Tour of the Gila

Check out Nick Frey's race coverage of the Tour of the Gila. Despite a lack of altitude training, he's doing really well and had a particularly fantastic finish today.

More perks

BlueSeventy wetsuit just arrived. Cannot wait to try this one out in some open water in a few weeks.

Ironman China: Crazy Race Report

One of the lead women on our team just finished Ironman China. She was the 1st non-pro woman (and I believed 7th woman, overall). Phenomenal finish given the conditions. Check it out:

It was 107F in the shade, 120F heat index and 112F air temp in the sun.
Don't get me started on the currents in the swim, they made 250m of it a beach run b/c the current was so strong I was swimming my heart out and was getting further and further. I was afraid I'd end up somewhere in the South China Sea scooped up by a fisherman in a week. Scary.
Bike was windy, but they changed the course from last year and took out hills, so just mild rolling with wind and gusts of wind to add some fun. Bike was way easier than last year. Aid station volunteers rocked.
The run is another story. There was a lot of carnage out there, the pro guy sitting next to me on the bus (from finish to hotel) had a seizure form hyponetremia (?too much water), some guy had to get paddles for his heart when he finished and tons of people ended up in the medical tent. It was the highest drop out rate, even took over Malaysia haha. I didn't realize how hot it was, I knew it was hot and I was miserable, but not much more than usual. Although I did go through water bottles like no tomorrow. I guess my nutrition strategy is my competitive advantage in hot races because I feel completely fine, probably the best I felt after any ironman (this was #13).
Got my Kona slot, ready to head back for a 5th trip to the Big Island. Definitely earned that trip. :)
Lidia

Sponsorship goodies

More sponsorship perks have been trickling in. At this point, SBR has us decked out in our new 2009 kit (which is a phenomenal improvement from last year's). We even have a side-by-side comparison. Here, in the Town of Piermont with the Hudson River in the background, we have Adam and me in our new kits with Alison in the middle sporting the 2008 gear.

Anyway, here's the three latest arrivals care of Zoot and PowerBar.

First off, we have a nice, colourful pair of Zoot Ultra Race 2.0 race flats. They're super light (i.e. very little support or heel) with race laces and are designed for sockless, wet feet--quick transitions!





And second is a huge bundle of PowerBar nutrition products that all of the Ambassadors picked up. Enough to keep me going for a good long while!

And finally, again from Zoot, some awesome compression gear (pictured above at the bottom). The literature is really starting to suggest that compression gear speeds recovery... the stuff is pricey, but at $0 I'm more than excited to give it a tri! Slept in the Zoot recovery socks last night and the calves feel great. Mind you, they did take about 5 minutes to get on.

Now all that's left to come in are my BlueSeventy wetsuit and my new tritop/trishorts.

My training facility and workspace

Took the plunge this year and invested some dough in getting a home mechanic setup in my basement and fitness center. Just a few pictures of my new workspace.

The workspace featuring (from left to right) a
Cervelo Soloist (not in pieces),
Cervelo P2C (in pieces on stand),
Bianchi Pista (in pieces),
Cervelo P1 (not in pieces).

Trainer, new Cervelo Soloist, rollers, trainer, bike pump, tools, other cool stuff.

My two works in progress.

Parts, helmets, shoes, etc.

Well, hope you enjoyed the tour of my new workout facility and bike shop.