Last weekend I made it out to a 10K race. We had near
perfect racing weather which was a major contrast to
every running race I’ve done so far this
winter/spring. My mind started to calculate these
magical splits that I would be seeing now that the
weather was not in my way.

I managed to go through mile 1 in a conservative (and
planned) fashion, but I could not descend with my
training partner after that. He was off and I was not.
I descended my own race, but I could not hang with his
race plan. I should know I can’t change how fast I
want to be by wishing for ideal conditions or
complaining about not be ‘fully rested.’ Those sorts
of things account for minor differences and not for
major breakthrough performances.

After the race I heard a lot of people that “need more
speed work” or “need to train harder.” I’m not
knocking them as I was contemplating my on Vo2
intervals, but perhaps we (or I) all need to take a
step back and come to one simple conclusion: We just
need to be more fit if we want to reach our goals. We
need to do more of everything.

A fellow triathlete in AZ, Lewis Elliot (who I have
finished 2nd to in more race than I care to
remember!), and I were having a conversation after
some race last year. He mentioned that someone had
asked him “what was holding him back” from a real
breakthrough race now that he was racing pro.
“Everything. I need_to_get_better at everything.”

Off to the track,

jd

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A couple days each week I stretch a little longer than
I do on the other days. I go over to the National
Training Center and I spend about 30-45 minutes on the
“stretch cage.” For all I know, “stretch cage” might
even be what this contraption is actually called, but
if not, its a good name/description. Basically you
have a series of bars going every way imagineable so
that every angle is covered for your stretching needs.
I see it pretty frequently now in most gyms, but only
in the last couple years so your gym might not have it
yet.

Anyways, I was just getting started the other day when
I noticed this nice lady was staring in my general
direction. For the next 30+ minutes I continued to
stretch and every few minutes my eyes would glance in
her direction, I would catch her looking over, and she
would quickly look in a different direction. I suppose
I was flattered, but I kind of wondered why she has
been doing this for so long. It had gone from cool to
weird.

Eventually I finished stretching and walked away. Just
as I did she walked over to the “cage” and proceeded
to begin her own routine. This poor lady had been
waiting for over half_an_hour for this thing. I don’t
know what I find more amusing; the fact that someone
waited so long for this thing (its not_that_great) or
the fact that I actually thought it was me she was
interested in and not “the cage.” I think the latter
is more amusing. Hints the title of this blog.

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

More of the same going on this week. I’ve had some
good sessions and I’ll be racing the Winter Park 10K
tomorrow. (Mark B is going down!) Its the last running
race I’ll be doing this spring before the tris begin
on April 2nd.

-jd

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Well I tried to get the triathlon season started last
Saturday, but I only succeeded to start about 60% of
it. I was signed up to race in a smaller OLY triathlon
on Saturday out on the southeast side of Orlando. I
planned to get there quite early to ride a loop of the
bike coure, run a loop of the run course, and get a
good swim in before the start.

Somehow absolutely none of the above happened and I
found myself in the transition area setting up my bike
with just a couple minutes before the start. I didn’t
even have my wetsuit on yet. So much for warming up. I
got over to the start and heard the race director say
“we didn’t mark the bike course very well.” Awesome. I
didn’t get a look at the bike course map either.

The race started and I felt pretty crappy until the
first loop of the swim was done. Missing a warm up
hurt me, but that’s what first races are for: getting
used to feeling uncomfortable again.

I got out in a decent position to the leaders and hit
the bike hard. I was making good progresss, but
eventually I realized I had cut the bike course.
Instead of backtracking I decided to ride hard to the
finish to get some power data, turn my timing chip in,
and run 90 minutes on my own. I felt really good on
the bike so this was rather unfortunate.

After running one loop of the bike course on my own I
came back to the post-race tent to get a snack and it
appeared that everyone in the Elite wave had cut the
course and continued racing. The problem was that
everyone cut it in a different way (not
intentionally). A lot of them were angry with the race
director and I don’t blame them, but, at the same
time, I also don’t blame the race director. At least,
I don’t place the blame solely on either party.

It is an athlete’s responsibility to know the course,
but I think its also the race director’s
responsibility to mark a course well. Thing is, he had
the course marked very well on every turn (with
flaggers, cops, etc), except the one everybody missed.
A simple cone with an arrow would have solved
everything

It happens. I didn’t let it get me down. I got some
good training in regardless of what happened. I’ll be
racing on the first weekend of April so at least I got
a little taste of what’s to come.

-jd

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“This conversation is about as arbitrary as discussing
what we would do with our own aircraft carriers.”

-I said this after a discussion about which women
appeal to us (Blake and I). Our eat-sleep-train
pattern leaves little time for real world
applicability.

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

My favorite swim training partners have been female. I
realized this the other day when Heather Gollnick was
in town. Heather is originally from WI and knows Blake
so she joined us last week for one of our swim
workouts (or, perhaps we joined her since she was the
fastest).

Last year I consistently swam with Marilyn MacDonald
and Joanna Lawn and both had ‘the look.’ Once the
workout would start they were completely engaged with
the workout and their eyes never waivered from the
clock between sets. Heather was the same way. For a
few moments, nothing really matters to them other than
that set of 200s. I like that kind of focus. They are
friendly as ever before and after the workouts, but
they are all business during the set. I like that as
well.

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

Blake and I headed over to Jacksonville this past
weekend for the Gate River Race 15K. It was the U.S.
National 15K championship so plenty of people made it
to the race. My cousin David and his wife Alicia, who
live in Jax, were planning to race as well so it was a
great chance to catch up with family and get a race
in.

The race is relatively flat except for a bridge in
mile 2 (not such a big deal) and big bridge in mile 8
(big deal). My average HR for mile 8 was 190. Pretty
rough. I finished up in 54:48 and beat my goal of 55
flat (but you won’t find my results since I lost my
chip around mile 5 or so). David, Alicia and BB also
had good races and we celebrated with a few free beers
courtesy of Miller afterwards.

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

I’m planning to race an OLY race this weekend so that
will be the first race of the season.

-jd

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Well I made a quick trip to Texas over the weekend.
Tom Rodgers and I have worked together on a couple of
the Texas Tri Camps over the past few years. I missed
last year’s camp, but I managed to find the time to
make it this year. It was nice to get out of Florida
over the weekend and the camp was a great success. I
met some great people and it seemed like the whole
weekend rolled along nicely without incident.

Couple things I thought about over the weekend…

The flight attendant that served my section of the
airplane (from Orlando to DFW) was rude. Really rude.
I suppose I could mention the airline, but it probably
wouldn’t make a difference when you or I make our next
airline ticket purchase.

Jonathan (the dude sitting next to me on the flight)
turned to me early in the flight to inquire as to
whether I normally fly said airline. This eventually
led to a coversation about working in sales, cross
cultural customer service conflicts (hey Dad, J;
remember Andorra!!!), brand loyalty, etc., etc.

I suppose that flying in the 1970s and 80s was
different than now (I flew in the 80s, but I don’t
remember the customer service). I think flying today
is sort of like getting gas. It really isn’t about
brand loyalty or customer service. Its about
convenience and price. Nothing wrong with that, but it
might explain how a flight attendant might be more
concerned with the utilitarian side of her job (as
opposed to ’serving with a smile’).

People don’t need to spend uber dollars to fly
anymore. Getting from point A to B on time
consistently, and at the lowest price, trumps “the
experience” that might have been present when flying
was a luxury. This probably applies less to flights
overseas, but I did see a flight attendant and a
customer go at each other on a flight back from Paris,
so maybe not.

I left out the name of the airline because this entire
blog could be a result of someone simply having a bad
day. Every day people are deciding whether to love or
hate us based on first impressions. I’ll give her the
benefit of the doubt and assume the best until I meet
her again.

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

I spent the majority of the weekend talking about
training protocols, racing, nutrition, swim/bike/run
technique, etc. I enjoy talking shop. My life would be
rather turtuous otherwise given my surroundings. There
are nearly a dozen books about training/nutrition/ex
phys sitting on the table here and when not
reading/writing/talking about training, I’m
actually… …training.

I actually rarely encourage talking about triathlon
(outside of a small core group of friends/colleagues).
I merely respond and offer my opinions if asked. I
think the biggest advantage of having the common
demoninator of triathlon is accessing what makes each
individual different and/or great (as opposed to
simply having one thing in common).

Everybody came to the tri camp this past weekend to
learn more about the sport and hopefully they did. I
take satisfaction in helping others, but what I really
enjoy is getting to know who they are, what they care
about, what they have passions for, etc. Smokers get
to know one another by sharing a cigarette outside of
a non-smoking venue. Tri camps, races, training
sessions, etc. offer the same for me. I think that is
why the best friends I have from triathlon are the
ones that I can talk with about things other than
triathlon.

Perhaps it puts them on the same level as those who
know me best. My friends and family might know I do
triathlons, but they don’t know me as a triathlete.
They just know me as me and that’s why I love ‘em.

-j

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Blake and I headed over to Tampa Bay last weekend for
a half marathon. The weather forecast kept looking
rather bleak, but it turned out better than we thought
it would be (which really doesn’t say much). It was
still wet, and the warm, humid air made it feel like a
sauna. Blake finished 5th overall in 1:15:50 and I
finished 11th overall in 1:20:20.

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

A G G I E S W I N

Dude, my team NEVER wins the big ones, but they pulled
through last night. The Men’s basketball team really
needed a decisive victory to up their chances to get
into the NCAA tournament. They got it last night
against Texas.

It had an exciting ending with a three pointer at the
buzzer to break the tie, but frankly the teams were
both playing poorly until then. The fact that TAMU
averaged one point per minute in the second half says
something about the pace of the game. It says even
more when you consider that they averaged more than
Texas.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed that TAMU makes the
tourney.

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

I’m about to head to the airport to travel to Dallas
for the weekend. I’m working at the Texas Tri Camp
with an old friend of mine. I’m looking forward to
getting out of town and having a light weekend as it
relates to training. Joe will be there as well so it
will be good to get some face time with my coach.

cheers,

JD

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