Where the hell have I been?

Ok,

So, the last few months have been nuts. Blah Blah Blah. The point is, after a car accident on Jan 8th, I've been a bit sidetracked. But, I'm getting back on it. Look for me to start posting regularly here in the next week.

See ya soon....oh, and yes I'll include all the details of where I've been.

Also, 2012 is gonna rock. I'm fit, psyched, and ready to go.

My story from Boulder 70.3 in LAVA Magazine

http://lavamagazine.com/racing/boulder-from-the-sidelines#axzz1UTuiEh9f

Links

• Gallery: Boulder 70.3

Nothing is worse for an athlete than not being able to compete, and nothing makes you appreciate competition more than forced abstinence. I had planned to race the Boulder 70.3, hoping for a strong showing in my hometown race, and perhaps even some redemption of failed prior attempts. However, a torn soleus (the result of running the last few miles of the Beaver Creek XTERRA bike with a flat tire) would keep me on the wrong side of the barricades for this year's Boulder 70.3.

Yet there is much to be learned from spectating and seeing the race unfold from a different perspective. Thus, I found I was nearly as excited heading out my door at 6 a.m. on race day as if I were toeing the line myself.

As usual for a Boulder event, the start list was deep in talent on both the men’s and women’s side. However, not quite as deep as I would have expected with the plethora of talent residing in Boulder for the summer—a fact that added salt to my wound of being sidelined for the event. This may have been an effect of the new WTC points system and/or the new date for 70.3 Worlds. Either way, both fields were far from soft, just not quite as deep as I would have guessed.

Naeth was obviously overcome with the emotion of finally reaching the top step of the podium.

For the first time in years the swim was a wetsuit legal affair for the pros which predictably lead to a blazing 22:47 lead swim split for defending champion Andy Potts. Potts quickly took up his customary position at the sharp in of the bike as well but was soon caught by a charging Joe Gambles followed closely by Fraser Cartmell. Potts would uncharacteristically continued to hemorrhage time as he was reeled in by a group consisting of Raynard Tissink, Jordan Jones, Bryan Rhodes and Paul Ambrose and would eventually drop to ninth entering T2.

Heading onto the run Gambles looked to be in another world entirely as the fast bike (26-27mph average) seemed to have taken its toll on the rest of the field with men leaving T2 in various stages of fatigue. Andy Potts seemed the worst of the bunch and having an off day as he literally staggered out of T2 and would drop out less then two miles later. Proof that even the best have off days.

The Boulder 70.3 run course is tough and utterly shadeless, and temperatures rise quickly in the high elevation. Effects of this could easily be seen as the pro men’s race was determined by attrition throughout the run. Yet, none of this seemed to phase Gambles as he scorched the run with a 1:15 half marathon, two minutes faster then the next best split and good enough to take the win and course record in 3:45.35.

Let me cut to the chase here. Without a doubt the story in the women’s race was Angela Naeth picking up her first 70.3 win after what seemed like a thousand second-place finishes. The real number was somewhere in the vicinity of 15 runner-up finishes in major 70.3 or half-IM distance races.

In Boulder, Naeth finally picked up the win and was obviously overcome with the emotion of finally reaching the top step of the podium. What I found truly impressive was the appreciation and support for this accomplishment she got from her fellow pro women on the day and via Twitter, Facebook, and so on. This was obviously a breakthrough many saw coming for some time.

How she did it was pretty much how Naeth always races, she destroyed the bike, putting up a 2:14 bike split, a full six minutes faster than the second best on the day. However, it wasn’t just the bike. Naeth also significantly improved her traditional weakness coming out of the water third and only two minutes down on strong swimmer and eventual runner-up, Kelly Williamson. She then put up the second best run split, again to Williamson, to solidify her victory.

In the end I had a nice little Sunday from my undesirable position on the sidelines. I learned what I already new: it sucks not being able to race. I also saw on any day anything can happen as Andy Potts and Angela Naeth testified to in two very different ways.

Some days we wake up asking why do I do this? We do this sport for the challenge and rewards and the various forms they take. If you need proof of this just try not being able to compete ... though I would strongly advise against it.

Don't miss our photo gallery from this event.

Top 5 Pro Men

1. Gambles, Joe - 03:45:35

2. Tissink, Raynard - 03:51:41

3. Ambrose, Paul - 03:53:01

4. Umphenour, Joe - 03:54:03

5. Russell, Matthew - 03:55:44

Top 5 Pro Women

1. Naeth, Angela -04:10:31

2. Williamson, Kelly- 04:12:42

3. Lovato, Amanda - 04:23:55

4. Garcia, Whitney - 04:26:10

5. Bromme, Uli - 04:27:16

Los Alamos Fire

My hometown is on fire again. There is a 60,000+ acre fire just outside of town. Back in 2000 there was another fire (Cerro Grande) that took out 40,000 acres and about 1/3 of the houses in town including the one I spent the first 13 years of my life in.

In both cases the fire was caused by human carelessness. In 2000 by a "controlled burn" that was not prescribed and was the doing of a power happy forrest service manager. This time it started on "private property". My guess is that someone was lighting fireworks or burning trash etc. that's pretty standard in the mountains. (I know it's totally moronic, but I've seen it done many many times).

Either way, 100,000+ acres of some of the most awesome forrest I've every know are now toast.

I can't express how great it was growing up in Los Alamos and in the surrounding mountains. There's not much to do in Los Alamos in the way most people would find entertaining, but as a kid it was awesome. Anything and everything outdoor you could possibly want and in a small town with virtually no trail regulations etc. That's where I became a runner, cyclist, mountain biker, skier, and eventually triathlete.

To see all of this going up in flames...again, is literally like loosing a family member. Think of it this way. In my mind, Katrina and the whole New Orleans thing really wasn't all that bad. Everything was just a bit wet, and we're talking buildings. Ya just dry it out and rebuild what got knocked down, done deal. Worst case it takes like 10 years or something.

But fire, and what's happening in my hometown, now that really sucks. Many of these trees are the 100 year old type. And then there is the aftermath, erosion, etc. Unless I'm immortal (and I'm still holding out for that mutation to occur) the place I knew as a kid is literally gone forever. There's now rebuilding a forrest, it's gotta grow, and it takes a long time to do so.

So, that's where I'm at, and it sucks.

But part of why I'm blogging is cause I gotta cyber-bitch to someone about now this is being handled in the media. It's national news on every major network every night. But why? Not because the awesomeness of my youth is being destroyed. Not because this is the second time some dumbass has destroyed tens of thousands of acres. No it's because the moronic sensationalistic media has to jump on the "Wildfire threatens Nuclear facility" thing.

I expected it, it happened last time. But this time its even worse. I've never seen such blatant lies as are being put out with this story. In fact it destroys what little belief I have in major news outlets. Left wing, right wing, liberal, conservative, Fox, MSNBC, it doesn't matter, they all are just straight up lying. For example:

Los Alamos is not a major nuclear weapons lab any more and hasn't been since the 70's. Yet the news makes it out to be some giant wear house of warheads. Hell, the biggest thing LANL does with weapons anymore is non-plarifiration and refurbishment. The majority of the lab does various other things, most of them much more interesting and beneficial. Of course there is no mention of that my the media.

Next, the nuclear waste stored there is almost silly in its content. We're talking clothes, notepads, office equipment, and of course lots and lots of dirt. In fact a good bit of the "radioactive" dirt comes from a place called Bayo Canyon where we used to run my home cross country races. And its irradiated with tritium from the 40-50's, has a half life of 12 years, and is used in such deadly things as wrist watch illumination. Most all of the waste is precautionary from a time when humanity didn't know what it was dealing with as well as they do now.

Yet, even if we do accept that there is radioactive material/waste in Los Alamos where it is stored is about 12 miles from the nearest part of the fire and on a mesa where there are very few trees or combustable material. You see Los Alamos is on the slopes of an ancient volcano and built on mesas of compressed ash from the last eruption hundreds of thousands of years ago. The ecology changes drastically in the ten miles from where the fire is to where the waste dumps are. So, even mentioning this in relation to the fire is completely and totally irrelevant.

Lastly, the reference to weapons is maddening. Yes there is fissionable material at LANL and it's used for various reasons and none are weapons manufacturing. Plus the vault these materials are in is incredibly, amazingly...lets just say its really strong. It's designed to have a 747 crash into it, catch on fire (a'la 9/11) and burn for days. Sooo...that's another non-started for the media.

So, in light of all these facts the only story is a really kick ass forrest is burning due to some moron doing something stupid. But I guess that's just not good enough so fabricating some ridiculous potential disaster is the obvious solution.

That's it I'm out

2011 tri season officially underway. 5150 MIT race report

Pro triathlon has changed a lot since I started racing 10 years ago. Back in the day there were just "the pro races". There was Chicago, Alcatraz, Wildflower, Memphis in May, and so on, and of course Kona. Basically everyone just raced all the races, the pro tour so to speak.

There weren't that many money races, and there weren't that many pros. Now, however, we have numerous series; 5150, 70.3, Rev3, Tri-Star, Challenge, Tri Grand Prix, XTERRA, Lifetime, and even IronMan is now a series of sorts. We have qualification systems into the biggest races. We have some races with huge prize purses, and frankly way too many races with $25k prize purses. We have 320 American pro athletes and at least double that internationally. And we can race, professionally year round.

On the up side, all this opportunity is awesome. On the downside, there's too much. Some weekends have 4 of the same format race on the same day (ie 70.3s) then you add in other series of formats and you may have 6-8 "professional" races on a single day. It dilutes the fields and weakens the draw, both of which are bad.

In the end it means that the average pro triathlete (and I'm talking the second tier guys etc. not the top echelon that is afforded more freedom of choice by more financial stability) has to be very organized and responsible about their season plan. You just can't be enticed by this or that race. You can't try to guess where opportunity may lie. There is now trying to predict which races will be soft or not. It's just too fluid and things can change in an instant.

Thus, you have to pick a plan and a goal and stick to it. Don't question it.

And thus, we come to my first race of the year, the 5150 Miami International Triathlon.

Let's do this French style, desert first (don't they do that?). I was 26th out of 30 something starters in the pro men's field. I swam a 19 flat to the leaders 16 and the lead packs 17. I rode a 59 to the leaders 52 and the lead groups 54s. And I ran a 34 to the leaders 31.

Pretty crap right?

Well, here's the thing. I went to this race hoping for a top 10, and expecting a top 15. My focus this year is on 70.3 Worlds in September and XTERRA worlds in October. Both over 6 months away. I wanted to build a very solid foundation this winter with lots of volume and LT work. And, I accomplished that.

However, coming out of CO where we have winter and doing the training I've been doing with the LT focus and developing a deep aerobic foundation I knew I would be sacrificing a bit to much of the group at MIT. Many of those guys are ITU racers who are looking at key races coming in the next month. Many are guys living in FL, or Hawaii, or AZ over the winter and approaching things in a very different way than I. So, I knew the deck was stacked against me...I stacked the deck against me.

I went into Miami tired and under trained for the speed of a 5150 field containing arguably the fastest swimmers, bikers, and runners in the sport of triathlon. In short, I brought a knife to a gunfight, and a knife I've spent the past 4 months dulling.

So, am I stupid for racing? I will argue no. I like to get in there early in the year and see where I stand. I know myself pretty well at this stage and how I will respond to specific training once it is applied. So, I like to kind of throw myself to the lions and see where I stand.

Here's what I came away from Miami with. I gave up 1 minute on the swim because I'm stupid and didn't get out quick, used old goggles that fogged, and didn't attack the turn buoys. All early season mistakes that you get out of the habit of doing well when you spend the winter in a pool and not doing open water swims. So, easy enough to correct that. Plus all my training has been LT based in the water and I felt it. I could have gone and gone, just not at 17 pace. So, implement some higher end work and bam.

On the bike and run, Again, that same feeling of wow, I can hold this for another 40 k but I can't go faster. I was breathing easy but was muscularly fatigued. Coming from altitude that's to be expected if one hasn't been doing speed work. I've got lots of 30 min type efforts and very little 2 min VO2 max type. So, I get into a race and feel exactly like the work I've been doing. Again, pretty much exactly what should have happened considering how I'm trained at the moment.

Ok, great, so I went all the way to Miami to get my ass kicked and learn what I already knew? Well, frankly, yes...in a way. The past few years have been inconsistent for me. However, the last 6 months have been very good. I wanted to a test to see if I was where I should be, and I am. Now the fun begins.

There's a saying about training, and periodization. "The broader the base the higher the peak". Well at this point I know I have a very broad and deep base. Now I get to let myself go and start actually training fast rather than holding back and building LT and aerobic efficiency.

The trick with altitude is understanding this principle. This is why altitude trained athletes are invariably superior. We are able to develop such a deep aerobic capacity that once race pace intensity is added we are able to do more with it. At least that's my feeling (and the Kenyans, and most elite cyclists, and swimmers, and most of the best triathletes).

So, I went to Miami and got my ass kicked by some of the best guys in the world, and I'm totally stoked by it. Everything is on track and I'm ready for the next step.

More to come...

Jimmy

Checking in and catching you up...

Well, I've fallen off the face of the cyber earth...well maybe not that extreme, I've just not been blogging as much as I would like. So I thought I'd crank something out to get you caught up with what's new and profess (yet again) my intent to blog more.

Actually, the thing is, blogging took a big hit in general with the advent of Twitter or micro-blogging. It's easy, you can do it from your cell phone, it's a concise simple though, BAM, your done. It's also become a viable marketing force and a pop culture phenomenon. However, I see a resurrection coming for blogging. Frankly, people have more to say then 140 characters can provide and more to expound on than Charlie Sheen's latest rant.

So, I'm gonna go ahead and proclaim a future comeback of the blog.

That said, here's my deal:

Well, If you follow me at all you know 2010 was kind of nuts. If anything it was a huge kick in the ass to get organized, get fit, and get going in pursuit of my goals and aspirations.

It's been a really good winter. I sat down in October and figured out what I wanted and what it would take to get there. I consulted with several highly valued coaches, sponsors, family, and friends on what they think. Then I took all of that, laid out a plan, and started climbing the ladder.

This is a concept I'm rather fond of- climbing the ladder. I don't really see life, athletics, business, what have you as a destination with a start and end point. Rather it is an endless ladder. I am where I am on that ladder and what I want is on up the ladder. So, worrying about the past or where I am now if pointless. I am where I am and if it's not where I want to be I have to start climbing.

I see this concept a lot with other athletes or people a coach. They focus so much on where they want to be compared to where they are. The fact is, it's fine to have lofty goals but you can't paralyze yourself with thoughts of how far you are from where you want to be, again, you are where you are, you just gotta start climbing.

So, that's what I've done, and part of the reason this blog has stalled. For whatever reason when I have a distinct goal and a laid out plan of how to get there I tend to put the blinders on, put my head down and just get to work. It's easy for my to put everything else to the side. The downside of this is eventually I lift my head up, look around, and realize I haven't been social in quite a while, and I've let all non-essensials slide. So, I'm trying to be better about being a serious committed athlete as well as being present in all other aspects.

That said, the ladder climb has gone well. I began my training with a few basic goals, I wanted to implement a distinct progression to my training. Meaning, don't rush it early and lay a solid foundation before building upon that. This meant building up to full volume (5-6 swims, 5 bikes, 7 runs) slowly and steadily and implementing a certain amount of intensity within this entire build. The idea of "base" is pretty much dead any more. It used to be that athletes would do many months of high volume/low intensity before implementing the higher intensity workouts. However, it's been proven that it is important to always keep a hand in the intensity. Which can be tricky for may coaches and athletes as it is difficult to monitor adequate intensity while consistently building volume. Both are vital to the end result but it is a delicate balance when you are really pushing the envelope as a pro athlete and trying to do just as much as is possible without tipping over into fatigue and/or injury.

Anyway, maybe I'll write more on that later. The point is. It's gone well. I put my head down got the training done and am happy with where I am in the first week of March. I'm riding as well as I ever did last year and my run is better than it's been for many years. My swim, is good, it can always be better as I was never specifically a swimmer. But It continues to improve.

On the race and sponsorship front things have developed nicely.

I've stayed on with Specialized which is massive for me. It is invaluable to be associated with such a strong passionate brand and group of athletes. Also, I have a lot to prove to Ian, Bobby and the guys and I'm excited to do that aboard a Specialized in 2011.

I've also continued with PowerBar, Blue Seventy and Native Eyeware.

I'm very happy to have wheel support with DT-Swiss, tires from Challenge, gruppos from Shimano and running support from Brooks and Boulder Running Company.

I'm still hunting for a "title" sponsor (for lack of a better term) to help cover the numerous travel, license, and ancillary expenses but I think I have some strong prospects.

All in all things are good. Training is going very well, I'm not where I want to be or where I can be just yet but the progress is going better than planned.

That's it for now. Keep checking back at www.iamspecialized.com or follow me on twitter at @jimmyarchertri for updates and more blogs coming at least weekly.

Jimmy

Update

I haven't been blogging much lately. Through Jan. I was stepping up the training, and frankly I've kind of had my head down lately. Nothing crazy. I'm not doing thousands of miles or anything, just putting in the work.

I've been swimming consistently and getting back to where I was last year which was Ok. I'd like to drop another 30 seconds or so from my 2k.

Running and cycling are going well also, although there's been a bit too much indoor work over the last week. But, again just getting in the work.

That's kind of the frustrating part of this time of year. You're not racing much so there isn't a lot of feedback on how things are going. But, I can see and feel improvement week to week which is all that matter.

My real focus has been on taking care of the small things that don't seem to matter as much like core, plyos, diet, and organization. These are the things that seem insignificant sometimes but can have huge pay back.

So, that's it, just getting the work done and getting ready for March.

Coaching/Exercise Science educational state or lack there of: RANT

Above is a picture of the books and resources I've read or referred to in the last 4-6 weeks. Nothing major, just a small cross section of my library. Lots of it is just re-reading for the hell of it, or cross/comparative referencing, or just trying to expand my knowledge base (ie, The Fighters Heart, and the Book of Five Rings (not picured)).

However, I also have a degree in Exercise Physiology, as well as 15+ years of experience coaching and as a professional athlete. Plus, at least that many years keeping my mouth shut and learning from many of the best coaches and athletes in the world who I have had the privilege to learn from and work with.

Why am I saying all this? Well, because I am getting (back) into the coaching game. I've interviewed with a few companies and have made myself available for private coaching, see www.jimmyarcher.com.

In considering everything that goes into coaching and/or opening a coaching practice/company my thoughts naturally went to, "am I ready? Am I on top of the latest info, theory, and practice? What needs improvement? and so on". Yet, and this brings me to my point, in researching various other coaching options I am astonished, ASTONISHED I tell you, by the utter lack of education and/or experience in this field.

At least 50% (if not more like 75%) of people calling themselves professional triathlon coaches have no formal education. They simply took USAT's silly course and felt ready to start charging for their "incredible" breadth of knowledge. And it doesn't stop there, look at many of the so called "coaches" writing training articles for the mags or websites. At best most only have a certification of some sort.

It all drives me freakin nuts. If someone can operate a fire extinguisher are they ready to join the NYFD? Because you can use a calculator should you be an accountant? Because you can hold a knife should you be a surgeon? No, HELL no. Yet for some reason hundreds, maybe thousands of people in this country think because they have done a couple of races and coughed up $500+ bucks to USAT (p.s. so some other know nothing can impart their "expertise"), they are ready to turn their MBA into a coaching career.

You know, I did actually learn stuff for those four years I was siting through "colloquium for Kinesiology".

As per usual the Slowtwitch forum and twitter are the cause of this rant.

But seriously people. Put some thought into who you are hiring. Coaching, program design, technique training isn't easy, and if done wrong it can be dangerous. There is a reason for seeking out the truly qualified.

If you are looking to get a coach, please, do some research. Hell, hit me up with questions, I'll direct you to good people (free of charge) if you don't want to hire me. Just don't run off and hire some fool just because they spend time on the Slowtwitch forum or can drop names on twitter. Just put a bit of research into your decision.

That is all,

Jimmy