State of the Union

As many of you who read this know, I have more than a couple things happening. I thought I would take a minute and look at my world and give a State of the Union address on all things Grant.

RACE
I am currently on the plane (love in air wifi) on my way to Junior Nationals with Kourt, CP, Rin, Siobhan, Amanda and Anna so the Fall season isn't quite over, but I think we have a good feel for it. It has been interesting. JD has come on as did Kristen and we lost Jorge this fall, but I like our staff. JD has allowed me to do so much more because he operates well on his own. He trusts, believes and runs our system very well all the while challenging me and the kids to do different things. We started the year well, but truly unispired and I have been left to try and force it at times. However, after the first meet, I made some changes and brought back some of the speed work that has defined this program over the years. It helped bring some fun back into it for the swimmers and they seemed to flourish, albeit, still apathetic at times. I think this apathy may be more a sign of the times than of this group. I may have to get used to it.

The rest meet, CSI Open this past weekend, went very well and the motivation is high heading into the winter and spring. We now stand at 24 Sectional qualifiers, 6 Junior qualifiers and 2 summer Nationals qualifiers. Christine is still swimming with us part time, so I think we can claim her Olympic trials cut as well. Hopefully, there is more to come this weekend.


Breeze Bars
Man, this fall has been crazy busy for Breeze and the business. The growth in Boulder has been good, but we have found ourselves ready to make another move. We changed the packaging this fall and it looks great. We also moved to a couple distributors to help spread the bars. We are now available through a distributor in Montana and they have helped us add 12 retailers up there. A new distributor along the front range is the next move in January. Hopefully, we can add an employee or two here soon and take the world by storm. Check out all the news at www.breezebars.com or on the Facebook page.

APEX Coaching
APEX started as Neal Henderson's coaching business, but the guy is too good and he needed some help. So I have come on and I am really enjoying it. Also, Neal is blowing up. Between Taylor Phinney, Cam Dye and now Roman Kreuziger, he has turned into the rising coaching star in endurance sports. I know I am riding his coattails a bit, but man is it fun and I am learning a ton. Without a doubt APEX will be a big part of what I will be doing down the road. www.apexcoachingco.com

Teams
I have been involved with building team through the 11 years I have been in Boulder. Whether it be RACE, which I started with 2 kids, or Without Limits Racing, I have been doing this for years. This coming year is no different. There are two on the table right now. The Breeze Bars U-25 Professional Triathlon Team is a go with Flora Duffy and Allen Gardner. Neal and I are still working on sponsors and support, but we will be going forward with it in the Spring. I really feel like this could be an amazing platform for young triathletes in the coming years. We need developmental teams here in the states in order to get these athletes started younger. Otherwise, we are destined to continue to be forced to try and turn runners into swimmers and swimmers into runners.

The other team is a cyclocross team. It is truly in its infancy and may not go anywhere, but we are going try. There is a need for support to get some of these up and coming crossers to a place where they can travel to race both in the states and over the pond. Luna has done it for the woman, but it is missing a bit for the guys. Maybe we can change that.


I think I will post a separate blog on the cycling season. That way you all can have a break.