Spokes

On June 10, 1997 Michael Jordan, suffering from the flu, scored 38 points had seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block to win game five against the Utah Jazz in the NBA finals. It is always a bummer when you get sick, and Julie knows what a baby I am when I am not feeling well. Despite putting in a ton of base mileage and preparation for Saturday’s road race, I woke up the Monday before feeling like I got hit with a MACK truck. Sore throat, fever, and typical stupidness. It was all I could do to weather the week with tons of rest, green tea, and water. Athletes typically bounce back pretty quickly, but a cold is a cold, and it is a challenge to go anaerobic for 2 hours when you are sneezing out green gook. My preparation for the week leading up to Boulevard included 6 days of rest, 45 minutes of light spinning on a trainer, and regular doses of Nyquil. The course is notoriously difficult even for the Cat4’s with over 4,000 feet of climbing in 42 miles. I pretty much...

I forgot how much fun bike racing is. I also forgot how much I hate waking up at 4:30 in the morning. The alarm rang in the silence, and I slowly got out of bed and managed to open my eyes sometime after I had already made it across the room to the bathroom. Fortunately I had thrown all my stuff together the night before, so all I had left to do is get dressed, get some coffee, and drive to meet my carpool. Exactly one year ago I raced my first official crit. I am amazed at how fast time has gone by. Driving up the 405 to the same course in Compton was déjà vu. The good thing about morning races in Compton is that all the gang members are still sleeping. A bunch of white boys from SD made it in alive. It had been so long since I had raced that my nerves were really pumping as I warmed up on the trainer. I wanted to race hard for my teammates so they could grab some points, but it had also been a long time since I had ridden in a pack with 100 other guys at 30 MPH. I knew that my co...

The chaos of what has been my 2010 triathlon season finally drew to a close this past Saturday up in Santa Barbara. It is exactly one year ago that I finished Ironman Canada, and I still can’t believe that I ever competed at that distance. This year has been a year marked with chaos, injury, inconsistent training, and an overloaded work schedule. I guess that’s life sometimes. Santa Barbara is a special place for me. It is the home of college spring break vacations and one of the first places I ever visited in California. I proposed to my wife there on a starry night in 1999 overlooking the city from the pier. The beauty in the city is unmatched as the mountains nestle up to the ocean in a postcard panoramic shot. I love it there. This is the second time I have raced the Santa Barbara Long Course Tri. The 1 mile swim, 34 mile bike, 10 mile run course tests your top end limits through numerous hills, sweeping bends and coastal bliss. I didn’t really have major expectations of perfor...

Injuries suck. You never know how you are going to recover after a crash like I had one month ago. Especially when you have to start from ground zero to get ready for a ½ Ironman event. I was starting to build up a decent base going into the San Diego International. My run was coming along, and even my swim was showing promise. And then the crash…. Not that injuries and sickness should be used as an excuse for mediocre race performance, but in this case, it is exactly what prepped me for a mediocre race in Boulder. Missing almost three weeks of key workouts and run volume set me up for a subpar ½ marathon. The swim started off OK. I was able to find a little room and get into a rhythm that made it OK. The refreshing Colorado reservoir water was a nice 71 degrees. About 200 yards into the swim, my body started to realize that there was a lack of oxygen going in due to the altitude. My every-third-stoke breath turned into an every-stroke routine and killed my momentum despite my bes...

It has been 10 months and three days since my last triathlon. You would think that I would have been prepared well in advance of the San Diego International Triathlon this year considering all of the time I had to train. Life seems to have a way of sneaking up on you sometimes, and about two weeks ago I realized that I needed to start swimming again if I expected to survive 1000 meters in San Diego Bay. 14 days, and 5 swim practices. Not really the sort of preparation that it takes to win races, but it would have to do. This race was really just an opportunity to determine where I was at fitness wise anyway. It helps to go in with low expectations to avoid disappointment. I figured I would be OK on the run, as I have been running somewhat consistently over the past month or so. My pace has been around a 6:15/mile for shorter efforts so I estimated that I could push out 6:45’s for the race if I felt good. Obviously the bike would not be an issue after all the cycling I have been doi...

Triathlon is now getting in the way of my bike training. Yes I know I did a freakin' Ironman last year, but for some reason this year, swimming and running seem like painful disciplines I can live without. What has happened? Perhaps life is just getting in the way. Scheduled training session--sinus infection. Scheduled century ride--phone call from a friend "Hey Tim, I've got a free ticket to a 3-day cruise this weekend! You want to roll?" Dang it. Who can turn down a free cruise? Well, perhaps next year will be more consistent. For now I guess I will board the cruise ship bound for Mexico.

Sometimes bike racing is the most demoralizing sport there is. Just about the time you start feeling confident and good about yourself, the pack pulls away and drops you on the climb. You consistently place in the top ten as a Cat 5, and suddenly you find yourself in the bottom tear of the Cat 4s. I’ve been racing TT’s now for over 5 years, and I am pretty fast when it comes to smoking the other tri geeks. Today I learned that this speed was all an illusion as I put up my personal best lap times at Fiesta Island to take a sad 18th out of 24 people. I got beat by people that had never ridden a TT bike until today. It’s a bittersweet sport, but at least I know what times I need to post the next time around to build my ego to a respectable level. It’s a school of hard knocks, but for some reason I keep suiting up and getting out there. Just about the time I do well enough in the Cat 4s, I will be set to upgrade and get slapped around a bit in the 3s. I doubt it will ever end. Now on to ...