One Year InGreetings from the sunny shores of Saranac Lake, New York. I've left Northern Cali for a little while to undertake some stealth reconnaissance of the Ironman USA bike course, where I plan on qualifying for Kona in 2002. Aside from last September and October, I have now been on the road for a year. I have been lucky enough to train in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Colorado, California and New York. It's been quite a trip for me. Different and far better than what I imagined. Over the last few weeks, several realizations have dawned on me that I wanted to share with you. It is quite entertaining for me to race these days. I seem to spend 90% of my race in a place I like to call triathlete purgatory. It is a zone behind the pro men and in front of the top AG men. It's not a bad place to be. I am quite cozy in my own world -- eating, drinking and waiting for people in front of me to blow up so I can have someone to target. Of course that's on a good day -- on a not so good day I have the occasional AG athlete rock by. Spending my time in tri-purgatory has given me some thoughts on the concept of speed. You see, to some folks I am pretty speedy -- while to others, I suck. It's all a matter of one's perspective. How fast is "fast enough"? Fast enough to win your age group? Fast enough to qualify for Kona every year? Fast enough to finish any race you enter? Fast enough to enjoy the sensation of water on your skin, wind in your hair and sun on your back? I often wonder what we are trying to achieve with our quest for speed. I can assure you that a track session running 75 second repeats feels exactly the same as one where you are running 120 second repeats. Five hours on my bike was just as satisfying when I covered 70 miles as when I ride a century. The same goes for races. I finished 61st at the Escape and 3rd and Keauhou-Kona. Both were excellent days, if anything, I learned more racing the Escape. Some folks asked me "what happened in San Francisco". I've no idea what happened! It was a sunny day and I tried my best. In fact, I tried harder at that race than any other since IM New Zealand. One of the neat things about the Escape was that I was able to run for a while with Scott Tinley. I've never talked to Tinley but I read his stuff and think that he just might realize that he is "fast enough". How many of us are fast enough? For me, fast enough is being able to race pro, when I want, where I want. It took me three years of serious focus to get fast enough. So how do you get fast enough? I think the secret is to stop trying so hard. Since "turning pro" -- AKA leaving the mainstream to ride my bike -- I have found that the less I "try" the faster I get. Here is what I do... Each week, I choose two or three workouts that I want to get accomplished. These workouts are my #1 priority in my life (sad but true!). Around those workouts, I give myself total flexibility. The people that I have lived with think it is a bit strange because I modify my week quite a bit. My goal is to get a little bit better each week. Millions of baby steps in the direction of a sub-9 hour Ironman. When I was back in the mainstream, I used to try so very hard. I would time my workouts down to the minute, stay exactly in my target HR zone and analyse my heart rate data from every session. It was a lot of work. Not sure if it was a lot of fun. Which brings me to the most important thing that I have learned so far. What is the best part about being a professional triathlete?
See you at the races, gordo |