What I did during my summer vacation…

Ahhh…Balance…

Yen…yang…




Good…evil…

Sleep…awake…

Meat…potatoes...

Chocolate chip cookies…Chocolate chip cookies with bacon…huh?




“Balance” seems to be all the buzz in the mag’s lately – everyone is writing about it...

I am reading about it…people are giving advice (I guess I am not really any different in that regard) – but why all this focus?

Shouldn’t we be talking about LT Intervals, VO2 Max HR % vs. Baseline, OBLA or some other geeky stuff?

It’s probably because that stuff is easy.

What’s hard is that this sport and our addiction to it can create such disarray in our lives that it is only measurable and manageable a “social” level. The adaption phase (aka slippery slope) for new triathletes is VERY slick and we have a wealth of enablers (aka training partners) at our beck and call to help us feel “normal” as we slide.

I can basically guarantee that during an Ironman train up you will utter the words, “Not too long, just an easy ride…only 3 hours” and you will say that as a serious comment and not meant as a joke.

The result – before we realize what has happened…family time in gone, work time suffers, our new fascination consumes our every waking hour and we end up sleeping upside down because we read on Slowtwitch that it gives you 1.8% increase in LT Wattage ☺



(Seriously – this thing works great to unload the back – I think the company is Teeter?)

So, if we are not training, we are reading about it, studying it, planning for it…it is all consuming until which point the system breaks.

Fitness is the easy part.

Load, Load, Load…unload.



It is built into ANY training system that you find. We all embrace those key words “Recovery Week” as a badge of honor to say – “I have done the work and NOW – I am recovering”. It is the perfect end to any request from another enablers who asks you to do a Tempo run or a Group ride – “Sorry – recovery week” Ahh – no guilt – no one is getting stronger while I am getting slower…yes…the good life ☺

We all know we need to recover our bodies to allow them to heal, to get stronger to absorb the load but what about unloading OUR functional system?

The system we live and love…our families.

When is the “unload” or recovery week for them?

For me – it’s now…and it has been the same time every year for a lot of years and I think it works – at least I think it works.

Twice a year I unload – 6 weeks – summer and the holidays – no scheduled training plan at all. I still “exercise” because I enjoy it and I might even race but it is for purely fun.

My priorities shift completely and VERY consciously.

For me, it is about spending big blocks of time with the kids, catching up on experiences and making sure that I reduce stress in the whole system. I also try to learn something new or fix something “broken” and for the last few years that has been cycling skills and this year it will be core – Gym Jones baby – more on that once I get HUGE ☺

I take this “off‐season” seriously – I actually plan for it.


Last week, I had to be out west for work on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and then again the following Wednesday through Friday. Instead of flying home on Sunday and back again on Tuesday – I decided to stay out west.

In trying to figure out what I wanted to do and knowing I would have 2 pseudo days off before work started again on Wednesday, I was struggling. I planned on racing on Sunday (I know – off season and racing doesn’t go together but this race was purely for fun – World’s toughest Half – huh – sounds fun ☺) and I would have my bike out here.

I thought, a couple of days in SFO with a bike – man – that sounds great – just like last spring…big climbs…better weather…time to ride. But really – it didn’t feel right…I didn’t feel like “training”…sure riding sure would be fun but I also felt my balance was off – this was of course, my “off‐season”.

I talked with Drew and we found some cheap flights, and Bone and her came out and met me on Saturday afternoon before the race.

Bone always makes me laugh. He is so cool and loves life so much that I feel better just being around him and it really rubs off on me. They played while I raced and we chilled (literally) when we were done. The river is incredible and very cold so it felt awesome after 5:30 in the hills.






After the race, we headed for “The City”.



The plan was do up San Francisco in complete 5 year old style and it was awesome. I would never have thought it but SFO has more for kids than Disney – incredible places and things to do. We did it all.

The Exploratorium, The Museum of Science, the Aquarium by the Bay, A blue and Gold cruise, The discovery Museum at Fort Baker, Marin Headlands hike to the gun placements, the Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Cable cars, Fisherman’s Wharf, Boudin’s Clam chow in bread bowls and even a little Sushi at Sanraku (my favorite) and we even built the Bionicals (which are awesome) while Mom went shopping.










All of this was in 3 days (and evenings) with 16 hours of work mixed in mostly while he slept. It was not hard, actually it was really easy.




















Sure – I exercised – it makes me a more internally balanced person but my priority was Bone and play time. I got in 3 ½ hours (again – mostly while he slept) and even got to take Marissa across the GG to meet him in Sausalito for breakfast.




My point is not to say I am balanced – I am not…I know that…no one that races IM distance as any level of competitiveness can be truly balanced, it is just too demanding.

But as with everything in our lives, when we see something “wrong” it is up to us to make a plan and start to fix it. I identified this YEARS ago and have been working to fix it and in the process making the whole system less stressful therefore much healthier.

Quality time with the Bone is EXACTLY what we needed and I think – judging by the smile – he enjoyed it too.







So – balance is better – not perfect – but moving in the right direction.

Fitness is falling but that is also moving in the right direction for this time of year.

More balance last weekend...Josh and I went to Philly for a weekend and to check out the Philly Pro Bike race. He won the Wall and is was not a gift - congrats mate.







Before I go back “on‐plan” – Drew and I will hit a concert or two and Shane...Ah – Shane will have to tolerate the old man dropping in on him over… and over…. and over again – hey – I pay his car payment – I get to pick my waves ☺

The Juice and the squeeze...

Last week I knew we would need some extra room for the results and pictures and I was right!!!

What a race weekend!!!


1st to the shaved leg tough guys - The State Crit was this weekend and we had some really strong showings









Congrats to Curtis, Karel, Jeff, Michael, Will and Rad – way to go guys!!!









For the tri-geeks – the BFAS #1 was Saturday.













Congrats to James, JC, Marni, Jim W and Billy Hart and the rest of the crew – awesome job!!!














Ironman Florida 70.3 was Sunday in Disney and the Ironbutz were in attendance.










Great races by all – Congrats to Kerry, Juan, Peter, Will, Kelley and Michael.













Also congrats to Greg, Danny and Carl – Greg won his age group and was 25th in the overall ahead of a BUNCH of Pro’s – Way to go!!!










With the spring season done – it’s time to relax and unwind for a bunch of the crew. With all the miles logged you earned a few weeks of whatever you want…enjoy…then back to the grind.

Rich, Susan and I are very proud to have the chance to work with you all – it’s cool to be a small part of your success!!!



If you have anything better to do – stop here – you have been warned…
Your time might be better spent cleaning your shower curtain :)


I read somewhere a saying that asks “Is the Juice worth the squeeze?”

For me, last Sunday, it was not – more on that in a minute.


While I am not unhappy in my training, my fitness, my equipment or my goals – (Alan got me to a perfect place and Bianca was firing on race day) - I am really unhappy with my execution.

There is another saying that an Ironman is not won in the swim but it can be lost and I never really understood it but now I do…and that saying also applies to a half ironman.

What happened?




I swam my usual pace – not too hard – just cruise it and save energy for the rest of the day. I watched the lead pack go away and thought to myself – I am going to race my own race and I will be fine. I finished the swim in 14th position which is actually a little behind where I would have thought but I figured the course was long and I would make it up.

I started the ride and really felt incredible. My new bike and fresh legs from a perfect taper let me fly through the field and I was at 28 miles in 1:09 and on track for a 2:18 split. It wasn’t quite a “no-chain” day but I was feeling really good. I was lucky to have a 28 year old age grouper that was flying to pace off of and I stayed 3-4 bike lengths on purpose. I went through the aid station at 30 miles and I lost contact and I started to chase. I chased HARD for 30 seconds and decided he was too far up the road and “I would be fine” by myself. I was WRONG!!! At mile 40 I turned into a BIG headwind and I was in no man’s land. No one to pace off of – no one around at all. It sucked. I did my usual – rode steady power and settled in but my speed was falling off big time.

At the time I didn’t know it but the swim pack from my age group that I let go was up the road and all together (legally) and working less than I was.




I ended up with a 2:22 ride time – 2:24 on the race clock split after the run from mount / dismount but my 2:18 turned into 2:22 and that 4 minutes would come back to haunt me.

On the run I felt great. 1st 2 miles in 14:03 and I was not worried about the pace but I knew the heat would be a BIG factor as it was getting close to 95. I used all the tricks straight from the start to keep cool – bunches of sponges and ice in the hat and I even froze “my boys” again with ice shoved down my shorts. I settled into a slightly slower pace and still was handling it pretty well telling myself I do well in the heat – lap one was low Zone 4 HR and I felt good.


Through the 6 mile mark I was comfortable and then I decided I need to “press” to bridge the gap to the lead. I “pressed” a little to a 7:00 pace and it hurt and I eased up worrying about how the heat would smack me hard if I went redline too early – I decided to wait until mile 7.

At mile 7, I “pressed” again and again I started to hurt a lot and decided to wait until the last lap. I was now at the high end of Zone 4 and it was probably getting too high for too long. Zone 5 is reserved for the last 2 miles.


On the course which is really a Goat trail with no wind and no shade, I was hard to find a “steady” pace. I was able to get splits off of Kerry Mowlam at the turn arounds. He is really a great athlete that I work with and I knew he was ready to have a fast day. It was cool to have someone on the course to mark and I was focused on Kerry thinking that if I stayed on track for him – I would be in a good spot in the overall. I got the gap down to 10 seconds but Kerry has MAD GAME and bore down for the last lap and he pushed the finish and left me behind by 13 seconds.

All the while this was happening - the conversation I was having with myself was absolutely classic:

“You said medals or medical!!! Go man – now!!!”
“Yeah – but a DNF is neither – I need to hold back”
“If you hold back you’re not going to close”
“If I go now I am not going to finish – I’ll decide what I will do later…”
“The more you wait – the harder you will have to go”
“Yeah – I know – I’ll be ok – they will fade”

Man – I wish I would have known how close it would end up.



It’s not that I didn’t go hard – I did – just not hard enough – not soon enough to make a difference.

When I talked to Alan, my coach, he pointed to the swim as the 1st domino in my missing my goal and I agree.

At the pointy end of the arrow – the tactics and marking your guys becomes much more important and I was not paying attention – I failed to execute. By the time I knew I had to go – I was in a hole and managing an implosion – too little to late – I was asleep at the wheel.

The really bad part - I believe in numbers.

My effort was a 99.27% of what I needed. That’s not bad but not good either.

The juice (10th place in my age group- I wanted podium) was 2:00 minutes off of my goal of Top 5 THAT was not worth the squeeze…

323 hours of training…123,199 yards in the pool, 2,882 miles of cycling, 531 miles of running all to be 2:00 minutes from my goal…

Definitely NOT worth the squeeze – NOT HAPPENING AGAIN!!!

Next time – execute!!!

So - What’s next…?

Overall – get back to balance. Play and hang with the kids a LOT more. I try to train a lot in the morning before anyone gets up but even still I feel like I miss things. Not for the next 6 weeks – I am the “YES” man :)

Slow down a little and watch others speed along…

Last weekend, Shane turned 17 and I said to his Mom – “Oh my god – where did all the years go?”

It actually makes me get choked up when I think about it. I used to have him on my hip on Saturday afternoons strolling around Huntington Beach and now he is grown. It was a BIG wake up call. The years go way too quick – time to slow down a little.

Work is busy again now and that is good. Two new products and I have a good focus again which I enjoy. Traveling to Germany for a quick trip in a few weeks and then settle in to a surfing summer with the boyz.

As for my training – I am “off plan” for the next 6 weeks – it is a mental and physical break that I need.

Two off seasons (one summer and one winter) has allowed me to continue for a string of years without getting hurt – knock wood.
I do plan on addressing a few weaknesses:

Swim - need to get faster with less effort – Shane is coaching at Selva so I may have him work with me.

Bike – I enjoy riding and Josh is starting to ride so it will be a good thing to do together.

Run – maybe that can wait a few weeks but Bone will keep me company when I do :)

Equipment – can’t buy anything faster or sweeter – Bianca and Marisol are AWESOME – thanks Jeff!!! Shameless plug www.trekjax.com :)

Orthopedic / Strength – I am going Gym Jones!!! More on this later but I am going to go caveman this summer – Marjorie (my massage therapist – really knowledgeable and incredibly strong – she is tiny but can bring the pain) said I have Pillsbury Dough Boy transverse abs and that is causing my back to hurt. Core it is.

Drew said that she liked Cross fit so I may try that or MMA - she does like to fight :)

Other than that – I plan on sleeping, eating, playing and laughing with more and more of all.

Life is short, kids grow up too quick, it all can end unexpectedly and without warning so I plan on making the most of everyday…

I may even take my Mom’s advice – she said she rides her bike slow enough that she can not only stop to see the flowers – she can smell them too…I liked that…

This was worth the squeeze :)






So Kia Kaha if you race and if your relaxing like me – Enjoy…“The wanna be” Tao of Pooh and Zen Master Yogurt :)