The reason we coach:"In May 2007, I applied for the BodyZen coaching scholarship with Coach Lee Zohlman. At the time, I neither understood nor appreciated the importance of structure and planning in the sport. I had been racing sparsely for the past year, with some decent results, my best a third place finish at a local half. I had heard that coaching was the key to becoming more serious as a triathlete, so I decided to take a chance. Thankfully, I received the scholarship and began training under Coach Lee in May and continued to do so into the summer. At first, the training seemed either too easy or too hard. I was using the heart rate monitor and staying primarily in Zones 1 and 2 for most of my workouts, while in other �test� workouts designed to determine threshold pace per 100 yards in the water or lactate threshold on the bike and the run, I was going full out. Previously, I had been mostly a Zone 3 �time-waster�. I would spend most of my time in Zone 3 because it felt like I was working hard. But I didn�t get faster until I started doing those long, two hour runs in Zone 1 that were �embarrassingly slow�. Sure, they started out at 7:30 or 8:00 pace, but as time went by, I dropped my run split at the 70.3 distance from a 1:26 (6:30/mile) to a 1:16 (5:49/mile). And as far as biking goes, I saw improvements under Coach Lee as my lactate threshold, originally 168 bpm, shot up to 180 bpm by the end of the season. The season progressed with a race at Buffalo Springs in Lubbock, Texas, my first in the 70.3 series, where I went 4:30 and took 15th overall. I also qualified for Clearwater there, but barely missed Kona by a little less than a minute. I returned to train over the summer in Arlington, Virginia, and competed locally, taking podium finishes (one first at Colonial Beach and one first at the Patriot Half Ironman in 4:20:03). It was after these races that Lee set me to prep for the 70.3 World Championships in Clearwater, Florida, which took place on 11/10/2007. His program of tough 4:00:00 bricks on Saturday and Sunday challenged me, along with track workouts and bike time trials, while preparing me to race hard. We worked hard, we tapered, and we peaked at the right time. Florida went smashingly. I flew down with my mother, Lori Bartlett, who helped me keep my sanity as we undertook hours and hours of race preparation activity. I had never been among such a hubbub, but I was happy that my mother was there to ease my anxiety. By the time race morning came, I was completely relaxed. Coach Lee had told me to just enjoy and work hard, and that�s what I set out to do. The swim went okay (28:23), despite being punched in the face and having my goggles knocked off, and the bike went smashingly despite a number of crashes and some drafting that I could not shake from my tail (2:10:00). Having lost my electrolyte capsules on the bike, I had a run that was not as good as it could have been, but on the whole wasn�t bad (1:18:03). So there I was, 4:02:06, and I finished as the top American in my AG (18-24) and took third in the 18-24 AG at Worlds. In conclusion, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Coach Lee and BodyZen Management Systems, for this opportunity that paid great dividends for me this year. Coach Lee has revolutionized my understanding of training, nutrition, and rest by conveying the importance of consistency and adherence to a system that truly works. I look forward to working with Coach Lee in the future and would recommend that anyone who wants to improve in triathlon, or take their skills to a higher level, or who wishes to live life to the fullest, do so. Life is short, and it�s always time to make the best of it. Happy training, Ben Bartlett PS- If anyone should wish to ask me any questions about my experience, you can reach me at:
bobart@wm.edu "
