Tapering For Your A Race:
Several of the athletes I coach are competing in Ironmans within the next couple of weeks and months. These races will be as soon as IM Wisconsin in less than three weeks, IM Hawaii and IM Florida. For many of you, you are getting close to the second of your two "A" races for the season. You have dedicated a lot of time into training as well as sacrificing time with your family in order to achieve these goals. Let's make the best of it by preparing for the race itself, not just training and then forgetting how to utilize all of those hours to the best of your advantage. Remember, if you want to take at least two minutes off of your race time without doing any more training, then purchase Triathlon ~ Racing Faster at http://weshobsonperformance.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WHPOS&Product_Code=TRF&Category_Code=M. You can watch and hear from my mentor, Joe Friel, as he discusses the aspects of tapering. For more on tapering, go to: http://www.weshobsonperformance.com/articles/other/tapering.htm.
Boulder Camps Sign Up:
The demand is growing for the Boulder Camps. Thank you to all that have spoken highly of the camps to others. You can register for the two camps in June at
The Newbie camp will be held June 3-6
The Olympic camp will be held June 10-13
The Ironman camp date is still to be announced
By the way, a 16 year old future star wrote to see what the minimum sign up age is for the camp. I figure if you can drive to Boulder, then you can swim, bike and run in Boulder. A possible children's triathlon camp is in the works as well for those 15 and under.
Determination:
Australian Brad Beven, a four-time World Cup Series Champion and arguably the most dominant triathlete of the 90's until he was hit by a car the day before the Australian Olympic Trials in 2000, has been living at my house for the past ten weeks. He injured his knee two weeks before arriving to the States and he has yet to recover from this injury. He has been swimming and biking a tremendous amount. For the first four weeks of his stay, he used my 1984 scooter to drive the 6.5 miles to Flatirons Athletic Club for swim practice. The scooter coughed up its last lung four weeks ago and so Brad now walks the 13 miles round trip to swim practice four times a week. This takes 2.5 to 3 hours of walking time. I asked him why he doesn't bike to FAC and he replies that walking helps strengthen his calf muscles and it doesn't put the stress on the injured knee as much as running. How many American Professional Triathletes would be willing to walk 13 miles to swim? This is similar to the Kenyan runners who grew up running miles upon miles to school and back. Makes you think!
On a side note, Brad recently raced the Boulder Peak Triathlon, which by the way raised $30,000 for Multiple Sclerosis Society. This was a star studded field including two-time Hawaii IM champ Tim DeBoom and five-time World Champ Simon Lessing. Brad was first out of the water and he won the $250 swim prime. However, to receive it, he had to finish the race. Simon won the race which included a blistering 32:05 run split (in heat, no shade and on dirt). Brad ran/walked to a 48:26. How frustrating must that be for a person to run that pace when he has run side by side with Simon in races. Yet Brad persevered, not just for the $250, but because he loves the sport and the competition. To top it off, on many forums of websites from people who saw the race results were writing how Brad is washed up. If only people knew the whole story before they write things like this. That is one of the disadvantages of the Internet; it allows boneheads with their shortsightedness to be visible. By the way, if you want to see the triathlon bike course that over 1500 people rode in the BP triathlon, you can purchase the Rides video at http://weshobsonperformance.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WHPOS&Product_Code=RV1TR
Las Vegas Camp On TV Again:
Fine Living Network received rave reviews from the airing of the Las Vegas Fantasy camp in July. They are planning to show the camp again beginning at the end of August. You can check on when it will air next week at http://www.fineliving.com/fine/fantasy_camp/0,1663,FINE_11238,00.html. We have had several people write and tell us to reserve a spot for the 2004 Vegas camp March 11-14. Camp registration will be up next month.
Tyler's Epic Ride!
A quick congrats to Tyler Hamilton for his true grit and determination. I am sure everyone has read or heard about his fourth place finish at the Tour de France. Incredible in its own right, but especially since he broke his collar bone on day one of the 21 stage race. I can only assume that it must have been his bike, Cervelo, that was a major part of achieving his success J Cervelo believes in helping achieve goals and that is why they are not only a sponsor of the Tour winner of the team category, Team CSC, but also of Wes Hobson Performance Inc. You can see an X-ray of Tyler's broken collarbone at www.cervelo.com. Tyler and I were roommates here in Boulder for two years. I would like to say I taught him everything he knows, but I wasn't a coach then.
Quick Tip - Positive Thoughts:
I was a camp speaker at a clinic this past weekend in Chicago. Adam Zucco, founder of Multisport Madness, put on the camp. One of the other speakers was Dave Walters who is the World's best in duathlon in his age group. Dave talked about how each night when he goes to bed, he says "Tomorrow will be a great day and I will feel great tomorrow." When he wakes up n the morning he says, "Today will be a great day and I will feel great today." Try it out and see what happens to your mental thinking after a week of this. I guarantee it will be a lot better than saying, "Today will be a horrible day and I will feel cruddy all day."
Q&A… Bike Cornering:
Wes: I want to purchase a bike and I am wondering if I should take into consideration a certain type of frame geometry?
Of course some bikes, depending on the frame geometry, turn better around corners than others. Typically, road geometry corners better than tri geometry. With tri geometry, your body is a little more forward. The handlebars typical of many tri bikes may add to some instability when cornering compared to standard drop bars. However, for the most part, it doesn't matter what bike you are riding, turning is fairly universal. When cornering, lean the bike into the turn, not the body. This way, if you over steer, you can bring the bike back. If you lean into a turn with your body, it is much harder to bring your body back upright with gravity pulling it down. Also, place pressure on the pedal by the foot on that is on the outside of the turn. This will help you maintain stability. If you notice accomplished cyclists, their inside leg is bent while the outside leg is pressing on the pedal. For example, if you are making a left hand turn. The right foot should be straighter and placing pressure on that pedal.
Cornering in triathlons is a minimal part of the bike segment. Base your selection on what your A races plan to be in the future. Will they be flat or hilly races? Also, do your train more in the hills or the flats. This is where comfort plays a role in your bike selection.
Newsletter Forwarding:
Readers are encouraged to forward this newsletter to friends, family members and other triathletes. If you've been forwarded this newsletter and would like to subscribe (for free), complete the easy online subscription form at www.weshobsonperformance.com.
About Wes:
Wes Hobson has competed in over 220 triathlons, from sprint- to Ironman-distance. He garnered 35 first places, 60 top-three finishes and 96 top-five finishes during his 12-year professional career that also included being selected "Triathlete of the Year" by the USOC. Wes co-authored Swim, Bike, Run, and created three triathlon and cycling related films. Wes coaches multisport athletes, single-sport athletes and puts on the Wes Hobson Performance Triathlon Camps. He can be reached at wes@weshobsonperformance.com. To purchase any of his films or book, visit www.weshobsonperformance.com.
