Confidence

      My swimming career was marked by instant success.  I was a big fish in a small pond and I really enjoyed it.  Peopled praised me and made me feel special.  As the years progressed, I become more and more focused on receiving that praise.  I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best.  At some point along the line, I started having weird tingling sensations before races.  It caused me to be hesitant with my starts and thus handicapped my races.  I never realized what was happening until my mid twenties when I read an article about anxiety.

      In the end, I think it made me a much more humble person, but it was extremely frustrating at the time.  The more I read, the more I realize I was not alone.  Even the great cyclist, Eddy Merckx, had confidence issues early in his career on mountain stages.  In a recent interview, the great Olympic distance triathlete Simon Lessing said it took him 10 years to become confident in his run.  In his book Eleven Rings, Phil Jackson spoke of confidence issues with several professional basketball players.  One player went so far as to ask other players not to throw it to him when he was outside the paint.  These are professional basketball players, yet they are still afraid.

      During my psychology internship at the Lindner Center of HOPE, I had the opportunity to work with Charles Brady, Ph.D. on Anxiety and Exposure Response Prevention Therapy.  He was a big proponent of taking small deliberate steps to overcome one's fear.  He would say, when in doubt make the challenge easier.  He wanted clients to feel a sense of accomplishment and progress.

      The book Stop Obsessing was another good resource. It is a very clear and practical guide for understanding obsessions with specific strategies to manage one's anxiety.  The biggest trick anxiety plays is convincing us it is real.  Our mind distorts reality causing us to make false assumptions.  In truth, the mind is only part of who we are.  Our thoughts are just thoughts, they are not facts.  Learn to acknowledge/accept those thoughts and you will be set free.

The following are Strategies for enhancing one's confidence and shrinking Anxiety's power:

• Acting confidently
• Try standing, putting your hands on your hips, or speaking in a deep voice to increase confidence.
• Thinking confidently
• Repeat a mantra such as "Strong and Capable" to feel confident.
• Imagery
• Imagine yourself being successful.
• Being in good physical condition
• Improving one's physical condition improves confidence.
• Planned exposure
• Purposely and progressively place yourself in feared situations.
• Postponement 
• Put off worrying or engaging in a behavior for a specific amount of time.  Try waiting 3 to 15 minutes.   Do not postpone indefinitely as it will cause you to focus on the issue.
• Acceptance 
• Acknowledge the current reality.  It is what it is.  Trying to avoid or get ride of anxiety will only make it worse.
• Awkwardize 
• Do the behavior in a fun or awkward way.
• Ritual Tax
• Tax yourself every time you engage in a specific behavior. 
• Rationing 
• Limit the number of times you allow yourself to engage in specific behaviors
• Emotional Competition 
• Anger, sexual arousal, & humor cannot coexist w/ anxiety.
• Write or speak your fears
• Write or speak your fears over and over until they become meaningless. 
• Sing about fears
• Create a funny song to sing about your feared situation.
• Gratitude
• Each night find three things from your day that made it enjoyable. 

      Start small and commit to a specific behavior for 1-3 weeks then reassess.  If you were successful, continue the new behavior.  If you were not successful, make the commitment more realistic.  Too often people believe they need to make drastic changes and it inhibits them from even starting.  Other times, people start off too aggressive, too large, and fail to maintain their commitments.  Start small and grow your confidence.  Through greater self-confidence one can enhance positive emotions, facilitate concentration, set more challenging goals, increase effort, and cope better with adversity.    

Kona check! Sub 3 hour check!... so now what

In many ways my husband and I are very similar, but in regards to being content verses pursuing happiness, we couldn't be more different. I can find things that make me smile every day: breaking bread with friends, quality time with Bryan, a beautiful day, etc.  There are only two times when I have witnessed my husband express joy: when he qualified for Kona and when we got married.

In the early stages of our relationship I asked him to promise me that triathlons would only be a part of our life not our whole life.  I was a sucker and I believed him!  70.3 fights and several throw downs later, we finally found a good rhythm.

As I sat back and observed the world of triathlon, I notice that for many it could be all consuming.  I understand that in order to achieve great things we need to be dedicated, but being consumed by anything has negative consequences.  For a period of time all is good, but then sleep declines, relationships deteriorate, and the fun stops.  Look at the track record of professional triathlete relationships: Mark Allen & Julie Moss, Peter Reid & Lori Bowden, Luke McKenzie & Amanda Balding and so many others.



During the initial stages of our relationship I would, and continue to, challenge my husband with a variety of questions. Why are you doing triathlon? Is this a job or a hobby? When will it be enough? Will you be satisfied when you get to Kona?  How do we make triathlons an on going part of our lives?  Finishing an Ironman is an amazing achievement.  However, being a great spouse, sibling, parent, coworker, or friend is also an amazing achievement.

Over time I realized that I wanted someone I can enjoy life with and be in a place where we are both happy.  I do not want an over-worked, tired, cranky person that squeezes me into their schedule.  Maybe my husband just wanted a full time, free Sherpa when he married me but, "for better or worse", he got so much more and I know he appreciates it :)

On wards and Up wards,
Tiffany

Knowing When To Quit

      Freakonomics, a podcast on the hidden side of everything, recently had a podcast about knowing when to quit.  In our current culture, the concept of quitting is anti-American.  However, in economic terms there are times when it is the best choice.  Why waste years in a dead end job that is unrewarding?  Why continue to train the same way without getting the results you desire?  Why continue to be frustrated by a lack of change in any area of life? Stop investing time and resources into things that are going nowhere.  Move on and invest in areas that will produce noticeable gains.  Ask for help or research other techniques.

      Champions persevere, but when does toughness become stupidity?  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  Triathletes Matt Dixon and Sam McGlone had to retire from professional racing before they reached their prime due to over-training.  Dave Scott was repeatedly injured throughout his career.  He was unable to race in Kona in 1981, '88, '90, '91, '92, & '93 due to injuries.  In the ITU, Vanessa Fernandez, Paula Findley, and Helen Jenkins all skyrocketed to dominate performances only to be out of competition the following year.

      One way to prevent this vicious cycle is to have an objective system in place.  Monitor your progress/state of affairs on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis and have some predetermined steps that you commit to initiating.  For instance, if I feel sick for 3 days in a row then I will go to the physicians office.  If I gain an inch in my waistline then I will add 15 minutes of daily exercise.  Objective measures and systematic rules help minimize the influence of emotions that can distort reality in the moment.  Frequent assessments also help us realize benefits much more rapidly than waiting until the end of the year.

      Frequent assessments also make it easier to take risks.  We may want to change our training, eating, or behaviors, but we are afraid of adverse effects.  Clients with eating disorders may want to have healthier skin, but they are afraid of gaining weight.  If they had a system in place with objective measures, it would make it easier to start.  For example, they could add one serving of healthy fats at each meal then weigh themselves and check their skin three times a week.  After three weeks, if they have gained more than X% of weight they could stop.

My Plan: I plan to assess a few measures every morning Monday to Friday.  I plan to assess sleep quality, energy levels, mood, previous days training performance, muscle soreness, heart rate, and physical symptoms of sore throat, headache, nausea, or diarrhea.  If any two are worse than normal, I will go easy that day.  If two or more are present for three straight days, I will walk for 45 minutes instead of exercising.  One could also use training data such as time, power, or heart rate changes to initiate predetermined steps.

Here is a similar checklist by Mark Allen. 

• You have more than one night in a row or more than 2 nights in a week of restless sleep.
• Your legs throb at night in bed.
• You have a loss of appetite even though you are training a lot.
• You are irritable and little things are really bugging you.
• Your resting heart rate in the morning is 6-10 beats above normal.
• You feel like your muscles are burning even at low heart rates during training.
• Your perceived exertion is extremely high even at a low heart rate.
• You feel generally tired and cannot sustain normal training heart rates for even short periods of time.
• You feel worse after warming up than did before you started working out.
• Your training is a seesaw. One day you are flying, then next you are wasted and can barely move. 

Here is what you do with your results: 

• If you answered yes to 1 or 2 of these questions, you might be in a plateau and will need to monitor your training volume and intensity. Back off slightly from planned workouts and see if the symptoms disappear.
• If you answered yes to 3-4 of these questions, you are definitely in a plateau and could benefit from a week or two of reduced volume in your training and from cutting speed work out completely.
• If you answered yes to 5 or more of these questions, you have been in an over-trained state for some time and should consider taking three or more weeks off of serious training. Cut back to active recovery workouts only during this period. Avoid the temptation to jump back into full training the second you start to feel better.

"Remember that if you are very over-trained, feeling better will only be a relative scale. You may feel better than you did at your lowest point but you can still be weeks away from being fully charged back up and ready to go back into your full routine." 

Sunday's are for R&R/ On the seventh day He rested

After a fun filled weekend of rocking climbing, hiking, biking, running, and spending time with friends. Bryan and I set aside Sunday for R&R. Over the past few months we have been working hard to make Sunday a day of nothing.  No work, no training, no obligations, no stress.  Bryan has even come around to the benefits of having one day completely free.  The great thing about Sunday 9/15 was that it coincided with the ITU series final.
 
For those not familiar with the ITU. It's the Olympic triathlon distance which consist of a 1.5k (.93m) swim, 40k (25mi.) bike, and a 10k (6.3 mi.) run.  It is wicked fast racing.  This years major players were no different than years past.  It was Alistair Brownlee, Javier Gomez, and Jonathan Brownlee.  For the most part, I am not a big fan of sports except the Soccer World Cup.  However over that past two years I have really enjoyed watching the ITU with athletes from all over the world racing in seven different countries.

During the men's grand final in London, the swim and bike were as expected with the major players in the front of the pack. However as soon as the run started Alistair Brownlee grimaced with pain and you knew he was injured.  That left Jonathan and Javier who would run side by side all the way to the finish shoot.  The race was made even more intense as Bryan and I wanted different people to win. I am happy to say the person I routed for sealed the deal.  In the final 400 meters, Javier Gomez was able to out sprint Jonathan. Since pictures speak a thousand worlds below is a video recap of the race. Warning it is intense!

After a intense fun morning of watching both the women and men's race we spent the evening taking a stroll around town. Ending our day in Over the Rhine with a few beers at our favorite bar Lackman.

In the pursuit of excellence don't forget to enjoy the small moments!

Onwards and Upwards,
Tiffany

Kona Revisited

With the Ironman World Championships approaching, I decided to reminisce and share our experience from Kona.

Swimming with Dolphins Swim with dolphins for free at Captain Cook Monument.  Every day around 6:30am or 6:45am a school of spinner nose dolphins swim to the shore.  This was the most exciting thing we did.  Tiffany was able to video dolphins swimming under water as well as jumping through the air.  Be sure to bring goggles and flippers and if possible a waterproof camera.  I purchased a pair of flippers from Walmart for $15.  Some people swim out to the monument, but it was a bit more arduous than we anticipated.

Volcano National Park Drive around the park and see old volcanos.  There are trails that travel through lava tunnels (caves).  Make sure to drive all the way down to the ocean to see where recent lava flowed over the road and to see the beautiful coast.  If you have time, one of the trails travels down to the bottom of an old volcano.  Several companies offer helicopter tours if you want to see current lava flow.  On the way home from the park we stopped at a black sand beach with turtles that are accessible from your car.

Punalu’u Black Sand Beach

Waterfalls in Hilo There are several waterfalls on the Hilo side (2 hr drive northeast of Kona) where it is rainy and very green.  Several waterfalls are viewable from your car, while others require a short hike.












Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens in Hilo This was probably the second most exciting thing we did.  It is a trail through a 17 acre garden of flowers from all over the world.  There is a hidden waterfall and a section dedicated to orchids around the globe.  A couple purchased the ocean front land in 1977 and transformed it into a garden oasis. It is breathtaking!

Green Sand Beach and South Point The green sand beach is one of only 4 green sand beaches in the world.  It gets its green color from the mineral olivine.  It requires a brief but laborious 2 mile hike in desert like conditions, so bring water (I recommended 1 liter per person).  For a small fee you can hire a local or if you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle you can drive yourself.  South point is the southern most point in the US.  There are several spots to jump off cliffs into the water.  Be sure to bring water and towels to rinse off as there are no restrooms or showers.

Secret Pond It is a small pond located on the property of Mauna Lani Hotel.  It requires a short hike on paved trails.  It was very peaceful walking around the property with the plethora of ponds and rainforest like scenery.

Lava Java Great food all day.  Pastries, sandwiches, omelets, coffee, and several other options.  A must for Kona participants.  You'll see several pros there.  Just be prepared to wait in line.  Post race, we enjoyed a gigantic sticky bun for breakfast while soaking up the ocean views.

Waipio Valley This was Tiffany's favorite spot and an amazing experience. In order to get to the Valley floor we had to walk a mile down the steepest road in the US (4WD needed if driving). Thankfully once in the valley everything was flat. For a small fee, there was a horse drawn carriage tour of the valley. In some spots the road was covered by knee high water. We searched deep into the valley for the waterfall, but ran out of time. Susan waited over 3 hr in the car for us. The black sand beach and mountains were stunning. I’ll let the pictures tell the rest.

If you look in the distance you can see a diagonal line in the mountain 

across the valley. That is the path (the only path) in and out 

of Waipio Valley. And yes that is the path we took into and 

out of the valley.

Greenfield's Coffee Plantation Learn how coffee is grown and prepared.  Enjoy free samples of their most popular coffees.  I was truly impressed to hear that they still have their original plants that they use to start new coffee trees.  We learned that the berry, surrounding the coffee beans, contains high amounts of antioxidants.  Our guide informed us that many of their long time employees have sun dried facial features, but their hands look like teenagers.  

Mauna Kea  This volcano is the highest point on the island.  Measured from it's underwater base, it is twice the height of Mt Everest (base to peak).  It is home to some of the best/ most expensive telescopes in the world as well as the highest lake in the US.  Lake Waiau is a sacred area where natives place the umbilical cord of newborns to bless their children.  Be sure to bring gloves and a wool hat.  It gets cold at 14,000 feet.  It can also be difficult to breath.  Tiffany could only walk 10 feet before she needed to sit down.  It was hilarious and I still laugh remembering it.  

Underpants Run On Thursday before the race is a charity run through downtown Kona.  Participants dress up in their favorite underwear and run/walk 1.5 miles around town.  The event began several years ago as a fun natured ribbing of the German athletes who walked around town in their speedos.  Tiffany, Susan (Tiff's mom), Joe (my dad) and I had a blast.  Tiffany wore fancy lingerie and I wore Batman underwear with compression socks.  One of our favorite costumes was a little kid dressed up alongside several adults wearing a headband and loincloth with the Japanese flag.  At the end of the short run, we did group calisthenics led by Greg Welch and Mike Reilly.  Next time, I think I will go with the classic tighty whites.

Lodging Vacation rentals by owner is what we use to find a place to stay.  We rented a 4 bedroom house just south of town.  It was very reasonable and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset every night on the back porch.  The Sheraton Hotel is also south of town and seemed like a good spot.  I believe Crowie often stays there.  Mauna Lani Hotel is north Kona and usually has availability late in the season.  Most of the places downtown seemed to sellout fast.  It's pretty loud and busy downtown, which may or may not be appealing.

Transportation  I would recommend  renting a 4 wheel drive vehicle if you plan to do sight seeing, but it is not necessary. We rented a van and got around find. However, several sights are off the beaten path so we were forced to walk on many occasions.

Racing Enjoy yourself.  You've worked hard to get to Kona.  Race morning was crowded with athletes and spectators.  You'll see several pros as you get body marked and go through transition.  I happened to be near the steps to the beach as they were announcing the pros one by one.  It was really cool being that close to these amazing athletes.  I would take your time entering the water and line up to the far left when starting the swim.  I lined up on the right and got pummeled for an entire hour.  The bike is a draft fest so relax and prepare for the wind and gradual hills after Hawi.  As you near Hawi, you will start to see the pros coming back.  It was like having a backstage VIP pass for the event.  FYI, Kona is notorious for losing special needs bags on the bike.  It happened to me and really disrupted my race.  Have a back up plan or avoid it altogether.  When you get to the run, go out easy and enjoy the crowds.  If you're feeling good at the energy lab, turn it on.  The majority of athletes are going to blow up.  They're not used to swimming and riding with so many other fast athletes.  Pace yourself and you will pass a lot of people.  Note that the special needs bags on the run are not until mile 18 or so in the energy lab.

Spectating Arrive early and park in or near Walmart to avoid getting trapped during the race, if you want to see your participant in other places.  Driving to Hawi may take too long unless you know exactly what you are doing, but going to Mauna Lani Hotel is manageable.  From there you can see pros and your loved ones and still get back for the run.  Palani Hill is a central spot where athletes pass multiple time on there way out to Ali, then as they head out to the Queen K.  Tiffany and Susan drove all over the course supporting me.  Every time I saw them it lifted my spirits.  Also I recommend purchasing tickets in advance to the awards ceremony.  It was set as a luau with several entertainers performing traditional dances.  I really enjoyed the Hawaiian men juggle torches of fire.  A female musician played the ukulele with such speed that it made my fingers twitch.

All in all it was a wonderful experience with memories to last a lifetime!

This story is dedicated to the pink flip flops that Tiffany wore during the trip. They endured many difficult, arguably inappropriate walks, but did not survive the trip. I believe it was the walk through Waipio Valley that did them in.  

Life Lessons learned while "Rock Climbing"

      Tiffany and I recently went rock climbing in Red River Gorge, KY.  It was an opportunity to add balance to our lives and a cross training activity that we both might enjoy.  Tiffany has climbed before in college, but this was my first time.  She has very little fear of heights, while I am extremely afraid of heights.  We ended up having a great time and celebrated with a few beers.  In the midst of relaxing and settling my post climbing nerves, I came up with the following thoughts.
It's not as hard as it looks.  Once you start, it's not that bad.  You become focused on what you're doing and forget about the height.  Several times my wife would fuss about how challenging the climb looked. Yet once she started she was able to reach the top without too much of a struggle.  She simply focused on the next hole or groove. I find life and training to be very similar.  We get overwhelmed focusing on the outcome or end result, instead of just focusing on the next step.

Tunnel vision.  When you are up on the wall, it's difficulty to see all of your options.  The same thing happens when we face the unexpected.  We can chose to continue focusing on the inconvenience or we can chose to problem solve.  Research has revealed that 15% of our thoughts are random, while 85% are intentional.  That tells me we have a choice on what we continue to think about.

Just take a small step.  In the midst of climbing, the instructor encouraged us to take small steps. Often if we just took a small step, a variety of options would open up to help us reach the top.  I'm learning that in life and in training the little things add up.  It's not the big training days or crash diets, but rather the small consistent efforts that help us achieve our goals.






Duel effort.  Bryan & Tiffany
For anyone interested in rock climbing check out Sky Bridge Station. They offer 5 hours of assisted climbing and will supply you with gear you may need. We also recommend finishing up your day at their restaurant where they offer beer and specialty hot dogs. I really enjoyed Zee German Dog. Delicious!

Fit too Soon & for too Long

      As I look back over my season, I am reminded of articles I have read about trying to be in peak shape all year.  I believe this was my problem post Raleigh 70.3.  I felt great leading up to the race as my cycling and running was effortless.  I took some risks with nutrition during the race and I did not perform as well as I would have liked.  It left a bad taste in my mouth and a desire to race again.
   
      After a big race, I typically take two weeks completely off then ease back into training.  This time I decided to ride 100 miles 12 days after the race.  My Friday afternoons were free and Friday century rides became a routine.  On several occasions I would back it up with another long ride on Saturday.  I told myself it was only cycling and not the deep fatigue that occurs while running.  I felt good for several weeks, but soon after my cycling power started to declined.  I had difficulty sleeping at night and my recovery was poor.
   
      I wasn't following my training plan and I wasn't listening to my body.  The experts say not to ramp up your training more than 16 weeks out from your race or you'll peak too soon.  I prefer 14 weeks for Ironman training and 12 weeks for Half Ironman training.  Doing too much volume or intensity prior to that leads to physical and mental exhaustion.  It is stressful on the nervous system, endochrine system, as well as the muscular system.  Mark Allen even encourages athletes to carry extra weight early in the year.
   
      When preparing for your second race of the year, I'm learning that the build/peak phase should be further reduced.  I believe you can cut it down to 8 weeks depending on the gap between races.  Trying to continue one's fitness post race will only lead to greater accumulation of fatigue.  You will lose some endurance, but endurance is ease to recoup.  Focus on recovery while mixing in some short sprints (30-60 seconds) and light strength training.  Listen to your body and have fun.

• Listen to your body.  If it keeps telling you the same thing every day, do it.  Train where you are at, not where you want to be. 
• Assess all areas of stress.  Work, relationships, life, and training all contribute to stress on the body.  During periods of rest, Kenyans sit and watch soccer.  Americans, on the other hand run errands and stay active. 
• Follow the plan that you developed in the off season and be leery of adding to it.  We tend to be more rational in the off season as opposed to during the middle of the season when we are fatigued.  If anything, you'll need to reduce workouts, not add them.
• Have fun!  I typically do fun unique training days during the off season, but never during season.  That needs to change.  This past week I ran twice with the goal of going slow and enjoying the scenery.  It felt great.  We don't have to always push ourselves to hold a certain pace.