It's a deal: I am riding CEEPO in 2010!

I have 2 weeks till the first race and so I thought it’s time to recap what happened so far. Starting the season 18 pounds heavier than I was when I raced in Kona in October, I did my first bike ride at the end of December.  I was running and swimming already, so it didn’t take long to find my legs again and even my “unnecessary extra training pounds” are pretty much all gone.

Now, after several hours of sweating in and around St. Augustine, FL, it seems like I am ready to race in just about 2 weeks from now.  Today is actually the first session where I had to take a step back and that makes me feel very good about my physical condition and all the sessions I have done up to this point.  In a few days I will be back on the road after refusing to travel for quite some time now.  It’s exciting and I am looking forward to racing again.

March 13th will be the first and most exciting showdown apart from Hawaii 2010- most of the top triathletes will duel for the stunning prize purse in Abu Dhabi (www.abudhab itriathlon.com)

Sponsor updates:

This year we had a very long process to find the perfect sponsors, therefore I am very honored  to ride the new CEEPO Viper during the 2010 season.  CEEPO is a sponsor of the WTC (World Triathlon Corporation) and therefore brilliant match for me as well.  CEEPO will my main sponsor for 2010.  My first bike arrived several months ago and I felt very comfortable right from the start.  So be prepared for some even better bike splits from now on.  Special thanks to Nobujuki aka Joe (pictured above) for his support—he and his team of engineers are working hard in Japan in order to produce amazing bikes.  CEEPO has masterminded some amazing new creations to date—and they are the only company out there who is able to push the limits of aerodynamics to make bike just for triathletes!

Schwalbe tires are also supporting me during this year and I am about to receive the first shipment in a few days.  The new Ultremo tires promise to be the best on the market. Thanks to team Schwalbe!

More updates are expected very soon…so check back in a bit!

Yours,

Dirk

I have some cool news for those fellow triathletes out there that are trying to get in good bike shape this season!  I am going on LA Talk Radio with Mr. Simon Gowen to share all of my cycling training secrets with you!

Update: The Live show is finished now but you can still listen to the show on the Simon’s Podcast!  Just CLICK HERE!

I had a nice chat with John & Bevan over at IM Talk yesterday.

Check in out HERE…

As some of you may know, there has been a new rule passed by the WTC that all pro athletes must pay a registration fee of 750 dollars and be enrolled in an anti-doping program.  This seems to be a hot topic at the moment so I thought I would give my viewpoint on the whole thing.

I don’t mind paying for the membership fees–it ends up saving me money in the long run.  The new anti-doping program is supposed to be in effect starting February 1, 2010–but hold on, that date has already passed.  Does anyone know how many pro athletes have signed up for it?  Are those the only ones getting tested by random drug controls?
Is everyone filling out there whereabouts these days?

Some rules, such as those that say that athletes have to be signed up in the program at least three months prior to the next race, no matter if Ironman 70.3 or Ironman and at least 6 months prior to Championships events–are only fair to the public and to those athletes who have been disclosing their whereabouts for several years now.

I just read today that the Open US Ironman 70.3 Championships will only allow athletes to race if they are signed up for the whereabouts.  That does sound good in theory but it doesn’t guarantee anything–make it a few months prior to that date because the athletes that finish in the top places will be tested on race day regardless.

I am just dreading what might happen as the deadline to sign up for the WTC wherabouts has already passed, we are not sure how many athletes actually did sign up until now because this has not been disclosed.  I just hope for a fight with equal weapons on every racing level.  Well, it’s just fair if we all have the same rules, right?  And if not then those athletes that don’t sign up simply can’t race–with no exceptions!

What is your thought on that- please let me know and post your comment!

Three hard weeks of training are done and there is more to come. The past few weeks have been very intersting for me, hanging out with Rappstar and learning some more stuff about the triathlon world.  Our focus in Clermont at the NTC was to do some quality miles on the bike. The first week was more swimming oriented for me and the second week I spent lots of hours in the saddle.  Five more weeks till my first race in Abu Dhabi and there is still some work to be done.  Luckily my body looks more like an athlete’s again and I was able to shed off some more pounds during that time.

I am sitting on the couch in Clermont, Florida where I am and doing my first training camp in the early season preparation. Jordan Rapp, a two time Ironman winner, is joining me to do some “mileage sharing”. We both have the same coach and so it seems like a pretty good fit for our training.

Life is good for me at the moment but when I see the news everyday on TV about the earthquake in Haiti, all my little worries and problems become nothing compared to of what so many people in Haiti are going through in the moment. It fills my life with sadness and the strong desire to do my part to help the homeless and injured people in Haiti.

Several insitutions, especially near the center of the earthquake near Port-au-Prince have been deestroyed and need urgent help. The catastrophy on 12th of January was the worst in 200 years, over 200,000 deaths have been reported by now.

Be a part of the efforts and contribute to save lives.

Please donate by clicking HERE to get to the official SOS Webpage, using SOS-Haiti as a key word

Thank you for your generosity and your big heart

In appreciation,

Dirk Bockel

SOS Villages d`enfants mond Embassadeur

We all know after the last race of the season the following days are filled with parties and good food–and lots of it. I really do crave certain food that I didn’t get to eat during the season because it’s just “not good for me”.

Honestly, my opinion is that we need to have a down time after all the hard work and focus before the big race. We all deserve it! For instance, after Hawaii I took seven weeks off- completely. Meaning I had 3 runs (30-45 min) and 2 swims (1.5 – 2 km) and some minor sport activity and that was it. I am sure it’s not the ideal for some people, but I need that time to recharge and to live a “normal” life for a few weeks.

The problem with the training break is that it gets so much harder to get back into it. I get used to not having to plan around my training and I believe the first two weeks I can still enjoy a normal life and “squeeze” the training in whenever it fits. Those days where my social life dies down to a near standstill creeps up fast enough, after all.

In 2008 I took 8 weeks off right after the Olympic Games and then started back on 1st of December. It took about 3-4 weeks to fully get back into training and then with just 2 months preparation I was able to race to a 3rd place at Ironman New Zealand– my first ever Ironman event (and on top of that, I could only run up to 3 times per week due to plantar fasciitis issues).

So here you see, it is possible and very doable.

If you are a Lance Armstrong type and you feel like doing a lot during the off time, then run three times a week and swim two times, then you still have the weekends off and 45 minutes a day won’t hurt. As for me, I decided to do other stuff and keep the engine in the garage for quite some time – it seems to work perfectly for me. Just remember, when you start back up – be careful and start slow. The first week is for getting back into it and the second I start doing double sessions and from the 3rd week I start feeling the fatigue but the routine comes back. By then I know what I am working for and I plan other appointments around the priority – TRIATHLON.

Right know, I am about three weeks into training the feeling is finally coming back. The first few swims were terrible: no feeling for the water whatsoever, no power, shoulders hurt, the flip turns were ridiculous and all–yep it’s true–the the pros feel it too. Same for running: overweight, heavy, slower than we have ever run before, a small hill is conquered with a heart rate of 175 and our hearts seems to pop out of our chests because the organ has forgot how to beat that fast….

Well, it all gets better with every session. Usually it takes time to get motivated to do a bit of intensity at the beginning- but after the first time giving my body a kick down- that is usually when I start getting back into it and the movements becomes smooth and fluid again.

Something strange: I did gain 7 kg (about 18lbs) at some point in time but after just a few sessions I am back to just 5kg (about 11lbs) of extra baggage and that’s not that bad. That’s heavy when you start your first run- believe me- but also: it was worth the fun and every single beer tasted really good! And the steaks and… well enough of that!

So now I am back to normal – low carbs at night, fewer alcoholic drinks, and trying to get serious again.

It was a bit tough during Christmas, but most likely I will be racing in mid-March. No matter what will happen during early 2010- the goal is and remains Hawaii 2010. And it is a long way till October folks!

See you on the start line- lean and fit. All of the hard work will lead towards that goal- there is a lot more to come.

Cheers and stop faffing around now- get training!!

A few days ago I was selected to participate in the annual sportsmen of the year gala in Luxembourg’s biggest Casino. After a nice dinner I was elected number 3 male athlete behind the two Schleck brothers (Andy Schleck: TdF 2nd place and brother Frank: TdF stage winner).

I felt that was a great honor from the sportspress.lu in Luxembourg and I was very happy about my results and the way it all happened. Thanks for all the support and the belief in me.

Just a few days later I had a great TV show with Mandy Minella (Tennis) and the two Schleck brothers. RTL invited us to a fancy restaurant where we filmed the “Sport Rückblick 2009″. Good times and lots of fun with the RTL group especially Tim Hensgen.

After several sport tests and medical checks, most of my appointments were done, so my time was up in Luxembourg and we drove south towards Stuttgart, GER to see my parents for the Christmas time. The temperature went down to -14 degrees Celsius which is colder than you can imagine- so no chance to ride my bike and it didn’t take long till I booked my next flight back to where the sun is shining. One more week in the cold. Too bad, since we had planned to do some cross country skiing in the south of Germany, but most accommodation were already booked out. Maybe next year.

Now it has been about 10 days since I started training again and my weight already starts bouncing back and slowly I can see the light at the end of the tunnel again. Man it’s tough to start back and so I decided to share my thoughts about my training break and the torture of getting back into it. It is worth a nice blog post- which will follow shortly.

See you soon

Yours, Dirk

Where to start? As you might know, we sold our house in December 2008 and started spending more time on the road.  As a quick overview of where we have been in 2009–here is the big travel blog post!

From my parents place in Stuttgart we drove to Frankfurt and flew from there to Bangkok to enjoy a Thai massage and some amazing Thai food before we hopped back on the plane<!–more–> to Auckland, New Zealand. We stayed there for three days and celebrated New Years with some friends before we headed down to Taupo where we based ourselves before my first Ironman race in March.  Just 3 days after the race we left lovely New Zealand to travel to San Francisco to stay with my buddy Paul from Webcor cycling team. I enjoyed a week off from training and we explored the city and the surroundings of the bay area–it is a really lovely and very beautiful place where I will definitely come back to visit.

We continued to travel east and I restarted training in Austin, Texas with my old UT buddy Brant, a former runner and now a cyclist.  I used that time to slowly get back into training and at the same time checked out the SXSW music festival- really crazy how packed the city gets with all kinds of future stars!

Two weeks later we were back in sunny Florida where I got my butt back in race shape for the next destination: St Croix, US Virgin Islands. Wow, that’s a nice tropical place with a beautiful downtown area and actually a great very challenging Ironman 70.3 race. Our home-stay with Pat &amp; Pat was just amazing–they are the parents of one of my UT swimming buddies, Scott. After the race, we went snorkeling and enjoyed “normal” life for a few days.

After that we were back to Florida for more training before the next race in Disney World- here I gotta mention my first 70.3 win, crossing the line wearing Mickey Mouse ears!

After completing those 3 races, I thought I deserved a break and we drove up to my In-laws in St. Augustine–the oldest town in America with nice Spanish influence. By that time it was end of May and I hopped back on the plane to come back to Luxembourg, the place I call home.

Soon enough we back on the road down to Le Barcares, in the South of France, right next to the Spanish boarder. A three week training camp got me in shape for the next camp Font Romeu in the French Pyrenees.  Another three weeks of hard training with a great group in altitude brought me into good race shape and we were off to Prague in Czech Republic to race the European Long Distance Champs.  Just a few days later we had a reason to celebrate my Vice European title with a week holidays in Barcelona.  It was very busy and very Spanish (I guess that means good red wine paired with great tapas and mucho fun).  A week of busy shopping and sightseeing might not have been the best off-time for me but it was absolutely worth it and then I was ready for the next big training block in Loulay, France. I spent just two weeks there with my buddies Paul &amp; Jimmy in order to work on my base training before driving back to Stuttgart, Germany for a repacking session and an early flight to Fuerteventura, Canary Islands in Spain.  This was my last and most important build up before the famous Hawaii Ironman.

After three weeks of endless training hours in sweltering heat we boarded several planes till we touched down in Las Vegas, Nevada in the USA to network at the Interbike. Man, looking back that was very useful but so freaking exhausting and stressful because the jet lag combined with all of the flying around didn’t make it easy.

Right after the race, we felt the need to be present in Luxembourg so after a 3 day spa trip to Phoenix we changed out flights and flew back home to Luxembourg for another two and a half weeks–it was really cold and we certainly were not used to that anymore!

On our way back to the US from Luxembourg we stopped in Clearwater to watch the 70.3 World Champs before we finally took off for our real holidays up in Telluride, Colorado to visit my sister.  A short trip from Telluride to Moab in Utah needs to be mentioned as well–there I discovered the most impressive landscape I have ever seen (which I guess says a lot–as I have seen a lot of landscape)!

Once our time was up there, we left the lovely and snowy mountains of Colorado to go back to St. Augustine for a couple of weeks with Alicia’s family before heading back to Frankfurt and then finally Luxembourg again….uff! What a trip!

So in short….

Luxembourg – Stuttgart – Frankfurt – Bangkok – Auckland – Taupo – Auckland – San Francisco – Austin – Tampa – St. Augustine- Orlando- Tampa – St Croix- Tampa – Frankfurt – Luxembourg – Le Barcares – Font Romeu – Prague – Barcelona – Loulay – Stuttgart – Frankfurt -Fuerteventura – Las Vegas – Kona – Phoenix – Frankfurt – Luxembourg – Pheonix – Clearwater – St Augustine – Jacksonville – Grand Junction – Ophir – Telluride – Moab -  Grand Junction – Jacksonville – St Augustine – Frankfurt – Luxembourg.

Thanks to everyone who made this year of traveling possible (and to all of the people who offered us a place to stay along the way)!  We are looking forward to 2010–bring it on!

I thought that it is about time that I shared some of my experiences at the race in Kona–so here you are–the official Kona recap!

I really have to say thanks to Gary T. For helping us out the last week before the race- we stayed at his place and had a very quiet and ideal race prep.

On the day of the race, I felt like I could give it all, but the nervousness was overwhelming. I wasn’t sure where to position myself for the start but I figured I should be fast enough to make it to the front right away, so I just took it out from the middle. Swimming out I was in the first pack but didn’t follow the first 4 guys- and looking back it was smart not to follow them. I stayed with Faris and Luke McKenzie, exiting first out of the big pack.

T1 was a long run and I stuffed all kind of things in my custom made race top. The group was big and so there was no real rush, but I transitioned pretty quick just to be sure to be in the game. The first hour was pretty fast, (have a look at my SRM files) and after the little loop through town I kept falling back and kept more like 20m then the necessary 10m needed to avoid a draft penalty. I was worried about that rule and the speed was higher than expected. The group seemed to get smaller as the distance unfolded and going up Hawi the number of athletes dropped from 30 to 25, and later down to 20 guys. Going up was ok, luckily the winds weren’t too bad. I was pretty scared since the wind threw me off my bike going down Hawi a week before the race. Once we reached our special needs station I was happy to get my own fuel and continued to stick to my conservative race plan. Just 60k out of T2, the group started to break apart and the pace was not really fast, I decided to stick with the main group. I am pretty sure that this was the right thing to do, at least for the first time out there! Well, we lost 10 minutes on several guys, but I felt ok for the run and so I didn’t worry too much. My goal was to make a safe top 10.

Coming into T2 I had a very quick transition and ran out with half a minute over most of the other guys. The hardest part was to run slow the first 15k. Several guys passed me and probably ran out a bit too fast- I was tempted to follow but ran according to my heart rate and my game plan. After 20k I started to reel in some guys and run back into top 10. Once I was out on the Queen K Highway, I started to feel the heat and the fatigue. Now the mental game was on and we all suffered like dogs out there.

Every aid station became an oasis in the desert and I made sure I got enough intake. After an hour of racing, I lost my salt tablets and I started to worry. I had a back up in my special needs bag but that was at kilometer 29, so if I was to run low that would have been too late. Well, my question is why was the special needs bag not at kilometer 20 like the race book said???

Anyway, I switched from Coke to Coke/Gatorade mix to assure my body got some electrolytes beside all the sugars. Looking back, I really did a great job eating and drinking properly- so I never bonked. I raced hard til the last 2km and faded only a bit, that’s where I lost my 6th spot to turbo passer Timo Bracht. Before that I was running on Henning’s heels with just a minute down.

Once I came back into town I was happy to enjoy the last kilometer on Alii drive. My buddy Gary was out there handing me the Luxembourgish flag and was proudly waving it running down the last 200 meters!

My first race in Hawaii turned out to be a really solid race and my 7th place fullfilled our expectations. Alicia took good care of me after the race and the little 14 year old girl had a good time to push me around in a wheel chair.
Big thanks to the organization and all the volunteers out there- what a great experience for us!

It took about two hours before I was able to walk around on my own. Later on, I even rode back home and chilled out on my bed for the rest of the night. Again: I didn’t make it to the finish line at midnight- one day I will.

Special congrats go out to Andreas Raelert and the King of Kona-Sir Craig Alexander. I can only say chapeaux! Also to Chris Lieto who did very well and I see myself battling on the bike out in front with him sometime soon!

I know I can win this race at some point. Some small errors and a slight different approach next time will make a podium very realistic- so watch out next time!

Apart from the race I was very happy to connect with many great people on and off the race scene. Triathlon is just the greatest sport and has some of the nicest characters out there.

I am open for suggestions for my next trip to Kona- drop me a comment and share your thoughts!

Yours, Dirk