First off, I have some mad French skillz. This past Saturday was the St. Jean De Monts Triathlon team presentation. It included all kinds of media interviews and promo stuff. We had a news crew follow us around while the team swam, rode, and ran. After that it was off to one of our sponsors, Super U, for a live radio interview. As one of the foreigners, I was asked to give an interview. in french. I only began studying French 3 months ago and have been here for one month. It was tough, and I had to ask the lady to repeat a few questions, but the team and (espcially me) were very happy with how I did. They even said they could understand everything I said!! I was pretty nervous but pulled it off. Since this was live.....no do-overs!
listening intently
After the interview, we had a dinner and the presentation at Bessau Auto's that night. Here are some picks of our team from the presentationthe entire D2 team
Mattieu and I discussing franglais (french-english)....notice the hand movement!
The D2 team with the entire club in the background
So that was fun. The next day Adam and I hopped in the car for a 3 hour drive to St Calais for another Sprint Race. This time the race was non-drafting. I had a huge run week and thought I might struggle a little on the run, but it was the bike that did me in. I had a bad swim, but still managed to exit 3rd right with the leaders. I mucked up T1 pretty bad, and subsequently missed the "pack" The pack of twelve were riding quite close together and it was impossible to bring them back. The ref tried to give the entire pack a penatly, but there was a little confusion and it ended up that only a few got penalties and others didnt. I am not going to go into frenchie rules and regs, but 6 people got DQ'd and I moved into 6th. Yeahh! (that was written with incerdible sarcasm).
Beginning to get a little worried that I am too tired, but pressing on. I finished my three week run block with 71 miles and three quality sessions. I did an 1:30 run on Wed w/ 3 x Moneghetti set (A hard fartlek about 39 min in length) and 20x200 w/ (3 on 60, 1 on 90) x 5 on Friday and nailed both the sets. Held 34's for the track workout the entire way. Through in the 5k run in my race and another solid run week. This has been by far my best and most consistent 3 week running block ever. It hasnt payed off in my races yet, but with my much needed taper week, I should come right this weekend.
Speaking of this weekend I am racing the World University Triathlon Championships in Erdek, Turkey. I head to Paris on Wed, then fly to Istanbul, race on Saturday, and return to Paris next Monday. Here is where my next adventure begins.... I am going to do a 2.5 week training camp with the famous Dirk Boekel, Luxembourg triathlete extradonairre. Dirk has just recently secured his Olympic spot for Beijing and has asked me to come up to the Lux and train with him during his Olympic prep. It is a big honor for me and I am excited. I have been to Luxembourg and it is one of the greatest countries in Europe. Awesome secenery and really good for training.
The camp will work perfectly with my race schedule. The camp will lead up to the Kitzbuhel World Cup and then my next French team race the following week. Hopefully I can help Dirk and continue to build on my own fitness. Dirk has legs the size of tree trunks and is one the best cyclists on the circuit, so that will be good for me. It has been pretty tough for me training through these past few races and struggling with results, but I am continuing to add to my foundation and confident that I can have a breakthrough race soon.
Well thats all for now!
Cheers,
B
Beginning to get a little worried that I am too tired, but pressing on. I finished my three week run block with 71 miles and three quality sessions. I did an 1:30 run on Wed w/ 3 x Moneghetti set (A hard fartlek about 39 min in length) and 20x200 w/ (3 on 60, 1 on 90) x 5 on Friday and nailed both the sets. Held 34's for the track workout the entire way. Through in the 5k run in my race and another solid run week. This has been by far my best and most consistent 3 week running block ever. It hasnt payed off in my races yet, but with my much needed taper week, I should come right this weekend.
Speaking of this weekend I am racing the World University Triathlon Championships in Erdek, Turkey. I head to Paris on Wed, then fly to Istanbul, race on Saturday, and return to Paris next Monday. Here is where my next adventure begins.... I am going to do a 2.5 week training camp with the famous Dirk Boekel, Luxembourg triathlete extradonairre. Dirk has just recently secured his Olympic spot for Beijing and has asked me to come up to the Lux and train with him during his Olympic prep. It is a big honor for me and I am excited. I have been to Luxembourg and it is one of the greatest countries in Europe. Awesome secenery and really good for training.
The camp will work perfectly with my race schedule. The camp will lead up to the Kitzbuhel World Cup and then my next French team race the following week. Hopefully I can help Dirk and continue to build on my own fitness. Dirk has legs the size of tree trunks and is one the best cyclists on the circuit, so that will be good for me. It has been pretty tough for me training through these past few races and struggling with results, but I am continuing to add to my foundation and confident that I can have a breakthrough race soon.
Well thats all for now!
Cheers,
B
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