Dear Athlete,

This month's edition of 'The Extra Mile' covers "Changing your food choices" by Coach AJ Johnson and "Sweat loss rate test" by Coach Curt Chesney.

D3 Athletes have continued to race well – if you are still hoping for a PR this season, then maybe you should check out one of our training plans – we have had numerous athletes PR each month. It's not an accident that our plans get results: http://www.d3multisport.com/plans.php

Check out 'D3 Coaches Spotlight' which features Coach AJ Johnson.

This month our feature sponsor is Max Muscle of Boulder – check them out and see how they can help you perfect not only race day nutrition, but every day nutrition as well!

Happy Training,
Mike Ricci
USAT Level III Coach

D3 Athlete of the Month: Sasha Underwood

Who is your coach and how long have you been working with him/her?

My coach is Mark Dillard and I've been working with him for a little over one year.

How do you balance your training with everything else; family, relationship, work,etc?

This is tricky sometimes as I am a single mother and work full-time. I travel two weeks per quarter as well. It's great being able to use Training Peaks – all I have to do is look up my schedule for the week and fit it in my day. Now that my son is almost 12 it makes training easier. I'm able to work out while he's at his various practices (lacrosse, wrestling, snowboarding – depending on the season). He can ride his bike for 20 miles now and will frequently ride his bike while I run – which is nice because he can carry water and be the Sherpa, haha.

What does a typical training week look like for you?

Usually it's about 8-10 hours per week. I've been working on swimming lately as that is not my strength – but I'm getting better!! Starting to do longer bricks too. I'll usually run at lunch then do the bike and swims after work.

What keeps you motivated on tough training days?

Three things really 1.The races are huge motivators for me. I can't wait for the 70.3 sticker to put on my car! 2. My son is really my main motivation in life. I love that he sees me being active and he likes riding his bike – he did his first road bike circuit race last summer. 3. Coach Mark always has the right things to say to help me stay positive and keep realistic goals, especially when things don't go according to plan like injuries and such.

What is one of your favorite workouts?

Long bike rides in the foothills or long runs in the mountains are my favorite workouts. I love getting out of the city and being in nature surrounded by nothing but beautiful Colorado, the occasional half-eaten deer leg, and my friends who push me to the next level.

What do you do to reward yourself after a tough workout?

I love wine. Really good wine. And ice-cream. Did I mention wine?

Favorite distance to race and what is your best race to date?

My favorite distance to race is a half marathon. It's long enough to be a challenge, but short enough for me to race – not just finish as I sometimes feel with marathons. I PR'd with Mark's help last month at the Platte River Half in Denver. However, I just finished my first Olympic distance triathlon in Memphis and I'm addicted. I need to work on transitions and swimming but the announcer at the race joked that all of us first-timers will PR – so that's what I'm telling people. 2:54:41.

D3 Coaches Spotlight

AJ's coaching philosophy can be summed up in two words: listening and balance. By combining these two elements he helps each athlete achieve their full potential. No matter if it's a time goal, a placing goal, or a goal to finish; AJ's objective is to listen to the athlete's thoughts on their strengths and weakness, past training and time available to train.
More info on Coach AJ or to see his video introduction

Interesting Article from web on how endurance athletes make great employees:

When you have a goal that is as huge as the marathon-it will "keep you honest." It's not like a smaller goal that you can announce and then put off or fake your way through. Once you sign up, commit months to training, and take your first step on race day-you better have done your homework. The beauty of this is that it goes against 99% of the natural tendencies of our culture that favors gratification without effort or devotion. But is that kind of achievement ever as satisfying? Linda Hill once told me she loved the quote, “There is no glory in training, but there is no glory without training.” In no way is this more true than in running. And business.

One thing I've found over the years is that many of the folks I train with (and race against) are for the most part as devoted to their jobs (if not more) as they are to running or cycling or triathlon. Unlike participation in say, golf or softball or basketball – no offense to club/league sports – the type of determination, discipline and emotional focus that comes with training day in, day out for extremely challenging endurance events (often by yourself) tends to bleed over into people's 9-5's. Whether you're training for a marathon, a century or the Ironman triathlon, one thing you quickly find out is that there's no room for bullshit out there on the pavement. You either do the work or you're screwed. Politics won't get you to the finish line. It doesn't matter who you know or how well you can work the system. When you're out there, every weakness bubbles up to the surface and stares you in the eye. Lack of preparation, lack of motivation, lack of dedication will all come back to bite you in the ass. there's nowhere to hide. They will all find you and jump up on your back to stop you dead in your tracks. The choice becomes this: Do you let them stop you, or do you accept them and keep going?

You learn a lot about yourself, training for that type of event. You learn a lot about how to break thresholds and get past your own little ego, training for events like these. When you're tired and sore and hungry but you still have four miles to go, guess what? You still have four miles to go. How you get through these last four miles is entirely up to you. Nobody cares whether you walk those last four miles or run, or hail a cab. Nobody made you set 26.2 miles as a goal. Or 100 miles. Or 144+. Once you've broken past your lack of will and learned to keep going, you are transformed. A similar thing happens to Marines during training. At some point, who you used to be before you went beyond what you thought your limitations were, before you kissed excuses goodbye, before you left all of the bullshit that stood in your mind's way ceases to exist. You become someone else. That someone else, the marathoner, the long distance cyclist, the triathlete, the Ironman, he or she walks into your place of work with you every morning.

We all work with two types of people: Partisans of the least amount of effort, and dedicated professionals. The latter aren't all marathoners or triathletes, but I have yet to meet an Ironman or marathoner who didn't take his or her intensity and dedication to their job. Not that there's anything wrong with drinking a case of beer and watching sports on TV all weekend, but who you are outside of your work does have parallels with who you are when you are at work.

Something to think about.