EverymanTri.com

Seriously, I can not go slow on this bike

A funny thing happened to me on the way to the grocery store the other day.

I got a phone call from my friend Luis Vargas who coaches along with Mark Allen at www.markallenonline.com

He called to ask me if I wanted to go for a ride, and I said sure, and so we did.

Until about a week ago I had been relaying on my cheetah-like muscle memory to get me through my next race in California.

But recently I decided that I should probably get back to training a little bit as Wildflower is just a wee bit hilly and only six weeks away. Even Cheetah's sometimes need a few hours at the gym I suspect.

So when Luis called I said, "Let's do it!"

Now would probably be a good time for you to read the rest of the story from Luis's point of view. Just click HERE to read what happened next.

As you can tell Luis has accused me of using the "I can't go slow" method of training. For simplicity sake let us call it the "Everyman I can't go slow" method of training. Please note that I will soon be trademarking this method of training so keep your paws to yourselves.

If you read carefully even Luis admits that he had much success with the "Everyman I can't go slow" method.

Basically my heart and power rate approach has three main legs that hold up this Everyman training stool.

1) You need to always go all out for as long as possible, as hard as possible....making sure to keep your heart rate at at least 170 bpm or higher.

2) You need to eat right after every workout. And more importantly, you need to eat as much of whatever your body craves. I prefer Cool Ranch Doritios with Coke with an Ice Cream chaser. Remember just like with drinking your body always knows best. And I don't mean water!

3) You need to sleep as little as possible while downing as much caffeine, coffee and/or Red Bull as possible.

* Finally smoking, beer, alcohol, and womanizing or manizing are highly encouraged, even recommended.

Now you may ask me, "Roman this sounds like a total train wreck. What proof do you have that this method actually works?"

Well folks I must admit that I did plagiarize the "Eveyman I can't go slow" method from some of the greatest sports heroes in history.

Almost all of the former greats like Babe Ruth, Eddie Merckx, and that first guy who ran the marathon all those years ago in Greece used this method. In fact, you would be hard pressed not to think of the former sports greats from such diverse sports as Formula 1 car racing to the early heroes of soccer, football, baseball and especially basketball who not only used my method, but were they still alive would happily endorse my method.

So if you are so inclined please visit Luis's Blog, sign into his web site, and leave him a comment of support for the "Everyman I can't go slow" method of training.

Legal Disclaimer: Roman Mica is not a doctor, herbal healer, dentist, oral hygienist, dietitian or certified coach of any other sport besides tidily wings. He is sure that his current coach Mike Ricci would not endorse the "Everyman I can't go slow" method of training if he even suspected anything about it. For those of you contemplating following the "Everyman I can't go slow" method of training Roman recommends:

1) A BMC TTO2 bike with Zipp Wheels and a PowerTap
2) A robust health plan
3) A Costco-sized box of male and/or female condoms
4) A high degree of genetic talent

Mashed Up Workout Tune #3

The Mohawks VS Ini Kamoze VS AC/DC

So you may not know who the Mohawks are...

And you may not know who Ini Kamoze is....

But you probably and most certainly...have heard of AC/DC.

So what do you get when you mash them all together into the third Everyman Tri featured workout Tune?

You get something so that's very familiar, yet totally new.

I bet you after you've listened to the tune you'll remember the Mohawks and Ini Kamoze. You just may not remember their names but you'll know their music.

So for your running, cycling, and perhaps even swimming pleasure here is new mashed-up tune:

(Here Comes The) Champ In Black

A special thanks must go out to Jesse for reminding me about these great tunes.

To listen now, just click on the play tab below or download the song by clicking on the MP3 link, download it, and add it to your iPod for your next workout.

The Mohawks VS Ini Kamoze VS AC/DC


MP3 File

To race or not to race, that is the question?

I recently got an email from a reader who is going through a very tough time. She was well beyond the point of when it rains it pours. After a recent divorce, bankruptcy, and illness, she was questioning her commitment to race her first half Ironman this year.

And who could blame her? As you well know, as the race gets longer so does the training. One hour fun runs turn into three hour slogs. A nice and easy 20-mile bike ride turns into a must do 80-mile butt burn. The weekly swim quickly becomes a 3000-yard Masters Swim fest at least three times a week.

And not only does the training increase in both intensity and duration, but the cost and complexity of the race also dramatically sky rockets. Who among you all can tell me right here and now what goes in all 5 race bags during the standard Ironman ordeal?

Or who here has spent hours and/or days just trying to get to race? Traveling with a bike has all the grace and elegance of traveling with your baby pet elephant. The only difference is that the typical airline gate clerk can probably actually check in your elephant without making you open and unpack it.

So what did I tell her?

Sometimes the best thing you can do is not race.

When all your training seems to be going downhill…

When you don’t feel the passion just the pain…

When you can’t focus or find the fun…

When your heart and head can’t agree…

When the race becomes a burden, and the burden get’s to be too heavy…

When your head says yes, but your injured body screams no more…

When you see only the trees and never the forest…

When the other side of the mountain turns brown…

When your heart turns cold…

When your bike gets dusty…

When you days are just too short…

When your family, friends or God need you most…

Sometimes the best thing you can do is not race.

So what did I tell her?

Sometimes the best thing you can do is race.

When everything else in life is falling to bits…

When you feel like you have no control over your family, work, eating or health…

When you have so very little to look forward to when you wake up in the morning…

When you need something to jump start your day…

When you need conquer something that seems unconquerable…

When you need a reason to hit the path, pool, and road…

When you want to sleep like there is no tomorrow…

When you want to feel the real power of your muscles and lungs…

When you need to feel in total control of a few precious minutes of the day…

That’s when you have to close your eyes, make a mental fist, and determine that you will go the entire distance no matter what life puts in your way.

You will sweat…

You will suffer…

You will swear…

You will survive and cross that finish line.

You don’t know or care what awaits you on the other side of that line because right now, this instance, the next few hours, days, weeks, and months …the finish line is all that matters.

So what did I tell her?

I wrote back and said that she must absolutely do the race. Sometimes a race can not only become a goal, but indeed is the only goal worth accomplishing.

My favorite old Archie comic...and you thought the good-old-days were inocent and family friendly

There is no such thing as an easy Ironman

I’m always amazed at how much gnashing of teeth and wringing of hands goes on in picking the first Ironman race. Considering that most of the North American races sell out in about 2.5 seconds, just getting into a race should be the main concern. But inevitably new Ironman athletes pick a race based on the difficulty of the race.

That’s why Ironman Florida always gets a huge number of Newbie Ironman athletes. Over the years it has earned the reputation as one of the easiest races on North America and perhaps even the world. The common mis belief is that the dead flat bike (OK one bridge on the course does not a hill make) and run make it the perfect Newbie race.

So for all of you newbies signed up for the race this year I would suggest that you sit back and take a deep breath because I’ve got some bad news for you…there is no such thing as an easy Ironman…they are all very hard!

This notion of an easy IM is just something that newbies use to physic themselves up for doing the race. Think of it as a coping mechanism that enables triathletes to go online a year before the race and slam down their credit for 500 big bucks and sign-up for their first IM.

The thinking goes something like this, “I want to do an Ironman, but I’m not sure I can do it, so why not start with the easiest one of the bunch.” This way the thought of swimming 2.4 miles, followed by a 112-mile bike, and marathon seems almost reasonable. “Sure it is an Ironman, but it’s an easy Ironman,” the rationalization goes.

Wrong!

You still have to cover 140.6 miles and do it in less than 17 hours.

Did you know that after last year’s Florida Ironman an age-group athlete was barely clinging to life from fighting the 5 foot seas and strong currents on the swim portion of the race.

I was there and I can tell you that while swimming is my strongest discipline of the big three (I’ve gone 1:10 in my best Ironman), I would have seriously thought twice before jumping into the extremely rough Gulf Coast waters on that extremely windy and cold morning.

For argument’s sake, let’s ignore the rough seas, cold waters, and rip currents on the swim course and move on to the bike. BTW: I witnessed athletes pulled hundreds of yards of course by these currents.

The bike portion is, after all, why most folks consider this to be an easy IM.

First of all, how many of you have ever run a downhill marathon? Please raise your hand. I have and I can tell you that it was the worst marathon of my life. My initial thinking for picking the Top of Utah marathon was that it would be blazing fast and easy. After all, the first 19 or so miles are all downhill through an absolutely gorgeous canyon. How hard can it be to run downhill for 19-miles, I thought when I clicked submit on my computer entry?

Boy was I ever wrong!

By mile 19 my thighs were completely blown and my legs felt like spaghetti. What followed was the worst, most painful, 10K my life. All of the time I had made up at the start of the marathon, quickly evaporated as I dragged my spongy legs across the last 10K of the race.

There is a good reason why London and Chicago are considered the fastest marathons. It is because the course in sections is flat and/or gently rolling. The perfect combination for lighting fast times that allows runners to use/mix and match all of their leg muscles and not just their thighs. Also both races are also held at normally cool times of the year which are perfect for fast running times.

Just like the Top of Utah marathon, the Florida bike course has only one grade for the bike…pancake flat. That means that for 112-miles you get to sit on your bike in the areo-position watching the Wal-Mart’s, weeds and Waffle Houses fly by as you peddle using the exact same muscles for every painful revolution. There is no climbing, and there is no coasting. There is no change what-so-ever to the course so there is no change to your body position.

There is however the changing headwind. Last year is howled at over 20-mph for most of the morning and afternoon. This meant that many racers reported fighting a headwind for the entire bike portion of the race.

It did die down in the early afternoon.

That was about just that time that sun came blazing out, the humid spiked, and most athletes started the marathon.

I must be honest here and report that at about that time I was happily sitting in an air-conditioned Starbuck sipping on a lovely cold ice tea. I remember thinking to myself as I watched the sweaty and over-heated patrons come into the Starbucks, “self, it would really suck to have to run a marathon about now.”

Just a quick word here about the IM Florida marathon course...to call it boring would be like calling Howard Stern tame. The course rambles its way through some of the most strip mall like streets of Panama City until it takes a sharp turn through several trailer parks into the “scenic” garden portion of the course. Let’s just leave it at saying that it is no Chicago, New York, London, or Berlin marathon course.

In fact the race headquarters of the Florida Panama City IM seems to smack a bit of that sleazy and rundown feel of an M TV spring break destination. I suppose that this is because it is a huge sleazy and run down college Spring Break destination. This is all well and good, unless it happens to be completely devoid of spring breakers, which of course it is in November.

This means that on course, and when you cross the finish line, you will only be greeted by a few hardcore IM family and friends. There is no crowd support; there are no throbbing masses of well wishers. All you get are a few pissed of locals on their way to the Waffle House, who don’t understand why they have to wait to cross the street for a bunch of sweaty and stinky runners.

Oh yea, I almost forgot. You also get to run next to a virtual parade of loud pick-up trucks, Harleys, and Red Neck Riviera types.

For all of you finished the race, and all of you who attempted the race, be very proud of your accomplishment. If you crossed the finish line in under 17-hours you have more than earned the words, “You are an Ironman!”

And for all of you signed-up for the race this year; please train hard…because there is no such thing as an easy Ironman….they are all very hard!

Those 17 Unforgettable Hours

There is no magic in the number 140.6. It represents a very random distance that several guys in Hawaii came up with in the winter of 1978 to determine if a swimmer, cyclist, or runner is the best endurance athlete.

U.S. Navy Commander John Collins (one of the Hawaii guys who began it all) is widely quoted as saying, "Whoever finishes first, we'll call him the Iron Man."

And so the first Ironman race took place on the small island of Oahu in the winter 1978 with a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike (the distance around the island) and traditional marathon of 26.2 miles.

From Wikipedia, “Of the fifteen men to start off the in early morning on February 18th, 1978, twelve completed the race. Gordon Haller was the first to earn the title Ironman by completing the course in a time of 11 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds.”

It is worth noting here that athletes were completely self-supported and more importantly that handwritten on the last page of the very sparse three sheets of paper listing a few rules and a course description was this exhortation: "Swim 2.4 miles! Bike 112 miles! Run 26.2 miles! Brag for the rest of your life" This is now an Ironman registered trademark.

It is also the heart and soul of the Ironman. Over the last decade as Ironman racing has expanded throughout the world, the distance of 140.6 has become etched in stone as the mystical number that represents an Ironman.

It has become so synonymous with the Ironman that the number, divided by half, and now trademark (70.3) represents it own racing series. Athletes around the world aspire to complete both the shorter and longer distance as a way to prove their status as the top endurance dog.

But to me the real magic is not in this random number, but in the journey and ultimate goal to complete the Ironman. Let’s just pretend for a second that Oahu was 20 miles bigger or even 20 miles smaller. Would the numbers 120.6 or 160.6 be any more or less significant than 140.6?

Or we could easily imagine that during the marathon at the 1908 Olympic Games in London the course was NOT extended at the last minute by 385 yards from its set 26 miles so that the runners would cross the finish line in front of the Royal family’s viewing box in the Olympic arena.

If the course extension had not happened in 1908 that would make today’s Ironman only 140.4 miles long. Is this number any more or less significant?

The answer is that the number in itself is really irrelevant. What counts is what was written on that last piece of paper almost 20-years ago before the start of the first Ironman: “Brag for the rest of your life”

When you think about it, the vast majority of us age-group athletes will never even come close to matching or even breaking that first self-supported course time of 11 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds.

It is not about a winning time.

It is not about the distance.

It is not about the number 140.6

It is about the last hours of the journey of reaching to what many age-group triathletes seems like an almost unattainable goal of finishing an Ironman...in less than 17 hours. That why I would argue that the number 17 is really the magic number in any Ironman.

It is the last 17 critical hours of all the weeks, months and perhaps years of training that only matter in the end. All of the other previous hours spent in the pool, on the bike, on the run are now just so much water under the bridge.

It is the 17 dawn to midnight race hours when your hopes and dreams are final realized, or dashed on the jagged rocks of the swim, bike run.

It is those 17 magical hours that all of your daily worries, cares, concerns fade into the far background and you become laser focused on just one goal…finishing before midnight.

It is the 17 heroic hours when you feel your body rise to the challenge of pushing yourself longer than you have ever imagined possible.

It is the 17 wonderful hours when life and limitless energy course through your veins, chiseling your body into the ultimate endurance machine.

It is the 17 dreaded hours when emotionally you climb the highest of highs and fall with huge thud into the lowest of lows.

It is in the 17 unbelievable hours when pushing yourself beyond the breaking point is just the start of your day.

Those 17 crazy hours when time simultaneously expands and contracts. When seconds become hours and days turn to minutes.

It is the 17 momentous hours that to a great extent will define all of the following hours of your life.

It is in the 17 crucial hours when you really learn if you are made of Iron or not.

When I completed my first Iran distance race I told my buddy how far I swam, biked and ran. He kind of just stared at me. I could tell the distance numbers were pretty meaningless to him.

Unless you’ve actually swam, ridden, or ran for fairly long way (which he had not) 10 miles or 100 miles are pretty much the same to you. So instead, I mentioned that it took me almost 17 hours to finish the race.

His eyes exploded open in disbelief. “You mean you raced for an entire day and night,” he said, stunned as the idea of exercising all day and night really sank in.

It was only in those 17 unforgettable hours that I had earned the right to brag for the rest of my life!

You too can ride like a Rock Star

I am a new man. For the most of my life I have been completely old school when it comes to bike technology. By old school I mean that I’ve always deeply believed that when it comes to competitive cycling, it is always about the engine and not the chassis.

In other words, your personal performance is based almost entirely on your legs, and not your bike. You can have the very best bike in the world, with the best wheels, and best components, but without strong legs and stronger endurance the bike you ride makes little or no difference.

That was my thinking until about a week ago when I first rode my new carbon BMC TTO2 with Zipp Wheels, areobars and even carbon cranks. As you may know I am very lucky indeed to be a sponsored raceAthlete.com team member.

Along with Stu I helped create the team, and I originally came up with the name and web site for the team. For my effort I have been kissed by good fortune and given the chance to train and race like a professional in 2007 because you guys read and listen to my stuff. Thank you!

My training really began in earnest about a week ago when I got on the new bike for the first time and rode it where God intended it to be ridden…outside on the open road and not tethered to a trainer.

One of my first rides was with my training buddy Bolder (another raceAthlete sponsored team mate) and I immediately noticed something odd. Last year Bolder rode a Cervelo P3 tri bike with Zipp 404 wheels and I rode a Giant OCR C2 road bike with a tri set-up (clip on areobars) and Shimano wheels.

Normally on the long downhill into the town of Lyons, Bolder would easily keep up with me coasting at about 30 mph. Now this may not seem odd to you but keep in mind that I’m like a thousand pounds heavier than Bolder. There is no way (when gravity is functioning properly) that he should be able to keep up with me on a downhill without peddling like he’s being chased by a very hungry and very big mountain lion…and yet that’s exactly what he was able to do.

So last week we hit the same downhill stretch (biking side by side) and now we’re both on identical bikes with identical wheels and identical everything, when I happen to look over to say something to him.

To my surprise Bolder is gone. I mean he’s nowhere to be seen. I’m thinking that he must have gotten a flat so I take a quick peek over my shoulder and to my complete astonishment he’s just a tiny red dot on the horizon.

At first I’m a bit confused so I slow down to let him catch up. When he pulls along side, he mentions the new bike and it hits me like a lightning bolt. With all things even, I’m so much faster on the BMC compared to my Giant because now I have the same technology that he has.

It really is all about the bike…at least when you are flying downhill at 30 mph and you weight about 1000 pounds more than your training buddy.

Believe me Bolder would easily kick my smiling butt on any kind of serious climb. But then again with my body type (I’m certainly no climber) I should be able to power away from Bolder on the straights and downhills where my greater mass (read fat ass) gives me the advantage.

What really amazed me was how much difference the new bike and wheels make when it comes to my average 25-mile training ride. If you could see me now you would know that I’m putting my hand on a Bible and just typing with the other one when I write that I have not ridden much this year.

In fact I have only ridden 5 times so far which means I’m about as far from race ready as you can get. So it came as a huge surprise to me when I not only rode with Bolder, but did so easily and even managed to keep up with him. To make sure that this was not a fluke I repeated the same ride with my other training partner (my lovely wife) this weekend with the same results.

In both cases I was easily able to keep up with them and ride the 25-mile loop with relative ease. Please keep in mind that both of them have pretty serious early year races so they have been biking. Where as I have only been thinking about biking while watching American Idol form the comfort of my easy chair.

There are only two possible explanations and I’ll let you choose the best one:

1) I have incredible muscle memory. My muscles have retained their Cheetah like prowess through the last five months of Colorado cold, snow and Dorito munching on the coach.

2) The new BMC TTO2 along with all the Zipp speed weaponry let me ride like a Rock Star.

Just for your information I averaged 179 watts of power for the entire ride. The new Cycleops wireless Powertap now lets me easily monitor the amount of effort I’m putting into the bike both during and after the ride.

For instance, I now realize that every time I get out of the saddle on a steep hill I spike my power output at well over 500 watts. And while this may make me feel like Lance on huge climb on the tour, it would completely trash my legs on a hilly course like Ironman Wisconsin.

After all, I’m certainly no Lance and he even he didn’t have to run a marathon after climbing the Alp Duez. I guess my point is that I’m learning that the latest and greatest technology can make an everyman feel, and sometimes even perform, like a cycling Rock Star.

Sex Sells

Triathlete magazine really hit the sales and marketing ball out of the park with this month's cover.

I count at least a half a dozen products being promoted by Fernanda Keller's bare body including:

- Cervelo
- Giro
- Zipp
- Inside-Out-Sports
- Dave Scott and of course
- Triathlete Magazine

I've always been intrigued by the connection between triathlon and sex. But rarely is this connection so obviously on display as in this cover and the half naked pictures of Fernanda inside the magazine.

When you think about it the sport of triathlon is often synonymous with:

- endurance
- longevity
- vitality
- youth
- fitness
- hard bodies
- power
- strength
- perseverance
- sweat
- pain and pleasure

You can take these very same ingredients and make a typical commercial for Viagra.

It seems that this month Triathlete magazine, in a obvious attempt to sell more stuff, has blatantly connected the dots between triathlon and sex.

Is it wrong to feature a half-naked, hard-bodied, 40-year-old female triathlete wearing a tiny bikini (as in no one would actually wear it in a race) on the cover?

Probably not.

Is it pandering to the lowest common denominator for the highest possible monetary gain?

You bet.

Triathlon Bling

So you are an aspiring newbie triathlete and you want your neighbors to know. I mean you don’t want them thinking that you are just any run-of-the-mill jogger or weekend cyclist. You want to make sure they know that you are living the triathlete dream and soon you’ll be featured on network television with heroic feats of endurance on the big island of Hawaii.

Me and the Treadmill