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Archive for October, 2009

5 Steps to Planning Out Next Year’s Triathlon Season

October 25th, 2009

488308180_9072dc3480The 2009 triathlon season is now in the history books. It’s time to start planning for next season.

Most triathletes enter the off season with no plan or just a semblance of a plan (“I’ll just work out every day– swim 2 times a week, bike 2 times and run 2 times. 2 weight workouts too.”). This type of plan is perhaps okay for someone whose never raced before and just getting off the couch (having a rough plan is better than no plan at all for these folks), but unfortunately, for most triathletes– beginner or professional, this type of plan won’t cut it. You need something that’s going to build on your current athletic capabilities.

Planning, however, doesn’t need to be all time-consuming. If you’re lucky (and smart) enough to be working with a coach, then you’re 10 steps ahead of everyone else. Your coach will make it simple for you and provide the expertise in mapping out next year’s season. If you’re a self-coached athlete, you have a lot more to think about. Even for non-coached athletes, it doesn’t have to be a super-complex and time-consuming exercise.

Get out a piece of paper, a calendar and pen, and do these five things to plan out next year’s season:

  1. Establish your training goals- Having clear, well-defined goals is the key for success in any triathlon season. Goals give you something to shoot for and if mapped out properly, will keep you motivated. Your goals will drive all other aspects of your training (objectives, races, volume, instensity, etc.), so spending the time thinking about them is absolutely essential. Your goals should be realistic and measurable. If you’re an experienced athlete, your goals will probably be a continuation of the goals you had mapped out as part of your macrocycle or multi-year plan. Most of the time, however, even these goals change– it’s difficult to predict 4-5 years in advance what you will be doing, so it’s important to spend the time re-stating the goals to your current situation. Be sure to factor in your assessment of your last season. For beginner athletes, you should spend the time thinking about your larger, multi-year goals, and then map them out progressively over a realisitic time period, which will determine next year’s goals. Typically, it’s good to have about 3-5 goals. They should be a good mix of physiological, nutritional and mental skills goals– in other words, well-balanced. Of course they don’t have to be, particular if you feel that you are strong in one area, such as nutrition. Some sample goals include: “To complete Ironman USA in less than 10 hours and in the top 10 of my age group.” or “To lose 15 lbs. by March 2010”. These goals are realistic (for the given athlete), clear and measurable. Write your goals down!
  2. Outline your training objectives- Once you’ve got your goals set, write down your objectives. Objectives are essentially milestones that will measure how you will achieve those goals. You should have clearly defined objectives that will measure your progress towards your goals throughout the season. For instance, if you state your goal is to “Finish in the top 5 of my age group in the Patriot Half Ironman and Timberman Half Ironman races”, then you’re going to want to have objectives that are going to allow you to measure progression towards this goal. You’ll need to start by understanding what times you will need to achieve to finish top 5 in each of bike legs of those races, then calculate the pace you will need to obtain. Let’s say that it is 24 mph over the course of the 56 miles. At that point, you’ll want to set objectives throughout the season to achieve that goal based upon the period you are in. For instance, in your Base period you’re not going to want to have an overly aggressive objective. Instead, you may have an objective such as “Hold 90 rpm at 350 watts for 15 minutes by January 15, 2010”. You could map that to a specific workout or do it in a race. I typically map out 1-3 objectives per goal for my athletes (all based on personalized and realistic measurements), which I think is fair and achievable. I also don’t map out the objectives until I get a clear understanding of how the athlete performs (typically after the first set of baseline tests I do with him or her), and I also make sure the objectives are fluid– meaning that I will change them based upon how the athlete is executing against his or her workouts. The objectives serve as nice motivators for a coach to motivate an athlete, as well as for a self-coach athlete to have their own motivation and understanding of how they are progressing towards their goals.
  3. Sign up for your races- Now that you have your goals and objectives outlined (and undoubtedly these are tied to specific races or events), you need to go sign up for these events. This seems obvious, but I can’t tell you how many athletes I’ve coached had to change their races (and their goals) for the season because their races filled up. They often think “I’ll do Ironman Canada next year”, but by the time they have thought of that, the race is filled. Triathlon is one of the fastest growing sports worldwide and every year it gets harder and harder to get into races. This is especially true for Ironman races, which you often need to register one year in advance. That’s why it’s important to have a macro plan for your training (or a multiyear plan), as well as a clear and adaptive approach to your next year’s plan. Go to the website for your event, and register online. If the event is filled, check out comparable events that would work for you that may be in the same time frame.
  4. Map out the different periods (or phases) of your year- Now we’re getting in to the “nuts and bolts” of your year. I’m a big believer in the concept of periodization, which provides athletes with not only a strong structure for training, but more importantly, a sound and proven methodology for performing optimally. So, get out a calendar and do the following: mark down your races on the calendar. Circle the “A” races, or the races that you’ll be going all out on (you shouldn’t have more than 1 of these per year if you’re a beginner triathlete and definitely no more than 2 if you are an advanced triathlete). Depending upon the distance of the race, countback 1-4 weeks (for Ironman races, it should be 3-4 weeks and for shorter races less than that)– that period of time is your “Peak” period. From the beginning of the Peak period, you’re going to want to count back in blocks of 4 weeks. Each block will represent a ‘period’ (or phase) of your training where you will vary your volume and intensity (which you will do in step 5 below). The earlier in the training, the less volume and intensity (“Base” periods) and the closer you are to the Peak period the greater the volume and intensity (“Build”, “Competition”, or “Excel” periods– will vary by name). Once you’ve marked out these periods, you’re ready to figure out volume and intensity you should achieve in those periods for the year.
  5. Assign weekly volume and intensity- Now you are ready to figure out volume (or how much or hours per week) and intensity (or how hard you will go, measured by heart rate instensity (and/or other measures, such as watts on the bike) per period. Volume and instensity are functions of many things– experience of the athlete, races or events planned, time the athlete has to train, and others– so both will vary greatly by athlete. The basic concept is to gradually build up enough volume and intensity over time with your training so that your body can adapt and grow stronger– otherwise known as progressive overload. I’m not going to spend a lot of time addressing progressive overload here, but it’s a critical and fundamental concept that you will need to be familiar with to plan out your training adquately. In general, the earlier in your training (“Base” periods), you will want less volume and intensity and the later in your training (“Build”, “Competition”, or “Excel” periods), the greater the volume and instensity. The “Peak” period should be a time of “tapering” or reduced volume and intensity to get you ready for your “A” race. Assign volume by number of hours per week, and intensity by percentage of total time spent in a given heart rate (you will need to determine your heart rate zones per sport to adquately be able to measure this). For instance, let’s say you are racing a Half Ironman race. In your first Base period, you will want to plan something like 10 hours per week, with an intensity of about 25% in heart rate zone 1, 60% in heart rate zone 2 and 15% in heart rate zone 3. You will want to gradually increase the number of hours (volume) as you progress into the next period (and the period after that), as well as change your heart rate zone percentage ratios. This not only will change from period to period, but may also change from week to week within a given period. You will want to plan every 4th week of each 4 week block as a “Rest and Recovery” or “R&R” week to give your body adquate time to recover and rest. In other words, the 4th week of your training in a given period should have about a 40-50% reduction in volume, and a slight shift in the intensity ratios towards lower heart rate zones. Once you have your volume and intensity efforts mapped out per period, you have successfully mapped out your season!

The above 5 steps will get you to your plan for the upcoming triathlon season. I’ve tried to simplify it down to make it easy for you to create your own plan. That being stated, there are definitely complexities involved that require you to have some level of understanding about training fundamentals. I’d highly recommend reading up on these topics or getting in touch with someone that could help you out. I’m definitely happy to answer any questions you may have or to work with you in creating a plan that works for you.

Ascending Athlete #4: Craig Austin

October 19th, 2009

I’ve started a series called “Ascending Athletes”, which features people achieving great things in their lives and/or impacting the lives of others through athletics. I’m featuring athletes of all backgrounds, sports and skill levels. Everyone has a story to tell– whether a recreational or beginner just starting to work out or a hardcore athlete who is competing at an elite level. The goal of the Ascending Athlete series is to capture these stories and inspire others to seek similar challenges and rewards. If you would like to share your story or would like to nominate someone as an Ascending Athlete, please let me know. For more information about Ascend Sports Conditioning, visit our website.

Craig Austin

Craig getting ready to shred some snow.

Craig getting ready to shred some snow.

One of the reasons why I love participating in sports is the social aspect and connection you share with others– it truly is a community. Nothing is more rewarding than sharing your adventures with close friends, family or just someone you met who you instantly have a social bond with due to the sheer fact that you’re both out there sweating it out and sharing an adventure. I’m reminded of this fact vividly when thinking about our next Ascending Athlete, Craig Austin. I met Craig through my social media connections (through fellow kiteboarding and Ascending Athlete, Jessica Valenzuela), and admire not only his love of multisport, but his ability to relish the social aspect of the sport and his enthusiasm in wanting to inspire others with his love of sport– a core quality of an Ascending Athlete.

Craig is a co-founder in a kiteboarding related global web property venture. (He’s currently in the very early stages of the process and is eager to share his venture with the world shortly once they are ready to do so). As an entrepreneur, he’s combining his love of adventure– specifically kiteboarding– with his every day pursuits in hopes of inspiring others to kiteboard and seek adventure.

Craig was kind enough to answer some questions and share some of his thoughts on what makes him an Ascending Athlete:

Tell us a little about yourself.

Athletics opens a new dimension to the word social. As much as most extreme outdoor sports can be individual there is a social dynamic among athletes and the spectators. The energy a sporting event can create whether it be a competitive program or social is incredible! I remember one of my first kiting sessions, in Tarifa – I’d just come in for a break, after having been beaten up by the waves, separated from my board, dunked under for what felt like hours at a time – and one of the Naish team riders came up and gave me a few words of encouragement. Something along the lines of: “don’t worry mate, we’ve all been there – but you were looking good (when you were up)”. Now in my mind I had definitely spent more time down than up, but I was inspired that someone that good had taken the time to come and talk to me.

Why are athletics important to you?

When I first heard the phrase “work hard, play harder” I figured that it was simply a marketing cliché – but it is so much more than that, the reward one feels for pushing ones boundaries is so much greater than simply sliding along in a comfort zone. This applies both to work and sport. After a long day in (any) office crashing out in front of the television leaves one feeling empty – however after that same day, if I get out for a couple hours of exercise, life is just so much better.
I have more energy; more focus, and I am definitely a whole lot more inspired.

What sports do you participate in?

I am obsessed with kitesurfing. I love snowboarding, wakeboarding, inline skating and cycling.

What is your major athletic goal(s)and/or events you are participating in for this year? Why have you chosen this goal(s)?

Getting good at Kitesurfing, with the goal of doing S-Bends (an advanced freestyle trick).

I started kitesurfing 2 years ago, and in my first year opportunity to kite was rather limited, largely due to my commitments to the London Duo skate team – the two of us signed up for the Le Mans 24-hour Inline Skating event. Six months of training six days a week… and it paid off, we achieved a podium finish. Through the course of the event we skated 140 laps in the 24 hours, and that worked out to be about 280km each!

What are some future goal(s) or event(s) you’d like to participate in?

Not sure if it counts as an event, but I have put together 3 week kitesurfing trip to Brazil, where we will be doing a 10-day downwinder, this is more kitesurfing for pleasure than a test of endurance. The general idea is to spend most of each day kiting, and working our way along the coast line. I’m also signed up to for a week of coaching in Taiba as part of this 3 week trip.

Snowkiting is set for the coming winter season, after a short 2nd summer in Cape Town.

What impact has your athletics had on the lives of others?

Great question, and one that I am very proud to answer.

Skating: About 10 years ago, I bought myself a set of Rollerblades, and figured it would be a laugh, and it was. A year later, I was still rather rubbish, and could barely make my way around Hyde Park – so I took a few lessons, and improved rapidly – and then went back for more advanced lessons, and found that I had already discovered most of what was being taught… two months later I was teaching for the skate school. My skating progressed from recreational to Speed Skating, and have done several skate marathons, including Berlin, Poznan and my favourite, the downhill race of Engadin.

Snowboarding: I first stood on a board in 2001, and had a very rough start – two of us were left pretty much to our own devices to figure out how best to fall down a mountain… but we stuck with it, and managed to get a few tips thrown in along the way. Major lesson learnt is how valuable a good instructor is for lessons [in any sport]. Since those early days I have gone on to coaching many friends on the slopes, and get deep satisfactions boarding with them now, knowing that I helped get them up and riding.

Craig slicing through the surf

Craig slicing through the surf

Kitesurfing: This year kitesurfing has found me, and as most involved in the sport soon discover, it takes over. Obsessed, Addicted, and thoroughly happy. It takes priority. Kitesurfers don’t know any commitment stringer than 15-knots! The question was how this affects those around me, well, the awesomeness of kitesurfing is contagious – and now several friends are often already at the beach when I “Go Coastal”.

Sport gives me access to the perfect balance of social engagement and personal achievement. It makes me smile, when I am able to inspire and influence a variety of people with my sports. In my opinion, athletics like music, food and wine should be part of everyone’s staple needs. It is a healthy source for a high!

Name one interesting fact or story that makes you unique and interesting

I love to travel with / for my sports, and the dynamic friendships one can (and does) make when you meet people through some sporting activity are so much deeper. I firmly believe that like minded people make like minded choices, and so your personal choice of activity, sport, holiday, food will naturally assist with leading you to meet people that you are likely understand, and then of course more likely to get along with. Kitesurfing somehow manages to amplify this. A quick theory on that is the sport is very demanding, not so much physically, but requires a level of patience, persistence, determination, stubbornness, tolerance and overall willingness to have fun. I seem to have twisted around the question, as this definitely doesn’t make me unique – but somehow draws kitesurfers together.

When engaged in an activity that I love, my sports or geekery I have a fair ability to learn quickly, and then teach the same to others. Adapting my teaching approach to a student’s learning style is a trait I can confidently own up to. It is very rewarding to see a learner’s smile when it finally all “clicks.”

Thanks to Craig for demonstrating the importance of making athletics an everyday part of one’s life, his hard work and inspirational story– he truly is an Ascending Athlete!

To learn more about Ascend Sports Conditioning, our mission, focus and dedication to helping people ascend to new levels through athletics, please visit www.ascendsportsconditioning.com

Looking at Yourself Naked in the Mirror: Assessing Your Season

October 18th, 2009

naked-reflectionNo matter what your sport and when the season for that sport ends, it’s important to look back and do an assessment on the season– what went right, what went wrong, what to do differently next season. It’s a critical step in the lifecycle of a season (mesocycle) and lifecycle of an athlete’s career (macrocycle). If you work with a coach, a season end assessment is an important communication tool to adjustment your training accordingly.

Assessing your season should like looking in the mirror naked at yourself: fully transparent, exposed, and hiding nothing. It’s a time to be honest with yourself and your coach– don’t hide anything. Talk about what you did wrong and where you could improve. On the flip side, give yourself heaping praise when it’s appropriate. No one is perfect and always has room for improvement, which is why the season assessment is done in the first place.

Also, in addition to a self-assessment done by the athlete, I will always provide my own, independent assessment as a coach to my clients. The athletes I work with always get feedback from me throughout the season, but at the end of the season I like to do a ‘final wrap’ and provide pointed areas where I think things went well and not so well. This is often very valuable feedback to the athlete and gives them insight as well as motivation for planning out the next season. On the flip side, I also ask my athlete’s to assess me as a coach. For me, this is a great way to get pointed feedback on what I did well, and what I could improve upon. That’s a topic to drill into another time, but worth mentioning at the moment as part of assessment time.

The key things you’ll want to assess about your season include the following:

  • Season’s Strategy- I always start every season with a planning process with athletes (and if you do not work with a coach, this should be where you begin on your own). There’s an annual plan of how the season will be approached, periodizing the year around selected races. This is the place to start. Every athlete’s plan changes 100% of the time due to family, work, health or other issues. Assess why these changes occured and how you would plan differently next time. Were the goals of the season achieved (why/why not)? Were they the correct goals? Did you achieve the objectives planned throughout the season (why/why not)? Was the volume correct? How about the intensity? Were the races the right ones or far enough apart? Did scheduling work as planned?
  • Physiological training– A general look back at how you performed overall physiologically is critical. The main questions to ask yourself are: how well did I execute? How did I handle the volume and intensity perscribed over the course of the season? I typically ask my clients to rate themselves on a scale of 1 to 10 in their discipline (in triathlon: swim, bike and run), and then provide open-ended feedback as to why they assessed themselves the way they did.
  • Mental skills- Mental skills is one of three main pillars of multisport training, so it’s important to look back and assess your mental performance for the season. Were you relaxed or agitated? Did you think positively or negatively? How did you do with the mental skills exercises perscribed in your plan? Often times mental skills training is ignored, so understanding if this is an area for improvement is critical.
  • Nutrition– Another of the main pillars of multisport training is nutrition, both everyday and race day nutrition. Everyday nutrition is what you eat on an everyday periodized in line with your physiological nutrition. Questions to ask include: did I stick with the outline of total calories, and breakdown of fats, protein and carbohydrates targeted? Did you eat the right quality of foods? Did you develop a routine with your nutrtion so it became an integrated part of your day (often times the biggest challenge for people)? Also, you will want to look at race day nutition, which is fueling for the days preceeding, day of and days after a big “A” race, such as an Ironman, or shorter distance races. I always work to make sure my athletes have a very methodical (but flexible) approach to race day nutrition, but execution is key. Questions to ask: Was the plan leading up to race day work for you? Did you follow it? Did you “bonk”, have GI issues, or other issues the day of a race? If so, why?
  • Race Strategy– Having a sound strategy for each race (particularly “A” races) is key, so looking back on how the planning and strategy execution worked for those races is important. Questions to ask: Did the race strategy planning process work? Did you execute against the strategy effectively? How would you adjust the strategy?

Be sure to document all of your thoughts on the season assessment. Having it in writing is important to capture the data, and a way for you to communicate it to your coach if you work with one. I typically provide my athlete’s a form to capture the input. I have them save it as part of their athletic journal.

Finally, the most important step of the season assessment is to analyze and optimize. It’s one thing to have collected all the data, but it’s another to look closely at it and undertake concrete changes. This seems like an obvious step, but it’s one that surprisingly gets omitted since many folks feel that if they’ve at least documented it (or had the discussion), then they’ve done what they needed to do. In fact, it’s critical that you outline exactly what changes you plan on making for next season. For instance, if in the season assessment you note that “I had difficulties getting my bike speed to where I would have liked. I really think had I spent the time on more bike speed work, it would have made a big difference in my performance”, then you’re going to want to do things to analyze and optimize this:

  1. drill into the why’s behind this (why didn’t you do more bike speed work? Was it because you didn’t plan it or was it because you did not execute what was planned? Or perhaps what you had planned did not work for you– then you should undertand why this was the case. )
  2. what are you going to do about it? Let’s say you did not execute appropriately against what was planned for bike speed workouts since they were difficult for you to hit the splits over the course of the season and you did not accurately measure your baseline bike fitness to set those split times (hopefully this would have been caught while executing at the time, but let’s say it was not). You’ll want to then be specific in optimizing by having a recommendation of “next season I will set my bike split times for my speed workouts based on results from my periodic bike tests.”

Once you have your specific recommendations, you’re good to go for planning out next season. I will be addressing this exact topic– planning out your multisport season– in my next blog post (stay tuned!).

There are certainly different ways to approach the season assessment, and I’ve outlined some ideas that have worked for me and the athlete’s I work with. Perhaps you have some ideas on what has worked for you? What are some of the things you look back on and assess? How do you see yourself when you look naked in the mirror at season’s end?

Ascending Athlete #3: Jessica Valenzuela

October 5th, 2009
Jessica getting ready to rip it up on her kiteboard

I’ve started a series called “Ascending Athletes”, which features people achieving great things in their lives and/or impacting the lives of others through athletics. I’m featuring athletes of all backgrounds, sports and skill levels. Everyone has a story to tell– whether a recreational or beginner just starting to work out or a hardcore athlete who is competing at an elite level. The goal of the Ascending Athlete series is to capture these stories and inspire others to seek similar challenges and rewards. If you would like to share your story or would like to nominate someone as an Ascending Athlete, please let me know. For more information about Ascend Sports Conditioning, visit our website.

Jessica Valenzuela

Ascending Higher is a conversation on multisport, and few people define the word multisport better than Jessica Valenzuela. Whether it’s ripping it up on her kiteboard (something even I haven’t tried yet, but would like to!) or cruising on her bike, Jessica is a multisport force to be reckoned with. I met Jessica through social media: I would see these super-cool updates on Twitter and Facebook of how she just finished a day of kiteboarding, or just got back from shredding some new snow on her snowboard. Those would be followed by updates of other adventures in her life– whether it be with her digital advertising agency, her life in the Big Apple, or reaching out to help her people of her native land, The Philippines. From those updates, I knew she would definitely qualify as an Ascending Athlete.

Recently, the Philippines was devastated by Typoon Ketsana and Jessica is helping to raise money for relief through The Point: Project Phillippines. If you are interested in donating, please visit the Project Philippines website.

Jessica also is an entrepreneur and has a fascinating professional background. When not kiteboarding, snowboarding, hiking or actively pursuing extreme sport, Jessica is a digital advertising visionary with a flair for creating and marketing global brands. She founded, and now serves as chief principal of Mavin Digital, Inc., a fun, nimble NYC boutique specializing in inspirational digital branding. Built on a 12-year career with well-known agency powerhouses like Y&R Wunderman, Tribal DDB and OgilvyAction, Jessica understands how to deliver meaningful brands from creative concept to execution and measurement. More importantly, Jessica brings industry know-how and virtual tenacity together to lead brands successfully into the digital world including online go-to-market strategies, digital advertising and marketing communications, as well as overall brand messaging. She offers a mobile “spitfire” team customized to fit each client program; and has worked on a variety of creative projects and ongoing branding campaigns ranging in size and scale for Kaplan Inc., Schering-Plough Inc., Novartis, Pfizer, Chevron, Philips, Hewlett Packard, Forbes.com, Cantor Fitzgerald and Accenture. Personalities have also turned to her insightful digital approach including well-known pop star Gwen Stefani. Jessica takes brands beyond traditional marketing boundaries with ease, and strategically maps brand approach to audience and successful outcome. The result is digital branding on a dime. Mavin Digital. Jessica also keeps an ongoing blog, Mavin Digital Mashup and recently released a new corporate reel for the brand. Check it out!

Jessica was kind enough to answer some questions and share some of her thoughts on what makes her an Ascending Athlete:

Why are athletics important to you?

As a child, the great outdoors and athletics were very much part of growing up. I recall flying paper kites, climbing haystacks and running with my boy cousins in the rice fields. Yes, I was the only girl in a family of nephews and was very much a little tomboy with Beatles style hair and freckles. Unusual to have a Filipina with freckles, then again I am not your typical Filipina. On the weekends, my stepdad and uncles would take us to the forest for hikes and to hunt wild birds. Our backyard was a source for big adventure! I’d climb this big tree called “aratilles” and harvest the tiny and sweet juicy fruit by popping them in my mouth before descending. When I learned to ride my bike at age 9, and after my homework and chores, I’d be gone for long hours and return at sunset. Summer camps during my teen years in the mountain region of Baguio City meant I was sent away for weeks to ride horses, play tennis and basketball, as well as mountain bike with fellow summer campers.

I’m a cosmopolitan girl with a sports heart! Today, if I were presented with the choice of kiteboarding, snowboarding or a long bike ride versus a visit to the Hamptons and laying poolside, or shopping in Soho, I would likely still choose my sport. Like my work as an entrepreneur, my outdoor adventures are a top priority!

What sports do you participate in?

I’ve tried more organized sports including tennis and softball. None of which appealed to me for the long-term. Somehow, free-form outdoor sports with the opportunity to travel to new places and meet new people is my cup of tea.

Kiteboarding is a very new sport for me. I started in July, clocked in at least 15 days in the water, with five of those days in poor wind conditions for a beginner. Kiteboarding is the most difficult sport I have ever participated in, but also one of the most rewarding. The sport requires a lot from you, including knowledge of equipment, wind conditions and environment, as well as the focus, patience and practice, practice, practice. The valley of tears can be long and will seem never ending, yet it is the best feeling of fulfillment once you’ve gained the skills to perform the basic tasks and consistently repeat it, then progress to the next level. I still recall the moment I first got up and ride. It was beautiful! I owned that moment. It is almost like being an entrepreneur, you learn something new every day, and the reward is exhilarating. This is why I find the sport so attractive and appealing.

jess-mtns

I am entering my third season of snowboarding. I am a natural tropical person, yet somehow I love playing in the snow! It is such a magical element I can’t get enough of it when winter comes. I learned to ride in the East Coast mountains, which in itself is challenging due to icy conditions. I took at least five days of lessons and on my fifth day was taken at the top of Sugarloaf Mountain to ride down a green. It was the longest two hours of my life, falling on my behind, pushing up and lifting myself out of snow as I tried to connect on turns. It paid off! By riding with more advanced snowboarders, I pushed my boundaries and learned to ride double blacks in my first season. By my second season, I was riding moguls with confidence and ease. I also learned to weave in and out of trees. The most memorable ride last year was a hike up back of chair 9 in Breckenridge, Colorado. It gave me a taste of semi-backcountry with the winds howling and riding in deep, deep virgin powder felt like gliding across clouds.

Road biking is my city sport and when it works out logistically I bike to my appointments around Manhattan. I do love riding around Prospect Park for a few laps which could be from as little as 3 miles or 12 miles.

Last year, hiking was big on my list. I hiked Whiteface Mountain and a number of smaller yet challenging trails. It was my first biggest mountain to hike ever and was thrilled I had the opportunity to do it. I hope to hike a big mountain this fall while the leaves are changing, though my passion for kiteboarding seems to take precedence over my road biking and hiking adventure these days.

What is your major athletic goal(s)and/or events you are participating in for this year?

Kiteboarding is a sport that you can practice all year-round depending on how willing you are to travel for it. Consistency and building my confidence level handling a kite in high winds while riding the board is what I am aiming for right now. To advance, I need to work on transitions, going upwind and then hopefully have an opportunity to do a downwinder with my fellow kiter friends! Perhaps add a few jumps to the list. It all sounds simple on paper, but it is not especially since this is my first water sport. The most I did prior to kiteboarding was swim in a pool. So this is a pretty major step for me.

For snowboarding, this season, my goal is to ride backcountry and try a few new mountains including Jackson Hole and a few notables in the Rockies.

As far as events go, perhaps in my fourth season of snowboarding I would like to free ride for a charity. For kiteboarding, I have far bolder plans beyond participating in an event. With a partner and co-founder who is also a kiter, I hope to help launch a platform that will support the kiting movement and its community members. We’re at the very early stages of planning at the moment.

Why have you chosen this goal(s)?

I believe in giving back and sharing my passion to those who will take it to the next level and pay it forward. I find so much joy, freedom and blessing in being an entrepreneur and in my sports. I believe that investing my time to snowboard for a charity and to create a platform that supports the kiting movement will help influence women from any ethnic background, culture and age to push beyond their boundaries. There are no boundaries. The only limitations are the ones you set for yourself.

What are some future goal(s) or event(s) you’d like to participate in?

I’m working on that now, and currently I am considering the Mai Tai snowkite camp in Utah in February and the original Mai Tai camp in Maui in May. The camp is hosted by VC and kiter Bill Tai and professional kiteboarder, Susi Mai. Majority of the attendees are tech entrepreneurs from the San Francisco area, though the event is gaining momentum and recognition outside of the Bay Area.

What impact has your athletics had on the lives of others?

The passion I have for learning and indulging in my sports strengthens my tenacity as an entrepreneur. I am full of new ideas, creativity and drive. My sport interests teach me to be a consistent, strong finisher. This is an important lesson we all have to endure in any of the choices we make in our lives. When a mountain bend turns into an unexpected steep filled with moguls or when the kite all of a suddenly crashes in the deep water, you don’t give up. You take a deep breath, focus and carry on. Learn and have fun while doing so!

Name one interesting fact or story that makes you unique and interesting

I think that my diverse ethnic background, cultural experiences, gender and age speaks volumes of my point of view and the recognition that everyone has potential regardless. Give people the opportunity to screw you, they will. Give people the opportunity to blossom, they will.

I am a strong independent woman who immigrated to the United States. I am of strong will, character and mind, and it’s what has carried me this far today. It is about finding the people who will appreciate and genuinely be there to support the change that you believe can happen.

I am a woman that doesn’t shy challenges, especially in a male dominated world of extreme sports. In fact, I am used to it since I led and am growing an organization that is predominantly supported by talented and creative men.

Thanks to Jessica for all her dedication, hard work and inspirational story– she truly is an Ascending Athlete!

To learn more about Ascend Sports Conditioning, our mission, focus and dedication to helping people ascend to new levels through athletics, please visit www.ascendsportsconditioning.com