I’m not always a relaxed, joking ball of fun. Sometimes I’m a depressed, aggressive jerk.

Winter can suck REALLY hard if you let it. In Boston, this winter has been REALLY mild. Definitely the least amount of snow we’ve had in 5 years, which is a big transition especially after we got walloped with storm after storm last year with no thaw between. I’ve only had to break out the snow shovel ONCE this winter. And it is FEBRUARY already. Unheard of!

Some triathletes love it and bundle up and head out for a rare January outdoor bike ride, but I hate it. Winter is ski season, and snow is kinda important for that sport. Between the cold, the dark, lots of time indoors on the trainer and swinging around the kettlebell, I managed get myself into a major funk a few weeks ago.

It was more than just a bad mood, but I hesitate to call it a full-on depression. It had gone on for more than a week, I was irritable, wanted to sleep all day and kept snapping at Sam. Not at all my usually relaxed self. There was no clear cause to my mood, but even I was recognizing that I was impossible to be around, which made me annoyed and frustrated, which made the whole situation even worse. I just wanted to curl up in a ball, hibernate under some heavy blankets and not come out until Spring. I wasn’t about to go see a therapist or get doped up on anti-depression meds, because I knew exactly what I needed. TO BE OUTSIDE! IN THE SUNSHINE!

Easy enough cure, right?

Thankfully, New Hampshire has gotten more snow than Boston, so Sam and I immediately booked a trip to get the hell outta dodge and spend the weekend on the slopes. A few trips down the mountain zig zagging between snow covered pine trees and I was back to normal. More than a week’s worth of depression – cured in a few minutes. Hooray for nature!

Snow covered trees make me happy.

I’m smiling underneath the face mask. Trust me.

Okay, I TRIED smiling here, but it was really cold. I’m happier now. I promise.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Normally my “happy place” is descending down a hill at +40mph on my bike, running through ragged trails or floating in the middle of Walden Pond and staring at the clouds, but snow covered mountains are my “Winter Happy Place.”

Question: What places make you the happiest and can immediately break your emotional funk? Do they change change depending on the season?

I got tagged by my favorite Rev3 Triathlon Team Leader and Colorado Cougar, Carole Sharpless. And then bad ass momma Laura Mount piled on as well.

Here is how we play the game.

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post (I guess I’ve gotta do this twice for both Carole and Laura’s questions…)
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people!

Random things about me:

1. The only girlfriend I’ve ever had that lasted more than a month, I ended up marrying.
2. I grew up next to a cornfield. Every fall, the farmer would spread manuer to fertalize the field. The smell of cow shit is kinda relaxing to me and reminds me of home.
3. I have always wanted a tattoo, but can stick with one idea that I like for more than a few months so I stay ink-less.
4. I love to dance. Especially at weddings. This apparently surprises a lot of people, but I’m unable to NOT have fun while dancing at a wedding.
5. Sam’s dad and I apparently were in a head-to-head dance-off at my wedding. The jury is out on who won, but it was apparently awesome judging by the pictures. I was in the zone and had no idea.
6. I have the ability to be completely oblivious to anything going on around me (see above).  I’m just really good at staying entertained by the thoughts in my head.
7. I had serious trouble breathing when I was born and spent a while in the neonatal ICU. After they got me stable and knew I wasn’t going to kick the bucket, the doctors still thought I’d have life-long respiratory issues. It still surprises my parents when they see me do triathlons.
8. I used to be super religious, go to church retreats and was really active in my youth group. It was really great for me at the time and I wouldn’t change it, but I’ve got a very different belief structure now. Now I just call “kindness” my religion.
9. I have a scar on the top of my left foot from a trapeze accident.
10. None of my “real” friends do triathlon or even run. Not that you guys aren’t my “real” friends…
11. I hate eggs, unless they are in a bacon egg and cheese sandwich.

My Questions From Carole:

2) Swimming HURTS. I’m about a month into a bit swimming block and I can say with complete confidence that I haven’t worked this hard in the pool EVER in my triathlon career. My back hurts, my shoulders hurt, my gluts hurt (from a tight lower back?), my triceps hurt. And I LOVE it. Swimming has always been my weakness, and for good reason. I never really pushed myself, either in volume, frequency or intensity, in the pool. Now I’m hitting it long, hard and often. Plus, rocking the mankini 4 times a week helps me stay out of the winter duldrums and stay in a good mood. Being covered in multiple layers or stuck inside training is not good for the brain.

3) I did a stroke analysis a while ago, and got a bunch of advice to be more efficient and help prevent overuse injuries. (especially important with all the extra volume and intensity.) The good thing is that I’ve got someone on the deck heckling me if I don’t put the advice to use.

Basically, my arms don’t catch evenly on both sides. My right arm crosses over towards the centerline whenever I breathe on the right. Simple fix, right?

Except that I do that because I rotate my shoulder along with my head when I breathe, flinging my arm further towards the middle than it should be. Apparently I’m supposed to drop my face back into the water before I rotate my top shoulder down, not at the same time like I’ve been doing. So that means I don’t just have to fix my right arm entry, but my shoulder rotation and my breathing.

Frustrating that one little tweak has uncovered a whole chain of other tweaks, but it is all a part of making progress and getting closer to the goal.

But if I can come back from the doctor’s office with body scans that look like this, I’ll be pretty happy. Check out that crazy comparison between fat, muscle and bone density!

Via Laura McIntyre, Physiotherapist

Apparently at HQ a few weeks ago, there was a conversation that went down something like this:

“With all the buzz that we’ve gotten over the last few years, I really think we need to up our game and look for new ways to give back.”

“How so? You mean like offering complimentary back waxing to help hairy male athletes swim faster at our races?”

“No. Like doing something big for the Ulman Cancer Fund. We’ve supported them in a lot of ways in the past, but I’m thinking about something BIG.”

“Like what?”

“What if we tried to raise $100,000 for them? That could do a lot of good for people with cancer, right?”

“Heck yeah, but how are we going to do that?”

“Let’s run across the country. And invite others to join us along the route or run with us ‘virtually’ and tally up their own miles.”

“Shiver me timbers! That idea it the cat’s pajamas. Let’s start planning.”

Okay, well I’m pretty sure that no one said the last part. But the rest of it was pretty accurate. Even the back waxing part.

Starting Monday, March 26, a bunch of Rev3 staff and a few members of the AG team will start off running from Oceanside, California and won’t stop for 21 days when they reach Washington D.C. And they will be working on raising $100,000 in donations to the Ulman Cancer Fund all along the way.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to join them in person, but especially since my family had to start battling cancer head on last year with my dad’s lung cancer diagnosis, their mission really hits home for me. Me and the rest of the Rev3 AG team will be tallying up our training miles with hopes of at least matching the Run Across America team’s +3,000 miles over the same 3 weeks.

There will be more details on how you can help support the crew on their journey physically, emotionally and financially over the next few weeks. So stay tuned. Until then, if you have it in your heart to donate anything to help the team, please do. See the link on my blog’s sidebar or go directly to http://rev3tri.com/america/donate/

I’m fortunate enough to be able to plan my triathlon schedule 9 months out from now. Others have doctors telling them that they won’t be around by in 9 months. This is for them.

At my usual swimming spot, I’m almost always the fastest person in the water, and I’m not even a speedy swimmer. Lots of aquasizers and aquajoggers. It is hard to push yourself when you are doing solo workouts and you don’t have a carrot (or bubbles) in front of you to chase. Because of that (and not giving an honest effort effort and addressing the swim as my biggest weakness) my swim times for the last few years have hit a major plateau. No more.

I officially joined Cambridge Masters for the winter and I’m FAR from the fastest person in the new pool. Outside of one year on HS swim team, I’ve never really been a swimmer. Going back to something after almost 10 years out is definitely a little scary, but going outside of your comfort zone is how you grow, right? And this time I’m not using it as an excuse to hang out with cute athletic high school girls in bathing suits all winter.  It is all business.

Now I’m not even the fastest person in my slowpoke lane. I love it. Plenty of bubbles to chase to and keep me swimming till my arms fall off!

I’ve even convinced a new local Team Rev3 recruit, Julia, to join with me this winter. She is wicked fast and I have no business being in the same lane as her, but knowing she’ll be waiting for me to pick her up when my alarm goes off at 4:45 am is good motivation to get up and moving. We’ve even got some sweet custom Rev3 suits on order! Can’t wait to rock them this winter.

Today was an annual NYE 100×100 fundraiser. I was relegated to the “slow kids pool” way on the other end, but had a great session. With only a few weeks of serious swimming under my belt after a long break from Sept-December, I had no business doing all 100. I gracefully bowed out after 25, but was really happy that I kept to 1:45 intervals and managed a solid :10 rest between. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. And I do.

Onward and upward! There are more bubbles out there to chase!

Question- Anyone have any good swimming/shoulder stretches? With all the time pushing myself in the pool (more than I have in a really long time), I want to make sure to keep my shoulders happy. They are definitely feeling it the most.

Like most athletes, I’ve got an ID bracelet in case something happens to me and someone finds me on the side of the road and needs to call 911 or the wife. Sam is militant about making sure that I wear it whenever I workout, especially when I go off for long bike rides and disappear for most of the day. Unfortunately, with a bike, helmet, glasses, shoes, booty lube, bottles, gels, sunscreen and everything else that you need to pack for a long bike ride, the Road ID usually gets left at home.

That was until I met a local athlete (and fellow PR vet) who started his won company out of his basement. Joe Vukson started 1BandID with a similar concept to RoadID, but it is built to attach to gear that you already have rather than be one more piece of equipment that you have to remember to strap on before you walk out the door. What good is a Road ID if it is sitting back at home? Nada.

You can strap 1BandID on your shoe laces or on your HRM watch band (whatever piece of equipment you always workout with) and forget about it.

To be honest, I was pretty skeptical about how comfortable it would be. But I strapped it on my suunto watch when I first got it, and I don’t even notice that it is on there. It is comfortable enough that I don’t notice it, but obvious enough that a first repsonder will see it. I’ve been wearing it and working out in it all month, and am really happy with it.

A random side note, Joe sent me my band right after my honeymoon and (other than all of our wedding printed materials) it is one of the first times that Sam had her new last name printed on something. Plus he added a sweet “Team Rev3″ on the side.

If you want to get one for yourself, here is a coupon code to save 20% (or 2$) at www.1bandid.com :  jamie27273

Train safe!

1. Poor Form WTC
2. Rules Against Running Shorts Over Tights 
3. You Are Not A Triathlete
4. Half Ironman Triathlon Nutrition Plan
5. Natalie Coughlin on Food
6. Why Triathletes Are Well Prepared for a Zombie Apocalypse 
7. Olympic Triathlon Nutrition Plan
8. Step 1: Put Your Dick in a Bag
9. Recipe: Black Bean Corn Burgers
10. Rev3 Quassy Bike Course Tips

Yes. I know this is a total cop out on a real blog post, but it is the off season. Deal with it.

Ever since I got back from the honeymoon and was able to focus on something other than wedding planning for the first time in months, I’ve been trying to figure out what my my 2012 season is going to look like.  And for weeks I had no clue what I wanted to do. I had a short list of races that I wanted to do, but no real goal.

I knew that I didn’t want to just “do” races. I wanted to challenge myself. Find a goal that scares me a little and challenges where I think my limits are. But that is where I got stuck. Do I pick some arbritrary time goal? Do I try to do some epic ultra-distance race? Do I try to see how many times I can score a spot on the AG podium? I was stumped.

Instead, here is the plan I’ve set out for 2012.

Race Schedule

• Rev3 Quassy (olympic) – June 2
• Patriot Half – June 16
• USAT Age Group National Championship – August 18 (A Race)
• Rev3 Maine (olympic) – August 26
• Rev3 Florida – October 28

(There will be some other races sprinkled in, but that is the skeleton of the year. Also notice the lack of WTC races. That makes me happy.)

Team Rev3

One of the things that is staying the same next year is my association with the Rev3 crew. After being on Team Trakkers/Rev3 for 3 years, I’m psyched that they’ve agreed to keep me on for 2012. For my official announcement about joining the team – see the announcement on the team’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/notes/team-rev3-triathlon/2012-returning-team-member-jamie-bull/312603098771271

Working My Weakness

Swimming has never been my strength, but I’ve never been the last one out of the water. I’ve always come into T1 smack dab in the middle of the pack, and used the bike to try to regain some time. That was until I stepped up my game and raced with the big boys and raced Age Group Nationals in August. And I got schooled. Despite strong bike/run performances, there were only good enough to hang on.

Doing the same training that I’ve done in years past will only give me the same swim performances I’ve gotten in years past. So that is why I’m devoting myself to swim with some fast fish at Cambridge Masters this winter. Doing anything new is always a little intimidating, but the biggest gains come from going outside of your confort zone, right? Hopefully it’ll result in some better swim splits.

Goals

Rather than pick some arbitrary goal for the season, like going 5:XX at the Patriot Half or 2:1X at AG Nationals, I’ve decided to go with a mental goal. This year will be all about pushing my limits in training and staying committed to my plan. If I can nail that, race day will just be all about letting my work speak for itself. I’ll obviously hope for some low  numbers on the clock as I cross the finish line, but that will all be secondary.

Coaching

The biggest change for 2012 is all about coaching. Except for a few months leading up to AG Nationals this year, I’ve happily gone the self coaching route. I’ve gotten faster going that route, but have definitely hit a plateau. During that time, I found that having a coach does a lot to not only keep my focused and on my plan, but has me challenging myself, where I think my limits are and gets me to try new things.

That is why I’ve ditched my self-coaching ways and decided to team up again with John Hirsch. We’ve already began scheming my attack on the 2012 season and  I’m looking forward to some big things.

Looking forward to seeing how my attack on the 2012 season will roll out! Stay tuned.

More than anything else, I was curious to see if the book would change my perception of him as a person and athlete.

What It Covers

I’m not going to give a full synopsis of the book. If you want that, google some other reviews or just read it yourself. The book covers a wide range of stories about Chris growing up, dreaming of Kona, starting his career in short course racing, winning a TON of races and building up to his wins in Kona. While Macca has probably won more races than any other triathlete in history (I’m too lazy to verify that stat), I was surprised about how often he talked about major mistakes that he had made throughout his career. There were a lot more glimpses of humility than I expected. He readily admits that he wasn’t always the world-championship caliber athlete that he is today and that both mentally and physically, he has come a long way in his career.

What Surprised Me

Chris talks a lot about other athletes and his relationships with them on and off the race course. With the exception of a few athletes that he is very friendly with, almost every single mention of another athlete was a criticism sandwich. You know, when you want to give someone criticism, but sandwich it with to compliments to not make yourself look like an asshole? That is Macca’s MO for pretty much any discussions about other athletes.

I knew that Macca was very critical of other athletes, but the depth of his analysis really surprised me. He called out the triathlon media (and his fellow professionals) at only really sizing up the competition based on split times and places on the podium. A criticism that I think is absolutely valid. Especially since he calls out multiple scenarios where he is able to dissect his competition and come up with strategies to successfully beat them on race day. But he wasn’t just critical for the sake of being critical and stirring the pot. He is ridiculously analytical and breaks down other athletes, both physically and mentally, to find ways to give him an edge.

Is It Worth A Read? 

The short answer is yes. An answer that I’m surprised to give.

There may be too much ego-driven chest pounding for some people, but if you can get over that, I think it is definitely worth a read. There are lots of great tips and talk about sports psychology to get you to rethink how you approach training and racing.  The biggest thing that Macca brings is his ability to learn from other sports. Whether it is talking shit like a boxer, or understanding the nuances of vascular vs muscular hydration from body builders, he takes the best from other sports to make himself a better athlete.

It brought me back to my days of high school cross country when my coach taught me about the “duck and slide.” Rather than just trying to wear down another runner that is matching you stride for stride, get a few feet on him and wait for a blind corner. As soon as you are around the corner, let loose. The mental barrier of seeing you drift away in an instant, once he comes around the corner after you, is almost always crushing and they can’t come back. (At least in a 5k) It is that kind of mind game, both on and off the course, that Macca used to set himself apart.

But in the end, Macca still doesn’t seem to get how much reputation damage he has caused with his race strategy. He has at least acknowledged that public favor was never his mission. Like the book title says. He is here to win. He has done that. More than twice.

Do I still think he is a douche bag? No, he is just incredibly misunderstood. I really think he has no clue how the average triathlete (or at least the ones I talk to) perceive him. But that is fine. He got the wins he wanted, is raising a boat load of money for charity, and is backing away from traveling to spend time with his kids. Not a bad life he has made for himself. He still has a massive ego, but when you’ve won as much as he has, I can’t blame him.

… but I’m not sorry. Not even a little bit. So I won’t.

I’ve been busy making the best decision I’ve ever made and married my best friend, Sam. It turned out to be the Wedding Of The Year. (Suck on that Prince William! Your horse drawn carriages have got NOTHING on my dance-off with my new Father-in-Law. Plus, your wedding was such a snooze that everyone was paying more attention to your new sister-in-law’s bootay.)

Our wedding was easily the best night of my life, followed by a week in the Caribbean.

I don’t talk about Sam as much as I should on my blog, but she has made it to almost every single race I’ve ever done, does a TON to support me behind the scenes and takes credit for almost every single awesome race photo I ever post here. She rocks my world.

But instead of droning on about stories of everything that has happened in the past three weeks, here are some pictures that tell the story a lot better.

Like goals of going really fast verus going really far. For me, that means goals of a sub 2:15 olympic triathlon or 100 mile trail race. Two things that I can’t logistically accomplish in the same year, but both are things completely TERRIFY me and I REALLY want to do both of them someday soon. But where to start? I’ve got no clue.

Last season, I tried to go sub 2:30 and qualify for age group nationls nationals. I did that and managed to go 2:25 and still feel like I have a ton of untapped potential to unleash on the olympic distance. I think I can cut another 10 minutes off my PR if I really focus on it and give it the energy and focus that it deserves.

On the other hand, I’ve kind of gotten obsessed with the Hardrock 100 trail race and REALLY want to do some crazy rocky mountain endurance adventure. Obsessed as in watching this video over and over.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Obviously, this would be a multi-year journey since I have to build up my endurance enough to not only handle 100 miles of climbing through crazy elevation changes, but to qualify by doing another 100 mile trail race just to get in.

So what does 2012 bring? Go fast or go long? I have no idea…. Time will tell, but I’ll have to just pick one. For now…