Rebecca Rusch

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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.

This is the kind of stuff

February 23, 2012

This is the kind of stuff that sets Red Bull apart as a sponsor and shapes some of the best athletes in the world.

Today I head to Orlando, FL for a different kind of training camp. I've been invited by the Red Bull Performance Division to make an appearance at their annual wakeboard performance camp. No, I've never stepped onto a wakeboard and have no intention of changing sports. My reason for being there is to share my experience as an athlete with some of the best in the world. Per Ludstam from Red Bull asked me to come out and talk about how I train, what kind of dedication it takes to be the best and how I've managed to stay at the top of my game for so long. Most of these wakeboard athletes started competing in their teens or earlier and just did what came naturally. Red Bull is taking them to the next level with trampoline sessions, nutrition education, lactate threshold testing, strength training and mental training. In addition to sharing some of my motivation and commitment tips, I'll also get the chance to take them on two bike rides and give them a taste of what it's like to do some threshold and above threshold training. These athletes don't have the intention of becoming cyclists, but my goal is to give them a bit of a cardio thrashing and provide them with a couple of key workouts that they can use to bring their fitness to the next level. They are on the water for about 7 minutes at a time during competition and sometimes they'll do two or three sessions per day in competition. Being able to train and push their lactic threshold level will allow them to stay calm and focused during competition.

The list of athletes I'll be meeting is sort of a who's who in wakeboarding including legends like Parks Bonifay and Dallas Friday and fast rising rookies like Adam Errington. This group holds multiple X-Games, Nationals and World titles. I'm guessing they've never trained with someone like me. One of my favorite parts of being a Red Bull athlete is meeting pros from other sports and how much Red Bull encourages athlete mingling from different worlds. I'm super excited to meet these athletes, see how they perform and hopefully give them a little bit of information to take home and add into training. If they get a little humbled and taste blood during some of the bike intervals, that would be OK too!

Here's a video of last year's Red Bull Wakeboard Performance Camp and you can see some of the players who will be back for more this year.

or

www.redbullusa.com

Here are the athletes I'll be trying to whup into shape!

-Parks Bonafaye

-JD Webb

-Dallas Friday

-Adam Errington

-Raphael Derome (CAN)

-Steel Lafferty

-Brian Grubb

-Alexis Thompson (Golf) Alexi is at the camp to share her experience as well and take the wakeboard athletes golfing! That probably won't hurt as much as riding with me.

Stats for Rebecca Rusch are coming soon.
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