MANAGING BUSINESS AND FITNESS vol. 5
A series of journal entries for non-professional triathletes seeking to compete at a high level while balancing the demands of being an entrepreneur.
written by Urmas Peiker
Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. — Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
Prescott, Arizona
Elevation: 1,600m
Population: 42,500
As we left Tucson for Phoenix, I wondered if my second stint in a wind tunnel would reveal any improvements based on how a few weeks past, I adjusted my body to a new riding position. Based on the results, the seating adjustment suggested the results showed that I improved my efficiency. Additionally, over the past year, I’ve noticed an improvement in my cycling, which previously was an area I struggled with.
As we arrived in Phoenix, we drove an additional two hours north to Prescott. The idea was to spend our final two weeks at 1,500m above sea level. Then adjust our training intensity to be more controlled and not so taxing.
Marko had found a lovely house close to the YMCA pool and gym. Which was key — as swimming is limited to pools here — there is no place to swim in open water. For cycling, roads in Prescott were in very good condition. At least when compared to Tucson’s. Additionally, we were fortunate to not encounter any wildlife hazards. However, the more volatile mechanical wildlife roam freely and too many drivers here are careless and clueless. So be careful!
For me, this it is a funny parallel, if you’re a runner, people cheer and give you a thumbs up. When you cycle, you become the target of road rage and close call collisions. Some drivers are extremely aggressive. We had some chilling moments with a local firearms enthusiast who didn’t like us driving on an empty road. We were not in single file but kept close to the side and certainly didn’t obstruct any of the non-existent traffic. Again, be careful.
But beyond the occasional issue with local motorists, Prescott offers great trails for running. For proper speed training, we used a local high school stadium. You can relive some of these runs via my Strava account.
To regulate our sleep schedule closer to Hawaiian time, we woke up between 07:00–7:30 or earlier if I had to be on a conference call or an early morning swim. We’d then start our bike ride around 09:00–09:30 when the temperature would allow you to wear short sleeves with a wind jacket (briefly). Because of the altitude, Prescott is much cooler than Tucson and at night temperatures would fall below 10C but by 10:00 the temperature would reach 23–26C on most days. But acclimatisation was surprisingly smooth and I felt great from the first day.
But, like many projects you put maximum effort into, you run into set-backs or road-blocks and such was my second week in Prescott. Towards the end of the week, I began to feel strange and my cycling got increasingly difficult. The last time I was sick with a fever was maybe 25 years ago so I could only tell my body was not functioning normally by observing my heart rate and how I felt during or shortly after my training sessions.
During this period, I observed my resting heart rate between 65–70bpm instead of my usual 35bpm (or below). In addition, my Garmin indicated a falling VoMax for both cycling and running, which activated memories of previous failures because of overtraining.
So, for three days, we decreased my training and turned off all the intensity. I was nurturing my body with lots of garlic, ginger, lemon, tea, and honey. I tried to sweat during the night with my clothes on but this did not work. Marko’s coach Jüri Käen gave me a short lecture over Skype about my foolish idea to sleep with clothes on because wearing clothes actually caused additional stress to my body by overheating it even more. Lesson learned.
After a day or two of this, my heart rate started to recover and after a short 1.5 hour ride and gym session I began to feel great again. My watch even showed a cycling VoMax of 72 (this was encouraging).
While in Prescott we were joined by another pro triathlete, the Italian, and two-time IRONMAN Lanzarota champion, Allessandro Degasperi! We rode the bike together and he was VERY strong. I think he had his peak performance during our trainings. He was also an excellent runner and his intervals much beyond my level (at the time I constantly had to take care of my hurting shin splints and could only train running at half capacity). In general, his training schedule did not differ that much from ours and he always tried to swim with Marko.
During this time, our physiotherapist Helvis Trääder also left our camp to re-join the Estonian national soccer team. While with us, he was super helpful. He taped, worked out my problematic shin splint, and provided constant advice on recovery. He was also our support crew, driver, and chef. Everything that helps you to focus on your training. One of the strongest lessons here is that rest and recovery are just as important as the training is. Thankfully for us, Helvis was constantly monitoring our condition.
On October 11th at 04:40, we loaded our equipment, clothes, bikes, and started driving back to Phoenix. We then had an hour-long run at 07:00, followed by a quick bite and got to the airport at 09:30 where we thought we had plenty of time until the flight to Kona so decided to eat. However, when we arrived at the gate, nobody was there and the crew was closing the gate door. The flight was full and they had given our seats away! Luckily, two other seats were left and we got those instead. Unfortunately, a gentleman who reached the gate after us missed the flight.
One’s misfortune is another’s lucky break.
We landed in Kailua-Kona late afternoon on October 11th where we were greeted by Helgor Markov (owner of Food Studio) who took care of our logistics and nutrition until race day.
But this is another story… and will be the final in this brief series. If you missed the previous editions, you can catch up below.
Previous editions:
If you want to learn from a professional like Marko, why not learn from him directly. He is actively training triathletes and shares information regularly online. You can follow or reach him on: Instagram, Facebook, or his website.
For the other professionals trying to balance their work and training schedule, I’d be interested to hear how and why you started competing?
Comment below or reach out via Twitter, LinkedIn, or train with me on Strava.
