’m excited that its 2010 and I’m glad I have the opportunity to start things off on a positive note next week. I really enjoyed racing in Wanaka a year ago and I expect the same this time, but I wouldn’t mind if the rain and cold could hold off while we race. Nevertheless, training in Boulder in Dec+Jan makes most conditions seems reasonable.

I’m not sure I will be checking in here before the race, but you can follow updates on twitter:

www.twitter.com/justindaerr

-jd

I recently wrote an article called “The Extra Gear” on xtri (posted below this). After finishing I had an afterthought that applies nicely.

I was standing on deck at the Elks Pool in Boulder with Wolfgang Dietrich. He was coaching the club team there and they were in the midst of a workout that consisted of some best-effort distance repeats. Wolfgang and I were chatting and he pointed out that the times the fast lane was swimming was far, far below their racing potential, but he continued by stating that “he didn’t care.” His reason, he explained, was that they all show up on race day.

Something happens when they step on the blocks and they become their potential. As long as that continued to happen, Wolfgang had little concern with having them hit faster times in training.

This was a very insightful move by a coach. This coach knows how to get performance from his athletes when it actually matters. Its a nice balance of art and sport.

jd

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Article:

The Extra Gear

Have you ever had a training partner that you can train side by side with, but seems to pull away from you every time you both race? I bet you do.

How about the flipside: Do you know someone who is always dropping you in training, but finishes well behind you on race day? I bet you do.

A few months ago I was reading one of Bobby McGee’s books and he mentioned how crucial it was for Long Course (tri)athletes to hold back during their long training; particularly as they approach season best fitness before their key race. Many years ago, I remember reading an article (or interview) with Peter Reid in which Peter recalled training with Mike Pigg. On one particular day things were going along nicely in training and Peter shifted to the biggest gear: the 11. Mike turned to him and said “save the 11 for race day.” That statement stuck with Peter and, in turn, Peter’s recollection of the moment has stuck with me (Thanks).

It is easy to understand why we, as athletes, want to get into that last gear. If we are convinced that hard work produces results, then harder work must produce even better ones. However, chances are that the results you want on race day were left in those best effort sessions conducted day after day in your training. A much better scenario is to conduct your training in a manner where you consistently find yourself holding back.

In a recent conversation, B. McGee mentioned that the power behind consistently holding back shows itself on full force on race day. Why? You will have something that no one else has. You have the extra gear available to use when you so desire. Everyone else has exposed their capabilities in training; while you toe the line ready to discover yours.

When I was 14 years old I got my first job: carrying skis for tourists at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. My father told me that the first 250 dollars I earned had to be put into a savings account which he would then match to bring me to 500 dollars. From then on I could spend as much as I wanted, but the 500 had to remain in the account. 500.00 had become the new zero. This seemed highly irrational at the time; especially when you consider how long it took me to get to 250 when I was only working after school one day a week (and the minimum wage was 4.25/hour).

It took a while, but my father’s point finally kicked in and I still apply this minimum balance principle to this day. I might never spend that 500 dollars, but I still could; that’s the point.

When you arrive on race day, you can have the psychological edge of having that last piece of your fitness that has yet to be used. When everyone else is cashed out, you will still have somewhere to go.

Have a great 2010 everyone,

Justin

My friend (and great athlete), Ed McDevitt, had an awesome race in IMAZ this year. He was forced to not start Kona because of a sinus infection, but pulled it together six weeks later and laid down a big PR. You can read his race report here.

Over two years ago I was staying in Billings, Montana on my way to Penticton, BC. The motel I was staying in had a notepad that had a title of “Your Thoughts.” Since I had nothing better to do for next 18 hours I decided to keep it and write down my random thoughts while driving across a large chunk of America.

Today I was out on my bike for a few hours and I was thinking about that day and about a blog post that Will Frishkorn wrote a couple years ago that listed his thoughts during a race. The following is what I recall thinking today while riding up and down Lefthand Canyon a couple times.

*Its warmer than I thought it would be; I’m going ride up the canyon

*Its windy in this canyon

*That car passed me awfully close and had a bumper sticker asking me “Am I driving cautiously?”

*I wonder if people consciously drive differently once they have that sticker on their car or after someone calls.

*Does anyone ever call?

*That flag is OUT. Its windy.

*Ok, school bus going over the center line of a blind corner. I’m going to just hang out on the far side of the road for a while.

*Hey there’s Marek.

*I think Marek’s top tube is a bit long.

*I wonder if I could tell him about his Top Tube if I preficed it with “can I offer some constructive criticsim?”

*When someone says that to me I can’t help but initially think “Sure #@!$#@!%*&er. Go ahead.”

*Ok, back up the canyon.

*There’s Marek again.

*I think he and I are the only people in this canyon.

*I should remember that ice patch when I descend back down.

*You know who I have respect for? Cows and horses that live in Gunnison County. I can remember driving to the pool when it 36 degrees below zero and those guys were hanging out, no worries.

*Ok, at the top time to descend. Remember the ice.

*Its kind of cold.

*ice

*Actually its quite cold

*ice

*I’m freezing.

*Sand

*If Gordo wants to complain about the heat in Noosa, he best not do it to me.

*I don’t think I should climb this high again. I can’t feel my fingers.

*Ok, starting to warm up.

*I never beat Marilyn once in the sprint at the bottom of this canyon.

*But she’s not here today.

*Victory.

-jd

Well, last night marked the end of the Texas A&M regular season. I personally think the 6-6 record is good when one considers where the team was last year and how many true freshman started this year. I think Jesse Palmer said something (last night) along the lines of “80% of TAMU production this season (sacks, rushing yards, passing yards, etc.) came from freshman.” I have no idea of the accuracy of that statement, but I get the idea: the team is young.

The low points of the season came against Arkansas, Kansas State, and Oklahoma. TAMU was an absolute disaster in these games (particularly against KSU and OU), but I get that. At least, I understand how someone can have days when they don’t even recognize themselves. I’ve certainly experienced it in my own racing. I’ve toed the line on some days in the past where anyone with a pulse could have kicked my ass. However, I do believe that over time I have consolidated these moments to one or two times a year (Boise 70.3 would take the cake this year). If they could reduce this to 1-2x next year, and less the following year, then I think they are right on track for being the team they want to be. (Especially when the team is lined with Juniors and Seniors that have been playing TOGETHER for 2-3 consecutive seasons).

The middle ground for TAMU was beating Utah State by 8; losing a close game to OSU at home, and losing an OT game to CU on the road. I suppose on paper it would seem that the CU game was the worst, but CU is an interesting ball club. I get to see them play more than any team, since I live in Boulder, and I honestly cannot understand why they have the record that they have (but that’s a whole other story).

The high points of the season came with the other five wins (obviously) and clearly the victory over Texas Tech in Lubbock was the highest of all. It certainly saved Kines and Sherman from a lot of severe scrutiny (they still get plenty). If you had swapped that Tech victory with a loss againt KSU or CU I don’t think folks would be as confident in Sherman and co. He needed one stand-out victory and that was it.

Now its time to wait for bowl selection. It looks like it might be the Texas Bowl versus Navy or the Independence Bowl against Tenn or Georgia. Hopefully they can close out the season with a victory to make 2009 a winning season.

Thanks for the Season TAMU. Keep it rolling in 2010.

jd