The Best of the US Championships are tomorrow. The BoUS is a race series that takes the top amateur, regardless of age group, from each state and pits them head-to-head in an Olympic distance race. It's a great opportunity to see who's who and to race against the best...if you can qualify.
I qualified and raced the championship in 2006, and it was one of the highlights of my triathlon career. The series championship was an outstanding event, and Jerry and his crew do stellar work to make the athletes feel like royalty.
There are two very cool things about this year's BOUS: 1) the championship is in Phoenix, right up the street so I can go and watch; and 2) one of my athletes is on the starting line for AZ. Kathy Rakel has a great shot at placing top 3 in the race but there are some very fast girls here that should not be underestimated. It'll be a fun race to watch and we'll be cheering on Kathy. She's proven herself with a 5th at collegiate nationals, but we're hoping she does better than her coach did at BoUS...I was 20th in 2006 after a terrible swim.
The other thing going on this weekend is XTERRA Worlds. Brian Barrett is there, with a very good chance to take the men's 25-29 podium. The unknowns are the Aussies and Europeans, but he should be one of the top American amateurs. I also did this race in 2006, but had issues with flat tires (4 of them) so, again, hoping Brian outshines coach.
This is a fin weekend for me: two athletes racing at events I have a history at. Good stuff. It's time for the new crew to take over from the old guard. Is this the weekend?
Good luck also to Brian N and Brad at Soma. Brian's due a good race and Brad is on a killer streak. More on this later...
Brian
Triathlon and Endurance Sports Coaching; Multisport camps, training, and racing in Arizona.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Cyclocross
Cyclocross: si’-klo-kros n 1. cycling race involving off-road riding skills and barrier obstacles. 2. the most sadistic among cycling sports. 3. Pure evil.
I decided it was time to start racing again, not because I’m in shape, but because I need a boost and motivator to resume training to get back in shape. So what better way than a marathon MTB race followed a day later by a cyclocross race. Yeah, Jill doesn’t mistake me for being too smart either.
I chose the wrong tires for the marathon. Lightweight tires and the rockiest course known to mankind makes for a poor combination. I flatted out at the half-way mark in the marathon. It’s just as well…I had only just recently realized I had to race CX cat 2 (as opposed to 4) due to my NORBA semi-pro card.
The ‘cross race was 55 minutes. Not too bad, I thought. Yesterday’s race was 1:30a nd I’d been doing some training in the 2-3 hour range. No sweat. I had my new ‘cross bike, a CX frame from Trisports.com that I loaded with SRAM Force and Reynolds carbon. New Michelin CX Jet tires on the Reynolds Solitude wheels and I’m all set. Truth be told I got the CX bike for commuting to work. It works great for that, but I decided to take off the rack for the race.
Cyclocross is a different animal. For one, it’s on grass. Or dirt. Or mud. And you’re on a road bike. Sorta. Second, it’s a good opportunity to bring all the local MTB and roadie pros and elite standouts together for one race. Third, there are obstacles you must get off, run with your bike on your shoulder, and get back on, all while maintaining forward momentum. I thought that as a triathlete I can run and I can ride, so this can’t be too bad. Little did I know that the course was to be lined with pockets of pain you must ride through.
At the start, I stayed with the main group for a short bit, before being dropped like a ProTour rider with EPO track marks. The blistering pace made me see stars, and my lungs and quads began searing as if on a BBQ spit. When I came back around I was glad the warm-up lap was over.
The race started in a narrow alley of cones, just shy of a 180-degree turn and a set of barriers. It was as if they designed the racers to start out in a mass gaggle, accelerating headlong into certain treachery with near deadly consequences. Then it dawned on me…they did. Then we raced in the grass to the first series of climb-sharp corner-descend-off camber sharp turn-barrier-run up the hill-sharp corner-accelerate like your life depended on it-ease off and let your heart catch up. There was a mild reprieve…for me. The rest of the pack continued to accelerate and I was dropped. Then came the next series of climb-descend-rinse-repeat. A discovered two phenomenon with CX: 1) the hills look to be only mildly steep and a few meters tall from the staging area, but are snow-covered and clouded mountains steep enough for ropes and 22-34 gearing when you get to them on the bike; and 2) the barriers get taller each lap, culminating in a leap that Carl Lewis would be proud of to clear by lap 12.
As I got so far behind I could barely see the main pack, I took inventory. My quads were toasted, my lungs searing, my back was seizing, and my heart rate was in the range that I’d never before seen. This was only a 55 minute race, and based on my being covered in sweat, out of energy, on the verge of a bonk that will last a week and being in more pain than after USAF prisoner of war training, I must be at 40-45 minutes by now and nearing the end. I looked at my watch. I’d been going for 4:32. It’s going to be a long day.
I finished. I got lapped by the top 6, but I finished. I ended up 12 out of 18. Not bad for an out-of-shape fish out of water triathlete recovering from injury. And I learned an important lesson: cyclocross is a brutal, masochistic, evil, painful, ugly sport. And I love it! (I’m already sign up for the next one!)
Brian
I decided it was time to start racing again, not because I’m in shape, but because I need a boost and motivator to resume training to get back in shape. So what better way than a marathon MTB race followed a day later by a cyclocross race. Yeah, Jill doesn’t mistake me for being too smart either.
I chose the wrong tires for the marathon. Lightweight tires and the rockiest course known to mankind makes for a poor combination. I flatted out at the half-way mark in the marathon. It’s just as well…I had only just recently realized I had to race CX cat 2 (as opposed to 4) due to my NORBA semi-pro card.
The ‘cross race was 55 minutes. Not too bad, I thought. Yesterday’s race was 1:30a nd I’d been doing some training in the 2-3 hour range. No sweat. I had my new ‘cross bike, a CX frame from Trisports.com that I loaded with SRAM Force and Reynolds carbon. New Michelin CX Jet tires on the Reynolds Solitude wheels and I’m all set. Truth be told I got the CX bike for commuting to work. It works great for that, but I decided to take off the rack for the race.
Cyclocross is a different animal. For one, it’s on grass. Or dirt. Or mud. And you’re on a road bike. Sorta. Second, it’s a good opportunity to bring all the local MTB and roadie pros and elite standouts together for one race. Third, there are obstacles you must get off, run with your bike on your shoulder, and get back on, all while maintaining forward momentum. I thought that as a triathlete I can run and I can ride, so this can’t be too bad. Little did I know that the course was to be lined with pockets of pain you must ride through.
At the start, I stayed with the main group for a short bit, before being dropped like a ProTour rider with EPO track marks. The blistering pace made me see stars, and my lungs and quads began searing as if on a BBQ spit. When I came back around I was glad the warm-up lap was over.
The race started in a narrow alley of cones, just shy of a 180-degree turn and a set of barriers. It was as if they designed the racers to start out in a mass gaggle, accelerating headlong into certain treachery with near deadly consequences. Then it dawned on me…they did. Then we raced in the grass to the first series of climb-sharp corner-descend-off camber sharp turn-barrier-run up the hill-sharp corner-accelerate like your life depended on it-ease off and let your heart catch up. There was a mild reprieve…for me. The rest of the pack continued to accelerate and I was dropped. Then came the next series of climb-descend-rinse-repeat. A discovered two phenomenon with CX: 1) the hills look to be only mildly steep and a few meters tall from the staging area, but are snow-covered and clouded mountains steep enough for ropes and 22-34 gearing when you get to them on the bike; and 2) the barriers get taller each lap, culminating in a leap that Carl Lewis would be proud of to clear by lap 12.
As I got so far behind I could barely see the main pack, I took inventory. My quads were toasted, my lungs searing, my back was seizing, and my heart rate was in the range that I’d never before seen. This was only a 55 minute race, and based on my being covered in sweat, out of energy, on the verge of a bonk that will last a week and being in more pain than after USAF prisoner of war training, I must be at 40-45 minutes by now and nearing the end. I looked at my watch. I’d been going for 4:32. It’s going to be a long day.
I finished. I got lapped by the top 6, but I finished. I ended up 12 out of 18. Not bad for an out-of-shape fish out of water triathlete recovering from injury. And I learned an important lesson: cyclocross is a brutal, masochistic, evil, painful, ugly sport. And I love it! (I’m already sign up for the next one!)
Brian
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Refueling
One of the good things about getting to fly a multi-role fighter is that we get to do something different every day. Last weekend I led a flight in which we fought against other fighters on our way to a target complex, dropped a combination of ‘dumb’ bombs from a dive from 25,000 feet and Laser Guided Bombs, and then fought our way out. Today we refueled in-flight from a KC-135, and then worked some 2v1 air combat maneuvers. It beats having a real job!
On the tanker were members of a Phoenix vocational school’s Junior ROTC corps. These would be high school kids, trying to learn about their possibilities after graduation, while learning about the military and its structure. Today they were learning about the Air Force and its mission, apparently.
As I took on fuel and could see the kids taking photos and waving, I waved back, reminiscing about my own time in JROTC. I was a member of my high school’s JROTC program in order to learn what I could while applying to the USAF Academy. I did get into the Academy, and there did well enough to fulfill a life-long dream of flying. These kids are looking into their future to figure out how to fulfill their own dreams. Kinda brings a new perspective to life, eh?
Now, 15 years later … 15 years??!!!?? Can’t be. Yup, it is. Now I feel old.
Brian
On the tanker were members of a Phoenix vocational school’s Junior ROTC corps. These would be high school kids, trying to learn about their possibilities after graduation, while learning about the military and its structure. Today they were learning about the Air Force and its mission, apparently.
As I took on fuel and could see the kids taking photos and waving, I waved back, reminiscing about my own time in JROTC. I was a member of my high school’s JROTC program in order to learn what I could while applying to the USAF Academy. I did get into the Academy, and there did well enough to fulfill a life-long dream of flying. These kids are looking into their future to figure out how to fulfill their own dreams. Kinda brings a new perspective to life, eh?
Now, 15 years later … 15 years??!!!?? Can’t be. Yup, it is. Now I feel old.
Brian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)