Need I say more?
Coach Bob
On Location
I am stationed in a "secret" location in Beijing that I cannot make public but I can share a few photos that I clipped off today.
My preferred mode of transportation, even equipped with a basket and a bell!
How about this bike for running errands? I can probably carry all three of my kids in the back also! I think I will give the idea to Nate (Sarah's husband) to build one when we get home...he would totally be up for that challenge!
This is the sign entering the pool that we are trying to make appropriate for athlete training. It's a bit hard to see but definitely worth squinting because some of them are hilarious. Be sure to read all of the "rules" and choose your favorite!
Coach Bob
Great photos in the Olympic Village
This photo speaks volumes describing the true meaning of the Olympic Movement.
I had to take this photo just because it made me smile. This is a man tasked with watering a lawn in the Olympic Village...kind of funny, isn't it?
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
Reflections and Bob's Update
I caught myself thinking about all of the countries I have been to and while I certainly do not consider myself to be a frequent traveler, I have had quite a few opportunities to visit quite a few unique places. Among them include England, Denmark, Hungary, Spain, Germany, Italy, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan and of course China. Not too shabby for this kid who grew up in a sheltered Colorado mountain town!
Okay, so just a quick update on my time in China. Since arriving, I have gone to the Olympic Village as my photos have shown and other than that, I have been staying at the U.S. training site in Beijing. Aside from my Village visit, I have not been doing what my traditional role has been for the USOC and it has been different and fun. Most of my time has been spent assisting in the set up of our training swimming pool that our water based athletes will be using along with helping set up the track and field events. Today, I found myself assisting in building the pole vault area and getting in the pool twice to assess our lighting situation and what would be best for our athletes. I did manage to get in about a mile swim in the process so that was a bonus!
So, my days now usually look like this: wake up around 5am (can’t sleep past that for some reason!), Skype my family, eat breakfast, attend our staff meeting to determine what is on the “chores” list for the day, head back to my room to Skype Sarah, catch up on emails (I do still have a regular job that I am trying to do while in China) then head off somewhere to provide assistance. In between my manual labor roles, I have some lunch and dinner and try to squeeze in a bit of a workout in our fantastic strength and conditioning room. I’ve been using the rowing machine (wow, that is tough!), the spinning bike and ramping up my weightlifting.
By the way, Skype (www.skype.com) is an amazing tool to keep in touch with people when traveling. I highly recommend it!
That’s about it from China. I’ll take more photos soon and post them so be sure to check back often.
Until next time…
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
Okay, so just a quick update on my time in China. Since arriving, I have gone to the Olympic Village as my photos have shown and other than that, I have been staying at the U.S. training site in Beijing. Aside from my Village visit, I have not been doing what my traditional role has been for the USOC and it has been different and fun. Most of my time has been spent assisting in the set up of our training swimming pool that our water based athletes will be using along with helping set up the track and field events. Today, I found myself assisting in building the pole vault area and getting in the pool twice to assess our lighting situation and what would be best for our athletes. I did manage to get in about a mile swim in the process so that was a bonus!
So, my days now usually look like this: wake up around 5am (can’t sleep past that for some reason!), Skype my family, eat breakfast, attend our staff meeting to determine what is on the “chores” list for the day, head back to my room to Skype Sarah, catch up on emails (I do still have a regular job that I am trying to do while in China) then head off somewhere to provide assistance. In between my manual labor roles, I have some lunch and dinner and try to squeeze in a bit of a workout in our fantastic strength and conditioning room. I’ve been using the rowing machine (wow, that is tough!), the spinning bike and ramping up my weightlifting.
By the way, Skype (www.skype.com) is an amazing tool to keep in touch with people when traveling. I highly recommend it!
That’s about it from China. I’ll take more photos soon and post them so be sure to check back often.
Until next time…
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
Food sculptures in the Olympic Village Dining Hall
First blog from China!
I'm here! The 2008 Olympics. Beijing, China! Very exciting to say the least!
My travels were uneventful, thankfully, and I am working on my second full day in Beijing. My first night brought a lot of tossing and turning and very non-quality sleep. I went to bed at 8:00, woke up at 12:00, stayed up until 2:00 and then woke up again at 4:00am to start my day. Kind of reminds me of when my kids were infants and the crazy sleep schedule that you follow during those times.
Nonetheless, my second night was much better. In bed at 9:30 and up at 4:30am. While it wasn't as long as I had hoped, it was a straight sleep with some good REM sleep. I woke up bright and early and talked with Sarah via Skype to see how she has been doing and how she is feeling going into the last tough build week of training before she heads over for her first Olympics. Then a quick team meeting followed by breakfast and I got lucky enough to talk to my family via Skype before they went to bed. Ah, just to hear the voices of my kids and wife was priceless!
My first full day in Beijing was spent both in and out of the swimming pool that we are trying to set up. We were building and putting in lane lines and the water polo net for our athletes when they arrive.
The best thing about my trip so far is that the food at our U.S. based restaurant is phenomenal! Nothing to worry about there which instills a calm feeling upon everyone.
I'm off to the Olympic Village today to have a look around the cafeteria to see how the food situation is there and hope to post some photos of my outing.
Stay tuned...
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
My travels were uneventful, thankfully, and I am working on my second full day in Beijing. My first night brought a lot of tossing and turning and very non-quality sleep. I went to bed at 8:00, woke up at 12:00, stayed up until 2:00 and then woke up again at 4:00am to start my day. Kind of reminds me of when my kids were infants and the crazy sleep schedule that you follow during those times.
Nonetheless, my second night was much better. In bed at 9:30 and up at 4:30am. While it wasn't as long as I had hoped, it was a straight sleep with some good REM sleep. I woke up bright and early and talked with Sarah via Skype to see how she has been doing and how she is feeling going into the last tough build week of training before she heads over for her first Olympics. Then a quick team meeting followed by breakfast and I got lucky enough to talk to my family via Skype before they went to bed. Ah, just to hear the voices of my kids and wife was priceless!
My first full day in Beijing was spent both in and out of the swimming pool that we are trying to set up. We were building and putting in lane lines and the water polo net for our athletes when they arrive.
The best thing about my trip so far is that the food at our U.S. based restaurant is phenomenal! Nothing to worry about there which instills a calm feeling upon everyone.
I'm off to the Olympic Village today to have a look around the cafeteria to see how the food situation is there and hope to post some photos of my outing.
Stay tuned...
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
Nerves, nerves, nerves
As I enjoy my time on my couch at home for the last time for 5 weeks, I am reflecting on my thoughts about my trip to my first ever Olympics. I have to say that similar emotions are beginning to surface as they do when I finish an Ironman or Ultra-run. Joy, fatigue, sadness, anticipation...just to name a few.
I will not see Sarah for two weeks so I just finished her training sessions for that time and although I am hesitant in posting two weeks of training for her since I am not with her to see how she is adapting physically and mentally to the workouts, I am confident that we can communicate well enough via computer to assess her readiness before she departs and make any necessary changes. The next two weeks is crucial for her preparation for her first Olympics and while I cannot physically be there, her husband Nate will step up and implement the workouts I have given her and he will be my eyes on U.S. ground. Sarah and I meet up again in South Korea on August 8 which gives us 10 days to put the final icing on the cake before her August 18 "date".
I'm leaving tomorrow morning at 2:45am to catch the SkyRide to the Denver airport. Ah, brings back good memories of starting some of my long runs around that time earlier this year! A short flight to San Francisco followed by a nice 3 hour layover before I spend some good time on my behind flying to Beijing. Trying to pack light, I only have one larger suitcase and a backpack to hold me over for 5 weeks. Clothes, hot pots, power converters and my refractometer to test urine specific gravity (this assesses an athlete's hydration status) are the contents of my big USA bag. Should be interesting...especially if I make the 50 pound cutoff for my larger bag!
I am nervous and my stomach has that same awkward feeling that I get before races but as I always tell my athletes, "if you're not nervous, you're not ready!". I guess this means I am ready for one of the best opportunities that has been presented to me in the short amount of time I have been on this planet. I will enjoy it to my fullest ability!
Be sure to watch the 2008 Summer Olympics (especially triathlon) on NBC in a couple of weeks. Opening ceremonies are at 8pm on August 8th. The Chinese love the number 8!
Until my next post...
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
Beijing Bound
Only two days left and I am off to my first (of many, hopefully!) Olympic Games. I will be wearing many hats there and will spend the first 2 weeks as the sport dietitian for the US Olympic Committee where I will assess the Olympic Village food, meet with any athletes who should need assistance and do whatever the USOC needs me to do.
Then it's off to South Korea with USA Triathlon as their sport dietitian and coach for Sarah Haskins. I will be sourcing and overseeing the food production for our team here in addition to spending the last bit of time getting Sarah ready for her first Olympics. After the triathlon competition, I am back to the USOC operations in Beijing to help in any way that I can for the last week of the Games.
I'm not looking forward to being gone from the family for 5 weeks but this is going to be a fantastic experience and am proud to have been chosen by the USOC to assist them as well as by Sarah to be her coach throughout this exciting process.
I may not have access to updating my blog while there but will definitely have some great stories that I will blog upon my return.
Until next time...
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
Then it's off to South Korea with USA Triathlon as their sport dietitian and coach for Sarah Haskins. I will be sourcing and overseeing the food production for our team here in addition to spending the last bit of time getting Sarah ready for her first Olympics. After the triathlon competition, I am back to the USOC operations in Beijing to help in any way that I can for the last week of the Games.
I'm not looking forward to being gone from the family for 5 weeks but this is going to be a fantastic experience and am proud to have been chosen by the USOC to assist them as well as by Sarah to be her coach throughout this exciting process.
I may not have access to updating my blog while there but will definitely have some great stories that I will blog upon my return.
Until next time...
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
Another Shout Out!
Congrats to Fuel4mance elite triathlete Kristin Hilger for a 7th place overall finish at the Vancouver Half-Ironman! Way to go Kristin!
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
Shout out!
Congratulations to Fuel4mance elite triathlete Sarah Haskins-Kortuem for the following accomplishments in the last 5 weeks:
1. Silver medal at World Championships
2. US Olympic Team qualification at the HyVee ITU World Cup
3. Second place at the Lifetime Fitness (Minneapolis) non-drafting triathlon.
Great job Sarah!
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
Hamburg, Germany Part 1: Wet and Cold
The trip to Hamburg, Germany was long but successful. I left my house around 3:45pm, boarded the plane at 5:45pm, sat on the runway until about 6:30pm and then was off to Frankfurt. I always set my watch to my destination to get my body pre-accustomed to the new time zone and try as much as possible to sleep and eat according to this change but it is often difficult because the body doesn’t like to change its routine so quickly.
The flight was just over 9 hours and I occupied myself by reading the book, “From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour De France”. Very interesting insight regarding what is termed the “medical programs” of professional cycling teams. Unfortunately, I only managed to get about 3 hours of sleep on the flight so I successfully finished about 3/4 of the book on the way.
Once I landed in Frankfurt, it took about 30 minutes to get from the airplane to the terminal, likely due to the ground crew strike, but I had over 2 hours before my connection to Hamburg so I took my time and toured the airport a bit. After passing through the passport check, I was body searched with a wand in security and then on my way to my gate without a hitch. As I was watching people pass through security ahead of me, it appeared that every other person was being “wanded” so I didn’t mind.
After arriving in Hamburg, I met the ITU race shuttle gentleman who was from Hamburg and had a nice chat with him regarding the city while we were waiting for our other passenger, Debbie Tanner from New Zealand (soon to be the bronze medalist at this World Cup). Debbie and I shared some good conversation in the shuttle to the airport. She is an elite kiwi and it was fascinating to learn about her whereabouts throughout the year. She travels quite a bit and it didn’t sound like she was at any one location for longer than 3-4 months. The life of a professional ITU athlete!
Once we arrived at the hotel, I rushed to the coaches meeting, of which I was 10 minutes late for but it wasn’t too big of a deal as there weren’t many coaches in attendance. I met up with Linda from USAT who was there as the assistant coach and we sat through the meeting, learned about the course and all of the other logistics. Then it was off to the athlete meeting and our goal was to meet all of our athletes since we did not know all of them. I knew a couple from helping them with nutrition but had to acquaint myself with the others quickly. We had six males and one female in the race. After introductions we went to the pasta dinner together to enjoy each other’s company and then off to bed.
Ah, the sleep thing was interesting to say the least! I desperately tried to stay awake that night to stay on Germany time and did manage to stay up until 11pm (Hamburg is 8 hours ahead of Colorado time) and abruptly woke at 7am. I don’t know why and I desperately tried to coerce my body back to sleep but no luck. So, I got up, did a bit of yoga and calisthenics to loosen up the body then went to breakfast.
Mmmm, breakfast! The hotel I was staying at was quite nice and served a delicious continental breakfast. Completely opposite of what you find in the U.S., this breakfast was refreshing and consisted of fresh fruit, yogurt, muesli, pastries, breads and of course the cheeses, fish and cold, non-traditional U.S. food offerings. I have to say that the pastries were amazing! They are not that sweet which makes them even more delectable and the breads are very dense chock full of rich flavor. Check out this photo of breads I found in a little cafe.
I also tried, and grew to be a big fan of, kiwi nectar. Not too sweet and just a hint of tartness comprised this beverage. I would add mango nectar to the mix for a great burst of antioxidants in the morning!
My first full day in Hamburg was greeted with a cold, wet (downpour actually) environment. Linda and I met the athletes at the pool and I led the swim workout then it was off to our team meeting and back to the hotel quickly to drive the race course with some of the athletes. My first experience driving in Germany and it was....well....fun! Linda had rented a Mercedes Benz station wagon with quite a bit of kick. Aside from making some wrong turns due to sign viewing challenges and not being able to make left turns when I needed to, I navigated the streets with ease.
After we drove the bike course, it was back to the hotel to drop off the car so Linda and I could walk down to the transition area to get the lay of the land. Umbrellas and rain gear in hand, we made the 15 minute jaunt to the race start. It just so happens that the race start is in the middle of downtown Hamburg so there were quite a few people walking around and a town of shops surrounding the transition area. We scoped out where our positions would be on the course to provide the athletes with feedback regarding their splits and positions then enjoyed the Hamburg culture a bit more by touring downtown. The buildings were a mix between old and new and while we didn’t want to stay in the rain too long (it was actually cold!), we saw what we wanted to and headed back to the hotel for some rest before dinner.
Linda and I met up for dinner and walked around a bit before stumbling on an Italian restaurant. What? Italian in Germany? Perfect for this Italian boy! We went in around 7pm and found that we were the only ones there. Ah yes, I forget that dinner is quite a bit later in Germany than what I am used to. Regardless, we ordered some type of wine spritzer which had quite a kick to it, salads and individual pizzas. The real excitement came when we went to pay. After paying, we were provided with two shots of some hard alcohol as a kind gesture for some reason (perhaps we tipped generously?) and as I smelled it, memories of my first semester of my undergrad filled my head. Without going into too much detail, let’s just state for the record that these memories were not comprised of concentrating on the classes I was taking, if you get my drift.
I made it back to the hotel, got to check a little email and then retired for the night.
The flight was just over 9 hours and I occupied myself by reading the book, “From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour De France”. Very interesting insight regarding what is termed the “medical programs” of professional cycling teams. Unfortunately, I only managed to get about 3 hours of sleep on the flight so I successfully finished about 3/4 of the book on the way.
Once I landed in Frankfurt, it took about 30 minutes to get from the airplane to the terminal, likely due to the ground crew strike, but I had over 2 hours before my connection to Hamburg so I took my time and toured the airport a bit. After passing through the passport check, I was body searched with a wand in security and then on my way to my gate without a hitch. As I was watching people pass through security ahead of me, it appeared that every other person was being “wanded” so I didn’t mind.
After arriving in Hamburg, I met the ITU race shuttle gentleman who was from Hamburg and had a nice chat with him regarding the city while we were waiting for our other passenger, Debbie Tanner from New Zealand (soon to be the bronze medalist at this World Cup). Debbie and I shared some good conversation in the shuttle to the airport. She is an elite kiwi and it was fascinating to learn about her whereabouts throughout the year. She travels quite a bit and it didn’t sound like she was at any one location for longer than 3-4 months. The life of a professional ITU athlete!
Once we arrived at the hotel, I rushed to the coaches meeting, of which I was 10 minutes late for but it wasn’t too big of a deal as there weren’t many coaches in attendance. I met up with Linda from USAT who was there as the assistant coach and we sat through the meeting, learned about the course and all of the other logistics. Then it was off to the athlete meeting and our goal was to meet all of our athletes since we did not know all of them. I knew a couple from helping them with nutrition but had to acquaint myself with the others quickly. We had six males and one female in the race. After introductions we went to the pasta dinner together to enjoy each other’s company and then off to bed.
Ah, the sleep thing was interesting to say the least! I desperately tried to stay awake that night to stay on Germany time and did manage to stay up until 11pm (Hamburg is 8 hours ahead of Colorado time) and abruptly woke at 7am. I don’t know why and I desperately tried to coerce my body back to sleep but no luck. So, I got up, did a bit of yoga and calisthenics to loosen up the body then went to breakfast.
Mmmm, breakfast! The hotel I was staying at was quite nice and served a delicious continental breakfast. Completely opposite of what you find in the U.S., this breakfast was refreshing and consisted of fresh fruit, yogurt, muesli, pastries, breads and of course the cheeses, fish and cold, non-traditional U.S. food offerings. I have to say that the pastries were amazing! They are not that sweet which makes them even more delectable and the breads are very dense chock full of rich flavor. Check out this photo of breads I found in a little cafe.
I also tried, and grew to be a big fan of, kiwi nectar. Not too sweet and just a hint of tartness comprised this beverage. I would add mango nectar to the mix for a great burst of antioxidants in the morning!
My first full day in Hamburg was greeted with a cold, wet (downpour actually) environment. Linda and I met the athletes at the pool and I led the swim workout then it was off to our team meeting and back to the hotel quickly to drive the race course with some of the athletes. My first experience driving in Germany and it was....well....fun! Linda had rented a Mercedes Benz station wagon with quite a bit of kick. Aside from making some wrong turns due to sign viewing challenges and not being able to make left turns when I needed to, I navigated the streets with ease.
After we drove the bike course, it was back to the hotel to drop off the car so Linda and I could walk down to the transition area to get the lay of the land. Umbrellas and rain gear in hand, we made the 15 minute jaunt to the race start. It just so happens that the race start is in the middle of downtown Hamburg so there were quite a few people walking around and a town of shops surrounding the transition area. We scoped out where our positions would be on the course to provide the athletes with feedback regarding their splits and positions then enjoyed the Hamburg culture a bit more by touring downtown. The buildings were a mix between old and new and while we didn’t want to stay in the rain too long (it was actually cold!), we saw what we wanted to and headed back to the hotel for some rest before dinner.
Linda and I met up for dinner and walked around a bit before stumbling on an Italian restaurant. What? Italian in Germany? Perfect for this Italian boy! We went in around 7pm and found that we were the only ones there. Ah yes, I forget that dinner is quite a bit later in Germany than what I am used to. Regardless, we ordered some type of wine spritzer which had quite a kick to it, salads and individual pizzas. The real excitement came when we went to pay. After paying, we were provided with two shots of some hard alcohol as a kind gesture for some reason (perhaps we tipped generously?) and as I smelled it, memories of my first semester of my undergrad filled my head. Without going into too much detail, let’s just state for the record that these memories were not comprised of concentrating on the classes I was taking, if you get my drift.
I made it back to the hotel, got to check a little email and then retired for the night.
Hamburg Part 2: The Men's Race
My first evening of sleep saw a solid, yet short, 8 hours. I know you are thinking that is normal but considering I only had 3 hours in the travel over here, I could have used more! My second evening of sleep was even more troublesome. I went to bed at 11pm (3pm Colorado time) and woke up at 3am. I just woke up. No noises, no nothing. My body was just ready to start its day. This was unacceptable and while I fought to go back to sleep for 30 minutes, I finally succumbed to my body’s request and picked up my “Lance to Landis” book (highly recommend reading it by the way!). Two hours later, my body was finally ready to give in and I managed to get about 4 more hours of shut-eye. Thank goodness because I had a big day of coaching ahead!
After breakfast, Linda and I headed over to the athletes hotel to meet with them to discuss tactics, nutrition and to calm some of their nerves. We headed off to the race to be there before the athletes and set up “shop” by the athlete check-in area. A few talks and words of encouragement to the athletes and then Linda and I ventured to the pontoon start. The gun went off and we went to our positions. The athletes swam in a lake and twice went under a bridge in the center of the city. The city really supported the elite race as was evident by the huge mass of spectators surrounding the course. I was fantastic and I was really impressed by the venue and race organization. Fast forward to the race and while we couldn’t ID our athletes in the water, we were able to pick them up quickly as they got onto the bike. Linda was positioned just outside of the transition area and I was on the other side of the bike course giving splits and strategic instructions. We had one of our guys drop out early in bike, another just miss the lap cutoff and then another drop in the run due to calf pain. Our three men that finished did very well for them. All three are younger athletes and really had solid races throughout. Linda and I congregated at the finish line to debrief with the athletes, took some team photos and then headed off back to the hotel.
Now this is where it gets really interesting so be sure to stay tuned to the next post and enjoy some photos before scrolling down...
After breakfast, Linda and I headed over to the athletes hotel to meet with them to discuss tactics, nutrition and to calm some of their nerves. We headed off to the race to be there before the athletes and set up “shop” by the athlete check-in area. A few talks and words of encouragement to the athletes and then Linda and I ventured to the pontoon start. The gun went off and we went to our positions. The athletes swam in a lake and twice went under a bridge in the center of the city. The city really supported the elite race as was evident by the huge mass of spectators surrounding the course. I was fantastic and I was really impressed by the venue and race organization. Fast forward to the race and while we couldn’t ID our athletes in the water, we were able to pick them up quickly as they got onto the bike. Linda was positioned just outside of the transition area and I was on the other side of the bike course giving splits and strategic instructions. We had one of our guys drop out early in bike, another just miss the lap cutoff and then another drop in the run due to calf pain. Our three men that finished did very well for them. All three are younger athletes and really had solid races throughout. Linda and I congregated at the finish line to debrief with the athletes, took some team photos and then headed off back to the hotel.
Now this is where it gets really interesting so be sure to stay tuned to the next post and enjoy some photos before scrolling down...
Hamburg Part 3: Wild Animals
Now that I have left you with a bit of suspense from my last post. On our walk back to the hotel, I looked to my right as we crossed a street and in front of a hotel there was a small crowd gathered in front. Before my mind could deduce what was happening, my eyes were immediately drawn to the cause. I could not believe my eyes.
On the end of a leash, and a somewhat weak looking one at that, was my oldest son’s most favorite animal in the entire world. I immediately told Linda that I had to go over to take photos and in a matter of seconds, I was standing roughly 4 feet away from the fast animal on land. Yes, a Cheetah, and a beautiful one at that, was being photographed by a professional and a few visitors had their digital cameras, including this one, flipping photos right and left (see my photos below!). Some people were even so brave as to gently pet the Cheetah. While I had thought about how cool it would be for me to tell my son that I had pet a Cheetah, something in my knew better and I opted to ask Linda just to take a photo of me ducking in front of it (at a safe distance). Check out the photos below. Good thing I trust my instincts because no more than 60 seconds later, the Cheetah attacked a bellman. Seriously. The keeper of the animal reacted quickly and restrained him and lucky for the bellman, the Cheetah had only one swipe at his arm. His coat was ripped and, based on his reaction and facial expressions, I believe the Cheetah had reached flesh. There were enough people around to provide help if he needed it so we decided to get while the getting was good and continued our walk.
After a quick stop to do a wheel swap at our athletes hotel, we stopped at a cute, local sandwich shop where I was actually able to order a veggie sandwich and headed to our hotel for a good night’s rest. My feet were pulsating with fatigue and being able to relax a bit in my hotel room was exactly what I needed.
Hamburg Part 4: The Women's Race and Going Fast!
I write this post sitting in the Hamburg airport, eyes half closed from lack of good sleep, reflecting on my last day in Germany. Sunday morning began with finally getting to sleep at 2am, waking at 5am, reading a book from 5-7am, then finally going back to sleep from 7-9am. Needless to say, it was a rough night of sleep, if you can call it that. Linda and I met for breakfast and then I met with three of our male athletes to discuss nutrition and provide one of them a performance nutrition plan. Afterwards, it was a quick trip to my room to decompress before heading off to the women’s race.
We only had one female in the race so the logistics were much easier than the previous day when we had six males. We headed over to the transition area, found our athlete, chatted a bit and then headed down to the pontoon start. Our athlete came by and we talked a bit about how she was feeling, I provided some mental calmness for her and discussed positioning on the pontoon. The race had a few pretty good females, past Olympians, current Olympians and Vanessa Fernandes, who is the most winning female ever in ITU racing. The race began, Linda and I took our positions and away we went.
I was stationed just outside of the transition area this time and Linda was on the other end of the bike course. The front pack grew and grew and gained speed with each lap. Unfortunately for our athlete this was not a good thing as she did not come out of the water where she wanted and ended up getting lapped on the bike. In ITU racing, this means that you cannot continue so her day was done. We met her in the transition area and she was great in noting the positives of her race. While a bit disappointed, her spirits were high. We stayed to watch the finish of the race, encountered a dramatic display of rain halfway through the run and witnessed the finish of which was quite unexpected. Vanessa Fernandes, the apparent favorite, was nowhere to be seen. A German won the race, followed by an Australian and then Debbie Tanner, the Kiwi I met on the shuttle on my first day here. We later heard that Vanessa had dropped from the race just before the 5k mark, for reasons unknown to anyone.
After the race, we rushed back to the hotel because we had a date, a date with the Audobon! I had always wanted to drive the Audobon and since Linda had rented a car, we decided to venture off and experience the freedom of no speed limits. It was an easy drive out of Hamburg and after passing the construction zone where there was posted speed limits of 60, 80 and 100 km/hour, the road opened and it was time to take our Mercedes Benz station wagon for a ride! I had never driven a Mercedes before and let me just say that it is quite a machine. Very good acceleration and handling and before I knew it, we were going a modest 180 km/hour. My goal was to hit at least 200 km/hour and once accomplished, I wanted more. This was a huge adrenaline rush. My heart rate increased, palms started sweating and grip became tighter on the steering wheel as the speedometer needle progressed from 200 to 210 and finally topped off at 220 km/hour. I wanted to push more but we were encountering quite a bit of traffic and cars started pulling in front of me, which is a bit nerve racking when you are going 136 miles per hour (read: yes, that is correct!) and have to decelerate at a moments notice. As I reflect on that experience while typing this, I feel my heart pumping faster. It is that much of a “high”, if you will.
We only had one female in the race so the logistics were much easier than the previous day when we had six males. We headed over to the transition area, found our athlete, chatted a bit and then headed down to the pontoon start. Our athlete came by and we talked a bit about how she was feeling, I provided some mental calmness for her and discussed positioning on the pontoon. The race had a few pretty good females, past Olympians, current Olympians and Vanessa Fernandes, who is the most winning female ever in ITU racing. The race began, Linda and I took our positions and away we went.
I was stationed just outside of the transition area this time and Linda was on the other end of the bike course. The front pack grew and grew and gained speed with each lap. Unfortunately for our athlete this was not a good thing as she did not come out of the water where she wanted and ended up getting lapped on the bike. In ITU racing, this means that you cannot continue so her day was done. We met her in the transition area and she was great in noting the positives of her race. While a bit disappointed, her spirits were high. We stayed to watch the finish of the race, encountered a dramatic display of rain halfway through the run and witnessed the finish of which was quite unexpected. Vanessa Fernandes, the apparent favorite, was nowhere to be seen. A German won the race, followed by an Australian and then Debbie Tanner, the Kiwi I met on the shuttle on my first day here. We later heard that Vanessa had dropped from the race just before the 5k mark, for reasons unknown to anyone.
After the race, we rushed back to the hotel because we had a date, a date with the Audobon! I had always wanted to drive the Audobon and since Linda had rented a car, we decided to venture off and experience the freedom of no speed limits. It was an easy drive out of Hamburg and after passing the construction zone where there was posted speed limits of 60, 80 and 100 km/hour, the road opened and it was time to take our Mercedes Benz station wagon for a ride! I had never driven a Mercedes before and let me just say that it is quite a machine. Very good acceleration and handling and before I knew it, we were going a modest 180 km/hour. My goal was to hit at least 200 km/hour and once accomplished, I wanted more. This was a huge adrenaline rush. My heart rate increased, palms started sweating and grip became tighter on the steering wheel as the speedometer needle progressed from 200 to 210 and finally topped off at 220 km/hour. I wanted to push more but we were encountering quite a bit of traffic and cars started pulling in front of me, which is a bit nerve racking when you are going 136 miles per hour (read: yes, that is correct!) and have to decelerate at a moments notice. As I reflect on that experience while typing this, I feel my heart pumping faster. It is that much of a “high”, if you will.
The speedometer as I hit 210 km/hour...I had 10 km/hour more in me but didn't want to take my hands off the wheel to flip that photo!
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
We were losing daylight and did not want to navigate back to Hamburg in the dark so we headed back, left the car at the hotel and searched for a place to eat. Along the way, we ran into our four male athletes eating so we decided to join them at a Thai restaurant. The food was okay but the company made the evening. We shared stories and companionship until it became dusk (about 10:15pm) and headed out to find a post-dinner snack. Our brief travels took us to a train station then to a part of Hamburg that was a little suspect. Let’s just say that while it wasn’t as bad as the red light district in Amsterdam, it was progressing that way so we decided to pick up the pace and circle back. We parted ways, without being successful in finding dessert and headed back to our hotel for some shut-eye.
I was a bit worried if I would be able to sleep based on my previous night’s performance but after getting back to my room, I called Sarah to debrief on her training day and how her body is feeling before her race this weekend (she is racing Lifetime Minneapolis), called my family, packed up quickly then headed to bed. Surprisingly, I hit the pillow at about 12:30am and was out until about 5am. I forced myself to sleep a bit longer and my eyes opened again around 7:45am. I hopped out of bed, met Linda for breakfast and off to the airport for my long trip home, of which I was extremely eager for to see my wife and kids again.
In all, this trip was fantastic. While I do like to minimize the time spent away from my family, I was able to provide service to USA Triathlon in a coaching role by supporting a good group of athletes at a World Cup, experienced a beautiful country and city in Hamburg and besides the lack of the quantity and quality of sleep, I had an unforgettable time.
Germany is definitely on my list of countries to visit in the future. It is easy to navigate, has very friendly people and is an all around beautiful place to visit.
I hope you enjoyed the posts. Until next time...
I was a bit worried if I would be able to sleep based on my previous night’s performance but after getting back to my room, I called Sarah to debrief on her training day and how her body is feeling before her race this weekend (she is racing Lifetime Minneapolis), called my family, packed up quickly then headed to bed. Surprisingly, I hit the pillow at about 12:30am and was out until about 5am. I forced myself to sleep a bit longer and my eyes opened again around 7:45am. I hopped out of bed, met Linda for breakfast and off to the airport for my long trip home, of which I was extremely eager for to see my wife and kids again.
In all, this trip was fantastic. While I do like to minimize the time spent away from my family, I was able to provide service to USA Triathlon in a coaching role by supporting a good group of athletes at a World Cup, experienced a beautiful country and city in Hamburg and besides the lack of the quantity and quality of sleep, I had an unforgettable time.
Germany is definitely on my list of countries to visit in the future. It is easy to navigate, has very friendly people and is an all around beautiful place to visit.
I hope you enjoyed the posts. Until next time...
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
Germany, Here I Come!
I'm off to Germany to serve as the USA Triathlon Head Coach for the Hamburg ITU World Cup triathlon race. I've only traveled through the Frankfurt airport before so I'll finally get to see some of the German surroundings while in Hamburg.
Like any World Cup race, it will be jam packed with race and athlete meetings, course recon and leading some workouts for the athletes but it will certainly be a load of fun. The rain gear is packed for I hear Hamburg can be cold and rainy this time of the year.
From a training perspective, I've been burning up the trails around my Littleton home and still very much enjoying it! I did a mountain bike ride the other day that was just killer. A very long climb, ridden in my small chain ring, on a fire road followed by a technical singletrack and super technical downhill. It was nice to have such diversity in one ride. While I am tempted quite a bit to strap on the running shoes, I know it's in my best interest to wait a little while longer so while I am not good at it, I will exercise patience and hopefully will be rewarded in the future!
I'll be sure to post some photos of my Germany trip when I get back!
Coach Bob
coachbob@fuel4mance.com
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