The Man Who Made Arizona Happen

You'd think that going to Arizona to train was simply a matter of having a little cash on hand, finding a cheap place to stay, and getting work to allow me to go. Those were the least of my concerns. The only thing that actually mattered was if everything at home would go okay while I was gone.

Short Answer: Not a chance.

Long Answer: Jason Kroot. He wouldn't let me not go. We got in an argument over Christmas, which resulted in me (edited) saying "I'm not going to Arizona, it can't work." He immediately stopped everything and told me that I would be going, even if it meant shipping me out there against my will (also possibly edited). Everyone told him that I needed to come back, especially because it came to be that we would be needing to put the house on the market a month earlier than planned - which essentially meant that I wouldn't be able to do a thing in preparation for listing (I'd say I got like 2-3% of the work in...if we're being generous).

So on top of his own work, running Northeastern Graphic Supply (with a huge amount happening up to and through the start of April), the dogs, my grandfather, training for the Boston Marathon, and fundraising over $8,000. By the way - if you haven't donated to him or Team Kroot's endeavors please visit his fundraiser page @ http://www.rundfmc.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1039390&supid=253151052. Oh yeah, and having a life of his own. He's clearly been doing more than double his share in recent months...and I'm only divulging the half of it.

Anyone else I know of in the world (maybe 1 or 2 others might) would have folded as soon as March turned the corner...a mere 3 weeks after I left for AZ. However, he kept everything moving forward without my help for a whole other month. And, to boot, didn't want me coming back until I spent Easter in DC with Alexis, and our 'family'.

Now, I am known by many to have a pretty impressive tolerance for working hard when it comes to athletics. But what Jason has done makes me look like a wuss. I honestly have zero idea of how he survived intact and is still doing so much. He just ran the Boston Marathon in an INSANE time of 3:32:59. Last year he was 4:15:26. That's an improvement of over 42 minutes, something that most people will never even consider as a possibility. Fortunately he finished prior to the explosions and was well on his way to meeting us and his amazing fan crew (of which I am very proud - and jealous :p) when he heard the successive "boom"s. Instantly he knew it was something bad and thankfully continued straight to seeing us - we saw Jason before we heard reports of the explosions.

Final Mile! I was running like a freak trying to get ahead of him and snap a photo...and he said he was slowing up a bit. (Seriously my legs legitimately hurt today from the chase)

His normal routine would have been:

• Lots of hugs
• Quick chats
• Humbly receive congratulations on his amazing time
• Find out how other people did
• Hop into the Dana Farber team Recovery Zone for some serious massage and refueling

Yesterday it was:

• Lots of Hugs
• Hear the news
• Find out about everyone we knew
• Comfort other runners
• Comfort families who awaited their loved ones' arrivals (the DFMC team had 550 runners - most of whom do not run qualifying times...which put the bulk of the team behind the explosions)
• Grab a quick bite
• Make sure all his friends/supporters were set with their plans

The majority of the AWESOME Fan Base at Marathon Monday Home Base (The Yardhouse)

Then Jason tells Alexis to go back to her apartment so she can relax and tells me to stay close because he didn't want me getting near my car as it was near the course (in his loving concern - over a half mile was 'way too close'). I walked Alexis back when Jason went to recovery - well over an hour after his finish. At this point he was too tight to get any real benefit from massage...which meant getting out of the area was going to be a long limp to where we could find a taxi or get a ride. He refused to 'inconvenience' his friends and ask for a ride. So we slowly walked/hobbled a freezing cold mile (post-marathon and 75 degrees gets cold quickly...so 50's and windy is no good) until we found a place that was easily able to be reached by driving.

A year ago Jason was running in honor of Mom and support of Dad (and so many others). This year, it was sadly in honor of both. He got paired with a young cancer patient at Dana Farber, Colin, and ran in special support of this young fighter. Sadly, due to the events, Jason was unable to reunite with Colin after the race. Colin and his family were on their way over when the explosions happened, so they immediately left the city and headed home.

2012 Post-Marathon with our Dad

Jason and Colin Sunday night at the DFMC Dinner.
(photo from: Danielle Horn, Grafton Patch, http://grafton.patch.com)

A couple articles that Jason was mentioned in for his support of Colin: http://grafton.patch.com/articles/grafton-family-near-finish-line-when-bombs-explode &

http://thegraftonnews.com/blog/?p=2402

Battenkill Category 2 Race Report, BBS Style

Here's the race report you will see for BBS & our fans. Check out the squad at http://bostonbicycleschool.org/, things will be updated over the next week or two with team camp coming up woohoo! This was written on the trip home from Battenkill with Andrew, the mechanic/rider/driver manning the 'team car'.

First off, I’m pumped to be on BBS this year and to be authoring my first report. The crew for this venture to the infamous Battenkill was Andrew and myself (Travis). We learned that the Stan’s NoTubes team smartened up this year and is now riding Giant Bikes as well. The plot was going to be a “Northern Spring Classic” savage smashfest. The competition would be prepared and the field was pretty much as stacked as you can make a northeast 2 field. We drove over Friday morning and watched, with teary eyes, as our amazing roof-mounted bicycles became layered in 1/4 inch of ice. Yes. In April. Also, the roads were treacherous (33MPH on highway and a cornucopia of cars off the road) and so bad that if the weather was in Cambridge, NY like it was in Western NH it’d be a possible cancellation. Fortunately this was not the case, and it turned out to be well-packed dirt with some muddy parts and more potholes than desired.

He is quite a ways off the road. But was not close to alone.

In theory, this race was shaping up to be an “unleash BBS 2013 on the world”: Andrew is coming off a very impressive high-octane winter work ethic and I am coming off of solid Arizona base mileage. In reality, this was not the case as Andrew had a junk week thanks to a flared up left hamstrings tendon and I had trouble coming back from the 45 hours of driving from AZ & cleaning out my house to put on the market. We headed to Battenkill with knowledge it would not be optimal, but that we would rely on the previous months of work, and not the recent weeks of misfortune. This was capped off with 7 hours of driving and an extra hour of standing to clean our bikes that were properly thrashed by the elements on said drive.

The race: 83 miles, 6000ft, 20mi+ dirt (well…15 dirt & 4 mud & 1 potholes), 38F start temp. AKA Classic Battenkill. The race started off slowly and before we knew it a break had a 2:00 gap. On the field’s second turn up Juniper Swamp (600m, 18% max, dirt) an ambulance had to pass. We were neutralized for 10 minutes due to a nasty Pro/1 crash on a sweeping dirt descent. Shortly after resuming, the break had upwards of 3:00 which held for quite some time. The next 30 miles was a mix of dirt, rolling hills, and a couple solid climbs…all which slowly shimmed the 150-man field to under 100. There was an impressive moment where Andrew hit a deep pothole, got dangerously bucked, and somehow recovered. I was hoping A) he landed on grass and B) his fork didn’t shatter. Neither was the case, and his bike stayed happily together and wheels in perfect true. We caught fragments of the 12 or so man break, but 4 guys held it strong. By 55 miles both Andrew and I were confused at the leg cramps that were hitting us…we had trained well, but training only goes so far for an early race such as this. Coming into the two “selection” climbs – Meeting House Rd & Stage Rd, our field was still fairly large. Gaps, big gaps, started to open. Having course knowledge I was a bit better positioned for the first one than Andrew. I was in the first group and Andrew was quick to help bring the second group back up. Field status: 50. Into Stage Rd I had Andrew move up with me and we were well into the front half of the field. Note: since mile 40, Andrew’s tendon was really flared up and was heavily pedaling ‘righty’. This one slip up the right side sealed my fate. We both hit Stage Rd, completely locked up, and had an enlightening first experience of overcoming the leg cramps that plagued us earlier. Closing a couple big gaps I was able to make group 2. Hammering the descent and flat with 5K to go, my group merged with the leaders to make the final selection of 25. Andrew and Dean “the robot” Phillips worked to claw their group back in the final K’s. They would finish 30 seconds back and Andrew 4^th in the group into a 29^th place. Coming into the finish any punchy effort triggered cramps. I was able to grab 15^th place and $50 in the dodgy sprint finish.

The Bikes, Battenkilled. Or, in Andrew’s words, Batten-thrashed.

Andrew's Steed that survived a heavy blow.

Phoenix got a bit dirty on this gig.

It was a great kickoff for the Northeast racing season and a nice way to clear out the last 2 weeks of rubbish from our legs. Time to hit the reset button, recover, enjoy our team camp, and get ready Tour of Dragons. Can’t wait to spend next weekend in Beantown with Boys looking forward to the months ahead.

Raw Power: The 'Final' Food Test

You all have clearly seen that my posts are pretty much about two things: food and bikes. The latter is ever-changing because, well, that is the nature of cycling.

The former (at least for me) is an amoebic, morphing organism that evolves to seemingly better and better levels. This is well explained, as I don't really jump into things without considering the implications and benefits or possible detractions of such a change. Thus, my slow move into vegetarian was pretty smooth (minus that little self-diagnosed anemia, thanks to not having good options on a college meal plan). After that, I was more cautious about changing my diet. Basically I took a more educated approach than a trial & error method! Trial and error is great when the risk is between small and zero, but not when it deals with your health.

My trip to Books-A-Million...the foodie book store in the old port apparently closed. But it is now an OYSTER BAHH. Oyster fans, check it out.

Which leads me to a really good spot: anything you do to change your diet, training, etc make sure you know what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how you plan to go about it. (This could mean using previous knowledge, a coach, nutritionist, or books. I would say consult your doctor...but there is some chance you could hear that something like a vegan diet is "extreme" and you need milk/red meat/'protein'. My doctor responded well when I said I was vegan - however, I have heard some pretty surprising stories...but if you should ask your doctor for a nutritionist reference, then I am sure you're on very good track)

This probably won't be the 'final' food test as the post title suggests, but in my recent diet of vegan and then adding gluten free...going raw is the concept that I have (for quite a while) believed to be the 'ultimate'. The detractors of (increased) inconvenience, not being able to cook, and more adaptation kept it at bay until now.

What pushed it over the edge, you ask? Nothing in particular. I suppose basic desire for improving myself, something that is pretty constant in this great sport of cycling: every day I am better because I do more (sometimes less!) and forge on to greater progress.

At some point I'll go into greater detail on the intricacies of eating raw. The basic idea is that everything is in its simplest form, ready to be disgested and completely unprocessed. There is no breakdown of enzymes. The food is pure.

My plan going forward (key: having a PLAN!! is key to changing things up): I'm not sure if I will go 100% raw because I truly enjoy cooking and baking, and there are some things that become quite difficult when being 100% raw. So the long term is a "we shall see". The short term will basically go as this:

• Buy more foods in raw form - and reduce non-raw purchases (see picture A)
• Cook/bake for specific purposes that I really enjoy versus cooking because it's what I am used to
• Work on un-cooking/un-baking (making things that are both raw and require preparation: see picture B)
• Make my current 'favorites' in raw form (granola bars, muffins, brownies, etc)

My trip to BJ's. When you eat as much as me, you buy in bulk.

Some things probably won't go, honestly my OTB (on the bike) food works so well I am hesitant to alter that. Bars + PROBARs have fueled me to many sucessful races and workouts over the past year that I don't intend to leave them behind. I will try to make my bars in a raw form - without boiling the  nut butter/sweetener mixture and also not baking them....time for a dehydrator or long-term uncovered fridge storage (poor man's dehydrator!).

Here's the TK take on RAW POWAHH. My theory in shortest form: Raw Power = More Watts = Win.