Put it on the Calendar, then Be Inspired.

Beginning triathlon tip of the week:

"Put it on the calendar!"

Nothing helps keep my diet in line, my training on track, and my life in balance, more than registering for a couple of events.  The bigger the event, the more strictly I adhere to my nutrition plan and training schedule. The nearer the event, the same stands true.  If I've got a half marathon in two weeks, I won't allow myself to 'cheat'; especially on the nutrition side.  I don't want to be out there feeling like hell, all the while wondering if it was that pizza from a few nights back that threw a wrench in the spokes.


So, for 2014, I took my own advice.  I signed up for a number of events.  Two in particular have my full and undivided attention:

• My 1st & 2nd ever half-marathon trail runs.
• My 1st & 2nd ever Olympic Distance Triathlons.
• Three Century + group rides, including 'The Most Beautiful Ride in America" circling Lake Tahoe, California.
• "B" Race ~ The Wildflower Triathlon
• "A" Race ~ Ironman Lake Tahoe

These aren't incidental events.  They're purposeful; strategic.  We'll go over putting your race schedule together in a future post.

Since my last post, I've completed a couple of events that I thought I'd share as well.



T1 - Pleasanton Tri For Real 2013

Tri For Real - Sprint Triathlon

~ Pleasanton, CA

~On Your Mark Events

A typical sprint distance race, but really, really well organized:

• 700 yard open water, lake swim
• 18 mile bike
• 4 mile trail run
• 1:49:25
• 105 of 271 overall
• 17 of 31 45-49

DiabloMan - Sprint Triathlon

~ Walnut Creek, CA
~Tri-Freaks

An even shorter, but brutal triathlon.

• 450m pool swim
• 14 mile bike
• 3.5 mile run
• 4,000 ft of climbing on the bike. 950 ft of climbing on the run, that over just 1.75 miles. 
• 2:44:37
• 45 of 69 overall
• 12 of 17 40-49 

Crystal Springs Trail Run - Half Marathon Trail Run
~ Woodside, CA
~Coastal Trail Runs

A beautiful race, in a beautiful place. I don't think I'll ever miss one of these races.

• 13.1 miles of single track trail
• 2,800 ft. of climbing
• 2:27.25 (results not available at time of post_

So, I'll say it again; put 'em on the calendar.  It's far harder to eat that doughnut or drink that martini when you know you're going to pay for it in the worst way.  It's easier to lace up those shoes at dark thirty, or to swim with the steam rising from the pool at 10PM, when you know you have to

And now for the rest of the story: 

~Being inspired.  Find something bigger than you to race for.

By far, the most persistent life dream I've had has been to race at the Ironman World Championships in Kona.  With that always at the top of my mind, why then have I not yet been there? The answer is simple: Excuses; legitimate or otherwise, excuses are the culprit. So when am I going to get off my ass and actually go do Kona?  Well if you're reading this, you probably know that you don't just "Go" to Kona.  You earn your way to Kona, with phenomenal results.  Unless you're Chef Ramsay or Hines Ward (who mind you did a fantastic job and drew loads of interest and attention to the sport), you have to perform. I have an athletic background littered with lack of performance.  I better get started.

After suffering through, but enjoying Ironman California 70.3 in Oceanside last march, my goal now is to do my first "full".  A 140.6 mile triathlon.  But which one?  Honestly, it matters to me.  It's not that I have less respect for other events, but for me, personally, emotionally, I have to have a connection to an event.  I have to be emotionally vested or I just can't push myself through the dark places you go during endurance racing.  What is special about "IT"?  What is particularly brutal about "IT"?  What the hell is wrong with me when I immediately start Googling, "World's Hardest Ironman Races" and dreaming about what it must be like?  Lanzarote?  Where is that?  Oh man! That looks brutal! (with a curious and sadistic grin plastered to my face). As if 140.6 miles isn't brutal on it's own.

So, in order to become more informed, and even more motivated, I volunteered with a few friends at last year's inaugural Ironman Lake Tahoe 2014.  We witnessed a record number of DNS/DNFs first hand. I was and still am in awe.  It was absolutely freezing all day long. Literally, the sand on the beach was frozen!  The elevation left me searching for oxygen while jogging back to my truck for another bottle of water!  Witnessing the condition of the people coming out of T-2 (bike to run) left me speechless, inspired, and accepting of the fact that these athletes are simply, athletically out of my league. Ironman Lake Tahoe was going to have to wait.  But what an eye opener!

Then I got 'the call'. My aunt called me as I was assisting people out of T-2 and onto the run.  My cousin, Walden Grindle, a resident and permanent fixture of the North Shore of Lake Tahoe, was tragically killed in a speed flying accident just moments before she called. She didn't know where I was and wanted help locating and retrieving his truck.  I'll never forget the call.  Olympic Village at Squaw Valley will never be the same to me.

I did my best to finish volunteering "Catching" at the finish line, but I couldn't get my head back in the game.  I couldn't stop thinking about his wife of only 9 months. I couldn't stop thinking of my wife's broken heart and my young sons' first real exposure to death.  Their Uncle Walden, "Super Walden" (because he could fly), was gone.  He was married in Lake Tahoe.  I pulled my hood over my head, disappeared into the crowd of fans, families, and finishers, and ran to my truck to drive home.

I heard from a few the finishers on my drive home.  They all knew me, and knew my fitness level.  Some of them all but begged me NOT to make Ironman Lake Tahoe my first full.  It's simply a massive race. Some have written, and some have said, that it is truly the hardest 140.6 of all time.  This race boasts an average elevation of 6,500ft, with 8,400 of climbing on the bike alone. So where did that leave me?  It's simple.  It left me feeling incomplete. I went up there to be inspired.  I came home early, inspired beyond words. I woke up thinking, "Tahoe is never going to be the same until I cross that finish line."  My family and I drove to my grieving aunt's house. I waited for registration to open, then signed up.  I'm in.  This is the right race for me.

In short, now it's time to stop f'ing around.  I have adopted this mantra, and I can't even tell you where it's from, but it goes like this:

"Set your goals so high that you can't possibly achieve them...

...until you become someone who can."

I have a plan:   

with the support of "The Boss", Chris McCormack, and members of his training group (which I feel incredibly honored to be a part of), I've got a plan.  In fact, I've got a 35 week plan.  I've got races that I've added to my schedule, and some that I've removed.  Thanks to Rich Roll's program through MindBodyGreen, and Ben Greenfield (part of the MaccaX group) I've got my nutrition nailed; at least for now.  I'm not doing rides or runs beyond the 2 or 3 hour mark yet, so I still have some nutritional 'testing' to do before race day, but I'm on track.  Those long days, tough races, and purpose built sessions are on their way.  They're on the calendar. That said, gone are the days of misguided wondering.  Now it's simply a matter of execution. Execute the plan.  4k days in the pool, 100-150k rides, and 10-15 mile runs must become the norm. They can no longer be that "really tough session". With my focus being balance and wellness (for my family as well as for myself), each training session must be a strategic session, planned in advance, with a specific purpose.  This doesn't mean I won't enjoy myself, my runs, my rides, and my pool sessions, but it does mean that I'm closer than I've ever been to making this dream come true and I'm not going to screw it up now!

All for now, but more to come:

• What's working in nutrition, and what's not?
• What's bringing strength without injuries and/or fatigue?
• What's best helping to 'build that motor' aerobically?
• Struggles with equipment, gear, and funding.

Hugs.