Here are some great images from Nationals from Nils Nilsen (yes that’s his real name).

Well the 2009 USA Championships have come and gone. I really liked the new venue (new for champs anyway) at Snowbasin. The weather is better than Tahoe, the scenery is nearly as good, the race course much more to my liking and the overall travel and accommodation expense is less. Great combination. XTERRA did a great job putting on the event once again, and I was told the number of competitors was higher than ever.

The mens pro race was a tough one. The top ten men all brought their A-Games and no one had any mechanical issues, crashes, or bad days (except for maybe Brian Smith who just returned from a race in China a few days prior). Everyone raced to the best of their abilities and the best man won: Nico Lebrun. The guy is a climbing machine. I aspire to someday reach his abilites for sure.

CW pre-race and ready to rip

Final prep prior to the start

My race started out as good I could hope for. After the first lap of the two-lap swim, I was 45 seconds off the leader Seth Wealing. I had the best 750 meters of my racing career to date. Then on the second lap I seemed to fall apart and faded back as swimmers passed me up, first Josiah, then Nico, several amatuers and finally Melanie McQuaid, Leslie Paterson and Sara Tarkington in the final hundred meters. I came out of the water 3:30 down from leader Seth, and about 2 minutes off the chase group of Conrad, Josiah, Mike Vine and Nico. Still improvement from earlier in the year, but not as good as I had hoped for. I guess I need to work on that race-pace endurance still so I can hold that 750 speed for the whole 1500.

Getting ready to start (I’m done on the end in the green caps)

Off we go!

Up to transition catching teammate Sara Tarkington

Onto the bike and up to T2 I chased. I could see and hear the helicopter just ahead I knew I was still in the race. I motored solo, passing the swimmers that took advantage of me on my second lap swim, to try to bridge up to the chase group. I felt strong and confident. I caught Craig Evans early on. Beginning the “upper loop” above the lodge I caught Seth Wealing and dropped him on the steeper climb. The helicopter unfortunately was not getting any closer, and knew the leaders were riding away from me. I bombed the final descent into T2 in 6th pace and heard the leaders were now several minutes up and I was 1:45 from 5th, Branden Rakita.

Trying hard to catch the leaders on the bike

Knowing Seth would not be too far behind, and one of the best runners, I ran hard out of transition and set off to catch Branden for a top-five finish. I ran well. Seth caught me around mile 3 and I used him to pace off of for another mile. Then in the distance I could see Branden up the road. I pushed hard and began to close before the final downhill to the finish. It wasn’t enough however, as I crossed the line in 7th place, 26 seconds out of 6th and 2 minutes out of 5th.

Rounding the final bend into the finish

I gave it my all and felt good about my performance despite not meeting my goal of top 5. Everyone else had solid races as well so I am not disappointed. The points I collected for this race kept me in my 10th place overall for the 2009 season standings as well. With a couple more minutes out of my swim, a few on the bike and a couple more on the run and will be in the hunt for the overall win in 2010. That will be my motivator all winter.

Now it’s recovery time, before a final rebuild heading into the World Championships in four weeks time. If I can race this well in Maui, I think a a top-ten could be within reach, which would be a satisfying way to end my Junior Year on the XTERRA circuit in 2009.

Other EPC’ers to note include a 6th place overall for Sara Tarkington, Amateur overall winner Hairy Jason Michalak, and 40-44 AG winner Ed Oliver. The entire EPC squad represented all weekend long and made it a great trip!

Jason Michalak wins the amatuer overall at Xterra Nationals in Utah.
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The EPC Men and their YETI’s, prior to heading out for more course previewing.

Easy day today in Utah. The EPC men and I headed up to Snowbasin for an easy ride of the upper loop of the course this morning. This 40 minute section of the course has a short bit of steep climbing before a rocky rolling section and final switchback descent into T2. It’s a section of trail that is good to see more than a couple times to get the lines down and dial in tire pressure and such. After the ride we waited for Ed to do his TV interview piece. Every year since 2006 an EPC athlete has been featured on XTERRA TV’s coverage of the USA Champs (Me in 2006, Julie in 2007, Cary in 2008, Ed in 2009). Pretty cool stat! After the media coverage, we headed down the hill to the lake for a swim, before heading back for lunch and a nap.

Ed getting his fame on for XTERRA TV.

Prior to our riding today we enjoyed the super posh accommodations that Snowbasin has to offer. This is by far the sweetest XTERRA venue on the circuit. The restrooms in the main lodge are something to behold. Marble, brass, and oak abound. Private rooms to do your business in (are we still on that?), and plush towels to dry your hands afterward. Very Nice.


That’s me admiring the exquisite marble inlays.


Luke loosening up pre-ride in the bathrooms foyer

Rickey stunned (and possibly a bit relieved) by his accomplishment

Made the drive over to Utah yesterday. After one final Masters swim in the AM, I picked up my mom in Boulder (the whole family arrives on Thursday!) and off we went. I forgot how long it takes to get to Utah. It doesn’t ever sound very far, but driving across the entire southern half of Wyoming is an endless drag. At least the freak snow-storm that occurred made it slightly more interesting for the first couple hours. Anyway, seven hours later we were in Ogden.

Southern WY on Tuesday morning.

Getting in kinda late and settled into our hotel/condo, I headed out for an easy evening spin around town to get some fresh air and get the blood flowing a bit. Whenever I travel it seems that my body gets thrown out of whack and off it’s regular “schedule”, if you know what I mean. Not too be too graphic, but pooping is essential to feeling good and feeling fast. When it doesn’t happen, it can be a real problem. Those who know me well, know I have had problems in the past with this when traveling to races. However I am happy to say that I may have figured this problem out finally with the help of a couple products over the last few months.

My keys to big time regularity

Tuesday morning was a bit rushed and rituals were missed. Sitting in a car for 7 hours doesn’t help the issue. Eating several time throughout the day and having nothing to deposit by the end had me concerned, but this morning, with the help of my new found problem solvers, I was on my way to a great day. Multiple times, if you know what I mean!

After breakfast (and business), I headed up to the race venue for a course preview session. Weather is great here, by the way, and is suppose to great all week. Gone are the days of freezing your ass off in Tahoe. Welcomed are the 75 degree days with zero chance for snow. The courses are pretty much the same as last year with a little bit extra added to the run to make it a full 10k. I rode the ARC HT with a fresh pair of Furious Fred’s and felt pretty confident for most of the course. The top section gets a little rockier and a beefier tire would be nice, but 90% of the course calls for the lightweight, high speed of the Fred’s. I think I will stick with them and ride the downhills a few more times to be sure before race day. The course has a lot of climbing and pretty much non-technical despite being around 80% singletrack. The run is fast with only two short climbs, one right of T2 for about 5-6 minutes and the second around 2/3 of the way in for another 5-6 minutes. Other than that, it’s pretty fast and moderately techy with some tricky footing and loose downhills.

Setting up the compound for XTERRA National Champs

Legs and body feel great. Tomorrow will be a bit lighter with a shorter ride and a swim. Oh yeah, checkout my new helmet and USA Champs inspired shades from Rudy Project. The Genetyk shades are in a red/white/blue color scheme and the new Sterling helmet is totally killer. This prototype is crazy light and super comfy. Looks sweet too!

The new 2010 Sterling and Genetyk from Rudy

Race Week is here! Six days till the big one.

The last two weeks have gone very well and mostly as planned. Peak Week 1 consisted of 17 hours of training, two successful Peak Workouts, one endurance workout, several good swims and more recovery. Peak Week 2, last week, consisted of 15 hours of training, two more successful Peak Workouts, one endurance ride, and more recovery.

Saturday was PW #4, Crescent Moon Sprint Triathlon at Cherry Creek. This is one of the larger and more competitive sprint tri’s in the Denver/Boulder area. End of season hoorah for most or a final tune-up for those athletes heading to Ogden, Kona, Maui, and/or Clearwater in the coming weeks. I was able to pull off a close 4th place amongst some solid road pro’s. I was within a minute out of the water, posted the fastest bike split of the day, and 4th fastest run, again within a minute of the top guys. Finished just over a minute from first place and even closer to 2nd and 3rd places. The good news is I had a little room to spare for pushing and the body felt great. Get me off-road and I’m ready to crush!

Today is travel prep day. Laundry, packing, bike prep, house cleaning, car wash and bill paying are all the schedule today along with an easy swim and bike ride to stay loose. I swim one last Masters tomorrow morning before heading out to Ogden. Everything feels right on track.

Wednesday morning was my PW #3 of Operation Ogden. The two days in between #2 and #3 have been recovery in nature with swimming, light riding, and napping. PW #3 consisted of a one-hour masters swim followed by a 2 hour mtb ride including a trip up Mt Falcon for time followed by a 30 minute trail run with two 7 minute climbs at race pace.

The swim didn’t go so well. Tuesday (day before) I had an awesome swim with my masters group in the 50 meter pool. I was following in the fast lane and hanging strong through a 20×100 set with the 100′s in groups of 5 consisting of a 1:40, 1:35, 1:30 and 1:25 interval. These are 50 meter lengths here, so that’s damn fast for me. The first 10 I was able to get a short rest between intervals, but the by the last 5-7 reps I was getting in a breath or two before hitting it again. Brutal is all I can say, but I felt the improvement. Wednesday morning was another story. I was toast. Feeling cocky after the previous mornings swim, I jumped in the fast lane again, this time in the 25 meter pool. The set called for 4x(300+3×100) at some ridiculous pace. I made it through the first set before pulling the plug and moving down a lane and taking it a bit easier.

After the swim I headed out on the mountain bike for a trip up Falcon, around and down Lair of the Bear and back to the house. 2 hours 15 minutes in all. My climb up Falcon went well. I rode pretty smoothly on the lower portion, bobbled a few sections and dropped a few f-bombs on the upper rocky section and made it up in 22:30. That’s a few seconds within my time up in the week prior to Beaver Creek, so my bike fitness is here and confidence is high.

My run was strong off the bike. Strong on the hills and fast on the rollers. Feeling well prepared and ready to race. Now two more recovery days and then another PW on Saturday with a final tune-up sprint race at Cherry Creek Res. Then next week it’s off to Utah for course recon and final preparations.

Peak Phase, week 1 is complete. Last Wednesday took a bit more than I expected out of me (see previous post). The rest of last week was taken pretty easy to gear up for PW #2 on Sunday. Thursday was a Masters swim and endurance climbing ride. Friday I took the whole day off to rest and get some work done. Saturday was another Masters swim and an easy bike ride with a few short efforts to test recovery status before PW #3: Fall Frenzy Sprint Tri.

Local sprint races often make for great PW’s before bigger races. As long as you can recover well from them, they can really give you a boost of fitness (and confidence) heading towards your goal events. So, Ed Oliver, Danielle Kehoe and I decided to hit this one up for a good workout. Long story short, we all had good races and the proof of good form is continuing to show. We pulled off a 1st, 3rd and 6th overall results. I tore the bike leg apart and posted a solid run despite some residual fatigue from Wednesdays race, to win the event by 5 minutes, in 55:25. Ed was close behind after the swim and bike and held on for the third place finish (1st in his 40-44 AG). His fitness is coming on and will surely be a threat for an age-group championship in two weeks. Danielle had a stellar race winning the womens race and placing 6th overall amongst the men (and that’s without a fancy tri bike!!). She was only about 90 seconds behind Ed and out of a third place overall finish. She is pretty much a shoe-in for a National Championship in a two weeks time.

More recovery the next few days before PW #3 on Wednesday.