Ah the race report writeup- the part of training where I accept the lessons learned from last weekend’s race, acknowledge the monsters that popped up on the course, and determine how to overcome them for next time. Luckily, this report won’t be too hard, because I had a really productive race at the Oceanside 70.3 triathlon last Saturday- and feel very fortunate to have some great weather, no major problems on the course, and good company for the trip!

Despite pulling a 5:13:08 for the race, I hate to admit that I wasn’t really feeling this race in my training program. I’m still glad I did it, but energetically, and with missing my teammates, I wasn’t really ever 100% sure that I would be doing this race. Originally the whole point of doing OSide was to rally IronDave to participate in his first Tri since Kona in ’04. With Dave getting sick about two weeks ago, him and I agreed it would be best if he sat this one out, at the risk of him getting sick for longer, or just not enjoying his comeback race. After realizing that I would have to focus on only myself for this race, and that the rest of my boys were doing the UCSB Sprint Tri on the same day in Santa Barbara, I was looking for any excuse not to race. I probably mentioned to a couple people, a couple of times, “Oh my calf is a little achy, maybe I shouldn’t race”, followed by, “Eh, my shoulder is achy, I might have to sit this one out”, followed by “Well, my hip is acting up again, maybe I should just do the UCSB sprint with my team”, hoping that a friend or buddy would say, “Yeah, Zack, sounds like this race is a bad idea for you”…

Excuses- all of them- I was fishing for a way out. But the “problem” with surrounding yourself with GREAT people is that they all believe in you when you don’t – haha! I hope everyone reading is just as lucky- all of my excuses were responded by my training partners and friends as “Yeah, and?”, or “Good thing you’re a beast”, and “Robot does the job”. D*mn you good friends - I thought. Alright, alright I’ll robot one out for you. 

I definitely was missing my team at the event registration/Ironman village. (But it made me even more excited for our June IMFrance trip- the thought of being part of that together surges beastlyness through my veins!) But yet another one of Steve Smith’s (from SPaRC) phrases pop-up, “Your feelings don’t matter”, and he was right, for me, in that case. In addition to all of this, I think it was a challenge to rally because of my race schedule that’s laid out for the next 15 months- of all of them on the calendar, OSide seems soooo far away from Ultraman Canada (July 2014), as this race is the first of many leading up to that chapter of life.

I finally found my game face for the event Saturday morning at 3:30 am. I woke up feeling great and got to WORK- earbuds in, blasted out Macklemore’s newest album, and somehow was able to ride that energy wave all the way to the start of the race like the ceiling can’t hold us. Upon arriving and getting to the transition area, they announced that the water temp is 62.8 degrees- the warmest it’s been in months! Alright, I thought, I can bust out a good day today.

Didn’t see many SBTriClub Folk, I think there were only 5 of us racing – searched for Adrienne in the pro racks a couple of times with no luck, but eventually found Herzog to wish him a safe race. I also followed Jack Bianchi’s advice from the last SBTri Club coaches panel, and started talking to my competition/guys in my division, but mostly just to pass time. Odd thing though, I thought that with moving up to the 30-34 age division, that I’d be encountering a more “hard-core” division, thinking that older triathletes would be more competitive/prepared/race-oriented. But instead the guys that I were talking to had similar thoughts/fears/anxieties as I would predict for the 25-29 division.

Race Start & Swim:

Oceanside is an open water swim start- you tread water until the canon-goes/blowhorn-goes/something-explodes, and then it’s a free for all. With again thinking that I was rolling in a more dynamic age group, I started off farther behind in the pack than I should have, probably 3-5 people deep off of the start line (This is something I did my first year in Wildflower, too, and ended up paying for it by having to negotiate swimmers in front of me, instead of behind.) Not again! - I thought- this is the last time I underestimate my off-the-line swim skills. The theme here, again, is that when you surround yourself with great people & athletes is that your athletic perspective is always off! You think you’re slow, because you’re comparing yourself to REALLY strong people, and then when you get to the actual population, you realize how strong the strongest ones truly are, and how strong YOU are, in-fact. GREAT thing to REALIZE when YOU’RE NOT in a race. Saturday, I wasn’t so lucky, and ended up having to go around/under/through people to get the right lines for the swim. Granted, I’ve never felt competitive in the water before, but the lesson I realize now is that there needs to be a difference between being AGGRESSIVE and being COMPETITIVE. It’s obvious in my splits, too, I know, but as most of you know, it’s never about the time of the event or the race for me.

4 minutes of pondering later - I’m going to think of it like this:
Being AGGRESSIVE is about strategizing a course, or a thought, or an action in HONOR of your independence, regardless of your eventual & individual outcome.

It’s the you’ve trained for this, you deserve this,

and the I want to DO great to BE great,

and This is the best line for MY style of racing

and the Robot does the job.

Being COMPETITIVE is about strategizing a course, thought, or theme in PURSUIT of your eventual & predicted outcome. 

It’s the I want to beat THAT person,

and the I want to BE great to DO great

and THIS is the best line for THE style of racing

and the Your feeling’s don’t matter.  

I think some people are more one way or another, or a combination of both, right? The good thing is that in the end, being aggressive OR competitive, and having a good race, still feels awesome, and you’ll always learn from every race you do.

Bike:

Normally, I love the run of any race, but the bike course and race was definitely more in my favor for this day. Mostly flat course with some predictable hills, and we got lucky with the sun coming out midway through the course. Despite some beautiful parts of the California coastline, my ride’s theme was put your head and down and CRANK. And it worked for the most part, except for the fact that I got “suckered” into a great training ride with some friends 7 days before- from the Santa Barbara Mission, up Gibraltar, over Camino Cielo, and down Old San Marcos- I think it was close to 5000′ climbing in the 30 miles, and it knocked my ass out…sort of literally haha. Butt was definitely working on race day, and didn’t let me forget the importance of sticking to your taper plan. But maybe one of best parts of being your own coach is that you don’t have to validate anything to anyone, you just base your adjustments to what you already know! As Coaches, we have to learn how to alter plans for our clients, as this is just one of MANY ways for coaches to determine what could or couldn’t work for someone who needs an adjustment.

I still cranked out a 20.14 mph average for the bike portion- a great sign that hard work on the bike is paying off! This is also the first race where I have ever placed higher overall on the bike portion vs the run portion. But I wonder what I would have done if I had done the right ride last week. In all reality, I still wouldn’t give up the Gibraltar ride, though! That ended up being a beautiful day with some great friends, and wouldn’t trade it for another 2 minutes less for the OSide Tri.

Run:

I normally love the run of any race, but the “flat” run course has some REALLY evil downhill slopes, that only lasted about 20-30 feet at a time, depending on where you were on the looped course. Those kinds of transitional downhills can really fry your legs, and I quickly realized some familiar aches and pains that I had ignored up to that point during the day. Perhaps TMI, but I had an inguinal hernia when I was 5 months old that set me up to have another one when I was 22 years old. The surgery, the second time, was to put in a permanent wiring/net into my abdominal/groin region, that still gives me pain in certain conditions (Sorry ladies, you won’t see me with a 6 pack ever because of this – haha). This creeped back into awareness about a week ago, as consistent core work seems to make things just a wee bit too tight and causes some discomfort. (I’ve been able to alleviate this tension in the past via diaphragm/abdominal massage, but that hasn’t seemed to help this time around, yet.) I went through a couple different techniques to try and overcome this, one being the ole’ Robot does the job line that Steve Smith ingrained in all of us. When that didn’t work, I went 3rd person and started saying Z does the job, and somehow that managed to kick up some intensity  Not a big deal, though, even though I know I could have run better than a 1:47 for the half-marathon- you play the best hand you have with the cards you’re dealt, and you move on!

What also helped was NOT reading the GU packets that the volunteers were handing out, around mile 9. I’ve always trained with GU and have never had any intestinal problems, BUT, I didn’t realize until after I had already eaten it, that I had taken down a JET BLUEBERRY Gu pack, which contains 40 mg of caffeine- twice the amount that I would normally take in. I’m normally scared of such a high concentration, but after that, the race was almost over and I felt like I was flying to the end of the it Stomach was in knots a couple hours later, but I think the spike of caffeine and consequent competitive sprint to the finish line ended up being a fun blessing in disguise.

Great seeing the other tri club racers on the course- all in their own zone, for sure! Seems like everyone enjoyed their race, as we all finished in the top 20% of our group divisions. Can’t wait to see the entire club and my teammates this coming weekend at the Wildflower Training Camp, and at the Wildflower Triathlon next month!

Big thank you to Thalisa and Thalia for the great support and place to stay this weekend- It’s hard to run slow when you have cheers like those to look forward to!

Beast On.

Z

Hey Everybody- I’m sure you all noticed that all of the coaches had a TON to say about every topic discussed. Due to the nature of the panel and being limited to two minute responses, I decided to write a little more in-depth to the questions I responded to. Regardless of ANY answer of ANY question, one theme here is to know WHEN and WHY you do what you do- I know this is vague, but read on and I promise it will make sense.

Feel free to comment, call or send me an email if you’d like to discuss anything more! Thanks

-Z

Q1.1: Most of the exercise we do is cardio intensive (Running, Cycling,Swimming). For the average person this leaves very little time to add additional things such as strength training. Do you think strength training makes us better/faster triathletes?

Z: YES. Strength training will make you better and faster triathletes. But more importantly with the right “strength training” programs, it will make you a more EFFICIENT triathlete. Strength training not only in assists with making you more efficient, but proper training will aid in injury prevention, and body composition as well. Now, why Zack, did you use “quotations” in the second sentence, you ask? Because one of the common misconceptions about personal trainers and strength coaches is that their job is make you bench press 300 lbs and do squats until failure, which is far from the truth! Strength training doesn’t mean olympic lifting anymore- it doesn’t mean isolated bicep curls (unless your trying to get girls), or dudes in tank tops trying to make you cry, or learning how to make your pecks dance. Strength training, and the role of the Strength Coach, is about PREPARING YOUR BODY, through means of resistance and/or bodyweight, to increase adaptable strength, mobility, flexibility, and endurance & cardiovascular systems. Each workout will usually focus on several (if not all of these topics) in one session. But as is our theme, there’s a TIME AND PLACE to focus on different elements. Meaning quite simply, don’t just get an online program that says to do this, that, this, and and consider yourself Strength-Trained. Just like the way we (coaches) write periodization schedules, there’s a reason to focus on each topic and a right time to do them when prepping or being in your race season.

To accomplish the above tasks, we (strength trainers) use several methodologies, but what makes us different is our own experience & opportunities in the fitness industry, therefore no two strength coaches are alike. I enjoy using Foundation Training for the first 10-20 minutes of any workout to ensure proper muscle tissue warmup, and to activate the posterior chain, which is ESSENTIAL to being efficient while cycling and running, and improving your MOVEMENT ECONOMY, or how much effort it takes/should take to move from point A to point B. Consequently, I’m a BUTT MAN- meaning, I do something extra to focus on the gluteal muscles for almost every workout. Now that doesn’t mean I’m asking clients to destroy their buns every day- but learning to fire your gluteal muscles should be one of the FIRST steps any coach or trainer takes to explain how to perform better. Why? Because without proper training, chances are with the way our society is sedentary at work, that your butt is inhibited. Ask any of my clients- once you learn to utilize your glutes while resistance training AND running/cycling, your entire perspective on economy and efficiency will BE ROCKED.

In fact, I’ll take one of those steps here for you right now-  here’s an idea – you’re probably sitting while reading this, right? (Irony) If not, sit down on a chair and bend your knee at 90 degrees, with your foot flat on the ground. Without reading below, push your RIGHT foot through the ground like you’re trying to indent/break the ground surface.

Where do you feel the pressure? In your right knee and/or quad? Or backside of your right hip?

I’m guessing 90% of you feel it in your right knee/or quad. This is probably a similar sensation when you’re putting in work on your bike. Maybe especially when you’re going up a hill, while you feel like quads are on fire, and knees want to explode….sound familiar?

Now do it again, but this time, activate your right buttcheeck in the act of pressing your foot down in the ground- FEEL THAT? That’s your new best friend- that’s gluteus maximus assisting (isometrically) towards hip extension to assist with downward force through your foot. THIS is the friend you want to feel while cycling/running! If you’re NOT feeling this muscle while training, you’re already behind and the race hasn’t even started. If you learn to use your gluteal muscles (hip flexor talk can be applied here, too, but we won’t go there today) like this, and are able to apply this to your training, I GUARANTEE faster bike and run splits. There’s NO way that you could NOT improve your times with this process of learning called NEUROMUSCULAR REEDUCATION- the process of the formation or re-forming of patterns of communication from your brain to your muscular system.

Go ahead- I DARE YOU to find this friend on your next run or ride, and be prepared to be amazed. I’ll tell you- you’re going to have to search a little bit as, in the beginning, it takes some conscious thought on how to get these muscles activated, as it’s easier to do what we did sitting still on a chair vs being in motion. BUT, if you want more info on how to accomplish neuromuscular reeducation GUARANTEED, without “searching for your friend”, let me know and I’ll share my training sequence/potentially make a video series to get the right muscles firing from the get-go, while INCREASING your strength though mechanical efficiency. I’ve used this sequence several times over the year for myself and for my clients, and find it ESSENTIAL in preventing injuries, and in fact helping other injuries recover more quickly, since you learn how to NOT overuse other muscle groups in the process.

This is a great time to bring back my original point to this blog- the crash course in neurology you just recieved IS NOT what anyone would consider as “Strength Training”, right? BUT, as strength trainers and coaches, this is our job- exploring and teaching you QUALITY methods to increase your athleticism and triathlon career. Now to those who may have agreed with the original question for this post, which was……..

 Most of the exercise we do is cardio intensive (Running, Cycling,Swimming). For the average person this leaves very little time to add additional things such as strength training. Do you think strength training makes us better/faster triathletes?

…the best compliment to your Tri career is to realize STRENGTH TRAINING (in OUR new definition) isn’t an “ADDITIONAL” part of triathlon- QUALITY Strength Training methodologies should be the FRAMEWORK to build your triathlon endeavors upon! Imagine if you had discovered your gluteal muscles last year???

I was going to write up responses to my other questions, but truth is, I need to get off my ass and go run with Luke! Stay tuned for future posts

Z

Made-up fact: no triathlete has ever said, “I wish I wasn’t so strong or efficient”. 

I’d like to say that I had a hard time trying to decide what was next after finishing IMC. But to be honest, it was a really easy decision to make. In the total span of about three days after returning to Santa Barbara, I had my entire race year planned out, 6 big races in 12 months, ready to go, and I haven’t been able to sleep since! One person called it a “rookie mistake” yesterday, claiming that race endorphins were making my decisions, as if one person’s passion is simply not enough! Hosh posh, I say. Not knowing where to begin in listing the races, or the people involved, or the FAMILY involved, or the places and the sights involved, the only word or words that can explain my plan is LOVE – Beastly, lifelong, LOVE.

The amazing thing about all of these races is that they’re almost all DIFFERENT in distance, event focus, inspirations for doing them, location, terrain, weather, and different in who’ll be there racing! Also, in all reality I’m probably writing this post to proclaim my plan, because that’s always been a helpful way to stay on track, as if the goals aren’t real until you tell someone.

November 10th, 2012 – Santa Barbara International (Ultra) Marathon

Many of you know that I’m a huge fan of ultra-runner, Dean Karnazes. His books have inspired millions (maybe?), and in his book Ultramarathon Man, he talks about training for ultra races by simply running a distance (10-20 miles) to an organized marathon (26.2 miles). Eventually, he was running a marathon by himself FIRST, and then timing his day to start the second marathon with the organized event- cool, right? I’m inspired by this, and I’m going to do it too, partially. The SBMarathon starts 12 miles from my house, so if I practice that route and learn how to time it correctly, come race day I’m aiming to run 38.2 miles. I won’t be setting any PR’s for the actual marathon, but it’s never about the PR’s for me – it’s about pursuing and being of the quality of the experience.

February 2nd, 2013 – Ray Miller 50m/50k

This will be my first official ultra/trail race- I’m still deciding between the 50 mile or 50 kilometer (31 miles). My legs want to do the 50 mile option, but with the new Tri season and my first long course triathlon 8 weeks after this race, I’m concerned the recovery time from the 50 miler may be too great. I’ve had a great run of no major back pain, but the thought of it makes me wheezy. Aside from above inspirations, the honest reason for wanting to do this race is that I want to get involved with the SB ultra/trail-running community. I’ve never met a more sincere or more humble athlete than any of the local ultra-runners, and I can’t imagine not having fun with them. It’s probably going to feel like I’m a zebra trying to blend in with a pack of mustangs.

March 31st, 2013 – Ironman Oceanside 70.3

This will be my first triathlon of the race season, and it should be a lot of fun. 70.3 is a half-ironman distance race- 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run. My client and friend, Ironman Dave Gonzales, will also be doing this race, and I’m excited to pull him out of Tri-tirement for it! Though he’s done Ironman Hawaii three times before, his last race was a couple of years ago and then he had to take a couple of years off for a non-related knee injury. I’m excited to see how he’ll do in a much different age group pool than last time. Older age group, yes, but he has the sport intelligence, competitive nature, and muscles of guys 15+ years younger. I think he’s going to surprise all of us.

May 3rd, 2013 – Wildflower Long Course Triathlon (Also 70.3 distance)

Ohhhhh Wildflower, how I hate to love thee. You are a torturous temptress! But I can’t resist you, your curves (i.e. hills), and your hotness (i.e. heat). You were my first (triathlon ever), and though I’ve tried to move-on, you. are. irresistible. Please be gentle – maybe we can have a safety word this year?

June 23rd, 2013 – Ironman France

I am excited for this race for so many reasons. It’s Ironman, it’s the South of France, and I’ll be racing with at least 4 other Santa Barbarians, potentially 7, including some of my clients! Second to seeing them through the race, I’ll be able to watch the opening stages of the 100th Tour de France on the Island of Corsica, a short boat ride from Nice – one more off the bucket list. Then it looks like I’ll be backpacking for a bit – with family friends in Aix en Provence, Lyon, and outside of Paris, it will be hard not to go see them. I’m also considering traveling to Barcelona/Valencia, Spain. In fact, I might just not come back, though I’ll have to for the next race in Canada.

August 25th, 2013 – The Penticton Challenge TEAM BERTGES RELAY

With this past year being the very last for Ironman Canada, the town of Penticton sold the race to a European company called The Challenge Series. It loses the name of “Ironman”, and it won’t be a qualifying race for Kona, which is alright with me. My main thought for not doing this entire race was more based off a desire to try other venues/experiences. But secretly, I was hoping my Dad would want to do this race next year, for himself and for my mom, and their race-cation. Kona is important to him though, and I understand about needing to do other Ironman events to get him there via the Legacy Lottery program. I was sad packing up my room in Canada thinking that it would be the last time we would be there, and that we didn’t get to share the experience with my two nieces.

SISTER to the rescue!

With the Challenge Series taking over, they have fortunately kept the race course exactly the same – same distances, same roads, same weekend of the year. However, the new company is now allowing Relay Teams, which I didn’t think would be a big deal at the time.  But now! Oh man… Since July, my sister has been running, and getting the bug. She knows she has a year to hit a marathon distance, and she’s one of the strongest-minded people I know (too strong when we were kids/bigger than me). The drive is developing for her, but she’s got the same blood and genes that I do, and I think she’ll be releasing her running beast soon. With my dad doing the swim and my sister running the marathon, I’ll be racing the 112 mile bike portion, which sounds funky rad – I loved the bike course, and now the idea of racing it without any swimming or running to do sounds AWESOME. And (!), I can wear bike shorts, that have extra padding.

I may add some other races, but none as big as the ones listed above.

It’s going to be a fun year-

PARTY. ON.

-Z

WOOHOO! Tomorrow at 9 am, I’m going to be a featured guest on Leo’s “Running & Racing”. So excited for it! Leo and I will be talking about my training for my upcoming Ironman Canada Triathlon, inspirations from my dad Steve Bertges , and other great triathletes/friends/clients that have helped me on this incredible journey. You can listen live and online at www.kcsb.org, or listen to 91.9 if you’re in Santa Barbara!!!!

* A recording of this interview can be listened to here: http://leosbluesland.podomatic.com/entry/2012-08-16T12_32_26-07_00

My first thought this morning upon waking was, “Oh man, it’s August 1st. What happened? Everything is happening this month”. In the words of the greatest action movie of all time, YIPPEE KAI YAY MO**** FU****! (You may be thinking, “what happened to sweet trainer professional, Zack Bertges? He used to be such a sweet young lad and never say those things. Well, I still am- don’t worry). Shooooot~ How could one NOT be pysched about training for an event for so long, and finally seeing it at the top of the horizon.

Bless my folks for taking me up to Ironman Canada for so many years- I don’t have to imagine anything about it. I don’t have to imagine what the water looks like, or how the sand feels, or where I’ll be sleeping. I don’t have to guess how far away the last blind corner is from the finish line, or if there will be spectator support along the way, or where my family will park themselves along the course. I learned all of it, albeit begrudgingly during my teen years, but I learned it. The memories have created a blueprint, and now all I have to do on race day is build a house…or a castle…

I’m feeling great at this point- I got my first age group placing last weekend at the Goleta Beach Olympic Triathlon- 2nd out of 23 of the m25-29 age group, 22nd overall out of 200. Didn’t think I had placed until the official results came out, but I’ll take it! During the race, I was pretty amazed at how far my bike has come. I’ve never been able to hold that intensity  for an event like that before, and seeing how I went downtown the night before, I’m even more amazed. My back suffered a little during the sand portion of the run, but other than that I can’t complain.

2nd place age group finish!

In addition to the quick update, I wanted to take the time to thank my fellow racers, particularly Renaud Gonthier and Doug Lynch (finished 3rd in age group) for their support during the race, as well as friends Gonzo, Erica, Michael, Marisa, Kyle, Josh for volunteering, and Jarret McFarland for hosting a great race. You guys want to form a cheering section in Canada for me, too? That’d be great- thank you.

Happy Beasting.

-Z

I’ll be honest- I’ve been cheating on you. And to be more honest, it feels SO good. Her name? Uh, ooo…well, she has many names: Muscles, Earth, Speed, En..dor..phin….a, yeah, Endorphina. Training is going excellent at this point. I’m focused, I’ve rid myself of everything that I believe can hinder my progress, and pretty soon with a little more luck and best efforts in conquering the hardest day of my training career, I’ll be a champion. Albeit, not the fastest one, but a champion.

I had an interesting conversation with a future IronWoman the other day about feeling “ready” and she had some great points- how does one know, or feel, or believe that they can or are going to be prepared for one BIG day? And beyond those questions, where and when does Strength become so ingrained in your soul that you truly feel invincible? Iron-man, iron-will, iron-brain, iron-stomach? What type of focus needs to be held, loved, nurtured, and beasted in that final approach to go from a man to an Ironman?

My answer is Quality. All day, everyday, Quality. 

Quality of knowing who I am and what I am doing, quality of knowing how I feel, and quality of believing that I will be successful

Quality of my training schedule, of my workouts, of my warm-ups, of my cool-downs, of my exercises before, after, in-between workouts

Quality of the people I’m surrounding myself with- quality of my friends, quality of my training partners, quality of my training clients, quality of my relationships both old and new

Quality of my strength- quality of my character, quality of my passion, quality of my  love

Afterall, without quality, how will you ever find progress? How will you come to a point tomorrow where you look back at your life from years ago and say, “I’m a better/faster/stronger/more loving/happier/etc person, now”? What will you use to combat the energy that tries to hold you back?

For those of you who have known me since my first races, you know I love this answer. Sometimes, I forget about it. But when I need it, it’s ALWAYS there.

It’s not about being “ready” because no one is ever ready (especially for their first IM race) to swim/bike/run for up to 17 hours. Our bodies aren’t naturally wanting to do that. But, if you stay determined to continuously define quality through a training day, relationship, work day, or life plan, then you’ll never have to worry if you’re “ready” or not- you, yourself, will become OF a quality that can participate.

To be OF a quality that can participate in the Ironman events (or any goal that YOU want to achieve), IS the training plan, IS the objective, and IS the final accomplishment, all wrapped-up in one awesome package. One is training for it because they decided to be of a quality for it.

It’s as if you treat it like it IS the take-off, the flight, the landing of a plane, AND the first step off of the plan. Grant the moving episode of your life it’s deserving quality and  you’ll never have to figure out if you’re scared of heights!

Quality is the chicken AND the egg… it’s the cake that you’re having and eating, too…and it’s the reason that Endorphina and I have to get back to our affair.

Happy beasting!