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Plans For 2012

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Ever since I got back from the honeymoon and was able to focus on something other than wedding planning for the first time in months, I’ve been trying to figure out what my my 2012 season is going to look like. And for weeks I had no clue what I wanted to do. I had a short list of races that I wanted to do, but no real goal.

I knew that I didn’t want to just “do” races. I wanted to challenge myself. Find a goal that scares me a little and challenges where I think my limits are. But that is where I got stuck. Do I pick some arbritrary time goal? Do I try to do some epic ultra-distance race? Do I try to see how many times I can score a spot on the AG podium? I was stumped.

Instead, here is the plan I’ve set out for 2012.

Race Schedule

Rev3 Quassy (olympic) – June 2
Patriot Half – June 16
USAT Age Group National Championship – August 18 (A Race)
Rev3 Maine (olympic) – August 26
Rev3 Florida – October 28

(There will be some other races sprinkled in, but that is the skeleton of the year. Also notice the lack of WTC races. That makes me happy.)

Team Rev3

One of the things that is staying the same next year is my association with the Rev3 crew. After being on Team Trakkers/Rev3 for 3 years, I’m psyched that they’ve agreed to keep me on for 2012. For my official announcement about joining the team – see the announcement on the team’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/notes/team-rev3-triathlon/2012-returning-team-member-jamie-bull/312603098771271

Working My Weakness

Swimming has never been my strength, but I’ve never been the last one out of the water. I’ve always come into T1 smack dab in the middle of the pack, and used the bike to try to regain some time. That was until I stepped up my game and raced with the big boys and raced Age Group Nationals in August. And I got schooled. Despite strong bike/run performances, there were only good enough to hang on.

Doing the same training that I’ve done in years past will only give me the same swim performances I’ve gotten in years past. So that is why I’m devoting myself to swim with some fast fish at Cambridge Masters this winter. Doing anything new is always a little intimidating, but the biggest gains come from going outside of your confort zone, right? Hopefully it’ll result in some better swim splits.

Goals

Rather than pick some arbitrary goal for the season, like going 5:XX at the Patriot Half or 2:1X at AG Nationals, I’ve decided to go with a mental goal. This year will be all about pushing my limits in training and staying committed to my plan. If I can nail that, race day will just be all about letting my work speak for itself. I’ll obviously hope for some low numbers on the clock as I cross the finish line, but that will all be secondary.

Coaching

The biggest change for 2012 is all about coaching. Except for a few months leading up to AG Nationals this year, I’ve happily gone the self coaching route. I’ve gotten faster going that route, but have definitely hit a plateau. During that time, I found that having a coach does a lot to not only keep my focused and on my plan, but has me challenging myself, where I think my limits are and gets me to try new things.

That is why I’ve ditched my self-coaching ways and decided to team up again with John Hirsch. We’ve already began scheming my attack on the 2012 season and I’m looking forward to some big things.

Looking forward to seeing how my attack on the 2012 season will roll out! Stay tuned.

| Posted in Triathlon | 7 Comments »

Book Review: I’m Here To Win

Friday, December 9th, 2011

While I was stuck in the St. Lucia airport at the end of my honeymoon, facing another seven hours of flights ahead of me, I bit the bullet and downloaded the “I’m Here to Win” audiobook to my droid. I have been interested in cracking open the book since it came out, but hesitated to give any money to Macca because he has built up such a reputation as an arrogant douche bag within the triathlon community. (Plus, I was able to get the audiobook free as my first download from Audible.com, so that made me feel a little better about the download.)

More than anything else, I was curious to see if the book would change my perception of him as a person and athlete.

What It Covers

I’m not going to give a full synopsis of the book. If you want that, google some other reviews or just read it yourself. The book covers a wide range of stories about Chris growing up, dreaming of Kona, starting his career in short course racing, winning a TON of races and building up to his wins in Kona. While Macca has probably won more races than any other triathlete in history (I’m too lazy to verify that stat), I was surprised about how often he talked about major mistakes that he had made throughout his career. There were a lot more glimpses of humility than I expected. He readily admits that he wasn’t always the world-championship caliber athlete that he is today and that both mentally and physically, he has come a long way in his career.

What Surprised Me

Chris talks a lot about other athletes and his relationships with them on and off the race course. With the exception of a few athletes that he is very friendly with, almost every single mention of another athlete was a criticism sandwich. You know, when you want to give someone criticism, but sandwich it with to compliments to not make yourself look like an asshole? That is Macca’s MO for pretty much any discussions about other athletes.

I knew that Macca was very critical of other athletes, but the depth of his analysis really surprised me. He called out the triathlon media (and his fellow professionals) at only really sizing up the competition based on split times and places on the podium. A criticism that I think is absolutely valid. Especially since he calls out multiple scenarios where he is able to dissect his competition and come up with strategies to successfully beat them on race day. But he wasn’t just critical for the sake of being critical and stirring the pot. He is ridiculously analytical and breaks down other athletes, both physically and mentally, to find ways to give him an edge.

Is It Worth A Read?

The short answer is yes. An answer that I’m surprised to give.

There may be too much ego-driven chest pounding for some people, but if you can get over that, I think it is definitely worth a read. There are lots of great tips and talk about sports psychology to get you to rethink how you approach training and racing. The biggest thing that Macca brings is his ability to learn from other sports. Whether it is talking shit like a boxer, or understanding the nuances of vascular vs muscular hydration from body builders, he takes the best from other sports to make himself a better athlete.

It brought me back to my days of high school cross country when my coach taught me about the “duck and slide.” Rather than just trying to wear down another runner that is matching you stride for stride, get a few feet on him and wait for a blind corner. As soon as you are around the corner, let loose. The mental barrier of seeing you drift away in an instant, once he comes around the corner after you, is almost always crushing and they can’t come back. (At least in a 5k) It is that kind of mind game, both on and off the course, that Macca used to set himself apart.

But in the end, Macca still doesn’t seem to get how much reputation damage he has caused with his race strategy. He has at least acknowledged that public favor was never his mission. Like the book title says. He is here to win. He has done that. More than twice.

Do I still think he is a douche bag? No, he is just incredibly misunderstood. I really think he has no clue how the average triathlete (or at least the ones I talk to) perceive him. But that is fine. He got the wins he wanted, is raising a boat load of money for charity, and is backing away from traveling to spend time with his kids. Not a bad life he has made for himself. He still has a massive ego, but when you’ve won as much as he has, I can’t blame him.

| Posted in Ironman, Triathlon | 4 Comments »

Competing Goals

Sunday, November 13th, 2011

No, not COMPETITION goals. Let’s talk about competing athletic goals.

Like goals of going really fast verus going really far. For me, that means goals of a sub 2:15 olympic triathlon or 100 mile trail race. Two things that I can’t logistically accomplish in the same year, but both are things completely TERRIFY me and I REALLY want to do both of them someday soon. But where to start? I’ve got no clue.

Last season, I tried to go sub 2:30 and qualify for age group nationls nationals. I did that and managed to go 2:25 and still feel like I have a ton of untapped potential to unleash on the olympic distance. I think I can cut another 10 minutes off my PR if I really focus on it and give it the energy and focus that it deserves.

On the other hand, I’ve kind of gotten obsessed with the Hardrock 100 trail race and REALLY want to do some crazy rocky mountain endurance adventure. Obsessed as in watching this video over and over.

Obviously, this would be a multi-year journey since I have to build up my endurance enough to not only handle 100 miles of climbing through crazy elevation changes, but to qualify by doing another 100 mile trail race just to get in.

So what does 2012 bring? Go fast or go long? I have no idea…. Time will tell, but I’ll have to just pick one. For now…

| Posted in Running, Triathlon | 6 Comments »

2011 Season Review

Sunday, October 30th, 2011

Let’s do a quick recap of the 2011 season. My two main goals were to find ways to give back to the triathlon community and qualify for USAT Age Group Nationals.

Giving back? I think I did pretty well. I loaned out my old trainer to a friend training for Rev3 Cedar Point, volunteered at Quassy and another local sprint. Gotta think of some more creative ways to give back for next season.

Nationals? Done. I went, had a blast and improved my olympic-distance PR by about 15 minutes! It was a lot of fun, and I hope to make it back. The one thing that I didn’t like was the whole qualifying process. The qualifying criteria was fair, but it was just a big psychology change for me to be competing against the top guys in my age group instead of just myself and the clock.

I’m very competitive, but I’ve never cared about what anyone else in my age group was doing while I raced. I rarely ever looked down at people’s calves to see if they were in my AG. I just stuck to my own race and tried to meet or beat the standards that I set or myself. My competition used to be all internal. This year, it was all about competing with other M25-29ers. I wasn’t used to it at all. I ended up turning into “that guy” walking around transition before a tiny local sprint, nervously stalking the competition. Even at a tiny local sprint triathlon. Not awesome.

It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, just different. And I wasn’t used to it at all. If I continue down the route of being more competitive within my age group, I’ve gotta get my head straight so I don’t let that get away from me and ruin my chances before the gun even goes off.

Other accomplishments this year? I trained hard enough to be FAST on the bike and had a ton of fun.