The Coach Buzz ...

We are now into full on taper for Ironman Wisconsin and there are a few things that I would like to pass along as we go forward. I will post them to the forum, but wanted to make sure you got them first. Not all of you on this list are racing Ironman and I haven't directly coached many of you, but we have crossed paths at some point along the way. Whether or not you are racing, have raced or will race again, I think that this information is good for everyone to remember. Each one of you has had a different story, a different training plan and a different path to get where we are 12 days out from the race. Some of you have had injuries, some have been sick and some have had to learn to train in a different way due to changes within your lives. Whatever your story is, whatever your state of mind is and whatever your level fitness may be, it is important that over the next 12 days you take advantage of every opportunity you have the race you want and have worked so hard for. It ha

Hi All, If you get a chance, head over to the forum to check out regular racing, training, nutrition and life balance topics. Sorry for the lull in thread topics and posts; as the taper starts I would like to add a few new topics every couple days, so feel free to respond, start threads of your own, or add questions. Here is the first topic that I posted from the forum, you can register(for free) or check out the forum here. The first topic is the sweat test. Nutrition is called the 4th discipline in triathlon quite often and for good reason. I think that many times athletes just neglect it and don't put in the time and effort to simulate their race in different conditions in order to find out what works and what doesn't work for them. Ill cover a few more ideas and steps as we go here, but the first is "The Sweat Test." What to do: 1) Write down weather conditions and specific intensity that you are planning to train in. 2) Weight yourself naked before the sessio

I had the privilege of getting to know Todd Varness over the last year and a half! Let me tell you about Todd. Now I only saw Todd a few days each week for a short period of time outside maybe an occasional Saturday morning at the famers market. Though it wasn't much, he did have a huge impact on me as a person. There are a lot of people that workout early in the morning. They get up when it's dark, are grumpy and bitter throughout their workouts, then go to work and live their busy lives. Well with Todd, he had a busy life, he worked with kids and he did train before it was light out. But there was one huge difference with him. He NEVER and I mean NEVER complained once about anything. Infact , I think he laughed and joked just about more than anything else. Even right before he was diagnosed and when he was feeling so bad, he never once complained! He was always the first one to ask how your day was going or say hi. He was sarcastic, funny and genuine...no one deser