just another busy weekend....

sometimes it blows me away with all that we fit into a weekend. it's no wonder monday's are always so rough. weekends wear me out!

training this week was kind of up and down, hit or miss, just not that great. the race at sea otter really took a lot out of me and took me longer than to recover from than expected. i blew off a couple of workouts later in the week and ended up feeling pretty good by the weekend and got in some really good sessions.

on friday i got fit on the new yeti. it was the first time I have ever had a "real" fit on any of my mountain bikes. dean analyzed my pedal stroke and used the retul system to dial me in. we were able to make some changes that will give me more power, be more comfortable and ultimately faster. if you are in the area i high recommend getting into to see him and getting dialed in. check out his website: PedPowerPerfom Lab.

here are some photos from the session.


Friday evening after beth finished trainer session and I napped we headed down to Beachside for Molly's b-day. good times, good beers, and a good crew. we didn't stay out too late because we both had pretty workouts lined up for saturday morning.

i headed out to mission trails to meet up with trevor and lesley. both of them are racing on the pro side of things in this years Xterra cup series. so needless to say i was ready to throwdown and take my medicine. we hit the trails on our bikes and rode out to a 5 mile loop. we rode one lap as a warm-up and learn the course and then nailed 3 laps at race pace with a 5 min easy spin in between. hard stuff. each lap took about +/- 30 min and included some tough power climbs and quite a bit of technical descending. i totally blew up in the middle of the third lap but rallied on to finish strong. trevor and lesley were killing it!

lap profile.

we rode back to our cars and changed into our running gear... yes I did a transition run off the bike. it may be the first one I have done since xterra worlds last year! the run started out tough as we went straight into 20 minutes of a hard tempo, but my legs quickly came around and I was able to finish strong. great workouts.

satruday's workouts were great but the highlight of the day was heading out to the Green Flash Brewery with beth. green flash west coast IPA is my favorite beer and the brewery is only 7.2 miles from my house... and I had never been! so we decided to check it out and it was good time. we tasted all their beers and i go a growler of their imperial IPA. i'll add more photos and details on my beer blog later in the week. i can't wait to go back.


i wonder if they are hiring?


beer... she loves it!


all stocked up.


sunday was an early one. i was up early to drop beth off at the start of the La Jolla half marathon and then I drove the finish. i brought my bike and planned on riding back towards the start and catch beth on course as much as possible. i met up with katya and we finally saw beth at the top of the torrey pines climb and she was killing and was in 2nd place. i rode a head and cheered her on at various locations. it was rad and she ended up as the second place woman overall for women. she's awesome.

chillen with the champ.

so i got in some bonus riding and then after waiting WAY too long for the awards we headed home and i was tired but i headed straight out the door for my long run. i ran a new route through encinitas ranch and ended up feeling great and stoked i got it done considering i was on the verge of bagging it.

long run.


so even though the week was tough the weekend was awesome and I am getting pretty excited about the Idyllwild Spring Challenge this weekend. I can't wait to race on the new bike.

training stats for last week.

Training Time: 15:49
Road bike distance: 82.4
MTB distance: 39.51
run distance: 41.82
strength/core sessions: 2

the new whip, skinfit, and more sea otter...

Trevor and I post race! So glad to be done and back at the house.

Damn... the race at Sea Otter kicked my ass. I took monday completely off and got int some easy riding and running on Tuesday and thought I was shaking out the race effort. On Wednesday morning I hit the trails on my new bike (more on that below) and then met a solid crew for the Lululemon run including Trevor, Karl and Mac. I could not throwdown and I was tired. Trevor was running solid and I really wanted to go with him but it would probably have set my recovery back even more if I did. So I cruised a bit and will hopefully be back to normal by Saturday. We have a solid bike/run workout planned.

The most exciting thing going on this week in that I am on my new Yeti ARC. I got the frame and parts on Monday and Tuesday and gordon did his magic. we weighed my epic before it was ripped apart and it came in at 24.5 lbs. Not that light.

gordon swapped some my parts from the epic to the Yeti frame and I also got some new light weight parts. Here is the finished product... all 20.8 lbs of it





wednesday morning i hit the trails first thing to test it out. i was kind of nervous because the geometry is way different than the epic, i was riding a 1.9 rear tire, and was hoping that I would really like the feel of the hardtail. All I can say is the new whip is a rocket. I was flying up the climbs and hitting times I usually only hit when I am going for it and I was pretty much just cruising. I kind of expected this but was still shocked at how much more efficient the light, hardtail was on the climbs. What I didn't exptect was how fast it was descending. This bike fits me perfect and is a lot more nimble than the epic. I also really like the tire set up: 2.1 Crossmark EXC on the front and a 1.9 Larsen TT EXC on the rear. They hooked up in everything and I was really able to rail the turns.

The bottom line is the bike is rad... and fast. I can't thank gordon enough for building it up so quick and working with me to drop some of the weight. Pitchers of Palm are in his future.

unfortunately it couldn't stay clean forever!


Below are some more photos from the weekend. Notice all the Skinfit gear! I put my Skinfit gear to the test this weekend. We rode some cold mornings, a foggy wet morning, and then a super hot, dry race on Sunday. No matter the conditions the gear I chose worked perfectly. On the cold/damp mornings I wore my Klima baselayer, headband, and Vento jacket. I stayed warm and dry. Heading to the race on Sunday I wore my favorite piece of gear... the Vento Vest. I also raced in the my Matisse & Jacks skinfit kit and a Kilma Soft baselayer. Solid. I was able to handle the hot conditions no problem.

I highly recomend checking the Skinfit store and trying out some items. I am sure you will not be disappointed. Also check out the Skinfit blog to stay updated on what the team is up to and what events you can expect to see the Skinfit crew at.

Skinfit!


about 15 minutes post race... I still felt like I was going to throw up.


rolling into the finish.

Sea Otter/Training Recap

My legs hurt. The XC race yesterday was the hardest mountain bike race I have ever done... harder than Counting Coup, Vision Quest, and all XC races I have done so far. The race on Sunday also capped off a big week on the bike for me.

After an easy spin on the Thursday morning with Beth I headed to Huntington Beach to meet up with Ryan. We hit the road for Trevor's Grandma's house in Salinas, hit some some traffic, but eventually rolled up and grabbed good dinner and couple of good beers at the Monterey Brewing Company.

The plan for Friday was to pre-ride the XC Mtb course and then Ryan and I were going to do the road race. After spending 2:30 on the mountain bikes we cruised back to Trevor's. At this point we decided to bag the road race. The cat 5 road race started at 330 pm and was 5 laps/47 miles and there was 1,800ft of climbing per lap. We really didn't look at the race info when decided to race it. Trevor had done the race befor and pretty much told us that if we planned on racing well in the mountain bike race (which was the main reason we were there) then we shouldn't do the road race because it would kick our asses.... and Ryan's race was at 730 then next morning so he would basically have 12 hours to recover and have to race again.

pre-ride photo. perfect day, killer trails.


1 lap of the XC course.


Instead of racing we rode again in the afternoon. Trevor took us on a 2.5 hour tour of salinas, carmel, and pebble beach. It was sick and also a solid ride. So after pre-riding and the road ride we got 5+ hours in the saddle on Friday. Solid.

view from the ride.





The highlight of the day was the incredible dinner that Trevor's Grandma prepared for us. She made Sukiyaki and it was so good and a perfect meal after a hard day of riding. Ryan and I helped her cut all the veggies and then I had her teach me how to make it... I can't wait to give it a shot.


Saturday morning was Ryan's race so we were up early. Trevor's Grandma's house was a perfect 30 minute road ride to the veuue so it was a perfect warm-up for our races. We hit the road in the fog and as soon as we got there Trevor and I set out for another lap of the course before the Cat 2 races started. I took a pretty good digger out pre-riding but luckily landed in a big sand pit. After the lap we got back to the finish and watched Ryan finish. He had a very solid race and is definitely getting faster/fitter. I am seeing a podium in his future this weekend at the US MTB Cup race in Los Olivos.

ryan finishing.


After the race we all cruised back to the house. Ryan and I headed out for lunch and to pick up supplies for an epic pre-race feast. On the menu was salmon, bbq chicken, and a bunch grilled veggies and sweet potatoes. That capped off another day of training hard and eating good food with good friends. I was beat and in bed and asleep by 9pm.

I slept great and woke up ready to race. We ate breakfast, got ready, and jumped on our bikes and rode out to the race. It was the perfect warm-up and we got there about 10 mins before the start. Once I was on the line I saw Justin and Perry, both rad guys and super fast.

The race started on the Laguna Seca speedway and it was sick! I wanted to make sure I didn't make the same mistake that I did at Sagebrush and miss the pack. So when the gun went off I sat in the pack and we were blazing around the speedway in 30+ man pack. Once we got to the dirt I was probably sitting in about 20th of the 32 racing in my category and the top 10 were hammering. I really couldn't believe how hard they were riding considering we hade 38+ hard, hilly miles ahead of us. I didn't go with them and figured some would come back to me on the second lap. Still not a great start. It was better but still something I need to work on.

The race is too long to really get into too much detail. I worked my way up the entire first lap and was feeling good and was able to make some attacks and drop some guys. I was definitely feeling pretty good. Near the end of the first lap Ryan was waiting to hand Trevor and I bottles and he gave me some splits that motivated me and I hammered on. At the end of the lap you ride back on the race track and I went into full on time trial mode but was tracked down by a group of three working together and they just sat on my wheel. At this point i made decision and sat up forcing them to pull around and do some work too... it worked and I latched on and recovered and then we bridged to another rider and were in a solid pack of 6-8 as we got back on the dirt.

I worked hard up the climb and me, my xterra homeboy Damian Gonzalez, and another rider were able to get a way before we hit the single track. I was flying on the single track until I hit a blind, sandy corner. There was rider who had blown the turn sitting right in the line and I didn't see him until I came around the corner so I tried to cut to the inside and my front wheel totally washed out and I went over the bars. Killer crash! While I got up dusted off, assesed the damage, and got my chain back on a couple of riders past. I had a couple of scrapes but was back rolling in about 15-20 seconds. The crashed sucked but it also motivated me to ride hard. I started passing quite a few guys on the climbs, and even on the descents. I was feeling great, nailing my nutrition/hydration, and just having fun. Don't me wrong I was hurting,working my ass off, and it was getting vey hot, but I love the suffering that mtb racing brings on. The more it hurts the more I like it!

I continued to work hard the entire 2nd lap and passed some more guys in the closing miles. I was so stoked when I crossed the line. It was the hardest I have ever worked on the bike and I honestly loved every minute.

the finish


Results:
Time 2:54:09
D.istance: 39.52
miles - 6763 ft of climbing
10th Place in Cat 1 30-34



I cound't be happier with the race. I worked hard and I definitely could have raced better, but I am learning so much about racing mountain bikes at each race. This is probably the biggest XC MTB race in the country and finishing top 10 (barely) blows my mind. There were guys from all over and I beat some guys that have usually beaten me. The more I race mountain bikes the more I love it... seriously. It kicks my ass... I feel like throwing up half the race but when I cross the line I can't wait to go back for more.

Right after the race we rode back to the house, showered, and hit the road. It was a killer trip and a great experience. I can't thank Trevor and his Grandmother enough. Staying with them was so fun and the food was epic!

I woke up this morning and couldn't believe how sore I was. My whole body hurts and my legs are worked! This afternoon I resisted the urge to head out on the bike in the perfect weather (85 and not a cloud in the sky) and am relaxing/recovering.

Last week was a big one for me on the bike for sure and dialing back on the running was a good call. Here's the stats.... probaby the biggest week on the bike ever... 132+ on MTB!

Time: 20:59
Road bike distance: 92.64
MTB Distance: 132.59
Run Distance: 14.13
Strength: 1 weight/core session, 1 core only

so today is a much needed recovery day. I plan on having a couple of beers hanging out with FW and just relaxing! Then it's back at it on Tuesday.

i have a lot going...

I have a lot going on right now... and i wouldn't have it any other because all it's all good things.

First of all I am leaving tomorrow around noon for Sea Otter. I can't wait to get up there and just check out the scene and have some fun hanging out and racing with friends. I wish Beth was cruising up there with us... hopefully next year for sure when she'll be ready to throwdown on the MTB.

This week is all about the bike and I am using the races up there (cat 5 road race on friday, cat 1 XC mtb race on sunday) to really bump up the volume and intensity. When the weekend it is over it will definitely being one the biggest ever for me on the bike, especially in terms of the amount of intensity. I am hoping that this big week will really help me out as I move closer to my A mountain bike race of the spring... the Idyllwild Spring Challenge on 5/2.

Other than that I have some good sponsorship news. I found out last week that I was accepted on the Yeti Cycles Grassroots team and my new frame is on the way! I will be riding the ARC hardtail and plan on building it up as a racing machine. I have already started accumulating parts for the build and I hope to be on it by next weekend.

this is the frame i should be riding by the end of next week.


Then this week I got an email from ESI grips welcoming me to the team. I was stoked about this because I love their grips and been using exclusively since last year. It was kind of random because I sent them a proposal months ago and didn't get anything back so the email this week came out of nowhere. so stoked. I will be meeting with them at Sea Otter to pick up the goods!


The last little bit of news is the I joined the Celo Pacific cycling team. I have been wanting to join one of the local teams for a while now and the Celo seems perfect. My friend Matt is on team and had nothing but good things to say. They also have quite a few fast mtb guys and are really behing the local cyclocross scene which I plan on getting into this fall. Another advantage is that they are based out of north county and start group rides a short ride from my house.



training this week has been going well with a big focus on the bike. yesterday was a quality session in the afternoon. Ryan and I hit a hard loop of the my race loop, which I am naming "helltrack". the weather sucked. we started in clouds and drizzle and finished in solid rain and some strong wind. even with the crappy conditions I rode the loop 3 minutes faster than I did on sunday with a time of 40:29. the next goal will be to break 40 minutes.

this morning i was back on the mountain bike for some more endurance riding. just a solid ride for with quite a bit of climbing.


time to finish packing...

Week of 4.6.2009 - recap

view from sunday's ride. socal is good.


This week was all about putting a lot of quality training both riding and running. I logged some pretty good workouts with some added intensity. I still can't get over how hard we ran on the Wednesday night Lululemon run... i have a feeling it's going to turn into a "wednesday night worlds"type run as we get into summer which should make if fun and great for training (suffering).

Saturday was just about a perfect day... except for the fact that I had work, but I killed that part of the day too. So I was up 5am to get in 12 hilly miles on the trails and then headed into work.

run profiile.

When I got home Beth has set up movie time in the living room. While she showered, after a strong 18 mile run, I took a hardcore nap. I woke we chilled, snacked, and watched Twilight (not that big of a fan... vampires love baseball... really?).

After the movie Beth went to run some errands and I hit the road for an easy spin on the coast before dinner. Then there was dinner... and I am going to call it epic. We has a crew of 12 at Rimel's in Cardiff. Awesome, healthy food and wine. I wish I had some photos... next time, which will likely be in the next couple of days... it was that good!

I was actually able to sleep in a bit on Sunday morning and then hit my local trails with Ryan for some "hard" riding. I have decided i need to incorporate some harder riding into my longer rides instead of just going through the motions and putting in the time... and today that's what we did. I have put together a solid loop on my local trails. It's 6.82 miles with about 1500ft of climbing. It has it all. It starts with a 10+ min semi technical single track climb, then some rollers and climbing, then a fast technical single track descent, into a 10+ min fireroad climb, and then one more long single track descent to finish. It's perfect and will now be the standard.

the lap profile.

we did 2 laps today and both of them were right around 43 minutes. solid effort that will be repeated often.

finishing my second lap.


After the intervals added some more endurance paced riding and a lot more climbing. One of the best long rides I have been on in while.

totals for the ride: 3:15, 32 miles, and 5000+ ft of climbing. solid!


more views from the ride.


ryan finishing the final climb.


One thing I noticed on my ride with the Ryan is getting faster/stronger on the bike. We have been riding together for the past couple of months and I have been helping with his training... and it's working. I am stoked him... and me... it's good have somebody out there pushing me and it also is pretty gratifying to see somebody you are coaching (or just helping out in this case) improve.

that's it... it's a short week coming up for me. we're leaving for Sea Otter thursday afternoon. Trevor rode the course yesterday and said it's in good shape. I am really looking forward to racing against what I am sure will be a strong fast field.

training totals for the week.
time: 17:18
bike distance: 86.46 miles
run distance: 43.07 miles
mtb distance: 46.7 miles
strength/core: 2 sessions

more riding and running...nothing new.

I back to some hard workouts this week and really looking forward to Sea Otter. I am really stoked on mountain bike racing right now and the new US MTB Cup Series. They are really doing a great job on putting together awesome races and so far vibe at the races and between the guys I have been racing against has been rad. It's making things tough for me though... I want to ride... and run... a lot!

There is no way to really compete against all the guys I a racing bikes against with all the running I do. These guys pretty much just ride bikes and are strong. I am pretty sure that if I dialed back my running, trained a bit less that I could probably finish a couple places higher or at least just be flat out faster on the bike.... but I LOVE running. So I am bit conflicted when it comes to training... and racing focus. Nothing new.

So over the next couple of weeks I am going to continue to alternate weeks of high and low volumes of running and see how things go. After dialing back the running mileage last week (still 28.8 miles which was too much heading into the race) I am going to put in just over 40 miles this week and then cut way back next week... maybe 12 miles. Next week is all about the bike and Sea Otter. I will be doing my first road race up there on Friday afternoon and then the XC MTB (part of the US MTB Cup Series) on Sunday. The following week I will bump the running back up and then cut back again before the Idyllwild Spring Challenge (A Race). I know it's a crazy schedule, but it's all an experiment.

I am really having fun planning my own training and trying new things and strategies this year. I have been receiving tons of good advice from all my knowledgeable friends (trevor, jim, cody) but am still kind of winging it. We'll see how things turn out.... really soon.

One very important thing that's happened this week is that the 2009 baseball season has started and I went to the Padres home opener on Monday. They played bad and lost, but I am so stoked baseball season is underway.

i hate the dodgers!

opening day crew. jim, me, bill.




booyah!


Training has been good this week with a solid meduim-long run on Monday before the game and then some mellow riding and running on tuesday. Wedenesday was a tough. Intervals on the mtb in the morning and the lululemon run after work. The wednesday nights runs are getting faster and the crew is getting bigger... and I hope of these trends continue throughout the summer.

that's it. have a good weekend.

week of 3.29.2009 - taking a beating and training recap

the race on sunday was a rough one! I had a pretty solid week of training. My volume was still up there a bit but the intensity was way down so my body was feeling pretty good. I got on my bike satruday morning for some race prep riding and was feeling pretty snappy and was riding well. After my ride I headed up to Oceanside to watch the 70.3 and had a killer time. I love being on the side lines and rooting for everyone. So many of my friends had good days out there. It was rad.
me and the FW down at the race.


My homeboy pat baldwin running his way into 2nd place in his AG and snagging a slot for Kona. So stoked for him!


Ryan cruised down on Saturday and we probably stayed up a litte too late saturday night drinking a couple of beers and bs'ing about sports but it was a good time...

Sagebrush Safari course.

sunday I got down to the race site around 9:30 and it was pretty chilly and really windy. I got my packet, got the bike ready, and warmed up. I was feeling pretty good when I got in the corrall and rolled up to the line.

The were 20+ guys in my wave (cat 1 30-34) and the start took us through 2 quick 90 degree corners before hitting the road for a couple of miles.

In the second turn as we were hitting the road a guy clipped my front wheel and I was forced to unclip and put my foot down so I didnt eat asphalt. By the time I was back in the pack was gone! Seriously... they dropped the hammer when we hit the road and gapped me big time. I spent the next couple of mile doing a full individual time trial, going all out try to latch back on to the peloton... it didn't happen. they continued to easily pull away and I was almost puking on myself from going so hard. So I was in last and hurting!

I knew the pack would split when we hit the first climb and it did. I continued to ride very hard and guys starting coming back to me. I worked my way some where into the top 10 before the first descent and was only 2 guys behind Justin so I knew I would a good wheel to try and follow.

I was riding really well on the single track descent and was able to hang in there and keep Justin in sight which is huge for me... he kills it and was riding solid. Near the end of the single track I just running back up the trail. His pedal had come off. When I hit fireroad, which was fast downhill I made a rookie mistake and reached for my bottle to drink and didn't take advantage of the fast descent. I put my bottle back and hammered and probably went the fastest I have ever gone on a moutain bike. A couple of guys caught me but then I get back to them in next set of climbs that included the hike-a-bike. I started riding really well and then we got to a flat/false flat fire road riding straight into a 20+ head wind. sweet! This is where I blew it.

I got to the fire road with one other guy and we started working together and then he fell off my wheel. Then a pack for 4 guys rolled up and I jumped on but then lost concentration and they got away right before we started climbing. They were working well together and gapped me big time and then a missed another pack... I was just making stupid decisions and responding to the surges they packs would throwdown. This where my lack of bike racing skills really shows, but it was a good lesson and I know what I need to do in the future. So I attacked the climb solo and then hit the Los Pinos climb... the big one. I knew this was my last chance to get back in the race before more descending and I was feeling pretty good at this point.

So I went all in up the climb and passed a lot of guys and just didn't hold back. When I reached the peak I was done... completely. I cracked, could barely see straight, and totally blew the fast fireroad descent that followed before more single track. I got owned by guys that I easily dropped on the climb and they just rode away. I rode like crap on the spring meadow trail and was blowing everything... and took a little spill in loose corner. i was ready to be off my bike and sick of the wind. I got to the bottom and had one more climb to the finish. I just got through it. I was totally blown.

I pretty much just rode it in to the finish. I was worked. I think going so hard for the first 20 minutes of race really took it's toll on me in the latter half of the race. It was tough but I still had a blast and learned a lot about racing. It was a good experience for me and I know it will help me in future races... I'm already counting down the days until Sea Otter!

After the race I hauled ass home to relax. Beth and I hung out by the pool and then headed for food and drinks. I am probably the luckiest dude around! This definitely made up for a tough day of racing!

me and the ladies... kirsten, katya, me, rachel, and beth.


good times!


Monday: gym session & EZ spin

Lunch - 40 min strength/core session

- kept it really easy. all sets 2 x15. Nothing too heavy. Just loosening up.

PM - 1:43/24.35 mile EZ road spin

- I was going to blow this off but beth talked me into it and got me out the door. we met up with molly and just cruised. aweseom afternoon ride. super mellow.

Tuesday: EZ run & EZ spin

AM - 6.73/52: run

- just shaking out the legs. ran from albertson's through encinitas ranch. i felt pretty good but kept it very mellow. all about recovery. running in the morning is awesome!

Lunch - 30 min core/stretching/foam roller

- recovery session.

PM - 1:15/20.3 mile road ride

- easy road spin up to starbucks and back. Rode back with Kerri. Good times.

Wednesday: MTB & luluemon run

AM -

- on on the trails first thing this morning for an interval session. my only "hard" bike workout for the week. 2 x 10 min climbs, then a bunch of short 1 min and 30 sec sprints. I felt good and really strong on the climbs and was holding back. It's a recovery week and I don't want to go overboard with the race on sunday.

Lunch - recovery session

- just some stretching and foam roller. killing time.

PM - 46:50/6.15 mile lululemon run (7:36/mi)

- smaller crew which was fine by me. kept the pace in check this week. everybody is either recoverying from racing last weekend or getting to race this weekend. definitely a bit tired.

Thursday: KOM Run and MTB night ride

AM - 1:21/9.84 mile KOM run - 8:17/mi, 1362 ft of climbing

- i was originally planning on running long at lunch but knew i would have been crunched for time. i was early so i decided to get on it. again... not pushing the pace this week. just getting in the miles and some climbing. good effort. i want to extend this loop a bit to make it a 10 miler.

- Food: picking at bird feeder bar & granola before. recoverite after.

PM - 1:31/15.78 MTB
- good times with the guys out at hodges. mellow ride. just having fun.

Friday: EZ Run
Lunch - 43:45/6.1 mile run
- just putting the miles. mellow. recovery run. I did 15 minutes of core right after. liked doing the core work right after may try to keep this up.

Saturday: Race Prep MTB
AM - 1:44/14.86 MTB
- I hit the local trails and did some race efforts and everything else was just mellow. I really focused on my descending because there was a lot of time to be lost if didn't descend well on Sunday. Felt good. Not great.

Sunday: MTB Race - Sagebrush Safari
race warm-up -32:00/6.12 mtb
race - 2:06/26.17 miles
- see above for details.

Week totals.
Time: 15:35
Bike Distance 44.65 mi
Run Distance 28.82 mi
MTB Distance 76.68 mi