Courtenay Brown

Well 2010 is officially here! From a training standpoint, that is. I resumed run and strength training at the beginning of the week – a bit sad, I’m running a total of 1.25 miles on the track each day and mixing in some drills as well. So far, my achilles is doing fine and I’m confident that I will stay healthy with proper training. I’ve found a new (to me) running program that I think will work well for me – here is a link to a description and basic plan for the Hanson’s training plan, and here is the Hanson’s site, where you can buy training packets, plans, and coaching. I’m excited to try it out.

Then today was my first day of swim training. I wasn’t going to take a break from swimming, I have so much work to do in the pool and the idea of losing 5 precious weeks of swimming really scared me. Then I remembered that whenever I took a break from horseback riding, I’d come back to it a little out of shape but with much more awareness and virtually no bad habits. It’s that whole “muscle memory” thing… Obviously then, my swimming could use some muscle-forgetting followed by a swim lesson with one of the top swim coaches in the state (no, not Ben, it was his former coach Kyle). The lesson was awesome, and I’m really excited about my swim program for this winter.

Improving my swim is particularly crucial in light of the latest “they’re ruining the sport” rumor regarding Ironman Corporation, aka WTC. Supposedly in 2010 they are going to start charging all elites $750/year, on top of standard race entry fees, if they want to compete in any WTC events. Because Ironman is not an Olympic event, the race series has to pay WADA a fee if they want WADA to handle drug testing, and this fee is going to be passed on to the athletes in the form of a $750 pro license on top of our $100 USAT pro license. I’m not opposed to drug testing one bit, and I am relieved that they plan to hire WADA rather than “do their own testing” which could basically mean the money disappears into the WTC coffers and nothing comes of it. But in a sport where many of the “pro’s” are living below the poverty line, struggling to make the dream happen, and in a race series where most races only pay 5 deep, and pro’s still pay the same entry fee and rarely have host housing provided, I fear that this $750 “license” will precipitate the death of professional triathlon. Then what? What do we aspire to when there is no elite level of the sport? Considering that WTC has been buying up all non-branded long course races this year, and considering that this is who bought up WTC, I’m not convinced that the People In Charge care about anyone’s bottom line but their own. Nor anyone’s dreams, for that matter.

I am prone to strong feelings and this situation is no exception, my little rant above is just the tip of the iceberg. But I might be better served by focusing that energy on swimming, and getting ready to do some fast Olympic Distance racing in 2010. Oh, and Wildflower!