Winter got off to an early start here in the Mid Atlantic as we’ve already had two snow storms. At this very moment, we have about 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground from a storm that hit about 48 hours ago. Our little 2 year old is loving her first real ’snow experience’ and can’t get enough of playing around in the white stuff. The first few snow storms, especially around the holidays, are really beautiful and a welcomed change of pace. After about the 5th or 6th storm that causes everything to grind to a halt and interrupts daily routines, it starts to get a little annoying. And I’ve always wondered why it is that people have to stock up on toilet paper and milk before a snowstorm??

For athletes, the biggest inconvenience is that is causes us to do most of our training indoors. Riding and running on snowy streets can be dangerous even after they are plowed. Slippery “Black Ice” on the roads is a nightmare for cyclists and runners alike and cars are dangerous even on dry roads, much less slick, icy and snowy roads. I must admit that when I was younger and more daring, I’d be outdoors training in practically all crazy conditions but now that I’m older (and wiser??) and have a few more responsibilities, I ‘ve cut back on risky training behaviors.

There are, of course, alternatives to indoor training. Cross country skiing is a great alternative if you live in the right area and know how to do it. Running in snow with ’snow shoes’ is also as viable option although I personally find it to be very difficult and tend to band up my ankles with the ’shoes’. And there’s always ’snow mountain bike’ riding which is really fun as well.

Most of the time, however, when I’m snowed in I concede defeat and simply head down into my training dungeon where my trusty bike trainer, treadmill and vasa ergometer ‘live’. Indoor workouts are mentally difficult to get through but tend to be very ‘efficient’ in terms of the time:benefit ratio. So, as I get ready to do my 90 minute indoor ‘triathlon’ this morning, I’ll be thinking of sunny summer days and 80 degree temperatures and that will make the time go by a little faster.

Oh, and don’t worry…I have plenty of toilet paper. :)

Train smart and train safe,
Coach Troy

This past weekend, I traveled up to Lake Placid NY with my wife, Brook and our daughter, Hope, to watch the Ironman. The 9 hour drive was long but Hope (2.5 yrs. old) was well behaved so it wasn’t all that bad.

Every year we stay at the Northwoods Inn on Main Street, the host hotel for our annual training camp in June. You can’t beat it for convenience as everything you need is within walking distance, including Mirror Lake and the swim start.

This year, as in the past 7 years of watching (or doing) the race, I was totally inspired and re-energized about the sport of triathlon and Ironman in particular. If you have never witnessed an Ironman as a spectator or volunteer, I highly recommend that you check it out. You just can’t help but get at least a bit emotional and inspired at the start of the swim or when watching the finish line drama unfold. Awesome energy and motivation!

As a coach, I was impressed by the depth of the men’s pro field. The winning margin over 2nd place was just about 1 minute, the closest in the history of the race. In addition, several of the top pros finished around the 9 hour mark, an incredible feat on a very challenging (HILLY) Ironman course.

I want to challenge all of the triathletes reading this article to do an Ironman in the next 2 or 3 years. It doesn’t have to be an official ‘M DOT’ event…any Iron Distance (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) will do. The key is to set the goal, develop the plan, execute the plan and challenge yourself to do the very best you can, given your limitations (training time, experience, natural talent, etc.).

Doing Ironman is nothing to be taken half heartedly and it requires an above average level of focus and commitment but the rewards go far beyond just receiving a finishers medal. Not only will you be in the very best physical condition of your life, you’ll also boost your self confidence, mental toughness, meet top level people and accomplish a tremendous feat of human endurance. You’ll never regret the decision to push yourself beyond your preconceived limitations. Set the bar high, register for a race and start the training process today!

I want to congratulate my privately coached athletes who successfully completed IMLP this year. It’s always a pleasure to watch everyone first hand and witness the fruits of their hard work and commitment to a training process. Well done!

It looks like I have the ‘bug’ again and am looking to make another comeback (ha!) for the 2007 season. I started ‘training’ again the other day (as opposed to ‘exercising’) and plan to gradually build my multisport fitness in the remainder of 2006, focusing on the run at first and then shifting my emphasis to the bike next spring and summer. Swim??…well, we’ll see.

So, please join me and if you have not already, commit to a big event in the near future that pushes you and gives you a tremendous amount of purpose and pride. And if you want some help and a ‘kick in the pants’ sometimes to keep you on track, get in touch with me.

Train safe and train smart,

Coach Troy

I don’t know about you but the Tour just doesn’t have the same excitement for me yet as it has in previous years, probably due in part to the drug/blood doping scandal eliminating all of the major tour contenders. I’m sure that LA’s retirement also lends itself to my disinterest as his involvement made every race exciting. As a fan of cycling, I know I’ll ‘get into it’…it’s just taking some time to adjust to the new dynamics and personalities.

As for the drug/blood doping scandal, I think it’s a shame that the sport of cycling at that level is so ‘dirty’. I am sure there are ‘clean’ athletes competing and I respect them…it’s just becoming harder and harder to have any faith as more and more allegations of doping become public. Of course, athletes should have the right to a trial and it’s poor that many are ‘presumed guilty’ in the public eye before having a chance to prove their innocence.

However, once convicted through due process, I think cheaters should be given a penalty more harsh than simply a 2-year suspension. Personally, I don’t think I could face the public, the fans or even look at myself in the mirror the same way after getting caught (or knowing that I’m cheating!), as some riders do. Where is their honor and self-respect? How can someone on dope (or cheating through other illegal/unethical methods) ‘win’ an event and feel anything but shallow and insignificant, knowing that they were aided by pharmaceuticals or other performance enhancing means deemed ‘illegal’? I just don’t ‘get it’ and probably never will. To me, there is no honor in winning at ‘any cost’, especially when it involves blatant cheating.

Whatever the case may be, the fact is that at the highest level of all sports (including the ‘big three’ American sports) where there is so much money and prestige at stake, athletes will push the limits in order to gain an edge over the competition. There was a study done many years ago that asked a sampling of Olympic caliber athletes: “If you could take a drug that would guarantee a Gold Medal but would kill you in five years, would you take it?”. An overwhelming number of those athletes said, “YES”.

Personally, I got involved in endurance sports for the healthy and energetic lifestyle it fosters and encourages. I hope that the sport of cycling ‘cleans up’ and survives this latest ‘black eye’ again as it did after the Festina Affair in the late 1990’s…but who knows.

Train Safe and Train Smart,
Coach Troy

Summer is rolling around now as we enter the month of May and the new race season is upon us. Time really does fly when you’re having fun! This year will be a non-race year for me and instead I’ll be focusing on my family and business development projects.

I’ll still be training hard to maintain good health and wellness!Since opening my Personal Training Studio in February, I’ve been exercising to maintain fitness and to gain strength. It’s truly the first time in over a decade in a half that I’ve not ‘trained’ with a specific goal in mind other than to stay in good shape and hopefully slow the tolls of aging. I really enjoy the strength training and light cardio that I’m currently doing and am amazed at how ”one dimensional’ my fitness was as a long course triathlete.

Although I had great ‘linear’ endurance, my overall conditioning (Strength, agility, lateral mobility, power, coordination) was actually quite poor. Now that I am strength training again and focusing more on overall conditioning, I feel stronger and in better overall shape than I did even in my peak years as a pro triathlete! Go figure, right?!
I encourage anyone focused on repetitive motion endurance sports like triathlon, cycling and running to attempt to balance their training with strength and conditioning work. This becomes especially important to athletes over the age of 35, who will start to experience the slow but insidious catabolic effects of aging and need to fight it tooth and nail.

Be Strong and Focused!
Coach Troy

Coach Troy Jacobson, father to his daughter Hope, is a former professional triathlete, an accomplished businessman a noted expert in the field of personal development. For more information about his programs, visit www.strongandfocused.com.

Train slow and for long and ultra distance endurance events, and you’ll get slow and build your endurance. Train fast and focus on developing speed, and you’ll get faster. It’s all about ’specificity of training’… a key training principle.

There are a few athletes who can excel at two different distance simultaneously but they are few and far between. If you want to reach your athletic potential at any given distance, you must FOCUS most of your training time and energies on the demands of that distance.

I say this because I often hear from people training for Ironman distance and half iron distance races that they feel ‘flat’ or ’slow’ during high volume, steady state aerobic training periods. The fact is that slower, steady state training brings about a physiological adaptation to that type of effort…which is required in order to successfully complete the long distance race. Ask anyone who has gone through a multi-year long distance training regimen and they’ll tell you how much their physiology has changed and allowed them to boost endurance, fat metabolism and the ability to ‘go forever’ but leaving them void of the ability to ‘pick it up’ and ‘go fast’.

As an athlete who wants to develop your potential, you need to train ALL of the energy systems BUT you also need to FOCUS on training the energy systems that are most often used in your KEY EVENTS. At the same time, you must learn to accept the consequences of focusing on just doing long or ultra distance racing. While you’ll gain tremendous endurance and aerobic capacity, you’ll lose some muscle mass and to some extent, the ability to go ‘fast’ (relative to your own ability) but that’s a choice you have to make.

I have found that athletes who ‘mix it up’ and combine speed training with endurance training do the best. This also applies to their race focus year to year. In other words, if you are an ‘Ironman athlete’, consider switching to a short-course focus (no IM’s) every few years in order to ’shake things up’ and keep your body in a state of improvement and growth. Too much steady, long and slow training year after year will only make you….slow.

Train Safe and Train Smart,
Coach Troy
www.strongandfocused.com

Do you ’spend’ time or do you ‘invest’ time? Or have you even thought about this distinction? If not, you are about to be introduced to an important principle of success.

You live a busy life full of activities and responsibilities. Some of those ‘things to do’ are absolutely essential in your daily life and cannot be ‘farmed out’ or substituted. Others however, can be construed as ‘busy work’ and probably could be (and should be) given to someone else to accomplish. After all, we each have only 24 hours in a day so we might as well maximize every hour, right?

A question you need to ask yourself is as follows: “Why am I doing this and what value does this activity bring to my life?” If your answer is that it makes you feel good or enhances your quality of life…then continue doing that activity. On the other hand, if the answer is, “I dunno!’…then you may want to reconsider the activity and hand it off for someone else to do.

I have discovered over the years that successful people are masters of delegating activities that are considered by them ‘low payback’ for others to do. They focus on ‘high payback’ activities that create more value in their lives, whether it be at work or at home. Let’s take doing your taxes as an example.

Tax time is fast approaching and everyone is getting ready to pony up to Uncle Sam. Some people spend countless hours collecting receipts and filling out the mind numbing forms while others hire an accountant to take care of these duties for them. While affordability is certainly an issue, the person who ‘farms out’ the job of doing year end taxes opens their schedule and energy level to accomplish more. The person who labors over doing their taxes sacrifices that time when they could be doing something more productive (and with a higher payback, ‘investing time’), such as playing with their kids or even making more sales calls. And since the average person is not an expert when it comes to IRS tax code, they probably end up COSTING themselves more money than they would otherwise save by hiring a tax professional to do it.

The point to this message is to look carefully at the activities you do everyday and choose to focus more on ‘high payback’ activities and don’t just ’spend’ your time, but ‘invest’ your time wisely. Learn to delegate. You’ll have lots more energy and motivation to do the things in life that are truly important.

Be Strong and Focused,

Coach Troy

www.strongandfocused.com

(NOTE: This column excerpted from Coach Troy’s April 13th email newsletter – sign up at www.strongandfocused.com)

Clever Parents is very excited to introduce a new column by one of our favorite Clever Parents, Coach Troy Jacobson. Troy is an accomplished triathlete, businessman, and trainer to elite professional and Olympic athletes (see his Clever Parents spotlight).

COACH TROY’S COMMENTARY – “Grow or Die”
I have a question for you to ask yourself. What is your current state of momentum? Are you moving in the direction of positive results or in the direction of negative results? Think about it for a moment and then read the rest of this commentary.

Ok… so what was your conclusion? Positive or negative? Oh, and if you say, ‘I’m neutral’ or ‘indifferent’ right now then the answer is that you’re in a negative state of momentum.

Momentum is so important that your success in life in dictated by your general state of it on a daily basis. Someone who is in a state of positive momentum is always ‘reaching’ for something more, taking calculated risks and setting the stage for better things to happen in the future. On the contrary, those with ‘negative momentum’ are either doing things that are counterproductive (like overeating, drinking too much, spending too much money) or doing nothing (like procrastinating, not exercising daily, neglecting making sales calls, avoiding new opportunities for personal growth, etc.).

I like to read about success in business and sport and one of my favorite ‘quotes’ by a famous CEO is ‘Grow or Die.’ What this means is that you must always be striving for bigger and better. Sure, you can ‘rest and smell the roses’ occasionally… and you should because it is recuperative and energizes you to move forward. Once that brief ’smelling of the roses’ is over though, you have to start moving forward and work towards getting smarter, bigger, stronger and better. If you don’t work towards growth (professionally, personally, spiritually) you’ll become complacent and stagnate. And guess what happens once you ’stop’ and ’stagnate’? The slow process of gradual deterioration starts, the world and time keep marching on and the negative momentum sets in and eventually, if not stopped, can take you to the bottom.

Ok, now that you get the point and understand why continual improvement and growth is so critical, let’s get you on the track to building positive momentum (if you’re not already!). How you ask? By starting with a single step in the right direction.

So, if you have been avoiding exercise, start with 5 minutes on the treadmill and then stop. If you need to do your taxes, start by collecting your receipts and putting them on the table, and then walk away. You get the idea? By doing small things ‘headed’ in the right direction, you start to build your positive momentum towards achieving whatever your goal might be!! You’ll be amazed at how powerful simply taking a small step in the right direction can be!

That’s all for today. Start building that positive momentum now. I guess I should get those receipts ready for my accountant!

Troy Jacobson…
Coach Troy Jacobson, father to his daughter Hope, is a former professional triathlete, an accomplished businessman a noted expert in the field of personal development. For more information about his programs, visit www.strongandfocused.com.

Troy’s column is excerpted from his email newsletter, which you can find at www.coachtroy.com.

Clever Parents: You’ve got your hands full, how do you make time for training, coaching, business, and family?
Coach Troy Jacobson: I prioritize my ‘areas’ of life and focus on the things that offer the highest paybacks. These are related to my personal value system, of which my family is at the very top of the list.

Everyday is an exciting one that I can’t wait to start and it usually begins with getting my 2-year-old daughter out of bed early in the morning and spending time with her. From that point on, everything else falls into place according to my schedule and I accomplish as much as possible everyday.

CP: Any work-life balance tips for other parents out there?

Coach Troy: I think that the most important skill-sets a parent needs to develop are self-discipline and time management. We all have only 24 hours in a day and every hour, except for sleeping of course, needs to be involving a high payback activity. To me, one of the highest payback activities is spending time with my wife and daughter. This keeps me focused on my other goals in life, keeps me grounded and motivated to achieve at a higher level.

CP: What do you say to the parent who says, I can’t find time to workout?

Coach Troy: I coach lots of very busy parents who live full lives including high level professional careers and participating in Ironman distance triathlons. They are able to fit everything in, including their training, due to very effective time management skills and fantastic self-discipline. They know what they want out of life and take personal responsibility to make it happen.

People who say that they don’t have ‘time’ are basically just making excuses. We all have only 24 hours in a day and some people use those 24 hours very effectively while others simply do not. It’s a matter of making the choice to exercise and then committing one hour a day to doing it…even if it is done at 5 am each morning! A healthy and physically fit person functions at a much higher level, including when it comes to parenting skills.

CP: Triathlon has gained a lot of popularity recently, what do you attribute that to?

Coach Troy: Triathlon is the perfect lifestyle sport because it is challenging, social, fitness oriented and involves three sports (swimming, biking and running) that we’ve all done and loved since we were kids. Doing triathlon is almost like being a child again, playing and enjoying being active but with the added benefits of increasing our health and fitness.

I also believe that triathlon is so popular because it offers a healthy diversion to our hectic lives. Going out on a bike ride on a clear summer day or a run on the trails does wonders for the mind and the body.

Finally, the sport is very family oriented and ties directly to goal setting and achievement. Triathletes tend to be in the top 1% of society socially and financially. Triathletes who are also parents set great examples for their children, striving to always improve and live a life of excellence.

CP: What is the most intimidating thing for first time triathletes?

Coach Troy: I think that the most intimidating thing for first time triathletes is the notion of the open water, mass start swim. People have visions of being shoved under water, being swam over and being kicked in the face. While this can happen, it rarely does if you ’seed’ yourself properly according to your swimming levels and experience. I always suggest to my novice athletes that they line up toward the back of the pack and once the gun goes off, they count to ten before starting. This slower start makes very little difference at the end of the race but is great for building confidence and piece of mind.
CP: You train some of your clients remotely, how do you make that work without having you physically there yelling at them?

Coach Troy: Ha! Fortunately, I have my Spinervals and Runervals workout DVD’s that I can have my athletes do…becoming their ‘virtual’ coach and yelling at them through the TV screen! Actually, ‘remote’ coaching is very effective and I’ve been doing it since 1992. With remote coaching, you get to have your training program professionally developed and monitored, allowing you to focus 100% on improving.

I also conduct camps and workshops throughout the country and get to meet my athletes at these various events, allowing for me to create a strong relationship with them. I get to see their training form and technique as well as get to know their strengths and weaknesses first hand, increasing my effectiveness as their coach.
CP: What tips do you have for first time triathletes?

Coach Troy: I suggest that novice triathletes, or anyone getting into something new for that matter, find a mentor or coach to help them from the very beginning. There is no point in ‘winging it’ and going through trial and error when there are others who have specific knowledge that can help you reach your goals faster and reduce the risk of getting injured.

CP: What is your favorite book to read to your daughter?

Coach Troy: She loves anything with Dora The Explorer! She also likes Dr. Suess and before bed, her favorite book is GoodNight Moon.

CP: What is a favorite Jacobson family activity?

Coach Troy: We like to go to the local bookstore and hang out for a little while. Our little girl, Hope, who just turned 2 years old, loves ‘reading’ books and heads straight to the kid’s section to browse through the latest in the Elmo and Dora collections.
Our weekend mornings are spent ‘working out’ as a family. We just opened up a new personal training studio so we head there on weekend mornings before it opens for a short family training session. Our daughter has a great time watching mommy and daddy workout and does a variation of pushups and jumping jacks…very funny. Afterwards we head to the local bagel shop for bagels and juice.

For more information about Coach Troy’s services and products, visit www.spinervals.com or www.coachtroy.com or call toll free, 1-888-288-0503