Taking Risks

I'm gearing up for the season mixing what I know works with some experimentation on a few things that I'm hoping works! I'm intrigued about a few things Coach is having me try and banking that they'll further my efforts this season. I'm doing as they say (whoever they are) and taking some calculated risks.

The rains have showered us with their love for the past 10 days or so. I've tried to return that same love but it hasn't been easy. I made it a rest week instead! And now, with a week of rest behind me and sunny skies ahead, sunscreen and fluids will again be vital. Yay! At least for now anyway. I've been testing out The Right Stuff as an electrolyte supplement during my longer efforts and have had great "luck" with it so far (I don't believe much in luck; the stuff works).

One of the things Chuckie had me try was a carbohydrate-restricted diet for these past 3-4 days. I'm on day four and have finally tasted an apple. I love apples and three days without one had me slapping my hands together as if I had autism, anything to keep my mind off of food. According to the scale (which means little really) I lost a couple of pounds but I think that weight was just depleted brain glycogen! Yesterday afternoon at the track I was seeing stars and almost fell over my own two feet. A measly 20-minutes of harder effort had me focusing on the horizon just to stay upright. I was competing again (to stay upright)! Competition is something I haven't done in over a year… and it felt surreal! Chuckie commented, "Now you know what it's like to have to sprint at the end of an Ironman." I love suffering but only through the type of my choosing, which, as Coach says, "isn't really suffering; you can't always pick your battles." This was a whole new kind of battle for me and it sucked!

During my last few hard workouts I made sure to make myself hurt. My game still has to be upped to compete with the likes of Team TBB and I'm elevating myself toward it. It being: hurt hard and hurt often.

But now I'm dead and filling myself back up with the much-needed glycogen I deprived myself of for the last few days.

About the risk-taking…

I take a lot of risks in life (some I'm not too proud of and others that have virtually saved my life), but there is still a big part of me that holds back. Taking risks is just too well, risky! What if (fill in the blank) happens?! What if, what if, what if…

What I've realized this past year while taking part on Team TBB, and being home for a few months, and working a full-time job, and being injured is that I have to take risks (however scary or unknown the outcome may be) in order to attain my goals in the sport and in life. As Brett Sutton always said, "Go home now if you're doing this (sport) for the lifestyle or for image; do it to be your best and to WIN."

Ben Franklin wrote that some people die at 25 and aren't buried until they are 75. I'm still alive and will choose to be until the day I die (most likely by taking the risks I was told I shouldn't have!). So strong as this comes across, it means to hell with it, bust a move! Fear is to be demolished in my repertoire of emotions, along with doubt…fear and doubt are the naysayers in our lives and too many people let them control their lives. It's a battle I struggle through almost daily.

Obviously there are limits to what risks we should take. I wouldn't put myself in harm's way (at least the type of harm I wouldn't get stronger from). Nor would I put others in any harm (unless it means winning a race and their harm came from me beating them in the event!). But here's the irony: the person that doesn't take risks feels the same amount of fear as the person that regularly takes risks…maybe even more so! The non-risk taker feels the same amount of fear over more trivial matters: the weather, a big hill to climb, crosswinds, or being chicked (which, by the way, should be a big fear of yours, guys!) and other what ifs brought on by these and other things.

If I have learned anything in the past 2 years in this sport, it is this: failure is part of the process. BUT (and this is a BIG but!) we don't have to accept it and be defeated by it! Take the risk!

"Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted…One moment…Would you capture it, or just let it slip?" Eminem

To hell with it! That's my M.O.

Two Tough Days

The last two days were great training days for me.

Yesterday I went on a doozy of a ride. CV and I rode long (because we've heard rain is coming! Yikes!), ending up a few minutes shy of 6-hours. I felt dead from the onset and stayed that way the whole way but struggled on, collecting at least 3-hours at a respectable power output.

By the time the two of us got back into town, we were barely moving and swearing under (and over) our breaths at every bump on the road (and there's no shortage of bumps in Santa Barbara County. Chuckie likes to joke that the roads are one big bump. I actually look forward to the cattle guards since they're smoother! We were tired, hungry, cranky and ready to get off the bikes. After a solid 90-minutes of refueling and a short nap, I headed to the track for a 60-minute jaunt on the legs. It was dark and I was slow as a turtle but collected "time on my feet" nonetheless.

Today I woke like a slug. My eyes were puffy and had dark bags under them. Speaking of bags, I was ready to bag the day before it even started! But Chuckie reminded me how hard my friends on Team TBB train. That was my coffee. Train harder than them. After long discussions with the team management, I decided it best to branch out on my own this year. I'll be racing independently under Chuckie's guidance and am back with many of the great sponsors I've had since pre-Team TBB.

At 7:45 this morning I met with Heather and Trevor for a 4,500-yard swim workout of their design, with a mix of paces and steady state work. We then suited up for a planned 4-5 hour ride with time "in zone". This is Chuckie's way of saying, "Expect to hurt". He didn’t know how I would feel so we agreed to just "see what the day brings," which meant if I felt tired, I could expect to hurt that much more!

Though I felt great during the swim I was still hesitant about the follow-up ride, especially after a big breakfast, which only made me feel groggy again. As expected, I felt like crap during the warm-up but kept the effort consistent and strong from there forward, with just one stop the whole ride. I think Heather and Trevor are with me on this one but I hate stopping during our harder rides and it's something Chuckie seems to want to do (and does) more than anyone. He stops to smell flowers, to help snakes or tarantulas across the road, to pick up garbage and to take pictures. Oddly enough he never stops when it's time to pee. Weird.

Before long everything starting clicking for me and I got in no less than 3.5-hours at a solid power output. I was gritting my teeth by the end, even though I was still at a very aerobic heart rate (i.e., well below my lactate threshold). I felt like I was hitting bottom but couldn't help myself when I hit the bottom of Mount Figueroa. I was under strict orders NOT to do any climbing so I turned around after sneaking in just 100-yards of it (though climbing 100 yards on the Fig takes about 8-minutes!). Next time, I'll try to squeeze in 200 yards!). After a nice tailwind spin back to the YMCA, I scarfed some more grub and then headed back to the pool for a short flop to end the day. All I can say about that particular swim was that I didn't drown.

I'm ready for tomorrow. The menu: Run, run, and run.

It's time to fight the war...and training started today. Let's hope the rain waits!

Rolf Prima signs multiple top pro triathletes for 2010

Adding to an already strong list of sponsored athletes, Rolf Prima will start the triathlon season with several new additions. Rolf Prima recently signed Jan Rehula (Czech Republic), Justin Daerr (USA), Angela Naeth (Canada), Gina Crawford (New Zealand) and Graham O'Grady (New Zealand).

Their past records are impressive. Whether it's Gina Crawford's recent IronMan Western Australia victory onboard Rolf Prima TdF58 650c's, where she took the first back to back title for IronMan Western Australia or Jan Rehula's impressive win at the inaugural IronMan Malaysia 70.3; look for even more winning results from them on their Rolf Prima wheels in 2010. "What is impressive about these athletes is that they are more than just great athletes, they are great people to" said Rolf Prima owner, Brian Roddy. "We receive numerous sponsorship requests, but we are very selective with who we partner with. We want them to be good spokes-people not only for our products, but for the sport as well. We are really looking forward to working with these athletes for 2010".

For 2010 Rolf Prima has expanded their wheel options for triathletes. The 12 spoke TdF58 is now available in a clincher or tubular and the tubular version is available in a 650c or 700c size. Rolf Prima also added a full Carbon tubular rear Disc which weighs in at 930gms. All of the Rolf Prima triathletes will race on either the Rolf Prima TdF58 or 58TT wheel sets paired with a Rolf Prima Disc.

Stay tuned for some great results from these athletes as the triathlon season gets underway.

5 day late....or 5 days early?

It's already 5 days into the new year. But to me dates are arbitrary. They run the show for getting things done and being in places at certain times, but what does 5 days into 2010 really mean? The year starts when one decides to commit. Chuckie just wrote a great blog about this and you can read it here. I committed--fully committed--myself when I realized I was just kidding myself. And I fully realized this just a short while ago. I think this is an ongoing process for an athlete--commitment and realizing what it takes. Not until one wins or achieves one of his or her goals that they had set out to accomplish, can one fully realize this.

I worked for about 2.5 months as a physiotherapist this past year to help get me out of debt and start the year off on the right track (albeit with a loan). I realized throughout that time frame that I don't want 10 years to pass with me thinking, 'shoulda, woulda, coulda.' I still don't believe I fully grasp this concept though. This is what both Doc and Chuckie V have said in so many words, but I'm trying. I need to be slapped in the face everyday so that this reality of time flowing by hits me at the same instance. Even though dates are meaningless, our life's time clock is not!

I could look at this in two ways:
1) Negatively
2) Positively

Positive thinking isn't everything when it comes to achieving dreams. It's a myth really. But if you stay positively focused that dream may just become reality. It's the combination of the good and bad of everyday--the pleasure and pain--the positive and negative. Keeping your mind on the goal and moving toward it is the act of being positively focused. Chuckie always reiterates, "It's easy to stay positive when everything is going your way, but this isn't true positivity. It only means something when times get tough."

Of course if you consider fun to be the essential goal there is nothing wrong with that either! For me though, my ultimate success level, whatever that may be, is the most fun I could have! It takes work to have fun.