My Decision

Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference - Rober Frost

So it took me a while to make this decision. It has been weighing on my mind since last fall and then when I hurt my foot I kind of let it go. After my foot healed I made, and posted, my "tentative" 2009 race schedule. Well I have been doing a lot of training and thinking in the first couple months of the year. While in New Jersey last week I made my decision final and can't tell how good it felt... like a huge weight off my shoulders.

I had already decided to take a year off from racing Xterra seriously. The reasons were the uncertainty of the new format, the cost of travel, and lack of desire. So I decided to race a couple of Xterra's this year and do some other fun events. Beth is also progressing quickly on the mountain bike and we are planning to charge the Xterra circuit in 2010. Anybody who knows me knows that I don't do ANYTHING half-assesd. Nothing. It's not in me.

So for the last couple of weeks I have been putting in the miles on the bike and run, feeling great and loving every minute. Every session in the pool has been a struggle and not the actual workouts. I have actual been swimming pretty well considering the lack of volume but all the workouts have seemed like work. I have not enjoyed them and all I was thinking about was running.

So I have made a huge decision... for me at least. I have been going over it for weeks and I am sure Beth is sick of me talking about it. I also consulted with a lot of friends and talented athletes (you know who you are and I can't thank you enough) to make sure I was doing the right thing. So....If I am really going to take a year away from Xterra... I really need to do it and really go after some other goals.

Most triathlete's have come from a single sport background and reached their potential, plateaued, or just got burned out and then turned to tri. Not all... but a lot. I did not. I just jumped into triathlon in 2006 without any real training in any of the 3 sports. I surfed, "jogged", and rode my beach cruiser to the beach and bars. When I started training it was obvious that my strength was running and over the course of the last couple of years my run has continued to get stronger as well as my riding. My swimming progressed quickly and then I have kind of plateaued over the last year. I am fast enough to compete and that's fine with me. I don't really like it enough to give up time on the trails to spend the required time in the pool to gain a minute or two. I'd rather run and ride.

So since I had already decided to take a year a way from racing Xterra seriously I am going to take it another step further. I am not going to race any Xterra races or triathlons in 2009 (maybe some club race if I feel like it). I definitely still plan on jumping in the TCSD aquathlons this summer just because there are so much fun.

So the new plan.

I am going to see what I can really do with my running and race mountain bikes for fun. The focus of my training will be running. I want to run trails and mountains... both long and fast and really see what I am capable of. I will still ride my bikes because I love it and race XC mountain bike races because I feel like it's great cross training and so much fun. I have been doing the same kind of training for 3 years and I am ready to change it up and try new things.

What will happen if I focus on my strength and on what I really WANT to do?

We'll find out!

Some people I'm sure will be shocked with my decision and think I am foolish for walking away right now after the year I had last year... but it's not for good. I will be back in 2010 with a lot of running and riding under my belt and I am pretty confident that I will be faster than ever. I'm just going to do what makes me happy.

Another factor in my decision was that I want to be able to support Beth and her racing goals this year. She has some pretty lofty goals that I know are totally attainable and I want to be there to help and be her sherpa at as many of her races that I can. I love watching her race and want to do everything I can to help her go fast and have stress free races.

So that's it. Here's the new tentative race schedule.

3/1 - US MTB Cup #1 Bonelli Park - C (completed)

3/7 - Counting coup mtb race (44 mile mtb) - C (this weekend)

3/14 - St. Patty's day 10k - C

3/29 - Superfrog Triathlon - Relay/Run 13.2 miles - C

4/5 - US MTB Cup #3- B

4/19 - Trail of Torment 10k - C

4/25 - 8 hour mtb race, 2-man - B

5/2 - Idyllwild Spring Challenge - A
5/9 - Xterra Malibu creek 14 miler - A

5/23 - Mount Wilson Trail Race - C

6/7 - Santa Barbara Bike Festival XC MTB - C

6/14 - Holcomb Valley 15 Trail Race - B

7/4 - Scripps Old Pros 10k - C

7/11 - XTERRA Sugarbush Xduro- 20km - B

8/16 - Pikes Peak Ascent - A

Aug-Nov - Dirt Dog XC Series - B

9/13 - Xterra Trail running Nats - A

9/27 - US MTB Cup Finals - Las Vegas - B

12/6 - NorthFace 50 (50k) - A

Other possiblities depending on how are season's (me and beth) going and scheduling.

June-August - Rim Nordic MTB Series

10/11 - Chicago Marathon
11/15 - Catalina Eco Marathon

I definitely won't do all of these but it's an outline. The first races I want to peak/taper for will be on back to back weekends. They will be the Idyllwild Spring Challenge XC MTB race and the Xterra Malibu Creek 14 Miler (trail running). I want to see what happens if I go into a mountain bike race actually rested and ready to go as opposed to just training through it. The weekend after is another Xterra trail race. Can I peak and perform well at both? I'll find out.

The other A races will be the Pike Peak Ascent, Xterra Trail running Nationals, and the NorthFace 50k in December in San Francisco. I will also be charging the Dirt Dog XC season from August-November with the BSK team (schedule is not posted yet).

So My training for the next couple of months will be focused on building up my running volume and picking up the intensity on the bike. After the races in early may I will likely take a short break and then start my Pikes specific training block... well that's the plan for now.

If anybody knows of any other gnarly trail running our mountain bike races send them my way. I'd love to see what's out there.