Interesting Site Stats for http://www.jimlubinski.com
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
Hey Guys, I contributed to another article for Men’s Fitness. Hope it helps, click here to read it.
We all set “stretch” goals for ourselves, or, I should say, we all should set “stretch” goals for ourselves. My stretch goal for the next few months is to commit to becoming the best swimmer I am capable of being. I have been dabbling in and out of the pool for the past 3 years. Yes, I have been committed to becoming a better swimmer, but I have not been committed to doing the things that are actually going to get me to be the best I can possibly be. Swimming is only part of the equation. I must be committed to improving my flexibility, my swim specific strength, my technique, and my overall swim fitness. Instead of getting to the pool, swimming,and getting out, there are a few aspects I must commit to. I must commit to doing a proper “dryland” warm-up consisting of stretching and foam rolling. I must commit to getting to the gym daily to improve the strength in those little muscle that help me float and cut through the water more efficiently. I must commit to staying as long as needed to work on the drills that are going to benefit me as a swimmer. Too many athletes just want to get in, knock out a few thousand yards, and get out. I like the saying, “If you are going to do the crime, you must be willing to do the time.” Swimming well, will be my crime. I have to put in the time. The reason I share this with you is because you are now responsible for keeping me accountable. When I don’t want to wake up at 5 a.m. to get my pre-swim stretching in, I will think about you, my supporters, and this will invigorate me to do what I need to do. I plan to keep you up to date on my progress and let you know if what I am doing is working or not. Here is a list of the stretches I plan on practicing daily:
Foam Roll:
I contributed to a Men’s Fitness article on-line, you can read it here
Ok, since I only ran 4.8 miles of CIM, this is going to be a short race report, but I wanted to let everyone know what happened to me.
I headed up to Sacramento on Wednesday with a stop in Visalia Wednesday night to chat with the Visalia Triathlon Club about “How to Train for Wildflower” on behalf of Tri-California. I had a blast speaking to a great turnout of around 50 people. Thursday I headed the rest of the way to Sacramento where I held a strength training clinic for the Sacramento Triathlon Club where we talked about the importance of strength training and how it will benefit the athlete on the Wildflower race course. Once again, we had a great turnout consisting of some really motivated athletes who were eager to learn and perform new strength techniques.
Friday and Saturday I hung out with Mike and K.C., the heads of the Sacramento Triathlon Club. We had a blast, they showed me around Sacramento a bit, and we enjoyed some great Sacramento cuisine. Cortney flew up Saturday afternoon, and all was set to have a great race on Sunday. I was feeling tapered and strong. I had been building for this race for sometime and I wanted to leave it all on the course.
I woke up Sunday morning around 4 a.m. and I had an unusually negative feeling. I am typically stoked race morning, but something was amiss. I brushed this aside and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. Cortney woke up with me at 4 a.m.(that’s dedication!) and I told here I was not feeling confident. She tried to give me some positive energy which helped me get going. I got on the bus at 5:00 a.m.(Athletes had to take a 30 minute bus trip to the start in this point-to-point race) and I cranked up Rise Against/Metallica on my iPhone, zoning out all of the prerace chatter from the bus load of other athletes.
We arrive at the race start around 6a.m.(The buses took a wrong turn so it took a bit longer) where the temperature was 37 degrees! Luckily there were warming tents for the Elite Athletes. I warmed up by jogging and by doing some pickups/drills. At 6:30 I drank First Endurance Pre-Race. Now, I had never taken Pre-Race before, I had only heard about it. Holy Cow! It was awesome. Instantly I was focused and ready to roll. All of my negative thoughts had disappeared. I couldn’t wait to hit the start line. I know, nothing new on race day, but Pre-Race has loads of uppers which I am used to, so I knew it would be O.K. I am not even sponsored by F.E. but I wanted to let you know how much it helped me amp up for the start.
I got to the start line a few minutes before the gun. I was ready. I saw Joanna Zeiger(my coach) and Tim Tollefson(My running buddy from Mammoth). They both looked raring to go as well.
The gun fired and we were off. Pretty quickly two packs formed. A lead pack and a second pack 10-15 meters back. I stayed with Tim, knowing he is an extremely smart runner. Tim’s girlfriend Lindsay had already qualified for the Olympic Trials so I know Timmy was going to do whatever it took to qualify as well for fear that he would be a spectator and his woman would have bragging rights.
We went out at a conservative pace. The first mile came in at 5:30(I think, I was going off effort not pace) and I felt as if it was effortless. A few guys dropped off throughout the next few miles, but I was feeling absolutely fine. I was breathing easy and running strong. I fell back at the first aid station because I had trouble getting a salt pill down, but I was back with the group in a matter of seconds. We had a solid group of guys running together and I was stoked that I would have runners to work with for the entire 26.2.
The first half of CIM is full of rolling. hills. Up, down, up, down, etc. I was cruising up and letting myself go on the down hills. Like I said, effortlessly. Around mile 4 I felt a little tingle in my left hamstring on a downhill. I thought, “That’s a bit weird,” but I ran through it hoping it was just a slight cramp.
At mile 4.5 we stared a slight climb up a roller. About halfway up a sniper got me! It felt as if someone in the bushes shot me in the left hamstring. BOOM! I couldn’t take another step. The runner next to me, startled at me cringe, turned and said “Woah, you O.K.?” I instantly pulled to the side and struggled to walk another step let alone run one. It was torcher seeing my pack of runners run away from me. I tried to jog it out hoping it was just a slight cramp. Who was I kidding? I was in pain. My day was over.
The diagnosis is not in, but I strained/pulled/tore my left hamstring. I’ll get it checked this week.
Over the next few hours, on my way back to the race finish where Cortney was waiting to collect me, I was flooded with emotions. I had put so much into this goal of qualifying for the Trials. Yes, I know it was a long shot, but I didn’t even get the chance to attempt it. In Minnesota I had IT Band issues at now at CIM this happened.
I know it was early on in the race and anything could have happened in the remaining 21 miles, but I wish I could have had the opportunity to give it my all. I guess that risk comes with any attempt, but it’s frustrating to look back at all of the sacrifice I have made and see the minimal return.
The consolation for the day was that both Joanna and Tim hit the qualifying standard for the Olympic Trials in January in Houston. I am so proud of these two guys. They put so much effort into their training, and it paid off. It will be exciting to see them racing on January 14th with hopes of representing the U.S.A. in England next August. I will do everything in my power to get to Houston in order to cheer them on.
I know I said this would be short, but I guess there was more to the day than I thought. I can’t say the last 5 months of training/racing was a waste of time because I have learned so much about myself as an athlete/person and I will be a better/stronger athlete/person because of it. I know 2012 is going to be my best season yet as a professional athlete. Although this year of racing ended on a sour note, good things will come out of it. I would like to thanks all of those who have supported me throughout this season and made my 2011 journey one to remember, namely: Triathlon Lab, K-Swiss, Powerbar, Xterra, Jack Black, Feed the Machine, Gyst Concept, Robert Torres, Lubinski Furniture, Franco Bikes; but most importantly Cortney, my parents, all of my family and friends, Joanna, and all of you who have followed my journey and given me a reason to strive to be the best I can be. THANKYOU and RACE HARD!
Jim
Now is the time to ramp up your training for the 2012 racing season. The base phase is when you lay the groundwork for the entire season. Do not wait! Endurance sport training does not benefit the procrastinator. For info on triathlon/running/cycling/swimming/strength plans and coaching, e-mail jim@jimlubinski.com. Together, we can get you performing to your utmost potential. Ask Santa for a coach this holiday season. Let’s Get Red!
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I have been contemplating changing the name of my coaching company for some time now from Lube’s Multisport to something that is a little more all-encompassing. I want my business to be a reflection of myself and my beliefs. The name Lube’s Multisport was all about me. I felt as though I needed a company name that would remind my athletes, my coaches, my supporters, etc. why they are doing what they are doing. I wanted name that an athlete could wear on his/her chest and be proud to represent a coaching company they believed in. I toyed with hundreds of names, but nothing really caught my attention and made me say, “Now that is what I want my company to be all about!”
While sitting in my aunt and uncle’s house in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, I thought of a saying one of my swim coaches used to shout at the beginning of each workout. Before we dove in he would yell, “Let’s get RED!” So I started thinking of the word RED and all of the things associated with the little three-letter word.
As I was sitting there at the kitchen table, I felt as if I had the perfect name that embodied exactly what I wanted my company to be about. As I always had done, I Googled the name Red Multisport to see if anyone had a business with this name already. What came up was AMAZING!
A link to a website came up that said it was Multisport R.E.D. I clicked on the link and a bunch of foreign words appeared on the screen, but that was not the amazing part. I looked at the picture at the top of the web page and I recognized the uniform the girl was wearing as an L.A. Tri Club uniform. I thought that was really weird, but then I looked at the person wearing the uniform. IT WAS CORTNEY! The picture was taken at the Palm Springs Half-Marathon we did last February and somehow this foreign web site had gotten the picture and used it as the banner on their site. We could not believe it. This had to be a sign that the name RED PERFORMANCE MULTISPORT was the way to go.
So there you have it. Look for BIG THINGS coming from R.P.M. We will be a company who only brings on knowledgable, experienced coaches who are dedicated to getting the most out of their athletes at all costs. We will be a company that is known for giving back to the community through lectures/talks/clinics/etc. to help all athletes better understand their minds and bodies and we will help them better understand how they can get the most out of their training/racing to succeed, no matter what their definition of success my be. RACE HARD! LET”S GET RED!
For more info or coaching services provided by Red Performance Multisport, e-mail me at Jim@jimlubinski.com or go to redperformancemultisport.com.
I recently agreed to head out to Scottsdale, Arizona 
December 27th-December 30th to coach at the USAT Youth and Junior Winter Development Camp with Coach Ryan Riell. This camp is designed to provide 4 days of solid youth and junior based training and to teach 12-19 year old (as of December 31st, 2012) athletes the basic skill set needed to be approved to attend a USAT Skills camp,or to race in the Talent ID Series, F1 Youth Elite Race series and/or the USAT Youth and Junior National Championships.
I am looking forward to heading to Arizona get some experience coaching the future of our sport. I think this will be a great opportunity to learn from some very experienced coaches, as well as, pass on some knowledge of experience with the attendees. I know what it’s like to look at an athlete and say, “I want to get to that level!” Hopefully I can answer any questions the campers may have and inspire them to take their effort/training/racing to the next level.
Kids grow up playing baseball, football, basketball, etc. Why not get them involved in triathlon at a young age? Triathlon is a sport they can compete in for a life time. The earlier an athlete starts, the more time they will have to develop, and get the most out of their performances. For more info on the camp click here, or e-mail me at Jim@jimlubinski.com.
SEE YOU IN SCOTTSDALE! RACE HARD!
Check out the article at www.tri-magazine.com
“Patience is a virtue” and “Haste makes waste” are two of my favorite sayings and, I can tell you, I am still trying to learn how to follow the core message of each. For this I use another saying, “Easier said than done.” I am writing this article for my own good. Hopefully it helps you, but I need to put it on paper and hold myself to it.
I ran the Chicago Rock and Roll Half Marathon a few weeks ago. My strategy was to go out conservative and close hard. What did I do? I hammered from the gun and suffered in the end. Granted there was a strong headwind the last three miles, but I had no gas to push through. The same goes for my last Ironman appearance. Ironman Wisconsin last season was a debacle. I crashed and burned. I went out hard on the bike, mashed up every hill, and ended up walking on the run.
I will be the first to tell you I need to mature as an athlete and I must learn to have confidence in my speed and my fitness. The term “negative split” is not thrown around so much because it doesn’t work. The negative split is the ideal way to race. You want to ease into it and close hard. It is a lot easier to finish strong than it is to suffer through the last section of the race.
How would I have raced these two races differently? At the Chicago R and R, I would have stuck with the lead group from the start. I would not have pushed as hard as I did, and I would not have run off of the front at the start. I went through my first two-mile sub-10 minutes. This was way too fast. I know this is not a pace I can hold for 13.1 miles. I have to be more realistic with myself. I should have started around a 5:20/mile pace and in the end, if I could run sub 5 min/mi, do it then when everyone else was suffering. I would not only have run faster, but I would have felt a lot better.
At IM Wisconsin, it was all about patience. I know my swim stinks and my run is solid. I didn’t race my race. I got out of the water close to last and I thought I could make up time on the bike. I was wrong. IM Wisconsin is a two loop course. I was lucky to have finished the first loop let alone the race. 112 miles is a long way to race a bike. I had my wattage right in front of me, but I may as well not have. It was all over the map. On the up hills I was above 350 watts, on flats I was at 275 watts, and that is just for the first loop. The second loop drastically dropped off. If I had been patient, I would have kept my wattage consistent the entire way. I would have kept it low and within the same range no matter the terrain. For example, if my goal wattage was 260 watts, I should have held 260 watts on climbs, descents, flats, etc.
I like to use T.J. Tollakson as an example when trying to make this point to my coaching clients. T.J. won IM Lake Placid this year and had his fastest Ironman run yet. This was not just by chance. I looked at T.J.’s power file from the race and it looked similar to a flat line across the course of 112 miles. T.J. stayed within himself and consistent. This allowed him to come off the bike feeling fresh and close out the race hard. T.J. is one of the strongest cyclists in triathlon, yet for IMLP he held his wattage around 260w. He was patient and conservative and this led to an incredible run which led to an overall victory.
I personally find myself too caught up in the “racing” atmosphere. I want to start hard because I am racing, but I must remember that this is not a 100 meter sprint. Our races could last anywhere from 4-14 hours. That is a long day, and strategy is what separates the winners from everyone else. You could go out hard and have the lead for a bit, but “What matters is not how you start, but how you finish” and how you finish successfully takes patience. RACE HARD!
For coaching inquiries contact me at jim@jimlubinski.com or go to www.Lubesmultisport.com
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