Meet Bob Seemuth, our October Athlete of the Month!

Why did you become a Triathlete?

I had to do something! When you are 53, porky and grouchy, a frustrated Type A, action steps must be taken. I remembered Julie Moss of 1982 Kona fame, had a neighbor involved with Ironman, and had an underused membership to an athletic club; this left me wondering – “Could I do IT?”

Who is your D3 coach? Please tell us a little about your coaching relationship. An internet search in Oct 2001 led me to Mike Ricci. I quickly rejected 2 other internet coaches as inflexible. Now, I had no background in swim, bike or run and Mike thought I was nuts (but was polite about it) - I guess he needed some clients back then. The goal: Go in 13 months from absolutely nothing to a successful Ironman in Florida in Nov 2002. Mike was patient with me, guided me with small steps, organized weekly workouts and goals, kept steady encouragement, stayed flexible, and even was present at IM FL 2002. My 13:26:59 surprised us all. That time would never be seen by me again… But it was here I discovered the Janus Charity Challenge.

You have raised a significant amount of money for charity through racing.  Please explain the Janus Challenge program.

The Janus Charity Challenge is so generous and easy to work with. Any athlete could pick any Charity; raise a small minimum amount and get awarded at least $750 to that Charity. Placing 1st thru 5 th in fundraising (not speed!!!) meant an award of $2k to $10K to the Charity. Amazing! Now with the JCC there was a deeper reason to do this crazy and fun thing called IM.

I understand your generosity has long been your trademark, including some stints through your profession overseas?

Where have you been and what did you take away from these experiences? I have shared my Dental skills in India, the Amazon basin, Haiti, and various Central American countries. The common linkage to IM is planning in advance, staying in the present, being flexible to changing conditions, ability to think on the go, accept being uncomfortable, and help others around you.

Who is the beneficiary of your fundraising?

Over the years it has been 2 Educational Pro-Life Foundations, ‘Justice for All’ and ‘The Center for Bio-ethical Reform’; Also ‘Options 360 Pregnancy Resource Center’, ‘The Blazeman Foundation’, ‘FreewheelchairMission.org’, and ‘The United Warriors Survivors Fund’. They all value LIFE from the smallest to the oldest; disabled or terminal, widows and orphans. It has been very satisfying to partner with them.

How long have you been fundraising through triathlon?

2002 thru 2008; all 8 IM’s I have been in. It took a year for the Charities to understand the JCC and trust how it worked. After that, fundraising went very well. In 2006 Janus allowed an athlete to have 2 charities. In 2007 it became unlimited per athlete. Why not help more people?

I understand that your total dollar raised is significant.  Please confirm the actual total.

To date the total raised is $2,341,014; Janus has added to that thru their awards a total of $94,500. As I said, Janus is VERY generous. And who says you have to be a professional to bring some bacon in?

What has given you the inspiration to keep this effort up?

I’ll never be fast. Why not try to excel in the fundraising? (Although a funny thing happened at IM Louisville this year – I came in 4th in my age group. HA!)

What is your favorite tri workout (either fun or just tough!)?

By some quirk I like hill climbing on the bike. However, for many reasons, I’m 90% on the Computrainer inside vs outside.

What is your favorite race experience?

That is hard to answer. Let’s see…. The wind to and from Hawi Town, the last 3 miles and the finishers chute in Kona (2007); podium times for Janus (2003 – 2008); the beauty of IM WI (2004); and I must say negative splits on the bike and run this past IM L (2008) and passing many on the bike. That’s never happened with me before.

What is your training schedule and how do you fit it around a job as a full-time dentist, director of a charity, manager of your group practice, husband, and the father of two HS boys?

This is a testament to you, Mike, your training works. I just checked all the past years, can you believe I averaged 27 weeks of training before an IM with only 10.84 hours per week. I haven’t been a very good student, eh coach?

Training Peaks and D3 are partners in delivering workouts to athletes. Please tell us about your experience with Training Peaks (they are sponsoring this month’s D3 Athlete column).

Nothing works without good metrics and measurements. TP and D3 make that possible. Add GPS, Computrainers, technology, - heck, we run out of excuses for NOT doing IM….

Drafting and Cheating; Just Race Fair!

I have been involved in the sport of triathlon for eight years and the definition of drafting has stayed the same. As a racer, you are required to stay four bike lengths behind the person in front of you unless you are passing. You are required to complete the entire course. Simply stated, when you don’t comply with the rules, you are cheating. This article is intended to draw attention to the people who knowingly cheat. Can you believe it, there are athletes who actually cheat on purpose! There must be something we can do about it.

Someone that I coach had an experience at a race where another athlete clearly only completed two loops of the three loop course. She went on to place in her age group. We shared e-mails back and forth on this and I proceeded to share this with a couple of other athletes to see what their thoughts and opinions were. Some felt frustration knowing this kind of thing is going on while another athlete thought that perhaps the racer had mistakenly missed one of the loops. Benefit of the doubt is a good thing as these things do happen. However, as an athlete, you have a general sense of your ability to compete within a time frame and if your time is significantly different than the others, aren’t you going to recognize this? Should the race director or volunteers recognize this? Who’s responsible?

Do we need more draft marshals on the course to control the drafting and cheating? Based on my current research, this does not appear to be a safe option. Having more athletes and marshals on the road increases the risk of accident simply by the sheer number of people participating. Many of us have already had an experience in which we have had concern about the number of people on the course. Navigating through the increased wave sizes, transition areas and out on the course is difficult enough without adding more marshals.

If numbers on the course are leading to more drafting and cheating does this mean that the number of participants should be limited? Should there be less people allowed on race courses based on the distance, if the roads are open to traffic, if it is a one or two loop course? It has been difficult enough to try and get into some races across the country. Do we need to set standards and requirements for entering races? Many of us have opinions, hence the reason I’m writing this, but how do we address the problem? Who answers this question? Should USAT do more? Should we self regulate? What can we do?

Let’s look beyond race numbers and look at the responsibility of the athletes. When the topic of cheating at races comes up in conversation, I often think, “well, they have to live with themselves”. What’s becoming clear, however, is that those folks are living with themselves and are quite okay with it. Unfortunately, these athletes get a trade off. For many, they end up on the podium, get a slot to a world championship, finish in the top 10, top 25, etc. Is that really so satisfying?

We all know that drafting can be a judgment call when it comes to four bike lengths, but having some distance is very different than right behind a wheel and pace line or pack riding in a race. Use the 15 second passing rule to your advantage, use it as a race strategy, not a limiter! For example, make your pass and move on; go back and forth with others on the course, but don’t sit on someone’s wheel and certainly don’t let someone sit on yours.

I guess the bottom line is that you need to be responsible for your actions. If you have ideas on how the on-going issues of drafting and cheating can be improved share them and be part of the solution. Help new athletes in the sport understand the rules and make sure they know what four bike lengths looks like while out on a training ride. Let them feel what drafting is like during training so they understand what benefits the athlete gets if they do it in a race and how it creates an unfair race. It will make them less tolerant of it when they see it and perhaps encourage others to race fairly.

In the end, you have to be responsible for yourself. You need to be honest about what you are doing when you are racing. Remember, everyone has worked as hard as you to be there. They want the opportunity to have their best day, to compete fairly and earn their spot on the podium.

Coach Amy Kuitse will help you cross the finish line fair and square! She believes that getting better in this sport is about time and patience, and with this comes experience. There is no substitute or fast forwarding to gain this experience. It takes time, trial and error, and a willingness to keep plugging away to get things right. With this experience also comes a willingness to try new training ideas and to continue to challenge yourself with new goals. It really is a new journey each season. As a coach I believe it is my role to help you to be patient, encourage you to try new things, and to keep triathlon positive and fun for you. Reaching your goals is the most important thing!

New Hope for Athletes with Allergies

Allergies to food and environmental allergens are becoming increasingly more common in our society. In fact, in the last twenty years, there has been an epidemic increase in allergies and asthma including a 400% increase in food allergies and a 300% increase in asthma. (1)

For athletes, allergies are particularly troublesome as they often result in fatigue, lost or poor training sessions and suboptimal race results. In fact, allergies cause and worsen many conditions that can be detrimental to an athlete’s health and performance. These conditions include:

Of particular concern to athletes, t here have been increasingly more reports of patients with anaphylaxis that occurs only if the patient exercises or exerts themselves within two to four hours of ingestion of food. This is referred to as food dependent, exercise-induced anaphylaxis. These reactions are seen most often in adolescents and young adults. However, they can occur in middle aged patients as well. Most patients react to one or two specific foods. Common causative foods include wheat, celery, and seafood. The food can be ingested in the absence of exercise without development of symptoms. Some patients react after eating any food prior to exercise. (2)

The good news is that in response to the increase in allergies, allergy treatment options are also advancing. One treatment gaining popularity in the United States is sublingual immunotherapy (allergy drops administered under the tongue). This method has been utilized in Europe for over sixty years and has proven to be a very safe and effective means of treating food and respiratory allergies. (3)

Similar to injection therapy commonly used by allergists, the allergy drops contain pollens and other allergens that the patient is allergic to. In contrast to injection therapy, allergy drops are painlessly self-administered by the patient away from the clinic. Thus, only a few office visits are required each year. The concentration of the allergens in the drops is gradually increased over the course of several months until a maintenance concentration is reached. Most people notice a significant reduction in their symptoms within one to three months. Over a three to five year treatment course, the body becomes desensitized to the allergens and the immune system no longer recognizes them as a threat.

The end result for athletes is more good days, improved race results and ultimately, better overall health. (3)

Allergy Solutions is a clinic in Boulder, Colorado specializing in allergy treatment using sublingual immunotherapy. Learn more about allergy drops.

(1) Allergykids.com
(2) Wesley Burks, MD et al. Clinical Manifestations of Food Allergy. UpToDate.com
(3) Information courtesy of Allergy Associates of LaCrosse, WI /AllergyChoices.com