i want to do it all...

another new post on the new site.... update your feels yo!

http://jameswalshracing.com/

resubscribe....

i moved to a new blog... unfortunately everybody will have to resubscribe to the RSS feed if you want to know when i post..... if not... bookmarks to the page should work.

do it!

http://jameswalshracing.com/

moving....

I am moving.... to a new blog.  we are still working out the RSS stuff and making some final edits but the site is live with a new post.

http://jameswalshracing.com/

more...

a little more of everything... blood, sweat, & beers....

things have just been rolling along and life is good.  i really like the way my training is going right now.  MELLOW.  i am ramping my running up a bit and just having fun on the bikes.  it's a nice change.  instead of planning a long suffer fest on the the weekends i have just been planning fun rides with friends.  no intervals, no plan other to get on the trails.

saturday was rad.  i headed up to the San Juan Trail to ride with ryan and allison.  i can't believe this is was only the second time i have been up there.  it's close and the trail is epic.  probably one of the best in all of southern california.  we rolled out around 9am, loving the relaxed start times, and hit the climb.  allison knocked out some here intervals and me and ryan hung back and kept it steady.  it was solid loop and the descent was sick.  we stopped a bunch and took photos... again... all about fun.

blood. took a little spill... again.  this happened in the last 2 minutes of the ride.  lame.

allison showing us how it's done.

ryan.  killing it.

saturday night beth was out partying... ok not really partying but hanging out with some her girlfriend.  so i was on my own for dinner.

grilled yellow fin tuna, veggies, and potatoes.

Port brewing's 4th anniversay.  great beer.

sunday was another mellow day.  i slept in and woke up to a lot of wind outside.  i immediately decided not ride 4 hours with beth and her friends... i don't need to force anything right now.  so i went for a run and then a little later on headed out to hodges for more trail time.

 

we capped off the weekend having some friends over for dinner.  called it a week.  here are couple more photos from the weekend.

new snack... SUPERFOOD!

the caveman would be proud!

Mikkeller 1000 ibu

a mellow weekend at home...

Lake Hodges

finally a mellow weekend at home with NO racing and NO travelling... i did have to work all day on Sunday but that's not a big deal.

i have been doing a pretty good job of living up to the Blood, Sweat, and Beers blog title the last couple of weeks.... but i think i will plan on a little less blood over the next few weeks!

BLOOD.

Cleaning up after crash during the Traverse

aftermath of last friday's trail run.  lets just say i took a bit of digger.

dinged up the hand too.

SWEAT.

i gotta killer crew together for a fun ride out at lake hodges last saturday.  we escaped the thick marine layer on the coast and it was close to 80 degrees by they time we got rolling at 10am.  we rolled out 9 people deep (ryan, slater, monique, toby, nick, kerri, beth, & luke) and it would have been 11 if denner hadn't forgot his helmet.  we knocked out a mellow 30 miles.  good times.

crew rolling out

chasing beth

FUN on big wheels.

beth killing it!

more fun.

 BEER.

just a good weekend of riding, running, relaxing eating and drinking with my radical wife and friends. just what i needed for my body and mind. that's kind of my plan for the rest of the month. i am going to kind to take a mid season break... not to say there won't be any training going because of course there will be.... but fun rides/runs and hanging out with friends will be the priority.  i put in some big time volume on the bike over last 5 months, had some solid races, and am really satisfied with how things are going.

my next big MTB race in the Park City Point to Point and that's not until labor day weekend in september.  i will definitely be racing some shorter XC races over the summer so backing off some of the volume now and going into maintenance mode will be good for me.  July and August will be huge months of riding getting ready for park city and I want to be ready for that and avoid getting burned out.

that's it.... is it friday yet?  i am ready for another rad weekend on the trails.

5 x R

R #1 - Racing

3 races in 4 weeks is tough and even more so when travel is involved.  I raced Sea Otter up in Monterey, CA then the Whiskey 50 in Prescott, AZ the following weekend and finished this race block hammering up in the Santa Ana's last week in The Traverse.  I am really stoked with how all the racing went.  Sea Otter was one the hardest, and best XC races i have ever put down.  The weekend in AZ for the Whiskey 50 was just fun.  Good friends, rad trails, and hard racing.  Then last weekend I probably had the best endurance mountain bike race I ever have.  racing wise things are going well and it's good see the benefits from all the hard work i have put in.  with all the racing my bikes have taken a beating.  I can't thank Gordon & B&L for helping me keep bikes race ready week after week.

R #2 - Rest.

beth "resting" in the truck after riding up for bottle support last weekend... a lot of climbing was involved!

after racing 3 out of the last 4 weekends and with the only weekend i didn't race was our trip to St. George for the Beth's IM debut it's good to be back at home and not have to worry about packing up for another trip or race.  last saturday night/sunday morning was the first time i had slept in my own bed and not had to wake up to an alarm in over a month.  it was rad and much needed.  the last couple of weeks training has been pretty good and i'll be taking it easy on the bike through the end of the month and then start really start putting in some volume over the summer leading up to the Park City Point to Point.  so just some mellow, fun riding for the next couple of weeks.  it's also nice to have some time to hang out with friends that i haven't seen in a while due our crazy schedules.

R #3 - Running

I have started running again... actually i started 6 weeks ago.  i was just getting the itch to run and so i did... and it's been going really well and i am loving it.  i started with a bunch of really mellow 30-45 minute runs over the first 3 weeks and have recently started build my volume and long run up. my body is responding really well and i feel better on the bike too... and have definitely had my best mountain bike races of the year since i have started.  i am not sure what i am going to do with my running at this point but i definitely be jumping into some summer trail running races.  i'm back.

R #4 - Recovery

with the addition of running and all the racing recovery has been key.  beth and i are working with RecoverBetter and the products they have hooked is up with are awesome.  not a day goes buy that i don't jump on "the grid" from trigger point.  it's a foam roller on crack... so extra self induced torture... that helps HUGE with recovery.

i have also been wearing all my compression gear after races, runs, and when on the road.  lastly is the RecoverBetter Muscle Recovery Soak.  beth posted about this a while back and this stuff works.  i definitely feel positive affects the day after a soak (bath) using their custom "epsom & dead sea salt formula with a sublte hint of eucalyptus & peppermint essential oils".

check out RecoverBetter.com for all the best recovery products out there.  they have given beth and I a coupon code for all of our friends that will get you 15% off.  just type in "SOCAL" at checkout.

R#5 - Rehab United

Beth and I are back at it.  with my first race phase in the books and beth coming back from IM it's time to start rebuilding some muscle and make sure we are preventing injury as we get ready for more racing.  i think it's going to be especially important for me as I increase my volume running.  we were back in the gym on tuesday and my body is sore!  it hurts to laugh... in a good way.

so that's if for now... more good times on tap for the weekend.

The Traverse - Race Report

saturday was a good day on all fronts...

friday was night was mellow.  i just got everything ready to head out early in the morning and made a killer pre-race meal. grilled, wild caught sea bass fajitas.

saturday morning beth and I were on the road early to head up to the OC and meet up with ryan, slater, and monique.  it was kind of chilly but i made the call to go with no arm or knee warmers and hope that i would warm up quickly.  i got in about 15 minutes of spinning and then got on the starting line feeling really relaxed and ready to have fun.

manny, me, and weeger getting ready to do work.

got on the starting line right next to manny and it was pretty cold... called weeger up next to me... time to man up!

the start

got in front pack of 5-10 for the initial miles and pace was solid. a little slower than VQ i think but still game on. manny and 2 others got a way and i was sitting in 5th overall climbing to the gate with 4th about 30 yards up on me. just kept the gap and didn't try to close. he was working really hard and i was thinking he would eventually blow.

rode pretty hard to the motorway intersection.  I caught 4th place on the main divide after motorway and worked hard to get away and did. at 4 corners beth, slater, and monique were waiting with bottles and i was stoked to see them and was feeling good.

monique and beth waiting at the aid station

I charged up to santiago peak and then bombed main divide. half way between UHJ and LHJ and i crashed... going 30 mph.... HARD. scary. upperbody got ripped off my bike by a log and my helmet and glasses were ripped off my head. my handle bars twisted and chain came off. i jumped up assessed everything and got back on it. only damage to the body was a scraped up kneed and some cuts on my hand. minor but definitely kept from from railing the rest of the super fast fireroad sections. the 29er is FAST.

i obviously lost some time with the crash and could see Guy Sutton, who had moved into 5th, reeling me back a bit and he as riding strong. i worked hard to keep him away climbing up to trabuco but he was making up ground for sure and was pretty much on my wheel when we started descending trabuco.

he got by me and i never saw him. i rode trabuco OK. it was really overgrown and after getting away clean in my first crash i didn't want to push my luck and settled on taking 5th overall and winning my class.... and smashing my time goal of sub 4:30!

This was my first race on the Specialized S-works Stumpjumper Carbon HT 29er.  the bike is rad and feels much fast all around than the 26" version i was riding.  i can't thank gordon, B&L, and Specialized  for helping me get on the this bike.

after the race we all headed over to Team Slamo's (Slater/Monique) for a post race BBQ.  good times for sure.  good friend, good food, and good beers.... great end to the day.  some photos from the festivites....

me and my support crew

PTE

slater trying to convince me to do an ironman

iron chef slater

carne asada and fish tacos

more food

once again...

once again... my wife has blown me away, impressed me, motivated me, made me proud, and reminded me how lucky i am to have married such an incredible person. she's awesome.

we left wendesday afternoon for st. george, utah and it was a pretty uneventful, quick trip with the exception of the gnarly 50+ mph winds that hit us in vegas and were still howling when we got to the hotel.

thursday we were up and hit the roads for a quick 30 min run and checked out the area and then we jumped on our bikes to ride the run course.  the wind was already picking up and i was working hard and wasn't having too much fun.  i hate wind.  the run course was gnarly... hard.  after riding the course beth headed back to the hotel and i tacked on some more miles in the wind.  after the ride we hit the expo so beth could get all checked in and ready to go.

later on in the afternoon i headed out to the bear claw poppy trail.  so much fun.  i want to go back to st. george just to ride this trail.

friday i was up on the road early and headed for gooseberry mesa.  the trail was killer but it was a bit gnarly.  i was in the middle of nowhere, all by myself, and not really sure where i was going... and there was some pretty technical (and mega fun) stuff but i kept it pretty conservative.  if i would have run into any problems i have no idea what i would have done.  after the ride i headed home and pretty stoked to have gotten out there. 

then it was of to Denny's.... yep... Denny's.... beth's request.  they actually have some healthy food... especially if you want breakfast for dinner.

RACE DAY!

we were up at 330am... well beth was.  she was getting around and i had my head under the covers.  lucky for me katya was coming to pick her up so i got some extra sleep. at 630 i jumped on my bike and headed down to the reservoir.  the weather was perfect.. sunny, getting warm, and practically no wind.  it got down to the final turn to head down to the reservoir and the cops stopped me.  they wouldn't let me down there so i turned around and rode the bike course back into town.  the course was tough for sure and i rode up to the bike "hot corner" and waited for everyone to pass.

i started seeing all the pros go by and then a bunch amateurs... and then my phone rang.  it was beth calling from some random spectators cell phone.  she shredded her rear tire and was waiting for the support vehicle on the side of the road at mile 12.  she races on clinchers and the tire was beyond repair.  she tried "butting" the tire and putting in a tube only go glat again and then spin on the rim for another 8 miles. at mile 20 she stopped again and waited for support... and they showed up, got her a new tire, and she was back rolling... i thought she may have been super bummed (i know i was) but as she rolled by me she was in good spirits and asked me if she was winning.

after she went by i rolled back to the hotel and then headed down to the run course/finish.  i saw all the pros come in and then all the faster amateurs including my homey slater.  he was killing it.  beth rolled in quite a bit later and was still positive and saying hi.  i even got a kiss as she headed out for her first lap on the run. 

she killed the first lap and went back for more.  while she was on lap two people started rolling through the finish.  it was rad.  i have never been at a race with that much excitement at the finish line.

then beth came hauling ass to the finish line... running a 3:23 on a hard, hilly course.  i was blown away.  she nailed it even though she knew she was out of the "race".  so proud of her for not giving up and just giving it everything she had.  without the flat/tire catostrophe i am sure she would have been near the top ten women in the race.

me and the champ

 overall it was a rad trip and i had a lot of fun watching the race.  a bunch of friends had really great races too.  slater, monique, luke, denner, and keevin just to name a few.  super stoked for slater too.. he finished 3rd in his AG and snagged a Kona slot!

that's it for now.  it's been a super busy 3 weeks and I have The Traverse coming up on saturday.  should be another fun one!