The Need for Speed. Thoughts on Motivation

This is a blog I've been meaning to write for a while now. I've often read articles referring to two different types of athletes; those who are motivated by the drive to beat others (rare), and those who are motivated by the drive to not fail (most common). While I have spent a fair bit of time reflecting on which type I am, I usually arrive at the conclusion that my biggest fear is in fact failure. A thought occurred to me the other day though while I was doing a 5x400 meter swim set that was going fairly well. (leaving on 5:00, coming in 4:36, 4:40, 4:42, 4:44, 4:45)

I was in some serious oxygen debt, so I may have been a little delirious, but I had an overwhelming sense of joy about how well I was moving through the water. Just the sensation of speed and the knowledge that I was going FAST. At least for me, Phelps might say otherwise, but that's not important. What is important is that this is not an unusual thing for me. When I'm doing my best, I am completely focused on how fast I am going and how awesome it is. The race or workout going on around me becomes secondary and I am just aware that it is happening. Other athletes become measurements of my ultimate speed, just as my power meter, pace clock, speedometer, Garmin, and trees flying by reinforce (or break down) my perception of speed.

Fast because I feel fast

Fast because data says so

I hate to admit that certain signals can override all of the others. The workout I have been struggling with recently is our 30min uphill time trial. Going up hills has never been a strong suit of mine, but it does offer an interesting experiment or moment of reflection rather, with regards to this topic. Almost all of my speed measurements are working against me except for the one that matters, my wattage. The wind is not rushing by, my speed is not worth looking at, my lighter training partners are slowly (sometimes quickly) pulling away from me, my cadence is forced to be low, and the overall feeling of graceful, fast movement through space is almost completely gone. I should be able to look down at my power meter and be happy with the result, as my wattage is as high as I should expect for such an effort, which is all that should matter physiologically. BUT my competitiveness and desire to do better than last time EVERY time overrides the data and leaves me with a sense of disappointment.

This was a great introspective moment for me and certainly something I intend to spend more time thinking about. I would encourage any athlete to spend some time breaking through the layers of motivation to find out what really drives you. Don't be happy with "I like to compete" or "I like the lifestyle." Go deeper. Think more along the lines of survival instinct. Keep asking why after each successive answer. If you can find what makes you tick, then you can anticipate and avoid stimulus that may throw you off and capitalize on ones that could bring out your best.

Mazatlan and Sarasota Recap combo

A two-for-one blog post, brought to you by Gary Wallesen, whose old computer I'm typing on!

A quick note..
It is such a relief to be typing this on a laptop instead of my android phone. For the last couple months, I haven't had a computer for email, blogging, power files, etc. My laptop from college flashed the "blue screen of death" and my good friend and boss, Gary came to the rescue with a used machine.

The Races

Mazatlan was a beautiful place to have a race. I enjoyed riding up and down the waterfront road (which served as both the bike and run course) and watching the ocean. The race swim itself was actually in the ocean, so after a sprint down the beach and out into the water, we crashed into some decent sized waves to start the first of two laps swimming. The wind was very intense and made for a very choppy swim, even once we made it past the breaking waves. I fought to lock in my stroke while getting bashed in the face, and by the end of lap two, I had gotten myself comfortably in the lead group out of the water.

The Start!

Gathering my bike anger pre-race

 I tore through transition as quickly as possible and took a strong pull in the first half mile of the ride, only to find that the 3 other athletes with me had no intention of working with an American. My coach, Paulo Sousa, had warned me of this and that I should not do too much work in a race full of Mexican athletes, so I slowed and we let the main pack catch us up. The wisdom in this became apparent as the 30-something Mexicans began to work team tactics against the other other non-Mexican in the field, Reinaldo Colucci. My hat goes off to Colucci for doing virtually all of the work on the bike, bringing back (almost) every breakaway, and then being able to outrun the top Mexican runners.

I started the run with the main group, about 2min behind a three-man breakaway, and tried to run with the leaders as long as possible. I made it a mile before their pace became too much to sustain, and I spent the rest of the run trying to minimize my pace dropoff. I finished the windy 10k in 33:11, my fastest tri 10k to date by over 30 seconds. 11th Place

Doing work with Triathlon Squad Teammate Joe Maloy

Sarasota was marked by a VERY physical swim and at one point my teammate, Joe Maloy and I were actually smacking each other around while trying to move to the front. I exited the water with the chase bunch and by 5 miles or so we had caught the lead group of 3. We all rode well together (15 of us) and put 2 minutes into the chase pack of athletes. I held strong with a more even paced 10k, and came home in 33:03. 9th Place

Lots of travel! Mazatlan Airport

I am happy with my runs and placing because they are by far faster than I've ever run, but I also feel like I have more to give. Each race gives an opportunity to learn pacing a little better, and every workout I do with my Triathlon Squad teammates pushes my run fitness higher.

Next up is one of my only non-draft races of the season, Nautica South Beach triathlon. Time to put in some TT bike workouts!

Season Opener

Hi everyone! I wanted to give a quick race update so you know what to watch for in the coming weeks. This weekend I'll be down in Mexico opening my season with the Mazatlan Pan-American Cup. ITU Race Page

I am the only American on the start list, along with one Brazilian and a ton of Mexicans. I've been told that the Mexicans have a lot of country pride and always race well at home. Athletes to watch on the start list include Sergio Sarmiento, Crisanto Grajales, Reinaldo Colucci, David Mendoza, all of which have either Pan-American or World Cup podiums on their resumes. Start list

I'm looking forward to my first trip to Mexico, racing or otherwise. I'll need to be careful with what I eat and drink, as Mexico doesn't have the same food regulations as the US, and I'll be racing again the following weekend in Florida. A stomach bug could spell extreme dehydration and a very low chance of a strong performance at the second race.

The Florida race is in Sarasota (also a PanAm Cup), and will be much more familiar, with the majority of the field being Americans. Obviously logistics will be simpler as well, with the grocery stores, pre-race briefing and so on being in English. Race site.....Start list There are too many names to watch on this start line, all capable of a great race, but all eyes will certainly be focused on young American star Lukas Verzbicas, who has a run pedigree second to none and a 2012 World Cup win to his credit.

I want to take a moment to thank John Barnes for providing me with the plane tickets to these races, without his contribution, I would be writing another blog about how well training is going and how "I can't wait to race soon." You're the man!

I'll put up an update on the races when I've got something to report :)