My Road to Xterra

Off Season!!!

I’ve been terrible about posting up race reports! I’ve got several to catch up on and I’m making it my goal to do that this weekend. Please stay tuned! 

Springhill Classic, Barling, AR 10-02-2011

This race was a last minute adventure for me. I was supposed to be working at the US Open Tri in Dallas, but I was unexpectedly given the weekend off. Yay!!!! And what better thing to do on your weekend off but to race? I loaded up with Frank and Lonnie and we headed up to the Springhill Classic just outside of Barling, AR. My race didn’t start until 11:00, so it was a chill drive morning. I really was not stressing too bad about this race. I just wanted to get out on my mountain bike and ride! I’m 3 weeks away from Maui, so today was just another training day. I was told that the course was tight and twisty and flat. Perfect! My favorite kind of trail to haul some booty on! We arrived to the park and registered for the race. It’s time! All of the girls lined up and we were off. Arkansas races are a bit different in the way they break down the age categories for women. They lump all the girls from 19-39 in one group. Then there are the 40+. So from what I could tell, I was competing against the younger girls so I started to get a bit nervous. Especially since this was a shorter tight course. Our official yelled “GO” and we were off. These girls were fast off the line! I came in behind two other girls and it was ON! We were hauling through the trees, and came to a bit of a flat and they dropped me… for now. I was pushing hard. I really wanted to catch them in the trees, and I knew that the tight twisty turns were to my advantage. After about 2 miles, I caught them. This course was super fast! I love the tight stuff, and my Orbea Alma 29er definitely performed. I was also testing out my new Geax Saguro tires which were grippy and fast on this dry course. Love them!  It was a bit tight to try to pass, and as soon as we hit flats, they would drop me for a minute, then as soon as we hit more tight turns, I caught them. So it was a chase. We stayed together for nearly the whole first lap, then once we hit the flats again… they were gone. Ugh! My legs were doing their share of screaming at me. I just kept pushing as hard as I could, knowing that I could potentially catch them again in the tight stuff on lap two. I headed through the feed zone, and back out on the course for my second lap. I was sucking wind! I just had to keep pedaling as hard as I could. Finally I caught a glimpse of the girl that was leading for lap one. I started pushing harder. That lap went by so fast! I was about 20 seconds behind her, but just couldn’t get caught up in time. I finished in third place only 30 seconds behind second place. (and only one minute behind first). That was a BLAST!!!! I love fast tight twisty courses! And now it was time to chill for a few, then hit the trail again for a run. Overall a great day that ended back at the car with an air show. Perfection! Now it’s time to taper down for Maui. It’s been a good season overall, especially considering all the injuries that I’ve had. I’m feeling very lucky that I even get the opportunity to race in Maui!  Aloha! 

Toad Suck Tri, Conway, AR 9-10-2011

Toad Suck Tri, Conway, AR 9-10-2011

So, it’s been a while since I’ve posted up. Here’s a short recap, then I’ll get into my race report from Conway, AR.

May 30, 2011- Cap Tex Tri- Fun but brutal race for me.

June 12, 2011- Xterra Eureka Springs- First girl out of the water (yay!!!!), then I had a brutal bike, and even more brutal run. Realized at this point in my season that something might be up with my foot, which had been giving me lots of fits. I went to the doc after this race and discovered that I had a stress fracture in my foot. Awesome. So that put me out for the Xterra Dog Dayz race here in Little Rock.

June 26, 2011- Dog Dayz Mountain bike race at Burns Park, Little Rock. After lap 1 I was in the lead, then I flatted. I pulled over to fix my flat, and blew the gasket off my C02 inflator. So I had no way to get air in my tire. Had to DNF. This was my first race to DNF, I was really bummed!!!

I took some time off after that race to let my foot heal. I officially got out of my “boot” August 24^th. It was time to hit the track and start running again after nearly 8 weeks off. Ouchie!

Toad Suck Race, Conway, AR.

Suzanne and I decided to head up to Conway at the last minute to do the Toad Suck Tri. This was the Olympic distance race. Sure, I can run 6.2 miles after not running all summer. No problem. Ha. So after a few hiccups race morning, we were ready to tackle the swim. I was feeling really good and hoping for a good swim. Ready… GO. The ladies were off. I sprinted to the front of the pack and tried to maintain my lead when I came up to the buoy that I thought was the one to turn on…. I could not see another buoy out there, so I turned. The sun was apparently blocking the correct buoy. Oops. I got about half way across when a kayak came up and got my attention, I had gotten off course. DANG! I had to back track a bit, and get up to the correct buoy. Ok, just breathe… you’ll be fine. I tried to kick it up, because I knew this was going to put me at the back of the pack. Once I made it up to the correct buoy, I continued to pass people. I just tried to keep it strong and steady. I rounded the last buoy and headed into lap 2, and when I got up to the buoy I thought I turned at last time, I kept going straight, but then heard someone yelling at me. I had shot past the correct buoy. DANG. Seriously? Ugh… ok… again, breathe and just try to keep steady. I rounded the last correct corner, and headed in. I had NO idea where I was in the pack now. I shot out of the water and into transition. Once to my bike I felt like I was moving in slow motion. I couldn’t seem to go any faster. I got my bike and headed out on the bike course. The course was really nice. The hills were a lot less than I had anticipated, which was a good thing. I just kept trying to hammer it out. I’m not used to the road tri’s. They are a totally different animal than the Xterra races. My goal on the bike was to hold Suzanne off for as long as I could. I had not seen her yet, and I had already made it to the turn around point. SWEET!!!!  It seems like the way back was a bit more brutal. I dropped my chain on a hill, my front shifter kept giving me fits (not letting me drop down into the smaller chain ring), and my neck was killing me! My race is so mental sometimes. I just have to get out of my head and keep pedaling hard. I finally saw Suzanne after I had turned around, so that was motivation to keep pushing hard. She finally caught me at mile 21. I held her off for that long… I was happy with that! I only had about 4 miles to go, so I was almost done with the bike…. And I was dreading the run a bit. As I was coming into transition, I saw Suzanne running out… ok, so I’m only a few minutes behind her. I got into transition and I felt like molasses again. Ugh. I slipped into my running shoes and headed out. The first mile was a bit brutal. I had shooting pain radiating down my arm into my fingers. That’s not a good sign. So I tried to put the pain out of my head and keep my feet moving. I came up to a guy that seemed to be running at my same pace. We ended up running the rest of the race together and he was a great pacer, motivator. It makes such a difference to run with someone, and it totally passes the time! I had not run 6 miles since my fracture diagnosis, so I was really hoping that I could pull this off without walking. I knew we weren’t running a super fast pace, but I felt it was one that I could maintain for the duration. And it turns out it was. Before we knew it, we were almost done! I finished the race in 3 hours and 7 minutes. AND it turns out that I was the second girl out of the water! Even with my off course mess ups… I was able to make up time.  I was really hoping to finish in under three hours, but I was very happy coming in at 3:07. I finished 4^th in my age category, which is respectable. It was a great training day! Next on my agenda is a mountain bike race at Devils Den next weekend, then I’m off of racing till Maui in October! Let the hard core training begin!

On a side note: a few weeks ago I got a new sponsor. Just a quick shout out to Trigger Point  Performance Therapy (www.tptherapy.com) . Thanks guys for believing in me!!!!  And thanks to Spokes for being an awesome shop, and sponsor. 

Xterra South Eastern Championship- Pelham, AL 5-22-2011

I do love Alabama! I was feeling pretty good heading into this race this year. I drove in on Friday evening. Tim Heard from Birmingham Bicycle Company and his wife Karen welcomed me into their home to stay for the weekend. They were amazing hosts! I headed out to the race course Saturday to check in, and do a little pre-riding. The energy is so great there! The weather was perfect! I was ready to go. Sunday morning rolled around and I headed out to Oak Mountain to see if I was going to make it to Maui again this year. I knew it was going to be tough, considering how my season had been going so far. One race cancelled due to injury, and one due to bad weather. So this was my first Xterra of the season. After the prior days pre-ride, I was feeling pretty good. I arrived to the race site early so I could get everything set up in transition and get a good spot. I was able to find a spot just down from where the Pros set up, so I was feeling pretty good about that! Transition was set up. I was ready to rock and roll. The water temp was 76 degrees, which means no wetsuits. I was a little bummed, especially since I just bought my new Orca Alpha and was hoping I was going be able to wear it! Oh well, I threw on my skin suit and headed down to the start. The water felt a bit on the chilly side, but felt fine after a quick warm up. And GO! We were off. The first 300 meters of an open water race is always tough with all of the people, but I finally got into my rhythm after I turned the first buoy. I felt strong, and fast. It was a two lap swim, so we had to get out and do a quick beach run, then head back out. I was still feeling pretty good on lap two. I came out of the water after my second lap and glanced at my watch, 29:00… WHAT? That seems a bit longer than my usual time…. hm… Not sure what that was about, but I took off running to transition so I could get out on the bike. There were still a lot of bikes left in transition, which is always good for me to see. I raced over to my bike, took off my skinsuit, grabbed my helmet and shoes, and took off. This was my first Xterra also on my new Alma 29er. I was praying she would make me super fast on this course! The first part of the bike is twisty and fun! It is a bit hard though when you have so many guys coming up to pass. They were all very nice though. After a few miles of twisty fun, we hit the fire road climbing section. Blech. I was almost wishing for an extra granny gear in some sections! But I never had to get off the bike, so that ‘s a good sign. I made it to the top and now it was time to come down! Whoooooooohhooooooo! Talk about a fun decent! We crossed over the road and came into the last section of the trail. It was about 6 more miles to go at this point and somehow I got off trail. I was praying to see those little blue arrows, but I saw none. Then I crossed an area that looked like it had been groomed, and there were only one other set of tire tracks….. that is when I knew… I was off track. Time to back track back up to the split. I must have missed the turn somewhere!!!! I would guess it was about a 5 minute detour… maybe a bit longer. But it must have thrown my body for a loop. When I finally got back on track, my stomach started to cramp up. Oh no! No bueno for sure. I knew I was getting close to the finish of the bike. I just pushed it as hard as I could. The last sections are fast and twisty also.. so that made it easy to push because they were fun! I came in to transition, dropped my bike off, and my helmet, threw on my running shoes, grabbed my visor and headed out. I took some water coming out of transition, but my stomach was not liking it at all. The next 6 miles were going to be tough. I jogged when I could, and walked when I had to. There were lots of aid stations on the run, which helped, but I still could not get my stomach to cooperate. Waves of nausea kept hitting and I would have to slow down. My heart rate was through the roof. I just had to keep moving forward. One foot in front of the other.. .as fast as possible. After being out on the course for 4:29, my day was finally done on the race course. I finished. I headed straight for the misting tent and sat down with some water. I felt very defeated. It had not been my day. I walked over to pick up my card and I see that I still came in 2nd in my age category. Which means that I still qualify for Worlds!!!! Yippeeee! I then got to pack it all up and drive six and a half hours back to Little Rock. Ouch! I want to say a big thanks to Tim and Karen for letting me stay with them! And also to Spokes Little Rock for being such a great team sponsor! Now on to my next race in Austin next weekend. Cap Tex here I come! 

Xterra South Central Championship- Waco

Well, I feel like it’s one year later, and I’m completely repeating a previous post. On April 2, 2010 I was riding my bike at Erwin Park in McKinney, TX and came around a corner and my front wheel caught on a root. That sent me flying straight into the root with my knee, and my arm scraped across the top of the root. It left me pretty bruised, swollen and bloody. Luckily my bike faired much better than I did! Here I am two weeks later and I’m still unable to run without a lot of pain. Biking is still a challenge, I’ve been keeping it to the road and flat dirt trails here in Little Rock. Swim is mostly pull (which is getting REALLY boring). I headed to the doc this week for some X-rays which showed that I am not broken. He said that I am just really bruised and could run/swim/bike as much as my pain tolerance would allow. Coach Zoe and I agreed that Waco would again be off the table for me…. second year in a row! I am going to take this extra few weeks of down time to heal and to train. I wish everyone out in Waco this weekend a fabulous race! Have a BLAST!!!!! I’ll see you all at Xterra Degray and Xterra South East Championship in Pelham, AL. 

Cheers! 

Spa City 6 hour and Du it in the Dirt Duathlon - 03-12-2011 & 03-13-2011

03-12-2011 - First races of the season!!! Yes! I was so excited and nervous about this weekend of racing. It was my first attempt at doing back to back events, and also my first duathlon. I knew going into this weekend that it was going to be a tough one, but I had no idea! Lonnie (my Spokes team mate and fellow co-worker) and I headed to the Spa City (aka Hot Springs) early Saturday morning.  It was going to be a beautiful day!!! Nate from Spokes was already at our site and had already set the Orbea tent up. This was also the debut of the new Spokes Mountain bike team! We were all pumped up and ready to go. The race went off at 10:00am and it was a le mans start. I’ll never get used to this type of start. Bike shoes were NOT meant for running…. Especially not mine. Can we say ski’s??? Ha. The start is meant to get some distance between the racers, but it really didn’t do much. There was still a long line of folks starting this race together. The first couple of miles was pretty cramped. After that.. it opened up and I could finally breathe. I’m not used to riding with so many other people!! So, after a few miles I got my groove on. I was feeling good on my new Orbea Alma 29er. My tires felt like Velcro!!! In a good way. The new Geax AKA’s were definitely the right choice for my new bike. I decided not to stop after my first lap. I still had plenty of water, plenty of electrolyte drink, and had three gu packets on my bike, so I blazed right on through. Going into lap two was much easier, there was no traffic, and I was feeling GREAT! And was totally humbled by the top guys blazing past me at the end of my lap two. Wow! I stopped in for a pit after I finished lap two. I was feeling pretty good, but was STARVING! So I grabbed a new bottle, a pb&j, took off my base layer and got back on my bike. I was still feeling really good. Legs felt strong, and I was having a blast being outside riding my bike. It was perfect weather for a bike ride! Through lap three, I could definitely feel my legs. I could tell that they were starting to fatigue on the climbs. But still overall I felt pretty good. I got passed by some more of the top guys. I will have to say that everyone in this race was very courteous, calling out that they were passing, and letting me know which side they were going on. That is very much appreciated! I decided to take a quick pit stop after lap 3 as well. Ate a banana, changed my socks (feet were on fire), took more water in my camel bak, and headed back out. I could definitely feel how tired I was getting on this lap. I was really hoping that I would be able to get in 5 laps, but it was not looking like I was going to have time, and my legs just wouldn’t go any faster.  The last half of my 4^th lap was a bit brutal. My mind was already done for the day, so the body was not cooperating very well. I was ready to be done. I came in from my fourth lap at 5:26. I only had an hour and 5 minutes to finish another lap, which was not going to happen. So I called it a day. I was happy that I had such a good day racing though!!! DLT racing put on a great event! I finished out the day 17^th in the women’s solo category. Top girl did 6 laps! That is amazing! Congrats to everyone out there today!

3-13-2011 - I had previously decided to go ahead and camp out Saturday night so that I could be ready to go Sunday morning for the Duathlon. And with daylight savings time taking effect, I think that was a good plan. However, sleeping in a tent on the ground after 5.5 hours on the bike wasn’t exactly ideal. It was an early rise morning on Sunday. Race started at 9:00. When I got up, my legs were so sore. I decided to sleep in my new Orca compression socks, so my calves actually didn’t feel too bad, but I was wishing I would have had full compression tights on to sleep! I was feeling it for sure. Breakfast was tough to choke down and I was a bit worried that I was going to bonk if I didn’t attempt to get something else in my stomach. I settled on a pb& j, a muscle milk shake, and a rockstar. Ha… what a combo! So, per my coach, I went out for a quick little jog before the pre-race meeting and my legs felt like lead. This was going to be an interesting race. No doubt! The race went off at 9:00am sharp and we were to run down the road to the trail entrance. I started off trying to keep up with everyone, but quickly ran out of steam. The guy behind me said that we started off on an 8min/mile pace. Which was WAY fast for me. No wonder I ran out of steam fast! I slowed up a bit and calmed myself down. The first 1.8 miles was not too bad. I knew I was pretty far behind the others though. I got to my bike and took off. One of the guys at the transition area said “whoa, you did the endurance race yesterday!!! You go girl” which made me smile.. and start pedaling harder!!! Within the first mile I realized that my knees were killing me. You realize after so many hours on your new bike, that some tweaking is in order! Mental note: make some adjustments on the bike when you get home. My gas tank was low, my knees were screaming, and I was just hanging on for the ride. I finally came to the end of the bike, and I was very glad to be almost done. This last part of the run is going to hurt. But I was almost finished for the weekend. It was time to dig deep, push the pain aside, and keep putting one foot in front of the other.  I was coming up the last little hill, and there were kids playing on the playground, their mom told them to cheer as I went by… and they yelled and cheered … which totally made me smile! Ok girl…. It’s time, it’s almost time to rest, but you have a quarter mile to go. Let’s finish this. So I kept running. I came through the finish line at 2:01. I was hoping to get under 2:00, but I’ll take it. I was just glad to be done! It was time to pack up my tent, get my car loaded up, watch some people get some awards, and head home.  I didn’t even look at the results. I was thinking that I didn’t finish well at all, so I didn’t even want to know. But, as they were calling out for the place finishes in my age category I heard my name. I didn’t even know what place they called. So when I walked up, they handed me a first place medal. I turned to the guy handing out the awards and said “wait, I didn’t get first”, he said Alyssa? Yes. Well, yes you did get first. WHAT? Ha. Nice! I’ll take it.

Thanks to all my support on this race! Thanks to Spokes, Headsweats, and Geax! Looking forward to Xterra Waco coming up in a month!  

Xterra Nationals- Ogden UT & Xterra Worlds- Maui

Well, it appears that my blogging took a backseat to my training. Also seems to have taken a backseat to my off season. So to catch up a little, here is a recap of the past six months. Xterra Nationals was held in beautiful Ogden Utah in September of 2010. The weather along with altitude proved to be a bit much for me. It was in the low 40’s when the race started! The water felt warm compared to the air temp! And I somehow forgot to grab my arm warmers from my home stay, so when I came out of the water and took off my wetsuit.. I was FREEZING!!!!! I hopped on the bike and just started pedaling. I saw my friend Cori pass me on the bike and knew it was going to be a tough day. Coming out of transition, you have about a 1/2 mile on the side of the road, then you go into climbing. Lots and lots of climbing!!! And in the shade climbing. I think I started to finally warm up after about an hour on the bike. The hills were brutal. We finally hit a small downhill section and I was finally warm and starting to chill out a little. I still had lots of time on the bike, so I just kept pushing. I finally made it back up to the ski resort, where transition was located. I peeled off my bike gear and took off for my run. My legs felt like lead. I couldn’t believe how drained I felt already. My stomach was a wreck. The run was more of a run/walk mixed with some tears. I think that this was emotionally the hardest race that I’ve ever done. It’s amazing how outside stress can have such a profound effect on the body. But I was NOT going to quit. I came here to race. I came here to finish. That was my goal. And to hopefully do it in less time than the year before. And I did. I finished nearly 15 minutes faster than my time last year. I was so glad to be finished with the race. I could finally breathe again. Oh wait… now to complete my goals for this year. I had one month to finish preparing for Maui. Bring it on. 

I arrived to beautiful Maui on the Friday before the race. I had two days before the biggest race of my life so far. I was so excited that I could barely sleep!!! I was staying about 45 minutes away from the race location, which was a killer drive (going 25mph!!!). The Saturday prior to the race I headed to the Race Venue to get checked in and to pre-ride the course. And also to check out where we were going to be swimming. Everything on Maui is just magical. I was nervous about the race, but there was something calming about being in such an amazing place. I ran into two of the girls I race with in Texas so I was able to pre-ride the course with them. I could barely keep my focus on the task at hand because it was so dang pretty!!!!! The course seemed to be very loose rock, and mostly on fire roads/jeep roads. This was going to be interesting for sure. Then I headed down to the water. The beach was perfect. I headed out into the warm Maui waters… and almost immediately saw a huge sea turtle…. and I began to giggle. Now how in the world am I going to keep my focus swimming when there are so many amazing things to look at under the water! I swam out about halfway to the first buoy and turned around to head back in. Enough working out for today. Time to eat and to rest before the big dinner that night. The dinner of champions was motivating. I was ready to get this show on the road. I headed back to my hotel to get everything prepared for the next morning. I knew my chances of sleep were slim, but I was going to give it a shot! 5:00am the next morning came WAY too early. And unfortunately my stomach wasn’t cooperating at ALL. I tried to choke down my regular pre-race breakfast, but was not having much success. I think I got down about 1/2 of what I needed to fuel myself for this day. I arrived to the race site and got everything set up. I was so nervous!!! I couldn’t sit still! And I was also excited about wearing my new Orca swim skin that I got a few days earlier. Hopefully that will help on the swim. It was finally time to head down to the start. The priestess blessed the entire field and blessed each of us before our big start. I could not even process everything. This was the moment. This was it. I trained all year for this. I made it. I did this. And I couldn’t be more proud!!!!! And the gun goes off. We all run into the water. I think this was the first race that I have done where I could actually SEE the person in front of me. I found it much easier to navigate through the crowds that way. And still be able to giggle at the fish below and the scuba guys. I was feeling pretty good. I just kept pushing. When I exited the water I looked down at my watch. 27 minutes!!! WHAT? Sweet! That’s a record for me in a race. After my very disappointing swim at Nationals, this was a big confidence booster. I ran up to T1 and got on my biking gear and headed out.  We had about a mile or so on the road so I had plenty of time to get some food in me, as well as put on my gloves and glasses. I was ready to tackle this 3000 ft of climbing. It was slow going. I felt like my bike was being thrown all over. Man this would be so much better on my new 29er!!!! But it had not come in by the time I left, so I’ll have to wait till next year. This was a BRUTAL course. Don’t let the earlier comment of fire road/jeep road fool you. This course is not for the meek. My bike took right at three hours. About half way through that, i figured out that I could not take in any more nutrition. That is NOT a good thing in a long race like this. I started out on my run and attempted to choke down something. Ok.. time for this run. Let’s finish this. I just kept telling myself.. almost there… almost done…. you can DO this. The uphills were a lot of walking, but I tried to keep those legs going. When I came out onto the beach and saw the deep, soft sand I knew I was only about a mile from the finish. AHhhhhhhh …. but then I started running on that sand and I realized this beach run was going to be harder than I thought. Each step felt like I was pulling up another pound of sand. I’ve never run in sand this deep. Even the wet sand was so soft and hard to run on. After the sand, we went over to the lava rock. It was jagged and really hard to run on also. But I knew this meant I was done. Only a quarter mile to go! I finished. I was really hoping I would make it in under 5:00 hours, but I missed that by one minute. I was just ready to be done. I felt like a weight had been lifted. I finished. And I did it in about the time I thought I would do it in. With a smile on my face. I really hope I get the chance to come back next year. This was a great experience. And let me tell you, the post race beer was absolutely priceless. 

I really want to say a sincere thanks to everyone out there that made this possible. I have such a great group of supporters in my life. I am a very lucky girl. 

Emma Long Xterra, Austin, Texas 08/22/2010

Emma Long Park is not for the timid. I raced here last year recovering from Bronchitis and it was not easy then. I heard a week before the race that they decided to reverse the direction of the trail which made it even harder! WHAT??? Oh boy… here we go! We arrived in Austin on Friday evening with little time to get in a full pre-ride. So Steph and I headed out to see what this trail was like backwards. The first section was the same as last year, then once we crossed the road, the direction of the trail was different than last year. Harder in my opinion. They added in a rocky creek section, and a few other sections that were really tough. We were able to pre-ride about 6 miles of the course before we decided to bail out because it was getting dark. I knew that I was in for an interesting race on Sunday. It was a 16 mile course that was going to be a killer. Luckily I had all day Saturday off from training so that I could rest a little before the race on Sunday. Early to bed, and early to rise! Race morning went very smoothly. My nerves were staying in check for most of the morning too. Which is a very good thing for everyone! The water temp was a lot colder than it was last year, so I made a last minute decision to wear the wetsuit. I was very glad I made that decision when I hopped in the water!!! It was freezing! (ok ok, so this is Texas in the summer.. so not technically freezing, but it was pretty damn cold!) The race was a deep water start and we were 6 minutes behind the lead group, and 3 minutes behind the 30+ boys. Coach Zoe had told me before the race to push this one hard. I think her exact words were “race till you puke.” Oh goodie. Here we go!!!! I start off the swim fast, pushing my shoulders, arms, and lungs to the max. I quickly came upon some boys in blue caps and passed them. That was a big confidence booster! I kept my speed up and rounded the first buoy. There was a short beach run in between laps. I was quickly back in the chilly water and going for round two on the swim. I was still passing the boys in blue caps so I was still happy with my swim. I was finally done and was told that I was the second girl out of the water. SWEET! I’m on this!!!! I ran into transition and had trouble getting my wetsuit over my ankle timing chip. Mental note: take off chip before taking off wet suit. I finally got out of my wetsuit and quickly put on my shoes, helmet, camelbak and headed out on the trail. There was a big road climb before the trail started. I pushed up the hill, and headed into the trail. I was pretty fatigued from the hard swim, but still felt like I had some go. After about a few miles into the trail I started to drag a bit. I kept hearing my coach in my head, so I kept pushing as hard as I could. I looked back at one point and saw my friend and fellow competitor Amy behind me. Ugh… I had a feeling that she might catch me on this terrain! But no way am I going to let her pass me!!! I kept pushing harder and harder. Every flat I came to I belted down on the pedals and pushed through the pain. I knew that she was right on my tail though… so that gave me enough to push through until the end of the trail. I came into transition and got on my running shoes. It was time to push through my least favorite part of this sport.  Running. Blech!!! I was almost done though. Less than an hour to go. Let’s do this. I took off and the run led us next to the river then straight up the side of the giant hill. This was so steep that they placed ropes so that we could pull ourselves up! I felt that I was running a pretty good pace, and so I kicked it up a bit. (coaches orders). I went back and forth between kicking it hard, and backing it off. Before I knew it… I had come to the end of the upper section of the run. What? Are you serious? I’m almost DONE!!!!! Whoooooo!!!! I finished this race in 3:06. Almost 20 minutes faster than last year. (and the bike was harder!!!) I ended up in second place, which I felt great! That second place finish should put me in the lead for the regional championship!!! It’s been such a great season! Thank you Steph and Brooks for being such great cheerleaders!!! Thanks to everyone else that helped me out along the way. It’s time to put my head down and focus on Nationals in a month, and Worlds in two months. Till next time!!!!!!!!!!

Camp Eagle Xterra 08/15/2010

This race was important for me to do for several reasons. First, it’s my 35^th Birthday. And I love that I spent it doing the thing that I love!!! Second, I was sick during last year’s race, so I had to sit out and watch everyone else race. Bronchitis kicked my butt! It was also a nice break to a part of Texas that is absolutely breathtaking. Camp Eagle is located about an hour and a half east of Kerrville, Texas. It is out in the middle of nowhere, and it’s perfect. The weekend started off on Friday and we loaded up the car and headed out for our 7 hour drive. I needed to get to the camp in time to pre-ride the course that evening so we were booking it. We made it in time to get my pre-ride in with time to spare. The course had been “sanitized” which was not a great thing for me. I think that it made the course slower due to the ground being very loose. But overall it was a fun course. There was about 10 miles of mountain biking during this Xterra. We spent Saturday chilling out and checking out the little town of Junction. The day ended with an all you can eat spaghetti dinner at the camp with all of the other competitors. It was good to see all the girls from Austin and chat it up about the race. 5:00am came WAY too early the next morning. We stayed at the Historic Rocksprings Hotel, which was about a 40 minute drive from the camp. Once we arrived my nerves started to calm a bit. I unloaded my bike and my gear and began to put my seatpost back on my bike…. I had just begun to tighten it and I heard a “SNAP” Uh oh. That’s not good. I looked down and saw that my seat post clamp had broken. Wow…. I’ve never seen one break like that…. Ok, so I grab the clamp off Stephanie’s bike figuring that surely it would be the same size. Uh… not even close. I spent the next hour running around trying to find a clamp that would work on my Trek. Not a bit of luck. It was a size that no one had even heard of, including me. It was a 39! So as we were tinkering with it, a guy came over and suggested that we try electrical tape. He insisted that he used this fix for his brothers bike before and it actually worked. So, we broke out the tape and started wrapping. Denise also let us use her black duct tape to finish off the job. When we finished… it looked aerodynamic!  Well, it’s going to have to work. So I finished setting up my transition with my frankenbike and headed over to the swim start. My nerves were a little frazzled, and today (my birthday) was starting off a bit shaky. But that all fell away when I got in the water to warm up for the swim. I had decided to wear my skinsuit vs. my wetsuit due to the lower half of the swim being in much warmer water. We all staged up and then started about 2 minutes behind the first set of guys. It was a knuckle dragging swim for the first 500 meters. In fact, there were several people that ended up walking most of it. I swam wherever possible and then walked the last 100 m to the ladder, which led to the swim portion on the other side of the dam. I was feeling pretty good and catching up to a lot of the boys. We came out of the water and had to climb up a long set of stairs. There was a short run from there to the transition area. I had a bit of trouble getting my skin suit off over the ankle timing chip and stumbled with that a bit, but got out of the TA as quickly as possible. I was feeling a bit tired going into the bike portion and was passed by one of the girls…. Like I was sitting still. DANG!!!! Ok.. time to kick it into gear and start going. For some reason my legs didn’t cooperate with me. I felt like I was going at a snails pace, and was getting passed by several girls. The race crew had added in a new section after my pre-ride and when I came up on it, I was not prepared for what I encountered. There was a sharp left turn going down into a very loose corner with rocks. I totally did not see that coming. My front wheel washed out and I was going down…. I went over the bike to the right side and landed on my left shoulder and knee. I got up, brushed myself off and went to grab my bike, but the handlebars were totally spun around and caught on my cables. Crap! A very nice guy stopped to help me, and neither of us could seem to get it turned around. He finally gave up and headed on…. I stopped for a second and took a breath. I tried again and got it. SWEET! Back on the trail. Only a few minute pit stop! WAIT!!!! Uh… going down the hill I realize that my front wheel is not lined up right…. Aw… man… really? Ok..  I stopped again and got my wheel straightened up with my handlebars. My bolts must have been loose! So, I’m back on the trail… shaken a bit, but I’m still moving forward. My shoulder hurts a bit and I’m a little scared to look over at it. I had dirt EVERYWHERE!!! It took me about 5 minutes to shake off the wreck. But I think that it affected my riding after that. I was being a chicken! So very frustrating! About 10 minutes after the wreck I hear my buddy Dax coming up behind me. Dang. He caught me! So I kindly let him pass and made him a promise that I’d see him again on the run. I came in from the bike a bit frustrated, but ever so thankful that my seat stayed in place during the race. Turns out duct tape IS a viable seat post clamp temporary replacement! Into transition and I get my running shoes on, helmet off, bike on the rack, my number, and I head out for the 4 mile run which basically starts off with a run to the base of a hill… then straight up the hill. Ugh! I’m walking most of the hill at this point. Exhausted. Hot. Needing some water badly. And who do I see in front of me….. yup… it’s Dax. I did catch him! We spent the remainder of the run singing songs, pushing each other to go faster, and talking about the fact that it was both of our birthdays… and what a great way to spend it! We agreed to come through the finish together. It was nice to have the company on the run. I finished the race a few minutes under what I had anticipated, so I was very happy with that. I ended up third in my age category. The girl that won it was smokin’ fast! You go girl! What a FUN weekend… and FUN race. Thanks to Stephanie who made everything seem easier on this trip and race. It’s amazing how much of a mental boost it is to hear someone cheering for you….. thank you!!!!!! Your cheers pushed me along even when I was frustrated!!!! Thanks to Dax for pushing me to go harder on the run. And to all the girls who I raced with that pushed me to go faster!!!! Now to chill before my race next weekend in Austin!!!! 

06/13/2010 Xterra Southeast Championship- Pelham, AL

I think this might be the most calm that I’ve ever been before an Xterra race… which considering this was a Championship race and I was trying to qualify for Worlds…. was a bit strange. I got up early and ate my breakfast… loaded up the car and we headed to Oak Mountain State Park. I set up my transition area, went to the bathroom 80 times…. (stupid nerves), and sat down and was able to just chill for a few minutes. With about 40 minutes to go till start time, I went for an easy jog then headed over to the swim start for a short warm up swim. The sport race was starting about 30 minutes before our race started, so there were racers in the water, and then our group warming up. The swim consisted of two laps with a very short run on the shore between each lap. Just looking at the swim course it looked really LONG! They reassured us that it was about 750 meters for each lap. I had estimated that this swim would take me under 30 minutes. I chatted with a few of the girls that were in my category and then we were ready to go. I was able to get in a good spot to start… not too many people kicking me, but I was having a hard time getting my rhythm down. I finally got it when I was about to the first buoy (approx 350 meters in). It is pretty hard to get a good feel for where you are in the group while swimming. From what I could tell I was about mid pack. I came out of the water after lap one and headed back in for my second lap. My shoulders were a bit tired at this point, but I still had lots of energy left so I tried to pick it up a bit. My second lap was much calmer than the first one and I feel that it was faster. I came out of the water and headed to transition. The water was really warm, so we didn’t have to wear our wetsuits… which made me happy. That saves me some time in Transition for sure! My coach had advised me to slow up in transition and try to get my heart rate down in the 120’s before heading out on the bike…. Uh… yeah…. That didn’t happen. I got my shoes on, my helmet and I bolted out of transition like it was on fire. There was about ½ a mile on the road at the first of the bike, so I knew that I would have some time to put my gloves on, put my glasses on, take a gel pack, and breathe for a minute before heading into the trail. This first part of the trail was fast and fun. I was still trying to calm down a little so was trying to take it a little slower and cautious. The trail came out to a fire road and I spotted a girl that I wanted to try and catch. We went back and forth up and down the hills. I came up to “blood rock” and decided that it was in my best interest to walk it. I know… I know…. It’s faster to ride it. But I was not feeling confident about it and decided to go with my original plan (after the pre-ride) to just walk it and be safe. I’ve seen some pretty scary photos of wrecks through that section!!!! I tried my best to haul through the rest of the trail and was passed by a few girls that were not in my age group. When I came in to transition, Stephanie told me that I was 17 minutes behind the lead girl in my group. Ugh… I’m not sure how I’ll be able to catch up on the run especially after not running for nearly 6 weeks pre-race due to injuries. But I’ll give it a good shot! I head out for the run and the first part of it was on the same trail we biked on. It was twisty and not too much climbing. Then it took us into another part of the trail that seemed to climb up forever! The next 6 miles consisted of steep climbs, steep descents, and very little flat trail. There were a total of 3 aid stations out on the trail. We had been told the day before that there was one every mile and a half or so. I made it to the first aid station fairly quickly, but the second one seemed like it took FOREVER!!! It was really hot and humid out and I had decided not to bring a bottle with me since there were so many aid stations out there. After the second aid station and taking one cup of water for my head, one cup of water to drink, and one cup of Gatorade I felt a bit better. After about 10 more climbs I came to the third and final aid station where I was told that I was only half a mile from the finish. WHAT??? Really??? That girl just made my day! And it was all pavement back to the finish. I had not been passed by anyone in my age group on the run, nor had I caught up to the leader… so I was praying that I had held on to second place. I come through the finish line in just over 4 hours with a smile on my face. I did it. I achieved my goal of finishing top two in my age category which qualifies me for Xterra Worlds in Maui!!!!!! I still can’t quite believe it! Thanks to Steph and Brooks for coming out and cheering me on and being a great crew!!! What a great race! Next stop: Jonesboro, AR for the Xterra Iron Will!!!!

05/30/2010 Mellow Johnny’s Classic- Dripping Springs, TX

I know this race report is a bit late… but better late than never, right?

The heat was turned up during this weekend to full blast!!!! I pre-rode the course on a demo bike provided by Orbea. I was one of the first to demo their brand spankin’ new 2011 Orbea Alma 29er. I think I was drooling before I even stepped foot on the pedals! The bike had a 2x10 set up and was way faster than I would have ever imagined! I’ve GOT to have one!!!! Ok, so enough for my wish list…back to the race report. The pre-ride went great. It was a pretty long course (about 19 miles for two laps), and the heat was almost unbearable. Luckily the trail was in great condition and was absolutely a blast! Kudos to Mellow Johnny’s and Lance for building a fantastic trail system! I knew that Sunday’s race was going to be a tough one especially with all the great competition that would be showing up! Time to fill up the water bottles AND the camelbak and head out for some fun with the girls! Race morning came around and I was feeling a bit nervous about the heat. And from what I overheard from others… I wasn’t the only one nervous about it. I had decided to bring one water bottle filled with Accelerade and then my small camelbak filled with ice and water, then have my crew hand up two bottles to me at the first feedzone. I was hoping that this would give me enough water and energy to last the 2 hours I’d likely be out there in the desert. I set out about 40 minutes till my start to warm up on the hilly roads leading into Juan Pelota Ranch and my legs started screaming fairly early. I went through one bottle in about 15 minutes which was NOT a good sign. I finished my warm up and headed over to the start line. It was very nice to see lots of familiar faces out there! Charity, Brenda, Amy, Kristi, Dina.. just to name a few! I knew that this was going to be a tough race and I was going to have to give it all I had! Charity and I pumped each other up (as well as the crowd) and my nerves started to settle a bit. We were called up to the line….. and a few “hoot and hollers” later… we were off. I came off the line strong and in the lead which I tried very hard to hang on to… but Charity and Brenda passed me pretty quickly. (no surprise there). Then came Donna and Dina… dang. For the next mile or so I was all over the place… I guess my nerves had not settled as much as I thought they were!!! I could not keep both of my tires on the ground in a straight line to save my life. Ugh.. Ok.. slow down…. Calm down… just breathe…  I finally got into a bit of a rhythm and was playing leap frog with Amy and Kristi. I think the first 5 miles or so of the trail we all traded positions several times. After the first lap I was pretty exhausted, but it was time to kick it up and try to gain some time on the girls in front of me. I came through the feedzone, threw the bottle that was on my bike, and grabbed a bottle from my crew and CRAP… I dropped it. Ok… there was Shawn with another bottle… crap… dropped that one too. Don’t panic!!! I still had a bit left in my camelback and there was another feedzone with water about ½ way through the course. Just breathe….  As I was coming around a corner on the trail I saw Stephanie running towards me with a bottle that I knew I couldn’t accept. I yelled out that I couldn’t take it from her as it was against the rules to accept aid except in the feedzone. I was so grateful for her at least trying though!!!! I tried to focus on the trail… and not on my quickly diminishing water supply. Sometimes this game is more mental than anything else. I believe that I was in 5^th position at this point with Brenda, Charity, Dina and Donna leading the way. I had lost Amy and Kristi somewhere back on lap one and had not seen anyone else in my category in some time. I was riding with a girl in the age category above mine for most of that lap. We went back and forth pushing each other through our weaknesses. I finally came to the feedzone and they made me stop for water. I was not familiar with this type of feedzone where they actually make the riders stop, open a water, and then get back on the trail… and I was a bit frustrated. I took a big gulp and got back on the trail. I stuck the water bottle in my cage and it quickly bounced out. I was officially out of water. Ahhhhhhhhh! Ok… it’s ok… only about 4 miles to go. About one mile into that… I was passed (like I was standing still) by a flash with a girl from my age group…. SERIOUSLY???? I deducted that it had to be Donna and she must have flatted and I didn’t see her on the side of the trail somewhere. Ok.. so that means that I’m still in 5^th position. I’ll take it. The last couple of miles were tough… mentally and physically. As I’m rounding the last corner to come into the home stretch I hear the girl behind me say to one of the spectators… “where’s my carrot” and I knew that she was going to try and pass me for the finish. I knew she was not in my age category… but I didn’t want her to pass me anyway! I gathered the last bit of “oomph” that I had and took off towards the finish. I hear her grunt behind me as I come through the finish line hauling as much butt as I could. I was finished! I did it… and with very little water!!! I did end up 5^th in the race, and 9^th overall for the TMBRA Series. I was very happy with that!!!! Thanks to all of my crew and sponsors for supporting me this season!!! And a big thanks to the new additions to my crew- Stephanie & Brooks (aka BOSS) I couldn’t have done it without you! Thanks also to all the girls I raced with this season. I don’t think that I’ve ever had the privilege to race with such a great group before! You guys ROCK!