The Northwest is known for having an active population. We run, we bike, we hike. And in the winter we get out our skis and snowboards and head to the mountains. So it’s no surprise that we are blessed with many local athletes who are at the top of their sports.
These athletes, we discovered, face the same challenges the rest of us do. How do they make the time to train? How do they avoid injuries? What’s their take on nutrition?
Here, elite Northwest athletes ranging in age from 27 to 76 – competing in sports from cycling to ultra marathons – share their tips for staying in top shape.
Kenny Williams – Cycling
 Professional road and track cycling champion Kenny Williams, from Kenmore, Wash., is on his bike racing all year round, all over the world. He kicked off 2008 in Denmark before traveling to Australia and the West Indies for – you guessed it – more cycling. So how does he stay in racing form? Williams, 40, thinks it’s simple.
“I love riding and racing, and for that matter training in general,” he says. “I think I’m one of the few people who really don’t need any extra motivation to go for a workout.”
Williams’ tips:
1. Cross train. “I do yoga and lift weights year-round, and do different types of bike racing, from cyclocross to road racing to track,” says Williams.
2. Stay rested. “You need to know when to take a break. Rest is as important as all the work.” Williams knows that if he finds himself dragging it’s time to take a day off.
3. Nutrition is individual. “You need to take in enough calories for the body to do its job. Find out what works for you and go with that.”
Ann Marie Thiessen – Marathon
 People who know Ann Marie Thiessen, 37, won’t be shocked to hear that she claims to be powered by Tootsie Rolls, though it might surprise people who are familiar with her running record. Thiessen, of Tacoma, Wash., landed an impressive second place finish in the 2007 Seattle Marathon, and has been known to run a marathon or two most weekends.
Thiessen admits it’s not really the Tootsie Rolls that keep her going (although she does have a sweet tooth); it’s her love of the sport. “Ultimately, I adore running,” she says. “There isn’t much I’d rather be doing. I love the people who run and I love the camaraderie of the running community.”
Thiessen’s advice:
1. Take a break. “On my day off from working out, I do not do any type of exercise,” says Thiessen. “For me, the rest day is very important. It gives my body time to repair and recover from the week’s punishment.”
2. Don’t over-train. Thiessen learned this lesson the hard way, suffering a pelvic stress fracture in 2005. “It took about six months to heal and during that convalescence, I had a lot of time to ponder how to avoid my predicament.
3. Work out with friends. “I savor the days I run with my buddies and husband.” Thiessen is part of a group called Marathon Maniacs, which has become like a second family to her. “We travel together to races across the state and country and entertain and support each other.”
Robin Secrist – Triathlon
 Robin Secrist, 32, from Kirkland, Wash., has been competing in triathlons for three seasons. She decided to give the sport a try after buying a bike to get in shape for a family wine-tasting/cycling trip in 2005. She completed two sprint races that year, and hasn’t stopped since, entering other sprint, Olympic distance and Half-Ironman triathlons in 2006 and 2007.
“This year will be my first go at bike racing,” says Secrist, ready to embrace a whole new set of challenges.
Secrist’s secrets:
1. Be consistent. “My training schedule is based on the first schedule I was given by Team in Training,” she says. “I try to think of training as a steady, stable part of my life.”
2. Get a massage. Secrist has learned to get a massage before she feels like she needs one. “I have a wonderful massage therapist. She is a major factor in me being able to train consistently for extended periods of time.”
3. Stretch. Secrist has added stretching and core work to her routine to help her avoid injuries. “If I have to cut a run short so that I can stretch properly, I will do so.
Chris Teufel – Cycling and duathlon (Chris is featured on the May/June '08 cover.)
 Bike racer and duathlete Chris Teufel, 38, of Snoqualmie, Wash., raced bikes for several years in Colorado before taking a break to focus on his career and start a family. Then he faced a much greater challenge. “I ran into a competition that I wasn’t ready for,” he says.
Teufel was diagnosed with chondra sarcoma, a rare bone cancer. Subsequent operations and treatments left him without the use of his right arm, but led him back to bicycling. “It wasn’t until I ran into my fight with cancer that I rediscovered the bike,” says Teufel. “Now I can’t stay off of it.”
Teufel’s tips:
1. Pay attention to how you feel. Teufel has learned to listen to his body instead of just watching numbers. “I pay attention to sensations in the legs, heart and lungs,” he says. “When the sensations aren’t good … I know it’s time to adjust my day or my routine.”
2. Vary your workouts. Whether running or cycling, Teufel likes to switch his workout up with weight training and running in the hills and mountains around Snoqualmie. “My favorite local run is from Snoqualmie Point up and over Mt. Taylor. The variety fends off over-training.”
3. Stay fueled. “People need to remember that recovery times correlate back to how you ate and prepared for the race as well as how you fueled your body during the race. He tends to eat a mix of carbohydrates and protein for longer-lasting energy, opting for
a meal of rice, beans, cottage cheese and eggs about four hours before
an event.
Ingrid Spies – Cycling and triathlon
 Ingrid Spies, 33, of Seattle, started her athletic career as a runner, competing on the cross-country team in high school and throughout college, eventually coaching track and cross country at Swarthmore College in the late 1990s. When she moved back to Seattle in 1999, a knee injury led Spies to take up cycling. Since then, she’s raced in cyclocross, track, mountain bike and road events, though her favorite has always been cyclocross. Spies has recently added triathlons and skiing to her endeavors.
Spies’ tips:
1. Train according to the event. “For cycling events such as cyclocross, I tend to cross train less than for triathlons, where cross training is the way to train,” she says.
2. Pace yourself. Spies tries to be mindful of whether she’s competing
at a pace she can maintain throughout her event. “That hasn’t always worked. There have been races where I just bonked in the middle.” But if Spies feels a persistent pain, she never hesitates to stop a workout. “I know from experience that pushing through pain will just lead to injuries.”
3. Keep it fun! “If you are making yourself do something and you hate it, stop!” says Spies. “Figure out what you like doing, whether it is running with a friend, listening to music while biking or skiing in a beautiful setting.”
Chris Tremonte – Triathlon
 Chris Tremonte, 27, of Redmond, Wash., swam competitively for 15 years (including distance swimming at Carnegie Mellon University) before taking up triathlons five years ago. “I also do a bit of single-sport swim, bike and run racing,” he says.
Tremonte’s tips:
1. Make your training sustainable. “Figure out a training load that you can comfortably sustain without neglecting family, work or social commitments,” says Tremonte. “Getting out there regularly is much more important than crushing it for a day or a week.”
2. Milk does a body good. For post-workout recovery, Tremonte recommends taking in some high-glycemic carbohydrates and a bit of protein within 30 minutes of finishing a workout. “Research has shown that this 30-minute window is critical to how your body will recover. Chocolate milk is just as effective as name-brand recovery drinks.”
3. Keep learning. “Racing is a continuous learning experience. Every time out there, something is going to happen that has never happened to you before and you will come up with a reasonable answer on the fly.”
Hal Koerner – Marathon, Ultra marathon
 Hal Koerner, 32, from Ashland, Ore., has been named one of the top ten ultra marathon runners in North America for the past seven years. Owner of Ashland’s Rogue Valley Runners, he’s finished in the top three in 75 percent of the more than 80 ultra marathons he’s competed in, and in 2007 took first place in the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Race.
Koerner’s advice:
1. Get out the door. Koerner admits that he has days when it’s a challenge to get out and run, but he says, “It is a must for me to train every day … my head won’t let my body not do something.”
2. Have the right equipment. “Low profile shoes have really helped me to avoid rolling my ankles on the trail. That was certainly something that plagued my career for years.”
3. Network. It helps to surround yourself with people who have similar goals and interests. “Now that I have Rogue Valley Runners in Ashland I have a great network of training partners. It helps on those rainy mornings to have friends motivating you.”
France Cokan - Triathlon
 As a physician, France Cokan, 76, of Bellevue, Wash., has seen what happens to people when they don’t move their bodies and eat right. He started competing in triathlons at age 54, and just landed his 10th Ironman win, more than any other man. Last year, he beat the next closest competitor in his age group by 51 minutes.
“What interests me,” says Cokan, “is that just training is not enough if you eat garbage.” To make sure he’s fueling his body with quality food, Cokan follows the diet outlined by Dr. Dean Ornish, author of a nutrition program to reverse heart disease.
Cokan’s tips:
1. Break a sweat. “Now that another study has confirmed the original one by Dr. Kenneth Cooper, who showed that length of life was proportionate to how many minutes you can stay on the treadmill, we can see how important it is to exert an honest effort instead of replacing it with token exercise,” he says.
2. Junk in = Junk out. “Training does not make it acceptable to eat junk. When one triples the amount of calories (needed for training), it is like pouring three quarts of dirty oil through a filter instead of just one.”
3. Stay focused. “I think of my technique and enjoy how the body is following the instructions. If I feel like giving up the race I remember the wise saying: ‘Pain may last to the end of the race, but the regret lasts forever.’ ”
Patty Swedberg – Triathlon
 Patty Swedberg, 43, of Covington, Wash., owns Raise the Bar, a triathlon training and coaching organization. Swedberg has been a competitive triathlete for more than 15 years and has learned a few important lessons along the way. “The last few years,” says Swedberg, “I’ve really enjoyed learning more about the mental side of training and racing. I’m working on eliminating fear from my racing … I’m trying to replace the fear with gratitude.”
Swedberg’s tips:
1. Make training a habit. “There are days that I have too much work, or I feel to beat up or unmotivated, but I manage to get out almost every day for at least an hour,” says Swedberg.
2. Try a computer training system. “My work, my family and my yard keep me from over-training most of the time. But she also makes use of an online logging system to keep track of her workouts.
3. Eat ahead of time. Swedberg makes sure she eats three hours prior to any long workout or race. “I’ve learned my lesson the hard way with some pretty sluggish efforts if I don’t do it.”
Shannon Skerritt – Cycling
 Shannon Skerritt, 37, of Portland, Ore., started racing in 1995 when she got talked into participating in a 24-hour mountain bike event in West Virginia. “I cried during one of my night laps after I flipped over the bars in the middle of a muddy field,” she says. Her second race was in the New York state mountain biking championships, where she won her class. “I didn’t cry that time.”
Skerritt’s advice:
1. Build training into your life. “I ride my bike to work almost every day, which is about 1-½ hours of riding,” says Skerritt, who claims she’s actually lazy about training. Her hard training is done in early season road races.
2. Relax on race day. Skerritt doesn’t succumb to nerves before events anymore. “I figure that if you studied hard, the test is the easy part. Getting all freaked out can only hurt your performance.”
3. Keep it real. Skerritt stays focused on what’s important. “Don’t take yourself too seriously.”
(Editor’s Note: Story author Jennifer Donahue of Kenmore, Wash. began researching this story in January, and discovered it was a challenge on which athletes to profile. In her words, Jennifer tells us her method: “My first challenge in writing this article was figuring out what makes an athlete ‘elite.’ I considered just tracking down pros, but I know that there are a lot of people with day jobs who are out there competing at a high level. So I asked the people I know who work with athletes every day – bike shops, running and triathlon outfitters, and, of course, physical therapists. Jackpot!
I was inspired by how this very diverse group shared such enthusiasm for their pursuits. I learned that loving what you’re doing makes it much easier to get out of bed at the crack of dawn for a training run or to log long hours in the bike saddle. And it might even make those aching muscles feel a little less sore.” |
