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Hey y’all,
It is with a very difficult and heavy heart that I am letting my
wonderful and fabulous teammates know that I spoke with Carole late
last week and made a decision to resign from the team. Some may know
already, but I have been working through some very severe pain in my
neck, shoulder, and arm regions for the past two months. I completed
an MRI to find out the culprit which was moderately positive. Long
story short is that I was injured somehow over a decade ago (unknown
incident) and it caused delayed symptoms in the spine on the neck
(C4,C5,C6,& C7). When I exercise at the extreme levels we push
ourselves in the triathlon world too, it causes a lot of inflammation.
This triggered the dormant injury. Doctors say I have to quit or it
will get worse. The good news is that I can slow down and only
experience occasional flare up’s. The pain is debilitating and I don’t
need to be on med’s daily in order to survive; it’s just not worth it.
Guess I have to learn what “normal” exercise is going forward. I spoke
with my family and we all decided that it’s time to let this chapter
close in my life and discover new opportunities.

I have asked Carole to let Charlie know that you guys and REV3 are the
most incredible team! It would be a honor to come out and support you
all in the 2012 season at a few races. I would love to be part of the
road crew volunteering and cheering you on to victory! I hope they
take me up on the offer, but either way, thank you for the privilege
to be part of your team and to know some fantastic people.

One a great note, I shared with Carole that I have been in physical
therapy for 5 weeks trying to recover which meant nearly zero
exercise. That’s not good, but was amazed me was my decision to
complete one last race. I expected to walk a good portion of the
Marine Corps Marathon October 30th, what happened however was amazing.
This race was very special to me since it would be my last marathon
(whatever the pain might give), it was also my former military branch
(once a Marine, always a Marine). I had a friend fly out from Seattle
to join me. I ended up running the entire race! Better yet, I ran my
fastest race ever!! The Lord works in mysterious ways indeed. I
believe Charlie ran the race as well… nice work!

Go out in 2012 and show everyone that REV3 is the best triathlon race
circuit in existence!!!

Take care and God Bless!
Chad

CHAD COOPER #22744

BRIGHTON, MI, USA

Age: 38 Gender: M

Distance	MAR
Clock Time	4:22:31
Chip Time	4:10:06
Overall Place	5949 / 21031
Gender Place	4338 / 12428
Division Place	770 / 1972
Age Grade	50.4%
5K	0:29:56
10K	0:59:49
15K	1:28:39
20K	1:57:20
Half	2:03:49
25K	2:25:54
30K	2:53:57
35K	3:24:44
40K	3:56:23
Pace	9:33
Mbranch	USMC
Mstatus	FORMER

]]> http://fncec.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/farewell-good-luck-2/feed/ 3 cooper20011042 clip_image002 clip_image004 clip_image006 clip_image007 clip_image008 clip_image009 clip_image010 clip_image008[1] clip_image010[1] clip_image011 http://fncec.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/farewell-good-luck/ http://fncec.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/farewell-good-luck/#comments Sun, 06 Nov 2011 13:28:48 +0000 CooperTriMachine http://fncec.wordpress.com/?p=873 ]]> Farewell & Good Luck

Hey y’all,

It is with a very difficult and heavy heart that I am letting my

wonderful and fabulous teammates know that I spoke with Carole late
last
week and made a decision to resign from the team. Some may know
already, but
I have been working through some very severe pain in my
neck, shoulder, and
arm regions for the past two months. I completed
an MRI to find out the
culprit which was moderately positive. Long
story short is that I was
injured somehow over a decade ago (unknown
incident) and it caused delayed
symptoms in the spine on the neck
(C4,C5,C6,& C7). When I exercise at
the extreme levels we push
ourselves in the triathlon world too, it causes a
lot of inflammation.
This triggered the dormant injury. Doctors say I have
to quit or it
will get worse. The good news is that I can slow down and only

experience occasional flare up’s. The pain is debilitating and I don’t

need to be on med’s daily in order to survive; it’s just not worth it.

Guess I have to learn what “normal” exercise is going forward. I spoke

with my family and we all decided that it’s time to let this chapter

close in my life and discover new opportunities.

I have asked Carole to let Charlie know that
you guys and REV3 are the
most incredible team! It would be a honor to come
out and support you
all in the 2012 season at a few races. I would love to
be part of the
road crew volunteering and cheering you on to victory! I hope
they
take me up on the offer, but either way, thank you for the privilege

to be part of your team and to know some fantastic people.

One a great note, I shared with Carole that
I have been in physical
therapy for 5 weeks trying to recover which meant
nearly zero
exercise. That’s not good, but was amazed me was my decision to

complete one last race. I expected to walk a good portion of the
Marine
Corps Marathon October 30th, what happened however was amazing.
This race
was very special to me since it would be my last marathon
(whatever the pain
might give), it was also my former military branch
(once a Marine, always a
Marine). I had a friend fly out from Seattle
to join me. I ended up running
the entire race! Better yet, I ran my
fastest race ever!! The Lord works in
mysterious ways indeed. I
believe Charlie ran the race as well… nice work!

Go out in 2012 and show everyone that REV3
is the best triathlon race
circuit in existence!!!

Take care and God Bless!
Chad

CHAD COOPER #22744

BRIGHTON, MI, USA

Age: 38 Gender: M

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will -
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outclassed, you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise;
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battle doesn’t always go
To stronger or faster men;
But sooner or later the man who wins,
Is the one who thinks he can.

Walter D. Wintle

I had a great race on Sunday August 21^st by a great organization Element Events. It’s the only local race I really had a chance to do this year due to my race schedule. They remind me of the quality and attention REV3 puts into their races. I arrived in the morning and began setting up my “space”. I loved that I kept getting asked by probably a good couple dozen people on how nice my bike was. It’s always easy to talk up your sponsors (Kestrel Bikes) when you know it’s a good product. As per the other races this year, the bike held up extremely well and proved itself out on the course for this race. But I’m getting ahead of myself already. The race was SUPPOSED to be a C level race. For those not familiar with A,B,C levels, a C race is pretty much a workout race, not competing against others or really pushing it. Many say they are just going through the motions. That WAS my intent, but my ego got the best of me.

I made the turn at the ½ way point for the swim and checked my position relative to the others… crap, I’m in 5^th place. I say this because the discipline for a C level race is to not compete against anyone else. This is where the ego enters and says “come on you can move to a B race and still be fine… which I did L OK, F grade for not being true to my discipline and workout plans, A for seeing a window and being Carpe Diem. I came out of the water in 3^rd place for my age group, a good 5 minutes ahead of another X athlete that will enter the picture soon. Took my sweet time in transition because I was not racing right?

Got on the bike segment and was feeling incredibly good, so the ego said once again, go for B level and pace yourself. I came in 6 minutes ahead of the X athlete again! Enter the run…

I was not feeling fantastic, but solid on the run so I just kept a steady and even pace throughout the entire 6.2 miles. A very consistent pace and good energy. This course was a two lap event for all three sports (swim, bike, run). On the second lap I see this X athlete in my age group bracket look around in the tunnel where there were no course officials and when I came out of the dark tunnel… I’m all alone! Ok, where did this guy go? I checked his number before the tunnel just because I was a bit skeptical of his behavior. I never saw the guy again. I was looking for him on the way back (out and back course) to see if he was injured or took a break or something… nothing, oh well I hope he was ok.

Come to the finish line and I’m glad to be done, it was quite humid and warm for me (I’m a sissy, I hate the heat). I go over to the computers to check the results after a bit and low and behold… I took 4^th place! Not bad for taking it pretty easy, but not too easy. But WAIT, 3^rd place beat me even though I beat him by 5 minutes in the swim, 5 minutes in the bike, and somehow a miracle happens that he beat me by 10 minutes on the run AFTER I watched him personally disappear in the tunnel? The guy went from 9^th place after the bike to beating the 1^st place age group in the run? Come on!! Folks, if I haven’t drawn you a clear map by now, that’s what we call a cheater. It just so happens that the 3^rd place winner was the exact same number as the guy in the tunnel that disappeared. So, technically I took 4^th, but I’d like to think I earned a podium finish.

So, the title is how do you cope with a situation like this? Let’s face it, nothing will change about it, the results are in and I CHOSE not to make a big deal about it. I did talk to the head race owner and let him know that he might consider posting a course official in that area next time. The reality is you can’t place officials at every location, and if someone wants to cheat… they’ll cheat. It’s not the first time I’ve seen it, and to be frank about it, I have been in several races where I was just spent and was tempted to cut the course myself… BUT I NEVER HAVE! I guess the ego is really the primary culprit in this for me because it was the difference of a podium finish which would have been really nice to report to my sponsors, and I have to say all of my sponsor’s products made a difference in this race. I switched MID-SEASON (that’s a no no by the way) to a different AVIA model shoe. I went from the shoe with the most support down to the least support (a minimal) shoe. That’s another story, but the end result has been extremely positive! The bike as I already said was great, the fuel from First Endurance was a perfect mixture. No blisters or chaffing because of my Tri-Slide, and the wetsuit by TYR certainly led me to a great swim result. In other words, it’s really tough when everything goes well and performs as expected and you SHOULD have taken a podium finish, but
didn’t because of some (insert expletive here!) cheated.

SOLUTION:

1. Yes, it sucks, admit it! It’s a personal decision whether to fight it and report the person.
2. Focus on what YOU did well and can celebrate for your race.
3. Recognize that the only thing you can control is your attitude and belief about the race, so choose to believe you did exceptional.
4. Offer some grace to yourself and the other athletes, there were a number of athletes out there that did everything properly too, only a few exceptions who have to contend with their poor decision.
5. If needed, ask for someone to listen and not solve your issue and just let it out, then let it go.
6. Recognize your potential of how well you did and train for the next race ahead, because you now know you are within reach of that next level of greatness!

Trakkers has partnered with Personal Best Nutrition (PBN) to extend a 10% DISCOUNT on all your nutritional needs. This includes a full array of nutrition products such as Ironman Perform, EFS, Gatorade Endurance, CarboPro, Cytomax, GU, BASE Performance, Nuun, Endurox R4, Accelerade, Salt Caps, & MUCH more…. virtually EVERYTHING you need from a nutritional perspective to race at your BEST this season.

If you are interested in some great reading/books, check out what Seth Godin has put together.

So my best friend is making fun of me with the title above, but it is accurate! I love a little humor and he dishes it out well. I am super proud of my 7 year old son completing his first triathlon on Sunday. He has been begging my wife and I all spring and summer so I finally caved and said let’s do it. With my race schedule this summer and vacations it hasn’t been easy to make this happen. He’s been training as well as his camps he’s attended for soccer, baseball, Tae Kwon Do, and VBS. He’s been in Tae Kwon Do since he was 3 and now is sparring and pretty darn good.

So the distances were 50 yard swim, 2 mile bike, and ½ mile run. As soon as he came across the finish line I asked “So, how was it?” In father-son fashion he said “I want to do it again!”; reminds me of my Ironman experience.

My only concern is ensuring this aggressive sport doesn’t interfere with his growth or development. All you have to do is look at me to realize that I’m not exactly the Michael Jordon of height. In fact, I might give Napoleon a run for his money! So any suggestions on youngsters wanting to compete in triathlons in a healthy manner and what to avoid is welcomed advice.

Seriously lady? Everyone knows I’m #1, not 6381. Dad, can you have a chat with her to work this out?

Inspection time! Son, back when I was in the Marine Corps… (that’s for my wife’s benefit)

Wait, is that Michael Phelps?

Ok, maybe we have some room for improvement on the transitions?

Soooo PROUD!!!

So it turns out the course was nearly the flattest course I have biked and I was very happy with my results on the bike and pretty happy with the run. There’s a good size hill on the run that I think really mentally messed with a number of racers. Fortunately, I was already used to some much steeper climbs from Connecticut and Knoxville races this year. My swim seems to have taken a hit due to my heavy focus on being faster on the bike. I have improved my bike speed a good amount which is a much better trade-off. The trick is to get them all faster however. I give a shout out again to Kestrel for one heck of a ride this year. It’s pure joy!!!

It was a lot of fun as well spraying athletes up with SBR Tri-Slide and Foggle. After the race I had four people come up to me and ask where they can get the stuff. I’m happy to say that I have helped get it into Running Fit stores in Michigan and a couple of other running stores and my gym Hamburg Fitness Center. This stuff is awesome.

6^th place in Age Group and 28^th overall.

After the race we took off and hit the Sleeping Bear Dunes which are more than I needed to climb after any race!

This doesn’t give much scale, but the next few tell you how far away Lake Michigan is below!!!

That’s people that look like dots and sticks!

This is why they call it Pure Michigan! Come visit.

The trip wouldn’t be complete without a little tubing down the Platt River!

Despite a nasty crash on my bicycle 3 weeks prior and very aggressive physical therapy, I was able to get my Knee injury in enough condition (ran for the first time 3 days prior to race day) to drop out of the ½ Ironman distance and complete the Olympic distance. I can honestly say that the recovery was greatly shortened thanks to my sponsor’s Recovery Pump and First Endurance MultiV. I went from x-rays on my hips and knee and banged up pretty badly to racing with very satisfied results on the bike and run portions. Having the proper nutrients in my body and then a leg system that flushed the junk out daily really sped up the recover process.

Ok, so the swim portion was probably the worst swim I have EVER completed. I have a wall of swimmers in front of me that should not have been in the front and I could not get past the line they formed. Sorry folks, but this is not the place to “buddy” up with your friends and stick together. Do that on the run, but not when swimming and in effect creating a wall where faster swimmers cannot pass. In addition, this is where my body talked to me and said “Hey buddy, you do realize you have been eating doughnuts for the past 3 weeks and not exercising right?” The lungs were burning and I couldn’t believe how fatigued I was… this is usually a strength segment for me; Not today Zurg, not today! (Buzz Lightyear reference for those with kids).

I will say that the run was a great for my feet as well. Being very flat footed, I tend to get hot spots and other issues. The combination of using SBR Sports Triglide on my feet makes them perfectly setup for both the bike and run. I apply it before the swim, it stays on in the water (primary purpose is to make taking off the wetsuit easy and effortless) and despite the sand and road crap it only comes off with soap. I have to say, anytime I can go out and my feet aren’t a concern is a good result. Thanks SBR Sports for the fantastic products!

Finally, add the fact that I am pretty much a flatlander racer/training athlete. Lower Michigan isn’t exactly a mountaineers paradise. I do have a few hills I can climb, but nothing like Quassy’s repeated hill grades that go on for over a mile in each section. However… what I discovered is that I am actually a pretty good hill climber on both the bike and run! I thought I did decent in Knoxville, but was very happy with my performance considering my physical condition in Quassy. I give myself an A++ in that category since I was smart and far faster than usual for the terrain. I have to say however, that being able to go 48 mph downhill without peddling and passing other athletes FAR larger than myself is a major testament to the Kestrel 4000 SRAM Red. Fact is, I’m just not that good that I can say it was about my legs. It really helped in keeping me in a good pace/cadence and ready for fresh legs come running time.

So the course as usual was awesome! REV3 really has some great course layouts. I just love the scenery, but it was more difficult to take it in compared to Knoxville because the course seemed to be a constant turning scenario. It was challenging, yet just enough to make you push yourself and want to return next year to do better. I can’t wait till next year! Of course the family loved the amusement park venue and were either at the beach or on the rides the entire time. This really helps getting them to come and participate when you have 15 races in a season. Not only do I get burnt out, but so do they, so having entertainment for them is critical. They can’t wait for round 2 at Cedar Point.

Challenging but just enough to demand you come back again and give it another go

I was able to meet most of my teammates that I hadn’t already met in other races. What a great team and group of people! All I can say, is well done Carol on the choices. I had a great time chatting at the team dinner afterwards and hearing how Andy was crazy enough to do both the Oly & ½ back to back, hat’s off to your bro!

Niagara Falls & camping with family was the bonus/icing on the cake. I love the fact that we get to travel across the United States and stop at some of the greatest tourist attractions in the world! Going on the boat ride at Niagara Falls was fantastic!! The family has never been before and of course loved all that water. Camping is what we do and we are doing a ton of it this year. I think we have only been home on the weekend a total of 3 weeks since April. Good thing I have a break in races until July.

Quassy – ORevMiddlebury, CT

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