viva la france!!

I love Europe. I have always wanted to go to France. Even though the French hate Americans, I still forgive them because of things such as cafe's and CHOCO-DUO. For anyone who has not experienced the Choco-duo goodness, you have missed out in life. Basically it is Nutella swirled with white-chocolate goodness (If you dont know what Nutella is, then stop reading my blog and go educate yourself!). It is the best thing that has ever gone into my mouth. You can put it on anything, really, but lately it has been the Ritz crackers that have done it for me. Enough about food for now.

Manny and I decided we had to needed something a little more exciting than Sembach, Ger. We decided to rent a the smallest Euro-car we could and drive to France. Neither Manny or I had ever been so we were quite excited. We decided on the city of Metz, which would turn out to be an excellant choice. Since both of have big races coming up, and the whole reason we are here in Germany is to train, we brought our bikes with us. As you can see bikes, small car, gear, food, and two rather small people still had a little trouble fitting in our "speedy" 1.8L Fiat Punto. I think my diet coke had more volume than our engine. After an 1:15hr session at 150KPH pushing 6,000RPM we arrived outside of Metz. We quickly assembled our bikes and headed out to the French coutnryside. Two hours later it was time for a mexican shower (shown in picture) and a deck change before we headed into the city. Metz was exactly what I pictured in my mind. By some act of God we found the city centre on our first try, despite the fact that we knew ZERO Frech. This no doubt led many a French waiter to shake there heads and turn their noses up in disgust. We walked around the streets, which were closed off to traffic, and found this hip, little bistro to eat at. I decided to be adventurous and test my culinary chops and try a random dish, but ended up ordering the world's best salad (field greens, prosciutto, tomatoes, olive oil&balsalmic, eggs, and the secret ingredient: creme fraiche). For the main course, I thought I ordered scallops in a creme sauce, but I ordered chicken in creme sauce with the best frites (french fries) I have ever had. Afterwards it was time to walk around the city and see all the beautiful architechture and other attractions Metz had to offer. As we had a long drive back to Germany, another long training day, and a trip to Luxembourg scheduled for the following day we called it am early night. Metz was awesome and I would love to go back and explore the whole city sometime. Well, this blog is already entirely too long, and I assume the next post will be the same as I recap the Luxembourg trip. Until next time, L'au revoir

friends and rain

Weathermen are usually wrong.  I found out this occurs in Germany as well as the United States.  Yesterday we were greeted with warm sunshine and cool temperatures.  Today, which was supposed to be hot, looks like Thailand in monsoon season.  No matter, though, as I am thoroughly enjoying training here.  Mixing up training venues is a well needed change of pace sometimes.  If you combine that with my love of all things Euro, then I am in the perfect place! You have the perfect training place.  It is not just the geography that helps dictate whether or not someplace is good, but the people.  It is so nice to finally be training with old friends.  It makes me realize how much I miss training with Mark and Todd back in Nebraska.  Oh well, time to stop reminiscing because it is time to go to the pool for our next “flogfest”….. Until next time, guten tag

a percentage game

I spent the entire summer in the city of San Francisco and experienced perfect weather there. It did not rain once, and while it got "hot" for San Francisco for a few days, it stayed between, 70 and 80 nearly every day. I am not that fortunate with weather, so my "weather karma" caught up with me in Germany. If anyone has been to central Europe in the summer, there are but two words to describe it: hot & humid. This is what I figured when I packed for the trip. I was dead wrong. It is friggin cold here! Every day it has been between 50-60 degrees. It has also rained or been overcast every day. Not quite cold enough to inhibit training, but enough to ruin the tan I have tried to perfect all summer. Oh well! I rode 3 hours yesterday through these quaint little towns and beautiful national park, but got dumped on the whole way. You might say that, "Barrett, you live in Nebraska, don't you have cold and wet weather gear?" to which I would reply, "Yes, but it is in NEBRASKA!" I always go to races prepared for any type of weather, but the one time I go somewhere for a month, I forget ALL my warm clothes. I got plenty of funny looks riding in my coat of many colors (every shirt I own). But other than my own lack of foresight, things are well. Hopefully it is warmer wherever you are!

where is the tylenol pm?

Last night was rough. After falling asleep around 9:30 P.M., I awoke promptly at 2:00 A.M. No amount of German infomercials could coax me back to sleep. I decided to be productive. I cleaned and caught up on emails and blogs. As of 6:00 P.M. (this moment) I have yet to sleep today or even take a nap. I am trying to make it until tonight to sort of reset my internal clock.
Today we were able to go into town and experience Kaiserslaughtern. This is where the swimming pool is located. It is a fair size German city with plenty of charm. The old buildings coupled with the tight, twisty, and hilly roads give that European feeling. We rode our bikes through the city and found some great places to ride and trail run. We also went to the soccer stadium and walked around. It was incredible. This was the stadium in which the US v. Italy game was played in the World Cup. With the opening game this weekend, we will definately make it to a game.

arrival

(Written on Aug 8th) After a long flight, we are finally here in Sembach, Germany. It is absolutely beautiful here. It looks like one postcard after another. The terrain is predominately rolling hills with lush green landscapes. There are little villages that dot the countryside, just like I pictured before I arrived. The area has a tangible old-world charm and I cannot wait to explore the surrounding area on my bike. We are only around 100k from France, so a long bike ride to a roadside café for a cappuccino and pastry is definitely on the to-do list. We are also 10 minutes from Kaiserslautern, which was one of the World Cup stadiums this past June. There is a Division II Champions League team that plays there so we will try to go catch a match. I will be here until the 24th, when I will travel to Switzerland to get ready for the race on the 26th.

As far as training goes, this place seems ideal. We wnet for a 2 hour ride yesterday and it was great. The roads are nice, people are used to cyclists and the countryside is beautiful. We are actually on a US military base, so it is like a little piece of the US right here in Germany. The weather is surprisingly cool, with temp’s hovering around 18- 20 deg C for the high (around 65 F). In addition to Manny and Sara we also picked up Jarrod Schumacher and his fiancée, Alicia, so there is a small group to train with. I t should be a great place to relax and prepare for the upcoming race. The rest of my teammates will get here in a week or so. As the training camp continues, more athletes will come to the facility, which should be a good time.

Cheers,
Barrett

the adventure begins!

(This was written on Aug 4th) I am currently in Connecticut, on my first leg of my month-long journey that will eventually take me to Switzerland for the FISU World University Games. The stop in Connecticut on the way across the pond was for the ITU Bridgeport Continental Cup Triathlon. It has been approximately 6 weeks since I last raced. During that time I put in some quality training sessions, and felt sure of a good result going into the race.

My last day of work in San Francisco was on Thursday, Aug 3rd. The race in Connecticut was Saturday afternoon, so I decided to take the red-eye to Newark Thursday night. Then I would hitch a ride up to Connecticut on Friday morning. It seemed like a feasible, stress-free plan, but did not turn out that way. I ended up arriving at the airport at 7:30 in the morning, but I had to wait until for my coach arrived 4 hours later. I couldn’t go anywhere or do anything (even use the restroom), because I had my bike and an enough luggage to clothe a small country. After he arrived we had quick hour drive to Connecticut and we were finished. This to proved problematic as it seemed everyone in NYC thought that this weekend would be great to head north on I-95. Four frustrating hours later I arrived in the “fine city” of Bridgeport. If you have ever been to Bridgeport, you understand that when I say “fine city” I mean that with the most sincerely sarcastic tone I can use.

The race was definitely not my finest day in the sport of triathlon, but it did have some beacons of hope. The swim went excellent. I felt strong and in control the entire way. The run-out of the water was a little rough, but it was pretty much the gravy-train the entire way. I was in the lead pack on the bike, but was not feeling that great. It was climbing to the high 90’s with wicked humidity. I was thirsty on the bike, which is typically not a good sign. As I went out on the run, I knew I was in trouble. It was a death march. I was dehydrated, cramping, and just genuinely miserable. I finished 15th, which got me a few world ranking points, but was very frustrating because I was right in the mix off the bike, and if I had run even close to what I usually do, I would have been easily in the top ten. Now I am still in Connecticut until Monday night when Manny Huerta, Sara McLarty, and I travel to Sembach, Germany, to prepare for our various World Championship Races.

Cheers!

i am still alive and blogging!

Hello all!

I has been an incredibly long time since my last blog, but I promise that this will not be the case in the future. With my sisters overseas (one of my sisters is in Ghana for the summer and the other is in Thailand for two years) and my utter disdain for writing long emails hopefully this will suffice for updates on my life.

I am currently in San Francisco for the summer. It has been a great experience. Training has been going well. I raced at the prestigious Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon on June 4th. This is one of the best races in world. It is always an adventure and very challenging. Swimming in the Bay brings to mind one word: cold! The bike course is like the every part of San Francisco: straight up and straight down. The run is challenging with lots of runnning on sand (did I mention there are hills in San Francisco?). The next race on the calender was the Long Beach ITU Continental Cup on June 25th in which I was trying to qualify the 2006 FISU World University Games. I did eventually qualify, but it was not the typical race. I got a flat tire 3/4 of the way through the bike, and had to ride on my rim for the rest of the bike. I lost quite a bit of time , but had a decent enough of a run to be selected for the team.

When I first arrived in SanFrancisco, I got really sick for 2 weeks. Because of this I decided not to race in during the month of July, and just train. It has been a great time. I have spent a lot of time with Lauren (my girlfriend) and her family. I have also been working part time at the Pacific Athletic Club teaching swim lessons. I enjoy working with kids, so it is a great part time summer job. I have been swimming with the PASA team coached by Scott Shea. It has been great swimming with club swimmers again as they are always motivated about swimming (not to mention fast). There is nothing like getting you butt whipped by 15 year old boys and girls. The geography around here is almost as spectacular as the weather. It is a great place to train with all the mountains and trails and great people. If only it wasn't so expensive to live here (That is why I am mooching currently). Well I leave in 3 weeks to go to race in Connecticut on Aug 3rd and then its straight to Europe for 3 weeks. I will be at a training camp in Sembach, Germany for 2.5 weeks before heading Switzerland for the race.......

Until next time......Cheers!
B

Wildfllower

I had hoped this race was going to be the one to kick-start off my season right, but it was not meant to be. I arrived at Lake San Antonio on Thursday with plenty of time until the 8:00 race start on Saturday. Tri-Cal put me and some of my other buddies up on this beautiful lake house on Lake Nacimiento. It was a great way to relax before the race. Saturday came and it was time to race. After my flat tire at Ralph's, I was itching to race. The race started off with mediocre swim, and Iexited in the second pack, still in contention. I was off onto the bike and ready to go. I settled in a pack with several others and we began to ride a steady, fast pace. Around mile 40 we hit "Nasty Grade" a two mile climb averaging about 8%. I made it up fine, but bonked shortly after. The last ten miles of the bike were brutal. I lost almost 5 minutes to the pack I was riding in. The start of the run wasnt much better. My back was in knots and and could barely walk, much less run. I was quite closed to dropping out, but decided to finish the race even if I had to walk the run. After about four miles of walking and shuffling (at about a whopping 9:00 per mile pace), my back and legs came around and I was off running. I passed a few people the last 7 miles, but it was not enough to better last year's result. I finished in 4:29 and in 20th place (last year 4:24 and 19th place), but I am glad I finished. Now I am back home en la casa de Fort Worth con mi familia and am getting ready for the Columbia Triathlon on May 21st.

And one more thing, I like to give a shout out to my sister brookie, who graduated from some university, I think it was the University of Texas at Austin.....good school. Really proud of her.

Cheers,

B