So, Last weekend I was at Mt. Washington in Gorham, NH for a bike race, Newton’s revenge. http://www.newtonsrevenge.com/ This race was not sold out if anyone is interested for next year, limit 300 riders. This is the bike race up the mountain with the worlds worst weather. Check out their website, http://www.mountwashington.org/  It is the highest driveable peak in the east. The bike ride is 7.9 miles with over 5,000 feet of gain. Unfortunatley, this years race was cancelled due to weather. On Saturday it was 70 mph winds and on Sunday the two dirt sections of the road were impassable because it rained all night. Caesar Grajales was the pro who was going to try to break Tom Danielsons record of 49 minutes. Which was set on a perfect day, not a 50-70 mph wind day….

For fun, check out this page: http://www.northeastcycling.com/Global_Climbs.html   I did the Whiteface Climb in June.

I borrowed my friends mountain bike, because mine is so old it only has 7 cogs on the back. Not 10 like new bikes, so I couldn’t put a larger casette on the back. On my friends bike I had a 22 (smallest gear in front on the cranks) and a 34 (largest gear in back) I test rode the bike up Platte Clove Road in Saugerties, NY. Also better known as Devil’s Kitchen. The headwalls on this road are 18-25% I went up the first 3 headwalls (it was pouring out and I didn’t want to go down the road) which were all 20%. I was able to spin pretty well. Her bike doesn;t have a computer, so I don’t know how slow or fast I was going. But it was pretty slow.

This week, I am in Phoenix on business. OH MAH GAWD is sooooo hot. Jess, I have no idea how you live here! The pools at our resort are pee warm…. you HAVE to finish your run by 6am or you will melt. Literally.

I have seen humming birds and a jackrabbit! The resort borders some wild horse range and I can’t wait to go run at 5 am and see them at the watering hole.

Tapering for IMLP….see you in Placid!

Keep on….

The Becker Buzz
July 8, 2007
 

Lake Stevens 70.3
Swim: 26:51   Bike: 2:21:20   Run: 1:21:17   Finish 4:11:36
10th Overall
 

            I headed out to the Northwest on Thursday before the race to hopefully see a little bit of the course, as well as the beautiful scenery.  The northwest is beautiful!!  The city of Seattle itself is a bit crowded, but does have its draws.  The city is comprised of “hills,” or neighborhoods that overlook various waterways and other geographical features.  The backside of the neighborhood where I am staying has a view that will raise a few hairs on anyone’s neck.   If you look to the left, you see Mt. Rainier.  If you look right, you look across the Puget Sound at the Olympic Mountains.  Definitely a “WOW” factor going on here.
 

Ok, onto the race.  I was able to drive both the bike and the run, which was good, but it would definitely have helped to have ridden the loop before the race.  No worries at all however.  My race plan was to try to swim with the pack, ride my own race and then have a good run. 
 

Race Day:
 

The weather was cloudy and cool at the start, with temps around 50*, so I made sure to get in a good solid warm-up.  I tried a longer swim warm-up of 20-30min, just as I would in the pool, and after this race I will make sure to keep it in my routine.
 

I racked my red rocket (the TTX) and thought I was ready to roll.  However, halfway through my swim warm-up I realize that I forgot to lay my socks out for the run.  I cut across the course, cut through transition, got them out and thought I was set again (more to come on this a bit later in my report).
 

I adjusted my Full Sleeved Blue Seventy Helix and before I knew it, I was on the starting dock.  As the National Anthem played, I looked around.  “Where did all of these guys come from?” I wondered.  There were over 20 male pros at the start. 
 

My plan was to find Chris Legh and stick to him like glue.  I somehow managed to lose him right before the gun went off (only to later realize he moved behind me).  Gun goes off, I find feet and we are cruising.  About 800m into the swim I look to my left and there is Chris.  “Great.” I thought.  “This is right where I want to be.  We zigzagged all over the place (the pack does NOT swim straight) and things were good until about 1600m into the swim.  Somehow, the notion popped into my head that I had forgotten to put my Power Tap computer on my bike.  I spent the remainder of the swim debating what I should do.  To add to things, the pack was going left and the exit was to the right.  I decided to break off, which proved to be a bad idea.  It is MUCH faster to sit in the group, no matter what!  I only lost about 25sec to them, but it would have been nice to have gotten pulled through entire swim.  Still, I exited in 26:51 a big PR for me.
 

I got to my bike and decided to leave the computer in my bag.  I didn’t know exactly where it was and I was supposed to ride by HR anyway.  I got on and just couldn’t get things rolling.  I was cautious about going too hard on the first of two challenging loops, but the legs were just not there and my HR was beginning to fall.  I had a few cyclists go by and just tried to keep my head in it.  At about 25 miles, things started to feel a little better, but my HR was still low.  Then I just decided to DRILL the first 10miles of climbing on the second loop to re-pass and pull away from a few others.  I got back to transition less than happy about my ride, but I did manage to negative split the loops by about 3 minutes.
 

As I headed out on the run, I was told I was in 12^th.  I could see a few guys up the road, but didn’t make any progress as I the first two miles were a bit slow.  Then at mile 2, Jordan Jones, a great runner from Boulder, came by.  I made a decision to stick to him and to my surprise I did.  We were clicking off miles just under and just over 6min pace.  My HR was not as high as I would have liked, but I just focused on hanging tough. 
 

I managed to pass Jordan back and catch Adam Jensen, who was just sixth as Ironman Coeur D’Alene and Brent Lorenzen in the final miles.  I came across with a solid run of 1:21 and in 10^th overall.
 

I was a bit tired from all of the IM training, as was indicated by my low HR’s, but I was satisfied that I went as well as I did.  The main focus is September 9^th.  Now I am taking it easy for a few days, before starting the next block of training.
 

Thank you to my great host family, my friends and family, as well my sponsors who believe in me. Congrat’s also to Gabriela and Laura on their 8th place and 10th place finishes!  Here are some related links as always:
 

Lake Stevens 70.3 Results: http://www.pem-usa.com/racedata/ls07/LS07elite.html
 

My Coach Luis Vargas: www.luisvargas.com
 

Timex Team Site: http://teamtimex.timexblogs.com/
Madison Trek Bike Store: www.trekstoremadison.com
Fleet Feet Madison:  www.fleetfeetmadison.com
Blue Seventy Wetsuits: www.blueseventy.com

The Becker Buzz
July 8, 2007
 

Lake Stevens 70.3
Swim: 26:51   Bike: 2:21:20   Run: 1:21:17   Finish 4:11:36
10th Overall
 

            I headed out to the Northwest on Thursday before the race to hopefully see a little bit of the course, as well as the beautiful scenery.  The northwest is beautiful!!  The city of Seattle itself is a bit crowded, but does have its draws.  The city is comprised of “hills,” or neighborhoods that overlook various waterways and other geographical features.  The backside of the neighborhood where I am staying has a view that will raise a few hairs on anyone’s neck.   If you look to the left, you see Mt. Rainier.  If you look right, you look across the Puget Sound at the Olympic Mountains.  Definitely a “WOW” factor going on here.
 

Ok, onto the race.  I was able to drive both the bike and the run, which was good, but it would definitely have helped to have ridden the loop before the race.  No worries at all however.  My race plan was to try to swim with the pack, ride my own race and then have a good run. 
 

Race Day:
 

The weather was cloudy and cool at the start, with temps around 50*, so I made sure to get in a good solid warm-up.  I tried a longer swim warm-up of 20-30min, just as I would in the pool, and after this race I will make sure to keep it in my routine.
 

I racked my red rocket (the TTX) and thought I was ready to roll.  However, halfway through my swim warm-up I realize that I forgot to lay my socks out for the run.  I cut across the course, cut through transition, got them out and thought I was set again (more to come on this a bit later in my report).
 

I adjusted my Full Sleeved Blue Seventy Helix and before I knew it, I was on the starting dock.  As the National Anthem played, I looked around.  “Where did all of these guys come from?” I wondered.  There were over 20 male pros at the start. 
 

My plan was to find Chris Legh and stick to him like glue.  I somehow managed to lose him right before the gun went off (only to later realize he moved behind me).  Gun goes off, I find feet and we are cruising.  About 800m into the swim I look to my left and there is Chris.  “Great.” I thought.  “This is right where I want to be.  We zigzagged all over the place (the pack does NOT swim straight) and things were good until about 1600m into the swim.  Somehow, the notion popped into my head that I had forgotten to put my Power Tap computer on my bike.  I spent the remainder of the swim debating what I should do.  To add to things, the pack was going left and the exit was to the right.  I decided to break off, which proved to be a bad idea.  It is MUCH faster to sit in the group, no matter what!  I only lost about 25sec to them, but it would have been nice to have gotten pulled through entire swim.  Still, I exited in 26:51 a big PR for me.
 

I got to my bike and decided to leave the computer in my bag.  I didn’t know exactly where it was and I was supposed to ride by HR anyway.  I got on and just couldn’t get things rolling.  I was cautious about going too hard on the first of two challenging loops, but the legs were just not there and my HR was beginning to fall.  I had a few cyclists go by and just tried to keep my head in it.  At about 25 miles, things started to feel a little better, but my HR was still low.  Then I just decided to DRILL the first 10miles of climbing on the second loop to re-pass and pull away from a few others.  I got back to transition less than happy about my ride, but I did manage to negative split the loops by about 3 minutes.
 

As I headed out on the run, I was told I was in 12^th.  I could see a few guys up the road, but didn’t make any progress as I the first two miles were a bit slow.  Then at mile 2, Jordan Jones, a great runner from Boulder, came by.  I made a decision to stick to him and to my surprise I did.  We were clicking off miles just under and just over 6min pace.  My HR was not as high as I would have liked, but I just focused on hanging tough. 
 

I managed to pass Jordan back and catch Adam Jensen, who was just sixth as Ironman Coeur D’Alene and Brent Lorenzen in the final miles.  I came across with a solid run of 1:21 and in 10^th overall.
 

I was a bit tired from all of the IM training, as was indicated by my low HR’s, but I was satisfied that I went as well as I did.  The main focus is September 9^th.  Now I am taking it easy for a few days, before starting the next block of training.
 

Thank you to my great host family, my friends and family, as well my sponsors who believe in me. Congrat’s also to Gabriela and Laura on their 8th place and 10th place finishes!  Here are some related links as always:
 

Lake Stevens 70.3 Results: http://www.pem-usa.com/racedata/ls07/LS07elite.html
 

My Coach Luis Vargas: www.luisvargas.com
 

Timex Team Site: http://teamtimex.timexblogs.com/
Madison Trek Bike Store: www.trekstoremadison.com
Fleet Feet Madison:  www.fleetfeetmadison.com
Blue Seventy Wetsuits: www.blueseventy.com

The Tupper Lake Tinman was celebrating it’s 25^th year!  Wow, I was 1…ok so aside from being a youngin’ I was excited to be a part of a triathlon that has been in existence for such a long time.  However, this race also had a little bit more special meaning for me.  My father use to compete in triathlon many years ago and the Tupper Lake Tinman was a race that he used to attend! 

Being three weeks out from Ironman LP, my goal race, I didn’t want to alter my major build weeks, so as a result I didn’t really take much rest for this race and was treating it much like a lower priority race, however, being the 25^th year they were offering a nice prize purse for all the participants involved, not just the pros, and I wanted to race well.  Let’s just say the race went exceedingly well and I could not have asked for a better day!

An 8am start time made for a very relaxed morning where I had plenty of time to check my bike in, get in a swim warm up and talk with a few friends before the start.  The race went off in 8 waves, mine being the first, with the M30-34 and M35-39 5 and 10min behind respectively.  As a result I wasn’t going to be able to watch the race unfold in front of me or see where the other racers were. 

I got a great start and before I realized it I was swimming with only 2 other people.  The swim was  beautiful and fast, until I hit the turn around and was swimming directly into the sun, sighting was…well interesting…although not my fastest swim time, I’m sure I swam off course more than a few times.

A quick T1 and out onto the bike, but not before being stopped at the bike exit by a race marshall to let a few cars go past…I couldn’t believe it!  I took that frustration and put it into the pedals and was riding right at my goal power.  The bike was an out and back and the only chance I would really get to see the competition.  The first 10mi included some hills and then the leveled out into a gradually rolling course.  The roads were smooth with nice wide shoulders, and the sunny and 70 degree temperature felt great, the only issue was the relatively gusty wind that was constantly changing direction.  At the turn around I was 4min ahead of the next cyclist, only I had no idea if they were from my wave or another.  No bother, I kept my power constant and rode back into Tupper.

The run was interesting to say the least.  It consisted of 2 loops, but they were not the same loop.  The first loop took me through downtown Tupper Lake and out through some main roads with a more scenic return.  That loop was pretty well populated with a few spectators and several athletes in the sprint race.  The second loop was far more scenic, consisting of several small residential areas, an ATV trail through the woods and even a short section of single track.  I wasn’t sure where I was going at times, but just followed the chalk arrows and occasionally not sure where I was or even if I was on the course.  On this section of the course there were a few scattered aid stations, some with simply cups of water on a table, and no one there, I also only saw a few other racers heading out towards the second loop in the final few miles as I made my way back into town.  Racing in IMLP in just three weeks I didn’t want to totally beat myself up so I cruised in the last few miles of the run feeling pretty good.  As things turned out the arrows did not steer me wrong and I crossed the line in 4:05:03 a new PR!!  I had to wait another ten minutes or so to see if anyone from any of the later waves caught up, I was pretty happy when the clock ticked 4:15 and it seemed as if no one caught me!

I had a great time at the 25^th anniversary of the Tinman triathlon, it was a great race and I had a lot of fun.  To read the local paper write up follow this link, (anyone know how to make a hyperlink from this text?)http://www.lakeplacidnews.com/sports/sections.asp?Section=sports.  Now I just can’t wait until IM LP in 2 weeks! 

http://www.sportstats.ca/display-results.php?lang=eng&racecode=41554

Last Saturday a friend of mine and ultra runner, Scott Jaime, ran up Pikes Peak.  I knew this was going to be an all uphill effort so I strapped on my trusty Bodylink once again and was excited to see what my HR & distance was going to look like.  As you’ll notice in the graph, my HR was hovering between 160 and 170 for about an hour and a half or until mile 8.5.  It was then that I switched to a run/power hike and my HR went down a little.  I made it up to the summit in 2:48 with the total elevation gain being about 7,400 feet.  Our distance was just under a ½ marathon.  We had a pretzel at the top and Scott ran down.  I hitched a ride down from some high school kids that lived in Denver that drove to the summit (the down hill run kills my quads!). We had a great time and I am excited for the Pikes Peak Ascent race which will be on August 18^th!

Thanks for reading,

Tim