There are two things that are extremely important to me as a multisport coach. One is that I am able to return phone calls timely, emails timely, and have consistent communication with all of the athletes I coach. Two-when I sit down to work on my athletes program, I am not in a hurry because I have to get to the next athlete. My athletes can testify that my programs are hand written with great detail and explanation. I do not 'drag and drop' from a fancy software program. I personalize it-week in and week out.
Several months ago I began to notice that my athlete load was starting to challenge my ability to meet my personal demands I just told you about. At the same time, PM athletes have been running gangbusters with early season success. I want the momentum of this success to continue, and to expand as other athletes desire the services of Perception Multisport.
I have faced this similar issue in my day job as a CPA. When I came to that point, I prayed about it. I truly felt God wanted me to keep that aspect of my life where it was. Continue to service what I had to my ability, without the pressure of trying to build an accounting empire.
After much prayer, I feel God has pushed me in a different direction with PM. Several months ago, I started to look for an assistant coach I could bring on to work with PM athletes. I knew exactly what was needed in this person. The funny thing about it-the perfect person was staring me in the face, and I just did not realize it.
Many of you know Kathy Boyd. She is joining up with me as a Perception Multisport coach. Kathy is very different than I am in many many ways, which is exactly what makes her the perfect fit. I have added Kathy's bio to the http://www.perceptionmultisport.com/ web site. Please link over and check it out. Kathy is an accomplished multisport athlete, certified personal trainer, and is pursuing her USAT coaching certification. There is also a link on her bio page to a recent story about her in Kansas City Fitness magazine. The big similarity that Kathy and I have is that we came from similar non-endurance athlete backgrounds. She will love to tell you the story about how she at one point could not run to the mailbox and back. Now she is qualified for the Boston Marathon and preparing for her first 140.6. I look forward to working with Kathy in the future!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
At The Races - Topeka Tinman
I want to start this report by first saying an additional thank you to everyone who has sent me a congratulatory email regarding my finish at the Topeka Tinman triathlon. Thank you again.
As many of you know, I had to battle through several injuries earlier this year. It feels so good to race at a level equal to what I did last year, in only my second triathlon this year. I didn't think it was possible, but it goes to show you what staying consistent, staying patient, and following simple and effective training principles will do for you. Those rules apply to everyone!
The biggest accomplishment of the day for myself was not the finishing spot. Lets talk about the swim, and the swim only. In my first two triathlons many years ago-I almost drowned. I'm not making that up. For those of you working hard day to day to improve yourself as a triathlete, let me be an example to you. I worked my %$&# off in the pool. At first, I worked hard. Then, I worked smart. I have worked tirelessly on my technique. I remember many mornings working with Kelly Dippold perfecting my body body position in the water. I have traveled multiple times to St. Louis to work with professional swim coach Hap Gentry. Hard work is paying off-and I'm not done.
At Topeka last weekend, I was the first out of the water in my swim heat. The times shown online are not accurate. A long course buoy was seen as a short course buoy by EVERY short course athlete. We all swam about an extra 50 yards. But to get out of the water first in my heat is something I knew would happen at some point-as I believe smart work pays off (notice I said smart, not had).
So as difficult as something may seem to you-keep at it, and keep at it with a smart approach. Don't waste your time thinking that if you work hard you will get there. You won't. Make sure you are applying yourself properly 100% of the time.........
As many of you know, I had to battle through several injuries earlier this year. It feels so good to race at a level equal to what I did last year, in only my second triathlon this year. I didn't think it was possible, but it goes to show you what staying consistent, staying patient, and following simple and effective training principles will do for you. Those rules apply to everyone!
The biggest accomplishment of the day for myself was not the finishing spot. Lets talk about the swim, and the swim only. In my first two triathlons many years ago-I almost drowned. I'm not making that up. For those of you working hard day to day to improve yourself as a triathlete, let me be an example to you. I worked my %$&# off in the pool. At first, I worked hard. Then, I worked smart. I have worked tirelessly on my technique. I remember many mornings working with Kelly Dippold perfecting my body body position in the water. I have traveled multiple times to St. Louis to work with professional swim coach Hap Gentry. Hard work is paying off-and I'm not done.
At Topeka last weekend, I was the first out of the water in my swim heat. The times shown online are not accurate. A long course buoy was seen as a short course buoy by EVERY short course athlete. We all swam about an extra 50 yards. But to get out of the water first in my heat is something I knew would happen at some point-as I believe smart work pays off (notice I said smart, not had).
So as difficult as something may seem to you-keep at it, and keep at it with a smart approach. Don't waste your time thinking that if you work hard you will get there. You won't. Make sure you are applying yourself properly 100% of the time.........
Sunday, June 21, 2009
At The Races - PMers are on a roll!
After the Topeka Tinman race yesterday I could not find Lance Kolie anywhere. I finally got a glimpse of him leaving the transition area. When I finished a conversation with someone, I headed near the transition area but lost him again. He apparently had made a quick get away-which frankly worried me. This is an athlete working very hard and smart to improve. My concern of course was something had not gone well.
Later that day between either voice mails or emails or text messages I picked up that Lance had improved over last years race by 3 minutes. Hhhmmm. Probably not the result we were looking for. My first thought here was were going to have to dig into this and see whats going on.
Later that night over pizza Lance informed me I either misread something or misunderstood something. Lance had taken 30 MINUTES off his time from the previous year. I immediately choked up the pickle from my cheeseburger pizza (hey, we all have to splurge sometime).
Nice job Lance.
Friday, June 19, 2009
At The Races
Congratulations to Denny Gillen for his completion of last weekends Kansas Ironaman 70.3.
Denny did not begin his 70.3 preparation until late April. He had just come off the St. Louis Marathon, where he qualifed for the Boston Marathon. That was great, and was obviously a sign of good fitness. But Denny had not been on his bike. He was now staring down one of the tougher 70.3 courses out there, with only a month and a half to prepare.
Denny and I went to work on a program. To call the program 'bike emphasis' was a major understatement. We planned, prepared, and Denny went out and executed a training program and detailed race strategy. The result?
Poetry in motion.
Denny PR'd his half iron distance by just over 10 minutes. Excellent work Denny!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
How to Become a Glycogen Camel
A friend of mine often tells the story about riding 100 miles on two water bottles (and no food). One had water, and one had his favorite sports drink. He is heck-bent that endurance athletes typically take in too may calories before and during training and racing. For the most part, he is a real knucklehead. But, he's right about this.
Now I certainly don't recommend going out to your next century with your two bottles and expect to have a great day. This individual is a phenomenal endurance athlete. But how is it he was able to do this? I mean, what about all that really good advice we hear about consuming around 300+ or so calories per hour?
The reason why knucklehead was able to ride 100 miles on only two bottles is because his lean body contains a very significant amount of stored glycogen. What is glycogen? For purposes of this blog, we'll think of it as 'muscle fuel.' Starting to make sense?
Since his body is packed with stored glycogen he can rely on these glycogen stores to carry him through. And, because he has taught his body how to preserve this glycogen, his minuscule amount of body fat can be burned as fuel. I remember Lance Armstrong's coach explaining during the Tour De France that the trained elite cyclist has ten's of thousands of calories available to him because of stored glycogen, and the ability to burn fat for fuel.
Wow you say. Well that's pretty cool. Consume less, and I'll still be able to push and push and push. I'm much less likely to have GI issues, or have other symptoms of 'over fueling.' How do I sign up?
Well, you can sign up. But you have some work to do first. But, its not that hard. There are two things you can do in your training to become a Glycogen Camel.
#1. Immediately after exercise, within minutes, consume a recovery drink that contains 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate, and a small amount of protein. The carb to protein ratio should be in a ratio of 3-4 to 1. If the workout is long in duration, or high in intensity, consume closer to 60. If its an easier session, you can go closer to 30. Doing this teaches your body to preserve glycogen.
#2. Take advantage of AM exercise. When you sleep, your body slowly burns glycogen overnight. The liver is close to empty, or possibly completely empty of its glycogen stores in the AM. When you get up to train-don't eat or consume any nutritional products. Don't allow the body to fill with glycogen prior to the session. Go on empty and force the body to preserve what glycogen is there, and to burn fat for fuel. The more you do this, the better your body will become at burning fat for fuel. Over time you will start to desire less and less calories during training/racing. When you hit about the 30 minute point of the session, go ahead and start sipping on the sports drink or gel. The training during that first 30 minutes will be invaluable to your ability to become a glycogen camel.
A couple of notes about the AM exercise. Drink water before you start. This will get the bodies systems going. Also, save this type of training for moderate duration, lower intensity sessions. I do not recommend it for long or higher intensity sessions. Around the 30 minute mark you may notice that you have a mild headache. That is normal. The brain seeks glycogen also, and without it a mild headache might come on. As soon as you hit the sports drink, it will go away.
Hammer Nutrition, my nutritional company of choice, recommends a lower calorie number per hour of training. They recommend 225 to 275 calories per hour. If you notice yourself getting really really hungry during your longer sessions, or desiring solid foods while training, you really need to employ these two strategies, as these are signs that your stored glycogen levels are two low to be an effective endurance athlete.
The lord does not let the righteous go hungry, Proverbs 10:3.
Now I certainly don't recommend going out to your next century with your two bottles and expect to have a great day. This individual is a phenomenal endurance athlete. But how is it he was able to do this? I mean, what about all that really good advice we hear about consuming around 300+ or so calories per hour?
The reason why knucklehead was able to ride 100 miles on only two bottles is because his lean body contains a very significant amount of stored glycogen. What is glycogen? For purposes of this blog, we'll think of it as 'muscle fuel.' Starting to make sense?
Since his body is packed with stored glycogen he can rely on these glycogen stores to carry him through. And, because he has taught his body how to preserve this glycogen, his minuscule amount of body fat can be burned as fuel. I remember Lance Armstrong's coach explaining during the Tour De France that the trained elite cyclist has ten's of thousands of calories available to him because of stored glycogen, and the ability to burn fat for fuel.
Wow you say. Well that's pretty cool. Consume less, and I'll still be able to push and push and push. I'm much less likely to have GI issues, or have other symptoms of 'over fueling.' How do I sign up?
Well, you can sign up. But you have some work to do first. But, its not that hard. There are two things you can do in your training to become a Glycogen Camel.
#1. Immediately after exercise, within minutes, consume a recovery drink that contains 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate, and a small amount of protein. The carb to protein ratio should be in a ratio of 3-4 to 1. If the workout is long in duration, or high in intensity, consume closer to 60. If its an easier session, you can go closer to 30. Doing this teaches your body to preserve glycogen.
#2. Take advantage of AM exercise. When you sleep, your body slowly burns glycogen overnight. The liver is close to empty, or possibly completely empty of its glycogen stores in the AM. When you get up to train-don't eat or consume any nutritional products. Don't allow the body to fill with glycogen prior to the session. Go on empty and force the body to preserve what glycogen is there, and to burn fat for fuel. The more you do this, the better your body will become at burning fat for fuel. Over time you will start to desire less and less calories during training/racing. When you hit about the 30 minute point of the session, go ahead and start sipping on the sports drink or gel. The training during that first 30 minutes will be invaluable to your ability to become a glycogen camel.
A couple of notes about the AM exercise. Drink water before you start. This will get the bodies systems going. Also, save this type of training for moderate duration, lower intensity sessions. I do not recommend it for long or higher intensity sessions. Around the 30 minute mark you may notice that you have a mild headache. That is normal. The brain seeks glycogen also, and without it a mild headache might come on. As soon as you hit the sports drink, it will go away.
Hammer Nutrition, my nutritional company of choice, recommends a lower calorie number per hour of training. They recommend 225 to 275 calories per hour. If you notice yourself getting really really hungry during your longer sessions, or desiring solid foods while training, you really need to employ these two strategies, as these are signs that your stored glycogen levels are two low to be an effective endurance athlete.
The lord does not let the righteous go hungry, Proverbs 10:3.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sedalia Duathlon - A Race Report
Its not like me to wake up and decide that I'm suddenly going to do a race later that week that was not carefully picked out.
The Sedalia Duathlon was an appealing opportunity to see how things were progressing after coming off of several injuries. The cost of the event was reasonable, the drive wasn't bad, and frankly I really like Sedalia. The state fair has not yet been held, so I missed the smell of animal &^$(. In my ultra cycling days I would take a mountain bike to Clinton, MO, and ride through Sedalia along the Katy trail while touring God's country. Those were the days. As a now white collar triathlete I can't imagine doing that again, but who knows.
The event was 2/12/2. I haven't done a duathlon in several years. Since I was in this for a good training day, I didn't worry about my lack of du experience. I racked my bike on the single, long rack that the race organizers used, threw down my trail running shoes, warmed up briefly and waited for the gun to go off.
About 100 of us toed the line. I knew I should have the opportunity to be 'reasonably' competitive, so I decided to keep everyone in sight and not let anyone get away too far. As with many multisport events, as soon as the gun went off, strategy went out the door. I knew what pace I wanted to run on the first leg. What I didn't realize is that the #1 and #2 finishers would run SUB 11 for 2 miles. Ouch. The pace was nuts on the first leg. Those first couple of guys really stretched out the field. I didn't give in to the deadly pace, and ended up staying on track for my the pace I knew I could run, without getting into too much difficulty.
At the end of the first two mile run, I looked up and saw myself in about 40th position.
Today was about the bike. Which is music to my ears. I could tell as I rolled out of the park and onto the rural Sedalia roads that alot of athletes were suffering from the pace created by the first run leg. I guess listening to myself was going to pay off. I had a great bike day. The only exception was getting caught behind traffic that would not move, going up a hill, while it was pouring down rain. It cost me dearly in time, but I know what my realistic speed was today, and it brought a smile back to my cycling face.
I was reminded in the second run leg how valuable equipment choices are. I chose to wear my trail shoes, as 1 mile of the 2 mile run course (both first and second leg) was on grass and the Katy trail. The last mile of running was like running in cement. My feet felt like they weighed 100 pounds each. The finish was on an incline which didn't help! Along way from the light as a feather feeling you get when wearing running flats. But again, this was training, and I'm glad I had the heavier training shoe on. It kind of reminded me of one of those long mountain bike rides along the Katy Trail I had done where my tire had gone flat. Then, the extra tube went flat. I remember riding about 60 miles with a flat tire. That was awesome.
I ended up 5th overall and was very happy with that. The event itself was great. Low budget, friendly race director, and well organized. Volunteers were at every bike turn, and did a great job corner marshaling. I didn't stick around in Sedalia long after to enjoy the city, but I do have a great porta pottie story. Okay, I know what your thinking, and its not that! Anyway, I'm in the porta pottie changing clothes after the race. I took off my tri top, and placed it in my tri bag. As I was about to put on a different shirt, I hear a noise in the porta pottie. I look up at the top of the porta pottie to see wasps flying around. So there I was-half naked with wasps circling overhead in a smelly porta pottie. I went BOLTING out of the porta pottie at a pace that would have won the race. I'm sure you can imagine the looks I received from those hanging out around the porta pottie. I warned everyone, and change what clothes I could at my car, and headed home.
If you need big tents, a DJ on a loudspeaker, massage therapy tents, and a bike shop on site, this race probably isn't for you. But it you want a well organized event that will provide some solid training at a low cost, this is perfection.
The Sedalia Duathlon was an appealing opportunity to see how things were progressing after coming off of several injuries. The cost of the event was reasonable, the drive wasn't bad, and frankly I really like Sedalia. The state fair has not yet been held, so I missed the smell of animal &^$(. In my ultra cycling days I would take a mountain bike to Clinton, MO, and ride through Sedalia along the Katy trail while touring God's country. Those were the days. As a now white collar triathlete I can't imagine doing that again, but who knows.
The event was 2/12/2. I haven't done a duathlon in several years. Since I was in this for a good training day, I didn't worry about my lack of du experience. I racked my bike on the single, long rack that the race organizers used, threw down my trail running shoes, warmed up briefly and waited for the gun to go off.
About 100 of us toed the line. I knew I should have the opportunity to be 'reasonably' competitive, so I decided to keep everyone in sight and not let anyone get away too far. As with many multisport events, as soon as the gun went off, strategy went out the door. I knew what pace I wanted to run on the first leg. What I didn't realize is that the #1 and #2 finishers would run SUB 11 for 2 miles. Ouch. The pace was nuts on the first leg. Those first couple of guys really stretched out the field. I didn't give in to the deadly pace, and ended up staying on track for my the pace I knew I could run, without getting into too much difficulty.
At the end of the first two mile run, I looked up and saw myself in about 40th position.
Today was about the bike. Which is music to my ears. I could tell as I rolled out of the park and onto the rural Sedalia roads that alot of athletes were suffering from the pace created by the first run leg. I guess listening to myself was going to pay off. I had a great bike day. The only exception was getting caught behind traffic that would not move, going up a hill, while it was pouring down rain. It cost me dearly in time, but I know what my realistic speed was today, and it brought a smile back to my cycling face.
I was reminded in the second run leg how valuable equipment choices are. I chose to wear my trail shoes, as 1 mile of the 2 mile run course (both first and second leg) was on grass and the Katy trail. The last mile of running was like running in cement. My feet felt like they weighed 100 pounds each. The finish was on an incline which didn't help! Along way from the light as a feather feeling you get when wearing running flats. But again, this was training, and I'm glad I had the heavier training shoe on. It kind of reminded me of one of those long mountain bike rides along the Katy Trail I had done where my tire had gone flat. Then, the extra tube went flat. I remember riding about 60 miles with a flat tire. That was awesome.
I ended up 5th overall and was very happy with that. The event itself was great. Low budget, friendly race director, and well organized. Volunteers were at every bike turn, and did a great job corner marshaling. I didn't stick around in Sedalia long after to enjoy the city, but I do have a great porta pottie story. Okay, I know what your thinking, and its not that! Anyway, I'm in the porta pottie changing clothes after the race. I took off my tri top, and placed it in my tri bag. As I was about to put on a different shirt, I hear a noise in the porta pottie. I look up at the top of the porta pottie to see wasps flying around. So there I was-half naked with wasps circling overhead in a smelly porta pottie. I went BOLTING out of the porta pottie at a pace that would have won the race. I'm sure you can imagine the looks I received from those hanging out around the porta pottie. I warned everyone, and change what clothes I could at my car, and headed home.
If you need big tents, a DJ on a loudspeaker, massage therapy tents, and a bike shop on site, this race probably isn't for you. But it you want a well organized event that will provide some solid training at a low cost, this is perfection.
At The Races......
Congrats to PM'er Lance Kolie in his completion of last week Kansas City Triathlon. Lance did the olympic distance race. He survived an extremely tough swim leg to finish comfortably for the day. Lance is in a pretty serious race/recover/race/recover mode as he gains valuable experience and uses some good races to assist in preparing for more important races later this season.
Congrats also to Ty Tywater for completion of last weeks Corporate Challenge triathlon. This was Ty's first open water swim race, and all went relatively smoothly. Ty did great and is now working towards his second open water swim race-Shawnee Mission Park.
Good luck this coming weekend to Denny Gillen, as he continues to taper for the KS Ironman 70.3 race.
Congrats also to Ty Tywater for completion of last weeks Corporate Challenge triathlon. This was Ty's first open water swim race, and all went relatively smoothly. Ty did great and is now working towards his second open water swim race-Shawnee Mission Park.
Good luck this coming weekend to Denny Gillen, as he continues to taper for the KS Ironman 70.3 race.
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