Sunday, November 13, 2011

Exciting News: Representing Team RWB for 2012 and Beyond


12 Nov 2012-

Some of you that have been following me over the past 3 1/2 years may recall a blog I wrote back in 2010.  “Running for a Purpose, It was then in September of 2010 that I changed the way I raced.  I had a conversation with a good friend of mine and fellow runner.  She had told me that running for yourself gets boring and the satisfaction of your results are not near as great if you run for something more.  Yes, it is great to run and do well and the feeling of succeeding is great.  But when you are out on the course and you have to dig deep, knowing that you are racing for something more than yourself makes it that much more rewarding to dig deep and battle it out.

Since that race in 2010 I have raced for different reasons every race.  I have never asked anyone to donate to a foundation or cause and have never represented a company or organization.  For 2012 and many years to come I have decided to team up with Team RWB.  I had heard about Team RWB a little bit here and there from fellow military triathletes and had been doing a little bit of digging into what they were about.  So what is Team RWB about?

“We are a veteran support organization whose mission is to enrich the lives of wounded veterans and their families. Ultimately, we aim to transform the way wounded veterans are reintegrated into society when they return from combat and exit their position in the Active Duty Reserve force or National Guard.”
               
So where do I fit into all of this?  Well after doing some research and connecting with Team RWB I met one of their representatives out in Kona, Kurt Larson.  I spoke with him at the awards banquet about Team RWB and was able to ask some more in depth questions about the organization, which opened my eyes and made me want to join the team.  The next morning I woke up to an email from Mike Erwin, founder and Executive Director of Team RWB.  He asked that I join Team RWB and be an “Elite Ambassador”.  This was an amazing email to receive and opened my eyes to the difference that I could make.  I could use my athletic presence and help spread the word about Team RWB.
             
I have taken my time and ensured this is an organization that I want to represent.  After doing the research and having the same hopes and vision that they have I am glad to be joining forces with them.  They already have some big names involved with the Team RWB Triathlon Team with Timothy O’Donnell, Jessica Jacobs, Nick VanDam and fellow Air Force athletes, Kathy Rakel, James Bales, and Jolene Wilkinson.  To join ranks with these amazing athletes and help spread the word about Team RWB and network with other current military athletes and the wounded veterans is something that I look forward to doing and representing Team RWB the best that I can.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

DMZ Road Race-First Road WIN!

6 November-

I came into this race hungry!  Getting taken out at the crit after riding really strong was frustrating.  I wanted to end the season on a strong note so I put in a big week after my crash and had some solid workouts.  The week leading into this race went quite well also.  The other objective for this race was to score as many points for our team so that we could win the team event as well.  Well this race is in Korea, and well of course it had to have some weird rules to it.  So this blog may be a little long trying to explain how the race worked.

The race was going to be "net time" ( Net Time: Participant's unofficial time from when they cross the starting line until they cross the finish line.).  What this meant was they were going off of the time you crossed the line at the start to when you crossed it at the finish.  Your time didn't start till you crossed the line.  At least I knew this going into the race unlike at the hill climb back in April.  Then on top of that there was going to be a timing stop point at the top of the first climb, then your time would resume at the bottom of the hill.  Someone had died a few years back on this descent so they wanted to make it a safe neutral descent with people not racing down the hill.  At the bottom your time would resume and you would race to the finish.  The person with the lowest combined time would win.

They started the race in age group waves, not a mass start.  Well that is how we thought it would work.  Come to find out the waves ended up just going one after another with no separation.  I waited about 15 seconds after Derek started, he was in my opinion my biggest competition in the Age Group.  He was yelling at me to go thinking I didn't know we were starting, but in all actuality I was "playing" the system.  I had been screwed by the Korean system in the past, partially my own fault on not knowing the rules.  So I took full advantage of it this time.  Took a few minutes to get to the main group as they actually went out quite hard, but used the slingshot method and slowly worked my way up.  We had about 10K of flatish section and then we hit the first climb.  It was 8.6 miles long and gained 1,800ft.  The goal was to put 15seconds into Derek and anyone else in my AG.  One guy got up the climb about 6 seconds ahead of me and I was about 6 seconds ahead of Derek, which put me 21 seconds up at that point.

We waited at the top and got a decent size group before we descended.  It was cold and rainy so I put a garbage bag on to use as a wind breaker.  It worked for the most part but I was COLD!  We got to the bottom and had a group of about 15.  We got to the timing mat and I waited once again, but this time there were guys there with wands trying to swipe our numbers(that is where the timing chip was).  I thought it was a backup system as they also had a timing system set up.  Well this is where Derek got some of the time back as I got swiped way before him, probably those 15 seconds, so much for playing the system at the start.  So off we went.

The second climb is where I had planned to attack to break the group up a bit.  I got up the road and probably opened up about a 30 second to 45 second gap.  I held that gap till about 3/4 of the way up the climb then Mr. Lee(the guy who was on our team during the TdK and prior Olympian, who is also 50) and Derek came by me.  I stayed with Derek up the rest of the climb and then we were off on the downhill.  We ended up with 5 in our group and we started working really well together.  The goal was to now hammer to the finish.  I had Elmer from my team with me and Derek had a teammate, and then Mr. Lee was riding for himself.  With about 10k to go I talked with Elmer about our plan.  He was solo in his AG and I convinced him to lead me out when we got to the home stretch.  Derek thought I was talking about breaking away and got a little pissed and told us to stay with the group.  We all kept working hard and with about 1k to go Elmer got to the front and drilled it hard out of the last corner.  I sat on his wheel and with about 500m to go he came off the front.  I knew this was a little far out for me but I had to give it ago, well I thought I did.  All of the sudden Mr. Lee comes from 3rd wheel back and attacks like a bat out of hell.  I got on his wheel luckily and held on till 200m to go and came around him.  He performed a perfect un intentional lead out for me and it worked liked it was planned out ahead of time.

So with 200m to go I was out of the saddle staring down the finish line and well I was first across the line :)  But with Net timing you never know if you actually won the race or your AG.  When the results came out I was the Age Group winner, but we never saw overall placings.  I know there were a few guys that had "faster" overall times than me, but we weren't racing for overall placing we were racing for AG.  I still feel like I was the strongest guy on the day and raced really smart.  I think I shocked quite a few people who hadn't raced with me since the TdK and opened up some eyes.

Overall it was a great day.  I got home that night and this was the quote on FB
"Picked up my first Road Race Win today! At a loss for words, other than the fact that the US Military is leaving an impact on the Korean Cycling scene. The only 2 races in 3 weekends WE have put those colors on the podium! Proud to serve and even prouder to represent those great colors! Congrats to everyone else on Team Rapha STORCK for a great performance this weekend!"

It was a great weekend.  So what did I win? 44kg's of rice!  Yes, that is a LOT of rice!  Our team actually won a total of 194kg's of rice, 428lbs!  We are all doing different things with it and some is going to an orphanage.  I donated some to a Korean lady who cleans our work building and she broke down and was so grateful for the rice, it is touching to see someone appreciate the small things in life to me, when they are big things in life to her.  Our team ended up taking 2nd Overall, another Korean crazy thing.  We had 6 people which accumulated: 2 wins and 3 2nd place finishes in our respective Age Groups.  By the numbers we were the strongest team, but we got beat by a team who had 50 riders, and each rider got a point for finishing so they beat us.  It was weird that they didn't cap the amount of members but O well.

Thanks for all of the support from everyone.  Special thanks goes out to Jeremy Moon our Team Manager, Pablo the team owner and Elmer for a great early lead out.  Then to Alex for driving and finishing the race in the horrible conditions to get our team points. To Chae, Megan and Stephen for all getting on the podium and getting us those needed points!


For those of you interested in the ride data, here is the garmin file: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/126814746activity/126814746
and for those of you Power folks here are the power numbers are at the bottom below the pictures:
  
Coming up the second climb with Derek pulling me in.
 Right next to Derek further up the 2nd climb.
 
On the 1st descent with my garbage bag.  Come to think of it I should of just put it inside the jersey ;)
 
Right before Elmer came to the front to lead out.

The sprint finish, Mr. Lee on my right side, Dereks teammate behind me and Derek back in 4th and then Elmer exhausted from his great leadout
After the finish just rolling through.

  The Podium with the great colors of U.S. Military Cycling on TOP!
4 of the 44kg of rice.  Derek is bringing me the rest when he comes down for Thanksgiving.

Entire workout (255 watts):
    Duration:      2:15:46
    Work:          2021 kJ
    TSS:           199.9 (intensity factor 0.958)
    Norm Power:    307
    VI:            1.2
    Pw:HR:          -4.18%
    Pa:HR:          -30.78%
    Distance:      43.89 mi
    Elevation Gain:        3417 ft
    Elevation Loss:       3393 ft
    Grade:         0.0 %  (19 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    991    255     watts
    Heart Rate:      40    237    128     bpm
    Cadence:         9    129    87     rpm
    Speed:           0    49    19.5     mph
    Pace             1:14    0:00    3:04     min/mi
    Altitude:        339    2240    1021     ft
    Crank Torque:    0    1711    253     lb-in
    Temperature:     44.6    53.6    49.9     Fahrenheit

Peak 5s (931 watts):
    Duration:      0:05
    Work:          4 kJ
    TSS:           n/a
    Norm Power:    n/a
    VI:            n/a
    Pw:HR:          0.96%
    Pa:HR:          -5.71%
    Distance:      208 ft
    Elevation Gain:        0 ft
    Elevation Loss:       0 ft
    Grade:         0.0 %  (0 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           837    991    931     watts
    Heart Rate:      156    156    156     bpm
    Cadence:         98    109    104     rpm
    Speed:           27.2    30    28.9     mph
    Pace             2:00    2:12    2:04     min/mi
    Altitude:        368    368    368     ft
    Crank Torque:    707    828    759     lb-in
    Temperature:     53.6    53.6    53.6     Fahrenheit

Peak 10s (744 watts):
    Duration:      0:10
    Work:          7 kJ
    TSS:           n/a
    Norm Power:    n/a
    VI:            n/a
    Pw:HR:          40.33%
    Pa:HR:          -3.78%
    Distance:      430 ft
    Elevation Gain:        0 ft
    Elevation Loss:       0 ft
    Grade:         0.0 %  (0 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           445    991    744     watts
    Heart Rate:      156    156    156     bpm
    Cadence:         98    111    107     rpm
    Speed:           27.2    31.1    29.5     mph
    Pace             1:56    2:12    2:02     min/mi
    Altitude:        368    368    368     ft
    Crank Torque:    339    828    593     lb-in
    Temperature:     53.6    53.6    53.6     Fahrenheit

Peak 20s (641 watts):
    Duration:      0:20
    Work:          12 kJ
    TSS:           n/a
    Norm Power:    n/a
    VI:            n/a
    Pw:HR:          29.42%
    Pa:HR:          -2.75%
    Distance:      890 ft
    Elevation Gain:        0 ft
    Elevation Loss:       0 ft
    Grade:         0.0 %  (0 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           254    991    641     watts
    Heart Rate:      156    161    158     bpm
    Cadence:         90    112    102     rpm
    Speed:           27.2    31.7    30.2     mph
    Pace             1:54    2:12    1:59     min/mi
    Altitude:        368    368    368     ft
    Crank Torque:    191    920    535     lb-in
    Temperature:     53.6    53.6    53.6     Fahrenheit

Peak 30s (600 watts):
    Duration:      0:30
    Work:          17 kJ
    TSS:           n/a
    Norm Power:    n/a
    VI:            n/a
    Pw:HR:          5.03%
    Pa:HR:          -6.32%
    Distance:      0.249 mi
    Elevation Gain:        0 ft
    Elevation Loss:       0 ft
    Grade:         0.0 %  (0 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           254    991    600     watts
    Heart Rate:      155    161    158     bpm
    Cadence:         90    112    99     rpm
    Speed:           26.2    31.9    29.7     mph
    Pace             1:53    2:18    2:01     min/mi
    Altitude:        368    368    368     ft
    Crank Torque:    191    920    514     lb-in
    Temperature:     53.6    53.6    53.6     Fahrenheit

Peak 1min (463 watts):
    Duration:      1:00
    Work:          27 kJ
    TSS:           n/a
    Norm Power:    n/a
    VI:            n/a
    Pw:HR:          -72.19%
    Pa:HR:          -17.06%
    Distance:      0.452 mi
    Elevation Gain:        0 ft
    Elevation Loss:       10 ft
    Grade:         -0.6 %  (-14 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           182    991    463     watts
    Heart Rate:      148    161    154     bpm
    Cadence:         54    112    95     rpm
    Speed:           22.2    31.9    27.1     mph
    Pace             1:53    2:42    2:13     min/mi
    Altitude:        368    383    371     ft
    Crank Torque:    162    920    408     lb-in
    Temperature:     53.6    53.6    53.6     Fahrenheit

Peak 2min (408 watts):
    Duration:      2:00
    Work:          48 kJ
    TSS:           n/a
    Norm Power:    n/a
    VI:            n/a
    Pw:HR:          24.8%
    Pa:HR:          7.81%
    Distance:      0.417 mi
    Elevation Gain:        161 ft
    Elevation Loss:       0 ft
    Grade:         7.8 %  (171 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           218    551    408     watts
    Heart Rate:      98    135    114     bpm
    Cadence:         84    106    94     rpm
    Speed:           9.9    15.7    12.3     mph
    Pace             3:50    6:02    4:52     min/mi
    Altitude:        680    850    770     ft
    Crank Torque:    179    520    369     lb-in
    Temperature:     50    50    50.0     Fahrenheit

Peak 5min (385 watts):
    Duration:      5:00
    Work:          115 kJ
    TSS:           12 (intensity factor 1.199)
    Norm Power:    384
    VI:            1
    Pw:HR:          22.8%
    Pa:HR:          24.99%
    Distance:      0.965 mi
    Elevation Gain:        383 ft
    Elevation Loss:       0 ft
    Grade:         7.6 %  (388 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           218    556    385     watts
    Heart Rate:      98    153    129     bpm
    Cadence:         76    109    89     rpm
    Speed:           7.8    17.5    11.4     mph
    Pace             3:26    7:40    5:16     min/mi
    Altitude:        678    1065    879     ft
    Crank Torque:    179    573    368     lb-in
    Temperature:     50    50    50.0     Fahrenheit

Peak 10min (360 watts):
    Duration:      10:00
    Work:          215 kJ
    TSS:           21.8 (intensity factor 1.143)
    Norm Power:    366
    VI:            1.02
    Pw:HR:          27.73%
    Pa:HR:          -1.44%
    Distance:      2.144 mi
    Elevation Gain:        680 ft
    Elevation Loss:       0 ft
    Grade:         6.0 %  (682 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           131    627    360     watts
    Heart Rate:      98    167    142     bpm
    Cadence:         74    109    90     rpm
    Speed:           7.8    25    12.6     mph
    Pace             2:24    7:43    4:46     min/mi
    Altitude:        678    1358    1041     ft
    Crank Torque:    114    670    340     lb-in
    Temperature:     48.2    50    49.5     Fahrenheit

Peak 20min (350 watts):
    Duration:      20:00
    Work:          420 kJ
    TSS:           41.6 (intensity factor 1.117)
    Norm Power:    357
    VI:            1.02
    Pw:HR:          14.56%
    Pa:HR:          22.41%
    Distance:      4.039 mi
    Elevation Gain:        1335 ft
    Elevation Loss:       0 ft
    Grade:         6.3 %  (1336 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           131    627    350     watts
    Heart Rate:      98    170    150     bpm
    Cadence:         64    109    86     rpm
    Speed:           5.3    25    11.8     mph
    Pace             2:24    11:22    5:06     min/mi
    Altitude:        673    2008    1360     ft
    Crank Torque:    114    670    348     lb-in
    Temperature:     48.2    50    48.9     Fahrenheit

Peak 30min (320 watts):
    Duration:      32:07
    Work:          576 kJ
    TSS:           56.2 (intensity factor 1.067)
    Norm Power:    341
    VI:            1.07
    Pw:HR:          18.72%
    Pa:HR:          41.62%
    Distance:      5.428 mi
    Elevation Gain:        1654 ft
    Elevation Loss:       0 ft
    Grade:         5.8 %  (1661 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    793    320     watts
    Heart Rate:      64    170    141     bpm
    Cadence:         11    117    86     rpm
    Speed:           0    25    11.7     mph
    Pace             2:24    0:00    5:09     min/mi
    Altitude:        550    2211    1491     ft
    Crank Torque:    0    761    316     lb-in
    Temperature:     46.4    50    48.4     Fahrenheit

Peak 60min (282 watts):
    Duration:      1:00:12
    Work:          1016 kJ
    TSS:           99.3 (intensity factor 0.996)
    Norm Power:    319
    VI:            1.13
    Pw:HR:          19.06%
    Pa:HR:          -47.38%
    Distance:      21.641 mi
    Elevation Gain:        1438 ft
    Elevation Loss:       1920 ft
    Grade:         -0.4 %  (-488 ft)
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    991    282     watts
    Heart Rate:      71    188    131     bpm
    Cadence:         15    129    86     rpm
    Speed:           0    49    21.5     mph
    Pace             1:14    0:00    2:47     min/mi
    Altitude:        356    1678    734     ft
    Crank Torque:    0    1711    285     lb-in
    Temperature:     48.2    53.6    51.8     Fahrenheit