Just a reminder to all triathletes that the UCSD Tritonman sprint triathlon is taking place on Saturday, February 20th down at Fiesta Island. There will be prizes from CLIF Bar, X Terra wetsuits, Lululemon, TIMEX, Avia and more. Sign up soon because there are less than 100 spots left. This is a great tune-up for those looking to race an early season 70.3 or Ironman. Hope to see you all out there!
Just a quick note that I will be coaching with Multisports.com this season and am accepting athletes at the moment. My rates and contact information can be found here.
Hope all your seasons are off to a good start!
I have been waiting a while to write about this, but this is probably the most important agenda I will have going in to the 2010 season. Not only will I be racing for an amazing new team (Team Timex), but I will be working with the Janus Charity Foundation to raise money for the DA Taylor Foundation. After speaking with the Board Members of the Foundation (also my best friends I grew up with) and with DA’s family, they all gave me their blessings to begin the fund raising process.
This gives a brief synopsis of DA’s life and his eventual battle with meningitis.
On March 20, 1995, D.A. Taylor died from meningitis as a teenager. His family and friends founded the D.A. Taylor Charitable Foundation in 2006 to honor D.A.’s spirit and the quintessential and symbolic good that he represented.
His existence naturally touched all of us, and it is our proud obligation to prolong that spirit through his name.
Anyone who came in contact with him knew he was a special guy. The kind of young man you never forget and want your children to emulate.
You can read the Mission statement that established the Foundation here.
The money I will be raising for the Foundation will go towards a collegiate scholarship. More detailed info below:
Financial aid to support a four-year college education will be awarded on an annual basis to at least one student from the state of Virginia who embodies all the good for which D.A. stood.
The scholarship will be administered and managed logistically by The Norfolk Foundation in Norfolk, VA, under the following guidelines as written by the Board of the D.A. Taylor Charitable Foundation:
The late D.A. Taylor believed that the best way for an individual to improve him or herself is to obtain a well-rounded education, preparing each person to become a productive member of society who could make lasting and positive contributions to his or her community. In memory of D.A. Taylor, the purpose of the fund shall be to provide scholarships for students attending high schools in South Hampton Roads who are in need of financial aid for post-secondary education at a four-year college or university. An applicant should display the qualities exhibited by D.A. Taylor, such as strong leadership and academic abilities, involvement in extra curricular activities, a commitment to helping others, and overall excellence inside and outside of the classroom.
Feel free to contact me or any of the Board members here. My goal is to raise $20,000 for the Foundation - culminating in Kona, October 2010 for the Ironman World Championships. I also plan to create a LARGE team to run the Va Beach Rock and Roll Half Marathon this Labor Day Weekend (Sep 5th).
More information on how and where to donate will be up soon (working on my fundraising home page now).
Hope everyone is doing well. 2010 is going to be an amazing year!
On Monday I was given an opportunity to check out the Wind Tunnel in San Diego thanks to Multisports.com (who I will be working with this season). I met Dave Sanford and Kraig Willett down there and they were nice enough to let me sit in on two cyclist’s getting tested. They did their best to explain what the protocol was used for testing aerodynamics, but the main thing I took away from the experience was that every athlete is so different. There is not standard answer for reduced drag across the board for every athlete. EVERY ATHLETE IS DIFFERENT. Hence, the need to spend time in the tunnel to precisely see if the equipment or body position you are using is going to yield you the fastest time, while also allowing you to conserve enough energy to nail the run. It is all a balancing act just like the sport itself. They could slam you in some crazy aerodynamic position (which they do for the Tour riders they test), but there is no way you could hold that for 56 or 112 miles.
Both Dave and Kraig were quite the aerodynamic gurus and I definitely saw the benefit in getting tested. Hopefully, I can get in there before Kona, but I will be in charge of taking athletes down there this season through Multisports.com. If interested or know anyone that is please send me an e-mail through my website contact info.
I have attached some pics to wet the appetite.
The tunnel is right near the Airport downtown.
The bike is set up on a revolving elevated circled to simulate wind conditions (tested @ 5 thru 15 degree yaw) - they can mimic this while the air is on, which allows the rider to experience simulated wind conditions without getting off the bike every time. The price is not cheap for the tunnel, but you do get a lot of runs for 1 hour of tunnel time. They can also see precise wattage while they test you.
You can see Kraig here using the wand to expose high drag areas before they test him.
As they test different positions, Kraig outlines the rider to make sure every test is as close to perfection as possible (these guys are ANAL - a good thing)
Just some pics of athletes who have been tested at the tunnel!
Heather
Kate
Paula
Lance
I hope I did justice in explaining the process, but rest assured you are in good hands when Dave and Kraig test you!
I am alive! I am finally getting around to updating my blog after weeks of inactivity on the training/racing front. Only days after I raced IM Florida, the UCSD tri team headed out to Borrego Springs for a cycling camp. We did two nights of camping under the stars and we all had a blast riding up Montezuma and Banner Grade in to Julian . . . some great riding out there. I returned Sunday evening and then immediately headed to Arizona driving a 24′ box truck full of bike racks for IM Arizona. I worked by butt off under the guidance of Roch (including 22hrs straight on race day) and finally drove the truck home three days after the race. I really think every athlete should volunteer to help out at a race once a year. I have a whole new appreciation for what goes in to one of these races and it makes training and racing seem very easy!
Now, on to the sponsor front for next season. Zoot has been my main sponsor for the last 3 seasons and I consider them family. Eli and Brian have supported me through injuries and not so stellar race results. In short, they have always been there for me. Eli has moved on to create her own business, www.smackmedia.com, and I pursued an opportunity to race on an American professional team. For the 2010 season, I will be racing for Team Timex. Zoot has been very supportive of my decision and I wish each and every individual at Zoot great success. They will always be family.
My tentative race schedule is listed below:
February 14th - San Dieguito 1/2 Marathon
March 20th - Devil Dog Duathlon
April 11th – SuperFrog 1/2 Ironman
May 1st - Ironman Utah
June 5th - Honu 70.3
June 27th – Ironman Coeur d’Alene
July 18th – Vineman Ironman 70.3
August 22nd - Timberman Ironman 70.3
September 5th - RnR 1/2 Marathon Virginia Beach
October 9th – Ironman World Championship
November 13th – Ironman 70.3 World Championship
I hope everybody is enjoying the off season!
I am not a big fan of writing race reports because 95% of them sound the same. They end up being long-winded and, to be honest, I never really read them unless I coach the athlete.
I will just say it was not wise for me to do 3 Ironmans in a span of 4 months, but you never know until you try. I tried and felt sluggish all day. I will also not race any flat Ironmans anymore. That style of racing does not suit me well. Once again, I tried, it did not work.
I am putting this race behind me and focusing on next season. There will be A LOT of swimming and running throughout the Winter. I was not able to train all last Winter due to injury so I am excited to have the opportunity to really focus on my weaknesses and do some block training for a couple of months.
My off season has begun and I am really excited about focusing my energy towards the UCSD tri program and working on some sponsors for 2010. New sponsor info will be announced soon!
Enjoy the off season!
Read article here.
Better get FAST if you want to race professionally. I really like this and feel this will help legitimize the sport on a professional level. The talent of the pro field will be VERY high and you will basically have to finish top 3 to go to Kona. Bring it on!
Click here and here for articles.
Nice recognition, but now I have to go out and prove I deserve it.
Thank you to all those who have wished me good luck!
Sorry I have not been updating this page that much. Twitter has been much easier to use. I am still racing IM Florida on the 7th of November and am ready to see where my fitness is. I changed some things up for this block of training and am hoping I will not fade towards the latter end of the bike and run like I did in Wisconsin. My legs feel much stronger at this point of the season and I am mentally prepared to race within myself next Saturday.
You can follow on race day at www.ironman.com - I am bib # 46, the race starts at 6:50am - Eastern time
Happy Halloween!
I am never any good at this, but here goes anyway . . .
Fastest swim - Flanagan, Fastest Bike -Stadler, Fastest run - McCormack
Men:
Chris McCormack
Craig Alexander
Norman Stadler
Rasmus Henning
Llanos
Andy Potts
Franciso Pontano
Chris Lieto
Ronnie S
Marino Vanhoenacker
Faris Al Sultan
Andreas Raelert
Cam Brown
Tim Deboom
Maik Twelsik
Bozzone
Timo Bracht
Mike Lovato
Luke McKenzie
Mathias Hecht
Patrick Vernay
Women:
Chrissie W
Yvonne Van Klerken
Kate Major
Mirinda Carfrae
Tereza Macel
Catriona Morrison
Rebecca Keat
Lindsay Corbin
Gina Ferguson
Gina Kehr
Belinda Granger
Erica Csomor
Tyler Stewart
Charlotte Paul
Bella Bayliss
Virginia Berasategui
Sandra Wallenhorst
Leanda Cave
Griesbauer
Jo Lawn
macbrownracing.com