Win win win

Yea you know i won my classification and the one above it so in C4/5 I was the fastest guy, even though the times today were slow.  However slow is relevant it was 32 deg, the wins was 20 mph out of the north and there were snow fluries, a good solid challenge!

Also today they reinstated my normal classification after I went through testing this turns out to be positive for me since this is my second look with no change do that makes the classification perminant which is great, getting classified is a little like the Spanish Inquisition and DUI court all rolled into one, no one wants to do more of these than needed.

So right now I am happy, elated and dog tired!

So here we go!

The trip into Montreal was smooth and dispite some minor bumps here and there pretty good trip.  While checking into Air Canada at 530am yesterday I ran into Eric Stall who is the captian of our Carolina Huricains Hockey Team.  He was with his wife and children so instead of playing the gawking fan we exchsnged plesentries as 530am would only alow, chatted some about kids while some would say that I should have gotten an picture or an autograph I felt it better to maintain the intimate setting to remain as is simply I felt it was the right thing.

So in Montreal settled into the Hotel Delta on President Kennedy Ave deep in the financial district hundreds of athletes total crazyness and a wonderful welcoming by the event staff.  Steve Clendinning showed up about an hour after I did and as is the ritual we built bikes ate naped ate and slept.

The weather will be the story this weekend forcasting huge winds, snow, rain unreal. And yea cold cold cold.  This morning we were greated with snow!  Now I have raced in some bad weather cold rain wind heat but snow on a time trial, , , not yet!  thats bike racing folks:)

I also woke to an e mail changing my class, while it makes little impact on my quals time wise and makes my over all effort needed a little less competive even though it is a step up class wise ( one would think it would be harder) this year seems to be filled with small tests like this, but I like tests as I try to study one grade up.

Also there is huge student unrest here and some amazing protests and clashes.  Last night 26 April we had helos riot police and some angry people---thats a bad mix.  You know I am all about a good protest but in order to have one I think having a real solution to offer makes for a good reason to protest but mostly and sadly all I see is folks wanting to take or be given at the expence of other citizens.

So we are here we are resting and waiting, so it is!

D-2

So all the bikes are tucked into their boxes in hope that Canada Air can deliver them on time!  Last day at home was crazy stressful making sure every little thing was packed,preped and boxed up safely,the only thing I left was my timex watch which I hardly wear so not bad packing!  Had to call the wife and let her know as she would have been a little miffed had it gone off at 6am.  I can't tell you I feel stressed about the races, usualy those things take care of themselves, but its the minutia of getting out of one place and into another making sure everything is accounted for and then there are all the extra things, tools tape, zip ties extra batteries  all that stuff then you bring your personal stuff. 

Racing keeps the wardrobe down as really you sleep eat sleep race eat sleep so you need people cloths to fly and maybe 1 dinner out, jeans 3 shirts and your styling in a bike racers world! Every thing outside seems in order all we need is an extra 10 deg on Friday night to make it a little less brutal.  So other than the packing frenzy O feel at peace, the massage may have something to do with that.  Tomorrow at noon I speak french:)

Today is D-3 and things are becoming more real and clearer as the hours go by.  I cleaned and packed up the road bike today since I will be doing most of my final training on my time trial bike.  I also have everything packed out clothing wise and thats where I am going to have some magic happen.  After having a record breaking unseasonable warm week Montreal has been plunged back ino the throws of late winter , temps for the first race will be mid thirties with winds 20 mph off the water so figuring aerodynamic clothing to race in that weather is a challenge!

Mentaly I try to stay netural this far out there is not much one can do other than plan and plan and maintain a positive attitude and that in it self is a full time job.  I remember listing to a recording by the late Coach Jim Valvano and he said the only secret to success he ever found, the one magic thing he could ever think of was: Jim + Motivation = SUCCESS and you know he is right I can't motivate anyone really other than my self daily, but the magic is ME + MOTIVATION = SUCCESS and I have to tell you that is a full time job.  When you get to a point folks think your success is like over night and that is so far from the truth!  Leading a successful life isn't the lottery nore is it a sprint it is more like one of those Ultra Marathons and you have to take things one moment at a time and hopefully you picked the right direction most of the time, some times training and or life simply suck and some times you just screw up! NO one lives a perfect life the last guy that did was murdered.  The key is to add up alot of small success and Never Never Never ever quit!

You can beat me down, call me names and spit on me but in the end I am only going to my knees and when I get up its best to not be around, and you won't be, I'll be the last man standing.  Why you ask, well simply put I have solid faith that I will!

Day -4

Most of the day today was spent on piddly little things or so they would seam.  Getting ones bike to confirm to UCI standard takes some work, amazingly a bike out of the box dosn't mske it UCI legal its a process but better to spend the time now instead of getting called at the start line like last year.

I went over the course in my head a few times and focused on who is who and who to watch once I get boots on the ground.  I did an hour spin, tomorrow will be the only hard workout this week.  I tried to keep my head in the game but I linited sny distractions that I feel are a detriment.  They finaly got their act together and released my clasdification from last year so I an solid in c 4 which has been an ongoing ciruise.

Did alot of minor work on the tt bike and hoping it helps it run smother

International bike racing part deux

Its Sunday night and right now I am 5 days out from the first of what I hope are many international Para cycling races.  This weeks race takes place in Montreal Canada at the Circuit Gillies Vileneau a small island on the St Lawrent river that is set up resort like with a Casino and F1 track which we race on, big stuff.

Training has gone real well up to this point and races have gone better than expected really. Support from USOC has been sketchey at best so we did this race out of pocket.  Team Semper Fi jumped in and took over lodging for us.  Now the weather is whats going to be a bigger factor.  Forcasted for NNW winds at 15-25 Kts on Friday which is time trial day should be challenging as well as temps below freezing!   I plan on going with a solid disk rear, 80mm up front and a Rudy Project helmet with full skin suit.  I will bring a set of 60mm wheels and use those if the wind becomes an issue and layered clothing. 

For this week training will be light with a good solid 6 day taper, I will finish up hypoxic training Tuesday and should be packed locked and loaded by wed.  Right now my focus is maintaining fitness with as little physical stress as I can as well as begin a barrage of mental Imagery, focus and positive reinforcment drills.  Knowing you are in top form out of any previous measurment helps too!  So this week I will be going out of my way to stay positively focused and minimize any negitive input.  So this is D-5 focus focus focus and minimize distractions and plan for every contigency making the shifting of plans seamless!

So strap in and follow along I hope you enjoy the International Racing entries this year!

Brian lives on the Outer banks of NC with his wife and daughter in a house by the sea.  Brian is a Elite Level Paralympic Athlete and travels with the US National cycling squad as he prepares for the 2012 Paralympics in London. Brian is also the CEO of Performance Impact Coaching LLC, a company devoted to coaching individuals to live their ultimate dreams! He can be reached at: grenierracing@yahoo.com

Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 06:19

Portsmouth

http://maps.google.com?q=36.866993,-76.411329+(Portsmouth)

Again today is race day here in VA.  I traveled in yesterday and even though I did my pre race openers in NV I reconed the course late yesterday afternoon.  I feel really ready and in the flow, there is a little added weight to the time I can come up with today so that added pressure has helped.  Physically I am fresh and mentally I am motivated.  I was careful this week about recovery rest nutrition and hydration as well as guarding my mind from negative influences and focused positive thoughts.  At this point it is a matter of pushing and staying ON THE GAS for a scant 27 min and be over with it!  I feel ready lots of positive energy and flow! 

The beginning of Race day went excellent by the checklist.  Up early, food in, hydrate, carbs no issues with check in.  Got in a good solid warm up while sipping on H2O Overdrive.  My warm up consisted of 30 min of solid spinning with 3 sets of 1 min 2 min & 3 min power sets at race pace followed by one set of 10 min steady state, one last carb gel and off to the start.

I usually carry two timing devices and three when I ride the power tap.  Today was an important event so I was as light as I could be having only a crono watch and a very simple speed meter.  Since my Heart Rates have been pretty steady for years now I don't usually monitor this during races.  It will peg at 172 within the first few min and stay level until I let off the gas.  Having done a course recon yesterday I have evaluated the adv speed I need to reach my goal of sub 28 and also the speed I need to clock a National qualifying time of 27:37.  26.6 & 26.99 mph respectively, both attainable! 

Knowing the start official Gerald Teeuwen USAC CAT A Official helps with the start jitters, I go through my usual start ritual I hear " you have 30 seconds" I start my watch Gerald gives some encouragement in his native Belgian " you have 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 departe` "  I am off!  This is it, I am rolling a couple of power strokes and I settle into the drops, set the position I will not move from for 28 or so min and bring the bike up to speed.  Things seem effortless and 27 mph comes quickly and I settle into a pace mindful of the meter readings taking quick glances to insure speed stays constant with the changing terrain and wind conditions, I feel in flow and for April this is my A game manifesting it self!  I feel a slight drag from the wet pavement and some what from the wind, but adjust speed as needed, the feel of the pave is a foreign feeling like riding in glue and its not constant but none the less the reading is kept at 27mph.

Then Murphy steps in at 3 miles and like some cartoon the speedometer starts blinking and reads zero! Lucky for me Time Trial is a individual endeavor as my frustration under pressure is turned into a stream of vocal expearlatives that would make the most hard core Marine blush <ugg>!  a quick tap and a less than friendly giggle of the device is fruitless and as if mocking my efforts the screen goes blank.  Moma said there would be days like this.  Undaunted and now flying in the blind I continue my effort and judge the remainder of the ride by the feel and simply by the seat of my pants, I was now winging it!

I hit the turn at 14:08 minus the 30 seconds I had started my watch in advance at the start yielded 13:38, good!  The turn was lousy and I neglected to down shift as I entered the narrow sharp 180 that would bring me back to the start and I bogged down ever so slightly.  The return trip was uneventful as one is usually mindless at this point, I focused on every sensory input I could to judge speed tempo and effort, trying to mentally judge and adjust the best I could all the while maintaining forward movement. My internal systems were humming along quite well, my training had been spot on, however when I crossed the finish line the crono read 28:47, spent, frustrated, and still moving forward the math never came to me.  Even during my 20 min spinning cool down I couldn't process the math.  I sucked down an H2O Hydrate after the cool down and sat on the edge of my truck trying to reason the math 28:47 -30= 28:17 which comes to 1::24.6 per kilo which is exactly 1 second off the national standard for C 4

I guess I could be depressed angry or a thousand other emotions however that’s not bad for April.  2 min faster than 08 and 1 min off my best ever on this course so how can I feel bad.  I got my papers signed hit the showers talked to my coach and planned for the future what can you do?  That’s bike racing folks. 

Time to plan and train for Canada and my first International showing for the year, bring it ON!

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