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John Hirsch: The Pros I Knows, Part 1
By John Hirsch
10/8/2008 |
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Being a pro triathlete means that I spend my summers swimming biking and running. Which is a great way to spend the summer for sure. Nevertheless I was feeling a wee bit bummed that I never got a real summer vacation. Thankfully my living-in-sin girlfriend Mandy (www.bravemandy.com) was kind enough to qualify for Kona. With my season over I finally got my summer vacation in Hawaii which we are now calling "bonus summer." I am so burnt out from tri that despite being in this amazingly motivational place with the best athletes in the world, I have no desire to swim bike or run, so instead I am surfing, hiking and chilling. Thankfully my title sponsor the Block Island Sport Shop (bisportshop.com) not only has stuff for swimming biking and running, but surfing too.
One of the other things I am doing is running into good friends who are here. So I figured I would ask them a few questions, get a few answers and share them with you in this little piece called: Pros I Knows.
The first pro I bumped into was Alex Mcdonald. He was eating fish tacos down by the pier with his wife Ashley, who he married here last year. Alex was the top age grouper here in 2007 and is now pro and punched his ticket to Kona with a top 10 at Ironman Lake Placid. He is also a MD and writes for xtri monthly in a column called Iron Doc.
You took top 30 here last year. I was talking to Kurt Perham your coach, he thinks as fast as you are you can be a lot faster, that's pretty encouraging eh?
It is certainly tough to see improvement over the short term, but year to year I keep improving and I am excited to see how far I can push myself. That is the major reason I am taking time off from my medical training...I am only young once and I want to make the most of my abilities while my body will let me.
Kurt and I also agreed you would be a lot faster if you stopped listening to hair bands. You gonna finally let him burn some old school boston hardcore and metal for you?
NO....I love my Bon Jovi!! :) Seriously, have you ever been at a bar when they start playing "Livin' on a Prayer?" the place goes nuts!! That is what it is like in m y head during a race...a good time
Last time I was in your car I almost jumped out while it was moving. I think you were playing Def Leopard?
Could be...careful I might breakout some "Right Said Fred" next time :-)
That was the time you came into city to swim with me. Question, did you rob some homeless guy and take his swim suit? Who wears a flesh colored speedo that's got rips in it?
As a pro triathlete the life style is not exactly glamorous...suits are expensive so I wear them until they are completely worn out. Often I will wear multiple suits for extra drag and also so none of the holes match up so everything stays G rated. As for the flesh color, that suit used to be blue, but chlorine is tough on fabric. However, since that time TYR has hooked me up and I have some much more presentable swim apparel.
Thank god your wife puts the breaks on some of your worse fashion plunders huh? Nothing says hot like an orange shirt, red floral print shorts and compression socks right?
Well it's true my sense of fashion has a little to be desired, even by triathlete standards. Ashley is instrumental in helping me not to make a fool of myself. She's pretty amazing all around.
All kidding aside, compression socks are showing up everywhere. You gonna be wearing em come race day and which ones do you like most?
As an MD I like to see scientific studies that support the use of new endurance training methods as well as any new apparel or gadgets. I was skeptical at first but Cassidy at Trigger Point Therapy sent me a pair and I am now convinced that there is something to compression apparel. I am still doing some research on the topic, but I have never had a bad run while wearing compression socks. Additionally, I find that my calves are not nearly a s sore the day after a long run while wear compression socks. CEP are my brand of choice, sold through TP Therapy, and they take a few extra seconds to put on in T2, hence defending my fastest T2 in the world from last year might be tough, but I know wearing them more than makes up for that time!
Hey, me, your wife and you all went to Connecticut College. Can I get a “Go Camels?”
GO CAMELS!! Or another favorite cheer of mine ...ooooOOOHH CC!!!
I heard you won a Timex watch last year as top age grouper here at Kona. Kind of funny no?
Yes, I have many Timex watches, but you know what, they are awesome! I wear almost all of them at one point or another...although I must admit, the Timex Body Link with HR and GPS is my watch of choice for training and the Timex OVA on race day.
You are not only a pro but you have an MD. You eve r been called an over achiever?
Umm, yes, but I don't see it that way. Besides all triathletes are over achievers, especially Ironman. I just have found the perfect intersection for my two passions, medicine and triathlon/endurance sports. Earning an MD degree was a lot of work, but so is triathlon and they are very different, but symbiotic in their nature. I am able to bring my MD degree to all that I do in triathlon, as well as my athletic experience to my medical training and I think I am able to be a better triathlete, coach and Doc because of this.
That said, as smart as you are, you did hurt yourself playing Wii once back in med school huh? That's kind of less smart.
Yes, I am not allowed to play Wii Tennis during the triathlon season because my competitive nature takes over and I hurt my shoulder with all that crazy swinging and wasn't able to swim very well for a few days after that.
Ok, so you took tons of tests for school. Here is one:
True or false:
1) Every rose has its thorn.
True
2) Just like every night has it dawn.
True, again
3) Just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song.
Ummm this one I'm going to have to use my "phone a friend," I'd like to call Clint Eastwood please...
Oh man, I can't believe I know the entire refrain from a Poison song. See what knowing you did to me.
It's ok John, you don't have to hide your true 80's passion from me, I will accept you just as you are, besides...Poison is a great rock band! :)
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The second pro I ran into was Liz Fedofsky-Waterstraat. We meet at Nutmegman where she was the winner and I was the race announcer. A new pro this year it turns out we have raced a lot together this year including at St. Croix and Timberman where she twice cracked the top 10. Since she wasn't racing Kona this year I convinced her to hike a mountain with me in the mid day heat after her long run through the lava fields. Her blog elizabethfedofsky.blogspot.com is very popular and well written. Here is what she had to say when we chatted:
Liz, you aren't racin' Kona this year yet you are here. Was it just for Lava Java?
Absolutely. I take my coffee seriously and I am willing to fly thousands of miles just to get a good cup. Honestly, I am here to support my husband who is racing. The first year I did Kona he was here for me and was the best sherpa ever. I hope to live up to that for him. But you should know I have no plans to carry him back to the car after the race like he did for me in 2006.
You are married to a fast guy. You two ever fight over the last power bar?
Food doesn't stand a fighting chance in our house. If it's edible, it's fair game and likely to disappear faster than you can say "chowbox."
You raced here last year before turning pro. You were the USAT long course champ in 2007 and a 70.3 specialist. You kind of have a love-hate relationship to ironman huh?
I love and hate the Ironman. But honestly once you get to the race rested and well trained it becomes one of the most exciting days. I love what you learn about yourself along the way, the conversations in your head, the feeling in your legs at mile 24. Wait a minute, scratch that last thought.
You must like abusive relationships, as you are on the start list for ironman AZ. I follow your blog, you aren't exactly overcome with joy training these days?
Competing as a pro this year I learned a lot of lessons about training and racing. Did a bit too much with training and ended up with some fatigue. Now that I feel like I've shaken out of that the joy of training and racing has returned. Enter the late season Ironman. It seemed like the right thing to do! (give it another few weeks and I might reconsider)
You won Nutmegman which is a rolling course as a tune up for 70.3 worlds, you also did St. Croix so you seem to like harder courses. Do you wish worlds wasn't so flat?
I live in Illinois which is so flat you can see to Iowa. So I have nothing but flats and wind for bike training. That said, I love a flat course - it's relentless and takes a lot of endurance and strength to push the gears nonstop.
So since we aren't racing, do you think we should hang out at Lava Java or on the beach on race day? I do like to dip in the water mid day, as it gets very hot here. Ironman Kona is hard on everyone you know, not just the racers. Sitting and cheering is hard work. That said I will need some Kona coffee mid day to keep my energy up. Ironman is long you know.
My race day will start with the official bowl of pre-race oatmeal early. Then I plan to watch the swim. Next up, coffee. After that depending on how over caffeinated I become I might run the entire bike course to heckle the competitors. I'm ready for anything race day.
I ran into Alex Mcdonald who is a doctor, (his mom must be so proud), anyways he said in an xtri story that we need to be careful about the sun. Good thing you got a cowboy hat huh?
The cowboy hat is more a fashion statement than a prescription from my doctor, however I can see his point. The sun in Kona is fierce. If I were racing I would start applying sunscreen today - Monday.
True or false, I spun the most bad-ass music you ever heard at any race at Nutmegman where I was the M.C.
I enjoyed the chick music before the race. It's been years since I've heard Beth Orton. I didn't hear anything out on the race course other than the grinding over my gears at 60 rpms up those hills.
So you gonna go run 2 hours in the lava fields this week. My season ended and I am on my little break. I am gonna go watch football. Who is luckier?
When in Kona do like the Ironmen - run in the lava fields! I cannot wait. Part of the reason for doing Arizona was because I would be able to take advantage of my time in Kona with all of the great training around. Football - you can watch that back at home all winter long. For now, I will choose to train! And drink coffee...
Stay tuned for another installment of John Hirsch's "Pros I Knows!"
Photos
1. Alex, rocking the compression socks (with a Bon Jovi tune in his head?)
2. Elizabeth will be taking her role as Spectathlete VERY seriously
3. John checks the surf....
4. and surfs! |
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