LET THE FUN BEGIN!

It's been a bit since my last post.  During the time that has elapsed, I have trained a ton, got sick, crashed and competed in my first Xterra of the season.  Below is a detailed account of these events.



Let's start with training

My goals this season are to be competitive in my age group, podium at Nationals, move up in the overall standings, qualify for Xterra Worlds early in the season, qualify for ITU worlds, and have a lot of fun.  These may not seem like difficult tasks for some - I, however, have had a challenging time getting everything to pan out.  Self coaching, or whatever I was doing, provided me with decent success in the past, but I felt I had reached a plateau.  Having not raced consistently, with gaps in competition due to injury or personal events (sometimes spanning 1+ years), I knew I could use a little help.  And, considering I'm a part-time-single-dad & full time engineer, the complexity is increased.  As mentioned before I am lucky to have Josiah Middaugh coaching me this year, and he has been brilliant at helping me navigate my tricky schedule to maximize my potential.  This has resulted in me being very busy, and have been up at 4:30 more this year than I have since I delivered newspapers in middle school.  But, it has all been worth it.  I feel that it helps me set a good example for my daughter: I can teach her the importance of healthy competition, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, good work ethic, goal setting and prioritizing.  I realize more and more this is a habit that I can never abandon, and I'm grateful to have such an amazing outlet.

That being said, training went mostly to plan.  After dealing with an IT band issue in February and March, I was happy to start running again in preparation for Vegas.  Modifications were made to keep from getting injured again, and we focused more on preparing to attack the bike course.  Power output developed nicely, swimming improved, and I actually was happy with how my running progressed leading up to Vegas.  I got strep throat early April that took me down for nearly a week.  It was awful, and previously I would have returned to training after the first couple days, but after a few panicked emails back and forth with Josiah, the decision was made to rest and recover.  Just as things were looking up I crashed the week before Vegas.  Two runners were approaching me on the trail, and the guy in front pointed in my direction and yelled, "lookout!!!".  I looked back to see what has happening behind me, but nothing was there.  Meanwhile, I hit a rock and went over the bars and became suspended in a bush on a very steep slope.  Luckily they were nice enough to pull me up. Nothing too terrible happened.

A mere flesh wound on my elbow

Race

I've raced a lot over the years, but I've never prepared this thoroughly for triathlon.  I knew I was feeling good, but was unsure what to expect.  I was definitely anxious to get this first test out of the way. My first freak-out came when I nearly lost my bike on the freeway, as my rigged cargo rack/bike rack combo failed.  Luckily the bike survived, and after tightening things a little extra we were on our way.  I arrived too late Thursday to do any workout whatsoever, so I was a little stressed.  I rode 1 lap of the bike course and swam 1 lap Friday morning.  Riding in the heat reminded me why I have an aversion to this race, and I found that I was obsessing a bit about my race day Nutrition.  Luckily the heat was not an issue, and race day was cloudy, albeit windy, but completely acceptable conditions...I was very relieved.

Swim - I knew I had to avoid the left bank, so I lined up on the right.  I also knew I didn't want to be boxed in, so I pushed hard the first 200 meters until things lined out a bit.  I closed a couple gaps and sprinted the beach to get around a couple more guys.  I probably could have pushed a little harder, but I was trying to be a bit conservative in this first race, so I drafted at the end and tried to save some for the bike.  My swim time of 22:39 was good enough for 25th overall (I think I was top 10 out of the amateurs).

Entering transition after the swim

Bike - I pushed out of transition alone (I think), and caught a couple people.  I knew at least 1 guy up the road was in my age group (Matthew Balzer) and the rest were very fast guys.  I decided to just ride my own pace since I was alone.  Luckily the Pivot Mach 429SL performs well on the moon, and made the course much more enjoyable.  Thanks to Go-Ride for getting the bike all dialed in prior to my departure, I didn't have a single issue.  Also made a last minute decision to use my photochromic lens on my Smith Pivlock V2 Max, and was very happy I did.  I noticed a couple guys approaching me riding around the single track coast line, and as I exited, another competitor in my age group, Josh Merrrick, caught me and brought another guy with him.  I let him lead into the second lap and he definitely pushed the pace harder than I had been going.  I was never in complete distress and was content following him for a bit.  I also noticed he was a little squirrelly in the loose stuff so I planned to attack through the sandy creek bed.  This worked, and I pushed hard up the climb out of it.  He didn't follow so I kept the pace up and opened a gap.  Not really knowing his running abilities, I just decided that I'd run as hard as I could and see what would happen.  The only mishap on the bike was losing a shoe coming in to transition.  My bike time of 1:22:16 was good enough for 19th overall (7th amateur).

Somewhere on the surface of the moon

Run - My calves were complaining a little right out of transition, but they seemed to loosen up about 1/2 mile into the run.  That didn't stop Josh from running past me and I tried to limit my losses up the long first climb.  I got passed by a couple other guys during the run, but tried to remain steady considering I hadn't worked a ton on my run prior to this race.  I was also pacing based on the distance my watch was displaying, because I didn't pre-run the course.  My mistake, and had I known where I was, I could have pushed myself a little harder in a couple spots.  My Salomon Sense 4 Ultra's were awesome, and did great in the varied terrain.  In the end I finished with a run time of 43:16 which was 39th overall (21st amateur).

Result - I ended up 3rd in my age group, 8th amateur, and 22nd overall (results can be found here).  So, 4 goals were accomplished right off the bat.  Was competitive in my age group, moved up in the overall standings (compared to previous years), I qualified for Maui, and I had a lot of fun.  I am very happy with the performance, and knowing that I could have found a little bit of time here and there is promising.

Podium with Josh Merrick and Matthew Balzer & Scarlett

Proof that I'm going to Maui

Not the Race

After the race I ventured to the strip with my daughter and girlfriend.  We were greeted with high winds and rain.  We parked at Linq, but the goal was to get to New York New York and ride the roller coaster.  We made it, only to find out it was closed due to the high winds.  After dispelling the disappointment and explaining that Vegas is really a playground for adults, and there isn't much for a 7 year old to do, Scarlett decided food was the next goal. So, we made our way back to the Linq promenade to eat at Chayo.  Great food, and a great margarita.  Scarlett discovered the mechanical bull and insisted on trying it.  So we walked up to the operator and he informed us it was 21+.  He then suggested I ride it instead, and after declining, he questioned my judgment in potentially allowing my 7 year old to ride it, but not taking part myself.  After again declining, he started to chant "bad dad" and after a few others joined in, I decided I should probably just ride it.  First time on one of those, and it could be my last.

What's next?

I am heading to Alabama for the Xterra Southeast Championship.  Here I will attempt to accomplish another goal - qualify for ITU Off-Road World Championships.  I am working on my run endurance and hoping to improve on the overall speed in each discipline.

Thank you

Thanks to all my sponsors and supporters.  I can't compete without your help, and I'm beyond grateful to the assistance you have provided.  Thanks to my coach - as I said before my schedule is complicated and he has done an amazing job squeezing out my potential in the limited time I have available.  Thanks to friends and family who are understanding when I choose exercise over hanging out...especially my daughter.  She's my no.1 fan, and I like to make her proud - can't wait till she's racing with me.

Stay tuned for my post Alabama update!!!