Ironman World Championships...

What an incredible day. As I spent the whole day speechless, it's ironic that I am going to try and capture the event in words.

First, the lead up.
We spend 3.5 days in Kona pre-race. We saw all the preparations and part of the course...but we were most impressed with the level of fitness. It was like some kind of abs convention!!! I have never seen so many ripped people in my life - I was thinking I should have trained harder to spectate!!! :-)

As the day drew near, I really began to take stock of our surroundings. Sure, downtown Kona is nice, but a mere 10' run out the side of town (or 5' bike) and you are surrounded by lava fields. For the next 30 miles. For those of you who haven't been there, a good "lava" visual would be to go outside to your barbeque grill. Take off the metal grate and fill it with charcoal. Then bend over and get a really good look at it. This is a lava field. Now, stand back, put down some lighter fluid and light the charcoal. Get as close as you can to the heat. This is a lava field on the Big Island. Now head inside, get your run gear on, head back out and jump into the lit coals. This is exercising in the lava fields on the Big Island. HOT! I think you get the idea.

The Race
The swim start was pretty uneventful. The pros went out 15' early (probably 17' as they started before the gun went off), followed by AGs at 7am. It was already warm, but not too hot. Seas were calm, although the helicopteds and support boats, jet skis and surfboards did a lot to create chop.

We were spectating just up the road from the hot corner, as athletes rode up Kuakini Hwy for a quick out and back before heading out to Havi through the lava fields of death. Lots of smiles here - most people were riding comfortably (i.e., no meat heads pounding the pedals)...I think this had a lot to do with the average level of experience at the race. We waited for the Hoyts to come by...then headed back to race central to watch the ride unfold on the Jumbotron.

The Ride
You could tell right away things were different than usual. First sight we had was of Natascha Badmann sitting up and pedalling easy - ever seen her do that before??? - and it made me think of the previous day's trip to Havi. Maura and I drove out there to see the course...in our friends' convertible rental (nice!)...we had to stop 1/2way to put the top up as it was SO WINDY, the CAR was being blown around the road!!! It looks like the tradewinds were still in full effect on race day...athletes looked like they were suffering, and pro men were already beginning to crack by mile 40-45. On the way back, both Normann and Nina Kraft had commanding leads of 10+ minutes!!!

The Run
Waiting by the hot corner again, Maura and I anxiously awaited the real race. Newsflash - it was already over by T2. Normann had 10:30 on the next racer, while Nina left transition with a 15' lead. Both racers were chased by good riders (not runners), with Peter Reid exiting 20' behind Normann (Tim DeBoom at 25') and on the women's side, Natascha at 20' down on Nina, with Lori in the 25-30' range. These gaps held to the finish, resulting in an German sweep of the top places in the men's and women's races.

IM Hawaii is an incredible experience. I recommend all people looking to qualify to go there - if you can - just to taste the energy of the day...it will fuel you for a long time to come!!!

Coach P

ps - check out more IM Hawaii photos here.

Normann Stadler crushing the field at IM World Champs

Chasing a World Record - Athlete AND Coach...

One of the members of the PTS forum recently posted a link to an awesome article about US long-distance swimmer, Larsen Jensen and his quest to beat Grant Hackett in Athens in the mile swim.

Grant has long held the mantle of world's greatest, usually beating most of his competition by a pool length (50m) over the distance. In response to this domination, American Larsen Jensen, and his coach Bill Rose, set out to establish a new gold standard (14:45) for the distance and to beat Grant Hackett as well. The article does an excellent job capturing how Larsen and Bill worked together to establish new levels of physical and mental fitness, almost leading to a gold in Athens.

This is a fantastic read; you should check it out even if you aren't that into the theme - just to see the splits Larsen was laying out (1:24 for 150 free) or his average mileage (90k plus a week!).

Totally awesome. A testament to what the body can do when the mind believes.

Enjoy,

Coach P

Q - What Could POSSIBLY Be Bigger Than An IM Race???

For those of us who focus on the longer-distance stuff...who love bonking, testing our limits, 4k swim sets and long rides that start (or end) in the dark...there might not be an answer to this question. For those of you who fall in the above categories - and I know some of you do - the journey far outweighs the end result. We all know that crossing the finish line at an IM race isn't about finishing the IM race, it is about the culmination of months of preparations, about the highs and lows we encountered, that ride in the rain/hail, the run where you got chased by a dog, the time(s) you fell asleep in the movie theater/restaurant/class/meeting/etc.

But then, every now and then, something comes along to keep everything in check. You realize that there is more to life than a 56-mile loop with 2k of elevation gain that you can do twice. Or that having an outdoor pool to swim in isn't the greatest thing in the world. It might be the evening news, where you see the bloodshed in _______ (fill in the blank), a disaster in __________ (again, your call here), or the tragic story of another person killed in a __________ (who knew there were so many ways to die???). Whatever it is that snaps you out of your self-absorbed training, be sure to examine it closely. As people who live passionately in pursuit of our goals, we have the power to affect change in other areas of the world - if we so choose.

While I am regularly affected by the news, the lastest thing on my radar isn't public (at least yet! :-) My answer? My wedding. Hard to believe the day is here after all this planning...but in a little more than three days, I will be a married man! While I have been absorbed in training, work, etc., over the last few months, having the wedding front and center has really helped me keep everything in perspective. I have a much clearer understanding of what REALLY MATTERS TO ME, and that has made all the difference. So this Sunday, at 2pm, make a note of the air, the temperature, the position of the sun, how you feel and how lucky you are to be alive.

I know I will be.

Back on 10/25,

Patrick

Loving the life you lead...

I spent the past 48 hours in Washington DC with members of the DC Tri Club at a one-day tri clinic. And despite all the work we did (see below) over the course of the 5+ hours we had together, I can only remember how much fun I had.

I mean, where else can you get 10 men and women from all different walks of life, all different ability levels, different interests, etc., around a table to talk about the one thing they all have in common? This is what makes the sport of triathlon so amazing to me...not only the uniting factor, and the amazing comraderie you see at all levels, but the dominating feeling that we are all learning and advancing the sport together. I can't speak for the members of the DC Tri Club who attended, but I know I learned a ton this weekend.

I learned how cool our sport is; I learned how to explain periodization again; I learned how powerful it is to work with people who are driven to learn and improve their form, their understanding, their performance. I left DC feeling very fortunate to be a coach, fortunate to be involved in such a sport and fortunate to have met yet another awesome bunch of people who are living the life they love.

Thanks to all who attended, and a special thanks to my good friend Mariana for making the whole weekend possible!

Keep tri-ing!

Coach P

Breakdown of the Day
We covered Heart Rate Based Training, Periodization and even managed to get two hours in the pool for a special H2U: Defining Your Swim Style clinic. I am happy to report that tri is alive and well in the District! :-)