Posted: December 18, 2004

Multisport: EnduranceRadio.com Interview with Triathlete Megan Rocker

From: EnduranceRadio.com

Tim Bourquin: “Welcome back to EnduranceRadio.com.

This is Tim Bourquin. Thanks for joining us for another interview today. As usual we’re adding to our interview library daily with a new interview everyday. Today we’re going to speaking to Megan Rocker. She is an age grouper triathlete and she’s been doing about eight or nine races a year, and she’s from Minneapolis. We’re going to be speaking to her about how she races and trains, and a little bit about her background. A couple of things; make sure you sign up for our monthly audio newsletter because we’re giving away some great gear like wetsuits and heart rate monitors and clothing and shoes and all sorts of things to celebrate the launch of www.EnduranceRadio.com, but you’re got to be a subscriber to our newsletter to be eligible to win, that’s the catch; but its painless, we only send you one newsletter a month and it’s the best of all the interviews from the previous month, so make sure you get signed up for that. So we’re going to be right back once again to speak with Megan Rocker in about 30 seconds.” “Dehydration can diminish your energy and impair your performance. Scientists at the Gatorade Sports Science Institute have been studying athletes for nearly 20 years and understand what endurance athletes need to stay hydrated. Gatorade Endurance Hydration Formula contains a five electrolyte blend consisting of sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium and magnesium, formulated to replace the fluids and electrolytes you lose during longer more intense workouts and races. Find out more about Gatorade Endurance Hydration at www.gatorade.com today. Is it in you?”

Tim Bourquin: “Megan thanks very much for joining us on the phone today, I appreciate your time.”

Megan Rocker: “Thank you for having me.”

Tim Bourquin: “You’ve been racing how many years now in triathlon?”

Megan Rocker: “This coming up will be my third season, so about three years.”

Tim Bourquin: “Now what got you into it?”

Megan Rocker: “I had been a life long runner. My dad was a runner in college so I grew up going to road races, participating in them, ran through high school and college and in 2002 I started experiencing a lot of knee pain and I had knee surgery previously when I was younger and as it turned out I, like most runners, was stubborn and pig-headed and tried to run through the pain.”

Tim Bourquin: “Was it the same knee that you had surgery on before?”

Megan Rocker: “Yes, and which is part of the reason why I ignored it. I knew that I had the beginning of osteoarthritis, I’d had some problems. There had been a lot of knee pain most of my life and my athletic career and I didn’t think too much about it until it got to point where I couldn’t really walk very well any more and I was like, ‘Eh, I think it’s a little more serious than I thought it was’. They told me that I had torn meniscus and I had osteochondritis just beginning. I had some quite extensive actually, articular cartilage damage and so they went in and they did a lateral minisectomy and removed more of my lateral meniscus, and they also did a micro-fracture, which is the procedure where they drill down into your bone and then it bleeds and forms a scar tissue which acts as a surrogate for your articular cartilage because once your articular cartilage is gone its gone basically.”

Tim Bourquin: “Now was this arthroscopic surgery, or was this full-on, cutting open, doing it?”

Megan Rocker: “They do it arthroscopically now, which is nice when you have a micro fracture. I was non-weight bearing for 12 weeks so I was on crutches for 12 weeks. It’s a little more expense than just your general lateral minisectomy because they don’t want you to stand on it basically when its trying to grow the new cartilage, but it was a fun procedure.”

Tim Bourquin: “Being a life long runner that must have worn your patience pretty thin being on crutches for that long?”

Megan Rocker: “Yes, my patience and the patience of pretty much everyone around me I think; my fiancée who was absolutely supportive when he could have gone through the roof, but the first reaction when runners have to be out, or when any athlete has to be out for a while is, ‘Oh, I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die, I’m going to get fat, this is gonna be the worse thing that ever happened to me,’ and I went through that for a long time because, as my surgeon said, ‘You’re going to come out of this and you may never run again, and if you do run its not going to be at the level you were running at before; its not going to be seven days a week, its not going to be heavy training. Its going to be a couple of miles a couple of times a week,’ so there was definitely a big adjustment that I had to make which is why I started biking eventually to preserve my sanity.”

Tim Bourquin: “So were you one of those folks that looked at the doctor and said, ‘I don’t believe you, I’m getting back into this as soon as I can,’?”

Megan Rocker: “Yes in one way I was and I think that was a good thing, but I also have learned that after repeated injuries that sometimes you have to listen to the doctor and sometimes he really does know what was best. It was fortunate that I had very good orthopedic surgeons. I was in Madison, Wisconsin at the time and then here in Minneapolis and so they worked with me to get me to be able to do as much as I could. They introduced me to a lot of things like biking and swimming; they kept me active and they kept me in line too.”

Tim Bourquin: “In triathlon, of course, one of the important legs is the run. At what point did you decide that you were going to take this on because even Olympic distance, which I’ve read if what you prefer, that’s no short run for most people anyway?”

Megan Rocker: “No, its not. My first season I had just got back into it and it was pretty much all walk-running. All my training I did either on the elliptical trainer or in the pool aqua-jogging and then the races I walked and ran, and then same thing with the training last year. I got up to a couple of times a week, I alternate walk/running. It’s a substantial chunk of the race and obviously it turns out to be a limiter when you can only go so fast and you have to stop and walk, but I’m thankful that I’m able to bike well and I’m able to swim without a problem; I won’t say I swim well, but I swim acceptably I guess, and so they make up for it.”

Tim Bourquin: “Are you a pretty competitive person?”

Megan Rocker: “Yes, I’m very competitive and it was a big adjustment for me to have to step back and say, ‘You know, the run is going to be a limiter for me and I’m not going to be able to do everything I could before,’ so it really drove me, I think, to do as well as possible on the bike and in the pool, and it worked out, it worked out well. It definitely gave me a new prospective. You meet a lot of people in triathlon who have some crazy inspiring stories, and I think the whole knee surgery thing as opposed to being a limiter, really opened my eyes to things could be a lot worse and I should be thankful I have what I do.”

Tim Bourquin: “I was going to say did it force you to just enjoy the sport instead of always trying to compete as best you can?”

Megan Rocker: “Definitely. I’ve seen all the value in having fun. I definitely have a much better attitude; I mean I’m still competitive and I still want to do as well as I possibly can and there’s women that you line up on the start line with every time and you’re like, “Ah, I’m going to crush you on the bike,’ and they’re like, ‘No, I’m going to get you on the swim.’ That is definitely still there, but I definitely enjoy it more and I know now when to step back and say, ‘If its not fun, its not worth doing,’ because it isn’t my career, it’s a hobby and it should be fun and it shouldn’t be something that I loath doing.”

Tim Bourquin: “I want to ask you about what’s next for you, but we need to take a quick break and we’ll be right back to speak with Megan Rocker.” “As an endurance athlete you have special hydration needs. Introducing Gatorade Endurance Hydration Formula, developed for elite and endurance athletes for use during their longer, most intense workouts and races. Research shows you’re going to sweat out more essential fluids and minerals during prolonged training and races. Find out how to put them all back properly at www.gatorade.com. Get the edge you need to achieve that PR you’ve been training for. Gatorade Endurance Hydration Formula, nobody does hydration better. Is it in you?”

Tim Bourquin: “Megan, how many races do you think you’ll be doing next year, 2005?”

Megan Rocker: “I wanted to do 10 or 11, but as it turns out we’re actually getting married at the beginning of the season. Minnesota does not have a very long duathlon season and that’s pretty much going to take up all of them so probably seven or eight.”

Tim Bourquin: “Now your future husband is a triathlete as well, correct?”

Megan Rocker: “Yes, he is.”

Tim Bourquin: “Do you train together?”

Megan Rocker: “We do sometimes. We do on the trainers obviously, on the bike. On the runs, he’s a much better runner than I am, and we swim together from time to time. It’s good to workout together sometimes but otherwise you need to step back and do your own thing.”

Tim Bourquin: “Do you have to wear a brace or any type of other thing and how do you train to make sure that you don’t have to have surgery again down the road? Is it something you can avoid by making changes in how you run?”

Megan Rocker: “I do a lot of weight training and isometric exercises to strengthen all the little muscles. I have some problems with proprioception so when my leg gets fatigued I have trouble controlling it, that’s why I alternate walking and running. I don’t need a brace. Unfortunately, I found out this year in my last MRI that the surgery wasn’t successful and so we’re going to be guarded with it this year and do what we can, and we’re looking at a cartilage transplant probably after next season.”

Tim Bourquin: “How long do you think that will keep you off your feet?”

Megan Rocker: “It’s another six to twelve months of rehab, so it’s a big rehab. We don’t know what it will do for the running. I’ll definitely be able to bike and swim afterwards; running is kind of a toss-up. When you lose your meniscus it makes cartilage transplant operations less successful sometimes. There’s a lot of complications going on but we’ll see.”

Tim Bourquin: “You’re got a good attitude, so for those of you out there that are complaining because you don’t want to go out running in the morning because it’s too cold you’ve got to listen to Megan. You’ve got a great attitude about this even though you’ve had things in the past and you’re going to possibly face things here in the future.”

Megan Rocker: “You’ve got to adapt. There always somebody worse off than you. You can only do what you can do.”

Tim Bourquin: “Are you a member of a tri-club or any other clubs in your area?”

Megan Rocker: “I am. I was fortunate enough last to be on the www.active.com Active Elite Team, sponsored by Egg Beaters, which was a big thrill, and I also do a lot of running for the Gear West Tri-Club team here in the city, out at Long Lake, Minnesota; they’re a fabulous store. If anyone’s ever here I highly recommend you go and talk to Kevin, he’s great.”

Tim Bourquin: “Now races in your area; is it pretty much now done for the season?”

Megan Rocker: “Yes we’re done for the season. The duathlons will start up again in May. In Minnesota the waters pretty darn cold, the ice has only been off the lake for a month or so by the time we get back in the water.”

Tim Bourquin: “So definitely wetsuit time?”

Megan Rocker: “Oh yes. I can think of maybe one or two races in the last two years where I didn’t wear a wetsuit. Its chilly water but we’re a hardy breed up here.”

Tim Bourquin: “Do you get bored training indoors or do you still go out and train even though it gets cold?”

Megan Rocker: “I like training outside. I was always an outdoor runner, I love running outside, I’ll always be outside. I don’t mind the trainer, I’m kind of a weirdo that way that I like to put my bike on the trainer, so I ride in the winter inside and it doesn’t really bug me.”

Tim Bourquin: “Well Megan we’re about out of time, but I hope we can follow up with another interview next season and hear how you’re doing.”

Megan Rocker: “Excellent.”

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