UA TriCats Nationals Success

Two weekends ago Jill and I flew out to Lubbock for the USAT Collegiate National Championships and the 2012 Olympic Talent ID race. The trip out was fun—we took a Cessna out there. Quicker than a car and no hassles with TSA. Well worth it. We drove our car to the airplane, loaded up (including bikes) and flew away. No screening, no strip search, no bike fees. Nice.

The prep and race went well. The TriCats were ready. Race morning was cold and the day got windy, but the training the TriCats had been doing covered the wind and hills. This is a tough course, the same course as the Buffalo Springs Lake tri in July.

The water was rough, so the stronger swimmers had a better day. Thanks to the TriCats swim coaches for excellent work all year to make sure we went in as strong as can be. We had driven the course and talked about strategy, so the athletes knew what to do. As the day turned out, all 14 who participated had good races. We had 2 guys and 2 girls in the top 40. Andy and Alex were the top TriCats guys finishing in 36th and 38th overall, while our top women were Nicole and Maddie (30th and 37th). In team points, the TriCats were 12th overall (9th for the guys and 17th for the ladies). This is the best finish in recent TriCats history, and considered a great victory with our young team. Congrats, TriCats!

In the 2012 ID race, GEC athlete Kathy Rakel had a great race. She was out of the water in the middle of the group, but caught up to the lead bike pack at the beginning of the third lap. She came off the bike in the lead, creating quite a buzz with USAT and the spectators. She ran extremely well, finishing 2nd among the tough competitors. This was a draft-legal, ITU-style sprint race to see who’s got the talent to become Olympic hopefuls. Kathy does! Many congrats to her!

After, Jill and I had the freedom to fly over and spend a day in Abilene, then on home. The headwind was tough for the return trip, but it still beat driving. And holy cow Texas is flat from 6500 feet!

Road Racing

Last week, the doc shot my ankle up with cortisone. (Does this mean I’m juicing?) Then he said, “go forth and see if it worked.” Here’s test #1…

On my ride in to work on Saturday, I remembered about a criterium race going on that afternoon. I commute on my cyclocross bike—not the best for a crit. Thank God for cell phones: “hey Jill, can you meet me at UA with my race bike? No reason…why do you ask?” I ride from work to UA, meet her, quick change onto the road bike and line up.

My previous training, due to the leg and ankle issues, was this: a good off-season/transition period from May 4, 2007 until March 09, then 250 miles the week of my training camp, then 4 weeks of “recovery.” Not exactly text-book. I hadn’t done a crit since college, but it’s just like, well, riding a…never mind. There was screaming, torturous pain, bleeding through the eyes, and wishes for this thing to be over. That was the warm up…then the race started. Normally I’m pretty good about knowing where I am in a race, but it took everyone after the race telling me before I realized I finished in the lead pack. Not bad for my 5th ride in a month, and the 3rd in 2 days.

I always talk about taking the small victories away from any event, so here we go. 1) the rubber side stayed down; 2) I was able to stay in the lead pack; 3) I learned you don’t go off the front when the pack slows up. Take that time to rest. Those of you who’ve done crits are either shaking your head or laughing at that. I’ll sum up the crit this way: Crits are the Devil.

Sunday was the road race. It’s only 36 miles with one little climb, so says the course map. On lap 1 I realize that climb is something Sir Edmund Hilary had trouble on. People were walking their bikes. No kidding. Really. I didn’t bring my climbing legs, mainly because I don’t have any anymore. Lap 1 I’m with the main pack. I’m in the “red zone” but no problem. Lap 2 I’m struggling a bit on the climb but catch back up on the descent. Red zone still. Lap 3 is like lap 2 but I’m a bit further back. I move from red zone to purple. I didn’t know there was a purple zone. Lap 4 I never see the pack again. Where’s the chase pack when you need them? No I’m into the plaid zone (no Oxygen…remember Chuck Yeager’s F-104 flight in The Right Stuff???) Lap 5 I begin to curse the climb and my legs, what’s left of them. I go numb on the climb. Lap 6 I scream “Dear Lord take me now!” in agony all the way up. Ambulances follow me to make sure I make it. I see Elvis.

Victories: 1) The chase pack never catches me and I finish around 8th or 9th. This would put me in the top 10 for overall GC between Saturday and Sunday. 2) Thanks to Q-Rings for giving me the “power” to get up the hills. With my fitness level, I should have joined those climbing on foot. 3) Hammer Nutrition got me through with no issues again. 4) ZOOT compression gear was my friend this afternoon, and the only way I’ll be able to recover quickly.

The ankle? So far, so good. When’s the next race???

TRIFEST and Dave Scott

TRIFEST was a big hit this year (March 6-8). It started with a ride up Mt Lemmon in Friday, although after a 7-day training camp, I could only muster the strength to hit mile 5. That did cap off 250 miles that week though. It was a good ride--must have been 150 people.

Saturday and Sunday held the conference and expo with clinics. The conference had an 'A' list of speakers, from aerodynamics specialists Steve Hed and folks from Zipp, to professional and Olympic athletes, to the sports best coaches. The clinics on the expo floor held the shorter talks by notables such as, well, me.

Grasky Endurance Coaching manned a booth in the expo. It was a good time to talk with athletes, get out info on our upcoming training camps, and give away goodies. The other expo booths housed the who's who in the triathlon world--manufacturers sharing the new '09 stuff, retailers showing off their stuff, and coaches, races and causes.

Friday night also held the keynote address. Before that, the TRIFEST sponsors were recognized. Grasky Endurance Coaching was recognized as a sponsor of this years' TRIFEST. So far, we've sponsored both years of TRIFEST, and looking forward to the next years and the growth in the sport TRIFEST will bring. Later, I got the chance to briefly speak with Dave Scott, the keynote speaker (and triathlon legend, 6-time Ironman World Champion, and overall nice guy). Dave spoke with my collegiate triathlon team a while ago, when we were both focused on racing--it was good to chat at him again now as we're both on the coaching side.

Rubber side down,
Brian