2008 was GREAT!!

This past weekend was some of the nicest weather that we've had in a while. It was beautiful sunny skies and mid 70's. Friday afternoon I got in an ez ride with a quick run afterwards. About 1:45 total. Just felt great to be outside. Saturday morning I was out semi-early for the Lodge group ride. It was a good ride - somewhat fast especially considering that I'm a little out of riding shape. Ended up with 2:30 total and some sore legs. Saturday night we headed over to Loly and Eric's for some fried turkey. Good stuff. It ended up being an early night and I was up early on Sunday for the Sea Turtle group run. Just did the short loop (7mile) and i'm even feeling that in the legs now. Later on Sunday, me and Steph did a nice spin down through Atlantic Beach. Totally mellow except for dodging the drunks on First street. Definitely a great weekend. As I was leaving the gym this morning, I started thinking about this whole year and everything that took place. It really was an awesome year. I can remember back to last December when Steph and I were flying back from our mini-vacation in New York, and I was filling out my race schedule to send to Shawn Burke and it was then that I decided that I wanted to focus on Xterra racing. It seemed like it would be just way more fun than the standard mountain bike racing that I had been so used to.

So with that focus in mind, I set about training as I had never done before - totally structured and with coaching. I had a bunch of really good races and some not-so-good races. And, somehow, the not-so-good races were the really important ones!! Funny how that worked out. But more importantly - I had a lot of fun. Steph always rags on me and says that I'm too serious - and maybe she's right, but I really enjoyed being serious about racing and training for once. It was WAY more fun to show up fit and prepared rather than just "showin up and blowin up" - which is how I usually raced. A couple of top 5 overalls and even some age-group wins were the fruits of my labor - stoked, especially considering that I used to just try to get the fastest bike split and then just survive / finish the run. So all in all, racing wise - 2008 was a success.

Now, as for personal life stuff - I married the girl of my dreams on September 6th. That day trumped all races for sure. It was truly a spectacular day - it all came together after many obstacles and a TON of planning (98.5% of that planning was Steph). We even managed to dodge a hurricane (Hanna) that was supposed to hit Jacksonville Beach on the same day as the wedding. I am definitely a lucky man to have such an beautiful and inspiring wife. She is without a doubt the best thing that has ever happened to me. I also became an Uncle-in-Law - Steph's sister Katie gave birth to Peyton in October. (Cute kid, cries a little much, but we'll work on that). And one of my best buds - Tony, had his second baby - Colin around the same time. And on the job front, I recently got a little promotion. So some more responsibility and some new challenges for 2009.

I'm really looking forward to the upcoming year - I know its gonna be a lot of hard work and won't always be fun - but as a manager of mine once told me, "Nothing bad ever comes out of working hard". Definitely a good thing to keep in mind when things are tough and you lose sight of the big picture. I'm working on finalizing my 2009 racing schedule - which won't be all that extensive - a couple of local races with maybe one or two out-of-towners. I'm gonna be working to try to start in the MBA program at UNF in either the summer or the fall, so besides working and training, I'll also be studying for that.

-sbc

December Prep Work

Right now I'm trying to put in some easy workouts wherever and whenever possible. Just trying to kind of work back in to a routine, so that when January rolls around I can hit the ground running and start back with some structure.
Last week after being sick on Monday and Tuesday, I got motivated and hit the pool twice - on Wednesday morning and then Friday morning. I knew it was gonna feel hard and sure enough. On Wednesday, all I did was a steady 30 min swim (no lap count or anything) with an ez WU and then pulls for CD. For Friday -5x500 (2500 yds) - avg'd around 1:35 per 100. Not fast but I was really working on trying to get my stroke to feel smooth. I really felt like I had been swimming really good towards the latter part of the summer, so I'm hoping that by getting back in the pool a little earlier this year - I won't lose too much of that "muscle memory" technique. Its amazing that as I swam more I realized how important it is to be efficient. I was pulling consistent sub 1:20 / 100 pace (while wearing baggies) back in June - August. In an Xterra race, its nice to come out of the water in good position so that you don't have to pass a lot of people in the singletrack. A wide open trail is a fast trail! As for running, I got in about 13 miles total - 4 miles on Tuesday; 3.5 on Wednesday; and 5.5 on Friday. As for the weekend - I didn't do JACK!!! No riding, running, or swimming.....just mainly worked around the house and hung out with the Stephanator. Had plans to run on Sunday, but opted to stay out of the cold and sleep in and then drink a ton of coffee. Oh well, it was nice and relaxing and one of my home improvement projects is nearing completion.

As for this week - last nite i put in 6 miles at about 8 min pace - just a nice jog down 1st street. Nothing hard. And this morning (Wednesday), back in the pool for another 2500. I "felt" a little faster but my watch said otherwise. But that's alright, definitely not stressing on times or pacing right now.

I'm considering scaling back my plans for the marathon in February - might just do the half - but try to do it sub-1:30. My thought process is that since I'm not doing anything long distance, a marathon might not be the best idea. Besides, I'll need to start puttin in some longer bike miles in January and February and marathon training could get in the way. Time for recovery is definitely a rare commodity around my house. I've got to think about goals and priorities. It would be nice to do the marathon, but I think my tri stuff might suffer. Oh well, really not that big of a deal - but just something I've been kicking around. Right now, nothing is set in stone.

Next race - Gator Bowl 5K on New Year's Eve -- i'm really wanting to set a 5K PR here. Last year, I went 0:20:43, so there is some room for improvement.

Outback Half RR

Here's the splits from the Outback half marathon on Thanksgiving.....
MILE 1 -- 6:49
MILE 2 -- 7:00
MILE 3 -- 7:07
MILE 4 -- 7:18
MILE 5 -- 7:09
MILE 6 -- 7:44
MILE 7 -- 7:06
MILE 8 -- 7:15
MILE 9 -- 7:28
MILE 10 -- 7:28
MILE 11 -- 7:21
MILE 12 -- 7:40
MILE 13 -- 7:34
FINISH TIME -- 1:35:46

All in all, it was a fun race. I loved the course - it was out in Mandarin and covered a lot of the roads that we ride on. It was a little cold at the start but I was hot and sweaty within the first mile. I really felt comfortable for the majority of the race - I settled in to my pace and just tried to keep my splits within a couple of secs. My goal pace was 7:40/ mile but I ended up going a tad faster without any problem. Going into this race, I had not done any runs over an hour. I knew I was stretching it a little bit and would probably be hurting for the last 5K -- sure enough. I had brought a couple of powergels with me - and took one at about 50 minutes and took the second one around 1:15 -- they definitely helped. So as my goal time was 1:40:00, I got it by almost 5 minutes. Pretty stoked on that -- I think that going sub 1:30 is definitely within reach for me, so that'll be my future goal for that distance.

BUT, for now I have to get the soreness out of the legs and get back to puttin in the miles. Hopefully, I'll feel good enough to hit the trails for some off-road running soon.

Run ...... eat.......work around the house.....repeat step 3 over and over and over

So, kind of on a whim - I've decided to run the Outback Half tomorrow. I figured since I decided to make running a focus this fall - i'd kick start it with a 13.1 - I've done the distance before - just never in a race setting. So I'm kinda going to use this as a guage for my fall / winter training.

No goals other than to run steady and finish. Wherever my pace is at mile 5 - i'm gonna try to hold it from there out.

Should be a fun experience. I always enjoy running races - its a cool atmosphere and just like ALL kinds of races - crossing the finish line is the best feeling in the world............

After that we're heading over to my folks' for some Thanksgiving Day festivities - I should be nice and hungry by then!! Looking forward to seeing my niece and nephew too.

After that, it's back to working around the house....kinda feels like this................

(i always did like that Rock-Biter guy - he was pretty rugged)

Sometimes ya gotta do whatcha gotta do.......

So true. These past couple of weeks, i've been taking care of some things that had gone neglected over the past many months - mainly the by-product of me riding, training, and racing so much this year. All year I kept telling Steph, "I'll do _______ AFTER Tahoe", so know its time to catch up. And I'm not the fastest handy-man, so these little projects are gonna take me a long time, but I gotta do what i gotta do. No point in putting things off anymore.

This way i figure it, when January rolls around, my "work orders" will be done and I'll be ready to hit it again. Oh well, such is the life of the "weekend warrior".

As for the mtb race in Felasco --> scrapped.

But, it's time to run. I want to just run. Especially, since my mtb is still jakked. I figure I can still fit some running in. Time-wise its perfect. Most of my runs are 30 - 90 minutes max, so its not like I'll be out riding for three to four hours. And, I can run in the dark - i figure its much safer than riding at night.

But, yeah, my rear shock has been sent back for warranty. I'm hoping the Warranty-God will smile down on me and get that thing back soon. I want to get the Spark fixed up and ready for the 09 Xterra season. It's in pretty rough shape now, but since i'll be taking some time off - i figure it'll be a perfect time to have a little "MTB ANNUAL OUTAGE".

So, the plan for my weekend is to finish rebuilding the gable on the front of the house. Run some. Chill with the wifey and then drink some beers.

(Oh yeah, and i'll probably waste a bunch of time on that damn Facebook........man, I'm addicted to that crap. )

Been a good week (so far).....

Looking forward to the weekend, that's for sure. This week has kind of flown by - which is a good thing. Definitely better than when it drags on and on.

So far, I've gotten my rides in everyday including the super fun "Urban Assault" ride on Wednesday night. There's a couple of guys that ride old-skool fully-rigid mountain bikes with slicks and road cassettes through some backroads and I did the ride with them on my mtb - with knobbies. It was about 30miles total and I had a blast. We rode through the cemetary and then back along the intracoastal on some roads that were SUPER DARK. It was cool, i'm definitely gonna try to incorporate this ride into my wintertime training. I've gotta get some slicks soon.

Tomorrow, I'm gonna do about 3 hrs or so on the road - with a handful of 10min efforts thrown in to the middle. Sunday, I've got a 7miler with the SeaTurtle running group then maybe a lil Hanna Park mtb ride in the afternoon.

Should be a fun weekend with some great weather!!! This time of the year, the temperatures ROCK!!

So here's the beer of the week --



Dale's Pale Ale -- Rocky Mountain Brewing -- it's darn good AND comes in a FULLY RECYCLABLE aluminum can.

random thought....

No matter how weird you are, if you look around enough - you can always find a bunch of people who are just as weird as you.........and who will talk about it on an internet forum.

Long naps, good food, and easy riding.......

What a great weekend! Friday nite I got home in time for a quick trainer ride and then headed over to the in-laws for some grub. Hit the hay early so I could get up and ride with the VMS crew down to Vilano and back on Saturday morning. This would be a perfect ride because I was wanting to get in about 2-1/2 hours and these triguys (and trigals) ride pretty steady. So up at 0-dark-hundred and out on the road by 7. It was still dark out until close to 730 - not that I'm looking forward to Daylight Savings - but at least it will help the morning rides a lil bit. Had a nice tailwind on the way down, which meant a stiff headwind coming home. Still not too bad, and ended up getting in close to 3hrs in the saddle. After that, I took a looooong nap while semi-watching the Gators DEVOUR some cats......sorry about that Blue. Then we headed out for a going away party for some of friends that are moving to Boston. We ended up staying pretty late, so I slept in and missed the group run. That worked out alright, because I had about 3 weeks of laundry to catch up on anyway. Spent most of the day doing that and other things around the house. Towards the afternoon, I was finally getting caught up on my household duties, so I decided to "work" out in the yard.

God Bless the inventor of the hammock. I was instanly out cold with the gentle breeze and the perfect mid70's temp. BUT, then I got a wake-up call from my favorite training partner.......

The Stephanator was ready to hit the road for a little spin..... so I made sure that my road bike was still working and we hit the road.............We cruised through the land of condo's i.e. Jax Beach and headed towards Atlantic Beach. Its only about 6 miles away but there are ALWAYS some good sights out on the road. We even found this rad uni-cycler with fannypack on his way home from the pub. Weird.

Once we hit Atlantic Beach, things settled down. But we did see this house with a terrible insect infestation.

No wonder the neighbors were looking to get out of there. Still probably a little out of our price range, though. A little further down, we hit the turn around ....................................... and then Steph put the hammer down.
After that, we headed on back to the 'hood.

We ended the night with some killer fresh linguini pasta mixed with broccoli rabe, roasted chicken, pine nuts, and freshly grated parmesan and awesome fresh garlic bread from Fresh Market. Deeeee - lish. Oh yeah, and after me and Blue discovered these on this past Thursday, I went to the corner store to pick up some Dead Guy's. Good stuff. Highly recommended.

So I ended the week with a little over 9hrs of easy riding. This week is a little more volume, and I'm throwing in some intervals towards the end of the week. Right now i'm 5weeks out from the race at Felasco. I'll be ready.

-sbc

Can't sit still.......

So I took two weeks and did (pretty much) nothing. I ran maybe three times and rode once. Not any kind of "training", that's for sure. I did get to practice my beer and french fry consumption, though. I'm definitely an expert when it comes to that now! But after being fat and happy for two weeks, i'm ready to get moving again........

So, as I sat in the Toronto airport on Sunday night waiting for my plane (and drinking a beer, eh) I came up with a little "mini-plan" geared towards the race at San Felasco at the end of November. Its six weeks out, so I figure I can put about 2wks of easy miles in, then about 3wks of some build workouts with some intensity, then give myself a slight taper and be ready for the race on the 30th. Easy enough. So this week, is "only" 9 hrs - most of which will be on the trainer watchin tv. Fun stuff. It does feel good to be riding again.

Also, i've decided to run the 26.2 with Donna in February. This will be my first marathon and I'm gonna use the training and prep as run-base work for the 09 tri season. I figure its a worthy cause, a great route (no better place than Jax Beach!), and Tony J. will be running it also. So, I will be keeping about 2 runs a week in the mix - but mostly 30-45 min ez jogs. That way, as soon as I'm done with my mtb race, I can kick off a 12-wk plan at the beginning of November and be good to go for February 15th. My goal is 4hrs or better - preferably "better" --> so, that equates to a little over 9 min miles for 26.2....... Sounds ez, but I've yet to surpass the 15 mile distance, so I know those last 11 will be the "fun" ones. Oh well, goals are good, right? So now its out there!

Back to Reality (Tahoe Race Report)

The worst part about taking a vacation is when its over and you realize you have to go back to work. This past 10 days has been awesome and it was the coolest race trip / honeymoon that I could have asked for. We flew out last Thursday to Reno where we picked up our rental car and then headed over to Incline Village. For a Floridaboy I think I drove pretty good in the hills but i did get passed by an 80+ year old guy in a cadillac on those mountain roads (along with the other 10 cars that I was holding up! ) I guess I was too busy taking in the scenery!! Probably not a smart thing to do, but oh well. We stayed at the Hyatt - which was the host hotel and the race venue was literally out our back door - so it was really nice to be able to check out the expo and preride and be back in our room within minutes.

Here's the view from our the Hyatt -->

FedEx lived up to their word and got my bike to Village Ski Loft on time and without any damage. Definitely saved a couple of bux on that one cuz i heard the airlines were chargin in excess of $200 bux (one-way!!)....... After our normal room switcharoo (we always seem to get put RIGHT NEXT TO AN ELEVATOR for some reason) - we got settled in and I got in a great preride while Steph hit up the Spa....... I think that Steph would like going to races more often if there was always a spa that she could go to while i ride. It seemed to work out perfect for both of us! The trail that the race was on consisted of a long climb up some jeep road towards the infamous Flume Trail. The climb wasn't technical at all - but just relentless and long...... I knew i would have to pace myself come race time. Here in Florida our climbs are short power climbs that you can attack and just power your way through - but this was the real deal where you had to sit and spin (and spin and spin and spin and spin - you get the point) ..........

Here's some pics from the Flume Trail on my preride.......

So, after a couple of days of ez prerace workouts and some much needed chillin - the race day was here! This had been my goal race of all year -THE XTERRA USA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS......... back in last December, i had decided that i would forego the usual mountain bike racing scene and just concentrate on this Xterra series to be able to get to this race. It really motivated me this year to have this goal, as i have trained harder and more consistently than ever before. It was a lot of fun and hard work, but i feel like I made some real gains in fitness and learned a lot about training and racing. Special thanks to Shawn Burke of Velocity Multisports for settin me up at the beginning of the year with with a solid plan and some guidance to get me where i needed to be. I knew this race was gonna be a tough one, as everyone i've talked to says how different it is than the other races on the circuit. Sure enough, the cold temps and the climbing on the bike section were definitley not something I was used to, but I survived nonetheless. The swim was a lot harder than expected as I went out hard as I normally do, but just couldn't get my breath back at the first buoy, which is where I normally can recover by. At this point i started to panic - cuz i've never felt like that before and had to just tread water for a couple of minutes (felt like an hour) but eventually I got my breath back and finished the lap. Steph got a picture of me as I was going in to lap #2 and I look ruff!!! As I was walking back into the water I looked up and saw the lead group hitting the second buoy, it was definitley humbling, to say the least. I ended up finishing the swim and feeling alright once I knew that I couldn't go as hard as normal. Its funny, even though you read stuff and people tell you how you are going to feel, you still have to figure it out for yourself. Lesson #1 learned. The bike was good - just went semi-easy up the climb - still was passin a ton of people - mainly because i had come out of the water so far back from usual ..... didn't start seeing any one from my class until the top of the climb but I picked off a few guys here and there and definitely put some gaps in on the descent. That was definitely the funnest part of the trail - there was a rocky but flowing switchback section that you could just FLY down and each turn I would sling it around -- I was smiling big and just loving this section. After that was the Tunnel Creek downhill section where it was WIDE OPEN....... only had 1 instance where I almost flew off the mountain, but other than that i kept it under control. Then back to transition for the run........ this run was ez by xterra standards - pretty mellow little climbs but really twisty with a few rocky sections and log crossings but I liked it alot b/c it was a double looper so you could pace yourself a lot easier.

Steph and BigBlue were all over the course cheering me on so that was cool. At one point on my first lap, I look back and see a black and blue blur haulin towards me - turned out to be James Walsh. I got confused because I knew there could be no way i was in front of him - but then i realized he was on his second lap and me on my first - again - HUMBLING!! (That dude is sick-fast and a really nice guy btw. Good luck to him in Maui in a couple of weeks!) So, I ended the race at 3hrs and 25min - definitely a long one compared to the others that I've done.

So with this year's Xterra series coming to a close i've got some things in mind for next year already. I learned a lot and had a ton of fun so next year should be a good one. I'm gonna enjoy the next couple of weeks of unstructured training and just get in some rides and running when I feel like it. Looking forward to some nite-rides with Tony J and some ez trail running in the cooler weather (coming soon i hope)....... oh and I think the Stephanator has been building up a huge-mongous list of home improvement projects around the house..............maybe i'll figure out a way to make household chores some sort of cross-training........

Come on 5 o'clock.......Come on.........

Remember that last day of school in fifth grade when all you could think about is summer vacation? Just waiting for that clock to roll around was the worst torture ever....... well, that's about how I feel RIGHT NOW. I'm so ready to get out of here and get the show on the road. It's been a while since my last vacation - I'm definitely needing a RECHARGE. With switching jobs last year, i lost my two weeks of vacation - so this is my first full vacation since the 2006 North Carolina trip with Steph.

So, besides the racing at Tahoe, we'll be headin over to San Francisco to check out Mt. Tam State Park and also taking an Alcatraz tour.

Its gonna be cool. Also, have a night planned out in Healdsburg, which is going to be real nice.

Breaking News:

So I just checked the weekend forecast for Incline Village --

Saturday: Snow likely. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 44. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
Saturday Night: A slight chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 32.
Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 47.

Uh..............i don't quite know what to say about this..............

Gettin Ready...

Well, 3 days out from leaving for Lake Tahoe -- all I gotta say is "I'm pumped"!! This is gonna be an awesome trip. Between the race and the honeymoon festivities - this trip is going to straight up ROCK! I can't wait to spend some time with my beautiful wife......
I got this past weekend started a little early on Friday when I got the go-ahead from my boss to leave early so off to the pool I went for an ez little swim. Did 500 WU then did 1500 at race pace - held just under 1:30/100 avg with baggies on; then did 500 CD. Then Saturday morning - i woke up a little late and didn't leave the house until 8 - figured i'd missed the group ride so just decided to do my own deal. As I kept riding - I noticed that I'd see the pack every once in a while. So at that point - I decided to try to bridge the gap. Good thing I was riding this:

After about ten minutes of pullin hard and blowin thru dropped riders, I realized that there must be some serious horsepower on the front. Sure enuff - Curtis Long, Jeff Kopp, Steve Petit, and Walter Campbell were up front rolling hard. So then I just settled in and took off down to Guana River to finish out with a little over 2hours. Then went for a nice ez run down to Cradle Creek Preserve. Must've been the early on efforts on the ride - cuz the last 15 minutes of the run HURT!! Once i got home, i put on the RECOVERGEAR and chilled for about 45 minutes - after that me and the Stephanator hit up some Mojo's BBQ with the family and watched a lil of the Gator game........ sux they lost ......... but then we hit up the Town Center and Black Creek Outfitters for some shopping. Steph scored a sweet Arcteryx rain jacket that she'll definitely need when we're out hiking Mt. Tam......... I had to keep telling her that the "quality is long remembered after the price is forgotten"...... she'll be happy once she gets stuck in the rain that ONE TIME!!

On Sunday, we loaded up and took off to Ft Clinch to check out round #2 of the FSC series. No racing for me, but we were there to cheer on Tony J., Radd, and Char. Radd won his sport class, TJ scored a top ten, and Char got second. Props to them - it seemed like a tough course judging by the amount of dirt that was stuck to TJ's face!! Me, Steph, and Jacob got our run on while we were there. I got in an hour - mostly on the road b/c the trails were taken up by the mtbr's. I did manage to find the hiking trail but it was only good for about a mile. At one point - I was running on a thin land bridge between two swamps - I kept thinking to myself, "this seems like where a gator would be" --so I decided this would be a good point to throw down some intervals. Got out of there quick!!

Finished the weekend off with some much needed napping while watching the Jags get it in overtime!!



Garrard definitely put down some work - i kept thinking for sure that that guy was gonna get worked over solid everytime he ran.





For dinner, we kept it mellow at the house with a some grilled shrimp, fresh steamed brocolli, and some organic mac&cheese................ oh yeah, and a delicious DFH 60min'r!!!!








- sbc

Scary feeling.....

Now I know how parents must feel when they leave their kids with other people. Its a scary thing. I just dropped off my bike at FedEx to have it shipped to Incline Village, NV for Nationals. Fahima (sp?) at FedEx assured me that it would be ok and that I could be sure that it would arrive in time. After spending 3+ years working for UPS, I'm always a little apprehensive when it comes to shipping something - especially something that I NEED to have in good condition. Thankfully. Cody over at ABC hooked me up with a big box, a bunch of packing material and foam padding so the Spark is all padded up - but YOU JUST NEVER KNOW!! All it takes is for one FedEx dude to be having a bad day and decide to take it out on my package - saw it happen NUMEROUS times at UPS. Got the insurance - but that still doesnt keep me calm..... i just love my bike and to trust it to someone I don't know - whew - that 's hard.

But anyways, everything is coming together for the trip - picked up Rich's wetsuit the other day and I luckily found a hoodie at BikeFitters, so i should be good to go for the swim. As for the bike, the RP23 shock will work alright for the race - but i'll definitely be looking to get the DT Nude shock taken care of through warranty when I get back.

As far as training goes, this weekend i've got a 2:30 ride planned - starting at around 7 and then hooking up with the Lodge ride at 8 for a little intensity - then a 45 min ez run off the bike. The weather should be good - so i'm looking forward to it. As for sunday, me and the stephanator are gonna head up to Ft Clinch to cheer on the crew at the FSC #2 mtb race. I'm not going to race ( my bike is enroute ) but I'm going to get there early and put in about 10mi on the trails. Should be fun - i've never ran there - only ridden - so I'm lookin forward to it.

Have I ever mentioned that i love running on trails? It is WAYY better than runnin on the road! UNF (my alma mater) has some great trails that I hit up on this past wednesday for about an hour. It was raining a little and there were some big puddles of mud - but it was way fun. I seriously didn't realize i had been running for 45 min when I first looked at my watch - it felt like 15!! Hopin the run in Tahoe goes by just as fast!!

- sbc

caution: LONG WINDED POST!

Well, i guess when you try to keep a blog - it would make sense that you should keep it updated or else it gets too overwhelming to try to remember everything thats happened since my last post 3 (maybe more) months ago, BUT i'm going to try to give some highlights of the last couple of months. Here's the rundown (in order of importance - not chronological):



#1. I got married to the coolest chik in the whole world. Yup, me and the Stephanator are NOW official. We even have the certified document from the state!! September 6th was the date at the Casa Marina in Jax Beach. We had been sweatin it because of Hurricane Hanna was meandering up our way - but thank God, it passed by without affecting too much. A little rain on Friday morning but other than that it was awesome weather. The wedding festivities went off great as well, the whole crew was there and got jiggywidit (drinks were free - whaddayaexpect?!?) BigBlue was shakin his moneymaker as was the Raddster. I think I saw TJ even bust a move or two (or three!). Good Times, fo sho!! Two days spent at the Ponte Vedra Inn (Presidential Suite - 2 steps to the sand!! yeah - thats how I roll!) Actually - they upgraded us because a bunch of peeps canceled due to the storm - haha - suckas!! The official honeymoon is kickin off with the Tahoe trip October 2nd - then off to Frisco / Wino - Kuntry for some good ole fashion chillin with the ole lady (ha - she'll punch me in the eye if she reads that!)



#2. I turned 30 years old. Un-friggin-believable! Can't believe i made it this far!! Thought for sure I would've been run over by now - but survived another year - whew!! Well, if you're reading this (i.e. one of the two people who will read this) you were in on the whole SCHEME!! Crazy surprise party thrown by the Stephanator. That was by far the coolest thing that anyone has ever done for me. That Saturday started pretty mellow with a little bike ride and was gonna end up with some dinner at Clarks Fish Camp with the folks. After some great food we headed back home only to be surprised by all of my friends who were waiting inside. i totally freaked out. I about had a heart attack - it was the craziest thing ever!! But the fun didn't stop there. Steph had gone WAYYY above and beyond and bought me a new bike - a SCOTT PLASMA!! Holy Heck. I got pretty emotional when I saw it - just couldn't believe that someone could do SOO much for me. She's definitely the coolest chik ever!!



#3. Xterra First Coast - July 27th at Hanna Park. Had a great race - somewhat expected due to the fact that I know those trails pretty good. But even besides the bike section - my swim was good and my run didn't totally suck. Put all those together and I scored a third overall. Came out of the water in fourth - while Omar Fraser was out almost 2min before me, Fannin, and some other dude. Got rollin on the bike - and started pullin hard - ended up catchin Omar at the end of lap 1 - with 2 more to go, i attacked hard to try to get a gap on him. I also knew that Drew Edsall was back there somewhere and he'd be working his way up as well. Going into T2, i was leading but was seriously lacking basic functioning skills as I had dropped my energy gels on lap two. I felt like I was in transition for about 12 minutes, but I eventually figured out how to put on my visor and running shoes. Who would've thought that I would be confused on how to wear a visor? But anyways, Omar caught me right at the first mile - Shawn Burke said he made up about 30 secs just in T2, so oh well. That guy came running past (maybe OVER me - he's like 8' tall or something) and i tried to hang on his pace for about a minute but then dropped back. It was friggin hot (uh - yeah - i guess i shoulda expected that for Florida in July, huh?)!! About two minutes after that I hear Drew coming up and I tell him that Omar is only a couple of seconds ahead of me. I was actually lying (he was probably close to a minute up) but I knew that that would psyche up Drew and with the pace that he was running - he'd be able to catch him..... and sure enough. Drew passed Omar to take the win, while I stayed in for third. Great fun race - and I actually scored 50 bux for the fast bike split - heck yah!!



#4. Gainesville FSC #1 --> was just this past weekend at Hailles Trails. My original plan had been to just use this race as some good intensity training and work on pushing hard up the climbs.I had no real expectations other than to try to stay within the top ten. Going into the race - i didn't have a whole lot of saddle time, especially not a lot of dirt riding. In fact, the mtb had only been used twice since Xterra Hanna (and one of those times was when Blue rode it at the 8hr race) and the other time was the Wednesday before this weekend!! . Now, as most Florida racers do, I love racing/riding at Haille's trails - especially now that Reddick is gone. For this race, Dave Berger would run the race in the direction which puts the climbs that are out in the field as the last part of the lap. Not sure of which I prefer - either way its pretty dern hard. We were scheduled for five laps and we voted on the line. I did vote for four laps, i must admit, but mainly because it was already 11:30 and it was a scorcher. I guess I don't understand why the wave that is going to do the most laps / time has to race in the hottest part of the day. I mean, I know you have to mix up the order, but there comes a point when it can be dangerous. But anyway, my futile attempt to shorten the race was stifled by pretty much everybody else who voted for five (wtf?? did they not feel the heat?) But anyway, As the race started, I found myself sittin 6th and then we hit the tight turn into the singletrack. Figured there would be a little jockeying, especially with this being the first race and all - and I was right. Two dudes passed me in the single track, kind of dick-passes if you ask me, especially since this was going to be a 2+hr race. The first 2minutes doesn't mean a whole lot in an expert race. Eventually the stronger guys will make their way through, not like in beginner class- where not getting a hole-shot can cost you a race. So as the trail dropped out into the field, we were strung out in a line with a couple of guys ahead of me and then a big gap would open up so I'd jump to cover the gap and the dillholes who passed me in the single track would grab my wheel and then they'd cut me off going into the next single track. So after this happened for the third time - I just sat back and recovered for a minute once the trail popped out in to the field before dropping into the first quarry section. The two goofballs AGAIN let a gap go to the first couple of guys - I guess they expected me to cover it once again - so i sat for a couple of seconds - then CLICK , CLICK, ..........CLICK - i motored around them and pulled up right behind first and second place. We dropped down the first descent and then shot up the first quarry climb - aha! - we gapped em and now I just sat in to recover. The pace was high but definitely manageable. Shawn Smith was upfront riding smooth as was Joe Vietro in second. I just settled in along for the ride and within about two minutes my hr was back down and I felt great. "DRINK! DRINK!", I told myself - my last couple of laps would now depend on how well I manage myself for the first couple of laps, so I consciously drank (a lot) and sucked down a gel. Now, I hadn't done a pre-ride so I was a little shaky when the pace got flowing in the singletrack, but surprisingly i would pull back in when hittin the climbs. The nice thing about G-ville is that the laps are short, the bad thing about G-ville is that the laps are short SO we DO Five of them, but before I knew it we were finishing up the third lap and we started the fourth lap and I was still sitting in third - i started getting excited, but then I remembered my last G-ville race where i was in third until the last climb on the last lap and then got passed -- "DRINK, DRINK, CONSERVE, CONSERVE!!!" I told myself. Two more laps to go - and I was sure the pace was gonna get lifted. Sure enough. Up one of the short little power climbs I cramped like a MUTHA!!! But once I got going I pulled back in behind the two leaders. Smith still setting pace - I'm sure he wanted either one of us to pull through, but I had nothing in terms of any fast pace left in - i knew i'd be in "survival mode" on the last lap. After a couple of tough cramps up some of the last climbs before the feedzone, left me dangling about 30 secs off of the leaders so I decided to sit up and recover to make sure that I could finish the last lap strong to hold off from being overtaken by the fourth place rider - who I thought was Mark Gerrard. So I rode the last lap by myself , fairly conservative but just kept saying to myself, "Move Forward, Move Forward" and it worked - that is until .............. AHHHHHHH! "THE LAST CLIMB ON THE LAST LAP" --- OH NO, NOT AGAIN!! ........ About three feet from the top of this climb both of my legs just locked up - not even a simple hamstring cramp or calf cramp - I couldn't move my legs - it felt like they were wooden poles and my feet weren't responding to my brain messages. I couldn't believe it - I looked back expecting to see fourth place coming but there was NOBODY! I took a deep breath and splashed some gatorade from my bottle on my legs - now mind you - i'm still not on the top of the climb - i'm just stalled out - not moving, but the "bright side" was that i hadn't slid all the way down the climb. FINALLY, my right leg bends and i scoot myself up the hill - still have the rigamortis feeling in my left leg, but right leg is GOOD TO GO. So I clip in and ride on down the hill towards the finish line. My stiff left leg was flappin in the wind as i rounded the last turn towards the chicane and then it finally regained movement. THIRD PLACE! Way stoked. Gotta give some appreciation to my wife, the Stephanator - as always - a great job with the bottle handoffs and for keeping my splashed down with cold water through the feed zones as well as other places around the course. It seemed like she and Big Blue were EVERYWHERE and they were always ready with the cold water to pour on my head.

So, as you can see its been a pretty eventful couple of months, so hopefully that'll fill ya in.

Well, til next time, sbc out.

Trying to get back on track.......

It's funny how easy it is to get way off track.......... self-discipline is not something that comes easy for me. The snooze button has become my best friend.


It goes like this:


Oh well, I'm sleeping in - I'll just do an open water "swim" this afternoon........


--or--


I'll just do the group ride - that'll be good enough...........


--or--


Whew, i just ran three solid miles..... i'm done - give me a BOOST Chocolate Shake (300 calories to replace to the 125 that I burned......)





Man, when it comes to making deals with myself, I'm definitely a used car salesman:

Well, I put it out there, no more hiding -- it's time to get back on the program. Not too much racing coming up except for the last BFAST on July 12th and then Xterra First Coast on the 27th. Tahoe is looming out there in October, seems so far away, but I know it'll be here before I know it and I'll be gasping for air at 7500' wondering what the hell was I thinkin back in June......

NOTE TO SELF: Tahoe is going to be HARD.

2008 - 1st Half RECAP

Well, here I sit at the halfway point of my season. Things have been going "ok" - not great, but I've had some good results and (lately) some not so good results. Here's some highlights of the past couple of months:

In February, me and the mtb-boys hit the 12 Hours of Santos for some team relay racing, as well some camping and some "beer-appreciation". Result: 3rd place Pro/Expert Team (refer to pic #1) AND a really fun time (refer to pic #2).
In beginning of March, I did my first ever Gate River Run. Now for those of you not in the KNOW - this is a HUGE running race held right here in J-ville. Its deemed the USA 15K Championship. Of all the years living here, I've never participated - so this year, with my tri-training in full effect, I figured I check it out and use it for some good run training. Had a great time, even with the 40mph winds on top of the bridge - and will definitely hit this race again. Now I will say it just for the record - I AM NOT A RUNNER!! So for me to be out there with some elite runners, I'll say that I was somewhat happy with my results - I'll definitely improve next time - I was kinda nervous about THE BRIDGE at the end of the race so I held back a little for the first 10k, but in retrospect I coulda pushed a lil harder. Next year - sub 1hr but this year's result: 416th OVERALL and 72nd in age group -- not bad considering there was something like 12ooo people there!

Here's a lil bird's eye view of the finish - Here's me and my bro-n-law (He's in his first year of running and this was his first River Run also - props to him most definitely)

Then in mid-March, I hit the first round of the SERC (Southeast Regional Championship) race in Gainesville (at Haille's Trails, which are some of the most fun trails to ride in FL - too bad they aren't open year round - BUMMER). I had figured it would be a good test of my mtb fitness, as I was kinda anxious to see how my training was doing AND I would be racing my first race in the 30-39 Expert class (yeah, I'm getting OLD!! 30?!?!?! - whoa!! ). Had a great race and found myself sitting in third for the entire race until getting passed on the LAST climb on the LAST lap - Result: Fourth place AND a big mtb confidence boost.

Next, it was on to my first Xterra race of the year - Miami (Oleta River State Park). I was anxiously anticipating this race - as I had decided that this was my main focus for this year. I had been working with Shawn Burke to help get ready for this and I was feeling GOOD going into this race. Now this wasn't my first Xterra ever- but it was my first Xterra ever that I have actually TRAINED for, so it would be interesting to see how I would stack up against some bonafide offroad tri-guys. The race went well - was actually leading after T2 (the transition from bike to run) after setting the fastest bike split of the day and passing Casey Fannin. On the run, Mr. Fannin put the hammer down and made me realize that I've still got a little work to do. Great race - really cool venue - especially the run, with some river crossings where you had to pull yourself across on a rope - A LOT OF FUN!! Result: 2nd overall / 1st age group

After Miami - I took my newfound MULTISPORT ability to the BFAS Duathlon in Nocatee on April 19th. This was kinda a small race but would serve perfectly as a tune-up race for an upcoming Xterra in Ft Yargo. Short distances of a 2mile run / 12 mile bike / 2mile run would suit me well, especially since - say it with me, "I AM NOT A RUNNER". Hit my goals with this one and went sub 1hr - avg'd about 6:30 pace on the run and about 24mph on the bike. Fun little race - hope they keep those things going. Result: 8th overall and 1st agegroup.

Now, here's where it starts gettin good -> the weekend of April 26th and 27th was an action packed weekend full of good times and some decent results. Saturday was the Ft. Yargo Xterra, put on by GoneRiding - who always does such a GREAT job with running races. SUPER fun trails had me stoked to be out riding and I put in the second fastest bike split - right behind Xterra pro Craig Evans. I started the run in second - but faded to 5th overall (probably due to the fact that - "I AM NOT A RUNNER") but was stoked to say the least cuz I actually felt somewhat fast on the run - definitely faster than my run in Miami.

That's me in the wetsuit with the orange cap doing the freestyle stroke --

Coming out of the water -UH -- where'd I put my bike again????

AhH - i love these TRAILS!!!!

Startin the run --

And then this is what's its all about:

The next day was a SERC race and I figured that since I was there then I might as well race - especially since the trails were AWESOME - was feeling pretty good in the race - actually held third until the final lap when i got passed on the last climb (uh, don't they call that dejavu?) (uh, don't they call that dejavu?) Oh well, fourth place for a race that I did totally without any expectations - stoked (as well as $80 richer - expert racing has its advantages!!)(hey check out Trent Maddox (first place dude) - I think he's WASTED!!)

After the Yargo Experience, I had a month until my "A" race, so I hit the training hard - including some good rides with the Bluester:

As a prep race, I did the first round of the BFAS triathlon - felt kinda off that day for some reason - might've had something to do with running late and not getting in a warmup (note to self: warmup at next race). Still ended up 2nd in age group and something like 18th overall. Those are super fun races (and close to home!).

Next up was the BiG Daddy of Xterra Races: the Southeast Championship in Pelham, AL. Was super stoked and looking forward to this race like no other. BUT, it just so happened that I came down with some nasty head cold on the Friday before the race. ARGH!!!!! I don't get sick very often but this was the most INCONVENIENT time possible. Oh well, after a decent swim and a mediocre bike section, my body decided that it didn't want to move forward anymore. Just finishing that run was probably one of the hardest things ever!! The run was a 10K and about half of it was some super steep climbs - a lot walking (and some crawling) and more cramping spelled out a bad race for me. Was in 2nd agegroup but fell back to 7th - but I finished, so considering that I felt like crap - I have to be somewhat happy that at least I didn't die out there on the trails. Well, here's a pic - i had to digitally alter it so that you couldn't make out the painful grimace on my face - I did my best to pretend that I was running when I saw the photog, because MAN, I WUZ HURTING!!

Oh well, 1st half of 08 is over with. Time to move on and learn from the past six months. Looking forward to some fun times over the next couple of months - the big day is approaching (September 6th) and that is gonna have most of my focus for the coming months, but I'll be racing a little bit and will try to put something together for the USA Xterra National Championships in Lake Tahoe in October.