Rapha Festive 500 Challenge

Strava is an online scoreboard that uses riders' GPS's to rank cyclists on different sections of roads and trails. They host different "challenges" to drum up activity and exposure with the most recent being the Rapha Festive 500 Challenge. This challenge was to ride 500 kilometers, 310 miles, between December 24th and December 31st.

I decided to participate and go for an overloading week of riding that would accumulate with the most miles I've ever ridden in that time frame. Leading up to it, I overloaded in the weight room taking advantage of a 6 day trial I had to the best gym/club in Memphis. It was going to turn out to be a tough two weeks of base training.

As the 24th approached, I was unsure if I was going to be able to attempt the challenge. Everyone at my house was sick with two people even having the full blown flu and restricted to bed. However, the warmest day in the forecast was on the 24th so I decided if I was going to give it a shot, I had to make the most out of the first day. I knocked out 70 miles that first day which stressed my legs more than expected, must have been all the time in the weight room leading up to it. You know you went hard on the bike when you have to sit down in the shower.

The next day it was raining and 36 degrees: no riding. Snow lined streets and 32 degrees the next day didn't stop me though. I was able to ride everyday except the two days that it was raining in the 30s. That's just crazy. There sure were some bitter cold days out there, but I continued to get out the door and put in the miles. I now stand 76 km, 47 miles, away from finishing the goal. Shouldn't be a problem to complete it this afternoon. So here I go, ending 2012 on a good note after a rough few months. Being in the saddle always makes me happier.

It's a Beautiful Thing

I am smelly, sticky, covered in sweat, and just overall nasty. My hair is sopping wet and sticking up where the vents in my helmet were. There are salt crystals on several different areas of my body. A gnat or two in my eye and more that died in the sweat and forest of chest hair. I'm sore and a few muscles are even cramping. I have the red, slimy gunk at the corners of my mouth from the sugary sports drink I've been consuming. I can look in the mirror and respect what I've just accomplished.

Man, have I missed this. I am back on the bike and it is a beautiful thing. The first time I pedaled it around the apartment complex, I let out a shrill of jubilation. It had been entirely too long. Nothing compares to wind in your face as you soar down the mountain at 48 mph, exploring new roads, overlooking cliffs and mountains, and taking in the beautiful fall colors of the Southeast.
This was the ride today: click here

What might be even more beautiful is the bike itself. Her name is Sabella (Thank you Michaela for your help) and she is magical. The new Red front derailleur is the best shifting derailleur I've ever used. It was definitely worth all the time setting up and not over-hyped. It makes it fun to switch back and forth from the big ring: so crisp, clean, and responsive. I am running a 28 tooth cassette in the rear too which my fat butt is really enjoying on these climbs so far. I will probably even put a 32 tooth on there for some of the big mountain races. I love the higher cadence. Climbing is my biggest weakness and I need all the help I can get. I will be focusing on that aspect of riding over the next 4 months to see what I can change. The Quarq Red powermeter crankset is an amazing new tool I am so eager to start fully utilizing. I have a small grasp of the concept of training with power right now, but am still working my way through the books and discovering how to properly coach myself to top form. The new Garmin Edge is a wonderful thing too. I never new how much more data I could get and analyze from upgrading my computer. I haven't gotten to try out the new wheelset I got with everything else. I'm certain it will be amazing though and complete the ultimate racing machine for this upcoming road season. All the equipment is there, now time to work on getting the engine running again.

The saddle is temporary. Haven't decided what I like.

Because it is majestic when you're in the saddle

The only thing I'm not happy with is the handlebar. The drops are way too flexy. I'm big, but not that big. Trying to sprint with these is a scary thing and I actually think they might break when I really give it all I got. I went aluminum too, but they flex more like aluminum foil. Not impressed with the Zipp service course bars.

There is some squeaking from somewhere in the rear of the bike. I haven't looked into it too terribly hard yet and hope I can figure it out soon and fix it.

Oh, and from the last post about camping, I forgot to mention the tick that attached to me over my clavicle. I didn't find it until Tuesday evening when I was about to shower. I remembering seeing a small speck when I was about to shower Monday night, but didn't worry about it. Since I showered once we got home Sunday night, that means it was at least attached to me for over 48 hours, maybe more. It was definitely sucking my blood and growing in size. I still didn't know what it was when I was grabbing at it Tuesday night. When I finally pulled it out I realized what it was. It was also still alive and crawling on my fingers. Ironic since we had just discussed Lyme disease and STARI in our med/surg course in school. Anyway, I haven't gotten sick that I know of, so I guess it's okay.


Thanks for reading and your comments are welcomed.

Eatin' Man Food

Since I couldn't ride on the weekends, a few friends and I decided to go camping a couple weeks back. It was a true man's weekend. We cut down trees, made fire, ate dove, cooked over an open fire, killed and ate a frog and a snake, shot slingshots, slept under the stars, and never washed our hands.

Killing the snake on the edge of the pond with a kukri knife at midnight was a pretty awesome experience. It was followed with skinning and cleaning the snake only to watch it continue to writhe in our hands. No head, no skin, no guts and the snake was still swirling around against gravity. I was excited to eat it as I watched it cook over the fire. I had never eaten snake and always wanted to. It ended up tasting a lot better than the frog legs we ate earlier in the day too, not nearly as chewy.

Watch the video of the snake still moving: click here

Cleaned and ready for the fire.

The skin turned inside out. Of course we kept it.

Target practice with the slingshot was for fun, but also in preparation for hunting. Even though we didn't find any mammals to shoot, we still had fun with it. We were pretty good once we got the hang of it.

A few good shots left the balls stuck in the clay

We also found some really cool funnel web spiders. Pretty neat to see them sitting, waiting at the edge of their deep tunnel for some unfortunate insect to land in their web.

I told him we should stick our finger in there. 

 Relaxing in the hammock was nice too. Never knew exactly how my feet got so black in the night. I decided  to sleep here the second night which got a lot colder than the first. The first time I woke up shivering, I went back to the tent and got my sleeping bag. The next time I woke up in the night shivering, I went to my bag, dug out these corduroy pants and my fleece pullover. It was pretty nice for the rest of the night.

After packing up the site on Sunday, we spotted what we initially thought was a squirrel about 14 feet up a tree. Turned out to by a flying squirrel. After we scared it further up the tree, it jumped and glided 35 feet to another tree before latching onto the trunk. One of the coolest things I've ever seen. 

But, my friends, I have all the parts for my new bike now and it is coming along quickly. There will  be no more time for leisure camping. Time to get back on the road and back in shape. March will be here before we know it. Pictures of the new girl and report from the ride to come after the weekend. 

Down Time

I have been meaning to write an update about how surgery went and the rehab was coming for some time now, but just never got motivated to do it. I could always find a reason to put it off. It's amazing how inefficient my life is currently. I am doing very little outside of school which is only half a day Monday through Friday, but I still can't find down time to write a post or study the training book I'm trying to read. Staying busy with training, school, and social life really pushed me to fine tune my time management skills and make the most of my days. Last spring I was in class from 8-5 four days of the week and putting in around 12 hours of training a week. I stayed on top of everything. Where did that motivation, determination, and work ethic go? Down the drain with my activity level I have to assume.

Anyway, surgery went well and recovery is taking an eternity. Not exactly, but being on crutches for 45 days was a long time. I watched as my calf and quads shriveled away as my hands and armpits became calloused. It was so liberating when I could finally walk and be free from my crutches. Then walking made me sore. And I loved it. I am now back in therapy trying to regain my strength. It is a slow process. I have yet to feel any soreness in my thighs because my calf and foot intrinsic muscles are so weak and atrophied that they limit my abilities for higher function. My lower leg and foot tremble after walking long distances or in single leg stance. I like the sense of improvement, but I want more progress in more areas.

In addition to not having the motivation to write, I also was never really sure how much I wanted to divulge when I finally did write something. I definitely struggled there for a while, but I now feel close to the home stretch of being able to resume normal life again. The strength will have to come over the next several months. I cannot expect to just jump back into the form I had. It had taken 5 solid months to get there coming from an able body. It will take a lot longer now. I'm getting excited about buying new equipment, my new bike, and planning for the next race season. I have a lot of unaccomplished goals from this year that will get carried over with a new vengeance. I feel like I got robbed: my bike, my fitness, my strength, my power, my races, my season, my standings, my championships, my jerseys, my glory. And that will have to drive me early in this rehab process to regain my form. I'm just waiting for my foot strength to catch up with the rest of my body in order to proceed to the next level.

Going Under

Well I thought I had it bad at ITU Worlds when I flatted twice and lost my first place standing. It was the worst experience I've had in the sport so far. That is until June 9th. I've waited for a while to write about this for many reasons: it was hard for me to face it for one, I didn't want to write details on the internet before the driver's insurance company accepted responsibility, and I was just feeling down and out about the whole situation without much motivation to do anything.

Most people probably already know about what happened to me, but for those that do not, or don't really know the details, here it is.

I was coming off a terrible race at Roan Groan and knew that I needed more practice at climbing, especially at the end of a race. I wanted to do well at River Gorge later in August, so I set out on Saturday June 9th, from my apartment in East Brainerd. I had mapped out a course that would take me over Missionary Ridge and the toe of Lookout before jumping into the River Gorge RR course. Things were going well and I was having fun playing out in my mind how the race would turn out this year and how things happened last year. I climbed Raccoon, stopping at the overlook to refill my bottles, eat some snacks, and take in the scenery. I started my descent from the mountain to head back home to get ready to head out to River Bend that night. Once I got off the steep slopes of Raccoon and made the hard 90 degree left hand turn, I saw a truck stopped at a stop sign on a side street to my right. He began to pull out to make a left hand turn and come up the mountain towards me. I was getting nervous and applying the brakes. As the truck got further out into the intersection, I was horrified to realize he was carrying a boat. His truck and boat were covering the entire intersection leaving me no place to go. I am grabbing as much brake as I can by this point. My wheels begin to lock up and my rear wheel starts fishtailing out from under me to the left. I was in shock and utter disbelief as I covered those last 3 meters before contact. I couldn't believe this was really about to happen. Skidding out placed me in a more parallel position to the boat so that my left shoulder and knee hit the boat first. I bounced off and swung around the back of the boat as the driver continued to pull away. I hit the ground and my bike went bouncing. I rolled around on the ground in intense pain in my left knee. It wouldn't straighten out and I knew I was injured pretty badly.

The driver and passenger got out of the truck after they pulled over to the shoulder. I laid in the middle of the intersection as they called 911 and asked if I was okay. I think the screaming and writhing in pain should have indicated I was not. Thankfully, I had just seen fellow teammate Jim Farmer at the top of Raccoon. He was packing his bike up and was about to come down. He drove up on the scene shortly after the accident happened. Another woman who had been running on Raccoon also stopped on her way down. These folks helped out a ton (Chattanooga obviously has an amazing outdoor community that cares for each other). My teammate was able to collect my bike and belongings and the other lady was able to call my parents back to let them know what was going on. The paramedics and fire truck arrived a little while later. They put me on the board and we were headed off for Erlanger ER.

Several radiographs and a CT scan later, they determined I had no broken bones and would have to follow up with an orthopedic surgeon the following week. The first visit with the surgeon was terrifying. The laxity in knee from the clinical examination pointed to several tears and disruptions in the tissue. The MRI ruled some of them out, but I was still going to need surgery. Thankfully, I didn't need immediate surgery which would have caused me to miss my first clinical rotation and be forced to sit out of the PT program for one year. Glad I avoided that disaster.

After much hassle with the police report, the driver, and the driver's insurance company, his insurance company finally accepted fault. They are collecting my medical bills and already reimbursed me for my bike minus depreciation.

I've had ups and downs over this time period. Times I would feel super energized about training for next season and all I will be able to do. Other times I was depressed and could only think about all the stuff I was missing out on and how hard it would be to come back after surgery. I missed several races including the Crit State Championship, which I was favored to win, the rest of the TBRA races, which now means I lost my Best Area Rider qualification, two Xterra races, which means I will probably lose my regional champion status and bid to nationals, as well as the Georgia Gran Prix stage race, the Huntsville race weekend, and two more crits in Atlanta. No defending my crit title at River Gorge this year. I also feel bad about letting my team down. This is the first time I've ever raced for a team and it ended with a terrible showing for myself. I wanted to do well to validate my spot on the team. I will have to settle for next year.

I got robbed, and I hate it. I've been so angry. But this is just the year I've been having with several broken pieces of equipment that required replacing and the bad finish at ITU. I have great plans for coming back next year with a more focused training plan, better knowledge of how to train, better equipment to train with, and a burning desire to come back strong and dominate the Cat 4 field. I'm trying to construct a detailed training plan without the help from a coach since I can't afford one. That being said, I would gladly take advice or suggestions from people out there that have had coaches or might be coaches just to make sure I am going in the right direction and I am interpreting my data correctly.

Surgery was yesterday (I meant to write this earlier in the week), so I have started the path to recovery and my journey back to sport. However, I guess I underestimated this surgery because of how easy my last surgery was on my right knee in 2007. I had my ACL reconstructed with a cadaver graft that time and I was able to get a full quad contraction the morning following surgery and was up ambulating without much pain at all the next day. That is not how this surgery has gone so far. I am in a lot more pain than I remembered or expected. I hope that it subsides before classes begin on the 20th. The first day of physical therapy as a patient on Monday the 13th. Should be a good experience. Just have to organize a way to get all my stuff moved to my new apartment while on crutches.

My bike got a little jacked, technically speaking

The culprits 

No big deal

No clue what this leg hit to get bruised 

Race Report: Johnson City Omnium

Well, I had high hopes for Roan Groan, but I think in the back of my mind I was skeptical all along. And when we hit the climb, it became clear to me that I am still weak. And very slow going up.

The peloton approached the climb together with no breaks. As we started ascending, I was sitting 3^rd wheel behind Hicks pulling and Nathaniel 2^nd wheel. Couldn’t have asked for it any better position wise. I shifted down to keep a high cadence, but never really fell into a rhythm. My heart rate shot up to over 180 and stayed there. About 2 or so miles into the climb it became clear I was not going to be able to hang when Hicks accelerated again and a huge group came around me to stay on his wheel as I went back through the field. It was a huge group and very demoralizing. I was spinning a high cadence, but I just couldn’t go any faster. My heart was pounding and it was all I could do to keep on pushing the same pace I’d been going. The climb was relentless too. Around every turn was just another long rise. There were some great views though. I yo-yoed with some other riders for a while as we pressed on. I wish we had finished at Carver’s gap because that’s about where my body started to really hurt and wanted to quit. But no, we took a right hand turn and continued on for another 1.75 miles. At this point we were climbing into the clouds that covered the road limiting sight of the ever-rising road. The temperature was dropping and the wind was strong. This section of the climb really seemed to go on and on and I never knew where the finish was supposed to come. My computer already read over the stated mileage of the race. Then all of a sudden out of the clouds there were some volunteers telling us to stay to the left as we made a right turn. Weird to be on the left. Then there was the finish. The monstrous climb was finally concurred. The wind and 40 degree temperature on top of the mountain made it very chilly up top while we were standing around. Thankfully, I got a ride from a teammate so I didn’t have to bike the course backwards to get back to my car.

After a short rest and some lunch, I was back at it warming up for the TT. It was supposed to be a 3.2 mile straight course with a one mile climb and a 6.7% descent on the backside. At the start line, I got some advice from last year’s RR champion which I think really helped: attack the hill hard and do what you can for the rest of the race. Well, I hit it hard and caught my 30 second guy at the top of the hill which was definitely less than a mile. The descent was definitely not 6.7% so I didn’t get to recover much from redlining it on the climb. I pushed on, but began to run out of gas and struggle as the finish line was nowhere in sight. On the flat straight I continued to give it as much as I could until I saw some cars including a cop car up a slight rise blocking the road off. I figured this was the finish so I backed off a bit in preparation for the rise. About this time, I saw the true finish where the officials were. So I ran out of gas, but I think attacking the hill was still the better thing to do. Finished in 8:26 good enough for 3^rd, 7 seconds behind 1^st and 5 behind 2^nd.

Sunday’s crit started out very fast. I think we probably dropped half our field in the first 5 to 7 laps. It got the HR up and going and made me shift up to the big ring; something I don’t usually do until late into the race. At some point, a small kid went off the front at which I told myself not to worry about him because I didn’t think he was strong enough to stay off for the next 10 or so laps. I don’t know when or how it actually happened (wish I had seen it and gone with him), but a BPC rider bridged the gap up to the solo leader. No one in the peloton wanted to work with Will and me so our efforts to pull the two leaders back were futile. The group was going to be sprinting for 3^rd place. I knew where I wanted to jump and then launch my sprint since I had scouted the course earlier in the day between some other races. What I hadn’t planned on was leading the entire last lap. However, it was working out just fine. I had a strong pull and accelerated on the rise preventing anyone from attacking me. I came through the last corner in first and shifted into the appropriate gear. I gave another acceleration and still no one was beside me. It was beginning to look like I was going to take the sprint without ever actually sprinting. Then about 25 meters from the finish line, the announcer said one lap to go. I was confused. I was pretty sure that they rang the bell last time around, but the laps-to-go had seemed to be jumping around and we had only been riding 35 minutes in a 40 minute race. I sat up at which point two racers passed me before the line. Ended up that was actually the last lap and I took 5^th.  I was pissed. I tried to talk to the announcer after I finished my cool down lap, but it was obvious he was an idiot and didn’t know what he was doing. It was too difficult and frustrating trying to talk to him so I just left and did another lap.

Good things about the race were that it was a really fun course with two sections of narrow alley way and tight corners combined with wide sweeping ones right after. I also took the first prime of the race away from Will as we were coming through the last corner. Then for the second prime, I passed Will in the corner and then beat another rider about 10 meters from the line. It felt good to snatch those away. I also have to consider it a positive that my legs were feeling good, I timed and planned the move right, and I was outriding my competitors. Really wish I had gotten those 7 more BAR points and 20 more dollars though.

I managed to hang onto the BAR leader spot but just barely. Things have been shaken and I need some good performances at the next few races if I want to pull it out. Time to get back to training. 

Some photos I took of the Cat 3 race. 

Race Report: State Time Trial and MOAB Crit

I just got flat out beat in the time trial. Hicks is a strong rider and a very fast time-trialist. However, given better conditions, I think I would have put up a much better fight to make the race closer. I never got into a comfortable position on the bike. Early on my head and shoulders felt very heavy and were a strain on my arms just to hold my body upright. I should have spent more time on the TT bike to make sure I had my position dialed in. I hadn’t been on it for over 20 minutes since preparing for a road tri last April. I also forgot to grease up and the new skinsuit and I did not mesh very well at the saddle interface. Let’s just say I’m a little scabbed over currently. That aside, I’m still disappointed in my legs. I’m not sure if I never recovered from ITU or I was just really having a bad day, but my legs felt like junk for most of the ride. I assessed my form a few times on the course and I couldn’t pin down what my limiting factor was. My legs weren’t burning and screaming at me to stop, but I also wasn’t panting for air. They just didn’t show up ready to go when I hit it at the start line. I finally got into some rhythm over the last 10K. All the hills were gone and I was motoring. I would estimate I averaged 28 mph over those last 6 miles. I’m glad I pushed hard and thought I still had some chance of winning because if not, I would have been way down in the standings incurring no points.

Sunday I’d be given another chance for success. The Cat 4 start time was 12:35. It was going to be a hot day with a course completely in the sun. I did a little warm up on some back roads while the 3’s were still racing and only got one lap in before we were lining up for our start. The field was looking big. A lot bigger than the online registration was showing. I was starting towards the back of the pack and had no buddies in the race with me. I remained calm and new I would be able to make my way up. That ended up being the motto for the whole race: remain calm and wait. I gradually moved forward and was quickly sitting in the top 10 wheels and stayed there for most of the race with a good time spent as 4^th wheel. Harpeth cycling put in a good amount of work and did a good job protecting their rider Will Montgomery. I never could figure out what BPC was trying to do. They would send one guy off the front but never more than 100 meters. And every time we came to the 120° turn before the slight uphill, one of their guys would charge to the front which would lead to us bringing the front guy back on the incline every time. I guess the charging guy might have been trying to get to the front and slow the peloton down, but that sure wasn’t working. We immediately engulfed him and pulled everything back together. Going into 2 laps to go, I decided it was time to shift up to the big ring and get ready to do some work. I edged forward still trying to save as much as I could but by this time we were booking it around the course. 

(So to explain the course, the 120° turn led to 150 meters of flat road before a slight rise in the road 100 meters long, then a 90° left hand turn that bottle necked the riders before the open 100 meter flat straight to the finish.)

Approaching the rise, I was sitting 4^th wheel with two Harpeth guys in front of me. As we reached the top and started through the curve, Will jumped off the front and several others went to the right of me and one guy to my left. I waited until I was completely through the corner before I really started mashing on the pedals. Will’s early jump gave him a big lead once we were in the finish line straight and it didn't seem like I would be able to catch him. I still saw two maybe three guys to my right that were in front of me. I continued my sprint but couldn't really tell where the finish line was with the white lines from the intersection on the ground. I was gaining on the Nashville Cyclist guy and began overtaking him in the last 20 meters. Ten meters out we made contact. I pulled off, gave my last kick, and lunged for the line. Steven, the Nashville Cyclist guy, lost control and crossed the finish line in 3^rd in midair before he slammed into the ground and slid for several meters. As the rest of the group came flying in, Marco didn’t manage to change course and t-boned Steven in the back and flipped over his bike landing on his head. Crazy crashes and finish in Murfreesboro.  

At the line, I think I had pulled Will back to only a bike length from me. I know I am faster than him and I hate that I lost to him again. This is the second time it’s happened because he made the same early move at Aaron Shafer Road Race for the win leaving me with second. I have to trust my legs more, go early, and go hard. I’ll be doing some practice work before the crit state championships. That race is mine. 

Now it's time to rest. Legs need to recover and this upcoming weekend is the only race with an HC (hors categorie, beyond categorization) climb finish on the east coast. The Roan Groan finishes with a 9.5 mile climb at an average 6.4% gradient with 4639 feet of climbing in the race. 

ITU Cross Tri World Championship

I did not DNF. That's the first thing that I was able to say to people. It still bothers and upsets to write this because it means I have to go back and relive the race; walk through it step by step which brings on so many emotions and frustrations. So far I've just been trying to not think about it, because if I do, then I get too distraught and emotional with what could have been, what should have been. That being said, here's what I recall from race day.

The days leading up to the race were good. I had a good "taper" with some short efforts, my legs were feeling good, and my nutrition and sleep were great. Friday I skipped school and drove down to Pelham for packet pick-up, pre-race briefing, one last look at the course (which got changed the day before), and the opening ceremonies. The course change shortened the bike course by a few miles which was to my disadvantage because I knew if I was going to beat these guys, I was going to do it on the bike. More distance on the bike gave me more time to make up time. Anyway, I scouted it out and heading back to the hotel to relax and take an ice bath.

I fell asleep relatively easily and was set to get almost 8 hours of sleep. Everything went accordingly race morning: breakfast, coffee, transition setup, body marked, timing chip in place, and swim warm-up. I was ready to rock. I couldn't wait to get the swim over so I could rocket the amazing trails of Oak Mountain. Not only was it going to be a blast, but it should feel emotional to pick people off one by one on the trail.

It was one of my better swims coming into T1 in under 25 minutes. It was the most congested swim I've ever done: getting hit in the head, ankles grabbed, pushed aside, and at one point I kissed someone's big toe. I guess that's what you get when you swim faster and stay with a bigger pack. Running into T1, my mom informed me I was in 4th position. Not what I was looking for, but hey, my part of the race was just starting. I spent the short time on the road tightening my shoes and putting my gloves on so I'd be ready to hit the trail as soon as I got there. Fifteen feet after diving into the trail, my chain dropped and got wrapped around the crank and jammed up against the frame. I stood on the side of the trail pulling and yanking on it trying to free the chain so I could continue. After about 2 minutes, it came free and I could start riding again. My time on the side of the trail put me further down in the race which means I have to pass more riders on the bike. Not an issue for a road tri, but here in the single track, it was going to take time and slow me down even more trying to finagle pass people. I took some dangerous and really aggressive lines to pass people, but methodically I was making my way up the field. I passed one guy in my age group who I'm pretty sure must have passed me when I was on the side of the trail, so back to fourth position. A little bit later I passed Ian King who was repairing a flat on the side of the trail he sustained from crashing into some briers. 3rd position. As I exited the single track to start the climb to the top of the mountain, I passed the Mexican, Bobadillo. 2nd position. I hammered on the climb. The riders behind me disappeared. I kept pushing and didn't realize when I had made it to the top; I was still looking for one more steep incline. I had completely zoned out and destroyed it. I knew I had been climbing better on the road which I accredited to my new supplements from Biomedical Research Laboratories (http://www.brlscience.com/SERVICES.html) and was thrilled to see it carry over for this race. I rolled along the top of the mountain for a bit before I saw him. I was catching Seavey. My heart jumped, increased its rate, my body released a massive amount of adrenaline and my emotions soared. I almost teared up. Passing him this early on meant I was killing it on the bike and no one was going to be able to touch me, let alone catch me. I still had several miles to build up a substantial time gap. The rest of the trail was more technical which favored me immensely. I was on my way to a World Championship victory. I passed him with force to discourage him from jumping on my wheel. I continued to hammer and dropped back into the trail towards Blood Rock blazing. I rolled through Blood Rock like a champ taking the perfect line. Now it was time for fun on the wicked descent. I had just caught another rider and told him he better be ready to rocket it if I was going to be behind him, to which he responded with a go ahead as he pulled to the side. I let it loose. Launched over the first set of rocks and continued on. I think it was the third set that I didn't come down on too well at which all my fears became reality. I heard the hissing of my rear wheel pouring air. I tried to deny it and say it was just the freehub clicking and spinning. Bump, bump. I was flat. Dead flat. It was the feeling you get when you just finished a 12 pack and the blue lights start flashing behind you, when you're 6 weeks in and she's 3 weeks late, when the phone rings in the middle of the night and your child still hasn't made it home, when the doctor himself calls to give you the bad news. I wanted to cry, I wanted to throw my bike down the side of the mountain, I wanted to bang the wheel on a rock until it was properly broken, but most of all, I wanted another chance. I pulled the valve stem and put in my spare tube. I could see the rim was bent in a few places which made me question how long I would make it on this tube. I didn't even look for the hole in the tire. For all I know it could have been a big gash in a sidewall which the tube would poke out waiting to get punctured. I fiddled with my canister of CO2 and finally got it to work. Enough air in the tube and I packed everything up to get back in the saddle. While I was on the side of the trail, Seavey and Bobadillo passed me. I started back down the mountain and made it probably 3 miles passing Bobadillo again and moving back into 2nd position. Then my fears became reality again: another flat. I was SOL for this one and just started walking and running it out, having to stop and move off the trail every time a rider still on his bike came pass me. I was devastated. I never imagined this race would go like this. I was not going to DNF though. I'm not sure how many miles I had to walk and run in my carbon mtb shoes pushing my bike, but I'm guessing it was around 4 costing me close to 25 minutes on the bike leg. Another guy in my age group passed me about a half a mile before T2, 5th position. I continued running my bike in and the officials at the dismount line jokingly said there was no need for me to dismount. I'm glad they found some humor in my misfortune. As I changed shoes, my Dad told me I was over 18 minutes behind Seavey and almost 3 behind 4th place. I was running mostly to finish at this point and just wanted to complete my two laps and be done. My legs didn't feel great, but not bad either. Coming around for my first lap my Dad told me 4th place was only a 1:30 ahead now. I wanted to catch him, but I wasn't going to kill myself to do it. It was only racing for 4th place after all. I kept progressing and was actually passing people, something I rarely do late in the run portion of a race. With about a 1.25 miles left, I spotted the 4th place guy. I was feeling good and running pretty well actually so I knew I was going to take it from him. At first I couldn't decide if I wanted to sit on his heels and wait til the end to jump or just storm on past him. He wasn't looking so hot and I sure wasn't going to slow down, so I flew on past him and some other racers. I took a glance back to see if he tried to pick it up to stay in contention with me, but he was gone. I came around the lake and finished strong for a sub 46 minute 10K. Not great, but given the circumstances I'll take it. So, probably my best chance at a world championship ended like that. This race is in the Netherlands next year and Xterra Worlds is always in Maui; terrains that aren't my backyard and suited for my strengths. There will probably never be a world championship in the Southeast again in my lifetime. A chance well wasted.

I can't forget about this race because there is plenty to learn from it and take with me, but there is a lot I'm trying to put behind me. I have to let it go and focus on what's next. This Saturday is the TN state time trial championships and then Sunday is the first crit of the year. Really would like to bring home a win, especially after the disaster of last weekend.

Coming out of the swim strong

Beaten and broken, doing all I can to not give up

Found something in the legs to pull back 4th

The future of Xterra elite men

With my biggest supporters 

Race Report: Berry Peddler

Last week I finally decided on a cycling team to join. I am the newest member of HUB Endurance Chattanooga. So this past weekend was going to be my debut in the team colors at the Berry Peddler road race and time trial. I wanted to do well as my first team showing but also for myself as usual. I recently found out about the BAR point series that TBRA does which basically allocates points to riders based upon finishes in sanctioned TN races. BAR stands for best area rider and the rider with the most points at the end of the year in each category gets awarded the state championship jersey for best rider. Well, I am currently in first place for the cat 4 racers so the places and points at each event I enter just became that much more important to me now that I know what is at stake.

I knew the RR would be hard since there was a Cat 2 climb 7 miles into the 32 mile race, but I wasn't sure the tactics that would be employed since the climb was so far out from the finish. I raced based on the assumption that there would be a rough regrouping of the top riders after the climb so I didn't go completely all out in the climb. I didn't hold back a whole lot either though. As soon as we hit it, one BPC rider went solo up the road. I wasn't too worried because the wheels I was watching were still close by. Climbing continued and people fell off from behind. With about a mile left in the climb, the group of five I had been climbing with started pulling away, 3 of which were on the same team. I didn't want to explode, so I just continued on in a steady fashion. The gap only grew. I finished the climb and could still see them up the road a bit. I tried to close in, but it just wasn't going to happen with who was in that break group. So I rode 17 miles alone. It was a hard, lonely 17 miles, but I kept pushing on especially once I began to see some riders up the road after being in no man's land for 14 miles. I was able to spot two riders who seemed to have popped from the 6 man break. If I could catch them, then I would be back in the running for 5th place. New goal. Well, I kept struggling to bridge the gap, and I could see a line of four riders approaching from the rear that were making up ground. Edging closer and closer, I finally put in a big effort to bridge the gap to the two riders up the road. Mentally, I knew it would be better for me to get to the front group before the back group bridged the gap and I definitely didn't want to sit up, wait for the 4 man group, and have them fly by me without me being to latch on. Once we were all together, things seemed calm. We were under 10K to go and I was rotating down the line. Once I saw that the two lead riders were on the same team and not rotating, I made my way back up to them and sat in third wheel. The pace lifted as we edged closer to the finish. When I saw the 500 meter sign, I jumped. I didn't notice an immediate reaction in my periphery, but it was hard to tell. When I saw the 200 meter sign, I stood to launch my sprint. A few revolutions in, I took a quick glance around to see if I was going to have to fight it out. Nope, I was clear. I sat up and cruised through the finish line for 5th place.

I cruised back to my car and began switching wheels to my TT bike for the time trial later in the afternoon. I was set to go at 1:40: five minutes after the women and the first cat 4 racer. I went out hard and quickly found my acceptable pain level to sustain for the 7 mile TT. Going into the turn around, I didn't quite slow down enough and missed the cones. My rear wheel eventually locked up and skidded out as I tried to correct. A little scary, but once I was up and rolling again, it seemed to be fine. I buried myself and enjoyed having the wind mostly at my back now. I really dug deep over the last 500 meters because I knew how close the race in Sparta had been. I didn't want it to be that close again, or if it was, I wanted to be on the winning side and knew that I left it all out there on the course. I came across the line in 16:24 which was a 25.7 mph average: a lot faster than I was at Sparta. Once the results were calculated, it was only good enough for 3rd place here. I was 10 seconds behind first and 7 behind second.

So, overall not my best showing, but I guess I shouldn't have been expecting too much. I've been overtrained and taking time off. I'm tapering and trying to prepare and focus all my energy and time on ITU Cross Worlds. Three days and counting. The big race is this Saturday. I've done everything I can and can only hope I have recovered and tapered properly. I will go out and race my best. The top 2 from last year's national championship will be there along with a few others. It is pretty much a preview of what nationals will be like this year except it is on my home turf and not at altitude. If I can't beat them here, then I don't belong on the start line in Utah.

Bar Standings: Cat 4

I See Cardinals

I really didn’t want to admit it, but I think I have to face the facts and accept it. I am overtrained and my peak workouts for ITU Worlds are getting thrown completely out the window. Recently, I’ve been getting fatigued a little too early in my workouts, I’ve noticed lactic acid building up earlier in my efforts, and my heart rate has been about 15 bpm lower than normal during my intervals. This is one of the things all athletes fear, especially right before their biggest race of the year. This news sits right alongside stress fractures and, for me, ACL tears. I had this week off school too, so I had the extra time to put in the extra efforts. Well, now those efforts would only hurt me and set me back even more. My body needs to recover and rebuild. My progress and fitness for Worlds is already determined and I can’t gain any more. I just have to hope that I’ve put in enough, I fully recuperate for the race, and everything goes as well as possible.

However, some hope hangs on previous articles I’ve read about people experiencing injuries or different travel complications that required them to take off a complete week before marathons or other big races. Surprisingly, some of them set PR’s and raced extremely well. Often we forget how important and beneficial rest is. I can only hope that the results for me will be similar and my legs show up ready to race in Alabama on May 19^th. Until then I guess I just have to design a 16 day taper for an Olympic distance off-road triathlon. If it doesn’t go well at least it will be an experience of a lifetime. And I’ll have the Time Trial State Championship to race in the following week. Man that will be an hour of hell: 40 kilometers to push yourself into the pain and sustain it all alone on an out and back course. Should be fun.

Even when I combine this with all the previous bad luck I had with my bike and equipment, I still have faith in what I’m doing. I still believe in my training and my racing. Either the southeast TN region has the highest population of beautiful male cardinals I have ever lived in, or God is definitely on my side telling me everything is going to work out and be all right. I couldn’t imagine trying to count all the cardinals I’ve seen over this semester on my rides and runs. I’ve used them as a sign from God ever since my old Pastor preached about it one Sunday many years ago. It seems to still be working, so why question it.

Also, I won the Sparta time trial and took second in the road race with only biking twice a week. School takes up a ton of time and then multisport training limits me even more. It scares me to think what I could accomplish if I devoted all my focus to road racing. I’m also in the search for a cycling team. I’m trying to decide between two different teams: one local and one in Knoxville. It’s a tough decision because both offer great, but very different benefits. This will be the first team I’m really a part of too. Furthermore, once I looked back at the Xterra Ft. Yargo results, I should try to not be too tough on myself. The times say I ran a 7:17 average mile for the 5 mile run at the end of the race. That’s great for me especially compared to last year. Those results would satisfy my goals and aspirations for Worlds. Maybe everything will work out.

On another note, if anyone has any suggestions or recommendations on recovering and tapering for the upcoming race now that I’m 14 days out, I’d be thrilled to hear from you.

Race Report: Xterra Ft. Yargo and SERC #4 MTB Race

Three weeks out from ITU Worlds, I decided to test myself and see what condition I was in at the Ft. Yargo race in Winder, GA. I’d never done this race before, so on Friday after I finished my last final exam for the spring term I headed down for a pre-ride. Atlanta traffic delayed me a bit so I missed packet pick-up, but I still got my pre-ride in before dark. The course was fun and fast. It included a lot of diving in and out of trees, semi-banked corners you could thrash, and some gnarly, deep double jumps. It was going to be a fun day. I packed back up to head to Athens where I was going to stay with some UGA friends for the night.

I didn’t make it to the race site as early as I wanted, but I also didn’t plan on standing in the packet pick-up line for 15 minutes. The longest I’ve ever had to wait outside of the Ironman venue. By the time I finally made it down to transition, I was scrambling to find any spot left in the cramped 175 racer field. I then scrambled to get my wetsuit on which I’m not sure if it occurred in my haste or because the suit was stuck together with residual water, but two spots on the right leg tore. Getting into the water, I saw Craig Evans and said hey to him. It was good to see a familiar face, but now I knew I didn’t have a chance at winning. My goal now was to take the 2 or 3 spot and make it on the overall podium with him.

No warm-up included, the race was underway. I felt tight and like all my mechanics went out the window as we dashed for the first buoy. I just kept pushing forward and finally felt decently good and like I was in some rhythm with about 300 meters left. Perfect timing, right? Maybe it will work out in my favor at ITU, or if I were to warm-up first. Going into T-1 I lost it. I was fidgety and panicked. I put on my bike shoe before taking off my wetsuit. Fail. I then had trouble getting the suit off making it just an overall crappy transition. But it was time for the bike; time for me to shine. Trying to find my groove, some old guy passed me. WTF? I don’t get passed on the bike! At least not at a non-championship race. Who did this guy think he was? About a mile later, I passed him back and left everybody else behind; I wasn’t going to depend on my run game for the win. Closing in on the finish I was still in 5^th place. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. Was my swim really that bad, and who were these guys that were leading the race? I knew Craig would be sitting 1^st, but I wasn’t sure who was sitting 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th. I caught 3^rd and 4^th right before entering T-2. The three of us started the run together until I got left about .75 miles into the 5 mile run. I wasn’t feeling good on the run, but I wasn’t feeling like total crap either, which was an improvement over all except one of last year’s runs. About 3 miles in, another set of two runners passed me after a little hill. I was hurting. Heading back towards the finish, I got passed again with one mile left. I was stuck with 8^th place overall, 3^rd fastest bike split with less than a minute behind Craig’s, and a sub 37 minute 5 mile trail run. (Results here) Not terrible, but not exactly what I was expecting or where I was hoping I’d be by this point. I got my age group points and for the prize I got a Maxxis Ignitor tire and a Cannondale jersey. Pretty sweet swag for a race. Too bad I forgot to pick up my biking gloves from where I threw them off on the run course. I looked for them the next day, but no luck. However, someone did turn one in. Who the heck turns in one lost glove and keeps the other?

Somehow I got convinced to do the MTB race the next morning instead of going to the Braves game that night. So the plan was to rest a bit, hit up the Athens Twilight Pro Crit that night, and then race again in the morning. The crit was amazing. I’ve never seen a race like that with such a huge strung out peloton and amazing speeds. Past and present Olympians were in attendance as well as the reigning USA National champion, stood by his mom for most of the race. With over 30,000 other spectators, it was definitely an event not worth missing. Although, I might have spent a little too much time up on my feet and not hydrating enough. The situation was made worse once I got back to the place I was staying to find out they were having a party; I mean it is college. I was trying to sleep in the back room on the floor on top of my sleeping bag and in my tights. It wasn’t a great night’s rest and I sweated my butt off leaving me pretty dehydrated in the morning. The race was fun though: fun in the sense of hurting a lot, pushing myself, and of course the super fun thrill riding of catching air, diving around trees, and railing sharp corners. I hung with the front group for the first few miles of lap one then faded back as they attacked on a hill. I was sitting 5^th and there was one position change where I passed 4^th and then 6^th passed me so still sitting 5^th. Towards the end of the lap, I went down in a corner I took too aggressively and then had to wait for the riders coming in hot to pass by before I could remount my bike and carry on. For lap two, I latched onto on the guys in the 39 year old age group and rode with him for a long time. Shortly into lap 3, I had to leave him though. I was feeling better and really wanted to pull that 4^th place guy back in. It didn’t take long and he was back in my site, as well as many others that had passed previously. Lap 3 was going great for me. I got a second boost of energy and was back to railing the course and having a blast making up tons of ground. I finished 4^th and closed the gap to 3^rd down to just 24 seconds. I’ll take it I guess (My results on page 10). I didn’t make my money back for the race, but it was a good experience. One thing I would like explained is how the Cat 2 riders get better prizes and awards for their entire podium than I did for getting 4^th in Cat 1? I’d much rather take a free Maxxis tire and some HEED over $20. Cool Racing Photo

My original plan had been to do the racing there in Georgia and then head over to Pelham for some more training on the ITU Worlds course, but after those two days, I didn’t think my body could handle it or that it would be worth it with the state I was in. My gooch was pissed at me for forgetting to grease up two days in a row, my lower back was killing me from the 32 mile mtb race, my shoe was soaked in blood again from a nagging heel abrasion, and I had developed a few more blisters on my feet during the tri. I wouldn’t have made it to Pelham until almost 7 o’clock too, so I just decided to bail on the whole plan and just head back to Chattanooga. Once home and unpacked, I tried to go for a run. My body quickly told me no in the .5 mile that I made it. I’m glad I didn’t waste my time in Pelham. Monday I went out for intervals and bonked before the end of the ride. Tuesday morning I went for a run and bonked before the end. I ended up drinking from a house’s water hose and sitting in someone’s yard just chilling for a while before I made it back home. Tuesday night however, my legs decided to show back up and I had a killer mountain climb on the road with the Tuesday night Red Bank group ride. I peaked second over the mountain and felt really good about my performance on a blind course and without my computer to tell me any data. Seventeen days and counting. Let’s hope everything works.

Race Report: Aaron Shafer Memorial Race

Well, once again I'm a little late with this race report, but I've been a little busy trying to do that school thing on top of training. Two weeks of 3 practicals, one applied exam, one regular exam, and 5 final exams made for a hectic schedule. Not to mention that bad luck was running rampant on me in the cycling aspect of training. I'm just glad everything is still in order for racing this weekend.

So, Saturday the 14th a buddy and I drove to Sparta, TN for the Aaron Shafer Memorial race. The Cat 4 road race took off at 9:30. Unlike the collegiate race, I was at the start and ready to go on time. That always seems to make for a better race. The course was 40 miles with a supposed climb around mile 17/18 and then an uphill spurt about 700 meters out from the finish. I tried to race conservatively while still keeping myself up close to the front of the 55 man peloton. Approaching the climb I got into second position because I know climbing is a weakness of mine. If anyone jumped I wanted to be right there to attempt a counter and loose the least amount of ground if I started going backwards. Nothing ever happened. I think it wasn't steep enough and still too far out from the finish to launch a productive attack. Either way, I was glad. Coming over the top I went off the front because I was tired of using my breaks sitting behind slow people in the group. Those break pads aren't cheap! So I coasted down the hill without ever pedaling and put a pretty good gap on me and the field. It wasn't an attack, but it was interesting to see how much faster I roll than everyone else. Nothing exciting really happened for the next 15 miles or so. I didn't know what the run into the finish was going to look like, but I knew we were approaching. Once again I tried to position myself right in the front of the group. I ended up making it a double pace line and stayed right in 3/4 position going under 5K to go. Now I was just waiting for this slight uphill that was supposed to signify the last 700 meters. I didn't see it coming, but I did see the two guys in front of me launch an attack as we came to it. I knew I had to go with it, so I threw down the hammer and jumped on the back guy. I realized we were on the climb and I began looking for the pavement to change colors which would signify completion of the climb and when I was planning on launching my attack. Well it came and I easily moved past the guy in second, but the lead rider had built up a good little distance. I made some advances on him, but I was out of gears when I stood up to sprint. Looking back I'm not sure if I was all the way down in 53-11 or not. I closed the gap to about 10 meters, so I settled for second place. The locally hand-crafted mug and $95 made it a little better. I do wish I had been the winner in the tent autographing all the posters though.

A little relaxing, some food, and wheel changing on the side of the road and it was time for the afternoon time trial. I made sure to get a warm-up on the trainer and make it to the start ramp on time. (Once again, both are improvements over the Dalton State Collegiate Race.) I took off hard on the TT, soaring into the first turn laid out on the bars. Quickly, I noticed I wasn't going to make it. The turn was sharper and descended more than I remember. I sat up and started to grab some break just narrowly missing the ditch on the opposite side of the road. Now that was scary. I'm just thankful there wasn't a car coming towards me in the other lane. After I calmed down from that, I tried to get back on pace and to racing. Quickly my throat became dry and I was hurting. I kept pushing and taking the inside line on every turn possible. I caught my 30 second guy before I went into the turn around. Half-way back on the out and back course, I caught my 1 minute guy. Approaching the base of the climb to the finish, I caught the 1:30 guy. I was hurting and didn't feel like I was doing that awesome, but passing these guys was telling me differently. I came into the home stretch exhausted and focusing all my attention on proper pedal stroke and not dropping my head. It paid off. I won the time trial by less than one second. I'll throw that in all the faces of the people that criticize us for shaving our legs, wearing teardrop aero helmets, and riding on expensive aerodynamic wheels.

Overall, I was happy with my performance for the day. It proved to myself that my performances last year weren't just a fluke and it taught me some more things about road racing. It does make me question what I could accomplish on the road if I were riding more than just two days a week. Between school, gym time, and training for the run and swim, that's all I've had time for. Now it's time to head to Atlanta for the first Xterra race of the season and then off to Pelham for some more training on the Worlds course.

Race results can be found here.

Cat 4 RR Podium

Race Report and whatnot: Dalton State Collegiate Cycling

This will be slightly abbreviated because a week has already passed and I don’t really care that much about it. (Okay, after I finished writing I realized it wasn’t too abbreviated. I guess I got caught up in the excitement again.)

My first impression of the weekend was crap. I went in expecting to sweep the omnium and that’s what I told myself the whole time. I didn’t win a single race. I took “2^nd,” 4^th, and 3^rd. Race morning Saturday was wet and still raining a little bit. The registration table seemed chaotic and attendance looked small for a race. The time trials were supposed to start at 8:30 and my start time was 8:42:30. As time progressed, it didn’t seem like there was any chance that they were going to start on time which is about when they announced that the TT would be moved back to 8:45. Okay, sweet. That means the start times are moved back 15 minutes so I should start around 8:57. Wrong. While I was waiting in line for the porta-potty and frantically trying to pin my number to my jersey, my start time came and went. I made it to the start line over five minutes late. My new start time was moved to 8:46; however, I was never informed of this. I knew I was starting behind so I thought I could just make up some time. That led to me hitting it hard out of the gate. Not the best idea either. Since I was rushed, I never warmed up. My legs have never felt so heavy in my life. The whole thing was painful and I never got into a groove. I pulled off a 27:09 for an average of 22.5mph over the 10 mile out and back course. If that was the time that actually had been recorded for me, then I would have finished 2^nd. (Not only in C’s, but overall since turnout was low that morning for the ITT.)

Later that afternoon was the crit where I thought I stood the best chance for a win. However, stupid us waiting for another teammate to get ready, we missed the start of this race too. We saw the peloton coming over the hill while we were riding to the start line. The race official confirmed it was the Men’s C group and let us pull a quick 180 to jump in. That is of course after we chased them down over the first mile. Just another huge effort on cold legs to start the race. No big deal. Since the course was a 3.5 mile loop, we were only set to do five laps for the 40 minute race. For some reason my stupid self thought it would be a good idea to pull the entire second lap. This ended with me going straight through the back of the field as we hit the climb to the finish to start lap 3. I never recovered from this like I thought I could on the descents. I put in some good efforts and almost bridged the gap with another rider on my wheel early in lap four. When we got close to the break, there was some miscommunication and he jumped on an attack to bridge and left me behind. More work for me. I kept at it although I never really expected to catch the front break. I guess I pulled back enough riders as they fell off because I finished fourth. Oh, and I overtook and outsprinted the guy that I had drug back to the group in lap four.

So going into Sunday’s road race, I wasn’t feeling too excited or expecting too much from my performance. The course was supposed to be hilly and would probably have some breaks. I was fine with just getting out there and riding the two lap 37 mile course. On a positive note, I did make the start line for this race. About 3 miles into the race, one rider went off the front, how stupid. We let him bleed. Then about 9 miles into lap one, a break started to go. Sitting middle of the pack, I was not with the break, but I was able to see it go. I was determined to make it. A shallow decent allowed me to launch a huge effort and fly pass the other riders strung along the course. I made the break consisting of 6 riders represented by 6 different teams. It felt good. As we rolled through the pace line, I guess I took too big of a pull in my excitement because as we rolled through the next hill, I fell off the back. Damn it, Matt, you did it again. I was stuck in no man’s land for a few miles with the group in my sight but still out of reach. I was suffering, but knew that I had to bridge the gap again; otherwise, the race was over. I hammered and eventually made it back on. Now I’m two big efforts in on the race and still 20 miles to go. The group stuck together from this point on and kept rolling through the pace line. Race official told us we had 4 minutes on the peloton with about 9 miles to go in the race, so the winner would be in this group. I was starting to like my chances. Over the last 5 to 6 miles, we started picking up the pace. Riders started making attacks in the last two miles. Each blip in the road was a new launching point. It was starting to hurt. I wasn’t positioned very well heading into the 90 degree right hand turn 150 meters out from the finish, but I thought if I took the outside line and launched my sprint appropriately things could work out. I got bumped way to the outside in the corner and came out of it in 5^th place or so. The rider leading into the corner had a great line and came out over 20 feet in front of me. I still gave it a shot, but the legs didn’t feel too great. I came up beside the guy that took second, but couldn’t overtake him. I finished with 3^rd.  (race results) 

Overall spring break was really good to me. More sleep, no stress from school, and more time to ride left me with a four pound weight loss for the week. On top of that and the races, I got to go camping in Alabama and get some training done on the ITU Worlds course.

The dichotomic following weekend:

Saturday I had probably my best training day of the year. I had a really hard bike and pretty impressive run following it. Everything here has hills so I have to take that into consideration when I compare times and splits to previous years that I trained solely on the flatlands of Memphis. So when I pulled a 20.4 mph average 55.5 miles on the road with 5 intervals of 4 minutes into the pain and lactate threshold with my heart rate above 170 with 3 minutes recovery each set and followed it with a four mile run averaging 7:42 with four decent hills and the last mile being the fastest even with my VMO’s cramping, I was pretty satisfied. After when I was relaxing I could feel the work and damage my legs had undergone. It was a very rewarding and satisfying exhaustion.

The rest of the weekend didn’t go quite so well. I got stood up Saturday night which was so much fun and then my Sunday workout turned to crap. I was determined to make it a great one on Raccoon Mountain with an off-road brick, but God had other plans. My first lap was going fine until I passed my first guy at about 9 miles into the ride. I immediately burped my front tire on a rocky section which made me feel really cool. The Stan’s sealed up nicely, but I still stopped and put some air back into it. I continued on. I came out to a really rocky section next to the dam. Not being familiar with the trail and just blazing through, I decided to just hit it hard right in the middle. Why not, right? It was a three step rock drop-off of considerable size. It was the only line I saw as I approached it. As I dropped off the first rock, things went straight downhill: my front wheel turned and got stuck on some rocks, I endo’ed, I banged my left elbow and knee, I could now hear air screaming out of my front tire, and as I looked up from the ground, I caught my bike as it came the rest of the way down the rock. I had a little gash on my elbow, my pre-patella bursa was swelling quickly, and I had ripped a hole in the sidewall of the tire. I had had such good luck with all my equipment and now that I am away from my shop all hell is breaking loose. It really makes me miss Outdoors Inc. I flipped the bike upside down and started to put my spare tube in. The tube has a hole of course. So I begin to walk it out. I don’t know how many miles back it was, at least two. I figured someone would pass me once I made it back to the road and give me a ride back to my car; I wasn’t so lucky. Halfway along the road, I was tired of walking in my carbon fiber shoes and messing them up so I decided to take them off. While that might have spared them some damage, it left me with a nice blister on my right heel which would keep me from doing any running once I made it back to my car. I don’t remember the last time I flatted and had to walk out of a trail, but I know the last time I had to walk my bike because of a mechanical issue was on this exact same road. After the time trial at the River Gorge Omnium, my crank arm fell off and I had to walk halfway back to my car before someone picked me up on this same road around the reservoir on top of Raccoon Mountain. The only other time I’ve tried to ride this trail was on my birthday last year. Only a few miles in and I took a descending corner too fast and tweaked my right knee (which has undergone three previous surgeries). We didn’t finish the ride that day either. You can say I am not a fan of this trail. But then again why shouldn’t this have happened? I would be greedy to expect two good workouts in back to back days.  

America

America: The first team to ever pick me up.

I guess I can deal with that. Hopefully, it won't be the last team though. I'm honored to get to wear the Team USA kit in a race. It should be an amazing experience. I've also bumped up training ever since I got the news in order to better represent; and you know, kick ass for myself. I took a camping trip to Pelham last weekend to do some training on the course. The run course has changed to eliminate the last of the death march hills. That's good for me and my running game, but it helps everyone else too. The trip was two days of ups and downs. I planned on doing two laps of the bike course and then a full run through of the run course for a solid brick workout. Two-thirds of the way through the first bike lap I noticed my crankset was loose; therefore, sliding back and forth on my $220 ceramic bottom bracket. The trail included a few creek crossings too which is great for it I hear. So I found a road out and back to the car where I got out my tools in an attempt to fix the issue. Satisfied with my work, I headed back to finish the course. Once complete, I wasn't really feeling another lap since I was still a bit tired from road intervals the day before and still needed to set up camp and get wood before it got completely dark. The post-ride run went decently well and I could tell some of my weight training was paying off on the short, steep hills.

Rain during the night made for a muddier trail system the next day which was topped off by rain at the beginning of my run and the end of my bike. I swapped up the order to get a better quality run on the course. Overall, I wasn't really thrilled with the trip or my performance. I expected more and was a little down about not living up to it. It made me question my training and progression towards my goal. It made me question my ability, skills, speed, and the qualifications for making Team USA. I wondered why I go through all of it if it's not ever going to really amount to anything; why I sacrifice the things I do in pursuit of this dream. I know I am doing damage to my joints, especially the ones I've already damaged and continue to hurt. These are some of the things I think about on long rides and runs. They get emotional and have extreme highs and lows. Not emotional in the way that I'm going to break down and cry, but that feelings towards people and objects come from nowhere and I feel I must express them and talk to people about it. Thoughts race through my head more during those long rides than any other aspect of my life. It's one of the reasons I do it, and love it. Then once I step off the bike or out of the shoes, the conviction fades. Things go unsaid and feelings just sink back down; the words that say the ideas and feelings so perfectly simply disappear. If I could dictate my thoughts during my rides, I'm sure most people would think I'm crazy, but in an oh so eloquent way. On the other hand, some rides I feel awesome and think I'm flying through the trail or on the road. I think I could win any race and am practically uncatchable on the bike, especially in a sprint. Those are good rides.

So coming off this low, I looked through my book of notes and saw some stats from last year's training trip in Pelham. This year my average speed on the bike was up over 1 mph and the max speed was up over 5 mph. I also saw a note saying that my shoulder didn't bother me when I swam down there. I didn't remember having any shoulder problems last year and was now curious if it was the same issue I've been having this year. I couldn't find any other notes in last year's training log though. When I was scrolling through the log, I saw some impressive runs. I was running much faster last year posting a 46 minute 10K after a 26 mile road ride and a 44 minute 10K during an 8 mile run. I also weighed 178 four days before the Southeastern Championship race. I am nowhere near those times or that weight, which might not be a bad thing since I am still so far out from the race and last year's runs pretty much all sucked except for the one Casey Fannin and I did head-to-head the whole way at Xterra Lock 4 Blast. Plus my weight is different this year. I've been hitting the weights like I never have before. I've put up some serious numbers and feel stronger than ever. Ultrasound analysis says my body fat is only at 9.2%, making 178 almost unachievable. I'll get further testing done over the next few months since I'm signed up for some research studies that include BodPod body composition testing and several VO2 max testings in various environmental and hydration conditions.

So, some positives and some negatives. Overall I'm going to assume it's a positive, which could be reassured with a dominating and definitive win this upcoming weekend. It will be the first race of the season and will be a collegiate cycling race at Dalton State. So I'll take advice and perspective from a more seasoned veteran in the ups and downs, Andrea Wilson, and "cheer up emo kid." I mean it's not all bad.

The technical section of the course: Blood Rock. Crazy fun to rock on the 29er.

I now have a way to make coffee when I go camping at races.

Great scenery. Unfortunately to see most of the good stuff, you have to actually go yourself.

Albino Turkey Vulture

Red-Tailed Hawk. I think he wants to eat me.

Turkey vulture eating food court Chinese, I mean chopped rat. Sorry

I don't know how this came out so well. At the campsite as I was packing up.