BlogJanuary 9, 2007 The last couple of months have gone by so quickly! Winning the Soma Half Ironman seems like it was just yesterday, and as I am writing this it's now 2007 and time for me to start preparing for Ironman Arizona. I call November and December the off-season but it's really been far from it. I spent all of November working hard on my weaknesses. We (when I say we I mean myself and a few intelligent advisors) diagnosed my areas needing the most improvement as swimming and overall strength. So one can imagine what I've been doing the last eight weeks. Lots and lots of weights, and laps on top of laps! I have been swimming twice a day and I have been hitting the weights for two hours a day, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. To me, this is harder than all the other training I do. This winter, I entered into a sponsorship agreement with MAX MUSCLE McCormick Ranch. I am very excited about this new relationship. Getting to meet Charles Gray (the owner) and his family has been a blessing and I am incredibly excited and lucky to have them as part of my team. Their products have made a real difference in my training. If you want to get faster and healthier go check them out at Hayden and McCormick Ranch. Their store is located next to Lox Stock and Bagel. The staff at MaxMuscle McCormick Ranch is incredibly knowledgeable and on top of that they're amazingly nice guys. Aside from that, I signed on to continue my great relationship with both Wellements and Right-Toyota. If you have not tried the 100% organic Bora bar from Wellements you are missing out. I have never had a bar that tastes so good and is so nutritious. I am never without one. Wellements is moving their office right near where I train in Scottsdale at Gainey Village Health Club and I'm sure they will get tired of me hanging around over there! Jay Francis at Right-Toyota has been incredible and I can't wait to see the 2007 Toyotas. The 2007 Tundra is all it has been hyped up to be – you have to see this truck. Jay's constantly getting me airtime on ESPN Radio which is very cool. I can't give enough thanks to Jay for giving me the opportunity to promote myself and our great sport of triathlon in such a prominent media outlet! Aside from the weight room, I have been busy putting together some great new relationships for the upcoming season. The Tri-Scottsdale Foundation is starting to get up to speed and last Christmas we made our first contribution to the community - we gave twenty bicycles and helmets to underprivileged kids for Christmas presents. Landis Cyclery and Trek worked with Tri-Scottsdale on this project! Many thanks to the whole crew at Landis Shea for volunteering their time and working well into the evening to make several kids dreams come true. We're hoping we can do a lot of cool things like this in the future and if anyone has any recommendations please don't hesitate to contact me with them. It is our goal to make a big impact in the community and we're going to constantly try to assist where the help is most needed. Tri-Scottsdale is also are excited to announce that it has partnered with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and I'm proud to say that I'll be wearing the Pink Ribbon on my uniform this year. This foundation holds a special place in my heart and I'll be donating a portion of my 2007 prize money to them. This foundation does so many wonderful things and getting to know Allison Levin has been really special. We hope we can do many things with them in the future. As far as racing goes, I have competed in some small 5k's this winter trying to get some speed back in these Ironman legs. I was pretty happy as I ran a couple 5k's, not too intensely, right around 15 minutes. This is exactly where I want to be considering the majority of my training hasn't been geared toward fast foot races at all! I spent December in Montana helping my father recover from surgery to get his right hip replaced. Floyd Landis just had this done too and he and my dad are paving the way for joint-replacement recovery. I've heard whispers that my dad is not quite as high-profile as Floyd but let me tell you, his recovery has been miraculous. After having a severe limp for the last five years he finally got the whole joint replaced and within a week he was better than before the surgery. I know the prospect of surgery is not an exciting idea. However, after studying it and watching my dad's recovery, you can be certain that I am an advocate for it. One of my favorite things about coming to my hometown of Billings, Montana is swimming at the YMCA. One might wonder why on earth could this be so enticing? Well, Mike Burton is the head coach of the Y's swim program. Mike (also had a successful hip replacement a few years back!) won gold in the 1500 meters in both the 1968 and the 1972 Olympic Games. He also won the 400 freestyle in '68 I believe. This guy was a serious pioneer in the developments in swimming at the very highest level. The fact that I get to swim with him, and be coached by him is really something special. Mike is truly a special guy to have around. He watches my results closely, is a great motivator and has an amazing coaching style. Next on my race calendar is the PF Chang's half marathon. Although I'm not focusing on this race as a top priority I'm going to give it what I have on the day. It's about ten days away and I figure I have just enough running in my legs at this point to make a good effort. 13.1 miles is a long way to run, especially in January. If anyone asks how to do it, I'd say just take it one mile at a time and to not forget that there's water and grass at the finish. Water to drink, and grass to lie down on... On a more serious note, word is that a great friend of the triathlon community George Esahak-Gage and his wife Jane are making amazing recoveries from their near fatal bicycle accident a few weeks back. George and Jane are amazing people and I've looked up to them a lot since I began racing triathlon. I know there are a lot of people pulling for George and wanting to see him back out racing as soon as he is able. I put George and Jane at the top of the list of the most quality people I've been fortunate enough to meet. I have no doubt George will be back and that will be something most truly special. I plan on giving a report after the half marathon; I hope to do well, thanks for reading, and Happy New Year everyone! Yours in sport, Lewis « Back to Blogs |
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