Planning to be Spontaneous

My brother, Mark, emailed me last week asking if I would consider joining his relay team in the 24HR Velo Charity Event at Mont Tremblant, Quebec on September 11th & 12th - http://www.24hvelotremblant.com/home.html. My immediate reply was “Thanks for the offer but too bad I can’t come. I’ll be racing Ironman Muskoka 70.3 on Sept 12th.” Thinking my race is much more important since it has been on my schedule for the entire year and my travel and accommodations are booked, it took Mark no time to reply with “Why don’t you skip Muskoka?” Our friend, Steve Lafave, was copied on these emails and chimed in with “We’ll even let you ride an extra 90 km’s for the heck of it!” My heart sunk. Don’t they get it? Don’t they understand how important this race is to me? Don’t they comprehend all the time and training it takes to be at one’s best on September 12th in Muskoka? Obviously not if they think I can just “skip” it. Geez. A few more emails were exchanged between the three of us - how much fun it would be for Chrissy to be the Ringer and how irrelevant Muskoka is in the grand scheme of this new option and how could I pass up riding for 24hours. After ten long deep calming breathes, I finalized our string of emails with “Let me look at the calendar…” Feeling somewhat descended upon and under valued off I went to check the calendar of Ironman 70.3 events that might make sense both from a geographic and timing standpoint.

Decisions, options, opportunities (whatever you want to call them) like these always perplex me. Maybe it is because I am a planner and like to know well ahead of time what, where and when something will happen. Maybe it is because I like the idea of spontaneity but actually need time to adjust to a significant change of plans, making the outcome not terribly spontaneous at all. The Mont Tremblant event, albeit for a wonderful cause (sick and underprivileged children), would be an impulsive decision and require significant planning to coordinate all the new logistics. Was I up for it? If I jump ahead a month, a year, a decade, would I regret not having participated? Or should I stick to my initial plan and travel to Muskoka, all of which the logistics are set in place with the organizers and travel agents? Or does it matter which path to trod along? Muskoka or Tremblant? I realize this may sound trite but I am getting to my point.

The harsh reality and honest confession as to why the 24hr Velo event felt like a hiccup in my perfectly laid plans is because I believe this wonderful sport of ours that we cherish and couldn’t imagine living without sometimes blinds us to the world beyond the pool, our aero-bars and our runners. The special interval workouts we do, the articles we read, the athletes we admire, the data we collect, the gear we buy, the food we consume, the early nights we protect, the thoughts of being faster, lighter, fitter, sleeker, or the regimented schedules we follow day-in-day-out all for the illusive goal of crossing a finish line on a specific day in a specific place. On the odd and unusual occasion, I am blinded (says I in jest). No one would protest to how admirable such a past time is. It drives us to be purposeful human beings with a vision and goals all in the name of self-improvement and self-betterment. Soak it up. Life couldn’t get any better.

Or could it? Or could it be enhanced?

In walks an opportunity to derail (soon edited to re-rail) the perfectly laid plans and jump into something only mildly related to the core sport of triathlon. The opportunity is FUN, SOCIAL and ENERGIZED by GREAT PEOPLE and a GREAT CAUSE in a GREAT PLACE. Nothing could inject more energy into the skip in every step. The ripple effect is infectious and carries itself into our every day existence. It might even inject newfound oomph into ones swim stroke, cadence or stride. And if it doesn’t, it really does not matter. Such clarity in decision is a beautiful thing.

Needless to say, my flight has been rerouted to Montreal; I have withdrawn from Muskoka and reworked what was a not so perfect plan after all and my little world feels more vast than before. Within ten minutes of the Team Captain informing everyone I was a new member to the relay team, we had emails a flying across the country with encouragement and spirit.

Although our relay team is very recreational, we really do only play to win. While my aero helmet will be left at home, my lightweight S-Works Specialized Road Bike will be greased and tuned for a smooth and speedy spin on the 11th & 12th. Stay tuned for the post-24 HOUR Velo Report.

And in keeping with my training and racing seasonal plan (some things never change), I did find a great new race to enter just one-week later in Syracuse 70.3 (September 17th). Syracuse is an easy drive south of Tremblant and ideal timing. Isn’t it funny how it just works out every time.

Christine

The Little Jewels

Lake Stevens 70.3 Ironman is on Sunday, August 15th. This will be my second time racing on this course (last time was on 2007, 6th Pro, 2nd fastest bike split) and I am more than excited to celebrate another day in Lake Stevens. The very first time I rode the course I felt in love with the area: the freshwater lake, the undulating bike route and the lakeside run course. Even better, Lake Stevens is a mere two-hour drive from my Vancouver house. For a big time ironman event, this is a real treat.

The lead up to a key race takes precious and fastidious preparation. I sometimes reserve my enthusiasm for higher priority races since even preparation takes energy and time. Lake Stevens is a high priority race (as are my last two races in September - Muskoka and October - Austin) so if my preparation formula for this event goes well, I’ll model it again for Muskoka and Austin. My motivation is at an all time high and my fitness continues to improve with every quality session. My coach (Paul Cross) and I planned the season well and paced the racing to save some oomph for the latter part of the year.

Preparing for a race is like gathering up little jewels of information to form a powerful cluster. When this cluster is held up to the sun, light beams through. Each jewel in my cluster comes from past learning’s, great books, my coach, other athletes and most often my highest quality training sessions with a focused mind and fresh body.

On a grand scale, my jewels form a bright powerful cluster when I have done everything from trained on the race course, visualized my race plan, practiced swim starts and transitions, prepared my pre-race mental plan as well as my race day mental mantra, packed my equipment and fuel and connected with my motivation to race and passion to soar. I believe I am now living in a diamond field ready as ever for Sunday to come.

I’ll share where three of my bigger jewels (maybe we can call them stones) rolled my way over the past few weeks. Keep in mind, these were not jewels to begin with. They became jewels after I dug, brushed off the soil and polished until they shone.

The first one came from Vancouver Half Ironman on July 4th. I had a less than stellar race and failed to consult my fictitious jeweler prior to race day (figure of speech). My “off” day started with the gun when all I feared was the onslaught of athletes that would be descending upon me during the first 100 meters of the swim start. As soon as we hit the water, I lost focus on the task and was engulfed with fear of punches, kicks and potential lack of oxygen. I relinquished precious minutes to the race by steering off course to find clear water and regroup. Once recovered, I fought hard to swim towards the front of the race but would never recoup the ideal position with the race leaders. For unknown reasons, I held on to this ridiculous drama and replayed the swim start over and over in my mind for the entire race (and then some) wallowing in what was no longer in my control desperately wishing for the past to be different. No suck luck kiddo. Move on.

This experience became an invaluable jewel when I learn how to diffuse the past, take the lesson and let it go. It’s gone. It’s over. It’s only an experience to benefit and grow from. That experience now serves me as a lesson to use for future success. The one key phrase that turned this experience into a jewel was from a great book “During critical moments of execution (i.e. Race Start), focus outside of yourself (external) towards the task at hand.” Standing at a race start, my focus need only be on the destination, keying off of strong swimmers, having a strong kick and stroke to get to the front and sighting for the first buoy. This is a far cry from focusing on the fear inside and what will happen if…

The second jewel came from a training day with my coach Paul Cross at Lake Stevens. Paul is a diamond necklace so even the drive is filled with one nugget after another. On this particular day we spent the first hour practicing swim starts, drafting and sighting in the lake. Paul assumed I had mastered many of these swimming techniques but in fact we both learned there is ample room for improvement. The water portion of the day was almost a wrap when Paul asked me how I normally “kick” to get up to speed. “Kick?” I reply. “Is this a trick question? I kick like I always kick…a flutter kick motion.” After about 10 seconds pause, Paul is aghast that my answer wasn’t “Depending on the day, I’ll use my lethal Whip or sharp Scissor kick motion.” Thus ensued a whole new dynamic to our swim start lesson – learning and executing a whip or scissor kick coupled with a perfectly synchronized arm propulsion. Since, we have practiced this new skill time and time again in preparation for a new evolution of my swim starts. Let’s just say, this new skill is massive gem in my cluster.

The third jewel (and it’s a good one) was sourced from my strength trainer, Eddie Smith of Steve Nash Sports Club. Normally a soft-spoken guy who contemplates much thought before exercising his dry wit or shares any in-depth exercise science knowledge (of which he has plenty). Upon receiving his Canadian Visa (he is from New Zealand), he and some buddies celebrated this news with a few drinks at a local sports pub. Showing on the pub’s TV screens was the infamous Vancouver Half Ironman (see Jewel no. 1) highlighting my not-so-eloquent and very lengthy transition from swim to bike. Keep in mind I was wallowing in my horrendous swim start as though moving forward with a ball in chain locked to my ankle. Eddie takes note of my potential to improve my transitions and bottles this message up until our next meeting that occurred 10 days ago. His first question to me, “Do you practice your transitions?” My face was blank. Another trick question launched in my direction. I began to ramble on about what an “off” day I was having but quickly realized there was no plausible excuse for what he was encouraging…Start To Practice Your Transitions. Fast transitions are found speed without an ounce of fitness required. We calculated that I could have been 20 seconds faster out of T1, which could translate to a lot more in the big picture. Eddie’s observation (and I am forever thankful) spun into numerous transition practice sessions at Kits Pool (in & out of wetsuit is a workout in and of itself), transition visualization, wetsuit modifications (shorten legs for faster removal), and YouTube viewings of fast transitions (5.6 seconds is the fastest one so far). Let us play this out…T1 involves running and stripping, helmet on head, glasses on face, un-rack and physically mount bike (safely) while moving forward. A mere 60-90 should be sufficient. T2 involves racking bike, removing helmet, pulling on socks and shoes, grabbing hat and fuel while starting the first mile. Surely less than 75 seconds should do it. Lake Stevens is a fairly tight transition area so there is no reason for anything other than world-class transition splits. Watch out.

It becomes clear how a cluster of jewels become invaluable for a shiny, powerful and indestructible performance. Anyone reading this will pause to contemplate their jewelery case (or whatever term you want to use). It’s a never-ending evolving string of gems that we get to manipulate, re-position and save for those glamorous events. Sunday is pretty glamorous…to me.

Christine
www.christinefletcher.com