I'm so glad I don't race Cyclocross...

Yeah, the geek factor appears to be higher then triathlon..

Ok, I'll fess up. I raced "B" once at USGP a few years ago on my old (and now gone) S Works hardtail.. got killed.. Of course I was a month out from no racing and it was an ironman season. Still totally different power profile, I'm just a little diesel, that kind of racing requires big, chunky watts and followed by the steady go hard power until you're finished. Anyway.

Finally, what's up with the fashion and especially the hats?

The first thought I had when I saw the hats was, "did everybody from Seattle decide to race CX down in Oregon" ?? Because, you know, all the hip kids wear their hats askew up there, except in the summer.

Thought provoking..

Science, sports and coaching.

As someone who firmly believes in a "scientific approach" to my own program I found this a good read (see below). That said, if we looked at my running program what you would find is that it hasn't changed much other then volume since the mid-90's.

I learned how to get myself into good shape, get the intensity flowing early to mid-season, keep it there and sharpen, taper and race.

That's not technically scientific because other then my benchmarks at the track, I'm not doing LT testing, not really super concerned with increasing one or the other metrics. What I *can* say is that I know very specifically what training inputs will produce Y racing outputs.

Cycling, more scientific by a long shot and the power meter has made life alot easier with regard to training myself to race properly.

I'm getting there on the swim after a couple of seasons of actual thought applied to it, sad to say the other seasons I didn't even bother thinking about the swim or even really trying to improve mechanics and workout selection.

Here you go..

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2009/10/coaching-and-science-asset-or-liability.html

For my Ivy league and Stanford educated friends..

Enjoy.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."