CycleLife is excited to offer automated billing for your Master's Swim classes! Bringing your wallet to class can be a real drag, not to mention writing checks in a aquatic center locker room. Many students have requested that their credit card get billed monthly.

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  As the days grow shorter and cooler, and the leaves start to drop, most of our competitive seasons have come to a close for 2010. While a few late season marathons or warm-weather triathlons remain, most of you have recently completed your last target race of the year. After a full year of training and racing, you likely have some of your best fitness, but you may be mentally burnt out and 2011 is just too far off to start training for. So what to do now?

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 I have been wanting to try a Cyclocross race for the last couple of years but for some reason the stars never aligned with training schedules, personal schedules and actually having a cross bike.

Well, 3 weeks ago someone posted on the MABRA list that they were selling a well used cross bike for $200. It was too good of a deal to pass up, and I figured for $200.00 the bike would fit the engine I was going to use to power it. Next step, I found a practice organized by a team member held on a free morning. Things were finally coming together. Nice thing is there seems to be a practice every weekday around the DC area.

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Pumpkins, ghosts and ghouls - oh my! Fall is a great time of the year to run a local road race. They tend to be festive whether it's a pumpkin race, turkey trot or jingle bell run. Everyone arrives decked out in their best holiday garb. At the finish line awaits Oktoberfest beer, a plate filled with turkey and mashed potatoes or a splitting headache from listening to 10,000 jingle bells for the past hour. Families come out to cheer, kids run in costume and the weather is gorgeous.

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 What happens when you throw an elite road racer into a triathlon? On short notice, Russ Langley, CycleLife sales team member and long time bike racer, jumped headlong into the world of triathlon and raced the Nation’s Triathlon in Washington DC. To anyone who’s spent hours / months / years training for triathlons, Russ’ answers just might make you want to punch him. But you’ve got to remember … the guy has spent over a decade racing and training at an elite level.

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 Head coach Eric Sorensen removes the guesswork. With 40 structured workouts, the 20-week program (divided into two, 10-week blocks and a holiday break) is designed to establish base fitness, build threshold power, teach key skills, and raise intensity progressively. Each week features eight supervised classes, including early morning, noon, and evening time slots. 

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So, a week and a half ago, I rolled out of CycleLife with my bike in a box and ready for another racing adventure! But this one was different -- it was my first race as a professional triathlete!

I’ve definitely come a long way since doing my very first triathlon last year, but even still, I knew that Chicago was going to be a tough race, especially with a pretty stacked field of some very talented athletes. I must admit, that was a bit intimidating, but also really exciting. And not having any expectations was definitely part of the fun!

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On my way to the Mt. Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hill climb, I met a friend in North Conway New Hampshire for a pre-race warm-up the day before. Contrary to predictions the weather was fantastic. The sun was warm and the air was cool, and we could see the summit of Mt. Washington as we rode. This was pretty perfect, but it got better. We were joined by two guys from the Garmin Transitions U23 squad, Walker Savidge and Peter Salon, also in town for the hill climb, who asked if they could tag along with us. 

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 What drives you as an athlete?  When your body and brain are yelling "STOP!", how do you keep moving forward towards the finish line?  Or when you are tempted by a free cupcake for the 10th day in a row (what's with the DC cupcake wars?) how do you keep walking? 

Finding that source of inspiration is integral to achieving your fitness goals. It isn't just for those painful moments during an event. Waking up at 6AM to run or jumping on the trainer in the basement while the kids are sleeping is tough! Sometimes it just isn't all that fun. 

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CycleLife organized an open water swim clinic on the 24th of July. As a CycleLife sponsored athlete, I had volunteered to help out with the workshop. I had a long, hard week of training and I must admit I was not too excited to wake up at 5:00 AM to get to the lake in time for check in. Michelle Harburg, also a CycleLife sponsored athlete, and I ended up going to the lake together.

As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by a large number of participants and a well organized check-in system run by the CycleLife staff. I never had the opportunity to swim open water before my first tri. I must admit that it would have been an extremely valuable experience, not just for the obvious swim technique purposes but also for learning how to swim in packs and not be nervous about it or the logistical side of things which mimicked nicely race morning at the workshop.

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