Metro Area Athlete Profile - Rick Mann

SBR First of all, congratulations go to you Rick on a great performance at Ironman Wisconsin. You'll have to forgive me, but I've been waiting to say this for a while, and now I can say it with conviction, "You da Mann." OK, I got that out of the way. Rick, your training and taper leading into Madison must have been right on the money. Can you talk about your training for me a little?

Rick Mann "My training started back in January with weights twice a week focusing on core strength, all-around shoulders, hamstrings and quads. I ran four to six miles on the treadmill at an easy pace on these mornings. I swam on two other days of the week of mostly drills at 4000 yards each. I rode my trusty Cannondale on a stationary trainer four to five times a week at night after my two girls were in bed. On the weekends I would likely run on the trails at SIUE with some friends, nine or twelve miles typically.

I kept this schedule pretty regulalyr until the end of March. I built a good base on about twelve hours a week. In April I started getting serious about longer distance and dropped the weight training in favor of three swim workouts a week. Lou set me up with a swim training mindset that I still struggle to maintain but I am slowly making it mine. One swim workout was a planned straight swim with a hard 10k run immediately afterward. The other two were longer sets with shorter rests. My running went from an easy pace to a steady effort of heart rate specific targets at a minimum of eight miles three times a week. My bike workouts remained on the trainer where I focused on my cadence and watts while Lance climbed Hautacam, Ventoux, and le Joux Plane.

On the weekends I focused on going long. Three or fours hours on my mountain bike followed by an hour run on Saturday and a long run of twelve to fifteen miles on Sunday after church.

Sometimes I found the occasion to catch up with the training monsters Bonastia and Brendel. We would go for a good ride on the road with a speedy run afterward. I can not let up for a second with these guys, or their youth and energy will make me bonk.

I maintained a small amount of weight training and core strength at home with stretch cords and the fitness ball. I kept this training schedule through June with the Gulf Coast half Ironman, and the Buffalo Springs Lake half Ironman.

My wife, Donna, found that we would be expecting our third girl in November during the end of April. This led to my training being focused on Ironman Wisconsin rather than Ironman Florida so in July my training ramped up again.

In July and August my weekly workouts remained pretty much the same, about twelve hours, but my weekend workouts increased. On Saturdays I rode six hours on my mountain bike, swam four thousand yards and ran eight miles. On Sunday I rode my trainer for ninety minutes before church and ran fifteen to twenty miles after church. Monday is typically a rest day. Whew!!

My taper was different from previous years. I did not cut the volume until I was two weeks out. I reduced the volume by about one fourth. The week before the race I was a little less than half of a typical week. On Friday before the race I swam one loop of the course and rode forty miles of the course at a moderate to fast spinning cadence. On Saturday I swam half of one loop and ran about thirty minutes.

There is no science to my training. It is all about my wonderful wife allowing me the time on the weekends to get in the long hours away from home and getting myself used to four or five hours of sleep a night during the week. It is also very important to have a stretching routine every day; morning, noon, and night.

That is a long winded answer. I have found that if I try to go long before my body is ready I get injured, so I thought I needed to explain my whole plan, and the plan was to peak for 2004 Ironman Wisconsin and qualify for 2005 Ironman Hawaii."

SBR Most of us seem to look back after a race and think we could of gone a little faster if we would have done this or that a little better. Do you look back a 9:37 IM effort and still imagine that you could have gone a little faster?

RM "Every Ironman I have done, I look at my marathon time and I ask why can't I run faster? Well, I finally broke 3:30 by less than a minute. I am very happy about that. I understand that I have been blessed by my God to have physical and mental abilities to push myself in this ultimate endurance event. I still think, though, that I can run faster. How to do it is a mystery to me. I will continue to thank God for my good health as I ask Him to light a fire under me to get a faster marathon result."

SBR I guess with all things being relative, we middle of the pack athletes view your ability to go sub 10 hours in an IM and we marvel. Do you look at the pros who go over an hour faster or who have remarkably broken the 8-hour barrier and wonder how in the world they can do that?

RM "I do read a lot about the elite athletes that can arrive to their "A" race primed for their best day. It is remarkable to me that they can go so fast, but I would expect them to be fast since they are being paid for their efforts. The ones I marvel at are not the pros but it is the age grouper who puts in the long work week, like I do, but can go 9:10. It is the guy that can run a 3:10 marathon after a five hour bike split and a sixty minute swim that makes my hair hurt to think about the training he must do."

SBR So by earning your slot already for the Oct '05 IM World Championship, you have 13 months to recover, plan and prepare. That must be real luxury.

RM "Having my slot now is certainly a luxury. I do not have the time to train for two Ironman races in one year. I would like to do two and three Ironman races per year in the future, but I can not foresee it for several years. My plan consists of a few key long course races next year and some sprints for fun. Without the pressure to qualify, I can enjoy my races more. I stressed enough about this last Ironman to last me a long time. Planning for the trip to Kona with this much lead time is a wonderful luxury. I have a favorite place in Kona and I am sure to get it reserved this far in advance. My training plan will not be much different from this past year with the exception of a longer, wider, and deeper running base over the winter and into the spring."

SBR I'm curious about your athletic background and how you managed to get interested in triathlon?

RM "In high school I played soccer all year. I could not get enough. I loved to play even though I was an average player. I was more of a grunt with just enough skills to get through the game without a red card. In the army I began to love running, especially trail running. When I began college, running became my break from studying and the easiest way for me to relax. This is still true today. Whenever I have a stressful day at work my wife can see it in my expressions as I arrive home. She tells me "get out there and run it off", it always helps me to restore myself."

SBR Ultra distance racing continues to attract Olympic distance and long course triathletes. If you had to advise someone making that transition, what few basic precepts specifically about iron distance, would you emphasize?

RM "Ironman distance racing is a long build-up. I ran marathons for four years before my first Ironman I ran steadily increasing mileages for five years before my first marathon. Knowing how I have struggled with the distance I would have a few words of experience for the aspiring Ironman:
A. Be prepared to get slower as you go longer.
B. Stretch your whole body routinely.
C. Listen to your body. If you need to bag a workout to assure recovery from a previous workout, then sleep in.
D. Have a plan and set realistic goals.
E. Find a mentor (coach) to help with your unanswered questions. This was my biggest asset. My friends in this sport carried me for a long time. I watched, I listened, I asked questions and my friends answered and taught me what it takes. My thanx to Lou, Tim, Aaron, Keith, Mike, Pam, Dee Dee, and Ed."

SBR Where would I find you on your favorite, local long-ride day?

RM "My favorite local long ride starts at Marquette park, north of Grafton, IL. I ride to Brussels Ferry and cross the river into Calhoun county early in the morning. I ride to Batchtown and Hardin, cross to the other side of the "island" and return to Batchtown. I do some hill repeats to and from Batchtown from the highway. I ride back to Marquette park via the ferry then climb to the top of the park and back down again as many times as I can without blowing up. Then I go for an eight mile run on the flat bike path."

SBR Was there a defining moment in your triathlon learning curve when you thought, "Hey, I think I can do pretty well at this sport."

RM "I began doing sprint triathlons in 1995. conversations with others at these races would always lead to Ironman I did not know what Ironman was at the time but when I did look into it I was hooked on the idea of it. Little by little I went longer with the swim and bike. I never thought I was "good" at it, but I enjoyed it so I kept after it. I liked being in the crowd that talked about going faster all the time, it kept me on an edge. I felt as if I could do it if I worked hard enough. Some of the eagerness led to injuries though and I learned the hard way that going long is a planned effort, not a spur of the moment thing."

SBR We've all had those days when we wonder what in the world we're doing out on that course. What race day blunder stands out in your mind that you can look back and laugh about now?

RM "I remember racing the Springfield Ironhorse before I had done any real swim training. I was so panicked during the swim that I did not recover. I was weak on the bike and sluggish during the run. I finished, but only because my Dad was with me and I did not want to disappoint him."

SBR Lastly, how did you manage to get through the human thrashing machine of a 2000+ swimmer mass start without becoming unnerved by it?

RM "This swim start was the largest in Ironman history. I was nervous about it. My swimming has come around enough though that I have built some self-confidence and the experience I had with five Ironmans under my belt gave me the idea that I should start at the front and give an all out effort for five hundred yards then settle into a good pace. I also prayed a lot! I had a plan and I asked God to bless my plan. God is good all the time. This Ironman swim was the best swim experience I have had. My training was centered on the Ironman distance and I think I nailed it. I was fully expecting something similar to water combat but what I found was that if I continued in a straight line, the guy next to me was as determined as I was not to make contact, just swim. So it went well, I am glad I can say that now, but I was certainly upset about being in a record breaking crowd.

A side note for training for an open water swim: I swam several times in my health club during the water aerobics class. If you want to get ready for a choppy water swim this is the place."

SBR Rick, thanks for taking the time. We wish you nothing but the best of luck!