Dang, that was hard!

I'm not a huge writer of race reports, but Leadville piques a lot of curiousity, so I'll give it a shot.

The start is interesting. A bunch of mountain bikers packed in together who probably rarely ride in a pack. You are supposed to seed yourself appropriately at the start according to estimated finish time. Ya right! It was quite the jumble. I think the first crash occured within 50 feet. Anyhow, the start is pretty quick for a long race, facilitated by (A) a downhill start and (B) everybody wants good placing on the first climb.

The first climb is a bit of a blur. It's doubletrack, but really only one good line exists as the other option is a big rut full of sand and loose rocks. It's not impossible to pass, but you better choose your timing wisely.

The first descent is pretty fun, but a little crowded. The second climb isn't too hard, just long. Descending off the backside, though, is fairly fast and steep (this is Powerline.) I really wanted to go faster, but there was a line of folks in front. Turns out that probably wasn't such a bad thing as there were guys off to the side fixing flats about every 50 feet. I may very well have gotten too aggressive if I had a clear line (a la Terlingua where I flatted.)

The next 20ish miles aren't too bad. Then you hit about a 10 minute climb followed by a 10ish minute descent/flat. Then comes the big mama. The first 45 minutes or so aren't too bad, just a gradual climb on a reasonably smooth dirt road. It serves to soften you up though for what comes next. Once you get above treeline, it gets hard. Low oxygen + been climbing for close to an hour + a little kick up in the pitch + some loose rocks = hike-a-bike time. On and off, on and off, on and off the bike. Another bonus of being above treeline is that you can see how far from the turnaround you are NOT. It hurts a little to look up to your right and see people wrapped around the side of the mountain and think "oh I bet the top is just around the corner" only to look left and see some little ants much, much further in the distance.

Once you get to the top, it is cold and I was dizzy. I knew I needed to get down soon. The initial portion involves a lot of dodging of the riders still coming up. Not a great line coming down through there, you really have to brake a bunch. Once you get to the road though, you go down FAST. 2 hrs 2 minutes to get up, 43 minutes to get down.

I still felt reasonably good at this point. The sun had come out, so I gave my rain jacket to my wife - that proved to be a little dumb later. The next stretch is the same easy-ish stretch in the middle as before. I did start to notice the power was dropping off and my knee was bugging me a bit.

Then comes the "Cobra" Ouch. Whoever scraped that thing off, making ankle deep loose dirt, deserves a swift kick in the crotch.

Through to the pipeline aid station, I know I am starting to hurt. Been going over 7 hours now. The road stretch has a headwind. Gee thanks.

Then powerline. I am supressing the memory of that pain so as to save myself from emotional scarring. LOTS of walking. Honestly, it would be a really tough climb fresh. Freaking rutted out, steep, and goes on and on.

Descent off the back. I puked. Did you know that heaving while riding will almost make you crash? I had to pull over and let 'er rip. Also got rained on, which made things pretty cold with the temps in the 50's and flying down a mountain.

St Kevins. I wanted to weep when I got over the top. At that point I had been suffering pretty bad for over 3.5 hours. I looked at the watch and knew I was on the bubble for sub 11. I tried many, many times to ratchet it up and just couldn't. I only had to make the last 2 miles in 10 minutes and couldn't do it. The legs would go around, but there was no pushing hard.

Rolled across at 11:01:47, completely shattered. 3 days later I am still convinced that was as hard or harder than Ironman. It takes about the same amount of time, but you do one thing the whole time, at altitude, with 14,000+ feet of climbing.

Try it, you won't be disappointed in the amount of suffering for your money!

Back again..

We have an internet connection again after ~33 days without one. That can be both annoying and liberating simultaneously. It's getting late right now, so only a short post, but I will attempt to get everyone caught up shortly. News of the week includes our 10th, that's right 10th anniversary on Friday.

Peace out

K

Blast from the past

You find the funniest things that you didn't even know you had when you are packing up to move. This pic ought to be especially amusing to people who only know me post beginning tris/cycling. This is circa 1999 at the Buffalo Springs Sprint Tri. For those of you who think I am heavy in this pic, keep in mind I played ball probably 15-20 pounds heavier than this. I'm a real pencil neck these days comparatively.

It hurts...

....to leave friends. I have had to say goodbye to 2 good ones this week. Travis on Sunday and Jackson today. Matt tomorrow or Friday. You suckas better come visit me. I'm sure I'll find a reason to show my face (and bike) around Austin from time to time as well.
Katie wants Avery pics. Here you go:

quick update

I've changed the setting so folks can leave comments more easily. (come on y'all, leave some comments)

The move is upon us. Pack-a-thon '08 will begin tomorrow. The truck is rolling out on Friday. Birthday party for my little gal on Saturday. We'll attempt to have our house in some kind of order by Sunday night. I start the new gig on Monday. Tight schedule, eh?

If you can't get ahold of me, it's because my email and phone # have changed. Leave me a message on here and I will get you the updated info.

Into the Wild

Change.

It's hard, exciting, scary, and exhilirating all at once, don't you agree?

I watched "Into the Wild" this week. Great movie about a young man who sets out on adventure with no money and very little belongings, hoping ultimately to make his way to Alaska. I won't ruin the ending for you, but it's good stuff.

Well, we're off into the wild ourselves. I never thought I would leave Central Texas, but if there is one thing I have learned in my 32 years, it is that I should use the word "never" a little less often.

I've been offered what I think/hope/pray is my ideal job. Notice I didn't say dream job. If you dream about work, I worry about you. I'm gonig to be the director for an orthopedic program at a home health company. Lots of out and about, talking with physicians, mentoring and leading other PT's. Not much patient care. Lots of numbers and business planning. So I can scratch my business itch with the corporate net under me - sweet.

Where you ask? Well, my office will be in Bedford, but I will be all over Tarrant County.

When you ask? Soon. I'll probably be moving the week of June 2nd.

What will I miss you ask? My church, my friends, the winter weather, the trails

What will I not miss you ask? Gnarly traffic, liberal kooks, mucho expensive housing

What do I look forward to you ask? My family, my DFW friends, my children around their grandmas and grandpas

Are you surprised? You should be. I still am a bit myself.

Peace out

Announcement Forthcoming

Stay Tuned.

Happy Birthday to my "little" brother today.

As promised

Post crash pics are up:

http://web.mac.com/travis_katie/iWeb/Site/Blog/DAE0D945-5298-4341-BE0A-CF2728F9636C.html

I'm still not very good at this..

Hard to get an update going.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom, I love you.

My little gal is learning like crazy. New words, letters, and sentences every day. She's also quite the coordinated little monkey.

Good riding this weekend. I think my main man Barry PT fixed my knee which was giving me fits. I hadn't been able to get beyond 3.5 hours in about 2 months, but this weekend I put together 2 back-to-back 4 hour days! I had become pretty nervous about my Leadville training. This weekend was good for my confidence.

Speaking of riding, expect a good picture of me lying in the brush on the side of a hill after I crashed in front of Travis. I'm sure he'll put it on his blog to make fun of me. The link is at the bottom of the page. He couldn't get his camer out quick enough and was saying "Don't get up, don't get up, wait for me to take a picture." I was trying to get up, but I was on my back with my head going downhill, plus I was trying to be sure that all my appendages were still functioning properly. Therefore, I wasn't moving too quickly.

Daddy's Girl

It's spring time

and everything is green. AND THE FREAKING WIND IS BLOWING LIKE NO TOMORROW!
But more about that in a minute.

Had jury duty this week. 1/2 misery, 1/2 entertainment. Quick summary without divulging anything that might be private: It was a DWI case. The prosecution for the great state of TX was straigh outta law school. The girl who gave the presentation looked about 17 except for her powersuit. The force was not strong with her. In fact, I'm pretty sure I let out an accidental audible sigh after 50,000th time she said "Ya know." Her second favorite word was "um." She seriously told us about how she decided to go to law school. I was looking around for the candid camera. Thank you whoever made the rule that she could only speak for 30 minutes.

Then the defense gets up. Entertainment value skyrockets. I won't say his name, but he runs commercials around here and defended some UT footballers last year. Smoke and mirrors, baby. Let's see, he threw out several nice distractions: #1 The field tests arent' fair (did I mention the defendent was in her 70's !) - so that one could work. Of course she can't walk heel to toe. #2 Do you know what intoxicated is? Hey buddy, I'm not the one on trial. #3 The definition of intoxication is arbitrary. Sorry again, the number has to be something. #4 You know you've had a drink at dinner and driven. Again, not me on trial, no guilt trips please. Besides, I'm uber-paranoid about that kind of stuff, so I don't take the chance. #5 DWI charges stay on your record for life. Hey, I'm just here to decide guilty vs not guilty, I didn't write the penalties.

Anyhow, he was slimy to the core. He's good at it though. I bet he wins all the time. I could feel him sucking everyone in with his crap.

Long story longer, I didn't get picked. Grandma's future isn't riding on my decsion.


Story #2

Leadville training is well underway, which means as much riding as I can fit in. The wind is as bad as I ever remember this year, at least on a consistency basis.

I have been training with someone that has come a looong way over the last 1.5 yrs. I have made the mistake of teaching him the ways of the Jedi. Specifically, I have convinced him to ride at a controlled heart rate, as prescribed by Dr Phil Maffetone. Lots of folks think he is a kook, but his method works well for me. Anyhow, my compadre has latched on to this method and is soaking it right up. So much so that he flipping dropped me like bad habit last Saturday. Then his follow up was to torch me into the wind a couple times this week. Yo dude, can we just put a trailer hitch on the back of your bike?

I suck at blogging

Or so I've been told.

Phooey I say.

Hopefully I can catch everyone up soon.

Later Tater

Just a post

Busy last week or 2.

Lots of working, juggling schedules, trying to do some training.

Please continue your thoughts and prayers for my niece, she had quite the episode earlier in the week. Let's just say that everyone should know CPR and if you have a child, doubly so. Her father (my brother) saved her life because he knew what to do.

If you have a kiddo, hug them NOW.

Children give you perspective, eh?

KA-BOOM!

OK, here's my race report from "Fat Chuck's Revenge" the last race of the TMBRA Marathon series. It's taking so long to get this post up because #1 I left for Big Bend early the next morning, and #2 it hurt so freaking bad I wanted to put it out of my mind.

Recap: I started this race with a small to medium size chance I could still win the state championship for my age group for the series. Basically I needed to beat the guy in 1st (TS) and have 2 others finish ahead of him as well. I needed to race well AND I needed help.

Race start: Ballistic, ridiculously fast but TS is up ahead and I promised myself I would race aggressively as it was my best shot.

About 30 or so minutes into the race, things have settled down a bit and I'm in a group with some heavy hitters including two 40+ guys who are super strong, TS, and www.brandonmarsh.com

We round a corner into this field and I notice there is a split in the group with TS caught in the wrong part of that split. I picked up the pace considerably and forced the issue. It worked as TS was dropped and I whittled the group in 1/2.

A little later, the 40+ guys are just killing it, so I let them go. Roll most of the second lap with 2 others in my class (TF and JR). As we finish the first lap one of them keeps on, one stops, and Brandon rolls up on us. Quick bottles and we are gone. We roll for a while and TF flats and Brandon rides with me. We eventually catch, then drop JR. Good deal, we are moving up through the field.

I wasn't feeling great on the climbs the last 1/2 of that lap, but didn't think much of it. I should have thought more of it.

Started the 3rd lap, up the first climb and I'm crawling. No big deal, I'll wind it back up after the top. Nope. I'm D-O-N-E. Kinda surprised the National Guard didn't called in to investigate that explosion.

Long story short I rode the last 2 hours completely shattered. You guessed it, darn near everybody passed me. I was in too much physical pain to even feel the ego hit.

Good news is I held on to 2nd place in the series, gonna give it another go for that state champ jersey next year.

More Pics

Back From Big Bend

+ Terlingua/Lajitas + Marfa + Ft Davis

Kinda tired. How about some pics?

Buried.

I'm buried with work and fatigue.

Hopefully I'll break through in the next few days and recover physically in time for this weekend's race.

One last pay-money-for-pain event this weekend and then not much racing for a little bit.

Late March will see the Leadville training begin in earnest. I've ordered the parts for a facelift for my bike. I also ordered a heart rate monitor today for training - haven't used one in probably 2 years. Gonna have to get used to the electronic leash again.

Stay tuned

Tips and Tricks

So an amigo of mine told me that he was hoping for some insight on my blog about how I train, workouts, etc.



Boy is this going to be boring.



I am a "consistentcy first" kind of guy. I had been leaning that way a few years back and then I started reading Gordo's blog (link at bottom of page.) Without blah, blah, blahing you to death, basically he said to write up a week you could repeat 40 out of 52 weeks and do it. That's the catch though, you have to actually execute. For me, now that I am cycling almost exclusively, that is about 10 hours per week. Tues, Wed, Th, Sat, Sun. 45-90 minutes in week per ride, 2-5 hours on the weekends per ride. Sure, I rest before/after races and try to mimic the conditions of a certain race, but honestly I just try to take as little time off as possible.



I honestly believe that gives the self-coached average Joe Lunchpail (Got a job, a wife and a kid or two) about a 95% chance to reach 95% of his or her potential. Sure, some people are high or low responders, more or less genetically gifted, more or less mentally tough, and so on and so forth (the list could get quite long.)



You want 100% so you can crack a certain hour barrier in an Ironman or podium in an important race? You better either (a) get real disciplined and objective about your abilities, goals, and time available and write out a periodized program or (b) pay a coach to do that/help you do (a.) I chose (b) (this guy - www.brandonmarsh.com) when I was still a tri-geek.



Gadgets that help:

A HR monitor that you actually take the time to set up zones on and heed when it beeps at you (gasp!) isn't a bad idea. A powermeter is handy but expensive (wish I had one.) Computrainers are nice when the weather is bad or you want to do a really specific workout. Powercranks are my (not-so) secret weapon. They are unfortunately quite pricey as well, but I feel they are worth the $$$ for the return you get on that training investment. That's it, most other stuff is bogus.



Para me amigos inury: http://www.nismat.org/ptcor/eccentric_achilles/index.html

That protocol healed me of a multi-year battle with achilles tendonitis that almost caused me to completely quit running.



Asleep yet? I warned you.



We need a picture. How about this one. It's Twin Lakes near Leadville, CO. I believe I ride right by it during the race. Hopefully I'll still be lucent enough to enjoy it.

I'm baaaack....

Feeling better today. Had the post race funk up until today.

Could of had something to do with this climb:



Rode $%^#&* today with TB (this trail's name has been changed to protect the innocent.) Made some stuff I had never made before. TB of course brought the noise on the unsuspended single speed. I've ridden with him enough that I'm not embarrased anymore when he drops me on every climb or goes off some log or ledge that scares the doodoo out of me. That boy needs to race. Supposedly he's going to give the world some thoughts on racing on his blog, but haven't seen them yet.

Gratuitos "that's just funny" pic:

Terlingua Race

Here's my short version.
Good start, 3 guys in our class were off the front. I was in a fast pack including Esper, Dustin and Sergio.
We hit the climb and it split up a little, I was climping pretty well. When we got to the beginning of the fast descent, I cut my rear tire's sidewall. Took forever to boot it and get it back on. There was quite a parade of folks whizzing by as I am wrestling with my tire.
Got to the pit to start the second lap and my boot was bulging out of the sidewall. Hmmm, that's not giong to make another lap. Went over to our trailer and had to search to find where my buddy had hidden the keys, 'cause I had an extra rear wheel in there. After looking in every possibley cubbyhole and not finding them, I decided to look more closely and found them. Got inside, got the wheel, swapped it out.
Rode the 2nd lap all solo. I knew if I could stay on the gas, eventually I would catch some folks. I got a couple right before the climb and then 2-3 more on the climb.
Ended up 20th out of 50. Bummed about my flat, but that's part of MB racing. I still owe that race one.

I'm not 21 anymore and pics of a cutie...

I live in the 'burbs, so my street is always packed with kids riding bikes, shooting hoops, throwing the football, etc. So last night as we pass by a house with 3 boys shooting some hoops. We know each other, so they pass me the ball and I fire up a 15 footer - nothing but air! Yikes, how many baskets have I shot in my life? Conservative estimates would be around 1 million, but only about 200 in the last 8-10 years.





Well, it took a few to get rolling, and then I swished a few in a row. OK, time to go. How high can I jump these days?





Flashback: I used to be able to do most of this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=n9drNlclSzE





Fast forward to last night and it looked slightly worse than this: http://youtube.com/watch?v=PI5rO8-LJXA



Too add injury to insult, I tweaked my back while being unspectacular.

I'm getting old for sure.





Now, the good part of getting old is that I get to see a lot of this around my house:

Brrrrr!

Lovely weather lately, don't you think?

Just checked the forecast for Terlingua the next few days and it's great! Well, except for the day where we race in tight little spandex, that is. Gonna be something like 34 degrees at the start. I'll be taking the full complement of bike wear for this one.

On another note, your prayers are appreciated for my niece. The short version is that she has been through way too much in her short life thus far and her parents are looking at making a big decision soon on which direction to take her treatment. If you want to know more about her, read here: http://hollydgray.blogspot.com/

In the meantime, Asher says "Hello"

Stumbling out of the gate

I'm off to a roaring start. I emailed a bunch of friends and family about this blog....and forgot to send them the link. Doh!

Then my buddy Jax tried to convince me that I was running some Defcon 4 security risk. I was already paranoid enough about doing this. Tech dork. He was giving me way to much credit thinking I was going to do some kind of hosting from my own computer. He can't help it, that's what he does for a living.

Long day today, Do it to it

Sign up now...

...accepting new clients of all ages for my training program.

Let's get this sucker started

So I've been considering this for a while. Blogs are still a bit weird to me. I'm not that old, but I have been accused of being and old man inside a young man's body (Jen Little.)

Seems like all my friends and younger family have one, so why not me? I even got an iPod at the beginning of the year which upped my hip factor by about 1,000x. Blogging is the natural progression of me selling out on my simplicity.

Really I just want an excuse to blab on and post some cool pictures when I get around to uploading them, that is.

So what got me thinking about blogging? Well, besides the above, I got accepted into this race: http://leadvilletrail100.com/merchant.ihtml?id=1425&step=2

Big events make me want to journal for some reason. I got started on one before Ironman a few years back, but never really followed through.

Anyhow, here's what I'm doing this weekend: http://www.desertsportstx.com/momcourse.php

Peace out