Awesome week!

--At the Del Mar races...just couldn't pass it up!

It has been one of those weeks that make you very happy and excited. Everything seemed to fall into place. Jess and I celebrated 5 yrs of marriage, Jess got promoted, training is going well and I am feeling stronger, Skinfit sales continue resulting in our best month ever (and it's not over!), and I had some great times with friends.  I am a lucky guy for sure!

I am off to Chicago tomorrow for my first ever Skinfit sales trip outside of California. It should be a great week filled with meetings, networking events, and training. I am excited to finally get out there...it has been a long time coming since Chicago is one of our biggest markets.  So, if you live in Chicago drop me a line b/c I will have tons of Skinfit gear with me.

On the training front things have been going really well. I am in total base/strength mode and I have seen some good results. Feels good to be healthy and logging some consistent training. I will continue this base/strength phase for another week and then when I get back from Chicago I will start to dial it up a bit with more specific workouts tailored toward the Xterra Worlds course. I mentioned in my last post that I am planning to race Nationals but this week I decided against it. I need a little more time to prepare for racing. In order for me to race well at altitude I need to acclimate at altitude for 2-3 weeks before the race...this requires a lot of time, travel, and money. Since I know I can't be in great shape for Nationals I just can't justify the time and money. Plus, by not going to Nationals I secure myself a couple extra weeks of prep for worlds. If I go to nationals I will have an easy week before the race and will need the next week to travel home, settle in, recoup from the race and time at altitude. So, I figure I will lose about 12-14 days of quality training. Quite frankly, I need every day I can get to be ready for worlds and I really don't want to rush anything. All I have done this year is rush, deal with injury, and race when I was far from race fit and healthy. I would love to finish out the year with a couple months of consistent, quality training and a good go in Maui. It has been a tough decision b/c I do want to race Nationals but at the end of the day I really hate racing when I am not ready physically and mentally. Some people can do this but I just don't really respond well to it so I have made my decision.  My ticket to Maui has been purchased, my sights are set on that race, and I am excited for the day.

So, that's the news from here. Wouldn't mind having another week like the one we just had. It will certainly be a fun adventure out east and I will no doubt have some stories to share. Thanks for reading and have fun out there!

Busy so no blogging...

Life has been insane the past month and obviously the blogging has slowed.  I have traveled the state of CA several times over this summer and trying to juggle Skinfit, training/racing, and a social life is no easy task.  It has been nice to be in S.D. for the past week.  I head to Chicago Monday but the two week stint at the beach has certainly been nice. I have fallen back into a routine and I have logged some consistent training.
I wasn't entirely sure I would go to Xterra Nationals but I think I will give it a go.  It is fast approaching (5 weeks) and while my focus will remain worlds I think I can be in decent shape for the race in Utah.  I have been able to run consistently which is a huge change from earlier in the year.  Sure will be nice (assuming no injuries) to go into a race with some actual run fitness.  I have been doing a lot of long rides with low cadence strength work.  These types of sessions work really well for me and I already feel stronger overall. I am also going to Rehab United twice a week and getting absolutely beat down by the crew there.  These workouts are so important for me and really help to keep me healthy and strong.  It will be tough to juggle them when the intensity goes up but they are so important for me that they need to stay a part of my routine. I am lacking some major fitness in the water which sucks but after Richmond I really didn't swim for a month so it isn't a big shocker that I am slow.  I am trying to work on my weakness by swimming longer sets so we will see how this shapes up over the next 5 weeks.

I did put on some weight during my month of uncertainty and good times so it has been a bit of a struggle to get it off.  It is starting to shed so just need to keep logging the training and hopefully I will be down to race weight by Nationals. Pretty certain it will happen but it is always a bad situation when you are trying to lose weight and train a lot.  This was proven yesterday when I had an absolute meltdown on my ride and run.  So, I will have to be a little more careful moving forward so I can maximize my training but still drop the lbs in a reasonable manner.

On another note, Skinfit is cranking!  Things have been going really well and this month will be our biggest sales month ever!  It is so nice to see the hardwork paying off, especially since I am gone all the time and barely see my wife.  She has been so supportive but it is tough to be away so much.

So, life is good and we just keep rolling along.  Should be a hectic couple of months as I ramp up training, Skinfit continues to blow up, we go to weddings, parties, etc.  I would have it no other way though because everyday shapes up to be a good one.

--a family wedding in mission beach this past weekend...nice to have to close to home

--One of the many events I have been to over the past 4 weeks

Back to work I go.  Have a good one and thanks for reading.