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The 10 hardest obstacles to overcome to hear the words “…..you are an Ironman”

I got an interesting email yesterday. A women in Germany wrote me to ask what’s the hardest part of doing an Ironman race. At first I felt I was unqualified to provide the answer as I've only done one, and that one was a bit of train wreck. Click HERE to read all the bloody details.

But what the “Hey”. Ignorance has never stopped me before, so Gerta here you go. Here are the ten hardest obstacles to overcome (in order of difficulty) if you want to hear the words “Gerta you are an Ironman!”

10) Signing up for a race:
These may seem silly but most IMs sell out in like 2.5 seconds. So if you want to race you have to be quick on the draw and sign-up the day after the race for the next year. This means that you now have a full year of training or dreading “that IM day” And please trust me when I say that one year is just way way way to long wait. You can train for an Ironman in about 3 to 4 months if you have a good base.

Waiting one year is just like having a long engagement. You have one year to really consider if all those “cute” things your fiancée does, like burping the national anthem, are traits you want to spend the rest of your life with.

The same is true for an Ironman. You’ll have long hours of self-doubt followed by long hours of fear, followed by long hours of dread, followed by long hours of training, followed by long hours of fear, and so on and so forth.

Sometimes I think a better strategy would be to sign-up for a race in the spring, and do it in the fall, and moveon.org.

9) The Swim
There is something about a 2.4 mile swim that just puts the fear of God into triathletes. I suspect that something is the very real fear of drowning.

Logically the chances of you drowning are probably zero. But fear is not logical so this fear looms large in many a non-swimmers psyche. And by non-swimmer I mean any of us who did not grow up swimming competitively.

I’m going to only say this once. I know that you won’t believe me, but you need to hear it anyway.

THE SWIM IS BY FAR THE SHORTEST AND EASIEST PART OF THE RACE!

Please don’t get too stressed by it. Most likely you’ll be wearing a wet suit and they’d have to mercilessly beat you over the head with sharp boat paddles to get you to sink in a wet suit. You’ll be fine and done in no time.

Fear the marathon. I really mean it. The marathon is the only unsupported (and by unsupported, I mean that unlike the swim, or the bike you have to carry your own weight) part of the race. The marathon will most likely determine your day. Be afraid…be very afraid!

8) Training or lack thereof
The really great factor about an Ironman is that you can’t fudge it. There’s no way, no matter how talented you are, no matter how lucky you are, no matter how fit you think you are, that you can just jump into an Ironman.

If you are like most people you’ll know to exactly at what point of your race your training falter or excels. Think of training for an IM like putting dollars in the bank. Every mile you bike, run and swim is another dollar in the bank.

On race day you’ll show up at that bank bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready to withdraw all that money you saved up.

And if you’ve done it right, and your get 100 other things right, that money will last you through 144.6 miles. But if you are like most triathletes at some point you’ll run out of cash.

And the great thing is you’ll know exactly (to the minute) when this happens. And the funny thing is you’ll also be able to tell on the faces of the other competitors when this happens to them. At that point your day is either done, or you are in for a very pleasant, but very long walk with a bunch of other penniless triathletes.

7) Weight or lack thereof
The average pro IM triathlete looks like a Nebraska desperation-era farmer. They have no body fat and that’s why they are so fast. If you want to have a good IM you’ll want to be as light as possible.

It probably doesn’t help you so much on the swim, but on the bike or the run excess body weight is your mortal enemy. I’ve heard it said by somebody somewhere that one pound of body weight adds something like 10 minutes per mile on the run to your time…or something like that.

One of your biggest challenges as a fit IM endurance athlete will be for you to be as light as possible on race day.

6) Time or lack thereof

I believe you can probably finish an Ironman race with as little as 10 hours of training per week, but that might be pushing it a bit. If you are an Everyman Triathlete figure you'll need between 10-15 hours a week for about 3 to 4 months before the race to be race ready.

That’s a lot of time to take away from your family, your friends, your work, your television, your mistress, your girlfriend, your dog, your parents, your plants, your church, your poker, your blog, your hobbies, your reading, your vacation, your love life, your garden, your cat, your football, your car, your sleep, your life.

Next time Part II: The 5 hardest obstacles to overcome to hear the words “…..you are an Ironman”

Do I look Fat?

This week I got the cover page for my upcoming book from my publisher.

“Do I look fat, or just properly Clydesdale-ish well proportioned,” was my very first thought upon seeing it, I have to admit?

It’s funny how my mind works.

I’ve put a lot of time and effort into this web site and book, but all I could think of when finally seeing the cover is how I look.

I heard a report on NPR this week that said that one of the hardest things for any person to experience is when one’s view of themselves is vastly different with the way the world sees them.

In other words, I may think of myself as this uber triathlete, but in real life I’m just a 40-something-year-old dad who listens to old man NPR radio while driving his Volvo to the PTA meeting.

I had that same feeling as I was standing at the wave start of the Disney Half Ironman last week. I looked around at the other guys in my age group and I though to myself what a raggedy bunch of old-farts.

"Wait a second…that makes me a raggedy-old-fart," I suddenly realized!

Than I remembered seeing the blind guys go into the water just a few waves before us and I hit me. I might be a raggedy-old-fart, but at least I’m blessed enough to standing here waiting to race a half Ironman.

I have my health (I can swim, bike and run), a wonderful supportive family, and now even a book that comes out next month.

So what if I’m a Clydesdale big guy 6'2 and well over 200 pounds. I still considered myself big in a gladiator/triathlete sort of way. And so what if according to the official rules of triathlon I'm big in a huge, wide-butted, beer wagon-pulling sort of way.

That their view and I have my world view...and I’m sticking with it.

TRACK WORKOUTS ~ HOW HARD?

With the Annual Bolder Boulder 10 K race just a few days away, I thought this might be a good time to review how to build speed for any run.

My friend and coach and former professional triathlete Wes Hobson has done a great job in reviewing the basics of a good track workout for the Newbie or the seasoned Pro.

That can't be good

Over the last several I’ve noticed some pretty odd race day antics and incidents. I’ve lived through a few myself, most notably the eight flats I had at my last Iron Distance race.

So with that in mind I’d like to point out a few true-life examples of stuff…That can’t be good.

So what possible horrible circumstances would cause a person to drop out of a race they’ve presumably spent months or perhaps years training for? Would it be the heat, or perhaps mechanical problems on the bike, or perhaps dehydration on the run?

If you guessed any of these, you would be wrong.

This is now the second year in a row that I’ve seen several competitors drop out of the Disney Half IM in about 23 seconds and/or 31 feet into the race. It’s actually pretty amazing thing to witness up close and personal.

The wave of some 300 ferocious competitors strains at the starting line to hit the water. You can actually feel the nervous tension and pent up energy about to explode. The racers have trained long and hard for this moment which they know will include a running start through the shallow part of the water before the 1.2-mile swim.

The starting gun fires (or horns sounds in Disney as they prefer not to startle the kiddies) and the wave of race-ready athletes explodes into the water with a mad dash for the deep stuff.

About 20 seconds into the race something odd appears at the rear of the pack. The gathered crowd voices a collective “OH OWE” as the fans notice two racers splashing around like the agitator in a Maytag washing machine. With a sudden flurry of activity the waiting rescue paddlers take flight to aid the distressed competitors.

Three seconds later they pull the struggling swimmers to safety (which would be about 2 feet back to the shallow water) as the rest of the pack begins the long race day. Twenty-three seconds into the race, their day is now officially over.

“So Jim,” asks a curious co-worker, “how did you do in Disney?”

Jim looks down, scratches his head and says in a low voice, “I had a bit of an issue on the swim.”

That can’t be good.

The place that I always see the most problems is on the bike. And after my eight flat ride at last year’s Great Floridian Triathlon I have more than just a bit of empathy for any racer with a flat tire.

But I’m also a bit amazed that some folks actually have a rather unique bike race strategy, which seems to consist of never-ever, ever and I mean ever, getting a flat tire.

This might actually be a workable solution if today’s wheels were still made of older types of materials like in the olden days. You know, wood or perhaps stone. But today’s “modern” wheels and tires do have the one disadvantage, that being that they occasionally get a flat.

Last year I was helping out at the Peak 5430 half IM on my motorcycle. My well defined job was to provide “any and all assistance” to bike riders as long as “any and all assistance” only meant giving them a ride to the next aid station. In other words, I was sweeping the course for any competitors that dropped out the race. I was specifically not allowed to render any sort of race assistance.

This was my typical conversation when coming upon a stopped racer.

Me: “Are you all right, can I give a ride to the aid station?”
Twenty something Hottie in a tight race suit: “Do you know how to change a tire?”
Me: “Yes.”
Hottie: “Can you please change my tire?” said with a semi-pouting smile and big round eyes on the verge of tears.
Me: “I’m sorry but I can’t do that, it against the rules for me to help you…but I’ll try to tell you how to change it yoursef.”
Hottie: “F…it! I’ll take the ride!” she said with an angry kick at the bike.

“That can’t be good,” I thought to myself as we roared off to the nearest aid station.

I’ve seen lots of very serious problems on the run. Most of them have to do with the leg muscles. It is certainly not uncommon to see racers squatting on the ground, or leaning against tree trying to stretch-out seized thigh or calves.

But by far the worst problems tend to be gastrointestinal. A good friend of mine, who for my own self-preservation (as you shall soon see) shall forever remain nameless, had such a problem on the run.

It was about mile 10 that I noticed a certain and distinct odor coming from somewhere on or near me. I could not place it, but it certainly didn’t smell like a field of fresh cut wild flowers.

At first I thought that perhaps my body had over-powered any deodorant I might still be wearing. I smelled and I sniffed the air, but it wasn’t until I noticed the distressed look on my friend’s face that I had a hint of what might be wrong.

As we just happened to be running together, I asked my friend if all was right. The clenched-cheek running style, along with the look on my friend’s face said it all. The look was indeed a very interesting mixture of rage, pain and shame.

“No I sorry but I do not have an extra pair of shorts,” I said to my friend as my friend dashed to the nearest bathroom.

As I watched my friend slam the port-at-potty door, I whispered, “That’s can’t be good, but at least my friend can finish the race…unlike the Maytag impersonators,” and ran on.

And the winner is...Tom

The answer to last week’s “Guess Quiz” was submitted by Tom.

The question was:

Most people know that you can't draft on the bike portion of a USAT sanctioned Ironman race.

Part 1
What is the legal distance that must be observed when riding behind another racer and/or passing another race. I'm looking for two numaric answers.

Hint: The answer is a a rectangular area defined in a metric distance.

Part 2
Now for the hard part. There are 3 exceptions to the drafting rule. What are they?

His answer was correct:

The drafting box is 7 meters long and 2 meters wide (starting at the front of the front wheel for the length part). By the way, it's 30 meters long and 15 meters wide for moving vehicles.

1) 15 seconds for passing
2) When reducing speed for safety, aid stations, etc
3) If the rule is suspended for a specific portion of the race (by the officials)

Sometimes, reading big rules manuals has a benefit.

Tom has won the Fitsbeats MP3 player.

Good Job Tom!

I cracked like a walnut: 2006 Disney Half Ironman

Just seconds prior to the start of the race I heard a guy next to me say that he was just hoping to finish. He said that he signed-up for the race but that life got in the way of his training.

I wish I could blame my lack of training on my results, but I did train.

I wish I could blame a broken collarbone, but I was break free.

I wish I could blame a mechanical mishap, but the only thing that really went wrong was I broke my sunglasses before the bike, and that’s no real reason to really slow down.

I wish I could blame my cabin mates on a long night of partying, or even excessive snoring, but they were great.

As my friend Bolder likes to say, I cracked like a walnut on the run.

The only consolation I had was sitting at the finish eating my pizza and listening to the race announcer. As the time ticked well into the 7-hour pace he kept repeating. “and here comes another big guy crossing the line with a strong finish.”

The fact is that us Clydesdales don’t tend to do well in the heat. And the hotter it gets, the worse we do. We are just too big and carrying too much weight to perform well when the temperature rises into the mid-to-high nineties.

The funny thing is that I don’t really consider myself all that big. I currently weigh 218 pounds, but I really think of myself as a smaller guy.

“If they allowed drafting in this race I’d be tucked in behind you,” the small guy said as he passed me on the bike.

It’s not until people actually mention something to me, like the guy on the bike, that I realize that I’m all that big.

But I certainly felt every ounce of my 218 Clydesdales poundage on the run. I started out strong for about the first half mile to the cheers of the run exit crowd. I was well within cracking a personal best time. All I had to do was run a sub 2:15 half marathon. This should not be a problem for me. Just a few months ago I ran a 1:55 half in Moab. Click HERE for that race review.

The general rule of thumb is to expect to go about ten percent slower on a triathlon run than your normal run time for any given distance.

So theoretically a sub 2:15 half marathon time was well within my reach. My best half IM to date has been a 5:55 so I knew I could crack it, but the course and sun had other plans.

All too quickly the 3 loop run at Disney became a death survival shuffle through Death Valley.

The run turned a left and left the pavement for a donkey path along a dirty and dusty and hot and sweaty and snaky cannel for the next three miles.

And by snaky I don’t mean that it twisted around like a snake. No it was perfectly straight. But I do mean that black angry looking five-foot python that slithered just across the path in front of my causing me to slam on the brakes. Now keep in mind that my brakes (read calve muscles) were pretty gone at this point, so the sudden stop caused them to seize like a bad break job from your local Breaks-r-us hut.

My heart rate jump, the gal in the death march behind me slammed into my back, and I began jumping up and down like I had just crashed a fire ant party in bare feet.

This was the official beginning of the end. Whatever little will that still remained in my body departed like it was shoot from a cannon and I was officially toast. The rest of the run switched from trying to break a personal best to just wanting to get done and back to the cool air conditioned comfort of the Disney cabin.

The one true feeling that I was left to contemplate for the next 12-miles was that Disney really didn’t want this race on their property. They sort of grudgingly allow it as it brings in about 5000 people, but they certainly don’t encourage, or want the racers stinking up their park.

Case and point: This is the third year of the race. The first year it was a one-loop run. The second year they shortened it to a two-loop run which included a short death march on this snaky, sun-baked, uneven, shadeless and shameless unused donkey trail. This year almost 70 percent of the run was an out and back on this dusty donkey trial. I suspect next year Disney will make sure that no runners stink up their shady well-maintained, paved walking and running trials by making the entire run in the swampy cannel.

Ironman will call it the Disney swap challenge and racers will be given the choice to either run or swim the last leg of the race.

Some of you may believe that I’m exaggerating a bit. You are wrong.

The only part of my leg that was even a bit whitish after the race was the loop formed by strap that held my chip in place. To just below knees, my legs looked I had just waded through a bucket of dirty black paint. My shoes, as well as those of my cabin mates, were so filthy dirty they are now officially only good for lawn mowing duty.

It looks like I’ll be purchasing a new set of racing shoes. Not that this pair was all that fast. I finished the half marathon in just under 2:45. That would be a survival shuffle with long walks through the water stations.

My overall time was just over 6:20. This was much better than last year but for next year I would personally rename the race to the Disney Nutcracker.

Post note: Funniest thing I saw all day was a guy about 20 feet ahead of me on the bike trying to negotiate the very tight turnaround on the second out and back portion of the bike course.

He had a disk wheel so he really had to slow down to make the sharp U-turn. He kept going slower and slower and slower until he came to a complete stop, and plopped over like a fresh cut tree. TIMBER!

Dude, I’m sorry I know that must have really hurt as you looked like you were still clipped in, but it sure looked funny.

The Devil's Day at Disney

So I’ll be racing the Florida Disney Half Ironman again this weekend. You can read my review of the race from last year by clicking HERE.

I remember that it was really hot, so you can tell how thrilled I was when I checked the weather this weekend in Orlando. Race day is supposed to be a blood boiling 97 degrees. This is like the hottest day of the entire year so far in Florida.

My bad weather luck continues to haunt me. If it’s not a hurricane, it’s the Devil's day a Disney.

Oh well, I better just be prepared to be hot…very hot.

The only reason I’m doing the race is that last year was a total train wreck as I managed to break my collar bone a mere 6 weeks before the race crashing my dirt bike.

This meant that I was race ready…that is if you consider race ready six weeks of the following workouts:

Half-hour on the elliptical machine gently shuffling my feet
Half-hour on the stationary bike with my arm in a sweaty sling
5 minutes on the tread mill walking up hill
Half-hour stating at the pool wishing I could swim

Needless to say the race was a bit of let down as by mile 30 on the bike I was completely spent. I just recall a 13-mile forced death march while my legs seized like the jaws of an angry alligator mercilessly taunted by the Aussie croc hunter.

Good on ya Mate!

My finishing time was well beyond what my wife, and friend, and you would consider a reasonable time to wait in the heat at the finish line. I believe there was even some talk of calling the police and paramedics to go form a search party to look for big Clydesdale with a bum right arm.

You should have seen me on the swim. I did my own special blend of one-armed freestyle and doggy paddle. The biggest benefit of this stroke being that you drink a lot of lake water, and thus get well hydrated for the bike.

So I had to go back this year to see what I could actually do with a bit of training, and a bit of luck.

So much for the luck….at least weather luck.

I’ll file a full race report on my return Monday. I’m really trying to look on the bright side of this. Last year the big boys got to start last in the wave start. This insured that we were running during the hottest and most sun-blazing part of the day.

I’m sure will be starting last again this weekend so at least I’ll be able to cook myself an egg or two on the road on the run.

Can’t get enough of endurance sports chat? Please check out the new Race Athlete Performance Network by visiting www.RaceAthelete.com for the web's very best, and most interesting endurance sports writers, bloggers and podcasts.

This week we are featuring some pretty great stuff. Check out Cynthia's report from her recent LA Double Century Ride by clicking HERE.

Guess IV

It’s Wednesday and that means today is your chance to win a cool MP3 Player.

This week’s prize is brought to you by the fine folks at Fitbeats.com. It is a brand spanking new MP3 player loaded with great works outs put to music for your enjoyment.

Please visit www.FitBeats.com as a nice thank you for donating this week’s prize by clicking HERE.

So if you want to win this cool little gadget that will get you movin’…put on your thinking caps.

Today’s question is a harder one. The first person to get the correct answer by putting it into the comments below gets a big congratulations from me, and the cool brand new MP3 player.

I will announce the winner on Friday May 19th so you have two days to guess. But first here are the official Everyman Tri rules:

a) All contestants must have ears.
b) Any contestant without ears is only eligible if they can prove they have friends or family with ears.
c) Contestants must live in the U.S. or be willing to pay for the shipping cost to the most remote place on the earth. Astronaut or Cosmonauts are not eligible at this time.
d) Everyman Tri takes no responsible, what so ever, for any unfortunate side effects of using the MP3 player including sterility, dry mouth, hair toes, washtub stomach, restless feet, itchy balls, purple tongue, runny nose, furry ears and/or foot fungus.
e) All contestants must be able to afford the cost of charging the unit. What this cost is, is a mystery to Everyman Tri, but we suggest that you check with your local utility company.
f) If you've already won once, consider yourself lucky and let somebody else have a chance.

Last week the answer was easy to find. This week you'll have to do a bit of digging to come up with the correct answer.

Most people know that you can't draft on the bike portion of a USAT sanctioned Ironman race.

Part 1
What is the legal distance that must be observed when riding behind another racer and/or passing another race. I'm looking for two numaric answers.

Hint: The answer is a a rectangular area defined in a metric distance.

Part 2
Now for the hard part. There are 3 exceptions to the drafting rule. What are they?

That’s it. Please remember that you have to get both parts of the question right to win the prize.

Good Luck all!

One Year and Still Counting

Well gang it has been one year since I began this crazy journey. Actually to be technically correct I didn’t really launch this web site until the end of summer, but I started writing exactly one year ago after having purchased this domain name.

At some point I also purchase another domain name. I’m the proud owner of www.bearbeware.com. Now I’m not really sure what I was thinking when I purchased bearbeware.com, but it does have a somewhat catchy ring to it.

If you have any ideas for what sort of a web site, and or business, bearbeware.com might eventually become, please feel free to pass along your suggestions in the comments below. Here are a few of my best current ideas.

BearBeware Technologies: The makers of the ultimate bear repellant spray
The BearBeware Group: Online stock market analysts for the bear market
BearBeware Insurance: Insurance for all forms of viscous or gentle bear attacks
BearBeware Potency Pills: Men you’ll be so potent that you’ll even scare the average she bear
BearBeware Hemorrhoid Lotion: So strong and powerful that you’ll soon feel beariffic.

Please feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments. Let’s put the bear before the cart for this business idea.

Over the last year I’ve made some great virtual and real friends, and I’ve spent way too much time away from work on this web site.

But sometimes playing hooky from work does pay (at least I hope it does) as I’m happy to announce that small publishing company found this web site and decided it was book worthy.

My first book entitled “My Training Begins Tomorrow” comes out this summer and will be available for purchase on this web site along with such smaller sites as Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble soon.
Hint Hint ;-)

Anyway, to help celebrate one year of EverymanTri.com here is the very first story I wrote exactly a year ago today.

Powered by Dairy Queen

In the military they say that all the action happens at the tip of the spear. The sharply pointed end where the winners and losers are sorted out. For us newbie and amateur Clydesdale triathletes the tip of the race is only a distant skirmish. We live and race at the other end of spear; the round curvy end which, as it happens, tends to be shaped like many of us. These are some of our some of our stories:

They say that races are won or lost in the mind. Motivation, the eye of the tiger, and the will to push mind over body is what separates the winners from all the rest of the racers. With this in mind here are a handful of strategies that you may find useful in motivating you to push yourself beyond any perceived mental boundaries.

Proper Race Preparation:
I find that I’m much more able to really push myself during a race if I have done the hard work before the race. To this end, I must humbly confess that among my peers in the triathlon Mecca of Boulder, Colorado, there are few amateurs and pros alike that will out taper me before a race.

I like to start my taper at least a full month before the race. That way by race day I’m completely rested and up to the task. Sometimes I’m so calm and well prepared that I will completely sleep through the start of the race. Some may see this as a disadvantage, but I only consider myself that much more tapered and prepared for the next race.

Nutrition:
As most know nutrition is the key to a winning time. For this reason I like to start my carbo loading, like my taper, at least a month before the race. Why wait until the night before the big event to load up on the pasta? Start early and you’ll have that much more of an edge and energy on race day.

Race Day Strategies:
I have a few simple strategies that I like to use when racing. These are free tips that you are welcome to use to really take your racing to the next level.

The Swim:
The fastest pros and amateurs know that drafting is surest way to a fast swim time. For this reason I like to scope out my competition at the start of the race. How is this possible? I’m sure you’ll believe me that a Clydesdale in a wet suit does make a remarkable impression of a Milwaukee sausage and is thus not hard to spot.

Once I have identified my competition I make it a point to get in front of as many other Clydesdales as possible to provide them a great drafting opportunity. When I have at least a twelve pack of Clydesdales drafting me I tend to get lost or weave like a drunk on a bike. A slow left of right turn, or perhaps a quarter turn too far around the buoy does the trick. Once my drafting group is completely confused I stop, let them pass, and bring it on home.

The Bike:
The bike is always the longest part of any race. This is why it is crucial that you employ a few simple mind games to get you to the run as fast as possible. Here are a few of my mind strategies that keep me fast and motivated.

I will never let the following racers pass me:

1. Guys wearing only Speedos. Nobody wants to look at a hairy butt for the next 20 miles.

2. Racers wearing Camelbacks. Do I really need to say any more?

I will always let the following racers pass me:

1. Big girls on mountain bikes. These gals are surprisingly fast.

2. Girls wearing skimpy race suits. Do I really need to say anymore?

The Run:
You’ve made it this far and now the race really begins. It’s gut-check time. Do you have it in your mind? Do you have it in your Quads? Can you push yourself harder and break the tape in record time. These are the questions you ask yourself at the tip of the spear.

At the butt of the spear it’s party time. The quads have long ago checked out, the calves have seized up like a vise grip, and the prospect of running is almost too silly to contemplate. Now is the time for a leisurely walk, have a friendly chat with the fellow strollers, and really enjoy the last part of the race. If you have done your job on the swim and the bike your competitors are strolling somewhere far behind. Now it is just a matter of walking a few miles before you can start your next taper.

Power, or lack of it

The wind slapped me hard, like the quick hand of a Victorian father against the rosy cheeks of his misbehaving capricious 10-year-old.

They say the number 13 is unlucky and it certainly was for me. Up until the halfway point of the marathon everything was going great. The weather was great, I felt great, and I was well within my half way goal pace of 2-hours.

The terrific thing about the old Las Vegas marathon course is that is was completely unimaginative. At the crack of down, they would drive you out of town down the highway for 26 miles, like some unwanted outlaws, and you got to run back to town in a straight line along the highway on the frontage road. Your crime, of course, was being way to fit for a city that thrives on booze and cigarettes.

I remember walking to the buses through the MGM Grand Casino at 5:00a.m on a Sunday morning. It was packed with dull-eyed, chain smoking, slot machine feeding, whisky drinking, gamblers who I’m sure didn’t just get up to go for a quickie bet. These folks had been at it all night, but since there is no night in a Casino, for them, it could have been the middle of the afternoon.

I’ve always had a sort of warped view of power and freedom. To me true power and freedom represent the power and freedom not to do something, versus the more traditional view that power and freedom allows you to do, or be, or accomplish something.

Here’s what I mean. Do you think that Bill Gates of MS carries a cell phone, or does he have people that carry his cell phone? I know that I would love to chuck my cell phone out of the window. It represents a constant Albatross around my neck that keeps me tethered to work 24-7.

OK so that’s a pretty silly example, but here’s another one I hope illustrates my meaning better. When I looked around the Casino at 5:00 a.m. in the morning I didn’t see a lot of people having fun. In fact you rarely see what I would consider an expression of fun and joy on a gambler’s face. They tend to look more like people at work. They seems really intent on what they are doing in a sort of “don’t bother me I’m too busy right now” way that folks get on deadline.

So the question in my mind has always been are these folks truly free? Do they really want to be gambling at 5:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning? I suppose they could have asked the same question of me. Did I really want to be up at 5:00 a.m. for a cold ride into the gloomy dessert only to have to run back to town for 26.2 miles into a howling headwind?

Actually it was only the last 13 miles that the wind got really nasty. And by nasty I mean that it was so strong that we knew when we were close to a water station before we could actually see the damn thing by the legions of empty tumbling cups that hit our feet as we ran.

And by we, I mean the bike-like draft line that about 10 of us formed to try to beat the wind. Just like a bike team time trial, we would take turns at the front of the group.

Except as I was both the tallest and widest, I seemed to get much more encouragement to stay at the front of the line. The 5-foot 4-inch girl who was ahead of me did a great job in shielding my stomach against the wind, but that was about all. And since my stomach already has a somewhat rounded aerodynamic shape, I’m not sure what good she really did. All I remember is thinking how grateful I was that all of my energy was spent on the wind and not on the course.

I ran a different marathon a few years ago in Logan, Utah were the last part of the race coiled through town like a drunken snake. All I recall was how mentally tough every turn was as the race neared the finish. I didn’t mind running that last 6 miles, but it was all those crazy turns that made the last part a stumbling death march.

Which brings me back to power, or lack of it.

I’ve really come to believe that if you have done the work, your success or failure in any race hinges not on your strength, or fitness, or stamina, but on your mental power. To what extent can you push your mind over what’s the matter with your body or the conditions, or your luck?

Because there will always be something that will limit your performance. In Las Vegas it was the wind. In Utah it was the crazy winding course at the end of the marathon. The biggest difference between the two races for me was my brainpower.

In Vegas I pushed myself through the wind to a personal best marathon time of just over four hours. In Logan I folded like a cheap deck of cards. My body was ready for both races but I lacked the brainpower in Logan to get the job done.

Post Script:
The craziest thing about the Las Vegas marathon was that both my neighbor and I had the exact same time….to the hundredth decimal place. Yes we trained together and roomed together, but there is no way in this world that we could ever replicate that finish time again. I bet that if we tried to run together and cross the finishing mat at the same time (a hundredth of a second is just such a half blink of time) that we could never replicate our identical times.

The Answer is spot on

The answer to this week’s “Guess Quiz” was submitted by Marshall.

His answer is spot on:

“The original bike course was based on the Around-Oahu Bike Race (115 miles; originally a two-day event).

Commander Collins calculated that, by shaving 3 miles off the course and riding counter-clockwise around the island, the bike leg could start at the finish of the Waikiki Rough Water and end at the Aloha Tower, the traditional start of the Honolulu Marathon.

The marathon is 26.2 miles because the starting point for the 1908 Olympic marathon in London was modified so that the Royal Family could have a good view and the length happened to be 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards). The distance for the marathon was arbitrary in most races until the IAAF selected this distance as the standard.”

If you are curious you may want to look up the question in the Wikipedia. I think you’ll find that they stole Marshall’s answer for their entry ;-)

You can read the entire quiz question and correct comments by just scrolling down a little bit.

I have one more MP3 player that I will be giving away next week. So if you didn’t win this week, you can still get one next week. So come back and guess again.

Can’t get enough of endurance sports chat? Please check out the new Race Athlete Performance Network by visiting www.RaceAthelete.com for the web's very best, and most interesting endurance sports writers, bloggers and podcasts.

This week we are featuring some pretty great stuff. Take a listen to SimplyStu's facinating report as he tours the Trek factory and meets a few top cyclists by clicking HERE.

From Boulder to Paris

Are you a climber, sprinter or time trial specialist?

I recently had the chance to sit down with Mo Robbins a former semi-professional cyclist and chat about the etiquette and basic of cycling.

Many of us began by riding around the neighborhood as kids, but few of us have any formal cycling instruction. So I asked Mo about the basics of cycling. What’s the etiquette on a group ride? Can you just jump onto somebody’s back wheel when you are on the road? What’s it like to mountain bike for 24-hours straight?

These are just some the questions I discussed with Mo. If you have any questions for Mo about cycling, please feel free to email him by clicking HERE or visit his web site by clicking HERE.

This is the 18th Everyman Triathlon Endurance Podcast. There are several ways to subscribe to the show. You can click on the link below and use Yahoo.com.

You can go into iTunes and:

1) Click on the podcast link in the upper left hand corner of iTunes,
2) Click on the Podcast Directory link on the bottom of the page,
3) Now just use the search box located in the bottom left corner of the music store to locate Everymantriathlon and subscribe to my podcast.

The advantage of this is that you'll automatically get every show episode once I add it to iTunes.

Or you can listen (here and now) to the interview by just clicking the play tab below, or click on the link to the MP3 file and download it to your favorite iPod or MP3 player.




MP3 File

Guess III

It’s Wednesday and that means today is your chance to win a cool MP3 Player.

This week’s prize is brought to you by the fine folks at Fitbeats.com. It is a brand spanking new MP3 player loaded with great works outs put to music for your enjoyment.

Please visit www.FitBeats.com as a nice thank you for donating this week’s prize by clicking HERE.

So if you want to win this cool little gadget that will get you movin’…put on your thinking caps.

Today’s question is a simple one. The first person to get the correct answer by putting it into the comments below gets big congratulations from me, and the cool brand new MP3 player.

I will announce the winner on Friday May 5th so you have two days to guess. But first here are the official Everyman Tri rules:

a) All contestants must have ears.
b) Any contestant without ears is only eligible if they can prove they have friends or family with ears.
c) Contestants must live in the U.S. or be willing to pay for the shipping cost to the most remote place on the earth. Astronaut or Cosmonauts are not eligible at this time.
d) Everyman Tri takes no responsible, what so ever, for any unfortunate side effects of using the MP3 player including sterility, dry mouth, hair toes, washtub stomach, restless feet, itchy balls, purple tongue, runny nose, furry ears and/or foot fungus.
e) All contestants must be able to afford the cost of charging the unit. What this cost is, is a mystery to Everyman Tri, but we suggest that you check with your local utility company

Last week many people thought the question was way too easy in this day of instant search engine facts. So without any further ado here’s this week’s harder two part historic prize question:

Most people know that the Ironman consists of
1) 2.4 mile swim
2) 112 mile bike
3) 26.2 mile (marathon run)

Part 1
Why is the bike 112 miles long? Please be specific with your answer as the question has a very specific answer

Part 2
Why is the marathon 26.2 miles?

That’s it. Please remember that you have to get both parts of the question right to win the prize.

Good Luck all!

10 Reason why people hate triathletes

Let’s face it folks, we are hated. Most of our friends think we are completely crazy and the rest of the world says a huge collective, “And why would you want to do that?” when you tell them the swim, bike, run distances in an Ironman.

What’s worse is after a short amount of time of getting to know us many “normal” (or as I will call them nonathletes) develop a passionate loathing for triathletes. Why? Here are a few of my personal observations.

Swiming Like an East German

Every so often I try to provide you with some useful information from somebody who knows what they are talking about.

I had a pretty bumpy swim last week with a German masters coach who goes by the book. In other words, he makes you swim on very tight intervals. For instance we had to swim 100 yards on 1:45 about 15 times. And since Coach Wolfgang is very precise, 1:45 means 1:45 and NOT 1:46. For me this type of workout usually means one of two things:

The Answer is Pam

The answer to this weeks “Guess” quiz was and is Pam.

You can read the entire quiz question and correct comments by just scrolling down a little bit.

You will notice that Tribro was the first to guess incorrectly with the his answer of SPAM. But since his answer almost caused me to cough up my soda from laughing so hard, and since he quickly corrected himself, and since I’m a nice guy, and since Triguymike (the next person to guess correctly) emailed me and said I should give the prize to Tribro, I will.

Tribro gets a brand new Fitbeats.com MP3 player.

I have one more MP3 player that I will be giving away next week. So if you didn’t win this week, you can still get one next week. So come back and guess again.

BTW: Pam is used by triathletes to make huge pre-race cookies and brownies. OK, I that made up. Triathletes use to Pam to get in and out of their wet suits faster.

Can’t get enough of endurance sports chat? Please check out the new Race Athlete Performance Network by visiting www.RaceAthelete.com for the web's very best, and most interesting endurance sports writers, bloggers and podcasts.

This week we are featuring some pretty great stuff. Take a listen to Zen and the Art of Triathlon as he does a crazy completely solo and unsupported Ironman...all by himself...with only his dog as company by clicking HERE.

I guess that's one way to avoid paying a race entry fee ;-)