Rice and Eggs

Congrats to Jason Lester, winner of the 2009 ESPY for male disabled athlete of the year! Thanks Jason for having Ann and I down for the ceremony (far better than the televised show) and esp the after party! I'll post the link to your podcast interview as soon as it comes up on the website.

Congrats to Ty Patton, Personal Best HIM last saturday in Racine, WI 4:40 (PR by about 30 minutes...just in time for IM Wisconsin)

Congrats to Jorge Villavincencio PR in the marathon by over 30 minutes last month.

Congrats to Tim Winestorfer, who dominated the M50 AG at Desert Half 2 weeks ago, first position on the podium and securing his ticket to IM Canada in a month.

Congrats to Josh Monda Personal Best at Vineman 70.3 with 4:28 (4:23 on stopwatch but delayed from a tree obstruction in road), and 5th on Podium. I dont take credit for Josh's PR. Josh was coached by a very good, reputable local coach who has helped me during races and is an important figure in the triathlon community here in Portland. However, I encourage athetes to try various methods after a couple of seasons with a coach, even my own athletes whom I've sent to other local coaches...because I want whats best for them. It may not be me...esp. after a couple of seasons. Variety can benefit an athlete over the long run. Knowledge and diversity is power.


Posted on July 15, 2009, "Rice and Eggs"
by lancearmstrong

This is a paste from Lance Armstrongs twitter recently. Lance twittered what he was eating for breakfast on July 15th, during the Tour de France.

For my athletes, that's right....I'm not making this shit up. I've ridden with a few of you and explained what I learned from the World class athlete's I trained with back in the late 80's and early 90's. The "rice and egg whites" explanation I have given my athletes for 3 years now is a recovery formula I learned 20 years ago training in marathon, and training with sub 2:12 athlete's who knew then what worked best. We had no gels, no maltodextrin, no recovery drinks. They used recovery food that they knew helped them recovery as fast as possible. We did consistent 110-125 miles per week back then, including 3 speed workouts and a long run each week. I was not born with the knowledge. I have been coached nearly my entire adult life and have strived to take in and absorb any and all information from everyone who is better than me. Not all of it is sound, but with my education, I have been able to discern what's valid and whats is likely not. I pride myself and my coaching, as teaching what I have learned. Some things I have created by self experimentation, but the vast majority is from combing through years of logs, dissecting out what I've learned, and what I believe works best.

When I get emails and texts on how "dead my legs are" and "I am totally fatigued" please take this into account....there are certain common denominator's amongst competitive athletes. Many athletes that ascend to great heights in sport know how to get there, know the proper intensity, read their bodies quantitatively and not emotionally, and probably most importantly....know how to recover quickly. Trust me, even at the age of 24, I would not be able to handle the volume and intensity without a continuous effort of recovery. So, this is why my first response to those of you who email me regarding fatigue...is the reiteration of recovery. "have you taken recovery drink after each and every workout with intensity?" "have you taken recovery after each and every long ride and long run within 20 minutes?" "are you taking in 75..or 100 grams of protein each day?" "are you focusing on high clean carbs the evening after intensity, and the following morning?" I have emailed or texed each and every one of these comments this year. It's amazing how many, "well..sort of" or "not all the time" or "well..I try but it's hard" and of course "I keep forgetting" responses I receive.

From day 1 as a triathlete in 2004, my first ironman, I utilized my knowledge in marathon racing and recovery to gain an advantage. This is how I put together a 5:15 bike and 3:08 run (1st division and 5th OA run split) in my first ironman at age 38, despite some of the ridicule along the way regarding my "liquid calories" for an entire ironman. Consider this...since 2004, I have not changed my techniques for race day, and have not changed my techniques in recovery. How many athletes are on a constant struggle to find a nutrition strategy, and a constant struggle battling the fatigue of over training without considering what their coach is suggesting...and I'm sorry if your coach is misguided but here's a hint. If your coach cant make the AG podium in an Olympic triathlon, or is over an hour slower than you an an Ironman, has never qualified for Kona and is trying to coach you to Kona...maybe you have the wrong coach. There are methods, common denominators that great athletes use. I am not suggesting I am one of those athletes, but I've become the best I can be given my physiology, and I have painstakingly tried to learn and retain any and all information from those who are far better than me. Those that continue to fall short, those that seem to never improve, dont realize this, and dont care to. Yeah, it's tough love but the truth is, no matter how hard you train, or over train...if you go your own way, and continue to fail, if you waste a coaches time by hiding things from him because even though they're better...you know what's best. If you undermine your own training by "piece-mealing" parts of a program, and inserting your own old training methods than never worked for you in the first place... maybe you should look to someone...trust in someone who's far faster on race day. Vanity and Mistrust. This describes most athlete's failure and their inability to follow a coach. Believe it or not, the reality is, many of the best athletes in the world, and top amateurs, have a gift. No its not lactate threashold, high Vo2 Max...its simply the ability to follow a coach, and be coached.

On a personal note, I have registered for IMAZ in November. I will run fast there barring some unforeseen incident. I plan on running sub 3:18 off the bike. This goal is not unrealistic for me as I've run sub 3:18 four times in the past 8 IM races. Why bring this up? So, given my race plan is to run under 7:30 pace, I ran my 14 miler today in 8 minute pace, 1:54, which included the only 2 hills at 10 min pace up so as to keep my HR under Z3. So, for those of you who are 10, 20, 30 minutes slower than me...Please stop telling me, "I can't run 8 min pace", or "I cant run 8:30 pace". I did today...yes it is possible. For those of you who didnt achieve your running goal, maybe you ran too fast than your coach suggested, time and time again. I reiterate, its strength at a given pace and distance...not the fastest pace possible and simulating your HIM race on every long run when you're training for an IM. Matt Berg, local short course triathlete, former pro, told me this weekend on our long run that there have been a couple of studies on African elite marathon runners and the benefits of running long. Groups running literally 10 min pace vs those running 6 min pace for 3 hours. Other workouts throughout the week equal. The two groups performed equally in racing, adjusted for previous performance. I told him, I've heard of this study and read it several years ago.
So, think about this next time you are running 90 seconds faster per mile than your IM marathon goal pace in a long run, and cant seem to even run within 2 minutes of your long run pace on race day.

So, those of you who have fanatically eaten my rice and egg formula, and those of you who have done it maybe once...and blown it off because it doesnt "taste great"...think about what Lance was eating the morning of July 25. This stuff I am trying to teach you is no joke. I only coach my best and strive for the best in all my athletes. I am a perfectionist admittedly, but am also a realist. We CAN be the best we can be for who we are. But, this requires tedious attention to detail, constant monitoring of effort, CONSISTENCY when it comes to recovery, workout after workout..day after day. Improving an insidious process, and doesnt happen over night..but eventually will happen. Oh yeah, and the ability to simply follow directions when the path is layed out in front of you...this is one of the most important attributes of a quality athlete, and sorry to say not everyone has this inherent ability.
Remember when you are told to something that may sound obscure to you, something that you never learned reading "going long" or should I say...."going too long". The person that taught me such "radical" methods may very well have been 4th overall male at the NYC marathon, or may be a 3 time olympic marathoner, may have had the world record in the marathon, may have been 5th overall at Kona, or have have just run an 8:06 IM last month at age 38. Consider where the source of knowledge may be actually coming from.

Someone suggested I change TriOdyssey Coaching to "PR racing" today. I've had 14 athlete personal bests in 2009. Very happy with that. Most of these athlete fall short of their goal, but have still set Personal Records along the way. So, kudos to all of you and your personal success this season.