Learning from the best!

As a Professional triathlete one of my favorite things to do is share my knowledge, passion and love for the sports with other triathletes. I was fortunate this weekend to have the opportunity to do this in Tyler Tx and Shreveport LA.  One of my main sponsors Cobb Cycling, invited me up to do some talks with the local area clubs. Most people know better than to hand me a mic but my buddy and Cobb's Athlete Coordinator Jeremy Brown got this Irish lad to team up with the awesome Ben Collins to hopefully provide some helpful tips and provide an insight into our lives and why we work with such great companies who help us strive to be better athletes and role models.

The weekend for me was also jam packed with a little 15k running race and a mini training camp along with the opportunity to work with the legend himself John Cobb.

My new bike position

Let me start by saying how welcome I feel whenever I'm up in the Tyler area, Its almost like home to me, they Tri community is very friendly and supportive. You would go a long way to find a better bunch of people.  Also they put on some amazing races there too,  like Tri Tyler Half (which has a sprint and Olympic also) this will take place in just over 3 weeks and also Rose City Tri in Sept.  I have won both and will be back again for them in 2014. But this past week I was replying on my running legs in the Fresh 15k, Early I was joking when I referred to this as a little race. It was a first year race put on by Meghan (Event Manager) and the Fresh team  they did an amazing job putting it on,  they also did an superb job putting together a fast field of local and international stars.  I was pleased with my 6th place hit out,  my favorite part of the race was getting to run along side local hero Clay Emge who is a good friend of mine and amazing triathlete, I can't wait to see him in the Professional ranks this year.  This is going to be a big year in many ways for Clay.  

Back to the Training camp part, so after the 15k I ran another 5 miles easy the loaded up on post race Fresh food along with a 16 oz of The Refresher Juice from Juicer Heroes before hitting the pool for a swim with Mark and Jeremy.  Then following more straight calorie intake I hit the road with Clay for a 3h+ ride were we ended up around 65mi with some solid efforts.  Towards  the end we got to link up with Jeremy and Ben C for some miles before we got back to FRESH for the East Texas Triathletes talk. It was a great opportunity to talk about training, life and 2014.

On Sunday morning I was up bright and early for a 10mi jog with the lads, we started at before 7am shirtless and right around 6 or 7 mil the weather was turning and the temps were dropping. Towards the end it was down from 70 to 50 with the rain starting, the for sure would put us indoors to bike and  lead me to have my longer ride on the trainer of all winter.  But it went by quickly due to the company and set we did. 

In the evening time we went to Shreveport for another talk with the local Tri club there (Sunrise Tri Club) Mike and Jeremy did an excellent job with about 20-25 people showing up to listen to Ben and I talk and ask some excellent questions on racing, balancing training and life and getting it done.  On the way home we were driving into the ice storm that was hitting North Texas,  but thankfully our main man Jeremy got us home in one piece to cap over a great week for me. 

On Monday we had to miss our swim due to all the pools been closed as a result of the ice storm that hit pretty bad.  So Ben and I got to Cobb Cycling world HQ a nice and early to spend more time with the master and his great crew.  Its amazing to be around someone like John with such knowledge and experience, but what I find the most inspiring is the time he spends giving back to the sport, not just with professionals athletes but with beginners and people who do the sport for fun and fitness.  I've also been fortunate to work with John at a practice Tri session and see him connect with these people, smiling joking and giving them tips. This is why as long as I ride a bike there will be a Cobb saddle on it. 

Finally, I got to knock out a another trainer ride with Ben, who is also a stand up guy and I can't wait to see him light up the circuit this year. So if you don't already follow him, get him on twitter @triBC and his website is : http://bencollins.org 

In another news I will be opening up my multi sport season at the Blue Northern Duathlon this weekend in Seguin TX.