Following

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/4391866

I assume he's still alive.
Haven't heard much of him for 6-7 years or so.
Dude seemed to be having an existential crisis or something...

Nothing super exciting, but I did race him I think in 1991 at the Redding Bud Light Half Ironman.

He was quick, the crazy hair did not slow him down at all.

I pretty sure that he won the race, but it was not a huge field ...

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Advanced Aero TopTube Storage for Road, Gravel, & Tri...ZeroSlip & Direct-mount, made in the USA.
DarkSpeedWorks.com.....Reviews.....Insta.....Facebook
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There are some old threads on here about him.

Wasn't he DeBooms training partner?


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Once, I was fast. But I got over it.

I have done a lot of research, much beyond that of Slowtwitch. I am looking for people that knew him to reach out for the purpose of relating their personal experiences, possibly on the podcast.

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Internet User

Please tell me you have a copy of the Gatorade Chuckie V On The Move commercial. :)

I hope you can find him, and you find him well. I have several stories, none I can tell though(well I could tell them, but I won't)... (-;

I'd like to hear him talk about his 1999 Ironman Canada win followed by his 1999 DQ at Kona. Awesome athlete and personality, I hope that he is doing better these days.

Oh I do!

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Internet User

He used to live 3 doors down from me until his divorce with Charlie. Since then he vaporized & haven't seen or heard from him since. I've ridden with him pulling out of my driveway multiple times just by pure chance and he usually seemed *angry* to talk to. As if like anything bothered him (even riding with someone). I know he has had issues, but while TV/media portrayed a social personality, in real life during my encounters with him, he was not from my interaction. Very private, which is fine. I always admired his poor man efforts to compete with the salaried or sponsored athletes like the Big Four.

I did a training camp with him and Charlie several years ago - in Solvang - I never saw the darker side of him - admittedly it was only for 6 days. He was engaging, thoughtful, and fun to be around... I have read a lot of stories about him -- including his Appalachian Way trek (some hilarious adventures there), and hope he is doing OK

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Graham Wilson
USAT Level III Elite Coach
http://www.thewilsongroup.biz

I worked with Chuckie for several years in EC and knew him a little prior.

Chuckie is one of the best dudes I've had the good fortune to get to know. Period.

Insanely bright, charismatic, deeply passionate about the sport (& its larger part in a healthy life) & best of all...

Truly authentic & honest to a fault (as any reader of his old blog would know)

This general intolerance for B.S. might be why he feels the strong need to ditch society and head off into the wild on a fairly frequent basis.

Given the current state of the sport, we need more like him to stick around.

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Alan Couzens, M.Sc. (Sports Science)
Exercise Physiologist/Coach
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alan_Couzens
Web: https://alancouzens.com

I thought about replying to this for a minute. Got to know Chuck through a local pro that lives in the area I live. It is where he trained most of the year when he won imc. Did some long rides together and listened to some funny and serious stories of his.

Great guy who I have often thought about since the thread on here asking if anyone knows how he is.

Not sure what exactly your looking for but pm me you like.

never knew him but followed his blog and trail journals. The blog went dark/private some years ago, so long that blogger doesn't even keep a note of how long it was.

His Pacific Crest 2006 trail journal was terrific, funny and tragic and profound all together, much like life..
https://www.trailjournals.com/journal/4028

The trailjournals account of the AT petered out but I find now it seems to be documented at
https://alimpinthewoods.blogspot.com
So I have something to read now ;-)

Can you elaborate? No pun intended! :)

Hey Tamiii,

Was just meaning that Chuckie specialized in calling out the B.S. of 'hacks'/'shortcuts' etc. in an informative, entertaining and completely unequivocal way.In his own words, he saw himself as "a lyrical laxative for a constipated sport" :-)

And I feel that given the nonsense ('hacks'/shortcuts/high intensity-low commitment plans) 'bunging up the system' at the moment, we're in desperate need of Chuckie's experience-borne honesty now more than ever e.g...

https://alancouzens.com/..._make_champions.html

And here is a twitter thread I put together with some more more nuggets of wisdom from the one and only Chuckie V...

https://twitter.com/.../1099725130429718528

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Alan Couzens, M.Sc. (Sports Science)
Exercise Physiologist/Coach
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alan_Couzens
Web: https://alancouzens.com

This is awesome thanks for the explanation alan

Nothing to add besides thanks for doing this and I’m looking forward to hearing it!

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

I can only echo everything Alan says about Chuck.

He was a better coach than he was an athlete so we never got to really see either. He admitted to me he was his own worst enemy as an athlete, there was speed left on the table and he openly admitted that. He left the world of elite cycling because of all the unethical behavior to come across to triathlon.

Last time I saw Chuck in person I was staying with him and his GF in Tucson at a camp. He offered a spare bedroom for my accommodations and it was an easy decision to say yes. That bedroom ended up being a carpeted floor, blankets and pillow. I was offered better accommodations but decided to stay with Chuck because sleeping on the floor there was a small sacrifice for the time spent in conversation. I hope that says a lot about how I felt about him. (I believe he spent the last of his Gatorade money on the condo?) Less than 6 months later I lost touch with him.

I would love nothing more than for him to come back out of the shadows just long enough to drag every bit of today's BS through the mud.

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Dave Latourette
http://www.TTENation.com

That article on your web site is really great, and obv the same goes for cycling and distance swimming. In top swimming circles, many swimming coaches have gone away from the mega-yardage of the 70s and 80s. While this may be appropriate for 50/100 sprinters, in the 200 and up events endurance is crucial. Some will argue this but I think it is no coincidence that July 21, 1980, was the last time an American held the 1500 m freestyle WR. However, had Phelps chosen to contest the 1500, I have no doubt he could have dominated this event and set several new WRs, b/c he came from a high mileage program. In his book "Breaking the Surface", he details his warm-ups, cool-downs, etc, during the '08 Oly, and he was swimming around 7000-9000 m per day, just in his warm-ups/cool-downs, and this was in full taper!!! Obv the only way an athlete could do that would be if he were used to swimming at least twice that volume every day, 7 days per week. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Thanks Eric!

Couldn't agree more! When Kieren Perkins was dominating distance swimming, in the 1990's, he was *averaging* 90K a week with only 15-20K 'quality' and the rest easy aerobic base. As the bulk of American programs dropped the mileage, the Aussies cranked it up, with obvious results! Unfortunately, as it tends to go, the current crop of Aussies are now copying the 'American way' with similarly obvious results

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Alan Couzens, M.Sc. (Sports Science)
Exercise Physiologist/Coach
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alan_Couzens
Web: https://alancouzens.com

Ya and I've read that Vladimir Salnikov, the great Russian D swimmer of the 80s, swam up to 120,000 meters per week, which might explain why he held the 1500 WR for around 10 yrs or so. And Perkins and Grant Hackett, along with Salnikov, were those swimmers I was thinking of. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I didn’t know anything about chuckie V until this thread and he certainly sounds like a super interesting fella!!! Can’t wait to read your article / listen to your podcast. Especially since his blog seems to be offline now.

When do you plan on releasing your study Dark Mark?

I have not posted in almost 2 years. He walked the Peninne Way in England and did a few through hikes in the US. He kept trail journals but they seem to have gone away. Maybe waybackmachine?