2009 : back at it.

my 2009 "season" started Monday the 22nd (i know, why on a holiday week??).

big things planned (ok, not that big).

-be consistent (not having newborn twins will help)

-stay healthy (having 3 kiddos in daycare wont help)

-be a GREAT dad (see below) and husband.

-go back to Belgium in Jan 2010 for Cross.

-Be a GREAT coach to my athletes and produce some stellar results because of that...

-Work more with the Team Vortex Juniors

Short term goals:

-lose the 3 kilos I gained!

-get back to my athletes diet (no need to call it anything different right?)

-win NH/MA/ME Winter Tri's (oops, that's not processed based:-))

-go to the pool more!

Happy New Years gang!

http://www.pbmcoaching.com/

Not a salad in sight...

with my usual end of competition season break, comes my end of athletes diet break too:-)

Normally I follow a moderate GI diet, with "windows" of higher GI foods pre-training or racing. My diet is high in healthy veggies, nuts, lean proteins and very little "starchy" CHO (but still a bit as I have a 3 year old!).

Since the final Verge race, I have been on a no "green" diet. Lots of Thai/Indian/Mexican cuisine all washed down with some yummy brown beers to boot! so far I am up 1 pound...and hope to put on another 2 pounds by the end of my break on the 19th of December.

So, while your off the bike or have the running shoes stored away...enjoy a "normal" (sad to say eh?) diet so it is easier to get back to that athletes diet when the break is over!

Happy Holidays folks!

Verge #8 and #9 : Rhode Island

Or how to suck in Rhode Island....

I dont know why, but these 2 races always get me. I know the Sunday course is a bit technical for me, but Sat is tailor made for me. Not this year!

With family obligations, I had to make the LONG drive from ME to RI Sat at 4:45 AM. This would cause me one major mistake. During that time, pre-race, I only ate a bagel w/peanut butter. I am 99% sure I was low blood sugar pre-race.

the start went well and I holeshot into the sand, with Mark Mc and Johnny B. on my tail. Onto the second pavement section, Johnny and I punched it and got a gap. I felt good. The pace was hard, but doable. About 1/2 lap later the group had formed w/me, Johnny, Mark Mc, Keven H, Mark S, one other Corner cylce dude and Roger A from Westwood. We stayed this way for 2.5 more laps with Roger driving the pace. Then it happened...I started to get lightheaded and blurry eyed. I started to blow out of corners and feel "spacey". During this time, Johnny crashed right in front of me, and I almost ran into him. I eventually had to pull over and put my head on the seat, I was slurring my words and wobbly legged. My day would end right there. DNF = zero points. Fuck me.

I almost bailed for home, as i thought I was catching the bug that the kids had. But after I ate, actually felt ok, and it was becoming more clear...maybe this was a calorie issue?? So I stayed down and decided to make a gameday decision.

sunday I awoke to 1+ inches of fresh snow...but I headed down to Goddard Park to end the season with a finish at least...and that's about all I got. To summarize : my legs we bad, and my technical skills even worse. 18th place = zero points.

so in the end, I would drop 2 spots to 9th in the series and head home to Maine to a end of season break and regroup.

all in all, the CX season went well. I was "in" most of the races and able to make a few $$ here and there too. for 2009 I am hoping a complete summer of training consistenly will pay divendends next Sept with an EVEN bigger Verge NE series on the schedule.

For now, it is Belgium Beer and Ice cream for a few days!

Some pics from Zach Magoon:

Verge #7 : Sterling

Sterling always ranks as one of my favorite races on the calendar (and will be 2 days in 2009!), the course is always very euro and the close drive from in laws is nice to boot!

This year, I went into the race a little worried about my fitness as I had not raced since 11/9 due to some travel/work stuff and no local races the weekend prior. Cyclocross is very much about participation, it is very hard to mimic the demands of the event in training (mostly because it hurts too much!) so with 20 days between races I knew I might need to reset my "governor" with a solid set of openers Friday and a very dynamic and aggressive warm up Saturday.

I got to the site 2 hours pre-race and did my normal WU routine with a couple of laps on the mostly frozen course and then some hard efforts on the trainer. The "sensations" were good...I thought.

I got my normal front row call up for being top 10 in Verge points and knew a good start would be important before the BIG run up about 400 meters into the race. Normally my start skills are all A game, but today I slipped the pedal and dropped about 5 wheels back around the cinder track (that was now full on mud from the sun warming things up). i hit the run up behind Mark Mc., Stotz and John Mosher. About 6th wheel. But immediately felt "off". I was kicking the pedals and I think I even did a double tap remount on lap 1. I was suffering at a 9+ out of 10 level, but moving at a 7 out of 10 level....

For the next 3-4 laps I rode 3-8 seconds back of Mark Mc (Stotz was gone and having a great ride!) and even when Kevin Hines went by me I could not stay on his wheel...I was going to have to fight for this position.

I never did catch Mark and with 2 to go he PUNCHED and passed like 3 fading riders.

I would solo in for 8th place about 10 seconds up on my teammate Stephan.

Based on how the day "felt" I will take it. This will solidify my position for the last 2 Verge races in Rhode Island next weekend.

Below are a few pics thanks to my athlete David Lundin:

The Steep and slippery run up.

the last step was total ice...and slick!


about to remount at the top.

the fast, icy right-hander at the bottom of the hill.