Sverige and the Millennium Generation

This is a picture of a flag (obviously) from Halmstad, Sweden. I took a trip there with Brooke and my mother over the Thanksgiving holiday and I simply wanted to point out the fact that Halmstad is old. 700 years old this year to be exact.

Plenty happened on my trip overseas, but one consistent conversation addressed the Millennium generation which I may, or may not, be a part of depending on where you are reading about it. Some folks use 1976 as the starting point, while others begin as late as 1980-1982 (I was born in 1981). In any case, I am pretty close to the end of one generation (Generation X) and the beginning of another (Millennium generation).

Generation X was originally touted as the apathetic generation that had a rather pessimistic outlook on like (think grunge music), but obviously things change as these Xers grow old(er) and are no longer in the spotlight. Their priorities, in effect, change for the better it seems. However, I really want to speak about the Millennium generation.

The Millennium generation (MILL G) is starting to really enter the workforce and I think this is the first time that the world is starting to take notice of a generation that is exceptionally different from folks in our past.

The MILL G expects to be: paid more, promoted frequently (and within their first year of work), get more vacation, and have major flexibility when they are actually working. Additionally, and above all else, they want to be happy.

If you are well into your own career you might laugh and say "these guys and gals need to get real." You might well say that every day about everything depending on your level of cynicism. However, if enough people want something then who will be the one who's line of thinking is off?

I should add that this is what our new work force expects, not what they will get.

I really think the more important question is "why they expect this?" What makes them think that they can be happy, healthy and working 15 hours a week whenever the mood strikes?

I cannot answer that, but I can make my own observations.

Service is the major commodity in the U.S. No one is planning to work in a factory for 30 years with the same security that was provided some 30-50 years ago. Nor do they assume that they can have the same quality of life their parents provided them by doing the same things their parents did. The only way (they believe) to give their children the same life their parents provided them is to seek out more education, work more hours, and ultimately make more sacrifices.

I don't know that this is what will ultimately be required of everyone, but I do think it is a safe bet to assume that the status quo for most folks requires more input despite a static output. This leads most to start thinking primarily of themselves and less of everyone else. In other words, they can keep_their_quality of life so long as they avoid kids, wives/husbands, families, etc (especially if they love debt like most people in the generation seem to). Its the ME generation if nothing else. You are going to hear a lot of "What's in it for me?" questions for the next ten years. Relationships will ultimately be dependent on what "the other person is doing for me" instead what "I can do for them."

Triathlon does not only consume a lot of my time through training (and training prep time), it consumes all my time since my training is ultimately affected by how well I recover when not training. Essentially I am the peak of the ME generation.

Fortunately I'm fairly self-aware.

I figure that my own success generally relies on stopping myself from ever thinking that life is dependent on how fast I go (which is ironic in some ways). That can honestly be hard at times because it always clouds my mind no matter how far I try to separate myself from those thoughts. If I have to constantly worry about me, then its hard for me to give to others that need my support. Instead, I need to constantly ask myself how I can make my relationships better with my family, girlfriend, friends, employer, and sponsors. "What can I do for them?" instead of wondering what "they do for me."

Ultimately the people who are close to me in my life are what really matter. That is true even if it sounds painfully trite (and cheesy as far as I'm concerned).

I want to be happy like all the other MILL Gers and fortunately I found a line of work that brings me happiness even when its hard. Perhaps this is the compromise that will come about amongst the MILL Gers. A happy worker will be a hard worker. All human resource folks should take note. We could be the greatest thing to ever happen to the U.S. (and international) economy.

Or maybe we'll be the reason that the U.S. economy collapses. Whatever.

JD

Ryan Shay

Yesterday more than a thousand people gathered in East Jordan, Michigan to say good bye to Ryan Shay. Some wore their emtions on their sleeves while others likely found it hard to hold them back. For myself, it was a chance to show my respect to someone I merely crossed paths with in my own life. I felt compelled to travel across the country to say farewell.

We all sat for over three hours listening to his coaches, families, friends, and preachers genuinely speak about such a wonderful athlete and person.

The common theme seemed to address his tenacity, focus, and compassion. He loved what he did and he loved the people in his life.

I don't really know how to correctly put it, but I felt a sense of "satisfaction" (or ease?) at hearing all of these people speak of him. I don't know that many of us can look back upon our own lives and know that our direction was always towards the goals we laid out before ourselves. For Ryan though; it really seemed to be the case. He never wasted a moment on the wrong path.

Here are some things from yesterday that you all should know:

*More than one thousand people showed up to a funeral in upstate Michigan. This was not a funeral where people "made a showing." It was their destination.

*The State of Michigan recognized Ryan and a State Legislator came to the funeral to present his family with a seal from the state.

*The US Olympic Team delivered an OLY flag to Ryan's family.

*Ryan is survived by his wife, Alicia; his mother and father; and seven siblings (4 brothers and 3 sisters).

*The Ryan Shay Memorial fund has been created and I will provide more information about it shortly.

-JD

IMFL 2007 report

Friends:

I managed to have a big breakthrough performance on Saturday, but it was put into a different perspective with the tragic news of Ryan Shay’s sudden death on the same day. Ryan was an athlete competing in Saturday’s Olympic Trials Marathon in NYC. He collapsed shortly after the five mile marker and was later pronounced dead.

He was 28 years old.

Ryan was a highly decorated runner throughout his life and his focus never deviated from making the U.S. Olympic team and winning the Olympic Marathon. I first met Ryan in 2005 when EAS was putting together a team of endurance athletes from a variety of sports. Ryan was the type of athlete that we all strive to be: hard-working, intelligent, meticulous, and talented.

I was not close to Ryan, but having any connection or insight to such a tragedy has left it hard for me to not say something. As athletes, we often associate happiness with success in competition, but our supporters have a much better perspective. At the end of the day our families, friends, and partners only want to see us come home safely. Their pride and happiness is not hindered by record times or podium finishes.

And it is for this reason that my heart goes out to Shay’s family and friends. They all knew that Ryan may or may not have realized his goals by day’s end, but I know that they never believed that their final “good luck” wishes would be their last words to him.

I believed in Ryan. I knew he was a man that would give his all; both in racing and life.

Rest in Peace.

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I initially passed on the idea of writing much of a report. It seems hard to find motivation to talk about my own day after hearing this news. However, many folks have written to me asking about my day and I feel that it would be selfish to not let my supporters know what happened down in PCB, Florida.

So here we go.

The morning after Ironman Canada I felt a definite sense of dissatisfaction. For the first time ever I actually wanted to race the morning after an Ironman. My coach and I had planned to race Hawaii seven weeks after IMC, but I opted out to focus on Florida. I still felt that I could find better form with ten weeks of training. After years and years of training you get a sense of when you aren’t quite tapped out.

The weather cooperated with me and I managed to get through nearly everything I planned to do in those ten weeks. Clearly I finished just in time as I left Boulder with snow on the ground three days before the race.

On race morning I was ready to go. The field was substantially larger and faster than anything I had yet to participate in aside from Kona 2004. I think over 100 pros toed the line to fight for eight money spots. My hope for a pay day was looking bleak, but I wanted one last chance to race hard in 2007 so I was ready to fight for every position.

The gun went off and I found myself feeling rather comfortable in the swim. Unfortunately comfort is secondary to my desire to be fast and while I did exit the water in a new PR of 55:xx it was still further back from where I hoped to be. However, I often tell my colleagues to “never be disappointed with progress” so I’ll take it.

I had a super fast transition which I attribute to the advice from my buddy Chris “the only guy to win an IM in those compression sock things” McDonald. Essentially, you just keep everything simple. Everyone that entered to tent before me exited behind me.

I quickly settled into a groove on the bike and around mile 10-15 a group of 5-10 people began to form. It primarily consisted of Terry Kerrigan, Petr Vabrousek and myself at the front. We were rolling along nicely and reeling in an athlete or two, but unfortunately my head was telling me weird things.

For one reason or another I pulled over to the side of the road because I was certain I had a flat. It turned out that my brake calipers had shifted slightly, but I actually don’t think they were truly rubbing. I was just having a (bad/dumb/whatever) moment. Well that moment saw about 12-15 guys come flying past me. I hopped back on and started rolling again with the group sitting about 20 seconds up the road. The scenery didn’t change much and neither did my position for the next 30+ miles. I could see that Terry was doing almost all (or maybe it was all) of the pace work and no one was going around him.

I slowly started to reel them in and at the mile 50 mark I made a strong surge to get ahead of that entire group. My plan was to try to break from the group and keep things strong until the turnaround (at mile 75 or so) when I could get a look at the way the race was shaping up. However, it was hard to break away from everyone no matter how hard I tried. I figured I would not ride away from Terry or Petr, but it took nearly 30+ miles before we finally left everyone else behind. There were still 20+ people up the road on us, but the time gaps were reasonable. I kept everything (relatively) pinned until mile 105 when I decided to ease off a bit. I had made some big efforts on the ride (even harder than I had expected to ride) and since we had a tailwind to the finish I felt it might be wise to calm down considering the pace was above 40 kph.

I rolled into T2 with a new bike PR of 4:41:xx and made another speedy transition.

I got out onto the run and I felt tired, but reasonably tired. I was sitting in 22nd place so I knew I would have to do some work to break into the top 10, but even more importantly, I wanted to break 3 hours on the run. I had been trying to break 3 hours for past two years. In 2005 (FL) I fell short because I lacked the fitness. In 2006 (FL) and 2007 (Canada), I lacked the execution. It was finally time to change that.

The first loop of the run was pretty uneventful other than some comic relief I offered myself. I was running along around mile 3 or 4 and I thought to myself “why does this have to hurt now? Why can’t it wait until the second half?” I was getting splits to tenth place at either end of the run loop and it appeared that I was not really making up time, but it did not appear I was losing too much either.

To my pleasant surprise I kept up a nice pace to the mile 19.5 turnaround and I could see a handful of pros up the road. I knew the last 10K would be tough, but I would have to commit to a good effort to break 3 and finish in the top 10. Again, to my pleasant surprise, I kept things rolling and even as the wind picked up in my face I appeared to still have something left in me. My stomach was feeling funky, but I knew at this point that every second mattered so I did not ease up. This time I actually did not fall short of what I set out to do. I finished the marathon in 2:59:50 and made the top 10 by a matter of seconds.

Seeing 8:40 on the clock was almost a bit surreal. It has been frustrating to not see an 8 at the beginning of my finishing times for two whole years. I have to admit that I thought that my first 8:40 finish would be higher than 10th place, but I was proud of that 10th place given the talent and efforts of the gentleman around me.

I PRed everything on Saturday and I got some reinforcement that I am making real progression within the sport that is so dear to me. For that I am pleased, but I am already focused on making those times faster and the placing better.

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Thanks to everyone for supporting me this year and beyond. It has been a tough and challenging year.

Please keep Ryan’s family in your thoughts, but don’t simply go about feeling sorry for them. Instead, be grateful for the people in your own lives.

Until next year,

Justin Daerr

http://www.eas.com/
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http://www.javbike.com/

Gordo's last blog talked about doing small acts that can collectively make a difference. His difference-making act comes from picking up five pieces of trash/day.

Since I was in first grade I have always turned off the water while brushing my teeth (and while shaving, but only since I was in high school). It might not seem like a big deal, but that's a lot of water conserved when you look back over the last twenty years. I imagine Gordo has a similar big-impact-by-a-little-act idea in mind. I encourage you all to do the same. Your actions are important and will not go unnoticed.

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Less than three weeks remain before Ironman Florida and its probably for the best as the seasonal weather changes are trying to force me indoors. I had to laugh when I went out for a ride yesterday. I put a number of layers of clothing on in order to generate lots of heat to simulate_potential_conditions in Florida. Well, I got out riding and realized that I had actually put on the appropriate amount of clothes and that anything less would have me feeling a little chilly!

Nevertheless, I'll be continuing my Bennett-training until race day.

Huh?

I saw Greg Bennett running all summer long in his sweats, gloves, and beanie (even when it was damn toasty out). I don't know if that gave him the edge on his way to earning nearly 500,000 U.S. dollars this summer, but it certainly didn't hurt.

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Another sign of the season ending is the lack of training partners available. Most triathletes are finished with racing and all the cyclists have switched to the their cyclocross gear. I already exploited all my buddies who were training for Hawaii. Fortunately I still have some ITU ladies that will happily hand it to me for the few remaining days of my season.

I'm pretty pleased with all my training since Canada. I don't think there is much more I could have done with these 10 weeks and I can confidently say that I'm as fit as I'm going to get in 2007. Just need a little more tweaking and resting to bring it all together.

Until next week,

jd

Absorbing an Ironman

People often ask me howI can like college football so much more than the NFL. Last Saturday (and Friday) West Virginia, Oklahoma, Rutgers, Florida and Texas were all undefeated top ten teams that lost. If that Oregon receiver had not fumbled the ball for a touchback we might have added Cal to the list.

The NFL will never be able to offer the same kind of action_during_the_regular_season.

South Florida (6) and Kentucky(8) are in the AP Top Ten.

Dude.

DUDE.

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Ok now to talk about real sports. (My passive stab at American Sports Journalists).

My buddy asked me the other day if I thought that an athlete can absorb fitness from an Ironman. Plenty of other athletes use shorter races as training events so why not apply the same concept to an Ironman.

I used to automatically write it off as I could not imagine how any athlete could benefit from such damage. I really think that it depends on the athlete and simply extrapolating my own experiences with IMs won't cut it. However, I cannot say that an athlete benefits more from the race they just did so much as they benefitted from the rest they placed before and after the event itseld. Some people taper as much as four weeks for a key Ironman, but I have_rarely_met anyone that doesn't taper for at least 10-14 days out. Following the event, even the most OCD of folks take a few easy days.

My own personal experience has been that Ironmans beat me up pretty badly and any post race training needs to be approached with caution. If my post-race discomfort was limited to muscle soreness then I might concede that the I could absorb any fitness from this event quickly. The problem is that my discomfort extends to my joints (especially knees) and I feel as though I am acutally nursing a "minor injury."

I lack deep development in any other three disciplines that make up triathlon. Therefore, my progression in each sport has grown alongside the other. I don't know if it applies to others, but this has allowed me to run closer to my open run fitness when racing triathlons than some of my colleagues. As a result, I think I end up beating myself up quite a bit.

My buddies that grew up running seem to bounce back much more quickly because any Ironman running (not the same with short course) does not even come close to what their ligaments, tendons and muscles can handle. I have suffered from dehydration/overheating in some triathlons and I end up running slower than I do in training. As a result I walk away with very little (or no) muscle soreness. This is the best I can do to parallel what they experience after an ultra race like an IM.

Its similar to the swim start for athletes that grew up as swimmer kids. They can handle an aggressive start without compromising the rest of their swim and/or race. Once again, even the fastest of swim starts (in an Ironman) probably doesn't compare to the hardest of hard main sets they did growing up.

Alright, I'm running around a bit with this so let me redirect you back.

Can an Ironman be absorbed for fitness?

I seriously doubt that your fitness can gain more from such a day than it would have gained from two-to-four weeks of solid training (instead of your taper). If you could actually go into the event on short rest and bounce back then I think it would certainly work. Heather Gollnick was getting ready for IM Arizona this spring when she decided she was so fit that she should race Ironman NZ (five weeks prior to AZ). She placed second there and found herself to be recovered within a few days. She went on to win IMAZ. I cannot say that IMNZ helped her win IMAZ, but it certainly didn't compromise her goals.

I see people successfully race IMs back-to-back (and beyond), but I find no evidence to suggest that their second or third race was not compromised by the previous one (even if they win like Heather). Sometimes an athlete is so good that he or she does not need to be their best to win or achieve their goals, but making a living in such a sport does not always require you to be your best. You just need to be better than everyone else.

Keep figuring it out,

JD

IM Stacking

It is fairly hard to believe that I am already looking forward to Basketball (NCAA) season.

That Miami game was.... .....well that topic has been beaten to death on texags.com (and everywhere else) so I'll let those yahoos continue to duke it out.

My consensus: Status Quo.

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Big Matty Stein has been asking me about how I approached/am approaching my training in the ten weeks between IM Canada and IM Florida.

First off, I have never done this before so its hard to really know if I am doing things correctly. I can only truly know once the season is over and I can objectively look at my training and racing. Therefore, I find it hard to say whether I am doing the right things as I am currently just "doing things."

Ironman Florida comes very late in the season and many athletes are mentally (probably not as much physically IMO) fried from a long year and I might have been the same way had my year gone differently.

This past year I trained 'half time' in January-March; then I left the country in May for two weeks for personal reasons (so most of my training stopped); then I contracted giardia in June which sidelined me for a few weeks off and on; then I suffered from the aftershock of the antibiotics and the illness itself throughout the month of July.

I only bring this all up because I finished Ironman Canada this year having felt that the season had barely even started for me. I knew the morning after the race that I had a lot of fight left over and so I decided to put togther a bit of a training push to Ironman Florida in hopes of finishing this year on a high note.

The "push" basically lays itself out into the following pattern:

One week with one hour of exercise
One week with 15 hours of light training; but most of the intensity is in zone 1
One week with normal training volume; but intensity is flexible
Three weeks with normal training volume and intensity
One unload week (for first half)
One moderate week including an OLY race and normal swim volume
One moderate week with normal swim volume
Ironman race week

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First off, let me say that I would have been (and will be) entirely willing to back off if my body's response to training was not (or is not) positive. I think I was fortunate to have my coach tell me back in August that I would "likely bounce back pretty quickly" after IMC. I think I was mentally prepared to see that and probably just assumed that it would happen. However, I did less than he actually predicted I could do during the second week after the race and I know I was doing the right thing. After two easy weeks my body seemed to be training instead of recovering.

The first week back made me pretty sleepy and I took naps every day, but I didn't generate much of that "deep fatigue" that I hear about. I don't doubt that I could be exceptionally tired over the course of the next few weeks, but I'm confident in my intuition to do the right thing if rest is needed. I was pretty damn tired after having giardia this summer and I feel a whole lot better now. Its not a very scientific or objective approach to judging training stress and recovery, but it works for my head.

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I'll keep you guys in the know as to how everything is going.

-jd

I often think it is pretty absurd to have conversations about "what I/you would do if I/you won the lottery." Nevertheless, I found myself in the midst of one of those conversations while hiking up to American Lakes with Brooke.

Thing is; when I participate in these conversations its even more absurd because I don't actually buy lottery tickets (and I doubt anyone I read about in Forbes does either). So instead of pondering what I would do if I won the lottery I am actually pondering about what I would do if some random guy came up to me and handed me a ridiculous amount of money. That is truly absurd.

I'm not spinning this into anything. Its simply something I thought about the other day.

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THE SHORT LIFE OF FITNESS

This past Monday I was swimming with Chris at Elks. We weren't particularly moving very fast, but our breathing sure made you think that we were.

I turned to him between a set and said "Can you believe you were an Ironman Champion two weeks ago?"

Remember this: someone who is always fit is never really fit.

Some of the fastest people in the world have wonderful amounts of unrealized potential. It takes guts to back off from your last level of peak fitness to build yourself up again. Some people might have thought Chris was crazy when he took a month off this spring, but I'm willing to bet he didn't look so dumb crossing the finish line first in Kentucky this summer.

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By the way, I'll be racing Ironman Florida this November. It will be the final event of this season and I'm sure it will go well so long as the next month of training goes at it should.

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"GOING GOOD"

If an athlete is racing well, he or she is not "racing well." They are "going good." It has nothing to do with correct or incorrect grammar. Its simply the way it is.

Just thought I would help you guys be more hip. You can laugh to yourself when someone who's not in the know corrects your grammar. Suckas.

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Much love,

JD

IMC race report

Friends,

I apologize for my delay on a race report, but I had to get 1400 miles of driving out of the way after finishing Ironman Canada on Sunday. I was glad I took the land route this time around, but I think I will opt for a flight to southern BC should I race therea gain.

Race Morning.

I lined up right behind my good friend Gordo at the start of the swim as I had hoped he would have a feel for where the best pack of swimmers (for us) would be once we got rolling. Unfortunately I lost him shortly after the cannon went off and it was largley in part to my left goggle eye filling with water and limiting my sight. Oh well.

After a few minutess I found myself swimming just behind a pack of five or six athletes (with a train of my own behind me). I bridged up to the back of that pack and we all stayed together for the final 3000+meters to shore. The group was fairly controlled and the pace only picked up when the camera crew came alongside of us. Its all about looking good for the camera.

The group hit the shore a little over 57 minutes which definitely surprised me, but I was less worried about swim PRs given the company I came out with. A quick transition (my fastet T1 yet in an IM) and I was rolling. My general plan was to float the first 40 miles to the base of Richter Pass before opening it up a bit. I kept things under control to the base of the pass and even had a couple athletes sitting 10-20 meters behind me to keep me honest. Once we hit the pass I opened it up and by the second step of the climb I had dropped anyone that had gone with me from the start.

After descending I found myself dealing with a good bit of wind and the rollers were turning into mini climbs given the speed I was forced to ride. Nevertheless I felt good and once I got through the rollers I kept my heart rate hovering under 160 in the flats and the out-and-back. I continued to push to the base of Yellow Lake and the fantastic amount of spectators along the YL climb carried me to the summit. From there you get a net downhill to the finish which is quite welcome although the headwind was not.

Another (somewhat) quick transition and I was out onto the run. Serge Meyer (SUI) and I started the run together and after a couple miles it was clear that we were not going to split up. My brother told me that I was 5 minutes from 8th and 6 minutes from 5th at the startof the run so I was hoping that Team Serge/JD could work together to run ourselves into the money.

We ran nicely to the turnaround in OK Falls and got a look at the competition up the road. It was at this point that Serge and I actually spoke to one another.We basically concluded that money spots were possible, but we would have to make sure that the pace did not fall off. The return was a bit more difficult. We had to deal with a headwind on the way back, but the second half of the marathon in an Ironman is just plain hard so that was likely the primary issue.

Sadly, I fell off pace around mile 19 and simply did my best to hold everything together to the finish. Places 6-11 (I was 11th) were within five minutes of one another so it certainly was a frustrating finish. I did manage a new run PR of 3:02:xx and continued my streak of setting new marathon PRs in every Ironman I have raced to date (six total now).

I can say that I took a lot away from this race. Racing professionally at the Ironman distance takes both fitness and tactics into account. Making the right moves at the right time can be the difference between success and obscurity. I am learning what it is going to take to fulfill my goals in the future.

Thanks to my family, friends, sponsors, and my Canadian homestay (Scott and Sarah McMillan; www.f9tc.com) for all the support you have given me this year (and beyond). I will send another update shortly about upcoming races.

Cheers,

Justin

www.justindaerr.com

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Canada

Howdy folks.

I made it up to the Northern Country earlier this week and I've been settling into my temporary home in Penticton. I have had the good fortune to have a place to stay with Scott and Sarah McMillan (www.f9tc.com); both of them will be racing next Sunday as well.

The remainder of my trip was quite uneventful except for a little interrogation at the Canadian border. My Texas License plate and my Colorado residence didn't seem to sit well with them. (I currently live in Boulder, but for the last 3 years I have had a rotating residence so I kept everything registered at my brother's place in Texas). The friendly border folks eventually got over my shadiness and let me enter the country. I have not had the pleasure of seeing very much of the country, but what I have seen is great.

I have had the oppurtunity to check out all sections of the course (S,B and R) during my training sessions. This was the exact reason that I decided to travel to Penticton so early. Its one thing to drive the course or see the course, but actually feeling it on the bike can be a totally different scenario. You get a much better mental makeup of the course when you have felt it; as opposed to having just seen it.

I'll check back in a couple more times this week. Keep thinking positive thoughts for Team Good Guys and me. The rest of the clan arrives today.

cheers,

j

Thoughts

As I was leaving Billings yesterday I noticed there was a notepad with "Thoughts" written at the top. Apparently this motel provides everyone with some pen and paper to keep tracks of their thoughts.

Well I decided to take this pen and paper with me on my drive to Spokane, Washington to record my own thoughts. Without thorough explanations; this is what I wrote:

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Billings, MO is pretty industrial.

Every part of Montana is either on fire, has been on fire, or could be on fire if someone sneezed wrong.

I bet this drive would be much prettier if visiblity wasn't reduced because of the smoke.

Religion (Christianity) is clearly very important to the people of Montana.

I need to start fly fishing.

There are a lot of really big trucks in Montana. Even more so than Texas.

I wonder how many bugs are on my bike.

Bozeman doesn't seem that cool.

I cannot believe that Mike Schoenfeld lived in Bozeman for a year.

Missoula seems like a place I should check out some time.

But maybe when it isn't actually on fire.

Sort of ironic that there is a forest fire just above the exit sign for a firejumping training facility.

I'm not much for Harry Potter.

Lake CdA is quite pretty. A bit busy, but still quite nice.

There are a lot of ads on the radio about Meth Abuse.

There seem to be a lot of "Taco Time" 'restaurants' here.

I bet Taco Cabana is better. It always is.

I could go for a quesadilla from Taco C, but it isn't 4:00 a.m. so it just wouldn't feel right.

I need to go to Sturgis.

A lot of really big people ride motorcycles.

Spokane is cooler than I thought it would be.

There are espresso shacks everywhere in Spokane.

I'm tired.

Damn there are a lot of bugs on my bike.

Marilyn's bike is much lighter than mine.

My front race wheel is lighter than Marilyn's. OHHHHH snap.

When my car has all of M and I's gear in it the resale value doubles.

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From this morning

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I'm tired.

The coffee here is terrible.

There are ads on TV here about Meth Abuse. I'm sensing a trend.

USA today wrote that the 20s are the new teen years; As it relates to self destruction. Breakthrough stuff there.

The breakfast buffet here is lame.

I wonder if they throw out the unused boiled eggs at the end of the day.

I doubt it. This one tastes a week old.

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-justin

Wide Open spaces

I cruised from Boulder to Billings, Montana yesterday. Its not the most eventful drive, but the endless view of 'nothing' calms my soul a bit. When I first started riding my bike extensively outside of College Station, Tx I often found myself in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.

But when riding through nowhere I would be focused on the task at hand so it was just as noisy as the city I left. I guarantee that a flat tire or two helped give me a clearer view of the world around me at the time. Flat tires are a drag, but once the wind stopped filling my ears I got a clear understanding of how calm and peaceful my surroundings were. And all of a sudden everyone in the world would seem to be lost except me.

When I was driving through Northern Wyoming yesterday I pulled over to the side of the road the get something out of my trunk. At that moment there was not a car for miles in either direction (on an Interstate!) and got to hear my favorite sound: nothing.

I seem to seek out those quiet spots quite often. Its as if I seek a place of being untouchable. No internet, no cell phones, no tv, no one talking, no one driving, etc. All that's left is me (and often times my bike, but it doesn't talk).

Now for a run and then a drive to Spokane, WA.

-justin

two weeks left

I got a note from a buddy to get going on the blog,but I have had a hard time quieting myself over the last two weeks. Its pretty difficult for me to write anything when I cannot even keep a straight face for two minutes. I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't make it through one sentence with my buddies without cracking some joke or making some comment to
get a rise out of everyone.

I personally see this as a sign of genuine friendship with the folks that I have trained alongside with this year. The greatest friendships I have ever known have always involved an incredible amount of laughter and its wonderful to see that these friendships are obviously no different.

Ironman Canada is two weeks away now. I started the year without any intentions of doing this race, but I changed my race plans after traveling to Sweden in June to say good bye to my Grandfather. Despite the circumstances for the choice; I could not be happier that I found myself gunning for this one.

Why?

I suppose the dynamics of this choice had many indirect effects on my life that have turned out for the best. Its always a fulfilling moment when you realize that the lead up to a race is what will be remembered when its all said and done. I suppose the finishing time might fill some memory space as well, but it certainly won't be the justification for this year.

My friends will be.

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My summer training has essentially come to an end and tomorrow I will be heading out to Penticton, Canada for two weeks. I'll be spreading the trip (in the car!) over three days to keep the travel stress low (and to not neglect some training). Heading out there early will give me the oppurtunity to really understand the course by riding it in pieces over the next couple weeks.

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I'll give you all a new heads up when I get to Penticton on Wednesday. Health is good. Fitness is
good. My head is good. I'm looking forward to racing long again.

cheers,

j

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Television, racing, and 14,200 feet of fun

If you're a Colorado local then you might have turned on Channel Nine news at noon on Friday and decided that I am a damn liar.

I didn't appear on live news like it was originally planned. There was a major explosion in the Denver area and that took precedent over me. I did do a taped interview with Channel Nine and Channel Seven which were both aired at some point over the weekend (though I'm not sure when).

I also did three radio interviews (two local; one national) on Friday. I was scheduled to do an additional interview on Sirius, but I was bumped by Michael Vick which was one of the more surreal moments of my day (and life).

The entire day was a completely new experience and I was pretty wiped out by the end of it, but I was really psyched that I had the oppurtunity to do more than race for one of my sponsors.

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I also raced the EAS Boulder Peak triathlon this weekend. Good times

I always have a bit of anxiety with these high profile short course races, but a couple of my long course amigos were racing alongside me so that gave me a little more to work with.

The water was above 72 so the elites were racing without wetsuits and I have ZERO issues with that since marginally warms waters have a tendency to blow me up like no other.

We had a pretty big elite field with almost 35 guys. Given the caliber of athleticism in Boulder this was going to be a fast and hard race. I was sure that the swim would include an aggressive start so I was merely hoping to get towed out for 2-400 meters where I had hopes of finding a group to swim tempo with.

The race director gave the final warning at 30 seconds and all I remember from that moment to the firing of the gun was the silence. Everyone: the spectators, the athletes... ...it was like a golf tournament. Pretty cool actually.

The race kicked off like I thought, but I found myself gapped from the two main groups ahead of me. I actually moved ahead of the guys around me and solo TTed for nearly 1000 meters to the swim finish. I came out about 4 minutes from the lead guys, but about 60+ seconds from the second pack. I'm going to need to get my swim starts down as I likely wasted time and energy missing that train.

Nevertheless, I was off onto the 42K bike course. I felt nice and smooth and fortunately I was not dealing with a 190+ heart rate that I often see after T1 in short course races. I paced myself nicely to the base of Olde Stage and summitted the climb within my comfort zone. The rest of the ride was uneventful and I hopped off the bike with hopes of running down a few people on the three loop circuit.

Well that did not happen; at least not by will anyways. I did manage to run a few people down, but that was only a result of the fact that their meltdowns were even great than mine. It was around 100 degrees (our race started at 9:00 after the AG race) on an exposed, windless and dusty run course. No matter what I tried I just couldn't pick the pace up. I was totally tapped out as I saw an immensely elevated heart rate, but without the pace to match it. So I just stayed relaxed and finished the day as best I could. I ended up around 20th in the professional race which was fine by me on the day.

So 2:07 and the 20th place is ground zero for the years to come. I'm hoping to make this race a staple over the years as long as Boulder is a place I call home. Plenty of room to grow there!

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Yesterday I finally did a ride I had hoped to do for over two years now. I rode to the top of Mount Evans (14,200 feet) via the highest paved road in North America. However, in hopes of making the ride truly epic we made sure to ride eight hours and climb over 12,500 feet along the way.

Chris McDonald (www.trimacca.com) , Marilyn MacDonald (www.marilynmacdonald) and I rolled from their summer home in Nederland around 7:00 yesterday morning and made our way up a long, long, long climb. I have never been above 13,000 feet on foot (or bike) so I was really looking forward to getting to the top.

All three of us stayed together the entire day with the exception of a few miles and we all walked away with a new experience at day's end.

Around 10,000 feet (when the air was getting quite thin) Chris commented that he felt ( and I agreed) that very few of the professional triathletes living and training in BoCO would (or have done) the ride we were currently doing.

I responded: "Dude, most people haven't even ridden up Sunshine Canyon, let alone Mt Evans."

Training works best with routine, but the willingness to train can be fueled by adventure. Don't let pace and power compromise your need to have fun fromt time to time. I might not be able to justify the physiological gains from a ride like that, but it will be one of the few days I will remember when this is all said and done.

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The Ironman Canada preps are continuing to go well.

All the best,

Justin

News broadcast today

Sorry I could not post this earlier, but......

I will be appearing on Channel Nine (Denver, CO) during the 12:00-12:30 newscast today, Friday July 20th.

-Justin

Three Years to improve

A friend of mine sent me an email a few days ago.

In this email he asked as to whether or not I thought it was possible to make enough improvement over the course of three years to qualify for Kona in 2010.

My first IM in May 2001 was 12:55. My second in November 2003 was 9:20. In addition to his first question, he asked what it took for me to make that progression in the course of 2.5 years.

I responded with the following email.

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Justin writes:

Yo-

I'm not quite sure how to answer this question. I can give you the rundown on how I improved, but that might not be the answer as it relates to what will make you improve.

Some basic factors for Long course improvement (In my opinion) would include:

1. Bike Volume. It will need to be quite solid at some point in your life (and you need a good relationship with your bike). Long course athletes typically always make a big jump from this. I like to see all intensities addressed at some point each season; not limited to easy/steady. I prefer fartlek training based on terrain that can address all systems until you are in a specific race prep.

2. Proper run biomechanics coupled with frequent running. I also suggest being a sucker for soft surfaces. I run on soft surfaces all the time with the exception of some sessions specifically designed for eccentric overload (and these run a risk).

3. Adequate technique in the water that allows for conditioning. IOW, stroke can always be worked on; but it initially needs to be_good_enough for fitness improvements. I believe in drills and technique, but training/conditioning is specific to the muscles trained (there is general conditioning carryover from BRing, but not on site at the muscles).

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My IM in 2001 was mostly just an adventure for me. I likely trained about 8-12 hours/week, but I generally considered it as exercise/working out since it wasn't many more hours from my days of lifting and cardio w/os. I did about 3-4 rides over 2 hours (total) and I didn't run over 90 minutes from Feb-May (race was in May). I also swam about 2000-4000 yds/week at most and I don't think I swam more than once in May leading up to the race (needed the taper:)

My point is that I might have finished the event a little more quickly had I understood what the hell I was supposed to do. 12:55 may or may not have been an adequate assessment of my fitness at the time, but it was a starting point in any case.

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I made some good improvements from may 01 to may 02 and it primarily came from riding my bike.

I simply enjoyed riding 3-5 hours 2-4x/week (usually 10-12 hours/week with the occasional 15).

I didn't have major intentions of improving in my first couple years in triathlon (I just really liked to ride and the swimming and running were part of the gig).

It wasn't until a couple seasons had passed that I started to do what I 'needed' instea of what I wanted (and even that wasn't always addressed adequately because I lacked a consistently objective source).

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I don't know how much of my progression can be attributed to what makes-me-me, but I personally believe that the major gains came from my consistent willingness to train as well as my need for social interactions (my friends didn't train and I enjoyed their company. that meant time away from training). I always trained, but I never burned myself out.

I'm also not sure I can assume my path of improvement will work equally with anyone who plugs in the formula.

Frankly I'm sure could have done things "better" (or worse!) and if I were to help someone I would guide them differently that I guided myself. Nevertheless, adventures of self-discovery do have their place.

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In the end I would tell you this:

If you want to qualify for Hawaii in 2010 then you have to make sure that you_really_enjoy triathlon.

I'm not really talking about balance in your life (that's another discussion).

I'm talking about what you find to be fun within thise sport.. That does not mean you have to be indifferent to your results. It just means that the process of attaining results is what brings you joy (and not relying on the results themselves to make you happy).

If you can focus on doing fun events and training in the next three years then I imagine you will find yourself with the best level of improvement when Sept 2010 comes around. I don't know that it will be enough for Kona or not, but I imagine it will be your best given the time you have put in leading to that date.

You can work with a three year plan, but keep the focus within the year, month, week, and day.

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I will post some follow up as it comes.

-Justin