Athlete Testimonials
Joel Goralski, Calgary Alberta - April 2008
I am really new to Cycling and Triathlon and after competing in my first Triathlon last November, I became hooked. Once I got home from the trip I looked for a gruelling bike event that I could compete in during the summer of 2008 and promptly signed up for the Etape. Once the new year settled in I began to train but became frustrated with my lack of knowledge and I had no idea what I should be doing to prepare for the Etape.
Reality: My life does not allow me to focus 100% on a cycling career, and being 40 years old, it is not an option anyway. Additional reality: I still want to do well at the Etape. I want to beat people my age who have been riding for years. If I can do this, I will consider the event a success.
So I spent a lot of time surfing the net and I was bombarded with all sorts of information but I could not relate to anything. When I discovered one of Marc’s blogs on the net, I instantly connected with his philosophy. After sending him an email, which he responded to almost immediately, a few days later I had a coach and a plan. For the most part I stuck to the plan and have been training religiously. I have not changed a lot about my life other than the way I train. I still like to enjoy life which means a few glasses of wine (and sometimes more when the really good bottle start opening), and the odd cigar in the hot tub (hey, but I don’t inhale ok!). Anyway, bottom line is that I have a good plan and I train relatively hard, and when I look at the average amateur in my age group, they are not doing the same, so that is my advantage. Also, since I have no aspirations to be professional (which see above is just reality) or finish the Etape or future Triathlons on the podium, I can enjoy life and stay healthy and competitive at the same time. This to me is what it is really about.
Fast forward to a Triathlon training camp in El Paso Texas that was put on by Marc a few weeks ago. Great camp. It was Triathlon based, but I focused my time on the Bike and spent the extra free time (since I was the bad boy who missed the swims and runs) with the Family. It was a great camp. I met some awesome people and the calibre of athlete was second to none. Things I learned from the Camp: A better and more efficient peddle stroke, form on climbing hills and using my core strength to become a better climber, experience in riding with a pack (this was my first group ride), I saw that my training has made me strong and able to hang out with some better riders (even though I was suffering), I really like cycling, I like El Paso but my wife could take it or leave it, I left inspired.
Ok. Fast forward to Calgary. Back at it. Work, training and enjoying life. I joined a Club called “Crank Masters”. I rode in my first 20K ITT this morning (Sunday April 6th). Prior to this ITT, Marc met with me at my home (during his stopover in Calgary) and we worked on my bike set up and my peddle stroke. We also spoke about strategy for the Time Trial. He suggested that I take it easy Saturday, but I said “hey, that is like my long ride day!”. Marc then said, “well, maybe you should do the long ride and then do the TT and push through it”. He explained to me that this could actually help me if I was not overly worried about my final time. Kind of one of those build character type things. Anyway, the weather sucked on Saturday so I did 3 hours on the Wind Trainer (instead of 4 + hours outside) with several hill simulations thrown in for good measure. I then went into the 20K ITT the next day with my original sub 30:00 goal. This was very aggressive for me, especially after a fairly insistent long ride on the trainer. I ended up 31:17 and placed 2nd in my age category and 11th overall. I also placed 2nd out of all the “Crank Master” folks.... but I was also obliterated by a 60+ year old dude on his Cervelo who cranked out a 30:24 (wow!). That guy was a machine. He left a few guys ahead of me and I was kind of cocky and thought that I was going to pass him.... uhhhh...never saw him. Result: I was disappointed. I know that I could have done better, but probably not better that day given all the factors. I was happy with the result. Had a great meal tonight with some fine wine and life is good.