you Can Train like an olyMpian inside TriaThlon Chris McCorMaCk | olyMpiC lab | siri lindley | brownlees
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ChaMp reveals how he won paGe 18
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when will a kenyan win kona?
May/June 2011
$6.00 us/Can
insideTriaThlon.CoM
May/June 2011, vol 26/issue 3
Photo: Eric Wynn
HIT THE GROUND RUNNING. We launched the new 808 Firecrest at Kona, and Chris McCormack took full advantage. Out on the Queen K, his 808s with Zipp Tangente tubulars were the fastest, most efficient, best handling wheels on the road. And in the marathon’s final mile, he had enough left in the tank to win one of the most dramatic duels in triathlon history. | Not only is Firecrest more aerodynamic than any other rim design, its distinctive wide profile also improves handling in crosswinds, wheel strength, and overall ride quality. It only took one shot for Macca to prove that it’s simply a better wheel in every way. | But that victory wasn’t the only one for Zipp this year. Mirinda Carfrae won on 650c ZEDTECH 4s and Karin Thuerig set a bike course record with a 303/1080 setup. Zipp once again dominated the Kona Bike Count with nearly 60% of all aero wheels. Clearly, superior technology makes a difference for every athlete. Firecrest 808 available in Tubular, Carbon Clincher, ZEDTECH ®. Zipp Tangente Tires available in Tubular & Clincher 21mm & 23mm.
1.800.472.3972 | zipp.com
5 HOUR ANTI-FRICTION CREAM Imagine finding a piece of equipment like World Champion Sarah Haskins did that worked twice as well as what you use now. Switching would be a no brainer. Mission Anti-Friction is a silicone-based chafe cream that lasts two times longer than the leading wax balms. It won’t break down with heat or sweat. It’s also lighter, paraben free and easy to get in the hard to reach places. Like the winner’s circle. missionathletecare.com
contents
18 • Ironman world
champ Chris McCormack lets it all hang out in his forthcoming autobiography.
By Chris McCormack and Tim Vandehey Photograph by Nils Nilsen
on the cover • Chris “Macca” McCormack Photograph by John Segesta you Can Train like an olyMpian inside TriaThlon Chris McCorMaCk | olyMpiC lab | siri lindley | brownlees
*ironMan Full Disclosure
ChaMp reveals how he won paGe 18
+
when will a kenyan win kona?
May/June 2011 Cover.0506.indd 1
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contents MAY/JUNE 2011
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Pro Cribs Ever wonder what’s inside the refrigerators of some of the sport’s top pros?
olymPian’s lab You can use the tools of Olympians to make the most of your training time.
Gallery The inaugural Rev3 Costa Rica gave racers idyllic views and plenty of heat.
By Jennifer Purdie
By Aaron Hersh
Photographs by Eric Wynn
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65
82
rinny’s CoaCh Meet Siri Lindley, the mastermind behind Mirinda Carfrae’s Kona win.
british invasion A trip across the pond reveals Britain’s greatest threat to triathlon.
sleePinG Giant What happens when Kenya discovers triathlon? The answer’s not so simple.
By Kim McDonald
By Courtney Baird
By Matt Fitzgerald
in every issue conviction 24 at the finish 96
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From left: Nick Salazar, John Segesta, Dave Tyrell, Frederic Courbet
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EDITOR’S LETTER
In December, Inside Triathlon conducted a survey to learn more about its readers. One statistic stood out—it was one I expected, but it stood out nonetheless. Ninety percent of you rated yourselves as either a middle-of-the-packer, an advanced triathlete or an elite. In other words, only 10 percent of you consider yourselves beginners. This statistic makes it clear what we suspected all along—our readers at least have a basic, if not advanced, understanding of triathlon. Other questions in our survey also indicated that our knowledgeable readers want information and stories that challenge them. Determined to give readers what they want, we at Inside Triathlon have amped up the look of our magazine to better reflect our mission of using provocative storytelling and imagery to take readers deep inside the sport. It’s difficult to get a more provocative triathlete than this issue’s cover model, Chris “Macca” McCormack, who has made a career out of telling people what he thinks. In this issue, we feature an exclusive excerpt from his new book, “I’m Here to Win: A World Champion’s Advice for Peak Performance,” on sale in mid-May. In our excerpt, Macca discusses how he masterminded his 2010 Ironman World Championship victory—considered one of the most spectacular and unexpected victories at Kona to date—by executing a strategy that perhaps only Macca would attempt: wooing his fellow competitors to become his ally in their shared pursuit of 2008 and 2009 Ironman world champion Craig Alexander. I’m confident that Macca’s words will stir up the forums in the triathlon world. We’d love to hear your thoughts on what he wrote. But our Macca excerpt isn’t the only story that will encourage discourse among us triathlon geeks. Aaron Hersh’s “In the Zone,” page 26, lets readers know how easy it is to train like an Olympian and maximize their limited time. Journalist Kim McDonald’s profile on page 46 gives readers insight into a story that we believe few are aware of: the coach behind Mirinda Carfrae’s first Ironman World Championship victory. Matt Fitzgerald’s feature on page 82 will also get a lot of people talking. He’s answered a question that’s long been posed in triathlon parlor games: When will Kenya discover triathlon? And finally on page 65 you’ll find a feature on who we believe are two of the best triathletes in the world today: Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee. I hope you enjoy all of these stories, along with everything else featured inside our magazine. Happy training.
Courtney Baird
Editor-in-Chief cbaird@competitorgroup.com
art director Bridget Durkin photo editor Nils Nilsen senior photographer John Segesta contributing photographers/illustrators Paul Phillips, Robert Murphy, Nick Salazar, N.C. Winters digital media content director Kurt Hoy web producer Liz Hichens senior video producer Steve Godwin video producer Kevin LaClaire digital advertising sales director Jason Rossiter, jrossiter@competitorgroup.com advertising and marketing San Diego, CA associate publisher Lars Finanger, lfinanger@competitorgroup.com, 858.362.6746 account executive, endemic sales Justin Sands, jsands@competitorgroup.com, 858.768.6747 account executive, showcase sales Alex Jarman, ajarman@competitorgroup.com, 858.768.6769 production manager Meghan McElravy director, audience development John Francis, jfrancis@competitorgroup.com manager, audience development Cassie Lee-Trettel, cleetrettel@competitorgroup.com Boulder, CO account executive Nathan Forbes, nforbes@competitorgroup.com account executive Mark Gouge, mgouge@competitorgroup.com account executive David Walker, dwalker@competitorgroup.com
A Publication of Competitor Executive Chairman David Moross CEO Peter Englehart President & COO Scott Dickey EVP, Media Andrew R. Hersam CFO Steve Gintowt SVP National Sales John Smith SVP Marketing Bouker Pool VP Digital Media Dan Vaughan VP Western Region Sales David O’Connell SVP Midwest Region Sales Doug Kaplan VP Eastern Region Sales Rebecca McKinnon VP Sales Development Sean Clottu Mailing Address 9477 Waples Street, Suite 150, San Diego, CA 92121 Telephone 858.768.6805 Fax 858.768.6806 Subscriptions U.S. & Canada 800.494.1413 International Subscriptions 303.245.2162 Retailers 800.381.1288 Circulation Inquiries insidetriathlon@pcspublink.com Editorial Inquiries cbaird@competitorgroup.com Website insidetri.com
No part of this issue may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher. Editorial contributions are welcome but a stamped self-addressed envelope is necessary for the return of all materials. Inside Triathlon is a registered trademark of Competitor Group, Inc.
12 INSIDETRIATHLON
Nils Nilsen
A NEW LOOK
editor-in-chief Courtney Baird senior editor Jennifer Purdie associate editor Bethany Leach Mavis contributing editors Matt Fitzgerald, Aaron Hersh, T.J. Murphy contributing writers Courtenay Brown, Tim DeBoom, Torbjørn Sindballe, Jené Shaw copy editor Adam Elder
contributors
Kim McDonald
Jennifer Purdie
Matt Fitzgerald
Last year’s Ironman World Championship was Kim McDonald’s third and most memorable race on the Big Island—and the reason was Siri Lindley, whom he profiles on page 46. “I usually do workouts with Kate Major the week before the race and, because Siri was coaching Kate, she asked if I wanted to train with her squad,” he said. “Most people know Siri as a former triathlon world champion, but I soon discovered she’s an exceptional coach. I’ve never seen anyone so passionate and devoted to their athletes. It was apparent to me when Rinny won Kona that Siri played a major role, and I wanted to tell that part of the story.”
A recent transplant from Phoenix, Jennifer Purdie is the new senior editor of Inside Triathlon. She has been an editor for both regional and national magazines and written for numerous publications including Running Times,The Arizona Republic and Phoenix Magazine. She is a certified personal trainer and avid triathlete and marathoner—she is one of the youngest people in the world to have completed a marathon on all seven continents—and she prefers destination races. So it is fitting that she attended Revolution3’s inaugural Costa Rica race in Guanacaste in February.You can see the gallery of the race on page 36.
Matt Fitzgerald loves to “slay sacred cows,” as he puts it, and he does exactly that in his story on the potential for Kenyans to dominate triathlon in the way they dominate distance running, on page 82. Fitzgerald has written 18 books on topics in endurance sports, including his most recent: Racing Weight Quick Start Guide: A 4-Week Weight-Loss Plan for Endurance Athletes. He took up running at age 11 after watching his father run the 1983 Boston Marathon, and he completed his first triathlon in 1998. Fitzgerald is currently working on a book about the great rivalry between Dave Scott and Mark Allen in the 1980s.
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At the Front | fridge cribs
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what’s cooking? Want to eat like the pros? Inside Triathlon got a sneak peak into the refrigerators of some of the sport’s top athletes. Here are their top 10 must-have items. world champ chris “macca” mccormack: A Chilies. I absolutely live on chilies—cannot
eat enough of them—the hotter the better. b Chocolate. I must admit I am addicted to this stuff, but Cadbury chocolate only. c Mineral water. I have to drink water with bubbles. d Tomatoes e Eggs f Cheese. I like all soft cheeses and blue cheese, not American cheese. g Grapes h Onions i Fresh orange juice J Soy milk. I don’t drink this to be trendy, and I am not lactose intolerant. I am just not a big fan of dairy foods and actually prefer soy. olympian sarah haskins A Plain or vanilla yogurt. I love it as a snack
Illustrations by N.C. Winters
or dessert when sweetened with honey and granola. b Natural peanut butter. I eat it every day mixed into my oatmeal. c Avocados. I mix them with salsa for a great veggie dip. d Newman’s Light Honey Mustard. e Organic milk f Apples. They are one of my favorite snacks and I eat them with natural peanut butter. g Pure Bars h First Endurance liquid gel shots, vanilla flavor. They are essential for my long rides. i Liquid egg whites. These are perfect for omelets on a Sunday morning after a long run. J Green or red peppers
Four-time Xterra world champ conrad “the caveman” stoltz A Helluva strong coffee. I drink French roast
because sadly, my Kona grinds ran out just after the holidays. I brew coffee in a stovetop Italian espresso maker and coat it with a little sugar and a big blow of condensed milk.You have to blow in one of the two holes in the tin to help it flow faster. No double clutching (when you suck instead of blow) allowed. The last time I double clutched was a fateful day in 1995—in the bundus [wild region] on our farm [in South Africa]. A good-size cockroach found its way into the one hole. Let’s just say I had to suck extra hard to get the cockroach to come out, and I never sucked again. b With good coffee goes good chocolate— Cadbury Whole Walnut or Top Deck. c A South African specialty: beskuit. It is a chunky, dry biscuit, but it softens up well when dunked in coffee. d Kudu Biltong. Biltong is like beef jerky— only better. It’s a piece of air-dried and cured fillet from beef or game. Ostrich is the best. I would say biltong is South Africa’s numberone delicacy. e Potatoes. I buy them in 20-pound bags. f Lots of pesto. Hummus. Olive tapenade. Irish butter. Whipping cream—all to put on potatoes. g Meat. I like lamb chops on the flames for a barbecue on a wood fire (or “braai” in South Africa). The hole in the ozone over Antarctica is from all the braai-ing we do down here. This goes great with drinking beer and socializing. h Beets in bunches i Frozen veggies: peas, carrots or edamame. I boil them whole with salt and crumbled feta. J Beer. Cavemen had Cavebrew (it was a microbrew). Really, they did.
What’s Macca’s favorite? “Chocolate, and I cannot live without chilies. I just live for the burn. It’s like a mini-competition with myself. Just how much can I eat and how hot can I go? I hunt for the world’s hottest chilies.” What’s the one thing Haskins can’t live without? Natural peanut butter. “I eat it every day without fail and will add it to my oatmeal or make a PB & J or PB & banana sandwich for lunch. It also makes for a great apple, carrot or celery dip and, not to mention, it’s great with dark chocolate.” What is Stoltz’s eating proverb? “I follow the caveman eating orthodoxy: If it grows on a plant or can be dug from the ground or picked from a tree or if it swims in the ocean or roams on feet or hooves—it is probably good for you. But if it was made in a factory, it’s probably not good for you. Sure chocolate and beskuits are made in a factory, but I’m too useless by the trappings of technology to make them at home. I strive to eat 80 percent caveman-ish. When I buy groceries, my cart looks more or less like my great-grandparents’ cart, except for the plastic wheels and fancy packaging.”
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I’m Here to Win an excerpt
In his new book, Chris McCormack reveals how he wooed fellow competitors to help him win it all. By Chris McCormack and Tim Vandehey
Aaron Hersh
I
’m friendly with some athletes and not so friendly with others. But I look for people who could benefit from my strategy. I always make the assumption that everyone’s there with the same desire as I have: to win the event. I gravitate to athletes in Europe, because I know their style suits me. They’re also really nice guys. But I hang out with them and get to know them. Take Sebastian Kienle, a young up-andcomer who won Ironman 70.3 Germany in 2009 and placed second at Roth. He has a weakness in the swim, but he’s a stronger bike rider than me. So he’ll spend half the bike stage catching me, and then on the back half of the bike I can work with him—which helps me. He’s a good guy, and I work with him a lot. I’ve also become a mentor to some of the younger guys. I’ve become that guy they can talk to. They look up to me. I can tell how I think they should attack a race and they’ll listen. You need allies to win. The perfect example was the 2010 Ironman World Championship in Kona. In 2009, I was solo on the bike, and I fell apart in the marathon. Well, I was solo on the bike because of a bad swim. I’m a strong biker and I put myself in a position to win, but to do that I had to put in big power, and I struggled in the middle section of the marathon. I went away from that event and said, “You know what? The strategy is right.” I needed to attack in the wind on the descent from Hawi. I needed to take people with me to keep my
legs fresher, because the reason the runners were catching up with me was because they had fresher legs getting off the bike. The group dynamic keeps the pace high without you having to do all the heavy lifting. You can’t draft, but you can pace. It’s easier to maintain your pace when you’re with a group, because you can look at the guy in front of you, and if you were 10 yards back of him and now you’re 20, you can correct. If you’re alone, sometimes you don’t realize that’s happening. In a group, someone is always pushing. The pace just feeds itself. It costs much less energy to reach a pace and stay there than it does to slow down and try to catch back up. I realized I needed to take allies who suited my style of racing, but also whom I thought I could beat. But that’s not always easy, so then it’s just a matter of weighing your options. Better the devil you know. So in training, I’ll use the media and the social networking platforms like Facebook to attract allies. I’ll spread the word and let it go viral. I’ll write things on my blog about certain athletes, playing to the ego.Word gets around: “Did you read what Macca said about—?” I wrote a blog on the Raelerts, praising them but also posing questions like, “Why wouldn’t the people coaching Andreas have him try and get away in this section of the race?”You create friends and give them a strategy you think they should adopt. That doesn’t guarantee that they’ll side with me, but it improves my chances, and it lets me know who’s thinking my way. You start making them think about things. insidetriathlon 19
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marathon. So when you have that mind-set, it changes the dynamics of things. During the year I bumped into the guys in Europe whom I wanted to work with. I started tweeting about them, befriending them and encouraging them to listen to me. I also started working on guys like Faris Al-Sultan, who hates my guts and is a very easy guy to read. So I annoy him. At every opportunity, I’d say things like, “Faris is done. He’s finished, I think he’s cooked, he’s had too many races.” It was perfect. He was at Kona on the bike trying to prove a point—We’ll see who’s done, champ!— and he played right into our hands. CraCking the kona Code
I use whatever avenues that can get me allies. Sometimes I find allies while I’m competing. I did the 2008 Ironman European Championship with Llanos and we had a big group behind us. Eneko is a good runner and I am a good runner, and I was looking at him and thinking, Either one of us could win this thing. Only three months earlier, I had outsprinted him to win the prestigious Wildflower halfiron, so I knew he was in exceptional form. I turned to him and said, “Hey man, let’s not get too tactical. Let’s put everyone else out of the game. If you want to get tactical now, then we’re going to put 10 more blokes back in this race. Let’s be friends right now and we can fight later.” So I made an ally. We put everyone else out of the game. Then he was no longer an ally. He knew that and I knew it. For Kona, I wanted Timo Bracht, Normann Stadler, Marino Vanhoenacker, Faris, and Andreas Raelert as allies for sure. During the season I did a Competitor TV interview in Auburn, Ala., and I looked at the camera and said, “Faris, Normann, Timo, Marino. We need to attack at Hawi. Guys, I don’t know if you are still interested in Kona. If I’m talking to deaf ears here, then go there and have a holiday.
So in training, I’ll use the media and the social networking platforms like Facebook to attract allies. I’ll spread the word and let it go viral. I’ll write things on my blog about certain athletes, playing to the ego. Word gets around.
Nils Nilsen
The perfect example was the talk in the last few years that Craig Alexander was unbeatable. I said, “Now hang on a second, guys. Craig swims 51 minutes. He bikes 4:37. He runs 2:45 or better. That’s Craig Alexander.” Everybody said, “You try and do it.” I said, “I’ve done it many times. So has Andreas and so has Eneko Llanos [a great runner who’s won the ITU Long Distance World Championship and finished second at Kona in 2008]. We’ve gone 15, 20, 30 minutes quicker than this guy.” “Yeah, bu— ” I said, “No buts. Craig Alexander does 8:19 every day of the week whether it’s hot or cold. What are you frightened of? This guy’s beatable. He’s never gone any quicker than 8:19.” To Raelert, I said, “What you need to do is not to get off the bike with this guy. He needs confidence. His confidence is the run; that’s his weapon. We need to alienate this guy. Let’s bike 4:31, 4:30. Let’s give ourselves a 10-minute edge and force him to have to ride the bike hard. I guarantee you he’ll do 8:19 again. He’s a perfect metronome.” I started saying that in every interview that I did. “Craig Alexander is phenomenal. But he’s an 8:19 guy. I’m a 7:53 guy. I’m
25 minutes quicker than this bloke at my best. I definitely don’t think he’s unbeatable. I’ve done an 8:11 in Hawaii before, so how are you experts saying that 8:19 is unbeatable? It’s unbeatable if we play the game the way it’s been played the last two years and play into his strength. If we play the game differently ...” And people started listening. They did their research. And you know what? They found out I was right. I’ve looked at this stuff. Then I spent the season talking about that. I had to be very patient, like a spider spinning a web. Only after they see that you know what you’re talking about can you start giving strategies. So when I started talking about attacking in the crosswinds on the road from Hawi, it made sense. In cycling you never attack into a headwind because you can draft. In triathlon you always attack into a headwind. That forces the runners to put in a lot more power so they don’t fall behind. The runners tend to race with power meters, which measure the wattage your body is putting out. That tells you a lot about the runner’s psyche. They want to exert constant, even power. If you force them to exert more power, they watch the numbers go up and they panic. Their legs start to hurt and they start to think, I need to save it for the run, and they will start to back off. You’re not riding the bike to the finish line, like in cycling.You have to get off and run a
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I started saying that in every interview that I did. “Craig Alexander is phenomenal. But he’s an 8:19 guy. I’m a 7:53 guy. I’m 25 minutes quicker than this bloke at my best.” But if you want to win, and you don’t think attacking in the crosswinds is the thing to do, then you’re nuts. If you want to beat the fast runners—Craig Alexander, Rasmus Henning, Pete Jacobs, and Eneko Llanos—we need to move at Hawi. Time to change it up boys. If it doesn’t work, you can bag on me forever.” After that, I really picked my races carefully. I went to the Ironman 70.3 St. Pölten because I knew Marino and Andreas would be there. I sat with them after the race and said, “Jeez, you guys are going well. How’s the prep for Kona? How are you feeling?” I couldn’t look like I had an agenda. It had to come up in conversation, or it wouldn’t be the right opportunity.
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In that race, both Andreas and I ended up beating Marino. He was really aggressive on the bike, and after the race he was a bit bummed. I said, “You’ve picked up your bike this year, Marino, haven’t you?” “I have to—everyone’s riding quick,” I remember him saying. I said, “You’re swimming good, you’re biking good, mate. You should walk away from this race pretty proud. You did the lion’s share of the bike riding today. So, I felt bad having to beat you, but I just couldn’t come around you.” He said it was OK. Then I went away. That race was on TV the following week, so I messaged Marino
on Facebook: Dude, just watch your race. Be proud, mate. Best of luck at Ironman Austria. Go for it there mate, and best of luck with your prep. Don’t buy into the running game.You need to get aggressive on that bike. Same thing in Kona, mate. Good luck. He sent me back an e-mail that was basically, “Thanks, I really appreciate that.” Score. I knew I could get him on my side. It all came together in Kona. I cracked the code of that race by recruiting allies patiently and carefully. I didn’t know if they were going to step up. After all the preparation is done, all you can do is hope. I was hoping they followed my lead, and they did. IT
From I’M HERE TO WIN: A World Champion’s Advice for Peak Performance by Chris McCormack with Tim Vandehey. Copyright © 2011 by Chris McCormack. Reprinted by permission of Center Street, New York, NY. All rights reserved.
3/17/11 3:31 PM
At the Front conviction
Keeping triathlon about swim, biKe, run By Courtenay Brown
terrain should significantly mitigate speeds on the bike. Bike speed brings up another key factor in race safety: “Many cars and police don’t realize how much time they have to make a turn or to let a car go in front of a bike,” said Rev3 race director Eric Opdyke. He says that well-educated police and volunteers are essential. Even then, accidents can still happen—despite Opdyke’s best efforts, an athlete collided with a vehicle during the bike leg at the inaugural Rev3 Knoxville in 2010. Taking that scenario to the extreme: Without proper staff and volunteer education, you can get incidents like the 2004 death of Joe Jabaily during the bike leg of a local Colorado triathlon. Jabaily was struck by a car in an intersection that was actively manned by a police officer who made a simple mistake in judgment. That race series did not survive in the aftermath of the tragedy. What about water safety? Is there more to it than looking out for sharks? Yes. At the 2010 Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon, firsttime triathlete Derek Valentino never exited the Schuylkill River, disappearing during the swim leg. Could better safety measures have prevented his death? Was it a matter of insufficient personnel, insufficient preparation by Valentino or some other factor? There is no way to know for sure, but the frenzy of triathlon starts can be a nightmare for staff and racers alike. Requiring new racers to “qualify” for bigger races with proven experience at smaller races, similar to the category system used in cycling, could become necessary as more athletes enter the sport. The recent passing of elite open water swimmer Fran Crippen while he raced in
86-degree water points to another water safety issue. Though he died in a swim race and not in a swim-bike-run, the implications are still relevant to triathlon. What temperature is safe for competition? What wetsuit equipment is safe at what temperature? Currently, rules and standards differ across governing bodies. For example, the ITU wetsuit rules have a provision for the differential between water and air temperatures. USAT rules do not. At USAT-sanctioned races in which the water temperature is just below the cutoff and it’s either raining or generally cold, risk of hypothermia increases dramatically, particularly in the pro field. Why doesn’t USAT incorporate more than just water temperature into consideration, as the ITU does? According to its website, “USA Triathlon water temperature limits were based upon scientific, peer-reviewed research performed in 1994. USAT is currently negotiating a new study to determine if temperature standards need to be changed or remain the same.”Yet air temperature is not part of the discussion. Safety needs to be a constant point of discussion in our rapidly growing sport. Who is responsible for race safety? Everyone. This includes athletes, who are really at the center of it all. Preparedness is essential, as is a healthy dose of respect for our competitors, for the sport, and for the people and communities that make it happen. Like most competitive sports that inspire athletes to push themselves to their limits, triathlon will always have an element of danger. That is one of its appeals, one reason why it’s exciting and one reason why we choose to do it. So let’s also choose to behave in ways that make the dangers of bonking or losing the race our biggest concerns.
Courtenay Brown is an elite triathlete and a public policy Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
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it
Nick Salazar
The annual running of the Ironman World Championship 70.3 in Clearwater, Fla., last year included a crash so bad that it prompted a participant to ask Inside Triathlon to investigate race safety. Race safety is something that athletes often take for granted, until things go horribly wrong. When that happens, sadness and outrage ensue. Forums explode. And race organizers get criticized.Yet race safety is something that race organizers take very seriously—it’s just that sometimes they learn very public lessons along the way. In 2010, WTC learned a “take responsibility” sort of lesson. Its inaugural Miami 70.3, licensed out to a local race director, was plagued with missing and misspelled signs, bike crashes in the pro and age-group fields, and racers holding their bikes in transition because of insufficient racks—it pretty much came off as an organizational and safety disaster. It was so bad that WTC offered a shortterm solution in the form of free entries at a future event to all the racers. Arguably more important, however, is WTC’s recognition that it can’t address its growing pains with casual outsourcing and licensing: It will run the race-day operations and pre-event planning of the 2011 Miami 70.3. WTC’s interest in safety is also evident in the revamping of its 70.3 world championship, infamous for its course that could neither safely nor fairly accommodate 2,000 racers hunting down a world title. At last, the course is a thing of the past. The championship has moved, and it’s hard to imagine a more polar opposite to Clearwater than the windy, hilly desert of the Silverman course outside Las Vegas. In addition to virtually eliminating drafting packs on the bike, the
IN THE ZONE
Maximize your training time with the science of Olympians. By Aaron Hersh
26 INSIDETRIATHLON
The tester instructs the subject, in this case pro triathlete Cameron Dye, to pedal at a specific intensity level for three minutes. Then he records his heart rate, perceived exertion and blood lactate concentration at the end of each intensity level before upping the workload until he cannot keep up.
The subject controls his effort by holding a specific power output, which is measured with a power meter. During a running test, speed is used to track power output. 28 INSIDETRIATHLON
cause you have to have a precise understanding of your own personal fitness level before you can effectively use effort measurement tools, such as the power meter. BLOOD LACTATE TEST
There are many ways to determine your personal fitness level, or training zones, but a lactate test is arguably the most accurate and allows you to combine measures of workload—such as power while cycling— to precisely control training intensity with heart rate to monitor your fatigue level and figure out with certainty when you need rest and when you are ready to train hard. A lactate profile test measures the amount of lactate accumulating in your blood as intensity level increases, and this data allows an athlete to determine the precise exercise intensity needed to achieve a desired training effect. The subject’s heart rate is taken at the end of each intensity level and he self-reports his perceived exertion. These measures are used to quantify his physiological response to each intensity.
HOW IT WORKS
A lactate profile test is typically conducted by an exercise physiologist while the subject runs on a treadmill or rides a stationary bike.The test is broken into a series of segments, roughly three minutes in length, with each one more intense than the last until the athlete is no longer able to keep up. For a cycling test, workload is controlled with a power meter. During a running test, treadmill speed is used to control intensity level. At the end of each segment, the tester takes a drop of blood from the subject and measures its concentration of blood lactate.The subject’s heart rate and rate of perceived exertion are also recorded. After the test, the athlete’s results are plotted and the tester uses a formula to determine the athlete’s lactate threshold, the exercise intensity at which blood lactate concentration and fatigue start to increase dramatically. The athlete’s lactate threshold is then used to determine all of his or her training zones.
A drop of the subject’s blood is taken at the end of each intensity level and measured for lactate concentration.
The Boulder Center for Sports Medicine uses a sophisticated machine to measure blood lactate concentration, but cheaper handheld units like the Lactate Plus blood lactate reader also work.
Previous page: Nils Nilsen; This page: Nick Salazar
T
raining for triathlon is an exercise in time management. Juggling a personal and a professional life with the training required to be competitive in three sports means that nearly every person racing triathlon simply doesn’t have as much time to train as he or she would like. We have to make the most of our opportunities. If your goal is to reach new levels of performance, getting the most possible benefit from every training mile is critical. Despite our need for efficiency, singlesport athletes laugh at the collective inability of triathletes to train at the appropriate effort level, regardless of the type of workout. Easy days are done too hard, and hard days are done too easy. We need help. Training tools can provide that assistance and allow you to maximize your scarce training time, but simply strapping a power meter on your bike isn’t good enough. This is be-
TEST LIKE THE PROS Lactate tests are available to everyday athletes as well as elites. The Boulder Center for Sports Medicine regularly tests age-groupers as well as professionals. Neal Henderson, director of sports science at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, establishes lactate threshold by finding the intensity at which the athlete’s lactate concentration increases by 1mmol for a particular work level compared to the previous work level and then 1.5mmol for the next work level. Once he has established an individual’s lactate threshold, Henderson then uses specific percentages of lactate threshold to create seven training zones (shown in the table below) to control his athletes’ exertion levels in every type of workout, from boringly easy recovery workouts to lung-searing sprints.
8.00 7.00
190 Heart rate
180
Blood lactate concentration 6.00
170
5.00 160 4.00 150
3.00
140
2.00 1.00
130
0.00
120
6:59*
6:40
6:23
6:07
5:53
5:40
5:27
5:16
Min per Mile
This subject’s lactate threshold, as determined by Henderson’s method, is 5:27 mile pace.
Henderson uses these percentages of the athlete’s lactate threshold to set up the rest of the training zones.
BOULDER CENTER FOR SPORTS MEDICINE PRESCRIBED TRAINING ZONES Zones
by Pace (min/mile)
by Heart Rate
% Lactate Threshold Pace
Active Recovery
> 6:59
< 137
> 145%
Base
6:58 – 6:00
138 – 158
145 – 120%
Tempo
5:59 – 5:40
159 – 171
119 – 110%
Sub-threshold
5:39 – 5:27
172 – 180
109 – 100%
Supra-threshold
5:26 – 5:15
181 – 185
99 – 92%
VO2
5:14 – 4:45
> 186
91 – 85%
Anaerobic Capacity
< 4:44
Variable
< 85%
* These times are from an anonymous subject.
30 INSIDETRIATHLON
HEART RATE (BPM)
BLOOD LACTATE CONCENTRATION (MMOL/L)
LACTATE PROFILE RESULTS
1 1 on
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ACTION PHOT OS: CRUSE
STreSS TypeS Here are the three types of stress that combine to create a workout’s total stress, according to Neal Henderson, director of sports science at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine.
1
Actual work is the power created by the athlete. It is measured with a power meter when cycling and by running pace.
2
Physiological response is the physical response from the athlete to the work he or she is doing, which is often measured by heart rate.
3
Psychological strain is the mental effort it takes to execute a workout. It is measured using the Borg Perceived Exertion scale (see below). A blood lactate profile gives you information that relates all three.
inTerpreTing The daTa
The tester creates a chart of the athlete’s heart rate, perceived effort and lactate data as intensity increases. Randy Wilber, senior sports physiologist for the U.S. Olympic Committee, uses the blood lactate profile test to help current and potential Olympic athletes refine their training. “We graph [effort level and blood lactate] and use mathematic modeling as well as experience to evaluate profiles,” Wilbur said. “If it’s plotted out, what you would see is that the lactate threshold is occurring at a point where there is a mathematically exponential increase in lactate concentration that occurs during the progression of the test.” These data charts almost always have a definitive point representing a specific effort level at which the subject’s blood lactate levels switch from increasing linearly to increasing exponentially. That point is the subject’s lactate threshold. WhaT The TeST revealS
The test lets an athlete know how his or her body reacts to different exercise intensity levels. By measuring actual work in the form of cycling power or run speed alongside the athlete’s physiological response, quantified by heart rate and 32 inSideTriaThlon
rate of perceived exertion using the Borg Perceived Exertion scale (see below), a lactate test allows the athlete to tailor the intensity of every workout so that he or she recovers properly on easy days and gets maximum training benefit without creating long-term fatigue on hard days. An athlete’s training zones will change as his or her fitness progresses throughout a season, so it’s critical to retest several times during a year to ensure the zones are always accurate. To The road
Henderson believes there are three types of stress that combine to create a workout’s total stress on an athlete: actual work, physiological response and psychological strain. “All three are important,” Henderson said. Actual work can be measured with a power meter when cycling and by running speed. Physiological response, the percentage of the athlete’s maximum effort on that specific day, is measured by heart rate. Psychological strain, the mental effort and willpower required to complete a workout, is quantified with rate of perceived exertion. A blood lactate profile test simultaneously measures all three to create a benchmark for the relationship between the two variable conditions— psychological strain and heart rate—with power, which doesn’t change based on the athlete’s level of recovery or fitness. Henderson recommends that all his subjects use “whatever tools they already have” to measure their effort when they ride or run, but combining a direct measure of output—such as cycling power or run speed—with heart rate allows athletes to not only train in their appropriate zones, but to understand how their bodies are responding to their training. “Power on the bike [or speed while running] in conjunction with heart rate is the best way to do it,” Henderson said, and the blood lactate test unveils the link between heart rate and power, allowing an athlete to hone in on exactly how hard or easy he or she should be going in a workout. To put it another way, measuring cycling power/run speed with heart rate during the lactate test shows what an athlete’s heart rate should be while producing a specific amount of power. If an athlete is able to sustain his or her prescribed power during a difficult workout but his or her heart rate spikes beyond what it should be for that effort, Henderson takes that to mean that the athlete will fatigue excessively from the workout because he or
she has not recovered sufficiently. The fitness benefits of the workout will be outweighed by the downtime required to recover from it. In that case, Henderson advises athletes cut their workouts short. Any athlete can use this process to ensure he or she is making the most of limited training time available. do-iT-yourSelf SoluTionS If you are unable to be tested by an exercise physiologist, you can conduct a test on the track. Indeed, a “poor man’s version” of the lactate profile test can be done at a running track by doing progressively faster long intervals of roughly 800 meters to 1 mile in length, according to Randy Wilber, senior sports physiologist for the U.S. Olympic Committee. To do this, run the first interval at an easy effort. While recovering from the effort, record your heart rate and your rate of perceived exertion along with your interval time. Then, run another mile slightly faster and record the same information after the interval. Make each interval progressively faster than the previous one by an equal amount until you can’t go any faster. The interval at which you rate yourself at 7 on the Borg Perceived Exertion scale, stretching from 1 to 10, is your lactate threshold speed. Borg perceived exertion Scale
0
Rest
1
Really Easy
2
Easy
3
Moderate
4
Sort of Hard
5
Hard
6 7
Really Hard
8 9
Really, Really, Hard
10
Maximal: just like my hardest race
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Cyclocomputer Although a basic speed and distance computer will not help you understand your workload while cycling, a cyclocomputer can be used to accurately measure a workout route. That course can be repeatedly used for run workouts without outside variables, such as wind, playing a large factor in your effort level. Cycling, however, is greatly affected by environmental changes, so using speed to measure actual work is less effective on the bike.
Heart rate monitor Heart rate measures an athlete’s physiological response to training, but not the intensity of the training itself.
GPS or foot pod-based running watch “Running pace is [nearly] the equivalent of power while cycling—it correlates pretty directly with real work,” according to Ironman champion Jordan Rapp. “While inclines obviously will skew this somewhat, the effect of hills in running is not nearly as drastic as it is in cycling. For example, no matter how good of a runner you are, there’s basically no way you could run a 3-minute mile regardless of how steep a downhill is. But you could cycle downhill at speeds that far surpass anything the best cyclists could do on a flat road. Combine this with the fact that most people run courses that are generally pretty flat, and pace becomes a much better gauge of actual work than anything else.”
34 INSIDETRIATHLON
Power meter Heart rate is an indirect measure of effort, meaning it measures a side effect of exercise, rather than the athlete’s actual work level. A power meter directly measures output, which makes it a more accurate measure of exercise intensity.
Lactate Plus blood lactate analyzer Handheld lactate readers are surprisingly cheap. A lactate reader and all the supplies can be purchased for about $300. Conducting and applying the test safely and effectively requires expertise, but anyone can purchase tools similar to those used by the U.S. Olympic Committee and Boulder Center for Sports Medicine to conduct the test.
Nils Nilsen
TOOLS OF THE TRADE Henderson recommends that athletes use “whatever tools they have available” to ensure they are training in the appropriate effort level rather than stressing out about spending a lot of money on additional gear. That said, these instruments will help you stick to your training zones:
Gallery
rev3
Costarica Rev3 took its company international with its inaugural triathlon in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, in February. Photographs by Eric Wynn
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insidetriathlon 37
Gallery
â&#x20AC;˘ Athletes were treated to spectacular scenery at the Playa Conchal (left and below), the beach where the race started; the Pacific Ocean was a welcomed reprieve from the heat.
â&#x20AC;˘ The run course provided a small taste of Costa Rican culture, as triathletes pounded their way through neighborhoods, taking in the sights and smells of the Central American country, including small shops (right).
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â&#x20AC;˘ Professionals and age-groupers struggled in the oppressive Costa Rican heat, and volunteers popped open water packets to try to cool them down (below).
42 insidetriathlon
Gallery
• Team Trakkers member Kelly Williamson won the women’s professional race, an Olympic-distance event (above). Local favorite and ITU racer Leonardo Chacon of Costa Rica won the men’s race (right).
44 insidetriathlon
siri lindley
the making of a world champion Mirinda Carfraeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2010 win in Kona was no fluke. It was a result that was carefully and methodically crafted by her fierce yet underthe-radar coach. By Kim McDonald Photographs by John Segesta
46 INSIDETRIATHLON
insidetriathlon 47
siri lindley
As
news about Chrissie Wellington’s last-minute withdrawal from the 2010 Ironman World Championship rippled through the nearly 1,800 athletes preparing to slip into the still waters of Kailua Bay in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, most assumed that Mirinda “Rinny” Carfrae was elated, breathing in a sigh of relief. The 2009 runner-up, Carfrae wouldn’t have to compete against the pre-race favorite and three-time Ironman world champion. But Carfrae wasn’t relieved. Outside the King Kamehameha Hotel, where Carfrae was resting, she was in a state of panic. “When Chrissie pulled out,” said Siri Lindley, Carfrae’s long-time coach and confidante, “My phone started ringing and Shannon, Rinny’s manager, was on the line saying, ‘Get your ass out here. Rinny needs you right now.’ So I’m sprinting through the hotel and when I get there, Rinny is saying, ‘What in the world do we do now?’ I said, ‘Nothing changes, absolutely nothing changes. Race your race.’ And she said, ‘Who am I going to swim with?’ And I said, ‘Nothing changes. We stick to The Plan.’” The Plan for last year’s Ironman World Championship, a race that Carfrae had dreamed of winning for most of her life, was a carefully scripted guide that Lindley had put together. It spelled out who Carfrae was expected to swim behind, the way she expected her to ride and how much faster she expected Carfrae to run along the Queen K Highway than she did in 2009 when she broke Wellington’s 2008 Kona marathon record of 2:57:44, setting her first marathon record for the race of 2:56:51, in what was her first-ever marathon. But The Plan in a larger sense was also the map to success that Carfrae, who was a 70.3 superstar and had never done an Ironman prior to Kona in 2009, and Lindley, a 2001 ITU short-course world champion who had 48 insidetriathlon
never put together an Ironman training plan before Carfrae’s 2009 debut, developed collaboratively. They perfected it through trial and error and had closely followed it over the previous five years. It was a plan that culminated in Carfrae winning the 2010 Ironman World Championship with a world recordbreaking run split of 2:53:32. How did two athletes with so little Ironman experience create a recipe for such success in Kona in such a short amount of time? Many of the clues can be found in Lindley’s evolution from a struggling age-group triathlete to a world champion, the instincts she’s honed as an athlete and coach, and the way
coming ITU short-course pros Chris Foster and Hayley Peirsol. Despite her success, Lindley remains off the radar as a coach. When most people think of Siri Lindley, they think of Siri the athlete, not Siri the coach. This is not surprising. Unlike most highend coaches who pay their bills and gain exposure through webinars, DVDs, online training programs and mass-marketed coaching clinics, Lindley keeps a low profile, focusing time and energy on her 15 elite pros and 10 age-groupers, many of whom train together under her watchful eye in Los Angeles and at her desert training camp east of San Diego
“I had 10 athletes and I lost nine out of the 10. Rinny stayed and I built the current team around Rinny. It gave me a blank slate to create an environment for Rinny to succeed.” —Siri Lindley
she’s learned to cajole top-level performances from her athletes. Since 2003 Lindley, who dominated the ITU World Cup rankings in 2001 and 2002, has developed into one of the world’s premier triathlon coaches. She coached Susan Williams to a bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics, Carfrae to her 2007 Ironman World Championship 70.3 title and Samantha Warriner to an ITU World Cup series overall championship (before the ITU’s World Championship Series existed). Besides Carfrae, Lindley’s current athletes include long-course champions Leanda Cave and Kate Major (Cave is also a former ITU short-course world champion), and up-and-
in Borrego Springs. One of the main reasons she moved from Boulder, Colo., three years ago, in fact, was her concern that the area had become overrun with triathletes. “There was too much going on there, too many distractions,” she said. “I wanted to focus on what we need to get done.” Her move to Los Angeles in 2008, though, came at a price. “I had 10 athletes and I lost nine out of the 10,” she said. “Rinny stayed and I built the current team around Rinny. It gave me a blank slate to create an environment for Rinny to succeed.” continued on page 52
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siri lindley
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Although Carfrae and Lindley had no Ironman experience, they mapped out and executed a plan to win in Kona.
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siri lindley continued from page 48 While Los Angeles and Borrego Springs now provide Lindley with what she calls a “more powerful environment” as a coach, one that allows her to better control and monitor her athletes’ training, her propensity to stay out of the limelight and train her athletes away from the masses (much like her former coach Brett Sutton did) have fomented rumors about her training methods. Foster heard the warnings before he joined Lindley’s group last September: Siri will overtrain you. She’s a control freak.You’ll have no voice. If you have any ideas, forget it—you won’t be able to express them. She doesn’t work on technique. She gives everyone the same workouts.You’ll be injured or retired in a year. “They had this perception that because her old coach was Brett Sutton, she just hammers and hammers you, without rhyme or reason,” said Foster. “They said she has this formula, and she sticks to it, and good luck. But that was nowhere near the case. I realized these people were ill-informed.” When super swimmer Peirsol, the younger sibling of backstroker and five-time Olympic gold medalist Aaron Peirsol, decided two years ago to embark on a career as a pro triathlete, several coaches courting her warned her parents that if she went with Lindley she’d end up injured and overtrained. But their efforts backfired when Peirsol’s parents, skeptical about the coaches’ motives and curious as to why Lindley had never contacted them about coaching their daughter, asked Lindley if they could meet with her and observe her training sessions in Borrego Springs. They ultimately chose Lindley. “Hearing that stuff used to just destroy me,” said Lindley of the negative rumors, “because I care so much about what we do, about taking care of my athletes, making sure that we’re happy and that they understand we’re on the same page. I want them to feel that we are in this together.” Known as a protégé of Sutton, who is most famous for molding Wellington into a champion while she trained with him in the Philippines and whose sometimes brutal workouts are legendary within the triathlon community, Lindley understands why people are misinformed. But Lindley makes no attempt to distance herself from her 52 insidetriathlon
former coach, saying she has nothing but the highest regard for him. “Brett was the greatest coach,” Lindley said. “He was my mentor. He believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself. He’s just an incredibly smart, intuitive man. You look and see what he’s done with these athletes and it’s incredible. So a lot of his principles I, of course, have followed.” Spend time with Lindley, however, and you’ll immediately discover that she is very different from Sutton. Lean, tanned and fit despite the nine years that have passed since her last professional race, she has an infectious smile, upbeat personality and irrepressible energy. While some of Sutton’s former athletes describe their old coach as blunt, unapproachable and often critical, Lindley is the type of person who goes out of her way to make people feel at ease. She forms close bonds with her athletes, feels empathy for them through their ups and downs, and constantly reminds them that “we’re in this together.”
But beneath Lindley’s easygoing exterior is another, very different side to her personality—an inner core of mental toughness and cunning that Sutton came to respect. Those who know her well point to this toughness as the reason she became the world’s No. 1-ranked triathlete. “‘Fierce’ is the best word to use when describing Siri,” said Loretta Harrop, Lindley’s former training partner and longtime friend who won silver for Australia in the 2004 Athens Olympics. “She is fiercely competitive, fiercely passionate, fiercely determined and fiercely protective of anything that means a lot in her life. We were the biggest rivals, yet the best of friends. Both of us had a huge respect for each other’s unwavering desire to win.” Sutton echoes Harrop’s sentiment: “People underestimate her natural intelligence. The bubbly personality she exudes sometimes hides the very shrewd thinker that she is. When you have to cope with certain problems in one’s own career to become
“They had this perception that because [Lindley’s] old coach was Brett Sutton, she just hammers and hammers you, without rhyme or reason. They said she has this formula, and she sticks to it, and good luck. But that was nowhere near the case. I realized these people were ill-informed.” —Chris Foster
“Brett could be a real hard-ass and he used different psychology—not the positive reinforcement, but the negative reinforcement,” said Cave, who was once coached by Sutton. “I was always under the belief that I was not good enough under Brett. Siri’s always positive. She’s never said a bad word to me or anybody I know. She’s someone I consider a friend.” Major, an Ironman champion who joined Lindley’s group last year, agrees: “Siri always encourages people to just have fun. You are working, but to go fast you have to enjoy it.”
successful, it makes for a better coach.” Lindley was hardly a natural when it came to triathlon. She was a college athlete who played field hockey, ice hockey and lacrosse at Brown University. She even competed for a spot on the U.S. national lacrosse team. But she didn’t bike and could barely swim. Her first triathlon, a local sprint race in Colorado she entered at age 23, was in her words “a complete disaster.” But she was hooked. And by sheer will and determination she clawed her way to the top, first as an amateur and then as a professional.
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Literally the day after retiring from triathlon, Lindley says she knew that she wanted to become a triathlon coach.
“For me, triathlon was the vehicle through which I found myself,” Lindley said. “I went from being a very insecure, scared kid to coming to where I am as a human being. The journey for me was much more powerful than the results I got or the sponsors I had or any money that I made.” It also convinced her that anything is possible if you have enough motivation to pursue your dream, a lesson she is fond of reminding her athletes. “I’m living proof, because I’m someone who people would never have guessed would eventually become a world champion,” she said. “So I’m a believer that anything is possible. You just have to figure out the right recipe.” If bouncing back after failures and overcoming shortcomings as an athlete is the path to success for a future coach, Lindley has had more than her fair share. In 1999, she completed the ITU World Cup season ranked fourth in the world, the second American behind Barb Lindquist. Setting her sights on qualifying for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, she moved to Cronulla, Australia, near Sydney and spent six months training under New Zealand coach Jack Ralston. But in her first Olympic trials qualifier, the lead pack swam away from her, a mistake that contributed to her not being selected for the 54 insidetriathlon
U.S. team. Devastated after what she called the biggest failure of her life, she went to Sutton, who was coaching Harrop, and absorbed the lessons that soon transformed her from a perennial fourth-place finisher into a world champion. “I learned so much from Brett,” Lindley said. “He is a really brilliant master of minds. He has a great way of knowing how to get into an athlete’s head, sweep out the stuff that’s getting in the way and shed light on the things you need to be working with as aspects of your personality that are going to allow you to be the best that you can be.” Sutton figured out what was missing, Lindley says, and in the process provided some of the most important lessons she’s learned in life. “I was one of those athletes who would say I’m going as hard as I can; there’s no way I could possibly go harder,” Lindley said. “But because I had never gone any harder, I thought that was my limit. I set limits for myself when I said this is as hard as I can go. His hammering me so hard that first month was brilliant because if I could make it through that, it would give me this newfound belief in myself. By torturing me he was giving me this incredible gift. Not only did I survive, but I had my first podium in a World Cup three months later.” Beyond Lindley’s high tolerance for pain
and her determination to win, Sutton observed something else about the American: “She was always very good at summing up other people’s problems on the squad,” Sutton said. “Without her knowing it, I could ask a question of one of her training partners and she would give an insightful answer. She had an inquiring mind. She was always pimping me for answers.” When Lindley won the ITU World Championships in 2001, she considered retiring but decided to give it another year to prove her No. 1 ranking wasn’t a one-time fluke. It wasn’t. She won four World Cups in 2002 and the overall ITU World Cup title. Nevertheless, she felt there was something bigger out there for her, something that would combine what she learned as a psychology major at Brown with her experiences as an athlete—something that would allow her to guide others through a journey similar to the one that had transformed her life. “Literally the day after I retired I knew what I wanted to do,” Lindley said. “I’d always watched my training partners and loved the differences in personalities, looking at what worked for someone and not someone else. That really intrigued me. We were always training in these out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere places and that was my entertainment, figuring it all out.”
siri lindley
It’s
a Thursday morning in Santa Monica, Calif., and Lindley pulls up to the beachfront park in her white VW station wagon stocked with water, gels and extra tubes. Her upbeat comments and lighthearted jabs spark laughter among her athletes joining in for the day. There’s Peirsol, whom Lindley affectionately refers to as “Hay-hay”; former fashion model turned pro triathlete Jenny Fletcher, whom Siri calls “Fletchy”; Major, whom Lindley often greets by shouting “May-jor!” in Spanish; Japanese ITU athlete Misato “Taka” Takagi; and Foster. Lindley’s tone grows more serious when she tells her athletes what she expects from them on today’s ride up Topanga Canyon Road. As we begin the ride north through the morning traffic, she drives close behind, monitoring everyone’s cadence and form. Like Sutton, Lindley is convinced her athletes can make the greatest gains while training as a group and insists on being with them at the pool, the track and on many of their group rides to correct mistakes. “It’s unbelievable how much more you can get out of an athlete by having them there in person,” Lindley said. “If something’s not working, I’ll be able to see right away because I’m right here. What’s happening when they’re falling apart? Is their cadence falling off? Are their shoulders getting too tight? My being there to observe and react and make a change immediately is something I rely on to make those major gains.” Like Sutton, who applied his experience as a thoroughbred horse trainer to read the body language of his athletes, Lindley also has an uncanny ability to read people: their moods, their fears, the things they unconsciously do when they reach their physical limits. “She’s very good at reading athletes,” said Cave. “She caught on to what I need, which is to wind down and relax. I don’t like talking
56 insidetriathlon
•
Lindley calls her home base in Los Angeles and Borrego Springs, Calif., a “more powerful environment” for coaching her athletes than Boulder, Colo.
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siri lindley too much before races, so she always sends me these awesome e-mails with big bold letters and exclamation marks. It’s almost like I can hear her when I’m reading the e-mail.” Lindley acknowledges she’s not a numbers person, but there’s a reason: “There’s a time and a place for heart-rate monitors and power meters, but if you’re depending on them every single day, they put a ceiling on you,” she said. “Because if you hit these numbers, then you think, ‘Oh great, I’m where I need to be.’ But what if you could be this much higher? What if you could go by perceived effort and get 15 percent more out of yourself?” In the increasingly competitive world of ITU and long-course racing, now being won by tenths of a second, Lindley is convinced that mental toughness and confidence in one’s ability to push past pain are what separate winners from losers. It’s the mental side that allows people to break barriers, win races and achieve their true potential. So she constantly challenges her athletes with workouts that take them to the limits of their ability. “My philosophy as far as racing is, your biggest competitor is yourself,” she said. “I never say things that are impossible. But I will always tell them basically something that seems impossible to them, but I know it’s not. So then, it’s a matter of who’s got the guts to believe in themselves, to believe in what I’m saying.” Justin Trolle, a New Zealand ITU coach living in Colorado Springs, Colo., says this style of coaching, common in Australia and New Zealand, is one of the reasons Aussie and Kiwi athletes are so mentally tough, so hard to beat in close races. “If it’s raining outside, an Australian or New Zealand coach is going to send you out on the bike,” he said. “In the U.S., they’re going to put you on a trainer. We have a tendency to soften our athletes too much, so when push comes to shove, they don’t have that aggression.” Later, he added: “I see where Siri is coming from. If you push an athlete to the limit, then back off, it resets the limit.When the pressure’s on and things are hurting, they know what to expect, so it doesn’t shock them.Winning is going to hurt.Winning never feels good until after you cross that line. And I think Siri is particularly good at breeding that toughness into them.” 58 insidetriathlon
Lindley makes no bones about expecting her athletes to go to their limits and warns them that she has little tolerance for unmotivated, uncommitted people. “I remove people who aren’t 100 percent,” she said. “When you have one person in the group who isn’t giving 100 percent, even though they may be slightly motivated, it affects the rest of the group.” She also has no tolerance for those who don’t follow the training programs she develops collaboratively with each of them. One of the most recent casualties of Siri’s program was Desiree Ficker, the runner-up at Kona in 2006 whom Lindley was training for last year’s Ironman
•
Lindley is convinced her athletes can make the greatest gains while training as a group.
Wisconsin. Lindley says she gave Ficker four days off before the race, then found out from the postings of Ficker’s friends on her Facebook page that she had done a track workout and time trial before the race. After dropping out of Wisconsin, she ran the NYC marathon and again, says Lindley, never told her coach. “It’s like entering a relationship.You come to me and I’m going to devote myself to you. That’s what my major weakness is,” she said, pausing while trying to find the right words as tears welled up in her eyes. “Something like Desiree disappearing really breaks my heart because I’m choosing to believe in them 1,000 percent, too.”
siri lindley
The lessons that Lindley learned the hard way after failing to make the 2000 Olympic team are now the mantras she repeats to her athletes: Believe in yourself. Leave no stone unturned. Experience everything in training you expect to experience in a race. And they are the principles with which both athlete and coach used to design The Plan that guided Carfrae through her first Ironman and then her first Ironman World Championship win. Many coaches might have tried to prepare Carfrae for Kona with one Ironman after another. But Lindley wanted her to retain her shortcourse speed and build her strength by training her to race faster 70.3s.With no background in 70.3 racing, much less in Ironman, Lindley didn’t know if that approach would work. But her instincts told her it was the way to go. “I told Rinny, ‘I don’t know much about this, but this sport is going to transform just like every other distance has in triathlon, and I’m going to train you to race it just like an Olympic-distance race back-to-back,’” Lindley said. “And that’s how we approached it: trial and error. I adjusted her training to what we needed to do to hold that same Olympic distance effort for a half-Ironman.” In October 2007, the two brought the rest of Lindley’s athletes to the Big Island for a training camp geared toward preparing for the Ironman World Championship 70.3. But the more important subtext was learning about Kona. They watched the Ironman.They spoke to Mark Allen, Karen Smyers, Paula Newby-Fraser, Greg Welch,Wendy Ingraham and Scott Tinley. “I asked millions of questions. I was very annoying,” Lindley recalled. “It was amazing how different everyone’s ideas were. I read old books on the Ironman. Rinny communicated her ideas and we communicated a lot about what our game plan was going to be.” In the first few years of training together, 60 insidetriathlon
Lindley took the driver’s seat, but she would always take into consideration what Carfrae thought about the program and make adjustments accordingly. “Once I stepped up to Ironman, which was uncharted territory for the both of us, I think we evolved into a great team with a huge amount of mutual respect,” Carfrae said. “We were both 100 percent committed to racing Ironman at the highest level possible, and we both had our own ideas to bring to the table. We didn’t always agree, but we were able to put the puzzle together and work out what the absolute best plan would be.” Carfrae won the Ironman World Championship 70.3 in Clearwater, Fla., the following month, which provided her with an entry into Kona for 2008, but the two decided to defer it until 2009, when Carfrae would be fully ready. At the start of 2009, Lindley says, “The game plan was geared toward having a totally awesome 70.3 season. Our long rides were getting longer, and our long runs were getting a little bit longer. We were doing
efficiency and strength on the bike. “Her pedal stroke was not strong all the way around, so we worked on that,” said Lindley. “She hated it and swore at me every day but eventually developed a nice pedal stroke.We were building strength with lots of hill climbing. I was asking her to do things a different way that really took her out of her comfort zone. “What I knew is that this was a strength race.You’ve got to be strong from start to finish. So the most important word that came to my mind in every area was strength in swim, bike, run. It was all about building up her strength to go out on a six-hour ride or a two-and-a-half-hour run.” While neither had done an Ironman, both coach and athlete had enough confidence in one another, enough of a stake in The Plan they had devised together, that there was no second-guessing, no need to see if it would pass muster with another coach. “I’m sure I could have gone to Brett and said, ‘Please help me with this, help me understand what I need to do,’” Lindley
“Once I stepped up to Ironman, which was uncharted territory for the both of us, I think we evolved into a great team with a huge amount of mutual respect.” —Mirinda Carfrae
more second runs. Things were changing, but not in any massive way. Then when we got to a certain point in our season, July 1, Ironman training started.” While Carfrae was running faster off the bike, Lindley felt she needed to increase her
said about her personal role. “But I needed to figure it out ... I need[ed] to figure out if I had what it took to be successful as a coach, first at the Olympic distance, then 70.3, then the Ironman. “This sport is still evolving and it is
siri lindley continuing to evolve in huge ways every year. I don’t want to be following the plan of the day—this is how athletes do Ironman. I wanted to use the things I felt comfortable with—the things that when I present them to the athletes who I know, if we execute them properly, this is going to be the result. I need to be in a place that’s comfortable, with a good gut feeling that this type of training is going to work. It has to be authentic to me. It has to be something that feels right for me.” Carfrae’s 2009 race, in which she broke Wellington’s marathon record, was a conservative one, but that’s exactly what the two of them had intended.Their goal was long-term, to come back in 2010 with a faster, stronger race. “I felt like I had the potential to race a fast Ironman, but you just never really know until
•
Lindley insists on being with her athletes at the pool, the track and on many of their group rides to correct mistakes.
62 InsIdeTrIaThlon
you get out there and experience it firsthand,” said Carfrae about her 2009 race. “Even though I felt I ran well that day, I knew that I had the ability to run a faster marathon the next time around.” Their formula worked in 2009 and again in 2010 and has given both the confidence that Carfrae’s on the right track to go faster still this year. “There is a really wonderful and beautiful progression going from Olympic to 70.3 to Ironman,” said Lindley. “It really does all fit together. And you can take all the things that work for one distance and transform them and tweak them and make them work for the next.” Carfrae’s win in Kona last fall was more than a victory for Lindley. It was vindication of Lindley’s decision to retire at the peak of her athletic career and confirmation that
the same instincts that guided her to win the world’s most competitive short-course distance race—the ITU World Championships—could be applied successfully to help another athlete win the world’s most competitive long-course race. “I think the biggest accomplishment that Siri felt from that win was coaching an Ironman athlete, not an Olympic-distance athlete, which was where everyone thought Siri’s expertise was,” said Harrop, whom Lindley visited in Australia to celebrate after Kona last year. “For Siri, the win has cemented in her own mind that she is not just a good coach, she is a great coach.” Lindley’s mentor, Sutton, has even stronger words of praise, saying that with time and experience, “She will be the best triathlon coach in America.” IT
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PREPARE FOR THE B R I T I S H
INVASION A trip across the pond reveals Britainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s greatest threat to triathlon. By Courtney Baird
INSIDETRIATHLON 65
• Alistair Brownlee’s famous
collapse in London.
66 insidetriathlon
“And someone was like, ‘I think you came in 10th. I’ll just check.’ I’m like, ‘How the hell did I come in 10th?’” As far as anyone could tell—because no one really knows what went wrong—he hadn’t absorbed any food or water in the previous several hours, perhaps because he had some sort of stomach bug. So he had started the race already dehydrated and depleted of fuel. That he was able to almost win that race on that summer day in London in 2010 is a frightening thought for all those who are looking for a weakness in Brownlee’s armor. “He’s not afraid of blowing up, [of] making things happen,” said Joel Filliol, who worked with Brownlee while he was head coach of the British Triathlon Federation from 2009 until he resigned from the position in March. “He’s not afraid to do that, [which is] a fantastic way for spectators to watch, but equally it shows he’s just not afraid—that’s a real asset.” And what is perhaps more frightening for the professional triathletes out there who are gunning for gold or a medal at the 2012 Olympics is that Alistair Brownlee’s brother Jonathan—the last person he remembers running past him in London—is primed and ready to join him among the ranks of the world’s best short-course racers.
Previous page: Dave Tyrrell; This page, left: Delly Carr / triathlon.org; middle and right: Nigel Farrow
listair Brownlee, 22, gives new meaning to the phrase “I’d rather die than lose.” The 2009 ITU short-course world champion raced so hard at the ITU World Championship Series event in London last year that he drove himself unconscious. In fact, you could argue he nearly killed himself. Nearing the final straightaway, he was in a familiar position: primed to outkick Spain’s Javier Gomez. But suddenly and unexplainably, he let up. His face drained of all color. He began wobbling. “My last memory was being right behind Gomez with about 300 meters to go and [my brother] Jonny just coming past me, and at that point I thought if I just hold on to Gomez, I can outkick him the last 100 meters. I’ll win and be fine,” Brownlee said. “And then my memory goes blank, like literally blank.” Unconscious for nearly 30 minutes, he says, with his temperature rising to about 109 degrees Fahrenheit, his next memory is waking up on a hospital bed, covered in ice and with wires coming out of his chest and drips in his arms. “I just remember asking, ‘Where did I come? Where did I come?’” Brownlee said.
813-909-1441
• “I find [pressure] quite hard to
or those who don’t follow the ITU, Alistair Brownlee burst onto the scene in 2009, when he won every race he entered in the ITU’s premier World Championship Series. What was so fascinating about Brownlee’s dominance was that he established it while racing against Spain’s Gomez, a man whose profile on the ITU’s website resembles binary code, given that there are so many “1”s in it. It was difficult to imagine that someone could so swiftly establish dominance over the “almighty dominant one.” And yet that was precisely what Brownlee accomplished. In 2010, Brownlee faltered a bit, as it was a year marred by injury and illness. After winning the first World Championship Series race of his season, in Madrid, Brownlee placed 10th at the series’ race in London and 40th at the race in Kitzbühel, Austria. But he came back with a vengeance, outkicking Gomez for the win in the final stretch of the 68 insidetriathlon
2010 ITU World Championship Grand Final, in Budapest, Hungary. “[After T2] Alistair started to run really, really fast. I just tried to keep up the whole time,” Gomez told an ITU reporter after the race. “I gave everything.” This from the man who is known as the Michael Jordan of triathlon. Alistair’s brother Jonathan, 20, also put his stamp on 2010, coming in second at the World Championship Series race in London, behind Gomez, by posting the second-fastest run split of the day (29:33). It was a podium spot at one of the most competitive races of the year. Jonathan, who goes by Jonny, also became a double world champion in 2010 by winning the Under-23 world title in Budapest and the ITU Elite Sprint Triathlon World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland. Jonny’s coaches were particularly happy with his Under-23 win, as he went into the race as the heavy favorite and came out on top. “I was really pleased with how [Jonny]
handled going into Budapest,” said Malcolm Brown, who works primarily as Alistair and Jonny’s running coach. “I think he won because he performed well. It wasn’t a fortuitous thing. He took it by the scruff of the neck and handled the pressure.” Both Brownlees are consummate triathletes—they are top 10 swimmers, two of the best cyclists on the ITU circuit and among the handful of the fastest runners. (Alistair’s fastest run split yet is 28:43.) “[Alistair’s] strongest point is that he doesn’t have weak points,” said Gomez, who is Alistair’s rival on the ITU circuit and teammate on the French Grand Prix circuit. “He’s one of the best swimmers, a more than solid cyclist and, well, we all know how fast he can run. So if you want to beat him, you need to have the race of your life and run under 29:30, which is not easy. Jonny is kind of the same, but he is still very young. He has already shown a couple of really amazing performances, and I have no doubt that he is
Dave Tyrrell
worry about.” —Alistair
going to be at least as good as Alistair.” Contrary to the reputation that ITU athletes have for dogging it on the bike, the Brownlees like to make each race a “full-on triathlon,” as they would tell you, and hammer the swim, bike and run. For Alistair, his racing style is a personality thing—he thinks it gives him the best shot at winning. “I think it’s quite risky, isn’t it?” Alistair said. “You know, if you take it on and really kill yourself on the bike, which you can do— Jonny did it this year, at the European champs in Athlone [Ireland]—you can then come 50th. Whereas if you don’t take it on, and sit in the pack, then you’re pretty much guaranteed a top 10/15 because you’re a good enough runner. That’s a bit safer, but then you’re never gonna win like that either.” Alistair isn’t kidding. Many of his major victories have been off of breakaways on the bike, including his win at the 2010 Athlone ETU Triathlon European Championships, where he took off with Gomez, Jonny and two other athletes and essentially time-trialed it through brutally windy conditions. “I ran about 40 minutes because the bike was the hardest bike I’ve ever done in my life,” Jonny said of the race. Alistair ran 30:54, 36 seconds faster than Gomez.
he Brownlees grew up in the outdoors, in Yorkshire, a region in northern England. They spent many weekends walking in the countryside— a striking patchwork of steep valleys and moorland, crisscrossed by stone fences and dotted with sheep and farmhouses—with their parents, who are both doctors. Their mother put them in swimming when each was about 6, and the cross-country races weren’t far behind. As children, they also took up “fell running,” a discipline that consists of running over fells, which are essentially steep hills in northern England and Scotland. “We spent weekends walking and coming back from a long walk on Sunday and going 70 insidetriathlon
straight [to] swimming and that kind of thing—so [we were a] really active family,” Jonny said. Alistair decided to give triathlon a go when he was 10, and he and Jonny soon began
years, helping them with their foot plant, stride frequency and length, and other aspects of their running form. Their training revolves around a consistent structure—they almost always do
“[Alistair] is the best and he knows it, and he does not tolerate people beating him. ... [This] provides an amazing capacity to drive himself to places that many athletes struggle to replicate.” —Oliver Freeman
participating in a national triathlon series that took them all over England. When Alistair turned 14, he began training with a development squad in the city of Leeds, England, that was headed by Jack Maitland, a man whose training philosophy can be summed up in four words: “Get on with it,” according to Alistair. Jonny wasn’t far behind. Their lives are very much the same nowadays. They still train with Maitland and his squad, which is based out of Leeds Metropolitan University. They typically train 30 to 35 hours per week either together or with large groups of athletes, and they are almost always outside, running or even mountain biking through snow if necessary. Those who know them will tell you that they do what they do simply because they love it. “They’re not too bothered by high-tech bits or fancy training kits—they really just love to be outdoors and train,” Filliol said. “There’s something sort of raw, like, if you took away the racing part, they’d still be out there running in the trails and hills and cycling around North Yorkshire.” I first met Alistair and Jonny in February, after they had finished their weekly Monday morning run and before a session of stretching and running drills with a physiotherapist. The drills are part of a program headed by Brown, who has been working with the Brownlees for several
intense track workouts on Tuesday nights and long swims on Wednesday mornings, for example—and each day is filled with what seems like an unending stream of various activities: running, cycling, swimming, weights, drills and eating. Despite their status as hardworking professional triathletes who are famous within the triathlon world, at home they act like regular boys in their early 20s. They show up to practice at Leeds Met with trash bags full of recyclables stuffed in the back of Alistair’s BMW. And Alistair isn’t afraid to have a beer (an American brand, in my honor) with his friends, just as Jonny isn’t afraid to go home to his parents’ house to seek coddling for a cold he’s been nursing. Unquestionably related, the two share the same ivory skin tone, and a mop of curly brown hair sits atop their heads. Alistair is taller and lankier than Jonny, and while both of them are trim and sinewy, their build belies their world-class athleticism. They have disarming, genuine smiles and intelligent eyes, which match their personalities. It doesn’t take long to realize that both Alistair and Jonny are extremely bright. At one point during my stay in Leeds, I asked Jonny about the “northern England/ southern England” rivalry among the British, and to begin explaining it to me, he launched into a history lesson about his county,Yorkshire, and its rivalry with the neighboring
county of Lancashire. “It dates back to the War of the Roses, which is just before the Tudor times, like the 1400s,” he begins. He spoke to me like a historian would, which isn’t surprising, as he had just finished a two-hour seminar on Thomas More, one he’s taking as part of his bachelor’s degree in history from Leeds University. Alistair, who studied medicine at Cambridge University for a term before deciding to transfer to Leeds University so he could concentrate on triathlon, is also working on a degree: a master’s in finance from Leeds Met. His work at Leeds University earned him a bachelor’s in physiology and sport. In what little spare time he has, Alistair is an avid reader; at the moment, he’s reading books on philosophy. Alistair also has a tendency to answer questions about triathlon and racing with a wisdom that is common among the veterans of the sport, men with years of professional 72 insidetriathlon
racing behind them. When I ask him where his renowned mental toughness comes from, he says that he doesn’t know, but that if he could answer my question he probably would “not be able to do it anymore.” The boys live together and with a roommate in a house that Alistair bought in 2009. Prior to buying the house in the village of Bramhope, outside Leeds, they lived with their parents. “Neither of us lived away when we went to uni [university] because we went to uni in Leeds, and it was best,” Alistair said. “It was probably good for us because that’s a really difficult move, I think, for loads of athletes. It was really good for us staying at home.” The house they live in is surprisingly clean for one that is occupied by three college-age boys.Yet their age still shines through—their television sits atop a “table” of bricks and wooden boards. There’s a beanbag in the middle of the living room. Their stereo is
wreathed in jumbled wires. But there are soft touches to their home as well. They’ve hung framed posters from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which Alistair qualified for by beating all of the British athletes at the ITU’s 2008 Madrid BG Triathlon, where he placed third overall. He was barely 20 years old at the time and would go on to place 12th in Beijing. They’ve hung collages of pictures in their dining room, and the pictures include one of Alistair, Jonny and Gomez crossing the finish line as a team at a race on the French Grand Prix circuit, as well as one of Alistair and Jonny showing off the medals they earned at Budapest. Their bookshelf is bursting—its books include the “Lore of Running” and “Running Legends”—and it harbors a few awards from Great Britain’s 220 Triathlon magazine. Although Alistair and Jonny are brothers, training partners and, technically, rivals, they are, above all else, friends. “We’re good friends, not just brothers,”
Nigel Farrow
• Alistair and Jonny, right, like to race the full triathlon and hammer the swim, bike and run.
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Jonny said. “Because we live together. And we do a lot of other things together, like go to cinema together, go out for meals together, spend lots of time together, travel to races together. So we’re really, really good friends.” When they ride together, they ride side by side, their mouths moving almost incessantly as they pedal. And they never say an unkind word about the other, even when they are goaded. And if they do complain about one another, it is always with a laugh and never in malice. Alistair even lets his brother stay at his home rent-free. When I asked Alistair about Jonny not paying him rent, something that Jonny “can’t face” doing, Alistair responds by saying: “He’s supposed to pay rent, yeah, indeed, but he hasn’t paid for a while. We’re going eight months now at least without any rent.” “How come he doesn’t pay you?” I ask. “Because he’s stingy. That’s why. ... Jonny doesn’t even pay for the bills at the moment,” Alistair answers, laughing. “Really?” “Yeah. That’s how stingy he is.” “But he says he does other things, like shopping.” “Yeah, but he doesn’t,” Alistair says with an air of lightheartedness and humor. “No. He thinks he goes shopping, but he only goes shopping the same amount as everyone else.” Curious to get more insight into their relationship, I ask Alistair, who is one of the favorites, if not the favorite, for gold at the London Olympics, how he would feel if Jonny beat him
to win than anyone else,” Alistair said. “He’s a great athlete, and I think, living so close to him, you realize more than anyone else, you know how hard he works and how much he deserves [it]. It’s very easy to accept. He trains equally as hard as me.”
f Alistair Brownlee can accept being beaten by his good friend and brother, it’s not something he will take lying down. Indeed, if there is one immutable constant that runs through the personalities of champions in every sport it is that they are fiercely competitive. But Alistair’s will to dominate his opposition takes this ethos to unheard-of heights. This ferocious will to win, however, only comes out at certain times, such as in races, or when you talk to him long enough about triathlon. His everyday demeanor is akin to California cool. Beginning a run 30 minutes past schedule is no big deal, or cutting a ride short when the weather is particularly cold and wet doesn’t bother him much either. It’s not that he doesn’t get his training done—he always does, because that’s what he loves to do—but he doesn’t seem to let life’s little annoyances get him down. Just like he doesn’t let the pressure of expectations and the press and the upcoming Olympics in his home country concern him. “I find [pressure] quite hard to worry
“We’re good friends, not just brothers. Because we live together. And we do a lot of other things together, like go to cinema together. ... We’re really, really good friends.” —Jonny Brownlee
out for the sport’s most coveted medal. “Yeah, uh, [I] might be like, ‘Oh, well done.’You know? It’s like, if I wasn’t going to win, I suppose in any race, I’d prefer he’d be the next best thing, you know. I prefer him 74 insidetriathlon
about, really. ... It is so cliché, but, really, the most important thing is the pressure you put on yourself,” Alistair said. But underneath Alistair’s laid-back disposition is a dominating spirit and desire to win
that is unparalleled in triathlon. It is startling. “Put me in a race, and I’ll race anyone,” Alistair said. During a long conversation with Alistair, he told me that when he stood on the line in Beijing during the Olympics—a race he was surprised to just qualify for, given he was so young—he wanted to win. Most people in his position would just be happy to be there, to participate. Not Alistair Brownlee. “By the time you get to the start line, that happy-to-be-there attitude turns to ‘I-wantto-win’ attitude, even though it’s probably quite unreasonable,” he said. He raced like he wanted to win as well. He went for it on the run and was leading for a portion of the race. With 3K to go, he was in a position to win, and he probably could have if he were just a bit older, with a little more training under his belt. Initially, he was disappointed with his 12thplace finish. “I was like, ‘What did I do? What an idiot. With 3K to go I was right there. What the hell happened?’” he said. But when he reflected on the experience, he realized that it was the best he had ever raced up to that point in his life, and he felt proud. Alistair says that one of the keys to triathlon is learning how to get good results when you’re having a bad day. To him, London was one such day where he proved he could do this, as he was “nearly winning” until the final straightaway, even though he was “massively overheated, massively dehydrated [and] had no energy [because] I hadn’t absorbed any food,” he said. Another such day was Madrid in 2010. It was the first race of his season and he was “pretty unfit,” he said, as he was coming off a stress fracture in his femur that allowed him very little training during the winter. Despite his lack of preparation, he pulled off the win. If you want to get a taste of Alistair’s ferocity and will to dominate, watch this race in Madrid. After being instrumental in a breakaway on the bike that goes into T2 more than a minute ahead of the chase pack, he finds himself in a duel with Courtney Atkinson of
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Australia. They ran the entire 10K together, with Alistair matching every surge that Atkinson made—always answering each surge by putting himself at least a half-step in front of Atkinson. With about 500 meters to go, Alistair surges a final time, and Atkinson breaks. But it is Alistair who was the most spent—as he crosses the finish line, he is so depleted of energy that he can’t raise the finish tape above him. He collapses to the ground and lies in a corner of the finish straightaway while his defeated competitors file past him. Atkinson has no trouble standing. “It’s scary that a guy with that kind of talent is also that tough and can push himself into collapse,” said Cliff English, a highperformance coach and obsessive observer of the ITU. Alistair’s ferocity comes out in training as well. During a recent training camp he participated in in Tenerife, Canary Islands, the only thing that could stop him from riding to the top of an 8,000-foot peak was a police officer. 76 insidetriathlon
Neither darkness (his coach followed behind in headlights) nor temperatures cold enough for snow nor a long line of cars waiting behind could prevail over him— only the law. “I didn’t want to get off,” Alistair said. “Malcolm was following behind with the headlights on and there’s snow on the side of the road and I had hardly any clothes, and I just don’t want to get off—I don’t want to get off. And then I got pulled over just before I got to the top.” Maitland remembers an open water elimination session around a buoy several years ago. At the start of every round, Alistair, not the strongest swimmer among the group at the time and the smallest physically, insisted on taking the shortest line around the buoy, even though he was getting pummeled by his teammates. To him, the beating didn’t matter. What mattered was ensuring he wasn’t eliminated. After I got home from England, I asked myself if perhaps I had misinterpreted Alistair’s ferocity, so I set about confirming it with the
coaches and athletes who know him best. They all agreed with my interpretation. “Ali is very competitive and it can come out in [training] sessions as well as races, for better and worse,” said Oliver Freeman, a professional ITU athlete who recently retired and who has known the Brownlees since he was about 16. “He is the best and he knows it, and he does not tolerate people beating him. Whether this is from pride or selfrespect, I’m not qualified to say, but either way it provides an amazing capacity to drive himself to places that many athletes struggle to replicate.” At the time of this writing, Alistair’s Twitter profile contains a picture of him in what looks like some sort of fell race or cross-country race. He’s young—probably in primary school. His knee is bloodied and his face, arms, legs and clothes are covered in mud. And the look in his eyes says, “I am going to destroy you.” This picture was pointed out to me by coach Filliol. He mentioned it to me when I asked him for an explanation as to why both
Nigel Farrow
• Alistair and his biggest rival to date on the ITU circuit, Javier Gomez, far right, also compete as teammates in the French Grand Prix series.
Alistair and Jonny are so good. Fingering the fierce look on Alistair’s face, he says, “If you could bottle up that attitude, then you have your answer.” As to whether Jonny has a similar ferocity, that’s a question that will be answered in time. He hasn’t raced as many senior races as Alistair has and it’s too early in his career to tell. But those who know him think he has what it takes to be a champion. “Jonny is equally driven, but in a more introverted way,” Freeman said. “I think this is because Jonny grew up being used to his
brother always beating him, and Ali is the other way around.” Despite the boys’ talent, drive, work ethic and willingness to race hard, there’s no guarantee that either of them will win gold or even a medal in London. That’s precisely what makes the Olympics so special—anything can happen on a day that only comes around once every four years, especially with both of them having gigantic bull’s-eyes on their backs. But that Alistair and Jonny are friends and brothers means they have a weapon none of
their competitors possesses. “If there are 10 favorites or whatever, if already me and Alistair are in the 10 favorites and not working against each other, then we’re already going to be stronger than the rest,” Jonny said. “Well, hopefully.” And regardless of what happens at the Olympics in 2012, there’s no reason that the Brownlees can’t have long and prosperous careers in triathlon and go down as two of the greatest triathletes of all time. For the sake of our sport, let’s hope they do. IT
Nigel Farrow
• Jonny, left, and Alistair show off the medals they won in Budapest..
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A Week in the Life of a Brownlee Mon tue
75-minute easy run in the morning (most of their running is off-road), running drills with physiotherapist, weights in the gym, 1-hour swim, easy few hours on the bike in the afternoon. Hard swim at 7 a.m., easy 30-minute jog, easy hour-long spin on the bike, hard track session at night.
sWiM session: Warm-up: 200 free 200 as 25 catch-up, 25 stroke 200 back 200 as 25 with fists, 25 stroke Kick: 6 x 100 descending in pairs Prep: 3 x 100, building by 25 4 x 50 descending
track session: Warm-up a few miles 6 strides 1 x 300 fast, 100 jog 3 x 800 in 2:16, with a 200-meter jog in between 3 x 600 in 99 seconds, with a 200-meter jog in between 300 fast Cool-down a few miles
Main set: 18 x 100 on the 1:25, making the following times: 1:15, 1:10, 1:05 Cool-down: 2 x (100 back, 100 free) “It was quite an easy session,” Alistair said after jumping out of the pool. Wed
Long, easy intervals in the pool, 75-minute run, 3-hour ride in the afternoon.
thu
Easy swim in the morning, 1-hour run, and a 1.5- to 2-hour bike or a hard group ride, depending on what time of the year it is.
Fri
Medium hard to hard swim in the morning, weights in the gym, 1-hour run, 1- to 1.5-hour bike ride.
sat
Hard intervals on the grass, 3- to 4-hour ride in the afternoon, easy jog in the evening.
sun
Long ride and long run*.
*The Brownlees’ long rides are anywhere from 3 to 4.5 hours, and their running mileage can get as high as 70 miles per week, depending on the time of year.
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THE GREAT DEBATE: WHEN WILL KENYA DISCOVER TRIATHLON?
In triathlon parlor games, Kenya seems like the perfect pick for a future triathlon powerhouse. But the real world isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite so simple. By Matt Fitzgerald | Photographs by Frederic Courbet
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INSIDETRIATHLON 83
• Running ability does not transfer into triathlon performance as readily as one might assume.
C
onsider, if you will, the following illustration of deductive reasoning: Great runners often make very good triathletes. Kenya is a nation that produces lots of great runners. Therefore Kenya ought to be able to produce some very good triathletes. Many of us have thought through this three-step logical sequence in the privacy of our minds. Some of us have gone a step further and played a little parlor game with fellow triathletes, of predicting what would happen if one or more Kenyan runners added swimming and cycling to their training and entered a major triathlon competition. One triathlete has gone even further and carried out this experiment. In 1998, Kevin Schwieger, a triathlete and Presbyterian minister in Ohio, started a triathlete development program in Kenya. Born and raised by missionary parents in that country, Schwieger retained a passion for all things Kenyan that got mixed 84 INSIDETRIATHLON
with his passion for triathlon as an adult. “I began to think, boy, Kenyans have dominated the sport of distance running,” he recalled. “It just makes sense that they would also be good at triathlon, which is also an endurance event.” A frequent visitor to Kenya for missionary work, including sports-related projects, Schwieger organized a triathlon camp in the capital city of Nairobi with a view toward grooming some Kenyan athletes for the debut Olympic Triathlon in 2000 and establishing
ambition was on the first day of the first camp, when exactly one boy showed up. Schwieger was able to round up more attendees by advertising free lunches, which goes over well in a nation with rampant poverty, only to discover that none of them knew how to swim. “There are very few opportunities to even get in a body of water in Kenya,” Schwieger said. “There’s just a handful of swimming pools in the whole country.” One of those pools existed at the private
Very few truly world-class runners have ever given triathlon a serious go, but those who have tried the experiment have not only been out-swum by better swimmers and outridden by better cyclists, but they’ve also been outrun by inferior runners. a national system of triathlete development that would eventually make Kenya a global powerhouse in the sport. Schwieger began to see how naïve his
school where the camp was held. Two of the young men who proved brave enough to enter it were Silvester Daudi and Titus Mutinda. “These guys had literally never been in
water up to their waists before,” Schwieger said. “The first time they jumped in the pool they were so fearful that water was going to go in their ears and up their noses. They literally just kind of fell down in the water. It was like teaching a toddler to swim.” To their credit, Daudi, then 22, and Mutinda, 34, persevered, eventually learning to swim with competence, if not with much speed. They also learned how to ride bikes without falling over, and were able to transfer some of their running ability to two wheels. Running itself, of course, was not a problem. While Daudi and Mutinda were nothing special by Kenyan standards, they were both exceptional by triathlon standards. Daudi was capable of running marathons in the low 2:30s, and Mutinda was even faster. In 2002, Schwieger brought the two men to the United States to continue training and to compete in some triathlons. They gained valuable experience in a series of shortcourse events in Ohio and then traveled to Madison, Wis., for the inaugural Ironman Wisconsin. This was to be their grand coming-out party, the shocking debut that would make the world stand up and take notice. It didn’t quite work out that day. Daudi finished 442nd, in 11:43:47. Mutinda (whose name appears as Titus Nzwili in the results) was almost 40 minutes back, in 774th position.
•
Leading scientists say there is no support for the idea that Kenyans are better runners from birth and thus somehow have more potential for triathlon.
opened the floodgates for the East African takeover of distance running. RUNNING BODIES VS. TRIATHLON BODIES
The reason Mutinda and Daudi did not set the triathlon world on fire is that running ability does not translate into triathlon performance as readily as Schwieger might have assumed. While swimming, cycling and
Science suggests that the physiological demands of running on fresh legs and running off the bike are sufficiently different.
“They spent several hours looking forward to the run,” Schwieger summarized. But they did not even run especially well. Mutinda ran a 3:23:36 marathon, 37th best in the race, while Daudi managed a solid but unexceptional 3:16:35, which was bettered by 16 others. Both men were pretty much done with triathlon after that. Considering where they started, they achieved quite a lot. However, they fell far short of achieving enough to unleash the great Kenyan invasion of triathlon in the way that Ethiopian Abebe Bikila’s surprise victory in the 1960 Olympic Marathon 86 INSIDETRIATHLON
running are all endurance activities with a fundamental similarity in their demands on the cardiorespiratory system, they are rather different on other levels. For example, on the level of body structure, swimmers benefit from a certain amount of upper-body mass and strength, cyclists from lower-body mass and strength, and runners from whole-body skinniness. Obviously, these characteristics are to some degree mutually contradictory. Therefore, an athlete whose body is ideally structured for freestyle swimming is not ideally structured for cycling or running. By
the same token, the perfect cycling body is not the perfect swimming or running body and the ideal running physique is not the ideal swimming or cycling physique. The best triathletes are those whose bodies blend the ideals for the three sports. Such hybrids are typically smaller than the best swimmers, less powerful and thigh-heavy than the best cyclists, and bigger than the best runners. For example, a 1991 study at San Diego State University reported that a group of highlevel female triathletes were, on average, shorter than Olympic swimmers and heavier than Olympic runners. (Cyclists were not included in the study.) Mutinda and Daudi had classic runners’ bodies. As such they lacked the upper-body strength to swim well and the thigh power to really excel on the bike. But what’s interesting is that these Kenyans did not even run with great success at Ironman Wisconsin, which suggests that the physiological demands of running on fresh legs and running off the bike are sufficiently different that the best pure runners cannot even be expected to become the best triathlon runners. A small body of scientific research has taken the first step toward explaining why some triathletes run better off the bike than others. In a 2010 study published in the Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, researchers at the University of Queensland, Australia, measured muscle recruitment and movement patterns in a group of triathletes while they ran on fresh legs and also after a bike ride.They found that running
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Runners in Iten, Kenya: Evidence suggests that the intense popularity of running in Kenya is the single biggest contributor to Kenyan dominance in the sport. Triathlon doesn’t share the same popularity.
movement patterns were altered after cycling in roughly half of the athletes, and that these alterations were associated with reduced running economy. A second study by the same researchers found that economy-spoiling changes in running form were much less common in a group of elite triathletes, but still evident. These findings suggest that something in the physiology or neuromuscular wiring of certain athletes allows them to run better off the bike than others. While we don’t yet know what that attribute is, real-world evidence suggests that it is distinct from the attributes that underlie pure running ability. Very few truly world-class runners have ever given triathlon a serious go, but those who have tried have not only been out-swum by better swimmers and outridden by better cyclists, they’ve also been outrun by inferior runners. Consider the case of Greg Whiteley, one of the best pure runners ever to become a triathlete. Whiteley recorded personal best times of 3:55 for the mile, 7:49 for 3000 meters, and 13:24 for 5000 meters before switching to triathlon in 1996 with hopes of qualifying for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team in that sport. A pretty good swimmer and cyclist, Whiteley assumed that his huge advantage over the top American pros in running would more than 88 INSIDETRIATHLON
make up for his relatively small disadvantages in swimming and cycling. Not so. For example, in the 1999 Memphis in May Triathlon, Whiteley managed only the second-fastest 10K run split. Outrunning him by 15 seconds in that race was Jamey Yon, whose best pure 5K time was more than two minutes (or 16 percent) slower than Whiteley’s best. And at longer distances Whiteley’s running was even less of a strength. At Ironman Canada, also in 1999, Whiteley recorded just the seventh-fastest run split (3:09:59), losing time to athletes he could have destroyed in a straight marathon. THE MYTH OF GENETIC SUPERIORITY
It is obvious that many Kenyans have an excellent body type for running. Scott Douglas wrote in a Slate.com article about a training trip to Kenya: “Under the heavy clothing, I can make out ideal frames for distance running—short torsos, high waists, narrow hips, inverted-teardrop thighs, nearly nonexistent calves. As I plod around in a T-shirt and shorts, I feel less like the 132-pound runner that I am than a fleshy, squat 40-year-old with cankles getting in a few miles before work.”
Such observations are backed up by science. While it is often considered taboo to discuss population-based differences in anatomy, measurements have been taken and it’s simply a demonstrated fact that Kenyans are generally more ectomorphic than most populations. However, as we have seen, the ideal running body is not the ideal swimming, cycling or triathlon body, so the idea that Kenyans have special innate potential to excel in triathlon simply because they have natural running ability is naïve and false. But the naïveté of this notion may go even deeper than the mistaken assumption that a good body for running is a good body for triathlon. The reasons for Kenyan dominance in distance running have been hotly discussed for decades. A sizable fraction of those who have an opinion on the matter believe that Kenyans have a genetic advantage over Caucasians and other “races” (scare quotes are used because Kenyan is not a race) with respect to running. But this too is false. Leading experts on the genetics of athletic performance say there is no support for the idea that Kenyans are better runners from birth. Among these experts is Stephen Roth, Ph.D., director of the functional genomics laboratory at the University of Maryland.
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According to Roth, the idea that Kenyans have genetic advantages as runners is based on very shallow assumptions about the relationships between genes, race and athletic performance. Perhaps the most egregious assumption is that there is one set of perfect genes for running performance, of which the average Kenyan has more. In fact, says Roth, the evidence suggests that the genetic underpinnings of running performance are so complex that it’s possible to have enough natural talent to be a great runner with all kinds of different gene combinations. “We’ve found a handful of genes that contribute to performance-related traits, but they explain a very small amount of the variability that we see,” Roth said. This means that having some of the known “running genes” is no guarantee of great running ability, while not having them is no guarantee of poor running ability, and it also suggests that there are many, many more as-yet-unknown genes that influence running performance. “So in all likelihood,” Roth said, “whatever genetic combination might contribute to Mr. Smith’s marathon performance might be a completely different combination than what’s contributing to Mr. Jones’ marathon performance, even though they’re equally excellent athletes.” It is true that in some populations, including that of Kenya’s Kalenjin tribe in the Rift Valley that produces most of the country’s top runners, particular favorable running traits may be common. But that signifies little, as no single genetic trait is indispensable to high-level running. For example, a few studies comparing Caucasian and Kenyan runners have noted that Kenyan runners tend to be more economical. They also tend to have smaller calf circumferences, an anthropometric difference that could partly account for their better running economy. Some have interpreted this dubious connecting of the dots as proof that Caucasian runners are at a hopeless genetic disadvantage in relation to Kenyans, but that’s a bunch of baloney. It is no more necessary to have “Kenyan calves” to be a great runner than it is necessary to be a certain height. According to Roth, there are literally trillions of different possible bodies that have the potential to reach the highest level of running, and they’re not all Kenyan. Another bad assumption hidden in the idea 90 INSIDETRIATHLON
that Kenyan running dominance is genetically based is that Kenyans have certain genes favorable to running that are completely absent in other populations. Not so. “Any genetic advantage found in Kenya or in Africa will be found across the world,” Roth said. “The proportion in which that genetic advantage is found could be different. Clearly we have these different ‘races’ that are distinguishable in part based on their genetic background. So the unique combination of these gene variants that are found in Kenya may very well be a combination that you don’t find elsewhere around the world.
But the idea that there’s a unique handful of genetic mutations that are found nowhere else in the world is incorrect.” Because all of the genes that are favorable to running performance exist in every population, odds are that, at any given time, the most genetically gifted runner in the United States (or any other large population) is just as naturally talented as the most genetically gifted Kenyan. Our best are as good as their best. Now, as Roth suggests, it is possible, although unproven, that certain genes or combinations of genes favorable to running performance may be more common in Kenya
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than elsewhere. But this does not mean their best runners have an advantage over ours. It just means they may have more runners of the highest talent level than we do. THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPORTING DOMINANCE
If genes do not explain Kenyan dominance in running, then what does? You can’t explain any phenomenon satisfactorily without looking at it as an example of a type. For example, you can’t explain why the French Revolution occurred without understanding how social revolutions occur generally. And you can’t explain why Kenyans dominate distance running without understanding why individual nations dominate individual sports generally. Canada has a tradition of global dominance in ice hockey. Do they have better skating and stick handling genes there? Cuba rules Olympic boxing. Is there superior punching DNA on that island? Hungary has been a water polo powerhouse for decades. Are they blessed with exceptional watertreading genes in that country? A survey of nations that have traditions of global dominance in certain sports reveals one causal factor that is always present and has nothing to do with the genetic makeup of the country’s inhabits: an intense passion for that sport. You will never find a country that achieves dominance in a major global sport without massive participation in the sport throughout the country, worship of the sport’s best domestic athletes, and the inculcation of a sense of the tremendous 92 INSIDETRIATHLON
value of achievement in the sport in every young participant. Kenya’s passion for running equals Canada’s passion for hockey, Cuba’s love of boxing and Hungary’s mania for water polo. Kenya’s best runners are national heroes. The dream of growing up to become a great runner is as widespread among Kenyan boys and girls as the dream of becoming the next Lebron James is among American children. It’s probably even more widespread because in Kenya, a poor country, there are few competing dreams. “They know if they become good runners, it’s a way to help their families and help themselves get a better lifestyle,” said Swedish professional triathlete Lisa Norden, who has completed a couple of run training camps in Kenya. “It’s a ticket out. So they’re very motivated to run.” Not only does running matter more to Kenyan runners than it does to American runners (you can’t manufacture desperation), but there are also far more runners. “Out of 100 people in the United States, how many of them are going to take up distance running?” asked Roth. “It’s just not valued in our culture. Maybe you get one. Is that one going to carry the best gene combination of all the 100 people? In Kenya, maybe 40 [out of 100] people take up the sport, because it is such a culturally dominant force. Then your odds skyrocket.” There is no great passion for triathlon, or its swimming and cycling components, in Kenya. “Triathlon isn’t very well known,” Norden said. “You go there and you have to explain what a triathlon is.” The factors that conspire to cultivate a national passion for a given sport can include geography, climate, culture, economics, natu-
ral resources, history and pure chance. Long winters and the accessibility of ice are certainly factors in Canada’s passion for hockey. Similar factors may also prevent a certain sport from becoming popular in a given country. The barriers preventing triathlon from taking off in Kenya are gigantic. During her most recent training stint in Kenya, Norden observed that Kenyan women warned her of evil spirits in the water. That’s a pretty big barrier to swimming. Norden also observed that the members of Kenya’s one cycling team rode cheap steel bikes because, she says, “If they were given nice bikes, they would sell them and say sod off to their cycling careers.” That’s a pretty big barrier to cycling, to say nothing of the lack of paved roads and the notorious recklessness of Kenyan drivers. “I think you’d almost have to bring some Kenyans out of Kenya to make them good,” Norden said. “To train there all the time for triathlon would be quite difficult.” Well, that’s been tried, too. OTHER REASONS
While the goal of transforming Kenya into a triathlon powerhouse may be utterly hopeless, the effort to take the sport to Kenya might still be worthwhile. There’s more to triathlon than winning, after all. Take Mutinda, one of the two triathletes Schwieger brought to the United States in 2002. When Schwieger first met Mutinda four years earlier, he was destitute. “Titus would get up in the morning and spend $2 or $3 to buy a couple of pairs of pants and then stand on a corner and try to sell them, and then take that profit and buy some bread on the way home for the family. Then start all over the next day,” Schwieger said. And now? “After his experience here he began to get a little confidence,” Schwieger said. “He’s been able to buy a house and start a little business. His wife does sewing and clothing repair and they have a little store in their house. So that’s been a huge success story. That’s really what I was hoping for.” IT
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at the finish
once a swimmer, always a runner By Tim DeBoom
true “runners” who I knew wore. This particular night was the same. We rolled down the block where we lived and turned up a winding road that went past several friends’ houses and my high school. Everything is a little different at night. Buildings and trees, which I saw every day of my life, were unrecognizable in the streetlights’ glow. The road always feels different at night as well. There was just a hint of uncertainty with every strike of my foot. Turning toward the country club where I spent my free time before I became a “working man,” I looked forward to the soft grass of the second hole of the golf course. It was a wide-open hole that went up and over a big hill. The sprinklers were on—one more little reprieve from the day’s heat. Once back on the road, we continued the loop. Down the big hill and back up another to the second half of the run. Todd and I never talked much on these runs, but tonight we hadn’t said a word. Both of us were lost in our own worlds, I guess. I did, however, notice that the pace had been slowly building just slightly. This was not unusual, but it never lasted more than the current hill. We flowed down the last of the busier roads and turned into the park that would lead us to the long straight road back to our house. If I had been alone, the park could have been a bit unnerving, but company
always helps with confidence. Exiting the park I knew we only had a long gradual downhill home. We gave each other a look, knowing we were almost done, and in the next step, for no reason, we bolted. Our steadily building tempo turned into an explosive flat-out sprint down Grand Avenue. It did not matter that we were in the middle of the street; no one was around. There was only our gasping, the overstriding slap of feet hitting the pavement, and our shadows waxing and waning with each passing streetlight. We were running as fast as we possibly could. We were on the edge of losing control, yet we were grinning maniacally, and on the brink of bursting into laughter. We reached the boundary of our house, designated by a bush in the front lawn, knowing that was the finish line. Collapsing on the dewy grass, the laughs finally roared. My body writhed with the unexpected lactic acid overload, but I could not stop smiling. It was not about winning. It was not even a competition. However, it would not have happened on my own. It opened my eyes from the long hours of solitude I spent looking at that black line in the pool.Years spent training and racing in the pool had never given me the absolute joy I was feeling at that moment. I was a swimmer, but in my heart, I had a replacement waiting in the wings. I was now a runner, too. it
Pro triathlete Tim DeBoom is a two-time winner of the Ironman World Championship and lives in Boulder, Colo.
96 insidetriathlon
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I don’t remember not knowing how to run. There must have been a beginning.With most people, running is the natural progression from walking.We crawl, we walk, we run. I like to think that I could run from the start, but I don’t remember the beginning.What I do remember is the precise moment I knew I loved running. In the summer between my junior and senior years of high school, I was a driven athlete. I was a swimmer; I trained at 6 in the morning and again at 5 in the afternoon. In between, I would lifeguard at the local pool and swim laps during my downtime from the chair. I wanted to win the state title my senior year, and staring at that black line in the pool was my onus for the summer. Many evenings, after work and my second swim practice, I would even join my brother Todd on a run. He was taking a break from college and saving money by staying at home. We would often not get out until 10 p.m. Summers in Iowa were dreadful. The heat and humidity could rival Kona’s most intense days, and nighttime was the only escape. We would slowly jog away from home into the surrounding neighborhoods that were the boundaries of my life up until that point. We always ran the same loop. No watches, but we knew it was right around 45 minutes. Cut-off sweatpants and a cotton T-shirt were the uniform. My classic New Balance running shoes rounded it out, because that’s what the
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