St. A's part two...

All in all it was a great trip. The Mad Dog tri club are awesome. Something like 3300 athletes, which totally dwarfs anything around here.

I arrived in Tampa on Thursday night with a very sore throat which had been bugging me since Tuesday. I was having a hard time swallowing in and just hoping it would be gone by Sunday.

I think today is the fist day I can say I officially feel 100%.

So, and this is the land and only time I will say this cause I don't dig on excuses and usually in one way or another it's your own damn fault, however, considering I had been sick since Tuesday, had a minor get off on the bike, and swam like ass I'm pretty glad to get the first race weekend out of the way.

Now, on to Wildflower and a successful season. It seems you never get the rewards without paying your dues. I'd like to think I'm payed up for a while now.

On the up side, I just did a little run session of 3xmile and was feeling really strong and just cruising. So, at least the fitness is there. I think that was all I needed to get my confidence back up.

Jimmy

St. Anthony's triathlon brief recap...

I'm finally home. It seemed like a long travel day.

Anyway, not the best season opener. I don't want to go into too much detail right now, maybe later.

But to hit on a common theme from the race I had some issues. Matt Reed had a flat and dnf'd a few others had issues as well, blah blah blah, that's racing.

As for me I swam like crap in the chop. I think it all comes down to needing to be more aggressive. You just can't think of trying to swim "well" in bad chop, you just have to put your head down and hammer. I swam better then I have in the past but still 2 min off where I should and could be. I'll just have to prove that this week at Wildflower. The lake doesn't seem to get 4 ft. breakers very often.

Out of the swim I felt a bit flat but not too bad. I stated winding it up around five miles and was bringing back the line of bikes ahead pretty quick. There is a zig zag section through down town before you head out to the golf course. I don't know the exact intersection but coming through a corner in the bars I nailed what felt like a foot deep pothole. I didn't see anything. It knocked my hands over the end of the aerobars and I kind of pathetically tipped over. I got back on quick and started getting back to where I was. However, the force of the hit knocked my saddle down about an inch and the nose down about 20 degrees. Also the bars were knocked down below horizontal as well.

It really is amazing how much position affects you on the bike. After only about 5 miles or so I was cramped up in by lower back and quad. I was feeling like crap and going nowhere. I was going to tough it out and finish etc. since I hate the reputation pros have for dnf'ing whenever things aren't 100%.

The fact is my quad was cramping bad enough from pushing myself back up on the saddle as I slid off about every 5th rotation that I thought it really would have an effect on the run and this week at Wildflower. So after a bit of debate with myself I decided to pull the pin.

Like I said I hate dropping out. So, I have been trying not to beat myself up too much about this decision. I have left it to "I better kick ass at Wildflower or I'm gonna look like a moron for making this decision".

Anyway that's what happened.

On the upside Cam was 7th and brought home what I will call the Without Limits Team's first podium. What makes "podium" is a bit up for debate. But, they called 10 guys up to the stage at St. Anthony's yesterday and in my book that's the podium.

Lance and Kristen went well also. Not a great as they might have liked but not bad for the first race of the year on TT bikes we have only been on for about 10 days.

I gotta try to get back to west coast time so I'll add more later. But, for now that's the story.

Jimmy

It's all on in China this weekend, IM, 70.3 and F1.

Evidently there was an IM and a 70.3 in China this weekend as well. I hear it was hot and the swim was downstream. That about sums that up.

Personally I was more interested today to get my long run out of the way and get some solid couch time watching a rain soaked F1 China. I missed it last night since I couldn't stay up till 3am watching racing (although in previous years I probably would have).

It was a great race with lots of passing and several "offs". I love races in the rain as much of the technical traits of the cars are all but erased and it is left to driving ability. Interestingly the Red Bull guys are evidently the best rain drivers (Vettle and Webber). Alonso, it seems, totally sucks in the rain. Hamilton was up and down, I am still betting his luck will continue to evolve this season as the McLaren boys get Thieu act together.

I do really enjoy seeing all these old, washed up, has beens kicking ass (I speak of Webber and Button, Vettle is just a kid).

I just wish we had some super technical, rain soaked triathlons every once in a while. It seems like its always a flat out an back course in pristine weather.

Crappy weather speed and fatigue...

So the weather in Boulder has sucked for three days now. I think it might be better Monday or something. I am looking forward to it. The house is starting to smell like mildew, and wet running shoes.

To make the crap weather even more annoying we have had something in the vicinity of 6 quality sessions. Three of those being swim which is of course my favorite. On the upside it is getting a hell of a lot better doing 6x500 and stuff like that, which I used to really stress about and usually want to bail to paddles a'la Simon Lessing. (I guess I'm in good company on that one).

We also finally got the tt bikes build fitted ( for the most part) and tested, over a 10k TT today, which felt something like towing a refrigerator up hill for about 8k of it. We should be backing off a bit for the next two weeks as we have ST. Anthony's and Wildflower coming up.

I have to say with all the work put in this winter I am a hell of a lot more confident going into these two races then I have ever been before. I actually feel like I've done just about all I can at this point in the season and considering I was layed up on the couch until December (see ankle surgery if you don't remember).

I'm getting pretty twitchy to race as well. We did a brick run with some tempo efforts after the TT and I kept wanting to step it up to full on race mode. I guess that's what you want at this point.

Ready to race or not I'm pretty tired at this point . At least we have some F1 on tap for tomorrow. I just can't bring myself to stay up till 3am to watch it live.

Jimmy

Never enough time...

Today we had a powermax session at BCSM with a brick run after. Usually have a morning swim but Kristen and I passed so she could get healthy and I could continue to dodge the local illness.

Then it was tons of time on the computer following up on email and continuing the pursuit of a title sponsor for the team. Come on people the economy is clawing its way back, I know you want a part of our team.

Then it was off to a Salomon focus group to talk about stuff I can't talk about. But is was a good way to make a few bucks talking about running.

It's amazing the money those companies spend on some stuff but we can't get anyone to sponsor us for shoes. (Particularly considering they would get the focus group as part of that sponsorship.)

Now it is a quick blog post some CSI and more bike building, we are coming up on #12 thus far. I hear guys get paid $75 a piece for these. I think I must be down at least $750 at this point. Ah well, no worries.

Got a TT this weekend as long as the weather holds out then it is finally race season. St. Anthony's is only 10 days away.

Suddenly there seems to be a lot to do before I leave next Thursday.

MixMyGranola.com

Without Limits Racing has partnered with MixMyGranola.com and created a couple of triathlon specific granola mixes.

These are more then just what we would eat. These mixes have been designed by the team and tweaked by our nutritionist Breeze Brown to meet the needs of triathletes, and athletes of all types. The mix of carb, protein, and fat plus the addition of foods with key nutrients will help you to be at your best on your next training/race day or help you recover to the best of your ability.

The recovery mix is a pet idea of mine. It can be eaten as granola or you can throw it in a blender with some yogurt (or even ice cream) and create the perfect post workout recovery smoothie.

Try them out! If you don't like our mix you can design anything you can possibly imagine and get it delivered right to your door within three days.

NEW BIKES (at least one...more to come), Shimano build review.

The team and I got our new Specialized Tarmac SL2 road bikes yesterday. We had our Dura-Ace gruppos sitting around for a while waiting to be put on the new bikes but we finally got things all in one place. We should have the Transitions tomorrow.

I've been riding my cross bike for about 6 months now so it was a bit tricky getting the fit sorted on the new road bike. I think I will still need to get a 110 stem instead of the 120 I've had for the past 5 years.

I don't have any pics yet, and I have only had one ride and that was on a trainer but I will have updates asap.

I can tell you that the Tarmac is very well detailed. The frames are very well built and feather light literally (under 1kg) The fork is freakin massive. Which is good since it means it is stiff. And the tapered steer tube should be interesting. The front end and bb are huge but with uber-thin carbon. The frame just oozes stiffness and responsiveness, but I will let you know once I get the bike outside.

The New 7900 Dura-Ace group is definitely better then the 7800. It's interesting how Shimano can pull that off year after year. You think there really isn't much room for improvement, then you get the new group and it's loaded with little details. I need to get it out on the open road but I can tell you the build-up is easier. The new shift levers make it much easier to reach the cables and clamp bolt. I hated having to slide the hex wrench down the side of the old shifters and make tiny 1/4 turns till it was tight. And the new chain is awesome. I can't speak too much to the asymmetrical-ness of the chain but the new master link is very well done. I have been using SRAM gold links on my Shimano chains for the past few years.

The cranks look cool but there isn't any difference as far as build up. The brakes have a large adjustment bold that is much easier to turn then the old tapered plastic knob.

Lastly, the new hood shape on the levers is certainly different. I didn't hate the old one like a lot of people, so we will have to see how it feels on the ride. I can say the carbon levers are a step up. They look SWEEET!. And the new shape is better.

All in all I built up the bike in about an hour. Quicker and easier then ever. So far, I would very much recommend both the Specialized Tarmac SL2 and the Shimano 7900 Gruppo.

More to come on all this stuff...

Rest Day

My eyes hurt, I have kind of a headache, my back hurts form sitting most of the day... is this what it's like to have a "real" job?

Today was a rest day from training. The first in about 6 weeks so I suppose it was needed, but I really hate these things.

It was good though. I had a few calls with potential sponsors, caught up with our business consultant, Scott Thomson, and had some interesting potential developments with sponsors. One in particular I really, really, want to happen. Its just so perfect for us. You know who you are (Ross) so come on, help us out... kidding, but I do think it would be a kick ass sponsor.

So, not much to say today. I'm definitely eager to get going again tomorrow.

later...

Two wins to Button and how to ride 3 hours on the rollers.

I posted the below last year on a different blog before I started this one.

See, triathlon will make you better at anything you do. Jenson was nowhere for the last two years, while in 2009 he has won the first two rounds of the F1 World Championship.

Of course Mark Webber got run over by a car during his own charity ride in Tasmania and he hasn't had the best year as of yet. So... I guess you never can tell.

Maybe I can get Ross Braun to sponsor Without Limits Racing as well. The guy seems to be a miracle worker.

Other than that we had a 3 hour trainer ride followed by a 40 min run yesterday. 3 hours on the trainer is never fun but it is made much more tolerable by watching Seabiscuit with a World Cyclocross Championships intermission. You gotta love Universal Sports network. If you don't get it where you are I suggest you go to the site and request it.


--
F1 driver, Jenson Button did a triathlon, and he did pretty well. 16th out of 250.

Now if I can only convince the FIA to let me into an F1 race.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/22042008/13/button-competes-triathlon.html

April fools, Drugs, Frito Pie, and Cam Dye's taste in music.

First off, I hate April fools. The morons on the news keep saying how our latest snow storm is and April fools joke, the web is virtually pointless today as 90% is fake, and so on. It's all just a bit annoying, but maybe I am just hungry and being moody.

Hoping they aren't April fools jokes, Genevieve Jeanson (her coach, and doctor), Bernhard Kohl (and virtually everyone attached to him), and Alejandro Valverde seem to be on receiving doping bans of various degrees. Good news if you ask me.

Seriously? Sonic is offering a frito pie wrap.
a- you can't wrap a frito pie, it needs to be in frito pie form, i.e. strait out of the bag eaten with a spork.

b- Sonic can't be allowed to steal all of New Mexico's best cuisine.

We had the standard Wed. of 5am sprint swim, 10am PowerMax at BCSM followed by a brick run of mixed intensity. Hard, but a good day as always. We are just ticking them off at this point. Seems like race season is never going to get here yet is also looming on the horizon.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure Cam Dye has just about the most diverse musical taste of anyone I've ever met, except maybe me. Although he has me beat on the rap side of things.

Oh, I suppose I should also mention the great ass massage that I got from Kristen. Nothing like having your girlfriend drive her elbow into your butt for half an hour.

Piece of advice, done fall backward onto a curb while attempting to get your bike off the roof of a Scion.