08-12-2017 A Weekend in the Life of a Leadville 100 MTB Race Crew Member

After sending the girls off for their first day of school, we loaded up and headed to Leadville.  Upon arriving in Leadville, our first stop was race check-in.  We picked up Mike’s race packet and headed off to find our lodging location.  We were fortunate this time around to find Alison and the perfect rental set-up off 9th and Harrison.  We were able to walk to the various race events and would have easy access to the start and finish without needing to park the car elsewhere.

As we were settling in, we ran into our first “issue” of the weekend.  The bike lock keeping the bike on the car was jammed and would not open.  A bit of panic as we headed to ACE and had the fortunate encounter with Ryan who allowed us to borrow bolt cutters and helped us free the bike!  Back to the apartment, dropped the bike and the rest of our gear and headed off to the athlete briefing.  

Picture 100s of people packed into the Lake County High School gym and this would describe the athlete briefing.  We were able to gather our entire group together and listened to the history and stories of the Leadville race leaving inspired to take on the event the next day.  

We had lunch at the Tennessee Pass cafe and headed back to our apartment to lay low for a while.  A final run to the grocery store.  A quiet dinner at the apartment and early to bed.  

Saturday was my first experience crewing for the Leadville 100 MTB event. I arrived in Leadville with several responsibilities for the day as a wife, a crew manager, a friend, and a press assistant, with my number one priority being Mike and anything that he needed to make his day go smoother.   

I learned when Mike ran the Leadville 100 in 2015 that as the event approaches that I need to start keeping notes as he shares his expectations of the day.  I had a decent list prepared of what to expect his needs to be as he came through and with my new found projected timelines that I use at all of my coaching events a reasonable expectation of times that my athletes should be rolling through.  The good news for me this time was that everyone was paced slightly different so I had time to assist each one as they came through as I had three that I had gear for.  My goal for the other athletes that I was following was to cheer, support and take pictures.

Here is how the day went:

4:45 a.m. - The alarm sounds.  It is go time.

4:45-5:45 a.m. - Get dressed, pack up my food cooler, pack up crew supplies cooler

5:45 a.m. - Head out to the start area

6:00 a.m. - Arrive at Corals - drop Mike in his coral.

6:10 a.m. - Meet Thad to pick up crew items

6:20 a.m. - Facebook Live National Anthem

6:28 a.m. - Send Thad to start race - run up 6th to meet Mike

6:30 a.m. - Watch Mike start

6:35 a.m. - Pack up guitar, amp and all supporting equipment in Thad’s car.

Pack crew supplies in his car to pick up as I leave for Twin Lakes

6:45 a.m. - Meet with Hugh and Cole at City on the Hill

7:15 a.m. - Walk back to apartment - use functioning restroom one last time and head out

7:20 a.m. - Pick up Thad’s crew items from his car

7:45 a.m. - Arrive Twin Lakes Dam aid area/Opted to pass first parking option (GOOD CHOICE)

7:45-8:30 a.m. - Unload car/set up crew area

8:39 a.m. - Race Leaders through TL Outbound

8:54 a.m. - First Female through TL Outbound

9:07 a.m. - First First Descents Team Member TL Outbound

9:14 a.m. - Wesley Sandoval TL Outbound

9:18 a.m. - Chris Colt TL Outbound

9:28 a.m. - One Arm Willie TL Outbound

9:55 a.m. - Thad TL Outbound

10:12 a.m. - Race Leaders TL Inbound

10:20 a.m. - Carrie Larson TL Outbound

10:23 a.m. - John Baker TL Outbound

10:45 a.m. - Mike TL Outbound

10:45-11:00 a.m. - Walked to restroom

11:15 a.m. - Columbine UPDATE received on Chris

11:25 a.m. - First First Descents Team Member TL Inbound

11:55 a.m. - Chris TL Inbound

12:03 p.m. - One Arm Willie TL Inbound

12:06 p.m. - Aided Athlete #1998 with water - could not find his crew to refill

1:19 p.m. - Thad TL Inbound

Begin loading car back up/move car closer in event of rain and for additional supplies

1:40 p.m. - Carrie Larson TL Inbound

2:00 p.m. - John Baker TL Inbound

2:15 p.m. - Mike TL inbound

Load car of remaining gear

3:00 p.m. - Arrive in Leadville

Check in at apartment, regroup on supplies, head to finish

4:00 p.m. - One Arm Willie  FINISH

4:08 p.m. - Chris Colt FINISH

Coffee shop to visit with Tom & Margie, meet Laura from CAF and take a break from the rain

6:15 p.m. - Thad FINISH

6:25 p.m. - Carrie Larson FINISH

Move supplies from cars

Home to regroup, send photos, respond to messages

8:00 p.m. - Out to dinner with Colts

9:30 p.m. - To Bed

I always ask my athletes that I coach to provide me with a 5/5/5 report post race.  5 Celebrations/5 Challenges/5 Goals to work towards next time.  Here is my post event report.

5 Celebrations:

1. Supporting Chris in his final step of a journey we have been a part of all year (seeing his family and experiencing all of their reactions)
2. Did not miss anyone that I was tracking/watching coming through either direction
3. Seeing friends achieve milestones in their journeys
4. Good weather - a bit of rain but most of the day sunny and not too warm
5. Pictures of nearly all if not all First Descents Team Members

5 Challenges:

1. Poor service in Twin Lakes - struggled to get messages through to establish meetup location
2. Celebrating friends accomplishments while others in our pack did not finish
3. Mike’s return to Twin Lakes Inbound - replaying what had transpired since his last pass through (his expression)
4. The mood swing of celebrating the cut made to finding out that it was missed and why
5. Catching people for photos - not identifying quickly enough

5 Goals:

1. Execute the storage container plan that I have been wanting to start for crew organization
2. Get a collapsible wagon to easily transport items from car to designated spot - the walk is inevitable (found one to borrow - remember Miss Dee for the next round!)
3. Figure out how to work with a spotter/tracking to anticipate and catch desired pictures
4. One bike tool kit of sorts to be shared among all athletes versus duplication of multiple items
5. Is it worth connecting crew spot to existing tent (First Descents or others?)

Sunday, we enjoyed a quiet morning in Leadville.  A chilly walk to the Golden Burrow for breakfast followed by a little bit of browsing around town.  We then participated in the Leadville Race Series 10K which showed a very fast field at elevation with climbing.  We then headed back to Denver - a part of the I70 heavy traffic to Idaho Springs that the signs told us about.  

08-06-2017 Swimming with Simone

Throughout my triathlon journey, I have always been inspired by others racing beside me.  The mindset and the “why” are equally and often times more important than the hours of swim, bike and run training that it takes to toe the line at a race, and the life lessons learned along the path carry into everyday life.  

On Sunday, August 6, 2017, I had the opportunity to support Simone in achieving a finish at her first sprint triathlon.  Simone suffers from a very rare and severe form of arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis.  She has faced challenges throughout her life as a result and has adapted to each one.  

Simone set a goal for 2017 to complete her first sprint triathlon with her friends from her tri group from Colorado Springs.  The challenge for Simone with this race was the open water swim.  With Ankylosing Spondylitis she is no longer able to turn her head to breathe in the water, nor can she lift he head to sight.  Simone swims with a snorkel.  In the pool, this is not a problem with the line on the bottom, however open water is cloudy and there is no line.  

Simone reached out to the race director to request permission to take part in the Tri for the Cure at Cherry Creek Reservoir.  The permission involved her being able to swim with a snorkel as well as the need for someone to swim with her in the race.  Simone was granted permission to compete and was requested to provide her own swim buddy.  Simone went to the Women for Tri Facebook page - a sight and a community that greatly inspires her.  She posted her need for a swim buddy for the race and our connection was made when I responded to her post.  We scheduled a time to connect via phone.  Simone explained to me about Ankylosing Spondylitis and informed me that my duties would require guiding her through the swim via a rope tied to my ankle and tied to her wetsuit.  This would provide her with a guide in the water so she knew where to go.  A couple of cautions - if the rope gets taught I am swimming too fast or she has stopped.  Don’t pull as it will waterlog her snorkel!  And, keep her away from people as she is very fragile and cannot risk being kicked or punched in the water.  She said my duties for the day were strictly in the water, she would bike and run on her own.  

Simone and I met in person the Tuesday before the race to do a trial swim at her local pool.  We swam tethered together and discussed issues we had with the rope and got a system in place for Sunday.  We were quite efficient in the pool after a very short time!

Sunday morning, we met early at the park.  We took time to set up transition and visit with her tri club friends.  We pulled on our wetsuits and walked to wait for our start.  Simone and I both experienced race day jitters.  Simone’s those of an athlete and me as the role of mother duck - will I be able to keep her safe and perform on the swim so that she achieves the outcome she is after.  I focused my attention, as a coach, on her nerves and worked to calm her down.  I never mentioned mine.  

We watched the other swimmers start the race and waited for our wave to start.  We high fived the race coordinator and entered the water starting last.  We stood in the water once our wave started and waited for the other swimmers to swim away from shore.  We saw our path of clear water and set off.  My goal was to keep Simone to the left side of the swimmers as we were making right turns so congestion would be towards the right.  My mother duck instincts kicked in as we began to pass people and I found myself talking to race assistance and other swimmers to keep them out of our path.  We made it to the first buoy and had a decent rhythm established.  My plan seemed to be working so I kept on.  Alerting people as I made course plans and keeping Simone swimming.  We rounded the final turn and approached the finish.  We had to slow a bit due to other swimmers and we reached the shore.  I tapped on Simone to let her know we were finished.  We stood up in the water and she couldn’t believe we were already done.  We had achieved our goal time in the water and had passed many swimmers along the way.  As we made our way up into transition, I asked Simone to pause and look back at all of the swimmers still in the water and to remind her that she had passed all of them.  She was elated!  

Transition was smooth and Simone set off on her bike. I waited in transition for her.  She came off the bike finishing in a shorter time than her goal and set off on the run.  And she ran!  My thirteen year old was there watching and said that she was running fast!  We moved to the finish to wait for her to come in.  I had the opportunity to take pictures of Simone in the finish chute and it was awesome to see her pure joy!  She had crushed her goal time on her run too and was feeling great!!  

Simone told me in our initial conversation that my sole job was to help her through the swim.  She did not want to take any more of my time and I was welcome to leave as soon as we were out of the water.  I would not have missed the rest of her race for anything.  The look on her husband’s face was nothing but pride.  He was so proud of her.  The celebrations as each member of her tri group finished were priceless and it was a very special day for everyone.  Simone’s family and tri group welcomed myself and my daughter into their family and it was an honor to share in their celebration.  

Thank you to Simone for setting a goal, for pushing hard to make it possible (and it took work), and for reaching out to the community on blind faith for your swim buddy.  I will remember this day forever and look forward to supporting you in achieving your goals of longer tri distances!!

#OneDayOneStep and as I told Simone race morning #ControltheControllables  

08-05-2017 Faces in the Races - Team Agar

Jeff and Johnny Agar of Rockford, Michigan will be among the faces in the Ironman Boulder 70.3 event on Saturday.  Jeff and Johnny are a father-son team.  Johnny is 23 and was born with cerebral palsy.  Johnny is an athlete. On his website, Johnny defines athlete as - “

a person who is proficient in sports and other physical exercise.”  He goes on to state that “Now that I have crossed the finish line, I feel like I am officially an athlete.”  Jeff and Johnny have completed 5Ks to Marathons and sprint to 70.3 triathlons.  

I had the opportunity to sit down with Jeff and Johnny as well as his Mom Becki, Sisters Annie and Grace and Coaches Thad Beaty and Nicole Serraiocco to talk about the race.  

This is the family’s first visit to Colorado.  After driving 17 hours from Michigan they were happy to settle into their home away from home for the week.  Johnny enjoyed the opportunity to visit a park with his Aunt and Uncle and fish in the stream where he caught several brown trout.  He also hopes to get to the Olympic Training Center while he is here.  The family also plans to go to a Colorado Rockies baseball game.  They all expressed how much they like Colorado and how excited they are to be here.  

Jeff and Johnny have been getting their training in since arriving.  Yesterday was a preview of the swim at the reservoir and a brief look at the bike course.  They have also driven the bike course and looked at targets using Best Bike Split software to determine their strategy for race day.  The goal for both Jeff and Johnny is to manage the matches that they will use on the course and ensure that there are enough matches left for Johnny to walk the last ½ mile of the run course and cross the finish under his own power.  For Jeff - this means controlling power output on the bike, hydrating properly to limit the impacts of the altitude and applying his training with confidence.  For Johnny - he too needs to ensure that he is properly hydrated, he has to shift around in the chariot to keep his feet awake so they are ready to walk and he says his most important job is to remind his Dad about his cadence!  He looks forward to the ice cream post race!

As most triathletes know, mindset is equally as important as the skills needed to swim, bike and run.  Johnny’s mindset is an inspiration.  He believes that failure is part of the process.  He has received encouragement from his family, his coaches and his friends every step of the way.  His sister Annie said “if he failed it was not because of the fact that he had cerebral palsy it was because he did not try hard enough.”  And Johnny agrees - he takes ownership and does not make excuses.  Johnny is not worried about not doing it, he is worried about “not trying.”

Race morning will involve many checklists.  Johnny said that he doesn’t sleep because he is so excited for the event so when it is time to get rolling he is waking the family up.  His Sisters commented that their job is to get themselves to the car so that he stops herding them to go!  Jeff said the set-up takes much longer for them with all of the equipment and referring to the checklists often is a must.  He said there is only one time that you show up at a race without a life jacket!  

Jeff and Johnny will have their coaches on sight to support them throughout the day.  They embrace the opportunity to learn and grow from observing this team at work and to gather information to carry forward to the next goal.  The Agars are hoping for an invitation to return to Kona and Johnny will continue to train towards his ultimate goal of completing a 5K on his own and “give his Dad a break!”

To learn more about Team Agar, visit their webpage -

www.TeamAgar.com.  

As the writer of this article, receiving the opportunity to cover Team Agar at this race is a gift that is amazing.   There were so many valuable life lessons learned in our brief conversation.  I look forward to a continued friendship with the family and following Johnny and Jeff’s journey and celebrating each milestone along the way.  

Look for additional information throughout the weekend on Team Agar’s journey as well as their race recap.  Until then as Johnny says - “one step at a time!