Your training resource for the spirit and body

Inline skating

BY DON PATTON

Two races were reported in July.

The July 17-19 Publix Family Fitness Weekend in Ft Lauderdale included a 10K (actually 7.2 mles). Seventy skaters participated in the four-lap race. Teammate Don Patton reported staying with the lead pack at around 20 mph for 1.5 miles before dropping back to a 2nd pack, finally crossing the line at just over 17mph average.

The following weekend drew 400+ skaters to Hoffman Estates, just north of Chicago, IL, for time trials on Saturday, July 25, and half and full marathons on Sunday, July 26. Teammate Don Patton traveled to the midwest city for the full marathon which proved a challenge with its tough hill climbs into the wind. Considering the conditions, Don came away somewhat satisfied with a 1:44 finish.

Next up

The Minnesota Inline Half Marathon (Saint Paul, MN) in August; the Northshore Inline Marathon (Duluth, MN) in September; and the 38-, 52-, and 87- mile Athens to Atlanta (Georgia) Road Skate in October.

Back in Orlando, Don trains two weekday mornings before work and both Saturday and Sunday mornings at various trails in Central Florida, both on skates and on the bike.

Contact Don at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to report on your inline skating activities or to find out more about these and other activities.

Join Don during his training.

Events

The next events to wear yellow

• Sept. 12 Autumn Rock and Run 5K, Casselberry.
• Sept. 12 Publix Family Fitness Weekend, Miami
• Sept. 26 Miracle Miles 15K and 5K, Orlando – FCA at the event
• Oct. 18 UCF 5-Mile and 2-Mile, UCF Campus, Orlando - FCA at the event
• Nov. 7 Florida Ironman, Panama City
• Nov. 7 Beach to Battleship Wilmington, N.C.
• Nov. 15 Florida Hospital Celebration 10K and 5K, Celebration near Walt Disney World - FCA at the event

What's up with the huddles

We welcome two new huddle leaders:

• Brian Carroll is starting a new huddle in LAKELAND.
• Freddie Valdes is taking the leadership of the TAMPA Huddle

TALLAHASSEE - The Tallahassee Huddle just had its second huddle meeting and all were blessed. (see photo). The huddle will be volunteering at some local events as well as having a presence at Ironman Florida on Nov. 7 in Panama City. Many members of the huddle will be participating and the huddle will have a tent and team members along the run route near the 1 mile marker. Many members will also be participating in the Hammerhead Triathlon in Starke, Florida in August. Check us out on Facebook as well.

ORLANDO – Orlando celebrates its third Birthday at Baldwin Park Triathlon. On a very humid Sunday morning, members of the FCA-E Orlando Team celebrated their third birthday by competing in the Baldwin Park Triathlon and sharing delicious birthday and chocolate chip cookie cakes with several hundred competitors and their families. In addition to serving the tri-community in this manner, the team also served the event participants by helping with routine bike repairs such as chain/derailleur issues and inflating tires. Of note was that Nancy Jeffreys, Ray Bazzi (a friend of FCA), and Jim McConnell placed first in the Coed Relay event. Andy Saratsy and Roy also competed and made the podium. Many people volunteered to man the tent and the bike repair station including the organizer of the tent … Robb Richardson.

MIAMI - We meet at 8 a.m. Sunday at Deerfield Beach. We have a time of prayer and share scripture, then we run/walk for about 2 miles. We swim the ocean afterwards. We have between 1-4 people that come every week. Sometimes we go out for breakfast afterwards.

New member spotlight

My name is Matthew Stewart and I am 30 years old and live in St. Petersburg, FL. I have been happily married to my awesome wife Linnea for almost 7 years, We have two kids - my oldest son Christian is 3 ½and our daughter Aubrey will be 1 next month. I work as an analyst for Florida Bank in Tampa.

I became active in triathlons, in October 2008. As I grew in the sport I noticed that there were groups that would meet and swim, bike, run together and act as a support group for each other. I looked online to see if there were any Christian groups that did the same thing, and that’s how I found FCA-E. I was very excited to see that there is a group that shares my love for Jesus and endurance sports. FCA-E reminds me of Proverbs 27:17, As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. As a group we can sharpen each other spiritually and physically.

I hope to meet FCA-E members at upcoming races and get-togethers. I will be competing in the Sand Key Sprint Triathlon in September and the Miami Man 70.3 in November. May the Lord continue to bless FCA-E and strengthen every one of us in spreading his love to those we compete with.

God Bless!

Jenny Barringer keeps running

BY CHRIS WEDGE

Summertime is the height of road racing activity for most U.S. runners, however, due to the oppressive heat and humidity, the number of running events in Sunshine State is limited. We look forward to the fall and winter with much anticipation.

My wife and I “escaped” the heat a couple of times this year. One escape took us to Boulder and Estes Park, CO. We ran a few trails in Boulder and checked out the Colorado University campus and found a trophy-case photo in the athletic department of Orlando native and Oviedo High School alum Jenny Barringer.

She is a genuine role model. During the Prefontaine Classic in Barringer turned in a sub-four minute 1,500 meter performance. She will be making impacts for Christ through running for many years to come.

While in Boulder, my wife and I entered a local 5K for fun, to test our fitness, and to see what effect mile-high altitude would have on sea-level dwellers. We also like to run in different places. For the first time and without fanfare, Deborah put on her FCA-E jersey for a race. I have been wearing mine for three years but that is not to boast as I have failed miserably at times to represent what Jesus would call an example and disciple.

We call ourselves “Team Wedge” and on July 3 we wore yellow together for the first time. It was a special moment for me to see my wife as a witness. We may be passé about displaying the cross as a personal effect, but make no mistake when we call ourselves Christians and wear the cross; we have taken on a responsibility of proper actions, attitudes, and behaviors to model Jesus. We have opened ourselves up to judgments, questioning, and trials. It so important to remember that these judgments are of this world, and not of God. That doesn’t however; reduce our responsibility in being examples for Christ. It was a major step for my wife and I am proud for her and reminded of our accountability to Him.

Deborah delivered a great performance and represented FCA-E well with the women’s overall victory in the 5K that ran over a golf course and had hills that made it more like cross-country than road racing. I thought she reflected Paul’s words in Col. 3:23 well, “work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people”. And yes, 5,400 altitude slows you down a bit from sea-level (We’ll estimate 25 seconds per mile for a 5K).

I read an interview from Running Times magazine recently with Josh Cox. On Jan. 18, he set a new U.S. record for 50K in a time of 2:47:17 (that’s a 5:24-mile average for 31 miles!). Josh has a marathon personal record of just under 2:14 (In 2000) and has victories in the past two years of marathons in around 2:20. That is tremendous, but will not make him a competitive, professional runner.

To put it in perspective, in 2008 there were 100 runners from Africa who ran under 2:12 for the marathon. He is 33 years old and knows his pro days are over. He is a sponsored runner but in no way do these earnings make him a living.

Cox, a pastor at his church near Mammoth Lakes, CA and has a deep relationship with the Lord. His motivation in setting the 50K U.S. record came from his conviction that he was running for a purpose greater than himself.

Said Cox, “I think the important question for everyone to ask, before they run a step, is WHY? Why are we doing what we do? Cox’s answer for himself is to express his faith – “to honor the gift giver.” He continued,

“The longer I live the more I understand that life is about service,'' he continued. “Not gaining, taking and accomplishing, but serving. Find a great why, and keep a reminder someplace where you’ll see it. Finding a way to serve others through running and knowing that you’re playing a role in a bigger story will help you get through the valleys.”

Amen brother Cox!

So why are you running?

Keys to effortless swimming

BY BETH BARNES

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Unless triathletes come from a swimming background, they often think that the swim is the most formidable portion of a triathlon. Many triathlete wannabes, in fact, remain triathlete wannabes because they are so traumatized at the thought of swimming in open water for any distance. (Believe me, I know. I was a runner and cyclist who refused to compete in a triathlon for years.)

It is true that swimming is a technique sport, while running and cycling are far less so, but the technique can be learned. It’s actually pretty easy if you understand some basic principles:

•Water is much denser than air.
•Your head weighs a lot.
•It’s not about the pull or the kick.
•Breathing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

As a result, in the rest of this article, I will show you how to:

•Streamline your body
•Keep your head down in order to keep your feet up
•Swim with your core and concentrate less on kicking and pulling
•Breathe effortlessly and bilaterally

Streamline Your Body. So, let me ask you this? If you have aerobars on your bike and ride all crunched up to make yourself as aerodynamic as possible, why wouldn’t you want to be as “hydrodynamic”as possible in water, a much denser medium? You got it, streamline your body. Make yourself as long and lean as possible in the water. Pull in your abs, tuck in your bottom, straighten your legs, reach underwater as far as you can before you take the next stroke. And don’t begin the next stroke until you see the recovering hand enter the water. That way, you’ve got that leading hand and arm keeping you streamlined and cutting through the water for you.

Keep Your Head Down. If your head is heavy, what happens to your feet when you lift your head? Think teeter-totter; think drag as in dragging a sinking body through all that dense water. So, keep your head down and your feet will stay up. Look straight down at the bottom of the pool or lake and you will stay right below the surface of the water in a horizontal position. It’s much easier to swim that way than to have to drag your sinking legs through the water behind you. And as I’ll show you in a couple of paragraphs, it’s much easier to breathe with your head down in the water because that head creates a wake (think wake behind ski boat) that forms an air pocket for you to breathe in.

Swim with Your Core. If it’s not about the kick, why waste all that energy kicking when you need your legs for the bike and the run? Furthermore, it’s not about the pull either. Pulling too hard just results primarily in an elevated heart rate and who wants to start the bike ride already cooked? So, what gets you through the water? Well, how do you hit a baseball? With your core. How do you hit a golf ball? With your core? How do you swim? You got it--with your core. Allow your core to produce subtle weight shifts as you stroke: left hip thrusts down and forward as left hand thrusts down and forward. Think “hip—hip—hip—,”etc. , and “jet engine.” A jet engine thrusts, a propeller plane pulls. Which is sleeker? Faster?
And notice that I said the hand thrusts down into the water and forward, not over the water and forward. As you stroke, keep your elbow high and let your hand enter the water just out to the side and only slightly forward of your head. Your elbow should stay high and should slip in the water through the hole your hand made. Then use your core body roll to straighten out that arm and reach forward with it underwater.

Breathing is Not Really Difficult. The breathing thing makes you panic, doesn’t it? But remember when you were a kid, you swam all the way across the pool under water without coming up for air. You didn’t panic. You were fearless. Maybe the panic you feel now is learned and just maybe , if you learn to stay calm and relaxed in the water, you don’t need as much air as you think you do.
Some of the panic comes from a build-up of carbon dioxide in your lungs, which makes you feel breathless. Some of it’s just imagined, but I guess that makes it real. So, try this. As you stroke, face down, looking directly down at the bottom of the pool, gradually release all of what is, by now, carbon dioxide in your lungs by bubbling it out of your nose. (Remember that if bubbles are coming out of your nose, water can’t get UP your nose!) Then, when you roll your body to breathe on the 3rd stroke—yes, the 3rd stroke because you CAN breathe bilaterally if you will be disciplined and practice—all you have to do is NOT raise your head. Remember that you’ve got an air pocket over there to breathe in that was created when your head made a wake. If you lift your head, you’ll have to get over the wake and that’s going to make you sink.

Instead, as you roll to the air, snort out the last bit of CO2 from your lungs and get only one goggle and part of your mouth out of the water. You don’t have to inhale because you have emptied your lungs by exhaling under water. The minute your mouth and nose clear the surface, your lungs will fill up automatically because of the difference in pressure in them and the atmosphere. Then without missing a beat, roll back to head down position as you take the next stroke.

Trust me on this. A real key to effortless swimming is not lifting your head. And, you need to breathe bilaterally because you never know where the buoys will be on a race course or which direction the waves will be coming from. Be disciplined and learn to breathe correctly. It’s really easy IF you practice what I’ve told you. I promise.
So--effortless swimming is about being balanced, aligned, and streamlined in the water. It’s about swimming tall and swimming quietly and swimming with your core to thrust, rather than pull, you through the water. It’s about swimming efficiently so that you take fewer strokes and expend less energy. It’s about relaxing and coming out of the water in a race with a low heart rate, energized, not exhausted, ready to go for it on the bike with fresh legs, rather than struggling on spent legs. But most of all, it’s about enjoying the experience of swimming, loving the smell and feel of the water and giving yourself up to it--and it’s about being a kid again.

In future articles I will discuss each of these in depth, in the meantime, if you have questions, please email me.

Coach Beth

Triathlons: Tiger Shark Triathlon

BY ROY McCONNELL
Interim Coordinator

Race Report

The Tiger Shark Triathlon in Daytona Beach was attended by four FCA-E members. We signed up three more, one from that area and the other two from Jacksonville. (see photo) Nancy Jeffreys and I finished  first in our groups. Andy Sarasty finished third (see photo). I believe this was Andy’s first podium finish. The sprint was an ocean swim in swells, a flat bike on A1A, and a beach run. A beautiful day and a well organized event. This was definitely a good day in the Lord. Wins on all fronts.

Next Event

The next statewide event is the Publix Family Fitness Weekend in Miami on September 12, 2009. Let me know if you will be there. We will organize a prerace prayer and hang out for a bit afterward.
We will also be at the Florida Ironman in Panama City on November 7th. Robert Palmer, the Tallahassee huddle leader, will be organizing the events there. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Equip A Brother for the Lord: I will be in North Carolina at the Beach to Battleship iron distance triathlon on the same date (11/7). Please see my fund raising efforts for FCA related to this event at www.iCFOnow.com. This is a mission to help with racing apparel for FCA-E in Florida.

Spiritual Training

Physical Training

I asked Beth Barnes, a friend of FCA, to write an article just for our groups on the most technically difficult area in triathlons. She plans to make it a series she has donated for our efforts. She is highly qualified in swimming instruction and technique.

Rebuilding the temple

BY DEB MCCONNELL

Rebuilding the Temple is the beginning –new beginning –the do over.

It’s where we have to start. Some of us have spent a very long time doing things that have put our Temple in disrepair and for some of us, it may have been more recent that the happenings of life have sent us into a position of letting our bodies go.

It’s never too late. Some of you have heard my story – and know that I let myself get 145 pounds overweight. While trapped in that “cocoon”called my body , I think I forgot what it was like to feel good.
I believed I felt fairly good. I knew it wasn’t the best I could get –but I didn’t think it was all that bad either. I remember writing in several journals with a smile on my face “Life is good”! Today  I cringe to think that I thought life was good. I was overweight.

I thought exercise meant picking something up off the floor and sat around way too much. I had no clue how good I could feel. Every 10 pounds I lost and every additional mile I walked brought out of me a brand new person thrilled with her new life.

I will never forget the exhilaration of my first 5K – oh heck, truthfully –I still get that feeling every single one I do! The feeling of accomplishment – the pushing my body to see what this new body can do! So – what’s your deal? What’s holding you back? Or, perhaps it’s a loved one of yours that you are really worried about? Today could be the day that you, kinda like me – find out what feeling good is. God didn’t mean for us to walk around feeling bad – insecure – out of shape and thinking “life is good” because we just left an incredible buffet.

I’ve been through a serious bout of tracheal bronchitis and pneumonia over the last 6 weeks and have been totally inactive. So –I am living my ministry of rebuilding the temple. I will need to get active again – I will need to move slow –and build back up to where I was. I will need to help my body get rid of all the drugs it took to make me well. Remember, slow and steady wins the race.
Come aboard if you dare. Can today be the day you take on a brand new you?

I am starting this week with either a swim, pool walking, or even treading water at the pool at 6 a.m each day. I hope to do this for an hour a day. I will begin to start walking again. Slow, short walks  at Lake Underhill in Orlando. Anyone up for it? If so – I am only an e-mail away and would love the company. Everyone at their own pace of course! We can meet up – everyone can walk or run at your pace and meet back at the table and chat!

When I think of the word Temple, I see a very special place. I see a place fit for a King! A beautiful place, where my savior and King would be comfortable and happy hanging out. I see a place where the King can move easily and is not encumbered or limited by anything around it or in it. Our bodies are a Temple for the Holy Spirit to live, to dwell, to do good things! God wants to do good things in us and through us.

Are you at a place where you are ready to “repair your temple”? Mine is going to have to be repaired and rebuilt!! If you are ready too - - - then this ministry is for you! Woohooo!!
We are starting oh so gently to get back on track in your eating as well as starting to move more. You ready? Give me a shout –let’s see what the Lord is ready to do in you! Send stories you have about rebuilding your temple.

Hold onto this: Even in our darkness night, our GOD has not forsaken us. We will hold to His promises for He is Faithful. Our trust is in You, O LORD!

Who saw the Lord?

Roy McConnell saw the Lord in action! Where?

I saw him as he delivered this group a cycling coordinator, two new huddle leaders, another that is in the making, two professions of faith from athletes I thought would never humble themselves to the Lord and his calling for them. It was a busy month. Personally my son received an academic scholarship to UM, I experienced him while playing drums in church – the spirit moved the entire congregation – it was “right”, and I found out yesterday that I was going to have another grandchild. The Lord is in all things, everywhere and I am thankful he allows me to see is hand at work. It is too easy to miss it all though our self absorbance. Praise the Lord.

Now  – your turn – where did you see the Lord? Send Roy your observation and we will publish it here.