Crushing Iron

November 4, 2014

What My Dog Teaches Me About Racing . . . and Life

To be honest, I never really wanted a dog. Somehow, Matisse, just sort of landed in my life.

As the story goes, she was abandoned on the side of the road and survived on her own for a few days. I like to say she grew up in the streets.

She’s a good dog, but dogs are a lot of work. At least for someone who isn’t used to having one. It’s getting easier, though.

When I’m present, she teaches me a lot, especially how to be satisfied with the simple things in life. Like stopping and smelling the roses, coffee, or in her case . . . anything!

Mattie’s lived with me most of her life, and I think she likes it, but sometimes it’s hard to tell. It doesn’t seem like she’s truly happy unless she’s moving around. I know the feeling.

Lately I’ve made a commitment to take her on longer walks and it seems like good karma. We’ve ventured off the trails into the deep woods, even started hanging out along the hidden creeks.

It sounds cliche’ but she is truly in touch with nature. Every scent, sound, or movement takes her breath away.

She’s insanely curious and goes absolutely bat-shit whenever she meets . . . anyone!

Keith Urban might as well be Keith Fleck from down the block. Jack Freedmore is just as big a deal as Jack White. And Sparky might as well be Old Yeller.

It just doesn’t matter. She loves everyone and gives them all a chance.

Every morning after a perfect downward-dog, she tears into the backyard to chase squirrels. She’ll run up and down the fence for an hour, barking at the top of her lungs. I keep expecting her to give up, but she never does.

If I decide to take her for a run, she’ll immediately forget the squirrels and move to the pavement. If I jog, she models my speed. If I go faster, she hits another gear. Fast, slow, walk, run. It doesn’t matter, she’s ready to go. She loves to move and always with perfectly relaxed form.

I think running tense is the biggest mistake we can make. The body should flow and we should allow it to so without resistance.

She goes balls-out when awake, but doesn’t hesitate to get her rest. They say dogs take on characteristics of their owner, and I have no reason to doubt them.

Recovery is probably the last thing on the mind of endurance athletes, yet it is the most important to remember. When we’re worn down, no amount of sprints or light jogging or hill repeats rebuild our body.

She eats, sleeps, greets, flows and lives with passion. Oh, and, unlike me, never turns down an invitation to ride.

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November 3, 2014

How I Will Dominate

The last few months have been weirder than normal. I left my job of 15 years to pursue my passions, but I wasn’t clear on what these passions were. I had a vague direction, but at the core, I simply wanted the freedom and space to discover what really made me happy.

This is a very important topic for me and I think it has a direct connection to IRONMAN. Ironman may be a goal, but now it means nothing if I don’t understand the other 364 days before and after each race.

It’s the proverbial, what do athletes do when the stadium lights are turned off? It can’t be the “identity,” there has to be deeper meaning, or possibly no meaning, but either way, it’s important to know why we chase a goal.

It always comes back to living in the moment.

The other night I was waiting at a restaurant for a friend. I asked the server for a piece of scrap paper and went into a stream of conscious writing on a Guest Check.

How I Will Dominate

1. Don’t try (to please everyone)
2. Pay attention
3. Be passion
4. Own myself
5. Captivate
6. Be persistent
7. Walk
8. Run
9. Persevere
10. Roll with it
11. Be an artist
12. Be a musician
13. Be invincible
14. Be humble
15. Love

When I wrote “dominate” it was more about Crushing Life than Iron, but it’s appropriate for both because in many ways a long and challenging race like Ironman is symbolic of what we face each day. If we’re not enjoying the process, what’s the point?

I think it comes down to having faith and not being consumed with the end, and frankly I have been terrible about that most of my life. Putting myself into uncomfortable situations just to prove to the world I can be amazing. But none of that matters because history has proven that humans can do just about anything they put their minds to, except consistently be in the moment.

So, really, it has nothing to do with proving anything to anyone, except myself. And the more I think about it, that burden lies in exhibiting a happy and consistent pursuit of a life I love.

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November 3, 2014

Don't Look Back

Sometimes while I’m running, even 3 or 4 miles, I try to re-create the pain of an Ironman Run in my mind. It’s not easy, or likely possible, but I dig deep for that feeling. It’s elusive, and more or less, unexplainable.

I’m reading “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running,” by Haruki Murakami, and I think he explained it pretty well when he described his feeling while running at 62 mile Ultramarathon:

“All I can see is the ground three yards ahead, nothing beyond. My whole world consists of the ground three yards ahead. No need to think beyond that. The sky and wind, the grass, the cows munching the gras, the spectators, cheers, lake, novels, real it, the past, memory — these mean nothing to me. Just getting me past the next three yards — this was my tiny reason for living as a human. No, I’m sorry — as a machine.”

Why would I want that feeling in the first place? I think it’s a pretty valid question and I’m not convinced there’s a logical explanation. I suppose it has something to do with being prepared, but we can’t really control our future.

Two times I’ve climbed off a one-hundred-twelve mile bike ride with aspirations of running a marathon. Both times the feeling was different.

At Wisconsin, I could barely walk and the thought of running 26 miles was laughable. But somehow, I pulled it off and crossed the line in ecstacy.

At Louisville, I actually felt pretty good, and had my running legs very quick, but they fell apart just as fast. I blew up in the heat and was overwhelmed with relief when I heard Mike Reilly shout my name.

But, both times, I remember feeling like I was in another world. A very small world, three yards in front of me. It was less like running than searching the deepest places of my being to manage the pain.

Wisconsin was like a Chinese water drip torture. A consistent, nagging pain. Step after step I hurt just a slight bit more and my mind somehow won. I felt like a champion.

Louisville was more like a haunted house where I never knew what lurked around the next corner. Sometimes it was a creepy old lady tantalizing my nerves in her rocking chair, others it was Jason in his hockey mask. My heart and emotions were all over the board and by the time I ran down 4th Street and crossed the line, all of my fears had washed away.

For some reason, those emotions are fleeting. In that moment I had no questions about who I was or why I would do such a thing. But the lights fade and the medal tarnishes. In the big picture that finish line is no different than those thousands of 3-yard-moments I experienced along the way.

And I guess that’s the point. I will never be able to recreate those feelings and I’m probably best to leave them be while I embrace new ones.

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October 26, 2014

A Great Birthday Workout

So, it’s my birthday and I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do. I’m a free man, the world is my oyster, and I had all day to put it together.

I thought, and thought, and the one thing that kept coming into my mind was, “I want to go swimming.”

But, it’s a perfect day and the thought of going into a pool didn’t sit well. Then, I said to my growingly indecisive self, “Yes, I will go to the lake!”

It sounded good on the surface, but I reasoned:

A. I would have to dig out my wetsuit and constricted swimming under a hot sun is not what I had in mind.

B. Nobody would be there and knowing my luck I would get caught in a patch of seaweed and drown on my birthday, giving the local news a great story to run for the next 3 days and, frankly, I’m not in the business of helping the media make money off my pitfalls.

So, I blew off the swimming idea because I also reasoned it’s getting close to Halloween and there would likely be some weirdos lurking in the woods to steal my pull buoy, or worse, chop it into pieces with a machete.

Then, I thought, “Hmm, I really enjoy Mountain Biking, maybe I’ll take a stroll through the Shelby Park trails. A nice, easy spin through sprawling natures. I would observe the changing leaves and embrace the piercing sun.

For some reason, it’s hard for me to take it easy.

I decided instantly that I would attempt my 666 ride. 6 miles on trails, 6 miles of hills, then 6 miles back on trails.

It’d been a while and pushing through tall grass was a little tough, and honestly, I transformed 666 into something like 2-3-4-2-6. Don’t ask.

It was probably an hour and a half and since it was still my birthday, I though, “Hell, I’ll turn this into a brick.”

I took a similar route, and wound up running 5 miles. An 18/5 brick and it felt . . . . . . . . . . . . . like shit!

I wouldn’t say I’m in awful shape, but something is missing and it’s mental. My head just isn’t in this plan. I mean, it’s my birthday, and that’s what I chose to do? Hmm.

It’s been a slippery slope lately. All of the Ironman (x2) is burned off and now I have to find another form of motivation. One that opens up my heart.

So, with that in mind, I’m really looking forward to meeting some good friends at the Pharmacy for burgers, fries, and hopefully a lot of laughs.

Thanks for the birthday wishes and, especially supporting this wacky blog. On Wisconsin!

October 25, 2014

Triathletes Are Insane

We are not accountants, lawyers, or thieves.

We are not a swimmers, bikers, or runners.

We are not triathletes.

And we are definitely not our thoughts.

I love endurance sport because it rips away pretense. When you’re at mile 20 of an Ironman run, “thought” drills to that exact moment.

We evolve or die.

Fear no longer consumes us. We exist. Shallow desire fades away.

Validation isn’t necessary. We are at our worst, which makes us our best.

We are stark raving mad, and recognizing that is the first step toward remaining sane.

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October 24, 2014

My 2015 Race Schedule

What’s that saying, “An idle mind . . .?”

For the last couple months, I have been trying to slow my life down, but starting a new solo-career has been a major source of stimulation. In the process I have “let go” of training a bit. I’ve been focused on yoga, easy swims, and an occasional jog. But there comes a time when you have to glance at the map.

With that said, we’re going to wrap the bus in Crushing Iron logos and hit the road, but where will we be?

Ironman Chattanooga is in stone. That will be my A-Race, but there is no “A” without building the foundation.

I’ve been toying with the idea of redemption at Ironman New Orleans 70.3 but, I’m not sure it’s going to happen. They’ve made some changes to the race, which I like, but it’s a long ways to go to get your ass kicked in April.

The last two years I’ve done the Rev3 Olympic in Knoxville and that pattern will continue under the Challenge Knoxville title on May 17th. They also offer a half, but at that point in the season, I’d rather leave myself wanting more than struggle to finish.

Muncie is also on my radar, but I’m hearing rumblings of Ironman St. Louis 70.3 in June and that is much more intriguing. Muncie is a fine race, but I still have St. Louis demons I need to exercise from the 1982 World Series when the Cardinals stole one from my Brewers.

So, St. Louis looks like a lock if it shows up.

I’m sure I’ll be tempted to do The Music City Olympic in August, but if I do anything in August I will likely do USAT Nationals in Milwaukee and stay with my brother. His apartment is just a few blocks from transition and I will be poised to own the weekend on Crushing Iron after a cold-blooded-blogging-rejection by USAT in 2014.

Then it will be off to Chattanooga where I hope to be mentally and physically ready to push for a Kona slot in 2016. Considering I’ve never been lower than 30th in my age group in an Ironman, there is a ton of work ahead of me. I’ll have to knock an hour and a half off my best finish and I’m not sure where that will come from, but after watching Chattanooga this year, I can probably get an hour or so from the swim alone.

October 20, 2014

Dealing with the Off Season

I don’t know about you, but my body gets a little beaten up over the course of a triathlon season. For 95% of my life I haven’t done these things, and I still feel a constant nag to rest.

It’s like hibernation theory and I am ready to snore.

I was noodling around and found this article about 5 Off Season Rules on Competitor.com that has some nice points. Here’s a summary:

1. Their first rule is don’t run a marathon in January. Their basic point is that doing long distance training in your recovery season is a great way to get injured or burned out.

2. Focus on short/intense workouts. They say volume is easy to add back in later and now is the time to boost your power and lactate threshold.

3. Gain Weight. The point being when you train at a heavier weight it makes you stronger. They even go as far as saying eat ice cream sundaes before bed.

4. Swim, swim, swim. They argue that swimming is usually the weakness of most triathletes and the best way to perfect the most technical sport is to practice. The suggestion is to swim every day for 10-14 days, which I completely agree with because it worked for me (though I did it “in-season”).

5. Hit the weights. “You’ve spent the season breaking down the house, now it’s time to repair it.”

For me, this sounds like a good plan. One of my major goals for this off season is to create muscle balance, so I plan to at a ton of yoga into this mix as well. And of course Little Debbie.

October 17, 2014

My Latest Video

Here’s something I did for the Middle Half in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. I’ve done their videos for the last few years and it’s always a good time/race. I ride around on a mountain bike and pick up all these shots in about two hours. Feel free to give me a shout if you put on a race and would like a good/affordable video to remember/promote it with. The awesomeness that is Lanni Marchant won the woman’s overall with a time of 1:16:56. Men’s winner, Patrick Cheptoek, at 1:06:23.

            FEMALE OVERALL (1st, $500; 2nd, $250; 3rd, $150) - Course Record Lanni Marchant 1:15:32 (2013)
                             Ovrl  Sex
Place Name                    Plc  Plc Age   Time   Pace City & State
===== ====================== ==== ==== === ======= ===== ==================
    1 Lanni Marchant            9    1  30 1:16:56  5:53 Chattanooga TN
    2 Emmy Chepkirui           12    2  26 1:18:21  5:59 Hardin KY
    3 Amanda Dunne             20    3  31 1:23:00  6:20 Murfreesboro TN

            MALE OVERALL (1st, $500; 2nd, $250; 3rd, $150) - Course Record Micah Tirop 1:05:43 (2010)
                             Ovrl  Sex
Place Name                    Plc  Plc Age   Time   Pace City & State
===== ====================== ==== ==== === ======= ===== ==================
    1 Patrick Cheptoek          1    1  28 1:06:23  5:04 Bowling Green KY
    2 Justus David              2    2  27 1:07:12  5:08 Murfreesboro TN
    3 Scott Wietecha            3    3  33 1:07:29  5:09 Hendersonville TN

October 16, 2014

KONA Hangover

I watched the Ironman World Championships for 6 hours on Saturday and have been on the road doing video work (I’m available for hire) for the last three days, so I haven’t had much time or desire to think about triathlon. BUT, I have been shooting video at a health club, and one of the employees qualified for KONA next year, so I’m starting to feel the fire burn again.

Last night, after we finished shooting, I had my first taste of water jogging, and it was pretty damn cool. I put on this vest and ran about 8 laps. Let me tell you, even though I felt and looked like a complete doorknob, it is a legit workout.

Aqua-jogging was the big buzzword at Kona because the winner, Sebastian Kienle, spent the last month or so before the race training his run in the pool. In fairness to me, I’ve been intrigued by this exercise for months now and started doing it in my above ground pool in hopes of being the “Kienle of Louisville,” but it didn’t quite work out as well.

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In other notes, Coach Robbie had some highs and lows with his Kona predictions. It looked like calling Daniela Ryf the winner was a rock-solid pick until Mirinda Carfrae shot out of a cannon again around mile 22.

He picked Kienle second, which was a pretty good call considering his injury and poor performance at Worlds a couple months prior.

I made a huge mistake by not lobbying harder on Ben Hoffman. I’ve been a big fan since he won Wisconsin the day before I signed up to do my first Ironman and promise to follow in his footsteps with a second place finish next year at the ADPi Sprint Triathlon in Murfreesboro.

October 9, 2014

Ironman Chattanooga Tribute Video

Here’s another in my growing list of Ironman Tribute Videos, this one from Chattanooga. I didn’t make it to the bike, so hopefully the swim and run suffice.

The guy after Mike Reilly (The Voice of Ironman) raced in the very first Ironman, allegedly in cut off jean shorts, so I thought he deserved some special video love.

Special thanks to Brad Garrison for helping me pick up shots from the Swim Start.

I’m available to do something like this for your races, so feel free to email me [email protected].

Note: Video is cut to “The Man” by Aloe Blacc (more info on this below) from his album “Lift Your Spirit.” (Vimeo and YouTube versions below).

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VIMEO VERSION

YOUTUBE VERSION

The first time I heard “The Man” by Aloe Blacc was in Dallas at the Final Four. I was culminating my childhood dream of watching the Badgers play for the National Championship.

We went to the Jerry Dome about 5 hours early and spent much of that time at a Pep Rally, where they unveiled a preview video showing Wisconsin player highlights cut to “The Man.”

My first thought was, this dude totally ripped off Elton John’s “Your Song,” and I kept expecting him to say, “And you can tell everybody . . . this is your song,” instead of “I’m the man, I’m the man, I’m the man.”

I don’t think I heard it more than once or twice since Dallas, but it really stuck in my head. I’m not sure about the bridge where it goes into long and drones about how he really is the “maaaaaan,” but it may be growing on me after hearing it 50 times.

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