Thursday, November 5, 2009

Fall Update

After starting this blog and barely posting, it seems like as good a time as any to update with a bit of elete news. The summer season is winding down and we are moving into winter.

elete summer athletes closed out the season in fine fashion. The Topeak-Ergon team closed out the season at the 24 Hours of Moab, which were also the 24 Hour National Championships. Sonya Looney and Yuki Saito raced in the duo coed category and pulled off a third place, despite stomach problems for Yuki. Eddie O'Dea took on the solo category but succumbed to a prior knee issue that redeveloped as a result of the cold overnight temps.

Yours truly, Sarah Kaufmann, squeezed out a second place in the womens' solo category. The race was super and unfolded quite unpredictably. After the first lap, pre-race favorite, Pua Sawicki, had gone off the front and myself, Ezster Horanyi and, other pre-race favorite, Jari Kirkland, finished our first lap together. Sadly, Jari crashed out during her second lap. Ezster and I would remain anywhere from one to 10 minutes apart until 4am, when I had some issues with my light. Between my body breaking down, lack of light and trying to fix my light, I lost 20 minutes on that lap and lost any chances I had of catching Ezster. At that point, I turned my attention to securing second, slowing my pace significantly, completing another two laps and calling it a race.
As further proof that winter is upon us (aside from the snow-capped mountains visible from our office window...), our olympic biathlon twins, Lanny and Tracey Barnes, were in nearby Heber City for a training camp. The girls skiied on snow and drove through a whiteout on their first day. They took first and second and second and third in their two races during the camp. Expect big things from the girls this winter in Vancouver!
elete is not just a summer product! Good hydration supports proper circuation (read: your fingers and toes stay warm and don't get numb). Drop some elete in your pack, drink all day and stay warm. Counterintuitive, I know...but it works. Trust me :)