Rebecca Rusch

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    S-Works MTB Helmet

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    Tires

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S-Works MTB Helmet

Rebecca Rusch wasn’t thinking about world championships when she joined the Downers Grove North High School cross-country team. “I just wanted the free track suit,” recalls Rusch, who, 28 years later, finds herself among the ranks of the world’s elite endurance athletes. In July of 2009, Rusch won her third straight mountain biking 24-hour Solo World Championship.

Since donning those gray cotton sweats and Lycra shorts, Rusch has outfitted herself in the kit of numerous other disciplines: racking up ascents of big walls from Yosemite to Zion, paddling on the world-famous Offshore Canoe Club’s women’s outrigger team in the brutal Molokai crossing and winning adventure races around the world.

When not training in one of the five mountain ranges surrounding her hometown of Ketchum, Idaho, the 41-year-old known as the “Queen of Pain” can be found chasing adrenaline from Tibet to New Zealand to Kyrgyzstan, constantly adding titles to her impressive and extensive resume.

In addition to those three 24-hour solo mountain bike World Champion rainbow jerseys, Rusch is a three-time national champion in 24-hour team mountain biking. She’s Idaho’s Short Track state championship (twice), and its Cyclocross state title. An accomplished Nordic skier, she’s won the Masters Cross Country Skiing World Championship, in addition to taking the top prize at Raid Gauloises Adventure Racing World Championships. And although that’s just cross-section of her palmares, it’s easy to see why Rusch has been profiled by Sports Illustrated, Outside Magazine and Adventure Sport Magazine.

Talking about age draws a laugh as she gestures at her surroundings. "People around here are all 10 years younger than they actually are. And I don’t mean they just look it; they are actually 10 years younger," she said. "Everyone’s out there constantly doing stuff, from biking to skiing to hiking. There’s a collective mentality that if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it."

This mentality, along with what she calls "perfect terrain for training," provides a home base for the typically itinerant Rusch. She is part of the community; for more than two years she has been a stalwart volunteer emergency medical technician and firefighter for the Ketchum Fire Department, and a homeowner. On breaks from her race schedule, she works on her condominium, though the domestic idea continues to bemuse her; the last home she owned was a 1975 Ford Bronco.

The questions have been flowing

August 9, 2010

The questions have been flowing in and I must say that they get better every month. Thanks for everyone's entries, I love reading them and laughing. This month there was one question that stood out to me. Congratulations to our July winner Ganesh Harinath on winning your new Smith Sunglasses!

Q: I'd like to know... what's the aspect of your life that is most transferable to people like me, who work in business? Are there any lessons you've learned in your amazing career as a professional athlete that is portable enough for someone like me, a young business person, to apply to my own life?

A: It’s very simple, but seems to take years to learn. It’s the same stuff they teach you in kindergarden. Try hard, never quit, surround yourself with good people, treat others as you would like to be treated, choose a career/activities that you are passionate about and never, never quit.

I know I said “never quit” twice, but that seems to be one of the main keys to success that I’ve learned. Even when something seems impossible and they are not going well, just keep working and many times your persistence will pay off in the end. I’ve won many races after being sick, being slow, getting flat tires, but just plugging along.

The giveaways are going great and we are excited to announce the August contest prize from Hammer Nutrition, a full recovery package! As always, I will choose the best question that lands in my email inbox. So ask away and send them in to askreba@rebeccarusch.com

Athletes have no trouble pushing themselves during workouts and putting in tough training days. However, this is only part of the equation. Many of us fall short in the recovery process. You can train like a champion, but if you do not recover like one as well, you're not squeezing 100% of the benefit out of your workouts. Training and breaking down muscle is just step #1. Where you actually get stronger and faster is then allowing your muscles to recover from that training effort. It's taken me years to figure this out, but I'm finally learning to take my recovery as seriously as my training.

The best question this month will win some of my favorite recovery tools.

Hammer Nutrition Recoverite is my recovery drink of choice. I make up a shake immediately after every hard workout and race. It restores gylcogen stores and starts to rebuild muscle tissue right away.

My favorite Recoverite recipe after a freezing spring ride in the mountains: strawberry Recoverite mixed with hot cocoa.

We will also throw in the Super Antioxidant and the AO Booster too! So you will have all your nutritional recovery needs met. All you have to do is get out and train!

The second essential recovery item that I can't live without are Skins compression tights. These babies are scientifically engineered with gradient compression to provide the correct level of surface pressure to specific body parts. What all this does is improve circulation to deliver more oxygen to your muscles and remove metabolic waste. You recover faster. I wear these after races, on the plane, between stages in a multi-day event. There are a bunch of compression products out there, but Skins is the only one with hard science behind their designs. If you win this Hammer and Skins recovery package, you are guaranteed to be faster! Below you can see me drinking Recoverite before I even take off my filthy kit after a stage of the Cape Epic. Send your best and most creative questions to askreba@rebeccarusch.com for your shot to win!

Stats for Rebecca Rusch are coming soon.
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