Reporting from Tahoe: Xterra National Championsip weekend

Lake Tahoe from the climb up Tunnel Creek road. EPIC!

I am in Tahoe living it up and hoping the speed of my condo mates (cody waite, trevor glavin, and tom o'brien) rubs off on me!

Things have been going great so far. The weather has been killer. Definitely a little colder than I like, but not too bad... but the temps are supposed to drop a bit come race day. Right now we are looking at a high of 60 on Sunday with a low of 37. Right now the hour by hour is showing temps in the mid 30's for the race start 9am on Sunday... nice and warm!

Yesterday was pretty much a perfect day. I got into to the condo just after 10pm on Wednesday night, and after "fixing" the internet I did some unpacking and hit the sack. I woke up around 7am had some strong coffee, oatmeal (that i pre-mixed and brought from home), and then built my bike. Then around 9am Cody and I headed to pre-ride the epic bike course in killer conditions. I was about 50 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

Here's a video and some photos from the ride:

I don't recommend trying ride the flume trail with one hand on the bars and the other holding the camera... but the video came out killer:

From the Flume looking down on the beach we swam at later on in the day. Beautiful!


The flume, you can see cody on the far left and the consequences on the right:


cody and I on the flume:


The ride was rad, but I did have some problems with my brakes... they really weren't working! I pretty much had to ride the entire descent pumping my brakes the whole time just so I could keep some pressure and slow down. Right after the ride I took my bike to the shop, which is just around the corner from the condo and they bled the brakes and replaced the pads. That did the trick and I'm all set for race day.

After slamming a recovery shake we all headed down to a secluded beach with crystal clear water for some open water swimming. The water was defintely cold but I was prepared with a neoprene skull cap and some blue seventy swim socks. After the swim it was off to the grocery store to pick some grub for dinner and then it was back to the condo.

another video of the lake where we swam and some more photos:

the calm waters of lake tahoe, prior to swim session:

Just before dinner I went a quick run of the run course. Just one loop and then called it a day. For dinner I grilled up a steak, some multigrain bread, and made a big salad. It hit the spot for sure. We ended the night watching the season premier of "The Office" with a glass of wine. I can't think of a better way to end a day.

Cooking dinner, top sirloin and some bread:


the boys in rest, recover, relax mode:

Today is a total day off and tomorrow I will do some short race prep stuff and then it will time to throw down...

Here's a recap from the rest of the week and some more photos. I meant to post it sooner but never got around to it.

Tuesday:

AM: Masters swim - 4000 yards

PM: 45 min trail run with race pace intervals

Both workouts on Tuesday were solid. I felt really good in the pool and the mainset was pretty challenging. I think I have timed the build up in my swimming pretty well. After cutting back on the swim volume and focusing on the bike over the summer I finally feel some the speed I had at the end of last year is back... and I will hopefully be taking that up another gear before Maui. The run was solid as well. I ran in San Elijo lagood because the trails back there remind me a lot of of the course here in Tahoe.

Wednesday:

AM: 90 min road ride with some short race pace efforts and quick climbs

I felt really good on the bike yesterday morning. At the last minute I decided to work from home on Wednesday in order to finish packing and get some extra sleep without having to rush. My flight didn't leave San Diego until 6:55pm. I slept in a bit, took care of some work, and then hit the roads and the legs were feeling really good... alot of snap, but I knew I could go too hard. I am still in training mode as this is still the last week in my "build" phase and the rest will really start on friday and continue through the first half of next week. I got home from my ride, made and epic breakkie, knocked out some more work, and finished packing.

the killer breakkie: whole grain waffles (made with Kodiak mix, protein powder, and ground flax seeds) topped with Fage (greek yogurt) that I mixed with cinnamon and a banana.... chronic!

Beard update:
Tuesday:


Thursday:


traveling gear: