El Hempel Season Write-Up

I asked my client Rick Hempel ("El Hempel") to write his reflections on this season and our work together. He wrote a mini-epic. In his own words:

B2B and JFK in 2 Weeks

Don’t look through the top finishers in the Beach to Battleship 140.6 or the JFK 50 miler to find my name. It won’t be there. Nevertheless finishing those two events in the last few weeks has given me a new joy in exercise and personal accomplishment. In 2000, I herniated a disc in my back and ended up with two surgeries to remove fragments compressing my S1 nerve root. I wasn’t sure I would ever run again. I did start back, but with a variety of aches and pains. I developed a core strengthening program with the help of a good friend and triathlete physical therapist that allowed me to continue to work out and at least participate, but I really felt limited in what I could attempt. I doubted that I could participate in the rite of passage for a select few people in our running community who turn 50 and run 50 miles. They are called Running Saints. I even dreamed of doing an Iron Man distance event, but really thought the opportunity had passed me bye.

Then my good friend from medical school, Bill Polk told me about Stephen Taylor who was an endurance trainer and successful triathlete who had helped him get back into regular training. The last time I talked to Bill he had given up on triathlons because of all the inevitable aches and pains of age. I was skeptical at first, but I saw one of Bill’s half ironman times and thought there may be something to this guy.

Bill then had the audacity to challenge me to do a 140.6 triathlon with him. I thought I may have lost my mind, but I cautiously decided to give it a try and find out more about Stephen Taylor. I am a cynical person and a physician to boot, so Steve had his work cut out for him. We spent a good bit of time discussing training philosophy and exercise physiology. The more we talked the more I realized Steve really had some valuable insight into training. He developed a flexible plan that allowed me to work 60 hours a week and still train enough to fulfill my dream. I slowly, but steadily increased my workouts and began to believe that a completion might be possible. I decided to take a trip to Nashville to spend some time with Bill and Stephen. I had a great weekend of exercise and learning and really started to see what it would take to achieve my goal.

I went to Muncie and did a 70.3 triathlon and had a PR by 50 minutes. The plan was really working and I could feel myself getting in better shape with every week of training. I changed my biking strategy, my swim workouts and even altered my running stride to become more efficient. Steve and I talked about nutrition and the psychology of extreme distance events. He even tailored a resistance weight program to compliment my core strengthening plan.

The Beach to Battleship was a great experience and plenty of challenge. Bill and I ran the last half of the marathon together and had a great “suffer fest” that we will never forget. Two weeks later with some excellent recovery advice from Steve, I did the JFK 50 mile trail run along the Appalachian Trail and the Potomac River. When it was finally done I was elated. Although I was extremely tired and very sore from the longest run I had ever completed, I was not injured and ecstatic that I had achieved what just a little over a year ago I thought would never be possible. Over 24 hours of exercise in two days separated by just two weeks. Steve’s insight and encouragement truly had made this a reality.

So even though I’ll be an afterthought in the statistics of both the B2B and JFK, where you’ll find my name buried somewhere in the middle of the pack you should know that my achievement gives me hope for the future and the belief that a regular guy can make great ambitions come true with smart training and the right guidance.