More Pre-race

The car all packed up and ready to go. I love being able to easily put the bike in the car.

Beautiful Salt River Canyon

We arrived and this started

Beautiful conditions on the lake race morning

Setting up transition

warming up for the swim

5:00am alarm on Sunday morning for a 7:00am race start. Why start at 7:00? Ugh. I didn't sleep well despite (because?) I went to bed at 8:30.
At 5:00am, feeling restless and tired, I wasn't hungry but put down my race day breakfast that has really been working well for me: muscle milk shake, banana, cup of oatmeal, and a granola bar immediately upon waking up. I follow this with a red bull in transition about 45min before the start. I forgo any caffeine in the days before a race.
We packed up the car and made the short drive to Fools Hollow park. The conditions on race morning were calm and cool. I was feeling a little more anxious than usual as I hadn't seen any of the bike or run course and heard the water was cold and the bike course was wet and muddy. Saturday night I ran out to the store and bought some PAM spray for coating the bike. I learned this back in TN so I gave the bike a good spray in the parking lot Sunday morning before heading to setup transition.
I got caught up with Tri Diva and her CoachHubby in the parking lot and briefly in transition. No cell phone service in Show Low meant we missed them more than once :(. It is always good to see them! BTW - They Killed it on Sunday!!!
I got in the water for a quick swim, no real warmup only feeling how cold the water was. Those of us trying to get a good position started at the end of the dock treading water before the start and that's where the race report follows...

Pre-race = rain

Pre-Race - XTERRA Show Low
Its raining. The race director this afternoon said that everyone who rode the course yesterday in these conditions came back with bikes that were 15 pounds heavier. Nothing like lots of climbing in lots of clay mud. Awesome. I've been getting so psyched to crush this weekend and swim, ride, and run fast...now it's going to be a messy battle all day.

So I didn't get to pre-ride today (rain and lightning) and the course is also supposed to be somewhat confusing. This sounds like a winning combination. During the race briefing there was something about a locked gate that they don't have the keys to so you have to climb over it with your bike. Glad I at least made the meeting.

The drive up here wasn't great for my back and now I'm just sitting around trying to stay loose. Early 7am start in the morning. 57 degrees. It is over 100 back in the Valley so this is going to be a big shock racing in cold rain. I might pick up some PAM after dinner for lubing up the bike in the AM if the rain continues.

Never know what to expect with XTERRA. I think that's why I like it.....I think.

Taper time

My back is finally coming around. It is still painful, but I plan to race full tilt this weekend, no holding back, no protecting the back. I'm going for it.

Wednesday - lift during lunch / 5 mile run with A after work
Thursday - bike to work(20), lift during lunch, bike home (20)
Friday - I was going to hit the trails and ride with friend in town, but I'm thinking I have to bail and just rest the legs before the big weekend. Planning an easy swim and strength session in the AM.

FAST--->

I'm getting more excited about XTERRA Show Low. I've been thinking all morning about swimming fast, biking fast, and running fast. My back is better than before Vegas and it is a shorter course. I do much better at this distance and I'm getting fired up to race. It should be a great weekend!

Counting down...

My next race in Show Low, AZ is coming up this weekend. My plan had been to rest my back and go into this weekend feeling healthy and strong. Well, I got a little too aggressive with the training and ramped up the mileage probably a little too soon. I've been able to handle the miles (and the pain) but I am going to need to take some serious recovery after the race in Show Low.

Training Update:
Saturday - 2.3 mile hike up/down Camelback Mountain followed by 17 mile road ride (loving the new bike).

Camelback It may be short, but it's steep.

Sunday - 3 mile run (lots of back pain with running)
Monday - rest
Tuesday - AM 1,600m swim, lunchtime lift and back stretches, PM MTB?

An open letter

To the cyclist who passed me on the way home,

How are you so fast? I've been riding and enjoying bikes for some time now, but I still have no explanation for what happened last evening. Before I go any further I need to let you know that I'm a triathlete, but you probably could have guessed that based on how I was riding. I know I don't really belong to any accepted group in the world, but my choice to be well rounded and mediocre across three areas is still no excuse for what happened last night.

We crossed paths when I was 35 minutes into my commute home from work and riding my new cyclocross bike, which until I met you, I thought was pretty damn fast. I've made several changes to my on the road riding in the past year - clipless pedals and skinny tires being the most notable. Because of these changes and the hours I spend training to be an "athlete" I consider myself a pretty worthy competitor.

In the 90 seconds before you calmly said, "on your left" I had decided that this flat, smooth, and traffic free stretch of pavement would be the perfect place to hammer with everything I had and see how fast I could possibly go on a bike. I was in the biggest gear, I was laying down low in the drops, my heart was about to explode, my legs were on fire, and I had about 30 seconds left at this rate until I wouldn't be able to take it anymore. It was at this moment that you so kindly informed me that you would like to pass with a, "on your left" call.

Now, maybe you had been drafting off of me enjoying some recovery time, injected some oxygenated blood, eaten a gu, and washed it down with a nice sip of water. None of that is an explanation for how you were able to overtake me and pedal off into the distance and completely out of sight before the next light. I'm a competitive SOB and I would have loved nothing more than to turn on the afterburners and show you what was what, but I was seconds from falling over from exhaustion as it was and couldn't even muster the strength to think about chasing you.

So, thank you for ruining my self esteem for the day and any dreams I may have had about the quality of my ride and the level of my fitness. If you happen to come across this and feel like sharing how the hell you got to be so fast I'd appreciate it.

Sincerely,
XTERRA29er

Training Update

Saturday - worked on the house in the morning, but then spent some quality time building a new bike in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it is the kind with the skinny tires so you can only be so excited about it, but a new bike is a new bike. Skinny tires are the first step toward a 1/2 IM in the fall.

Sunday - I had to take the new bike for a ride. Relaxed pace just trying to get a feel for the ride - SWEET! I threw in a couple of hard sprints just to see how fast it would go - FAST! Pretty exciting to add another beast to the stable. I rode up by Tempe Town Lake and was excited to do some exploring, but what I found was this. I was so bummed to find out there was a tri in my own backyard on a weekend when I would have been totally up for racing. Grrr..

Monday - AM Swim 1800 / lunchtime lift

Tuesday - AM run on SoMo 45 minutes on the trail with lots of climbing. Great morning run, but the trail wrecked my back that had been recovering well.

Wednesday - AM swim (45 minutes straight) / lunchtime lift

Tonight I am doing the Ride of Silence and excited to meet up with some other bike folks in the area. My plan for Thursday is to do the big ride to work and ride home all bike commute day. It's 40 miles and I have the legs. I just hope I have the back for it. Get out and do your local Ride of Silence if you can!