Mike Llerandi Finds a Balance
> report filed October 18, 2003 by Amy
White
Mike Llerandi is a master of balance--a top
age-group competitor,
especially over long distances, he also has a rich family life and a
busy career. He'll be racing in Kona this weekend for the sixth time
after qualifying at the very rainy Ironman USA Lake Placid. He raced
his first Ironman at Ironman Canada in 1988, where he finished 15th
overall and qualified for the 1989 edition of the Ironman World
Championships.
The 40-year-old
Llerandi, who is coached by former Ironman champ JulieAnne White, lives
in Ridgewood, New Jersey with his wife of 16 years, Alyson, their two
daughters, 14-year-old Ashlyn and 10-year-old Grayson, and their son,
Spencer, who's seven. And Mike Llerandi isn't the only athlete in the
family--his brother, Nate, has raced as a professional triathlete for a
number of years and also works as a coach, and Alyson (also a runner
and triathlete) is an eight-time women's winner of the Memorial Day 10k
in Ridgewood, N.J.
Then there are the kids: "Ashlyn is having fun running cross-country, both girls play lacrosse in the spring (Alyson coaches), and Spencer plays roller hockey and wants to be a goalie in the NHL," Llerandi said.
Busy? Just a little, but also super-organized, a hallmark of many triathletes. We wanted to find out how he does it, so we asked him. In typical fashion, Llerandi was back with thoughtful answers in a flash, explaining that he'd had a few minutes to spare.
In his work life, Llerandi sells enterprise software in New York for a small company called Opsware, and he spent several years working for Sun Microsystems.
Then there are the kids: "Ashlyn is having fun running cross-country, both girls play lacrosse in the spring (Alyson coaches), and Spencer plays roller hockey and wants to be a goalie in the NHL," Llerandi said.
Busy? Just a little, but also super-organized, a hallmark of many triathletes. We wanted to find out how he does it, so we asked him. In typical fashion, Llerandi was back with thoughtful answers in a flash, explaining that he'd had a few minutes to spare.
In his work life, Llerandi sells enterprise software in New York for a small company called Opsware, and he spent several years working for Sun Microsystems.
TRIATHLON INFORMER: How did you first get
interested in triathlon, and
how long have you been training/racing?
MIKE LLERANDI: I've been training/racing
triathlons since the summer of
1983. I had just finished my sophomore year at Stanford, where my
swimming career had abruptly ended when I got cut from the team--I had
the distinct misfortune of being on the same team as Pablo Morales,
Jeff Kostoff, and John Moffett, three freshman who also happened to own
several American records! I had picked up running during the course of
that spring, and caught wind of a local triathlon that I participated
in the following August: the Schaumburg (Illinois) Park District's
famous "Splash-Pedal-Dash"--500-meter pool swim, 18-mile bike ride and
a 10K run. I took second and basically caught the bug. My
then-14-year-old brother, Nate, also got his start at that same race a
few years later.
TI: What aspects of long-course training
and racing appeal to you most,
and what keeps you coming back year after year?
ML: Long-course training and racing require
intelligent planning and
focused execution for a sustained period of time. Persistence,
consistency and patience trump everything else. Conversely,
short-course racing requires that you know how to change shoes really
fast, and with the ITU's "draft-friendly" view of the sport, it also
helps if you remain, shall we say, "opportunistic" toward borrowing
some momentum from a neighbor. My last really high-powered short-course
race was ITU Worlds in Wellington, New Zealand in 1994--I saw more
drafting there than I care to remember, and I have no desire to go back
to that format.
TI: How many times have you raced at Kona?
What is your opinion of the
course changes this year? What aspect of race week/race day do you
enjoy most?
ML: This is
my
sixth time at Kona (my first was a front-row seat to the IronWar in
1989, though my first Ironman was in Penticton in 1988, where I got
15th and qualified for Kona '89. I'm really happy to see the influence
that Welchie has had on the course design, particularly to finally have
the entire venue USA Track & Field-certified. My favorite moments
in Kona come during pre-race week, when I can't walk more than a block
or two without catching up with someone who I haven't seen for years.
It also never fails that I see an old friend in the water on race day
during the final minutes before the cannon goes off. It's just one big
happy reunion.TI: Please tell us a bit about your
non-triathlon life, and how you
balance your work with your training and your family life.
ML: I give this a lot of serious attention,
particularly because I want
to excel in every aspect of my life--my overarching goal is to tap into
my full potential as a person. I basically break my world into three
parts: family/social, work/mental, and hobbies/physical. At any given
time, I'm probably over-weighting one at the espense of another, and
the third is probably at a pretty decent equilibrium. Every summer it's
pretty safe to say that I'm WAY overboard on the physical side, holding
my own with my family, and probably slacking off a bit at work. During
the winter I'm probably working like crazy, hanging with my family, and
cutting way back on my training. My family gets my focus during spring
and fall, as the transitions in/out of school tend to require a lot of
extra attention.
All that said, I am nowhere without my wife, Alyson. She's my only regular training partner, my biggest supporter, and the only person who can look me square in the eye and remind me that triathlon isn't exactly up there with finding a cure for cancer...a nice dose of perspective!
All that said, I am nowhere without my wife, Alyson. She's my only regular training partner, my biggest supporter, and the only person who can look me square in the eye and remind me that triathlon isn't exactly up there with finding a cure for cancer...a nice dose of perspective!
TI: Any training tips for fellow
age-groupers, especially newly minted
masters?
ML: Take a long term view toward your fitness
and health. You will most
likely succeed if you can seriously believe that you want to transform
yourself into an athlete and remain one for the rest of your life.
People ask me what I'm going to do after Ironman this year; I don't
really understand the question. After Ironman this year, I'm going to
recover, relax, focus on my work, cut back on my training, lay out a
plan and racing schedule for 2004, and have a blast carrying on with
that. What else should I do, take up fantasy football?
TI: And, finally: Your favorite workout?
ML: That's easy--anything on the track that is
focused, measured, and
really, really hard! Sets like 8 x mile w/400 or 8 x 800 w/200, or even
a longer set of fartleks through our local park. I also have a great
time doing simulated motorpace sessions on my CompuTrainer, sitting in
behind the lead rider and cranking it up to 30+mph for 10 or 15
miles--that's a blast! If I can have any fun in the water after
spending 15 years as a competitive swimmer, I'd say that cranking
through a set of 20 x 100 w/10 seconds rest, recording my average, is
usually rewarding (though I wish I were at least as fast as I was when
I was 14!)