This weekend, Mexico City will host the first world cup under the new run-shoot format for the sport of modern pentathlon. Four CS-OTC residents will throw their hats into the ring and test their skills with the modified event: Eli Bremer, Margaux Isaksen, Dennis Bowsher, and Will Brady. I got the chance to chat (via email) with Eli, who is a 2008 Olympian and Colorado native. Here's what transpired from our conversation (special thanks goes out to Blackberry mobile devices for making this possible and creating the Brickbreaker game).

Terris:  It's been a little over 6 months since you competed at the Olympics in Beijing. Crazy how fast time flies by! So what have you been up to?

Eli: It has been an interesting time since the Olympics. I was disappointed with my performance in Beijing. I had figured that on a good day I could be top 10 and a great day would mean a medal. It was really devastating to come out in 22nd place. I thought for sure I would retire after the Olympics, but I was very disappointed in myself. My friend and teammate Dennis Bowsher, who did not make the Olympics, trained with me day in and day out during the lead up to Beijing. In return, I agreed to go with him to the World Cup Final after the Olympics where he expected a good competition. As it turned out, both of us had great competitions there,my winning a Bronze Medal, and Dennis placing fourth just two seconds behind me.

After that, I began opening the door to another four years. But before I could seriously consider it, I had to take care of some other business. Bills don't pay themselves, so I had to find a way to support myself. I teamed up with Patricia Miranda (04 Bronze in wrestling) and we founded 5 Ring Insight (5RI). We use Olympians to teach performance methodology, typically to elite business professionals. It has been an amazing experience trying to start a company, but I think we have a chance to be very successful. We have 6 Gold Medalists working with us... now we just need some more clients! I'm spending about 30-40 hours a week on 5RI and my wife is spending closer to 50 hours on the endeavor. My training has had to take a bit of a back seat while we get going, but I think I'll be back full time training by this summer.

E: I have put in a lot of effort studying the new format and meeting with some of the top minds in the US Olympic movement to try to determine how it will affect the sport. The early indications are that this format adds weight to running, swimming, and fencing, while making shooting and riding less important. That's probably good for me as my shoot has always been my weakest sport. Given that my run/swim are fairly dominant now (and I still think there is room for improvement there), I am hoping this gives me a bit of an edge. Regardless, I intend to stay on the attack all the way through London and not take anything for granted.

T: Sounds like the new format plays well to your strengths...how are you looking at varying your training to adapt? I mean, instead of running a straight 3 k, you are essentially running a broken 3000 meters with approximately 30-45 seconds of rest. How do you tackle a race like that? And how do you go from a very controlled set of called shots (20 in all) to a more chaotic dynamic where you are firing away as fast as possible to knock out 3 sets of 5 targets?

E: I think the training will change a little, but the racing will change a lot. From my early experiments with the format, it is not possible to shoot the pistol accurately with a heart rate over about 165bpm. This coincides with the low side of the lactic acid threshold heart rate range. Typically, you would race the first 1000-1500M towered the top of your threshold range, but needing to keep a lower heart rate will slow the first two 1000s down. The final 1000 will have to be substantially faster than I currently run my final 1000.

T: Outside of the format change, USA Pentathlon has undergone a number of changes itself. A new national governing body has been created and is now charged with leading the direction of the sport. Alongside that, the US Olympic Committee is undergoing a number of changes with concern to its sport performance governance as well. How do you foresee these changes affecting not only you, but other US pentathlon athletes as well?

E: I think it's too early to tell how all of that will affect us. There were some substantial problems with the first iteration of a prospective NGB, but I think we may have dealt with most of those issues now. There is still a long way to go toward getting an NGB in place that is truly performance driven and capable of governing in an effective way. This has left us as athletes a bit up in the air, but I think most of us have handled it okay.

The USOC changes are tough as well. I knew a number of people who were recently laid off. It's tough to see good people leave through no fault of their own, but I think that there are some great people working hard to make sure that the cuts affect the athletes as little as possible. Even so, I guess that we will all have to tighten our belts and try to do more with less, just like the rest of society.

T: You've made it pretty clear that your Olympic experience wasn't the type that you ultimately dreamed of as a young kid. What are some of the lessons that you have been able to take away from that experience?

E: If I compete in London, I think I'll take more control over my pre-competition setup. I have always been the guy who fixes my own equipment, books my own flights, and so on. That is because I want to be responsible for anything that impacts my performance. Going into Beijing, I sort of shirked those responsibilities and went with the status quo. The result was that I knew immediately that the training and competition prep setup was not what I needed and that created a lot anxiety and pressure. This resulted in a downward spiral of events and missteps that led to a very bad performance at the Olympics. The lesson I learned is that if it matters to my performance, I need to take responsibility and personally make sure it happens. It's not that you can or should try to control everything, but I could have done a much better job making sure I met my competition setup needs.

T: So you're about to leave for your first World Cup of the 2009 season. What are your expectations?

E: I'm approaching this season and this World Cup as learning experiences. With the recent changes to the sport setup, I think it is very important for me to figure out the best way to train and compete in our new system. I'll be collecting some data and talking to my coaches after this competition to develop a strategy on a new program for this format.

T: Last question...what does the US need to do over the next four competitive seasons to earn a medal in London at the 2012 Games?

E: We need to be the first or one of the first countries to figure out the new format. We have some good athletes returning for this quad, but we need to find a way to modify and adapt to the new system. Also, there is a possibility that in London we will have a relay. To look at a medal there, I'd like to see two of us in the top 10 on the World Ranking list going into the Olympics. That's doable if we put our minds to it and continue to make the strong improvements we have over the past few years.

T: Thanks Eli and best of luck this weekend.

You can track the results of the first world cup in real time by visiting http://www.pentathlon.org/.

You can also follow along with Eli's progress at www.EliBremer.com.

For more information about USA Pentathlon, please visit their home page at http://www.usapentathlon.org/.