Traveling, Pooping, and Preparing
23.09.2009
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
Thanks for the info…I've had issues with regularity as well. ;0)
Good luck @ the race!!!
-Alfie