Extra Life Triathlon Fitness

This blog has moved to www.extralifetrifit.com. Extra Life Triathlon Fitness is a coaching service to help people achieve exceptional fitness, joy, and fulfillment in the sport of triathlon. Join us today!

Monday, August 31, 2015

The Most Valuable Currency in the Universe


The answer is time.

There it is. Time is the most valuable currency in the universe, and I don't want to waste any of yours by beating around the bush (thank you, by the way, for taking your most valuable currency and spending it reading this).

And now on to the details of why time is more valuable than money.

You can make more money, but you can't make more time.

I don't know who said that first, but I've read it a number of times. It is absolutely true, regardless of how hard we think it is to make money, it is impossible to make more time.

We all only have so many seconds on this earth. Our days are numbered. In fact, each one of us is on an even playing field when it comes to time. 24 hours in a day. If we spend all of that time trying to hoard as much money as we can, our money will outlive us. Time always wins.

Then how do we invest in time? How is it that some people are able to live more fully in the same 24 hours that we all have? Recognizing that every second on this earth is sacred and will not be returned to us but in memory, we should all strive to pack more life into those valuable seconds.

Look to those who set an example of filling their seconds with life. These are people that value experiences over possessions, are generally more joyous and have fewer regrets, and they freely give their time away to those in need.

Jimmy Carter recently announced that he has cancer which has spread to his brain. During his entire press conference on the subject, he was smiling as he thought about his wife, his family, his charity work, and his pursuit of peace in the world.

Smiling.

He didn't hold his head in his hands regretting what he should have done. This is not about his politics, or whether what he did while in office was right or wrong, but it is about the fact that he jumped into the arena that Theodore Roosevelt spoke of and fought passionately about what believed. He filled every second with life, not regretting what he "should" have done, nor regretting what may have failed.

Furthermore, personal success for many people such as this seems to be a natural byproduct of time value. We have the ability to define our own success. Thus, if you are passionate about how you spend your time, it is far more likely that you will become successful.

I fail at this every day. I often waste time, but it is a practice, one that I try to improve upon over (you guessed it) time.

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Bark at the Moon

"Live more than your neighbors. Unleash yourself upon the world and go places, go now. Giggle, no, laugh and bark at the moon like the wild dog that you are. Understand that this is not a dress rehearsal, this is it, your life. Face your fears and live your dreams. Take it all in, yes, every chance you get, come close. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and truly like the company you keep in the empty moments of your life and still remember me, your friend, the BlazeMan, ALS Warrior Poet." - Jon Blais

These words are printed on a crumpled up piece of paper sitting inside my gym bag. From time to time, when I am feeling discouraged or unmotivated, I will pull it out, unfold it, and read it silently to myself.

This passage inspires me, not so much for the words that are printed on the page, but more so for the person who wrote them, Jon Blais. He wrote them as he was dying a slow death from ALS. Who better to know the importance of living life than someone who is about to lose it?

A year before he passed away, Blais "rolled" across the finish line of the Ironman triathlon in Hawaii.

It's easy to say "live each day like it is your last", but without the proper perspective to supplement those words, it's just an empty mantra.

Perspective...

It's easy to see the other side of it as well. For many of us, we haven't had any health scares, have not been at risk of starvation, have had the luxury of a roof over our head. Yet we can still identify the imperfections, where the universe has somehow wronged us. We neglect those things that are blessings to focus on the negative. In that instance, our perspective is broken.

What if we woke up tomorrow with only the things we thanked God for today?

I'm not sure who originally said that. I heard it from an acquaintance who used to hear it from his grandmother. It speaks volumes to how we should "tune" our perspective.

 I think of perspective the same way I think of an FM radio in a car. At times it's tuned to a station you don't like, and you hear nothing but songs that annoy you, and commercials for mattresses you never want to buy. Other times the dial is tuned in between stations, in which case all you get is white noise.

In either of these cases, your commute is filled with annoyance and frustration.

But sometimes the radio is tuned perfectly to a station playing your favorite songs. You listen to the music and it puts a spring in your step. The lyrics inspire you, and despite the fact that you still have to hear commercials from shady mattress salesmen, you still want to share this station with the rest of the world.

The drive is the same. The scenery is the same. The only difference is how your radio station is tuned.

Some of the most inspiring people have a finely tuned positive and optimistic perspective despite the tremendous challenges they face. Jon Blais taught us that each new day on this earth is an opportunity to live, and to live is to take positive action.

So for today, just do it. Go bark at the moon.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Iroonman Boulder 2015 Race Report



Often it is important to step back from something and evaluate why you got into it in the first place. At those times, sometimes the best practice in humility is to take a step back so that you can regain the passion that you risked losing. To take a break and shift focus to important things in life and regain perspective.

It's not quitting. It's realignment.

I didn't quit last weekend at Ironman Boulder, despite the fact that, leading up to the race, I was becoming burned out by training for an Ironman. I didn't hold back, I still gave it my all, and as I look back on this experience, I will once again look back on pride that I finished something difficult that I set out to achieve.

Each race offers a new experience that I would not expect. You would think that after four full Ironmans that I would have a good grasp on what to expect. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Each experience is significantly different, and you do not know what to expect until you are right in the middle of it.

Another set of challenges, another goal achieved. My shortcomings in this race are put into perspective by the stories of others who crossed the finish line with more significant, inspiring, and more meaningful stories to tell. Too many to list here, but they are such that I am reminded that, while I didn't achieve all of my goals, I finished. And I finished with two arms, two legs, and a fully functional body. For that I am fortunate. Such is this sport that reminds us of what we're truly capable of, and to celebrate that. 

It was announced the morning of the race that the swim would be wetsuit optional. This meant that a person could choose to wear a wetsuit, but to wear one would mean forfeiting any opportunity at age group awards or Kona slots. I knew that this was a possibility, but I hadn't prepared for it. After struggling through the IM Texas non-wetsuit swim in May, I was looking forward to a comfortable wetsuit swim in Boulder. After all, every other race at the Boulder Reservoir in August in the past had been wetsuit legal. Why expect that this year would be an outlier? Lesson learned, plan for everything.

Being that I wasn't mentally prepared to swim without a wetsuit, I had a lot of soul searching to do. I had to take another look at what my goals were for this race and then make a decision. Qualifying for Kona has been a goal of mine, and I know I have what it takes to do so with a perfect day. But after my experience in Texas, I recognized that I would not have a "perfect day" if the swim was non-wetsuit. The fact that I had not trained for it, and the fact that we were at altitude would have a significant affect on my swim time and likely demoralize me for the rest of the race. So the goal really became to run the best race I possibly could. 

In retrospect, it's easy to say I should have taken the bold step to join the non-wetsuit swimmers, but in looking at what my motives should be in triathlon, the only person I am competing against is myself. With that perspective, I can never lose as long as I make forward progress. On the other hand, if I "shoot for Kona", I am setting myself up for anxiety, expectation, and disappointment. Kona would be a dream come true, but must remain a secondary benefit to performing at my personal best.

So I chose to wear the wetsuit, and I'm glad I did. The swim was chaos. Instead of a trickle of people at a time getting into the water during the rolling start, it turned into a flood of people. 3000 athletes started the race within 10 minutes, which equates to a "mass start" in my book. This lead to constant contact and combat for the first mile and a half. Unfortunately for the non-wetsuit wave, this meant that a sea of neoprene was consuming them within minutes. 

My swim lasted 1:12, a best for me, excluding Ironman Cabo which was current assisted. Aside from the pandemonium that existed with the other racers, the water was calm, and the conditions were perfect for a good swim.

Onto the bike and I didn't give myself any expectations. I had heard that the course was fast, but hillier than last year. I had ridden some of the course in the days before hand, and found that the hills were short but taxing, so I planned on taking it easy up them. The first 10-15 miles were all familiar, as they followed the course from the previous year. Around mile 20, I had already noticed that I was beginning to feel exhausted and a bit "off". I'm not sure what was wrong with me, but I just wasn't feeling right. So my plan became to make sure that I was getting my nutrition and hydration in at the appropriate times. I was successful at this, and nailed every part of my nutrition plan.

I was through the first 56 miles in about 2:24 so I was once again on track for a sub-5 hour IM ride. This time, though, I wasn't counting on it. I simply wanted to ride within myself so that I could run well and finish at my best. 

Unfortunately, as I went through about mile 70, my "off" feeling was elevating. I still wasn't sure how to describe it, but it just felt like I couldn't perform at my best, and riding at my normal effort resulted in extreme fatigue. So I pressed on at about 80% of normal, which felt about right.

I dismounted the bike at about 4:53, just shy of a bike PR, but I'm very happy with this, since it was much hillier than Texas. 

On to the run and I left T2 crying uncontrollably. I wasn't feeling overly emotional, no. But before I left T2, the sunscreen volunteer asked if I wanted sunscreen on my nose, to which I mistakenly answered "sure, why not". I spent the next 5 minutes struggling through trying to evacuate all of the burning sunscreen from my eyes, rather unsuccessfully I might add. 

After righting that, I fell into a good rhythm at around a half mile, and was quickly caught by a bike announcing the arrival of the 2nd place female, who happened to be one of my teammates. I paced her for a time, but recognized that she had a much faster pace than I had, so I fell back into my own pace. 

Through the first two miles, my "off"ness turned into straight up queasiness and dizziness. I usually hit my dark part of the marathon at around mile 18-19, but now it was coming at mile 3. Realizing that I had 23 miles to go, and not knowing if I faced dehydration or body shutdown, I for the first time, questioned my ability to continue.

I thought of dropping out. I thought of quitting. 

The early cheers of the crowd saying "you look strong!" turned into "are you okay?" In fact, Tim Don, world champion triathlete even asked if I was doing ok as I stumbled by him. 

I walked through the next few miles until I once again reached the support of the downtown crowd support. The support fueled me to a slow run, which I held through about mile 15 (walking the aid stations). I passed by my family a number of times, making sure to appear strong so that they wouldn't worry.

A note about having family or friends at a race. Without their support, I would have never been able to continue. Their support fueled me all the way through this.

Once again, I was at the bottom of the river trail, and faced with walking, but at this point I at least knew that I only had 10 miles remaining. One more trip up the hill, and a quick two miles and I would be finished with this thing. Fortunately, my stomach was feeling better, but my legs were just not cooperating today.

The combination of run/walking got me back up the hill. It was clear that the early onset fatigue I would feel on my long runs during me peak training was catching up with me. Despite training for over 20 hours per week, I didn't benefit from the run training. In fact, it became damaging to my running strength. That damage was showing its ugly head now.

Mile 24 is my favorite part of this race. The reason is that I reach the peak of the hill and begin to run downhill. The last 2-3 miles are downhill, through a sea of supporters and then through downtown to the finish. My 10 minute miles turned into 8 minute miles, and I felt effortless.

Such is the power of the mind to limit the body and spirit.

I finished in a time of 10:52, thus putting a cap on my fourth Ironman. I was grateful to be done for a number of reasons, but most importantly because it was not time to recharge. I need to spend some time away from 20+ hour training weeks, and more time rejuvenating my body and spirit. I need to start missing this sport so that I can return to it more energized and passionate about why I do this in the first place, lest I become more fully burned out by the sport.

There are a number of things that I took from this race experience.

1. The brain truly is a limiter. I wrote a blog post on this a number of months ago. This season I raced more with my brain and less with my spirit. I need to train and race more with my spirit.

2. I need to spend this offseason realigning myself with the spiritual nature of why I train and race triathlons.

3. Nothing can compare to the power of family and friends present to support me during a race. I was fortunate to have my wife, kids, and parents at this race and their energy pushed me through some really dark times. I don't think I could have finished without them there.

4. It's time to become a better runner. I accomplished a number of goals I set out to accomplish this past year. I wanted to become a better swimmer. I did that by knocking off 20 seconds off of my average pace per 100 yards in the pool, and conquering a fear of swimming without a wetsuit. I have also become a good cyclist. I have surpassed where I thought I would be by this time on the bike, clocking two sub-5 hour Ironman bike legs this year. This year my run has been my weak spot. While I would bike myself into age group award contention, I would fade significantly on the run. It's time to put away the bike for a while and focus on run volume training so that I will be more effective in the coming years.

5. I am going to focus on the 70.3 distance for a while. In an effort to get faster, I need to step away from the full distance for a while in order to become a better triathlete. Training for halves give me the capacity to be flexible with my training so that I'm not constantly overloaded. I still have a goal to qualify for Kona, and I think stepping back from the full distance for a while is the best way to achieve this in the long term. In the meantime, I'm going to have fun training for and racing the shorter distance.

I want to thank everyone who supported me through over the last couple years as I began training and racing. Without the support of those who believed in me, I couldn't have achieved half of what I have. To have gone from an unhealthy ball of negativity to the healthy and joyful person I am now is an absolute blessing, and it is only by grace that I have come this far.