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Categories: Family & Friends

11/25/2010

triathlete

GPS Coordinates

Royersford, PA

Even the kids love First Endurance

by: Andy Rosebrook

Going through my son’s 8th grade cross country team pictures and I noticed a couple of shots of Adrain enjoying some EFS in a First Endurance Water bottle after his race. How’s that for an unsolicited endorsement?

Categories: Athletes, Family & Friends, Nutrition, Product Reviews

10/23/2010

triathlete

GPS Coordinates

44.7155151,-75.9375000

Omaha Triathlon – Race Report

by: Anthony Beeson

Home Alone

If you read my Loveland race report you got an idea of how fun it is to part of the tri community around here and how much I appreciate and enjoy it. Well, Omaha Triathlon was pretty much the bizzaro Loveland. I knew my wife and not a single other competitor, weird! It was like being a stranger in your own home town. I started thinking about it and I haven’t had that feeling in a LONG time! Since my first two tris and I even recruited my friend Kutch for the second one. It was weird not to recognize faces on the out and back run. Maybe it was a little easier to focus, but it just didn’t quite feel right without at least some of the ol’ crew. I’ll certainly be looking forward to that aspect of my next few races.

So, a month or so before Omaha my coach, Steve, encouraged me to really go after this one, as in try to actually win. Don’t get me wrong, I always give it my all and do the best I can. This was more about mentally preparing to be in the situation of racing to win. Be prepared for some racing ‘tactics’, ditch the ‘time trial’ mentality of racing the clock and actually race the people around you, but most of all just being prepared to turn myself inside out if the race

…

Categories: Athletes, Family & Friends, Race Reports, Race Results, Triathlons
Tags: Omaha Tri

10/19/2010

triathlete

GPS Coordinates

Spokane, WA

A Real Power Meter

by: Jessi Thompson

AM I AS GOOD OF A PERSON AS I AM AN ATHLETE?

I recently read a blog post that REALLY made me think. I know… put your safety goggles on and watch out. No for reals, I have thought about this a ridiculous amount in the last 5 months or so, but really have struggled to put it into words [at least that anyone else can make sense of]. Although I am writing this about “athletes” because that’s what specifically has applied to my own life, you could insert anything in its place. I’m actually sharing this as more of part of my journey. This post is more about where I started 5 months ago and some of the questions I/we’ve asked that have led to VERY positive change for our family. We’ve come a long way since then – and really am so proud of that. Let me be clear, I am not talking about giving anything up. Being active and involved in athletics is part of who I am. This post is about BALANCE and PERSPECTIVE – which I strive to have more of each day. Thank you for reading.

What would happen if… athletes were as dedicated to their families and friends as they are their sport?

Can you imagine coming up with GOALS for your relationships with the people that matter most in your life? Then…

Categories: Family & Friends
Tags: power meter, priorities

10/19/2010

triathlete

GPS Coordinates

Newport, RI

Amica 19.7 Sprint Race Report

by: Jamie Bull

In the spirit of my first sprint triathlon in 4 years, I am going to try to make this race report as abbreviated as possible.

Amica 19.7 Triathlon: Newport, RI

.5 mile swim | 16.1 mile run | 3.1 mile run

Less than two weeks of recovery since Cedar Point and only one 2.5 mile run since then. And my quads were screaming the whole time.

Low expectations except for the fact that I was racing against Sam’s family. I know all the guys had secret aspirations to take down the newly-minted Ironman. I had no plans on letting them win.

Pre-race dinner with Sam’s family and playing with their dog. It decided it was done with play time and decided to use my hand as a chew toy, shredding my forefinger. Lots of blood and while cleaning out the wound and making guesses on the need for stitches, I passed out cold. Apparently having a low resting HR makes you more likely to pass out.

I texted pictures of the damage to my dad (an ER doctor) and he gave me the green light to race. Sam was freaking out and worried, as any good girlfriend would be, but I was psyched.

Time to finish up the 2010 triathlon season.

Race morning:

Wild wind and surf that would make for a better day of surfing than swimming. Swim: canceled.

Replaced by a .25 mile beach (quicksand) beach run.…

Categories: Athletes, Events, Family & Friends, Race Reports, Racing, Triathlons

9/17/2010

adventure racer

GPS Coordinates

Brecon, Powys

Stop the press!!

Categories: Biking, Events, Family & Friends

9/11/2010

adventure racer

GPS Coordinates

Crickhowell, Powys

Wales 2010 – Day 3

We planned on doing a short ride today. Something to keep the legs warmed up but nothing too strenuous. Typical Welsh weather set in from the word go. Low cloud cover and constant drizzle. Fortunately it was not too cold. Ian and I got a late start and headed into Crickhowell to get some energy bars etc and a map from the local outfitter. Amazingly neither was available so we planned our route on a 1:50,000 map we had and hoped there would be some trails where were thought there were some but were not shown on the map. The ride went from Llanbedr on a few miles of road before hitting double track near an old Hermitage. The drizzle was constant and the ground was very wet. We cut up a valley for about five miles before heading up toward the ridge of the mountain we were going to follow back home. At the top of the ridge visibility dropped to about 20 feet and the wind must have been blowing at about 30-40 mph. Nice. The ride back along the ridge was fun until we dropped off the wrong side and ended up having to hike-a-bike back up about 500 feet with no trail over steep gnarly terrain. Visibility was zero and we were saved by the compass on my iPhone. The final drop back into Llanbedr was fun. Trails were mostly grass and extremely slick. We are hoping…

Categories: Family & Friends

9/9/2010

adventure racer

GPS Coordinates

Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot

Wales 2010 – Day 2

Not trying to fight the time difference too much we rose early and headed out to Afan Forest Park. Trails parks are becoming a popular tourist attraction in the UK. They are dedicate MTB trails with facilities at the trail head catering to the mountain biker and outdoor enthusiast. Afan Forest is located in an area of South Wales that was heavily mined in the industrial revolution and has seen a massive amount of unemployment and depressed communities in the past 30 years since a lot of the coal mines shut in the early 80’s. The park is designed to help revitalize the area and from the number of people we saw riding on a Thursday, it looks like the plan is working.
After stopping in at the full service bike shop and buying some new pads (I have spent a fortune on brake pads this week) we saddled up and hit the trails. After a 6km ascent though ever green forest we topped out near a wind farm. The trails were all single track, well maintained and a blast to ride. Wales gets a huge amount of rain but the trails drain very well and are good to ride in any condition. The remained of the 14k of trails flowed very smoothly. There were some great TTF sections with raised boardwalks that has been constructed to flow very nicely. We finished the…

Categories: Family & Friends

9/8/2010

adventure racer

GPS Coordinates

Crickhowell, Powys

1

comment

Wales Trip 2010 – Day 1

Travel to Wales went well. Virgin Atlantic had no issues with my bike case and took it on board in addition to a piece of checked baggage for no extra charge. The 6.5 hour flight from Dulles to Heathrow was uneventful although a little choppy. Caught the train from London to Newport. Traveling with the bike case and a roll bag was not a bad as I thought it would be. Reminded of when my kids were little and in strollers and we spent a lot of time looking for elevators to get to different levels. Ian, mum and dad picked me up from the train station and after 13 hours on various transports, made it to my final destination, Llanbedr, tired from jet lag and travel.
After a superb fry up brunch Ian and I spent the afternoon putting bikes together. We took them to a LBS to get them tuned in as we didn’t have a work stand. I found I needed new brake pads and put in a quick order with Chain Reaction in hopes they will arrive before the big ride on Sunday. Tomorrow we plan to hit the Afan Forest to check out some of the best purpose built trails in the UK. Missing Margo and the Kids already but it’s nice to be with my brother and parents again.

Categories: Family & Friends

8/3/2010

adventure racer

GPS Coordinates

Centreville, VA

Odyssey Sprint Adventure Race

by: Michael Spiller

The Trakkers Adventure Racing team sent two team to the Odyssey July 24 race. Our 24 hour team finished second in the One Day Race and our sprint team finished 1^st in their race. It was a great family friendly activity for both teams. Michael, Greg, Timm, and Veronica raced in the sprint race. The race consisted of a two mile mountain climb prolog run followed by a quick transition to an eight mile run\trek to find two checkpoints. After the trekking section we ran to the river for a three mile paddle. The river was really low so we had to drag our canoes over the rocks at least 10 times. Once we exited the water we were still in the top two teams. We jumped on our bikes and pulled ahead of everyone. We hit the first checkpoint and then head back down the mountain for a river crossing. However the map had a road crossing the river that was torn down 20 years ago and we were now on private property. The owner tracked us down on an ATV and let it be known we were on private property. We let them see our maps and let them know about the race and asked their advice about routes and they decided not to shoot us and let us mover along to the next checkpoint. We got to a rail to trail path and arrived at checkpoint 9…