Ben Hoffman

Recent Ben Hoffman Videos:

Ben Hoffman has no videos available.

Born and raised in Grand Junction, Colorado, I was a member of numerous athletic teams in high school, running track, playing golf, basketball, and soccer. I moved to Montana for continued education, and got my start in triathlon in 2004 as a university student racing for the school team in Missoula. After my first year of racing, I took a year off to live and travel in Argentina. During my second season of racing, in the spring of 2006, I was crowned USA Triathlon Collegiate National Champion in Reno, leading the way to a National Title for the university team. That summer, I hit the road to race with a good friend throughout the Northwest, gaining enough experience and results to earn my pro card and begin training more intensely for the challenges of racing against the best triathletes in the world.

Looking for a place that would satisfy my need to train at altitude and surround myself with like-minded world-class athletes, I made the move to Durango, Colorado. Nestled in the beautiful San Juan mountains, I began a rigorous training regimen that would eventually bring me some promising results. My professional debut was at Wildflower, near San Luis Obispo, California. Known as one of the largest, most difficult and competitive races worldwide, I finished 3rd (first American professional), and captured yet another accolade, being crowned the USA Triathlon Elite Long Course National Champion for 2007. This earned me a berth for the ITU Long Course World Championships in France, setting the tone for a series of excellent results in my first year as an elite.

Since that first professional season, I have continued racing and training at a high level, notching some top finishes at 70.3's and posting an 8:24:13 debut Ironman at Arizona last year. This season will be focused on racing Ironman Hawaii in Kona this fall, but will still see a full schedule of shorter distance racing to prepare me for the World Championships. Follow my blog for all the latest race reports and updates from my season.

Tucson Training

February 1, 2010

Old Spanish Trail, Oracle, Gates Pass, Kitt Peak, Madera Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, Colossal Cave, Saguaro National Park, Rancho Vistoso, Catalina Highway, Sonoita Pass, Picture Rocks...

It's been another great training trip to the southwestern desert city of Tucson. I was connected with a friend of friend who lives right downtown in the Armory Park neighborhood, so I was in striking distance of the U of A pool and the start of all group rides. I used to pass through Tucson on my way south to Mexico during spring break, well before I even considered the cycling possibilities. Starting last year, I was able to break away from work long enough to explore some of the roads and get a much needed respite from the snowy Colorado winter.  This year I went back with a little more knowledge of the rides and runs, and was able to log some good training despite some rough weather.

 

I spent a couple days in Scottsdale, riding on parts of the Ironman course and enjoying a run in McDowell Mountain Park before heading down to Tucson.  My first days were challenging, trying to time rides properly to dodge the rainy weather, but swimming at the outdoor pool at the university was a nice change of scenery.  I have always been able to deal decently well with adverse weather on bike rides, but starting rides in the rain is demoralizing.  Fortunately, the meteorologists were about a half day behind on their predictions, so even as parts of Arizona experienced their worst winter storm in 17 years, most of the rain in Tucson fell at night, and I found windows each day.  Runs along the usually dry riverbed through town became more interesting, as chocolate milk churned past with each big rainfall, and several city streets were closed due to flooding.  The highlight of the trip was battling a windy day as I rode out to Kitt Peak and back, climbing high above the Saguaro and Ocotillo flats to an altitude that felt more like home. 

 

Although it wasn't the best trip in terms of weather, I was able to put in more mileage and build good strength in the time I had.  Given that Durango had 35 inches of snow fall in town while I was gone, there is no question that it was a prudent choice to for optimizing training in this Ironman build.  With an always enjoyable spotting of the infamous Silver Fox, plenty of wildlife, and some spectacular sunsets, it goes down as another valuable block.  With a little luck and planning, I should be back down in mid-February for some more miles in the pool, on the bike, and on foot.  Until then, it might be time to get out the skis...

Stats for Ben Hoffman are coming soon.
All content © copyright 2012 Specialized Bicycle Components. All Rights reserved.