2008 Xterra World Championships - Race Report

I wrote this race report on the flight back from Maui. Typically I don't like to write too long of race reports, but since I have plenty of time to kill and this was the biggest race of my life I got into some detail.

Pre-race:
The night before the race Xterra puts on big "Night of Champions" dinner and it's killer. The only reason I know this is because I went my first year (2006). The last two years I have opted to skip the dinner. I just don't like all the hype, would rather eat exactly what I want, and just relax... relax I did. My sister and I hit a killer pita restaurant recommended to my by the owner of Tokyo Joe's who I had the pleasure of meeting and riding with that morning. The food was incredible and then we headed back to the hotel and I just laid around at watched the world series and was dead asleep by 830.

I slept great and woke up at 530am with no alarm.

Now for the race.

empty transition. time to race.


Standing at the edge of the water waiting for the canon to go off was kind of surreal. I had thought about and visualized that exact moment for a year and it was exactly like the picture in my head. I was very calm and at the same time ready to throwdown.

I felt great swimming the day before the race and had swam a lot the week leading up to the race in hopes of getting my race of to a solid start. I didn't want a repeat of Tahoe. Standing on the start line waiting for canon to go off I made a promise to myself that I would swim hard the whole way.. for once.

Swim:

The canon went off I jumped in right behind some fast AG men and some pro women. The plan was going to hang on their feet to the first buoy and see where I was. I was able to do this but was getting my ass kicked. It was hands down the roughest swim I have ever been part of. I got kicked (in the junk), dunked, grabbed, and elbowed. I didn't let it get to me and just hung in there taking a beating but swimming well. At the end of the first lap I was still feeling good and ready to go harder the second lap.

After the beach run I dove in for the second lap right on the feet of some pro men and women (obviously not the super fast swimmers, but solid ones). I once again started to get beat up a bit in the pack as it seemed everybody was fighting for a feet. One pro woman in particular, my friend Danelle Kabush, was beating the crap out of me. The only reason I knew it was her was because 'fessed up at the awards dinner later that night.

When we hit the last buoy I was still feeling good and swimming well. I was able to pick it up as we headed back towards the beach and was stoked I was able hang in there and have a great swim (by my standards)


T1:
Fast. I wore my Zoot Sprintsuit (it has a pad) so while some people were getting out of the speedsuits I was able to just throw on my helmet, shoes, and grab my hydration pack.


Bike:
As soon as I jumped on my bike I started to pass people. I knew I had some work to do. I mean it's the worlds champs so a lot of the AG'ers are really good swimmers so there were plenty of people to chase (and pass!). Once off the road the climbing starts and was in a pretty big gear passing a lot of people. I put in a pretty hard effort all the way to the first descent and passed a lot of people.

I just kept pushing it up every climb because as I knew a lot of guys out there are better descenders than me and willing to take more chances. So I yo-yo'd with a couple of guys. I would pass them on the climbs and then they would get back to my wheel by the end of the next decent. I still continued to pass people and then started riding with 3 other guys in pack over a couple miles of rolling terrain. I think I kind of lost focus a bit during this stretch. I wasn't pushing hard enough. I just kind of sat in the pack... and it wasn't slow but I could have been riding harder.

When we got to "Ned's Climb" our pack was caught by another pack of five. So as we started the climb I was now in a group of 8. I fumbled a bit here. A lava rock got kicked up by the guy ahead of me and right into my front wheel and I almost went down and had to quickly unclip as to not crash. So the pack got a bit of a gap on me as I got going again up the climb.

At this point I decided I wasn't going to ride in this pack anymore. As soon as the there was room I made my move and gave it everything I had. I went to the front of the pack and kept pouring it on... and on. When we got to the paved section I locked out my fork and got out of the saddle and kept going and caught and passed two more guys. At the top of climb, right before "the plunge", I looked back for the first time and there was nobody... I mean nowhere even close. This got me stoked and ready to charge the descent.

The descent was really good for me. I just opened it up and let my bike do the work (thanks Gordon). Nobody caught me! The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. I caught a couple more guys and rode with them until the last descent. one guy got a way from me and I was to get away from the other. As you head into t2 you can see people heading out on the run. I kept looking for amateurs and didn't see any until I got really close to T2 and saw a bunch of fast pros just getting started on the run... I was stoked.

T2:
Again pretty fast. The only hang up was that I couldn't find the gel that I had laid out for the run... so I was gel-less.

Run:
Heading out on the run I knew there could not be too many amateurs ahead of me and I wasn't sure where I was in my AG. I got a little boost from the race announcer, Whit, announcing that I was one of the top amateurs and pre-race favorites... time to represent! I headed out of transistion and the legs felt good but the guys I came into transition with were trying to hang on... so I went for it as soon as i hit the road. Once you turn off the road it's a straight 2.5 miles of climbing, and the best time to make up significant chucks of time. So I went for it. I just charged the hill and passed quite a few amateurs and a couple of pros. This boosted my confidence and then I just kept rolling. Because I didn't have my gel I was forced to take in some Gatorade Endurance, which in the past has give me some sotmach issues, and this day was no different... luckily it didn't really hit me until after the race.

Right before the beach I caught and passed Craig Evans. He gave me some words of encouragement and I just tried to focus on my cadence and turnover. Then I hit the beach and as always it was brutal. It feels like you are running slow motion, but again I just thought about cadence and turnover. Then it was into the "spooky forrest" with 1.5 miles to go and I was informed I was the 2nd amateur and 3 minuter back from #1. I just kept going and as I got close to the finish a pro was coming up on me and was going to make me work to the line. So over the 1/4 mile i picked it up and ended up holding him off, but couldn't quite catch the number Am... but I took 7 minutes out of him on the run!



Finish:
I was so stoked to cross the line and even more stoked to have my sister there and knowing that Beth and the Family were watching online.

once I got my card with the results confirming that I had won my AG group I almost broke down. I have never worked so hard or been so focused on a single goal in my life... and the fact that I was able to make it happen was unreal.


Post race:
I quickly took in some fluids talked with Josiah and Conrad for a bit and then packed up all my gear. I headed over to the bike wash and ran into Chris Leigh. I have been a big fan of his since I started triathlon. He kills the 70.3's and when shows up at Xterra races he usually lays down the fastest run split. We talked for quite some time about surfing, living in socal, austrailia, colorado, and just racing in general. He's a super cool guy, really mellow and down to earth.

After washing my bike it was back to the room and time to clean up. After packing my bike Steph (my sister) and I headed down for some well deserved beach time and then hit the poolside bar. After a drink we headed back to the room and got ready for the awards dinner.

The dinner was killer. The food was great and getting to stand on top of the podium and get my "World Champion" jersey is something I will never forget. I was also able to sit down with Conrad, Amber, and the team manager for Specialized (hopefully some big things are in the works..Thanks Conrad!) and enjoy of ice cream and cookies!

Overall the experience was incredible and I still can't believe I was able to accomplish this in 3 years of racing and training.

I will get more into the goals I had for this year, the future and a 2008 season recap in a future post or two. I also have a lot of people to thanks for this. But that will be getting a post of it's own as well.

that's it for now... this is already way too long.

AG World Champion!!!

All done!

I just got back from drinking a beer on the beach! I am so stoked right now. I can't even get into it right now. A lot more in the coming days... but here are my results and a couple of photos.

1st 30-34 AG (World Champ!)
2nd Amateur Overall
1st American Amateur
22nd Overall

Thanks to everybody for all the emails, texts, blog comments, and facebook things... It seriously means a lot.... time to celebrate. I can' wait to get home and really celebrate with my 'lil monster, Beth. She has been the one who has to put up with over the last year with my crazy training and lifestyle. I can't thank her enough!

first post race beer.


beer #2.

the day before...

Right now I am laying in a hotel room at the Maui Prince, wearing recovery tights, and watching college football waiting for the World Series to get underway. Not exactly what most think of doing when traveling to a tropical island, but it's what I need to be doing.

Yesterday was a long day of travel and fortunately very uneventful. Everything arrived in one piece and there were no delays. When I landed in Honolulu I had a voicemail from my sister saying she was over the day to day grind and just bought a ticket to maui and booked a room at the host hotel, the famous Maui Prince. So that's why I am here and not crashing on a sofa bed in a condo with some of my friends. I'm stoked she made the crazy decision to head over... as always.

Today has been super mellow. I woke up, had some rad coffee, a good breakkie, and then headed out the door for the race site to in my race prep workouts and check-in. Again, everything went very smooth and I was even able to con my way into a 5 hour early check in at the hotel... stoked!

where things will get started tomorrow at 9am.


that's it... I can't wait to race tomorrow. Here's another quote from RAD that pretty much somes up tomorrow.

Sergeant Smith: "Cru, remember the lumber yard...go balls out."

Bring on (my) Helltrack!!!

Rule #76

Rule #76: No excuses. Play like a champion

In case you didn't know that's from one of the funniest movies of all-time, "Wedding Crashers", and that's about what it comes down to. I packed up all my crap today and am ready to go. I'll be up in the morning and heading to the pool on the way to the airport for a short swim to loosen up before I board the long flight to Maui.

I can't wait to race. The travel and heading over solo is kind of lame, but my body feels great and I know I'm ready. All that's left to do if fill the ipods and grab some El Caribe with Beth after she gets home from her run.

For motivation I have been listening to the new Rise Against album, Appeal to Reason. It's been a long time since I have been stoked about a recored. I highly suggested it. I've also been watching the two videos below. If you want to watch on the Sunday the race will be streamed live on xterra.tv. That's it. I'll try to post again on Saturday before the race.

From my all-time favorite movie. RAD


and of course the highlights from last years race.

I Want to Conquer the World: week 2 recap.

Here it is... my final week of training (resting) before the biggest race of the year and my life on Sunday. I am definitely ready both physically and mentally. Seriously, with the way I am feeling I wish we would have raced this past weekend. This is week is all about going through the motions and staying sharp. Work will be pretty busy for me this week up until I leave on Friday morning, but that's a good thing. I need distractions during weeks like this. When I feel this good I just want to keep training.

Training last week was good and the weekend was fun. On Saturday morning I was up early (too early) to head down to Fiesta Island for the TCSD club race. I have said before, I'll say it again, and I probably say a bunch more in the future, the Triathlon Club of San Diego is incredible. The members are awesome and it really seems like everybody is out there for some good training and good times. Such mellow vibes even from the fastest dudes... and there are some mega fast guys out there. That's the good thing about the races. You can always find some one to push you and then kick it with after the race over some breakfast burritos and coffee. The post race buffets are all-time!

The plan was to go out and hammer the whole race or else I would getting a beat down. Beth headed down with me to meet up with a group to ride up the coast with. I had time to catch up with some people and get in a short warm-up. After the course talk we had about 5 minutes until the start so I maybe got in 100 yards of swimming/splashing before we headed out.

The swim was quite a bit longer than the advertised 800m which I was stoked about. The long the swim the better the prep for the swim this sunday. The swim went out fast with the usual fish hammering. I can't hang with them (yet... next year it's on!). I swam hard and built my effort throughout. I got out of the water in pretty good position.

I hammered on the bike and felt good but my road bike and gear were no match for the all guys in full on aero-mode. People break out all the gear (aero lids, discs, etc.) for the club races and I fell back a couple of spots. Once on the run I was able to catch all the guys that caught me plus a couple more. The run was solid and all I thought about the whole time was the Maui course and next Sunday. I think I ended up in 4th place but more importantly I felt good and had a great time.

On Sunday I was up and out on the bike in first thing in the morning. I wanted to knock out my ride before the Chargers game got started. Well I made it home in time to see the kick off only to watch the bolts play like crap and blow it in the 4th quarter with two late turnovers. Not awesome. I am not a Norv Turner fan. If you can't win with all the talent he has on that team then something is wrong. I think it's time for him to go... Maybe we could get Wade Phillips back from the Cowboys. With the way they are playing it looks like he could be looking for a job. He was the defensive coordinator back when they could actually stop the run.
It was good day for sports though. The Rays knocked out the Redsox and are now going to be playing Philly in the series. I am stoked about this... you gotta root for the underdog! The first game is Saturday night. I will be watching in Maui!

I want to go to KONA!

I dropped a little hint in my last post about Kona and Jim called me out a little bit on it.

Comment from Jim:
"You're no longer allowed to give me crap about IM, and coming back to XTERRA if this means what I think it means."

Watching the IM World Champs was pretty inspiring, as always. What a long hot day and it made me realize that I really want to get over there for that race... but don't you guys worry. I don't want to race and I want to make if over there as the ultimate triathlon sherpa. I want to be over there watching Beth race.

I don't want any part of IM... none... at least not right now. I love Xterra racing and am not ready to move on. There's still a lot I want to accomplish offroad before I even consider 140.6 miles on the road.

I may need some help getting myself over there. I have a very good feeling Beth could be pretty successful at the IM distance. The longer and harder the race is (especially the run) the better she does. She's in full on marathon training right now so she is slowly building up her mileage and she's getting super fit. I think with her current training and the last year of racing next she can tackle an IM or at least try to qualify at a 70.3 next year.

The only problem is she is on the fence about the whole IM thing. I know she wants to do it... or at least wants to race in Kona with the likes of Bree, Rachel, Kerrie and all the other hot IM chicks. So please help me convince her and help me fulfill my dream of being a the best sherpa I can be in Kona. I want to hang out, ride my bike, swim, drink coffee (and beer), and watch the whole event go down.

****************************************************

A little training update. The taper officially begins tomorrow. Bring it on, I am ready. As one of my last "peak" workouts I will be doing the TCSD Club race on Saturday. It should be fun to get out there an blow it all out. The distances are perfect for what I need right now... 800m swim, 12 mile bike, and a 4 mile run. The plan will be to go ALL OUT in each sport. If I don't Trevor said he might cruise down here and kick my ass.

one last thing... I finally posted an update on Vo2 Maxxed. Check it out.

I Want to Conquer the World: week 1 recap

So Tahoe and the Xterra USA Championships are behind me. It's time to move on. I spent the better of last week in recovery mode. I stayed active but everything was mellow. My first hard workout was a swim Friday at noon and the rest did my body good.

Since "Operation Incline" has come and gone there is only one more race in my 2008 season that matters. My whole season has been about getting back to Maui and the Xterra World Champs. The title of this post comes from a song from my all time favorite bands, Bad Religion. I had a mix of a bunch of old Bad Religion on my ipod while I was riding last week and this song came on. I thought it was fitting. I also changed my header photo. It's the podium (empty) from last year at worlds. I want to be up there in a couple of weeks.

listen up.
I want to conquer the world

On Saturday I had one of my hardest workouts of the year. A hard mountain bike with some race pace intervals followed up by a great run. After the bike I was shelled and was expecting the run to be a slog... but that was not the case. I felt faster than I did last weekend in the race. My "top gear" was definitely there.

getting it on the bike.


The rest of Saturday was spent lounging around the house and watching the Kona coverage. The race was killer and a lot of local people had good races. I have been thinking a lot about Kona and IM, but I will get to that later this week in another post. We both had our recovery uniforms on and cooked up a good dinner of BBQ pork chops and veggies and some wine from the Clif Bar winery... I thought it was fitting because we were watching the race.






Sunday morning was pretty typical. I slept in and then when Beth headed our for her 3 hour mission I hit the trails for my long run. Seriously, Beth has been putting in some big mileage and it's awesome to see. I chose a really hilly route on my local trails to simulate the course in Maui. The weather was perfect and there were a ton of people out on the trails running, mtb'ing, and hiking. Good to see.

When the little monster got home from her run (frozen yogurt in hand... and some for me!) we hit 24 hour fitness for some dry sauna action. I swear this is helping my recovery in a HUGE way. If I hit the sauna after a hard session and use the stick to massage my legs I wake up feeling great the next day... and you meet some crazy ass people in there too. Yesterday we met a guy that lost a 100lbs from just jumping rope. He now teaches jump rope classes and hangs out at the gym and jumps rope and lifts weights for 4+ hours a day... and he has run marathon and is training for another. Weird.... but I guess it works for him. He looks an NFL linebacker.

Finally. The Chargers looked like the team everybody has been saying they could be. I had my favorite meal and watched the Bolts take care of the Patriots. Rivers was killing it! Hopefully this will become a trend.


favorite meal. Steak and Salad.

2008 Xterra USA Championships - Race Report

Alternate blog title: Second Place is the First Loser

It's good to be back in WARM & SUNNY southern California!

First of all thanks to everybody for all the comments and good vibes. The race on Sunday was hands down the best I have been able to put together up in Tahoe over the last 3 seasons. While I'll still feel I didn't race up to my potential I did a much better job of managing the cold and dealing with altitude. I put myself in a position to be competitive and I am stoked about that.

Here's the report (i'll keep it short):

Pre-race:
I was up early at the hotel for coffee and my pre-race meal. I have my race day nutrition so dialed in that it really takes no thought. I checked the weather and it was 33 degrees and clear with calm winds. I bundled up and my sister and I headed down to the race site nice and early.

staying warm in transition with some hot coffee


I got a good spot in transition, got body marked and was feeling very relaxed. I was staying warm (thanks to hand warmers) and staying loose. I chatted with Jim and Conrad for a bit and then started my warm up. Transition was packed so I didn't want to take my bike out for a warm up and have somebody jack up my spot so I did an extended run warm up. I ran an entire loop of the run course (3 miles) and this worked really well and got me nice and warm. After the warm up I headed down to the beach to get it on.

Swim:
ready to go

The water was definitely cold (59) so I didn't do too much of warm up. Just enough so the water wouldn't shock me when the gun went off. Last year I totally blew up in the swim and then got butterfly kicked in the throat. I wanted to make sure that didn't happen again. I struggle a lot swimming at altitude so I took the swim out conservatively and just wanted to stay comfortable. In retrospect I probably went to easy, but I didn't blow up and I knew, even though I was pretty far back, I was still in the race.

T1:
There is a long run to T1 (i think the run and t1 are counted in the swim time). I left my cycling jacket on the side of the path to t1. Right out of the water I pulled my wetsuit down, ran, grabbed my jacket, and put it on while running the rest of the way to transition. This was a good call. The rest of T1 was pretty slow though. My feet were completely numb so putting on my shoes was pretty tough, but I got it done and got on my bike... and most importantly I didn't forget anything this year!

heading out on the bike.


Bike:
I knew I had a lot of work to do. So I got after it. I was feeling pretty good up the initial climb to the flume trail and was passing a lot of people. Once on the flume I caught a pack of 3 riders and let them pull me for a bit. Then the pace seemed like it was slowing and there was no where to pass. Once off the flume I started to work hard again and pull away from the pack and continued to pass people on the climbs. I unknowingly moved into 1st place in my age group and was riding strong.

Then it was time for the technical single track descent and I was riding well. It was the best I have ridden that section and was having a blast but I did get caught at the bottom by a pro and a guy in my AG. I was able to keep them in site until the long fire road descent and they just rode away. I was in my biggest gear, hammering trying to stay in contact but it wasn't happening. I rode into T2 alone and feeling pretty good.

T2:
Another slow one. My feet were completely numb and I had a really hard time getting my shoes on.

heading out on the run.


Run:
I was feeling good heading out and even better after the first half mile. I reeled in a couple guys immediately and just kept pushing. I was running well but I didn't feel like I could get into my top gear. I was trying to push but the speed I have been seeing in training just wasn't there.

I also ended taking a gnarly digger on the second lap and quick wrong turn. This didn't cost me any places, just a couple of seconds.

Finish:

2:57:37
swim: 30:57
bike: 1:47:44
run: 38:57

2nd AG
8th Amateur
29th Overall

Talking with Cody after the race. typical "see what had happened was" photo.


Talking shit to Jim after the race about who owes who beers... as usual.


Like I said before I am happy with the fact that I was actually competitive in this race. I handled the conditions better than ever before but I don't think I raced even close to my potential. So with that being said and now having a couple of days to think about it I am a little disappointed. I really feel like I could have won the AG National title. I got beat by just over a minute. I know I am faster than I showed on Sunday.

I am stoked for all my homies who had some killer races out there. Luke Jay took the 25-29 AG national title (3rd amateur overall) with Brian finishing just a couple of minutes behind him! Cody also had a solid race to finish 13th overall in a tough ass pro field. Jim came out of the ironman woodwork to get back to his roots and finished 16th overall. A lot of others had great races too but it would take too long to name them all now.

After the race we hung out for the award ceremony and had a couple of beers.

trying to warm-up at the awards BBQ.


getting some love from Xterra president Janet Clark


Podium. Second place is the first LOSER!


After the awards my sister and I headed back to the casino and I was finally able to take a hot shower and warm up. Then we hit the casino for some good times, good food, and some stiff drinks. We had a killer time and I actually won some $$$.

post race dinner: Huge burger and sweet potato fries.


Overall the trip was a good time and I am so stoked my sister was able to make the trip with me. I can't thank her enough for her support out there. She's a pro spectator for sure!

Beth also raced this weekend and put together another solid race after a pretty gnarly week of marathon training. With her finish she clinched the AG title for the San Diego Triathlon Series. I'm proud of my lil' monster.

I think that's it. Time for some recovery and then it's just a couple of short weeks until the big one!

battling my demons....

a quick update before I hit the road...

after 3 years I finally had a race here in tahoe that I am happy with. The race was cold and hard... fell report later.

2nd AG
8th amateur
29th overall

Pre-race report from the frozen tundra...

Ok... maybe I am exaggerating a little bit. It's not as cold as Lambeau Field in December, but we are not playing football either. We'll swimming in lake tahoe, riding the flume trail, and then knocking through a 10k of pretty fun trails... but it's definitely not warm.

On Thursday I found out that my sister was going to be able to join my on the trip. I was more than stoked. It's always good to have someone in your corner, especially at a big race. So I was up early yesterday and got on the road.


After 9 hours of driving and too many Starbucks pits stops we arrived in Incline Village to overcast skies and cool temps. It actually felt pretty good, but the wind was howling and the lake was very choppy.

I met up with Luke, Ed, and Sara for a pre-ride of the course. They all race for Cody's EPC Xterra team and I had a killer time riding with them. The trail... is awesome. Every time I ride it I like it more and more. The ride was fun and cold. By the time I got back to the parking lot my hands and feet were both totally numb even though I was wearing some wool socks and gloves. I went for a quick run afterwards and felt good as soon as my feet began to thaw out.

This year's pre-ride photo.


Last years... you choose.


View from the top of Twin Lakes. It was probably 40 degrees with 30+ mph winds.


After the run I picked up my packet, checked out the silent auction for Jamie Whitmore, bought one of the the limited edition J-Dawg T-shirts (proceeds got to Jamie Whitmore... If you are in town go buy one or show your support and pick one up at xterragear.com).



I am #337 for the race tomorrow which I think is a lucky one. 33 was Cru Jones' number in RAD and 7 was number when I played baseball.

After getting all that taken care Steph and I headed to go check into our hotel. We are staying at the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge. It's an old school casino and it's pretty killer. Sunday night I will definitely be enjoying the activities and with a couple of cold ones and some blackjack.



This morning I was up to some hot coffee and then headed out for a quick pre-race run and ride before the rain was supposed to start. I felt good and I warmed up pretty quick in the cold conditions. I am feeling good! I decided not to swim today... it's just too cold and I don't want to freeze my ass off.

View from my morning ride.


The weather for tomorrow is going to be less than ideal, but I am just glad I am not racing today. The folks doing Xterra Nevada today are braving some very tough conditions. It's raining lightly right now, it's cold, and it's windy. The rain is supposed to turn to snow some time this afternoon so tomorrow morning will be very interesting.

I think that's about it. I slept great last night (10 hours) and just got done eating a good lunch. All that's on tap for the rest of today is to chill in the hotel, watch college football & MLB playoffs, and then hit the awards banquet tonight.

Thanks to everybody for all the support. I will definitely be giving it everything I have tomorrow... rain, sleet, or snow!

Off to Incline Village... I'm ready.

It's on!

Tomorrow morning I will be waking up too early to make the drive up to Incline Village for the Xterra USA Championships. This is going to be a solo mission, which I don't mind. I have plenty of good music, podcasts, and even some audio books to keep me occupied. It will also give me plenty of time to thinks about what needs to be done.

I wish Beth was coming but she has work and the Mission Bay Triathlon on Sunday. She needs to stick around and race so she can win the overall title for the San Diego Triathlon Series. I won the the series for my age group in 2006 (my first season racing) so we are trying to establish some "family tradition".

The weather for the weekend up in Tahoe is looking pretty killer and the weather right now in SoCal isn't helping to prepare me for those temps either. It was 90 yesterday at my house... blazing!


I am not worried. It is, what it is. Nothing I can do except go for it, no holding back. If I get cold it just means I am not going hard enough. Right?

The lighter workouts I have done this week have definitely left me hungry for more. I had a great massage and adjustment on Monday. I have also been spending some time in the dry sauna (I lasted 2o minutes last time) using the stick and on the foam roller working out the kinks. My body is feeling good, my head is in the right place, and I am just really looking forward to racing and good times with the boys.

on another note... I have acquired another sponsor and I am really stoked about this. I will now be representing Matisse & Jack's.

They make bake-at-home snack/energy bar mixes and I have been hooked on them for the past couple of seasons.


Trevor has been sponsored by them for a while and always hooked me up with some samples. With his recommendation I was able to get on board with this small company and am really looking forward to working with them. I will be posting a little report over in Vo2 Maxxed soon (we've lagging on that blog as of late). It's really important to just represent complanies and products I really believe in so I feel very fortunate to be able work with Matisse & Jacks, and all my sponsors for that matter.

That's it. I may send out a quick update before the race... I maybe even be able to get an interview with the infamous leader of the EPC crew, Cody Waite.

If you want to see what Sunday's race is all about check out xterra.tv