Day In The Life

One of the best things about the great cameras in phones is being able to chronicle a day easily. So as per usual, I had my iPhone with me, and I decided to capture a typical day in my life. It was a Saturday, but it easily could have been any day of the week. Days of the week just don't mean much anymore...

It's that time again.

And done.

Time for a date with my dominatrix.

"He conquers who endures." - Perseus

The Quentin-monster in his native habitat.

Time to finish up the work day.

And the highlight of my day.

Perspective

"What was really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life-daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." - Victor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning.

I used to not ride here, because it made me think of what was.

Now I ride here, because it makes me think of what was not.

Real Men of BAMFness: Alex Thomson

Sometimes, it's best just not to write anything at all. (Or to let someone else do the writing.)

AT, you are a BAMF

Real Men of BAMFness: Teddy Roosevelt President's Day Special

Thanks to Chris Corbin for sharing this on President's Day.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt

Ride rough, Teddy, ride rough...

TR, you are a BAMF...

Real Men of BAMFness: Hector Picard

Hector Picard is racing the NYC Tri and also Ironman NYC this summer to raise money for Matt Long's "I Will" Foundation. Hector is a double-arm amputee. What's your excuse? Thanks to Hector for reminding all of us what we are capable of.

© Ironman US Championship

HP, you are a BAMF

Fish Tales

On the blocks for the start of the 500

So I did a swim meet on Saturday (Feb 4), my first since 8th grade. I did a reasonable taper of swimming for the meet, but still did a fair amount of running to start the week. Overall, my biking has been on the back burner to allow a strong focus on swim and run to start this season, hoping to firmly cement the strides (pun intended) I made with my running last year and to shore up swimming, which continues to be my weakest link. A nice easy day the Friday before the race, with just a short sharpening swim, had me feeling pretty good. 

I had hoped to swim the 1650, but the mile takes a long time (obviously), and so at pools where clubs need to rent out space, it's tough to add on another hour or so to swim one more event. So no 1650. Instead I swam the 500, 1000, 200, and the 4x100 relay as the lead off. 500+1000+200 is usually pretty close to a straight 1650 time, and my goal was to break 18:30 for 1650, so I was hoping to do that for my combined total from my three events.

The 500 was first, and I had an average swim. I was in the last heat, seeding a 5:23, though my goal was to break 5:20. I started a bit too fast, despite not having the best start off the blocks, and missed having a clean turn on a wall or two. I went 5:23, which was good, but I thought 5:20 was doable, and I still think it was with a bit better pacing and a cleaner start and cleaning up those few walls.

I had about 2hrs between the 500 and the 1000, so lots of rest. The 1000 was my best event of the day. I had seeded a 11:10, but I paced it really well, negative splitting to come in 10:59, going 5:31, 5:28 by 500. I think that this clearly shows I should have (and could have) been faster for the 500. I was really pleased with my performance in the 1000. In both the 500 and the 1000, I had good duels with the swimmers next to me, and I was really able to capitalize on it in both events, with both times being PBs for me. I did learn after that I should have attempted to draft off the guy next to me, who swam about 1/2 a body length up and on the lane rope for much of the race. Lesson learned. I hope. It's hard to think rationally when you just want to get more air.

There was about 45min rest until the 200, and while I was tired, I was also too conservative on the start, and, unfortunately, was also almost the fastest person in my heat (2nd to last), so I didn't get to chase the faster swimmers as I had hoped. Was shooting for 2:02, but I went 2:04, which was my seed time. A guy in the outside lane took the heat with a 2:03 high, but I didn't really see him and so missed out on really racing him. The 200 is probably the hardest event to pace correctly, both for me and, I think, for swimmers in general, because - like the 800 in running - it's not a sprint but you also need to be right on the rivet (and even slightly over it) the whole time. I'm hopeful we can organize some 200 races in practice, as it's short enough to do often and do well, but still teaches you a lot about racing and pacing.

Then it was about 30min rest until the 4x100. I had a good lead-off, but still need some practice off the blocks. Went 58.44 which was pretty good, and that was really more close to the sort of start that I should have had for the 200. I'm not a sprinter by any stretch, and while I wasn't eager to swim another 100 after my 100 lead off, I think had I not really hammered the last 25 coming home, I probably could have swam another strong 100, getting me closer to the 2:02 I had hoped to go in the 200.

Overall, my combined time from the 1000/500/200 was 18:27, so I met my goal of sub-18:30, and I do think that I could confidently swim that for the 1650, maybe even faster as I do tend to, relatively, do better in the distance events. Not too surprising given my background I guess.

Special thank you to the folks at TYR, who I met as a result of racing ITU Long Distance World Champs in the official USAT uniform, which is made by TYR. Ryan and Jill and the gang at TYR were nice enough to provide me with a Tracer racing cap and jammer, which offers a definite boost over my old polyester brief when it comes to fast swimming.

I'm planning to do at least one more meet, maybe two, and maybe even more depending on how my "real" racing schedule shapes up in final form. It was a great day of training, a great experience, and a lot of fun. For those folks who look at the winter or offseason as a time to avoid the pool, I can't think of the last time I've had this much fun in the winter. And, unlike the other sports, winter is swim-season around the US, so everyone can take advantage, and most of the time, it's actually warmer on the pool deck in places with cold winters. If you haven't had a chance to race in the pool, give it a whirl. You'll not only be a better swimmer, you'll be a better triathlete because of it...

Endurance Hour Podcast

Dave Erickson and Roger Thompson were kind enough to host me on the Endurance Hour Podcast. It wasn't supposed to be quite an hour, but as per usual, I talked a lot. Too much probably. Anyway, thanks to Dave and Roger for coming up with a nice variety of questions and for letting me ramble on for far too long. Hope you all enjoy it, and I hope you can stay awake. Or at least stay interested for most of it.

You can find the podcast, as well as several videos Dave had done previously for IronmanLive.com and Ironman.com here: http://www.swimbikerunvideos.com/endurance-hour-4-jordan-rapp/

Looking Ahead

After a stellar 2009 and a less-than-stellar 2010, I joked that I should probably only race in odd years. 2011 seemed to bear that out, being an incredible year on many fronts, both on and off the race course. I returned to the top step of an Ironman podium, I became a World Champion, and - most importantly - I became a father. Looking ahead, I have to wonder how I'll top that. Though, to be honest, I will say that topping it isn't really a priority. I think I've found the success I have by being focused on the process, and letting the process lead me down a journey to a destination where the results are defined by the hard work, the commitment to excellence, and the relentless pursuit of... (to borrow Simon Whitfield's phrase). When I set out on this journey, I wanted to win an Ironman. I've done that. Three times. And then I wanted, just once, to be the best in the world for just a single moment, and on a cold day in early November, I did that too. And, of course, there is the overwhelming change in perspective that accompanies becoming a parent, when suddenly, there is someone in the world who matters to you a lot more than you ever have mattered to yourself. After the best races of my career, it was still bath time at somewhere around 5:30pm. And, after my first ever Ironman DNF and one of the worst races of my career, it was still bath time at somewhere around 5:30pm. So when I think about what comes now, I know that it'll still be bath time at somewhere around 5:30pm... At least until Quentin decides that he's too big to have bath time with his dad anymore. But until then, I get myself out the door to swim, bike, and run every day because I think I am lucky to have the greatest job in the world, a job that provides a good life for my family, and allows me to be home (almost) every night for bath time. I believe that if you do something you love, you want to do it well. In my case, I want it to do it perfectly. Despite knowing that's unattainable, it is what I strive for. That's true of both being a parent and being a professional triathlete. I want to win races because I love to race, I love to win, and I love to do my job well. And because, at varying levels of consciousness depending on the moment, I know that someone else - someone very small but very special - is counting on me. When I look ahead to 2012, I have some big goals set out - trying to join Ray Browning as the only man to threepeat at Ironman Canada; redeeming myself at Wildflower; defending my title at Leadman; and to making sure that I'm ready for a bath at somewhere around 5:30pm.