Giving Away A Million Dollars!!!

I know I will deeply regret this, but I am going to give away a million dollars. Well... a million dollar idea at least...

With my training for IRONMAN Florida 2014 ramping up, I do NOT have time to develop, test, and bring this idea to market. Judging from the INSANE cost of anything associated with the sport of triathlon, selling just a few of these should make you an overnight millionaire! Make them out of carbon fiber and I am sure they will sell even better and you will become a billionaire! Rather than keep this stroke of genius to myself, I feel compelled to share this with you!

But first, there is no debate about the importance of fueling during a long ride or run and especially during something like the 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run portions of a full IRONMAN. Trying to take in calories every 20 - 30 minutes means I'm going to be fueling 18 - 24 times during the course of my IRONMAN?!

I find fueling to be much easier if I use a variety of products (flavors and consistencies). I am just not cut out to consume a single type of nutrition (gels, chews, blocks, bars, wafers, etc.) for all of those servings. My preference is to alternate gels (Hammer, Gu, PowerBar, and/or Honey Stinger), waffles/wafers (Honey Stinger), chews (Honey Stinger, Gu, Powerbar), and bars (Bonk Breaker). Those, along with my hydration (Gatorade, Perform, Fireball Whisky), give me all of the calories I need to perform.


Now we come to the problem. Convenience of dispensing nutrition!


GELS: I have long since learned that a Gel Flask is the most convenient way to take in gels. The flask is scientifically proven* to be 1,037% easier to use than tearing open those dastardly gel packets. AND... no trash to deal with/get you disqualified for littering! I prefer to use a Hammer Nutrition Gel Flask (http://shop.triattic.com/accessories/hammer-flask-5-serv/) in an Ultimate Direction Bike Mount Gel Flask Holder (http://shop.triattic.com/accessories/bike-mount-flask-holder/). This thing is the BOMB! I LOVE IT! They make one for your run hydration belt, but I have yet to try one out.



WAFFLES/BARS: These are a little easier to manage, but the packaging can be a pain. I find that simply cutting the waffle or bar in half and slipping it into a Ziploc Snack-sized bag is sufficient. This creates easier to manage portion sizes and LESS trash to deal with.

These things will print $$$!

CHEWS/CHOMPS/ENERGY BLASTS: Ahhh, the delicious Gummi Bears of athlete nutrition! OR are they simply unmanageable, sticky, globs of frustration?! As much as I enjoy them, they are difficult for me to manage on the bike.

Enter the most glorious idea to ever cross my** mind! THIS is the million/billion dollar idea! Simply pick up a bunch of 4" lollipop sticks (~$5 for 150 on Amazon), skewer your chews, slip the "chew pops" into a Ziploc Snack sized bag, and off you go. About half a bag of Honey Stinger Chews (pictured) will fit onto one, 4" lollipop stick, allowing you to break up your servings, as needed. This allows you to easily unwrap and partake of the glorious chews without getting insanely sticky!



"How do I turn this into a million/billion dollar product?!", you ask? Like everything else, marketing! Get these things made of carbon fiber, cheaply. Then, get a good celebrity endorsement! Get Rinny, Sharky, or that dude with the goofy sunglasses that always wins Wildflower! Plaster their picture on the label, package them 3 to a bag, and sell them for $10, $15, or $20! They will sell like hotcakes! Take a look at some of the stuff being sold and TELL ME I AM WRONG?!?!

Anyway, hope you find this little trick helpful and this post finds you training hard and training safe! If you do make a bunch of money off of this... I really would love a new tri bike. And a new wetsuit. And maybe one of those really cool aero helmets. And a new tri kit or three. Or, if you want, you could get me a few pairs of running shoes, too. Some straight-up cash for all of the IRONMAN Finisher gear would be nice, too...


* - No science was actually used in the determination of this number. 100% of people who use percentages are liars.
** - This incredible idea was not mine. The credit truly goes to fellow-triathlete and my wife, Michelle Harrison. Thanks, Bitsy Pookums!

Feeling the Sting of Triathlon's Risk-Reward Ratio!

A "Risk-Reward Ratio" is: A ratio used to compare the expected benefits of an investment to the amount of risk undertaken to capture those benefits.


A theme in my last post, "Dealing with the Monster!", centered around burning off nervous energy before a race by focusing on organizing my transition bag. The energy I pour into that helps me be organized, but more importantly, helps take my mind off the actual race... allowing me to relax.



Some might see the time spent organizing my transition bag as time wasted (Risk). To me, the organization, distraction, and resulting relaxation it provides (Reward) is well worth the effort. In that example, I end up on the positive side of the equation. My actions during the recent Army Strong Triathlon (sprint-distance triathlon) put me on the other side.

The Army Strong Triathlon was an important race for me. As an Army veteran, I always like to do well at this race. The past few years have seen me finish 1st and 2nd in my age group. I hoped for another good showing this year. However, for as important as this race is, being relaxed and having a good time with my friends takes higher precedence. For this reason, I made a concerted effort to not worry as much about the details of race. The usual time I would spend (Risk) setting up my transition spot and going over things did not seem worth the relative benefit (Reward).




In shorter distance triathlons, I perform what is called a flying mount. That means I leave my shoes clipped into the pedals of my bike. Coming out of the swim and into T1, I put on my helmet, simply grab my bike, and exit transition. I mount my bike and then, once underway, slip my feet into my clipped-in shoes, tighten the straps, and begin pedaling. This usually allows for quick transitions and allows me to get underway quickly.

At this year's Army Strong Triathlon, my usual mediocre swim was followed by a speedy transition and I was off on the bike. That is when it happened. The strap on my shoe pulled completely out of its slot and I spent the next ~1:30 (one minute and thirty seconds!) trying to avoid other athletes and wrecking while re-threading it back through. While there are probably several lessons to be learned here, like "Why didn't I just hop off, put the shoe on, and continue?!", I'd like to talk about lessons learned and the Risk-Reward Ratio.

But first, let us step aside and look at this cool image. This is data from my ride. All of the lines of data tell the story, but the most interesting is the gold line that shows my cadence (how quickly my pedals are turning). My normal cadence is well above 90 rpms. As you can see from the data, I am pretty much at zero for over 1:30. The only time it bumps above zero during that time is when I give it a few one-legged turns to keep from coming to a complete stop and falling over! Notice the falling heart rate and the blazing, sub-13 mph speed?!?! Awesome, huh?!

Anyway, the story here is not about something that went wrong on race day, but about something that has gone wrong for me before and could have been prevented. This was not the first time this has happened to me. During training, I've learned that loosening my strap up too much can lead to the strap pulling out of its slot. Normally, this is something I would probably check and double-check, along with ensuring I clipped the right shoe onto the right pedal and the left shoe onto the left pedal! (SIGH... Yes, I mixed them up once... during a race... on my birthday. DOH!) For this race, though, I valued staying relaxed and not sweating the details of the race more.

Now, for another aside and where our story gets painful. I went on to have a decent race and finished 2nd in my Age Group. How far ahead was the person who beat me??? You probably guessed it was less than 1:30?! It was 1:24!!! I was beaten by LESS than the amount of time I spent fixing a mistake I could have avoided. Does this REALLY mean I would have ended up getting 1st had this not happened? Maybe. Maybe not. The person who bested me may have simply had more in the tank at the end of the race and would have brought that to bear, outsprinting me to the finish. I did not put myself in a position to find out, though.

The thought here is that each athlete simply has to perform their own "Risk-Reward Ratio" analysis. If you are doing triathlons for fun, spending too much time on your transition setup may be counterproductive. If you are competing for a podium finish, not spending enough time on your transition setup may be counterproductive. The key is that you need to find that healthy balance where YOU can be OK with the consequences of how much time and effort you put into the sport! Who cares what other people, who have other goals and aspirations, think?! As long as you are OK with your decisions, that's all that matters!



Am I OK with missing out on first place? For THIS year... yes.

Dealing with the Monster!

The lyrics to the popular song, “The Monster” - Eminem featuring Rihanna, has Rihanna singing:

“I’m friends with the monster that’s under my bed
Get along with the voices inside of my head
You’re trying to save me, stop holding your breath
And you think I’m crazy, yeah, you think I’m crazy.”

That describes me the night before a race… CRAZY! The monster is not under my bed, though, it is in my transition bag. The voices inside my head are trying to convince me that I have forgotten everything from my running shoes to possibly even my bike!!!

I have said it before. I may be a little Type A, but I prefer to consider myself as “prepared”. As I grow older and wiser, I like to think that I am able to better define the line between prepared and overly complicated. However...


A few weeks ago I did my second, half IRONMAN distance triathlon, the Gulf Coast Triathlon in Panama City Beach, Florida! My training had been going well and I was more relaxed before this event than I have ever been before a race! As we traveled to Panama City Beach, I marveled at how I was now able to be SO relaxed ahead of a “half-distance” event! Have I come that far?! Knowing that I was about to go 70.3 miles on the EXACT course that I would be attempting to go 140.6 for my first IRONMAN, in just over five months, should have had the excitement/anxiety level up to “10”. Though I was excited, I was not anxious…

..until the night before!

That is when I sat aimlessly before my transition bag with its contents strewn out around me. My pre race ritual of ensuring that I knew exactly what was in each pocket of my bag and ensuring that I had everything I could possibly need was underway. I packed and repacked everything. What should have taken a few minutes melted into over an hour.

My transition bag(s)... for a Sprint...

As I neared completion, a dear friend presented her transition bag, consisting of a mostly empty backpack that looked like it might have a pair of shoes, an extra shirt, and a half-mashed banana in it. After she smirked and asked if I was going off to some unknown triathlon war with my 70 lb pack, I compared transition bag sizes and realized there MIGHT be a not-so-small problem.

Fortunately, I was able to quickly and significantly reduce the amount of extra CRAP I have been carrying in my transition bag. I had gradually accumulated a plethora of extra “stuff” that resulted in me having spares for my spares of just about everything. Beyond cutting down on the number of “spares”, I simply eliminated the things I have been carrying around for two years “just in case” that I have NEVER needed at ANY event. It was bad, but it is better now.


But that is not the main purpose of this post. No, what I want to talk about is what was going on in my head during all of this. I was reading a brief article by professional triathlete and four-time Wildflower Triathlon winner, Jesse Thomas, in the March 2014 edition of Triathlete Magazine when I realized what I was really doing. In his article, he talks about being thought of as “dorky” for his pre-race rituals (repacking his transition bag, laying out his race clothing before the race, etc.) and being prepared. He concedes that while one part of his efforts are to prepare for the race, the bigger picture is taking his mind OFF the race.



By taking the “monster” out of the race and putting it into my transition bag, it is right there in front of me and something I can burn off that nervous energy on. I know it is hard to think about preparing all of your equipment without thinking about the race itself, but I seem to do just that. I do not really think about what I am going to ask my body to do the next day, I focus ALL of my nervous energy and excitement on the equipment.

And while I am concerning myself with exactly which transition bag pocket my sunscreen is in, the monster and I get along. And with that friendship, the voices in my head get a little quieter. If, but only for a little while...

A Match In Time!

In February, I wrote about the amazing I Run 4 program. The I Run 4 website (http://www.whoirun4.com) and its companion, the I Run For Michael Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/irunformichael) exist to match runners with an honorary runner (a child or adult with special needs), who they dedicate their workouts to. Don't be put off by the word, "run" in the title. This group is open to anyone participating in any activity. I see lots of people doing any number of activities from snow-shoeing to Crossfit to simply walking, dedicating their workouts to the person they are "running" for! You can read more about that amazing program here: http://imronman.blogspot.com/2014/02/who-do-you-run-for.html !

After signing up for a "buddy" on January 15, 2014, I patiently waited and watched my number slowly drop from the low 2000's to the teens. Three months and 25 days later, on the eve of my Gulf Coast Triathlon (70.3) triathlon, I received my match! As if getting ready for a big race wasn't enough excitement, I now had a buddy to help motivate me even more and to dedicate my workouts/miles to!



My buddy, Toby, is 24 years old. Toby has Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, and a handful of other challenging diagnoses. Even with these challenges, Toby stays active with the Special Olympics, competing in Track & Field events and Swimming. Just last weekend, Toby competed in the Special Olympics Area Games and will be going to the State Games next weekend!


One of the things that struck me as fate when I was first being introduced to Toby, by his amazing mother, Wendy, was that they live in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho! I hadn't heard of Coeur d'Alene ever before 14 teammates from my triathlon training team, TriAttic (http://www.TriAttic.com), signed up for IRONMAN Coeur d'Alene, to be held in late June, 2014! What are the odds?! The bike course even goes right by Toby's neighborhood and they like to go out and cheer for the athletes!

So, as I dedicate my daily workouts to Toby, find strength in what he does every day, and get to know him better, I just want to share this amazing program with you. So, whether you're looking for someone to provide inspiration to, derive inspiration from, or if you know someone with special needs who might benefit from having someone run for them, please visit the I Run 4 site (http://www.whoirun4.com) and sign up?!

Toby, "Isn't it great?!"

TRYING to Go Halfway at Halfway.

May 1, 2014 was two weeks ago, now. That marks the halfway point in time between my signing up for IRONMAN Florida and the event itself, on November 1, 2014. They said the time would fly by, but I did not believe them. It is flying! So many great things have happened since I signed up, but it is still hard to believe that I am now officially halfway there!

I never realized, when I signed up for the Gulf Coast Triathlon (70.3), that it would fall just a week after the "official" halfway point between signup and what will be the biggest race of my life, IRONMAN Florida. I was going to be attempting to do EXACTLY one half of the distance I would need to do for IRONMAN on the EXACT same course that I would be doing IRONMAN Florida on! I was going to go halfway at halfway!!! Or so I thought... I was excited beyond words about this race. I was well-trained and ready to put down a solid race. I always love racing, but knowing that I would be staying in the same place and running the exact course where (I hope!) so many dreams will come true and where so much of my focus and attention will be this year... it was beyond exciting.

Racked by the brakes? Winds were
tossing bikes hung by the seat
around like CRAZY!

The day before the race, we did a very short brick workout to check our equipment, check our bodies, and to check the water conditions. Winds along Front Beach Road and Thomas Drive were crazy on the bike. The waves were 3 - 6' with two large sets of breakers to pass before getting to calmer seas. We practiced charging through that maelstrom three times until we felt confident! We knew the evening called for a 60% chance of storms and that race day would likely be wet. We wrapped up our bikes and checked them in to transition.

Race day came without drop of rain falling during the night. The chances of rain were still there, but diminishing. And the water even looked different. Waves were MUCH lighter, but something still wasn't right. When the rescue boats, kayaks, jetskis, etc. had difficulty getting into position and then found it nearly impossible to hold their position, we knew things did not look good for the swim. CURRENTS!!! The unseen currents made it impossible for the rescue craft to hold position or be able to get to a potential distressed swimmer in a timely manner. For the first time in its 32-year history, the Gulf Coast Triathlon cancelled the swim.

Gulf Coast Triathlon Cancels Swim For First Time In History.

With the swim cancelled, they went to a time-trial start run from the beach to transition. This meant that each athlete in the various swim waves would begin ~3 seconds apart. This pushed the time for us to start the bike to even later than it would have been with the swim. And that, naturally, moved the time that we would be doing the run to later in the day, when the heat and humidity would be even more brutal.

The winds on the bike were incredible. This was evidenced by the fact that, at one point, for three miles, I strung together a 25.5 mph average speed with what would be a 20 mph effort for me. While that wind was great going out, it was murder coming back. That's where I got to see 15 mph averages for 20 mph effort! I felt like I adhered to my plan on effort and stayed on top of my nutrition and hydration.

Just SO happy to cross that
Finish Line!!!

And then, there was the run. The heat and humidity were more than any of us had had the opportunity to train in this year. I stuck to my plan and had a pretty solid effort going until somewhere between miles 9 and 10. There, for the first time in my life, I found out what "the wall" felt like, looked like, sounded like, and maybe even tasted like. I was walking EVERY water stop and even a couple of short intervals in between! I had always thought that I would see my heart rate spike when I just couldn't go on and was putting in so much effort to try to keep moving. Instead, I could not get my heart rate up. 

In reviewing my data after the race, it looks like I went a little too hard on the bike. Not a total blowup, but still a little harder than I should have. And, even though I thought I had stayed on top of my nutrition, we (my coach and I) are now thinking I may have ran out of steam on the run because of nutrition. Too hard on the bike + too little nutrition + heat/humidity = bonk on run!

They say that misery loves company. While I would NEVER wish a bad race on my friends and fellow athletes, it did help my pride a little bit to know that I wasn't the only one who suffered. Across the board I received confirmation that the conditions were just brutal and that everyone's energy was sapped by the humidity. Like I talked about in my last post, I'm all about finding the positives in my training and racing. There were so many positives in this one. I think I probably learned more from my bonk than I EVER would have by simply going out and hitting my numbers.

So, I tried to go halfway at halfway and was thwarted by forces out of my control. The remainder of the race that was in my control was less than stellar. I'm still very happy with my overall effort and even happier with what I learned. And I KNOW that this new-found knowledge will help me go ALL THE WAY when it matters most... IRONMAN Florida 2014, November 1, 2014!

My wife, Michelle, had a GREAT race
and my kids were AMAZING sherpas!

---

P.S. - Remember back in early February when I posted about the AMAZING I Run 4 organization? (Who Do YOU Run For?) Well, I'm so very excited to let you know that, the day before I ran the Gulf Coast Triathlon, I received my match! I now have an incredible buddy, Toby! We are just getting to know each other, so I sincerely hope to be able to tell you more about him and this amazing organization in a couple of weeks! STAY TUNED!!!

How to ALWAYS win!

Four years ago and nearly 300 lbs!

I love triathlon. I love training and competing. I do not apologize for my enthusiasm for the sport of triathlon. What some might mistake for over-intensity or cockiness is really just elation. Elation over that fact that, less than four years ago, I was too lazy to get off the couch to walk around the block, but now I have boundless energy. While I have never been proud of how much I let myself go for all of those years, there is no mistaking the pride I have in the fact that I found myself, buried deep inside the lethargy, and brought myself back to a lifestyle that I could not be enjoying more!

My enthusiasm is due, in part, to something that I would say is my strongest trait. It allows me to stand before you and claim to be undefeated in the sport of triathlon. That is right. I always win and I plan to keep on winning. Here is why I say that and the secret to how you can, too! It comes down to motivation.

There are volumes written on the subject of motivation. Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. More important than just a pep talk about “motivation” is understanding the relative and important differences between the broad types of motivation labelled as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation involves engaging in a behavior because it is personally rewarding; essentially, performing an activity for its own sake rather than the desire for some external reward. External motivation is when we engage in a behavior or perform an activity in order to earn a reward or avoid a punishment.

Intrinsic: You find it enjoyable, challenging, and exciting. (Motivation arises from within the individual. Task oriented or performance related.)

Extrinsic: You do it to obtain an award or avoid a negative outcome or punishment. (Motivation arises from outside the individual. Ego oriented or outcome related.)

Studies suggest that intrinsic motivation is best. However, in some cases, people simply have no internal desire to perform an activity. In these cases and when used appropriately, extrinsic motivators/rewards can be a useful tool. However, extrinsic rewards can be counterproductive if you already find the activity intrinsically rewarding. The best example of this is how they can make the “play” activity seem too much like “work”! How many times have we heard, “Trying to keep up with all of these workouts is too much like work!”?

"A person's interest often survives when a reward is used neither to bribe nor to control but to signal a job well done, as in a "most improved player" award. If a reward boosts your feeling of competence after doing good work, your enjoyment of the task may increase. Rewards, rightly administered, can motivate high performance and creativity. And extrinsic rewards (such as scholarships, admissions, and jobs that often follow good grades) are here to stay," explains David G. Meyers in his text, Psychology: Eighth Edition in Modules.

Being intrinsically motivated, I am much less interested in beating the other person as I am doing the best I can for my current abilities. Intrinsic motivation is so beautiful in that it allows me to only be concerned with what is within me... within my control. The fact that it rains on race day and slows down my bike split does not ruin my day. I readjust my expectations and perform to the best of my abilities for the conditions. When I do have a bad performance, I will look for the lessons of the day and make the necessary adjustments for the next time. But, no matter what, I am always going to find the positives in my performance and celebrate those!

Some quotes get “overused” because they are so fitting. One that came to mind while writing this was, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game!” Can there be a better quote to illustrate intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?! In that quote we see that the outcome, what is dictated after the activity is completed (extrinsic), does not matter when compared to what takes place during the activity (intrinsic). THAT is the important part!

Remember, when you are intrinsically motivated, motivation comes from within. The only competition is yourself. If you have the right motivation, you can always find something positive in your training or event. If you can do that, you can never lose! You ALWAYS win!

So, are you intrinsically or extrinsically motivated?

Hi-Yo Giggles, Away! An Exciting 2014 Triathlon Season Begins!

What is sure to be an exciting triathlon season kicked off for me with our area's traditional, season-opener, the Red Hills Triathlon.

The Red Hills Triathlon features a 1/3-mile swim in Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park's spring-fed Lake Hall. This is followed by a 16-mile bike course that rolls along scenic canopy roads and some of Tallahassee's most challenging hills. The event finishes with a 3.1-mile run along mostly trails featuring a challenging mix of gravel, sand, tree roots, and sharp turns.



The majority of my season will be focused on two half and one full IRONMAN distance events, so a sprint distance event early in the season would be an opportunity to have fun and try to go "fast"! Well, fast for me, anyway!




Overall I had a very good race and bested my time from last year by nearly five minutes! My only real disappointment was, early on the bike, I felt some "twinges" in my left calf that I feared might turn into cramps and lead to damage. Being so early in the season, I didn't want to push it and risk any setbacks. So, I backed off on the bike and really backed off on the run. I may have gained a little bit of time on the bike, had I pushed, but was most disappointed with a run time that was at least two minutes slower than I am easily capable of. On a 5K run, that's a lot...


Oh well, like I said, overall I'm happy with the results and improvement from last year. IRONMAN Florida is the BIG goal this year. Playing safe early in the season will hopefully help me stay in the best shape possible to attain that goal! And the opportunity for improvement only means that, after I get this whole "IRONMAN thing" out of the way this year, I can come back next year and really put it all out there!

If you are wondering about the "Giggles" reference, you'll have to do some additional reading. I had the honor of being asked to write a "race report" for the local newspaper The Tallahassee Democrat. Rather than simply do something on how my race went and who finished where, I decided to tell the story of my "Red Hills Odyssey". It hasn't been published in their online version and I'm not sure if there are plans to. So, I've included a link to the e-newspaper copy here: No wimping out: My Red Hills odyssey. I hope you enjoy it!