A Ticket To Kona - Dr. Jeff Shilt

There is something to be said for an Ironman training approach that revolves around simplicity and consistency. Some take this approach as a product of personal preference. Others flock to it out of necessity. The juggling act that must be maintained is daunting if one thinks about it for any length of time; a career in medicine, a job that requires a high level of travel, marriage, children, and a work schedule that is highly variable. How then does a person fit in Ironman training especially at a level that results in Kona qualifying performances?

Enter Dr. Jeff Shilt, who is often referred to as, “Dr. J.” If you were to ask him to describe an average day, you would more likely get a look back from him as if you just asked him his thoughts on if he thinks the moon is made of cheese. It would be a non-verbal response, but the look would convey the message of, “Are you serious?” In Shilt’s world there is no average day. “Each day is a constant unknown which makes training more difficult,” says Shilt. A smooth work day might begin at the operating room at 7:30am and wrap up in late afternoon to move on to patient rounds. Evening meetings are not out of the ordinary.

A reasonable person might conclude that Ironman would only send a person over the edge but that’s not the case with Shilt, “It’s a past time that allowed me to meet my wife, become as healthy and fit as I’ve ever been, and grow closer to my friends and family.”

Shilt knows the key to a Kona qualifying Ironman performance is having a strong run which is done by controlling intensities on the swim and bike. Here he demonstrates textbook run form in a tune-up race.

The Early Years

From a distance, a guy like Shilt is the type that leads other men to feel insecure about themselves. It would seem that anything Shilt does, he excels at it naturally. It’s not the case with his Ironman career though. There was no prior experience in any of the three disciplines of triathlon. Shilt was a basketball, baseball and golf guy in high school. His golf game was good enough to play in college at the University of Missouri.

Shilt described his first triathlon experience as follows, “My very first triathlon was the Demolition Man Sprint Triathlon in Destin, Florida in 1998. I had never swam in a pool or owned a bike. Fortunately it was a very short swim in Okaloosa Bay in which you could dolphin nearly the entire way. A buddy let me borrow his bike, but I didn’t know how to shift or use clipless pedals. The bike course was an out and back over the bay with the bridge providing the only terrain not flat. As I couldn’t sort out how to shift and I hadn’t mastered clipping out of my pedals, I fell over before reaching the top of the bridge. In order to avoid that again, I ran the bike over the peak of the bridge coming back. Nobody was happier to reach T2 than me. Fortunately I knew how to tie my shoes.”

It was five years after that first triathlon that Shilt thought about an Ironman. A good friend was graduating from medical school and talked Shilt into doing Ironman Brazil in 2003 to celebrate his graduation experience. Shilt still laughs with, “I will always hold that against him.” By 2005, seven years after first donning the swim goggles, Shilt would have his first Kona qualifying race when he returned to Florianopolis, Brazil and ripped a 10:19:20 which was good for 60th place overall.

Shilt accepted his birth to the big show and described the entire experience as wonderful. Shilt beamed with his description, “Nearly everyone important to me in life was there, my wife Erin and my entire family.” The only ones not to make the trip were his two daughters who were in school and couldn’t go. They had a surprise of their own when Mom and Dad returned from Kona, says Shilt, “They paid me back by buying a dog during our absence. Luna, a shi tzu has terrorized me since.”

The Training

When many athletes assemble training logs, databases, spreadsheets and notebooks on their training sessions, Shilt took to a much simpler approach. It all started with a training camp with well known Ironman Gordo Byrn ( www.gordoworld.com ). The camp is appropriately labeled, “Epic Camp” ( www.epiccamp.com ) and the January 2005 camp held in Australia was arguably the most “Epic” of the series thus far. These camps provide elite and amateur athletes with an environment within which they can achieve personal excellence via “pushing their limits.” The lesson that the majority of athletes come away with after such an experience is a valuable one. Simply, there is no easy way.

After Epic Camp 2005, Gordo wrote out a basic week on a napkin for Shilt. Since receiving “the napkin,” Shilt completes the scheduled training protocol week in and week out, increasing it when he has extra time or decreasing it when he doesn’t. Shilt is quick to point out, “No one checks your training log at the finish line.”

So what was etched on that magic napkin by Gordo? It contained the following basic week which is meant to be consistently repeated. Nothing fancy, nothing complicated and leaves room for more or less depending on family or work commitments.

As a big race approaches, in particular an Ironman, the training shifts gears into specific preparation for the day that awaits him. Shilt still prefers a basic week approach but shifts the long run from Wednesday to Sunday and increases frequency of sessions. He was fortunate this past summer to spend more time on training in preparation for Ironman Canada on August 28, 2007 where he qualified yet again. His basic week was as follows:

If the above weekly schedule looks like a lot of training, it’s because it is. When you are an Epic Camp veteran, the body can handle and absorb a tremendous amount of training. Shilt has completed three Epic Camps during his Ironman journey and attributes a lot of his success to what he has learned from Gordo Byrn, former Ironman world champion Scott Molina, and John Newsome (who run the Epic Camps). Shilt shared his thoughts on his Epic experiences, “Epic Camp 2005 was, in my opinion, the single most important factor in my triathlon improvement. Scott, Johnno, and Gordo and the other campers taught me how to prepare mentally to train and race an Ironman.”

His longest run leading up to his last Kona qualifying race in Penticton, British Columbia in August of 2007 was 3 hours and 5 minutes that was inserted into a big run week. When asked if he would describe himself more in the “speed” or “volume” camp of training methodologies, Shilt stated the following, “I am volume based with steady intensity mixed in. I think that this approach is the safest and most reliable way to becoming a better long distance triathlete. It is also the most time consuming and difficult. That said, I know it is very individual. This past year, I’ve taken a more evidence based approach to training. I think determining your limiters are critical. For those who are endurance limited, they need the volume. For those who are limited at the top end, they would benefit from more threshold training. Those who have huge VO2Max potential should train differently than those who do not. So both types of training protocols could be successful depending on the athlete.”

Life Outside of Ironman

Shilt seems to be able to sustain a lot of activities and interests simultaneously. He seems to have found success in most areas of his life by surrounding himself with people that he respects and attempts to model. On the triathlon front, Gordo Byrn, Scott Molina and Kevin “KP” Purcell each have provided Shilt intellectual, fortitude and soulful advice. He’s quick to mention Mitch Harris, M.D. and Gary Poehling, M.D. who have provided countless hours of leadership advisory, career and life achievement words of advice and encouragement. And finally, it becomes quite obvious that Shilt is heavily influenced and thankful for his family. He added, “I draw strength from my two brothers, who have been tremendously successful in their own right by using the gifts and talents bestowed upon us by our parents. Fortunately, there is no one whose life goals I respect or am more aligned with than my wife Erin.”

What does a guy like Shilt do to relax and enjoy downtime? “I love fly fishing,” he explains.

Shilt with wife Erin who he met through triathlon.

When Dad is doing his racing thing, the girls prefer to enjoy their own time over a few Grande Caffe' Mocha's with a hint of amaretto. What Dad doesn't know won't hurt him...How else can you stay awake through an entire Ironman race???

Questions and Answers With The Kona Qualifying Jeff “Dr. J.” Shilt, M.D.

Question #1 - What are the biggest mistakes that you see age-group athletes make related to Iron distance racing?

Answer - “Improper pacing during the race as a result of unrealistic goals based upon poorly designed training sessions.”

Question #2 - What are three pieces of advice you would give to someone wanting to either improve or one day qualify for Kona?

Answer - “Get the support of those around you, commit to training every day, and find a group that has been successful before in that endeavor.”

Question #3 - Is there any person, business or organization that you would like to give a shout out to that were a main center of support for you?

Answer - “Endurance Corner and the TriCo WS. Nothing is more fun than hanging out with your best friends while training.”

Contact

Coaching

Jeff Shilt’s coach for the past few years was Gordo Byrn – www.gordoworld.com

Iron Resume: