Endurance Blogs

How Radio Host Sheri  Lynch Became a Triathlete - Interview by Joe Nuss

Nationally syndicated radio show host Sheri Lynch, the on-air partner of Bob Lacey on the Bob & Sheri show, can take the darkest of situations and relate it back with a unique blend of empathy and side-splitting humor.  Undoubtedly developed during her own turbulent childhood, her deadpan humor has become drive-time therapy for a nationwide following of Bob & Sheri show listeners.  Sheri's ability and willingness to find the humor in the mundane gives her show a coffee-shop atmosphere and makes you feel like you're laughing over lattes with your best friend after a particularly difficult morning getting the kids off to school.

Last year, during the wake of the break-up of her marriage, Sheri decided to tackle her first triathlon, Endurance Magazine's Ramblin' Rose.  During our interview, Sheri described that difficult period of her life and how choosing to do the Ramblin' Rose helped change it. 

ENDURANCE: Tell us why you chose to do a triathlon.

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By Jay Crooker, PhD

It's still not too late to sign up for that big race in 2009 or set a goal to set a new PR at your favorite distance. Here are some general guidelines for creating a successful workout plan that will see you through an exciting year of training and racing.

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By Richard Jones

Ashley Milano is a planner. She always knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life.

"Three years ago, I was planning my wedding. I was a bride," she said. "Two years ago, I was planning my husband's funeral. I was a widow. A year ago, I was angry and depressed and felt betrayed by my god and my universe. I was a victim."

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Gu and Gatorade and PowerBars have long been quick energy fixes for endurance athletes.  For a couple bucks a pop, you can energize yourself with some maltodextrin in it's various forms for a good 45 minutes until the calories are burned and you pop another gel or sip some more drink or take another chewy bite of a vanilla crisp energy bar.  All of those energy sources are great products for endurance sports, but they hold little water  to a much more cost-effective source of energy: WORDS. 

Words are free and when used in the right way, can energize someone much better than maltodextrin.  You don't even have to re-say them every 45 minutes to an hour. 

When you are at the Beach2Battleship Iron Distance Triathlon in Wilmington this weekend, or the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh, remember to not just cheer for those athletes during the race, but speak words of encouragement before their difficult endeavor and speak words of recognition after the amazing feat of athleticism they have just accomplished. 

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Endurance Magazine's Ramblin' Rose Women Only Triathlon Series wrapped up in October and capped off an amazing first year of our "green" initiative, "Race Without A Trace".  All of the athletes who participated in the series, as well as the Carroboro Classic Endurance Festival, The Tarheel 10-Miler and Franklin 5000 helped contribute to a cleaner environment with respect to the amount of event-related waste they reduced and recycled. 

Rather than hand out throw-away plastic bottles at the finish, the Endurance Magazine/Sport Often team hands out re-useable plastic bike bottles participants can use to fill up at one of our many water stations.  In addition, race packets including flyers and coupons are all distributed digitally via e-mail.  Shirts, bags, and other items are handed out at packet pick-up without plastic bags as well.

Earlier in the year, it wasn't unusual to find our team sorting compost, recycling, and trash in the few bags of waste generated at our events.  As the year wore on and more people became aware of our different recycling, trash and compost bins, our job became easier and the environment a little bit cleaner! 

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SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 - DURHAM, NC  - Endurance Magazine, the premier regional resource for healthy lifestyles, has been awarded the 2008 National Award for Editorial Excellence from the Association of Running Publications.  Out of 34 regional publications across the country, North Carolina-based Endurance Magazine and its editorial staff, led by Managing Editor Joe Nuss, was recognized for its perpetually creative and inspiring editorial and production style. Complemented by world-class photography by Tamara Lackey Photography, and innovative visual design by 8dot Graphics (both based in North Carolina), Endurance Magazine breaks through traditional health and fitness content paradigms by connecting real-world lifestyles with real-world people who take on extraordinary challenges.  "Our mix of immediately useful content and life-enriching personal connections helps us reach out to new readers with each issue" says Publisher and founder Steve Lackey.  "Over the years we have found our creative niche and have been able to inspire and motivate all types of people across our region.  As more people learn about Endurance Magazine from beyond North Carolina, our subscription requests from other states have grown". 

When asked what makes Endurance Magazine so popular with such a broad audience, Nuss explains, "Endurance Magazine is blessed with an amazing community of people willing to share their own passionate narratives about endurance sports. Our emphasis on storytelling, design and photography, with the sport itself as merely a backdrop, enables us to explore the universally relevant themes of physical and emotional triumph in attempt to bring together everyone from elite athletes to those that have never before laced up a pair of running shoes (but think they might want to some day)."

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Steve has been busy designing some very slick race kits for our team to wear at upcoming triathlons and running events. While we all enjoy competing, none of us are elite athletes. Instead, it might be more appropriate to refer to us as "endurance citizens". We are part of the same community that we also work so hard to inspire. Without giving away too much, these race kits will embrace that notion.

On a separate note, I am an immigrant. So, before I can become a legitimate endurance citizen, I should probably become an American citizen first. Fortunately for me, I don't have to give up my Dutch citizenship entirely as I now have the ability to become a dual-citizen. I have been procrastinating for entirely too long, so here we go. Step 1, download the application, fill it out, and send it along with a large check. Then wait for potentially as long as a year. In the meantime, I'll keep racing with my greencard in my back pocket.

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Last month, my wife and I ran the Disney World Half Marathon together. Since this was her first half marathon race, I agreed to follow her well-thought-out race strategy: “Follow everyone until it’s over. And then go back to sleep.”

When she told me this was her plan at the start line, I laughed out loud. And although we were far from last, we took our own sweet time meandering through the course - stopping to take photographs with pirates, with penguins, in front of castles, and even of other runners as the sun rise changed the colors of our background. We had a blast and I highly recommend enjoying a big race like this every once in a while.

One key lesson, however, came at the expense of a guy only slightly more determined to get to the finish than I was. As we came up on the 9 mile water stop there was something different at the front. A group of young women with tongue depressors, each with chartreuse goo globing off one end, were standing ready to hand one to anyone who would grab it.

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It was a great day - 55 degrees at sunrise in early December. The warmth was a welcomed change from last year’s 16 degrees on this same morning. And as the over 5000 runners crossed the start line at the 3rd annual Thunder Road Marathon in Charlotte not a cloud was in the sky.

You couldn’t help but feel terrific as you ran through the first mile – a pretty much downhill stretch that tempts you to go faster than you planned.

And for me, especially, since I have neglected to spend any real time training for the various longer distance events I’ve jumped into this season (Duke Half Ironman, City of Oaks Half Marathon, and now the Thunder Road Half Marathon), it would be prudent to stay the course and keep the pace easy – as planned.

Nine miles later, when pretty much all the people I knew on the course started to pass me (usually with a “Hey Steve, Looking Good!”), and I realize I am about to go from setting a new half-marathon PR to running the longest race of my life, I wished that I had dialed it in a bit during those tempting first few miles. But I just couldn’t do it. Such a perfect day and so much energy emitting from the herd of runners it was too hard NOT to embrace the love.

I paid for it over the last three miles of the race – admittedly even walking for a brief moment with no more than a mile to the finish. As I walked I could literally feel all that wonderful energy leaving my body and being absorbed by those who had paced themselves better. I was physically and mentally finished. Unable to focus on positive thoughts, I slowly meandered to the finish.

SILVER LINING
As with pretty much everything in life, after I shook the cloud of negativity, the upsides to the experience presented themselves.

First, by jumping out ahead of the majority of the field I maximized the number of marketing impressions my Endurance branded gear realized as I slowed and was passed. We even had a few clients call in this week right after the race who saw me on the course – coincidence?

Second, I bought a new pair of New Balance 1223’s at the expo the night before the race. They fit like a glove so I decided I didn’t need to worry about breaking them in (which is the traditional recommendation from most footwear experts). The previous chronic pains I had with my last pair of shoes all but vanished. Wearing the new 1223’s was actually therapeutic. I don’t think we’ll see New Balance claiming their shoes can actually cure chronic foot pain, but I am thrilled to have the comfort in my step that I had been missing for several months (I am wearing them now).

Third, it was the fastest 10 miles I’ve ever run! (stay tuned for more on the “Tarheel 10 Miler” on April 26th in Chapel Hill – we’re working in getting that one approved).

Finally, every day, I sit about 10 feet from one of the best coaches I the region – Thys Wind. I’ve never worked with a coach simply because I have such a hectic schedule (flexibility is a dangerous privilege). I wasn’t willing to commit to someone else’s training schedule because I didn’t want to let THEM down. This day I confirmed that the person I wasn’t willing to commit to was me. So, 2008 will be the year I see what I’m really made of. How fast can I go? It will be fun to find out. You can check out my blog on our new website to see how it’s going. [endurancemag.com]

If you’re having trouble shaking up your life, take a look at the events we showcase in our annual Triathlon Season Preview Guide. There is bound to be something that will give you some refreshed perspective.

Inspire. Perform. Endure

PS – Special thanks to Dr. Kevin Lyons of Beyond Wellness Chiropractic in Charlotte who tracked us down to let us know who hit our car in the public lot. Good karma is coming your way.

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Just like everyone else, I am swamped. All the time. And squeezing in time to train for upcoming races has been getting tricky lately.

Earlier this month, I had a limited window to get in a long swim and then a quick bike ride. I didn’t really have much time to spare, so when I got into the pool and realized my goggles had warped in the heat of my car, my immediate stress was quickly replaced by a need to keep moving. The ‘extras’ that were hanging on the hooks at the pool had Nemo and Ariel on them (I passed), and I fearfully realized the clock was ticking. So I brilliantly decided to swim my set without goggles. I could see pretty well underwater, and I figured it would be good practice in case something ever went wrong at a race. Plus it made me feel tough since all the other sissies in the pool had to wear goggles.

The first hundred yards went well. No problems. I felt smooth. Thoughts going through included the following: “Wow, I really can swim without goggles”, “Think of the time I can save by not having to take off my goggles in a race!”, “That lifeguard must think I’m Aquaman”, “I wonder if I am actually MORE aerodynamic without the drag of the goggles”, “I’ll be the fastest swimmer alive!”

After 35 minutes and 2100 yards, I got out of the pool and was ready to sprint over to my bike, feeling great…except for one small problem. That cloudy view I had under water wasn’t going away. Apparently, the pool water had been slowly melting away my contact lenses. I’m pretty sure that’s not recommended. Worse, now that I was out of the pool, I started feeling a slight burning sensation across my entire forehead. The headache that ensued was miserable and, 45 minutes into my bike ride, my unusual level of fatigue was magnified by … how to best describe? … a specific eye-disintegration-type feeling. In stereo. On repeat.

I was pretty worthless for the next few hours. It lasted through the night and my eyes actually took about a full day to recover.

The moral: Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean that you SHOULD. If you need to take a few extra minutes to take care of yourself before/during/after a workout (or race), go ahead and take them.

More on that in our coming issues, but it’s finally Fall, and there’s a ton of stuff out there that you CAN and SHOULD do. Check out our printed calendar in the back for a taste and then go online to www.activezach.com to see what experiences are out there waiting for you. Sure it may not seem like it, but we all really do have the time.

Inspire. Perform. Endure.

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