Chi Chi and the Lageros

Xterra USA Championship

2007-10-02T11:51:00.000-04:00

Xterra Nationals was this past weekend. This has been my A race for the whole year and I was very anxiously awaiting it. What made this year great was that not only was I going to race, but also some of my closest friends and training partners were going to, especially my wife. I dragged her all around the east coast racing this year having fun and collecting points, and she had such a great year that she qualified as well. So rolling out there was me, stacey, eric (my coach), jenn (stacey's coach), vergil, scud, frasketi, rich mcafee, and about 5 or 6 of my mates from the Nevada Passage. The time spent with everyone was fantastic and this year was a total blast, but lets not forget that I was here to race, so I'll get to that, but first.....

The Bikes
This race takes place in one of the most beautiful places in the world, Lake Tahoe. However traveling there means packing up your bike and either taking it on the plane (hassle and can be expensive depending on which way the wind is blowing) or shipping it. After the debacle at had at the world championships 2 years ago (bike barely made it, thanks American Airlines) I decided to ship it. UPS Ground, 1 week in advance, guaranteed delivery on 9/28 the Friday before the race. To make a long story short, UPS screwed me, stacey, and jenn over, no bikes. No nothing, no help. I found out early (Tuesday) that at least one bike was going to be late, and no matter what I did, how often I called no matter what I offered to pay, they basically told me to go scratch my ass, there was nothing they can do. Much of my week was spent scrambling trying to line up rentals etc. Oh yeah, our wetsuits were in the bike cases too, so we had to find replacements there too (thanks eric & cheryl) That worked out fine, got the rentals and they were all good to go, so at least we were racing. Lets get to race...

Race
Race morning was cold as a mutha! 28degrees when we woke, lake was around 55-58 degrees, but at least it was calm. Much of the morning was spent agonizing over how much warm clothes to put on for the bike ride. When you were finally in the sun it was warm...hot even, but in the shade it was freeeeeezing, and there were supposed to be up to 20mph gusts on the mountain. I decided to just go with tri-shorts and top under the wetsuit and see how I felt after the swim.

Swim
The swim was cold as you'd guess. I lined up to the left of the field and had a great start, clear water for most of the way to the first buoy and my stroke felt great. Once I made it around the first buoy it felt like someone let the air out of me and I felt very tired and weak. Me thinks the lack of glorious oxygen caught up to me and the rest of the first lap was spent trying to find a rhythm that never came. The second lap resulted in much of the same and as a result I had a very bad swim for what I had expected. This year my swimming had started coming together and I was hoping for something around 30 minutes. It was more like 36, so I had some work to do on the bike.

Bike
Into transition I actually felt pretty warm, but I took a few extra seconds to dry off and I put on a short sleeve jersey over my tri top and wore full finger gloves. This turned out to be nearly perfect. The only time I was cold was on the flume trail b/c it was in the shade, otherwise I was fine. The bike course is so great it is nearly indescribable... a 4 mile climb up tunnel creek road to the flume trail with incredible views of Lake Tahoe. To your left is the rock face of the mountain and to the right is a 1500 foot drop off the side of the mountain. Once past the flume trail you ride around Marlette Lake climb Hobart Road to the Tahoe Rim Trail. This is an incredible stretch of singletrack through alpine forests and rock gardens filled with switchbacks and drop offs. The lines on this trail are incredible and when the fun finally ends you are back on tunnel creek road bombing over a thousand feet back to transition.

I was determined to not let the rental bike slow me down, but I think I would be a fool to say it didn't. The rental was decent, it was 2005 Specialized Epic. It did weight 4 pounds more than my race bike and it kept shifting around the bottom bracket when going to the small chain ring and no matter what I did the seat kept slipping down over time until I realized I was riding low rider. Of course none of this happened on my preride. For what it was I rode it well I think. I was pretty gassed the whole ride and could not find that extra gear that I had had all year. I was getting pretty tired by the top and was just trying to limit the damage on the climbs waiting for the descent. Once at the top I let out a caveman yell to get rid of my frustration and I bombed the descents and made up a good bit of time. I was planning on riding 2:00 and wound up 2:09, so not bad considering. More work to do on the run to make up for the swim and bike.

Run
Flying into transition I was ready to get on my feet. My run has always saved a bad swim or bike for me and I was hoping it would do the same. The course was two 5k loops that were twisty and VERY flat. It was challenging to find a rhythm but at least there are no hills. For the first half mile I felt great and had a good stride and cadence. All of a sudden it felt like someone pulled the drain plug out of the tub and my energy was falling fast. About 1/2 way thru the first lap I realized that I was in borderline survival mode. I felt like I was shuffling my feet like a grandpa and I kept trying to focus on the moment instead of thinking about how much longer I had to run. When I finished the first lap I could not even believe I had one more to do and I had no idea how I was going to make it, but I kept on. I saw some friends (and a few rabbits to chase) on the second lap and that got me going. I got a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th wind, but those only lasted for about 10 seconds. I was hoping to run a 42 and wound up with a 47.

My overall goal was 3:15 but come race day I was only able to manage a 3:32. Good enough for 17th in my AG of 35 and 122 overall of 315. This race was hard. Much harder than I remember from 3 years ago. I had improved my time by 10 minutes from 2004, but I was certainly hoping for much more. It would be easy to blame a bad race on the fact that I did not race on my bike but the fact remain that I raced a triathlon and the last time I checked you dont ride a bike to swim or to run. I felt like I had a decent race and I certainly gave it all I could. At no point did I feel like I stared myself in the mirror and gave up or slowed down, I just could not go any faster. I do however feel deeply dissatisfied and can't wait to get another shot at this course. Hopefully in 2008. Hopefully on my bike. Hopefully with all my friends again.

Stacey
I would like for my wife to tell her own story, but I'm not sure she needs to bare her soul the way I do, but I'll give you a bit here. She raced a fantastic race, the course was brutal and she was on a rental. She finished in 5:06 for the longest day of her athletic life by far. She was exhausted and thrilled and I could not have been more proud of her. She was nervous about the swim which she handled with poise, she was worried about missing the bike cutoff, but came in with plenty of time to spare and tackled the run with incredible determination. This is the just the beginning for her as she has gotten stronger all year and I can't wait to see what next year has in store for her.

Sorry about the length, I would have made it more brief but I don't have much time, off to get a more recreational ride on the Flume and Tahoe Rim trail before we leave this beautiful place until next year.

UPDATE: Pics from the Tahoe Rim Trail, it was awesome.

Get your own measuring stick

2007-08-21T08:59:00.000-04:00

Often I hear people say, I had a shitty race because I finished out of the top 10, or I was middle of the pack, etc. I suck, this and that. When I think about it, I feel that these people are saying this because they are judging their own performance in comparison to those around them that they are competing with. I don't think it is fair to do that. This applies to more than just racing. I'm not as rich as this guy b/c I dont have a 700 series, or wow look at that guy at the blackjack table betting $1000 per hand. We've all done it.

The only person that is fair for you to measure yourself against is yourself. Did YOU do all you could? Who cares what everyone else did. Did YOU give everything, did YOU make the sacrifices required to be where you want to be? In a race, just like like in life, you have absolutely no control over who the competition is. Anyone can show up on race day, and they just might beat you to that finish line, but that is not how you should judge yourself. So what if they beat you across the line, if you raced as hard and as fast as you could, and still did not beat them, what more could you have given?

Now you can be pissed at yourself for not giving everything you could have, but if you did don't kick yourself for not being the fastest. For all you know that guy at the blackjack table is playing with the last $1000 to his name, or the mortgage money for this month. I think it is perfectly legitimate to use faster folks as motivation to make you train harder, work smarter, and do better than you had last time, but your results need to be measured on their own merit in the context of you and your efforts

Go create your own yard stick for measuring yourself against and challenge yourself to beat the best YOU can do, everyone else is just a spectator in your journey.

Charlottesville Xterra

2007-08-19T08:46:00.000-04:00

Saturday we went down to Charlottesville for the annual Xterra at Walnut Creek State Park. Got in a great preride with Eric. So good infact that we were tempted to do it twice, well, Eric wanted to go again, but I knew better. It would have been WAY more fun, but we would have paid for it on race day.

Race day saw long bathroom lines (AGAIN) and I did not get a good warm up at all. At the horn I took off towards the first buoy, had a decent line but got stuck behind a guy that liked to breast stroke. I wound up leading a chase pack around the course with the leaders off in the distance. I lost about 4 minutes to them by the time I got out of the water.

On the bike I had a great race once I was warmed up enough to get the preride cobwebs out. It took the better part of 15 minutes to find my legs, but once I did I was off. For some reason I think the terrain and climbing there really suits me b/c I had another great race on the bike. I was able to clean that sick steep rooty climb out of the creek bed for the first time. I even took some time to stop and give my friend Konrad a tube, CO2, and some tools, it was his 4th race in a row with a flat and I felt for him. Once on the run I was able to find my legs immediately and push really hard throughout.

All said and done I took over 6 minutes off my time from last year and got 5th overall. I had a great race and was really happy with how everything worked out. I just wish I could ride those trails a bit more often.

Stacey had another great performance. Last year she did the preride with me and did not have a good ride and as a result did not sign up for this race. However after a year of hitting the bike pretty hard and getting ridiculously better she tackled the course head on. She said she had a rough bike out there, probably due to the preride taking a bit out of her legs, but I think to get a full loop in before the actual race was good mentally. She finished with a smile and now we just hope she earned enough points to qualify for Tahoe. So proud of her.

Eric, Virgil, Mike Frasketi, Roger Masse and a few other friends all had great races too. Cville Xterra is my favorites stop on the point series tour, get out there and tri it.

Time heals all wounds

2007-08-15T08:40:00.000-04:00

Time is a funny thing. I slips away the harder you grasp at it, but if you don't pay attention it is gone just as fast. It also has a wonderful healing effect that dulls the really sharp pains of the past. I think that is usually for the better.

I will chose a non-tragic/saddening example. Approaching the fall always has me thinking of the big races within my grasp, the Xterra National and World Championship. Back in 2005 I raced the world championship in Maui, and I bonked spectacularly on the run. So bad, in fact, that I had some very serious concerns that I would not finish the race, how I had no idea how I would take my next step. After such a great race up to that part I was completely distraught and it left a very sour taste in my mouth for months that had me question why I even race.

Looking back on it two years later, the bonk didn't seem that bad, and I have a hard time comprehending that I was worried about finishing. Time made that serious pain dissipate in the passing months and years. As I get ready to do some final season races leading up to the national championship in Tahoe next month, I don't remember how bad those races hurt last year. I remember things like crossing the finish line in Charlottesville and being so overheated I needed to jump in the lake immediately, but looking back I don't feel like it was so bad.

This scrubbing of my memories is a very very good thing, especially when you continually throw yourself into the same races year after year. If the memories of those races were about the pain and not the accomplishment, then I'm not sure any of us would sign up, toe the line, and bury ourselves all over again.

It's time to get out there. Maybe this year it will hurt only as bad as my memories of past years.

Weekend Thoughts

2007-08-14T08:46:00.000-04:00

So on Saturday some friends were around and we went to Sushi Taro and the DC Improv for the last hurray of my 33rd birthday celebration week (great week). The comedians at the Improv had our whole group laughing our asses off, the shit was HILARIOUS. Patrice Oneal (no, not a hot chick) tore the place up with some crazy dirty stuff. I felt filthy leaving the place and like I was on an ab roller for an hour and a half. Oh and when eating at a sushi joint, definitely let the couple that lived in Japan for 3 years order for the whole table.

On Sunday we woke up and got our run on, then did a whole lot of nothing except took a huge massive 4 hour nap on the couch. You know, as I get older naps definitely get better. I need to work those into the routine more often.

Stop Waiting

2007-08-09T07:53:00.001-04:00

So today it is hot. It;s been hot all week. Real hot. I hate August in Virginia hot. Hot where you sweat just being outside much less actually doing something active. Days like today (and the really cold winter days) you have to go into that suitcase of motivation you have stashed away for just such an occasion in order to get the job done. After a wonderfully brutal day biking I took yesterday off to recover and this morning was a track workout and it was hard to get moving.

It's like many things in life, sometimes you have to do the thing that you really don't want to do (or would rather not) to get to where you want to be. It can be something annoying like doing the dishes. Something daunting like finishing your basement. Or something that is just the first step to something better like updating your resume, or getting off the couch for that very first run.

Nobody is going to do these things for you, you NEED to do them yourself. And you know what? If someone WILL do them for you, they are not actually helping you because you are missing the opportunity to take charge, make something happen and build your own momentum. Life is all about momentum.

Whatever it is, stop waiting and making it happen, the hardest part is starting out.

That being said, anyone want to do my dishes?

Weekend & Birthday

2007-08-07T17:20:00.000-04:00

So today I turn 33. Whoopdie do! Actually, I love it. Birthdays are great, even if I have had so many that I can't remember all (any) of them. I always manage to get some fun time in and today was no exception. Stupid early bike ride out to Gambrill State Park and the Frederick Watershed with Eric Sorensen, Jed Prentice, and Dave Wood. All told: 5 hours long, probably over 30 miles ridden, Ri-DICK-ulous amounts of rocks, roots, climbs, descents and other wonderfully brutal features. My hands, wrists, shoulders, back, and arse are sore as hell but dear lord was it worth it. Fun like that does not happen very often.

Also, raced this past weekend at Xterra Appalachia with the wife. Stacey had a great (but tough) race. She got 4th in her age group and quite possibly enough points to qualify for xterra nationals in Tahoe. I hope she makes it b/c we are going. I'm so proud of her, she continually reminds me that hard work pays off.

I had a great race, a good swim that kept me within striking distance of the leaders. A real solid bike ride that had me catch and pass all but one. Then a pretty grueling run that saw me catch the race leader at a poorly marked part of the course (we had no clue which way to go) to only lose contact in the final mile. I wound up 2nd overall and 1st in my age group. By FAR my best finish ever. Good times, good times.

Why I love racing

2007-08-02T22:37:00.000-04:00

Why I love racing has changed quite a bit since I have started doing it. I originally loved it because it was something to help me lose some weight and get fit. I was also able to get better very easily with practice (I had a loooong way to go). Lately, though, after a few years of racing things can seem the same, races can become routine etc....if you let them.

One thing that is incredibly beautiful is the friendships you make over the years and through those friendships you broaden your horizons and do things you never considered. Whether you sign up for an Ironman b/c your best friend does or you try an Xterra b/c your buddies are always hounding you, there is always the next challenge. Always a new, different chance to redefine your boundaries.

Pushing like this certainly bleeds over into other aspects of your life, and if harnessed correctly can drive you to new heights professionally and personally. Never miss the opportunity to challenge yourself. Every year do at least one new thing that you never though you would, you'll be surprised at how your outlook on life can change and how you view yourself.

Live.

Nevada Passage 2007

2007-05-18T06:53:00.000-04:00

Prologue
Long time no talk. You see, I never made any promises about how often I would update this damned blog. Turns out not very often. That is not to say that I don't like writing...the pay is pretty good, oh wait, it sucks. It's just that the mood has to strike. Nothing worse than trying to force out a few hundred (ok, ok, ok THOUSAND) words when you are not feeling that funny at all. Well there is a time and place for everything I suppose, so here is my newest attempt at writing when not having the time to do it right, or the creativity to make you laugh, you have been warned.

How'd the hell did I get there?
Nevada Passage 2007 was a 4 stage "adventure" race across beautiful parts of western Nevada (that is pronounced Ne-vaaaaa-dah not Nev-ahhhhh-dah as I was corrected close to 1,237 times). It is put on by the Nevada Commission on Tourism as a way to promote tourism in Nevada and to get people to realize that it has more to offer than Vegas, gambling and brothels. I didn't believe it, but I was willing to be proven wrong.

I got invited to participate based on some close ties I have with the XTERRA Triathlon Series. (If you are new to this blog it is almost entirely what I write about). We are paired at random with someone of the opposite gender based on our profession, so I got matched with another "programmer". I have always hated that term, kinda like calling a highly trained chef a "cook", but I digress. I was teamed with the energetic and sweetest southern bell, Jackie Ryan. She is a very accomplished XTERRA athlete from Alabama. The rest of the group were from all over our great nation nearly all them are triathletes of some kind at some point and all of them were very talented.

Another cool aspect of the race is that it will be televised nationally (dunno what channels but sometime in August). So this is in effect a "reality" show that happens to be about Nevada and Racing. I figured that this is quite possibly my one chance at fame and glory so I was going to ham it up and see if can parlay this into my rightful position atop Hollywood (NO!!!, not in the porn industry). Ok. Well, I know I would not be a superstar, but I was determined to let the "personality" fly, um, because...I never, EVER do that. Heh.

I get to Vegas and the Hooter's Hotel and Casino (boys, we are NEVER staying there for one of our trips, that would be the worst decision since the seafood buffet...Coach, I'm looking at you) I get in at 1:30am, that is 4:30 am east coast time, when I normally wake up, so already I'm off to a great start.

First day has us meet the press, practice throwing an Atlatl, and do our entrance interviews & get some much needed camera time. By this point, I know already that I'm going to have fun this week. People are not really opening up juuuust yet, but I can see the cracks in the armor, not to mention I already have verbal diarrhea so I was thinking it would not be too hard to crack some of these nuts open.

That night they throw a welcome dinner for everyone. There is a ton of support crew that goes into making this happen and it was good to hang and get to know a few of them. I'll just thank them now in case any of them are reading this.

For the rest of you that have made it this far, congrats and I'm sorry, it is about to get a whole lot longer. And you thought I TALKED a lot.

Stage One
This was a desert run (about an 8k I'd image) in Nevada's oldest state park, Valley of Fire. Words cannot accurately describe how incredible this place was. If you like to see nature at it's most creative, this is the place. The rock formations, vistas, and colors were IN-credible. It's is unquestionably worth a visit, even if you have to drag your sorry ass away from the craps table to do it. Just bring some water.

Speaking of water, it was dry in Nevada. Not just, "Wow everything is sand here" I mean dry like your entire head is chapped within a few hours of landing. Throat gets dry and raspy (right Linda ;-) ), chapped lips, crusty nostrils, eye boogers, the whole enchilada. Um...or maybe it is just me? Anyway, chapstick was my best friend all week, I always kept it with me for fear of death.

Our stage started with a 4 mile road run over rolling hills, at the 4 mile mark we headed off road through rock canyons and formations for a little over a mile to atlatl throw just before the finish. My teammate Jackie had a hamstring injury and was worried about it, and I am still recovering from an ankle explosion so I knew we would not be setting any course records. This run became one of pushing ourselves as hard as we could without aggravating any injuries.

At the horn we all head off up the first hill that was about a mile I would image. The string teams got a gap on us real early and immediately we were in 9th place, so I just wanted to try to keep some of the other teams in site and reel them in over the next 5+ miles. On the uphills I would go behind Jackie and push her up the hills to help out and on everything else I just let her find her rhythm. By mile 2 we had crawled into 6th place and the field got really stretched out after that.

Hanging a left we head into the sand and run through some really incredible rock formations as we make our way around towards the finish. I was on the lookout for rattlers, but luckily they knew to keep their distance. Italian Stallions normally win out in the old stallion/snake battle. As we get to the Atlatl we see the 5th place team (Journalists) just heading to the finish, so we figure if we can each hit the target (each hit get s 1:00 time bonus) that we can finish in 5th and not 6th. Jackie misses short, then I let out a battle cry and hurl my atlatl. Not only did I miss the target, but I think I took out a jet liner on it's way to Hawaii. I overshot the target so much that I was worried that I might have impaled someone that the finish line. Oh well, no time bonus, but Team Programmers storm to the line for a 6th place finish an no mention on the Nevada Passage daily race report :-)

After the race we ate some sandwiches and got to explore some of the nearby rock formations and views. It was completely incredible and gorgeous and everyone FINALLY opened up. There is something about finishing a race together. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is, but there is a bond formed between the competitors and after this stage everyone started to let loose and it was great to be in the middle of that.

Stage One: 6th place.

Stage Two
After stage one left the comfy confines of Vegas and headed to Beatty, NV at the mouth of Death Valley to stay at the glamorous Stagecoach Motel/Casino. Now I know it may sound like the middle of no where, but rest assured, the buffet was gloriously poured from pre WWII lead cans each night to make sure we were fuel'd up right for the competitions. The pool was ice cold and the beers were warm, so more or less we were good to go.

Our first night in Beatty was our only night to really throw down since the next day we were just riding dune buggies, not running, biking, or anything else physically exerting, so off we went. After a long soak in the pool & hot tub (I think we set a world record for most people in a hot tub, 243) and many cervesas, we were "ready" for dinner. Oh yeah, we also got subjected to Papa Kahuna's lovely boxer shorts bathing suit. Thanks Dave, we needed that just before dinner. Post dinner was countless hours hanging with our 2 best friends, Jack and Ginger. Now I I don't recall just how many I had, but it was more than I can count on one hand.

The next day Stage Two took place on the sand dunes of the Amargosa Desert. We rode 30 horsepower dune buggies on a makeshift figure 8 race course. It was a relay with the fastest combined team time winning. One teammate was sent off to drive the course and when they came to a complete stop in the pit, the second teammate was sent off. There were 2 buggies, one yellow (the fast one) and one red (the slow one).

Our practice runs were hilarious with many people not making fast enough up the dunes to clear the flags setup as gates. It took a bit of time for everyone to realize that there was nothing special about the course, you slammed the gas pedal to the floor and did not lift it up until you were done, real simple, but easier said than done.

Times were coming in fast, the yellow buggies roughly in about 1:07 and the red one at about 1:12. Jackie went first for our team in the yellow as I sat in waiting in the red buggie, hooting and hollering. She had a great start and was cruising the course as well as could be expected, as she rounded the 2nd flag I was some long distance fishtailing happening and I was hoping that would not effect her run at the 3rd flag. As she disappeared behind the column of the finish line chute and obscured from my view I watched as the crowd let out a groan of disappointment. Alas my teammate was stuck and did not clear the 3rd flag. That foiled our plans for world domination but somehow we eeked out a 9th place finish. Dropping us to 9th overall.

Afterward we got to watch a lot of the crew take runs on the course, most of them not faring as well as the racers. I guess it was not as easy as it looked. It was fun as hell hauling ass on those buggies, my only regret is that we did not get more time to play. We got one practice lap and one race that, that was it. So all told, 5 hours out in the sand, 2 minutes of which we were riding in the buggies. Oh well, at least I got an Adonis-like tan, er, burn.

After dune buggying around we got to visit the Ghost town of Rhyolite, home to the world famous Goldwell Open Air Museum. Lots of crazy art just hanging out in a very inhospitable desert. High temps are claimed to reach 125 degrees in the summer. At least Lady Desert's curtains matched her drapes and she wont get any tan lines.

After the dunes and the ghost town we were ready for more cold pool, warm beer, and buffet. A little Blackjack took place before an early night. Where the hell in the world can you find a $2 minimum blackjack table? At the Stagecoach casino that's where. I played for 2+ hours with $20 and left with that same $20 in my hand....unheard of.

(ok, I know, I need to cut it short...I'm doing my best)

Stage Three
We head out to the Alkali Lake Bed outside of Goldfield and Tonopah. It is a dried up lake bed where were were to do our bike relay. The catch was that the bike relay was on 3-speed Electra Rally Sport Cruisers (no link, stupid flash site).

It should come to no surprise that here in the desert in a dried up lake bed that it was dry. Real dry. My throat was chapped within in minutes of stepping off our bus. In fact, it was so dry my throat is getting dry just writing about it. We were given about 30 minutes or so to toll around on the bikes, fit them to ourselves, work on transition strategy, etc. Of course we spent no time strategizing, just goofing off. It was mroe fun that way anyway.

The relay race had the following format. Twelve 1.3 mile loops on a one million-year-old, bright white, hard-packed, sun-cracked and crusty dried up lake bed. The first 3 laps were done by my teammate, then 3 by my, then 3 by her, and finally 3 by me. In between the 3 lap sessions there was a 100 foot long transition area where you were to hand off the bike b/w teammates. Luckily Jackie and I had roughly the same length legs so we did not have to worry about switching the seat height on hand off.

At the horn Jackie was off and rode a smoking fast first 3 laps. We were well positioned although in 6th place at the first transition. The hand off was a bit shaky but then off I went. The first thign I realized when trying to go really fast on a bike that was not meant to go fast was....holy $@#t this is hard. My legs felt dead and I was not clipped into my pedals like I'm used to. During my 2nd lap Dave Ruby caught up to me and we decided to work together to try to reel in those ahead of us. We climbed up 2 places and after a fast transition Jackie was off for the next leg.

She rode another great 3 laps while I wept, wheezed, panted and coughed on the sidelines. Coming into the final transition she kept us in 5th place. Once out on the course the wind picked up fiercely. I would guess they were whipping at 20-30mph and it made the course BRUTAL. Just into my 2nd lap John Madden caught me. No, not that John Madden. Not having much gas left in the tank I decided I was going to draft him for as long as possible, so as he came by I grabbed onto his wheel. It was obvious after freeloading for a lap through the awful wind that he did not want me drafting him anymore. He started to slow down dramatically and swerve back and forth then surge trying to drop me, but like the little bastard that I am, I held on tight and would not let him go. This went on forever, I was definitely giggling at one point.

Coming into the final turn my "plan" was to hold tight around the corner and try to out sprint him to the finish. I did not have much left in my legs but hopefully neither did he. As he let out a final surge to drop me he got about a 5 foot gap. Just as I was closing that gap up comes a minivan driven by the camera crew to watch us in action. The combination of the minivan and the wind blew up an immense dust cloud that made me cough up a lung and lose my draft. John easily beat me to the finish, we would have to settle for 5th place on the say, and only climbed up to 8th overall.

It was fun as hell out on those cruisers in the middle of the desert. It was also by far our most strenuous day physically of the entire passage. We would all sleep well that night.

Afterwards we had a 5 hour bus ride up to Reno, but not before stopping at the one place that would make the entire trip worth it. The Glory Hole. Now in the western parts apparently a "glory hole" is a mine, and the largest silver mine in Nevada was dubbed THE Glory Hole. Well, where I come from there are no mines (at least none that I know of) so a glory hole is something else entirely. I think I may still be laughing. Yes, I am still 8 years old mentally.

4,378 glory hole jokes later we arrived in "The Biggest Little City In The World" Reno and our final stop in the 2007 Nevada Passage.

Stage Four
Our 4th stage would take place on Mount Rose just outside for Reno. The stage required us to ski for 45 minutes UP the mountain (more on that in a minute) then downhill ski through a set of gates to the finish. You had to cross the finish line together with your teammate. Now, back to skiing UP a mountain. I had never heard of this before, but apparently it is called alpine touring and uses a special binding called a Randonnee binding.

Being from the south, my teammate had never skied before in her life, so we took this opportunity to see if she could learn REALLY fast. After about 5 minutes it was pretty obvious that at best she would not be able to get down the mountain in any decent amount of time, and at worst could hurt herself in the process, so we made a strategic plan that once up top she would just throw her skis over her shoulder and literally run down the mountain.

The race started with a 1/4 mile run (in ski boots) to the first transition area. This was awful. Not only was it impossible, but it also hurt. turns out that it was just as fast to walk as it was to "pretend" to run, but for the camera's sake I kept pretending. Once we got our skins on we started our slog up the mountain and let me tell you, it was fantastic. Now some people will call me "slow" but I love climbing on a mountain bike, I dont know what it is, it hurts and it not even close to easy, but it is so much fun. The same can be said for this. The views were incredible, the workout was tough, and annoyed everyone around me b/c I would not shut up the whole time up the mountain. Oh well.

The top came far too soon, and now it was time to lock in our bindings and head down the mountain to finish off this journey across Nevada. Since Jackie was running down I took off and got some good skiing in. I even stopped to make a few snow angels and enjoy the scenery. The Pilot team in front of us had another non-skier, Steve from Mississippi. (Those dang southerners just can't ski). Turns out that between him falling all over the mountain and Jackie running, that she actually caught him and passed him briefly. Once he saw Jackie's stroke of genius, he took off his skis too and beat us to the finish. it was a great stage and now HAVE to do alpine touring more often. For the day we finished 9th and held on to our 8th overall position (out of 10)

Later that night we had our awards dinner and time again to tear up the town. Kahuna gave out sheriff's badges and nicknames to all the competitors, and generally kept us laughing for the entire night. After dinner I joined Kahuna and many more of the Nevada Passage crew at the craps table where he literally talked the dice into submission, most of us winning quite a lot of money in the process. The dice LOVE him...as well they should.

Afterthoughts
The week that was spent tooling around Nevada was a truly incredible experience. I had the opportunity to make some great new friends and experience some very different things that I would have otherwise had no opportunity to enjoy. It also gave me many many hours to say highly inappropriate things in front of TV cameras and (for a short time) people that I did not know at all. I will most likely never get the chance to do something like this again (I wont stop trying though), it was incredibly unique, the people that I got to know were marvelous. I have countless memories that I will fondly remember, and I am certainly better off in this world having done it.

I suggest you try it.

2006 Xterra East Coast Championship, Richmond VA

2006-06-19T16:30:00.000-04:00

Getting There
Hey everyone, long time no write. I've missed you, hell, I've missed me. Months have gone by like I was standing still. Thankfully I have had an incredible time and shared these times with great people. Between weddings, wedding planning, training, work, etc. I'm amazed it is only June. And do you know what June means??? RACING SEASON!!!!

After a long winter with a good deal of time off I got back into training. I had myself some new training partners this winter, and all in all it was a good early season. I had a good showing at Odyssey, a beast of a race. Some of my best racing buds had a great race there too. It is absurd and painful, but wonderful to finish...I may write about it sometime, but for now I'm still in denial.

The Xterra East Coast Championship, in Richmond VA, was this past weekend. Richmond seems to trap heat in a bottle and open that jar just for this race. A week of incredibly beautiful weather turned quickly into a heat-fest just in time for our race. I'm not real good in the heat, but luckily it hurts many other people just as much.

This year, my incredible fiancee Stacey, was racing the sport race. We got into town early on Friday and caught up with my mom and friends for a night on the town. Early the next day we went on a preride, and there Stacey saw the course she was up against and was not too happy, but determined. The Richmond course is narrow, with lots of tight turns and quick up and downs. It can be difficult to ride when you're all alone, much less racing. We also swam the river too. It was not nearly as gross as in past years, but it is still the James river. An awesome dinner with some great friends at Edo's Squid the night before had me feeling pretty good. This is my 3rd year racing Richmond and I was hoping I could put a good race together an make some good improvements over past years races. This race brings out the best of the best so doing well is never easy.

Pre Race
Since Stacey's race started at 8am, I got to the race site really early. I just tried to help her for the first hour, and after watching her swim and the start of her bike leg I tried to get my game face on. It was nice that she was racing though since I spent most of my time thinking about how she was doing and where she was and less time thinking about how hot it was getting or seeing all the good racers setting up their gear. I took a spin on my bike and although my legs were not feeling great, I figured it was just the heat starting to set in and I prepared myself mentally for a long day.

I spent some alone time off in the shade just relaxing and hoping I would get to see Stacey finish. They started calling us down to the river so I had to go, but at least I got to see a picture of her finishing. I was bummed I could not be there to cheer her on.

Swim
Getting down to the water, I was not super nervous like usual, I was relatively calm and really just wanted the race to start so that I could stop thinking and start doing. BOOM!!!!! The cannon fires and off we go. Within 2 minutes I get punched in the face and my goggles are off my eyes. I manage to get them back on and try not tot lose the pack.

This year I told myself I wanted to take a calmer more cerebral approach to the swim. Instead of getting out there and swinging my arms wildly, getting tired and having a crappy swim, my goal was to find a set of feet and draft them. It was working pretty well, so well that was able to swim past a lot of people including the ones I was drafting. I kept looking around for my coach Eric. He started 2 minutes back in the "older" wave ;-) but he kicks such ass it was only a matter of time before he caught me. I was trying hard to beat him back to shore and to save myself the ridicule. He got caught me about 2/3 of the way through. Dammit.

Before I know it the swim is over and I'm *near* the front of the pack, unreal. I'm usually in superduper catch up mode when getting out of the water. Now I just have to keep it up.

Bike
I throw my shoes on and run into transition, getting to my bike in a frenzy. It is already smoking hot out and my water bottles and camelback are piss warm. Great. The beginning of the bike course has a lot of flat sections. I shift into my big ring to start hammering...umm, nope. I think my legs are somewhere in the river still. Defintely not feeling my freshest, but there is no time to worry about that now. I get through the Belle Island section pretty well, I'm pushing REALLY hard to get in front of people because the trails up ahead leave not much room for passing so I can either get it now, or pay for it later. Although, getting it now will surely make me pay for it later. This is about the time I start looking over my shoulder for Pierre to come powering past me, since I'm not feeling great I'm thinking it is only a matter of time.

Off into Buttermilk and Forest Hills, I'm working really hard but I'm riding well and slowly picking off people. It is very hard to get around some people. They seem to think it is a personal offense that you ride sections faster than them and even if you are waiting they refuse to give you room to squeeze by. I have to pull a few command decisions and really cut people off when I can. There is only so much time you give for someone to find a place for you to get by them befor eyou just have to take it. Back on these narrow trails I see some spectacular wrecks. I dont know what it was but people were crashing continually all over the place. Mr. Xterra himself, Tom Lyons, has the hugest yard sale I have ever seen (at top speed) and he just picks right up and keeps going. I'm trying to avoid all the wrecks and not have any myself. No such lick as I catch my foot on a rock and go flying over the bars. Nothing is broken on me or the bike, whew!

Going down the pedestrian bridge I see Eric and I'm hoping that I can reel him back in, but as soon as get on the long gravel road, my legs die again and he is nothing but a puff of dust in an instant. Off into Buttermilk Heights and over to the new (and great) North Trail. A whole lot of the same here, mentally dying to push harder but not having legs for much more than what I'm doing. I'm trying not to get passed but a few guys are getting me, a few in my age group too, now THAT sucks.

Getting back into transition there is a bunch of waving to my friends that are there to cheer me on. This helps me out and give a boost that I hope will last for the entire run, heh, yeah right.

Run
Getting out on the run course and it is all exposed, mostly pavement or gravel road and all in full 10,000 degree sun. The heat is sapping what strength I have left. I brought a water bottle with me and at each mile I stop at the water stop and fill it up with cold water. In between the stop I am pouring the water all over me to try to cool down.

I'm trying to maintain a steady pace but the going is really rough. I was broken down to simply counting the steps between water stops just trying to make it to the next one. Mentally I'm damaged, it was brutal, I'm used to having a strong run off the bike, but this year as my bike has gotten much better, while my run has paid the price.

I'm getting past by a few people (again, some in my age group) I figure that any chance I had at a good strong race are out the door. I'm searching myself for something to keep me going and to give me strength. I feel like I'm in dream where no matter how fast I try to run my legs wont move. (I dont know about you, but I have this type of dream regularly)

As I get to the river bed and start bouldering yet another guy in my age group passes me. I told myself that it is now or never, stick on this guys heels no matter the cost, find something, anything, anywhere to get it. I was hanging on by a thread for a mile or so, about 10 minutes. All I could do was stare at the 30 inked on the leg in front of me. Trying to match step for step and focusing on not letting it get out of my sight. As we reach the last hill on Belle Island my legs are begging and screaming for me to stop and then something happened.

It felt like I broke free. I started gaining on the guy in front of me, then I passed him and was reeling in the next guy. Somehow after 5 miles my legs finally found me and I just pushed it as hard as I could. Once across the foot bridge I dropped the guys I had just past and was all alone to the finish line. 2:36:48, good enough for 6th of 57 in my age group (the most competitive) and 41st overall out of nearly 300.

It was incredibly gratifying to be lost mentally for so much of the race and to finally find a piece of myself towards the end after all of the suffering and be able to finish it strong. Our perceptions of ourselves and our accomplishments are not often what they seem to be, and it is amazing how you can actually do really well despite feeling so bad.

Post Race
Stacey and I had a great time in Richmond, many thanks go out to Miguel Hagan & The Fowlers

Congrats to Roger, Pierre, Jenn, Pete, Jo Marie, Liza, and Chas for kicking ass as well. It is so much fun to race with a huge group of friends. Sorry if I missed anyone.

Specific congrats to Eric Sorensen & Kathy Coutinho. Eric won his age group and was the 6th overall amateur after over 2 years of not racing due to injury, what a comeback!!! Kathy, also with over a year off (due to gorgeous little Valerie) came back with a vengence winning her age group and being the 2nd amateur woman overall. They both qualified for the world championship and really showed everyone what they were made of.

And finally congrats to my LADY!!!!!! Stacey showed a new side of herself yet again by tackling a super hard Richmond course as her first real triathlon ever. Between the mass start, open water swim, a challenging 9 miles of mountain biking, THEN running 3 miles after all of that. She really knocked me off my feet yet again. Way to go babe, many great things are to come.

2006 Odyssey Off Road Triathlon

2006-05-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

Here is my bullet highlighted list of Odyssey 2006. The race was awesome, epic, and brutal all at the same time. I had my best finish ever, 4th overall. A great day with awesome friends.

* Camping, no rain.
* Nervous as hell
* Super cold water
* Swim pulling left into the trees
* Blurry vision out of the water for a while
* Climb up, up, up.
* Pass Konrad who is having a rough day
* Hauling ass, twisted ankle.
* Fastest run split of the whole race
* Hike #1
* Here comes Roger...
* Rough ridge, no juice, bonking and hurting
* Different racing up front, all alone and I feel chased.
* Hike #2, dying, dying, dying
* Is that pierre? All I hear is him right around the corner
* Elation corssing the line
* Collapse

That is all I'm capable of writing. This race is best experienced and is often too painful to relive, come race it with me, it will make a new person out of you.

Xterra on TV

2006-02-06T07:09:00.000-05:00

The Xterra World Championship was on TV yesterday. That;s right, Super Bowl Sunday. Yeah, it was on at noon while the rest of the world was sleeping, or making food, or getting ready for a super bowl party, but I'll bet I knew where every xterraist in the USA was yesterday.

It was great to see our sport in TV, major network, nationwide. I am a huuuge hater of commercials (who isn't) but it was great to see commercials about things important to me. When was the last time YOU saw a mountainbike commercial on TV...for that matter when was the last time you saw ANY bike commercial on TV. You dont. Well except yesterday from noon to 1pm.

I have the last 3 years of world championships with the coveted "Save until I delete" status on my Tivo. Anyone who wants to see is welcome to come by...bring beer, or get your copy here.

See you on the trails.

2005 Xterra World Championship

2005-10-23T09:00:00.000-04:00

Makena, Maui

Beach on race morning

Getting There
So here I am at the Xterra World Championship, this is the top of the mountain for the racing I devoted a big portion of my life for the past 2 years. There is a great feeling in the air the whole weekend leading up to the race. Sure, we’re Maui which is probably the most beautiful place in the world, with an incredible magic of it’s own, but you could just feel it the excitement.

I register and say hello to some old friends. Just in front of me is Peter Reid, 3 time Ironman world champion, cleaning off his bike from a ride on the practice course. Up in the lobby Olivier Marceau, Melanie McQuaid and countless other professionals at the top of their sport are milling about. There are camera crews roving the grounds and groups of people are busy setting things up for the race tomorrow. By far, the largest production I have seen yet…and, deserving or not, I am an actual competitor. Nearly all of the athletes here have qualified for this race in one way or another, but I missed by 3 minutes in Richmond. An at large bid brings me to Hawaii and now I’m starting to feel like I might not belong at this race.

I head out to pre-ride the course; it offers a small tasting of what is in store for us, lots of climbing, loose rocky descents, volcanic silt wafting in the air, lots of climbing, and lots of climbing. I manage ok and my legs feel great, I get in 2 laps and feel confident that I can handle this infamous course. The rocky parts are pretty similar to some local trails and they are much wider which can leave some extra room for error. I lower my tire pressure to account for the deep sand pits and to help cushion the rocks.

Swim
On race day I get to transition early to see that the expected brutal sun of the day seems to be replaced with an overcast sky. Angry seas greet the racers as we head down to the beach for the 1.5k swim. These angry seas are softened a bit with a rainbow that appears on the horizon. Seeing as I’m not the best swimmer, I take this as the island’s mana telling me that everything will be fine.

Swim start with obligatory Hawai'i rainbow

The Kahuna blasts the cannon and over 500 athletes race for the water. I am on the inside track to the buoy and fully expect to be pounded. As I get closer to the turn there is still relatively clear water ahead of me and room to get into a rhythm. This could be because a majority of the field is already head of me, hahaha. I only got my goggles kicked off once (salt water in the eye stings like a mother) and made it back to shore only moderately disoriented. I feel like the vast majority of the swim field is ahead of me, but it looks like there is quite a bit behind me too. I figure I’m middle of the pack, great considering the competition.

The second lap goes incredibly smooth and I did not make any ground, but I did not lose any either. I get out of the water staring up at the 10,000 foot volcano, Haleakala, that lies ahead and I can only hope I make it off of Madam Pele’s former playground in one piece. I blast through transition, blowing a kiss to Stacey and head out.

Bike
Out onto the road to the trail head and I’m surrounded by people. Lots of folks towards the back of the pack and as we start making our way up the volcano I begin picking my way back through the field. My legs feel great today on the bike so I keep a pretty aggressive pace. The run has always been my strong suit, so I figure I can go pretty hard and my legs will survive enough for a decent run.

After about the 160th consecutive hill, I see the trail still rising. It did this continuously over the first hour or so the bike. I pass Kate Major (Ironman superstar) and a few friends and am feeling great so I keep the fast pace. I pass a ton more people and hope for at least a decent run but my back and legs are starting to hurt a lot, I focus on drinking and spinning easy gears but the going is tough.

The downhills were no piece of cake either. Between loose lava rocks and deep silt it’s hard to keep the bike on the trail and it requires just as much energy as the climbs, so there is no rest. The descent is incredibly super fast and sketchy. If anyone gets in front of you, the volcanic silt billows up to make a smoke screen. So you can’t see the trail in front of you AND you are going 20-30 miles per hour praying for no surprises.

I cruise back into transition and see my support crew of Stacey, Vince, Nate, and Nate’s dad Mike and sister Mel (sorry!!). They get me charged to tackle the run. As I get to the rack I realize that there is still a huge amount of bikes still out on the course so I excited that I am in good position. I jet out of transition with the mind set of reeling in a few people and finishing strong.

Run
On the first ½ mile to the trail head I get my breathing under control and begin to pass people. The run course is different so I don’t really know what to expect, but I could not have imagined what lies ahead. Once on the trail we start climbing. It was pretty tough but I’m trying to keep a steady (albeit, slow) pace. The trail proceeds to go up for the next 2.5 miles and completely demolishes me.

This run is killing me

Sprint for the finish

The uphills are killing me and I can’t see an end…..up, up, up, up. I had to walk a few sections of it because my legs would not respond. I definitely took it too hard on the bike. I can see a grueling finish and I resign myself to seeing it though. The going does not get any easier as people start catching and passing me. I tell myself to run my own race, but it is still frustrating to get caught pretty consistently.

Over the next mile or so I just try to stay in control and not fall down. The descents on the run are fast too with just as many loose rocks making a massive spill likely. When we finally get to some flat land I think that my troubles are over, but they have just begun. The last mile or two take us onto a few beaches and through a windy forest with sandy trails as well. This is where my legs fall apart. I try running down by the water but my legs are barely moving. I’m still pretending to run but I’m not really going anywhere. I know there is not much left but just cannot lift my legs any faster. This physical (and surprisingly mental) challenge continues for what feels like a life time.

Towards the end of the sand I get passed by Kate Major. Dang! And I wanted to beat a superstar...oh well. As I head back onto solid ground a fellow Xterra ambassador Jay finally reels me in. We have had many battles over the past 2 years. He offers me encouragement and I pretend that I’m not hurting as bad as I am, cursing my race strategy gone awry. With less than a quarter mile, I surge to drop him. He cheers me on as I pull away, except...I went too soon. Not 100 feet from the finish line Jay comes storming back and we sprint for the finish. I don’t know how but my legs are moving....fast, but not fast enough. He beats me out at the line and we settle into 174 and 175 place overall and 25th and 26th in our age group of 46.

Post Race
I am completely spent and can hardly stand. For the next few minutes I continuously pour ice cold water over my head and drink just as much. What feels like a mighty battle is just one of hundreds that have taken place all morning over the landscape of southern Maui. Finishing 175 of over 500 in the world championship race makes me feel incredible. Despite falling apart at the end I still feel amazing and that I have met the challenge. What were feelings of insecurity and over-reaching before the race has changed into tremendous feelings of accomplishment and confidence.

This look says it all

I am so incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity the pit myself against some of the best athletes in the world. As I sit here chewing on some starburst (hey, it’s the off season) I think that while I may not have qualified outright to be here, after surviving and finishing the hardest course on the planet, I now feel like I belong here competing against the best.….and while I will never be battling for 1st place, I’ll be battling for 175th place just as hard.

Mahalo!
Frank

PS The post race party was a friggin blast. Check out our costumes.

PPS Thanks to Dr. Kathy and Eric for keeping me together through this long season when my body wanted to crumble, and, of course, thanks to Stacey for always being there.

Rest of the Trip
The rest of the time we were in Maui we saw and did some of the most incredible things. Maui is THE most beautiful place I have ever been on this planet, and it is true that you can feel it. We went snorkeling to Molokini, drive the Road to (and past) Hana, went to a Luau, went surfing, jumped off of cliffs into the ocean, ate incredible meals (thanks Mike), saw an Ozomatli concert and just had an incredible time, all in all. Vince and his friends showed us a great time. I would recommend a trip there, no matter the cost. Now if I can just convince Stacey that we should get married there.

Dolphins were showing off

One of the countless waterfalls on the way to Hana

2005 Charlottesville Off Road Triathlon

2005-08-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

Getting There
Walnut Creek, about 10 miles south of Charlottesville, once again, is the last stop for my Xterra point series season. The park and trails are fantastic, and once again, it was my favoritie race of the year. Nice lake, the best trails to race on, and a challenging run. Let get into it..

Running late gets Stacey and I down to our campsite well after dark. The race starts real early (8am) and it is already 10pm, so we scramble to git things together by car light. The night is gorgeous and I'm really looking forward to the race, so I unwind a bit and head to bed. I considered leaving the top off of the tent to enjoy the night, but knowing our track record (last 10+ camping trips have had rain) I decide to put the lid on. Good thing too, not an hour after I get to sleep does it start to rain...and continue to rain...and continue...for the 8+ hours.

I woke up and started to get ready and was considering being bummed about the rain, but then I thought about this entire season. It rained before every race that I camped, and at each and every one of those races I was incredibly pleased with my results. So I considered this to be a good sign and put a smile on.

Speaking of the season, coming into this race I was in 1st place for 30-34 men in the mid atlantic for the points series. I've definitely been shocked that I was actually in first place for nearly the entire season. I have one more race that I needed to perform well in to hold onto my lead. Only Konrad Heller could beat me. But in order to do so he had to not just beat me, he had to get 1st place in order to take the points lead.

Before I forget, the race is a 3/4 mile swim, 12 mile mountain bike, and a 4 mile trail run.

Swim
No time to warm up as they start calling us down to the water. I scramble to get my transition area setup, thankfully I'm getting pretty experienced at this so I'm not very worried and I take the few extra seconds needed to get things just right. I've learned that the biggest thing about transitions is to remain calm. Rushing around frantically will only make you screw something up and take longer. No time to ponder this thought though as they are herding us down to the lake and I'm late. Moooooooo

The race starts in 2 waves everyone below 35 goes first, then 3 minutes later everyone over 35. I get a great start and around the first bouy I'm at the tail land of the lead pack of around 10. I was not in the melee, I think I beat it to the first bouy and stayed in front of it for the rest of the swim. Finally feeling like I am having a decent swim. In the second lap I start veering off course a lot and I lose quite a bit of ground. By the time I reace the beach I'm in the middle of the 1st chase group a few minutes back

As I run up to transition I blow a kiss to Stacey and she tells me Konrad is out of the water about a minute in front of me. Not bad...except he started 3 MINUTES BACK!!!!! crap. For this race he is 35 but for the points series he is in 30-34. Not good, but I need to race my own race and not worry about anyone else....worrying about others just gets you into trouble as you set your pace too high and can't maintain. Just have fun....

Bike

I never could follow directions

After a real quick transistion I'm out on the bike course and it is wet. Wet, wet. The trails are twisty and curvy with lots of ups and down. So far so good. The bad part is all of the roots that have been saoking wet for 10 hours now. Makes for a tough course, especially since I'm riding Hutchie Pythons (these tires are not made for mud) At least everyone else has the same conditions so I just hammer out on the bike.

Unlike most other courses, this course is one big loop. I find myself getting passed a few times and wonder if maybe today is not my day. The fun course quickly makes me forget and I focus on having a good ride and keeping a good pace. About 1/3 through the bike my friend Roger catches me. He always catches me on the bike...always. I can usually catch him back on the run, but he is over 35 too, so he has also gained 3+ minutes on me. He also stated that it was his goal coming into the race to beat me specifically.....great....hahaha. However, he's a super nice guy and a great athlete so I'll just consider that a compliment ;-)

I start pushing a bigger gear to try to stop the masses from catching me as well. I start to pick my way back through the crowd and narrowly avoid at least 4 major crashes from slick roots and rocks to nearly shooting off course and into a ravine. The bigger gear is taking it's toll and I ratchet it back just a bit and decide it is better to save my legs for the run which has been my saving grace this year.

On the way back to the transition I pop out of the woods and see Stacey and my friend Aaron. I flash them the horns and keep motoring. Something about the horns (and horns)...no matter what I try to do they always come out automatically...something subliminal I'm sure, but hilarious nonetheless. I guess that is my old Iron Maiden, Ozzy, and Judas Priest days coming out. Oh stop, you listened to shitty music too.

I get into transition and fly out, I am about 15th overall and I figure Konrad has about 5 minutes up on me or so and it is time to try to reel him and Roger in.

Run

Famous limp-wristed running style

Heading out on the run I start reeling people in. I'm super happy as I start by passing someone in my age group. Not sure how many are ahead of me but I figure a few. I just focus on controlling my breathing and keeping good form while I wait for my legs to come alive. At this point I'm just assuming that the hard bike did not kill my legs, but time will tell.

At about the 1/2 way mark of the run I pass a few more people, two of which are in my age group..sweet. Still no sign of Konrad or Roger though. As I pass these guys I drop the hammer a bit to get some separation, at this point in a race that is generally all you need to get away from someone. Nearly everyone is at their limit and even though I can't keep that pace up I figure if they *think* I can they might ease up a bit and it appears to be working.

There is a long gradual uphill of about a 3/4 mile and this is when the pain starts. My breathing is real heavy and my legs are getting hard to lift. I start tripping over things, but am trying to remain focused. I see my personal minstrels Aaron and Stacey and they totally get me going again, just in time...again.

Where's that oil-slick button?

As I come into a clearing I see a runner up in the distance, unmistakable for Roger. Now that I have him in sights I can concentrate on slowly reeling him in. There is about a mile left and I figure that Konrad is gone so I focus solely on passing Roger. I'm not sure if he can hear me behind him but he seems to be picking up the pace. I pull up even with him right as we get on the 3/4 mile road straight the finish line. Roger sticks with me as we tear down the road. I'm trying to drop him, but I can't. After about 2 minute I manage to get about 3 steps on him and he is right on my heels. I try to surge a few times but he matches me, with about 200 meters left I close my eyes and *try* to sprint...I glance over my shoudler with about 50 meters left and realize that he has let up and I get to the line about 10 steps in front of him. (Which means he beat me overall by 3 minutes)

Post Race
I'm soooo happy to be done. At least this year I did not have to storm off into the lake to cool off. The course was fantastic and the competition was even better. I finished in 2:05:31 good enough for 9th overall out of 130. Roger was 8th and Konrad was 7th. I actually won my age group...wohoo!!!! The second time I won my age group this year. Konrad won his too and for points got first....that means I am 2nd in the mid atlantic for the season. I guess I need to be bit more specific in what I wish for ;-) I'm nothing but happy though...what a fantastic year.

I qualified for nationals in Tahoe again this year, but regretfully Stacey and I wont be going.....because we are going to the World Championship in Maui instead!!!!!! Ridiculously excited. What a way to end a fantastic year. We are going for 10 days, 3 pre race and a full week after. I'm also really glad that I can take Stacey too, because she has been real supportive of my addiction all year (and last).

Thank yous
I also got a new sponsor, I'm racing for The Bike Lane in Burke, VA now. Todd, Anne, and everyone are great people, looking forward to a great relationship and positive experience. I also want to specifically thank Eric and Kathy without them keeping me focused and adjusted I would never have had the great season that I did. (two 1st place finishes, three 2nd place finishes, and 5th at the east coast championship) I never though I could achieve results like this ever, and I feel so fortunate that things fell into place because often hard work is simply not enough, but it helps.

Can't wait to get to Hawaii to tackle Haleakala, I hope she's gentle.....stay tuned....

2005 XTERRA East Coast Championship

2005-07-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

Getting There
This year XTERRA Richmond happened to fall on 4th of July weekend, the perfect start of a vacation for me. Post race I'd be heading for the Outer Banks of North Carolina and one of the best weeks ever, but first I had to survive this race.

Xterra Richmond is the one race on the east coast that gets a majority of the profession off road triathletes and the best of the best from nearly all the regions east of the mighty miss. It is a great chance to see how I stack up against not only the pros (hahaha) but also against the best age groupers. Last year was quite a fiasco for me with various mechanicals and cramping. After a year of training hard (and more to the point training smarter) I was hoping to have a much better race.

I got to Richmond the Friday before the race and got a sweet pre-ride in. The trails there are incredible with nealry 20+ miles of singletrack right in downtown Richmond up and along the James river. Truly incredible and really fun, racing or not....well maybe more fun when your not racing becuase all the associated pain is gone :-)

I got to the lot near Browns island on Friday afternoon about 3pm, a quick look at the thermometer in my car reads ONE HUNDRED DEGREES!!!!!! Holy crap, this could be bad. Luckily I happened upon Pro Xterra racer and all around great guy, Justin Thomas and his wife Julie. They were about to head out for a ride too, so we all went together. It's fun riding with someone that is such a better rider and athlete than you, it almost makes you better by osmosis. We had a fun but brutally hot ride. Turned out it took over 2 hours and I was a bit gassed. Hopefully I could recover before Sunday morning...

All weekend I had the company of some of my best friends in the world, Mike Hagan, Chris and Jen Fowler, Mark "Slutty" Sutton, Stephanie Ward, and...of course....Stacey. Mike and the Fowlers are my Richmond crew and they always show us the best time when we are in town, thanks. Chris would become the Greatest Fan Ever ® by the end of the weekend.

On race day I got to the race site real early to setup and get settled and not stress to much. It seemed like the heat had broken a bit but as 10am neared it just got hotter and hotter and I could tell it was going to be murder out there. After some warm up with Rob, I started to get myself ready mentally for the race start.

Swim

The swim course was a zig-zag this year. We were not allowed onto Belle Island because they were setting some fireworks show up and they did not want any racer to get blow'd up. Smart move I'd say. The river was FAR from clear, but not nearly as nasty as last year. This is downtown Richmond though...so....yuk.

I was in the 2nd wave this year, right behind the pros. Boom! Off they go, I have 2 minutes. I move upstream so that if the current drags me downstream at least I will hit other people instead of them getting dragged into me. Booom!!! off goes my wave and I sprint for the first buoy. I feel pretty good and for a while I appear to be getting ahead of some of the other people. This feeling does not last long and I am soon getting run over by bunches of people and falling back in the pack.

I maintain a middle of the pack swim for much of it, although I can feel myself getting hotter and hotter. That should generally not happen in the swim since there is, well, water everywhere. This is another indication of how hot and muderous it will be out there.

It seems that once a race starts I forget how to swim. In the past 2 years I have gone from the worst swimmer ever, literally, to a decent swimmer, but on race day I get all caught up and lose the form (except when I'm in a wetsuit). Today was no exception. I dont have nearly as good as swim as I would like, but it was not nearly as bad as it could be either. I'm in the middle or so of my wave with a lot of ground to make up. Nothing new...

Bike
After the run to transition I get on my bike pretty fast and try to catch Rob who had a better swim than me. He and I battle back and forth a bit but once we reach the fire road he takes off and literally leaves me in his dust. I try to pick up my pace and keep him in sight but I just dont have it. On top if that, I'm starting to hurt. Stomach issues and lower back ache start almost immediately.

The trails are dry and twisty, but fun as hell. I am killing (that's a good thing) the swoopy Buttermilk trails, but once we get into Forest Hills, I'm toasted and I can tell that the race today will be a battle of attrition. The heat has sapped all of my energy and trails that in the past few weeks I have ridden easily are tough and getting the better of me. I need help, just look at me.

Luckily help comes not once, not twice, but SIX times! Yes that is right, Fan of the Century, Chris Fowler, decides that he needs to help me every bit that he can, so he leads a group of 6 friends (Stacey included) around to various spots on the course to cheer me on. Everytime I feel like I can't make it, I turn a corner and there they are. Everyone is cheering, except Chris, he is going absolutely berserk and it was all just what I needed.

They pulled me through this bike course and I was happy to make it out alive. I metered back my ride a bit, knowing I was having a rough time, so that I could try to make up time on the run, which has been my unquestionable strong point this year. I enter transistion and surprisingly see Konrad (my age group, incredible racer) I high tail it out quickly, knowing I'll more than likely get pased by him on the run.

Run
Just as I start, I see my coach Eric who had to bail because of a bad hoof. He tells me Rob is only about 1 minute ahead, so I set my mind solely on catching him. Holy crap is it hot out, my head feels like it is engulfed in flames. The first 2 miles are on pavement and they are brutal. Every aid station I stop and dump 3 waters over my head and drink one. It's only getting hotter.

I'm slowly gaining ground on a few other racers. Luckily many of them are in my age group. we are all in misery out where as the temerature soars toward 100 degrees and the course is exposed so the sun is just beating down on us.

I don't know how I'm holding it together (and holding Konrad off) but I keep on running. At the Manchester Bridge Stairs (Mayan Ruins) I catch Jay and Rob. The ruins are a set of railroad ties that go 100 feet or so nearly straight up, definteley climbing on all fours, legs burning. Rob is cramping and not looking good. After climbing to the top I try to put some time on them but I can't seem to do it, so I tell myself I won't turn around to look anymore, focus only on the finish line.

More aid stations, more water dumping. They can't come fast enough. Every step makes me want to quit and jump in the river. We scramble across the James River, it is more like bouldering, but it is fun (picture right). Well, it would have been way more fun if I wasn't burning up. With about a mile left I see that Jay is gaining on me, so on the hill up Belle Island I try to kick it up a notch and drop him. I figure if I can get out of his sight he won't be able to push himself using me as his goal.

By the time I make it to the suspension bridge I realize that no one will catch me and I barely survive to the finish. Countless more cups of water over my head, everything is a blur for the next little while I as cool down. I heard that Rob passed out and was taken to the medical tent, but sooooooo thankfully he is ok. This was one of the hardest tests mentally I have ever encountered racing, and, not surprisingly, once of the more satisfying.

Post Race
I managed to pull off 5th place in my age group, which is spectacular, as I was 28th last year. I was also 47th overall (126th last year) in a race with 30 pro triathletes. I finished in 2:34:53 and every single second if it was hard fought. It is amazing how well I feel I finished based on how I awful I felt out on the course. I would have sworn I was no better than 10th and probably a lot worse. I guess everyone was feeling the heat. This race was a great confidence boost for me but I could not have done it without my peeps dragging me through this race.

Most Importantly
The other thing that got me through this race was that I knew that is was not remotely close to the most important or singificant thing I would do this day. After saving my life (again) by driving me to the Outer Banks while I slept and groaned, Stacey and I went down to ocean where I asked her to marry me and she said YES!!!!!

Truly the best day of my life.

2005 King of the Hill Off Road Triathlon

2005-05-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

Getting there
In beautiful Lebanon, NJ was my next race. All jokes aside, it actually was beautiful. I know most people think Jersey is real dumpy, but if you get out of the immediate NYC area that resembles the surface of the Death Star, it can be quite charming.

Getting to Jersey is never (EVER!) easy, however, since I left from my newphew's communion in Long Island (congrats, Danny) it made it a bit more bareable, well, if it was not for the pouring rain that greeted us the entire time. But hey, at least we weren't camping.

Lebanon/Clinton actually have more restaurants than you can imagine, and this one in particualr Kirsten's, had really really good wood fired pizza that we chowed down on the night before. I ate waaaaaaaaay too much (as usual) and would feel it the whole next day.

Race Day
Race day morning greeted us as cold as ever. So cold that at least it made the 65 degree water feel warm. I was a bit unorganized getting everything together, registering, and waiting in the 400 person line for the ONE TOILET available, that I did not have any time to warm up. I just finished the hardest race ever last week and had just gotten over being completely sore. Oh well, no rest for the weary, I had to throw on the wetsuit fast and hoof it down the the beach.

Swim
This race started with a 1/4 mile run down the beach (in our wetsuits) then a quick left into the water to start the swim. For those that dont know, it sucks running before your swim. :-) The blood moves to your legs to get them going, and just as it gets there, you jump into the water, out of breath, and the blood now needs to find it's way back up to your shoulders and arms. My body is not very well adapted to this, so everytime a race starts like this I'm in trouble.

As I head out to the turn around, I feel like I'm drunk. I can't see, I'm out of breath, and I'm zig zagging all over the place. Somehow I manage to finish one lap, only drinking half of my body weight in water. At least it was clean(er). This picture (right) shows me after my first lap, COMPLETELY disoriented. (Dont you love the sign next to me...no swimming...HA!)

I found a (somewhat) groove on the next lap and made some time up and did not drink anymore lake. The leaders have been out of the water for probalby 5 minutes, so I have some ground to make up. I exit the water, get the wetsuit off and hop on my bike pretty slowly. My lack of warm up time made me forget to unbuckle my shoes, and now that I'm cold and wet and disoriented I have a hard time unbuckling them. Feels like I'm using someone else's hands and they are wearing mittens! Eventually after talking dirty to my shoes I get on my bike and head out and damn! is the air cold on my wet self. Rob entered the transition area not long after me so I see him as I head out and hammer down the trail hoping he won't catch me.

Bike
As I head out on the bike, luckily, I feel pretty good. We get into some tight singletrack and I'm caught behind bikers. I carefully manage my way past some of them, but get stuck behind one guy that wont let me pass and wont speed up either. I sit (somewhat) patiently waiting for a good opportunity but he wont move when the trail widens a bit. I ask him again if I can pass and without a word he totally crashes in front of me and I literally had to jump over his bike to avoid having a yard sale myself. Luckily he was fine (he told me) and off I went.

The trail was not nearly as rocky as last week, but still had it's fair share of rocks and climbing. On some of the longer hills I still feel last weeks race in my legs and the going is rough. The trail and rocks are wet and pretty slippery and that makes the rocks more difficult than normal. After negotiating some hairy descents we get to a wide road lake side and start heading back. I'm all alone so I figure I must be doing pretty well, otherwise I'd be surrounded by people.

As I'm in one of the last sections of trail before getting back to run, I look over my shoulder....CRAP! Rob caught me. He gained on me (and passed me) every climb, and every descent I got back in front. We head into the 2nd transition together, and I'm hoping I find my legs because Rob is a great runner. I change realy quick and beat him out by about 10 seconds. I'm about to learn why it is called King of the Hill.

Run
I head out on the run, and I floor it. I don't want to be caught, especially by one of my good friends and training partners. I'd never hear the end of it, although he's quite gracious. After about a mile of on and off road running I make a sharp right hand turn and realize I'm standing at the base of what looks like Mount Everest. This "hill" goes straight up for about a 1/4 mile. I was hoping for steps, or maybe an escalator or something. Unluckily, we had to run up it, or what would pass for running. I'm certain I could have walked faster.

I see a majority of the race leaders coming down this hill while I make my way up. None of them seem to be doing well, except for Konrad, who is in my age group. Crap! He said hello as if he was having the best time. I knew I would never catch him. The insane thing is we were all having fun, but it was just painful fun.

I finally make it to the top and turn around and just let my legs go. I haul down the hill very out of control but put some space on everyone behind me. On the road back to the beach I start singing out loud in a feeble attempt to stop my legs from hurting, but it was no use, last weeks race, plus this one has taken it's toll and I'm hurting. The picture here is of me mid song :-)

The last 1/4 mile is on the beach, and running on sand is reeaaaaaaaaally easy. I struggle, but hold on to the finish line, exhausted and ready for some well deserved rest.

My time was 1:38:53, good enough for 12th overall. I had a really good race and managed to get 2nd in my age group. This honor comes with a little trophy that I will proudly display on my bookcase. My first trophy since Little League baseball, when I was 10 years old. More importantly I got some good points in my quest for Nationals at the end of the year.

On the way home we had lunch with Rob and his wife and their 3 adorable kids. It was a great time. Stacey drove my tired ass the whole way back. I kept her good company sleeping in the passenger seat. She saved my life...again.

Until next time....

2005 Odyssey Off-Road Triathlon

2005-05-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

All over again

Here starts a new season of Xterra racing. Last year was incredible. I was privileged to race in some great places, to meet some wonderful people, and to learn a lot about myself. So who wouldn't want to do that all over again?

This time I have been asked to be an Xterra Ambassador which is a representative of the race series itself. We are around at all of these races to promote Xterra and get people involved on racing and to generally be a human face of the races. It is pretty hard to miss us at the races, look at these popsicle jerseys we get to wear ;-)

This year starts with some heavy competition and some large goals. I considered last year to be an overwhelming success. I was competitive in many races, and had a great time at each and every race. So this year I want to improve on that, qualify for Nationals again, and the lofty goal of qualifying for the World Championship in Hawaii in late October, but a helluva lot has to happen for these goals to be realized.

Odyssey
About 15 minutes south of Waynesboro, VA is Sherando Lake State Park. Home to the toughest Xterra in the whole point series. Ask anyone who has ever done this race and they will probably laugh at first, then make a painful face remembering the course. It is a race that takes everyone 4+ hours to finish. It is a mile swim in beautiful Sherando Lake, followed by an 8 mile run, then a 22 mile mountain bike. Most expert mountain bike races are 22 or so miles on their own, nevermind the mile swim or 8 mile run before hand. This has the making of the most greuling day ever.

Getting There
In keeping with tradition, when Stacey, Rob, Tucker, and myself arrive, we barely setup camp when one of the most hellatious thunderstorms rolls through the valley. Lightning everywhere, tents getting blown away, and most people's belongings getting generally drenched. We passed that time in my car watching the DVD of last years USA Championship race that Tucker and I did.

After the storm cleared we registered for our race and got to cooking dinner, it was a huuuge tray of baked ziti that I think I fed the entire campsite with. We hung out, traded war stories, worked on our bikes, and made some new friends (Jim Harman of EX2 Adventures). That night I got a great nights sleep and woke up early ready to get this season started, oh, and to use the john about 500 times.

Swim Start
So we setup our bikes and get to the lake. It is pretty cold, but thanks to the new wetsuit, I should be good to go. I warm up the wetsuit a few times, and talk to some old friends and some new friends as we all anxiously await the start. Rob and I devise a plan to stay together on the swim, run, and bike to keep each other focused and working hard. Great idea but these swim starts are crazy, and I generally have an awful swim so we wait to see how it all shakes out. BOOM! Off we go..

The one lap swim is good for me as it lets me settle into a pace and zone out. I was singing some songs to myself and trying not to swallow too much water. I veer wildly off course for a while until I remember how to look for the buoy while swimming. The first 1/2 of the swim I feel like I'm falling pretty far behind, but I tell myself it is a long race and to keep focused.

Heading back to shore I realize that there have not been many people around me the whole time and in actuality I have had my most comfortable swim ever. I did get kicked in the nose once, but my goggles stayed on so I guess I'm fine. Not like my nose could get any bigger. ;-) Swimming to shore I get clotheslined by a rope across the water, I manage to untangle myself and climb out of the water, and surprisingly almost everyone else is left in the water!! How could this be? I'm in about 15th place with a swim time of 19:12 (great for me). No time to think though, I have a long run ahead. Rob is out of the water right behind me, so I throw on my shoes and he tells me to head off and that he will catch up to me, as he can always do.

Run
The first mile of the run is directly up the side of the mountain. Loose rocks, switchbacks, people are walking all over the place. My legs are on FIRE!!! and I stopped to walk a few times, but I was still passing people. I keep looking over my shoulder waiting to see Rob blow right past me.

After the first mile straight up, the trail rolls along the ridgeline then back down the mountain. I feel incredibly good and I push a real hard pace. Since running is my strongest lately I decide to go for it on the run and hope that I can hold most other people off on the bike. Who knows if it will work, I have never done a race this long, but I figure it is worth a shot. Towards the end of the run I realize I feel so good because I have never had a run BEFORE a bike. I hope I did not go out too fast, but I get an adrenaline rush when I realize that after the run I'm in 4TH PLACE OVERALL!!! I did the 8 mile run in 1:06:49 and all that remains is most ridiculous finish to a race ever. I blew a kiss to Stacey and was off on the bike dreading the pain that was about to come.

Bike
The 22 mile mountain bike is broken up into 2 laps. The first 2 miles are straight up the mountain, you literally have to carry your bike up the side of the mountain, then you negotiate 2 miles of rock gardens, then you haul ass back down the mountain and go at it again.

The first lap was murder. I was pouring sweat and my legs and back were killing me hauling my bike up that damned mountain. I let out a scream of relief when I got the top (forgetting that I had to do this again) and started out along the ridge line. This area was littered with rock gardens. Every bounce on the rocks drains energy from you..and there were a lot of rocks. I was tired and cramping and not even 1/2 way done with the bike course. By this time 2 people had passed me, but I still felt like everyone else must be hurting too, so I kept pushing.

Just when I thought I could not take anymore I reached the downhill. Screaming downhill, trying to rest, and smiling...how the hell could this be fun? I dont know, but it was incredible. I was laughing the whole time at how hard they made this race, cursing the race organizers at the same time. :-)

Once at the bottom we rode through where the crowd was, I stopped to get another water bottle from Stacey, gave her a kiss and was off. It's soooo awesome to have someone there for you, it gives you that extra kick in the ass to keep going. I needed it, and she was there to give me that extra push to finish ANOTHER LAP!!!! Thanks cakes....

The rest of the 2nd lap I was entirely alone. I was riding like a scared rabbit. I knew I was having a great race, but I also felt like the entire field was just behind me around the corner waiting to pass me. I knew Rob (picture bottom right) was trying to pass me too, so I kept focused on the finish line. By the time I finally made it to the downhills, my legs were so tried I could barely stand up. I kept telling myself that once I get the finish line I can rest all I want, but just to get there...the last portion of the race is kind of blurry as I was trying to focus on the good and not the pain and I did not want anyone else to catch up with me.

I finally see the finish line and I got a quick boost of adrenaline to make it past the line!!!!!!

I had managed to hold everyone off on that last lap and had the best race of my life. My final time was 4:21:42 which was good enough for 6th place overall and 1st in my age group. This was my first age group victory ever, and in the hardest race of the whole series. I could not be more satisfied.

It was a long hard winter training with some bad crashes and injuries, but to pull through it and put it all together for one great race was what makes all of the hours, day, week, and months of training really pay off. And it was not great because I got 1st place, it was great because I was able to push myself way past what I thought my limits were and sustain it far longer than I though I could. My boundaries of what I consider myself capable of expanded as a result of this race, just as they expanded when I crossed the finish line of my first race. That is what you can learn about yourself when you are willing to go out on a limb and try something you are not sure is possible.

PS I was ridiculously sore for a whole week after the race, but received the best massages ever.

Special thanks to Will Ramos of 0Bounds for letting me use some of his fantastic photos.

2004 Xterra USA Championship

2004-09-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

The 2004 Xterra USA Championship was help on September 26th, 2004 in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The USA Championship is an invite only race for people that participated in the point series races throughout the country. I was lucky enough to qualify (5th in the mid atlantic) and get an opportunity to race against the top professional and amateurs off-road triathletes in the country. The distances are a 1 mile swim, 22 miles mountain bike, and a 6 mile trail run.

Getting there...
Stacey and I were staying in Tahoe Vista, CA a few miles away from Incline Village, NV, where the race would take place, in a dive that would serve as homebase for the next few days. I got there on the Thursday before the race to take in some sights and relax from the stressful traveling scene. Maybe it is just me but traveling sucks more and more...luckily the destinations are better and better ;-). Thankfully my bike made it through ok, others, like Tucker, had their bikes lost. Stacey was the absolute best, she helped me out with everything imaginable and made this entire trip incredible.

For those who have not been out to this part of the country, it is INSANELY gorgeous. So beautiful, in fact, it makes me wonder why the hell I live in a place such as Washington DC. I quickly realize that there is probably not much of a market for my skills and resign myself (currently) to only visiting places like this.

Friday morning I put my bike together and head down to the race site to register and try to get in either a bike or a swim. I'm kind of intimidated at the altitude (6500+) and the feet (2000+) of vertical climbing on the bike, so I figure it is best to risk tiring my legs a bit and taking a preride just to get the jitters out. I also wanted to have a chance to take some pictures of what is supposed to be one of the most scenic mountain bike trails in the country, the Flume Trail. I tag along with a few guys from Colorado. One turns out to be Jimmy Archer, a professional Xterra dude, and a top US racer. Him and his friends were real cool guys and waited up for me at various points. I felt like the country boy that gets to see the New York City skyline for the first time in a movie...except the exact opposite. The whole ride I cannot believe how lucky I am to be out here...

Not wanting to waste my legs trying to keep up with these guys, I take it real slow. Stopping to take a bunch of pictures also helps quite a bit.

The ride is gorgeous, and it is a good thing I checked it out early. If I had tried to take in the sights during the race I would have plummeted a few thousand feet off the edge, the trail was that narrow, but it was also that beautiful. I took me about 2:50 to do the whole 21 miles and I stopped a ton. This gave some confidence that I could finish the race with a reasonable bike split. I was hoping for somewhere around 2:00->2:15

Saturday morning began wonderfully. I slept in and my legs did not feel tried at all...well besides the complete lack of oxygen in the air. I headed down the the lake to preswim a lap. I put on my full wetsuit and go into the water and HOLY CRAP!!!!!! is it cold. 54 degrees to be exact. Since I will be swimming it early in the morning and it will only be colder I figure I need to suck it up and get a lap in, so I just dive under the water and go for it. Luckily I was entirely numb by the first buoy. I would guess that I was in 60 feet of water, and I could see the bottom clear as day. The water was incredibly crystal clear and a deep deep deeeeeeeeep blue. Entirely gorgeous and it did not taste like crap either. The only thing I remember after finishing the lap is that I'm dizzy as hell...I guess the lack of oxygen will do that to you. I'd better get used to it.

Later that day, Stacey and I went to Squaw Valley and ate lunch at High Camp on top of the mountain with IN-CRED-I-BLE views. After this we headed down to Emerald Bay [see picture below] for more visual insanity (thanks Satter). The evening ended with a dinner at a local Italian joint...yeah go figure, the eye-talian getting his pasta on....oh well.....just like a cop eating a donut eh?

Race Day
The morning came, and I had another good nights sleep. Looks like a few races may have been all I needed to get the jitters out and treat these days like just another day training. Like every morning so far it was COLD AS HELL!!!! I mean real cold, like lower 40s cold...and I had to swim in a freezing lake. This face says it all. Oh yeah, did I mention it was friggin cold? Anyway, time to suck it up...I did not travel all this way and work this hard since January to be a little baby because of some weather.

Swim
In case anyone forgot, the water was cold. However, since the air temperature was so cold the water actually felt much warmer than days past. After a good warm up, I put on my wetsuit and headed down to the water. I can not believe I am actually here and the race is about to start...how cool.

The Big Kahuna does a pre race announcement and there is nothing left but to wait for the ceremonial cannon to set us off into the unknown of ourselves both mentally and physically. This is a seriously big event, helicopters with cameras hover above, jetskis and divers with cameras, every professional that considers xterra a day at the office...this is it...AND I'm here. I'm trying not to be overwhelmed because as I figure I have upwards of 4 hours (my goal) of tough work ahead of me. BOOM!!!! goes the cannon and off we go...

I hop into the water near the back of the pack, not wanting to get trampled, and keeping in mind that this is a collection of the best swimmers in the sport. Water is cold and it takes your breath away...and the thing about racing at altitude (did I mention it was 6500 feet above sea level) is that once you lose your breath it is hard to catch it again. Anyway, I battle through the swim, the Febbraro (TM) swim seems to be a thing of the past..thankfully. I'm still slow as shit, but that is fine by me. I keep a steady pace and make my first lap in 15 minutes...exactly where I wanted to be. Blow a kiss to Stacey (while dizzy and wobbling) and hop back in the water, right next to Tucker (who took great pictures). I'm numb and the water is crystal clear and I just focus on strokes and getting good breaths and before I know it is over...except that the entire crowd is gone. Yup, at the end of the pack again. 233 of 272 out of the water. Time of 36:52. Roughly where I expected, but not as good as I had hoped.

Bike
I get back to transition and hop on my bike with a lot of time to make up. I want to finish in the top half of the race and in under 4 hours so I had better make good time on the bike. Not two miles out of T1 and I realize I made one of the biggest mistakes in the book. I have 2+ hours of hard mountain biking ahead of me and I forgot to bring any hint of food with me...no energy bars, no GU...nothing except the water on my back and a bottle of gatorade...oh well I'd better make it last because no one has any spares for sure.

We get to the trail and here comes the first climb..all 1600 vertical feet of it for the next 40 minutes. The trails are made entirely of sand, and that only makes it harder. I pick my way through the crowds, past the amazing tutu, and try to stay aerobic and save my legs. I'm leaning heavy on the gatorade for calories because the last thing I can afford to do is bonk on the top of this mountain.

Eventually the climb is over and we are rewarded with the gorgeous Flume Trail from earlier. The only problem is that there is NO opportunity to pass people and I am stuck behind some people I'd rather not be. Eventually I get past them, carefully, and strategically....no need to plummet to my demise. The beauty quickly ends past Marlette Lake with another long set of climbs...these are shorter but more steep and painful as you are already toast from the first climb.

I finally get to the top and let out a yell that I can only credit to my simian ancestors (monkey strong), now for an incredible downhill. I boom down the descent with confidence (from my preride) and I pass a ton of people that are falling on the sandy turns and switchbacks that break your rhythm. I turn a corner and get the most incredible view of Lake Tahoe as the sun is shining off it and I stopped racing for a second and took in the view and remembered, again, how lucky I felt to be here. This is pretty much as good as it gets, if you like doing what I do. As good as it gets.

I come booking down off the mountain and into T2. All I can think of is getting something to eat. my stomach has been growling for 45 minutes and I rack my bike and tear into 2 GUs (Surprisingly Mmmmmm). I throw on my running gear and head out onto what is sure to be a torturous run. A quick glance at my watch shows that I finished in 2:15, 138/272 and @ 2:50 overall, as long as I don't blow it on the run I can beat my goal of 4 hours.

Run
I head out in search of my legs, and find them surprisingly fast. I'm in pretty bad shape though. I'm on the verge of cramping and I feel like I'm just stumbling forward perpetually, but somehow I keep passing people. Everyone is in pain, you can see it written on all of our faces.

Thankfully the run course is pretty flat. There are logs and boulders to jump, a few bridges to cross and some short steep hills but flat....and long.....you have a long time to think when you are out there. You get so far beyond the fact that your legs hurt, or that you head feel as if it is engulfed in flames....and it really cuts to the essence of your being. You are exhausted and looking for something to keep you going and it is times like this, that I feel, define who you are.

There is every opportunity to make an excuse and slow down, these is every chance to walk when you can still run (unless you are honestly hurt), but if you are lucky you don't let any of those things enter your mind. You try to fill your thoughts and you mind wanders. I think about how lucky I am to have friends and family that have supported me and my sometimes idiotic quests. My mind wanders further to those that I wish were with me, most notably my cousin Lisa that lost a long hard battle with cancer. All of these people and all of these experiences power me in times like this. Each step I take is a piece of them, because I could not be here if it were not for them. Success, much like racing, is the journey, not a destination. The race is just a (sometimes painful) celebration of all things leading up to it, and I would not trade any of what I have done in the past year.

These thoughts that consumed me, have also powered me, and when I look up the finish line is right in front of me. I don't quite know what I did on the way there, but I was jumping and cheering and must have looked incredibly spastic. I have not wanted to cross a finish line so much in my life and it was just as incredible as I imagined it would be nearly a year ago.

I ran a 49:50 10k (81/272) for a finish time of 3:42:07 and 140/272 overall and I could not be any happier.

The post race party was also a blast.

Who knows if I'll be here next year, but I sure hope so. (with more time to take in the sights)

My season is now officially over and I'm looking forward to some relaxation before I refocus for next year. All year I have written these almost compulsively, not sure why I was doing it, or if anyone really cares. But in thinking, I actually do have a reason. If 2 years can take me from nearly a pack a day smoker with a terrible habit of sitting on the couch, drinking beer, watching TV, and packing on the pounds like it was my job, to racing in an invite-only national championship race, I think you can get out there and do something you've only dreamed of as well.

Go get it.

2004 Charlottesville Off Road Traithlon

2004-08-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

The first annual Charlottesville Off Road Traithlon was held in Walnut Creek Park, Charlottesville VA, about 10 miles south of town. This was my 4th triathlon of the season. The distances were 3/4 mile swim, 11.5 mile mountain bike, and a 4 mile trail run.

Setting the stage...
Before I started training this season I decided to write down some goals so I had something to shoot for. Amongst other smaller thing, my main goal for this season was to qualify for the USA Championship held in Lake Tahoe, NV. From the Mid Atlantic region they take the top 8 point getters in the 25-29 age group. For each race if you place in the top 10 of your age group you get a set amount of points based on your place of 1st thru 10th. Heading into this race I was 9th and I needed to put up a good race because all of my competition would be there racing too, so for me this was pivotal race. Personally, I was just happy to be racing for a spot at all...that it was still a possiblity

Day Before
Stacey and I struggled to get out of the DC area, thanks to the clogged traffic arteries, hoping to get down there for a little preride. No such luck though, guess I'd race this one blind, as I have never ridden there. Got to the KOA and met John to head into C-ville for some pre race pizza. We got some great pie down on the downtown mall with about 4,000,000 high schoolers and headed back to camp to get some rest. Surprisingly it was not raining, hey I guess there is a first time for everything.

The next morning we got up around 6 or so, this was also the first pre race night that I was actually able to get a good nights sleep. That means something *has* to go wrong during the race...only time will tell.

Swim (22:30)
Usual pre race jitters as I line up for the swim. My mind starts to drift...hoping the 200 people around me are not peeing in the water...then I slap back into race mode and hope that they wont be swimming all over me. I'm in the front and center (again) and seemed primed for another Febbraro (TM) swim.

The horn blows and off we go. I get a good start and am swimming surprisingly straight for the buoy. I keep waiting for the masses to crush me and make me gasp for air but miraculously that does not happen. We round the first buoy and I feel pretty confident. I'm not swimming that fast, but I'm keeping a good pace. I drop in behind some people for a draft (makes it easier to swim) and follow them for the first lap. I come out of the water and my watch says 11 minutes. Very happy with that, although incredibly disoriented. Going from swimming to running (or biking) does that. A quick run across the beach and back in for another lap. Very uneventful, tried picking up my pace as best I could, but I wanted to save my juice for the rest of the race.

Get out of the water, AMAZED that it went so well, throw on my shoes and run up to the transition, hop on the bike and beat about 30 people out of the transition. I would guess that I'm in the top 40 or so. I'll have to make up some time...as usual.

Bike (1:15)
I get on the bike and start hauling. It's a little chilly all soaking wet, but that goes away real fast. It's getting real hot out. A lot of these trails are tight narrow singletrack so there is not too much room for passing and there are plenty of people ahead of me. I'm keeping a good pace though

For the first 30 minutes I am basically picking people off one by one when I get the smallest chance, but the going is slow. I basically had to go off the trail and through the brush to get around people. There were times that a few people crashed on front of me and I was lucky enough to scoot by them all without getting tangled up. I finally get past the big crowd and off into the trails where I was generally alone for almost then entire bike.

This course is BEAUTIFUL. It is a great day, and in the woods the trails are challenging and perfect. There is a little bit of everything. Big log piles, long climbs, fast decents, rocks, twisy tight corners, and everything is going great. I try not to think about it because I don't want to jinx myself. I was very in the moment loving the riding, feeling great (although a little tired) and kept telling my self to pick up the pace. I come steaming into transition totally pumped because not only did I have a good ride, no crashes, no mechanicals, and felt great, but it was totally fun too. Reminded me of being a little kid again riding my BMX in the woods across the street, jumping any friends that would lay down behind the ramps (we were total idiots). Suffice it to say, it was really incredible and I was so happy to be out there.

I have a super fast transition, chug some Gatorade and off on the run. It is real hot and I'm worried about overheating. I hear someone yell 18th place and I get real excited and head out for 4 grueling miles of running.

Run (31:55)
The run started like all the rest, trying to find my legs and focusing on my breathing. That is the thing with running at this point in a triathlon. You feel like you are going really slow because your legs still think they are biking, but actually the only way I can tell how fast I'm running is by my breathing.

Very uneventful at the start except trying to not get tired, I pass mile one @ 6:15. That is super fast for me on the trails, but like I said, you are almost always running faster than you think. I have the side-stitch cramp alert so I try to maintain my pace and not go balls out because if I cramp in this heat I'll be dead. Every water station I pass is drink one, grab two and pour then over my head, and even that wasn't enough to keep me cool

I finally start to see some people in the distance and I laser in on them. I start reeling in 2 guys and when I pass it is so fast that I feel like I am sprinting past them. Same thing happens with the next guy, I must be fooling myself but I guess I'm running real fast. Mile 2 13:45

I go down a hill and over a log and I go to hop over a root and SPLAT! I trip over a root and slide along the ground on my chest for a good 10 feet. I get up in a panic and start running again, I was totally surprised, shocked, and still a bit dazed. I keep running thankful that I was not broken or bleeding, but feeling dumb. The guy I just passed would have defintely laughed at me if he wasn't so tired.

I pass a few more people on the long climb up out of the park and finally get to the road. I pass mile 3 but am too tired to look at my watch. The road winds down the hills to the finish, nearly all down hill, about 3/4 of a mile, but in DIRECT SUNLIGHT, and it is HOT. Super hot. My head actually feels like it is on fire. All I can focus on is the finish and hopefully qualifying for nationals. My legs start getting real heavy and every step my body feel like it is burning. About 1/4 mile to the finish and I stop running for the finish line. I am now actually running to get to the lake so I can jump in and cool off.

I see the finish and no one I can pass and no one to catch me but I can't slow down, must get to the lake...as I near the line raise my hands triumphantly. I did not even realize I was doing it. No.....I did not win....but I crossed the line again, and had a great race. Days like today make this stuff so addicting.

I finished in 2:11:43. That was good enough for12th overall out of about 200, 2nd in my age group (best finish to date), and most importantly I finished 5th in the mid atlantic. Qualified for nationals, and I will be out in Tahoe racing on September 26th. I can't believe I did it.

I jump in the lake to cool off, and I think about the day and the race and I've never been so happy. I wish everyone could feel like this.

See you in Tahoe.

Schiff Scout Triathlon

2004-08-22T12:16:00.000-04:00

Well here goes again. I returned to the site of my very first triathlon, in Long Island New York for the Schiff Scout Mountain Bike Traithlon, an Xterra Points Series race, on August 22nd 2004. 1/2 mile swim, 10 mile mountain bike, 3 mile trail run. Eventhough last year was wildly successful for me, I was hoping to do even better, and this would be a good test of how far I had progressed in a year. Last year I finished in 1:36:52, this year I was gunning for 1:20-1:25.

This year my sister Gina and her friend Eve decided to do it with me, and just like everything else Gina does, once she decides to do it, the race does not stand a chance. Her race report will probalby sound much like mine from last year. Never swam in our lives until we decided to do our first tri. It is all about putting yourself in a situation where you are forced to learn something entirely new and foreign and watch your body/mind adapt. It is quite incredible and I'm sure Gina would agree.

Preride
We went to preride the course the day before, hoping to beat the rain. It was a humid gross day in the 80s. The rain is supposed to bring cooler weather. We get a swim in, so that Gina and her friend Eve understand that it is no big deal and that they can easily do it, same with the bike. Hey, even Stacey got her first mountain bike ride ever in. The trails are nice and smooth. Not many hills and not very technical. But it is fast. Hopefully the rain wont make it a slimy mess.

After the bike I decide to ride the run course to get a taste of those nasty hills that demoralized me last year. Only this time the sky is begging to open up on me, so instead of paying attention to the trails I am flying to not get soaking wet, and I barely beat the rain. Too bad I could not remember a single thing about the run course.

Race Day
The rain came (and came and came) and went, and left the morning incredibly perfect and chilly like last year. Low 60s, no humidity. We get there early and setup our transitions and warm up. I can feel the anxiousness building, I just want to get it over with already. Kinda not looking forward to the swim after EMS.

Swim (~13 minutes)
I slide into my wetsuit and go into the water to warm up, things feel good, except my goggles wont stop fogging up and the sun is rising directly behind the buoys. I can see this is going to be a great swim. But all I want to do is beat my time of 19 minutes from last year and not be one of the last out of the water. After relieving myself in my wetsuit a few times, (gross I know) we get ready to start the race. Wanting to test myself I move front and center, determined to outswim everyone. I'm smaaaaaaaart.....

The horn blows and off we go, me too. Things are going great, I don't feel anoyone around me really, but then I start to get a little tired and slow a bit. Well here comes the rest of world swimming on top of me making for another Febbraro (TM) Swim. I start to drink a bit of delicious lake water, and lose my breath a bit. Then I need to tread water, and can't get much of a breast stroke going much less take a breath of air and everyone starts getting further and further away. I decide to dunk my head and just got for it, and slowly I get my rhythm back. Now if I could only get that rhythm all swim I'd be fine.

I finish my first lap and see 6:15 on the clock. WOW! way faster than I thought. I wave to my family and go out for another lap. Feeling good with no problems, but a little tired from going out too hard in the beiginning. I get in behind someone and draft them most of the way to conserve energy. I get out of the water and the clock says 13:30. Hells yeah! About 6 minutes faster then last year.

I get down to put my shoes on for the run to T1 and who sits down next to me? That's right, the guy from last year who I offered lake water to so he could clean off his feet and he drank it. BAH-haahahaha! Well this year, I used tap water just in case, but he leans over and thanks me for the tip from last year becuase he has his own bottle of water. I run up to T1 past my dad and stepmonster (hi real fast) then get into the racks. Unlike last year there were bikes everywhere, SWEET, this year I was not too far behind, I'd estimate maybe 30th or so out of the water. Hop on the bike and time to make up for the Febbraro (TM) swim.

Bike (~45 minutes)
Still soaking wet I take off on the bike, and it is friggin freezing. But I just charge on because there are a few people around me and all I want to do is pass them. I start flying, and to be honest the bike ride is a total blur, I was at my limit the whole time, the spot just before you legs feel like they are burning, any harder and I'll start getting tired, and slower...and well....screw slower.

All I know is that I focused very hard on not using my brakes at all, just keeping my momentum and passing as many as I could. After the first lap my dad yells that I'm in 14th place (holy crap!!!!) and I can still see people around me, bad thing is the people I'm passing now are people that I am lapping on the bike so I have no idea who I'm actually passing anymore. No matter, I just keep going hard and figure it'll all be sorted out on the run.

I fly into T2 and throw my shoes on, and off I am. My fastest transition yet, now I need to find my legs.

Run (~20 minutes)
I take off on the run and just focus on breathing, there is someone right on my heels but I drop him pretty quick. I just focus on my breathing (trying to not pant like a dog) and hope that my legs stop feeling so rubbery, at least that feeling is getting familiar. I look down at the 1 mile mark and realize that I ran it in about 6:15, super fast for me. Maybe I can keep it up, hopefully I wont get tired.

Now come the roller coaster hills that kicked my arse last year. Some straight up walls of dirt that slow you to a crawl, then you come flying down the other side faster than you legs can move. I finally see someone in the distance and I focus on reeling him in. I come up on Jay Hachadoorian. This guy is one hell of an athlete. He just raced out in Big Bear the weekend before, got into a sick wreck, and has over 60 stiches in his arm and a sprained wrist and who knows what else, and he was still killing the field. After a few minutes I pull even with him, gasp some word of encouragement and take off. The one thing I am realizing about these races is if you can catch up to someone on the run and pass them, there is really no fear of them finding some mysterious fountain of energy. Everyone is well blasted at this point, at their red line.

After about a mile more, the run takes us into the lake, that's right INTO the lake for about 50 feet or so. Just like Richmond, my feet now weigh 50 lbs each...soggy, sopping wet and all I want is for the race to be over, every step is a torture. Just up ahead I can see another runner, and I know there is about 1/2 mile left so I pick up my pace as best I can. My legs are on fire now and I feel my thighs starting to cramp, but I'm so close now. I finally reel him in and pass him and now all I want to see if the finish line, just around the corner and there is it!!!

Head down, trying to not think of my legs I go for it and finally cross the finish line, 1:25:18, nearly 12 minutes better than last year. I finish in 3rd place for my age group (30-34, getting old) and 12th place overall. The crazy thing is that as soon as I cross the finish line I am not even tired anymore, it was amazing. My thoughts immeidately turn to my sister, I hope she is doing well.

Stacey meets me at the finish line (woohoo!) and tells me that my sister is still on the bike so we run over there to cheer her on, and off she goes on the run. She doesn't even look tired...amazing. Gina finishes in 1:54:50, 6th in her age group (censored). Fantastic for her first triathlon ever. Mother of four, wife, business owner, trainer, marathon runner....now triathlete. Ironman is defintely in her future.

Yet again another great day, another challenge met and this time shared with my sister who has been, still is, and always will be my inspriation. Now what's better than that?

EMS Off Road Triathlon

2004-07-23T08:59:00.000-04:00

July 18th 2004, Rocky Gap State Park, Flintstone MD

More of the same garbage involving laughing, suffering, and racing....sorry it is so long but I did not have time to make it shorter.

Camping/Preride

We drove up to Rocky Gap on Saturday afternoon to get some pre riding in and do some camping to relax before the race. I find it best to travel the day before as it removes any travel stress immediately before the race, hell, it is hard enough to stay relaxed as is, so anything that helps. Stacey, Timmmay (James) and myself got there about 2pm and setup tents and such. John, Rob, and Dave arrive about 3pm. We get all our gear setup and hit the trail for some pre-riding. Luckily, this time, no mechanical failures or flats pre race. Course is real nice and very rocky for some sections of it....explains the name Rocky Gap.

Pre ride was done, course seems fine, nothing too hard, not too long, should be a pretty fast course. We get back to camp and Timmaaaay keep us amused with all sort of horrors from his time as an EMT on Key West. Nothing like chowing down some pre race carbs from Chef John of mac & cheese, tuna and peppers while listening to stories of high speed highway motorcycle accidents, and snorklers trying to chew on boat propellers. Makes for an interesting night and great dreams. Oh yeah, and I'm sure Stacey loved allll of the race stories, we just don't shut up at all.

However, in keeping with my string of good camping luck.......yup....Rain, of course. At least it held out until we were asleep this time. But man did it pour...all night...allllll...niiiiiiight. All I could think of was how this will make the rocks and roots nice and slippery. More on that in a minute.

Next morning early rise, pack my gear and head down to the race site. Thankfully this time my bike was not screwed up pre race, lady luck is smiling. I warm up in reverse order then setup my gear and down a powerbar. Jim Harman (runs EX2) gives us the usual pre race brief/pep talk and sends us off to the starting gate.

Swim

After being herded like cattle into the holding pen (to make sure all that go in the water, come out....very important part of the process, eddie) they start the race. It is a few hundred yard run to my nemesis, the water. This running has all my blood pumping into my legs + the adrenaline...I'm ready to explode!!! We hit the water and start swimming...water is a bit chilly, and my body reorganizes my bloodstream up to my arms to swim. Only problem is, somehow my brain gets lost in the mix. I just can't get a decent breathing rhythm, not to mention I'm getting swum over, kicked, etc. Someday I'll figure this triathlon swim thing out, but it does not look like any time soon.

Half way through the first lap and my goggles completely fog up. I must thank Rob for the anti fog goo that he generously offered to lube my goggles up with. "This stuff works great", he says, HA! I think he was trying to get an advantage ;-)

Somehow I find my rhythm and finish the first lap, now for a long run and jump back into the water. Man am I tired...I know I should not be this tired, but I still have a couple hours of racing ahead of me so I decide to not think about it. If only it were REALLY that easy. Time flies and next thing I know I am climbing out of the water. I hear someone yell "TIMMAAAYYYY!!!" Just so happen that James is right behind me. Yeah, real great...I got in the water a ways ahead of him and he's right on my tail...thus ends another trademark Febbraro swim . Can't wait until that damned trademark expires.

I get into the transition and put all my gear on. Rob taught me a little trick about rolling up my socks so they are easier to put on wet feet. Ok, maybe he wasn't trying to slow me down. I get out in about a minute or so, pretty quick, you can actually get better at this stuff,

Bike

So I take off on the bike. After a regretfully typical swim, I have lots of people to catch up to, and I know it. So I just start hauling ass. There was only one section of climbing so I knew I could take it fast and not worry too much about blowing up. I start passing lots of people that are having trouble on the slick roots and rocks. Now it is not that I am having the easiest time with it, but I'm just not too afraid to fall down or slip, crash, endo, etc.

I get to the a section of road and we head over a dam. On the other end is a wooden bridge, and one of the incredible volunteers says very clearly, "Be careful, bridge is slick!!!" Now, of course I hear her, but I'm far behind and I need to catch up so I don't slow down. I hit the bridge, then HIT the bridge. (Slutty, just like that time we wrecked after the hurricane on the GW parkway, but not like you hit the marble ;-) My bike slides out from under me and I go down like a sack of bricks, slide for a bit (yay, more road rash) then in one motion jump back up on my bike and keep riding, hoping nothing is broken, bike or otherwise. So far so good.

I now come into the only real technical section of the bike. Fire road, but with big loose rocks everywhere. People are going pretty slow, they are obviously smarter then me, but I don't care too much as all I want to do is pass them. Bikers are falling down all over the place, but I stay off the back of my seat stay off the breaks and focus on picking good lines. I roll past everyone in front of me and out to the road where I big gear it and haul ass, I get to the end of the first lap and the guy tells me I'm in 24th. I wasn't quite sure of what he was saying, but it finally sank in and made me try harder.

The second lap was pretty uneventful, I downed a GU for some needed juice on the run and I came into T2 in 19th place. I threw off all my gear and put on my shoes. Less than 30 seconds I would say, my best transition ever. Time to find my legs. I'm at about 1:25, so it looks like I'll be a little over two hours, right on schedule.

Run

I start the run with a really good pace, it usually takes me at least a mile or two to find my legs, so I just focus on my breathing to make sure I'm not panting like a dog. The first bit is on roads and it gives me a chance to settle into a rhythm. Once we hit the trails it gets tough. My legs are really heavy, but as long as it is not uphill I can keep a good pace. The uphills are a bit faster than a crawl, but it is a run, not a walk, so I pretend. I wind up passing about five people, mostly on the uphills so I figure I'm in 15th.

We head a couple of hundred feet down into a ravine along a trail, or so they call it. It is all big rocks with arrows pointing which way to go. The rain had made these really slick..nasty even. I try going down at a good pace, but I hear someone behind me and they're getting closer...so I pick up my pace...and promptly slip on a rock and crash down on my side, giving myself a nasty charlie horse that stick with me for the rest of the race.

Once at the bottom of the ravine we cross a sketchy bridge, it's slick but I've learned my lesson. The guy behind me is right on me now, but I'm determined not to let him pass me. We now need to climb up a couple hundred feet out of the bottom to get back to the road. Not really possible to run, it is more like bouldering, so I scramble up as fast as I can (read: painfully slow) and I put some time on the guy behind me.

We round the corner and I can see where the road ends where we head back down towards the lake to the finish line and I look over my shoulder. The guy that was on me in the ravine, is falling further behind, but someone else is passing him and coming fast. I give it everything I have and figure I have a mile and half left and want to hold him off. No such luck, he hauls past me and is going fast, I give him a slap on the back and some sort of half gasping compliment and now need to hold on for a bit less than a mile. It's hurting pretty bad now, but I'm almost there. I can't see anything anymore, except the finish line, so focus and just make it.

YES!!!!!!! Finish finally, and somehow all the pain goes away. Rob and David are already there (great race guys) and I collapse on the grass for some much needed rest.

My time was 2:12:58.
16th overall, 4th in 25-29.

Shower up, packup the camping gear, and head back for some food and the awards ceremony. Rob got 2nd in his age group, and John finished his first triathlon ever...woohoo!!!!! I did not get any awards, but it's rewarding enough to finish strong and get another race number to put on the shelf. Until next time...

First Blog

2004-07-22T22:22:00.001-04:00

This is my first blog attempt. I have always hated these things, and now I have the distinct pleasure of hatin' on myself......I'd have it no other way....

XTERRA East Coast Championship

2004-06-13T19:42:00.000-04:00

Hey race fans,

Sunday June 13th marked the running of the XTERRA East Coast Championship Off Road Triathlon (what a mouthful). It took place in Richmond, VA. Before I get into the details of the pain..uh..I mean race I wanted to thank everyone involved in me going to Richmond for showing us suuuuch a good time, putting us up, and coming out to support their friend through specific tortures. Seeing faces you know, and hearing them cheer for you is incredible, and has such an impact. It gives you a boost of energy, reminds you to lighten up, and most of all makes you smile.

The weather was PERFECT. The hot humid days broke with all of Friday's rain, and it was a perfect April day in Mid June.

So I pre-rode the course on the Saturday before with my friend James. It drains real well. It rained like hell on Friday, but it was a non issue for the vast majority of the course...except for the swim, but I'll get to that later. Pre-ride and things are going real well, not going to hard, except on the downhills, then all of a sudden... PSSSSSSSSSFFFFFFFTTTTTT. Flat, front tire flat no less. Fix it and get on with it, but now my brain is racing. How to make sure this does not happen during the race. Things like this can make you tenative, so I throw a few extra PSI in the tires just in case. Sunday morning with about 15 minutes until race time I decide to take the bike out for a spin and make sure all is shifting ok...or not ok as it were. Apparantly my Saturday ride not only included a flat tire but also a stepping on of the front derailleur. My shifting is terrible, I can only use the middle and small chain ring and the middle rubs so much that it makes a deafening noise. No time to fix, must start swimming, I'll deal with it later.

All the rain has made the river rise and the current pick up so the course was changed. The previous day I had witnessed a not so good swimmer (much like myself) take a sample of the river. For every one stroke forward he swam, he went abotu 2 or 3 feet downstream. Sure made me nervous, and I guess the race organizers too. Instead of swimming across the river to Belle Island, running across the island and swimming back to the swim/bike transtion (T1), we had to start on Belle Island, swim 2 laps, then run about a mile back to T1 over the suspension bridge.

The Swim
The swim was in the "majestic" James River in downtown Richmond. Phrase most overheard... "You're going to SWIM in it? Hope you dont have any open cuts." It was brown and muddy, and if I remember correctly did not taste all that well, but who has time to think of that? Even though we started in stages, the swim was total mayhem. Between getting swum over, kicked, slapped, pushed, or any other number of ways to be tortured in the water, it was amazing that I got through it at all. The river was never very deep, and at most points you could stand if you really wanted to, but this is a swim right? No walking for me. Except over the rocks. Yeah, that's right, under the water, sometimes only a few inches under the water were rocks that snuck up on your head, and chest, and knees, and feet. Between bouldering and swimming I managed to get out of the water in about 19 minutes, not bad considering wetsuits were not allowed. Now I had to put my shoes on and run a mile back to T1 over the suspension bridge, but at least this time it was not swaying.

The Bike
Get on my bike at about 27 minutes and start riding..then I remember, oh crap, my shifting is all messed up. So now what do I spend my time worrying about? The fact that my legs feel like jelly, or that my bike can't shift very well? I decide to stop thinking all together and start my ride. With so many people and narrow singletrack to ride, I run into countless carnage on the trail. People stopped all over the place, stopping to walk over log piles, stopping to walk up hills (right in the good line I might add), stopping, stopping, stopping. I did my best to get around those that I could. I need to become a better swimmer so that I am ahead of the majority once the bike comes around. One saving grace was that as the pros would lap us most people were respectful and moved out of their way. so I could tuck in behind them and get around the masses...you know...until the pros dropped me like a bad habit.

At the end of the first lap, I go down over a little rock garden and cruise into a corner when I hear a loud !!!PING!!!!. I thought, "That was a funny sound, kinda like aluminum snapping."..and keep riding. I'm shifting fine and the frame feels ok so hopefully it was someone else that made that noise. I swoop around another corner and my seat twists, as I slow down to see what is up, my seat drops and bottoms out. Turns out I broke my seat collar, somehow, someway. I've found that the Richmond XTERRA trails have a way of breaking bikes in a strange way. (Just ask Eric who snapped his skewer...talk about weird breaks). So now I dont have much shifting left and my seat is as low as it will go, but at least I can still sit on it.

I start the second loop and power through what I can, I'm standing alot and my legs are getting tired. Generally not a big deal, but with a 6 mile run ahead I'm getting worried. I finally make it back on to the highway which makes for an easy ride back to T2. Still no big ring and a low rider seat so I pimped into T2 after a 1:30 bike. Not bad considering all that was wrong. So far I'm on pace. I thought that I would finish between 2:30 and 3:00 and here I am at just about 2:00 with 6 miles left to run. Piece of cake...hahaha.

The Run
Once the run started, the sun decided to show itself. I think it was it's cruel way of beating me into submission because it went from a relatively cool day to africa hot, or at least that is how my head felt. First water stop I drink a cup and throw one over my head, this ritual continutes until the finish line. About 2 miles into it I finally got my legs, somewhere along the flood wall. Then comes the Mayan Ruins, I get up those slowly as I feel the spring leave my legs rather abruptly. The run goes along more roads, then into some singletrack sidestepping mud puddles as my legs slowly get heavier. I still have a good pace but that is about to change. Next we run across the "dry" bed of the James that leads us up to Belle Island. Dry is mostly a joke because with the river running high we are running through shin deep water at times. My already heavy legs now have the added tonnage of waterlogged shoes. It is starting to get painful. Up the ladder and onto Belle Island, through some more trails, get lost not once but twice due to deliria and slightly confusing trail markings. Finally I can see the footbridge which means that the finish line is only a mile away. Once on the footbridge that is when the cramps start setting in, thankfully not a leg cramp, but a side stitch thingy that hurts all the same. I look around and no one is coming up from behind so I just coast into the finish line and can't wait to stop moving. Someone greets me at the line and asks me some questions, but I can't understand anything right especially English, all I know is that I am done and I hit my goal time. Run was 48 minutes for a grant total of 2:47:27. 28th out of over 70 in my age group.

Post Race
Same as always, good food, great stories, wonderful people, and incredible satisfaction in knowing that once again I put myself up to the test, mentally and physically. Although I'm not the fastest on the course (and never will be) when I cross that finish line having survived and loved every minute of it, it sure feels like I won the race. Am I wrong?

NOVA Duathlon

2003-11-02T09:00:00.000-05:00

So on November 2nd I ran the 7th annual NOVA Duathlon. The weather was perfect as a storm earlier in the week brought incredibly warm weather but alot of rain. This was my last race of the season and 2 month since my last race so I had to try hard to stay motivated. As with all of these, I apologize for the length I have waaaaay too much to say.

The Skinny:
Results can be seen here http://www.triath.com/results/results-031102.asp

The race was a 2.3 Mile Trail Run - 8.3 Mile Mountain Bike - 2.2 Mile Trail Run

I finished in 1:26:11 which shockingly was good enough for 2nd in 25-29, and 11th overall. Needless to say I was completley thrilled.

Pre Race:
Before the start of the race we were told this would be the last NOVA Duathlon at Wakefield park. Partially because people want to b3 able to walk their dogs in the park and not have bikes ride by them and partially because some of the course was vandalized between the saturday setup and the sunday race.

Run 1:
I ran with my friend John Julius (who just did his first marathon, MMC, in less than 4 hours...nice). The race started like all others that I have done with a lot of commotion, hooting and hollering. Oh wait that was just me, I guess that is why every race sounds the same. Started out the run with a really fast pace, at least for me, trying to keep up with John and those at the front of the pack. Somehow kept it going and felt strong, I was trying to not listen to my breathing which seemed a little heavy. John gets in front of me by this time and I am just trying to keep him close. As usual, yelling up to him trying to make it amusing.

Exited 14th. 1st transition was pretty fast. I really like putting my bike close to the exit of the transition area. Makes for a real quick getaway once you are set to go. Not too many people to avoid. I also started wearing my gloves on the run for one less thing to put on and worry about. All in all I liked that strategy. Anyone else have good advice?

Bike:
It was a 3 loop race. They seemed to have you go up every hill on the Wakefield side of the park, I dont ever really remember going downhill at all...I mean...is that possible? The first lap was murder. The first time up the steep the powerline hill killed me for while. Not only did I fall off but I wasted my 2nd 3rd and 4th wind. I told myself that it had to get better, not really sure if I believed it. There was a bunch of mud and some of the mud puddles were pretty deep. For some reason I dont think that was mud I was smelling either...eww.

By the second lap I was hurting seriously. In my small chainring nearly all of the time. Some of the hills I was sure I could have walked up faster...but for me that wasn't the point. This was a bike race and and I was gunna ride those hills if it killed me. It almost did.

At this point I thought I was having the most awful race, I had been huffing and puffing on the bike. I felt like I was way in the back of the pack. I just wanted to finish strong and keep pushing myself as hard as I could. Trying to motivate myself I thought of everyone that had ever doubted me and basically finishing strong was how I would prove to them they were sooo wrong...ok, ok I was delirious at the time..but somehow I got my 35th wind and this one stuck. I was tired as hell, my head was hot, and my legs were burning, but I was still able to attack when I saw someone in front of me so I felt I should just go for it..I mean the offseason is across that finish line right?

When I got to the transition area and I only saw 10 or so bikes I thought something was wrong. This could not be? but who am I to argue so I threw on my shoes as fast as I could in case it was a dream. Exited the bike 12th. In passing I asked a spectator how many in front of me and he said about 10 or 11...maybe I wasn't dreaming....but damn are my leges tired.

Run 2:
My legs never fully got off the bike for the whole run. I had to just keep pushing, I past one guy right in the beginning offered some words of encouragement and kept running as if someone was chasing me...turns out quite a few people were. There were 2 painful hills on the run, one about 1/2 way through and one that leads up the finish line. The first hill I was defintely walking up although my body was making exaggerated running motions, but I assure you the pace was no faster than a walk.

After the hill I looked back over my shoulder and saw someone gaining on me. I was determined not to let him pass me. Keep pushing. Every few hundred meters I would look back over my shoulder and see him a bit closer. Keep pushing. At this point I thought my legs were not even part of my body, maybe they were remote controlled. In the clearing before the final hill he was not 10 feet behind me. All sorts of thought are in my head. NO way can I shake him now, in fact chances are real good he'll pass me, I was sure he would. We hit the last hill and I give it everything I've got. I hear him right on my heels but I can't look anymore I just put my head down and try sprinting up the rest of the hill but my legs wont go any faster. Keep pushing. Finally I see the finish line and glance over my shoulder and realize that I put about 30 feet between us by the top of the hill and I cross the finish line not sure if I will be able to stand much longer.

After about 5 minutes I regained my ability to walk and talk and breath at the same time and start congratulating finshers and cheering bike-to-run transitioners. The weather was great, the race was great, fun course, and really nice people. The post race euphoria is excellent though and one of the more addictive parts of the whole process for me.

This was my second Triathlantic race that I have done and all in all I think they do a good job organizing these races, collecting split times, marking the course etc. Oh and the post race tuna salad is great :-)

thanks for enduring.
frank

Schiff Scout Triathlon

2003-08-24T18:35:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone...

Not sure who is interested, but I really enjoy reading other peoples race reports so I figured I would try to write my own. I did the Schiff Scout Triathlon, part of the XTerra point series races. For those that dont know, the XTerra races are off road, they involve swim, mountain biking, and trail running. I had done some mountain biking racing, this year and the Cedarfest Duathlon in July, but this was my first triathlon even. Hot damn it was fun....I feel the tingle of addiction...

To cut to the chase, the race was individual or relay. It was sprint distance, .5 mile swim, 10 mile mountain bike, 3 mile trail run. The race was in Wading River, Long Island on Sunday 8/25. I was supposed to run it with my brother-in-law, but he backed out at the last minute...LOOOOONG story.

They did not do splits (much to my dismay) but here are the vital statistics.
1:36:5235th of 135 overall3rd of 18 in my age group (25-29)

After a cold front and thunderstorms rolled through on Friday night, the weekend was spectacular. Race day was moderate temperatures, and NO HUMITIDITY, I could not believe it and was very happy, as the day seemed too perfect to be true.

The Swim (~18 minutes)

The swim was in a lake, 2 triangular counter-clockwise loops, between loops you have to get out of the water andrun for about 30 feet on the beach before getting back in. Water was 77 degrees, The previous day at registration the temp was 79 and they were not going to allow wetsuits of the temp was over 78...thank god it dropped into the high 50s/low 60s that night, so we made it. I am in serious need of a wetsuit because I am not a swimmer, in fact I just started swimming in April, not even able to finish 25M without thinking I was going to drown. The race was ~800M so I felt intimidated, I had swam 800M in a pool once but I was confident the race day adrenaline would kick in. My pool 800 was in 23 minutes so that was my goal.

Going down to the water form the transition area (about 100 yards of rocks and pavement) I saw a small group of people setting up their towels and shoes/sandals only down by the water. So instead of running all the way up in bare feet, you put your shoes on down there and run up the hill, no worries about cuts, stubbing toes, etc. I decided that is what I need to do too...great decision.

So I wade into the water to get a few strokes in before the send off, and I stillg et amazed at how much better of a swimmer I am with a wetsuit...(now if only I could learn balance like this without it ;-)) SO after a group photo they send us off. Not wanting to get trampled I started out on the outside. Keeping my head down focusing on good form and not wanting to tire myself out becuase aolot of race remains...then i remember that I have to actually get to a buoy, so I look up only to see tha I am WAAAAYYYYY of course...ok, so I switch my stroke up to look for the buoy every 5 strokes or so...note to everyone..practice this before race day as I am sure it will make you life much easier.

Somehow I get the buoy and around and back with not much trouble expect that I am way behind everyone else. Everyone now and then someones swims over me or hits me, but all in all pretty smooth (I am sure it was because everyone else was in front of me) At one point I decided to follow the guy in front of me...he MUST know where he is going...after about 50M I realize that he is way of course too...it was a comedy of erros buyt what can I expect for my first competitive swim ever...

Finally after much telling myself I won't drown, I'll be fine, Stay Striaght, the water tastes fine...I finally get out of the water and I look at theclock...18 minutes..I am so pumped... way head of my goal time...only problem is out of nearly 150 I am probably 90-100th or so out of the water...much ground to make up, thank god the bike is my strong suit.

SO I get out of the water and I proceed to take off wetsuit, dry off, clean feet and such. I filled a gatorade bottle with lake water to wash my feet off. Everything is smooth, the guy next to me is struggling to get the sand off his feet and sees me with water cleaning them off , so I lean over and say, "You want some water?" He proceeds to take the gatorade bottle and drinks 1/2 of it......it was hysterical (for me) I felt a bit bad for him, but life goes on....I will remember that forever...I did nto tell him it was lake water...what could be done at that point..

Thanks to my family for gathering my stuff while I ran off to get on the bike....and for yelling for me everytime i was even in the vicinity of them...please dont underestimate the effect anyone being there in support of you and screaming for you will do you to your motivation, energy, etc...it was wonderful

The Bike (~50 minutes)

The course was two 5 miles loops, mostly flat (it IS Long Island after all).I had a great bike ride...pushing big chainrings most of the way. I dont know about anyone else but I am a yapper. I talk to people when I am near them, I try to motivate, encourage, inform, etc....sometimes I just scream because I am so excited...racing really gets me going. IF people out there hate someone like be because they want to race in peace and quiet I am truly sorry...I have absoutely no control over myself..and I love it....but I digress...

The bike was great, I had a GU before the bike and drank nearly a full camelbak of water on the trail. I felt strong all the way, motivated by all the people out of the water in front of me, and I was trying to catch anyone I could....I feel like I passed all of them (obviously not all) but I passed a good amount of people (maybe 40 or so) and was pleased that no one passed me...there weren't that many behind me to begin with anyway though..;-) Everything went well, no flats, no drivetrain problems, no falls, no doubt...

Heading into T2 I still felt good...or at least as good as a bowl of Jello could feel.

The Run (~28 minutes)

The run was a single 3 mile loop around the lake that included a section called the "roller coaster"...I'll get to that in a minute. By the time I got off the bike I guess I had raced myself into the middle of the pack because there were alot of people around..which was good for me because it allowed me to keep talking and trying to push everyone instead of listening to my breathign thinking about how tired my legs were or that distant stomach cramp that felt like it wanted to come for a visit.

It was a typical trail run, some ups some downs...and then comes the roller coaster...the cruel, cruel joke. It was a section of 5 hills (up and down) each had a pitch somewhere greater than 45 degrees and were around 100-200 feet long each. At times I was runnign up them so slow I though I was going backwards...but the sounds of the feet behind me kept me going...dont think...your legs dont hurt...dont fall....focus on the finish line...only 2 more miles...THank you to Justin Martinich, he was a conversation buddy for a while on the roller coaster and kept my mind off of how on fire my body felt...

After another mile was a series of logs that had to be jumped, hopped, climbed over..depending on how your legs felt..there were a few casualties, but luckily I was not one of them. Then I came upon the a fella that basically defines the determination it takes to be a triathlete...here he was in the woods, alone...vomiting repeatedly, and everytime the convulsions stopped he would try to walk/run, trying to get to the finish line...willing himself to finish (and he did!!!!!) Not taking no for an answer even from his body...partially disgusting, partially inspiring...

I turn the corner toward the finish line and there are 100 people or so cheering for the finishers...I can't believe I am actually finishing this race....you sign up for your first tri and you think you just want to finish, you are not sure how, and certainly unsure how it will feel....you want t oprove somethign to yourself...maybe you want to prove something to others (not me, but who knows)..well crossing that finish line was close to the best feeling I have ever had in my life. I am not married, I have not had any children, so I am sure those can be pretty moving experiences...but, for me, this was the realization of a dream I that had be brewing in my mind for 9 months tangibly and brewing for years prior...

I was thrilled with my placement, my finish time, how I felt, everything, but it was simply the fact that i finished the was the single best feeling in this flood of a thousand emotions...

Great, just what I need...another addiction....