Ok team… how does it look?

I raced a local criterium on Tuesday night with the Reno Wheelmen. It was super cold and snow flurries started during our race. On my drive home from the race, I encountered a blizzard and 37 degree temps. After a half hour of freeway driving on top of the car, my bike was covered with an inch of ice when I pulled into my driveway.

The race was fun. There were hurricane force head winds on the finish stretch, and tail winds on the back stretch. The wind was absolutely crazy; coming around the 4th turn into the wind was like hitting a wall!  I stayed near the front the whole time, but never pulled. I got 2nd in a points prime by sitting behind a big dude that was cranking out major watts into the wind. Nobody else could hang, and I there was no way I was going around him into the wind.

With three laps to go, my friend Nick from Truckee found himself off the front and decided to see how long it would last. Because it was so windy, I thought we might have a chance, so with 2 laps to go, I bridged up to him, stayed on his wheel and tried to recover. Before I could catch my breath, another dude bridged up, then pulled around. I tried to get on his wheel but I had let a gap open of 10 feet or so, and couldn’t close it.  I buried myself to stay with him and we dropped Nick. I finally caught the wheel when we came around the final lap into the wind, but I was completely redlined and couldn’t come around him. When I looked back and saw the field closing in, I rode up just enough to give the dude a little push so we could stay away. We did and I got 2nd (which I felt was better than 10th in a field sprint, hence the push).

I’m pretty sure the only reason we stayed away was because it was so windy. The Summary screen on my Timex HRM showed a max HR of 204. I’ve never seen it over 197; but I was TAPPED (and possibly not recovered from Sea Otter 2 days before)!

Lessons learned:
1) Warm up is necessary, especially when it’s cold
2) I need to develop more power since I had nothing into the wind and could barely stay on a wheel
3) I need to work on raising my LT (especially if my max is now 204 when I thought it was 197!)
4) I need to be able to recover faster so I can bridge up, recover, then have enough juice left to help out, and for the finish

The Reno Wheelmen host an impressive race calendar. The races are a super fun and cheap way to get into road racing and learn what it’s all about. I’m going to try and hit their road and mtb races whenever I’m in town. Next week is the Boca road race in Truckee! http://www.renowheelmen.org/races/races_07/07_Calendar.html

This is a question I get fairly frequently when people find out I travel for most of the year in a 40ft beauty.  Most of you don’t know, but I’m actually training and rehearsing for the remake of “Over the Top.”  I’m going for the bad guy role, the rival of Lincoln Hawk, who’s played by Stallone.  So, in the truck I’m bulking up to play Kid Falcon and the plot of the sequel is that Kid’s there to whoop Lincoln in arm wrestling.  I mean Stallone’s gotta go down in the 2nd movie, for there to be more movies in the future…you’ve seen it before.  But between muscle-building arm work-outs I have a plethora of gadgets to play with- satellite radio, GPS, and cell phone.  Satellite radio has saved my sanity and the ability to listen to bands like New Kids on the block, Debbie Gibson, Milli Vanilli, Vanilla Ice, and Keith’s favorite- MC Hammer, make the long days turn into a bad soundtrack of my youth.  With all this stuff going on in the truck, time flies by as state lines and time zones come and go.  Until next time.

Falcon & Kid

What a time Falcon and I have had these past 2 weeks in Arizona. After team camp we headed into the Grand Canyon State for Ironman Arizona…making great time, but that was short-lived as the border patrol invested time into a full body cavity search, much to the chagrin of Falcon, before we hit Tempe. A truck wash was in need ASAP.  We arrived in Tempe just in time to meet up with a few friends and grab some dinner.  This was the start of my Mexican food fiesta.  Within the next 2 weeks, I would utilize the phrase “When in Rome” and indulge my Mexican food obsession for b-fast, lunch, and dinner.  It got so bad that I could count on one hand meals other than Mexican.  Now that I’m into Texas, a little Tex-Mex or a steak should help transition into more diverse eating habits, as well as a little Cajun when I head through Louisiana and then some seafood when I hit Florida.  I was very surprised…no solid mullet sightings in AZ and Laura T. keeps taunting me saying they’re all up in CO.  I’m sure I will see my fair share of them when I head through Louisiana and if I’m lucky I’ll see the Mississippi mudflap…but one can only dream.  My creepy James Bond camera will be ready and waiting for the mulletude.

Falcon & Kid

These are the four words that preceded a challenge my oldest daughter, Lauren, recently proposed to me.  Lauren swims for The Woodlands Swim Team and has been swimming competitively for half of her young life.  She gets a kick out of beating me in the water, and she does so with ease, and with just about any stroke compared to my freestyle-only swimming (I MIGHT be able to hold her off if I handicap her with breaststroke while I swim freestyle).  Yes, it is extremely humbling. 

I did not grow up swimming, and honestly, I have probably very little comprehension of the difficulties she faces in her races.  I have no clue what it is like to have to perform in a meet which has prelims and finals, where, if I am fortunate, I get to swim 14 individual races in a period of four days (not to mention relays).  But, c’mon…I HAVE raced a few marathons, some Ironmans, and several Half-Ironmans…so, really how difficult could it be?  My races last hours, and hers…for the most part she is finished in a couple of minutes.  

Ah, then those four simple, yet complex words, “I bet you can’t…”  

Lauren knows I have a competitive spirit, which when faced with somebody telling me “I can’t” do something, usually means that I will work hard just to prove that person wrong.  So, when Lauren and I were comparing the difficulties of triathlons versus swimming, she set a challenge for me.  She told me, “I bet you can’t swim a 200 fly even if you tried.”  I accepted the challenge…foolishly, maybe? 

The USMS National LC Championship will be hosted by my hometown Masters Swim Team this coming August, and Lauren graciously gave me until then to train and prepare for the 200 fly.  If I succeed, she gets to do my laundry.  If I don’t, well…we won’t go there! 

I have made the commitment to this race, and have engaged the help of The Woodlands Masters Swim Coaches.  While they are positive I will fulfill the challenge set by my daughter, I know it will take a lot of hard work and preparation. 

So, now you may wonder…WHY am I doing this?    

1.    To inspire my daughters to not be afraid of trying something new, regardless of their age.  “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.”  -Babe Ruth
I did not grow up swimming, so the butterfly stroke is something I have viewed as a form of punishment.  Really, is the body meant to undulate like that?  It surely is not an efficient stroke, is it?  It might be a beautiful stroke, when done correctly, but the operative words are…when done correctly.  Regardless, the best way to inspire somebody is through actions.  Besides, if I don’t try…how will I really know if I can or cannot do something?  How can I expect my daughters to live up to a standard, unless I personally do the same? 
2.     To demonstrate to my daughters that you can do ANYTHING you set your mind to as long as you properly prepare.  “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”  -Benjamin Franklin 
To date, I have been able to swim 1×50 meter butterfly, but of course, I get to the wall and am gasping for air and my entire body is completely exhausted.  Currently I might only be ¼ of the way there, but I am preparing for the 200 fly by religiously working on my core strength (with the help of Gaiam and Trigger Point’s Stability Pods), by taking swim lessons (thank you Fun IN Swimming), and by swimming, swimming, swimming.
3.     To motivate my daughters to pursue dreams outside of their comfort zone.  “If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”  -Thomas Edison
There is no doubt that attempting the 200 fly is out of my comfort zone, but it has now gone beyond a challenge, and has become a dream of mine.  Even swimmers acknowledge that the 200 fly is one of the more difficult races.  I can talk to my girls all day about the importance of pushing themselves to the edge, but I would rather have them watch their mom demonstrate the pursuit of a dream.  
 

Happy Training.