I've worked with a number of current and former professional athletes who have looked to triathlon as a new challenge, an outlet for the desire to continue to compete or just a new way to get in better shape.  This story about Jeff Conine and his jump into the sport of triathlon does a good job capturing the adventure:

Jeff Conine retired last fall from major-league baseball after a 17-year career.

He was 41.

Then he thought, "What am I going to do now?"

"And then I started thinking seriously about doing an Ironman triathlon, something that had been in the back of my mind," he said. "I guess guys in my position are supposed to take it easy. But I have no desire to take it easy. I like the idea of swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles and running 26.2 miles at Hawaii's Ironman world championship in October."

Click here to read the full story on Tampa Bay Online.

The Competitors Radio Show is a must-listen-to podcast for endurance athletes.  The shows cover a broad range of topics for endurance athletes and they get entertaining and informative interviews with some of the best endurance athletes on the planet.

About the hosts:

Bob Babbitt completed his first Ironman back before the earth cooled, in February of 1980. How big was the Ironman back then? Only 108 idiots were entered that year and Babbitt completed the race on a $75 police auction bike that had been charred in a fire. He raced with panniers on said bike with a tent and a sleeping bag because he didn't know you were supposed to do the whole thing in one day, plus he had a support crew that provided him with the best in the world of nutrition- Big Mac, fries and a coke plus a snow cone. He also is the only athlete in Ironman history to complete the bike ride wearing regular shorts and a belt plus a wool cycling jersey.... in Hawaii.

Since the Ironman Babbit has co-founded Competitor Publishing, which now owns five regional fitness publications around the nation with a total circulation of 415,000. He also co-founded the Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF) which has raised over $8,000,000 to help disabled athletes stay in the game plus he created the Muddy Buddy Ride and Run Series-he is the guy in the frog outfit- which this year will have over 12,000 participants in the eight events around the country. Babbitt started THE COMPETITORS RADIO SHOW back in 1990 and is seen most often wearing white lycra and staggering through marathons with the Running Elvi

Paul Huddle is a real athlete, having finished top ten in Kona three times and winning countless-if you have five fingers you can actually count them-triathlons in his career. Between Huddle and his wife Paula Newby-Fraser, they have won eight Ironman World Championships and 24 total Ironman races. He also won the Strongman Triathlon in Japan and had the pleasure of jogging to the finish line with the infamous Strongman Running Bushes. Huddle, along with Newby-Fraser, Roch Frey, Heather Fuhr and John Duke own www.multisports.com , the best online coaching group around and the producers of five star Ironman camps that precede most of the Ironman North America events.

Check out The Competitors...

A recent comment from one of my athletes:

"Matt, it's that time of year again. I'm not sure what it is, but i can't seem to get out the door without having a plan to follow. I have been completely satisfied with the plans you've built for me the past two years."

Need a little help "getting out the door"?  Get a training plan!

This past week I heard a friend talking about goals and his thought was that goals are great to have to give perspective, but the primary concern for and the reason why we set goals is to experience the process of reaching toward the goal.

This was an intuitive thought which resulted in a discussion over which is more satisfying the achievement of the "goal" or the "process" by which we reach the goal.  Which of these two brings you the greatest satisfaction?  The satisfaction of reaching a goal or the knowledge, experience, enjoyment and other benefits that are derived from reaching toward a goal?

I find that there is a varying mix of attitudes on this topic among the endurance athletes that I work with.  Some athletes simply love the "process" and the opportunity to reach a goal is secondary.  On the other hand I also find a significant number of athletes who could care less about the process and simply want to execute the work necessary to attain the pinnacle satisfaction of reaching the "goal".

I think that I'm safe to conclude that both elements are vitally important to succeeding in endurance sports as well as other life pursuits.  Without appropriate goals the process can be hard to determine.  As well, without a well-conceived plan or process aimed at achieving the goal you'll likely find little progress toward the goal.

I'll leave it up to you to determine which part you enjoy most!

From the Daily Camera:

The Ironman has become the new marathon — every Average Joe wants a taste of the tri-sport extreme challenge that features a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a full, 26.2-mile marathon.

The Daily Camera, a Boulder, Colorado newspaper, posted a report on the growing popularity of the sport of triathlon and specifically the challenging Ironman event.  The report indicated that the 2008 Ironman Florida event sold out in a record breaking 7 minutes.  Yes, that's not a typo...7 minutes!!

It's pretty amazing to see how the sport has grown over the past 10 years and specifically the Ironman branded events.  Great promotion, fantastic courses and first-class race support have all made the seemingly few Ironman event race spots increasingly coveted.  It's been nice to see Ironman expanding their events to include more venues which opens the door for more people to have the opportunity for the Ironman experience in a more accommodating way.

I have to agree with the Daily Camera, the Ironman triathlon does seem to be the "new marathon".

Some words of motivation from the Ironman South Africa crew:

THE WOULD HAVE, SHOULD HAVE, COULD HAVE SYNDROME:
Accepting responsibility for your performance
Paddy Cloete (Psychologist & Ironman) 
paddycloete@mweb.co.za

"If we do what we did yesterday we will be beaten, if we do what others are doing today we can be competitive, but if we fill every day with initiative, we will be the best"
(Rob De Castella, world champion marathon runner).

In the September 2007 newsletter I challenged you to celebrate perceived crises as opportunities rather than to be imprisoned by the fears of the danger that the perceived crises hold.  This month, I decided to continue with this theme, inspired by the surprising results in the semi finals of the Rugby World Cup and the eventful Ironman World Champs which saw many of the pre-race favourites not finish.

In sport, as is true of life in general, we experience both successes and failures.  This is a natural and normal part of sport and life.  However, there are important differences in how people explain their successes and failures to themselves.  There is a general tendency in sport and in life, to externalise failure and to internalise success.  In other words, we are more likely to attribute our failures to factors outside our control (i.e., bad weather, technical bike problems, fellow athletes' cheatings, etc.) while we happily attribute successes to factors that are within our control (i.e., ability, effort, attitude, etc.).

Read more...

I was really inspired by an email that I recently received from a young lady that has some BIG triathlon goals:

I am a 67-year-old female in excellent health.  This summer I discovered sprint triathlons, and really had a good time training and doing two of them.  I've always been active, but I've never been very fast at anything, so I find myself gravitating to the endurance races.  It's OK with me if I finish last, as long as I finish.  So far, I've been able to finish everything I've undertaken, if I've taken the time to put in the training.  I've done two half-marathons, one marathon and several century bike rides since my 60th birthday.  I like the discipline of following a training program and I love the feeling of accomplishment of actually meeting my goal by doing the event.  Actually, if I don't have an event to train for, I find myself unmotivated to work out at all.  Right now, for example, I'm biking 80 to 100 miles a week, but that's all...

(In the case of this young lady, I'd probably be safe to say that she's done more endurance events after the age of 60 then most folks can say that they done in their entire lives.)

Continuing her remarks...

Over the past year or so, I have been considering the possibility of attempting an Ironman in my 70th year.  The more I think about it, the more I've decided I want to go for it.  I know that I would have to have some coaching in swimming...it would be hard to drown me, but I don't have a clue about technique and I am very slow.  What I think I need now is a series of training programs.  My thought is to train for an Olympic triathlon first and see how that goes (maybe doing some sprint tris during the training).  If it goes OK, I would then train for a Half Ironman (maybe doing some Olympic tris during that training).  And then, by the year 2010 when I turn 70, perhaps I could train for and attempt an Ironman.

Do you think this is a sensible plan?  I wouldn't start my training program until late next April when...I would gradually build up my fitness and progress as far as I can, hopefully up to and including an Ironman in the year 2010, providing I am still gifted with the excellent health I've been blessed with thus far in my life...

I've had the opportunity to work with quite a few triathletes that have found the sport later in life and it is always exciting to be a part of their training and racing efforts.  I'm always impressed with their drive, focus, very specific goals and simply their passion for being outdoors and remaining physically active.

Just five minutes ago, I responded to an email from a 47 year old gentleman who was wondering if it was too late for him to give triathlon a go.  (This is actually a fairly common question that I receive from people interested in trying the sport of triathlon.)  I couldn't help but to be reminded of the email that I received earlier in the week (above) and somewhat chuckle at what some people perceive as "old age"!

My recommendation is this: If your doctor approves of your triathlon training regimen and you have the desire to give triathlon a try...then go for it.  It's common for triathletes not to begin participating in the sport until they're in their 40s or 50s...or umm 60s...so don't feel that triathlon is a sport that you can't enjoy just because you didn't start racing in your teens or 20s.

It's here!  Another year has passed and one of the best week's of the year to be a triathlete is upon us.  Yes, it's the Ford Ironman World Championship race week and if you're not in Kona, Hawaii...I bet you wish you were!  Both elite and age-group competitors are arriving and the nervous, energetic emotion of the sport of triathlon is flowing through Kona.

By the end of the week, dreams will be realized, Ironman champions will be crowned and the sacrifices made by about 1700 triathletes will seem relatively insignificant to have had the opportunity to cross the finish line in triathlon's biggest event. 

The sport of triathlon will be given the world's center stage and triathlete's around the world will be proud to be active participants in such a demanding and gratifying sport.

Then, next Monday will be here and the final festivities of the big race will be coming to a close.  What next?  We take a week or two off.  Eat some fatty foods and then start over again in anxious excitement looking forward to what we can achieve over the coming year.

This is a week to celebrate the great sport of triathlon, celebrate the greatest Ironman triathletes on the earth and celebrate the enjoyment that each of us derive from such a rewarding sport.

Here's a link to the Ironman web site's coverage of the week's events.

Here are some stats on the big race:

2006 WINNERS:
Normann Stadler   54:05:00     4:18:23     2:55:03      8:11:56 
Michellie Jones     54:29:00     5:06:09     3:13:08      9:18:31  

COURSE RECORDS:
1996 – Luc Van Lierde (BEL)       8:04:08
1992 – Paula Newby-Fraser (ZIM)   8:55:28

FASTEST COURSE TIMES:
Swim
1998 – Lars Jorgensen (USA) – 46:41
1999 – Jodi Jackson (USA) – 48:43
Bike
2006 – Normann Stadler (GER) – 4:18:23
1993 – Paula Newby-Fraser (ZIM) – 4:48:30
Run
1989 – Mark Allen (USA) – 2:40:04
1999 – Lori Bowden (CAN) – 2:59:16
 
PRIZE PURSE:
1st   $110,000
2nd     55,000
3rd     35,000
4th     20,000
5th     15,000
6th     12,500
7th     10,000
8th      9,000
9th      7,500
10th     6,000

In addition a total of $20,000 in Timex Ironman Watch bonuses are available. That brings the total prize purse to $580,000.

If your job demands travel or you simply find yourself on the road quite a bit, it can be a challenge to keep a steady and progressing approach to your triathlon training.  Reaching peak endurance performance is a progressive process and requires months of consistent training.  Frequent travel can break up that progress or cause stresses that are less conducive to reaching your peak.  Here are a few simple tips to keep in mind to help minimize the negative impact that traveling can have on your performance progression:

1.  Try to maintain your regular sleep schedule or at minimum be sure to get your required daily rest/sleep.  This will help you to avoid poor health or fatigue that would put you behind schedule when you get back home training.

2.  Do what you can.  Don't let traveling be an excuse to be sedentary.  Try to bring your running shoes along and spend some time on a hotel treadmill or some local streets.

3.  Keep your nutrition in check.  Refrain from over-eating or relying on fast food for your primary source of calories.  You'll want to come home from your trip with your weight in check and your body fueled with good calories.

It may not be possible to avoid traveling to keep your training on task, so keeping these three simple tips in mind while you're gone can help significantly.