Taking a year off from the Ironman in 2012

A story that started in 2007 in the
USA... (First triathlon: Wendies sprint).

I started triathlon in 2007 when I was 33 years old, inspired by a 58 year young Ironman triathlon veteran named Chip Bruchac in Columbus Ohio. It was initially a way for me to lose weight, increase self confidence, make new friends and do something out of the ordinary. Little did I know that I would one day race Ironman distances. However, it took me little time to understand I was hooked. After a year of training, I ran my first half Ironman and my first marathon despite a doctor telling me I would never run long distances due to a ligament injury in my right knee.

After four years, many thousands of hours of training, 5 Ironman, 5 half ironman, 1 marathon, a handful of half marathon, many centuries, olympic distances, a few sprints, 10 ks, 5 ks, swim competition, & workshops later, I can safely say that those initial goals have been met. Actually, it would not surprise you that triathlon has grown on me to become a way of life. I also met many friends via triathlon and sport in general but it would not be fair to publish the photos of one or the other. You know who you are if you are reading this blog...

(souvenirs, souvenirs...)

From May 2009 to May 2011 I worked 100% in my company in 4 days (paid 80%) so I could train on Thursdays. This gave me a much needed balance between work, play and family time. I followed a structured training regimen from Toni Hasler, one of the best triathlon trainer in the world. I influenced our family vacations to train on the bike, and took some vacations alone to train in Lanzarotte, the Meca of triathletes. I went to the mariage of a friend in Aix en Provence, France from Switzerland by bike because it was peak training, while I learned to direct a choir using Itune. Laurence followed me all the way through Le Galibier and other over 2600 meters passes: what love can endure... For the past two and 1/2 years, I biked to work every day, wether it rained or snowed... I tested the world fastest bike prototype ("the Cheetah") and bought the latest triathlon gears (including a "ferrari": the Look 596). I learned a lot from my mistakes, how to heal and avoid the most frequent injuries. I flew over continents for races...Triathlon became my passion. A demanding, physical, intellectual and spiritual journey into self discovery of my limited capabilities, augmented by knowledge and training.

And the results came...(Below, Rapperswill 2011)

I am a much fitter and endurant individual, and I feel better now (physically and intellectually) than when I was 10 years younger. I have a better feeling of what I can do during a race. I improved in all segments and learned to finish strong. In a half Ironman, from 265 th in my age group in 2008, I became 80th a year later. At Ironman in Regensburg, I was 64 th in my age group after the first bike lap and 264 th overall before I ran into a technical issue. However, in 2011, my results plateaued, despite becoming a stronger competitor, especially in the running part.

2011 was a year of transition (Below, Eloise and I).

I left my job in May, to follow my entrepreneurial instincts. I became the father of a little Eloise on July 1st 2011, 9 days before the Ironman. That did not help with training, stress, and recuperation but also put my triathlon goals in a new perspective. I realized that my quest for a better Ironman time was not only selfish (all the time I spent alone training), but also not very meaningful. One reason is that I could not go below a 4:22 time on the run part of the Ironman in 5 attempts. I solved the material, the heat, the training and the nutrition issues, but I could not yet get over my knee weakness, despite a change in run technique, the use of inserts and mental efforts to forget the pain. During an Ironman, the pounding on my knees, especially the left one is too stressful and I get an inflammation. I can take the pain for 32 kms, but it blocks me from delivering a fast run (which needs to be around 3:10 to qualify for Hawai!). At 67 kg, this problem is reduced. However, pounding increases with speed. Even if I went to 63 kgs, it is not guaranteed my knee pain would not flare up at a higher speed.

So, what next? (Below, a recent training at the furkapass, 2436 m).

I have decided to take a year off from the Ironman to concentrate on enjoying shorter distance triathlons in 2012 with a few half Ironman, half marathon, 5 and 10 ks. Training wise, I will reduce the quantity and focus on quality high speed workouts, in swimming, biking and running, with a goal to shed 4 kgs (down to 63 kg, 1m74.5). As an entrepreneur, I need to save cash and will also probably organize my training myself, despite my coach, Toni Hasler doing a fantastic job (I highly recommend him for any serious triathlete).

This definitely put Triathlon in the right order of priorities after my family and the start up. I plan to become a better father, a better husband, and a more accomplished professional for it, without losing my passion for Triathlon.

Sincerely,

Mathieu

Happy New Year... and the idea of the 1854 Indian Chief of Seattle

I wish you a happy new year, with the hope that we make the world a slightly better place in 2010. Speaking of which, here is an inspiring story that still resonates today... The 1854 American indian chief of Seattle replying to the US government who wanted to buy Indian land.

"How can you buy or sell the sky? The warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air...... and the sparkle of the water how can you buy them? We don’t own them. Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle... every sandy shore...Every midst in the dark woods...Every humming insect.... is holy in the memory and experience of my people. This beautiful earth is the mother of the Red man. We are part of the earth as it is part of us. The rivers are our brothers. We give the rivers the kindness we would give to any brothers. But the white man does not understand our ways. He is a stranger who takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother but his enemy. And when he has conquered it, he moves on. He kidnaps the earth from his children. And he does not care. I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways... "

Watching the Copenhagen debacle, it is clear to me that our governments are quite inefficient at addressing world ecosystem issues and that the Indian Chief of Seattle had a point. One of the biggest question of our time is a question of pricing: how to value the Common Goods? How to value clean air? How to value a forest creating oxygen for the planet? How to value clean water? The answer of the Indian Chief: priceless, hence an absolute respect of Nature with a life in harmony with natural cycles. The answer of our governments is far less clear. But maybe we should look at ourselves. What is our answer?

I think that Copenhagen failed mostly because we asked the right question to the wrong people.

Copenhaguen could not succeed because environmental issues are 1 connected, 2 systemic, and 3 a question of governance at the local level.

1 Connected: pollution has no border. It is no surprise we have to pay for our excess sooner or later via CO2 increases, polluted water, and other birth defect since all causes and consequences are connected.

2 Systemic: we intuitively understand that the Earth is a natural organism. The rivers are its arteries. The forests its lungs. The species its laboratory for evolution. However, we act as if it was not, creating dams to block the arteries, killing the forest for its wood and eliminating species or parking them in zoos.

Pollution and other natural catastrophies are just a symptom of an aging, non regenerating Earth. The disapperances of species, non renewables resources and biodiversity a signal of a poorer ecosystem with lesser potential for future generations. To heal this system, we need time and to address the root causes to create positive reinforcing loops.

3 An issue of local laws

Under the Indian Chief, Nature was protected by time tested traditions. Some areas were holy and forbidden to men facilitating the development of diverse ecosystems. Under the rule of capitalism, Nature is a free good to plunder to churn out a profit. The problem is, we cannot realistically live like the Indian Chief or the Evenes nomades in Siberia in a modern society with soon 9 billion individuals. My experience from Switzerland is that when you pile on people on a limited area of land, (80% of Swiss people live on 20% of the land, the rest being occupied by mountains) the only way to maintain social stability is to build strong local governance. The solution of our environmental issues start and end with our behaviors and the local laws that govern them. And, to be most efficient, this can only be a bottom up approach.

Some would like us to believe that there is no problem, and if there was one, governments would solve it, or companies, or entrepreneurs who may invent ways out of our energy crisis, warming planet and water pollution issuess. All of this is partly true but is is not the full story. Our ability, as local citizen of the world to change our mindset on nature from a predatory or ignorant approach to an educated and nurturing approach can and will make the most difference.

Instead of trying to solve the problem at the international level, why not starting in our local communities?A lot of the environmnent related issues are connected and start and end at the local level because they start and end with our behaviors. This is why putting some good governance in the hand of the local communities where it belong is the natural thing to do to solve these kinds of problems.

I have a Dream. What if...

(1) ...we define what the "Common Good" is at the scale of a "local community", a pilot for the rest of the world to value and protect natural resources, things that we take for granted every day, our undergrounds and its riches, our air, our environment, our surrounding level of noise, our access to clean water, how it smells, how we dispose of our trash, ...basically, what the Indian Chief describes.

(2) ... then, what if, we then create laws in this local communities to govern this common good...

(3) ... and then what if we facilitate the world wide roll out of this definition of common goods and local body of laws via a website that would be translated in all languages across the world by volunteers reviewing each others like in Wikipedia ...

Each community could then reuse this common goods definition and body of laws and adapt them to their local situations without having to invest in heavy legal fees, while giving back to the global community the changes they made to the original templates as many variants that would enrich its original and accelerate its exponential growth. This would then make the template even more attractive to other communities to use until every community on the planet has a shared definition of common goods with a localized body of laws to protect them.

At that stage, this living web of local laws governed by local communities would turn some serious accountability on greedy corporations who want to exploit our limited resources, forcing them to become “better corporate citizen” "playing by the rules" if they want to operate and turn a profit in any given community. It would deter the world bank or governments to create a few billion dollar dams projects and displace millions of people to instead create millions of projects for a few thousand bucks to purify local water relying on those organized communities to implement them. Now, these millions of better decisions happening all over the world would start healing the planet more efficiently that handing out a few billions dollars accross border to take care of the Amazon forest.

Now of course, this is a Dream, influenced that I am by the country I live in (Switzerland) which is known for local democracy...(and we know its limits) but please, let me know what you think... Could we make this happen? Do we even care?

The Average Joe Ironman Challenge 2010

Since day one I heard about Triathlon (I was trying to get in shape with my friend and Ohio Triathlon Legend Chip Bruchac in Dec. 2006), I have always wondered if I had what it takes to qualify for Hawai, the holy grail of triathletes doing Ironman distances (3.km swim, 180 km bike, 42 km run). Now more than ever, I believe 2010 is my time to give it a go.

In truth, hardly anything in my DNA favors me to do so.

I am built like an average joe. 35 years old. 6 foot 5 (1m75). I have short legs and a long torso. I am short sighted and can t wear contact lenses, which is a handicap in the swim. Due to my passion for triathlon, and the speed at which I went from being overweight to becoming an Ironman (in a year and a half), I have developed a history of injuries, some of which may now seriously impede my ability to compete:

1 A ruptured PCL ligament in my right knee due to a bike accident: according to the doctor, this means I cannot run long distances and push hard on the pedals anymore

2 Some plantar fascitis and achilee heel tendonitis on both legs: this means I cannot run on the front of my foot like I used to, to run fast despite my bad right knee.

3 An unknown hurt in the front of my right knee that appears after I run more than 30 minutes

The Ironman Qualifying time for Hawai in Europe is incredibly fast, well below the 10 hours mark, around 9:25 for IM Zurich. My current best time in Zurich is 11:40. I only need to shave 5 min on the swim (1:09 instead of 1:14), 1:10 hour on the bike (4:50 instead of 5:55), 1:07 hour on the run (3:20 instead of 4:27) and perform among the top 50 fastest swim to bike and bike to run transition possible. This would bring me around 9:25.

On the plus side, I have:

1-285 days to heal and get ready for Ironman Regensburg (my choice of race because it is the newest Ironman on the block in 2010, with perfect race conditions relative to my training in Zurich with a hilly course and a flat run along the Danube, and fewer competitors (50% the amount of competitors for 2/3 the amount of slots for Hawai) or tired competitors (from IM Switzerland a week prior). I believe a 9:40 should do it.

2-A clear goal: qualifying for Ironman Hawai 2010

3-Faith and a lot of Dreams

4-A strong mental and competitive spirit

5-An absolute determination to succeed

6-Fantastic supporters (I won t name them, but they will know whom I talking about...) with a lot of family and friends support

7-Two years of experience racing at Ironman Distance with 2 hours improvement year over year and lots of races under my bellt

8-A very methodical and detailed approach to race preparation (plan, nutrition, sleep, ...)

9-an excellent know-how of my Strengths & Weaknesses

10-A good base with above average Ironman endurance (I still feel "fresh" after the IM)

11-Great discipline

12-The ability to train around my weaknesses: substitute impact training (running) with skating and Nordic Ski in the winter and possibly roller blade in the summer (or running on treadmill and low impact trails at my work ) ; using elliptical rotors cranks and high cadence on the bike to compensate for my lack of strength (..)

13-Access to state of the art training facilities at the ETH (Polytechnique Zurich) for weight training and more (biking, swimming if need be...)

14-Time to train... and rest in 2010: I decided I will take an 80% position [not secured yet, I am discussing it with my company]

15-Some fundings. I have some savings and will try to raise a little bit of sponsorship from extended friends, families and companies I know in 2010.

16-The latter will help finance the equipment and the coaching needed to up my training and get from average Joe Ironman (I placed 256 out of 428 in Zurich in 2009) to being in the top 7 guys who qualify in Germany's 2nd Ironman Race.

17-A strong ethic. No drugs.

In order to start sharing with you my dream, I want to show you the type of bike I am testing in the next couple of weeks, to have a fighting chance to beat the top 35-39 triathlon guys riders from Germany. The bike you are going to see is a 10 years old prototype made by a Swiss Inventor, named Rudi (married to Dane, a lovely British woman) called the Cheetah. There are only 120 in the world. Although its design is 10 years old, Rudi has tinkered with it until it nearly reaches perfection... still today.

It has won 8 Ironman Women WorldChampionship in the last 14 years: for some odd reasons, maybe due to size? (this is a small bike with 650 cc wheels), men pros to my knowledge have never won Ironman races with it. Rudi was gentleman enough to lend me his personal bike (SN# 95) so I can get a feel for it. We are about the same average size, and it is a fantastic fit for me.

Since it is late, I will only upload a few photos of the bike tonight just to wet your appetite.

I will give you a review of the bike once I have time to test it seriously. What I can just say. Having tried it in Buswill (where Rudi and Dane live) for less than 30 min, it litterally took my breath away, and I was more than scared to ride it in the wind... because it takes side wind like a sail!! It is faster than I have ever been. And I believe that properly used, it will give the P4 (the newest and greatest TT production bike in the world from Cervelo) a serious run for its money. In 2007, Ironman Legend Natasha Badman rode it at IM South Africa, and she did the 9th best race of all competitors, theoretically earning prize money reserved to men...

Cheetah from the side. You see it... much lower profile and I believe, 3 cm longer than other bikes on the market.

Now you don't!!!

A beautiful wing shape

Everything is custom made (wheels, aero bar...)

Note the 1920 s like break combined with hydraulics.

To make it even lighter and aero...


Note the entry for the hydratation system (in the body of the bike)

The other opening is for a straw that reaches the rider (no moving)

What the competitors will see during the race

The rear break. The P4's one is more hidden in the frame.

Not sure if this is a big drawback though due to turbulences below the frame.

The vision you have of the road during the ride. You are so close, and it is so fast...

Just imagine yourself on this for 180 km. Isn t it crazy?

A very unique aerobar with the automatic gears ont he right (up / down)

Another view of the Cheetah "arrow piercing the wind"

Last but not least, the custom made carbon saddle. Comfortable and damm light.

To say the least, the only thing which is not arrow on this bike... is me!!! (the rider).

We ll take care of that in due time. :-)

Talk to you soon.

Mathieu

Congratulation to Chrissie Wellington

She won her third Ironman in a course record time.

Her final time of 8:54:02 for the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile marathon was nearly 20 minutes faster than Australia’s Mirinda Carfrae and broke Paula Newby-Fraser’s mark of 8:55:28 set in 1992 as she finished 23rd overall passing many men pros.

This young woman (32 years old) is an inspiration to me in many ways, not least because she is the most smiling triathlete I have ever seen... and she is a wonderfull, and generous human being.

Check this out: Chrissie Wellington is freaking fast..

Also, a little bit about her Life.

Wikipedia article. Chrissie reflecting after her win at Ironman Hawai.

"Poverty, conflict, violence, crime, exclusion and so forth are not givens. They happen for a reason. We have the power to change things. And sport is one vehicle for doing so. It has the power to build bridges, to empower, to teach, to heal – this is what triathlon and every other sport should be about. I hope that I [...] can, in a small way, help to inspire people to take up sport, realise their own dreams and their full potential"

Park to Park Montana

I have been burdened with a lot of work this year, due to our SAP project implementation in Switzerland, and did not take the time to travel to Montana to support my friends from Casa. This is something I am not feeling right about. I will do better in the future.

In the meantime, If you are like me an avid rider and you Love biking adventure and supporting a good cause, check this out and put it in your agenda for next year (September 2010). It is a fabulous trip (see my comments from 2008) and you will not regret doing it.

Analysis of Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

Since this blog is about my Life's inspirations, (not only sport), I thought it would be ok to share with you my analysis of

Obama's early nomination to the Nobel Peace prize on October 9th which struck me as a surprise. I warn you that I am a supporter of Obama, however, I tried to remain balanced in my analysis of this event, which, to say the least is a controversial one.

1] Was it politically motivated?

Definitely yes, but not in the sense of Republican versus Democrats which is largely irrelevant on the world stage. In the history of the Nobel prize, as many Republicans as Democrats received it. However, it sends out a powerful message to support Obama's agenda towards peace. A message of hope and openness towards old adversaries, to repair the fracture between the Muslim world and the West, to fight global warming, further dialogues between Palestine and Israel, and prevent nuclear holocaust. In my mind, it is no coincidence if this Award will be given to Obama in Sweden on Dec 10, when the Global Summit on Climate Change conclusions will be reached in Coppenhagen between December 7 and December 18th... My bet is Obama will fly to both.

2] Does it reward Obama's accomplishments over the last 9 months?

Deinitely yes. Obama's symbolic achievements have been enormous. Who could have imagined that a black US President would be elected, sit in Cairo, praising the value of Islam and offering peace to the middle east after 9/11 and 8 years of Bush's bully foreign policies with the prospect of a scary religious confrontation between 2 billion Muslims and 2 billion Christians? We should not underestimate the power of words. Leaders have more influence (positive or negative) through speeches that through acts in the short term, because their message gets amplified and repeated in the media shaping our consciousness and behaviors. Acts are harder because they need to be executed via many governments bodies which suffer from inertia (see the recent counter productive role of the US negotiators in the Global Climate Change). Some contend that speeches have no impact in international politics, if they are not followed by acts, which in the long run must be true. However, a vision must be set by Leaders for acts to follow.

3) Was it deserved? Was the timing right?

The Nobel Peace prize does not only recognize concrete achievements, it also recognize efforts towards making the world a better place. For instance, the Burma 1991 Nobel peace prize, Aung San Suu Kyi, has not freed her country from its dictatorship yet. However, she has set a path for her citizen towards democracy and national reconciliation. When Bangladeshi economist Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank received in 2006 the Nobel Peace prize, it is not because they put an end to poverty. It is because they gave hope and a better life to millions of people via access through micro credit. Obama gave hope to billions of people around the world, that we could go beyond our differences, respect each others and find peace, without giving up on our values or appearing to be weak. This vision has started a chain of events towards finding solutions to several conflicts on the Global stage, be it the nuclear arm race, global warming, Iran, or Israel-Palestine conflict by re-engaging the US Administration as a player in the concert of nations. Although it will take time to bear fruits and more effort that just the US President star power to solve the most intricate ones, in that sense, it was deserved. The question of timing remains, but giving it in 2010 is definitely better than giving it in 2011 for two reasons. 1 It puts some pressure now on the US Administration to deliver on its promises. 2 It avoids to mingle with US politics a year before the 2012 election.

4) What is the impact of this award?

This is the $1.4 million dollar question. (the reward amount, which, by the way, will be given to charity).

1 - World stage

(+) It makes Obama even more into a symbolic moral authority figure, a tough act to follow when you manage the first power in the world. It puts the US back on its leadership course, as a beacon of Democracy. It maximize Obama's star power and influence over other leaders and his own administration. The US international policy, led by somebody of the caliber of Hillary Clinton (whether we like her or not, we must recognize her leadership, intelligence and sheer determination) will be in the best position to convince other world leaders to be on the right site of history instead of following their petty short term interests (thinking of the Israel / Palestine conflict for instance). You can already see some of that in the signing of the peace agreement between Armenia and Turkey which just happened this w-e in Zurich, just a few blocks from my home at the ETH University not least without the influence of Obama and the hard work of Hillary. I also think this will have an impact on the US Aministration on Global Climate Change esp. if Obama goes to Copenhaguen in December after receiving his prize.

(-) On the other hand, it might tie his hands and put in an odd spot. How he is going to deal with the Talibans in Afghanistan? Can he send more troups there if this is the right thing to do? I am not an expert on this very complex part of the world and do not know if there is a solution to the complex equation between the Talibans, Al-Quaeda, Pakistan, India, and maybe corrupt? Afghan Political leaders. How can he react with Israel who has a history of ignoring the freezing of the settlements in Palestine despite repeat requests from Clinton, Bush and Obama? The situation in Irak? Having the Nobel Peace prize is not a guarantee for success, but at least some of the ingredients for the recipe are there. If Israel passes on this historic peace opportunity, I do not know if it deserves long term to be supported (military and economically speaking) by the West anymore because it would become a major reason (Iran being the other one) for the instability in the Middle East. Last but not least, by upping the ante for Obama with a Nobel Prize, there is also a greater risk for disapointment if acts and success do not follow.

2- USA

I do not believe that this will have any significant impact on the vote in 2012 because my belief is that the average Joe in America doesn t care about the Nobel Peace Prize, but will judge Obama solely based on his economic records at home. If any, this would have an influence on the Republican party to present a decent candidate and take the higher ground in politics instead of smear tactics, which is a good thing for the US Democracy. I praise John Mc Cain for saying: “we, as American are proud when the American President receives the Nobel Peace Prize”. As much as I support Obama, I believe the Republican party could win, if it presents a winning ticket in 2012 sticking to the best of the Conservative values. It will be interesting to see how hard core Republicans react to this nomination. For that, check out for the article in Conservapidia about Obama.

3 - Obama as a human being

It must feel good to see that your efforts are being noticed and that you have a coalition of the willing, out there to support you to make the world a better place. The risk for Obama is to bask in the glory of foreign politics and lose sight of internal politics and basic economics where his political survival is at stake. The other risk is to feel the pressure, lose patience and start making mistakes to push an unrealistic agenda for his own Administration to carry through. I hope Michelle and trusted advisors will help him to stay in touch with reality.

Conclusion:

I commend the Nobel Comity for their choice. It is a courageous and controversial one that will no doubt offer flank for criticism, although I believe that it will be justified in the long run. My intuition is that people fail to grasp we are dealing with a very troubled and complicated world in which we desperately need for inspiration. Democracy and Peace are not something we can take for granted. It is something to fight for. This is what the Nobel Peace Prize is about. Supporting inspirational people who carry an agenda for a more Peaceful world.

History will be the sole judge if the timing was right. 2010 will be the time to deliver some concrete results starting in Coppenhaguen on Global Warming in Dec. 2009. In any case, I admire Obama for his courage and pray that he is well protected and keep his famous cool under pressure. What an amazing man, and an amazing time for an amazing country.

I am proud to be an American.

Mathieu

Day 2 in Yellowstone

I ran out of camera battery in Yellowstone but the memories are burned in my brain forever.

I would have preferred to ride Yellowstone on my bike, but I ended up renting a car to see more of the park in the couple of days I had left. I read everything tehre was to read, and travelled as much as I could eating in my car and stopping only to spot some animals or beautiful places.

People in Europe cannot understand how big this park is, unless they get a chance to see it.

Maybe one day I will come back?