Whew!

The 2013 edition of Spring Training camp has come and gone.

Scheduled immediately after the Sea Otter Classic in beautiful Monterey, the camp was a short 4 day training block that took riders up and down the central coast.  We enjoyed some beautiful scenery, the weather was perfect, and the climbing was tough!  All great elements of a good camp.

I’ll let the pictures and course profiles speak for themselves.  Click on the days for a detailed breakdown in Training Peaks

Day 1. “Recovery Ride”

30 miles.  1,700 feet of climbing.

Ride around history 17 mile Drive.  Being that the riders also raced today in the cross country mountain bike course at the Sea Otter, day 1 was an “easy” recovery day ride.  Being mostly flat, the ride goes along side Monterey’s coast, before going into 17mile drive and a decent climb out of pebble beach.

Day 2. “Testing Day”

47 miles.  5000 feet of climbing with 1 x 11 mile / 3k ft climb.

Not sure how much testing could be had today, but today’s ride included an 11 mile climb, that takes riders up 3,000 ft to the top of Fremont Peak.  It was painful!  But the descent was well worth it.

Day 3. “Queen Stage”

86 miles.  6,000 feet of climbing.

Today’s day started off mainly flat, with 40 miles off flat to rolling terrain through the Salinas Valley where riders enjoyed the smell of strawberry fields and the view of several vineyards.  After heading southeast, we turned back towards the coast this time up through Carmel valley where several climbs awaited us.  While we were all looking forward to the descents, we were faced with a strong headwind the entire way down which combined with some rolling hills proved to be a tough day.  After 75 miles, we had one last 3.2 mile, 10% grade climb before the final descent to the car.

Day 4. “Recovery”

Today’s day was an easy hour to spin out the legs while riding along the coast hearing the waves and sea lions along the coast.

Enjoy the pictures and get ready for the 2014 edition!

TrainingCamp video from Tony Zamora on Vimeo.

As I’ve been talking about recently, I’ve been seeing a physical therapist for a few weeks now to take care of some old back issues I had about 10 years ago while in the Navy.  The pain comes and goes, some days better then others but this last flare it it REALLY bothered me and basically limited the training I could do.  I’m putting together my notes to give you the full picture of whats going on since many people suffer from back issues, so stay tuned for that.

So, after an MRI it was suggested I go to PT.  To say I was EXTREMELY reluctant is an understatement.  Like I said, I’ve been dealing with this issues for the past decade, and haven seen the Navy’s and VA (Veteran Administration) doctors the entire time, I was NOT about to go see someone else.  All I’ve ever gotten from docs is a crap load of medication, some stretching routines (like I don’t do those already) and a pat on the back saying good luck.

Never the less, I decided to go to the doc and give it a try.  I figured what the heck, at worst I waste a day or 2 before I figure out that they are going to waste my time and go on my merry way.  I have to admit, I’ve been pleasantly surprised!  As I’ve written about before, docs try to pump you up full of meds which only give you tons of other symptoms, and for the most part don’t solve the root cause of your problems.

This doc is definitely an out of box thinker which I enjoy.  I’m kind of the same way, always looking at things from tons of different perspectives to figure out a best solution.

It’s about perspective – do you see an old lady looking down or young lady looking back?

This doc not only looked at my back issue, but after a few weeks we’ve determined that the most likely culprit of my back pain (the pain, not the underlying condition that was caused in the military – important to note the distinction) is some problems with a pelvic tilt most likely associated with a shorter leg & even some intestinal issues.  WHAT THE WHAT?!  Yes, back pain caused by things other than the back.  OK, like I said I’ll go into details in a longer post.

The reason I bring this up is I was recently surfing around a forum for endurance athletes.  There was a post on there about someone stating they had plantar fasciitis and flat feet who was getting blisters and was asking for suggestions.  My 2 cents – talk to a coach or PT and assess whether you have any other issues upstream: bad ankles, bad knees, tight IT band, weak glutes, pelvic tilt that is causing that flat foot.   Most of everyone else’s suggestion – get some arch supports, wear different socks / shoes, rub Vaseline or duct tape blisters.  Seriously, duct tape?!  WTF.

Look how the valgus collapse can cause the foot to be “flat”

All I want to get across in this post is that it’s OK to think outside the box.  In fact, I think it’s necessary!  Doctors and medicine have an important purpose, but it’s not to solve every single little issue you have, especially if you spend your commute home drinking a trenta!  Seriously, do yourself a favor, make healthier choices, move more, and when all else fails, THEN see a doc.

In part 1 of this mini 2 part series, I talked about how this first week of January you see people coming out of the wood-works into the gym to get their sexification on for the new year, BUT, unfortunately these same people you’ll start to see fade away after about a month or so.

Why is that?  Simple, THEY DON’T HAVE A PLAN!  I’ve written about goals and coming up with a plan before.  Don’t feel like taking the time to write a plan, that’s OK; that’s what Coaches are for!  A good coach should help you write the plan based on your goals, and best of all hold you accountable to that plan.

Now, I won’t get into any specifics just yet as to how to structure a workout or individual training session.  Those can vary A LOT based on what your goals are.  Planning on racing crits / 5ks, your going to spend a lot of time outside your comfort zone.  Racing an Ironman, plan on never seeing your family again.  See my point?

The thing is, having a plan is better than no plan.  Winging doesn’t get anyone anywhere.

Being an endurance athlete & coach, I use Training Peaks Annual Training Plan to plan out my year, every year.  So in December, I’ll sit back and think about what I want to accomplish in the following year.  My ATP is pictured below.  You can see the red lines are the big weeks, the A races for the year.  I’m going to once again focus on Xterra, with the goal of qualifying for Worlds in Maui this time.  You can also see how the entire season is based around those races; with the base period happening now in the winter, then we start to build into the racing season.

So what happens when life gets in the way?  Well, for the most part that’s when people throw in the towel, make up ANY excuse not to workout or train again, and go back to their old habits until Jan 1 the following year.  But, since you’re here reading this you are sure to have more common sense than most, so you won’t fall into that trap!

Now, look back at my ATP.  You see the black bars towards the left.  Those are my actual training hours I’ve done every week.  Yep, I pretty much have been a ball of fail since November.  When my off-season training started, my back decided to give up, and not cooperate so I had to take a step back.  But that doesn’t mean give up!  As my good friend Coach Chris Burnham just wrote about, make your goals stick!  To do so, simplify your options, focus on quality vs. quantity, and make some sort of progress.  In my case, I have been doing a lot of physical therapy, mobility work and foam rolling like a champ.  What do you need to work on?

So, to summarize:

• Think about what your goals are for the year, and WRITE THEM DOWN.
• Look at your past; what kept you from your goals before and how will that challenge your new goals.
• Create a plan on how you can get to your goals, working backwards for your event date.
• Work in small manageable chunks.  I focus my ATP in 4 week segments, always working on something different.
• Come up with a Plan B, should you need to use that card.
• Be realistic and honest, but don’t give up!

We see if every year and I’ve written about it in the past. Most people start of the year with a resolution, and for many that resolution is to lose weight / workout more.

Congrats!  It’s good to have a goal in mind and who am I to knock anyone for trying to be healthy or lose some pounds.  What I don’t agree with though is the attack of the gym zombie we see every January!

If you’ve ever been to a commercial gym in January, you know who these people are.  They are the people you’ve NEVER seen for the other 11 months out of the year, the people who come in by the floods the first week of January, and slowly start to die off as if Rick from The Walking Dead busts through the door and starts shooting them in the head because the gym is the last save haven in town…

If I were a guessing man, I’ll bet that these same people never developed a long term plan on how they were going to accomplish their goals, and didn’t have a contingency plan if something were to not go their way.  OK, great, you’re in the gym – but now what?  And in case you’re wondering, texting while walking on the treadmill DOESN’T count as a workout.  Seriously, there are very few reasons someone should have their phone with them in the gym.  Leave it in the locker for 45 min and focus on your workout, you’ll feel MUCH better about yourself and get things done!

So to summarize and put things in a bulleted list since you probably scrolled down and skipped everything above anyway:

1. Congrats on making the decision to get in shape!
2. Now WRITE down your goals. I use this  2013 Race calendar for my athletes along with TrainingPeaks Annual Training Plan.
3. Figure out HOW you will get to those goals.  Get unbiased opinions from friends or a coach.
4. LEAVE THE CELL PHONE IN YOUR LOCKER
5. Have a Plan B.  If someone is using the equipment you need, and you only have 45 min, what can you do instead?
6. WORK.  Yes, that means you need to sweat and be sore.  Oh well, deal with it.  When summer comes and your swim suit ready, you’ll thank yourself.
7. Stay focused.  Yes, we all have bad days and will skip a day at the gym or have a bad meal.  Don’t let that be an excuse to give up!  Get back at it the next day and keep reminding yourself of your long term goals.

Stay tune for part 2 for some help on how to structure a workout and not get bitten by the gym zombies!

Happy New Year’s!  I can’t believe 2012 has come to a close, time flew by!  It was a great year, with tons of great accomplishments, stories and time with the family.

January 1^st is also the day in which everyone will “transform” themselves and become a different person the next year.  Tons of resolutions are put out there, but few are ever accomplished.  Sad fact, I know.  A good way to overcome this, as I’ve mentioned time and time again is to WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS, share them with people, and hold yourself accountable to them.

I’m no different.  Last year I put out my 12 goals for 2012, and so without further adieu I hold myself accountable here in public.  Some I’ve accomplished, some I’ve failed at.

Accomplishments

• Volunteer more.  I started the year off pretty good volunteering with different organizations including GLASA (Great Lakes Adaptive Sports Association); a great organization that helps those with disabilities get into sports.  It was a great experience being able to jump into the pool and help / teach people how to swim.  Everyone was amazing, and the energy you got from that was just great!  While admittedly I didn’t volunteer as much as I wanted to, it was a great experience I hope to continue in 2013.

• Spend more time with the wife and family.  While I did spend TONS of time away from the family, I think I did a better job with this this year.  I actually was there for birthdays, holidays and even just random days babysitting!

• Get my learn on / read books / network more.  Lumping these 3 into the same category.  I should have done more in each, but am happy to say I at least touched on them all this year which was a big improvement over previous years.

This year I finally invested the cash to head out to USA Cycling’s coaching summit which they do every 2 years at their headquarters in Colorado.  I had the opportunity to spend 3 days getting my learn on in anything from sports nutrition, physiology, masters racing, and more!  During this time I also had the chance to network with coaches from across the country and share ideas.  Overall it was a good experience; I may look into it again in a couple years!

As far as reading books; as much as I hate doing do I did read a few books this year.  Yes, ONLY a few, which I think it more then I’ve read like my entire life combined.  So, I’m leaving this on my list of accomplishments, with plenty of room to grow.

•  Write down my short term business goals.  Been coaching for a few years now and have always planned on opening up a shop where I can do semi-private and group training focused on endurance athletes.  Taking this year to really plan to accomplish this within 3 years.

• Continue to grow and develop the business.  I’m thankful and grateful for all my clients this past year.  Not only have they all stuck with me this year, I’ll be working with everyone going into 2013 as well!  My original plan was to grow the business and market myself more, but really thanks to my clients and referrals I’ve been growing organically, which although not the quickest way to grow, I think it adds to the value and loyalty of clients.  Thank you everyone!

FAILS

• Unplug.  This was a big bag of fail.  I think I’m more connected now than ever with a laptop, smartphone while I’m on the go, and now my wife bought me a new tablet for my birthday!  Its constant communication and constant digital access.  It’s so addicting!  OK, this year, I NEED to unplug.

• Enjoy my time training.  Of course I ENJOY training, but this year I probably was more committed and focused then previous years!  I said I was going to take it easy and do “fun” races instead of races I had to do.  FAIL!  I ended up doing most of the Xterra series in the Midwest; I think I even raced all 4 weekends in June! It was a TOUGH season, but someday I’ll get to sit back and add some destination races in.

• Sleep more.  It feels like I napped a bit more this year.  Not that I remember, but when your family is constantly surprised when they see you and “not napping”, it’s probably a good sign that you sleep too much.  But honestly I didn’t feel like I did THAT much, and something I should work on.  Recovery is a good thing.

• Blog more.  I blogged more in 2012 then 2011, WOO HOOO!  Still a big bag of fail.  My goal was to get in at least 100 articles this past year, I did less than half that.  FAIL!

• Write an e-book.  I didn’t do much writing this year, either with the blog and didn’t even touch this book.  I have been thinking about it a lot this year, which is giving me a clearer idea of what I want to do.  I just need to harden up and start working on it!  It will be my first product ever, so the task is daunting, but I just need to get at it!

Almost a 50/50 split of being sucky, and getting things done.  Nothing to be proud of, but I think I prioritized OK and tackled some of the bigger ticket items on my list so overall I’m pretty content.  I definitely have some things to work on this year!

Start writing down your goals and hold yourself accountable!  Take advantage of our great offer – sign up for a year in advance anytime in January and only pay for 11months!  Great way to commit and work towards your long term goals and be held accountable for your training & racing goals this year!  Contact me for details.

The last couple of days we’ve finally seen the first snowfall for the Winter.  Nothing has stuck yet, but its definitely getting a bit colder and although I try to train outdoors as much as possible, once the mercury goes below 20 I try to stay indoors.

Being that I’m spending more time indoors, I like to take this time to work on several things I lacked during the year, or maybe even try something new.  So in no particular order, the 5 things I have on my list are:

Correct my nagging back issues

You may or may not know, but I hurt my back about 10 years ago while in the Navy.  The body does amazing things, and while I eventually was able to start training and racing again, other parts of my body compensated for my lower back issues – namely the hips.  I had a guest blog on here earlier this year, where Coach Chris Burnham talked about the hips being a big source of problems in athletes.  I’m no exception, and as I’ve been going through testing the last few weeks, it looks like the last 10 years since my injury my hips took quite a beating compensating for my back.  So, this winter I’m definitely going to focus on fixing this.  I’ll save the details of back / hip issues for a complete post coming soon.

Address & Correct Swim Form

I’ve never been a great swimmer.  This past year I went from towards the back of the back, to middle of the pack swimmer; which ultimately gave me some good races.  My goal this winter is to spend the extra time I have from not running, to improving my swim technique and time.  I’ve been working on this for about 5 weeks now, and have already improved my 500 time from 10 min, and dropped it down to a PR of 8:28 today!  So, pretty happy about the quick progress, but now it’s time to extend that to be able to do a 1500 in under 25 min.

Snowshoeing

Being that I need to tone down my running for a while to let my back recover, I think I’m going to give snowshoeing a try.  We have some great forest preserves here in Chicago, so it might be a great chance to check them out at slower speeds then mountain biking, get some fresh air and work the leg muscles a bit.  Never done it before, so if any readers can share some tips I’ll appreciate it!

Build a solid bike base

The dreadful trainer.  Unfortunately I’m going to have to become best friends with my trainer and hope that my landlord downstairs doesn’t kick me out.  But I plan on spending quite a bit of time on the trainer this winter, gearing up for my training camp in April as well as The Sea Otter Classic.  Hoping I can get back on the podium this year out in California, so time to get at it!

Finally get Sofia Vergara to follow this blog and cuddle with her.  Its winter and cold in Chicago, nuff said…

Are those orthopedic?

Winter is officially here and I’m happy that you all survived the apocalypse and are here reading my blog!

One of the things I get personally asked a lot this time of year when people see me at the gym, or gearing up for a long ride in 20 degree Chicago weather is “why are you training so hard, you have a race coming up?”  Short answer, yes, I do have a race coming up – in 6 months!

Same goes when programming for my clients.  I do tend to pull back a little since the days are shorter, colder, and people want to enjoy time with their family.  A season of training hard and traveling for races can take its toll, but you have to remember, seasons are won or lost in the winter!

There are generally a few things to focus on in the winter:

1. 1. Review your past season.
      1. Think about how your racing went.  Did you accomplish what you wanted to?  Did you fall short, and if so why – skipped too many workouts, didn’t give it your all, or maybe just reached too high (its OK to reach high, just be realistic when it comes to how long it can take!)
      2. Also look back and think, did you enjoy this past season?  Maybe you did a couple of half ironman races, but you really didn’t enjoy the long course stuff.  Do you want to try something different next year?
   2. Focus on nutrition
      1. First off, focus on not gaining TOO much weight during the holiday season.  It’s QUICK to come on, but can take months to come off which will already put you at a disadvantage going into next season.
      2. I try to stick to the 8% rule.  Try not to gain more than 8% of your ideal racing body weight.  Example, I know that I race well at 160lbs.  8% will put me at 172.  I’ve been doing this year after year, that I KNOW when I reach 171.  My body starts to ache, my back hurts and generally I just feel jiggleier; that’s when I know it’s time to get serious.
   3. Work on your injuries / form
      1. If you have any nagging injuries, now’s a good time to take care of that.  Work with a physical therapist if needed, but take care of what you have to now so you can move into the season stronger than before.
      2. I personally am working with a PT now to take care of some crazy stuff going on with my lower back / pelvis.  A topic for another post, stay tuned!  But really, fix yourself if you have old injuries.
      3. Have a bad swim / run / bike this year?  Guess what, odds are that you probably move like poop which contributes to your bad form while training/ racing.  The time beating up your body will take its toll, so now you have extra time to focus on this.
      4. Incorporate extra form drills in your SBR training, spend extra time on the foam roller or even go out and get a massage or two.
   4. Work on your weaknesses
      1. Odds are you’ve been doing mainly swim bike run training all season.  Guess what, just because you can ride your bike 100 miles doesn’t mean you’re strong!  Get into the gym, and lift heavy things. No, leg presses and hamstring curls don’t count.
      2. What’s your weakness?  Maybe now is the time to work on your swimming if you’re one of the slower swimmers?  Take a look at how you compare to others across different efforts, and start working on that.
      3. Work on some volume.  If time and weather allows, add in the extra miles!  There’s a reason why there’s so many centuries / marathons during this time of year.  Get out there, but in the extra miles and try to enjoy it!  Getting in the extra volume now will help your body get ready for the harder efforts to come.

As I talked about before; it’s OK to have a dip in your chronic training load in your PMC.  So while volume may go down, don’t make the mistake many people make and completely stop during the winter months!  Endurance athletes aren’t allowed to hibernate!  There have been studies that show that VO2 max decreases by about 6% in just 2 weeks of no training!  Take 11 weeks off and it can go down by as much as 25%!  Just think about what taking a couple of months completely off during the winter will do; you’ll be way behind those that did decide to continue training during the winter.

Just because you continue training doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the winter!  Don’t be so strict on your diet; it’s OK to have that extra piece of pie at a party.  And yes, you can have a few more beers.  Have fun, continue your training and get ready for next year!

Sis & her kids!

Me and the wife! Yes, thats a onesie....

The Performance Management Chart, or PMC, is a neat little tool I use for my clients as well as myself inside of TrainingPeaks.  It allows you to quantify your training while measuring, and charting side by side three components of training: Acute Training Load (ACL), Chronic Training Load (CTL), & Training Stress Balance (TSB).  Here’s a quick definition of each:

• Acute Training Load (ACL): Short term effects of workouts; workouts you’ve done in the last 14 days.
• Chronic Training Load (CTL): Long term effects of workouts; workouts that you’ve done 15 days ago or longer.
• Training Stress Balance (TSB): The difference between training stress and rest; also known as form!

Form = Fitness (training stress) + Freshness (rest)

So here’s a picture of my PMC for the 2012 season – notice how it goes back to December 2011.  Winter training can make or break your season!  Here you can see my ATL (Pink Line), TSB (Yellow Line), & CTL (Blue Line).

An easy way to read this is: High pink line = highly stressed, but also high fitness (high blue line), and poor form (low yellow line).

Winter Season

In December 2011 you can see a high TSB and low ATL indicating I was just coming off my year end break.  I usually take 2 weeks off after the season just to let the body recover, so I was just coming off that.  January is always a slower month for me as well; it just takes me a bit longer to get into a routine, and the shorter winter days never help!

In February you can see my ATL start to rise, which also raises my CTL gearing up for the first big race of the season; The Sea Otter Classic!  Here you can see that my training came together to peak for that A Race.  ATL went down just enough for my TSB to come up; which basically is showing my taper for the race.  Notice how CTL goes down a bit; you lose a bit of fitness during your taper, but you gain form which is what you want for a race!

That’s why it’s usually good to do a big ramp up 4 weeks or so before a race, so that when you lose a bit of fitness during your taper your still better off then where you were before.

Race Season

In May, you can see my CTL drop a bit as my TSB went up.  This is where I take a week completely off mid-season.  It’s critical you schedule this into your training schedule!  It helps prevent burn out, and gets the mind and body ready for the hard work to come.

In June between training and racing ATL stayed high.  Unfortunately CTL didn’t go up, but in June I ended up doing an Xterra Tri on 4 of the 5 weekends!  So there wasn’t much time to train hard, or recover during that entire month!

In July was my bigger ramp up for the late season A Race – Xterra Nationals.  From the chart it looks like my build up was early, but what’s not on there is around August 20 I had a 70.3 Tri scheduled which would have had me in good form.  Unfortunately the race was canceled due to bad weather, but at least I had some good fitness to carry over to my A Race.

End of Season

After my A race, you see I took another couple of weeks off, once again raising my TSB.  I started to kick of the 2013 season in October, did a couple of centuries and long rides before I started to get some funkiness in my back in October.  So, taking some weeks to recovery and work out that nagging back injury, before I kick start things up again in January.

Wrap Up

Overall I’m pretty happy with my 2012 season.  It was a long one!  I ended up doing the Sea Otter Classic Mountain Bike Race, 6 Xterra Tri’s and Xterra Nationals, while winning the Mid-West Xterra Points race in my age group. More importantly, I ended up improving quite a bit on my running this year which was a big goal of mine, so looking forward to taking that into the 2013 season!

I like to quantify my training and that of my clients.  Ever since using the PMC this has drastically helped and helps me look back at the season and fine tune training accordingly.  Newly released this year, TrainingPeaks added the option to predict future values in the PMC by putting in estimated TSS (Training Stress Scores) in scheduled workouts!  A neat feature which allows me to really fine tune an athlete’s taper heading into the big race.

As a Coach, I’m able to review every client’s PMC with them during the season to provide feedback and show why we schedule the way we schedule.  If you’re a self coached athlete, or just curious to see the PMC on your own time you’ll have to sign up for Training Peaks Premium edition.

For athletes coming out to our Spring Training Camp in California, we are happy to announce that TrainingPeaks will be providing all riders with a 14 day Trial Period for a Premium account so you can track your fitness during the camp and see how that carries over to the following week!

I’m a firm believer that everyone has a goal in their life (or should!).  Maybe it’s to go to school and get your education on; or maybe it’s to eventually get that date with Mila Kunis (that lucky S.O.B), or to lose those extra post baby pounds.  Whatever it is people usually live their life working towards something.

Let’s start off with the good news.  I’m happy and proud to announce that after years of racing I’ve finally won the Xterra Midwest regional championships (in my age group)!  What this is is a culmination of this seasons races in which they count your best 4 race finishes to determine who the champion will be.  I have to admit it was a long and tiring season, and it came down to the end being that until the last race we were in a 3 way tie for first.  But I’m relieved that it’s over and am looking forward to going to Nationals in 3 weeks to claim my championship jersey.

Back to the the title of this post.  It’s all about keeping your eye on the prize and not giving up when things get hard.  It’s been tough over the years, I mean let’s face it life gets in the way.  Family issues, financial issues, changing jobs, relocation, unemployment, medical reasons, stress, you name it and I’ve probably been there as have some of you.  The thing is, I never gave up and always believed that one day I could get my name onto that championship list.

So can you.

Maybe you don’t want to be a champion racer, but whatever your goal is don’t take your eye off of that prize.  Not sure about you, but I rather go down knowing that I gave everything I could to try to accomplish that goal, then to not try at all.  So get out there, write down what your goals are (I think I’ve said that like a billion times), and get after them never giving up.  Sure, sometimes you might take the long way there, but wouldn’t you rather get there then never take that first step?

Lastly, big thanks and love to my family and especially my beautiful wife for putting up with it.  It’s just going to get worse being that my ultimate goal is getting that pro racing license, but thankfully everyone is pretty supportive.  Napping while everyone is at a birthday party, having a custom meal for “special Tony”, and all the other crap you guys have to deal with.  I appreciate it and love all you guys for it.

I love you too Michelle.  You always got my back.

The Sea Otter Classic, all that is things bikes was last weekend. If you’ve never been there, I would suggest you add this to your list of destination races! Thousands of athletes participating in anything from BMX, Downhill, Road Racing, Mountain biking; plus all the vendors with the newest toys of the season gather together in Monterey, CA for 4 days in what’s one of the biggest cycling events in the country. Yes, we triathletes are still welcome!

I have to say, I’ve been doing this race for over a decade and it never gets old. The atmosphere and energy you feel walking around the vendor area to the unpredictable weather on race day (this year was a perfect sunny day!) to the refreshing post race beer; it’s a race I’ll hold closely for many years.

That said, it’s been over 10 years and can say I’ve only been on the podium once for a 3rd place finish in 2006. I upgraded to Cat 2 the following year and have been inching my way back to the podium finishing 6th this year; best finish since 2006!

Yep, despite not always doing so great in this race I always view it as the big one year after year, and continue to come back for more. So what is it then that inspires us to keep at it? Whether you are shooting for that top step of the podium or trying to train for your first race, there are inevitable going to be obstacles getting in your way. Injuries, sickness, soreness, time commitments, defeats… if it were easy everyone would be doing it!

Perseverance is staying focused to your goals and not giving up even when the hurdles get in the way.  

First things first, you need to set your goals.  Next step is to add an emotional attachment to those goals; people who have goals with no emotional attachment to them don’t usually accomplish said goals.  It just doesn’t mean anything to them.  For example, most people know that eating healthy and exercising 30 min a day is good for them, but how many actually do it?  Instead they spend countless hours eating chips while sitting on the couch watching TV.  Now, take that same person – someone who was just diagnosed with diabetes, obesity and a near heart attack (yep going all out here); now has the emotional attachment that if they don’t eat healthy and workout, they are risking their lives and leaving their loved ones behind.  Maybe now that person can find the motivation to workout.

So, you have your goals, you have the emotional attachment, and shit life gets in your way.  Now what?  You need to find that perseverance, that motivation to look adversity in the eye and not let anything get in your in your way.

• Practice, practice and practice some more learning from your mistakes.
• Never let someone tell you you can’t do something (ooohhh that fires me up!).
• When you think you ran out of solutions; think outside the box, find a way around it.
• Never give up.  Not just throwing in the towel, but always give 100% regardless of how your feeling.  If you always give your best, then there’s no regrets.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan

The more you persevere though the hard times, the more confident you will become as an athlete and one day accomplish the goals you set out for yourself.