Run for Charlotte

Run for Charlotte

One of those times that the endurance can make a difference. See you there!!

Who wants to open water swim?

Now that I’ve got your attention---there are still some slots open for the triathlon swimming clinic I’m putting on this weekend (in the pool!).



Ever wondered why some fast pool swimmers don’t swim fast in open water?



Have you ever been to a swim practice that solely focused on the individual needs of triathletes? How do you draft? How do you sight and still swim efficiently? How do you swim well with bodies bumping into you? What about tactics in open water? How should a right side breather do something different than a left side breather? How do you dolphin? How do you swim straight with no lane lines?



These are skillls that traditional swim coaches typically don’t cover or practice. When I first got into triathlon 12 years ago these were some of the things I struggled with and wished I had some specific instruction for. Well here’s your chance to shorten the learning curve. Especially for those of you who are still somewhat new to the sport or maybe you’ve been in it for a while and still stuggle with these things. I will pull from my experience of racing over 130 triathlons, over 7 years of swim coaching, a background in education and methods to ensure learning, and 2 years of mentoring with one of the top triathlon coaches in the country, Jesse Kropelnicki.



The clinic is this Sat 9-11 and next Sat 9-11. During the week of 1/11 there will be a wiki (website) which participants will get access to and receive additional coaching and resources. This will help solidify learning and then athletes will come back the following week. I am trying to keep the cost reasonable as well—it’s $100 for the whole clinic for non members of SFE. If you’re a member it’s $90. Attached is the flyer.



To register call 879-7734 ext 2 or for more info email my coaching email address- john@qt2systems.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Central Vermont athletes rejoice!! We have a new gym in town. The Confluence is a Vermont nonprofit organization bringing affordable, high quality sports and physical fitness opportunities to people in Central Vermont. Think of a Confluence between not only all levels of athletes but all levels of people who simply want to get in shape. It's an alternative to a typical gym setting check it out.

Confluence Gym

Also check out QT2 systems-- QT2 Launches Mission Plans!!

QT2 Mission Plans

Execution

"The difference between a mediocre performance and a remarkable one is usually the difference between what you know and what you do with what you know." (Mark Sanborn

I really could not be happier with how my season unfolded this year. It was a blessing in disguise to forego Ironman Cour D Alene this year. In doing so I lifted all of my fitness my markers and set PRs at many distances and even won a few races. I did this all the while healing/learning my nagging back issues that affect my long bike rides.

The quote above sums up why I was able to set PRs and win some races this year. As an athlete we spend a huge amount of time training and preparing physically for our races but that is really only half the battle. Once you’re fit you can still perform badly if you don’t execute well. What do I mean by execute? Well this is a backbone of the QT2 systems protocol and I believe it was missing in me before I came to QT2 and I see it missing in many athletes. Execution = informed and disciplined pacing, informed and intelligent fueling /hydration, intelligent nutrition decisions, and simply thinking clearly on race day while not letting emotions control you.

For me it took a while---this year the turning point for me was the Hyannis half marathon in February. I had all the numbers and information to make an informed pacing decision but I still let my emotions get the better of me because many of my friends/competitors were there and I wanted to stay with them. I knew what I was supposed to do but I didn’t do it. I proceeded to run 5:40 pace for the first few miles only to completely explode and run under potential (1:21 finish time). It was after that race that I made a conscious decision to never botch my pacing again (to the best of my ability). Thanks also goes out to Tim Snow for the “come to Jesus” meeting. At every race after that I executed as best I could and subsequently exceeded my goals.

I have wanted to break 1:20 in the half marathon for years and I didn’t do it until I learned how to execute properly. Recently I went 1:18 on a certified course-- big PR!!!!

I never had been first out of the water at a triathlon period. This year I won an open water swim race and also was first out of the water at a Shelburne sprint tri. This was from pacing properly. I used to waste a great deal of energy in the first 200 yards.

Coming back to the quote—my point of this post is that it is not always about fitness but what you do with it (execution). I’ve seen less fit athletes outperform fitter athletes because they executed better.

Now hopefully you’ll be asking yourself how can I “out execute” my competitors?

Burlington Triathlon- 9-13-09

Got the overall win!!




More shots--

Updates

Season update

Doing only local races this year has been really fun and a great way to save some money. Next season I'll be back in the MDOT scene racing Ironman Cour D Alene in Idaho (June 2010). We close on our house in a week (as long as the seller doesn't terminate the contract---again).

I raced the "Race to to the top of Vermont" 2 weeks ago. This was a mountain run up Mt Mansfield- Vermont's highest mountain. They also had a mtn bike option. It went straight up the toll road (dirt) and finished at the top. 4.3 miles and around 2500 ft (maybe 2200 I can't remember)of vertical ascent. There was a very deep field there with Eric Morse one of the best mountain runners in the country along with some other very studly runners like Eli Enman and Scott Loomis. I tried to stay super calm at the start and just conserve as much energy as possible.I alsmost half asleep at the start--very mellow. Gun goes off---I just eased into it. The first half mile was the steepest on the whole course so I knew if you blew up there--you are going get dropped big time. I just tried conserve but stay near the front. Next thing I knew I was running in 3rd/4th and feeling great!!! Somehow I was ahead of Eli Enman (arguably one of the best runners in Vermont). We pulled back Scott Loomis (another very studly athlete and I believe Olympian nordic skier) and by that point we had about a mile to go. We were passing lots of mtn bikers who had started about 10 min earlier--that was pretty fun. I hung on for 4th only 8 seconds out of 3rd place overall. My time was within 15 seconds of last years winning time by Dave Dunham --very elite mtn runner. Anyhow this was probably one of the best run races of my career. I performed at a much higher level than I do on flat road races. I definitely am going to try and get some more mountain run races next year!

By the way the fastest time up the mountain was from a runner this year not mountain biker!! Jim Johnson from NH crushed the course record and beat the first biker by roundabout a minute or so.

Stream of Endurance Consciousness

One of the reasons I haven’t been posting a lot here (other than not having enough time) is that I don’t think people want to read just another race report and quite honestly this sport is selfish enough so the last thing I need to do is talk more about myself. So basically the reason I haven’t been posting boils down to a lack of creativity on my part. I can’t seem to put together a post that I think people will enjoy. At any rate here’s my attempt at something different.

First off you’ve got to check out my buddy I ran x-c with in college. It’s Tellman Knudson and he is a total bad ass. He’s running across the country…barefoot!!! He’s raising money for homeless youth. Runtellmanrun


Anyhow I’ve been doing a lot of local races and fitness has been progressing quite well. The key principals we use at QT2 systems continue to pay off with PRs and either overall wins or high overall finishes. I’ve been writing “Whitfield” on my hand for all races lately. Check this video out and you’ll know why. If you saw triathlon at the Beijing Olympics you saw how Whitfield was running in a select lead group on the run. He proceeded to get dropped and then mentally pulled himself back up to the group. This happened several times. The last time he made it back into the group he then stuck it to them with an amazing sprint and got the silver medal. Well if you saw that race and liked it—you’ve really got to see this one. The same things happened at the Des Moines ITU world cup with $200k on the line. The lead group on the run had almost the same players but with an even better outcome than Beijing. The mental toughness it took for Simon to pull it together like that amidst extreme suffering is truly inspirational to me.

Whitfield-Des Moines ITU


Here’s the video –it’s pretty short. You have to click Hy Vee and then click the video at the top. It doesn’t show how Simon got dropped and pulled himself back in but the long sprint finish at the end is amazing.

Simon is also Canadian and I happen to be married to a Canadian (and a very proud one at that—read-she has the Canadian flag tattooed on her quad). Simon is a true hero of our sport and an inspiration to everyone. You know what he said when he won $200k at that Des Moines race? Now I can buy my daughter that fancy doll house she wants!! He’s the man!!

That’s all I have for you today—Take care, train smart, recover well and repeat