...I know, this is a summertime sport blog, but I figured I'd post something from our adventure to Vermont this past January for the age group nationals for xc skiing.
Read about it on the SWNSC blog:
http://swnordicski.blogspot.com/
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Tour de Los Alamos babysitting
Mike is racing and I hope to just get in a ride in the Citizens race during the Tour de Los Alamos. Our wonderful neighbor, who loves kids and offered to take care of Miss Maia when we needed it, is out of town. So, we are looking for a babysitter. Any suggestions? It would be on Sunday, June 20th from 8:30 AM until ~noon. I can drop off Maia anywhere with her stuff, if that is easier for someone. She is 6 months old and not mobile yet . . .
Monday, June 14, 2010
Mike finishing Sandia Crest
Proud of the hubby Mike Warren- he did a great job at Sandia Crest yesterday. Thought I'd share since he's kind of a quiet guy. He finished 2nd overall in the "A" race (Pro/1/2) in a pretty tough field and told me that he broke his 3 hour power record (and 2 hour). Awesome! Los Alamos was well-represented, taking 1st and 2nd. (Fortunato did fantastic- nabbing the top spot.) Hugh and Gretchen tamed the beast, too. Not sure who else was there . . .
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
XTERRA Double Header Weekend - Four Corners and Deuces Wild
The organizers of these two great XTERRA races probably didn't mean to put them both on the same weekend when they were planning their respective races, but somehow there was a goof-up and they ended up back-to-back. This is rare for XTERRA -- to have two races so geographically near each other, but somehow they made it work and even offered incentives for the top finishers who did both. Whatever...they need to fix the schedule. Really, it's the Deuces Wild that moved their race into June, so maybe they will need to assess making a change. It's a double bummer, as we're all forced to miss the Milkman, our best sprint tri in NM and generally considered the sprint triathlon state championship.
So, all of the opinion aside, it turned out to be a pretty cool off-road tri weekend, if not a little hard on the body. I think it was reported that no less than 29 or 30 participants opted to do both, including myself and Laury Goddard. Also at the Four Corners in Farmington was Kim Katko, who put in an awesome race to take 7th overall in the women's event. On the other side of the state line in Arizona, Dan Rees, Kim Meyer and Paul Graham did the Deuce (Amy Regan did the Deuceman 1/2 IM race too -- race report, Amy?).
Laury and I drove up to Farmington to pre-ride the bike course for the Four Corners XTERRA. It is on the Road Apple Rally trails, so if you've done that mtn bike race (the oldest in the world), then you know those trails. The rest of the race is virtually just like the Farmington Grady Williams tri, with some run course deviations. The swim is a two lap affair, making up an approximate 1,500 meter swim.
Did I mention that it got hot? Yep, it was roasty, toasty in Farmington, with just about 100 degrees for the day...probably not so much during the race, but it was definitely in the 90s.
With a lot of hard training from the Galisteo RR to Memorial Day, I was hoping for a good result at Four Corners, but I ended up timing my rest badly and felt VERY flat and generally off during the entire race. I swam OK, but it didn't feel very good and somehow it took everything out of me and I felt like an over-cooked spaghetti noodle on the run. That run is always a good one for me, except for that day. I actually got passed by XTERRA-guy runners, which bummed me out. I struggled the whole way, and even got lost a little bit on a sandstone rock with no markings in sight. I hoped for a better bike ride, but that was actually the worst leg of all.
I crashed not far out of T2 while trying to put on my bike glove, then had to endure a long line of guys just blazing by me during the first half of the race. I seemed to get some legs later in the race and re-caught a couple of them, but the damage was done and I lost a good 7 to 9 minutes overall with all of my mishaps and weaknesses. I did see some positive light during the final miles of the bike, when I began feeling my legs kick in and I left behind those guys who had caught me earlier, and I even caught a guy who had passed me on the run, so I had hopes for the next day's race at Show Low.
At the finish, Laury also lamented on how flat he felt and was equally bummed with his race in general. We philosophized it away, had a good post-race lunch at the Lions Wilderness Park, enjoyed our 4.5 hr drive in 100 degree heat to Arizona, and arrived at the race site packet pickup with renewed hope and vigor. We then headed over to the best local Mexican food restaurant in town (which also catered the race) and had a great dinner and a beer.
We got a little tired and sore by bedtime, but figured a good warmup would help clear the cobwebs, so we opted for the early wake-up and race arrival to leave plenty of time. It was a good strategy, as we both felt like we were ready to go when it was time. It was also really cool seeing the same faces we saw the day before, plus the fresh ones here for just this race. More NM people did this race than the Four Corners, I think...
The swim start at Deuces Wild is always a little crazy because it's a deep water start with an immediate curve to make, making it really tight and cramped right from the gun. It's so crazy how we take off hitting each other and swimming right into the beach and the little observation pier there. After that, it's finally open water and I had some ground to make up. I opted for a much more casual swim than the day before, as I felt that the hard swim at Four Corners set the rest of my race up for a sufferfest since I am way soft on my swim training. It was a good strategy and I felt better at the end of the swim than the beginning, and was much less worked-over once out of the water.
I also took a way-too-leisurely approach to my T-1 and lost about a minute to those guys I needed to stay on par with to be competitive. That's bad, but I don't know what I could do differently...I needed my Camelback with the pending heat, and I needed gloves because I'd get blisters on my hands, so I just don't know. Maybe it actually helps in the long run, but I need to find some speed in T-1 at the XTERRAs.
Once out on the bike, I just worked on finding my rhythm, which is never easy at XTERRA because you're all worked over from the swim. It takes some time to get your mountain biking skills working. I seemed to recover more quickly this year than the other two times I did this, and felt like I was having a decent bike. I rode hard, despite feeling my tired back and legs all the way up the long initial climb to the top of a dome-like mountain. Once at the top, I began to really turn it on and just hung with the two guys who I rode over the top with. They were very good bike handlers, so staying with them was a challenge and helped my overall speed. I even took some turns leading, but it was mostly them making the pace. I was really able to help once we hit a long dirt road section before the final single track sections coming into the finish.
By the end of the bike, I knew it had been a fast ride (my fastest by quite a bit) and I was feeling pretty good. But, with all of the competition at this year's race, my fast bike was only good for about 11th best -- wow! People near the finish were yelling: "ninth, tenth, eleventh" to us 3 guys coming in, so I kicked the last couple of sections to get a gap on those two guys.
Into T-2, I focused on having a faster transition. The guy who was with me (or just behind) blazed in and out so fast that I actually had a gap to make up once we were out on the run. Once again, I actually felt pretty good starting the run, despite achy back and legs. It took a little while to get going, but I was moving along pretty well. At first, I didn't make up any time on the 21 yr old dude in front of me and thought he was going to out-run me. But once we descended the steep hill down below the dam and then had to climb out, it became apparent that he was slowing significantly. I caught him at the top of the climb and suffered back into my run that went across another short dam. I felt alright, but I compared to the year before and just knew I was lacking the juice to have a great run.
And so it went for the rest of the race. I even struggled a little at one point, but as we got nearer to the finish, we had to go through two lake crossings (or marsh crossings). I whole-heartedly dove in right away and swam both without hesitation. The cool water felt good and I think it was actually faster than trying to run through them. With wet, squishy shoes, I ran as fast as my tired body could muster into the finish, with pretty good kick in the final 500m.
Overall, this was a fun weekend. I'd do it again, but realize I need more mtn bike miles and more race-specific training to be competitive with the new group of folks making the move over to XTERRA. I definitely want to go back to Four Corners and avenge my bad day on that very cool course!
Amy Regan got some pics of some of us during the race (see the Triatomics photos link), and the race organization had some good photos that can be purchased. Take a look at 'em if you're ever interested on going to this event. You can see just how pretty it is there and what a nice setting it is for a race.
So, all of the opinion aside, it turned out to be a pretty cool off-road tri weekend, if not a little hard on the body. I think it was reported that no less than 29 or 30 participants opted to do both, including myself and Laury Goddard. Also at the Four Corners in Farmington was Kim Katko, who put in an awesome race to take 7th overall in the women's event. On the other side of the state line in Arizona, Dan Rees, Kim Meyer and Paul Graham did the Deuce (Amy Regan did the Deuceman 1/2 IM race too -- race report, Amy?).
Laury and I drove up to Farmington to pre-ride the bike course for the Four Corners XTERRA. It is on the Road Apple Rally trails, so if you've done that mtn bike race (the oldest in the world), then you know those trails. The rest of the race is virtually just like the Farmington Grady Williams tri, with some run course deviations. The swim is a two lap affair, making up an approximate 1,500 meter swim.
Did I mention that it got hot? Yep, it was roasty, toasty in Farmington, with just about 100 degrees for the day...probably not so much during the race, but it was definitely in the 90s.
With a lot of hard training from the Galisteo RR to Memorial Day, I was hoping for a good result at Four Corners, but I ended up timing my rest badly and felt VERY flat and generally off during the entire race. I swam OK, but it didn't feel very good and somehow it took everything out of me and I felt like an over-cooked spaghetti noodle on the run. That run is always a good one for me, except for that day. I actually got passed by XTERRA-guy runners, which bummed me out. I struggled the whole way, and even got lost a little bit on a sandstone rock with no markings in sight. I hoped for a better bike ride, but that was actually the worst leg of all.
I crashed not far out of T2 while trying to put on my bike glove, then had to endure a long line of guys just blazing by me during the first half of the race. I seemed to get some legs later in the race and re-caught a couple of them, but the damage was done and I lost a good 7 to 9 minutes overall with all of my mishaps and weaknesses. I did see some positive light during the final miles of the bike, when I began feeling my legs kick in and I left behind those guys who had caught me earlier, and I even caught a guy who had passed me on the run, so I had hopes for the next day's race at Show Low.
At the finish, Laury also lamented on how flat he felt and was equally bummed with his race in general. We philosophized it away, had a good post-race lunch at the Lions Wilderness Park, enjoyed our 4.5 hr drive in 100 degree heat to Arizona, and arrived at the race site packet pickup with renewed hope and vigor. We then headed over to the best local Mexican food restaurant in town (which also catered the race) and had a great dinner and a beer.
We got a little tired and sore by bedtime, but figured a good warmup would help clear the cobwebs, so we opted for the early wake-up and race arrival to leave plenty of time. It was a good strategy, as we both felt like we were ready to go when it was time. It was also really cool seeing the same faces we saw the day before, plus the fresh ones here for just this race. More NM people did this race than the Four Corners, I think...
The swim start at Deuces Wild is always a little crazy because it's a deep water start with an immediate curve to make, making it really tight and cramped right from the gun. It's so crazy how we take off hitting each other and swimming right into the beach and the little observation pier there. After that, it's finally open water and I had some ground to make up. I opted for a much more casual swim than the day before, as I felt that the hard swim at Four Corners set the rest of my race up for a sufferfest since I am way soft on my swim training. It was a good strategy and I felt better at the end of the swim than the beginning, and was much less worked-over once out of the water.
I also took a way-too-leisurely approach to my T-1 and lost about a minute to those guys I needed to stay on par with to be competitive. That's bad, but I don't know what I could do differently...I needed my Camelback with the pending heat, and I needed gloves because I'd get blisters on my hands, so I just don't know. Maybe it actually helps in the long run, but I need to find some speed in T-1 at the XTERRAs.
Once out on the bike, I just worked on finding my rhythm, which is never easy at XTERRA because you're all worked over from the swim. It takes some time to get your mountain biking skills working. I seemed to recover more quickly this year than the other two times I did this, and felt like I was having a decent bike. I rode hard, despite feeling my tired back and legs all the way up the long initial climb to the top of a dome-like mountain. Once at the top, I began to really turn it on and just hung with the two guys who I rode over the top with. They were very good bike handlers, so staying with them was a challenge and helped my overall speed. I even took some turns leading, but it was mostly them making the pace. I was really able to help once we hit a long dirt road section before the final single track sections coming into the finish.
By the end of the bike, I knew it had been a fast ride (my fastest by quite a bit) and I was feeling pretty good. But, with all of the competition at this year's race, my fast bike was only good for about 11th best -- wow! People near the finish were yelling: "ninth, tenth, eleventh" to us 3 guys coming in, so I kicked the last couple of sections to get a gap on those two guys.
Into T-2, I focused on having a faster transition. The guy who was with me (or just behind) blazed in and out so fast that I actually had a gap to make up once we were out on the run. Once again, I actually felt pretty good starting the run, despite achy back and legs. It took a little while to get going, but I was moving along pretty well. At first, I didn't make up any time on the 21 yr old dude in front of me and thought he was going to out-run me. But once we descended the steep hill down below the dam and then had to climb out, it became apparent that he was slowing significantly. I caught him at the top of the climb and suffered back into my run that went across another short dam. I felt alright, but I compared to the year before and just knew I was lacking the juice to have a great run.
And so it went for the rest of the race. I even struggled a little at one point, but as we got nearer to the finish, we had to go through two lake crossings (or marsh crossings). I whole-heartedly dove in right away and swam both without hesitation. The cool water felt good and I think it was actually faster than trying to run through them. With wet, squishy shoes, I ran as fast as my tired body could muster into the finish, with pretty good kick in the final 500m.
Overall, this was a fun weekend. I'd do it again, but realize I need more mtn bike miles and more race-specific training to be competitive with the new group of folks making the move over to XTERRA. I definitely want to go back to Four Corners and avenge my bad day on that very cool course!
Amy Regan got some pics of some of us during the race (see the Triatomics photos link), and the race organization had some good photos that can be purchased. Take a look at 'em if you're ever interested on going to this event. You can see just how pretty it is there and what a nice setting it is for a race.
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