As a coach, I'm often asked this time of year after the dust settles, “Now what?”  I often turn it around and ask my athletes the same question as the first step in developing an Annual Training Plan (ATP).  What I've found to be the best start is to distance the athlete a few weeks from their last BIG race of the year then broach the subject.  This gives you a more deliberate response then the emotional one the day after a late-season grueling race.  BEWARE...most type-A triathletes are gonna go into workout withdrawals and start aimlessly wandering around the track or doing the back float in the pool!  Where is my TrainingPeaks workout IV drip??!! 

There are many critical questions needed to be answered in the developing of an Annual Training Plan.
- Goals: Did you achieve your previous goals?  What went right?  What went wrong? Injuries? Motivation (or lack of)?  Weaknesses needed addressed?
- Future Goals and Training Objectives: What do we do the same? Differently? What training do we need to
work on? Where do you see yourself in 1, 3 or 5 years?
- Races: What types of races are you looking for that would get more bang for your buck?  Are you good at hilly courses?  Better keep it flat?  Sea-level? Are you in need of that illusive podium spot?  Need a championship race for your resume? Keep it short this year?  Best Kona qualifier? Have a favorite race you love doing by your mother-in-law’s house to save cost? 

Once you get these questions answered and put in pencil the dates of the races, then it’s time to
prioritize and build the plan.  TrainingPeaks makes this step unbelievably easy with the ATP wizard ™.   Start/end dates, number of annual hours, and race dates are the basic parameters needed.  I will save the types of periodization and Annual Training Plans debate for another blog, however the TrainingPeaks ATP wizard ™ builds a 7-day cycle plan that is the typical Prep, Base, Build, Peak, Recover ATP.  Once I build the plan with my athlete, I go over the plan with the athlete and we look it over and see if there were any things we left out (vacations, career changes, school) that could alter how we proceed with the year.

Remember to take a good look at the training blocks and adjust according to what type of athlete you are coaching.  Not every athlete should be prescribed the same ATP, but it makes a great baseline.  Also, once you start developing a plan, don’t forget test sets in each discipline to adjust your training accordingly from the data the test set gives you.  Also add extra training blocks for your athlete's weakness and don't forget to include core strength and conditioning!

Happy planning! 

Submission by Coach Frost:

Recently, I was blessed to have a terrific race of my own at the 2013 Ironman Canada triathlon in Whistler, British Columbia. It was a race that I entered with the belief that it was my last reasonable opportunity to qualify for the Ironman World Championship in Kona. With an augmented number  of Kona slots available, Whistler represented a golden opportunity for many 
other aspiring triathletes besides myself. That increased competition, a challenging new course, a beautiful alpine setting and perfect weather made this race a special event to remember. Ultimately, I was privileged to finish fast enough to earn one of those precious Kona slots.
  
Because many of MP Multisport’s athletes are focusing on shorter races, I’d like to share with them, and you, some of the tips and lessons from my KQ endeavor that apply to any triathlon race. I grant you that 
there are triathlons, and then there is the Ironman which is a completely different physical challenge. (Do not confuse the two…Ironmans compared to shorter triathlons are more like distance cousins rather than brothers and sisters.) But I learned some things that are essential to success across the full spectrum from sprint races to ultra-distance races, and I’ll mention a few that take on some enhanced importance when the race is very long.
  
I received many compliments about my fast cycling split at Whistler, a course that has three major climbs. It also, consequently, has three major descents, and I had emphasized to myself to not waste FREE  SPEED. Five hours is a long time to work on a bicycle, and the more you can let downslopes and tailwinds to some of that work for you, the more energy you’ll have preserved for later in the race. While climbing, your opponents may pass you with only a couple MPH of excess speed. But if you can descend at 40 MPH while they do 30 MPH, or you can handle speed better through curves and corners, that’s smart use of all available free speed. 
  
I believe that it is also important to have a SIMPLE PLAN that you can execute efficiently. It may not seem that would work in ITU-style racing where race dynamics and your opponents’ actions can present a seemingly infinite spectrum of contingencies for which you “must” have backup plans in your mind. But regardless of the distance, it’s difficult to chew gum and drive a bicycle at the same time…or in other words, it’s hard enough for your mind to “stay in the present” to monitor how you are doing physiologically while also thinking about form (i.e. body position, bike steering, swim strokes) and then concentrating on a race plan. Keeping the race plan simple frees your mind to focus on execution and effort.
  
Related to the first two concepts is the commandment of DON’T GIVE YOUR ENERGY AWAY. In other words, you can only control you.  Don’t let other people or circumstances, or things outside of your control, take 
away your energy. At the ultra-distance, you clearly get from Point A to Point B at your own steady pace. For me, I was in my personal cave for 10 hours at Whistler…a private and lonely world where the noise of cheers, the ages stenciled on the left calf, and the people I passed or who passed me were of no concern. 
  
Similarly, before the race surround yourself with positive energy and stay away from things and people that will suck energy away from you. There was an acquaintance from my hometown also racing in Whistler…a 
person who I’ve known for years and is, basically, a good person. However, he’s a person that will talk and talk and talk, and usually it’s unnecessary nitpicking. It’s conversation that I generally find irritating though I will tolerate it back at home in order to maintain a friendly association. But two days before a huge race, I didn’t need the irritation from him to suck out the positive energy I was getting from my encouraging friends and from the atmosphere of Whistler. I stopped meeting with him and let his phone calls go straight to voicemail. Ignoring this person then (we reconnected after the race) while absorbing all the good texts, emails and tweets from friends was one of the best decisions that I made race week, and choosing otherwise could have likely thwarted my KQ quest.
 
Obviously there are many more common tips that are good for any triathlon (e.g. use lots of BodyGlide, think about your transitions beforehand, etc.).  However, claiming Free Speed, having a Simple Plan, and Not  Giving Away Energy are essential facets to getting a Kona slot as well as getting a high step on any podium.

Learning efficiency
From June 30th to July 9th, I had the privilege of living and training at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.  After Collegiate Nationals in April, Barb Lindquist contacted me to see if I was interested in participating in the 2013 collegiate recruitment camp.  I may be clueless when it comes to girls but I knew this was a pretty great opportunity for me.  In general, the training center lived up to its reputation as an amazing facility and I was able to learn numerous fine points in the sport of triathlon.

Swim
The first couple of days of the camp included 2 different types of swim video tests/analysis.  In one, “Dr. G” used a belt to measure our velocity in the water.  The end product was a video, synchronized with a graph of our velocity, which allowed for us to identify specific parts of our stroke slowed us down.  Genius! The other video session was done using high tech cameras that moved with you down the length of the pool. Like in the Olympics! The tips gained from these sessions have been very helpful.  Many of the other athletes taking part in the camp had reached very high levels of swimming throughout their careers and offered great examples of how techniques should be executed.  Of the three sports in triathlon, many would argue that it is most important to be an efficient swimmer.  Similar to biking, in swimming we want as small an area exposed to the direction we are traveling as possible in order to minimize drag.  For me, this required losing the “board shorts”.  Also, it is important to accelerate throughout each stroke, otherwise we are just making more drag.  One of the best ways to become a more efficient swimmer is to have someone experienced (like Coach Tess Pasternak) look at a video of you swimming and give you feedback.

Bike
One of the main focuses of the camp was the draft-legal side of triathlon.  Participating and succeeding in upcoming ITU races and the Olympics is the focus for resident triathletes.  Because transitions are such a large part of these races, we practiced transitions in race simulations for around three hours throughout the camp.  Being efficient in the bike leg of any triathlon requires a strategy…unless you’re Cameron Dye and you smash all bike courses without regret.  From what I learned, a draft-legal race requires you to pay much closer attention to the athletes around you.  Have they been sitting back and letting others do all the work?  Or have they been attacking relentlessly, trying to fry everyones’ run legs?  We started off with basics.  Riding in a straight line… with one hand… grabbing a water bottle.  We worked our way up to putting arms around a partner’s shoulders so we were two wide… 3 wide… 6 wide!... and turning!... while switching positions!  It was a major bonding experience to participate in this activity with athletes we had just met.  After working on group formations and different pace-lines, we worked on individual skills like cornering and getting comfortable to making contact with others.  We progressed to full contact games of tag, knockout and even some obstacle course races on grass.  By the end, many of us had scrapes but we all felt much more comfortable on our bikes alone and making moves with other people.  Even though you may never race a draft-legal triathlon, improving biking skills and etiquette will greatly enhance your bike training… it might even impress some roadies.

Run
To work on run technique, legendary running coach Bobby Magee led us through a general running form session and then filmed us running while driving in his Subaru.  After analyzing the video, he worked with us individually teaching methods to improve our biomechanics.  In addition to giving us drills to work on, he assessed different strengths and weaknesses in our bodies that could inhibit our development or lead to injury.  A common tip he gave athletes to work on was to focus on bringing down our feet so they land directly under our center of gravity.  (Instead of just letting the foot fall to the ground.)  One drill I found very helpful in controlling and limiting upper-body movement was the Velcro drill.  When slowly jogging, Bobby instructed us to imagine our elbows were Velcro-ed to our rib cage, forcing our shoulders to swing.  After experimenting with that, we slowly allowed our arms to minimally swing front to back.  As speed is added, you simply move your arms a little faster and with a greater range of motion.  When I’m out running now, if I think my upper body is not being very efficient, I Velcro my elbows in for a couple seconds and then build them in again.  In addition to all of the training/skills sessions at the camp, lectures were also given that gave us information on topics ranging from the ITU points system (still a confusing topic) to nutrition and training methods. 

Recovery
One of the highlights of the camp was the facilities, by which I mean the dining hall.  The food was incredible!  The servers were very gracious and accommodating.  The food never ran out.  They must go through hundreds of bananas there each day between all of the athletes that eat there.  Some of the things I really appreciated included a homemade smoothie always available, an awesome salad bar, different baked/steamed veggies every night, gluten-free options, Chobani yogurt (a sponsor) and several different types of meat always available.  (Nutrition facts and ingredients were also displayed on everything they were serving.)  Having a first-class dining hall available all day while training made me realize how much time I normally spent shopping/preparing healthy food.  To have it all done for you makes the recovery step of training much simpler.  

In my eyes, to be a great athlete requires dedication and hard work.  Three days before going to the training center I wrote: “The biggest thing I hope to gain from this experience is knowledge.”  I still have no clue about the girls topic but what I have taken away is new methods to improve my efficiency.  I have already begun to implement these new techniques in my training and racing.  One thing from Bobby that I really think underlines the truth is that even though we may be making efficiency changes every day, results will take time.    

Follow Steve Mantell on Twitter @steve_mantell as he tears up the 2013/14 Collegiate Triathlon race season for CSU Triathlon.

In the age of sequester budget cuts it seems like doing "More with Less" is a common theme the last several years, specifically in the military.  Even with the shortfall in money, thanks to Non-Appropriated Funds, we were able to compete in the 2013 Armed Forces Triathlon Championships (AFTC) at Point Mugu, CA.  The AFTC is a draft-legal race format, showcasing 10 men and 6 women from each branch of the Armed Forces.  A couple years ago the team was cut from 12 to 10 guys due to these constraints.  I truly believe just to be SELECTED as one of the top-10 in the USAF that I have been blessed beyond measure.  It has given me life-long friends and a new fulfillment in life that is beyond description.  This was my 6th year competing at AFTC and every year I leave with such an awesome respect for the race, the stage we compete on, the talent of the athletes in the military and camaraderie shown towards each other before, during and after competition.  This year was no different, however the results definitely went in my favor...FINALLY! 

More with less: It's been a busy spring season for me where I didn't get the amount of volume training then I normally would like leading up to an "A" race.  In fact, without going into too much detail of my covert training, there was as much as a 50% reduction in cycling.  Knowing how to get the most bang for your buck though is where experience comes into play.  Being a draft-legal race, it's all about the swim and run.  So...a few minor tweaks to my swim technique and fitness along with a huge emphasis on threshold and super-threshold swim/run bricks put me close to where I needed to be.  Now I just needed to execute.

I red-lined the whole swim.  There was no settling in, no thinking about what's next, what will happen to me if I go too hard.  I was just going to trust there were kayaks in the area just in case...  The current/wind waves and light swells made it a pretty slow swim for everyone...it was also slightly longer than a 1500m race.  Coming out of the water in 21st and a good friend, Scott Tonder, right along with me led me to believe we were in business.  But first, we were in for some suffering.

Intel from Coach and others in T1 said there was a large group just in front of Scott and I and if we sprinted for a few minutes we could make contact.  A few minutes turned into the entire first 10K where both of us (and a Marine) took organized pulls and averaging 26.1 mph for the lap.  All three of us knew we wouldn't be able to maintain that rate, but with a lot of coaxing on the Marine, we caught the other group of 7 riders to form a nice fast paceline.  Three riders are not supposed to catch seven riders.  But, succeeding...I knew the last 25K was going to be short intense pulls and long recovery.  Also, looking around the peloton, I knew I could possibly outrun every one of them.

After gobbling up riders in front of us and spitting them out off the back, we entered into T2 in a large contingent of about 10 riders and only about 12 out on the run ahead of us.  It was GO time!  I consciously took out of T2 at probably my 3K or 5K pace (5:05) to put the hurt on right away and see how things would shake out (and also how long I would be able to maintain).  Fortunately, this high-altitude training is paying off here in Colorado.  Never really went into an ugly place on my run, kept on picking people off and gaining mental assurance as I progressed.  Moved up to 6th place and breezed into the finish with a 5:31 avg for 6.09 miles.  Most other years, a 6th place finish would mean qualifying for a CISM (Military World Championships) slot but wasn't in the cards for me this year with no country getting their act together to host the event. 

A lot of theories put into practice went very well for me the last several weeks.  Doing more high quality/less volume in all three disciplines...Less is More.  Also, using TrainingPeaks Performance Management Chart to really NAIL a good taper using objective numerical analysis and also forecasted workouts to be fresh on race day with the appropriate Training Stress Balance (TSB). 

All of this data is great (and appreciate TrainingPeaks being there for us coaches and athletes), but also sometimes a little bit of luck comes into play where you have a buddy in the right place at the right to help you carry the load!  Iron sharpens Iron.

I'm certainly proud to coach THIS 2012/13 Colorado State University Triathlon Team and will hate to see a few of them leave to graduation next month.  This year we REPRESENTED at USAT Collegiate National Championships in Tempe, AZ!  Due to months and months of preparation and hard work, the results were our best showing in CSU Tri history, 9th Overall Combined Men's and Women's out of 100+ schools represented.  Competing with and edging out teams like Stanford, Michigan, UCSD, UCSB, THE Ohio State, and Arizona State put us on a whole new level.  Top 10 collegiate programs in the nation!  Now the hard work begins on keeping that disctinction, but also achieving our next goal of Top-5.

A wise man once told me... "in racing, it's better to be "odd" than "even".  I had to expand on that statement quite a bit after the race with my athletes.  Bailey achieved an amazing 7th place overall Woman.  But like all driven Type A personalities, she wanted a little better placement and was dwelling on her transitions of all things.  "So Bailey, if you crushed your transitions what would you have placed?"  Sixth!  Well, would anyone of us been happy with a 6th place finish, one shy of overall podium at the Awards Ceremony?  6th or 4th depending on awards is the WORST place!  Be happy with that 7th place Bailey!  You earned it.  It's better to be Odd than Even.  It also works the other way.  Steve and Chris each earned an Odd... with a 5th and 9th place overall respectively.  Great job guys.  Steve you can bet is happy with that 5th place overall podium spot.  Yeah, he would also liked the 3rd place he was in with one mile to go.  But 4th?  Not much difference. 6th, NO WAY. 

So...Odds was the theme for us last weekend.  11th Men's Overall, 11th Women's Overall, 9th Combined overall, Bailey 7th Woman, Steve 5th, Chris 9th.  Much better than a bunch of 4ths and 6ths right?  So everyone's happy?  Not in the world of sport...too much work to do to prepare for next year!

This weekend I was lucky enough to be one of 20 coaches in the nation to attend the inaugural TrainingPeaks University (TPU) located in Boulder, CO.  From what I heard, there was quite a long waiting list.  This not only was their kick-off premier training event for coaches, but it was in the newly established Global Headquarters right outside of Boulder in Gunbarrel.  Quite the spacious digs in which I got a personal tour from CEO and Co-Founder Gear Fisher.  Thanks Gear!  I'm not going to go into detail on ALL the nitty-gritty details of the metrics and charts Training Peaks Coaches learned at TPU (I'll leave that for a training seminar in the near future) however, I want to leave you with a few take-aways that struck me as special about the weekend.
 
First, TrainingPeaks customer service to their athletes and coaches has always struck me as top notch!  Training Peaks has been a huge contributor to Colorado State University triathlon team and I would not be able to coach an 80-member team without their support.  The staff didn't disappoint at all this weekend.  Catering done throughout the weekend by Skratch Labs was the perfect complement to a logistically well-run clinic.  Yes, there were a few bugs with the new location concerning a/v and that noisy heater, however none of us could have pulled off such a seminar in the middle of a construction zone any better!  Training Peaks treated us well and I may have put on a few pounds to prove it! I wouldn't have expected less from a client-first company.

Second,  the amount of knowledge running the show was extraordinary but it was presented in the manner where all the coaches could understand.  I entered this weekend with a little apprehension being a fairly new coach with limited classroom attained knowledge of Exercise Physiology or Nutrition.  Thank you Joe and Dirk Friel, Melissa, Shawn and AJ for teaching key concepts from decades of research in these topics to "dumb it down" to a level where we can apply it to our everyday coaching business.  I'm excited to share these same concepts via Training Peaks to all my clients

Third, and this is primarily for the athlete reading this.  I come from a sector of coaching that is a blast but very unique to triathlon...the 18-25 year demographic.  These athletes are eager and soak up anything you have for them, but for most they are just testing the waters and probably aren't too keen on dropping 1K-2K on a power meter when they just pried 2K from their parent's fingers last semester for their first bike!  Triathlon is an expensive sport for middle-class as it is, try taking a look at it through a college-aged athlete's eyes.  I was asked many times over the weekend about my elite athletes training with power (specifically at USAT Collegiate Nationals coming up in April), my answer...ZERO of my CSU athletes train with power!  So how does TrainingPeaks work for my athletes?  There are so many data values out there a coach could utilize...but as an athlete what a luxury to just go out and NOT look at numbers (sometimes)!  I will somewhat contradict myself in this paragraph...as a coach I NEED your data, or at least your feedback on your workouts before I will subscribe more pain, I mean fun.  TrainingPeaks is perfect for this...an avenue for feedback.  As an athlete, give me as much you can...via words or numbers and I'll do my job.  If you have that HR monitor or you know your training zones...throw them into TrainingPeaks and the process actually derives them for you.  Just ask me how...I can help.  So, to circle the wagon on this topic, if you aren't a numbers person or you lost the fun of training by always looking at the numbers, then DON'T!  Leave it to your coach.  Wear your HR strap, use the bike with the power meter, update your zones on TP, and download the data but don't look...I'm there for ya.

Thanks TrainingPeaks for what you are to so many talented athletes and coaches!  I look forward to this year being an Ambassador and for making my athletes realize their dreams.

So, how is that New Year’s resolution coming along? 

Trust me. I know. It’s already a thing of the past and you have long forgotten it.  

OK, so how is the training going in your off-season? 

Wait…don’t tell me. It’s been less than perfect. Maybe “fair”. Maybe “next to nothing” is a more accurate description. 

Well, can I ask you about your goals? Your ambitions? Remember those? Are they still the same, or have you scaled back your expectations, or redefined them, or changed your thoughts about them altogether?  

This is what happens to everybody, and I mean everybody, at times. It’s a period that I call “The Dark Ages”, and it can happen at any time of the year and at any point in the season. Often, it pops up in February, which Melissa Schwartz alludes to as the “Holiday Hangover” in her recent blog post.  

Multisport is often considered a “lifestyle” because we rightly put a premium on being able to train consistently. It is when we break from that consistency, whether our fault or not, that we transition into The Dark Ages. Things that I have observed that break the consistency include: 

* Illness 
* Injury 
* Poor weather (ice, snow, cold, wind chill) 
* Equipment problems (pool closure, bicycle breakdown) 
* Family stress (spouse, children, relatives) 
* Job/school stress 

…and I am sure that is a very partial list. Again, chaos can occur anytime of  the year, but even the best intentions on New Year’s Eve are often thwarted by February after you get back to work (or school) and find the job has changed, and the family has new problems (including the cold/flu that they gave you), and you can’t train because it is “too cold” or “too dark”.  

Uncorrected, The Dark Ages can stretch for days. Miss one or two planned workouts? No big deal. Miss a few days? Then you may have spiraled down over the abyss.  One marker of The Dark Ages that I occasionally see as a coach is that an athlete will tend to provide less and less feedback and communication. Sometimes, the athlete may pass this off (legitimately or not) as being “too busy to write/call”. However, I often see this as the athlete being embarrassed to tell the full truth. The more training is skipped or shortchanged, the more embarrassing the news is, and the more likely that the athlete doesn’t want to discuss it. When I was a kid,
this is exactly how I talked to (er, tap danced around) my mom and dad about things (e.g. grades, broken windows, etc.) that I did not want to openly confront.  

That is one big reason why, among many others, multisport athletes should have a coach. The coach (and other friends) can only help in a limited sense. That is, coaches and others can’t change the weather, cure your cold or make you like your boss at work. But coaches can help you arrest the downward spiral,
refocus your attention, and suggest ways to help you cope with the circumstances in more positive ways (all without having to violate your intimate privacy).  
 
There is a wide field in psychology focused on mental skills, sports performance, happiness, being “In the Zone”, and so forth…an entirely different subject much larger than a blog can contain. In the meantime, realize that The Dark Ages are temporary, and that one of the best ways to regain consistency begins with connecting (or reconnecting) to a/your coach…in a way that makes your coach less of a “parent” and more of an “partner” in your journey. 

A couple weeks ago I was given the opportunity to coach cycling at the Air Force Wounded Warrior (AFW2) Selection Camp located at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.  "The AFW2 program works hand-in-hand with the Air Force Survivor Assistance Program to ensure Airmen receive professional support and care from the point of injury, through separation or retirement, for life."   The beautiful thing about this mission statement is the fact they are using sport for rehabilition and recovery!!  More information can be found at http://www.woundedwarrior.af.mil/. 

The Wounded Warrior Games, scheduled May 11-17, also in Colorado Springs, will be how these athletes showcase their abilities in seven sports: shooting, archery, wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball, swimming, cycling and track & field.  The Air Force team is composed of 50 active-duty, reserve and retired Airmen from across the country. Their injuries range from post-traumatic stress disorder to quadriplegia and is open also to non-combat related injuries/illnesses (cancer, state-side accidents, etc).  Let's just say, the diversity of athlete's abilities (not disabilities) tested this coach and I learned a ton. 

Until the last couple years, the "Wounded Warrior" was a distant news story or somebody I had heard about from a friend.  I had never witnessed the combat casualties in person as my deployed location was at a HQ safe and secure away from the fight.   During the AFW2 selection camp, I learned these unique Airmen just want to build relationships like us all.  They wanted to be asked about their circumstance.  They wanted to share their details how they were injured, how they endured an 8-hour firefight or the effects of a reaction to the flu vaccine.  (Yes, I met two veterans who were paralyzed from the flu vaccine, but I was told that's VERY RARE.)  At first, I was uncomfortable to get into the details of how their life was forever changed.  That is where I grew (or grew up) as a person.  With any relationship between a coach and athlete it takes getting to know the details of that individual.  You have to ask those questions!  You have to get to know their abilities, history, get to know what makes them tic, dedication to improving their situation, and future goals of why they are doing what they do.  Like every one of us, no different. 

After getting to know the athletes pretty much from the first day, I was inspired!  My first session on Monday, an athlete, Chris Wolff, who I knew as being paralyzed from the waist down was in my spin session.  I put him on the hand cycles towards the back of the room and included him in the workout as much as possible.  At one point in the workout after an intense interval, I got the rest of the athletes off their bikes and we proceeded to do some wall-sits for athlete quadricep development.  Almost immediately, I looked towards the back of the room and Chris proceeded to get out of his hand-cycle chair and lean against the wall!  Afterwards, he said it looked like I had seen a ghost.  I went over to him, shocked about this athlete supposedly not being totally paralyzed anymore and helped him "slide down the wall" to see how deep he could get into the wall-sit.  After about 15 seconds he had enough and we got him back on his seat.  Let's just say the room was pretty excited.  INSPIRATION! 

Not only am I putting together Spring Training Plans for this group leading up to the April training camp, I will being thinking a lot about Chris and these athletes.  I will be thinking about them when I'm in a tough spot in a workout, or when my body doesn't want to get out of bed.  If Chris can get out of that chair, then my body SHOULD respond on a much easier task.  This week tested me as a coach but grew me as a human and I can't wait to get back with them and proceed onto our goals as the AFW2 2013 team.

My wife got me a juicer for Christmas.  Little did she know to what extremes I would take juicing into the New  Year 2013!

 The last few months, through subtle hints, my wife,  Jill, decided upon an Omega Wide Mouth juicer to “augment my fitness repertoire  of gadgets”.   I took the opportunity after the Christmas Holiday to research some recipes and I stumbled upon the “juice cleanse”.  Now, I’ve heard of fasting for all sorts of reasons but I never, ever considered it for myself…mostly because I love to eat. 
That’s why I’m a triathlete I tell myself on a daily basis…and I’m only half joking.  This juice cleanse seemed like a great type of fast, since I would still be taking in calories so not a true fast, just a cleanse or a detoxification from my 6-week off-season of gluttony after Ironman Arizona the week before Thanksgiving.  I made it a point to enjoy my last few days of 2012 and then January 1 it would be go-time.  I would shoot for a 5-7 day cleanse.
 
I really want to acknowledge the help of Suzanne Jacoby,
http://www.guidetobodycleansing.com/juicefasting.html  She has amazing recipes on her website for juicing and reached out via Twitter (@CleansingGuide).  She led me down the path to success by recommending which vegetables to use and what base products for each of the drinks.   The key point she made was “the
  Greener the Better”.  Limit the amount of fruit juicing due to the sugar content and go for the vegetable
juicing as much as can be tolerated basis. After my trip to Sprouts on the 29th of December, and a few quick tests with the new juicer I was ready to give it a try!
 
Sprouts initial shopping list (majority products Organic):
2 bags of kale whole leaf
2 bags of carrots
10 medium sized beets
2  one-pound containers of baby spinach
3 bunches of celery
1 clump of fennel (had to google it)
3 cucumbers
4 sweet potatoes
5 med tomatoes
1 bunch of parsley
2 large ginger roots
15 granny smith apples
10 navel oranges
8 grapefruit
2 pints of blueberries
2 pints of blackberries
1 Bag of red grapes 
2 lemons
2 limes
4 pints of coconut water
Total approximately $80, however it was to feed me for 5-7 days so approximately $15 per day not too bad, and as you will later read it fed more than just myself.  But it is by no means cheap.
 
How I felt:
Initially, I think my stomach storage capacity was so big from my season of gluttony, that I was always hungry.  This also was exacerbated due to still having holiday snacks in/around the house. College Football and meaningful NFL games on the schedule all day long didn’t help the fast at all.   My family was awesome
however!  Jill really didn’t cook in the house those first few days and actually participated in my juicing to the
max extent possibly.   Even my two girls and their friends loved helping dad juice and it was a great family
time together seeing what unique combinations of colors and flavors you can get from kale, beets, blueberries and carrots!
As I progressed to day 3, the hunger subsided but really became lethargic in my workouts and slight lightheadedness.  I tried to continue working out but had to cut the volume down over 50% for the week to less than 8 hours of training and very light intensity.  Mentally focus on the goal for the week:  not to increase my fitness aerobically but cleanse myself for long-term benefits.  I totally reorganized my garage and looked for ways to get my mind off of the hunger. 
By day 5 I was done mentally.  I struggled through the days arguing with myself.  Feeling like I didn’t want to work out and just lay around on the couch but knowing I was losing hard-earned aerobic capacity and not motivated at all to do anything about it.   I found little solace in the simple carbs of fruit-juice that would give me a 30-minute pick-me-up window where I could workout but then come crashing down.  By the evening of Day 5, I was done.  I asked Jill to make one of her amazing lentil stews and downed a bowl.  After an hour of feeling great, downed a couple more bowls.
 
Lessons learned:
- You don’t need as much sleep when you are fasting.  This was evident the very first night.  Partially, not working out as much, but mostly from what I’ve read, is your metabolism practically shuts down as it’s not working on digesting food.  I read through some blogs and science journals that as much as 3 less hours of sleep needed.  Unfortunately, you still don’t quite feel rested and on your “A” game throughout the day.
- My girls loved eating a healthy diet of Juice!  I mentioned earlier how my two girls enjoyed making the daily juices and we would make it a routine during the evening making the juice for the upcoming day. It was a blast!  In fact, Anna (3rd Grade) had an incentive pass for her Elementary School saying she could bring a drink to school throughout the day leftover from the Fall Semester. Instead of bringing in the typical carton
of high-fructose corn syrup juice box most kids probably bring, Anna asked, “Dad, can we make a couple different flavors of juice for the first day of school for my drink pass?”  We decided on a mixture of berries and apples for one of them and then a beet, carrot, kale, apple for the other.  Delicious and I’m sure it  impressed her teachers!
- Endurance Athletics and fasting don’t mix!  My body just needs those complex carbs to continue on through a workout and then protein to recover from a workout.  I found myself craving protein quite a bit as the day wore on.  Juicing can be and will be a huge supplement to my family’s daily diet from here forward but I don’t think I could live without the protein and carbs.  
-  Coming off the fast, from what I’ve read, would be very hard on the digestive system. It wasn’t at all personally…I came out of the fast on the evening of Day 5 with a big bowl of lentil stew with a lot of different type of vegetables.  This wasn’t much different from what I had been eating with the exception they were in solid form.  Probably a very good source of nutrition immediately after a fast.  After the initial first bowl, I consciously waited almost an hour to see how the body would feel.  Green light, I quickly had two more bowls.  No side effects whatsoever.
-  After a week now of being “off the fast”, I have continued to encounter less bathroom breaks but quickly gained my energy.  I’m now back to my original schedule of working out. No side effects at this point. Do I think it helped me?  Short-term, not at all! Long-term, I can’t measure that, however it couldn’t have hurt that’s for sure.  I do believe it “cleaned out” my system because I spent two to three days just urinating without any other bathroom breaks.  This would complete the goal of detoxification. Would I do it again?  We’ll see next off-season!

With an hour of daylight left before sunset at Ironman Arizona, I find Coach Mace running outbound on his last lap with five miles between him and the finish. He breaks a little smile and we bump fists. I yell at him (because I can!) encouragement, but no words come back. 135 miles into a race and the only gestures he can muster besides his moving feet are a baby smile and a hand tap.

Immediately after, I walk a few yards to the inbound side of the run course, where Scott Poteet starts to run by, less than three miles from the finish line and ultimately a qualification to Kona. There’s a baby smile and a high five, and nothing more.

A little earlier in the afternoon, I saw and spoke briefly to another friend and competitor, James Lawrence while he was about 19 miles from the finish. James was having a tougher go of it on this day, but at least he managed a few good words along with the smile and hand slap.

By the end of the evening, Mace had finished his first iron-distance triathlon in his life.  James finished his 29th iron-distance race THIS YEAR. While it may have taken one person more time to cover the course, the experience of the journey from end to end was strikingly similar.

There is triathlon, and there is “Ironman”.  They are really two different things, you could easily be confused in thinking they are alike because they both have swimming, cycling and running in common. While only a few can master the iron distance over and over, time after time, it is such a long physical challenge that it necessarily strips away everything but your soul. And for many, that is the attraction of Ironman. We have created this athletic test that appears to require human physicality that approaches infinity...and thus creates the opportunity to discover that one's physical limits are beyond that near-infinity.

But to discover who we are and where the edge of our envelopes are, we need to have peeled back the layers of our skin and look at what is inside with open eyes. What you see may look pretty or shockingly ugly, to you and to others, but the iron distance compels you to shed down to (figuratively) bare nakedness.

And that's all that the iron distance does. You may think that crossing the finish line and having the title of "You are an Ironman" changes your life, as if it is some automatic, magical catharsis. That's totally wrong.

It does not CHANGE you. It REVEALS you!

I can tell you the truth today that Mace was the same person on the morning after his finish than he was before he touched the water the previous day.  James is still the same genuine person that I met four years and over 5,500 racing miles ago. But both have learned more about themselves and have transformed as men from within.

James had only done a handful of triathlons when we first met (as relay teammates!) in 2008. He had a family association with In Our Own Quiet Way (www.quietway.org), a Utah-based charity that aims to build dams in Africa to retain drinking water. James sought to draw public attention to the charity by racing triathlons…and lots of them. In 2010 he completed 22 half-iron distance races with support from family, friends and donors for his travel and registration expenses, while encouraging other athletes and supporters to support and contribute to Quiet Way.

That endeavor continues to the present, where James is expected this weekend to complete his 30th and final iron-distance race this calendar year. While he is certain to gain personal notoriety (both the half and full iron-distance streaks are Guinness World Records) and perhaps future commercial gain, his primary focus has always been on the charity.

As for Coach Mace, well, he continues to live by his priorities of Faith, Family, and Fitness and learned enough about himself to start MP Multisport helping others experience the triathlon lifestyle him and his family continues to enjoy. 

Make no mistake, completing a triathlon of any length is an accomplishment worthy of recognition, but we are not defined by our listings on the results sheet.  It is what we learn about ourselves on the course that we can use to help us be better people and better athletes and help