updates...

Hello all,

Well China was an experience, full of highs, lows, and everything in between. Travel to the race took over 72 hours, and was by far the most strenuous of my life. Because of rerouting issues, I missed my flight out of Beijing into Shenyang. This was the lasy flight out of the day, and forced me to spend the night in Beijing. I got swindled by a bunch of gypsies, but they did not steal my stuff. The story is way too long and complicated for me to write in the blog, so if you want a funny story call me when I am back in the states. I'll summarize by saying I thought these girls were form the race organization, took their help (which they did help me), but then paid handsomely for it. They were unofficial taxi drivers, and let me tell you, even in Beijing a 5 hour Taxi service was not cheap. I did see Tienanmen (SP?) square though, but my camara died right before I arrived, so I had to pay for pictures od me there. Oh yeah, Beijing is perhaps the worst city in the world. I hate it. It is so polluted, crowded, it smells, and people are quite rude. It is about ten times worse than Bangkok.

Onto the race.... The organizers put on s stellar race. We were shuttled from the airport to the race-site (nearly 5 hours) and well looked after. After being alone for nearly 3 days, it was nice to see some of my friends again. I met some awesome Kiwi's and Aussies as well. Race day came fast. It actually turned out to be quite a stellar field. There were 3 current Olympians and many other fast athletes. I had a solid swim, right in the main bunch. I exited in great position and hopped on my bike. Onto the bike was the race went really wrong. I immediately got dropped by the front group. I ended up in a chase pack with 4 other Asians. Not a good place to be in with the front pack 30 sec up the road and no one willing to do the work. Fortunately for me (not for others) there was a crash in the first pack. One rider, Nathan Richmond, an Olympian from New Zealand, fell but was not hurt. He got back up and joined us, and it was just the firepower we needed to catch the front group. We rode very hard to catch the front bunch by the half-way point. My legs were fried from the chase, but I tried to make the best of the situation. My seat had also slipped down again, and my quads started to cramp. Not too bueno for the run. Onto the run, I went out hard and felt suprisingly ok....for about 1k. I was in 4th at the 1k, then I absolutely blew to pieces. I dropped to 12th place by the 5k, nearly 30 seconds down on those ahead of me. Somehow I found my legs again, and started to run faster, I was in 10th by the 8k mark with two other athletes right ahead of me. I made a hard move with 1k to go and turned on the gas. The two others responded to my surge, and matched it. Running down the finishing chute, I could see either athlete on each side, and also could feel my quadriceps cramping like crazy. I gave it all I had, and ended up winning the sprint for 8th. I picked up some solid points and a little coin. I was a little disappointed with my run, but with the travel, jet-lag, seat-post malfunction, and knee injuries I think it was a good starting point.

I am currently in Singapore and I love it. It is a great city, and super clean. I found the world's best pastry shop, and will eat there every morning. The next race is here in Singapore this Sunday the 29th. Once again the field will be strong. After this I have decided to stay an extra two weeks in Asia and do another race in China. I will visit my sis up in Thailand for a few days and then head to China, and then back to America around the 14th of August.


Here are some of the pic's from my travel and the race:

This is Omar Tayara, my bro and the guy who I sprinted for 8th with (he was 9th)

What's up finish?
Cheers,

B

numero dos

Well race number 2 went considerably better than number 1. I finished up in 8th, so it was a solid result. I was pretty jet-lagged as it took nearly 72 hours of crazy travel to get to whereever I am in China (I have absolutely no clue). Anyways I will post more pics and a full race report and details of China and travel soon. I cant figure how to turn off the chinese characters on my blog so it is quite difficult to publish.

More soon.....

Cheers,
B

reporto numero uno---dnf

Well , it definitely was not the way I wanted to start my three week racing tour, but I DNF'd (did not finish) the ITU Geneva race in upstate New York. This last week has been quite frustrating for me. I fell and messed up my knee, got zero sleep studying and writing my finals in accounting, got stuck sleeping on the floor in the Chicago airport, and also got sick before the race (head cold/ allergies / congestion) and after the race (g.i. / immodium is my best friend =) ). I wasnt feeling right the day of the race, had a bad swim, rode really hard to bridge the gap, didnt bridge the gap, and then pulled the pin on the run. We were too far back for any result to be salvaged, and I know I have some really tough traveling and racing in the next few weeks, so I played it conservatively. Hopefully I have used up all my bad luck/kharma/whatever in the small town of Geneva.

As for now it is 800mg of ibuprofen, water, immodium, ice-baths, self-massages, sleep, and compression socks as much as possible try to fix the bruised and battered bod.

Cheers,
B

the big w!

Well, I can finally chaulk up the first win of 2007 season. Granted it was a local race in Lincoln, NE, but it was also a duathlon. After my last duathlon, I swore I would never do another one, but somehow I found myself on the starting line. There was one other really fast duathlete, so I knew I would have to really lay it on the line for the win. I also put in 5:45 hours worth of excercise (a very solid triple workout) on Sat, so I knew I was going in with tired legs. Needless to say, I was a little nervous.....

The format was a 2 mile run, 12 mile bike, and 2 mile run. Each run had one really steep hill in it, and the bike was quite hilly, with a few steep hills. Onto the first run, I smashed it! I ran 10:28 completely controlled and it felt great. It was the best I have ever felt or looked (according to a passerby). I started the bike w/ a 20 sec lead, but ended getting caught after 2 of the 3 laps. I hung on and we entered T2 together. I averaged just over 24mph, so I was quite happy. I was confindent in my 2nd run, and started the run strong. I got quite an inital gap, and was able to just finish solidly, clocking around 11:00 for the final 2 miles.

I have really been having good workouts the last 4 weeks or so. I have been killing my track workouts and kept the volume quite high. I am finally sorting out my injuries, and getting solid training in. I have two more weeks before the real racing starts. So I will kill myself this week, take it a little easy the next week, and then get ready to race. Next up on the calendar are the Geneva ITU Continental Cup in New York on Jul 14, then the Jinzhou ITU Continental Cup in Lioning, China on Jul 22, and then the OSIM Singapore ITU Continental Cup on July 29th. That is three races in three weeks, and they are all over the world. Hopefully this race is a sign of good things to come........

Cheers,
B

Des Moines

I ventured out to Des Moines to watch the "unofficial" world triathlon championships. It was a short 2:45 drive, but worth it to see the big boys lay it on the line.


Here are some pics I took! Enjoy,


B

the bike works!......

but it seems as if I dont. Alcatraz was a really tough race for me this year. That is part of the reason that this race report has taken so long to get up. It is always tough to write about your worst races.

The swim started out ok, but was incredibly wavy and rough. As I couldnt really see the shore, I decided to follow the people right in front of me--bad idea. We ended up swimming really, really wide (point to point course with no swim buoys), and I lost about another 45 seconds to my already sub-par swim. Onto the bike I felt strong and attacked the first part of the course, I passed quite few people, and things were looking up. Then, I hit a wall and went backwards. The last half of the bike I really started to fade. Onto the run my stomach was in so many knots and was cramping badly. I gave up a few more places during the first 4 miles. The last 4 my stomach started to come around, but it was a little too late. It was a pretty dismal result with three bad splits.

I have 6 weeks till I race next so now it is hermit time. I have got to get fit for the next race.

Cheers,
B

the ride

The new bike....the new wheels. I look fast, now I just have to go out and train. I am probably the only one who cares about my new bike, but as this is my blog, and I can do what I want, here are some pic's

wildflower, finally

Well the Wildflower triathlon has come and past, and I have still not posted about it. It is one of those things like when somone calls you or emails you and you dont immediately call or email them back, that the longer you wait, the harder it is to do. Well, this report is only about two weeks late.

Widlfower is one of the greatest triathlon events in the world. People from all over come together at Lake San Antonio in Norhtern California and camp literally in the middle of nowhere. And yes, for those of you who are not aware, there actually is some open space in California that does not have 300,000 people per square foot living there.

The swim went ok, as Luke Bell and I fought hard for the end of the lead pack. The problem was we were fighting each other and as a result neither of us made it on. I arrived about 45-1min down on the leaders into the first transition, but solidly amid the second chase pack. Onto the bike, I was climbing well, but just didnt have the power on the flats. This year there was crazy wind on the course, and I felt as though I was back in Nebraska. It wa quite a lonely day as I only had company on the bike for 2 out of 56 miles. It was just me, my bike, and the wind trying to blow me over. I faded quite a bit on the bike, but did not blow up like last year. Onto the run, I felt quite good all things considered, but my achilles was really acting up. I have been battleing an achilles issue for about 2 months or so now. Every step I took it felt as though it was going to rip. It took about 4-5 miles to loosen up a bit. Finally it started to feel a little better, but right at that moment the wind picked up again (just my luck). I battled it out to the end and got 18th, one place higher than the 19th of 2005. My time, 4:30 and change was by no means fast. In fact, it was my slowest time ever at Wildflower. But, since the winning time was the slowest time since 1996, I dont feel so bad. It was an ok result, but I was hoping for a little more.

It has been really crazy with school and work the last month, so my leadup to Wildflower was not as good as I hoped for. I am now currently in sunny California for 5 weeks of training and getting ready for the upcoming sumer season. Next up is Escape from Alcatraz. I have been training hard and hopefully will be prepared.

My buddy Mark joined me in the Wildflower triathlon experience, and we got to go out to Half Moon Bay to check out the sights. Unfortunately Mavericks was not breaking (no surf), so we just enjoyed the great weather. (See above pic's of HMB)

Cheers,

B