Good or Great? How far will desire and discipline get me in 2011?

This season, I was consistently in the top 10 overall for bike + run split... but 50-60th in the swim. I'm giving up 2-6 minutes to my competition in the swim in an Olympic Distance Triathlon! I've been in this rut for the past 3 years and I've had it. It's time for a breakthrough!

For me to be successful competing at "Elite Open" in 2011, and be an overall podium contender at the Olympic Distance Triathlon, I HAVE to improve my swimming! NOW!

For some, natural talent is 80% of the reason for their success. Some are just "born to do it".

When it comes to swimming - that isn't me - I am not naturally talented as a swimmer!! I wasn't born to do it.

Swimming is something I've done as part of an outdoors, recreational summer my whole life... but not for competition - until 2003 when I did my first triathlon. In my first sprint triathlon open water swim, I swam like a blind little girl... (which I now realize is offensive to blind little girls, who could all swim faster and straighter than I did that day).

Heck - for all three sports of triathlon, I can definitely say I was not "born to do it" physically. I was never a good "ball sport" athlete in my schood days. I tried but failed at football, soccer, basketball and baseball. I tried... but just didn't have it. I was a competitive slalom and GS skier in the winter... and only played club lacrosse and soccer to stay in shape. After I left college - I spent the next 7 years working and ignoring my body. Ugh... almost 200lbs and never did ANYTHING physical. That all changed in 2001 when I was introduced to the multi-sport world. But that's another story, for another day.


Perhaps there are some natural "talents" or "traits" that I do seem to possess that will help me in this quest... mental toughness, desire and discipline.


The things that have made me successful in improving my bike and run these years have been:
- strong desire to improve
- specific, measurable goals (3:10 marathon, etc)
- a mentor or coach to give me direction on how to improve
- training with groups of athletes faster than me in those disciplines
- the discipline to do the "hard and lonely" work - when no one else was looking.

Now I need to focus my natural talents and traits of "mental toughness, desire and discipline" on the task at hand: Let's look at these steps and get my action plan for improving the swim for 2011:

- Strong desire to improve
CHECK! I'm tired of giving people a big head start on me when we exit the swim. I believe I can go from top 10-15 overall in the race, to top 5 if I make a big improvement in the swim, which will keep me in contact with the leaders on the bike and run - pushing my pacing overall.

- Specific, measurable goal (3:10 marathon, etc)
Turn a 25:30 Olympic Tri Swim split to a 22:00 or faster swim split at Maumee Bay Olympic Triathlon in June 2011.

3 minutes and 30 seconds doesn't sound like much - but right now it's like I'm giving my competition more than a 1/2 mile head start in the 10k run. As a percentage - this represents almost a 15% improvement in performance. This is HUGE, and might be more than I can accomplish in one winter. It's a stretch goal for sure!

- A mentor or coach to give me direction on how to improve
I have had my stroke under water video taped and analyzed by Leah Nykiss (Liquid Lifestyles.net) - an excellent Total Immersion swim coach
My coach Gregg Brekke (GBCoaching.com) is a TI trained swimmer and excellent coach overall.
Rob Reddy (team SSSMT) is running a fall/winter swimming training session, which I am participating in.

- Training with groups of athletes faster than me in those disciplines
My hope is that training with the multi-sport group that Rob Reddy is leading will have enough strong swimmers to really challenge me to push the pace. Also, my teammate Eric Gibb is a faster swimmer than I am, and often trains at the French Creek YMCA in the mornings. I need to spend more time in the lane next to him, and use his pace to push mine. Come spring when the lake is warm enough to swim - I need to find fast open-water swimmers and joing them too.


- Discipline to do the "hard and lonely" work - when no one else was looking.
I've neglected swimming in the past, and 2-3 short sessions (even for IM distance) is about all I ever do. I can also say that simply signing up for this group will likely have the result of a truly "swim focused" fall season for me. There are 4 scheduled workouts per week. So this group will give a big boost for me in terms of volume and frequency, too.

But this is where I think my natural talents of desire, discipline and toughness will come into play. I need to have my brain focused on making this swim improvement happen this winter. If my brain is fully engaged, like it has been for marathon, cycling and Ironman preparation - I will bring all effort to the table.

I must say that I'm quite good at making an aggressive plan with my coach, executing on the workout schedule (even when I don't want to get out of bed, or the weather is bad)... and I have the ability to force myself to the breaking point during workouts and keep going - to get the maximal benefit out of the speed and high intensity sesions.

So - let's see how this plays out!

To keep myself honest, and add a little external pressure (real or perceived), I'm going to post an update each week about how my swimming (and some other training) is progressing. Maybe no one in the world will read this, but I know it could be... and thinking that someone else might be looking and judging me for this - will add that little extra bit of motivation at times, when my internal motivation isn't enough.

Look for another installment next week!

2010 Racing Season in Review and Results

• What a great season 2010 was for me! 2010 marked my first year on the Snake Bike Racing team, my first Boston Marathon, my fifth Ironman Triathlon in 10 hours 40 minutes, and won the HFP Olympic Triathlon Series. It was a GREAT season any my first season coached by Gregg Brekke (www.gbcoaching.com).

A few things I did differently this season compared to the past:

• Full-time coaching from Gregg Brekke (www.gbcoaching.com).
• I took myself out of my "comfort zone" and to the next intensity levels
• Trained "like a roadie, with roadies" to take my cycling to my next level in the spring.
• More training with groups and track workouts with stronger runners
• Increased confidence to push the on bike and still run strong when racing
• Focus/dedication/consistency - about 15% higher training volume versus last year
• Skipped some mid-season "fun" races, to keep the focus on my Ironman Distance "A" race
• I stuck with the Jack Daniels VDOT running program for the Boston Marathon for a third season... just with a higher VDOT value (53). Learn more about VDOT running programs in one of my 2009 posts... and use http://www.runbayou.com/jackd.htm for a VDOT pace calculator.

RESULTS:
Catch a Leprachaun 15k - 3rd overall, 1st Age Group, Personal Record (PR)

Spring Classic 5k - 2rd overall, 1st Age Group, Personal Record

Boston Marathon - 3:14:30 - first Boston, held back too much. 2011 = ATTACK!

HFP Deer Creek Olympic Triathlon: 2nd Age Group, Course Record (self)

HFP Maumee Bay Olympic Triathlon: 1st Age Group, PR 2:10:00

HFP Vermilion Olympic Triathlon: 1st Age Group, Course Record (self)

Rev 3 Full Ironman Triathlon: 7th Age Group, 38th overall, PR 10:40:38!

HFP Portage Lakes Olympic Triathlon - Series Championship: 1st Age Group, Course Record (self), Won the series for the season.

3 Countries Marathon - Europe: Loved running from Germany to Austria to Switzerland! Because I raced Rev3 and Portage Lakes within 21 days of this race, I ran it for fun. Took a camera during the race!

2011 Season Goals:

• Race Elite Open - Olympic Distance
• PR at Boston Marathon... 3:0X time (current PR = 3:13)
• Olympic Distance Triathlon PR... sub 2:0X time. (current PR = 2:10)
• Try at least one road race, and stand alone Time Trial to see how I stack up amongst "pure" cyclists

What I intend to focus on this winter for 2011:

• Stay with Coach Gregg Brekke (www.gbcoaching.com)
• Focus on high intensity, speed, speed, speed... Zone 5 work!
• Work on my swim. (I'm usually top 5 on the bike, top 10-15 in the run... but 50th out of the water.).
• I joined a group of stronger swimmers for weekly sessions during the fall/winter,
• Had my stroke videoed above and below water and analyzed by a Total Immersion Coach

Europe - Fall 2010 (Germany, England, Austria, Wales, Switzerland)

As the Global Director of Logistics and Purchasing for Fosbel, I travel internationally every 2 or 3 months. My motto has always been "I'll sleep when I'm dead", and my trips reflect this. I make every effort to pack my trips to accomplish a lot while I am away from my family and home my office (I also have offices in Germany and China). I take lots of pictures and video along the way to remember the sights, sounds and tastes of the cultures I am exposed to. It is a great way for me to broaden the horizion of my two boys Andy (9) and Tommy (5).

In this 10 day trip, I spent 5 days in Germany with my team there. I was so pleased with the great progress the team had made since my last visit 6 months prior! This was by far the most positive, "keep up the good work" trip... I think we are through the majority of the learning curve of them adapting the new processes and procedures that I am replicating globally, and they caught up on the 2 year backlog of work that I inherited. Yes, I was all smiles on this trip (which they really enjoyed) and we could focus on the challenges "going forward" - like making sales directly into Russia from Germany, and adapting to the closure of the Spain Warehouse (finally) and other complex logistics challenges.

For the weekend, I was lucky enough to be in Europe for the "3 Countries Marathon", which runs from Germany to Austria to Switzerland. Friday after work, I made the 6 hour drive to the very southern tip of Germany and into Austria for the weekend. I stayed in Bregenz, Austria and had all day Saturday to enjoy what the area had to offer (Pfänder Mountain, etc). It was beautiful and relaxing and the weather was excellent, too.

You can find the whole "3 Countries Marathon" weekend story in this blog as well. http://ironmanken.blogspot.com/2010/10/3-countries-marathon-germany-austria.html

I returned very, very late Sunday night to my "home away from home" at the Weidenbrück Inn in Euskirchen, Germany, and had one last work day Monday before leaving for my first trip to the UK. Monday afternoon, I took the German high speed rail to Frankfurt to catch my flight to Manchester, England.

I landed in Manchester around 5pm and was greeted at the airport by my colleague who lives nearby. The purpose of this trip was to meet and evaluate a new supplier / distributor to support our growing operations in the UK.

My first dinner in England was at a 1730 built, incredibly quaint English pub. After a couple of pints of the local beer, I enjoyed my first official "Fish 'n Chips" with "Mushy peas". It was fantastic (and HUGE). I chased this beast with a "sticky toffee pudding" - which was equally huge and equally fantastic! The setting was just so "perfect" and made for the quintessential first England dinner experience. I was taken there by the two owners of the company I was going to visit. The conversation was easy as one of the two owners was an athlete who was getting ready to start his first triathlon. :)

The next day was a whirlwind of activity. I was up early to run off the giant meal from the night before. The Inn where I was staying was actually in Wrexham, Wales. Farms, sheep, little villages and stone walls everywhere. Absolutely beautiful country! I ran from Wales to England - my own personal "2 countries 5k". :)

After the run, I had a traditional English breakfast and was picked up at the Inn by my host. We spent the day driving around western England from plant to plant and warehouse to warehouse so I could evaluate this new supplier. It was grueling... but brought us through some beautiful countryside as we traveled from Wrexham, Wales to Liverpool to Birmingham to Manchester.

I collapsed in my hotel room in Manchester the last night at 8pm. I didn't even have the energy to get out of the hotel for dinner... I ate downstairs (which was good)

3 Countries Marathon - Germany / Austria / Switzerland - October 3, 2010

(Click "Follow-me" to get notifications of new posts... or go to www.facebook.com/kenhagan)

What a beautiful and unique marathon course! The 3 Countries Marathon (Sparkasse Dreiländerick Marathon) runs along the pristine Lake Constance with the backdrop of the Austrian and Swiss Alps nearby... It starts on the picturesque Isle of Lindau, Germany, crosses the bridge to the mainland, follows the shore of the Lake to Bregenz, Austria, and then weaves inland through forrest, farms and neighborhoods toward Switzerland. The race turns around in Switzerland, to return us to Bregenz, Austria for the finish in the local Fußball Stadium. It was sunny, calm, and REALLY HOT (80-85F)... in Europe many of the marathons start late... 11:11am for this one.

This race was "for fun" for me... I had completed the Rev3 Full Ironman Triathlon just 22 days before and the HFP Olympic Triathlon Series Championship just 15 days before... my mind and body were not up for another big effort. I decided to take my camera along and record the experience in photo and video and really soak in the full international experience. My full photo album can be found at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=95349&id=1130619233&l=8f310f72ef and videos will follow soon, I hope.

I stayed the weekened in Bregenz, Austria. spent all of Saturday exploring the area. The city of Bregenz is fairly typical European city with good food, shopping and outdoor cafes everywhere. Pfänder Mountain is just outside of town, and I spent a few hours on the beutiful mountaintop area. It was breathtaking! I had a great Italian dinner at an outdoor cafe in the Grandplatz area of Bregenz.

Race morning had some real logistics to it. I chose to stay by the finish line, to avoid parking issues before the race, and not being able to get back to my car after the race. Bregenz is across the lake from the Isle of Lindau... so we needed to take the ferry across the lake. That alone was a beautiful experience! About 30 minutes to cross the lake in the calm, cool, sunny morning... Lake and Alps all around!







Once at the starting line, with the 6,000+ other athletes, we were greeted by the Mayor of Marathon, Greece! He was there to mark the 2,500 year anniversary of the historic run in 490BC by Pheidippides the Greek messenger who delivered news of the battle of Marathon. The Olympic torch was brought to the race and lit a flame at the Start and Finish lines. Very cool to pass under the same fire from the Olympics! Our race medals also had a commerative side for this amazing 2,500 year anniversary.

The race itself was again, not a big push by me. It was my second race overseas... and there are definitely things to get used to when racing abroad - mainly related to nutrition. I have realized that traveling in Europe is not condusive to staying hydrated like it is in the USA. I have to make a real effort to drink enough water! Coffee, beer and wine seem to be about all I get at restaurants. A 750ml bottle of water costs about $10! Beer is like $3-5... Coffee + beer + me = DEHYDRATED! I realize this now... looking back! It hasn't bothered me in training runs in the past (up to 24 miles in Germany) - but race conditions are different, and this is something for me to work on for future trips and races.


I started running about 7:30/mi pace for the first 8 miles per my plan. I did this with no trouble, all the while taking pictures and videos along the way. When I wanted to step my pace up for the next 1/3 of the marathon, I wasn't quite feeling it. 7:10/mi pace felt harder than it should have for me... but again, it was 85F and I was not getting nutrition I was used to on the course (I need to see what is in Peeloton Isotonic Solution).... I carried and quickly emptied my Fuel Belt filled with Cera Sport.



OK - how awesome is the name "HARD" for a town on the route of a marathon?!?!? My half-marathon split was 1H 37M.

Once we hit Switzerland (about 30k) I was starting to feel the heat, the sun, and the lack of proper nutrition... and the lack of marathon specific training in the past few months. Training for the marathon in an Ironman triathlon is definitely different than training for a straight Marathon, like I did to run my 3:14 in Boston this spring.




I didn't have the drive to put myself in the Hurt Locker for this race, so I backed off, kept the pace comfortable and enjoyed the atmosphere, sights and sounds... and take a lot of pictures. In the last 5K, I was actually overcome with cramps. I hardly ever get cramps, but with the combination of the heat and the lack of sports nutrition available to me, I got them quite bad. Not just my legs, but in my arms too! I was walking a bit to get some salt capsules into me and walk through the cramps when another runner came upon me, grabbed me by the arm, in broken english kept telling me it was only 3K to the finish and "Ve must run now". I picked it up again and chatted with him. My broken German and his broken English made for an interesting conversation. Turns out we were both Ironman triathletes who just recently competed, and were doing the race for fun. Very cool!


Once we circled back into Austria and passed back through the town of Hard, Austria again, I knew the finish line was coming soon... and my cramps had passed. I thoroughly enjoyed my run through the tunnel of screaming spectators into the stadium and to the finish line. A 3:40 marathon was one of my slowest (3:13 is my PR), but the experience of running through quaint little European towns and a couple big cities, while passing through 3 counties in such beautiful (but hot) weather, along a gorgeous lake and surrounded by mountains... was just incredible!


The crowds were fantastic along the course as well! The Isle of Lindau was simply PACKED with spectators! Very cool. The Bregenz, Austria area was a continuous tunnel of German speaking fans yelling to us "Hopp Hopp Hopp"... "Zuper"... and a bunch of stuff I had no idea about... :) In Switzerland, there were kids handing out food and drink at the aid stations and randomly along the course. It was so cute!

Post-Race was pretty great too! The entire stadium infield was filled with food, drink and massage tents. Oh - and did I mention Weißbier? That is a GREAT post-race recovery drink! :)

After I recovered, showered and changed back to my street clothes... I found a great outdoor restaurant in Bregenz, right on the lake, and enjoyed a delicious serving of proper Austrian wienerschnitzel. It was fantastic! Then I had to jump in my car, and make the 7 hour drive back to my little inn, in Swisttal, Germany and get ready for work the next morning.

This was a great weekend!