February 2, 2005
Jason Heady
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Welcome back to www.EnduranceRadio.com. Thanks for joining us for another interview today.
We’re going to be speaking with Jason Heady and he is a member of the OC Tri-Club and he’s been in triathlon for about a year and a half.
First things first though; the Race of the Day is the Pacific Shoreline Marathon which is this Sunday, February 6, 2005 at 7.00 AM and you can click on the Race of the Day link below the link to this audio to find out more about the Pacific Shoreline Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K.
So Jason thanks very much for taking time to talk to us today, I appreciate it.”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Thank you.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “What got you into triathlon a year and a half ago?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “It was really a whim. I picked up a magazine, I think it was Competitor Magazine, and saw an ad for Catalina Triathlon and it had been several years since I’d been over there and I thought for the scenic view and I liked swimming, biking and running but never at a competitive or racing level, and I thought, ‘Hey, what the heck,’ and I came from being a couch potato, picked up an on-line training program for sprint triathlon and just went for it. I trained for four months and then did Catalina Triathlon and was what a great experience crossing that finish line for the first time and calling yourself a triathlete.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “What distance is that triathlon?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “It was just a sprint, a sprint triathlon right there in the bay at Catalina, but it was November so it was pretty cold and I didn’t have a wetsuit, so it was a good introduction and anyone who has done Catalina would remark that they wouldn’t suggest it as a first triathlon because it’s a pretty bad technical course on the bike, but hey, what the heck, I committed to it and then that was it.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Now was it on pavement or is it mountain biking at all?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “No, it’s all on pavement.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “At what point did you join the OC Tri-Club?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “I just started training for Catalina and probably a coupe of months later I joined Orange County Triathlon Club and I’ve just been with them ever since. They’re a great group of people. Any tri-club in the area, if you can get with them it’s a chance to meet people that are interested in the same sport. It’s great for beginners to find people that are wanting to help them out and train, and you can find a training partner. It’s a good resource.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Do you train with them on a regular basis?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “No, I do a lot of training on my own and theres different groups in Orange Count y like bike groups or running groups that I’ll go with. I mainly just go to their meetings and they have guest speakers, a lot of good helpful information for training.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “The training program, you said you bought that on-line. Tell us about that.”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Yes, I bought that on-line through hat is now called www.trainingpeaks.com and it was a Gail Bernhart beginner sprint program. It worked well, I didn’t know anything about training and you had to do bricks really early in the program and so I got my legs used to running off the bike. Just after a couple of months of doing that I felt a lot stronger in all the events.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Do you feel like one leg is your best? Which one do you enjoy most?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Right now I’d say biking is my best and swimming is my worse. I just started a new training program with Beth Carlton, pro triathlete, and she lives in the Till Beach area and I just started training with her, and just from a couple of one on one sessions with her with swimming I feel a lot better with the swimming event. I’m looking forward to my next big race.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Which is what?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “I’m training for the Honu Half in Hawaii.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “When is that?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “June 5 on the Big Island.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Will you be doing some others before that one?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “I’m going to do the Reverse Redland Triathlon, February 13, and also then my prelude race would be in April, I’m going to be doing the Desert International, April 17.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “How many do you like to do in a season, four or five it sounds like?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Yes. I did Catalina November 2003, and then I actually didn’t do anything until the following September. I had a trainer down in San Diego that just coached me as a friend from June to September for LA, and that was going to be my first Olympic, and so I did that and then two weeks later I did Long Beach, and then in November I did the Big Rock out in Paris, that was a pretty long one.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “For different people the answers always different; I usually like to ask it though, what do you get out of triathlon personally? Is it that feeling when you cross the finish line or is it just being in shape, what is it for you?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Yes, it really that personal feeling of accomplishment, set your mind to do a race, you train for it. I mean during training, on the journey on the way to the race, you’re getting in shape; you’re loosing weight, getting your fitness level up, but then the actual race day. When I go to a race I’m not trying to beat the guy next to me, it’s a lot of fun for me, the whole experience of being there and just doing the whole race is just a fun experience, and then that feeling of crossing the finish line is always actually kind of emotional for me. I was emotional when I did LA. That was a beautiful race, riding your bike and running through LA with all the traffic just blocked off for you; and then Big Rock that was just awesome because I just committed my mind that I was going finish no matter what and it took me six hours and 40 minutes, but eventually I did.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Do you ever get that feeling in the middle of the race of, ‘What the heck am I doing this for?’”
<<Jason Heady>>: “I kind of felt that in Big Rock. On the 52 mile bike ride I was tired after the first lap of 26 miles and thought, ‘I got to do it again. What am I doing?’ A lot of it was mental motivation, telling myself that, ‘I came here to finish,’ and I never stopped but I did a little bit on the run. It’s just a matter of setting my mind to it and then doing it.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Do you think that, and this question may be a little out there theoretically, but the whole idea of not quitting in a triathlon, does that bleed over to a lot of people in their personal lives? Does it for you when you set your mind to something you’re going to finish it?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Sometimes. I’m a big procrastinator with my personal life.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “So in your case it may not bleed over?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “It might not. It doesn’t bleed over me, its usually training and then the actual race.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Talk about your training; what is it including and how much are you training on a weekly basis?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “I did hardly anything during the off-season. I put on some weight and right now I am training about a couple of hours swimming, two and a half or so of biking and then an hour and a half of running, and this is just the three weeks of my base training that I’ve been through. It’ll increase as time goes by.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Are you training everyday?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Almost. I’ve only been taking one to two days off a week and it’s usually a Monday or a Friday or both, its different I have. It’s usually after my long workout. There’ll be a long ride on Saturday and a long run on Sunday, and then I’ll either take Monday off and then a Friday off. Buts it’s not up to me.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “What do you mean?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “It’s my coach. I’m following her program so I told her I want to do the best that I can for the half Ironman and so I’m leaving it in her hands, so if her program says take it of, take it of, but if says to train then I train. So I know it’s a matter if I feel bad or if I get a little sick and my heart rates a little high the next day or the day before, maybe, it would be good advice to take another rest day, but so far its been going well.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “For swimming, are you in open water when you’re training or in a pool?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “I’m in a pool right now. I’m probably not going to do any open water swimming for a couple more months. I’m down here in Orange County and Big Korona is a great place to do some open water swimming.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Is that the ocean?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Yes, that’s ocean.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Is that a beach somewhere?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Yes. Korona Del Mar, and they actually have little buoys set up, you can actually do distance swimming instead of not knowing where you’re going. They’ve got buoys set up and its a quarter mile to go around the buoys.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Now the race in Hawaii that you want to peak at for your season, how did you pick that race as the one you wanted to do your best at?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Because I’m moving there. April 30 I leave and so I’ll be there a month beforehand and then I’ll acclimate to the weather and then I’ll do some training on the actual course. It’s just a beautiful place to have it. I knew I was going to go over at that time, so I just picked a race that was in the same schedule and timeframe.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Now this may be kind of an overdone question, but you say you’re moving to Hawaii, I’ve got to ask do you have any goals or aspirations to do Ironman Hawaii?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Yes, I would love to. Like I said, I’m just starting out and I’m still a lot overweight so I won’t be able to be competitive. I’m hoping for a lottery slot or one of those lucky spots.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Have you done the Ironman distance before?”
<<Jason Heady>>: “No. The Honu Half would be my first half Ironman, and that’ll be the longest distance so far. I would like to do an Ironman but I’m thinking respectively it would be 2006 for the first one.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Well we’re just about out of time here, but hopefully we can follow up next season with you and do another interview and see your Hawaii race went.”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Definitely.”
<<Tim Bourquin>>: “Thanks a lot Jason, I appreciate it.”
<<Jason Heady>>: “Thank you.”
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