MULTISPORT MADNESS

New York

2012-02-01T18:26:00.000-08:00

Santa Monica

2012-01-15T19:06:00.000-08:00

The CrossFit Goal Setting Course

2011-12-18T17:44:00.000-08:00

“The Greatest Adaptation to CrossFit Takes Place Between The Ears!”
- CrossFit Founder Coach Greg Glassman

THE MENTAL GAME

As an athlete and trainer, I have studied the "mental game" for almost 20 years now. Lately I have been re-reading a book on Neurolinguistic Programming ("NLP") to re-evaluate how I can communicate with myself and others more effectively "in the moment". At the same time, I have been reading Daniel Kahneman's fascinating new book which examines how our "fast" and "slow" brains make decisions but also remember, judge and distort past experiences: "Thinking Fast and Slow". One of my key take-aways from both of these books is the way we view and define the quality of our past, present and future, and it's impact on our decision-making, tends to be heavily influenced by our intuition, unconscious empirical bias and sometimes irrational emotions.

OK, so what tools, skills or "Jedi Mind Tricks" do the most effective and successful people leverage to overcome these natural tendencies? What I have found over time is that there are, in fact, Jedis among us. They do use their Jedi mind tricks to navigate life's harshest times; those of our own choosing or not. The good news is their skills aren't genetic, but learned and accessible to anyone willing to change.

DEFINE YOUR TERMS

A few months ago I wrote about how we often battle the "devil" sitting on our shoulders. We hear whispers of very convincing excuses and discouragement in times of stress. Any CrossFit or endurance athlete knows EXACTLY what I mean. Your body may be working hard, but your brain must work even harder to block out the constant noise of negative thoughts. Repeatedly fighting through to the end, whether it is during a hard 20 mile run, the last round of a fight or the last round of Fight Gone Bad, brings adaptation, recalibration (of what we believe we "can" do) and upregulation of what we can handle mentally and physically.

"We are enriched by life's harsh moments, especially those of our own choosing"-Mark Allen, who won 6 Hawaii Ironman Championships after trying and "failing" 6 years in a row.

One cool thing I have learned from sport and studying Neurolinguistic Programming is that the way we ACTIVELY control our mindset in life's tough situations, with a positive pretense, profoundly impacts the outcome and our odds of "success". This may be while negotiating, speaking with a loved one, racing, a tough workout or even a fight. Doing this is a SKILL that must be learned and practiced. By viewing and handling life's obstacles with a positive pretense, solutions appear and success becomes a much more likely outcome...

THE MINDSET

Say you are asked to climb a 50 foot rope to the top of a gym. Do you tell yourself "It would be just my luck to fall and break my leg! But I won't let myself fall off this rope"...OR "I am going to safely and powerfully use perfect technique to climb this rope to the top before descending safely back to the gym floor".

THE BELIEF

In a positive pretense you tell yourself confidently what you CAN do, rather than what you want to AVOID. This is a familiar concept to my fellow cyclists: When riding down a technical, dangerous trail you want to look and focus on where you want to go, not where you don't want to go...or you will surely crash. You have to Believe!

THE JEDI

There are many people in the world qualified to lecture coaches, athletes and business owners about the power of maintaining a positive pretense in our thoughts and words. Very few do it better than CrossFit's Greg Amundson.

Greg Amundson is known as one of the original "Firebreather" CrossFit athletes, trained by Coach Greg Glassman, from the very first CrossFit in Santa Cruz. He is a legend in the CrossFit community with an impressive background in the military, law enforcement, martial arts and as a federal agent with the DEA. Think of the most passionate person you have ever met, bursting with knowledge, experience and rich stories. Now, quadruple that energy and you almost get the idea.

After first learning about Greg a couple years ago through the CrossFit website, I have scoured the internet in search of his speaking and writing. While recently reading about NLP and Kahneman's studies, I came across Greg's new traveling seminar, the "CrossFit Goal Setting Course". The seminar is currently touring CrossFit boxes around the world. Coincidentally, the very next stop on the tour just happened to be near my home in Santa Barbara, California. I jumped at the opportunity and on Saturday drove the 40 minutes down Highway 101 to CrossFit Ventura for a day of learning from "The Jedi".

Greg resigned from his position with the DEA this year in order to work full-time for CrossFit, presenting his Goal Setting Course. He shares his message in the context of colorful, relevant stories from his diverse background. With his animated delivery and strong presentation skills, this approach keeps it fun and engaging, making the material quite memorable.

Make no mistake: the course was not all didactic. Throughout the day there were several interactive exercises that required everyone to implement the taught skills right away, on the spot. We used Goal Setting workbooks to list specific goals with timelines to achieve each one, while creating powerful anchors to reinforce our successes.

Like many driven, self-motivated athletes, I felt like I went into this course already familiar with the gist of the subject matter. However, the way Greg presented the material, framed his stories and taught anchoring was especially powerful. This was a powerful learning experience. I would highly reccomend Greg's course to anyone, regardless of background.

At the end of the day, Greg offered to stick around for two hours to work with anyone one-on-one to discuss their individual goals, offering on-the-spot coaching. Most of the crowd (predominantly CrossFit Box owners and trainers) took advantage of this awesome opportunity. I left the seminar with some solid take-aways and skills that I can implement right away.

"It's mind over matter, Clancy. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter!"-Spoken to me by a Navy instructor, 1996, while I blasted far beyond physical and mental limits...both my own and what I considered humanly possible at the time.

From the CrossFit Goal Setting Site:

When harnessed, practiced and understood, Goal Setting and Positive Self-Talk are powerful assets to any Athlete. Although the physical attributes of CrossFit Athletes are indeed elite by any standard, the mental, emotional and character development that is forged through the difficulty of the workouts is also worthy of our study and contemplation.

Goal Setting and Positive Self-Talk are applicable to any physical or professional endeavor. When mastered, the lessons we learn in the CrossFit Affiliate gym are a tool that may be successfully applied to academics, relationships, business, leadership and profession.

During an early CrossFit Seminar in the winter of 2003, Coach Glassman remarked to Greg Amundson that, “The greatest adaptation to CrossFit takes place between the ears!” These influential words shaped the course of the next six years for Greg. As an athlete at the original CrossFit gym in Santa Cruz, California, Greg was able to witness first hand the power of the mind in the development of his own physical fitness and that of his peers.

In June, 2008, Greg published an article in the CrossFit Journal called Coaching The Mental Side of CrossFit. The article captured the attention of the CrossFit Community and resulted in immediate requests for speaking engagements that would elaborate on the mental adapation of CrossFit. For this reason, we like to think of the CrossFit Goal Setting Trainer Course as a creation of the CrossFit Community. The CrossFit Course Goal Setting Course is a true reflection of the amazing history, culture and Community of CrossFit.

Many of the greatest subject matter experts and athletes in the CrossFit Community have contributed to the development of the CrossFit Goal Setting Course. Coach Greg Glassman, Coach Mike Burgener, Coach Brian MacKenzie, Coach Kelly Starrett and Lisbeth Darsh have all shared strategies for mental toughness and personal success. Powerhouse CrossFit Games Athletes Josh Everett, Rob Orlando and Tommy Hackenbruck, through their example in competition and leadership, have also provided to the content of the Course.

Whether you are a veteran CrossFit Athlete or brand new to the Community, the CrossFit Goal Setting Trainer Course will educate and inspire you to unleash the power of your mind, body and spirit.
_______________

Recommended CrossFit Journal Resources

•Forging Elite Leadership – CrossFit Journal Article
•Coaching The Mental Side of CrossFit – CrossFit Journal Article
•CrossFit HQ History – CrossFit Journal Article
•Staying In The Fight – CrossFit Journal Article
•Accomplishment of a 10 Year Goal [video] – CrossFit Journal Video
•What It Takes To Be A Leader [video] – CrossFit Journal Video
•Positive Self Talk – The Greatest Adaptation [video] – CrossFit Journal Video

gratitude

2011-11-10T21:18:00.000-08:00

Adventure Racers. CrossFitters. Triathletes. Cyclists. Ultrarunners. Explorers. Fighters. You.

We're blesssed to have the ability and freedom of movement and free will. Every day I thank God for my health, and my family's. Watch this video of Connor and Cayden Long. This 8 year old boy pulls his less-fortunate but much-loved 6-year-old brother through triathlons!

This video reminds me to put excuses in context and make the most of what I DO have, today.
What is under your control *right now*? Your posture, your thoughts, your words, your actions,
the way you treat people, the choices you make...

Every day is a gift.

Power Rankings: The Best Adventure Racing Teams in America

2011-11-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

Explore Compete LIVE has just released their Power Rankings of the top American Adventure Racing teams. We (DART-nuun) are currently ranked #2, behind our friends Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic.

Tecnu just came back from the Adventure Racing World Championships in Tasmania, where DART-nuun racer Ryan VanGorder joined their squad in an impressive 12th place finish.

http://www.explorecompetelive.com/2011/11/09/ar-power-rankings-no-boundaries-ranks-the-best-teams-in-america/

From the ExlporeCompeteLIVE website:

We have been juggling the idea of a team ranking for a few years and have finally decided to pull the trigger. Our panel has based our inaugural rankings based on an informed opinion of team’s performances at key races in the US (and a few international ones where relevant). This will be a monthly addition to the site so race hard and perhaps you will see your team’s name on the list (if not already) moving forward.

AR Power Rankings:

1. Tecnu Extreme/Staphaseptic—Strong showing at both CPT and USARA Championships (2nd at both), winners at Gold Rush, 12th at the AR World Championships in Tasmania (top North American team there), strong showing at APEX Switzerland race, 6th at RTNX — Kyle Peter is poised to be the first big AR star of a new generation of athletes, in our humble opinion.

2. Dart-Nuun-SportMulti—1st American team at APEX in the Swiss Alps, 3rd overall at Gold Rush and 3d overall at RTNX — Tecnu beat them head-to-head at Gold Rush in Sept and that’s good enough for us to place them under Tecnu.

3. WEDALI—Won the CPT Nationals race, 3rd at USARA Nats (behind hybrid of Tecnu/SOG teams); 9th at RTNX; overall body of work for 2011 too impressive to bump them out of our top 3.

4. Team Bones—3rd at Expedition Idaho (1st American team), 16th at the AR World Championships (2nd American team) has them in our 4th spot. They rarely race the shorter events, but for the big epic races you can count on Team Bones powering through the course.

5. GearJunkie/YogaSlackers—Despite a 6th place finish at CPT, they took 2nd at Gold Rush, 4th at Exped Idaho (2nd American team), and 5th at RTNX (2nd American team). Perhaps the best performance by this team was their 2nd place finish this year at what may be the hardest race on the planet, the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race. The longer and tougher the race, the more money I’d put on these guys. I have no problem slotting them in at #5.

6. Team SOG—They won USARA Nationals and took 2nd (on a hybrid team) at CPT Nationals — so maybe they should be ranked higher, but their inconsistency in race personnel made us uncomfortable placing them above this 5th spot. Their 6th place finishing Expedition Idaho team, for example, was vastly different than their USARA Nationals team. Still, 6th place on this list is pretty darn good!

7. Odyssey Adventure Racing/ ImONPoint.org—They won the USARA Nationals Masters division (finished 4th overall) and took 3rd at CPT Nationals. No expedition race results of note for this bunch in 2011 (although Mark Lattanzi has had a great race at the World Championships in Tasmania on the “Dancing Pandas” team).

8. CheckpointZero/Tech4o—5th overall at USARA Nationals, and 9th at CPT Nationals . . . Their 10th place finish at RTNX (5th American team) is just enough for us to place them above the Alpine Shop team.

9. Alpine Shop—USARA Masters 3rd Place (6th overall) and 4th at CPT Nationals. Not far behind Wedali at the 36-hour Berryman in September. No true expedition race results that we could uncover, though.

10. Bushwhacker A strong team from the midwest, 5th at CPT Nationals wrapped up a great season for them.

Honorable Mention:

• Team Granite (aka Team Light & Motion, Team Untamed New England)—A lighter schedule in 2011 than usual for this bunch, but impressive results when they did race.

• NYARA—Some different personnel racing under the NYARA name, but strong teams every time and top finishes to their credit.

• GOALS ARA—A disappointing expedition race in Costa Rica earlier in the year, but some redemption later in the season.

• Dirty Avocados—A strong team on the West Coast, consistent results in Big Blue series and others in their region

Whiskeytown Extreme 24 Hour Adventure Race Report

2011-11-07T18:59:00.000-08:00

NorCal Adventure Racing's series finale event for 2011 was the Whiskeytown Extreme 24 Hour Adventure Race.

Located in hilly Northern California near Mount Shasta, Whiskeytown Extreme was ominously billed as a "graduate level race". Teams faced mazes of trails and fire roads across challenging terrain strangely devoid of any flats. A single paddling section took racers across Whiskeytown Reservoir. Through narrow coves and inlets (too narrow to turn a triple kayak around) teams sought checkpoints hanging from high branches in the darkness of night. Mountain-top checkpoints gained by climbing and bushwacking up steep walls of forest rewarded racers with magnificent views of distant mountain ranges and alpine lakes.

The ~100 mile course largely avoided gratuitous hike-a-bike and bush-wacking in favor of multiple route choice decisions and strategies.

Significantly and quite impressively, Whiskeytown Extreme 24 stuck to a genuine Adventure Racing format. Teams found checkpoints in sequential A-Z order. This should seem quite obvious to most, but an increasing number of lame races over the last few years have foregone Adventure Race courses, opting for a new orienteering format where teams can hit checkpoints in any order, skipping the "hard ones" and still "finishing" officially. In the orienteering format, many teams strategically skip portions of the course as they please and the winning teams sometimes cross the finish line last, with all the checkpoints.

Kudos to Rich and his staff for keeping it "real". For back of the pack and new teams with developing navigation skills, there were short course options towards the end of the race.

Team nuun-SportMulti (Ryan VanGorder, Jen VanGorder & Sean Clancy) moved swiftly as a team but made a few uncharacteristic and costly navigational mistakes that would preclude a victory this time out.

The details of these navigational SNAFUs will be shared over beers and laughs at a campfire, or out on the trail. Suffice it to say that even the most experienced and successful teams can make self-immolating 'rookie' mistakes. The Whiskeytown Extreme 24 course punished any mistakes while handsomely rewarding the best navigation decisions, another sign that the course was thoughtfully and strategically designed by the highly experienced race directors.

After completing the course in a bit over 26 hours, a disappointed but focusedTeam nuun-SportMulti ran across the finish line as the 3rd place team in the mixed 3/4 person rankings. Whiskeytown Extreme 24 would be Sean Clancy's first adventure race since doing both 24 Hour Adventure Racing National Championships (USARA and Checkpoint Tracker Series) in October 2010. The race also marked Jennifer VanGorder's return to team 24hr racing after the birth of her second daughter Jora earlier this year. Lastly, it also served as a tune-up for busy dad Ryan VanGorder in his preparation for a moonlighting assignment Down Under. RVG is off to race as a hired gun with our friends and rivals Team Tecnu Extreme/StaphAseptic at the 2011 Adventure Racing World Championships in TASMANIA in November!

In Adventure,

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PS, I snapped this shot of Golden Gate Bridge on my way up from Santa Barbara...taken from Crissy Field. I lived here in 2001 and would enjoy
this view on my evening runs...it never gets old.

What is Adventure Racing? Who is Team DART-nuun?

2011-08-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

Our team put together a short promo video that SHOWS rather than tells you what adventure racing is all about. Team DART-nuun racers have been racing with GoPro HD cameras mounted to our bikes, boats, heads and helmets lately just so we can bring this footage FROM THE GNAR straight to YOU!

What happens in an Adventure Race over 24 to 100+ nonstop hours of racing is hard to imagine...or even remember! With severe sleep deprivation in multi-day races, sometimes we don't even remember the scenes we capture with our cameras, or the reality captured on film is different than our "altered" perception at the time. Sad, but true!

I hope you have as much fun watching it as we had making it!

Team DART-Nuun-SportMulti: Ultra Endurance Racing from 1iOpen Productions on Vimeo.

Adventure Racers = ROCK STARS in China

2011-08-23T17:45:00.000-07:00

...and in Ecuador, Brazil, New Zealand...but that's for another post.

Adventure Racing's presence in China goes back to the 1990s with the Mild Seven Outdoor Quest, which is now called the Wulong Quest. The top teams from New Zealand, Europe and the USA have made the journey nearly every year to compete for one of Adventure Racing's largest prize purses in some of the most epic landscapes imaginable.

During my visit to Hong Kong a couple months ago, I spent a few days paddling surfskis in Deepwater Bay, traversing Lamma Island by foot and enjoying the hospitality of ex-pat Ryan Blair, co-owner of the largest adventure race/outdoor event promotions company in SE Asia, Asia Pacific Adventure. During my stay, Ryan opened my eyes to how big the adventure racing and multisport scene is in Asia, how sponsors-many large American companies who do NOT sponsor AR in the USA-have been onboard in Asia for years.

For years I have noticed the popularity of AR/Multisport in Asia, specifically the Mild Seven and Wulong Quest. During a recent trip to Thailand I turned on my hotel room TV in Bangkok and actually saw ESPN Asia covering adventure racing on their broadcast (footage of Tecnu/DART's Kyle Peter and Mari Chandler!) like it was the freaking NBA! It's nice to know that somewhere in the world, our awesome sport is appreciated and even celebrated. It just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Check out the following footage and you will see how adventure racers get the "rock star treatment" in Asia.

Team AXA Sports Club at the 2011 Wu Long Mountain Quest, China (long vers.) from scott cole on Vimeo.

Don't Die Wondering

2011-08-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

"Unless you're willing to have a go, fail miserably, and have another go, success won't happen."

LISTEN, naughty little monkeys.

It's time for a splinter under your fingernail, some disruptive leadership that might even piss you off.

~OR~

Conversely, this might affirm your *choice* to be HAPPY. Maybe you are CHARGING LIFE and sharing your passions and love with everyone you meet. Maybe you are rocking it full-steam regardless of what cards you were dealt...and maybe there is one important part of your life that remains neglected.

OK, it's time to ruffle your feathers. Listen up and think about where you stand.

Who are you? What are you afraid of? What are your Fears? Dreams?

What will you settle for in this life? What HAVE you settled for in this life? What are the excuses the little devil on your shoulder whispers into your ear, time and again? Do you really believe the negative self-talk?

The CHALLENGE we all face is to actively manage our focus and mindset. This is hard to do without defining our values and beliefs. It sounds almost simplistic, but tell me right now: how you rank your values and how you design your life congruently. I'll wait.

We have heard the expression "Iron sharpens iron", but an interesting study also says that the morbidly obese tend to hang out together as well. Are your beliefs congruent with those of your peers'?

Certainly I am NOT using my own life as an example for this discussion, as I have failed repeatedly in every area of life imaginable as often as I have succeeded. This is socratic, not didactic; directed at myself more than anyone else!

The happiest people I know are on their own paths with insatiable needs to learn more, do better and grow. They are obsessed with LIFE and excellence and most importantly filled with gratitude for what they CAN do...not what they can't.

One thing these people have in common is their affinity, not avoidance, of "impossible" challenges. They know failure is part of the process, and are HAPPY with the process. They acknowledge obstacles as they inevitably come and work around without breaking stride.

Kyle Maynard is a "truly unstoppable badass".

Are you living in a way that avoids pain, the path of least resistance? Where is it leading you? Are you waiting for conditions to be 'just right' until your life is "the way you want it to be"? (SPOILER ALERT: Not going to happen!)

The clock is ticking...relatively faster as you get older. What would it look like if you just went for it, 100%? What would that look like? What would the impact be? Can you see it?

Are you going half-ass or full-ass?

Don't die wondering.

breathe

2011-08-16T01:09:00.000-07:00

"BREATHE" from Paul Schneider on Vimeo.

This CrossFit inspired piece is an experiment in sound, small moments, dynamic build and human intensity.

It's a race against the clock that we all must face, and a reminder to breathe, because you can.

Main piano track is Fugitif 1 by Swod: bit.ly/jGkUvc

Directed & Shot: Paul Schneider (helloandcompany.com/commercials/paul-schneider)
Edit: Andrew Maggio (framecycle.com)
Sound Design: Paul Schneider & Andrew Maggio

DEADLIFT!

2011-08-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

If you are an athlete that doesn't regularly incorporate Deadlifts into your training, you're missing out. Perhaps you have never been taught proper form, which is a great reason NOT to do deadlift, as proper form and focus is imperative. I encourage all non-deadlifters to learn proper form ASAP (visit a weighlifting or CrossFit coach) and incorporate this exercise immediately. In the interest of your time, I linked up a video below that most eloquently explains and illustrates why this is the case.

The benefits extend (sorry) far beyond strengthening your posterior chain. Check out the short video below from CrossFit founder Greg Glassman as he explains WHY the deadlift is one of the top two most beneficial exercises, and what this means for YOU, regardless of your age or health and fitness goals.

Keep Charging Life!

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Hear me Now and Believe me Later

2011-07-31T22:59:00.000-07:00

(Freezing/LAUGHING our asses off, almost literally, at the intersection of Main Divide and Harding Truck Trail with my DreamCrusher Posse. We thoroughly enjoyed a rainy cold January morning, 5'000 feet above the sunny beach, while most of our neighbors were still asleep...)

Live your dreams now. Let reality catch up. Do not wait for conditions to be "just right" in your mind before enjoying your life and being Happy...Let it go and live life now!

This is YOUR Story!

That is all.

Write Your Own Story

2011-07-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

Fears vs. Dreams from To Write Love on Her Arms. on Vimeo.

Tough Mudder Beaver Creek

2011-07-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

Tough Mudder Beaver Creek report in approximately 15 words, sorta:
Kickintheballs. Freakinghot. RidonkulousAltitude of 8-10,000'. Qualified for World Championships in Jersey!

On June 26th, I joined 8,000 other racers at Beaver Creek Ski Resort in Avon, Coloardo for the TOUGH MUDDER. I managed to cover the 10 mile obstacle course in around 1hr45. With 25 obstacles to swim or climb under through or over, elevation ranging from 8,000 to 10,000 feet, hypothermia-inducing ice water pond swims (UNDER floating obstacles) and a fun Log-carry halfway through, this was no ordinary Tough Mudder. If the altitude or 40 degree water didn't take your breath away, trying to "race" the course would certainly.

The father of these races, the Tough Guy in England, has been on my list for years. Only in the last 12 months has this style of event really exploded in the USA. By 2012, the Tough Mudder series alone will have increased to over 40 global events. The growth of the series is amazing, and makes one wonder about the wide of doing something not just "crazy", but "maybe impossible". These are my people!

Massive hoot n' hollering waves of 500 very naughty monkeys went off every 20 minutes, sprinting down a ski run at Beaver Creek in a scene out of Braveheart, with fantastic LOUD support from live bands playing right next to the start/finish at the bottom of the ski slopes. I was in one of the middle waves, passing hundreds if not thousands before I finished, but stopping and helping folks through obstacles along the way in the spirit of the event. This would be the funnest "racing" experience I have had in a very long time.

Most people were dressed in costume, racing with a team of friends and/or just having a good time experiencing the insanity of the course with it's two-pronged challenge of running/hiking up and down the high-altitude steep black diamond ski runs that connected the dozens of obstacles. For the shorter or less fit individuals, many obstacles would be impossible with or without help from other participants.

The top 5% of finishers in Tough Mudder events are privately invited two weeks after finishing to race in the 24 hour World's Toughest Mudder event this December in New Jersey. (Yes, December in Jersey...remember the "Tough" part?) I received the email that my time was in the top 1-5% out of the 8,000 participants and good enough for an invitation to World Championships, and accepted.

Although it may be the most miserable 24 hours of my life (that's saying a lot...) I look forward to taking on the challenge of 24 hours of nonstop 10 mile obstacle laps in freezing rain and/or snow this December. I'm up for a challenge, and my combination of adventure racing, CrossFit, ultra-distance endurance fueling & military experience in far longer events, in extreme conditions suits me well for success, whatever that may be.

Hopefully I will fly under the radar and quietly move through the course steadily for 24hrs. A muddy ninja! I am positive better athletes will be on the starting line, but with an expected attrition rate of over 90% the nature of the event plays to my experience, strengths and ability to suffer.

I would wager that MORE than 90% will drop out due to hypothermia, insufficient gear/food preparation, the realization that this level of pain and misery "just isn't worth it" or injury. Everyone racing will battle these demons on the course for 24 nonstop hours; that is one thing we can all bet on. Just like an adventure race...

Photos right

Colorado

2011-06-23T10:10:00.000-07:00

Over the last month I have managed to spend some quality time almost daily on my local Colorado singletrack. Whether running, hiking or mountain biking; dirt, rocks or snow; Boulder, Rocky Mountain National Park, or Vail, I have brought my DROID X camera along for all of my daily excursions.

After a long cold winter, seeing and feeling the dirt and rock of the trail again is more than welcome. The subtle seasonal changes around the trail are barely noticeable from day to day. Seeing the snow line rapidly recede on the Indian Peaks from the summit of Green Mountain or running alongside Boulder creek's churning roar, the magnitude is more profound. I thought I would post some of the better shots from the trail.

The shots today are from a snow hike/run Lisa and I did from the Bear Lake area in Rocky Mountain National Park. The trailhead sits at 9100' and was covered by several feet of snow on this mid-June weekend. We made it up to around 10,300 to catch the sunset before running and glissading back down to the car, just in the nick of time.

Running and post-holing along tree-tops sticking out of the snow contrasted with the dry 90 degree day we left behind in Boulder, 5,000 feet below...

Colorado Trails: Boulder

2011-06-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about being a trail runner in Boulder is the close proximity "in town" to Mt Sanitas and the multiple 8,000' peaks in Boulder Mountain Park. Today's shots are from recent Boulder area runs and rides. Guest stars are Lisa Matwijiw and multisporter fellow DreamCrusher teammate Slater Fletcher who is staying with us this summer.

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Lyons Outdoor Games

2011-06-22T10:26:00.000-07:00

Multisport racing is a selfish pursuit. To give back, I volunteered at the Lyons Outdoor Games, representing my team sponsors Epic, nuun and Keen. I manned a spot on the St Vrain river with the Water Safety crew, without incident. Over the course of an hour I watched some of the nations top kayak and canoe paddlers blast through the rapids at a blistering pace, with almost zero effort shown on their face. (Hey, that rhymes!)

It was tough to watch and not actually compete. It looked like fun and the course was manageable for someone with my skill. Watching true legendary masters like Gary Lacy, Spencer Lacy and DART-nuun teammate Jeremy Rodgers was "instructional" to say the least.

Geoff Roes video

2011-06-20T19:05:00.000-07:00

Joel Wolpert has produced a fantastic video with another look at the ultra-simplified lives of today's top ultrarunners. Previously Joel shota story about the winter training of Boulder's Tony Krupicka. This time the subject is Geoff Roes, who has never lost a 100 mile race. This weekend Geoff returns to the Western States 100 facing a stacked field as the returning champion. Will he keep his crown?

Philippines

2011-06-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

Manila, Bacuit Archipelago, El Nido, Palawan Island...

Getting to El Nido isn't easy. We flew from Hong Kong to Manila, then took a cab to a small "airport" (that the cab drivers did not know existed) to catch a small plane to Palawan Island. We landed on a dirt airstrip and began a week-long adventure of island-hopping, mosquito-swatting and secret cove-finding!

More quick snapshots that I will add to and edit later:

Hong Kong

2011-06-19T15:50:00.001-07:00

Hong Kong was incredible. Far beyond what I had imagined. Fortunately we had the advice of ex-pat pro adventure racer/race director extraordiaire Ryan Blair! Without Ryan, there is no way we could have done and seen so much in such little time. Some highlights were hiking to The Peak at night, running across Lamma Island, and enjoying the nighttime skyline from the water as we took the ferry back to Hong Kong from Lamma.

Some quick snapshots that I'll add to and edit later:

Seriously?

Boulder Triple Crown

2011-05-24T22:32:00.000-07:00

Just some snapshots from Sunday's run/hike up Green Mountain/Bear Mountain/South Boulder Peak today...

Connecting Boulder Mountain Parks' popular trio of 8'000 foot peaks (Green Mountain, Bear Peak & South Boulder Peak) is one of my favorite benchmark loops around Boulder, and packs a lot of action into a few hours. On a clear day you are rewarded with spectacular views. On a windy day you just try not to get blown off the mountain! When I'm fit, carrying a light pack this route takes around 3hrs. The last hour or so is mostly fast downhill running, which conditions your already-worked quadriceps perfectly. Runners always have a little extra motivation on solo efforts, knowing they share the trails with Bears & Mountain Lions.

Part II: Alpine Expedition Race: Switzerland

2011-05-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

The first edition of The APEX Race, (Alpine Expedition Race) will take place in the heart of the Swiss Alps between May 24-29th Host venue is the beautiful and city of Interlaken, also know as the “Adventure Capital of Europe”. The APEX Race will challenge the world’s top endurance athletes and international adventure racing teams with a four-day, non-stop expedition race through the most scenic terrain in the world: the extreme Bernese Oberland. APEX is part of the international Adventure Racing World Series of expedition adventure races.

The Alpine Expedition Race is a non-stop expedition adventure race. The competing teams must find and visit a number of checkpoints in a predefined order along a designed course. During the course teams will have to utilize a number of different disciplines. The Apex Race is the longest non-stop endurance event in Switzerland.

The APEX Race facts:

Host Venue: Interlaken, Switzerland
Dates: May 24-29th 2011
Type: 4 day non-stop adventure race
Series: Adventure Racing World Series
Competitors: Teams of four, no support-crew allowed
Divisions: Premier division, only co-ed teams. Open division, all other teams
Elevation gain: 10’000 meters
Disciplines: Running, trekking, mountainbiking, paddling, rafting (together with guide), canyoning, paragliding (together with pilot)

During the race, the organization will stage team equipment at designated transition areas. There will be no optional checkpoints and no bonus checkpoints but the race course will include some important cut-offs times where slower teams will be re-routed to ensure they can reach the finish line by Sunday 29th.

The course will contain some demanding travel on snow up to 3000 meters altitude (weather permitting) and teams must be prepared for the possibility of cold alpine weather.

While the course is a mystery until just before start, the disciplines and approximate leg lengths have been revealed as:

LIVE coverage of the race, 24/7 will be available at http://www.theapexrace.com/Live/

While this of course is not one of the secret maps used in the race, this is the approximate area where they will be racing.

This is a REAL, traditional adventure race. No "optional CheckPoints". No "Rogaine Format" that allows teams to skip checkpoints. Teams lining up at the start will know they need to execute flawlessly in order to meet the cutoffs and finish the full course...let alone compete. You wanted to do the APEX? Then DO the Apex. Those who make it to the finish line will have EARNED IT.

Any race in Europe is guaranteed to have a strong, fast field. This adventure race, part of the Adventure Racing World Series, is no exception. The incredibly steep mountainous terrain around Interlaken will favor proven professional teams who can handle the elements, have 7-10+ years of experience in "big time" expeditions, know how to handle pressure, and can navigate flawlessly.

My pick for the winner? nuun-SportMulti

Big surprise, huh?

While I am jealous I am not racing with my teammates at this one, I can tell you that this combination has the perfect combination of fitness, skill, and experience. Oh yeah...and they have Mari Chandler. We still don't have a copy of her birth certificate, and I still think she might be an alien-human hybrid or a terminator from the future.

Joining Mari at Apex will be team veterans Ryan VanGorder, Matt Hayes, and uber-strong-special-guest-stuntman (and occasional teammate of mine) Kyle Peter. These guys have more experience and wins under their belt than almost any team in the world, and they are hungry to prove themselves on the world stage again.

It was nearly 10 years ago that I raced in Switzerland at the Discovery Channel Adventure Racing World Championship. Time flies!

I wouldn't bet against these guys!

What is Adventure Racing? Part 1: Patagonia

2011-05-20T21:16:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the best example of true Expedition Adventure Racing today is the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race. There are many other fine examples I will get into over the next week, but none are as wild or challenging. More people have summited Everest than finished the WPER since 2004. Maybe that's why they call it "The Last Wild Race" .

There are a few races that I cannot wait to do in 2011-2012, but this one is at the top of the list.

YogaSlackers' Race Videos from Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race:

MINDSET

2011-05-11T17:50:00.000-07:00

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

T.S. Elliot

Focus your mind on what you CAN and WILL do in the moment...what is in front of you...even if it seems currently out of reach. Focus like a laser beam.

Don't go half-ass.

Go Full-Ass.

WHEN you fail, just keep trying harder. Your body, mind & spirit WILL adapt.

A lesson I have learned from many powerful LEADERS in the military, sport, martial arts & business is that if you never fail, you are kidding yourself and wasting your time. If you never fail, you aren't challenging yourself. Not even close.

Winners fail all the time, not because they become complacent but on the contrary they PUSH THEMSELVES beyond their limits until failure...repeatedly...alone or vs others. Those who remain consistent but in their comfort zone constitute mid-bell curve mediocre folks. Their "mediocre" may be another man's lifetime best, but deep down inside they know they are wimping out and wasting their potential. All to avoid pain, to stay comfortable.

When you lose the WILL to make yourself uncomfortable and enter the "pain cave" you have already consciously or unconsciously begun your slow pathetic regression. This applies to any area of your life. Trace back your last poor result to complacency, procrastination or avoidance of pain.

It is easy to fall into this trap, and it happens to EVERYONE at some point. Even Chuck Norris. Your mind will always beg to quit before your body. Every time you battle your demons and push further than you thought you could, you are recalibrating your limits as well as your perception of what is possible the next time around. Growth!

The choices we make when uncomfortable will determine our destiny and reveal our true character.

It is never too late to break the P A T T E R N...

"We are enriched by life's harshest moments...especially those of our own choosing"

-Mark Allen

Mark, AKA "The Grip of Death" is arguably the greatest triathlete of all time. At his athletic peak he "failed" 6x in a row, then WON the Hawaii Ironman 6x in a row. He dug DEEP in failure, even doing great damage to his body, and you better believe he dug even DEEPER in victory.

Richard "Mack" Machowicz, Navy SEAL and host of Future Weapons will break it down as succinctly as possible...this is someone who took cold showers for two years to 'deepen his toughness groove":

"You have to be unreasonable in that moment"

"Fear is the perception of an UNKNOWN Threshold"

Hong Kong Preview

2011-05-10T23:05:00.000-07:00

Dropping In: Aspen CrossFit

2011-05-09T21:18:00.000-07:00

For work and for fun, I travel as often as possible. Since I prioritize exploring, training and experiencing "local culture" while on the road, I typically will hit the local trails or even downtown areas for a run or ride. Whenever possible I reach out to the local CrossFit boxes to ask about possible drop-in if they are not already packed.

After a short run in the Aspen snow and sleet today I joined an evening class at Aspen CrossFit. I was immediately impressed with the unique setup of the gym and the motivating, positive vibe.

Head Coach & Co-Owner Erik Larson started Aspen CrossFit just last year, and has more than doubled the size of the gym in a remarkably short period of time. Starting from scratch, he has leveraged his passion for learning and excellence along with very strong attention to detail (his "other job" is CPA) to create a unique training environment. One of Erik's goals was to work with kids in the community, and a local teen art student painted a massive outer-space themed logo mural on one of the walls.

When you walk into the gym, the first thing you notice is the bright green color and positive messages written on the walls. Quite a contrast to most other CrossFit boxes. As someone who has always been fond of basic, hardcore "dungeon gyms" blasting Pantera, I was surprised by how much I dug the clean and bright atmosphere of the place. You really would never expect it based on the exterior of the building's industrial triple white garage doors.

There is something about walking into an experience, a Story, not just a place. This 'vibe' is the holy grail of merchandisers and restauranteurs. You can't look anywhere in Aspen CrossFit without seeing a motivational quote from a Viking or Voltaire or about accountability or excellence.

Nothing except the basics will be found here. Home-made whiteboards. Local students made the jump boxes in Wood Shop. Nothing but the basics are here, but they are just organized & executed uncommonly well. Sound familiar?

After doing a long 7 minute AMRAP warmup (10 wall ball/10 situps/10 box jumps/10 mountain climbers) and short Mobility session with bands (that would be considered a "workout of the day" for some) the Workout of the Day was "Angie".

Windows Video

Mac Video

Angie is a tough workout for anyone at sea level. Angie is evil in Boulder at an elevation of 5430'. At 8,000', Angie is a psychotic vixen who mocks you while standing on your chest. Not much oxygen at 8,000'. Not enough for a full-throttle workout like Angie, anyway.

The following photographs were taken just before getting back on the road. Erik was generous with his time before and after the class and you can tell his passion is 100% genuine. If and when I open my own facility "one day" I will certainly apply some of the elements of Aspen CrossFit's ambiance....in a hardcore, dungon type way of course!

Check it out:

Witness the Fitness

2011-05-05T16:04:00.001-07:00

Fittest Man in the World? We will find out in July at the CrossFit Games. The Fittest Man and Woman on Earth will be determined at the Home Depot Center, Carson, California...

DevGru - 1, OBL - 0

2011-05-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

HOO YAH!

Keep On Track

2011-04-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe we are 1/3 of our way through 2011. Are you "on track" for reaching your goals this year? Have you clearly defined those goals? You might be blowing your fitness or business goals out of the water, but how about your most valued relationships? What adjustments have you made this year that have allowed you to succeed?

More important than acknowledging what IS working is what is NOT working and needs to change. It's early in the game, with plenty of time left on the clock to rally and get back on track. Take a moment to consider what needs to change to improve your trajectory. Write down a list...put it somewhere like the fridge or bathroom mirror where you will see it multiple times every day.

It's not too late to rally. Not even close! The upside of making mistakes early in the game is you of course learn valuable lessons and understand the pain associated with those mistakes.

Consider Charles Barkley: Former Olympian, NBA legend, multimillionaire. In retirement, he let himself go. 10 sneaky pounds gained became 20,
then 50, 80...at some point carelessness became resignation, which became despair. This is not only self-destructive but suicidal.

Regardless of his bank account, trophies or mansions, Sir Charles' trajectory in life was way off. A man of that size is quite likely headed towards a terrible slow demise of diabetes, heart attack and early death.

What is he doing about it? RADICAL CHANGE for the better! He has summoned his will in the past with almost unparalleled success. A 6'4 power forward/center? If he wants something, he can make it happen. It will be interesting to follow his commitment to change with CrossFit North Atlanta...Apparently Mrs. Bill Cowher was the one motivating Chuck to get his ass in The Box!

Where there is a big enough WHY there is a HOW. Stop what you're doing and find a way to make it happen. One step at a time...

What is your "Why"?

Once you're on track again, remember to ignore the "interference".

http://www.nba.com/insidethenba/?p=502374&s=5083307&i=938264

Keep Fighting...

2011-04-24T16:39:00.000-07:00

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were giving 100% of your very best, executing almost flawlessly but you were still getting your ass kicked? What did you do in that situation?

I have been on both ends of this equation in Adventure Racing National Championship races as well as the business world, and found ways to both win AND lose "big races". Looking back, you will never, EVER regret fighting at 100% intensity to the very end.
Nothing is as satisfying as lying in a heap at the finish line (literal or figurative) completely exhausted, knowing you gave it everything you had.

You may come in 2nd, you may come in last, or you may even win...in the end you go with what you've got, make adjustments as nimbly as possible and NEVER EVER QUIT. Because guess what happens when you let up for even ONE SECOND? That's right, you get your damn ass kicked.

Keep Choppin'

2011-04-23T11:32:00.001-07:00

"Most of the important things in the world were accomplished by people who have kept trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."

-Carnegie

Fight Gone Bad

2011-04-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

This morning I took my first crack at the infamous & gnarly CrossFit workout called Fight Gone Bad.

I joined the 9:30 am crew coached by Shane Upchurch at Boulder's CrossFit ROOTS, but arrived early so I could watch the end of the 8:30 class. Seeing the intense exertion on the cyanotic & crimson faces of this FIT group of people (a couple former professional cyclists) let me know that I was scheduled for an extra special ass-whuppin'.

FGB is known as one of the harder WODs, and truly one of the best benchmarks of Fitness, or Work Capacity. The workout was designed by Greg Glassman while he was training legendary UFC Champion BJ Penn for a big fight. Glassman wanted to create a WOD that would exceed the great metabolic demands of a championship UFC fight, hence the 3 rounds of 5 minutes each, all-out, on 1 minute rest.

After B.J. Penn did the workout the first time (and regained the ability to stand up and talk) Greg asked him "So, B.J., what did you think?"

BJ answered "it was like a fight gone BAD!"

Click here for the origin, story and video of FGB at CrossFit HQ in Santa Cruz. NOTE: These women are fitter than you guys!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC19O4cgvp4

So, what IS the workout exactly?

Athletes perform three rounds of 5 exercises, one minute each, for maximum number of repetitions, battling muscle failure. No rest between exercises; the clock keeps running, so you actually have less than a minute per exercise as you move from station to station with your heart POUNDING. You get one minute of rest after each 5 minute "round".

17 minutes total for the workout. Sounds easy, right? WRONG!

20lb medicine ball shots to a 10 foot high target (squatting with the ball before launching each one at top of squat)
75lb Barbell Sumo Deadlift High Pull
20" Box Jumps (That box seems higher by the 3rd round, doesn't it?!)
75lb Barbell Push Press
Concept 2 Row: Max Calories Rowed

As athletes battle both muscle failure and the ticking clock for maximum number of reps at each station, each rep or calorie counts as "1 point". This was my first attempt and I managed a humble 277 total points. To put it in perspective, some of the top CF athletes are in the 400+ range. Without knowing how hard to go or how to pace the work, I learned quite a bit about the most glaring holes in my current fitness and also how I will approach my pacing of the workout next time.

In my hurried & hypoxic state, rowing at max intensity, I somehow managed to "levitate" and fall off the seat on the first row! Not easy getting back on when your feet are strapped in. It was good for laughs at least.

FGB does not come up often, but I look forward to taking another crack at it sooner than later now that I have one under my belt. Hopefully posting this score will be motivating enough for me to go extra hard next time to blow my current "P.R." out of the water.

Beaten, but Unbowed!

I have always called especially heinous workouts like FGB "Deposits" into the Bank of Fitness, compared to the "drops in the bucket" of most everyday workouts. The adaptation from a workout like this is hard to get anywhere else. Just ask B.J. Penn.

The most impressive performance today? My classmate who did the workout (scaled) while 8 months pregnant. It seems like she is in every class I do, and I am on a 3-on, 1-off schedule.

Remind me, what was your excuse again? We joke that her baby will be born already addicted to CrossFit and will go through withdrawals in their little crib.

It doesn't matter if you are a 18 or 80, 90 or 290lbs, 4 limbs or two, fit or unwell...the beauty of CrossFit is it is designed to absolutely destroy Olympians, but it's scalability allows anyone to train and reap the same physiological benefits from day one.

Wherever you are in life, it is not too late.

CrossFit Mobility Cert/Seminar in San Diego

2011-04-11T17:35:00.001-07:00

Of the Ten General Characteristics of Fitness...

Strength-Cardiorespiratory Capacity-Stamina-Power-Speed-Coordination-Accuracy-Balance-Agility-FLEXIBILITY/MOBILITY

...Mobility/Flexibility has the greatest capacity to LIMIT the other nine. You know it's true. What are you doing about it? It doesn't matter who you are...Levi Leipheimer? Chris Spealler? It doesn't matter what your sport or goals may be, or your level of competition. You get ONE body and it has to get you through 80-100 years. That's a long time. What are you doing to maintain it?

One of the things I realized looking back at my training logs over the last few years was that I never invested enough time on body maintenance and keeping my muscles limber and UN-TACKED. With frequent flights to races and long drives this exacerbated my flexibility issues.

It is easy for an athlete to identify extraneous training time with a higher-volume program, where you spend perhaps 5-10+ of your 20-30+ weekly training hours just logging more saddle, pool, boat or trail time, but conversely the POSITIVE R.O.I from a mobility program takes very little time with guaranteed results.

Watch THIS video and re-evaluate the relationship of mobility, strength and any of the 10 SKILLS.

What I am doing about it is addressing my LACK of Mobility in 2011 as my NUMBER ONE PRIORITY...stretching after your workout? That's a D-. Twice per day? That's maybe a C. If you have a chronic or recurring issue the reality is a 5 times-per day commitment. In the shower...at work...relaxing after dinner. Make it a priority. If you're broken, or break often, make it THE Priority!

Over the weekend I joined 150 other sick twisted CrossFit athletes and trainers at CrossFit Invictus in San Diego for Kelly Starrett's Movement, Mobility & Maintenance Trainer Course.

A couple days before the Mobility cert, CrossFit Invictus hosted the Week 3 WOD competition for the 2011 CrossFit Games Open, which left athletes on the floor, completely destroyed by the short, intense workout.

On Saturday the scene was a bit different, with athletes ALSO on the ground in pain, but a different type of self-inflicted pain...using lacrosse balls and other medieval masochistic spherical elements to break up LAMINATED tissue all over our bodies.

There was one exception during the seminar: Before the end of the day, Navy SEAL Josh Bridges showed up to have his Week 3 WOD certified. Not much to say except he is a BAMF. But we already knew that: A VIDEO of Josh busting out a 2 minute FRAN only a few days after pinning on his SEAL Trident has been floating around since 2008.

From the Pre-Seminar Notes:

The course is about understanding the general theory behind identifying movement inefficiency and movement dysfunction. For example, if you have shoulder pain doing ring dips or muscle ups, you will learn the mechanism of injury, how to spot it in other athletes, and will have a toolbox of ways to treat the problem.

The course is designed to give each athlete a toolkit of ways to identify and address common movement problems on their own. To the extent you have a specific movement/mobility problem that is not addressed during the seminar, there will be plenty of time at the end of the day for questions.

To maximize time at the course, you will have a chance to apply the movement theories discussed in the morning to squatting and dead lifting during the lunch hour.

Coach Kelly Starrett founded San Francisco CrossFit in 2005 with his wife Juliet. Since opening its doors as one of the first 50 CrossFit affiliates, this athletic training center has become a prime coaching resource for coaches and athletes alike including reigning Olympians, national and world champions, triathletes, runners, and recreational athletes.

Kelly received his Doctor of Physical Therapy in 2007 from Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, CA. Before starting his own physical therapy practice at San Francisco CrossFit, he practiced performance-based physical therapy at the world-renowned Stone Clinic. In current practice, Kelly continues to focus on performance-based Orthopedic Sports Medicine with and on returning athletes to elite level sport and performance.
His clients see exceptional results from his progressive blend of manual physical therapy and strength training.

Kelly's clients have included reigning Olympic gold-medalists world champions, world-class extreme skiers and X-Games medalists, professional dancers with Smuin, Sacramento Ballet Companies, elite military operators, and competitive age-division athletes.

SUNDAY

Dropping In: CrossFit Newport Beach

2011-04-10T23:59:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I flew back to my former home, Newport Beach to visit some friends before and after my CrossFit Mobility Certification in San Diego. As a creature of habit, on Sunday I returned to one of my favorite running out-and-back courses: Corona del Mar to Reef Point and back. It would be a solo-mission with just the sound of the waves crashing on the shore on this sunny and 80 degree day.

My Corona del Mar run is an 8 mile lap starting and finishing at "Big Corona" beach, taking runners through town and over to dirt paths running through Crystal Cove State Park, atop bluffs with some of the most spectacular views anywhere.

I was curious to benchmark my fitness at a very-sumo 200lbs and minimal running for the last few months vs. my former 180lb, 20-25hr per week self. I know that I usually finish this loop around 53-54 minutes for 1 to 2 laps at my "steady", sub-LT, marathon type every-day pace. NOT ON SUNDAY! I had a great time, and took a couple snapshots (seen here) but used all of 59 minutes to knock off my favorite non-trail run in the world at a conversational but steady pace.

But hey, I'm running pain-free!

Start of the run at Corona del Mar beach park

"Little Corona" just south...and my old swim course for long Wednesday Night summer ocean swims...

Before leaving town, I was lucky enough to get into CrossFit Newport Beach's early class with coach Carl Borg. My friend Cat Mills belongs to CFNB and was able to get me into the class, which was already packed. I recognized Chris Hanson, CrossFit Endurance cyclist and RVCA artist who last week posted some great shots of racers on the Vision Quest course while the race was happening.

The hour I spent with Carl and CFNB was painful (the WOD was 20lb wall ball shots to 10'/30 meter broad-jumping burpees...5 rounds for time) but even in this short amount of time I was able to recognize some things I was doing wrong and Carl shared some fantastic advice and insight. I finagled my way into the class not just for the workout, but to learn from Carl and see how he runs a class. Super cool people in that box. Check it out if you are in OC. They are near HOAG hospital.

One of the best parts of visiting Southern California is catching up with my sea-level friends spread out between LA and SD. I could have done the Mobility Cert somewhere else, but I am always looking for an excuse to get back "home" and catch up with my crew.

In addition to my trip to CrossFit Newport Beach, I was also able to catch up with friends, fellow Team GENr8 Vitargo S2 members and ultramarathon crushers Mark Matyazic and Alexa Dickerson of CrossFit Anaerobic Inc.

When I first moved to Huntington Beach in early 2005, Mark was the first guy I met on weekly 3-4hr trail runs in the Santa Anas. Why doesn't he bring water or fuel?
I received quite an education on all of our long runs, and I always appreciate a chance to pick the brains of guys like Anthony Almada or Mark on biochemistry, physiology and nutrition. Alexa gave me some killer Paleo recipes that blew my mind. Tasty, awesome stuff. Email me if you want a copy.

Before heading to the airport I was able to catch up with my friend Ryan Weeger, a fellow cyclist, DreamCrusher and also an exceptionally talented photographer. (His TumblR: http://theravenwillfly.tumblr.com/post/4458941911/huntington-beach-ca-tonight-from-our-entryway) He is finally going to make himself more available for weddings and other events. If you are getting married in SoCal, you should check out his work. His website is http://ryanweegerphotography.com/ Ryan's wife Sarah runs Great 8 Creative, designing websites for folks like professional mountain biker Alison Mann, Adventure Racer/Ultraman Slater Fletcher, cyclist/triathlete James Walsh, and many more. Quite the creative couple!

Overall, another packed weekend traveling, learning new skills, working with some of the best coaches in the world, visiting old friends and making new ones. Successful trip.

The Journey continues...

PS

HUGE THANK YOU to my other Team DreamCrusher/GENr8 Vitargo S2, FeedTheMachine and nuun teammates and friends Slater & Monique Fletcher letting me invade their home in Irvine for the weekend. You guys rock. Slater, fresh off a victory at a gnarly adventure race in Chile is off to Italy for another adventure race tomorrow, on the island of Sardinia. CRUSH IT!

PPS

HUGE Congrats to fellow Team-DreamCrusher teammate James Walsh and his wife Beth for BOTH winning their Age Groups at Ironman 70.3 California and BOTH qualifying for Ironman Hawaii World Championships. How AWESOME is THAT!? Their kids are going to be little freaks.

PPPS

More Information on how to follow the 2011 CrossFit Games, and the athletes busting their asses to make it there...http://games.crossfit.com/features/videos/lance-cantu-returns

CrossFit Level 1 Certification: IWCABTAMD*

2011-04-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

Humbled again by the awesome people in the CrossFit community and phenomenal HQ trainers.

Over the weekend I attended the CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Certification Seminar in Golden, Colorado.

"The Level 1 Trainer Course introduces the mechanical, conceptual, and theoretical foundations of CrossFit. Additionally, there will be “break out’ sessions for demonstration and practical application of the 9 Foundational Movements. The lectures, demonstrations, presentations, and breakouts all serve to indoctrinate participants with CrossFit’s conceptual underpinnings, while the workouts serve to reinforce/ drive home the application. Events rotate approximately hourly for the duration making for two long days..."

Quick post...
More to follow...

*INCREASED WORK CAPACITY ACROSS BROAD TIME & MODAL DOMAINS

JUMP!

2011-03-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

Tonight at the end of class we did max-height box jumps at CrossFit ROOTS. I Only managed 44", but it's a start! Upward and Onward...

Click here for The Full FlickR Gallery: From 5:30am to 8:00pm, a full day's worth of post-class box jumps...and "attempts"...

.

Certifiable

2011-03-02T10:43:00.000-08:00

"Before" Photo

Did you know that at least 65% of runners are injured every year?

I would repeat the definition of insanity here, but...In the spirit of breaking old patterns, improving technique and strengthening my body to new levels this year, I found myself a few blocks from the beach in South Los Angeles last weekend, taking notes in a CrossFit gym between technique, videotaping and interval sessions.

The CrossFit Endurance Certification/Seminar (hosted by the fantastic CrossFit SouthBay in Hermosa Beach, California Feb 25-27) was far more valuable than I anticipated, and I kinda
had high hopes for good take-away nuggets. The POSE Running technique drills and before/after analysis filming alone was worth the price of admission. Anyone who knows Brian Mackenzie knows he is an entertaining dude, full of useful knowledge and a great presenter. He's had some practice!

Brian's CFE partner Doug Katona's training background is also quite impressive and diverse. Together these guys are a dynamic duo, determined to improve your technique while dropping Daisy Cutter bombs on old-school 50 year-old endurance training paradigms. CFE is designed to work in conjunction with your CrossFit programming schedule, or the one posted daily at www.crossfitendurance.com for best results. Both Brian and Doug coach athletes of all levels with this approach, with surprising (to most) success.

As with any CrossFit seminar or certification, if you attend a CFE weekend you will be surrounded by open-minded, passionate athletes of all backgrounds, ages, shapes and sizes, hungry to learn and succeed. You can't beat that for a fun, comfortable and challenging learning environment. Regardless of your running or endurance sport background, you are sure to go home with a fantastic amount of information and ideas you can implement right away.

At the Hermosa Beach event, you had CrossFit (and non-CrossFit) athletes ranging from "non-runners" to "former-runners" (coming back from all forms of injuries), to ultra-endurance folks, triathletes, 5k runners, SWAT team members, Navy SEALs, MMA fighters, a former professional track athlete...and a few recent "converts" from the Globo Gyms or low-heart rate endurance trainign world. Athletes of myriad backgrounds came together to learn better running technique and smarter training programming...and that is exactly what they brought home on Sunday.

If you want PASSION and ATTENTION TO DETAIL in honing your running technique (or cycling or swimming at future CFE camps), you will definitely dig the quality instruction by CrossFit Endurance's Brian Mackenzie and Doug Katona. If you are interested in improving your running technique, avoiding injury, and getting the best return-on-investment of your training time, check out http://www.crossfitendurance.com

Upcoming seminars and certifications are being held all around the world.

HERMOSA BEACH ENDURANCE WAR TOUR

2011-02-21T11:10:00.000-08:00

The days are short and cold here in Colorado but the stoke factor is HIGH.

This weekend I am flying back to Los Angeles for the CrossFit Endurance "Endurance War Tour"...

It has been seven months (!) since I left Huntington Beach for Boulder, and this has been the longest stretch I have spent away from the ocean (and oxygen) in many years. My salty, pelagic soul is weary and itching to get back!

The timing of this weekend could not be better. Yes, I am excited about getting back to the beach...the sight, sound and smell of the ocean..."home". However, ironically, the forecast is for 50s and rain, and there will not be much time for surfing, catching up with too many of my friends or visiting my old breakfast spots. The seminar is action-packed and nonstop from Friday night until Sunday. The weekend will be totally dedicated to dialing-in my POSE running knowledge and CrossFit Endurance programming & training with CFE founders and coaches Brian Mackenzie and Doug Katona.

If you have the kind of hours on your engine, mileage on your body and "less than ideal" biomechanics like me (AND especally if you have a goal of lifelong health/fitness) it is 100% mandatory to focus on technique, skills and form. I am after constant improvement in fitness without injury, and I like to share the best information as it becomes available with my coaching clients.

Many athletes pay attention to detail in the weight room or with their aerodynamics on the bicycle for example, but totally ignore technique when it comes to running. Eventually it catches up with you in the form of an injury, and you are wasting energy in the meantime with an inefficient gait. Who doesn't want "free speed"? We pay thousands for it on the bike...

In Hermosa Beach I look forward to catching up with good friends and teammates Christian Burke and Cyril Jay Rayon at FeedTheMachine.com, makers of the best multivitamin for endurance athletes commercially available, SportMulti FeedTheMachine and SportMulti are really starting to grow, as more and more athletes are finally starting to question and consider the science of fueling and the sources of their multivitamins.

As a former "Volume Warrior", my association with CrossFit Endurance might appear to be a signal of the coming apocalypse...but au contraire mon frere...I look forward to sharing more on this in the near future. Regardless of your protocol-of-choice, if you are an endurance athlete and your are NOT leveraging CrossFit, you are missing out more than what you might realize. Trust me, you have holes in your game.

My background of 20+ years of passionately studying nutrition + endurance sport competition + strength training + military + martial arts + CrossFit + business and time management experience is all coming together in a beautiful synergy and today I have greater CLARITY of exercise program efficacy (congruent with a "real" life) than ever before.

Goodbye, comfort zone! Hello, evidence-based fitness.

Suffice it to say there are very Big Things are happening this year which I cannot wait to share them with the Tribe!

Sometime in March/April I will launch a program for Adventure Racers and other endurance athletes. I will begin working with a handful of new athletes (of ANY level) on a case-by-case basis.

If you want to be comfortable and just be a "weekend warrior", this program probably won't be for you. If you want to change your body, mindset and life, then let's talk.

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Are you Shoulding all over yourself?

2011-02-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

"GOOD ENOUGH"

This time last year I was finishing a strength workout at a small gym, and overheard a conversation between two guys I didn't know, but familiar faces. "Laurel & Hardy" seemed to be contently going through the motions, not sweating or even breathing very hard. They were doing some low-intensity isolation movements while discussing television shows, their need to 'eat better' and complaining about how busy they were and how they wish they had time to get into better shape.

I lost count after the 3rd or 4th "I know I really should, but...I really would, if only, but...I used to be able to _____, but now I don't have the time". I noticed that I was in the gym for around 45 minutes, and these guys were well into their "routine" when I arrived and after I left. It was a small gym, so there was no getting away from overhearing their conversation. Believe me when I say I wish I had my iPod!

Both of these regulars seemed to be otherwise healthy enough, and apparently lived within a couple miles from the gym in an affluent Orange County neighborhood. It seemed odd two healthy, apparently formerly competitive people so "short of time" -who likely spend considerable time and energy analyzing their Return On Investments-would be essentially wasting their time.

Justification & Excuses

We have all heard the saying "if someone keeps doing what they have always done, they will keep getting the same results". In today's world, it has become normative to hold the belief that we are all too busy to do much more than tread water. At what point do we allow our dreams to be crushed and swept away? When do we become "OK" with 'getting by' and the same old results (even if they are 'OK')?

What do we learn or gain from the process after it becomes "comfortable"? Maintenance? What ever happened to Overcoming SCARY barriers, walls? I am not writing about endurance training or racing necessarily, but life choices, succumbing to deals with the devil and comfortable lifestyle architecture. Life plateaus. We may be firing on all cylinders in one part of our lives, but completely neglectful of other equally important facets.

How often do we recalibrate -or even better, SHATTER- our perception of Possible? How often do we take a leap of faith? When does our passion and genuine gratitude for the ability to undertake said challenges fade away? I would suggest that we classify this "disease" essentially as evil, and I believe it is incumbent on ourselves to stay cognizant of the Dark Side, and fight battles in our war against complacency every day.

This ain't a dress rehearsal.

Avoiding risk and mindlessly going through the motions is dangerous. Great people rarely achieve anything significant without risk or vulnerability. Sure, you can go through life making right turns and avoiding risk. You can rioritize comfort over learning/growth/adaptation. But what kind of life is that exactly? It's too easy to succumb to the Evil of Complacency and fly with the flock, to swim with the school, with your mind and ambition set to "OFF".

Try Something New

Lately I have thought about mindless comfort, safety and positive reinforcement in numbers, and reality-checked that I have not or will not fall into that trap. I attempted to identify and INTERRUPT any and all patterns in my life. TIME OUT. STOP. Where exactly are we going? Is this where I want to go? We are all creatures of habit, perhaps more so than we perceive.

What is your 'acceptable' level of risk?

It's human nature to stay in our comfort zones, to stay there in our nice warm, dry, safe bubble of underachievement and predictable but frequent rewards, surrounded by others doing the same. The perfect analogies are sugar in our diet or commuting and working 40-50+ hours per week only to spend our "FREE" time sitting in front of the TV mindlessly for 20-30 hours per week.

WIFM?

What would it mean if we woke up and abruptly broke away from the pack? What if we recognized the opportunity cost of our DeathStyle and decided we could take our health skills, fitness, finances and personal relationships to the next level, leaving our former complacent and mediocre self behind? If we were to make this change, then go back in time, would be recognize our former selves? Yet it's the same DNA, same mind, same opportunity. Same choices.

What if we could 'go rogue' and PROACTIVELY accept an inconvenient, ambitious challenge of our own volition that disrupts our comfortable lifestyle? What would be the risk? What would be the reward?

Don't waste time and energy worrying about things you can not control.

BUT BUT BUT...

The myriad excuses are baseless. With most people spending a heartbreaking volume of time watching TV or surfing the internet, time is available for the carving. Outside of time constraints, only one person controls what choices you make with meals, 'free time', time available for exercise and time spent with loved ones.

Konstatin doesn't make excuses (click on this). You go with what you've got. Just go.

Dennis Praeger has written extensively on this subject, and I heartily recommend "Happiness is a Serious Problem: A Human Nature Repair Manual". Praeger suggests it is our MORAL RESPONSIBILITY to be happy, to find a way to tackle life regardless of our circumstances.

Living vicariously through others is too easy in the internet age, and is certainly at an all-time high for mankind. It's easier than ever to find ourselves comfortably anonymous in the billion-strong choir of "Shoulda Woulda Coulda"..."too busy"..."already doing too much". It's bullshit.

Are you Should-ing all over yourself? Do you really in your heart believe you're "too busy"? Are you getting defensive?

Every day is an opportunity to remain in our Holding Patterns or break out of our comfortable orbit to learn more, do better, grow, and share. Whether it is a fixed-time experiment of one or a permanent change, you can never know until you take the risk and commit to change. We know what it IS, how to DO IT, but what does it MEAN to you? To your family? For many, the negative consequences of NON-CHANGE are more powerful motivators than intrinsic rewards or personal positive gain.

Ask anyone who has evolved from a life of lassitude and obesity with LDL levels of 200+, likely to die in their 50s...to fit, healthy and vibrant. They know what it means to go back...Death. To their selves, their family, their children. They CAN'T go back. They WON'T go back. They will FIGHT to keep and grow their gains. The same goes for anyone (cough, cough) who has lost everything financially and fought back, lost their relationships and learned from mistakes, or lost loved ones or friends unexpectedly to disease, accidents or war. A rebirth, reawakening, a new appreciation.

It took WORK. It took PAIN. It took SACRIFICE. It is NOT EASY.

It is WORTH IT. To you, and to everyone you will ever interact with throughout your life.

Commit to 8 WEEKS of a new "system", no matter how scary or uncomfortable it may be. It might be what you choose to eat or drink. It might be the frequency and intensity of the exercise you are doing. It might be time you spend with loved ones. Make it simple, clearly defined and make yourself accountable every day, preferably in writing. Email yourself if that is what it takes, with a daily journal. Create a folder in your GMAIL or wherever to track the pain and results so you have a record of your experiment or the results. If it is Fitness-Related, an easy and free tracking online log can be found at www.attackpoint.org You can access it from your iPhone, Blackberry or DROID very easily.

Give your self a chance to succeed.

Evaluate the results at the end of 8 weeks. Compare to where you would have been if you had remained in your holding pattern/paradigm/rut. Think back to your old excuses "Too Busy", "Already doing 'enough'", "my doctor said I'm fine"...and laugh. You have already likely adapted to the first changes in 8 weeks. You are either healthier, fitter, smarter, or your most important relationship has improved. Perhaps all of the above.

Now it's time to recalibrate again and identify an additional desired change for the next 8 weeks, while maintaining the first one, which is now "normal". Maybe you stopped drinking sugary drinks and committed to joining a CrossFit gym. Your energy is now at an all-time high, you're stronger and healthier. You love the new LIFEstyle and can't imagine going back. What other area of your life could use an injection of invigoration? Most would agree they want to increase their understanding and relationship with God, love and finances.

What is interesting is that some of the most profoundly impactful change-eliciting experiments require no additional time commitment in your schedule. What you CHOOSE TO PUT IN YOUR MOUTH has a cascading effect on not only our health and fitness but also our mood and ability to handle "stress".

Complexity is the enemy.

By keeping it extremely simple and chiseling a few things out of your life, while making BETTER CHOICES we can surprise ourselves with fantastic gains and adaptations. The time commitment might be less than imagined or feared, but the intensity and passion must be absolutely humming. Most overlook the power of the Minimum Effective Dose when administered consistently.

Instead of dwelling on "sacrifice", focus on a STREAK of Consistent, Good Choices.

Shock, Scare and Force yourself to grow, and to encourage your loved ones or even strangers to do the same. Hold yourself accountable and give yourself a chance to succeed. It's a daily battle in a life-long war against complacency, and it never gets easier, you don't hate it any less.... You just get stronger.

Break the Pattern.

Take a leap of faith while you can. Why the hell not?

Visualize the results and make it happen. Push through the pain and stay focused on the goal. GO FOR IT.

Accept the challenge.

Maku Mozo

2011-02-08T15:34:00.000-08:00

...is a Japanese expression meaning..."Don't delude yourself".

When put on the spot, regardless of incentive, many can answer the call of a difficult or even seemingly impossible challenge. In the photo above, my team DART-nuun had just won the 2008 Baja Travesia in Mexico, one of the hardest and most insane nonstop multi-day expdition adventure races ever put on in North America. Unfortunately I was deathly ill with a sinus and chest infection before the race even started, and was pretty much worthless to my team for most of the race. With my ego in check, we made it as a team.

The timing couldn't have been worse: instead of being at lifetime best fitness as I was one week BEFORE the race, I was temporarily a shell of my potential right when my teammates needed to count on me. With my exceptional teammates Glenn Rogers and Mari Chandler, I made it through the nonstop 72 hour race unable to even speak, traversing the Baja penninsula (from the Sea of Cortez to the Pacific Ocean over the Sierra Nevada mountain range and adjacent canyons and deserts) in the most difficult adventure race of my life. At the finish line, my legs were extremely swollen with edema but my heart was filled with joy and gratitude for the experience and opportunity to dig my pain groove so deeply.

If it had been a solo event, I do not believe I would have toed the start line, even after the long drive down to San Felipe from Aliso Viejo. I would have gone back to bed or even to the hospital for (last resort) antibiotics. This was the hardest I had ever had to push, and going nearly 65 hours without sleeping, adding florid hallucinations to the mix, did not help. The only other time I can remember pushing myself Far Beyond My Known Limits to accomplish a goal (finishing/winning) was in my Navy training. Fortunately I went into the race with enough fitness that, at half of my cylinders running, I could still (barely) keep up. It was humbling and life-changing.

"We are enriched by life's harshest moments. Especially those of our own choosing."

Often when confronted by the 'devil' with sleeping in, skipping a workout, procrastinating (on nearly anything) or simply taking the easy way out, I try to remind myself of these Harsh Moments (even 72 hour long "moments") to provide context; as a reminder to HTFU and Get 'er Done.

Increasing the Frequency of Perception Recalibration

As challenging as these experiences have been, I truly do hope the most difficult tests-and most rewarding-moments are ahead of me, that I will not rest on my laurels with my nice National Champion trophy on the shelf (which by now is getting dusty if not rusty). In fact, the direction I am headed with my training and time will likely keep me out of my old arenas of competition and on to entirely new ones.

This is a perfect segue for my next post, addressing COMPLACENCY, plateaus, pain vs pleasure incentives and analyzing opportunity cost (in the context of fitness: Volume Wars vs Intensity Wars) with broad life experience and never-ending skill development in the balance.

How is it possible for someone who competes in several 24+ hour endurance races per year, trains methodically and purposefully for over 900 hours per year to be "Lazy"? I asked myself that question for a few years and only recently had the courage to answer my own question. I knew the answer all along, but was simply too distracted, soft and lazy to accept my own challenge, to answer the call. Years flew by. About a decade. How did that happen?

"Life goes by pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it"

The gnarliest challenges await, and with any luck are unfathomable to me as I am today. The only thing keeping me or anyone from these peak experiences and opportunities for growth are excuses I call "'ould'ves"...Should've, Could've, Would've. Over time, they add up to a sky-high pile of...

Are you Shoulding all over yourself?

Are you tired of being tired?

Video of our Baja Travesia Finish in Ensenada: "Utterly Shattered"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/melmelly/2422217105/

...and 24hrs later back in Solana Beach...it hurt to laugh but we did...
"That's how a MAN eats some CAKE!"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/melmelly/2423052693/in/photostream/

Winter FOCUS

2011-02-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

Aspen

2011-02-03T10:41:00.000-08:00

Winter Fun

2011-02-02T14:19:00.000-08:00

Winter Biathlon

2011-02-01T12:44:00.000-08:00

A new challenge...

This won't be my first biathlon. I competed in run/shoot Summer Biathlon (won my AG and top 10 at Coyote Point in 2002!?!) but my skate skiing has always sucked. Living in Southern California for the last 5 years didn't help much!

Photos are from the Colorado Biathlon Association's certification clinic in January. The venue sits at 9800'. Nordic skiing is difficult on the flats at sea level, but there are almost ZERO flats or even straightaways here. It's all up and down. Sucking COLD wind at 9800'.

Winter Green

2011-01-27T14:27:00.000-08:00

Green Mountain is one of my favorite proving grounds, and a fantastic benchmark for climbing fitness at threshold. It is also a beautiful trail with spectacular views from the summit. Some days I go to Green to trash my legs and try to make myself vomit from exertion by the summit, a roughly ~40 minute or so climb. This wasn't one of those days. Ms Matwijiw joined me for a comfortable jaunt up and over our mountain through Chautauqua on a perfect winter day.

Apologies for the soundtrack here yesterday and today. Apparently the Playlist.com widget I had been using for three years changed unexpectedly without my knowledge to some gangster rap that I didn't realize was up until this afternoon. Strange. Consequently I removed the playlist widget.

indoor training

2011-01-27T14:12:00.001-08:00

off season transition

2010-12-16T20:16:00.000-08:00

Catching Up...

The first 3 weeks of November were basically my "offseason" for 2010. I enjoyed an evening with some friends on my 35th birthday at the WENGER Flagship Store and BJ's Pizza...

Yes, I did actually eat 2.5 Pizookies

...found a Christmas tree...

...and avoided any structured "training" for a while. Instead of obsessing over workouts, mileage, volume, feet of climbing and flogging myself, I enjoyed frequent and random easy hikes, rides and runs with Lisa and my sister Lauren, who also lives in Boulder. Sleep and total recovery were the priority over morning 'sessions'. I made a few extra 6 packs (er, 4 packs) of GREEN FLASH West Coast IPA disappear and I feel like the period left me feeling totally recovered from the race season, albeit 7lbs heavier.

I have been back training for a few weeks now, focusing on frequency of sessions and functional strength as I ramp up carefully to my normal volume and intensity. I finally joined Flatiron Athletic Club, Boulder's ground zero for triathlon training, and have enjoyed getting back after it every day with a fresh perspective if not a sense of urgency to get back in shape.

One of the biggest reasons I am optimistic and freshly motivated for 2011 is that my friends and training buds like Slater Fletcher and James Walsh among others raised the bar significantly in 2010. I look forward to the training process as much as racing and hopefully knocking out some masochistic camps together as we all aim to raise the bar even higher in 2011, crushing our own and each others' dreams along the way...with Green Flash West Coast IPA or Piny the Elder IPA always waiting at the finish lines.

After starting the 2010 season as well as ending it with some form of nagging overuse injuries, my New Year's Resolution is to stay injury-free and prioritize my health and nip any injury red flags in the bud. Functional strength trumps all. More time in the gym and specific Prehab exercises I have learned from Dr. J-Rodg to keep the shoulder working properly.

Although 2010 was a bit frustrating with some close 2nd place finishes in adventure races, adaptation to living at Boulder's altitude and my ankle injury keeping me out of my scheduled Ironman Triathlon, I learned some valuable lessons in training and life and am extremely thankful for the amazing opportunities I DID HAVE in 2010 to race with such great teammates and friends in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Utah, Washington, California, and Colorado. It is, after all, all about the Journey.

Future posts here will include race re-caps of events and some behind-the-scenes details, maybe some funny or even embarassing photos. The HD GoPro Camera is ready to go!

Proof (I do not think they used this ad):

Upward and Onward,

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Warning

2010-12-02T09:10:00.001-08:00

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wintervention

2010-11-13T15:19:00.000-08:00

On Friday night Lisa and I joined some friends at the Boulder Theater for Warren Miller's WIntervention premiere.
The stoke factor was high at the theater, with sponsor shwag give-aways and a bar in the middle of the crowd. The movie featured the usual Warren Miller jaw-dropping cinematography in some of the most spectacular terrain on Earth: Colorado, Tahoe, Antarctica, Georgia, Austria, and New Zealand.

Needless to say people in town are itching for the ski season to start. After spending the last five winters living at the beach in Southern California, I am seriously looking forward to getting back in the mountains this winter! I may not be able to surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon anymore, but that hardly ever happened anyway to be perfectly honest.

What's on tap? Back Country skiing hut trips, snowshoeing, nordic skiing, maybe some winter multisport races...The secret sauce of the curiously dominant athletes from Colorado and Canada is not altitude, but instead putting the bike away for several months and substituting skiing. Yes, it is true, my sea level friends.

While their competitors are noodling around "building base" over the winter, the Snow People are bleeding out of their eyeballs with intensity on their skis and/or climbing on the skis for hours at high altitude. Last winter I had time for continuous 400 mile bike weeks, even hitting 500...not anymore! Balancing work, a long commute, working in the mountain towns and family means it has to be about Quality more than Quantity this "out season". I am looking forward to new challenges in new places and working on specific skills more than logging mega-hours of the same old training.

Quality Time in the mountains...

Bottlenecked: Game Over, Man!

2010-11-10T17:51:00.000-08:00

Above Video shot by and featuring our friends from Seattle, Team VERVE at CheckpointTracker National Championships in Moab...In the video you can see my team literally lying down on the ground with our feet up, where we were for an hour (at the 2:10 mark you can see me with my red shoes propped up) as we waited for the Tyrolean Traverse bottleneck to clear. Absolute nightmare for any team.

Why would a team be sitting down for an hour waiting in the middle of an adventure race?

The teams ahead of us at the time were also waiting to get on one of the lines. They had skipped one or more checkpoints, which were optional, in order to get to the 300 foot tyrolean traverse across a canyon chasm before the 6:00pm cutoff. Our team had "cleaned the course" and hit every checkpoint with a 1 hour mistake that we were barely able to recover from. In fact, we made it to the tyrolean only 4 minutes before the cutoff. Although we were maybe the only team present that had cleared the course thus far (perhaps Verve did as well?) we were not allowed to go in front of these other teams who had skipped sections.

While we waited for an hour, the top 3 teams ahead of us were riding in a paceline at 20+ mph on their mountain bikes towards downtown Moab in daylight, having left the nearby trek-bike transition while we sat motionless as the sun set. For the record, the view was spectacular! It is very tough to beat Moab for a location for any endurance race or event.

What is even crazier than waiting for an hour in a race is the personnel at the tyrolean told us that on the other side we would easily find the rappel, and rather quickly. According to the map (satellite imagery maps were a novelty) the rappel was less than a mile from the trek-bike transition. We looked for the rappel for 30 minutes, and two different race volunteers (who unbeknownst to our team had just taken the rappel down) told us "you can't go this way" or "you need to follow that shelf"...of course we thought they were telling us how to get to the rappel safely, and they assumed we were already told the rappel was already gone. Awful.

We continued down the canyon until we hit the riverside paved road that took us back to the transition area, finally realizing that the rappel was non-existent. Then at the TA we find that we would be penalized an hour for "not doing" the rappel. Insult to injury.

Knowing the tremendous caliber of the teams ahead of us, such as DART-nuun/SportMulti, Osprey Packs, Yoga Slackers, etc., we were frustrated but invigorated to put the pedal to the metal to try to make up time. You never know what can happen in an adventure race! In this race, that certainly turned out to be the case...

So our earlier mistake of an hour + an hour waiting for the tyrolean (58 minutes, to be precise), + 30 minutes going back and forth in a canyon looking for an imaginary rappel + a one hour penalty meant we were had lost not just a "recoverable" one hour, but 3.5 hours! In a 24 hour adventure race that is an absolute eternity. We rallied and continued to move well almost mistake-free for the rest of the race, but it was too late.

The one and only reason I am recounting this story (for the record, not a whiny lament) is so race directors can read it (possibly) and take this situation into consideration when designing future courses. Directing an adventure race or any multisport event is a difficult and time-intensive job, and can be quite complicated. When you factor in teams skipping ahead to checkpoints, teams protesting against others tactics, and course design flaws, things can get dodgy very quickly.

Unfortunately, this new optional CP format is increasingly popular with race directors and even some racers, and more of the norm than the exception today. Race directors today have switched the emphasis in many cases from racing to participating and hence now create events designed to allow everyone to 'finish'. Although I recognize this may be the best offering to attract new athletes to the sport of adventure racing, I am not personally interested in any ultra endurance event that everyone knows they are going to be able to finish, even if it means skipping up to half of the course. Personally I find this to be antithetical to the concept of adventure racing.

Much like a hard drug user or other "sensation seeker", I require an increasingly intense and/or long challenge, preferably one that puts the odds against me. This applies to any endurance event, from a 2k ocean swim race where I know I will be trounced by the "real" swimmers, to a 20k TT where I hope to break my own PR or a 200k 24 hour adventure race.

You can only dig deep-really deep- when forced by competition and a sense of white-hot urgency. Folks who race bikes know this. This is why I am attracted to events that scare the crap out of you and require you to dig deep just to finish. We race against ourselves, our demons that whisper excuses in our ear as our limbic system convinces us to quit. Defeating these demons, even more so than the competition, is how you grow.

Adventure Racing isn't for everyone, and now it is trying to be. Bring back the hairy, scary races that NOT everyone finishes. Boo Hoo. Too bad. Races that eat their young. That's what I want. I want the finish line to MEAN something...that I completed the journey, ran the gauntlet, passed the test. Every adventure race certainly does not have to be this way. There will always be races for beginners or folks who just want to "play" more than race their guts out. There are options for both, but increasingly more for the latter and less for the former.

Contrast this new culture shift to the Barkley Ultramarathon and 60 mile Fun Run. Only 9 people out of 700 entrants have finished...ever. I do not believe they are planning on changing their race anytime soon. Apples to Oranges, sure.

http://www.mattmahoney.net/barkley/

While many are quite content to participate in these newer versions of adventure races, I will choose races that offer a "point to point" adventurous journey, and courses designed to prevent teams from skipping ahead of their competition. To me it is just a matter of satisfaction. When my team was undefeated in 2008, many of the season's races were ROGAINE format. Our navigators were co-North American ROGAINE Champions, as well as very strong athletes, which I believe gave us a tremendous advantage in this race format.

While I love spending time with my teammates and winning races for our sponsors, the joy or sense of accomplishment just was not there in ROGAINE races compared to point to point races when crossing the finish line...certainly not compared to crossing the finish line at a nearly suicidal insane race like the Baja Travesia. I was deathly ill and mostly worthless in that race, but making it to the finish line somehow with my teammates is something I will never, ever forget.

http://www.bajatravesia.com/_teams/dartnuunnw.php

Some adventure races on the radar include next May's new addition to the Adventure Racing World Series schedule: APEX: Alpine Expedition Switzerland Race, put on by veteran race director (best known for directing Untamed New England/Untamed Switzerland Adventure Races) Grant Killian. TRIOBA in Washington state is also a great option for those who want a capital A, capital R "Adventure Race". Outside of AR I plan on entering more solo races that promise to brutally crush my dreams.

I much prefer the odds for success, for even finishing, to be Against Me.

.

The Curious Rise of ROGAINE Courses in Adventure Racing.

2010-11-09T22:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Adventure Racer Family,

As Guest-Blogger on www.CheckpointTracker.com this month, I am tackling ROGAINE-format (orienteering, get checkpoints in any order, tally "points" at the finish line) courses in adventure racing. I am opposed to the concept, as I view an adventure race as a journey from Point A to Z. Nomenclature and semantics fog the definition, but Point to Point, Loop, Clover Leaf, whatever you want to call it...sequential order of checkpoints from Start to Finish is what I personally prefer as a "traditionalist" in AR. A good course should be designed to challenge racers' decision making and navigation skills, offering several options along the way that may or may not be faster: Bushwack or take the longer, but faster trail? There are myriad reasons why race directors decided to change to an orienteering format over the last several years, but my argument is simply that there is another way...

The rise of orienteering's influence on AR has meant that over the last few years more races have been designed as ROGAINE (orienteering acronym describing typically longer orienteering events: “Rugged Outdoor Group Activity Involving Navigation and Endurance"), or modified ROGAINE, which means that checkpoints are spread across a "course", and the team that hits the most, sometimes in any order, at the finish line with the fastest time wins sometimes with a fixed time frame such as 24 hours. Skipping some or many checkpoints becomes a strategy for teams. Some teams may even skip half of the checkpoints, only to reach the finish line as..."finishers". This may work in orienteering, but Adventure Racing is NOT Orienteering in my opinion.

An event that calls itself a Race, but invites athletes to show up at the start line without even EXPECTING to FINISH the course is far from what I would consider a "race". Call me crazy. This is just my humble opinion as an "old school" adventure racer who started in the mid-1990s. I am totally aware that there are many out there who enjoy and even prefer this ROGAINE format. They don't want to do the whole course, or maybe in a few cases are not capable. I also am aware that many of these athletes came into the sport more recently than I, and this is all they have experienced. This is normative to them, and they see AR as a multisport orienteering event, or ROGAINE.

In recognition of the myriad challenges Race Directors face, the prime directive for them in my opinion is to design a course that recognizes the bell curve. A course should be do-able in 24-30 hours by the vast majority of teams. Some RDs complain that the top teams will then finish in under 20 hours, maybe even 12 in some cases if the majority finish in 24-28. I ask: How many teams are racing for the win? Not many. If there are 30 teams at the start line, there may be a few that will "blast through the course" without incident, racing for the win. Most of these teams care first and foremost about winning, not spending an extra 4 hours on a course orienteering in the woods, zig zagging this way and that.

The bottom line is my heart is broken that adventure racing has become-in some instances-a race that encourages teams to toe the starting line knowing they will skip checkpoints or entire sections. Who would start an ultramarathon, Ironman, ultra mtb race, sailing regatta, or any other competition planning on NOT doing the whole thing? This concept is native to orienteering, not adventure racing. I am all about inclusion and attracting as many people as possible to AR, however possible. In the past, finishing a race was not a guarantee in an adventure race. Far from it! I did one race in 2000, the Mega Dose in Virginia that had 60 or so teams. None made it to the finish line under the cutoff. None. My team was the only 4 person team to finish the race, and thus "won", after 88 hours of racing across 250 miles. The other teams all dropped out along the way, save for a couple duos and soloists. Every team knew at the start line that the race was almost a "Mission: Impossible".

Perhaps my "vote" will be meaningless, but I am too passionate about competing fiercely and winning races based on my hard work, blood, sweat and tears put into training. The commitment it takes to prepare to compete for the win involves enormous sacrifices and opportunity costs. I enjoy the training, and it is a lifestyle, but if I am standing at the start line with my teammates, knowing we have all made the same deep commitment to our preparedness, I want a rewarding JOURNEY from A to Z, and our win or loss to be based on fitness, teamwork and skill. Strangely, my opinion is in the minority today in adventure racing.

This is just one guy's preference and opinion. It should go without saying that my CPT blog was written purposefully as disruptive leadership, a splinter under AR's fingernail to provoke thought and an emotional response throughout the wider community...to elicit a reaction. This reaction was over 100 comments in the first 48 hours, and over 300 votes in checkpointtracker.com's online poll (Poll was ROGAINE FORMAT ARs: Good, Bad, Maybe).

This is just the beginning of the conversation, and I invite everyone to contribute their own opinions and offer solutions. For racers new to the sport, I invite you to read Martin Dugard's "Surviving the Toughest Race on Earth" and other accounts of the wild and wonderful world of adventure racing in the early to late 1990s. The book is fantastic and might acquaint some with both the Adventure and Racing parts of Adventure Racing. Both were unbelievably intense, and regrettably unimaginable to today's incarnation of the sport.

The #1 goal for the blog was to start a conversation with some controversy. It worked! I am stoked so many people have chimed in and opined on not just the original vs. rogaine debate but many other issues surrounding adventure race course design, cutoffs, short-coursing, etc. Hopefully this forum will continue to stay active and the racer-RD communication floodgates will stay open for the betterment of the sport, regardless of your preferred 'evolved' iteration.

In Adventure,

SC

USARA Adventure Racing National Championship

2010-10-18T22:46:00.001-07:00

Never Give Up...

Sometimes things don't go as planned. Sometimes they do, but your plan backfires. Sometimes you are forced to dig deep and rally and race your guts out with a furious tenacity all the way to the finish line, only to have your dreams crushed at the very last moment. That, folks, is adventure racing.

Over the weekend I raced the 2010 USARA 24 Hour Adventure Racing National Championship with my usual DART-nuun teammate Mari Chandler and a "new" teammate and navigator Kyle Peter. We raced as Team Tecnu Extreme-StaphAseptic. This would be the second time since 2004 that I would race with a team other than DART-nuun. Mari and Kyle have raced quite well together in 2010, and going into this race they both had over twelve 24 hour races under their belts for the season. In fact, just one week before Nationals they raced together at the NorCal Racing Whiskeytown 24 Hour Adventure Race...and won. Needless to say, they are a well-oiled machine and both on great form...Terminators. Going into the race with a win streak racing with Mari of 6 or 7 races, and with a super-strong Kyle Peter navigating, we were confident that we had the tools to achieve our singular goal of winning.

The field was stacked with several former USARA national championship-winning teams: Team iMOAT from Texas (2006 & 2007 Champions); Team Granite (2009 winners); Team EMS (2005); TecnuExtreme-StaphASeptic (Sean & Mari won with DART-nuun in 2008), and dozens of other top contenders who had qualified at regional adventure races around the United States.

The event was hosted by the Hidden Valley ski resort in Laurel Highlands, Pennsylvania, and directed by American Adventure Sports, one of the oldest adventure racing companies in the United States. I was particularly impressed with the race director, Doug Crytzer, who has been directing adventure races since 1998, around the time I got started in this sport. In Doug's previous career he was a Master Sergeant with the 82nd Airborne. My kinda guy! His no-nonsense, totally genuine style reminded me of my early adventure racing mentors from my Navy days, who happened to be former Army Delta Force and Navy SEALs. These people are different, and these are my kind of people. "Take Care of Your Teammates" was repeated more than once.

You can see me in black/white/red at the start faking straight and cutting left, then climbing up the ski hill. Kind of a painful way to start a "29 hour" race!

After 4 hours of racing, we had a lead of approximately 40 minutes after hammering the first bike section which included plenty of long, steep climbing. In a cruel twist of fate, our hard-earned lead turned into a 1hr10 deficit to first place when we misunderstood the bike-paddle transition & banned-road instructions and struggled through a bushwhack to the paddle put-in. What we had interpreted to be the "intended" route on the map turned into a very slow, arduous and potentially deadly bush-whack in our carbon-soled mountain bike shoes on the lip (literally) of a concrete cliff (long dam drainage, 30' sheer drop) with very poor loose-dirt and pricker-bush footing along a steep slope.

The race directors spotted us as we approached the end of the cliff (which lead to another smaller cliff) and started running towards us, waving their arms, terrified that we would fall. After yelling back and forth and explaining how we got there, we managed to find the least-precarious spot to downclimb the loose rock, which was not easy in worn-out carbon-soled bike shoes and packs sloshing around...We carefully spotted each other, as tree and shrub trunks and roots were our only handholds in a very sketchy, super-exposed moment. Doug yelled "YOU ARE NOT RACING RIGHT NOW!" and you could cut the tension with a knife. But we made it down.

After we got down and started running towards the boats, we were stopped immediately and told we had to arrive WITH OUR BIKES. Which were stashed 2 miles away at the start of our ill-fated bushwhack. Apparently we mis-read the instructions and assumed the road to the paddle put-in was banned, and that the bushwhack was the intended route. In the pre-race instructions, we were advised to bring a bike cable-lock of some sort as we would have to stash our bikes at some point in the race, somewhere people might be hiking or hunting. The place we stashed our bikes seemed to fit that description perfectly. Alas.

We had just lost quite a bit of time with the slow bushwack, and as we "debated" briefly with the Doug the RD, we saw teams arriving to the canoe transition, coming in HOT on their bikes. We were told we had to run back to our bikes, which would mean a couple miles through town. Damnit.

We had our running shoes with us in our backpacks, so we quickly swapped shoes and did the "run of shame" back to our bikes, which were stashed in the woods. As we cantered back to our bikes, approximately 10 teams passed us as they rode towards the canoes. The look on their faces was either shocked consternation or smug amusement.

When we did reach our bikes, we noticed the race organization had a vehicle at the trail-head, stopping teams from taking the risky (and wrong) bush-whack. About 90 minutes too late for our team! Doug told us he honestly never expected teams to deduce that the bushwhack was 'intended'.

Back on our bikes, we hammered back to the canoes, and started the paddle NOT in first place, but 10th or 11th. In our hurried transition, we managed to pick the slowest canoe out of 20+ boats pre-staged next to the put-in ramp (they looked similar but were in fact different). We actually paddled a beater red COLEMAN canoe, the kind your grandpa would take you fishing in back in the 70s or 80s. The other canoes were not by any means "fast" boats, but the difference in hull speed was noticeable as we struggled to make the old boat "go" with our trusty EPIC carbon kayak paddles.

(NOTE: We opted to use our own paddles vs. the race organization's canoe paddles, since this seems to be faster for our team. The downside was that we would have to carry the 3 kayak paddles throughout the race for ~24 hours. We opted to use EPIC's 3 piece paddles, which broke down and fit into our larger-than-usual packs.)

One of the areas where we actually gained time on the canoe section was when we would portage (HARD) over sandbars, taking short cuts and one long beach (mud) run-up to the furthest checkpoint. Apparently dragging this boat across soft sand and mud was faster than paddling! The weather changed from 50s, calm and sunny to 40s, rain and 30mph NorEaster winds every half hour or so, which was slightly amusing since we are quite accustomed to training and racing in "poor" conditions.

The highlight of the paddle was portaging over the last penninsula, instantly leaving behind the 30mph winds and cold rain, only to be greeted inexplicably by sunny sky, calm water and a very low, obtuse rainbow on the near horizon. Team WEDALI was in the area and we all broke out into "DOUBLE RAINBOW!!! DOUBLE RAINBOW!! WHAT DOES IT MEEEEEEAN??

By the end of the 11+ mile canoe we would find ourselves back in the top 5, and once on the bikes we rallied back to 1st place in relatively short order. While we made up the lost time rather quickly with Kyle's ace navigation and some harder efforts, we couldn't help but think that our original 40~ minute lead could have been nearly 2 hours with our race pace. Rather than wasting mental energy lamenting our mistake, we focused on what was IN FRONT of us, not what happened behind us on that cliff...

Fast forwarding to the end of the race, a "challenging" night orienteering starting and finishing at the finish line,
WEDALI (We Eat Dust And Like It is the acronym!) navigated flawlessly and moved swiftly, never giving up. Those Minnesotans are Tenacious! Their team has won just about every race in the Midwest this year, and after 8 years of consistently racing together they have the experience to know how to handle these situations. Our team made only one navigational error between orienteering CPs 6 and 7, and actually realized it and made a correction after about 20 minutes. We backtracked to cut our losses and set a new bearing before continuing at full-speed. This trekking section was in thick brush before dawn, and the maps (as usual) did not exactly match reality. We seized any opportunity to run, and kept the intensity high to the very end.

After maintaining a ~45 minute lead all the way until the end of this last, 9 checkpoint, ~6 hour orienteering section in the middle of the night, WEDALI managed to sneakily out-maneuver us in the final few CPs and managed to win by just under 6 minutes. We had no idea they were that close until we hit the last CP atop the ski slopes. "WEDALI was here 6 minutes ago"...WHAT!?!? We had encountered them earlier in this orienteering section, but took different routes somewhere along the way.

As the sun rose we sprinted down the Hidden Valley ski slope to the finish line only to hear the confirmation that the Minnesotans had crushed our dreams, finishing 5 minutes and 40 seconds or so before. This was perhaps the closest finish in USARA history. You could hear the sound of the deflating balloon when we crossed the finish line. Or maybe a whoopie cushion.

We heartily congratulate Team WEDALI for not giving up, remaining confident and focused and for putting on a navigational "clinic". In an adventure race--or any endurance competition--you can never predict what adversity your competitors will face. Mr. Murphy of Murphy's Law fame is ALWAYS along for the ride, and he holds no favorites.

Several top-contending teams like iMOAT, GRANITE, BERLIN BIKES or EMS would normally have been right there battling for the lead on any other given day if not for their own unforeseen adversity. After 22 hours and 47 minutes of racing through some of the gnarliest terrain Pennsylvania has to offer, it was a tough way to lose.

WEDALI and Tecnu Extreme-StaphAseptic shared a table at the awards ceremony, drinking Yeungling lager and comparing navigation mistakes and bike mechanicals (dealing with a frozen/locked pedal was a new one) over pumpkin pie. The comaraderie you sense in the sport of adventure racing is beyond anything I have experienced in sport, and can only compare to my military training. The shared notion of "I can't believe we are doing this/I can't believe we just did that/When can we do this again" sums it up in my opinion.

One great thing about a crushing defeat like this one is you learn much more from your losses than wins. In this instance, WEDALI showed what can happen when you DON'T GIVE UP. DON'T EVER GIVE UP!
I can honestly say I am more motivated than ever after this dream-crushing loss.

Fire in the Belly, baby!

My 2008 National Champion trophy remains lonely on the bookshelf...until next year in Kentucky! Yep, it was leaked that the location of the 2011 National Championships will be somewhere in the Bluegrass State.

www.usaranationals.com

LASTLY, I am taking on a few more coaching clients this fall/winter for the 2011 season. If you are interested, email me at:
sjclancy (at) yahoo (dot) com

Whether you are interested in detailed weekly coaching and email correspondence, personal training (if you happen to live near Boulder, CO), a long-term general training plan, or consulting, we can work something out on a case-by-case basis at all price-points.

All athletes are different and there are no cookie-cutter-plans that I repackage and sell. If you want to take your racing to the NEXT LEVEL, then we should talk. It doesn't matter if your goals are specific to Adventure Racing, Ironman triathlon (in conjunction with your masters swim team), Ultramarathon running, Ultra-distance mountain bike racing, or just getting off the couch and getting active again, it doesn't matter.

Life gets busy. Make the most of your available training time. This is not a dress rehearsal!

In Adventure,

SC

Boulder Daily Camera Interview

2010-10-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

While I was racing at the USARA 24 Hour Adventure racing National Championship in Pennsylvania, the Boulder Daily Camera published the following interview in Friday's newspaper. Thankfully, they also posted it online so I can share it here...

Outdoor reporter Jenn Fields interviewed me as well as the Team Tecnu-StaphAseptic team manager, Doug Judson, prior to the race.

http://www.coloradodaily.com/ci_16332402#axzz13D1QNoV5

1st Place at TRIOBA 24 Hour Adventure Race!

2010-08-30T14:34:00.001-07:00

25 Hours and 50 minutes after starting in Chelan, Team nuun-SportMulti crossed the finish line in Plain as 2010 Trioba Champions.

CHELAN NEWSPAPER REACTION TO TRIOBA 24
Including an audio interview of Glenn Rogers:
http://www.golakechelan.com/?name=News&file=article&sid=11221

What a race!

Team nuun-SportMulti at the 2010 Trioba 24 hour Adventure Race was composed of racers Matt Hayes, Mari Chandler, Sean Clancy and guest-racer Jeremy Rodgers. Mari and Sean went into TRIOBA with a 5-for-5 race winning streak together. For most of those races, their 3rd teammate was ace-navigator Glenn Rogers. This time around, Glenn was the race DIRECTOR, and teammate Matt Hayes would step into the navigator role. Could they keep the magical streak alive? Glenn and co-director (Team nuun-SportMulti racer and co-founder) Ryan Van Gorder promised to throw some curve-balls to prevent ANY team from having an easy go of it. By the time teams reached the finish line, the 2010 TRIOBA 24 would go down as a classic and one of the harder-but most rewarding-events in memory...

For Adventure Racers seeking a truly wild, gnarly, challenging and fun point-to-point course, the 2010 Trioba 24 Hour Adventure Race did not disappoint. The race was professionally directed with by our nuun-SportMulti teammates Glenn Rogers and Ryan Van Gorder. In the months leading up to the race, Glenn and Ryan posted random photos of locations they were scouting for checkpoints on the course. The photos depicted mountain-top fire lookout towers, mine entrances (?!), a ruined "castle" (seriously), rattlesnakes and some very large mountain lion and bear paw prints. We knew the race would offer serious navigational challenges and options, massive amounts of elevation gain and loss, and brutal amounts of rocky off-trail terrain. Oh, and a substantial paddle. Having known and raced with Glenn and Ryan for a while now, my expectations for the race were very high.

After a pre-race meeting in the town of Plain (the location of the finish) at 9pm where we received out maps and checkpoints, teams were bused (yes, in an old schoo bus!) 90 minutes to Chelan where the race began with a surprise midnight Prolog: an urban orienteering course in downtown Chelan. The local police gave us some funny looks as we bolted down the street hooting and hollering. Checkpoints could be hit in any order, so teams crisscrossed each other as they scrambled to complete the Prolog and begin the actual race in the mountains. Instead of punching our passports at each CP, we were given a list of questions and CP locations where we could find the answers. Names and dates on statues, address of the post office, etc. It was actually a fun way to start the race, and the only time we would be running on a flat surface!

Our team finished the prolog and began the first leg of the race, a 20+ mile mountain trek, about a minute behind Team Verve of Seattle, led by Latvian ace-navigator Peteris Ledins. The trek began with a substantial 3,000 foot, very steep climb straight up to a mountaintop before settling into more of a rolling (ok, steep and endless) rhythm between checkpoints. Peteris out-smarted us to one CP in the first couple hours of the trek, earning an instant 25 minute lead. This leg had some particularly steep and loose trekking, so I was glad I had my clear-lens Rudy Project glasses on with a Nex Strap. Awesome nighttime combination for adventure racing. If you are an adventure racer or 24 hour mountain bike racer and you don't use clear lenses and a NEX STRAP you are missing out, and risking it. Taking a branch to the eye is no fun! We finished the 7 hour trek, which had 7,000' of mostly off-trail elevation gain, in 2nd place. Team Verve is known for their exceptional navigation and fast travel on foot through gnarly terrain, so we were not surprised that they were able to maintain a lead heading into the first transition.

Placing a Checkpoint in an old abandoned mining building? And a few INSIDE mines? That's TRIOBA.

After the trek came a 20 mile paddle down the SLACK Columbia River. The river was moving at less than 1 knot, if at all. Because we were racing with guest-teammate Jeremy Rodgers, of the USA Wildwater Kayak Team, we knew we had an advantage over everyone in 'horsepower" but also reading the river. After a bit over 3 hours, we exited the paddle less than 10 minutes behind Verve and made a quick transition to the following mountain bike leg with the intent of a quick pass for the lead.

The mountain bike section allowed our team to exploit our strength on two wheels and to build a large lead on Verve. We managed to pass Verve in the first few miles and built on our lead throughout the 3.5 hour, 4,000' elevation gain ride. Along the way, we stuck to our team's proven formula for success by assisting our lead navigator, Matt Hayes by thinking aloud and collectively searching for key elevation markers, trails and features to eliminate any costly mistakes. Matt navigated one of the most flawless performances I have ever witnessed, with virtually zero mistakes throughout the race. In such a difficult race, this is exceptional and Matt's navigation is now at a world-class level in my opinion.

We exited the mountain bike section with a commanding lead on Verve, with Team MERGEO further back in 3rd than expected. The race was ours to lose. We were faced with an "optional" two-Checkpoint mountain trek that only teams who had cleared the entire course so far would be allowed to begin. The trek began with a SKETCHY steep and loose rocky climb out of the TA that involved hands as much as feet! The arduous and risky climb led us up a ridgeline to the first of the two CPs, which Matt nailed with surgical precision. Along the way we saw countless bear tracks and scat, as well as what looked like mountain lion tracks which added to the excitement. During the long downhill run and bushwack back to the TA, we encountered a recently-eaten deer carcass and other fun reminders of the carnivorous inhabitants of the wilderness. We chugged water and nuun out of our Hydrapaks as we headed back to the river-side transition.

Our guest-teammate Jeremy Rodgers had some extreme chafing issues during throughout the race, which came to a head in this section. Even turning his tri-shorts inside-out did not offer enough relief, so with no sign of civilization for miles in any direction, he opted to go au-natural for a bit as we bushwacked across the mountains in first place. At this point in the race, temperatures were in the 80s and the sun was beating down on our SportMulti hats and visors. I do not want to imagine the tanlines and sunburn that resulted. Jeremy visited the PAIN CAVE in a big way and never complained. We finished the 3.5 hour, 2150' elevation gain "optional" trek in first place with a large lead heading into the penultimate massively masochistic mountain bike ride to the finish

We began the mountain bike, the final leg of the race, at just after 6pm, having raced hard for 18 hours nonstop. Of course we were awake for an additional 18 hours before that as the race started at midnight, since Glenn masochistically started the race at midnight. Sleepmonsters started to kick in as dark fell, but we fought them with Red Bull, FEIN, Vivarin, and caffeinated gels. I had two large flasks pre-filled with Vitargo and FEIN before the race, which I somehow managed to not pack in our team transition bin. DOH!

The final bike was navigationally quite challenging, with or without sleep deprivation. After the race we would learn that many teams were either lost during this section or opted to stop and briefly sleep before continuing. From the Trek-Bike Transition, we climbed nearly nonstop, save for some bike-wacking from the trek-bike TA at 1450' to a fire lookout at 5800'. Although we started the bike in warmer temperatures, wearing tri shorts and unzipped jerseys, by the time we reached the 5800' checkpoint 4.5 hours later in the darkness we were all donning knee warmers, BUFFs, gloves, and jackets. The temperature had dropped precipitously and light rain and stong wind greeted us above 5,000'. Thunderstorms in the distance provided some help with our navigation, as the lightning strikes illuminated the fire tower structure above us. GOOD TIMES.

After the fire lookout TA we had a mostly downhill ride to the finish, albeit a 3 hour long one, with a nice 1400' steep grinding climb to break up the fun. We continued to work as a team to navigate flawlessly, and crossed the finish line after 7.5 hrs and 7200' of elevation gain according to my Suunto T6 watch. Remarkably, nobody on our team had a flat or mechanical throughout the race, except for some chain skipping here and there. (TURNER FLUX + SCHWALBE NOBBY NIC TIRES, FOLKS!). For me personally, this is even more impressive since this no-flat streak on the same tires/tubes includes a 24 hour adventure race two weeks ago and the 100 mile Breckenridge 100 4 weeks ago, as well as training in-between. This is unheard of.

Our rag-tag motley troupe crossed the finish line in FIRST PLACE at 1:49am, after 25 hours and 50 minutes of nonstop racing.

Before we could say thank you to the TRIOBA organization, they were handing us hot chocolate, lasagna, sodas, and whatever else we needed. First class all the way! We managed to sleep/shiver a few hours camped out near the finish line before waking up with the sunrise and greeting the other teams as they finished before the 9am cutoff. The adventure racing community vibe was strong, with teams lined up at the finish cheering until the last team finished after over 30 hours of racing.

If you live near Seattle, or anywhere in the Northwest, or if you are interested in visiting the adventure racer's paradise of Washington, you should check out what TRIOBA is doing. This fall and winter they will be offering talks and slideshows at REI and other locations for new as well as seasoned adventure racers. If you are just getting into the sport, Team nuun-SportMulti and other Seattle teams are offering a series of beginner races and clinics for athletes of all backgrounds and abilities. Contact us via www.trioba.com or www.dartadventure.com Sean is putting together similar programs in Boulder, Colorado as well.

Lastly, for discounts on nuun, SportMulti and other endurance supplements, please check out www.feedthemachine.com

PICTURE TIME!

Christina Chacharon Photography:
www.christinachacharon.com

We had some fast composite tandems reserved, but somehow when we went to pick them up they were "gone". We wound up paddling these plastic Necky Amaruks, which worked out fine.

MAKE SOME NOISE!!! Exiting the last mountain trek with a nice lead on 2nd place.

Some of you reading this know what the Feather means...

Entering transition after the last mountain trek. A bit worked but ready for the BIG ride to the finish...

RVG resisting the urge to mention the conspicuously inside-out tri shorts.

Count the teammates! It was great seeing so many of my teammates in one place.

Matt's shirt sums it up nicely.

Team nuun-SportMulti, 2010 TRIOBA Champions

Tough 2nd Place at Gold Rush 24 Hour Adventure Race

2010-08-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

For another perspective on the race and VIDEO footage of the paddle, ropes, bike and trekking sections, check out my Gold Rush teammate Slater Fletcher's blog at http://trailtime.blogspot.com/2010/08/gold-rush-adventure-race.html Slater raced with a GoPro helmet-mounted camera and took some amazing footage. Additionally, he added a cool soundtrack. Make sure you check it out!

Over the weekend I had the great pleasure of joining my Team nuun-SportMulti teammates Cyril Jay-Rayon, Jen Segger and "Stuntman" Slater Fletcher at the Gold Rush 24 Hour Adventure Race in Long Barn, California, near Yosemite National Park. Race directors Mark Richardson and Adrian Crane put on one of the best 24 hour adventure races I have done, anywhere, and I have been adventure racing since 1997. The race managed to be very challenging physically, even without much-feareds bike-destroying manzanita bike-whacks or a gratuitously long and boring hike-a-bike. Instead racers were greeted with an impressively considerate course design and wilderness experience that reflected an enormous amount of thoughtful planning and hard work. Every single one of the Gold Rush volunteers I encountered were ON IT, proactive and seemed as connected to the race as the racers. After crossing the finish line I had to say "No, Thank You" about 700 times as they continued to offer more and more drinks, food (fresh off the grill!), etc. Schwag included a nice long-sleeve tech running shirt and adventure racing mandatory gear item raffle-give-aways.

The race itself consisted of approximately: 3.5 hour paddle-4 hour bike (5200' gain)-9+ hour trek (6,000' gain)-9+ hour bike (6,000' gain). There were 24 checkpoints plotted along the way in a True Adventure Race point to point format. At all times the teams knew where they were ranked and what the gaps were in front to the next position. For most of the race Team nuun-SportMulti ran next to or minutes behind Team Yoga Slackers. Unfortunately we could not close the gap although we tried like hell to the very end! The heat and altitude (the course was laid out mostly between 5000' and 8400') took its toll on racers throughout the race, punishing those who skipped opportunities to fill their bottles with water and nuun at the many streams along the course. I fueled primarily with my usual Vitargo, however I did not bring enough and found myself a bit depleted around the same time the SleepMonsters kicked in after midnight. This is a dangerous combination for adventure racers, because regardless of your experience or past success, when you become sleepy and simply forget to drink or eat you can dig yourself a deep hole. 6 feet deep in my case! One mountain-top checkpoint at a ski resort we hit at 4am happened to have a giant stack of cold cans of Pepsi. In hindsight perhaps I should have shot-gunned a few of those before the following bushwack descent down the backside of the mountain!

Gold Rush 24 was a legit, "real" adventure race with a challenging, scenic and fun point-to-point course which took nearly 27 hours to complete. Thankfully the race organization chose a point to point course and not the lame ROGAINE design that has been poisoning and sabotaging our sport over the last few years in my humble-but-widely-shared opinion. A scenic free-hanging cliff rappel, scramble and ascend section was particularly memorable. Some 24 hour races today don't even *have* ropes sections for myriad reasons. Gold Rush 24 did, and it was awesome. Wait until you see the photos. Just Phenomenal. Imagine mountain biking to a ropes course atop Yosemite valley for an idea of the scene. I should also add that I learned my nose is still unbreakable after Jen accidentally delivered some foot-to-face Chuck Norris action as we climbed towards the ascent. You had to be there. Being kicked in the face halfway through an adventure race incidentally is a super way to wake up with a shot of epinephrine. I'll stick with FEIN for now, but that might be my go-to wake-up move for future races when I lose the plot at 3am!

Link for some photos the race organization took: http://www.untamedadventure.com/advzone/adventure2.aspx

The site of the race was just outside the northwest corner of the spectacular and world-famous Yosemite National Park, almost touching the park boundary. In my opinion Yosemite is one of the true wonders of the world. You cannot name too many places better suited for an adventure race. I have posted some photos on Facebook and will continue to post more as they come in.

Our 4th teammate (a cameo appearance by triathlon, multisport and mountain bike monster and good friend Slater Fletcher) wore a Go-Pro camera throughout the race and was able to get some great shots and footage that we will try to post on our DART adventure racing team Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/dartadventure. Slater had a strong race just as I predicted, and I think my teammates Jen and Cyril would agree that we look forward to racing with him again! He is one of the few people in the world doing both the Ironman World Championships in Kona in 8 weeks and the XTERRA World Championships in Maui a couple weeks later. If he had it his way I am sure he would tack on the UltraMan a couple weeks after Maui.

As for results, nuun-SportMulti wasn't able to secure the win this time, and took a close 2nd. Our dreams were definitely crushed....but only because Team Yoga Slackers absolutely killed it with a phenomenal, flawless race, edging us by half an hour. If they had made one real mistake or even suffered a few flat tires we would have been right there to capitalize on their mistakes and swoop in for the victory. This did not happen, which means Yoga Slackers not only beat us physically and with quicker navigation, but their attention to detail in transition and gear is also spot-on. They earned this victory! Yoga Slackers was on fire the whole time and absolutely deserved the hard-fought win, 2 weeks after we narrowly edged them at the Big Blue Lake Tahoe 24 Hr Adventure Race.

YogaSlackers seem to be on fire right now and we look forward to competing again soon. I highly recommend checking out their website if you haven't already. This is a very cool group of people who not only kick ass in adventure races, but also teach clinics in Slackline Yoga, Vinyasa and Acroyoga. Very cool stuff. Very cool people.

Up next for nuun-SportMulti is the Trioba 24 Hour Adventure Race in Lake Chelan, Washington. Trioba promises to give Gold Rush a run for their money for killer course design and "true" adventure. I will report back with the answer! If you can get to Washington in 2 weeks, check it out: www.trioba.com If you aren't familiar with Lake Chelan area, look it up on Google Earth. One of America's hidden gems. We hope to get back to our winning ways at Trioba, and roll into the National Championship race in Moab with a perfect score of 300 in the Checkpoint Tracker Series.

Shameless Plugs: I am riding the same 2008 Turner Flux, straight from their factory without mods, that carried me through the 2008 and 2009 seasons. I get compliments on the bike as it looks "new". It rides like new too! I have been meaning to switch to a 29er, but this bike for some reason is unbreakable, super fun to ride and perfect for adventure racing. Why change? She's been good to me.

The Schwalbe Nobby Nic tires I rode are the same ones I put on a week before the Breckenridge 100 a few weeks ago. Considering I have been on some long and/or gnarly rides on technical trails and mixed terrain in between Breck and Gold Rush, that is around 300 miles on these tires without ONE flat. Incredible. Weird, even. I am running them WITH tubes right now, at about 38psi.Like many, I always coat the inside of my tires with baby powder, but nothing else out of the ordinary to prevent flats. I weigh about 180lbs. The side knobs are in great shape as are the middle knobs. These tires are amazing. My teammate Jen Segger rode Racing Ralph in the back with a Nobby Nic up front at the Tahoe Big Blue 24 hour adventure race 2 weeks ago and the same set at Gold Rush. Again, no flats and tread is in great shape. This is amazing mostly because the Schwalbe tires tout a very high-tech rubber compound that provides amazing traction. Usually tires like these would last a couple races and need to be replaced. Fortunately for my pocketbook, I will race the very same set at the Trioba 24 hour adventure race in 2 weeks. I'm sold on Schwalbe tires.

Lastly, the new Light & Motion Stella 300 lights we're using this year are a huge step up from the Stella 180s I used two years ago. We are moving much faster through bushwack sections and navigating better with improved visibility at night. Check out reviews online and you'll see why they are a no-brainer for adventure racing and 24 hour mountain bike racing...http://www.bikelightingsystem.com/stella300.html

Wrapping it up, if you have never done one of the Gold Rush races, you are truly missing out. This was my first one and I will definitely be back. Awesome job, Mark and Adrian (and army of volunteers)!

In Adventure,

SC

www.sportmulti.com Endurance Multivitamin Created by Adventure Racers and Endurance Cyclists
www.nuun.com mandatory electrolytes for adventure racing!

Mt. Bierstadt, Adventure Racing style...

2010-07-25T19:55:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I joined Jeremy Rodgers and Heather Prentice for a fun adventure racing training day in the mountains...Our plan was to ride up to Guanella Pass, stash our bikes, run/hike up to Mt. Bierstadt, traverse the treacherous Sawtooth Ridge to Mt. Evans, and then drop down a couloir back towards the bikes. We'd end with a nice downhill warm-down back to the cars, 12 miles below. Personally, I was looking forward to the traverse as the highlight of this trip.

We parked our "multisport-mobiles" at the Georgetown visitor's center parking lot off I-70 which sits at 8512'. We started quite late, especially for a high mountain excursion, around 10:00am. After giving Heather a head-start so we (ok, I) could fix a broken chain, Jeremy and I rode out of Georgetown and up the newly graded fireroad 12 miles up to Guanella Pass, at 11,669'. We caught Heather right before the pass and enjoyed some excellent views on a mostly clear, warm morning.

After hiding and locking our bikes together we began running/hiking up the sometimes crowded trail to the rocky summit of Mt. Bierstadt, 14,060'.

Shortly after a quick stop to put on warm dry clothes (and hats/gloves/jackets/knee warmers) and regroup at the saddle below the summit, we came within a literal stone's throw of the summit before the sound of thunder erupted around us and we found ourselves in the middle of a nice little electrical storm. The rocks around us emitted a light buzzing sound. Thunder became louder. At 14,000', we had a crystal-clear view of the surrounding hailstorms and approaching dark clouds. It was time to turn around and skip the Sawtooth traverse adventure...

I had never summitted Bierstadt before, so I RISKED IT and scrambled up to the top, where I spent approximately 2 nanoseconds before the feeling of electricity in the air increased, my eyebrows began tingling and buzzing and a couple zaps to my head scared me into retreating MACH SCHNELL.

Hail began to fall and my hair and eyebrows (time to trim?) stood on end. After many years playing in the mountains, this was the first time I had experienced audible zapping and buzzing to my head, and small shocks. This was good enough to motivate us to hurry down the boulder field and rocky slopes back down to the trail. We ran down the muddy trail back down to the pass in light hail and rain...which was actually refreshing!

After a quick transition we blasted back down the fire road to our rigs...

Although we were not able to accomplish our original goal-plan of traversing from Mt Bierstadt to Mt Evans via the Sawtooth Ridge and scramble down the couloir, I am sure we will be back soon to finish what we started. And speaking of 'started', we may begin our adventure a bit earlier next time...

Breckenridge 100 Race Report

2010-07-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

YeeeeeeeOUUCH!

Not acclimated to race at 10-12,450' yet...But I'll be back. What a great ride!

Standby for Pain

2010-07-15T19:51:00.001-07:00

"Standby for Pain"..."Standby to hit the surf"..."Standby to go get wet"...

These mocking words--and their context--I will never forget. In my too-short stint in special operations training in the navy I learned at age 20 that the body and mind are capable of enduring far more pain and misery than you can imagine, for quite a bit longer than seems possible. That distilling experience over several months in spring of 1996 molded my mindset and prepared me to overcome any adversity in life.

Silly things like Ironman Triathlons, Expedition Adventure Races seem relaxing and comfortable--mere child's play compared to the intense strength, endurance, focus and fortitude which that training demanded all day, every day. 25 hours a week of aerobic training? That would have been a tapering vacation. Although I sorely wish I would have continued to complete the training, I benefit greatly in myriad ways to this day from the few special months I spent under the tutelage of the world's greatest and toughest warriors at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado.

As I do during all of my hardest races, I will try to recall that strength this weekend at the Breckenridge 100. Racing 100 miles on the mountain bike at an altitude of 10-12,500 feet is going to be a unique brutal challenge, but one I look forward to greatly. I have certainly raced much further in the past, both distance and time-wise, but not at a consistently high oxygen-deprived elevation at this intensity. This type of race promises to punish anyone who disrespects the elevation chart early in the race.

After pre-riding 2/3 of the course now, I know exactly how the altitude will effect power output and hydration requirements. The locals who live at 10,000 and train every day on the course have a great advantage over folks like me from Boulder (5400). For people who come to this race from sea level (like my super strong nuun-SportMulti teammate from Georgia, Jen Rinderle did last year), the race is more about completion than competition.

I have taken some measures to prevent the recurrence of the mindless mistakes that sabotaged my Vision Quest race this year. I have had former Team Garmin wrench DAIMO tune my Turner Flux to be race-ready, and I am running a pair of new Schwalbe Nobby Nic tires. The training "hay is in the barn" and fueling is a non-issue for me in any race when I use Vitargo, nuun, and FEIN.

As far as predictions, I have only one: PAIN. I will aim to think clearly, stay in the present and make the necessary adjustments along the way to take my task to completion...simple, right?

Singletrack Safari: Steamboat

2010-07-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

Billy Kidd

After consecutive weekends riding and running some of Colorado's finest high-altitude mountain bike hot spots in Breckenridge and Salida, my definition of "great" singletrack has been totally redefined. Over the weekend I had the good fortune to hit another new (to me) "singletrack destination" that managed to meet "the standard" of my newly jaded perspective.

The subject of this week's edition of Singletrack Safari is Steamboat Springs. I arrived on Saturday afternoon with a rough idea of where I wanted to ride and run based on maps I had Googled at the last second. Fortunately I wound up riding some of the funnest sections of singletrack and one of the more rewarding climbs I have found so far in Colorado. Starting from town at around 7000', the ZigZag/Sunshine trail ascended to the summit of Storm Peak at 10,372 feet. Trails like ZigZag, Sunshine, Cathie's Pete's Wicked Trail cut in and out of thick aspen groves and across steep black diamond ski runs while offering occasional views of the town far below.

Notably, Steamboat Resort's trails on the ski slopes are almost *too* buffed and smooth. With wider than usual switchbacks, bermed turns and almost bikini-waxed singletrack, I wondered if it was the result of traffic or simply to accommodate the Monster-drinking downhiller/freeride crowd who prefer high-fiving on the gondola ride to the top rather than climbing 3500' feet. I will concede that unlike me, the majority of users would not necessarily deem the absence of technical riding a "negative".

Although I only encountered 3 other riders on this particular day, the condition of the trails tells a different story that this is a very popular trail system with the locals and visitors. I am certain there are myriad local trails I missed that offer a greater technical challenge, and next time I ride Steamboat I will surely check them out. With only one afternoon to fit in a ride, I still think I lucked out with my trail choice and look forward to riding it again. Overall, I have to give Steamboat an "A" and "must-ride" status for anyone interested. I award Bonus points for the Apres-Ride scene only a block from the trail head: multiple bars serving up Colorado IPA and live rock and roll, mysteriously almost as busy as ski season.

To check out the live MountainCam, click HERE.

Sir, have you had any alcoholic beverages tonight?

On Saturday night we camped above town at 8,000 feet (I need the extra red blood cells!), a short distance from the resort. Before we made it to our camping spot, while debating my route choice TO said spot, I must have swerved a few times because i was pulled over by the Steamboat police. Apparently they thought I was a DUI candidate. Great. The field sobriety test was a novel experience for me, as I simply don't believe in drinking and driving. After a hard ride only a few hours before, sore knees and a bit of dehydration at 11pm, I wondered if I DID actually appear drunk.

I tried to make the most out of the experience and secretly enjoy the balance exercises by pretending I was slacklining. Throughout this impromptu Decathlon of sobriety tests (which, for the record, I believe I can log as "training" on Attackpoint.org) the officer continually rebuffed my offers to take a Breathalyzer test. Finally after running out of 'events', the officer--who was quite nice the entire time--relented and gave me my very first Breathalyzer. I studied her countenance closely as she read the results, knowing she would be disappointed. "OK, you're fine..." She went on to give me directions to the campsite as well as some inside scoop on the best place to park for the next morning's (are you ready for this?) hot air balloon competition.

We eagerly rose before the sun the next morning to catch the Steamboat Springs Balloon Rodeo. Witnessing dozens of balloons carefully inflate, launch, and then carefully descend a and maneuver a brief touch-and-go on a target in an adjacent pond kept our attention. An over-caffeinated, wise-cracking emcee who must have been a last-second replacement gave the event an awkwardly surreal texture as the sun rose into the sky along with the colorful balloons.

My first painful disillusionment of the day (of many balloon-related disappointment daggers) was the realization that no lasso-ing of balloons was to occur. Nope. Not today. Even worse, I found out the hard way there would not be any furiously bucking bulls impaling the sweet and innocent balloons or baskets. In fact, the "Rodeo" misnomer must have been some sort of cruel joke of an ironic reverse euphemism, like naming a Yorkshire terrier "Bonecrusher". Duped by the bait-and-switch again. I won't get fooled again!

Seriously?
Balloon Rodeo: FAIL.

We left shocked and disappointed--embarassed almost--that even after the cancellation of balloon-lassoing and balloon bullfights, the glib balloon pilot curmudgeons chose to twist the dagger by:

A) Apparently disallowing any basket-anchored Bungee Jumping or Ballooon-to-Balloon jumping of any kind.
B) Obviously preventing passengers from Cannonball-diving into the water from their balloon as it hovered over the pond;
C) Astonishingly, forgetting to Drop water ballloons or other objects such as pumpkin pies or fake plastic frogs onto the crowd;
D) Pathetically chickening out on the much-anticipated Buzzing of the tower a la Maverick in Top Gun.

All of the above seemed like painfully obvious stunts that I had reasonably assumed I paid for with my 10 dollar admission.

What the hell, Scrooge?

Isn't the WHOLE POINT of flying a hot air balloon to drop splatter-able objects on unsuspecting pedestrians
below? Hello?

My dreams: Crushed.

Deflated, after the anti-climatic balloon let-down we stopped at Strawberry Park Natural Hot Springs for a hilly trail run and a dip in both the hot springs and cold river. Hear me now and believe me later, girlymen: those springs are H.O.T., and the river is COLD. The funky interlude was timed perfectly to precede the next leg in our weekend journey.

Benefitting from our pre-dawn early start, we skipped town early enough and rallied the 100 miles over to Breckenridge to continue the weekend's "Singletrack Safari" on the last half of the Breckenridge 100 course. Little did I know what hypothermic misery was in store...

To be continued...

Salida-Leadville-Breckenridge Weekend

2010-07-06T16:54:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I packed up my new (to me) Tacoma with mountain bikes, running shoes and camping gear and headed out to the whitewater and singletrack mecca of Salida. There we met up with fellow Boulder athletes Jeremy Rodgers and his girfriend Heather Prentice. We camped on the Arkansas river under a clear night sky and shooting stars after watching kayakers work/get worked in the whitewater park. The next morning we loaded up the bikes into Jeremy's ridiculously pimped-out Mercedes Sprinter van and drove out to the Monarch Crest Traihead. Monarch Crest has been called one of the top 5 mountain bike rides in the United States. Believe me, it's absolutely true.

The view from 12,300 on the Monarch Crest trail...

Jeremy and I split up from the ladies and rode point-to-point back to town via some singletrack trail that reminded me quite a bit of my former hometown Issaquah, Washington.

After finishing the ride and scarfing dinner on the river we drove the 45 minutes up to Leadville to catch up with my friend and former Seattle neighbor Matt Hart, Sean Meissner, and one of Matt's ultrarunning coaching clients. They were in town for the Leadville Trail Marathon and to bag some 14ers.

Matt is pacing a friend through 40 or 50 miles at Hardrock 100 this weekend so he was getting some last-minute altitude exposure prior to the Big Show. (Contrary to McDougal's over-the-top book "Born to Run", we did not spot any (quote) "Mean MFers beating their wives" in town. None! Myth: Busted...Kind of like the barefoot myth) After touring Leadville on foot on our failed hunt for MMFers, Lisa and I headed up to Frisco to watch the spectacular 4th of July fireworks over Lake Dillon before camping above Breckenridge.

After breakfast on the river in Breckenridge, it was time for some pre-riding some of the Breckenridge 100 course. While I haven't any ambition to compete with Josh Tostado or other local pros with knowledge of every inch of the course this time around, I also want to know what to expect and I have been itching to get on the course after studying the map and seeing some amazing photography from past years' races.

I started in town and rode the first quarter of the course, more or less. The race starts with a climb from downtown Breckenridge at 9700' straight up to Wheeler pass at 12,400 feet. Wheeler Pass sits between Peaks 8 and 9. Much like the previous day's ride on Monarch Crest, where we contoured along at 12,000 feet, I would have to rank this section of trail as Top 5 range. After descending the backside of Wheeler, there is a considerably long section of flats that should be perfect for ingesting and digesting a huge hit of my race fuel, Vitargo S2 during the race.

...Much more enjoyable with two pedals...

Enjoy the view? OR focus on the 12" wide dirt and rock singletrack?

To make things interesting, the last couple thousand feet of climbing is on a somewhat loose, rocky jeep trail before the short singletrack contour (across snowfields) to the actual pass. To make things REALLY interesting, I broke my pedal somewhere around 11,500 feet. Bad timing! The singletrack descent on the backside of Wheeler pass is fantastic...not too technical or exposed but enough to keep you focused. With a 29er or full suspension bike like the Turner Flux you can really have a blast on this descent. For the record, I would not recommend riding this wearing a slippery carbon-soled shoe on a broken pedal spindle. FYI.

This weekend was a huge Mojo-Booster on the mountain bike...a much needed one indeed...but also gave me a rekindled appreciation for the little things...like oxygen. The moist oxygen-rich air in Boulder at 5400' feels like sea-level compared to the high country. Hopefully I can hammer myself with some interval sessions this week, freshen up a bit, and return to altitude this weekend to resume my recon of the Breckenridge 100 course this weekend.

I kinda like my new truck-driving hat...

See you on the trails...

SC

Mt Evans Ride

2010-07-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

Road Trip Day 6: Fruita/Kokapelli Trail

2010-06-23T10:00:00.001-07:00

Day 6 was originally supposed to entail riding some of the Moab slickrock and canyons I raced across at the 2008 Adventure XStream Expedition Race with my adventure racing team, DART-nuun. The weather did not exactly cooperate. During our drive from Bryce Canyon towards Moab the sky went black and a raging storm chased us across the highway. We decided to bypass Moab and head straight to Fruita.

After spending the night in Fruita we woke up to rain once again. Fortunately it cleared quickly and by noon we were on the Kokopelli Trail...sort of. We inadvertently rode up Moore Fun counterclockwise, which is Less Fun than the intended clockwise route. We were able to drop down to Mary's Trail, Steve's, Kokopelli and more. Riding along the rim of the canyon cliffs with the sound of distant thunder and storm clouds rolling in around us made for an exhilarating 3 hours on the trails.

We did not make it up to the north side of town, as it started raining cats and dogs immediately after we finished this ride. Instead of waiting out the storm and hoping for dry conditions (yeah right) we decided to get the show on the road and headed east towards Vail...

Road Trip Day 5: Bryce Canyon

2010-06-23T09:57:00.000-07:00

Bryce Canyon is one of those places that has been on my to-visit list for YEARS. Finally after a stop in Zion we were able to swoop in and run/hike through Navajo Trail and the canyons for a short but sweet visit on Day 5. With storm clouds and lightning rolling in loudly, we had a very limited amount of time to experience the HooDoos but it was certainly worth the drive.

Much like Zion, the photos do not do this place justice. You have to go there and experience this otherworldly landscape to truly soak it all in...

Road Trip Day 4: ZION National Park

2010-06-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

Zion is trailrunning paradise.

As long as you're not afraid of heights...

And as long as you wear a Gregory pack with a 100oz Hydrapak bladder full of water and nuun. Wow, that was 3 plugs in one sentence!

After a two days of 3hr singletrack riding, we zipped over from Hurricane to nearby Zion National Park. Our plan was to run/hike up to Angel's Landing via Emerald Falls and then explore the slickrock trails of nearby Telephone Canyon. Angel's Landing is not only one of the most spectacular hikes in the world, but also one of the most exposed and deadly. There is very little margin for error, or slipping. It's over 1,000 feet straight down as you hike up a narrow ledge with chains bolted intermittently. Would I do it again? Probably not. Am I glad I was able to make it on a perfect day, snap some photos and enjoy the experience? Absolutely!

Not for the agrophobic.

Check this out:

The Road to Boulder Day 2: Gooseberry Mesa

2010-06-23T09:47:00.001-07:00

First stop on our road trip from Huntington Beach to Boulder was St. George, Utah. We arrived late and woke up the next morning to hit the slickrock trails and magnificent desert views of Gooseberry Mesa. Recently Singletrack.com did an excellent
"Destinations" article on this area.

You never seem to go more than 10 yards in any direction at the Gooseberry. The trails are a staccato ADHD twisting labyrinth over sometimes technical stone, marked by white dots. While much smaller than the more-famous slickrock of Moab, Goose is so compact that you can't approach it as a "training ride", but instead an "experience". It almost reminded me of riding at Ray's Indoor Mountain Bike Park last year in Cleveland. While not super technical, you will have plenty of opportunities to test your skills, and/or faceplant.

Brainard Lake Ride

2010-06-01T19:06:00.000-07:00

Since the weather has changed from Winter straight to Summer over the last couple weeks, I finally dusted off my waterproof camera and brought it on some of my rides and runs around Boulder. Today's ride was a climb up to Brainard Lake, which sits at 10,300 feet and is surrounded by Mt. Audubon (13200'), Paiute Peak, Mt. Toll, the Isabelle Glacier...Stunning views!

The climbing starts after a 6 mile easy warmup from home on highway 36 to Lefthand Canyon. Most of the time when I climb up to Brainard Lake I follow the "standard" route past Ward, but today I decided to continue up to Jamestown at follow Jamestown Canyon to the Peak to Peak Highway. For some reason I had never ridden higher than 8000 on Jamestown Canyon, which is too bad because that's where the real fun starts! The grade often exceeds 12%, and after climbing for an hour in the thin air it gets a bit harder to keep the heart rate down. 36 to Peak to Peak is approximately 15 miles of climbing, gaining around 4,000 feet of elevation total. This route is a bit longer, with some rolling dirt roads at the top offering great views of the Indian Peaks not too far off in the distance. Much more fun than the sometimes-crowded Ward route.

Looks like a fun 3000' climb up to Mt. Audubon's Peak...

Brainard is only about 24 miles from my house...It was 80 in Boulder and maybe 40 at Brainard. Refreshing! In the upcoming weeks when the temperature gets into the 90s in Boulder it will be a nice relief to spend more time up high. I am particularly looking forward to some nice long runs at 10,000' around the Brainard Lake area. With the Breckenridge 100 mountain bike race coming up, I need to train as much as possible between 10 and 12,000 feet to get a better feel for how my body performs at altitude an recovers from the work.

Some snapshots taken with frozen fingers:

Not a good place to swim...

WHOOSH Down the mountain!

Standing at Brainard Lake, looking around, I could only imagine the high alpine adventure this summer will hold in the Rocky Mountains..

Breckenridge 100 Mountain Bike Race

2010-05-29T11:06:00.001-07:00

July 17th. See you there!

Check out some photos of the course here: http://warriorscycling.com/gallery/06Breck100/DSC02106

http://www.warriorscycling.com/events/breck.php

Quick Update:

On Wednesday I am flying back to California to pack and load up a PODS container. It will be tough to officially say goodbye to friends in Orange County, my home since 2005. Once that is finished, HotWheels and I will embark on a journey from Huntington Beach to our new "official" home town of Boulder, Colorado.

After spending 7 weeks in Boulder at 5400', I look forward to spending a few days breathing sea-level oxygen at the beach before commencing the mother of all multisport road trips. Our itinerary is not finalized, and may never be. That's half the fun! Any look at a map reveals nonstop mountain bike and trail running heaven between Southern California and Boulder. Some spots we are considering are Red Rocks, NV, Zion, Bryce, Moab, Fruita, Crested Butte, Vail, Winter Park, Breckenridge...Very tough to choose.

If anyone has strong opinions on trails we should hit on this road trip, please post in Comments!

My remaining 2010 race schedule is evolving but will have more mountain bike ultras, adventure races, and at least one ultramarathon that I need in order to throw my name in the hat for the 2011 Western States 100 lottery. The focus for me will mostly be on Colorado area races with a few excursions out west for long weekend events such as 24 hour adventure races. If team nuun-SportMulti is able to secure sponsorship, you may see us this winter at the World Championships/RAID BIMBACHE this October in Spain and/or the Abu Dhabi Adventure Race in December.

One thing that is certain is I am SUPER stoked to have recruited my freaky strong friend Slater Fletcher to join me and my adventure racing team nuun-SportMulti for the GoldRush 24 Hour Adventure Race in August. The team will also have Jen Segger and Cyril Jay-Rayon. This will be the first time this combination of athletes has raced together, and it looks like a good mix for a tough 24 hour race.

Lastly, I officially withdrew from Ironman Coeur d'Alene. It was a tough decision but the combination of moving across the country, recently overcoming some ankle tendonitis and being sick for a couple weeks with bronchitis and a sinus infection make it very difficult to achieve my aggressive goals for the race. I will surely do more Ironmans in the future, but only when my life situation is stable enough to allow me an uninterrupted block of a few months of training in all three sports. I know I have a "fast" (for me) race in me, and I look forward to proving it. Just not this year!

Manitou Springs Part II: The Incline + Pikes Peak Trail

2010-05-21T01:08:00.000-07:00

DEVIATE FROM THE HORIZONTAL

While driving out to Manitou Springs on a quick trail recon mission, I was pleasantly shocked when I first saw the Incline trail from the highway. It seemed impossibly steep...

And it IS impossibly steep...with an AVERAGE grade of 41%...reaching 68% at the steepest. My mouth was watering. Grinning ear-to-ear, I rubbed my hands together with delight. It was even gnarlier than I had dreamed. My dreams were crushed before I could even crush them on the trail! That, my friends is some high-quality dream-crushing. A pre-emptive strike. A visual shot across the bow. You get the picture.

Matt Carpenter has reportedly run the Incline in a time of 18:30ish, perhaps faster. Team USA Olympic triathlon hopeful Mark Fretta holds the unofficial record, with a freaky-deaky 16:42. Apolo Anton Ohno says in THIS blog post that he uses the Incline as a special challenge in his training as well.

"Go out hard. When it hurts, speed up" is the motto of the Incline Club, the local ultrarunning/mountain running club.

The New York Times did a great article a while back on how athletes at training at the Olympic Training Center (15 minutes away) use the Incline:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/02/sports/olympics/02incline.html

Matt Carpenter rallies the Incline Club in his annual Call to Arms

Works better if you turn the music off. Bottom right of your screen...scroll down...yep. Right there

Once you hit the top of the Incline, you can connect to the amazing Barr Trail, which leads to the summit of Pikes Peak...

Here's a funny video of Matt Carpenter running up Pikes Peak, stopping at some of the well-known distance markers. Special random cameo at the end...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIUArTDQUrU&feature=player_embedd

I will be back SOON to run the Incline and Pikes Peak. I cannot think of a better benchmark of mountain running ability and aerobic running fitness...

Who wants to join me?

Bueller?
Bueller?

Manitou Springs Road Trip: Part I...Garden of the Gods

2010-05-18T21:42:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend HotWheels and I drove from Boulder down to the very cool (sits at 6500') mountain town of Manitou Springs. Our plan was to check out the Olympic Training Center, Garden of the Gods, Pike's Peak and the famous Incline and Barr trails. We also wanted some good maps and first-person beta on the best mountain bike trails in the area. The Colorado Springs/Manitou Springs area's running and mountain bike trails seem to be unanimously regarded as superior to Boulder's. The staff at Colorado Cyclist was very friendly and helpful in sharing maps and specific trail information...I cannot wait to get my Turner Flux down here!

Ever since I started adventure racing and focusing on ultra-endurance events in the mid-90s I have read about the Pike's Peak Ascent and Marathon (and Matt Carpenter's inhuman feats of endurance), the Barr trail, the Incline Club, and the town of Manitou Springs. I never thought it would take me this long to actually see it in person! I'm glad I finally made the trip. If you think these snapshots are spectacular, you should see it in person at sunset...or sunrise!

We were limited in time, so did not fit in any training on this afternoon. However, I look forward to coming back soon to test myself on these legendary trails...

Part 1: Garden of the Gods
Part 2: The Incline
Part 3: Olympic Training Center

From the Vault: Half Dome Run, July 2007

2010-05-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Prior to this week, my last set of "from the vault" photos (a.k.a. disposable-film-camera shots that I randomly found and dusted off) were from a 1997 near-suicidal, life-changing canyoneering and waterfall-climbing expedition at a secret spot on north shore O'ahu, Hawai'i.

This week's set is from a bit safer, equally beautiful but still occasionally lethal tourist spot: Half Dome, Yosemite National Park.

I had originally planned an epic long run that my friend Terri Schneider suggested: 40 miles of Cloud's Rest, Vogelsang, etc. but on my drive up (solo) to Yosemite circumstances changed and it turned out I would only have 10 hours or so before I had to return home. I slept in my car in the parking lot of Half Dome, and woke up early.

Unfortunately I did not wake up early enough, and there were dozens of eager tourist and hiker-types already on the trail. Since I wanted to beat them to the Cables, I ran up the trail, past the tourists, past the Vernal waterfall, up the steps, through Emerald Pool up to the dome. I don't remember my "split" but at or just under 2hrs rings a bell. The cables were a bit sketchy, and I vividly remember wondering how more people don't die here more often. Deep down inside I have some latent acrophobia, even after all these years of rock climbing, 600+ midnight foot rappels in 2004 Primal Quest and mountaineering.

It really is a life-or-death situation and folks of all ages seem to be OK with that. The photos below were taken with what must have been a cheapo disposable film camera. Perhaps the last time I ever used one? The end of an era! I have not been back since, but I look forward to returning soon to do my original Vogelsang-Cloud's Rest big 40 mile loop that my friend Terri Schneider recommended 3 years ago...

From The Vault: Primal Quest 2004: San Juan Islands/Cascade Mountains

2010-05-10T21:38:00.000-07:00

Just for the heck-fire of it, I found these old photos and need a place to put them safely. Like HERE!
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Primal Quest 2004 in Washington Started and Finished on Orcas island, but the meat of the race was 75 miles away in the Cascade Mountains where the running, trekking and mountainn bike navigation occurred between Darrington, Mt Baker and Bellingham. (Those were some long paddles...55 miles and 65-70 miles....not to mention the many miles of portaging). The race didn't go as planned for anyone. The tragedy of losing Nigel Aylott to a rockfall accident and trying to re-start the race mindset with hundreds of wilderness miles still to go was an experience that I will never, ever forget. I raced with Bev and Alan Abbs and Jeff Fuller.

After a week of racing, with a brief stop for a wake, the last thing you want to do is talk. That race was for Nigel!

Chris Solinsky 26:59 10,000 AR

2010-05-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

His last quarter melted my brain.

This is the definition of Dream Crushing.

Imagine the feeling...

BoCo ReLo!

2010-04-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

More to follow!

Operation Colorado

2010-04-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

This Sunday evening I am flying solo to Denver for a few weeks of Ironman training at altitude, and possibly interviewing for a new job as well. During this time my plan is to swim, bike and run in the Boulder area throughout the week and (weather permitting) perhaps some higher elevation locations on the weekends. I have not yet visited Colorado other than brief business trips in the past so I am very much looking forward to the full experience. (Strange, right? I have raced in most other western states yet for some reason I seemed to have saved the "best" for last (according to my Colorado friends at least)).

While racing, mountaineering and training at higher elevations between 8 and 14'000 feet in the past I historically have done well compared to other hematocrit-challenged, sea-level beach monkeys. With luck that will remain the case over the next few weeks as I adapt to the thin air. I hope to continue rolling my ~25 hour training weeks and reap maximum benefit of the altitude, regardless of my temporarily diminished pace and power output. It should be interesting to compare how my current sea-level 6:48ish/mile MAF pace (Maximum Aerobic Function/151 heart rate) slows at 5400 feet. Humble pie, anyone? I'll take seconds!

Every day I will be reporting on my twitter feed, @seanclancy75 with some random observations and photos.

Here's to High adventure and exciting life choices, friends!

Choose Your Own Adventure.

SC

Headed back to Ironman Coeur d'Alene

2010-03-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

Race Day is June 27th...

Ironman Coeur d'Alene: The Sequel.

This time I will be far more prepared than ever before, in every way, to go much faster.

I cannot wait until June 27th to lay it all out on the course...let the chips fall where they may.

13 more weeks to prepare.

A fire inside is STOKED! I will be ready.

VQ (not so) Quick and Dirty

2010-03-21T10:22:00.001-07:00

Here are the notes I wrote in my personal training log for the 2010 Vision Quest MTB Race.

Woke up this a.m. went into the garage and rear tire was flat. Took it off, wiped out the Stans and put in a tube.
Converting back to tubeless 2 days before a race is a bad idea. Especially with "loose" Michelin tires. Can't wait for
my new Schwalbes to show up.

When I got to the race, it was flat again. No visible thorns or anything in the tire. Put in Another tube (rear wheel)...
it held and was fine the whole race.

Taper for this race: 20 bike hours and 300+ road/mtb miles in the preceding 7 days.

Made it to the start line and had a good position as we headed up the climb. Kept an eye on the HR and kept it at or preferably under 160bpm. It felt pretty easy, but I knew that my threshold was mid 160s... Stayed in the second pack, as the first contained Jeremiah Bishop, Tinker Juarez, Manny Prado...

Climbed Blackstar Gate to Gate in 48:29, and golfball in 53', holding HR in 150s, well below threshold. It was at 160-162 for maybe half of the climb, but that felt like a threshold effort that I knew I could maintain for over an hour with no problem and still recover well on the way to Motorway. My best time to the golfball ever is just over 50 flat, but that was a few years ago when I had much less training in the legs so that was a good sign...surprised I had the discipline to keep it under control. Just focused on my M.O. for the day: staying under threshold and letting the competition blow up all around me...just be efficient.

Blackstar Gate to Golfball: 4:44 at 162 bpm Elapsed: 53:13

Golfball to Motorway: 50:38 at 154 Elapsed: 1:43:51

Arrived top of Motorway in 15th (including several racers from the shorter distance Counting Coup race), feeling good and warming up. Plan was to "not crash" on Motorway descent and pass more people on Maple-Santiago.

Descended Motorway in 14:52 at 127 super cautious..overly cautious. Elapsed: 1:58:43
3 guys passed me on Motoway, and I hit Aid 1 in 18th place.

Starting up Maple Springs, Front wheel started spraying stans everywhere. Begin/Continue Nightmare scenario!

A thorn made a tiny hole but apparently big enough to start a geyser of Stan's. I stopped about 1 mile up the climb and went through the process again. Wiped it out, put in a tube, inflated. BUT the tube or valve was faulty and the air did not hold. Tear in tube next to valve. WTF. So now I am on my last tube and have no more C02s. Some Team SHO-AIR teammates and a guy from Troupe Racing stopped to help me and shared C02 and nozzle. Thought maybe my nozzle was bad? I have only done this 5 thousand times. After filling with a co2 and pumping with a borrowed mini-pump forever, i was able to get enough air in... Eventually after 14 minutes and 13 seconds I'm off, albeit with 25psi or so in the front tire. It actually held the rest of the way. Crazy. I put more air in at Aid Station 2 a couple hrs later and the pressure gauge said 25psi. At 178lbs plus gear, that was pure luck I didn't pinch flat on Holy Jim.

Split for Maple Springs including the 2 flats was 1:11:15 at 145. Elapsed at 4 Corners: 3:10

Maple Springs climb (aid-4 corners) Excluding the flat was 57:02.
Felt like I was going way too easy up Maple, lost All mojo for a while.

4 corners to Santiago Peak was 36:02 at 153 Elapsed: 3:47
(including a minute at the aid station for water. Didn't get water at Aid 1 like an idiot. That would have saved my race...change tire and get water at Aid 1)

Surprisingly caught James who had also had a flat tire catastrophe-sidewall tear-just after Santiago Peak. We wound up riding together to Upper Holy Jim and all the way to the bottom basically until WHT.

Peak-Holy Jim top was 4:08 at 132? Elapsed 3:51

HJ descent was 36:59 at 131 6.46 miles. Elapsed at Aid 2: 4:28

Aid 2/HJ station to top of WHT Hike a bike Hell (dehydrated since I screwed up and took 2 bottles of just Vitargo instead of two bottles of water/nuun and two flasks at Aid 2) 1:11 at 149 Dehydration=Mojo-Zapper. At the bbq aid station Stopped and drank several cups of water and even cytomax. dehydrated but felt ok. Elapsed at Top of Hike a Bike: 5:39

Top of WHT/Aid station to Trabuco: 20:16 at 139..dogging it? . Elapsed 5:59

HRM strap came loose somewhere around this time.

Trabuco hellacious descent to the finish 40:58. Finish: 6:40

Hands were hurting on way down Trabuco, could barely hold bars.

Fell/crashed 2x earlier and landed on left hand both times. Just a bruise but annoying. Pressure in tires after getting pumped up at Aid 2 was 38-40psi....wayyyyy to high. Even on a Turner Flux it was bone-rattling. Felt like I was moving in slow-mo from Aid 2 until final trabuco road sprint to finish.

Finish Time: 6hrs40min13sec
Ride Time w/o flat but including all aid stops: 6:25:xx.

Even if I had not flatted, I'd still be 30' off my goal. On pace until the flats then lost mojo and just rode. Didn't "race" up Maple to and after Aid 2 realized sub6 was out of reach and lost mojo. Mental weakness/dehydration.

Need to ride the MTB more often and have it in working order if I am going do this race again. Certainly a wake-up-call for Park City Point to Point.

Pre-riding the back half technical sections would have helped enormously.

For a C race, though I am not disappointed. Great to see everyone out there and had a great day. Energy all day was awesome with Vitargo and Fein, but blew it on the hydration by skipping Aid Station 1 bottom of Maple and not taking water at Aid Station 2. Over 6 hours and 40 minutes probably drank 3-4 plain water bottles in addition to my fueling bottles, 3 of those...poor execution. Last few hours were warm.

Jeremiah Bishop destroyed the course, new CR Tinker Juarez 15' behind, then Brenneman and other VQ pros. Manny DNF'd due to mechanical.

http://www.mtbracenews.com/2010/03/vision-quest-re...

also
knee was good the whole race. both were aching by the end, but of course that is normal!!
was super careful on hike a bike and technical sections with left foot/ankle but it was fine during and after. Icing anyway.

Banking constant 20+ hour/3-4-500 mile bike weeks means my engine is strong, but for my next MTB ultra races this year I need to actually get on the MTB!!! Without a car since December I have only done a few MTB rides here and there with friends when they can pick me up or easy rides with LIsa.... No excuses! Lost massive amounts of time on the downhills and technical sections compared to the pros...Free time that I will get next time by pre-riding.

*****************************

Awesome to see James, Ryan, Keevin, Heidi, Kim and many other friends out on the course!

Fun day!!!

No Pain.

2010-03-12T11:25:00.001-08:00