Pfeifle Qualifies for Age Group National Championships

While crazy floats and naked runners raced across the city of San Francisco in the Bay to Breakers 12k, a large contingent of seriously competitive triathletes made the trip to Morgan Hill for the 18th annual Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon at Uvas Reservoir.

Julie Pfeifle made her presence known in the women’s 50-54 age group. A youngster in the age group Julie showed that she has what it takes to compete with the best. She placed 3rd of 30 with a finishing time of 1:57:39.  Julie swam .75k in 25:25, cycled 16 miles in 49:31 and ran 5 miles in 39:53. 

By finishing in the top 10% of her age group, Julie qualified for the 2009 USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships later this year.  Age group nationals are slated for August 22, 2009 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Julie is coached by Rachel Casanta.

Fung Flys at Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon, Meets Macca!

Congratulations to Steve Fung of Orinda on his 19th place finish at the 2009 Morgan Hill Sprint Triathlon. Finishing in 1:46:09, Steve placed 19th M35-39. His splits:  24:41 (.75k swim) , 43:06 (16 mile bike) and 33:05 (5 mile run).

Next up for Steve? The Silicon Valley Triathlon on 6/21/09.

Chris McCormack and Steve Fung

Ironman China Race Report

Congratulations to Ironman triathlete Steve Fung of Orinda, CA.
Steve triumphed in China at his very first Ironman under what
were considered the toughest conditions of any Ironman in history.
Coach Rachel Casanta of Hypercat Racing said “Steve was tenacious
and unrelenting in his preparations for Ironman China. He listened
to his body, but he pushed himself as far as he could go. His finish at Ironman
China is a testament to his mental and physical toughness.”

Time: 13:55
Swim: 1:24
Bike: 5:55
Run: 6:30 (113 degree heat!)

Steve will enjoy some short course racing in early summer, but already has
his eyes on his next big challenge, Ironman Arizona on November 22, 2009.
Way to go, Steve!

Read Steve’s account of his experience here:

IM China 2009 Report[1]

Hypercat athlete Steve Fung finishes his first Ironman!

Wildflower Triathlon Results

Congratulations to each and every athlete who competed in the Wildflower Triathlons in Lake San Antonio on May 2-3, 2009. Below are the results of athletes who followed the Hypercat Racing Wildflower Training plans available through TriCalifornia.

Please post your race reports and thoughts about the training plans.  Congratulations on your accomplishments!

MTB Sprint
5^th F55-59 – Joann Rieke – 1:44:18
8^th F30-34 – Mone’ Leon – 1:16:52
19^th M25-29 – Kile Krol – 1:10:12
25^th M45-49 – Jeff Bracket – 1:25:21
33^rd W45-49 – Tricia Fertig – 1:42:27
43^rd F25-29 – Sara Pelosi – 1:30:55
51^st M25-29 – Arthur Hoffman – 1:18:00
65^th F25-29 – Amber Phillips – 1:39:37

Olympic
7^th F45-49 – Mary Kathryn Lynch – 2:50:33
10^th M30-34 – Peter Smith – 2:29:13
10^th M60-64 – Frederic Kass – 3:26:03
15^th F45-49 – Wendy Thomas – 3:01:53
18^th F50-54 – Betsy Davis – 3:42:17
23rd F40-44 – Tracey Roeder – 3:08:16
29^th F30-34 – Brianna Lewke – 4:06:40
25^th F40-44 – Colleen Hutchings – 3:05:57
27^th F40-44 – Fabienne Kobrak – 3:07:34
33^rd F45-49 – Michele Torres – 3:24:25
44^th M20-24 – Brandon Lewke – 3:37:37
52^nd M35-39 – Matthew Lodewick – 2:48:27
52^nd F40-44 – Jen Wineman – 3:40:24
53^rd F30-34 – Jessica Redding – 3:10:21
54^th F35-39 – Kim Lange – 3:16:24
61^st M25-29 – Brooks Kincaid – 2:48:06
69^th M40-44 – Steve Martin – 3:09:48
74^th M50-54 – Bret Husted – 4:04:34
78^th F35-39 – Betsy Baum – 3:29:19
79^th F30-34 – Jill Piotrowski – 3:18:36
80^th F35-39 – Jessica Archibald – 3:30:18
82^nd F40-44 – Jayne Whitelaw – 3:48:45
90^th M40-44 – Peter Sandhill – 3:23:18
104^th F25-29 – Ella Apgar – 3:26:18
107^th F40-44 – Veronica Cerruti – 4:38:45
114^th F35-39 – Denise Bradley – 3:42:05
114^th M35-39 – Jason Homme – 3:03:18
119^th F30-34 – Allison Fay – 3:31:16
124^th  F30-34 – Stacy Menz – 3:33:57
129^th M35-39 – Mathew Honan – 3:07:09
134^th F30-34 – Rachel Brinker – 3:36:21
144^th M25-29 – Andrew Holt – 3:09:05
144^th F30-34 – Natasha Hepburn – 3:37:45
159^th F35-39 – Sarah Madams – 4:25:01
161^st F25-29 – Suzanne Richards – 3:44:01
164^th M40-44 – Andy Gallardo – 3:45:19
170^th M40-44 – Jeffrey Keating – 3:50:59
177^th F25-29 – Lauren Laroche – 3:49:42
207^th M35-39 – Rosendo Salazar – 3:30:31
208^th M35-39 – Todd Espicha – 3:30:42
220^th M35-39 – Richard Hall – 3:40:05
261^st M30-34 – Brian Loftus – 3:59:59
278^th M30-34 – Kurt Spenser – 2:36:41

Long Course
14^th Pro F – Rachel Sears Casanta – 5:27:33
19^th F25-29 – Lorelle Hovsepian – 5:56:59
36^th M55-59 – Kent Relei – 7:45:44
38^th F30-34 – Caroline Glynn – 6:24:33
42^nd M40-44 – Chris Karamatic – 5:19:13
42^nd F45-49 – Nancy Lucero – 8:28:45
66^th M25-29 – Matthew Lawyer – 5:48:33
71^st F30-34 – Camille Salazar – 7:15:35
72^nd M50-54 – Simon Boughey – 7:20:25
81^st M45-49 – David Cefali – 6:07:54
129^th M45-49 – Michael Bickel – 6:44:05
133^rd M30-34 – Josh Clark – 5:55:50
146^th M45-49 – Wayne Deloney – 7:07:09
155^th M40-44 – Michael Van Antwerp – 6:29:41
163^rd M35-39 – Joseph Green – 6:09:45
198^th M25-29 – Kent Palmer – 6:31:37
211^th M35-39 – Josh Clark – 6:35:56
222^nd M40-44 – Andrews Barrows – 7:12:29
251^st M35-39 – Brook Mancinelli – 7:05:08
271^st M35-39 – Rodrigo Ruiz – 7:35:38

Training for Wildflower?

Get ready for Wildflower! Meet Hypercat Racing coach Phil Casanta at the Sports Basement Speaker series.

The Sports Basement Wildflower speaker series presented by Tri-California Training and Hypercat Racing continues presents training talk at the Bay Area Sports Basement locations. In March, Coach Phil Casanta will talk about training, equipment and nutrition as they relate to the Wildflower triathlons. For the April talks, race preparation will be discussed. Coach Phil will advise you on how to be prepared for race day, festival and lake logistics and camping needs. Whether you’ve attended Wildflower in the past, or this is your first time, don’t miss your opportunity to get terrific guidance from Coach Phil Casanta.

Stop by, meet Coach Phil, get your questions answered and prepare yourself for a confident, sucessful and fun Wildflower experience.
All Talk begins at 6:30 pm.

Wed. 3/11/09  
Sports Basement – 610 Old Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94129.
(415) 437-0100

Thur. 3/12/09
Sports Basement – 1177 Kern Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94085.
(408) 732 – 0300

Thurs. 3/19/09
Sports Basement – 1590 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 575 – 3000

Wed. 4/8/09
Sports Basement – 1177 Kern Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94085.
(408)  732 – 0300

Wed. 4/15/09
Sports Basement – 1881 Ygnasio Valley Road, Walnut Creek, CA 94598.
(925) 941-6100

Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon Training Plan Launch

Athletes prepare to jump into the cold bay waters

Considered perhaps one of the most famous triathlons contested on the planet, the 2009 Escape from Alcatraz triathlon will challenge participants taking place on Sunday, June 14. Triathletes both novice and veteran alike will face the bone chilling and unpredictable currents of the San Francisco Bay.  Aspiring escapees will jump from perfectly seaworthy vessels near Alcatraz island and brave the cool bay waters for the 1.5 mile swim to shore. Once regaining their sea-legs triathletes will begin a short run to the transition area in Chrissy Field before taking off on the 18 mile technical and hilly bike ride out to Golden Gate Park and back. The final challenge of endurance is the 8 mile mixed terrain run that takes racers out to Baker Beach and the infamous sand ladder. How will you prepare for the challenge?

To help prepare triathletes for this uniquely challenging event, Hypercat Racing has created a 16 week training program to ready the determined for this awesome adventure.  Created by veteran Professional triathlete and coach, Rachel Sears Casanta and Philip Casanta reknowned cycling and multisport coach,  the 16 week Alcatraz training program includes coach support via a group email system as well as message board. Athletes can get their questions answered along the way and be as confident and race ready as possible come June 14th.

You can purchase the training plan directly from Training Peaks here or visit Hypercat Racing on the web for more info.

Stop your Brain!

Even with the best planning and optimal recovery between training bouts, another obstacle can work it way into the equation: your brain.

Life gets in the way. It is an on going strategic exercise to fit in training sessions along with the obligations of work and family obligations in order to enjoy fitness gains and improve as an endurance athlete.  Training consistently is the key to improvement and doing so requires good recovery between workouts day in and day out.  Optimal recovery is rooted in adequate sleep and balanced, training specific nutrition as well as a regimen of training progressions that suits your needs. Even if you have the recovery nailed and your training plan is spot on, you still have to manage your time to fit it all in.  Still, endurance athletes are masters of the clock and somehow manage to fit the puzzle pieces together – most of the time.

It usually starts with negative thoughts about the weather, the length of our to-do list or maybe we are feeling a little tired. They are a myriad of other thoughts that might occupy our ’should I do this workout today or maybe I can do it tomorrow’, but the bottom line is, it can be easy to find a way to rationalize our way out of training.

Stop your brain! Don’t Think, Just Do.

If you find yourself beginning the workout debate “should I get up and swim…go out in the cold and ride/run, head to the gym, go to yoga class etc”, adopt the mantra, “Don’t Think, Just Do.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Bike Fit in Northern California.

Best bike fit at Hypercat Racing

Coach Phil Casanta has conducted more than 1,000 bike fits over the past twenty years. Getting his start at Avery’s Open Air Bicycles in Ventura, CA during the 80’s, “Coach Phil”  has earned the reputation in the San Francisco Bay area as one of the best and most desired bike fitting experts. Coach Phil has conducted basic and advanced bike fits at various bicycle retail stores including Marina Cyclery, Start to Finish Bicycles, Pacific Bicycles and Transition Sports.

Over the past eight years, Coach Phil has offered his bike fit services exclusively from his studio at Hypercat Racing.  His services are ‘advertised’ by word of mouth and are sought after by athletes ‘in the know.’  Members of  the Golden Gate Triathlon Club and San Francisco Triathlon Clubs, look to Coach Phil to fit them annually in preparation for a wide range of events including big name events like Wildflower, the Escape from Alcatraz triathlons, San Francisco triathlons, Vineman and Ironman events.

Below are comments from two Hypercat bike fit clients that were posted on the Hypercat yahoo group this week.

I had my bike fit by Coach Phil and it made a huge difference. Not only was I more comfortable in the saddle but my power output also increased. This service is well worth it.
-M. Fleming

Just to add my two cents worth to the bike fit issue. I have had a number of bike fits over the years and recently, after moving to CA, four different fits with Coach Phil on four different bikes (tri, road, combined road tri, & commute). Just want to reiterate what Mark said, Coach Phil is the ultimate professional, taking whatever time in takes to get it perfect. Not only will you feel more comfortable and have better power output, you will also be less likely to get injured. It is definitely worth it to have a professional bike fit.
-H. Goodman

Training for Wildflower? Free Talk at San Francisco Sports Basement

Hypercat Racing’s Coach Philip Casanta, in conjunction with TriCalifornia and Sports Basement will be offering a free talk about the Avia Wildflower Triathlons tonight at the San Francisco Bryant Street location.  Whether you are brand new to triathlon or an experienced competitor, everyone is welcome!  Bring your training questions and get answers from the best triathlon coaches.

Tonight’s 60-90 minute talk will focus on ‘what should I be doing now’ in preparation for the Avia Wildflower races.
Attendees will receive raffle tickets for drawings for prizes from Avia Wildflower sponsors.

Sports Basement – Bryant Street

Spiker Wins Carlsbad Marathon in Debut at 26.2

Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle.

Congratulations to Josh Spiker winner of the 2009 Carlsbad Marathon!
Josh is the owner of Inside Track, a running and multisport apparel store in Ventura, CA. When Phil and I are in Ventura we always make it a point to stop by and say hi. During our last visit over the Christmas holidays, we talked with Josh about his upcoming marathon and his preparations.  Josh felt his training was coming along strong, but was a little uncertain about how he would fare at the 26.2 distance, his first attempt at the marathon.  Even with the classic ‘rubber legs’ of the final few miles, Josh duked it out and clearly his preparations came together for him as he crossed the line in first ahead of some notable competitors!

Way to go Josh, we can’t wait to see you race again soon!