Broken Back!

Well a few weeks after my fall I decided to head to the chiropractor and get x-rays. Right away he noticed a fracture right below my L5. My initial reaction was, “oh shit there goes my triathlon career.” He noticed my distraught look and explained that the injury would not be that bad. However I have gone to the chiropractor Monday-Thursday for the last two weeks and will continue to do so until I leave for Tucson. The fracture has not kept me down any and I have been swimming, running, and cycling still. What has kept me down is the cold weather! It was -8 when I left to go swim this morning. Fortunately we are supposed to have a heat wave later this week and temperatures will be in the teens. The cold weather has inspired me to swim which is a good thing. After a couple weeks of swim training I’m finally starting to feel like I’m in some sort of shape.

Training

Sometimes you get in a training rut and really need a break from normal triathlon training. One thing that I try to continue to work on is core fitness. A weak core can be a huge limitation towards your success as a triathlete. Here are a few examples of what you can do at home without any equipment to work on your core and strength.

15 minute abs: Do one minute of an ab exercise and every 5th minute you do push ups. You can also add in some lower back and plank exercises. It makes it go by quick and is something that you can easily add to the beginning of the swim or get into the
of doing it every morning or evening.
A,B,C’s: This is a quick ab exercise. You lay on your back and point your toes and spell out the A,B,C’s with your feet of the ground.
Pull Ups: A pull up bar is a great way to add some upper body fitness without having to hit the weights.
One Legged Squats: You can do squats in a variety of ways but this will work on your balancing muscles as well.
Lunges: Walking lunges are easy to add to the end of a run.
Plyometrics: With a milk crate you can do a variety of box jumps that will work on strength, balance, and muscle groups that need
and do not get activated in your normal triathlon routine.

Those are just a few ideas to help keep off the pounds this year and will allow you to have a few more cold ones without packing on the beer belly.

Everyone Has to Start Somewhere

Everyone really does have to start somewhere in triathlon. There are very few people who at a young age became triathletes. Most of us are cross-breed of former swimmers, bikers, or runners. Some sporting backgrounds are more beneficial than others but anything helps. I got my start as a runner that owned a bike but was more interested in hitting jumps and knew how to keep my head above water but that was about it. I was fortunate that Whitefish, Montana hosts a triathlon every year in Summer Games. Not really knowing what I was getting myself into I decided to give it a go. I practiced swimming a few times in the pool and even road my cross-country mountain bike on a few real rides. Being a green horn to triathlon really did not intimidate me. I knew that i could survive and maybe even do well at it. Whitefish Lake was the host of the triathlon and an 800 meter open water swim started out the race. I had never really swum in open water as a workout so I really had no idea about spotting or that in cold water you need to wear a wetsuit. I was one of the few brave souls to enter the water very hesitantly to start the race. The swim was brutal, I was all over the place and was really slow. I was quickly dropped from everyone and found myself alone in the big lake. After what felt like an eternity I finally exited the water. I was that guy getting cheered on by everyone possibly because they were happy to see me after having little faith in me actually finishing the swim. I approached my transition area and started to get really dizzy. I sat down to try and get on my shoes but my hands really did not work and I started to shiver uncontrollable. The paramedics saw me struggling with my shoes and suggested that I go with them to the ambulance to warm up. They checked me out and I had severe hypothermia. It was bad enough that if I was in the water much longer my organs would have started to shut down. I started to warm up after they cranked the heat up and covered me in wool blankets. Needless to say I did not finish my first triathlon. However I was enticed by triathlon and right then and there decided it was something that I wanted to do. When I went to Missoula for school that fall I joined the triathlon team and the rest is history. Six years later I went back and raced the Whitefish Lake triathlon and won. I knew at that point my triathlon career had come full circle. The other guys in the picture were the original crew that I started triathlon with.

Free Falling!

It is not every day that your life flashes before your eyes and the end seems so near. Well, last week I had that exact feeling while out on a hike with friends. Andy Schultz, Sam Schultz, Owen Gue and I were set to hike up to Lucifer lake in the Mission mountains and climb Mountaineer peak. This offseason I have had many pursuits just like this, it has brought a good balance and helped me take a break from routine training in preparation for next season. The hike to the lake it was a challenge to follow the trail under the snow that had fallen the day before. It was a beautiful cold day and we really had the place to ourselves. After getting lost several times we finally made it to Lucifer lake. Our feet were cold, we were hungry, and we were all a little sick of bush whacking. We made a small fire to warm up and eat lunch. Climbing Mountaineer peak was kind of out of the question because of the recent snowfall so we decided to head back down. We had been out for close to three hours so regardless it would be a good long hike. On the way down the unexpected happened. We were picking our way down a snow chute not really thinking about anything other than getting down. Near the bottom of the chute I started to slide and quickly realized I was not going to stop. I scrambled towards Andy and lunged for his hand and just missed. It was like something out of a movie or a really bad dream. I started to slide backwards towards a cliff but had enough sense to turn around and face the danger. The really scary part was that I had no idea how the big the cliff that I was about to fall off was going to be. When I got to the edge I jumped off spotting what must have appeared to have been a good place to land. The last thing the others saw was my hands go up and snow go flying off my body and me disappearing into the abyss. They had no idea whether they had just lost a friend and all they heard was a gut wrenching thud. It really is amazing how much can run through your head in a matter of seconds. As I approached the edge of the cliff I realized that this may really be it. If I did not die on this fall I figured I would at least break all of the bones in my legs, feet, and probably a few more throughout my body. In the air one distinct thought that I had was, I wish this cliff was bigger so that I could just die. I thought that my body was going to be so mangled that I would never be able to enjoy life again. I had lots of memories and many emotions run through my head while I was falling and then all of a sudden the ground started to come really quickly. I landed in a rock field on my feet and my legs collapsed below me on the steep slope. I slid a little but fortunately my backpack prevented me from tumbling off the next cliff below. I laid on the ground in pain for what seemed like a long time with shooting pain in my back and legs. I assumed I broke my back and probably my legs. I laid there moaning covered in snow not really knowing what to do and really being to scared to move. I started to move a little and realized that my legs were ok. I stood up but sat back down quickly because I was shaking a whole bunch. I sat there and waited for the others to make their way down to me. When they finally came around the corner they were surprised to see me smiling and standing. They admitted that they were expecting a broken bloody mess especially after they realized that I had fallen nearly forty feet. I was so happy to be alive and happy that I was not broken that badly. This was truly the most scared I have ever been in my life. I have never had so little control of my fate and not been able to do anything other than wait to see what was going to happen to my body. After finally gathering my wits we made what was a slow walk out to the car for nearly three hours. I was shaking the whole way and my body was really sore, but hell I was just happy to be alive. Since I have really learned to appreciate life. A scare like that really makes you want to take life one day at a time and make the most out of each day. It made me appreciate my friends, my family, and especially myself. I really can’t say that this will never happen again but I will be much more cautious in the future. I love to live life to the fullest and sometimes that involves taking chances the last thing I want to do is not live. So here is to living every day to its full potential and chasing your dreams and desires.

Yes Man!

The off season is a difficult time for every endurance athlete. I often times find myself mulling over the season and wondering what I could have done differently. Instead I off enjoying the off season I start to want to race again and start training. I realize that rest and recovery is what the body needs but the mind yearns for more racing. To cope with this problem I have taken the yes man approach in the off season. I simply say yes to whatever comes up, whether it be a crazy mountain to climb, an epic ride, or a drink at the local watering hole. This approach is great because it gets you away from routine and makes it easy to think in the now and not in the future. So here is to no plans and new adventures!

Rolling Thunder

Rolling Thunder is this Saturday!

Slowtwitch Interview

I was recently interviewed on Slowtwitch.com. Here is the link.

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Interview/Introducing_Brendan_Halpin_1077.html

Records Fall!

This past weekend fellow staffer Sam Schultz and I teamed up for the Hellgate duathlon. The race is by far one of the best races in Montana! The relaxed atmosphere prior to the race is exactly what you would expect at a Montana race. Everyone sat around a campfire sipping coffee and chatting until the race director Jeff Crouch decided to start the race. Sam and I were challenged to break the 13 year old male team course record of 1 hour and 4 minutes. We not only broke the course record but did so in style, we shattered the record and set a new mark of 58 minutes. I’m sure that the course record will stand for another 13 years. Up next is my other favorite race Rolling Thunder.

The Off Season

The off season is something that many endurance athletes crave. It is a time to do have some irregular patterns and get out and pursue some activities that the race season will not allow. Lately I have gotten onto a hiking and peak bagging phase of the off season. A group of friends and I including Sam Schultz a professional mountain biker have attempted two of the more difficult peaks around. Both peaks are in the Bitteroot mountains along the border of Idaho. The scenery is spectacular and the remoteness of both mountains really makes you feel like you are out there. We were cliffed out on North Trapper after choosing the wrong route but the day was beautiful and the scene from the top was amazing.

The second peak was El Cap a prominent peak in the Bitteroots that is classified as an all day or two day climb. The walk in was long and featured plenty of bush whacking and snow. We reached the actual mountain after a few hours of walking only to be greeted by an enormous boulder field and snow chutes that were supposed to be the route. The route was extreme and we were defeated by snow,ice, and wind. All in all it was a great adventure and car to car took us nine hours.

Our other opponent in peak bagging has been our lack of equipment. Endurance athletes by nature are minimalists so gear such as ropes, crampons, ice axes, boots and everything else is not what we think about on these summit attempts. We are more from the approach of seeing a peak and trying to get up however we can.

Photo Shoot

www.tomrobertsonphoto.com