Race Week Update #2: doing what I can...

I'm still here and so is my condo. After a stressful. crazy couple of days things are getting back to normal... kind of. I finally left downtown yesterday morning to skies filled with ash, but the mandatory evacuation for my neighborhood was lifted Tuesday morning. I decided to play it safe and give it another day. Everything was fine when I got home. Everything was covered in ash but the fire never got to close to my place. I was one of the lucky ones. There has been some damage that I can't even wrap my head around.

I am now back at Beth's in downtown San Diego and I am all packed and ready to go first thing tomorrow morning. Our flight leaves at 830am so we will be in Maui by noon. I can't wait. I have quite a few images and photos to share from the week so I will keep the writing to a minimum.

Training this week has been a challenge to say the least. Doing anything outside has been impossible. The air quality has been horrible all week and swimming, riding, running outside would do more bad than good. I know I have had a good build up to this race and I had to trust that. So everything I have done this week has been done indoors on the treadmill, trainer, and the indoor pool at the just opened 24 hours Fitness right by my house and just enough to stay sharp and ready to throwdown on Sunday.

The AQI (air quality index) this morning:


a chart explaining the severity:


Here's what I have done training-wise day by day (planned vs. actual):

Monday:
Planned: Rest

Actual: Rest
I took the day off and just sat around with my feet up and did some stretching while being glued to the TV trying figure out what was going on with the fires.

Tuesday:
Planned: AM - Swim - 2500 yards w/ race pace intervals
PM - Run (San Elijo Lagoon) - Race pace intervals 3-2-1-1-1-1-1 (minutes followed by equal recoveries). 40 minutes.

Actual: AM - Run (treadmill) - Race pace intervals 3-2-1-1-1-1-1. (minutes followed by equal recoveries). 40 minutes.
PM - Ride (trainer) - easy spinning, recovery watts. easy, easy.

I had been feeling really good in the pool over last weekend and was bummed I couldn't swim, but was very pleased with the run. I read about mega fast guys like Simon Whitfield and Hunter Kemper doing a lot of treadmill workouts and have been wanting to incorporate them into my training. After this workout I will definitely be hitting the treadmill for regular speed workouts next year. I loved the even pacing and controlled efforts. The recovery ride was just to spin out the legs and I followed that up with some good stretching.

spinning away in Beth's apartment:


Wednesday:
Planned: - Ride (MTB) - short climbing intervals done at race pace with plenty of recover. 90 minutes total.

Actual: - Ride (trainer) - intervals done at race pace (threshold watts) with plenty of recover. 75 minutes total.

The trainer workout was solid. Having a Power Tap to gauge the effort is key. I could just lock in my cadence and wattage for duration of the interval. I also wore long sleeves to simulate the heat of Maui and sweated my arse off. I followed that up with some more good stretching.

Thursday (today):
Planned: AM swim - 2000 yards w/ race pace intervals

Actaul: AM swim - 2300 yards w/ race pace intervals

I was kind of torn last night as I was sitting on my computer looking at the air quality index. There was a chance it could be better in the morning and I really wanted to get in a swim. The YMCA is closed all week so my only option would be my work pool, which is outside. My plan was to get up early this morning check the AQI and make the call. As you can see from the chart above it was horrible. So I went to plan B. A brand new 24 hour fitness had just opened a couple of weeks ago a couple from miles from my house and they have a 3 lane pool. I have a lifetime membership (paid in full) to 24 hour but haven't been in over a year. So I headed and figured the pool would be packed because nobody could do anything outdoors. I was wrong. I had the pool to myself. Swam for 45 minutes and called it a day. On another note... the gym is killer. All the equipment is brand new, the pool is solid, and the locker room is huge. I will definitely be spending a quite a bit of time there over the winter to try and pack some lb's of muscle on my scrawny frame.

Well that's it for now. I just finished a killer dinner. Time to rest and relax. I will post again from Maui before the race. Here's some photos/images from the week:

This is right up the street from my house. The hill in the background is where I do a lot of my training both riding and running. Stolen from a news site.


The smoke-filled sky as I was leaving downtown Wednesday morning. I actually saw people out jogging and there the ash was falling like snow flurries. Not smart.


check all the smoke over the ocean. it's supposed to blow back onshore over the weekend.


cooking my post swim breakkie this morning:


the finished product: scrambled eggs with brown rice, spinach, red onion, mushrooms, roma tomato, shredded cheese, taptio hot sauce, & salsa. Fruit bowl on the side. word.


Beth coaching me through my trainer workout:

Race Week: We're on Fire!!

I was contemplating what I was going to write in this post last night as I sat around after a killer dinner thinking about how I totally ripped apart my weekend workouts. Seriously, my race-sim (bike/run) on Saturday was incredible. I was strong and fast and PR'd every climb on the bike and all my checkpoints on the run. My training plan and peak were right on the money.

Then I woke up this morning had a good breakfast and then when I headed out to my truck I was greeted by my neighbors informing me that we were under mandatory evacuation. Apparently the wild fires had spread like crazy overnight and it was moving in my direction with no let up in the foreseeable future. So i gathereed all my important documents, computers, some clothes, and I am now at my girlfirends apartment downtown.... nice and safe. I also got my road bike and my mtb is at B&L getting tuned for the race on Sunday. I am supposed to fly out on friday mornning so I hopefully I will be able to get back into my house before then but they said it could still get worse before it gets better... pretty nuts!!



So right now Worlds is the furthest thing from my mind. I am just hoping the fire doesn't reach my condo and all my friends and co-workers are safe.

Here's a couple of photos from I was leaving my house:





I'll keep everybody posted...

Peak phase update #3

Just over 9 days away... 9 days and 2 hours to be exact (at time of posting!)

I'm ready.

I am feeling good and really starting to look forward to race. I can't believe it's only 9 days away. I have seen some really good numbers in my workouts this week. It's amazing what going into and interval workout rested and ready to throwdown will do.

My race simulation/peak workout wednesday morning consisted of an off road ride with climbs at race pace/effort followed up by my "xterra" running loop. The workout was done in a light drizzle and by the end I was covered in mud. I won't go into the details and splits but I will let you know that I set PR's on the long mtb climbs and smashed my checkpoints on the run. I guess that's what is supposed to happen when you're in "peak" mode.

my bike after the ride:


Things have been looking good in the pool too. I have opted to skip masters the next couple of weeks and just spend the early mornings solo in the pool at work. I like it. It's dark. The lights are on a timer and they haven't adjusted them yet. So when I get in the pool at 615am the deck and in-pool lights have already automatically shut off. It makes me feel hardcore... haha. I also get to swim solo and have been getting in very race specific workouts. I love swimming masters and the workouts are killer, but they are definitely not built around my training plan. Spending and hour swimming at work doing exactly what I need to is the way to go. I have one workout in particular that I am really liking right now... I will share it later.

Saturday will be another race simulation/peak workout but a little shorter in duration as we get closer to the race, but I will still be cranking it up with some full blow race efforts mixed with plenty of rest and recovery.

well that's it for now. I gotta go ride. I'll check in after the weekend.

Good Racing, good beers, goodtimes,... and more good beer.

Things are busy for me right now. I just started the second week of my "peak" phase after having a killer weekend out in the Arizona desert. Let's re-cap.

riding in the desert:


Friday:
I headed out early Friday morning, hit the pool for some yards, and then got on the road to Tempe. I got to Tom's office early in the afternoon to meet up with him and Trevor for a pre-ride of the course. We headed over in the 95+ degree heat and got in about an hour of riding on the course. It wasn't marked very well but we did out best. Tom raced the course last year so he got us through most of it.

After that is was back to Tom's for showers and then we got some chronic food to grill.

temp gauge in my truck.. before the ride:


Saturday:
We were up early for coffee and to get ready to head down to the race. It was an 8am race start and we were all using it for a training race for Worlds so we just took our time and cruised down to the race. The temps were in the mid 70's and perfect. I met up with Dan and Travis from Mafia Racing, hung out for a bit, and then got ready to race.

The Race (750 swim,10 mile mtb,3.5 mile trail/road run)

Swim:
I had a good swim. It was wetsuit optional and since I am getting ready for Maui I decided to go without it. Good choice. i love racing without a wetsuit. I am actually faster without it and came out of the water just behind the leaders and ahead of a lot of people wearing wetsuits.

Bike:
I had an Ok ride. There were some sketchy loose sections and just made sure I was riding smart and pushing where I could. On the second lap I ran into a lot of lap traffic and with all the single track and first timers it made for some hard passing. I definitely got caught behind some slow people and opted to just chill instead of taking chances and taking somebody out or crashing myself. Overall it was solid... I got passed by one guy and I kept the rubber side down!

Run:
I felt really good coming off the bike. I ran hard, passed the guy that passed me on the bike in the first mile and just kept up the pace. There was really no one else to catch. I was sitting in 4th overall and just pushed on to the finish.

heading for the line:


results
2nd AG
4th Overall

post race refreshments:


Overall podium:


The race was a good time. We followed it up with cold pbr's courtesy of the mafia crew. After helping breakdown the race site and drinking more beers we headed across Tempe Town Lake for the Tour de Fat. yep... more beers.

me and trevor taking in some of New Belgiums finest:


Sunday:
I was contemplating just getting up and getting on the road, but I am glad I didn't. Tom, Trevor, and I met Brian out at McDowell Mountain park for some super fun desert single track. It was killer. We rode for a couple of hours and then headed back to Tom's and I showered split with the quickness.

some of the fun mcdowell has to offer:


This week:
I am back in full-on peaking mode so it's a mix of intense, race pace efforts and a lot of rest. I am feeling good.

I am now riding/racing for Mafia Racing. Check them out. It's a killer race team that I am stoked to be on.

Here's a bunch more photos from the weekend....

me, trevor, tom:


more fun:


even more fun:


follow me for goodtimes:


post race lunch with the boys:


bikes were every where at the Tour de Fat:


I need one of these:


oh thank heaves... fueling the long drive home:

Peak Phase: update #1

Saturday was my first peak workout and I had another this morning. These workouts have full blown race pace intervals mixed with some recovery. These workouts are tough as I am really trying to simulate the intensity I will be throwing down come race day.

In total I will have 6 of these workouts before Maui and each one will be a brick. The only thing that will change is the duration of the bike and run. As I get closer to race day (10/28) the efforts will stay really intense but the duration will be on the decline.

All the workouts will be done on the same course and will be paying close attention to my splits and hopefully seeing the times come down as I get closer to my "peak".

They only exception will be this weekend. I will substituting one of my peak workouts with a race... and a killer one. I will be racing the PBR Off Road Triathlon in Tempe, AZ on Saturday. Yeah.. that's right... a triathlon sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon. There is now way I could pass this up. Another reason for me going out there is I am going to start racing for Mafia Racing and they are putting on the race.

The course is relatively short compared to an Xterra off road tri, but the short distances is what I think will make it a good workout right now. I can go hard and it won't take too long to recover from. It's also a mass start, it should be in the mid 80's, and hopefully it will be a non-wetsuit swim. This will all make it good prep for Worlds.

750 swim - one loop in tempe town lake
10 mile bike - 2 laps in Papago Park
3 mile run - 1 lap


There is also a post race party sponsored by PBR.... good times!

Game on.

It's on. I have now entered the "peak" phase of my training and even though it has been a long season I have plenty of motivation going into these final weeks. My key workouts now will be race simulation bricks with varying intervals at race pace and also focusing on fueling as I would in the race. I really like these workouts because I love dialing up the intensity.

Recovery from these workouts is going to be as important as the workouts themselves. So I will definitely be very conscious of how my body is feeling and will make sure I am doing everything right to going into my peak workouts ready to go all out.

This weekend was solid. I had a good brick on Saturday. It was a tough MTB ride with over 4000ft of climbing and then a run off the bike in which I felt incredible. I really nailed my nutrition in this workout. Sunday it as a nice long run in San Elijo lagoon and a nice easy spin along the coast in the afternoon.

That's it. Here are some more photos from Tahoe:

What doesn't kill you...

I'm recovering well:


The view from the Reno airport Monday morning. It was snowing on the drive from Incline Village to Reno. Crazy weather.


This is going to be the last post that about Tahoe and Xterra Nationals. I have got tons of comments, advice, and support based on my last post and bad race. I want to say thanks to everyone who posted some good comments and everybody else that either emailed or called me. It's rad to know there people actually reading and following along who are willing to take the time to drop me a line.

I took a lot from the race, both good and bad. Sitting here right now I am not disappointed and the race is behind me. I had a killer long weekend up there hanging out and training with Trevor, Cody, and Tom (and Brian on Sunday Night for beers and mexi-food) . They all had killer races and as always I learned a lot from Trevor and Cody. They both have a lot of experience, have had a lot of success, and are always willing to offer me advice/tips. That's what I'll take away from this past weekend.

Check out Cody's new coaching website. http://www.epcmultisport.com/

They put my quote of on the big screen at the Night of Champions dinner the night before the race.... killer.


So my post race thoughts...

Mistakes made:
1. Wearing Blue Seventy wetsuit socks.
- they alone probably cost me a couple of minutes in transition, on the course, and didn't even keep my feet from going numb. In T1 it made taking my wetsuit off over them nearly impossible and I fumbled around in T2 trying to get them off. Next year I will just wear them down to the lake and for the warm-up and take them off right before the start.

2. Swim warm-up
- this was a tough call with it being so cold. I played it safe and didn't warm up as much as I probably should have. I was probably in the water for 10 minutes and I should have made it 20. I really wasn't ready to go for it at the gun, but I wanted to stay warm. I know now that no matter what the cold waters of lake Tahoe are going to get to me. I just have to accept it and deal with it.

3. Forgetting camelback
- this was just mental mistake on my part but it should not have derailed my whole race. I should have had a back up plan. I will stay taping 2 gels to my bike in case something happens with my planned nutrition.

4. Wearing too much gear
- Again, trying to stay warm on the bike. Under my wetsuuit I had an UA shirt on under my tri suit (this wasn't bad) and knee warmers. In T1 I put on a L/S jersey, decided to keep the wetsuit socks on, and then thick gloves once on the bike. I definitely stayed warm with the exception of my feet. The knee warmers were cool until I got to the run where one of them kept falling down. L/S jersey was a hassle, but probably worth the warmth it provided. I am always warmer on the bike that I think I am going to be. I need to remember this... and probably save me minutes in transition.

Good stuff:
1. The bike
- I felt strong on the bike and was riding by people and didn't let anybody get by me. The power was there. My goal was to break 2 hours on the bike (I rode 2:07 last year) and I am sure I would have if I didn't have to sit down on the trailside to put my shoe back on my frozen foot. I ended up with a bike/T2 split of 2:00:03. If my nutrition would have been on point I wouldn't have started to blow up on the last climb. So I think I would have been closer to 1:55. If you take 5 minutes off my swim/T1 time (last year I was 30min, 5 min faster than this year) and 5 minutes off my bike I would have been right around 3rd place in my AG.

2. Getting through the run
- The run was a struggle to say the least, but I still pulled off a top 20 run split. Considering how I felt I'm pretty stoked I pushed through. I definitely paid the price and ended up in the med tent, but I didn't leave anything out there.

3. Race prep
- I was feeling pretty sharp and rested race morning. I think the workouts and approach I took in the days preceding the race were right on the money. It was kind of a dress rehearsal for Worlds so I am stoked to have it dialed in and will have confidence in the approach.

That's it for now. Tahoe is behind and will serve as good motivation as finish up the last bit of training before Worlds. I am feeling good and ready to get after it this weekend.

Here's some photos from the weekend and this week and also link to a video of the race. There is a good clip of me in the video running over the log bridge. I am wearing the all red B&L kit and NUUN visor.

Xterra USA Championships Video

run between laps on the swim:


running into transition. I look like I am having a great time.


Heading out on the bike... what's missing?


Post race refreshments:


congrats to Will for getting the Mr. Xterra award. After his trip this summer there was no one even close to deserving this more than him. Big ups!


We're a lively bunch. Post race party. Actually we got out beers at the bar and then just chilled in the Hyatt lobby... we were all pretty beat down and tired.


my bike making it on the plane in Reno.


Dinner of the week: Basil & Pesto chicken/turkey sausage sauteed in EVOO and balsamic vinegar with garlic, red onions, cremini mushrooms, smoked sun-dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, spinach and then topped with some dijon mustard and goat cheese. Whole wheat tortilla on the side.


work in progress.

Xterra National Championships Race Report

it was a rough one...

I am sitting in the Reno airport with some time to kill so I thought i would knock this out. This will just be a race report (it's going to be a long one) and will post later in the week on what I learned from the race and where my head is at.

Here's the official report from the Xterra site: Xterra Nationals

I don't even know where to begin to tell the story of this race. There were some highs and a lot of lows, but I defintely took a lot from the race and will fuel my fire for my goal A race of the season, Xterra Worlds in a month. If you have been reading the blog the last couple of days you know weather was pretty gnarly so I don't need to go into that too much. I'll just start with race morning.

Pre-race:

I was up nice and early with a steaming hot cup of coffee and jumped on my computer to check out the weather. At 530am it was 27 degrees... killer! I had my usual pre-race meal of oatmeal and then put on a bunch of layers of clothing and Trevor and I headed down to transition (it was a half mile from the condo) about 730am.

I got a solid spot in transition and just tried to keep warm. I even used hand warmers. At about 830am I head down to the lake.

Swim: 1500m

The water was 58 degrees and I decided to wear a Zoot neoprene cap and Blue Seventy wetsuit socks to try to stay warm. I got in a nice warm-up and we had to exit the water for the pre-race briefing. I got pretty cold standing there but I am sure everyone else was in the same boat.

The canon fired and we were off and I was swimming with a pretty good pack. I probably started out a little to hard considering we were at 6500ft and I struggle swimming at altitude. As we approached the first buoy things were pretty typical and bunched up. As I was swimming around the buoy I took a heel kick from a guy doing butterfly right to the adam's apple. It choked me and swallowed a ton of water. I was already out of breath from the hard effort to the buoy so I was in a pretty bad predicament. I had to totally stop swimming and I just sat to the inside of everyone for a couple of minutes as I tried to catch my breath and cough up water. After I recovered I was on my way and basically just got through the swim and ran my way to T1.

T1:

My first transistion was a nightmare. My hands were numb and I was cold. I had decided to leave on the blue seventy socks for the bike in hopes they would keep my feet warmer than being barefoot, bad idea. I had such a hard time getting my wetsuit off my feet becuase it was getting hung up on the socks. Once out of my suit I threw on a long sleeve jersey and tried to put my shoes on. With frozen hands and feet putting on my shoes was a challenge for sure and it also took me quite a bit of time to buckle my helmet. I was in full-on panic mode because I was taking so long. Finally I was out of transition and on my bike.

Swim + T1: 35:25

bike: 24 miles

I was stoked to be on my bike and out of the water and t1. I was hammering down the road on my way to tunnel creek road. About a half mile down the road and realized that with me rushing in T1 I failed to put on my camelback. My camelback was filled with all my calories/electrolytes (NUUN + Carbopro) and my spare tube, air, and multitool. I was too far out to turn back and with everybody else exiting T1 I dont even know if I could get back in. So I just hammered away.

As soon as I got to the long climb that is Tunnel Creek road I started passing a lot people and was feeling really good on the bike, but knew I was really far back from being in contention. So I just really pushed it and was able ride a way from alot of people and didn't get passed on the climb at all. At the end of the climb is the first aid station and I needed water... bad. I only have one cage on my bike so I had to decided between gatorade endurance and water. I chose water becuase I knew I would not be ablt to stomach the gatorade and thought being hydrated was the most important thing.

I was having a good time, going fast on the flume and made my way through more people. I was pretty cold on the flume as it's all in the shade. So I just kept riding harder and harder to generate heat. At the end of the flume there is a small bridge and then a rocky, technical climb. I made it most of the way up the climb, but had to dismount right at the very end. So I was running my bike up the rocks when I hear someone yell, "Did you lose a shoe?" I didn't know who he was talking to so I kept running up the rocks and then he yelled again. I looked down at my feet and I had no shoe on my right foot. My feet were so numb that I was running without a shoe and didn't even know it. It's probably the funniest thing that has ever happened to me in race. The nice guy actually brought my shoe and I had to sit down trail side to squeeze my feet back into them.

After I got my shoe back on I headed into the second section of climbing and I was still feeling pretty strong. I continued to just ride by people, which I was stoked about because it's usually the other way around. At the top of the climb is the second and final aid station. I had only manage about 3/4 of the bottle of water and this time opted for gatorade because I was in severe need of some calories. As soon as I got the gatorade i took a drink and immediately knew it was going to be tough to drink... it was like syrup to me.

Then there is one more climb before you get to the super fun descent. I was starting to bonk on the climb. I guess pushing yourself to the max for 2 hours with very little water and no calories takes its toll... who knew. I was fading fast but made it to the top and then it was time to descend and I was stoked and had a blast riding the single track. Both sides of the trail were covered in snow which was killer. Definitely a new experience for me.

After the single track you hit a false flat and one more small climb before descending tunnel creek road. I was tapped. I had no power and my calves were cramping a bit. Once I got to tunnel creek road I just opened it up. Then it was back to road and tried to drink some more gatorade but it was making me sick. Before I knew it I was back in transition.

It was pretty discouraging as I entered T2 and I heard the announcer screaming that Conrad Stoltz was headed down the shoot for the win.... and I still had a 10k to run.

T2:

Another shitty transisiton. I had to take the blue seventy socks off and my long sleeve jersey. My feet were still numb so it took longer than usual to get my shoes on. I grabbed my visor and race belt and I was out.

bike + T2: 2:00:03

Run: 10k.

I was feeling like shit but I made a decision not to bag it, but the thought to just cruise and get through it crossed my mind. I grabbed some water at the first aid station as I was leaving transition and just tried to get my body going. I made my way through some guys pretty quickly and just focused on the trail and guys ahead of me. At the second aid station I grabbed a GU, but I was in such a deficit and so dehydrated I could feel it just sitting in my gut.

As I was finishing the first lap I heard them announce that Trevor was finishing. This was also pretty discouraging. While Trevor normally beats me he had just finished the race and I had still had 5k to go and I was getting worse off as time wore on.

The second lap was a full on gut check. mentally I wanted to be done and so did my body. I knew I was not in the race and I thought about Maui for a second and decided to just smash myself and finish. I just wanted to see how hard I could go in my depleted state. So I pushed on and kept passing people. My stomach was cramping and so were my calves and I was starting to feel a twinge in my quads. It got really bad with about 1k to go. I was getting really lightheaded and even missed a turn. I got back on track and finally got to the finish. I was seeing stars and just about collapased.

Run: 40:15

Overall: 3:15:437th AG

72nd Overall
Official results

I was out of it. I really didn't know what I was doing and just wanted to get off my feet. I was helped over to the med tent where I basically collapsed to all fours. I couldn't even talk, I was kind of blacking out, and dry heaving. Good times. I was in a bad place and was starting to get really cold. I couldn't even take in water. Everytime I would take a swig I would cough it back up. They laid me out in the sun to get me warm, raised my feet to get my blood flowing. All my friends were concerned and huddled around the tent making sure I was ok. After a while I got to my feet and headed out....

Here's a couple of photos from the the post race explosion. Thanks to Drew for the photos.

More later....