Tweet at 8:22pm

achi11e5 Kevin Everett

Tasty French dinner, lamb, cake, champaign, wine. Little problem, I still have a run to do.

It’s my father in-law’s birthday and the family is celebrating like only the French now how, a ‘nothing special’ supremely satisfying dinner.  We toast some champagne for 66 years of life and eat some appetizers.  The main course is with lamb followed by a salad.  For dessert it is my wife’s famous chocolate cake.  Only taking one helping of my favorite food is unusual but I have hopes of still completing a run after dinner!

Time with my family is most precious.  There are few things on earth more satisfying than eating dinner with your family and seeing your busy 17 month old daughter laugh and play.  Time lingers, life is good.

My wife and daughter head to bed early and I’ve had about 20 minutes to let the dinner ‘settle’.  I don some running attire.

Stepping out of the front door the transformation is immediate.

It’s dark outside and my eyes adjust while my breathing picks up.  It is a calm night, the night after a full moon.  Beginning the run in the middle of the street is standard issue at this time of day.  The Nightrunner moves freely and takes liberties as the king of twilight. Taking tangents across streets, through manicured lawns, down alleys mostly in the direction of choice the whole city feels like a personal playground.

Making my way to the State Capitol Building’s grass lawn I meander over to the Occupy Boise scene and see a few people milling about near the common kitchen area.  I then head towards the heart of downtown and run south on 8th street.  Everyone here is out entertaining, eating, and drinking, I feel out of place and love it.  My entertainment for the evening is top shelf.

But I run to 8^th street for more than the downtown scene.  8th street is the Ironman Boise 70.3 finish and I’ve been running the last half mile.  I project, reminisce, dream and fantasy about running the race that I’m training for right now.  Then, I mostly appreciate the random run down the center of 8^th street on a Tuesday night in January.  It’s the process and the piece by piece challenge to reach a peak performance that is so rewarding.  True, the event itself is the test but it’s the lessons along the way that fill one’s heart with the richness to achieve something more.

O body swayed to music,
O brightening glance,
How can we know the dancer
From the dance?

William B. Yeats

Ahh, yes.  Read it again, let it’s implications linger.  The beauty of the human form perfecting it’s given movement, merging with it, becoming it.  These fleeting moments take the highest level of the human psyche and it is an energy that we all revere.  It is hard to talk about or put a finger on but Yeats is oh so concise with his prose.  To achieve it, takes a most developed human spirit. Most of us only see it.  It’s why we all buy tickets to the big game or event, for a chance to see the impossible or the spectacular.  But do not relegate yourself to be a spectator, anyone can and should experience their own oneness with movement.

As a younger man I considered myself ultra competitive and that used to mean beating everyone in whatever game happened my way.  I am no longer ‘that’ competitive, it’s now about finding that optimal experience, not just in the race but the journey as a whole.  A flow that reaches all aspects of life.

The word competition comes from the Latin words con petire, which means “to search together.”  The idea is to test your limits, you must match them against the skills of another.  What one can accomplish when the challenge is appropriate and shared can test the boundaries of what we deem possible. The point of competition isn’t to beat someone else, but to search out the best in yourself.

Doing well in anything requires absolute focus.  Being completely engrossed in the movement of the moment.  One of the great things about sport is that one can forget about the ruminations of the mind and everyday life.  Turn your energy into the absolute concentration of making your body one with the dance, one with each subtle yet absolutely precise movement.  There in lies the magic of the human potential; it is a higher state of being.

Sport, the art of movement, provides the greatest physical and mental pleasure we can experience.  A special performance, one that’s intense or redefines what we’re capable of; is, in many cultures, the centerpiece of religious celebration.

I fantasized about IT.  It, being what I like to call ‘crystallizing the air’.  It’s often referred to as being in the zone, flow, on fire (en fuego!), in the groove, on a high, creating a masterpiece, or the classic; an out of body experience.

Such is the mindset for me as I take on the biggest challenge of my life racing the crème de la crème of the endurance world at Hy-Vee’s Triathlon.  The 1.2 million dollar prize purse brought out the best triathletes from around the globe.  Yes, the money is exciting but even more so is setting the stage for a wonderful moment to merge with your body, mind, and spirit in sweet harmony.

I prepared myself for a fleeting possibility to crystallize the air on a very big stage against athletes with endurance limits that pushed the known boundaries.  I see the race, the challenge, and the competition as a perfect opportunity to merge with the moment, the movement and time in a state of oneness that fills the soul with joy.

Hey, were all in this together.  Let’s see what’s possible.

The Race!
September 4th, 2011 at 4pm

The race has just started and 30 of the best triathletes in the world are floating in the air, taking in one last breath before submerging into the Des Moines River.  They are diving in upriver, against the current.  The first buoy is a mere 25 yards a way with a sharp 110 degree left turn.  They will all converge on this spot virtually together all trying to squeeze the best line.  A tenth of a second here could set someone up for some prime open water.  One athlete achieves this, Josh Amberger, makes the turn first and get’s himself free and clear.  Beautiful.  The other 29 athletes are left to scrum it out.  Great for spectators and in retrospect, kind of fun for the athletes.

I thought that getting my 10th of a second might come from diving in and doing some underwater dolphin kick.  Silly swimmer.  I dove in well and streamlined some powerful kicks feeling like I was swiftly sneaking into the current ahead of my competitors.  Then, I came to the surface.  No, wait, I can’t get to the surface because there are too many bodies in the way.  So much for my underwater dolphin kick!?  I finally surface only to find myself in the melee of 29 athletes all trying to be the second one to cram into a Volkswagen Beetle.  Triathlon meet MMA.  I’m getting worked!  Elbows, people swimming over the top of me while I’m swimming over the top of someone else, and the lovely kick to the head by getting to close to someone’s heel.  All while fighting a strong current.  But heck, it’s boys being boys and this set the stage for one of the most fun swims I’ve done.

It’s a three loop swim of just under 500 meters each, (thanks to Andy Potts for pleading with the officials to lengthen it after the obvious short course with the girls times).  The swift current made for a most dynamic swim and one with all the elements of challenging course.  Swimming against the current took power, skill, and focus.  We inched against the force of the water as it took copious amounts of our energy.  After a strenuous first lap and running up to dive against the current for lap two I found myself behind, somewhere in the middle of the pack.

Coming into the race I felt like my bike was my weapon and strength with my swim lagging behind a bit.  If I could just come out of the water in contact with the leaders then my biking prowess would set me up for a tough but exciting run near the front of the race.

In the second lap I made up time and finished around the top ten.  Josh was killing all of us, almost a minute clear.  Each lap he won filled his pockets with $5,150!

In the third lap I found my mojo and swam with an inner grin.  Wow, this is fun!  Turning the second buoy we cruised with the swift current, down river.  At this point it felt like we had been swimming for an eternity, but I wanted it to keep on going.

I exited the water seconds off Andy Potts, in the first group.  This did little to comfort me as I’ve learned that a hiccup in T1 can be disastrous against these talents.  I smoked T1 with the fastest split on the day (Hy-Vee, how about another $5,150 for the fastest T1 & T2!) and mounted my super mean and super fast SCOTT Plasma 3 in 5th position.  I started the bike just 4 seconds behind Ben Collins who would go on to win 4 bike primes and the first run prime, each earning him a sweet $5,150!  Not a bad payday for a little over an hour of being an endurance monster.

It was an exciting moment to be set up so well for leveraging my bike strength.  I realized that the air had been crystallized and the possibility for having the optimal performance was in my grasp.

But flow in sports is a fleeting experience.  Just when I got comfortable and felt that I had IT.  I lost it.  The mind took charge and counter balanced my mojo.  My mind was positive and doing it’s best but somehow the merging of oneness had been lost.  With hindsight it was probably an inevitable occurrence having had my fitness wane in the months prior to the race.

Still, I finished the first of 4 bike laps with the first group, minimizing the damage and enjoying mixing it up with some very strong cyclists on the many corners, hills, and accelerations of the downtown Des Moines course.  However, slowly moving backwards in the race kept me from getting back in the zone.  I worked hard, tried to get back in it and stayed positive while enjoying the experience but never got back to the level I hoped to achieve.

It took all my wisdom and experience to enjoy the rest of the race while knowing that it was actually an off day for me.  Having an off day at the biggest event of your life is tough.  But you also have to keep things in perspective.  I still got off the bike with Macca, (Chris McCormick) the reigning Ironman World Champion.  He ran his way into 10th place while I continued my slow march backwards.

I am a full time coach at the YMCA in Boise. It is rewarding work and I enjoy working with the community and playing my part to make Boise one of the best cities in the world.  I love hard work but when it’s not focused on swimming, biking, or running and you are racing the best guys in the world that are focused only to that end…well, you have to keep it in perspective.  Balancing family, work, and being a professional triathlete often leaves the tri training with the short stick.  I believe that Kyle Leto and I are the only two guys with full time jobs on top of being a pro that raced in Hy-Vee.

Greg Bennett, the oldest guy in the field at 39 years young crushed the world and won over $166,000 for his 1 hour and 49 minute masterpiece.  Bravo Greg!  It’s impressive to see you hold back the clock for all of us.

Several of us exchanged the trisuits for some casual garb and took to the streets of Des Moines that evening.  Many of us were still on a high from the fun race and we all enjoyed a little down time, if only for a few hours before many of the guys would get on planes and head to the next ‘big’ race.  Greg kept all the glasses full and I’m sure this might have played a role too with everyone’s elevated spirits.  I hope to be the one topping off the glasses at next year’s race.

Hy-Vee Triathlon 2011 Elite Results

Flying home from New York the day after a successful race my attention turns to being with my wife and daughter. The week ahead is packed full of activities so each moment with them becomes central. One of my favorite tasks as Head Coach of the Boise Y TriClub is running the week long Youth Camps. Seeing the kids acquire these essential skills; you know you are setting them up for a life long journey that includes more fulfillment. Kids swimming, biking and running just makes a lot of sense.

Sandwiching two east coast trips on back to back weekends takes a lot of demands on the mind and the body. Asking your body to then perform at its highest level to race against the world’s best endurance athletes is wishful thinking, especially when your week is packed full of activities.

The Ironman 70.3 Steelhead is in St. Joseph, MI where I spent 4 years of my youth. The seeds for my love of swimming were planted here. My first day of swim practice happened on a Tuesday evening when I was nine years old (a late start for a kid whose dad was a swim coach). I spent about 40 minutes of the 45 minute workout in the showers at the Y, intimidated. I finally worked through some fears and yielded my shy persona out to the swim deck. The coach introduced me to some swimmers and then I jumped in and swam a fast 100 yards racing some of the others. I haven’t been away from the water since.

Joining the swim team enabled me to have the confidence to take my love for swimming to the next level; spending much of my summers on the beaches of Lake Michigan, swimming. This lake is an open water paradise and having the pleasure to enjoy this at a young age has shaped me to this day. Most of the time the lake is calm but my favorite days were when the wind picked up and the waves rolled in. I would play in the waves for hour after hour until hunger or mom said it was time to go.

Every year of my life gets better and this golden age refreshes the memory of the beginnings of my journey.

Now, a fish story. A rainy day along the banks of the river did not keep the true fishermen from casting. My dad got off to an early morning start and headed to the St. Joseph River. I have fond memories of waking up before sunset to spend serine mornings on the lakes of Northern Michigan fishing. Unfortunately, I slept in for this outing.

Hearing the raindrops hit the river as the water flows towards the giant lake, one can meditate on the movement like watching sand spill out of an hour glass. Fishing is a patient mans game and much of the time you ‘settle’ for the simple act of being outside on the water. Then, the line starts reeling. The senses go on high alert and adrenalin spikes through your body. I can only assume a fervent, “Holy Crap” was uttered. This was no ordinary fish. This sucker was pulling the full weight of my dad along the river banks. With the line reeling he stumbled to find better footing while being pulled along the shallows of the river. Then, he lost the white knuckled grip he had on the pole. The fishing pole slipped into the river and out of sight. With out a moment’s hesitation he jumped in the river.

The picture below is of me when I was 9 holding up the prized Steelhead. I remember having a hard time hoisting it for the photograph. My dad is decked out in all Levis denim on cloud nine from an epic day on the St. Joseph River.

He spent the next hour swimming and fishing in a battle of wills that ended with one fine ‘catch’.

Returning to St. Joseph for the Steelhead Triathlon after more than 20 years had me excited to race on semi home turf. It also proved to be an awesome family reunion as much of my extended family still lives in the area.

Race morning came and the conditions were perfect; breezy and cool. Lake Michigan looked marvelous with some subtle 1 foot waves rolling in at irregular intervals. The 9 year boy in me saw the lake again and looked forward to a fun swim.

The race organizers saw it differently and canceled the swim. I was stunned and disappointed.

I let it go and prepared for the longest time trial I’ll ever do. Having the pros start at 30 seconds intervals took the race away. A 56 mile bike and 13 mile run is a long way to race the clock.

Still the biggest shock of the day came when a draft pack of about 14 pros swallowed me up around mile 40. Without any referees (no one saw any all day) the drafting got way out of hand and turned this ‘race’ into a very unfair day. I got mad and went to the front and hammered home the last 10 miles not wanting to be a part of the cheating. All I did is pull everyone to T2. I ran hard for 3 miles holding almost the whole lot off but by mile 6 my fight was gone.

The race that could have been didn’t materialize and I’ll be honest it left a sour taste in my mouth. It had its moments in the early parts of the bike and run but the overall race was not at all what it should have been. It is imperative to know that when you spend a lot of time, money, and energy for a race that you are going to get what’s promised; a swim, bike, and run in a fair racing format.

Later that same afternoon my family and I enjoyed some time on the beach, my wife and I went for a leisurely swim while doing some body surfing in similar conditions to the morning in what we felt was very pleasurable.

One week before traveling to the world’s capitol in Manhattan for the NYC Triathlon a friend texted me about a possible run. Being in the skyscraping mountain region of Central Idaho I knew this would be no ordinary run. Adam Wirth (mountain man authority and Xterra Pro) baited me well with a ‘6 mi trail run?’

Adam called it, “Training to train”. This strikes a chord with the tune we love. At the core of sports is this search for optimal experience. A person atoned with gaining these moments strives on challenges. Adam and I set off in the Payette National Forest trekking into its vast wilderness. Mainly up. This is as much about discovery as it is about training. It is easy to find that special harmony when surrounded by the obvious power of nature. You feel small and large at the same time. The following photos speak to the beauty of this run.

Dichotomy of weekends; from a land populated with trees and mountains to one of people, cars, and skyscrapers, I arrive in New York ready to test my body and mind on a very different course and stage.

I need a top 8 finish to secure a spot in the 5150 Hy-Vee Championship Race.

Resting for the race, the days lingered while lying around in the Upper West Side Y’s room overlooking Central Park. The urge to go walk around needed to be limited to a few blocks for finding lunch or dinner. Race morning came after very little sleep, yet feeling refreshed and looking forward to storming the streets of New York.

Awaking to a New York cloaked in rain clouds made one want to curl up on the couch and read a book. But as usually is the case, once you’re out in the storm, it is very invigorating.

The pro men lined up ready to dive into the Hudson River. The gun went off and the quick dive I envisioned into the water did not happen with the slightest hesitation. The guy next to me also used his left arm swing to push me back. No big deal, opening up a fast few strokes would have me back near the front. The wind was blowing strong up river and this disrupted the rhythm and sighting potential of the swimmers. We played bumper boats for a bit while the leaders started pulling away. It took too long but eventually, getting in some open water allowed for some focus on speed. The 4 leaders had created a sizable gap and I swam hard to bridge up. In one of the best second half swims of my career, the gap is closed on Bennett’s feet just before exiting the water.

Next, began the hardest part of this race with an almost 3 min barefoot sprint on pavement. With Greg Bennett being my rabbit the pace clipped off at a horse’s gallop. Leaving T1 within seconds of the leader I mounted the Plasma 3 for its inaugural pro race. Perfect.

The rough roads were full of puddles and forced one to concentrate on avoiding these pitfalls. This course is a hilly twisty one and keeps the ride challenging. Having passed two of the leaders and now riding in third I’ve got hopes of a strong negative split and closing in on Greg and Ben. I’m riding in the zone and enjoying the performance, knowing that this race is opening up a nice opportunity.

Then, with Greg 200 meters ahead and veering right up a subtle hill, the referee is trying to get my attention. I ignore her, and stay in the zone. The referee is demanding my attention. She wants me to pull over so she can assess a penalty. “What!?” the first thing I say while throwing my arms in disgust, “Are you kidding me!” I go on for another minute trying to state my case. I just can’t believe she’s giving a stagger penalty. I can barely see Greg up the wet road as he’s just cresting a hill. I was riding the best line in the middle of the road, there’s giant puddles on the right and pot holes to avoid. I’m clearly getting no advantage. She is not budging and I finally come to a stop. She doesn’t start the stop watch until I get both feet on the ground. When I do, she still doesn’t start the watch while she plays with the modes. These seconds matter! I continue to complain about the penalty and she says, “If you can see the person in front of you, you must be staggered from their position.” Well, that works if the roads are flat and straight. Physics 101 time and space; I was staggered from Greg for the simple fact that he was climbing a hill that was veering right. Just because I’m in the same line that he was 200m before does not mean I am not staggering.

Standing there while rider after rider goes by, it feels awful. It is difficult to stomach all the seconds taken away, seconds you muster and struggle for. After an eternity and seeing all my hard work washed away I mount the bike in 15^th place.

I let the setback go quickly. This race is too important and the sacrifices my family makes matter to much. Thinking of them gives me strength. My focus narrows. I must finish in the top 8 to qualify for Hy-Vee. I keep repeating this motto. Top 8.

While catching up and passing a few riders, I’m very aware of the stagger rule, when nailing a pot hole pops the water bottle right out of its cage. A referee is right next to me. I’ve gotten this penalty before, abandonment. My heart skips a beat and I try not to draw attention. If the ref see’s this I’ll be disqualified for my second offense. The next few seconds pass by interminably. Nothing happens. I thank my lucky stars and ride with a third life.

With five miles to go I turn the crank as hard and fast as my legs can. I enter T2 alone but knowing some fast runners are hot on my heels. Running up a steep hill the legs feel good and Josh Amberger, who was right behind me when I received the penalty, is just up the road. There are also footsteps behind me. Tim Reed is setting a torrent pace, unwisely, I match it. We pass Josh and turn into Central Park. After a fast mile with Tim he starts to pull away, on his way to a third place finish and the fastest run on the day.

In the urgency to have a fast run, the tough pace Reed set left me in trouble for the last two miles. I could feel the energy in my body having limits, and the cutoff point was near. The battle between my ears commenced. Josh caught back up and passed me for 7^th place. With a little over a mile to go and no room to spare I did my best to stay calm and focused while under a good deal of stress.

Dangling over the steep ravine grasping a tired creeping plant I’m moments from falling to the earth far below. But I climb up and out of danger and make it to safe ground. I cross the finish line and hold my 8^th place. Battle after battle under less than ideal circumstances tests the limits of my character; climbing out of trouble is satisfying.

I am humbled by the support of family, friends, and sponsors. Thanks for keeping me in the Race.

Race Results

Click Y logo for race site & results

The Y Not Triathlon is a splendid 400 meter swim, 6 mile bike and 2 mile run. It was my first introduction to the fringe sport of triathlon when I competed as a 12 year old with swimming and soccer being my focused sports. The race took my fitness to new levels and the pain is something I still remember; it shocked me how tough the ‘sprint’ was. It would be 16 years before my next triathlon. Too bad it took so long.

Today, being a Triathlon coach at the Y and a professional triathlete I have the pleasure of introducing and expanding the sport to kids and adults. Triathlon is a simple sport with challenges for everyone and this attests to the explosion of participants and races in the last few years.

Doing the Y Not Tri as a 12 year old novice and a 36 year old professional the challenges remain. Ones skills will improve with the trials of swimming, biking, and running, they are continually pushing the boundaries of your abilities. Your passion for the sport rests in this continual search for improvement through finding bigger and bigger tests. It will help enrich your health which in turn makes all of life sweeter. Perhaps you’ll even be fortunate enough to have the optimal experience, the ceaseless moment we often refer to as the ‘zone’. Sport can be intrinsically rewarding when the dimensions of the mind, body, and time merge to create one of the highest states of being humans can experience.

Being a spectator, coach and athlete at this year’s Y Not Tri proved to be very rewarding. It is especially gratifying to see whole families take part in the event. These healthy families are making our community one of the best in the world. Cheers to families and sports.

Every race should have the kids take part in so that the adults can all see them race. When the kids start racing, the joy is evident. You can feel the anxieties of many of the adults subside as we all remember the purpose of this simple sport; to have fun.

My race proved to be an opportunity to test the limits of the speed my body could propel it. I found the internal moment permeated by joy which guarantees a good race.

Boulder Peak 5150 Triathlon July 10, 2011.

The 10 second count down began with 30 of the fittest athletes in the world ready to spike their heart rates and attack a 1.5k swim in the Boulder Reservoir. The race announcer’s countdown, “3, 2, 1…” mirrored an elevated sense for each athlete with blood beginning to flood into the muscles. Instantly, the calm waters churned to a boil as the triathletes sucked the oxygen out of the air. Kevin Everett took the early lead and felt the water rush by with his body balanced on an imperceptible line, riding high. It felt for an instant like a video game when one obtains a power boost. The speed seemed effortless and the form flowed from years of struggle to perfect. At 36, and being a distance swimmer for almost 30 years, he just recently learned through increased awareness and focus, how to sprint better. This is fun!

Not wanting to lead the very strong swim pack, after a few minutes he was on the leader’s feet Stephen Hackett sharing them with Brian Fleschieman. The draft proved to be a beautiful ride and the confidence soared; projecting this for the makings of a great race.

Running to T1 in 3^rd position with the usual sense of urgency Kevin noticed the difficulty in spiking the heart rate and trying to recovery whilst still racing. Managing to mount the bike virtually in the lead with both Brian and Stephen he proceeded to create a gap. It didn’t happen. Tim O’Donnell and Paul Matthews did create a gap. Then, Kyle Leto, Matt Reed, Greg Bennett and Joe Gambles gave chase and left Kevin climbing a hill feeling like he needed to stop. It felt like death. The muscles were OK but the lungs were inadequately feeding them with precious oxygen. To compensate the heart worked overtime and pumped blood at full capacity. The heart muscle itself does not have any feeling sensation however, the explosion of activity in the chest cavity gave Kevin the impression of a split open, disintegrating, and rupturing heart. Add a torrent of asthmatic like breathes and this doesn’t bode well for racing bikes up steep hills against a talented group of athletes. No, watching the Tour de France did not help Kevin’s climbing ability in the mountains of Colorado.

This eruption of pain would usually amount to a few moments of ‘holding back’ while still racing to recover. Alas, racing at elevation forces this recovery to take much longer if at all. Respect racing at elevation by not red lining unless you’ve had 10 days to 2 weeks to acclimate.

By the time Kevin got to the run his body had been dealing with a blow up 6 miles into the bike and never fully recovering. The body just started shutting down on the run. Most noticeable were the lungs feeling like swiss cheese and breathing through a straw while trying to run. For the next race at elevation there will be a mandatory 10 day acclimatization process. A disappointing result (18^th pro)but a valuable lesson is gained through the experience.

Thank you, Will Murray for the wonderful homestay! Boulder is a fantastic place to spend some time and all the more rewarding when meeting great people.

Results