olympic repechage

If there is anyone on this planet who hasnt been watching the Olympics, I'll clue them to what the repechage is. Basically it is what happens when you dont make the finals of your sport in the heats. Some sports get another round to advance to the finals, via a "loser's bracket." There is no repechage for swimming, but there is for rowing. Obviously there are no heats/finals in triathlon, but if there was a repechage in this 2008 Olympic year, it would undoubtedly be called The London Triathlon.

The London Triathlon is the largest triathlon in the world with around 12,000 people participating. crazy. While all of these weren't pro men, 70 of them were. And of said 70, we had multiple world champions (triathlon and duathlon), previous olympians, german national champions, the entire population of french professionals who didnt make their olympic team, cheeky brits, and basically everyone in the world who was a good triathlete. Since it was the same weekend as the opening ceremonies, no current Olympians were there. But apparently everyone else thought the same thing: "maybe i'll go to London this year because it is during the Olympics and the field wont be too strong." It was quite comical standing on the pontoon and listening to everyone talk about how ridiculously stacked this "easy" race had become. oh well, game on!

After 200m long false start in the water, courtesy of Benji Sansome (french, of course), the race actually started and we were off. The swim was mayhem, but I came out in the group. The transition was inside a convention hall (I started to have flashbacks to my various Boston Triathlon disasters). The bike was sketchy, turny, and windy. I got to the run, and had a little struggle. I finished 24th. Not really what I wanted, but I am keep grinding it out. The training will pay off soon!!

I have decided not to race again for 3 whole weeks! Why thats enough time to take a break, do some base training, and then get into the speedwork. All joking aside, I hurt my foot before/during/after London. I actually have been having foot problems for a while, but after London they got bad. I decided to take some time off to let them heal. Actually judging by the fact I could barely walk, I was forced to take some time off. After a week of R&R, well actually swimming loads and biking, my feet seem good enough to run on. I am in the midst of a large training block leading in to my next few races...I only have 4 more weeks here in France and then it is back to US of A. Then to China. Then US of A. Ahhhhh the travelling never stops. I have slept in so many different and strange beds this year. I have definately set a personal record. Since there is no races for a while and the GF just left France, I will send updates on training and whatever else is new to my life. until then enjoy the pics of me suffering in Londres

i look quasi-fast in this pic...

....and not so fast here

to be a tourist, if only for 3 hours

Cheers,

Barrett

i'll take it!

A win is a win. Well, in this case it was my first win of the season, but not in an actual triathlon. It was a "multisport" event. Technically it was an "aquathon" or "aquathlon." I dont really know the appropriate nomenclature. Anyhow, this race consisted of three stages: 200m swim/2k run, then 200m swim/4k run, and finally 400m swim/4k run. There was about 10min break in between each one so not too much rest. The one with thes fastest combined time from all three was the winner. It was only about a 800 total swim and 10k total run so it was a little more run focused....

I had decided a long time ago I was not going to do the race. Even though it was about an hour away I am getting a little tired of racing and just wanted to stay at home and train. Well the pool situation has been dismal at best in St Jean recently, and when I woke up Sunday morning to find that once again the pompiers (firemen) were again not swimming (which means I have no access to the pool. The ocean had huge swells so open water for the umpteenth time in the week was a no go. Allright I guess I have to drive down to the aquathlon and race to get in a good swim workout. My track workout for the day was turned into 10k of "aquathlon" race pace whatever that is.

As I arrvied I had two goals. One, to get a god solid swim warm up and cool down and a good workout on the swim portions of the race. Second I wanted to feel strong on the run portion. I had done a 1:45 progressive tempo long run the day before so my legs were quite smashed. I also figured that since the race was in the middle of nowhere and we were racing for peanuts that no one would show up. I though I would be out racing the dudes on my team and some other older Frenchies. Not the case....several D1 and D2 Frenchies decided that this would be fun to race. I had my work cut out for me. The race went from: "I am not doing it" to "I will just use it as a workout" to "I am going to have to get my butt in gear and race" To make matters worse there was an article in Ouest-France mag about how fast I swim and how I was the favorite for the race. How did they know I was even racing? I didnt even know I was racing until 3 hours before the race. Now I really have to do well!

If you have ever raced in Europe, especially France, you know how sketchy the courses can be. When the are designed it seems as if they try to hurt the athletes. How do you make an aquathlon sketchy? Since there is no bike, you have to be creative. Instead of starting people in or near the water, put them 100m or so away from the water under the giant finish banner. Next make the course short (way less than 200m) and put the turn buoy at like 50m away. And just for kicks, make eveyone run barefoot on jagged concrete (of course no carpet) and halfway through the run to the water insert a 90 degree left hand turn straight into a 10% downhill boat ramp (read pothotes and jagged concrete everywhere). Throw in testosterone, a narrow road, frenchies who couldn't break 2:00/100m in a pool but for some reason want to be first into the water, and huge boulders on either side if you "crash" and you have a race.

As far as the race itself. It was good. I was a little cautious on the first etape (I was not interested in doing the slip-n-slide on the boat ramp) which resulted in me exiting in 15th place after the quick shower/swim. I must have had the fastest run split, cause I was like last out of transition and the leaders were in a different time-zone. I put my head down and ran into 4th about 5 seconds behind the winner of the first race. Not too bad for me for the first one. My parents opted not to give me a SINGLE fast-twitch fiber from their gene pool. Le deuxieme etape went much better. I was second out of the water, took over the lead in transition and rocked the run to win the stage! Woo-hoo. The last race was even better. I led out of the water and led the whole run to take the third stage and 2008 Jard-Sur-Mer Aquathlon Victory (read: extreme sarcasm. This race is really not that important). I felt awesome on the runs and was really happy with how my legs responded being so tired. It was a real confindence booster to run well super tired, even if the race was not so important.

Now it is time to finish off the prep for London. London is a big race for me and hopefully I can rock it. It is high time for me to step up in some big races.....until next time!

warming up in the wetty

leading out of the water of round 3the race to my shoes

Cheers,
B

tactically perfect,

As is the norm this summer this weekend brought another race. This one was in France and it was the second race for my club team, St Jean De Monts. We are in the fight to move up divisions next year (like European soccer) and our manager was fired up for our team.

My race went ok, but again not quite great. I had an easy swim comfortably in the first pack. Onto the bike I felt great. Our small lead pack was caught by the 2nd and 3rd pack and swelled to over 70 people. 70 people combined with crazy small European roads meant super-sketch-ville. I fought hard to get to the front on the last lap of the bike. Into the second transition I was second wheel. Out of the second transition and onto the run I quickly moved to the lead with 70 people streched out behind me. I have tried to be more aggressive in my racing and this was going perfect! I got a little too excited and took off. I lead the race until about 1.5-2k when the wheels came off. I exploded. I hung on for the next 3k, but faded to 15th. Our team ended up 2nd so we are sitting really good for next year.

I was really happy with how aggressive I raced, but again a little disappointed with my run. So after a few weeks of racing and rest, it is back to my bread and butter: miles and long repeats. I think I have focused a little too much on speed, and need to get back to working on my efficiency and endurance. Back to the grindstone.......The London Triathlon is my next race in two weeks. First time to the UK and pretty excited about it. Here are some pic's from the weekend of my team and the race.

Which way do we go?

And we're off!

Cheers,

B

Coupe de Monde Round #2

This one is a little hard to write. I had been looking forward to racing the World Cup in Austria for a long time. I have been in "camp" mode for about 7 weeks stringing together my most consistent block of training ever. I was really hoping for a top 20 classement and thought my fitness was good enough to achieve it. I just finished up nearly three weeks fo hard training with Dirk and was ripping to race. Nevertheless sometimes you have those days. Sunday was one of them. I couldnt even manage to run tempo....

The swim was a little hectic. It was really cold, but not cold enough for wetsuits. I decided to not do a swim warm up because of my inability to deal with getting too cold in the water. Got smashed around like a rag doll for the first lap. Not so bueno. I exited the first of the two lap swim in what felt like last. I dove back in the water at the the end of a very long line. I had to bridge quite a few gaps on the second lap, but overall the pace was not too hard and I had a great 2nd lap. I exited the water with quite a few other big name athletes, but a little back from the leaders. We eventually caught the first pack and I felt quite good. On to the run.....

The wheels came off. No idea what happened. I went out hard for about 1k and that was it. I had no gas, and I have no explanation. I thought maybe I was just a little tired and would eventually come around, but the run actually got worse throughout the 10k. 2 days after the race now, I still dont know what happened. I am taking this week really, really, easy to get my body and legs to come right. I have been smashing myself and racing way too much, so I think some relaxation should be good for me. I have a French Grand Prix team race this weekend so I need to be ready. I think maybe the body just wants a little breather...
Here are some pics from the World Cup in Austria:

Team America

leading out the chase

The weekend before this race I hopped in a local race in Ecthernach, just outside Luxembourg City. I had a great swim leading out of the water, was in a break on the bike for 25k of the 40k and ended up 4th. Lots of good pics though and a tough, fun race.

Do I really want to do this?

sortie l'eau that one hurt a bit

Well thats it for this post. After this week of recuperation I hope to write another race report, but this time with good news! In the mean time i'll keep my chin up, and my wheels down...
Cheers,
B

back in the lux

After the race in Turkey, I had a one day stopover in Istanbul. It is a pretty amazing city that has history dating back to B.C. It is the gateway to Asia. and half of the city sits in Europe while the other half sits in Asia. A true melting pot of cuisines, cultures, and religions. Although one day will never do it justice, here are some pics from my 12 hour day in Istanbul.

The Blue Mosques

The Aya Sophia

Rooftop view of the city from our last dinner....at sunset. Ahhhh! I was a little underdressed for the dinner so they gave me a "ladies" blanket

In other news, I am absolutely in love with Luxembourg. Such a great place to ride your bike, and it has by far the best views from any major city in the world. Only prob......sooo expensive. Why is it that every city I love to train in carries a $$$$ price tag (i.e. San Francisco). Anyways, training has been some of the hardest I have done and I have been making every session count. With Dirk, aka "german precision" every session in solid with absolutely no junk miles. It has been really good for me. I have been really solid through the sessions and even saw a 6 hour day on Wednesday. Body is really tired, but that's the point isn't it? I decided that I am going to race a local race with a little bit of coin this Sunday as my last hard workout for the 2 week camp. I am tired, but will put forth a solid effort. Well off to training...

The area here is beautiful here and will post some Lux pic's on the next post.

Cheers,
B

the WUGS that was

l'equipe

The 2008 World University Games have come and gone faster than I could have imagined. This year it is official....I am a 3 time World Uni Games partipant, and at all three games I have failed to make the front pack. This time I was in the bets overall and swim shape of my life, and still failed to make it. 1o Races in 10 weeks with 9 first packs. The only one I missed was this one. Ouch!

I think the word of the day for me was complacent. I was swimmming comforatbly in the first pack of the swim, but got complacent and drifted towards the back of the first pack. After a good transition. I hopped on my bike only to have a slight derailleur problem lose me several precious seconds which ended up meaning missing the first pack. If I had been less complacent in the swim, the problem would not have been a problem. On the first lap, of the bike I was complacent and content to let the chase pack chase the leaders. We were only (4 of us) like 15 seconds down on the first group on the first hill. Instead of hoping someone else would pull me up to the group. I should have attached and possibly made it. Who knows what would have actually hapened, but I was complacent and sat in.

Our HotelTeam USA going for a ride

The bike was crazy hard with 2 steep hills per lap with 8 laps total. There was about 0% of my day spenton the flats. To make it even more interesting the wind was gusting at 30mph. And it was 33degrees (90+ F). Tough day. We ended up losing about 1 minute to the first group by the end of the bike. I felt w-recked by he end of the bike. Then came the run.

The run has been the focus of my training for the last three weeks. Going into the race I was very confident of my run. Going into said run, I became decidely less confindent. I was having a little trouble keeping liquids down on the bike (not hurling, more like gentle spitting up) and I lost focus after missing the front swim pack. I started the run and felt ok, but did not attack the course. I was complacent.

Team USA apres race

Also, this race is a team race and the top 3 from each country score for the team. With 2 people in the first group and 1 person in my group, who told me he was feeling really good for th erun, I was out of the team scoring. Just needed to get through the run. Well at the 1.25 k turnaround. I saw Ethan, our start runner (who made the first pack) struggling. This meant that I was now the 3rd place US and had to run fast. The coaches were screaming at me to keep passing people. Right around this time my legs started to come around and I began to pass people. 25, 20, 17, and finally 15th. If I ran my first 2 laps like my last 2 I think i would have been top 10. Our team with Kevin Collington (6th), Stephen Sexton (7th), and myself ended up getting 2nd. This was the best result ever by a USA FISU Team.

This is the Suisse and USA teams (no idea why we have our shirts off)

The trip was great fun and it was a blast to hang out with the guys. Stephen, K-Fed, and EB all have race reports on their sites, and K-Fed has a good report on the swiss-american medal ceremony shenanigans. Check them out. I am now in Luxembourg for a three week training camp. I have already logged a few crazy sessions, but the training here is good. The views are second to none, and as of right now Luxembourg City could be my favourite city in the world. Well this race report has become way too long. But I did add quite a few pictures for those who have a problem with reading. I am going to make it a bit longer by adding my French race report for all my french readers (maybe 1). It is unedited but understandable if you speak French.

Une petite description de ma course en Turkie pour le Championatte de Monde Universitaire. Pour le nage il y a 77 triathletes et le depart de le pontoon est tres dificile. Sortie le nage Je suis dans le premiere ensemble. Apres une bonne parc 1 Je suis dans the derriere de the premiere ensemble, mais un probleme technique dans le premiere kilometre dans le velo et voila, Je suis in the deuxieme ensemble (Je ne sais pas the mot pour le problem technique dans francais. Dans l´Anglais "my front derailleur"). Le course pour le velo est tres dificile avec 2 cotes grandes par boucle (8 boucles = 16 cotes!!). Le vend est tres dificile aussi avec 40-50kilometre par heure. Le temp pour le jour est 33° C. Quelle mierde! Arrivee dans parc 2 une minute derriere de le premiere ensemble. Ma course a pied est pas mal, mais je fini dans 15eme. Je suis le 3eme par l`equipe les Etats-Unis. Le classement de notre equipe (USA) est 2eme!!!! Une bonne resultat par le federation. Merci et @+

Well that does it for this round. Catch up again in a bit.

Cheers,
B

mad skillz, team dirk, and racing

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 presentation

the 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

another week, another race

Heading out on the run....

The race went ok, but not great. I felt really tired (with due cause) leading in and suffered a bit (again) on the run. I was content to sit 2nd wheel on the swim and stayed that way through the entire swim. The bike was a large group and the run, along with some GI issues that involved a post-finish line sprint to the toilettes and me not being able to find my legs, was a bit tough. I ran for an 8th place finish. It is hard sacrificing these local races, but I want to do well when it counts!

This week was the second in my three week run-focused training block leading into World University Championships. All in all it was a solid week of training. As far as total hours go I am only hovering above the 20 hour mark. Because of the swim situation here, I can only get in about 16-18k per week. If I was really struggling in the pool, I would do heaps of open water to bring it up to 25k or so, but that is not the case. In fact, I am swimming better now than in the last 5 years. The last few years my running has slowly improved while my swimming has almost gotten slower. The foundation I laid with FAST this winter is paying off. Biking was solid this week with 4 rides and some solid threshold work.

The run. This week was perhaps my best week of running in quite a while. While the race on Sunday didn't quite show it, I had a great week. Total miles were 69, so 1 short of "the goal" (the goal being an arbitrary number I made up), but the real story lies between the numbers. On Tues I did 15x150m uphill sprints, on Thursday me and my roomie Adam took it to each other on the track. The set was 8x400 on 2:00 straight into 8x200 on 1:15 w/ all efforts D1-4. There were heaps of 68's and a 66 and 65 on some 400's. I didnt even know I could run that fast (this was on a cinders track as well). We got even more fiesty on the 200's and popped off a 30 for number 4, so of course number 8 would be completely on. We both dropped a 29 for number 8. I have not seen that number on the track since good 'ol days of high school. A "tempo"type run during the race on Sunday brought the week total to 3 solid sessions. I am on the verge of blowing up. One more week of this stuff and I will be done! This week should be the biggest with around 20k swimming, 10 hours biking, and 75 miles running w/ three key workouts. Another race this Sunday and then REST, REST, REST for the Uni games the week after.

Also a big thanks to Profile-Design. I just signed on for another year with them and this year they are my wetsuit sponsor as well. The Gold Cell Suit is by far the fastest and most flexible suit I have ever worn. It is also the only suit that I do not have to cut the legs to get off. What a concept......Why don't we make a suit that is easy to get off? Well, no other company does. I plan to lead out quite a few more swims this year with it on. It is always nice toeing the line and knowing you have the best equipment.

until next time,

Cheers,
B