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.