A great day in paradise!

My day started with a swim and then Reto and I headed down to Big Sur for an epic ride. Whenever I just need to get away from everything I head down to Big Sur and ride Nacimiento Ferguson. It is an incredible climb (8 miles up one side and 3 miles back up)that shoots straight up from the ocean and drops into a beautiful canyon that goes on for a long time and runs along a stream. When I do this ride all my worries disappear and I am mentally rejuvenated and recharged. Today didn't disappoint...this ride with Reto put me in the right frame of mind as I near my biggest race of the year. To cap off a great day we drank a few beers and chowed on some killer mexican food...just what the Dr. ordered!

-A short video of the long decent back to the coast

Photo edition...

--The bike leg at Xterra Nationals


--Look at all that beer!


--The boys post race


--The top 4 men atop the PBR podium!

Well, it is the final week before World's...where has the time gone?!
I will be resting and fine tuning this week for an all out assault on the BRUTAL course in Maui. It is going to be very hot and hard but this is what I have trained for all year so it is GO TIME and there won't be any excuses.
Stay tuned as I near the big day.

First win of the season

Over the weekend I joined Tom and James for some off-road triathlon action in sunny Arizona. I decided to do this race as final prep for world's. The race format was perfect--nonwetsuit swim, 10 mile mountain bike and a 5k run. I went into the race considering it a workout. My goal was to put in a very intense effort to make sure I am race ready for Maui and to prepare mentally for the challenges of pushing your body to its limit in competition. I met my goal and walked away with my first overall win of the season. To win is always nice but more importantly I got in some very solid training (physically and mentally) and had a blast with some good friends.
As the winner I walked away with a HUGE trophy (5 feet tall) and I had to promise to return next year to defend the title (they will reuse the trophy every year and engrave your name on it as last years winner). Plus, the boys from Mafia Racing provided all the PBR that we could drink...Yes, this race was sponsored by PBR (pabst blue ribbon) and it tasted great in the hot sun! Thanks to Dave and Travis from Mafia for putting together such a killer day of racing!
After the race we went across the lake to the fat tire beer festival, enjoyed some brews, and took in the "sights" (there were some crazy costumes at this little party!).
That night we went out for some burgers, fries, wings and MORE beer and then hit the sack pretty early.
The next morning Tom and Brian showed me and James some killer trails in the area. I can't wait to get back to Arizona for some more training...I love it out there!

FYI--pics from the race weekend will come soon.

Stay tuned...Maui is only 11 days away!!!!!

This is what it is all about...I love this quotation!

"life is not about getting to the grave safely in one piece… but to live and love every moment as if it were your last, to skid into the future totally out of control, while shouting with your fist in the air"! -www.mafiaracing.com


So, get out there and enjoy everything this world has to offer...you aren't going to live forever so do it up while you can!

brightroom event photography

brightroom event photography

3 weeks away from the big show!

After 5 days of rest with only very light training to promote recovery it is time to get back at it. The next two weeks will be filled with hard workouts and plenty of rest to make sure I am 100% for each tough session. During these two weeks I will be on my bike a lot. My riding has come a long way since last year but I still have some work to do in terms of developing the power and strength to ride fast. There isn't really time to build strength before world's (this will happen during the winter and spring) so I will be focusing on getting as fit as I can over the next two weeks.
I am banking on my cycling fitness to come around a bit so that I can put together a solid ride in Maui. I worked closely with Reto (my coach) to put together a two week plan that will give me some extra cycling fitness. My run is where it needs to be. A few more workouts and plenty of rest and I am certain that I can pop off a fast run split. I think a fast run will actually be key on race day. It is a tough course in Maui and a lot of people can't pull it together on the run course, which opens the door for me to make up ground. So, I will give it all I have on the bike and then lay it down on the run. I think it is possible for me to run under 50 minutes in Maui, which will put me up there.
I will also put in several key swim sessions at stanford. The workouts there are super intense and in a couple weeks I can get some great swim fitness. I won't be focusing on my swim at all but the few key sessions per week will be hard and focused. I don't need to be flying in the water but I do want to come out feeling fresh enough to go for it on the bike. It took me a while to find my legs in Tahoe and I don't want to wait that long in Maui.
The goal still remains to finish top overall amateur and given my result in Tahoe (at altitude) I don't think this is out of reach. I will be peaking for Maui so I will be more rested and more fit then I was in Tahoe. Don't get me wrong, this is a tough goal but I have never been one to set goals that are easy to achieve...why even set goals then?! You have to dream and you have to believe, right? I believe I can achieve this goal and you can count on me to go "all-out" on race day to make it happen.
So, stay tuned as I ramp up for world's. Have a good one you guys.

Race report from Xterra Nationals

Well, sunday has come and gone and Jess and I are finally back at sea-level...it feels good to be home!
On Saturday before the race we woke up to snow on the ground and very cold temps...not exactly what we were all hoping for the day before such a big race. Saturday afternoon the sun came out, melted a lot of the snow and left us with feelings of hope for race day. On Saturday, after a ligh day of pre-race training and some relaxation we all went to the Hyatt for the year-end awards dinner. We had a good time , especially since we were surrounded by friends and family. At the dinner I was awarded a regional champions jersey making me a two-time Xterra regional champ. After the dinner we all went home and hit the sack early.

-Getting the new regional champ jersey

Sunday morning we all woke up early to eat some breakfast and then we went down to the race site around 7:15. It was freezing! Once the sun came up it was much nicer but the super cold temps made jumping into the 58 degree waters difficult. After about a 10 minute warmup I came to the shore to claim my starting spot. At 9 am the cannon fired and Nationals officially started. I knew that I couldn't go out really hard in the swim b/c the altitude can sap your energy and your motivation if you redline it to soon so I quickly set into a hard but controlled tempo. Nothing stellar but I did put together a decent swim and felt comfortable doing it. Once out of the water the real race began and I took off on one of the most epic trails in the world. I didn't have much time to take in the sites but I did manage to take 9 minutes off of my time from last year. So, I have made great progress on the bike but I have a long way to go before I am posting times that put me in the mix with the top pros.

-Heading out onto the bike course

After the bike I still felt strong and I was eager to head out on the run. I gave it everything I had and put together a respectable run split. My run time was the 13th fastest on the day and allowed me to finish 18th overall, 3rd overall amateur.




Going into this race my goal was to win the overall amateur title. I said that this would be a tough goal to achieve but I think it was a reasonable goal and I wouldn't change it. While I didn't achieve my goal it is undeniable that I have made a lot of progress over the past year and I still have 4 weeks until worlds. I have always been more concerned with overall placing rather than age group placing so I am happy with my 18th place overall...especially since 31 male pros were on the start list. This is a big race with all of the best Xterra athlete's in the country so I can't complain about my result...I am happy with my progress.
My performance at nationals proves that I am on track for a good result at world's. A few more weeks of some hard riding and I will be primed to tackle the most important race of the year. Again, the goal is to finish 1st overall amateur and, while it is a challenging goal, I feel that it is attainable.

-The day was hard...what can I say?

I will be resting for a few days from the very hard effort yesterday and then I will move into my final prep phase for world's...it will be very hard training and it will get me up to the level I need to be at for the big day.
Thanks to all my friend's and family for the support and good times!
Stay tuned as I ramp up for World's.