Weekly Update 11/26

Hawaii Ironman Viewing Ride:

In Lieu of the typical Saturday morning ride there will be an indoor ride on Saturday while we watch the Hawaii Ironman Broadcast. The show begins at 2:30 so please arrive early to get set up. Bring your own bike and trainer. RSVP so I know how many to plan for.

On behalf of the coaching staff at MHM I wanted to wish everyone a healthy and happy holiday season. We had our extended family in town this past weekend and celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas within 48 hours. For those of you looking to relieve Holiday stress, I highly recommend cramming both holidays into a 48 hour window. Actually, you can throw them all there and get them all out of the way. I propose Holiday week and you can pick which 7 you want to celebrate and get them ALL out of the way...................




Congratulations to....


Scott Binzer of Kentucky (Coach Pete), 10k Turkey Trot, 46.24 (10th age group, 90/720 overall) and Mike Nims, Castle Rock, Co (Coach Pete), 5k Turkey Trot 22.48.


Upcoming Races:


Coach Kathy heads to Tucson this weekend for the marathon.


Several of you are running the Rudolph's Revenge 10k at Chatfield on December 15th. If you have changed plans please let your coach know so your schedule can be changed.

Ross Hauser will run the Disney Land Half Marathon in January and Marion Hauser will run the full marathon.



2008 Race Schedules........



If you have not finalized your 2008 plans with your coach PLEASE do so immediately.



Welcome to...

Troy Green, Kansas City, Mo (Coach Steve). Troy is signed up for Ironman Cour D' Alene in June of 08.


Logging Your Workouts...........


Your coaches can not emphasize the importance of timely and proper documentation of your workouts. It is important for your coach to know how your body absorbed the workout, what your perceived exertion or average HR, and your general thoughts on the workout. This aides your coach in developing future workouts. A few of you are not logging workouts at all, others are just putting in the time worked out with no comments, distances etc. It is up to you what to put in, but you will find more personalized workouts if you provide more detail. Let your coach decide what is enough but at minimum, time, distance, effort, average heart rate if you used an HRM, how you felt during the workout, any residual soreness and if you liked the work out or not (not that it will make a difference).


Speaking of Workouts......

When we moved from Training Peaks to Workout Log I had to manually enter in all workouts. A few of you have pointed out some errors in the length of the workouts and in some of the directions. My apologies and please keep bringing these to my attention so I can clear up any confusion. One of our goals at MHM is clear/concise directions in all workouts. If you find a workout that does not make sense PLEASE write and ask for clarification.

Holidays.....

During this time of year, family should be number one on your priority list. When faced with the challenge of family or sport, do the right thing....... Put some emotional deposits in your families bank. I'm confident you will be making some withdrawals this summer. Enjoy the holidays, watch what you eat and drink, get some well deserved rest and remain as active as you can.


Congratulations to Cody, Brian and Courtney for getting into Ironman Arizona in November of 08. Just getting in can be the biggest battle these days!!

Don't Worry...Be Happy........

wor·ry (wûr'ē, wŭr'ē) v., wor·ried (wûr'ēd, wŭr'-), wor·ry·ing, wor·ries (wûr'ēz, wŭr'-).
v.intr.
To feel uneasy or concerned about something; be troubled.
To pull or tear at something with or as if with the teeth.
To proceed doggedly in the face of difficulty or hardship; struggle: worried along at the problem.

I've always considered triathletes very fortunate. We are healthy, affable, gregarious and typically financially sound. Most triathletes I know are successful in life outside of the sport. They are successful business owners, employees, husbands, wives, parents and community leaders. Regardless of our skill level, every triathlete should be thankful we have the time, financial resources and support system which allows us to compete.

In the past month I've spoken with a number of you on a myriad of topics. A number of you have a lot of "stuff" going on at work, home and with extended family and friends. As triathletes we have become adept to problem solving and juggling different priorities. There are many carry over skills from our sport and life. The mental capacity to endure the demands which are placed on us during training and competition are applicable to many issues we face during our daily lives.

During our conversations I've heard a lot of you use the phrase "I'm worried about......." you worry about being slow, about your race 6 months from now, that you are gaining weight, etc". My wife tells me I worry too much. I find that funny because I think she worries too much. I've come to the conclusion that we are a community of worriers.

The mental approach we take to life, training and racing is critical to the overall accomplishment of our goals. I used to listen to a radio DJ in Chicago by the name of Steve Dahl. Dahl is famous for the infamous "Disco Demolition" debacle at Comisky Park in the late 70's. Dahl has a GED, is grossly over weight and generally a disgusting guy, but he was funny on the radio when you were stuck in Chicago traffic for hours on end. During his radio show he would always remind his listeners "it's going to be alright, I don't know how or why but everything happens for a reason and you need to let life just run it's course.. Everything will be just fine..............". It didn't matter what the issue was or who was involved, he used to have this care free attitude that life just worked out and all the worrying in the world doesn't do any good. He was a High School drop out, over weight yet he lived in a wealthy neighborhood in the suburbs of Chicago. He would proudly display for all to hear that he just believed things would happen in his best interest. He had a mental imagine that the end result would always be favorable.

As you approach Thanksgiving, take the time to write down all the things in this world you have to be grateful for. The fact that you are able to compete and can afford this expensive hobby speaks volumes. I'm serious, sit down and write down why you compete and why it is important to you? What are you trying to gain by training and racing and where does triathlon fit into your life goals?

Write down the word "worry" on a piece of paper, read it out loud then crumple it up and throw it away. Every time you catch yourself saying "the word", stop and remember what is really important. If you want to loose weight, swim faster, run faster, bike faster then take action which allows you to attain your goal. I've never asked an athlete post race "So how did you do it? How did you have that great race? and have them reply " Well Pete, you see.. Every day, all day long and even at night while I'm supposed to be sleeping I worry. I worried about being fat, slow, out of shape and miserable and because I worried so much my mind made me thin, fast and the outcome today proved that worry does help".. In fact, the response I usually get post race is "I'm not sure why I worried so much last week, everything turned out just fine, I wish I hadn't used up so much of my mental energy worrying about something that never happened."

Think about all the negative energy you burn when you are worried. Your mind is actively working towards a negative outcome. The mind tends to manifest what it is thinking about. This doesn't mean we can "will" our way to be the best athlete in the world. It does mean that we have a much better chance of success with positive mental thoughts than negative beliefs. Since we are in control of our belief system this shift in behavior shouldn't be difficult. It only takes dedication, perseverance and commitment to a desired outcome, qualities every triathlete possesses.

In the famous words of Bob Marely

Don't worry, be happy.In every life we have some trouble. But when you worry you make it double

The Season is Over, Now What?

Coach Pete Halloween 2007

This weekend marked the end of the official race season as far as I'm concerned. In years past, the race season was typically over the last week of August and racing into October was only for those "special" people who made it to Kona. October was for marathons and racing triathlons into Mid November was unheard of.

I've done a lot of reflecting the past month on the season. I'm entering my fourth year of coaching, my third as a "full time coach". I haven't tallied the final numbers but I'm confident that we increased the number of athletes, coaching staff and number of races completed. My initial impression is that the season was a success. Over the next few weeks I'll get into a deeper analysis. I've spent a lot of time in Work Out Log the past few weeks and I'm confident that you will see workouts which are easier to understand, a sense of purpose behind your workouts and clarification by use of the Coaches Tips section. We are looking to add some You Tube video links which will assist you in performing some your drill work in the water and other exercises in the gym.

A number of you have turned your thoughts to next season and this is understandable. Races are filling quickly and this calls for us to sign up 10-12 months in advance or risk getting shut out. While you focus to the future you must complete an honest evaluation of the past. This is something you can do by yourself or with your coach. I typically start with the goals I set out for last season. This is simple, did I Achieve the goals I set out for myself. Where my goals too easy or did they stretch me? Did I follow the plan which was established for me and mentally and physically did I give efforts in racing and training which allowed myself to achieve my goals? I also look at the races I competed in and looked for unusual patterns between myself and my peers which I can work on. If I rank 20th in every swim, 5th in the bike and 4th on the run then it makes it very simple what one of my key focuses will be in the winter.

It is important that you work with your coach to establish your goals between now and next season. When establishing your goals there should be a line of site between recent results and future results. If you went 5 hours at the 5430 Long Course this year and your goal for next year is 4:45 you need to determine where you are going to make up the 15 minutes and how?

If you are stuck year after year with results that you aren't happy with then there needs to be some changes to your routine. Remember the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Allow your coach to make the necessary changes to your schedule and evaluate the effectiveness of change.

Each of you should fully understand your goals for the upcoming season. You should understand which phase of training you are in and what you are seeking to accomplish in the current week of training. You should also understand how the current week falls into the big picture. If you don't understand the phases of training please read the article in the athletes only section of the Mile High Mutltisport web site on understanding your annual plan or contact your coach. The off season or non race season is a great time of year to work on your limiters. Talk to your coach about taking a Yoga or Pilates class, what their thoughts are on having your swim stroke analyzed, your running form critiqued or improve your functional strength.

Now is the time to implement change if you want different results next year. Simple changes in routine and form can have big results next year. No one likes change but we all know that change is good and change happens for a reason.........and it typcially creats a positive outcome. Open yourself up to doing new and different things. Keep a positive attitude and outlook and keep things in perspective.

Weekend Results 11/09

Congratulations to David Reed, Ross Hauser and Shawn Powers on finishing the Miami Man triathlon. Marion Hauser also biked as part of a relay team. Weather conditions were near perfect with a little wind on the bike.

David Reed (Coach Pete) 5:17.44 (1 hour personal record) 12th age group, 105th overall
Shawn Powers (Coach Steve), 5:19:2, 10th age group, 115th overall
Ross Hauser (Coach Pete) 6:03:39 35th age group
Marion reported a 3 hour bike split.

Cody Hanson (Coach Pete) also competed in the Silverman Iron Distance race this weekend. After posting a 1:54 swim split he was pulled from the bike course at mile 89.

November 3rd Results

Congratulations to Ross and Marion Hauser on setting Personal Records this weekend at the Golden Apple 5k. Ross won his age group in a blistering 18:39 (that's a p.r. at age 46!!!!) and Marion who set her record (27:45) after running 12 miles before the race!!!!

Best Wishes to Cody (Silverman) and Ross, David and Shawn who are competing in the Miami Man half this weekend. Marion will be part of a relay team at Miami Man as well

Welcome Back Jeremy Anderson, Chicago, Illinois (Coach Pete) to the MHM team. Jeremy took last year off of serious racing and focused on the business that he and his wife own.