At the beginning of last week I got knocked out by a cold/flu for a few days and decided that the race I planned to do, Oceanside 70.3, wasn't meant to be. I wasn't going to be ready for a long, hard race after sitting on the couch for three days. After I started to feel a bit better on Thursday, I decided - against the advice of my coach- to race a shorter distance race in New Orleans.
The Red Hook Crit. This was the craziest sporting event I've ever been to and probably the craziest I've ever participated in. The main event, the bike race, consisted of 22 lap criterium on a technical course around the docks in Red Hook, Brooklyn. It was pouring rain. It was dark. People were racing fixed gear bikes, with NO BRAKES.
I know, I know, you immediately think I’m crazy for 1) liking the treadmill and 2) running on all year long. But before you say the treadmill is the most boring thing ever, just hear me out for a second.
The treadmill is a tool that lots of professional triathletes frequently use. For one, it is a great way to get an uninterrupted run (no stop lights!).
The ground is still covered with snow here in upstate New York (and it is supposed to snow again over the weekend). I'm waiting for the temperature to rise to at least 48 degrees so that I can go outside for a ride. In this rare downtime, I thought I'd make a few announcements...When I first started racing in triathlons, I knew nothing about cycling. As a collegiate runner and lifelong competitive swimmer, I had the other two triathlon sports covered. But my biking knowlegdge was limited to commuting around my college campus on a "Mary Poppins" bike. When I bought my first road bike, I got a few tips from some newbie triathlete friends, but I was left to figure out the sport of cycling, with all of it’s gear and etiquette, on my own.
