After my win in Winter Park last week, I got back after it. It’s now 4 weeks until the XTERRA Mountain Cup in Beaver Creek, 14 weeks until XTERRA Nationals in Utah and 18 weeks until XTERRA Worlds in Maui. It’s time to stay focused, buckle down and hit it hard.

Last week’s training looked like this:

• Monday: Recovery spin (2:00)
• Tuesday: Short interval speed swim (:45), Vo2 bike-run combo intervals (2:00).
• Wednesday: Endurance climbing mtb ride (3:30), hilly transition run (1:00), open water endurance swim (:40)
• Thursday: Recovery spin (1:30)
• Friday: Race Prep: Course pre-ride (1:30), acceleration run (:15), acceleration swim (:15)
• Saturday: XTERRA Buffalo Creek
• Sunday: Recovery spin (1:30)

XTERRA Buffalo Creek went well overall. We ended up with a small, but solid group of pros in the men’s field. Branden Rakita and myself were the “regular” Xterra pros, and then we had 3 solid ITU pros from Boulder joining in on the fun, and a couple of other guys in the mix as well. I had yet another lack luster swim leaving me 5 minutes behind the four leaders getting on my bike. Branden and the ITU dudes swam 20 minutes, I swam alone in 24:50. Sad.

Anyhow, I had made my mind up before the race that I wanted to put everything into my bike at this race. Leave nothing behind and simply kill the bike course. Mostly for confidence purposes heading towards my A-races, but I also knew that was my only chance at winning the race as Branden and the others would kill me out of the water.

I hit it hard out of transition and never let up. I think I may have ridden that course about as cleanly and focused as I could. I covered the 20 miles, 3000 feet of climbing of fire road and singletrack in 1:23. just shy of 5 minutes faster than Branden and 7-10 minutes faster than the other ITU dudes.

Out of T2 I was in second only 40 seconds behind Branden. I kept my focus and headed off on the run with the goal of winning. At the halfway point, after the only climb and descent portion of the run, I closed it to 20 seconds and I could see 1st place ahead. I zeroed in and put my head down and ran. Along the flat lake road Branden was able to keep his distance despite my effort. With a half mile to go, into the final trail portion back to the finish I knew I was running out of trail to catch him. Then 200 yards to go I hear someone behind me! Shit, I forgot about the ITU guys running behind me. Around the final corner and 50 yards to go I get out sprinted for 2nd and finish a dissapointing 3rd place. 22 seconds from first, 2 seconds from 2nd.

Major bummer and bad mistake on my part to not look behind me on the run. I was so focused on the runner ahead, that I lost track of the faster runners behind. Painful lesson to learn, but glad it was here rather than at Nationals and for 2nd place and not 1st.

Still a solid race and a strong bike which was what I was looking for. Now it’s time to focus in and get ready for the big events ahead. My plan is to swim a bit more so I can maybe get a minute back by Nationals, keep the bike going on the upward swing with more bike racing, and maintain my run strength for the hilly courses ahead.

CW

This last week has been an odd one. The first few days I was tired from a hard race in Idaho and some poor recovery practices below (see Rough Recovery below). Then mid-week I attempted to resume training and found that I had still had heavy legs and a lack of desire to train hard. Wednesday I hit the trails for a 3:30 hour off-road ride with two 30+ minute climbs followed by a 1-hour hilly trail run. Legs felt heavy and slow. Still recovering I figured. Later in the afternoon I had an open water swim scheduled but I bagged it due to lack of desire and motivation. Thursday’s plan was another ride with 1-2×25 min LT climbs in the morning then an evening Stroke n Stride in Boulder. I got one climb in and called it quits. Legs and energy still feeling off. Bagged the swim-run race deciding that I need to get my head on straight and legs feeling better by next week when I need to get back after it. Friday was a light spin.

Saturday Kathy and I decided to drive up to Winter Park for the Hill Climb kick-off race to their annual mountain bike series. It was a perfect mountain day with highs in the 60′s, sun and some clouds and light winds. Warming-up I noticed my legs feeling better and I was looking forward to the race.

The race was 5.2 miles straight up the dirt service road to the top the main chairlift on the mountain. About a 2500 ft climb. It was hardpack and smooth. Some guys were riding cross bikes, others super light fully rigid bikes and others their only full suspension bikes. I considered bringing my CX bike but instead opted for my trusty ARC hardtail with Schwalbe Furious Fred tires. It’s a pound heavier than my CX bike (18.5 vs 17.5 lbs), but the wheels and tires are lighter on the mtn bike than the CX bike, so I went with the lightest rotating weight option. The PRO field was about 40 strong. I recognized a lot of the faces from last year. Same faces, new bikes and kits for 2009.

Up the first mile I felt suprisingly good and was easily turning my big chainring over while hearing other around me gasping for air at 9000+ feet. By the end of the first mile it was a 5-man race. I decided to take control and see what they were made of. At the front of the group I put in several surges to see who could hang. Now down to three of us I pushed on at a steady pace. After a few more switchback surges I took a galnce back to see who was left. One man, Michael Matters.

With about a mile and a half to go we rounded a corner and the steepest part of the course was in sight. Kathy happened to be there and was in disbelief that I was the first rider coming around the bend. She cheered hard (as she always does) and pushed harder. I gave it all I had up the first steep pitch. Mathers was still there. I began to worry. Then I pushed with all I had up the second steep part. Snap. He was gone. I had put a 20 second gap on him. The road levels out a bit. I pushed hard knowing that he would have the advantage on this stretch on his 29′er. Out of the trees I could see the final stretch that finished on one last steep pitch. Matters was holding strong and closed about 5 secs on the flat stretch. I grit my teeth and dug deep to the line finishing first by 15 seconds.

Legs felt great today. This was a much needed confidence boost. I have been down on my biking lately at the races and this picks up my spirits. It’s amazing how a good result can quickly turn around your attitude and motivation. Not that mine was that far gone, but I was in need of a boost for my final weeks leading up to my priority race.

After the ride Kathy and I hit the trails for a light 30 minute run. Then a bite to eat and a coffee for the trip home. I’ll be back in two weeks to contest race #2 in the series. Looking forward to racing the bike again!

CW

Last Sunday was rough. My traveling companions had early flights home so I was forced to wake-up at 4 am local time to head to the airport and wait. My flight wasn’t until 1:30 pm local time. Then to top things off, a tornado east of Denver caused my connecting flight in Salt Lake to run late so I didn’t make it home until 8:00 pm. Brutal! Being stuck in airports all day, I didn’t get any activity in. Not an ideal recovery day by any means.

Monday I was up early again (not as early as Sunday, thank god) to help Kathy get the kids to day camp on time with swim gear and lunches packed. Then I had a day packed with work. Spent several hours at Wheat Ridge Cyclery, spent time on the phone/computer with coaching athletes, and ran a few errands. Again, I didn’t get home until 8:00 pm and no workout was involved.

Tuesday morning was more kid and work stuff through the morning. By the afternoon I was finally able to get out on the bike for a ride. Legs were toast. It took huge effort to pedal down the block. Gradually I loosened up over the two hour ride, but not by much. Recovery days are critical components to everyone’s training plan. The more you train, the more of a necessity they are. The body gets accustomed to working out everyday and if you take multiple days off it will revolt by shutting down and stiffening up. If you know what I’m talking about, you know it’s not fun.

Lesson here: train hard, race hard, recover. Recovery needs to involve extra sleep, activity to flush the body, stretch and massage. Don’t sabotage your efforts by not recovering properly.

“Now you know, and knowing is half the battle!” -G.I. Joe

A mild storm had rolled in over night bringing cooler temperatures and wind. The swim was extended to 1600 meters once the water was a confirmed 55 degrees. Not bad temp at all. The wind brought on very rugged waters. Some of the most difficult I’ve experienced. Five foot swells and a seemingly never ending headwind length. I had a great start, got out with the lead group for the first 200 and then settled in at my pace. Melanie came up along side and I stuck with her for the remainder of the swim. Now normally coming out of the water with Melanie is a good start to the race, but she had a less than stellar swim so, once again I was 4 minutes behind from the get-go.

On to the bike. I started out with Ryan Ignatz on my wheel. I let him around and wanted to sit in until I found my biking legs. Well that took 3/4 of the first lap and by then he was a minute ahead of me. Frustrating. I need to get going quicker once on the bike. Giving up a few minutes on the bike cannot be an option. My second lap was strong, but by then I was over a minute down on the chase group where I needed to be.

Off the bike I quickly changed into running mode. Thanks to the solid bike-run intervals I have been doing lately, I was able to find my running legs immediately. I think I may be becoming a better runner than cyclist! What’s up with that? I ran the first half entirely alone. Pushing hard through the trees I saw Jasper Blake in the distance. I pushed harder. He looked back on a climb, realized I was closing, and picked up the pace. If there were more hills I may have had a chance, but with only downhills left, he maintained his distance. Still a solid run. I was only a minute, minute-fifteen behind the best splits of the day with the exception of Nico who was 2 minutes ahead of everyone else.

A 9th place finish it is. I’m pleased that I’m getting closer to the front group with every race. Less than 10 minutes down from the front group (remember I lost 4 in the swim alone!), and only 2 minutes from 6th place. So I was right in there again. Had I been able to find my bike legs faster I could have potentially made up that time up. More training ahead, but I am feeling more and more confident heading towards July!

CW

photos courtesy of Sue Hutter

Made it to Northern Idaho yesterday. Round 4 of the XTERRA Cup Series takes us to Bayview, Idaho (about 30 minutes north of Coeur d’Alene). I met Brian Barret at the Spokane airport and will be rooming with him and Jason Hilgers (comes in today) for the weekend. Travels were good and uneventful. We were able to unpack the bikes and get in a short spin to get a lay-of-the-land.

Today we will ride the coures a couple times and run the course once. Maybe take a dip in the lake. Rumor has it at the local coffee shop that the water temp is 48 degrees!!! Crazy.

This week I have been coming around from my rest week. Last week I came doen with some bad allergies that had cold-like symptoms without the fatigue. Stuffy nose, watery eyes, coughing. I got in a good long run on Thursday, long ride on Friday, Saturday I took off completely due to the allergies. Sunday I hit the trails for a longer mtn bike ride with my boys (luke, ed, rickey, hairy jason, and jason h.) followed by a strong run with hairy jason following the bike. Legs are feeling good!

Monday was easy, Tuesday was a hard swim and a bike/run combo interval day. Wedneday was travel. Today here we are. I’ll post some pics and course info later this evening.

CW