This has been a really great training week. I attribute it to eating right, sleeping more, and streamlining my schedule to reflect my new focus of training. For many years, my attention was pulled in many directions. One of my passions has been raising over $110,000 on average for Merit School of Music as Chair of our Associate Board's annual Gala, Alegre Carnaval. This has been a responsibility like no other- one that allowed me the invaluable oppotunity to show others how important Merit will always be to our family. Merit is a music school that was started in Chicago 30 years ago to remove the economic and social barriers to music education for thousands of children. My sister and brother were students of this school, which provided them with the foundation to eventually excel as members of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra and travel around the world playing the violin and trumpet, respectively.
I share this background because it portrays my level of dedication to Merit over the last 3 years and the challenge it has been to cut down the time I dedicate to the school because I truly love it. My final year as Carnaval Chair was celebrated on November 14th and the weeks after have marked my transition away from outside responsibilities and toward my new love of long distance triathlon. I was so excited to begin training for Madison from the moment I registered that it was hard to want to focus on anything else after 12-noon on September 14, 2009. Unfortunately, September-November is the craziest time of year for me because of annual work deadlines and Carnaval. It was very frustrating to want to begin, but not have the time. I was still training 4-5 days/week but they were without focus and more sporadic than I wanted and needed. Since the fall, the Fellowship I've been awarded is off to a great start, I've completed another unbelievable year of Level IV Clinical Ladder projects, my last responsibility for Merit was just about 2 weeks ago, and holiday shopping is over. Slowly, I've noticed that I've been able to fit in every yard and every minute of every planned workout. I've waited patiently, and now it's all about Madison. And that's exactly why this was such a great training week :)
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Classic Coaching
Somehow, the best coach in the world, Elizabeth Waterstraat, was assigned to coaching my Pre-Season at WellFit and my Ironman Madison program. She brings a collection of elite racing experience (over 10 years), 3 years of USAT certified coaching, a matter-of-fact approach to presenting workouts (...we have a bike-run-bike-run brick tonight focusing on resistance so let's get started...), and a priceless balance of hard core attitude that respects recovery. A fellow teammate and I agree that her philosophy is best described as "Training Smart" rather than just "Training Hard." There is a significant difference, and in my opinion, is the essence of classic coaching. I would like to share her "20 Things You Can Do" list for a successful 2010 Season...do enjoy!
http://elizabethfedofsky.blogspot.com
Friday, December 11, 2009
20 Things You Can Do
It’s that time of year – squirrel time. Everyone is ansty about their 2010 plans. Races are being selected and goals are being set. Inboxes are filled with scenarios and questions. But for all the talking and planning we do, there are some basics for how to make progress. It is not as hard as you think. But, like most things in life, we humans tend to overthink ourselves into complexity.
I have been to the top (and bottom) of the sport. Seen it from nearly 360 degrees. I often think back to what made me a successful athlete because when my athletes tell me they want to do _______(top level goal), I have to honestly tell them “this is what it takes.” I thought about some of my athletes who are highly successful with their goals and some of my friends who have reached that level too. While there are many ways to achieve success, there are commonalities in the habits of successful athletes. Here are 20 things you can do to be a better athlete:
1. Learn how to eat. Garbage in = garbage out. Learn how to integrate more real food into your diet. Resist the urge to eat coffee as a meal, to skip meals, to eat processed foods, and to consider a "bar" a meal. Real food gives you real energy. Yes, it costs more but most worthwhile things in life are costly.
2. Follow the plan. If you are going to hire a coach to help you, put your trust in them and commit to following the plan. Not the parts of the plan that you like most. Not adding things you think you need to do. Follow it because unless you do, there is no guarantee it will deliver you to your goal.
3. Less talking, more doing. We are great planners and thinkers. Very few are great doers. On race day nothing else matters but the work you did. The 10 minute email you composed explaining to your coach why you couldn’t do the workout, there goes 10 minutes you could have been working out instead.
4. If it sounds like something you want to do, it’s probably not something you need to do. Not my words, but great words nonetheless. We want to do the things that sound sexy, fast and hard. Right now you need to be doing less of that and more of the ho-hum, easy, technical work. Remember, performance improvement is quite boring at times.
5. Be honest with yourself. Stop thinking in terms of who you used to be or who you think you should be. Face yourself as you are, accept it and commit to working from there. The longer you put this off, the more you delay your progress.
6. Learn to recover. Know that in training recovery is all that matters. Without it, you do not gain fitness. Spend one week paying extra attention to the space between the workouts to see the benefits of recovery. Learn how to eat right after a workout, get more sleep and do the little things that add up to big changes.
7. Teach yourself how to swim, bike or run all over again. Choose your weakness and then pretend like you’ve never done it before. Meet up with your coach or an instructor to learn it from the starting point. Maybe swimming is your struggle. Forget what you know and teach yourself how to swim again.
8. If you have an eating disorder, first admit it then get the professional help to overcome it. There is nothing magical your coach will say or do to fix the problem. It is also not fair to expect your coach to address your pathology – and that is what it is. Accept that and commit this year to getting help for it. Until you do, nothing will change.
9. Leave the analyzing to your coach. For one week, don’t look at your Garmin or your power files. Download them for your coach to analyze and wait for them to get back to you. How many times do I hear someone telling me the workout sucked when they actually had a breakthrough! We overanalyze ourselves to the point of losing sight of the little gains we are making.
10. The 2010 season begins now. Not in January, not when the weather is good. If you think that the girls/guys going to Clearwater/Kona/_______(where you want to go) are skipping workouts because the weather isn’t good, they didn’t feel like it, it doesn’t matter this time of year anyways….you are wrong.
11. Put your money where your mouth is. It’s one thing to set big goals, it’s another to buck up and do the work to get there. First, set realistic goals. You will not magically drop 1 minute from your 5K time next year. Second, do the work. If you tell your coach you want to achieve something, they are putting together a plan to help you get there. If you don’t do the work, you don’t want to get there. Simple as that.
12. Worry less about your weight and more about your body composition. As you get more into the sport, the composition of your body changes. Weight may go up though your body may be getting smaller. Learn to let go of the scale numbers and focus on what counts instead. From what I’ve seen, women obsess about the scale number, restrict food to get to their magical number when actually their body is leaner than ever (and then they ruin their performance by restricting food).
13. Let’s talk about Kona. If you want to go, and plan to qualify at a 70.3, ask yourself this: can you go there and honestly win that race? If you are in the 18 – 44 age group groups, that is nearly what it takes. If you want to go and plan to qualify at a full Ironman, look at the qualifiers from last year, view their times and ask yourself can I honestly produce that time? Do you get close to those times in training? Same goes for Clearwater. If you want to go, look at the results from your AG and ask yourself if you could honestly get into the top 5. If not, take it out of your vocabulary for this year.
14. Write your goals down and look at them every day. Face them, make them real. Write down one thing you can do to work toward them every day. Write down one thing you will sacrifice each week to get there. When you look back, you will have a list of everything you have done and everything you have sacrificed to get there.
15. Just fucking swim. Trust me, someone had to tell me that once too. If you want to get better at something you have to do it. Not think about it, read about it, talk about it or whine about it. DO IT. Do something 3 times a week for maintenance, 4 times a week for progress and 5 times a week for quicker progress.
16. Less weight lifting, more body strength. The funny thing about triathletes is that they can run a 4 hour marathon or do lat pull downs with a weighted bar but ask them to do 1 minute of single-legged squats and they poop out after 30 seconds. Remember that endurance sport is all about carrying your body weight over time. The stronger you are at carrying your body weight, the faster you go, the less injury you will sustain.
17. As you select your race plans, plan for less racing and more recovery. Keep in mind that for every half Ironman you do, you sustain a 3-week period where you do not gain fitness (1 week taper, 1 week race, 1 week recovery). That period goes up to 6 – 8 weeks for Ironman. Plan your races accordingly. If you include too many races, you enter too many weeks of race/recovery in which you cannot gain any fitness. Don’t stagnate through a year, grow.
18. Use equipment that makes sense for you. Just because so and so uses that bike or that shoe supposedly does this thing doesn’t mean it is right for your biomechanics. Choose products for logical reasons, not marketing reasons. Remember there is no magic shoe (unless you are off to see the wizard) and no magic wheel (but there may be a magic bus).
19. Work on your mind this year. Athletes will train their body but the best races comes from the combination of body and mind. Train your mind. We have over 50,000 thoughts that roll through our heads each daily. Learn to shape those thoughts to the outcome you desire. Your training plan should include a mental preparation component.
20. Consistency. Trust that no amount of talk, smarts, equipment, wishing, hoping or praying will replace consistency. That means doing the work day to day. I leave this as the last one because after over 10 years of competing and 3 years of guiding athletes towards goals, the one thing I have found that you cannot replace is consistency (which is a result of doing all of the things mentioned above). When you are constantly skipping workouts you are not consistent. When you are sick or injured because you don’t recover well or eat crap, you are not consistent. If you do anything this next year, learn to be more consistent and everything else will all into place.
Good luck in your 2010 season!
Posted by E.L.F.
http://elizabethfedofsky.blogspot.com
Friday, December 11, 2009
20 Things You Can Do
It’s that time of year – squirrel time. Everyone is ansty about their 2010 plans. Races are being selected and goals are being set. Inboxes are filled with scenarios and questions. But for all the talking and planning we do, there are some basics for how to make progress. It is not as hard as you think. But, like most things in life, we humans tend to overthink ourselves into complexity.
I have been to the top (and bottom) of the sport. Seen it from nearly 360 degrees. I often think back to what made me a successful athlete because when my athletes tell me they want to do _______(top level goal), I have to honestly tell them “this is what it takes.” I thought about some of my athletes who are highly successful with their goals and some of my friends who have reached that level too. While there are many ways to achieve success, there are commonalities in the habits of successful athletes. Here are 20 things you can do to be a better athlete:
1. Learn how to eat. Garbage in = garbage out. Learn how to integrate more real food into your diet. Resist the urge to eat coffee as a meal, to skip meals, to eat processed foods, and to consider a "bar" a meal. Real food gives you real energy. Yes, it costs more but most worthwhile things in life are costly.
2. Follow the plan. If you are going to hire a coach to help you, put your trust in them and commit to following the plan. Not the parts of the plan that you like most. Not adding things you think you need to do. Follow it because unless you do, there is no guarantee it will deliver you to your goal.
3. Less talking, more doing. We are great planners and thinkers. Very few are great doers. On race day nothing else matters but the work you did. The 10 minute email you composed explaining to your coach why you couldn’t do the workout, there goes 10 minutes you could have been working out instead.
4. If it sounds like something you want to do, it’s probably not something you need to do. Not my words, but great words nonetheless. We want to do the things that sound sexy, fast and hard. Right now you need to be doing less of that and more of the ho-hum, easy, technical work. Remember, performance improvement is quite boring at times.
5. Be honest with yourself. Stop thinking in terms of who you used to be or who you think you should be. Face yourself as you are, accept it and commit to working from there. The longer you put this off, the more you delay your progress.
6. Learn to recover. Know that in training recovery is all that matters. Without it, you do not gain fitness. Spend one week paying extra attention to the space between the workouts to see the benefits of recovery. Learn how to eat right after a workout, get more sleep and do the little things that add up to big changes.
7. Teach yourself how to swim, bike or run all over again. Choose your weakness and then pretend like you’ve never done it before. Meet up with your coach or an instructor to learn it from the starting point. Maybe swimming is your struggle. Forget what you know and teach yourself how to swim again.
8. If you have an eating disorder, first admit it then get the professional help to overcome it. There is nothing magical your coach will say or do to fix the problem. It is also not fair to expect your coach to address your pathology – and that is what it is. Accept that and commit this year to getting help for it. Until you do, nothing will change.
9. Leave the analyzing to your coach. For one week, don’t look at your Garmin or your power files. Download them for your coach to analyze and wait for them to get back to you. How many times do I hear someone telling me the workout sucked when they actually had a breakthrough! We overanalyze ourselves to the point of losing sight of the little gains we are making.
10. The 2010 season begins now. Not in January, not when the weather is good. If you think that the girls/guys going to Clearwater/Kona/_______(where you want to go) are skipping workouts because the weather isn’t good, they didn’t feel like it, it doesn’t matter this time of year anyways….you are wrong.
11. Put your money where your mouth is. It’s one thing to set big goals, it’s another to buck up and do the work to get there. First, set realistic goals. You will not magically drop 1 minute from your 5K time next year. Second, do the work. If you tell your coach you want to achieve something, they are putting together a plan to help you get there. If you don’t do the work, you don’t want to get there. Simple as that.
12. Worry less about your weight and more about your body composition. As you get more into the sport, the composition of your body changes. Weight may go up though your body may be getting smaller. Learn to let go of the scale numbers and focus on what counts instead. From what I’ve seen, women obsess about the scale number, restrict food to get to their magical number when actually their body is leaner than ever (and then they ruin their performance by restricting food).
13. Let’s talk about Kona. If you want to go, and plan to qualify at a 70.3, ask yourself this: can you go there and honestly win that race? If you are in the 18 – 44 age group groups, that is nearly what it takes. If you want to go and plan to qualify at a full Ironman, look at the qualifiers from last year, view their times and ask yourself can I honestly produce that time? Do you get close to those times in training? Same goes for Clearwater. If you want to go, look at the results from your AG and ask yourself if you could honestly get into the top 5. If not, take it out of your vocabulary for this year.
14. Write your goals down and look at them every day. Face them, make them real. Write down one thing you can do to work toward them every day. Write down one thing you will sacrifice each week to get there. When you look back, you will have a list of everything you have done and everything you have sacrificed to get there.
15. Just fucking swim. Trust me, someone had to tell me that once too. If you want to get better at something you have to do it. Not think about it, read about it, talk about it or whine about it. DO IT. Do something 3 times a week for maintenance, 4 times a week for progress and 5 times a week for quicker progress.
16. Less weight lifting, more body strength. The funny thing about triathletes is that they can run a 4 hour marathon or do lat pull downs with a weighted bar but ask them to do 1 minute of single-legged squats and they poop out after 30 seconds. Remember that endurance sport is all about carrying your body weight over time. The stronger you are at carrying your body weight, the faster you go, the less injury you will sustain.
17. As you select your race plans, plan for less racing and more recovery. Keep in mind that for every half Ironman you do, you sustain a 3-week period where you do not gain fitness (1 week taper, 1 week race, 1 week recovery). That period goes up to 6 – 8 weeks for Ironman. Plan your races accordingly. If you include too many races, you enter too many weeks of race/recovery in which you cannot gain any fitness. Don’t stagnate through a year, grow.
18. Use equipment that makes sense for you. Just because so and so uses that bike or that shoe supposedly does this thing doesn’t mean it is right for your biomechanics. Choose products for logical reasons, not marketing reasons. Remember there is no magic shoe (unless you are off to see the wizard) and no magic wheel (but there may be a magic bus).
19. Work on your mind this year. Athletes will train their body but the best races comes from the combination of body and mind. Train your mind. We have over 50,000 thoughts that roll through our heads each daily. Learn to shape those thoughts to the outcome you desire. Your training plan should include a mental preparation component.
20. Consistency. Trust that no amount of talk, smarts, equipment, wishing, hoping or praying will replace consistency. That means doing the work day to day. I leave this as the last one because after over 10 years of competing and 3 years of guiding athletes towards goals, the one thing I have found that you cannot replace is consistency (which is a result of doing all of the things mentioned above). When you are constantly skipping workouts you are not consistent. When you are sick or injured because you don’t recover well or eat crap, you are not consistent. If you do anything this next year, learn to be more consistent and everything else will all into place.
Good luck in your 2010 season!
Posted by E.L.F.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Winter Wonderland
When the first snowstorm of the season hits, what better time is there to drive 10 miles in the blizzard on your rest day! First of all, it's way too early in the pre-season to make excuses. Even though Coach Waterstraat's Tuesday workout was hard core (bike-strength-bike-strength brick), I pushed out my 45 minute run last night plus drills and an hour strength training with Giulia. My legs felt like bricks for the first 15 minutes on the treadmill. It was horrible. Instead of slowing down, I looked outside at the blizzard and thought how great I will feel in the spring when I have 6 months of building behind me. It was a quiet night at the club but my mind was heating up. I also remember how happy I was to be comfortable doing my drills around the club in between my run because "my people get it!"
It's a great feeling when you can get in your zone. Nothing can get in your way- blizzards, -19 wind chills tonight, annual condo board meetings... it's safe to say that my training addiction has taken center stage finally and I am loving it. I had my own swim lane the last 2 weeks on speed night and it really allows me to get in my groove. I did 2200 yards and worked on hand entry, catch, and BR5 (hypoxic breathing every 5 stroke). The new breathing exercises are allowing me added time under water without having to break so often for breathing. I can feel the water more and those extra 2 strokes give me more time to think about hand entry consistency and rotation. My shoulder felt good and so did my wrist, but the quick turns at the wall on speed night tire my wrist out because of the repetitive force in extension. Definitely tolerable, and probably even good exercise, so I'm not complaining. I wonder if that's just how it will be.
Tomorrow morning, on a vacation friday, I'll get up early to bike 35/run 50 fartlek (speed intervals) at the club. Should be good. Heading to Naperville to see Invictus, with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon with the family for my brother's birthday. Need to do Christmas shopping as well. Oh yeah, I forgot it's actually Christmas time! I thought it was just Pre-Season time! Oh, how I long for a life of only triathlon. In the meantime, I will be happy enough to know that while I'm barreling through the snow to swim/bike/run, hopefully my competition is sipping eggnog lattes in front of a fireplace somewhere.
It's a great feeling when you can get in your zone. Nothing can get in your way- blizzards, -19 wind chills tonight, annual condo board meetings... it's safe to say that my training addiction has taken center stage finally and I am loving it. I had my own swim lane the last 2 weeks on speed night and it really allows me to get in my groove. I did 2200 yards and worked on hand entry, catch, and BR5 (hypoxic breathing every 5 stroke). The new breathing exercises are allowing me added time under water without having to break so often for breathing. I can feel the water more and those extra 2 strokes give me more time to think about hand entry consistency and rotation. My shoulder felt good and so did my wrist, but the quick turns at the wall on speed night tire my wrist out because of the repetitive force in extension. Definitely tolerable, and probably even good exercise, so I'm not complaining. I wonder if that's just how it will be.
Tomorrow morning, on a vacation friday, I'll get up early to bike 35/run 50 fartlek (speed intervals) at the club. Should be good. Heading to Naperville to see Invictus, with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon with the family for my brother's birthday. Need to do Christmas shopping as well. Oh yeah, I forgot it's actually Christmas time! I thought it was just Pre-Season time! Oh, how I long for a life of only triathlon. In the meantime, I will be happy enough to know that while I'm barreling through the snow to swim/bike/run, hopefully my competition is sipping eggnog lattes in front of a fireplace somewhere.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Technique Is Everything
The off-season is known for technique time. It is amazing the extent to which an athlete is able to significantly improve performance times by tweaking his or her technique.
SWIM
Mike Maggard and Nick Early, two of my swim coaches with the Chicago Blue Dolphins, have been working with me on my hand entry and catch phases of freestyle since September. Last season, January-June 2009, was my first with the Masters Team and the focus was on learning proper freestyle from head to toe, literally. Even though I survived the swim in the Chicago Triathlon last year, you might have compared my stroke to a windmill rather than freestyle prior to working with these coaches. We worked on everything, and when I say everything, I mean everything. Swimming in the "deep side," block starts, breathing to both sides, reaching and stretching my stroke instead of windmilling, actually kicking instead of randomly dragging my legs behind, head position and keeping my ears in the water at all times for less friction, neutral spine, rotating hips, flip turns- the list was endless. The good thing about requiring work in so many areas was that it was easy to see improvements. I thought they were kidding with these kicking only drills, and I mean WITHOUT a kickboard and WITHOUT your arms. Just kicking, for hundreds and hundreds of yards.
Then there were the time limits for each set that you were expected to swim within. Part of a set might read 4 x 50 on the :1.30. If you finish in under :1.30, you get to rest until you reach :1.30. Sounds easy enough? Well, it's not like you miraculously get to start when the clock reads 0:00.00. Now throw in keeping track of your golf swim score (sum of stroke # and number of seconds required to swim each 50) and the clock is on the 8:11.15 when it's your turn to go off. WHAT? First of all, I'm surprised I could add :1.30 to :11.15 to figure out my time limit. So, a few strokes in, I do the math and I have until 8:12.45. Now, I've lost track of the number of my actual strokes taken so far for my golf score because I was trying to add. (You get good at innately knowing this somehow). Once I get my stroke count under control in my head, I suddenly can't recall what my time limit was... oh yes, :12.45. Got it. Now I'm counting my strokes, I'm remembering what the clock must say to make it to :1.30. Ok, the first 50 is done. What time is it. OK, it's 8:12.38. I'm thinking I just need to focus on the clock saying 8:12.45 and then it's time to go off again. Wrong. I forgot that our coach also wants us to calculate our golf scores. In order to get my golf score, I need to calculate the number of seconds it took me to do the 50. Huh? What time was it when I started again? 8:12.45 minus 1.30 is when I started. I have no idea. I decide to instead remember that it was on the .38 when I finished so that's 7 seconds less than the 1.30....1.23! Ok, that's in minutes. Gotta put it in seconds. AHHHH! It's time to go off again and I still don't have my golf score figured out! READY. GO. Now, it's 8:12.45 and I need to add another :1.30 to that to figure out my second 50 time limit. Count my strokes, watch the clock, do the math. And, this is how it goes for the entire 90 minute practice! Turns out, my golf score for the first 50 would have been 83(seconds) + 48 (strokes) = 131. Goal is to get it under 100 eventually. Sometimes I wonder how I am able to actually think about my technique while computing all of these math problems! I was able to improve enough in the pool and lake between January 2009 and June 2009 to improve my swim split by :6.30 at the Bigfoot Triathlon in June and by :3.30 at the 2009 Chicago Triathlon in August(with a 101 fever).
The swim focus in the pool this fall and winter is definitely my hand entry and catch phases. As I explained earlier, one of the areas I worked on last season was just stretching out and holding the entry phase, "like an envelope in a mail slot." I had it down fairly well but now it was time to break it down further. I was starting my catch from the surface nearly where I was entering; however, it turns out that it should be about 6 inches below the surface, more in the skating position. I learn, eventually, that this will improve my buoyancy dramatically and ultimately keep my body closer to the surface rather than sinking a bit, which had been creating more drag. The other piece I needed to correct was my pull, which was occuring across midline rather than maintaining each arm on its respective side. Finally, I was not pulling all the way through with my stroke. Mike requested that I work on hitting my hip each time to signal the end phase of each stroke prior to starting the next one. This would again result in a longer stroke overall and less friction from my arm coming out of the water too early. Mike and I had this breakthough about 4 weeks ago it's very exciting to feel the improvements. I'd imagine these skills will be my focus for this entire season.
Lifting is another training medium through which an athlete can improve his or her swim performance. I have been lifting 2-3x week, up to 20 pounds for chest presses in supine, and I can see a slight difference in my power. Hopefully, a steady several months of lifting will help me shave off a few more seconds more comfortably.
BIKE
I shared my technique tweaks for swimming, but they exist for biking and running as well. The bike is a work in progress, and certainly where I can stand to improve my time the most. The first step during the transition phase from race to off-season was to get a professional bike fit. I thought this was included when I spent $2000 on the bike last year- you know, they take about 15 minutes to make adjustments and you think you're all set. Guess again. This real bike fit took 3 HOURS. Mark Kraft, one of my training buddies and coaches, sent me to the Get A Grip studio on Fulton Street in Chicago for this bike fit. It was amazing (pictures to follow). Ken did my fit, which consisted of measuring literally every angle of my lower extremities, trunk, and upper extremities on the bike. A change of 1 cm for seat height is considered significant. He raised mine over 3 cm. Nearly every component of my bike was changed as a result of this bike fit: aerobars, new stem, seat, pedals, shoe clips... The difference has been unbelievable. The idea is that if you are fit properly, your skeletal system will naturally support your weight on the bike and in the aeros resulting in less muscle fatigue wasted on merely maintaining a stable position in the drops or aeros. I went from not tolerating the aerobars for more than 100 meters to riding 50 miles in them the following weekend. Unfortunately, I haven't ridden outside more than 3 long rides with these adjustments, so more may be needed when I resume riding outside. In the meantime, I'm feeling much more in control on the bike but have a long way to go with power.
RUN
Sharone Aharone, the first USAT Level III triathlon coach in the Midwest, is a seasoned Kona Ironman and owner of the first Triathlon Gym, WellFit Inc., in the Midwest. Although I don't have the luxury of working with him privately, he is one of my group coaches and provides me with invaluable technique tips. I should have known better than to run on the treadmill in front of him as part of a 2-hour bike-run brick. You don't say no to Sharone when he offers his perspective and you don't say maybe you can rip apart my technique another time rather than on a monday night at 9pm after a 2-hour brick. Anyway, my running bothers him to no end because my core strength sucks and I have a hard time separating my hips from my trunk. I also don't pump my arms enough into extension and waste energy by crossing my arms across midline. He cued me one night to tighten the core but, more importantly, keep my right arm on the right side and left arm on the left side. I should create more momentum by pushing my elbows behind me with shoudlers into extension and follow through with my hand coming up to my cheek for each stride. It worked. A week later, I was back to doing a 45-minute sprint workout on the treadmill at an 8:30 pace. Sweet!
Trust me, though, the Technique Road To Madison will certainly have as many or more switchbacks as Blackhawk Trail, so stay tuned.
SWIM
Mike Maggard and Nick Early, two of my swim coaches with the Chicago Blue Dolphins, have been working with me on my hand entry and catch phases of freestyle since September. Last season, January-June 2009, was my first with the Masters Team and the focus was on learning proper freestyle from head to toe, literally. Even though I survived the swim in the Chicago Triathlon last year, you might have compared my stroke to a windmill rather than freestyle prior to working with these coaches. We worked on everything, and when I say everything, I mean everything. Swimming in the "deep side," block starts, breathing to both sides, reaching and stretching my stroke instead of windmilling, actually kicking instead of randomly dragging my legs behind, head position and keeping my ears in the water at all times for less friction, neutral spine, rotating hips, flip turns- the list was endless. The good thing about requiring work in so many areas was that it was easy to see improvements. I thought they were kidding with these kicking only drills, and I mean WITHOUT a kickboard and WITHOUT your arms. Just kicking, for hundreds and hundreds of yards.
Then there were the time limits for each set that you were expected to swim within. Part of a set might read 4 x 50 on the :1.30. If you finish in under :1.30, you get to rest until you reach :1.30. Sounds easy enough? Well, it's not like you miraculously get to start when the clock reads 0:00.00. Now throw in keeping track of your golf swim score (sum of stroke # and number of seconds required to swim each 50) and the clock is on the 8:11.15 when it's your turn to go off. WHAT? First of all, I'm surprised I could add :1.30 to :11.15 to figure out my time limit. So, a few strokes in, I do the math and I have until 8:12.45. Now, I've lost track of the number of my actual strokes taken so far for my golf score because I was trying to add. (You get good at innately knowing this somehow). Once I get my stroke count under control in my head, I suddenly can't recall what my time limit was... oh yes, :12.45. Got it. Now I'm counting my strokes, I'm remembering what the clock must say to make it to :1.30. Ok, the first 50 is done. What time is it. OK, it's 8:12.38. I'm thinking I just need to focus on the clock saying 8:12.45 and then it's time to go off again. Wrong. I forgot that our coach also wants us to calculate our golf scores. In order to get my golf score, I need to calculate the number of seconds it took me to do the 50. Huh? What time was it when I started again? 8:12.45 minus 1.30 is when I started. I have no idea. I decide to instead remember that it was on the .38 when I finished so that's 7 seconds less than the 1.30....1.23! Ok, that's in minutes. Gotta put it in seconds. AHHHH! It's time to go off again and I still don't have my golf score figured out! READY. GO. Now, it's 8:12.45 and I need to add another :1.30 to that to figure out my second 50 time limit. Count my strokes, watch the clock, do the math. And, this is how it goes for the entire 90 minute practice! Turns out, my golf score for the first 50 would have been 83(seconds) + 48 (strokes) = 131. Goal is to get it under 100 eventually. Sometimes I wonder how I am able to actually think about my technique while computing all of these math problems! I was able to improve enough in the pool and lake between January 2009 and June 2009 to improve my swim split by :6.30 at the Bigfoot Triathlon in June and by :3.30 at the 2009 Chicago Triathlon in August(with a 101 fever).
The swim focus in the pool this fall and winter is definitely my hand entry and catch phases. As I explained earlier, one of the areas I worked on last season was just stretching out and holding the entry phase, "like an envelope in a mail slot." I had it down fairly well but now it was time to break it down further. I was starting my catch from the surface nearly where I was entering; however, it turns out that it should be about 6 inches below the surface, more in the skating position. I learn, eventually, that this will improve my buoyancy dramatically and ultimately keep my body closer to the surface rather than sinking a bit, which had been creating more drag. The other piece I needed to correct was my pull, which was occuring across midline rather than maintaining each arm on its respective side. Finally, I was not pulling all the way through with my stroke. Mike requested that I work on hitting my hip each time to signal the end phase of each stroke prior to starting the next one. This would again result in a longer stroke overall and less friction from my arm coming out of the water too early. Mike and I had this breakthough about 4 weeks ago it's very exciting to feel the improvements. I'd imagine these skills will be my focus for this entire season.
Lifting is another training medium through which an athlete can improve his or her swim performance. I have been lifting 2-3x week, up to 20 pounds for chest presses in supine, and I can see a slight difference in my power. Hopefully, a steady several months of lifting will help me shave off a few more seconds more comfortably.
BIKE
I shared my technique tweaks for swimming, but they exist for biking and running as well. The bike is a work in progress, and certainly where I can stand to improve my time the most. The first step during the transition phase from race to off-season was to get a professional bike fit. I thought this was included when I spent $2000 on the bike last year- you know, they take about 15 minutes to make adjustments and you think you're all set. Guess again. This real bike fit took 3 HOURS. Mark Kraft, one of my training buddies and coaches, sent me to the Get A Grip studio on Fulton Street in Chicago for this bike fit. It was amazing (pictures to follow). Ken did my fit, which consisted of measuring literally every angle of my lower extremities, trunk, and upper extremities on the bike. A change of 1 cm for seat height is considered significant. He raised mine over 3 cm. Nearly every component of my bike was changed as a result of this bike fit: aerobars, new stem, seat, pedals, shoe clips... The difference has been unbelievable. The idea is that if you are fit properly, your skeletal system will naturally support your weight on the bike and in the aeros resulting in less muscle fatigue wasted on merely maintaining a stable position in the drops or aeros. I went from not tolerating the aerobars for more than 100 meters to riding 50 miles in them the following weekend. Unfortunately, I haven't ridden outside more than 3 long rides with these adjustments, so more may be needed when I resume riding outside. In the meantime, I'm feeling much more in control on the bike but have a long way to go with power.
RUN
Sharone Aharone, the first USAT Level III triathlon coach in the Midwest, is a seasoned Kona Ironman and owner of the first Triathlon Gym, WellFit Inc., in the Midwest. Although I don't have the luxury of working with him privately, he is one of my group coaches and provides me with invaluable technique tips. I should have known better than to run on the treadmill in front of him as part of a 2-hour bike-run brick. You don't say no to Sharone when he offers his perspective and you don't say maybe you can rip apart my technique another time rather than on a monday night at 9pm after a 2-hour brick. Anyway, my running bothers him to no end because my core strength sucks and I have a hard time separating my hips from my trunk. I also don't pump my arms enough into extension and waste energy by crossing my arms across midline. He cued me one night to tighten the core but, more importantly, keep my right arm on the right side and left arm on the left side. I should create more momentum by pushing my elbows behind me with shoudlers into extension and follow through with my hand coming up to my cheek for each stride. It worked. A week later, I was back to doing a 45-minute sprint workout on the treadmill at an 8:30 pace. Sweet!
Trust me, though, the Technique Road To Madison will certainly have as many or more switchbacks as Blackhawk Trail, so stay tuned.
Pre-Season Is Here!
It's been too long since I've entered a new post, but that is not an indication that I've taken time off from training! In fact, I've stepped it up again and have a lot of good news to report. The fall is a notoriously busy time of year for me: Clinical Ladders proof and plans are due to maintain my Level IV Clinician Status at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, I traveled to Traverse City, MI to teach a 2-day Stroke Course, spent a weekend in SanDiego with my darling mom (hiking and swimming in the ocean!) and the 250+ guest black tie Gala I chair for Merit School of Music was on November 14th. Oh, and then there's training to keep up! Let's get to the fun stuff already :)
My last entry was about 8 weeks ago. Without looking at my Training Peaks log, I would guess I've been able to maintain 8-9 hours/week of training. During the majority of these 8 weeks, I have been training 5 days a week, with a 6-day training week every other week. Workouts have consisted of weekly swims with the Chicago Blue Dolphins on tuesday nights, long rides and runs on the weekends, and track/treadmill runs, computrainer rides and strength training for the first time as part of my weekday workouts. I have most enjoyed the fall long rides (miss them already), thursday computrainer rides with the team, and my new weight class at my my triathlon gym with coach Giulia Isetti. I am really looking forward to feeling the payoff of lifting, especially when it comes to my swim times.
Most importantly, my wrist and shoulder injuries have improved significantly in the last 8 weeks as well. As you may recall, the accident was on July 6th, nearly 5 months ago. No way did I expect my rehab to go on as long as it has. I was non-weightbearing on my wrist until August 24th but had started PT for my shoulder mid-July. Small gains had been made with my shoulder, as in tolerating scapular strengthening with up to 2-3 pounds rather than just against gravity. Unfortunately, I had a setback for at least one month during September. I was back at work, trying to resume training, trying to get to PT 3x/week still 40 minutes away, and my insane fall schedule was underway. Something had to give, and it was my consistency with PT. I figured that because I was back in the pool 1x/week, running several times/week and riding 40-56 miles on the weekend all of a sudden again, my shoudler would just come along. Wrong. It only got worse. The popping with flexion above 90 degrees and abduction above 70 degrees was exhausting. I tried everything- not sleeping on the right shoulder, not carrying my purse on the right shoulder, slowly re-incorporating PT and strengthening...progress was very slow. I was also still needing to wear my wrist splint in the pool at the end of September. Shouldn't these injuries be long gone by now? I decided to get a shoulder consult with Dr. Romeo at Midwest Orthopedics at Rush. He regularly works with athletes and would appreciate my desire to maintain training at all costs. He diagnosed my shoulder with biceps tenosynovitis. Basically, the junction of the tendons is inflamed and therefore smooth excursion of the tendons in their respective sheaths does not occur. His recommendation was to work through the popping and pain if I was up for that because it can't do any harm. Even though he recommended continued PT for 4-6 more week for strengthening and modalities (iontophoresis, ultrasound), I decided against it for two reasons. First, if he was saying I couldn't hurt it by resuming training through any pain, then I could push it on my own with training and not drive myself nuts going to PT to lift 2 pound weights. Swimming and strength training on my own could only be better. The other reason I declined further PT was because I don't believe the small benefits of iontophoreis and ultrasound exceed those of deep friction massage to the tendon in addition to strengthening. Finally, I'm listening to my own professional advice as a patient! Well, it worked. The first 2 weeks in October were still a little tough working through the 6-8/10 shoudler pain in the pool after the first 1000 yards of each practice, but it paid off quickly. By mid-October I started noticing less stiffness, more mobility, and much more strength. It was in mid-October that I also began the WellFit strengthening class on wednesday nights, which focuses more on the upper body and core so far. I also started pull-ups (assisted!) and full weight-bearing push-ups again for the first time on my wrist. The key was USING it and working through the pain. Up until mid-October, I still didn't have full wrist extension or the ability to fully weightbear when scooting into a booth or doing downward dog! Today, about 6 weeks after the advice to work through the pain, I finally feel like things are getting back to normal... 5 months and counting.
I am ready for this Madison challenge now more than ever. I successfully maintained and even improved my post-injury fitness level during this transition season from September through November. Today is December 1st and the 9-week Pre-Season training started yesterday. Madison training starts immediately after on February 2nd. My race season is almost finalized. Elizabeth Waterstraat, my primary coach for the next 10 months, is going to be a tremendous asset to my routine and I couldn't be more ready to bring it on.
My last entry was about 8 weeks ago. Without looking at my Training Peaks log, I would guess I've been able to maintain 8-9 hours/week of training. During the majority of these 8 weeks, I have been training 5 days a week, with a 6-day training week every other week. Workouts have consisted of weekly swims with the Chicago Blue Dolphins on tuesday nights, long rides and runs on the weekends, and track/treadmill runs, computrainer rides and strength training for the first time as part of my weekday workouts. I have most enjoyed the fall long rides (miss them already), thursday computrainer rides with the team, and my new weight class at my my triathlon gym with coach Giulia Isetti. I am really looking forward to feeling the payoff of lifting, especially when it comes to my swim times.
Most importantly, my wrist and shoulder injuries have improved significantly in the last 8 weeks as well. As you may recall, the accident was on July 6th, nearly 5 months ago. No way did I expect my rehab to go on as long as it has. I was non-weightbearing on my wrist until August 24th but had started PT for my shoulder mid-July. Small gains had been made with my shoulder, as in tolerating scapular strengthening with up to 2-3 pounds rather than just against gravity. Unfortunately, I had a setback for at least one month during September. I was back at work, trying to resume training, trying to get to PT 3x/week still 40 minutes away, and my insane fall schedule was underway. Something had to give, and it was my consistency with PT. I figured that because I was back in the pool 1x/week, running several times/week and riding 40-56 miles on the weekend all of a sudden again, my shoudler would just come along. Wrong. It only got worse. The popping with flexion above 90 degrees and abduction above 70 degrees was exhausting. I tried everything- not sleeping on the right shoulder, not carrying my purse on the right shoulder, slowly re-incorporating PT and strengthening...progress was very slow. I was also still needing to wear my wrist splint in the pool at the end of September. Shouldn't these injuries be long gone by now? I decided to get a shoulder consult with Dr. Romeo at Midwest Orthopedics at Rush. He regularly works with athletes and would appreciate my desire to maintain training at all costs. He diagnosed my shoulder with biceps tenosynovitis. Basically, the junction of the tendons is inflamed and therefore smooth excursion of the tendons in their respective sheaths does not occur. His recommendation was to work through the popping and pain if I was up for that because it can't do any harm. Even though he recommended continued PT for 4-6 more week for strengthening and modalities (iontophoresis, ultrasound), I decided against it for two reasons. First, if he was saying I couldn't hurt it by resuming training through any pain, then I could push it on my own with training and not drive myself nuts going to PT to lift 2 pound weights. Swimming and strength training on my own could only be better. The other reason I declined further PT was because I don't believe the small benefits of iontophoreis and ultrasound exceed those of deep friction massage to the tendon in addition to strengthening. Finally, I'm listening to my own professional advice as a patient! Well, it worked. The first 2 weeks in October were still a little tough working through the 6-8/10 shoudler pain in the pool after the first 1000 yards of each practice, but it paid off quickly. By mid-October I started noticing less stiffness, more mobility, and much more strength. It was in mid-October that I also began the WellFit strengthening class on wednesday nights, which focuses more on the upper body and core so far. I also started pull-ups (assisted!) and full weight-bearing push-ups again for the first time on my wrist. The key was USING it and working through the pain. Up until mid-October, I still didn't have full wrist extension or the ability to fully weightbear when scooting into a booth or doing downward dog! Today, about 6 weeks after the advice to work through the pain, I finally feel like things are getting back to normal... 5 months and counting.
I am ready for this Madison challenge now more than ever. I successfully maintained and even improved my post-injury fitness level during this transition season from September through November. Today is December 1st and the 9-week Pre-Season training started yesterday. Madison training starts immediately after on February 2nd. My race season is almost finalized. Elizabeth Waterstraat, my primary coach for the next 10 months, is going to be a tremendous asset to my routine and I couldn't be more ready to bring it on.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Perfect Fall Training Day!
After a fair to good night's sleep, I headed out to Barrington for my ride. Surprisingly, the weather was PERFECT! When I started out, it was maybe 60 degrees, and then the sun warmed things up just enough. If I had to guess, there was a high in the mid-60s. I felt really strong going out and was ready to take my first solo 50+ miler.
When you train for long distance triathlon, you are usually with fellow teammates for long rides- mostly for safety in unfamiliar territory and also to hold yourself accountable. An obvious plus is that your friends are there along the ride to break up the monotony. A less obvious minus is that you often get grouped by speed. This is great if you are on the fence of the next level up and they pace you (or you draft off them!); however, it's easy to lose sight of the skills you're out there to work on. Long distance riding requires a completely different skill set compared to renting a beach cruiser on the lakefront for a few hours. You train your cadence, speed, HR, shifting, and estimated power if possible. You must even train your nutrition. Sometimes these skills get lost in the shuffle if you're just riding to keep up with the person in front of you. It's an inefficient way to train if you don't ever take a long ride on your own. I learned this today.
I love riding with Lindsey and Mark, but in order to keep their pace sometimes I wind up wildly hammering away, mistiming my shifting and avoiding my aerobars because all I can think about is riding as fast as possible for 3 hours. Today was completely different. I started out strong and wanted to finally finish strong after 50+ miles. Even though I know all the training I did this year should technically allow me to feel confident at this intensity, I never really had the opportunity to say, "YEAH! This was the greatest 56 mile training ride for Ironman 70.3 EVER!!" I was ABOUT to say that on July 6th, and did up until mile 31 when I crashed training on the course in Michigan, but I never got to finish it and know "for sure" that I could ride strong on hills for 56 miles. But I knew I could. It's not that I haven't had good 56 mile rides, I have...But in Chicago on a flat course. Let me just put it this way- up to this point today, I registered for Madison based on my confidence only that I am "that close" to mastering the 56-mile distance with hills. If I could feel confident at that level, then doubling it for a 112-mile ride in Madison would be possible. Gratefully, today was that day. I finally felt like the second half of July 6th came through for me- being able to have a great strong first 30 miles and also having a great strong rest of the ride through the end at 51 miles. I rode steady and strong anticipating 95% of my shifting on the hills. I paid close attention to my cadence the entire ride and felt the benefit of pacing in my muscles. I watched my nutrition and paced with 2 shot blocks at 25, a small Larabar at 30 and plenty of fluids to take me through the 3:25.53. I hadn't even planned the notorious 12% grade climb on Blackhawk Trail for today's ride but I was feeling so good that I added it on a longer loop- twice-without the "kill me now" feeling. I mentally prepared for it and timed not only my cadence but also my shifting much better since I was just worrying about myself.
I learned a lot today. When I woke up and saw the sun instead of rain, I was reminded what a good idea it is to go to bed thinking, "I'm doing this ride tomorrow rain or shine" because then at least I won't toss and turn losing sleep wondering if it's going to rain. I not only woke up pretty rested, I was ecsatic the sun was out! Second, I learned to pace myself on a 56-mile long ride with wind and hills. Paced my cadence, speed, nutrition, HR, and mental endurance. Third, I learned that even though a solo ride is good to check yourself once every few weeks, it's much more fun to be with your teammates!
Below is the revised ride I created thanks to a great training day.
When you train for long distance triathlon, you are usually with fellow teammates for long rides- mostly for safety in unfamiliar territory and also to hold yourself accountable. An obvious plus is that your friends are there along the ride to break up the monotony. A less obvious minus is that you often get grouped by speed. This is great if you are on the fence of the next level up and they pace you (or you draft off them!); however, it's easy to lose sight of the skills you're out there to work on. Long distance riding requires a completely different skill set compared to renting a beach cruiser on the lakefront for a few hours. You train your cadence, speed, HR, shifting, and estimated power if possible. You must even train your nutrition. Sometimes these skills get lost in the shuffle if you're just riding to keep up with the person in front of you. It's an inefficient way to train if you don't ever take a long ride on your own. I learned this today.
I love riding with Lindsey and Mark, but in order to keep their pace sometimes I wind up wildly hammering away, mistiming my shifting and avoiding my aerobars because all I can think about is riding as fast as possible for 3 hours. Today was completely different. I started out strong and wanted to finally finish strong after 50+ miles. Even though I know all the training I did this year should technically allow me to feel confident at this intensity, I never really had the opportunity to say, "YEAH! This was the greatest 56 mile training ride for Ironman 70.3 EVER!!" I was ABOUT to say that on July 6th, and did up until mile 31 when I crashed training on the course in Michigan, but I never got to finish it and know "for sure" that I could ride strong on hills for 56 miles. But I knew I could. It's not that I haven't had good 56 mile rides, I have...But in Chicago on a flat course. Let me just put it this way- up to this point today, I registered for Madison based on my confidence only that I am "that close" to mastering the 56-mile distance with hills. If I could feel confident at that level, then doubling it for a 112-mile ride in Madison would be possible. Gratefully, today was that day. I finally felt like the second half of July 6th came through for me- being able to have a great strong first 30 miles and also having a great strong rest of the ride through the end at 51 miles. I rode steady and strong anticipating 95% of my shifting on the hills. I paid close attention to my cadence the entire ride and felt the benefit of pacing in my muscles. I watched my nutrition and paced with 2 shot blocks at 25, a small Larabar at 30 and plenty of fluids to take me through the 3:25.53. I hadn't even planned the notorious 12% grade climb on Blackhawk Trail for today's ride but I was feeling so good that I added it on a longer loop- twice-without the "kill me now" feeling. I mentally prepared for it and timed not only my cadence but also my shifting much better since I was just worrying about myself.
I learned a lot today. When I woke up and saw the sun instead of rain, I was reminded what a good idea it is to go to bed thinking, "I'm doing this ride tomorrow rain or shine" because then at least I won't toss and turn losing sleep wondering if it's going to rain. I not only woke up pretty rested, I was ecsatic the sun was out! Second, I learned to pace myself on a 56-mile long ride with wind and hills. Paced my cadence, speed, nutrition, HR, and mental endurance. Third, I learned that even though a solo ride is good to check yourself once every few weeks, it's much more fun to be with your teammates!
Below is the revised ride I created thanks to a great training day.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Barrington Loop Bike Route
Map My Ride is an awesome website that allows cyclists to map and save their rides. It calculates distance and elevation to tailor your training, which is crucial to targeting your scheduled workouts. The interactive mapping system is a little tricky, and I'm still learning how to use it, but it's worth the extra time to get the route, study the maps, and train to specific elevations. I have a headache the size of Blackhawk Trail right now from re-routing this bad boy 10 times, but basically it's a looped ride. After the initial trek to the intersection of River Road and IL-62 (Algonquin Rd), I'm going back east to Haeger's Bend and the Spring Creek-Ridge/N. River/Plumtree/Haeger's loop a few times. Total distance will be approximately 50 miles. I think it might be cold and even rainy but I'm hitting it regardless. This will also be the first time I ride solo on a long ride, which is a little scary. It shouldn't be too bad because I know the route (3rd time out here now) and there are a lot of cyclists and runners training this area. Fingers crossed!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Step 1: Create A Blog!
As a health care worker, computers are not my forte! I don't know what took more courage- registering for Madison or creating a blog. In my world, the two are on equal grounds. Thanks to a great old friend, Jess Perlazza (who happens to be one of the first little girls I babysat for at least 20 years ago and is now an amazing young woman teaching English to children in South Korea), the blog has begun! Thanks to innumberable training friends, overwhelming support from family, and a desire to push the envelope throughout life, registering for Ironman Wisconsin 2010 was official on Monday, September 14, 2009!
People write blogs for many reasons, I suppose. I created The Road To Madison 2010 for selfish reasons. It's inevitable that the going's gonna get tough somewhere along this 140.6 mile journey and I'll need something to inspire me. On average, my training weeks will log 8-14 hours depending on the period. The goal will be to complete a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run on September 12, 2010 feeling like I've been given a gift from God. My time is TBD and will likely be a secret only I will keep. Reading back through my entries will hopefully allow me to appreciate the highs AND lows of training. Just as I tell my patients to avoid doing a "progress check" day-to-day, I hope to only need these checks every once in a while. Sometimes our steps forward are small ones and we don't see the progress at first. But when you step back and compare where you've been week-to-week or month-to-month, you see the bigger picture. We all move too fast through life, and as most of my closest friends and family members know...my memory is the first to check out. I know this journey will be one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire life and I don't want to ever forget it. I hope technology doesn't move as fast as we all do so 30 years from now I will still be able to read back and remember this amazing experience!
People write blogs for many reasons, I suppose. I created The Road To Madison 2010 for selfish reasons. It's inevitable that the going's gonna get tough somewhere along this 140.6 mile journey and I'll need something to inspire me. On average, my training weeks will log 8-14 hours depending on the period. The goal will be to complete a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run on September 12, 2010 feeling like I've been given a gift from God. My time is TBD and will likely be a secret only I will keep. Reading back through my entries will hopefully allow me to appreciate the highs AND lows of training. Just as I tell my patients to avoid doing a "progress check" day-to-day, I hope to only need these checks every once in a while. Sometimes our steps forward are small ones and we don't see the progress at first. But when you step back and compare where you've been week-to-week or month-to-month, you see the bigger picture. We all move too fast through life, and as most of my closest friends and family members know...my memory is the first to check out. I know this journey will be one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire life and I don't want to ever forget it. I hope technology doesn't move as fast as we all do so 30 years from now I will still be able to read back and remember this amazing experience!
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