2,000meter pursuit is on the schedule. I've been waiting for this event for 6 months (when I decided to return to Sydney) and I've been training for this one for something like forty years. I say that because the 2,000 is optimally suited to my physiology. It took me years to learn that and it’s also one of the reasons why I like to coach people. So that they might reach their goals sooner than later.
For those that didn’t know (but care enough to read this), my athletic background has very humble origins. I ran in high school, college and during the “running boom” but never won a race. I took up triathlons and did pretty bad in the swimming and cycling portions… but, I’m a persistent bloke and slowly got better at cycling. Slowly! I’m talking about 5 years of slow progress and then another 5 years before I found that track cycling suited me well. That’s a long time! How many athletes do you know that are patient enough to stick out 10 years of slow progressive growth? How many give up after one month? One year? I found the track in 1992 so add another 17 years to that 10 and you have a pretty patient athlete!
Onto the race: As the defending champion I’m in the last heat. I not only have the advantage of seeing all the times to beat but I also get the adrenaline rush as the times start to fall. I received another gift when the organizers placed last years 2nd place finisher James Host (Chicago, Ill) in the 2nd to last heat, so now I get to see his time and only need to beat either the competitor across the track in my heat or the most current best time (top two go into the gold ride). Save something for the final, right? Well, it turns out James has a 2:20 in him and sets a very high bar. Yikes, I did a 2:20.119 last year. Do I have a 2:20 in me today just 30 hours after arriving in Australia? Let’s find out, shall we?
As I mentioned, the 2km suits me well because I have a weakness in starting out too quickly and that’s a price that you can not pay back in a 3km or 4km event. But, in the 2km the penalty for starting out too fast is not as great. Yes, I started off too fast. Wouldn’t you? This is the world championships!
Kenny Williams is coaching me through this ride but its his wife Annette that I am thinking about. Wait, that doesn’t sound right (he he). Seriously, Annette set the world record for a 45+ year old woman for 2,000m at 2:31. That’s a smoking time and she would have placed 11th in the M50-54 age group. Back to the story: before the ride Annette is telling me about her new tactic with 2kms. Simply, when she is going out too fast, just continue to throttle it! Instead of backing off, she drives it and hopes the blowup will hold off until late in the race.
So, when I hear “six-oh” (short for 16.0 seconds per lap) from Kenny I know that I cannot hold this speed for the whole eight laps but I stay on the throttle. Turns out that I am up on my schedule (to qualify) and simply decided to roll with it. I qualified first in 2:17.051, a new 50-54 world record.
Okay, I don’t want to sound too petty but here’s the inside scoop. I was in Manchester England when Ian Hallam set this record in 1999. It was an amazing ride to watch and Ian was a great rider, for sure (professional) but what crawled under my skin was that he “retired” from work for a year to win his road and track world championships. Heck, I was laid off in July and decided to start my own financial consulting business. Just last Friday I was at a client for 14 hours. That’s not how I define retirement.
A WR is nice, but I still haven't won the world championship. James Host (who is a leap-year baby just like my son Andrew) and I face each other in the final. He appears more nervous than me but he doesn’t realize that I’m exhausted and wondering what’s in my tank! I thought Jim might set out for a scheduled ride (consistent is better than blazing) but he decided to go blazing and hit the first four laps really hard probably hoping to throw me into his game but I stuck to my pace and ended up with a fast ride, a Kookaburra stuffed animal, my gold medal and world championship jersey.
Thanks for reading. Larry
1 comment:
Larry, you sure are very patient and very dedicated, but it appears that is what it takes to be world class (apart from innate ability of course).
Read the book Outliers (esp. the chapter on the 10,000 hour rule) and you will see that not only does it take approximately 10 years, but there are no shortcuts either.
No naturals, nobody gets by with less, and no grinders, i.e. hardworking with no results, either.
It's a good book.
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