Happy New Year to All Brand Champions,

Hope everyone’s started burning off all that food we had over Christmas and New Year. After my last race Silverman Full triathlon in Nov I had only few weeks of recovery before I had to start training again. My 2010 season kicked in last Fri Jan 29th in Eilat Israel where I took part in Israman Full Triathlon. Few weeks of intense hill training in Spain over New Year and I was feeling confident for the race even though not fully fit.

I flew from London to Tel Aviv week before race and stayed there for four days doing very little training but lots of eating. Wheather wasn’t great but rainy and sea was far too rough to swim in. Enjoyed Tel Aviv anyway and three days before the race we managed to get for little ride. I was happy to be on a bike again. After cycling for a while I had this great idea of catching a bus driving in front of me. Managed to get my speed up to 60km/h and then my quad muscle went. How stupid was that and only three days before the race. Cycling back to Tel Aviv was quite painful and I knew that I had just teared my quad which had happened before in Spain. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to be able to finish my up coming triathlon let alone race.

After my little injury I started eating painkillers like sweets and used all sort of creams and gels I had. It felt a lot better by Thu which was day before the race but started hurting soon after I went for little warm up before leaving my race gear in to transition. I was debating if I should pull out of race or see how far I can get to. I didn’t want to risk making my injury worse but also didn’t wanted to do my race even if I had to take it easy.

Race morning alarm went off at 3.45am and I started getting ready for race with friend of mine who was also racing but doing a half distance. After having breakfast it was time to go and make sure everything was ready for long day out there.

Around 6.15am gun went off and race was on. Swim was in a Read Sea and was little choppy. I had hard time finding my pace and was having trouble with waves. Swim was four laps and and after after first lap I started feeling my quad which wasn’t a good sign. After that I tried not to use my legs and started thinking if I should actually call it a day or keep going. I decided to keep going and see how far I ca  get to. Finish swim in around 1h 6min which would normally be disappointing but at that point I was more worried about other things like how far I can get to.

T1 was fast and took only few minutes and I was on my bike. First few kilometres was flat and then there was 15km climb with 700m of elevation. After that it’s mainly rolling hills. Bike course is stunning desert scenery in the middle of nowhere. My leg started hurting at the start of that first hill and I had to stand for the whole hill and try to push my heel down so I would mainly use calves and hamstrings. Got up the hill and even though my legs was getting quite sore it wasn’t killing me so just kept cycling. Few kilometres before turn around I saw leader coming other direction. I knew that i wasn’t far behind but also knew that there was no way I would be able to catch him without killing my leg so I just tried to stick to my pace that wasn’t hurting too much.

After turnaround point we were facing head wind for last 60km to T2 and that’s when my injury really started lifting is head up. Cycling against wind that was getting stronger all the time didn’t do any good and by the time I reached T2 I was pretty certain that I wasn’t going to be able to carry on or at least not to run.

Sat down in T2 and had some food and drinks and tried to stretch and massage my quads the best I could. After some time I thought that I might try if I can run at least some and then maybe walk. Started running and it felt sort of ok and didn’t really hurt at all. I was surprised by that and thought first time on that day that I might very well finish the race. First 15km is same hill that we cycled up but now other way around so we we running it down. Felt good to be able to run and first 18km I was feeling good but then my overworked hamstring ad calves started complaining and I started feeling bloated what ever I ate. I was probably well dehydrated so that could have caused bloated feeling. After 18k we had to do two ten kilometre loops which were on landfill road and which was very unstable. That’s when my feet started really hurting and after race I found out that I had five blisters. I walked a bit and ran when ever I could.

I knew at that point that I’ll finish the race no matter what. I finally crossed the finish line in 11hrs 13min which meant being 8th overall. It was a very long day out there and I was very pleased that I could finish the race and was only hoping that I did’t do more damage.

Next morning I was feeling quite stiff so that day was all about relaxing and spending some time with other athletes. Sunday we drove back to Tel Aviv and after long and frustrating security checks we were on our way back to London where I went to see my Osteopath and was glad to hear that my injury was only muscle and not tendon related. Now taking easy for one more week before getting back in to training.

Next is going to be two and half weeks of training in Buenos Aires and then two months in San Francisco which I’m so looking forward to. Then Wildflower half in May and IM France in June.

That was my season started,

Teemu

I miss you SUGOI.  We’ve been apart for too long, but fear not, our occasional pre-dinner rendezvous’ at the track are about to get more serious.  I know I packed you away after Ironman in August, but it was the best thing for both of us.  We were getting too serious, too attached to one another.  Now that we’ve each had time to recuperate and live our separate lives I think it’s time to rekindle our relationship.  I will see you soon my most reliable friend.  We will get through this year together and I will flaunt you every chance I get.

Looking forward to putting all my brand champion gear back on.  Hope you guys get some more stock in soon, been hoping to add some more to my collection :)  See you all at the races.

I hope everyone has had a great Xmas and NY and is ready to fulfill all their new years resolutions.

For all those out there that are still recovering from post-flu fatigue and general post-winter fatigue I wish you all a speedy recovery and may the adrenalin flow again soon so we can continue with our pre-5am workouts before a manic day in the office.

There is nothing worse than sitting down on Sunday to complete your week’s training log to send to your coach - only to realise that the week has gone and….what…hang on…I only completed how many sessions?! My hearts sinks….Red Bull and coffee can only get you so far……(and then you can’t sleep and then you miss the next days 4.30am planned session - aaarrrgghh!).

On another note I have ordered some more Brand Champion Kit today - hopefully that should provide me with a little more motivation to get back to it.

Wishing you all a very healthy and successful 2010.

You must keep training even when you feel like skipping a day, BE INCREDIBLE the SUGOI WAY!

Directed, Filmed & Edited by Spike Cee.
Starring Incredible Jane & Rory BOOM McAdams. Voices by Willy L. Now that’s incredible!

At 6:30 AM, I found myself near the Golden Gate bridge, ready for my first randonnée. I was one of very few people who were there with flat handlebars. Most everybody had road bikes with roadie handlebars. I had my mountain bike with a suspension fork (which is, after all, the only bike I own). We had our safety briefing and then went on our way. I had my first problem of the day when my front light popped off and I had to rescue it on the Golden Gate while not getting run over or knocking down any of the other cyclists. Soon, we were all riding down through Sausalito on our brevet.

The weather had been really nasty the previous week, and it was still fairly rainy. I had a full set of rain gear but, soon enough, it cleared up. Guided by the rest of the cyclist pack, we weaved through Marin towns on the way out into the country. Soon enough, buildings got less and less frequent.

The big thing about a randonnee is that it happens rain-or-shine and you have to be self-supporting, so you could tell which riders on the road were riding with us and who was just out for a nice ride by the amount of gear they had on their bike and how many lights they had on their bike.

I found that having a unit of food every hour was too little. I’d set an alarm on my GPS to beep every hour to remind me to keep eating, but I found myself hungry after 30-40 minutes. I made use of my jersey’s back pockets and my bento box to keep a variety of foods at easy access. Mostly, I was eating Crank Sports e-Gels, Gu gels, and Cliff Shot Bloks. I got them in a variety of flavors, too.

I had some nice conversations with the other riders while we rode along. Some folks were riding in steel road bikes wearing wool. There were fixie riders. I had a chat with an accomplished rider about his carbon fiber bike and explained to a double-century rider on his first brevet about how I really screwed up the math in my head, somehow assuming that I’d have to keep 12.5 mph pace.  I remember climbing up behind another rider and when we both reached the top, he commented on the climb. I told him it was time for the insane descent. He said “not for me!” I knew that, no matter what sort of evil rough roads that Sir Francis Drake Boulevard had in store, it was nothing compared to mountain biking trails, so I just cruised down them as fast as gravity would take me.

The next part was the rollers. I got dropped by a bunch of the riders on the rollers. See, they aren’t just rollers, where every climb is matched by a descent. They are also some elevation gain, such that I was telling myself that I sucked at rollers, when really I suck at a climb that’s mostly rollers. But I didn’t know that, so I had to grab some of my soul-strengthening food (some chocolate chip cookies) and took a few short breaks.

I kept seeing rainbows throughout the ride, which was an absolutely beautiful sight and raised my spirits.

The first control point was at the parking lot on the way to the Point Reyes lighthouse. One detail about riding a brevet is that you need to demonstrate that you did, in fact, ride the course. Thus, you get a brevet card that contains spots for each control point to sign or stamp or otherwise designate that you passed through it correctly. Optionally, there might be food or water there as well. Bobbe and Tom, the checkpoint volunteers, brought all sorts of yummy food items including payday bars and chips and some homemade biscotti. They also had managed to keep the water train going till I was there. It was at this point that I was discovering that most of the folks were in front of me, which I figured would happen eventually.

It’s not a race, just a trial to completion, so one of the riders who came in after me told the control folks that she had stopped for about 20 minutes to help a rider who was having a bad day. He broke a presta valve getting the tire back on. She asked if the control folks would remind him to eat something because he sounded a bit spacey. One of the riders assured me that I’d make it, given how I looked and the pace I was making and that the way back through the rollers was easier, which made me feel better about my ride.

I descended down over cattleguards and rough terrain back towards CA 1 and had a blast doing it. I kept my grip on the bars loose and let the suspension and tires do the work for me. It was great. And, because it was more descending than climbing, I was able to coast up some of the rollers, so the return leg from the lighthouse was fine.

The next bit had me taking the 1 up to Marshall. All of my crazy descending had gained me a few tenths of an mph to my pace, so I kept descending hard until I made it into Marshall. I got confused and kept swapping places with a veteran rider. He corrected one of my wrong turns.

The Marshall checkpoint was a store. It’s got clam chowder that really hits the spot mid-ride, so I got myself a bowl and had them stamp my card. One of the grizzled veterans pointed out that I needed to put the time and my initials on the card along with the stamp. By the time I got there, it was mostly the slower riders.

One of the riders asked me “So you are riding a brevet on a mountain bike. Are you INSANE?”

I told him that riding a stock mountain bike with knobly tires was stupid. But I was riding my commuter and it had slick tires, so it was not stupid, but yeah, it was a little insane.

Everybody assured me they’d probably see me at the finish, because I was so chipper and cheerful throughout. So I set on down the 1 and made my way back to the starting point. Pretty much, it would have been silly to give up at that point, barring major hardware failure. The shortest way back was to bike back. So I kept at it.

The last 25 miles were pretty hellish. My knee was acting up and so was the saddle. Also, because I was eating all of that gu, my large intestines didn’t seem to know what to do with themselves. I made it through most of the last opportunities (like Camino Alto) for screaming descents while there was still enough light that I didn’t need to slow down for safety. But making my way through the city streets towards the Golden Gate was hard.

I had a clear case of the stupids and get-home-itis. I ended up walking partway up a few hills because, while they weren’t especially steep, my legs were getting fairly tired from all that climbing. I made a bunch of wrong turns because I wasn’t consulting the route sheet nor was I zoomed in far enough on my GPS… and the rule is that you have to return to the course where you veered off.

Finally, I got totally confused and ended up flipping my bike near the golden gate and going over the handlebars. So the last some number of hundred feet were done with me walking my damaged bike. On the bright side, I reached the endpoint before the time was up, signed my brevet card and the clipboard, and then went into the bathroom to apply betadine to my face from my road rash kit.

I landed on my head. In some respects this was OK because I got maximum benefit from the bike helmet. It didn’t shatter (which generally means that the helmet was compromised before impact), it just compressed. I was conscious for the whole thing and showed no symptoms of brain injury (medicine now realizes that you don’t actually have to black out for the brain to get damaged). I got some road rash on my face and some muscle soreness in my arms. But it was fine, as far as crashes go. My bike had it worse.

Afterwards, I was ravenously hungry and cold. I had to sit under a bunch of blankets before I could stop shivering. I also didn’t have enough stomach room to actually eat properly, so I’d eat some food, then wait for my stomach to start growling again, and then eat some more. And my wife kept me up for five hours after the crash (1 AM) to watch for signs of brain injury.

I’ve got some fit issues that weren’t a big deal on my 80 mile rides but started to be a problem past 100 miles.

First, I’m pretty sure I need to work a little more on my right cleat’s adjustment because it was only my right knee that was hurting.

Second, my saddle was also causing too much numbness. It’s nearly two years old and starting to fall apart. But now it’s really got to go. The problem is that normally, I can keep going by standing on the pedals or walking around for a bit. But I can’t stand while going uphill on a bike with suspension, so it kept getting worse every hill I climbed.

I also think I ate too much goo and not enough normal food because my lower intestine was uncomfortable after a while.

The brevet administrator called me the next morning to make sure I was OK and stuff and hoped that, given that my RUSA member number places me in noob-land, crashing hasn’t turned me off to randonneuring. Which, I should add, it hasn’t. Clearly I shouldn’t try and do another brevet until I’ve fixed my bike and healed my wounds, but I had so much fun. I’m not finished with randonneuring. Not in the slightest.

It’s been a long road back, after tearing up my quadricep at 100 in the Hood last September. Nine weeks of recovery and rehabilitation; Five weeks of rest followed by another four weeks spent in the pool.  Now after ten weeks of training and I am a week away from an early ‘A’ race for the year.

Next Saturday I’ll be lacing them up to take the first step on the road to a sub 3:00 marathon in the Summer.

Last week I got my go fast Brand Champion kit from Sugoi!

Feeling fast is halfway to being fast!

In less than two weeks, the 33rd annual NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up will kick off in exciting New York, NY! The world class invitation only race will test the limits of some 315 competitors from 19 states and 17 countries as we race up 86 flights—1,576 steps—to the outdoor observation deck of the world’s most famous office building and the tallest building in New York City. This marks the 4th consecutive year that I’ve been selected to compete as an Elite athlete in such a prestigious event. Once again, this year’s Run-Up attracted a record number of applicants from all over the world and I’ll have the opportunity to compete with some of the most diverse and well-trained athletes in the field.

The Empire State Building

Defending champion Thomas Dold of Germany looks to join only two other five-time winners when he headlines the field at the 33rd annual NYRR Empire State Building Run-Up on Tuesday, 2 February.

Thomas Dold takes his third consecutive Empire State Building Run-up, Photo by New York Road Runners© 2008

Dold, 25, who has won the last four Run-Ups, would equal Australian great Paul Crake (1999–2003) and Al Waquie of the United States (1983–87) for most victories in this signature race on the NYRR calendar.

Crake - 9:33 - and Andrea Mayr of Austria - 11:23 - are the men’s and women’s course record holders.

Dold, who graduated in 2009 from his college in Stuttgart, Germany, is a standout in the sport of professional tower climbing, with a lengthy list of victories around the globe, his own website, and several sponsors. Since December, he has commuted to Frankfurt twice weekly to train at the Main Tower, a skyscraper that is 200 metres tall (52 floors and nearly 1,000 stairs).

A Mad Dash, Photo by New York Road Runners© 2009

Cindy Moll-Harris, 41, of Indianapolis, will once again aim for her fifth title. Moll-Harris is the only woman to have won the race four times (1998, 2000, 2001, and 2003).

Ginette Bedard, 76, of Howard Beach, NY, and Piero Dettin, 72, of Venice, Italy, are the oldest female and male participants entered in the race. On the other end of the age spectrum, 24-year-old Kacie Lauren Fischer of Shell Beach, CA, and 18-year-old Anthony John Scimone of Lakeland, FL, are the youngest competitors.

A total of 288 runners finished the 2009 invitational race, the second-most behind the 2008 event’s 308 finishers.

For more information, contact New York Road Runners (NYRR) or The Empire State Building.

For those of you in the New York City metro area, come join us post race for a healthy meal at my sponsor, Nature’s Grill Café, located in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Nature’s Grill Café is a juice bar health conscious kitchen serving health foods of the highest quality ingredients.

For the 2nd consecutive year, I had the extraordinary opportunity to compete in the XTERRA Trail Running World Championship held at Kualoa Ranch in Oahu, Hawaii. This year’s event brought together a world-class field of 1,100 runners from 35 states and nine countries participating in the 5k, 10k and 21k World Championship races, which were a benefit for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Hawaii. The 21k course was extremely challenging, but also very beautiful as it featured several pristine views out into the Pacific Ocean and surrounding Ka’a’awa Valley. The most brutal part of the course was that it featured 3,000 feet of elevation gain and many extremely steep ascents. The terrain was vast, from dirt roads, grass fields, technical muddy single track trails and even through the dense rain forest of Hakipu`u Valley at Kualoa Ranch.

Ka’a'awa Valley, Kualoa Ranch

Ka’a'awa Valley, Kualoa Ranch

As compared to the 2008 race, the conditions this year were much more difficult. On race morning, it was very hot and the sun was out in full. Despite the course being slightly shortened, it also proved to be more difficult with the addition of several long and steep climbs.

The start was fast, very fast, as we quickly descended down a small hill and then hit the first series of climbs about 1200 meters into the race. I had a very strong start and felt great, until I hit the second hill. At this point, I began to have some cramping and stomach issues. Over the next couple of miles I worked through them and then got my rhythm back about six miles into the race.

The second half of the 21k World Championship race proved to be the most grueling, as were hit several steep climbs that eventually led to a single track trail through the rain forest. This has always been one of my favorite parts of this race since it offers everything that make’s XTERRA what it is, and showcases a breath taking view out into the Pacific Ocean! Just like last year, I was so tempted to stop for a while to appreciate the amazing views of the numerous small old volcanic islands that were clustered all over the coast of Oahu.

After breaking out of the rain forest, runners are greeted by a long and steep decent, followed by a couple of miles of single track trails through fields, some small streams, forest and a downhill sprint to the finish.

Coming out of the woods, I put my kick in and came through with about the same time as in 2008. While it might not have been the finish that I was expecting, I was pleased despite my struggles throughout the early portion of the race. I ended up finishing 67th overall and 4th out of 36 runners in the Men’s 30-34 Age Group. The field was definitely much more competitive than last year and the overall experience was amazing.

Me, Post Race

Me, Post Race

Angel and I spent about a week in Hawaii and were fortunate to experience many of Hawaii’s treasures. Prior to World Championships, we went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay and swam with three beautiful sea turtles and countless numbers of exotic fish, including a Puffer fish. Snorkeling in one of the most exotic reefs in the world was an exhilarating experience, despite having to swim through heavy current and maneuvering razor sharp coral.

In addition to spending a day at Hanauma Bay, we also walked and ran on Waikiki Beach and got to experience the massive 40-foot waves on the North Shore. This was the first time in years where the world famous “The Eddie” surfing tournament was held due to the change of ocean currents generating immense swells over a couple of days. The competition attracted the best surfers from around the globe. The waves were a truly spectacular thing to witness.

XTERRA Staff Janet Clark, Emily McIlvaine and I

Special thanks to XTERRA for hosting another spectacular event and my sponsors, friends and family for all of your support through this amazing race season, XTERRA athlete Rachel Cieslewicz for not letting me give up early into World Championships when times were tough and all of my supporters and fans – If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be where I am now. Thank you PowerBar for all of the great nutrition products and the Gel Blasts have saved the day more than once this past season! Thanks SUGOI for making high quality competition gear; I loved the RSL Top that I used at Worlds. Thank you Deepak for your very professional and stellar athlete travel services. If anyone is ever looking for high quality and very reasonable travel to an exotic race location, make sure that you check out Premium Plus Sports. And thank you to my sports agent, Allen, at Platinum Sports Entertainment Group, Inc., for your diligent hard work in helping my athletic career excel.

Bruce Edwards photo

After racing for ten years and crossing over 100 finish lines, all of that pales in comparison to the emotion of  carrying the Olympic flame for a mere 300 metres. I’m not taking anything away from all the little races, the big events and all the people who’ve urged me onto the finsh, but hundreds of people cheering and waving Canadian flags trumps everything I’ve done.

I am one of 12 000 torchbearers needed to carry the flame across Canada in 106 days leading up to the Winter Games in Vancouver. I entered the sweepstakes with a pledge of making Canada a better place by inspiring my own children to lead an active lifestyle, and lead by example. I also wrote about the human spirit and how racing in any form, fosters the spirit of goodwill. And on the crowded main street in Devon, Alberta I again saw the strength of the spirit,  and how it can move a runnin’ man to tears.