Remember Way Back When I asked

Triathlon Forum
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What it takes to get scary fast?? I got a quite a bit of advice and several people telling me to get a coach. Well I bit the bullet, got a coach, about 2 months ago.

I raced the Chicago International this weekend… check this out: in 2001 I went 2:25, in 2002 I went 2:18, this year… 2:10:25!!!

Chicago International distance. One of my favorite races, love the atmoshphere, the swim is very cool, biking on Lake Shore Drive in nice and bunny hopping the bumps going 25 mph also makes it interesting.

I was in the THIRD wave of 30-34 Age Group, which was also the 2rd wave of the International Distance Race.

Swim 1 Mile: 23:55. 3rd of 350 Clydesdale, 16th of 558 in AG, 173rd of 3258 overall. Started the race front and center, when the horn went off I went into a full sprint to the turn around about 1/4 mile, found myself on the heels of the two guys leading my wave. The pace was too high for me so I had to let go of the draft and settle into a nice hard pace. Passed tons of swimmers in the two International waves ahead of me, so a good zig-zag swim was in order…

Bike: 25 Miles, 1:00:55 for 24.8 Mph. 1st of 350 in Clydesdales, 3rd of 558 in Age Group, and 32nd fastest bike split of 3258 racers. Up the on ramp to get on Lake Shore drive then full bore for the entire ride. Hit my red line in the first mile then just held it for the next hour. Did not get passed by a single rider, never even saw anyone coming up to me, I did however have atleast 10 guys try to draft, but just went a bt harder until they gave up… cheaters. Pretty much stayed in the passing lane for the entire ride since they was already 1000 people on the course. It was a blast.

Run 6.2 Miles: 40:30/6:32 pace. 1st of 350 in Clydesdales, 7th of 558 in Age group, and 87th of 3258 overall. First two miles went by in 6:20 but I was really pushing. I backed it down a bit, stayed around 6:30 to 6:40 the rest of the way. Passed two guys and never got passed. One of the volunteers told me I was in 5th place overall on the road. I did not believe them…

Came up the finishing chute with 1000’s of people and heard the announcer say “AND OUR FIFTH INTERNATIONAL FINISHER… KEN MANTEI FROM BRIDGMAN MICHIGAN!!!” I about crapped myself, I started in the third wave, so 300 guys 30-34 got either a 3 minute or a 6 minute lead on me, and I managed to be the 5th person across the line!! What an incredible feeling…

Finsih time was 2:10:25. Which was 1st place overall out of 350 Clydesdales****(nice cool trophy****). 4th out of 558 in the 30-34 Age group and FREAKING 16th overall out of 3258 RACERS!!! WOW… getting a coach is a nice investment!!

I have a full breakdown on my site. www.michiganoutlaws.com or if you want a excellent coach for a decent price… www.martygaal.com

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Congratulations! That was fun to read. If only I could bike that fast! In fact I just decided I’m going to race Chicago next year. It’s such a great race. It’s a little hard to logistically but the bike couldn’t be more fun.

But I have some questions about the coaching. What do you think the difference was for you in your training? What level did you sign up for? Anyone else recommend any coaches? I’ve always thought about getting a coach but they can be expensive. Looks like yours was quite reasonable.

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I paid for the monthly $40 program. Marty writes a detailed daily schedule. Works in races that you want to do and builds everything around one or two of your most important races. Also makes it all fit around the amount of time you have to spend towards training, time of day available, etc… This is no cookie cutter routine, it very specific to your needs. Everything he did for me builds towards Ironman Florida. I think knowing every morning what it is I am doing and having a goal in mind for each workout has helped me tremendously. Also the changes he has made in how I go about my long runs or long rides etc… It has made a big difference in my speed as well as the amount of time I can sustain that speed. You can’t beat 40 bucks bosco… try it for a month, you will see what i mean. Marty also makes himself very available for questions and comments. He also looks forward to hearing your results which I get a kick out of…

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Hey Ken, that is an impressive acheivement. You make an interesting point though: If you give a coach credit for some of your performance, would you fix “blame” (or at least, “responsibility”)if your performance had been worse? I’ll tell you my point in asking when you answer…

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Coach or no coach, that’s a rocking good race! Congratulations!

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Tom… I give credit to Marty… I give credit to you for getting me fit correctly… i give credit to myself for being willing to bust my as# every day… i give credit to my wife for giving me the freedom to pursue a goal… i give credit to my training partners for pushing me… but no, any lack of improvement or lack of mativation I would consider myself to blame. Certainly not marty or anyone else who has attempted to help me along the way. I am ultimately the one who will decide my success or failure.

So what is your point??

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Here’s my point: Give yourself credit first. You had to start racing, evaluate your performance and come up with new goals, look at how you can acheive them and develop a plan. Then, you had to implement the plan. You did each of those things. As a result of your athletic efforts and diligence in research and preparation you’ve experienced a substantial improvement. That’s all you. the coach didn’t call you, he didn’t do your workouts or your races. It was you. It is certainly a positive reflection of your character that you acknowledge and value the contributions of people who have played a small support role (or a large one, in the case of your wife), but remember, ultimately- it was you. That is something to feel darn good about and take into the off seasons and enjoy and use to look forward to next year. Good job. I knew you were a class act.

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Thanks Tom. Appreciate the compliment.