Why I love racing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.