footspeed

This past Sunday I decided to participate in a 15k road race. The purpose was just for training and to get ready for Treasure Island in 2 weeks. I rode my bike right before, so it was quite tough the first few miles. On top of that something I ate didnt quite settle in my stomach, so I was holding onto my luch for dear life. I went out conservatively, and then built the rest of the way. It was a good idea, and I ended up finishing 4th, but in 51:55, which was 1:115 faster than I did the race last year. All in all, it was a good day, my legs feel strong and I cant wait to race.

Wells, the weather has been quite bad the last few days, and so I am forced to the rollers and the trainer.....I cant wait for my break. It has quite a long and busy season with a lot of travel, but nevertheless been a good one.

Cheers,

B

ill hong your kong

At this moment I am sitting in the Chicago airport, less than 500 miles from my home, and of course my flight is delayed. It is just my luck, though. My fligh from Hong Kong to Tokyo was early and I had a whole row to myself. My flight form Tokyo to Chicago was early also AND I had a row to myself. This means that United needs to make my trip uncomfortable somehow. So hear I am 7 hrs after I arrived in Chicago, still in Chicago.

Anyways, enough about the travel, on to the race. First off, Hong Kong is a great city. Everywhere I have traveled this year seems to offer some unique, new perspective. I really enjoy the travel (forget what I wrote above, ill be over it tomorrow). I met a few new people at the race, which is always a plus. We had a great time after the race.

The race itself was average, similar to the way my season seems to be going. I had a good swim, which put me comfortably in the first pack. This race was really about the bike. The course was crazy hilly. About 1k out of transition was a hill at about 15% for 300m. Then there was one that was 6-7% for 2-3k. Repeat 4 times in hot, humid weather. This recipe makes for a hard race. Through about 10-12 solid ITU guys and you have a race. I was hurting form the first pedalstroke on the bike. I knew it was going to be rough ride. I made it through the first 2 laps fine, but on the start of the 3rd (at the ridiculously steep hill), Greg Bennet decided to test out his new Dura-Ace SRM and see how high he could make it register. So while Greg was doing windsprints up the hill, I was getting gapped with my heartrate well over 200, and smoke coming out of my ears. There were 4 others who dropped off too, so at least I got to share my misery with a few others. I finished up the bike, and headed out to what I thought would be a death march, but was actually ok. I ran conservatively to make sure a repeat run-bonk would not happen. I ran in 9th place for 9.95k of the run till a certain Kiwi named Liam (you sure he isnt Scottish or something?) decided to play swords with me at the end. He won, I lost. So finished in 10th place. Not too shabby, but not too great. Gotta keep riding that bike! Well, had a great trip and even won a butt and tummy toner from the race sponsor. You heard right, OSIM gave us a tummy and butt toner. There are already pics in the works.

One more race (Treasure Island) and then Im out. Guess Ill have to roll out in TI.

Cheers,
B

thursssday

I guess I really dont need to post only after I do a race. Plus, that last race result was quite depressing, so I dont want it to be the only thing I see when I look at my blog. Well, things are starting to come around it seems. I still have the small lingerings of a head cold, but the sickness seems to be subsiding. Training has been going well this week. I am looking forward to notching a solid week of training before heading off to Hong Kong. I am really excited about going. The more that I think about it, the more excites I get. Hopefully the trip will be rewarding in several ways. I know it will be fun, but I want it to be productive also. I really need a sloid placing increase my world ranking for next year and have any shot at getting in to a World Cup. Well, now it is off to ride and run....

Cheers,
B

going slo

This is the race report from Scott Tinley's. First off, I love San Louis Obispo. It is a cool town woth lots of cool little inderpendent shops, and a real small town feel. Laid back? Check. Near the ocean? Check. Lots of hilly country to ride? Check. Lots of small coffee shops? Double Check!! They also have great Mexican food there which really reminds me of home back in Fort Worth, Texas. Anyways, SLO is a place I could definately stay in for an extended periodof time.

Onto the race. See I was really jsut writing the above blurb so I could delay thinking about the aweful race. Basically, I got sick leading into the race, and my result showed this chnage to my body. I had a good swim and first transition, so I was actually first onto the bike course. That was fun, but it just showed me how far I could fall. I went backwards on the bike. I wanted to/would have dropped out, but I need the tri-cal points for the series. By the time the run arrived I was down and out, but trudged along to the finish. So now I dropped form 3rd to 6th in the series, but have a shot at getting top 4 with a strong showing at Treasure Island. Oh well, now it is time to get healthy, before I head over to the orient....Hong Kong!

cheers,
B

your services are no longer needed

This week was the last one in the “four in four” races that I have been doing the last month. This week’s segment was in Rye, New York. It is about an hour outside of the city. This race did not go as well last week. I had a great swim and gave out in the middle of the lead pack, and stayed in the front pack for the duration of the ride. I started the run in contention, but my heel injury flared up. I have been struggling the past week with a hematoma/bone bruise on the bottom of my heel. I thought I would be able to race through it, but not so much. I was limping from the get-go, and decided to call it a day after about 1k into the run at the risk of jepordizing the rest of my season. I did make the front pack, though, which was a good indicator of how things are going.

Through connections of connections me and a few buddies made it down to Manhattan after the race with a driver and a car. Nice. New York is always a fun city to see, and it was a nice diversion after the disappointing race. After the shenanigans we headed back to Rye were I crashed at a “holistic retreat.” I think I hugged a few trees last night, and finally made peace with my inner child.

Well four weeks have gone by and brought me to Switzerland, Boston, California, and New York. All were great experiences. Some of the races went well, some not so well, and one race (Boston) didn’t even go at all. Anyways, gotta get back to Lincoln, actually do some schoolwork for a change, give the old heel some rest, and resume training to get ready for Scott Tinley’s Dirty Adventures in two weeks………

Cheers,
B

pg

After the debacle at the Boston Triathlon last weekend, I was ready to race. Bucky Schaffer was also at Boston, and decided he wanted to do the Pacific Grove Triathlon, so he joined me for the trip. We flew into San Fran on Thursday night to get ready for the race on Saturday. Race-day came, and I was ready. I have had a pretty disappointing season thus far, so I was looking to turn things around. Well, they did turn around!

The swim in PG is crazy. There are thick kelp beds throughout the swim, which make it seem more like an obstacle course than a swim. I had a decent swim, exiting right behind the lead pack in good position. I was a little concerned for the bike, because our pack consisted of some very strong cyclists (it was a draft-legal race), but they were content with sitting in the pack and not breaking away. I just tried to stay out of trouble on the bike and remain fresh. I had a great T2 and exited in 2nd place. I was quickly joined by my travel buddy Bucky and David Thompson. I hung on for a few k's and then they gapped me. I tried to bridge back up, but I was fried. I ended up holding my 4th place to the finish, which was really difficult because there were 7 guys within 15 seconds behind me. It was by far the best professional result I have had to date. By my calculations, the result should move me into 3rd place for the Tri-California Professional Series. Hopefully I can better the result this weekend when I race the ITU Westchester Triathlon. I need world rankings points badly, and another good result wouldn't hurt the old pysche either.

Cheers!

me, a mexican?

Well, the Boston ITU race did not happen. They made the decision to cancel it the night before the race, and of course, the weather was not that bad on race morning. It was raining on and off with little wind. It was not the ideal conditions, but definitely raceable. The worst part of the whole trip is that I was stuck in the middle of the city with no place to train, and my flights were horrendous both to and form Boston. Hopefully next week I can actually produce a race report.


I did get to meet Raul Cordova, a Spaniard triathlete. He stayed with me at our homestay. It was fun to practice my Spanish. Someday I will become fluent! Anyways, he said that I talk like a Mexican and look like I am from Bratislava. I found that quite funny. I been called quite a lot of names and been told I sound like many things, but never been told I look like I am from Eastern Europe and sound like a Mexican…..Nice combo eh???

Cheers!

ernesto cometh

Currently I am sitting in a trendy Boston flat just a few minutes from the World Trade Center. Tommorow morning we race. Maybe. Tropical storm Ernesto will hit Boston tonight and we are expecting tons of rain and winds upwards of 50mph. Hopefully it will clear by the morning, but unlikely. No matter what happens it will be very cold in the morning. Ces't la vie, and there is nothing i can do about it except relax and hope for the best!

Cheers,
b