Announcements

I've been alluding to some announcements for awhile, so now it's time to start with a few of them.

#1 - 2 new blogs started!

The problem with this blog has been I have had difficulty keeping it focused on my training and racing. There have been times I've wanted to use it for my coaching, and other times I've wanted to use it do discuss new products and technology, (my bikes, Zoot shoes, etc). It seemed to make the most sense to create blogs which deal with each individual goal I have.

So with that, the two new blogs are:

Tri Tech Review - (http://tritechreview.blogspot.com/) This blog will be devoted to products and technology I get exposed to as an elite athlete. This blog will be updated about once every 2 weeks.

Coach Vance - (http://coachvance.blogspot.com/) This blog will be devoted to all my efforts and endeavors in coaching. This includes clinics, articles, links, thoughts, or anything else I find relevant. This blog will be updated about every week.


#2 - Riding Look for 2008

JP left a comment, asking about Kuota and what happened to me riding their bikes. The short end of it is that Kuota left B+L as their main retailer, and switched to Nytro and Hi-Tech Bikes. This had nothing to do with me, but was a business decision by their organization. This put me in a position which represented a conflict of interest, as I would be out promoting products which B+L's competitors sold, not B+L. Kuota gave me the green light to search out new sponsorship, and I did, landing a great opportunity with Look. I appreciated their willingness to be flexible given the situation.

Why do I remain so committed to B+L? Because they have been with me from the start of my triathlon career, and as an athlete seeking sponsorship, a great relationship with a retailer provides me a great tool for maximizing sponsorship for the companies, to be able to help translate their sponsorship into actual sales. It also provides me a great resource center of fitters, knowledgeable mechanics and bike techs, etc. Also, B+L provides me with a large amount of support, of which I could not compete at the level of do, helping to off-set a lot of costs for me, including helping me land the Look sponsorship.

I am EXTREMELY EXCITED about riding Look again! My first bike upon getting into the sport was a Look 486, and I loved that bike. The quality of their bikes is arguably second to none. I am now riding the 496, which you see in my Kona report, and I should be receiving another bike shortly. I will keep you updated.


#3 - Other sponsorships for next year

So what are the sponsorships I will have for next year? What's changing? Well, this year started with Mizuno, Zoot, Kuota, B+L, Suunto and Rudy Project. It would appear that next season will be:

Zoot
Look
B+L

Simple and basic. I have an offer on the table to extend my relationship with Rudy Project, but at this point I am not sure it will meet my needs, as it is a step backward in our relationship. At this point I am considering all options.

If you know of any company looking for an athlete like myself, please have them contact me! jim@jimvanceracing.com

#4 - Race Schedule for 2008

So what is the plan for 2008? I will be honest, as I was walking thru the lava fields on the Queen K, I contemplated retirement. I made the decision that I will never do another Ironman, unless I am at the top of my game and ready. Given this, and what I learned this year, my schedule will be:

April - Ironman Arizona
October - Ironman World Championships, Kona, Hawaii

There may be a few smaller races, local ones, but this is the focus for next year. I think it provides me enough time to adequately recover from my races and still have plenty of time to prepare for a great performance.


#5 - Improving the blog in 2008

Last announcement today, I promise. I think part of the cool aspects of an elite triathlete's blog, is that people want to see what times and speed I run and swim, and what wattages I put out on the bike. For the longest time, I've always worried about telling people that info, worried that my competitors would be reading it, thinking they could assess me as a competitor better. Now I've decided, I don't care.

This season, besides posting more often, I plan on putting a lot more info on this blog, such as power files, swim times and time trial results, run paces and possibly even gps files from my workouts, (we'll see if I get a gps sponsorship). I hope this will improve site traffic, give people plenty of cool information, and satisfy all your curiousities.

Those are all the announcements for now. I will be posting lessons learned from Kona soon.

Thanks for reading!

Vance