Xterra Montana Triathlon

This past weekend my buddy Chris became my "wingman" due to Abbie not really wanting to drive another 14 hours over a weekend. We left Friday and stayed the weekend in Bozeman Montana which is a fun town which reminds me a lot of Jackson Hole. Saturday Chris and I test rode the mountain bike section which was a lot of fun wrapping around a crystal clear lake in Hyalite Canyon.

I have never done a triathlon back-to-back before which made me a little nervous of not having enough recovery time from Colorado, but my legs felt great.

Sunday we drove up the canyon and the car read 36 degrees outside. Inside I was freaking out a little due to my body not having much insulation :) but I did bring a neoprene swim cap which previously helped me stay warm in Moab back in May.

The swim was two laps and we had to get out during our first lap and jump back into the water which was nice to get out of the mid-50 degree water. I felt real solid in my second lap, I followed someones stream and I was already at the dock running up to jump on my bike.

I had a quick transistion jumping onto my bike and heading towards the forest. The bike ride had quick technical climbs with a bunch of roots which made it hard to get into a groove passing people. By the time I saw my buddy Chris he yelled at me and said, "your in the top 20 keep moving." The second part of the trail led up by the damn and climbed around 1000 feet and turned on a loose downhill. I saw Chris again and he yelled, "your in 12th place keep pushing it." That helped me stay motivated during my second lap and by the time I reached the run I was in the top 10.

As I made the transistion I quickly ran into the forest and within the first 2 miles I could feel my toes. I had a few people pass me that were moving pretty fast, but I tried to focus on my first lap and keep a consistent pace. During my second lap I felt my pace speeding up a little bit trying to catch up to the people who passed me on my 1st lap. I kept moving forward and I finished 4th in my age group and 22nd overall. I finally broke under an hour on my run which was my main goal of the day. I can see my training paying off, I felt real solid during the whole race. Thanks Chris for being my "wingman" this weekend and taking pictures.

Xterra Mountain Championship Beaver Creek, CO

This past weekend Abbie and I traveled to Avon Colorado so I could race in the Xterra Mountain Championship. I have done this course before and I was excited to race the course again. Abbie and I stayed in a place just at the base of the Beaver Creek Ski Resort which had a spectacular view from our balcony, I felt like I was in Europe!

I woke up early in the morning and Abbie was already awake (due to her watching Dateline the night before) hehe. I suited up and ate a good breakfast and drove down to the lake to get ready.

As the swim started I felt real good around my first lap drafting off of a few people, I guess I got a little too close and someones foot smacked my left eye causing my goggle to fill up with water. I stopped for a second trying to seal the goggle but it was no use so I just kept going squinting my left eye till I got out of the water.

The bike ride was awesome the first climb I felt I had a lot in me passing quite a few people on the 3800 foot climb. The trail descended and finished on a 2000 foot climb which wrapped into the ski resort which I kept pushing on the the final downhill. As I jumped off my bike I ran into T2 and took off onto the run.

The first part of the run is directly uphill for the first 2 miles and then stays pretty consistent till the end. I loved the run due to the fact that we had one long loop. I ran with two guys from my age group and we all came in within a few minutes of each other. I was happy with my run, I have been focusing on core exercises lately trying to strengthen my core so I could reduce my left side ache which frequently comes during any run I do. All I can say is my training is paying off, I ran the entire time pushing through the uphill and pushing my stride on the downhill. I came into the finish line a little over 3 hours.

Overall I was happy to see my training payoff! I was 45 min. faster than last year on the same course! I finished 8th in my age category and came in within the top 100.

Our view from our hotel room

Warming up

Leaving T2

Park City 50

This past weekend Abbie and I had a great weekend with a few friends up at Deer Valley. Saturday I raced in the 1st annual PC 50 which I thought would prepare me for the Park City Point to Point in September.

The PC 50 started at the base of the Park City ski resort and wrapped up on the mid-mountain trail and connected into Sparow. Within the first 8 miles I was already feeling the pain due to 2000 foot climb. Finally when I hit mile 23 which was the second aid station I was able to regain my energy and keep pushing forward. The trail was awesome and the temperature felt perfect, the only draw back was the fact that some locals in Park City moved the flags which led a handful of people in the wrong direction, I was one of the lucky ones that got lost which extended my race an extra 4 miles trying to figure out where I was. Finally I could see the Canyons ski resort which gave me a second wind to finish out the race strong. 8500 feet of climbing and 50 miles later I finished the race 9th in the expert category and feel a little humbled for the Point to Point in Sept!!