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Showing posts from May 22, 2016

M2M Half Ironman - Race recap

 Karel lost a considerable amount of training last summer when he tore his plantar fascia in late May, which was extremely disappointing as he was gearing up for IM Lake Placid (which he DNF'd after the bike, on purpose) and he was training for his first Kona (and our first time racing the Ironman World Championship together). After a lot of rehab and therapy, he was able to put in a minimal amount of running to prepare for the IM World Championship and ran surprisingly well without further damage to his foot but there was still some lingering niggles up until this April (11 months after the injury happened).  While he still has to be mindful of his foot with daily exercises, therapy and strength work, we think he may be on the mend (and his running fitness is proving this to be true).  In the past 4 weeks, Karel has raced twice and has placed overall winner twice (Toughman Half Ironman and Lake James 50). Under the guidance of  coach Matt Dixon ...

Overcoming adversity

 Adversity is defined as an adverse or unfortunate event or circumstance. Adversity is part of sports and is part of life. Throughout a lifetime, many difficult situations will threaten every individual. These hardships (or tragedies) may even define a person. When faced with adversity, you really discover what you are made of and who you are as a human being. You can choose to beat an adverse situation or it can beat you. It can make you or break you. Recovering and moving on from difficult scenarios, tragedies and circumstances is part of life but it is a critical component to sporting success. Adversity in sports doesn’t always give a warning signal. Many times, athletes are faced with obstacles (bad weather, flat tire, gut problems, low moments, anxiety, worries, pain, suffering, off course, etc.) and in a split second, they have to figure out how to deal with the cards they are given for a favorable outcome. How you deal with adversity is a true test of ...

Rev3 Half - race report, Part II

                            10, 9, 8......3, 2, 1....GO! At 7am, we were off! Immediately, I felt good in the water. Karel and I have been swimming at Lake Hartwell (by Clemson) every Wed for the past 4 weeks to get more comfortable in open water, in our wet suits. Going into this race, I wasn't feeling super speedy in the pool but I felt like I could put together a strong swim. My goal for this race was to go as hard as I could go (sustainably strong) for the swim, bike and run and to finish knowing that I didn't hold back at all for 70.3 miles. I was willing to take many risks in this race just to see how they would pay off. After 10 years of endurance racing, I finally feel I am at a point in my athletic "career" where I am ok to fail so long as I give my absolute best effort. I was constantly aware of any other yellow caps around me to keep an eye on my competition. I swam side-by-side by anothe...