Tour fever

Almost one month until the Tour de France 2010 is underway. I'm getting psyched up for it! mainly by the recent jump in media attention towards 97th edition of the famed European bicycle race.

The 2009 top-10:

1. CONTADOR Alberto 21 ASTANA 85h 48' 35"
2. SCHLECK Andy 31 TEAM SAXO BANK 85h 52' 46" + 04' 11"
3. ARMSTRONG Lance 22 ASTANA 85h 53' 59" + 05' 24"
4. WIGGINS Bradley 58 GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM 85h 54' 36"+ 0 6' 01"
5. SCHLECK Frank 36 TEAM SAXO BANK 85h 54' 39" + 06' 04"
6. KLÖDEN Andréas 23 ASTANA 85h 55' 17" + 06' 42"
7. NIBALI Vincenzo 95 LIQUIGAS 85h 56' 10" + 07' 35"
8. VANDE VELDE Christian 51 GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM 86h 00' 39" + 12' 04"
9. KREUZIGER Roman 93 LIQUIGAS 86h 02' 51" + 14' 16"
10. LE MEVEL Christophe 106 FRANCAISE DES JEUX 86h 03' 00" +14' 25"

Contador is back, returning as the man who has won the Tour the last two times that he has competed in the race. Andy Schleck, of the small wealthy European country of Luxembourg, is a previous White Jersey winner...however, he is no longer in that young rider competition and will have a target on the back of his Black and White Saxobank jersey. Lance will be Lance, we'll see what he brings to the mountains this year, he was fantastic last year but didn't have enough power to keep up with Contador and Andy Schleck.
Wiggens, the best Brit of the tour last year, will be back.
Frank, the elder, Shleck is a veteran of the tour, and has finished in the top 10 a number of times.

All those guys will be in the mix, and hunting for a podium finish.
Other riders to look out for: Cadel Evans, the strong Aussie was on the podium at the end of the 2008 tour. Carlos Sastre, the champion of 2008... He beat out both Schleck brothers and EPO Drug user Bernard Kohl to get the win that year, while Team Saxobank was Team CSC. Look out for Levi Leipheimer of the USA, Christian Vandevelde, and time-trial Specialist Fabian Cancellara.

About Floyd Landis' accusations, I say... you can always trust a liar to be a liar. So, even though I think there is a high probability that Lance and all the other top dogs from 1998-2006 were doping, I don't think we can give much credibility to anything Floyd has to say. He denied doing drugs vehemently for two years, and then decides to admit that he did use them, and point fingers at other racers. That's low.

On a positive note:
I'm pumped to watch the race for the green (sprinter's points) jersey this year.
Last year Thor Hushovd barely beat out the Usain Bolt of Cycling, Mark Cavendish.

Cavendish was amazing, he won 7 out of the 21 stages last year, including the famed sprint down the Champs Elysees in Paris.

Here is the video---
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frdU3_aKZNs



What a monster.
Other than the brit and Nordic-blooded Hushovd, Tyler Farrar of the United States and Team Garmin Slipstream, is a young sprinter that will be noticed.

I'm pumped!
I finished my junior year. It was pretty uneventful, race-wise. A lot of setbacks. I learned a lot during this year. I think I have all the right tools to go out with a bang next year. Summer training for XC starts in a week. I can't wait.

Finally back to normal

I'm in the midst of finals week, but the track season isn't over.

So far, I've only raced once, since getting the death cough in January. I ran a sub-par 1500m at Fitchburg in early April.

I've kinda got back into the swing of things. It took about three months, but I finally have that feeling, while working out, that I'm in shape and can tear up the track.
Last week I ran a 20 minute tempo workout, averaging 5:22 per/ mile. Then John had me do 4x200m pick ups. I ran 28 seconds for each one, felt really strong.

Yesterday, I ran a 6,4,2,6,4,2,6,4,2 workout. Each set was slightly faster than the previous one. While doing some warm-up strides, before starting the workout, I noticed how fluid my body felt while almost sprinting. I haven't had this feeling in a long time. Basically, I started my stride, got to about 85-90% of my full sprint for 80 meters, and by the time I had finished I really didn't feel like I needed to breathe more rapidly than I did before I started.

I guess that means I'm getting back in shape! I had the same feeling during my intervals in my workout, my breathing just didn't feel that stressed, until maybe the last 400 interval. Also, my arm rhythm felt really smooth, I didn't get the burning sensation in my triceps that I do sometimes when I'm finishing an interval.

Overall good feeling. The plan is either to race a New-Balance meet, or to just get myself into good fitness again before I take some time off and start summer cross country training. The collegiate races, other than ECACS and Nationals, are basically over, so I would race in an open meet if I were to race.

I ran 7 miles with Devon today, around 7:10/ mile. Just chilling. So, I'm feeling really good. I'm only running 45 miles/ week right now, tapering off. I'm eager to jump into training for my last season of cross country...
but who knows,
Maybe i'll get something out of this fitness. Feeling smooth.