Retired

It's all over...I have lost my ability to have faith or dream. I have been laying everything I've got into this stuff, with nothing to show for it. It was when I watched my little girl's movie turn off right in front of her as our power got shut off for non payment. I sacrificed everything to become "somebody" to all of you out there. People say to NOT care what others think about you. To NOT do things for the win or the resulting "glory". I was told to "find something that I love, and do that no matter what". That's the problem...I CARE what YOU think. It doesn't matter who's reading this. I don't care if it's 10 years from when I posted it and you have no clue who I am at the time. I CARE...A LOT!! I LOVED winning races and walking around afterward where people thought that you had something to offer. That is what I loved. I completely and whole heartedly consumed myself with impressing those around me, and NOBODY enjoyed bringing that to life more than myself. There's no support out there for dreamers like myself. People want those that have already made it. They are already there!! Did you know that to qualify to live in the Olympic Training Center you have to have run the Olympic "A" standard in your event for track and field?? That means that only 4 or 5 Americans can possibly qualify!! Those top 4 or 5 ALREADY have deals that is worth WELL over what the OTC is offering!!! So you say, "well, you took your shot. Now retire and get a job like the rest of us". There's just one problem...I'm not like the rest!!! I am hardwired to go all out. I KNOW what it takes to make it. I have trained that hard, I have the genetics, I have the drive, but I also have a family that depends on me to show up every day and make a go of it. Without something to shoot for, what the hell am I supposed to do?? I have a fucking 80 VO2 Max, can do pullups all day, swim, run, bike, trails, hills, mountains, track, tri's, du's, crits, time trials, whatever!! I've got a Psychology degree, have modeled for magazines, print ads, and for $175/hr, but they won't even take me in the fucking Army because I got speeding tickets that didn't get paid because I CAN'T GET A JOB!! As a family we made 25k last year! And that was literally twice what it was the year before! I'm sorry to those of you looking for some kind of motivation in this, but it's all bullshit. I've lost my dreams, my faith, and if something doesn't change I'm going to lose all I have left which is my loving, beautiful wife and my adorable daughter. (Not to mention the one we have on the way) Good night, and good luck. -Yorek

"New Race"

Oops, my new "Peak" race will be Ironman 70.3 Kansas. I will be getting the IM license for money's sake, and Kansas is a hot, hilly race that suits me MUCH better than the cold waters and shaded bike/run of Middlebury, Conn.

Hasta!

Catching up...hurt and changing races

Hello!! Well, some things change and some stay the same. First off, I have injured my right foot. I thought it was just my arch hurting so I pushed through a run last week that I probably shouldn't have. I ran 13 two Sundays ago and I should have just ran 10 or 11. That's where I'm sure it went wrong, then I just kept running on it hoping it would go away.

Workouts have been going well outside of that. I have officially done 4 long rides in a row that were 2.5 hours in length or longer, and that is a record for me. I have been in the pool at least 3 times a week (another record) and I am sticking to the schedule that Dr. Merrick has given me.

This week I have yet to run, but I have 4 hours on the bike in the last 3 days with 3200 yds in the pool so far. I will try to get through a bit of a run this evening on the indoor track of Adams State followed by a bit of CrossFit workout.

Outside of workouts, I will be going to Denver this weekend for a Coaching clinic to learn how to Coach my kids at Sargent H.S. On the plus side, I get to meet Jim Ryun and Mac Wilkins (google 'em if you don't know 'em...'cause you should!!) On the minus side, it is supposed to snow all the way there (4 hours each way). I'm hoping my foot will allow me to get in a run on Saturday morning at Cherry Creek, then I'm heading over to Denver to meet up with a friend of mine from back in the day, Adrienne Herzog. She's a 3k/5k and XC specialist from the Netherlands that is a straight BAD ASS!! When I met her, she was dating Simon Vroemen (Former European record holder in the Steeplechase) and he was in Alamosa training. I trained a bit with him, and when they returned a year later they stayed with me for their training block. Good people, it will be fun to catch up with Adrienne. :)

Well, that's it for now. I'm heading over to Plachy Hall for my evening's workout and to laugh at my running friends turned triathletes. They look almost as awful as I do in the pool!!

Hasta later,

-Yorek

Ah, Life!

So yesterday went very well. Kimbell and I decided to ride outside, which is crazy in January up here in Alamosa, but it turned out to be a great decision! It was a wonderful ride of about 36 miles with 10 of them at TT effort. A great ride and good fun. I'm pumped about my new TT front end and the new position as it feels fantastic!

Last night was spent in the pool doing a 1k time trial so Dr. Merrick knows how to pace my workouts. It went rather well considering I just came up to altitude and haven't swam much in the past 2 years! My time was 14:28 (yards for you swimmers out there) which is 32 seconds faster than the last time I did it. It's a pretty good confidence booster!

I was gonna go bowling afterwards as that is my Wednesday ritual, but we got to the lanes too late and I didn't want to wait for an hour. Good decision as I was pretty tired.

Today has been pretty busy with just everyday errands. At the moment I am at the hospital with Resie getting the ultrasound done on our baby #2. Fun times!!

As far as workouts go, I will only ne riding the trainer today. I had a run on the schedule, but my plantar fascitis (sp?) is hurting so I'm going to skip it and let it rest.

Well, that's it for the day.

Hasta!!

-Yorek

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Day 2 in the books!

Well, today didn't start off too well. I got on the bike this morning and just could not turn the pedals over! No matter what I did, it took everything I had just to move my easiest gear! So, after some thought, I just scratched it and are some breakfast.

At around noon I got picked up by Kimbell and wenheaded for.the pool. This pool is absolutely freezing!! Upon jumping in I never took more than 30 seconds rest just to keep from being cold. Only about half an hour later it was intonation warm shower then back home to knock out my bike workout.

75 minutes on the bike with 2x10 min. in 53x13 (I just didn't have the power for 53x11 today).

Then after Theresa and I knocked out some errands I ran with former ASC elite miler Drew Soucy for about 45 minutes. I'm guessing we ran just over 6:30 pace followed by a little crossfit workout given to me by my sister Shannon (former Elite gymnast for Bela Karolyi and current crossfit BAND!!).

Now to put little Aspen to bed and get ready for poker night here at the Yorek household :)

Hasta

-Yorek

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"Guess who's back...back again"?!

I was lying in my bed two nights ago praying to God that He might bless me with patience and righteousness. "Righteousness"??? Really? The Bible tells us that not one of you is righteous, no not one. (I sure wish I could find the verse!!) So, then, why was I asking for it? I decided it was because we should all strive to be better even when we know perfection is unattainable. Whoa! Wait a minute!! You mean that I should just work toward something even when there is no end goal possible?

This concept has completely escaped me my entire life!! Why would I continue to run when I can't win the Olympics? Why on earth would I train for the triathlon if the Ironman World title may not be mine?? haha, turns out I actually ENJOY racing and training. I may not particularly like every workout that I do, or the pain that goes along with tempo runs or long bike intervals or freezing cold swims in the morning, but I sure like being fit and WINNING!! To tell the truth, I just like pushing my body to new levels and accomplishing what 99% of the world cannot achieve.

So, then, it's the journey of training that I want to try. Focus on one day at a time and simply enjoy that I can swim, bike, run, and lift.

I have 21 weeks until the Rev 3 Quassy half-iron distance triathlon in Middlebury, Conn. Please join me on this journey of finding out what it's actually like to follow a plan and enjoy the process. The result at Quassy is not important. The goal is to properly prepare for the distance and the race at hand. The results, then, will take care of themself.

So...I started yesterday with an 85 minute run with my Coach, Dr. Josh Merrick of crosstrainingendurosports.blogspot.com, that was rough as there was snow on the ground and I hadn't run more than 60 minutes in 4 months!

Later on I did an easy 45 minute spin on the trainer to loosen up the legs.

This morning was an easy swim of just 20 min. aerobic distance, and 10x50m "fast" on the minute. Here in about an hour I will be heading out for a run of 50-60 minutes, then maybe another easy spin on the bike trainer later on of about 60-90 minutes for a little more aerobic work.

Ok, here we go!

Hasta,

-Yorek