Xterra Moab Champion.

What a great weekend!! This past weekend a good friend of mind and I packed up my new race mobile (aka mini van) and headed 4 hrs down to Moab for the 2011 Xterra Moab. At first I was bummed that I was racing Moab because I really wanted to race the Xterra Santa Cruz, but lack of funds prevented me from traveling that far. Moab proved to be just as challenging and rewarding. The morning of the race I was feeling good. It was super cold until the sun came up, but soon warmed to the perfect temp for racing. I was feeling confident warming up in the freezing waters of Kens Lake with how much Ive been in the pool prior to the race (thanks for the workouts coach Stromberg:) But when the race started I struggled to feel smooth and efficient. I couldn't get in a rhythm and struggled with my breathing. My second lap I was able to find someones feet and follow them in. My transition went smooth and I was off on my bike.

The bike course really was something to be feared!! I know now why they call it the steel bender. It was the most physically demanding mtn bike ride I have EVER done!! At the first major ledge I had to climb my rear flatted, but i was able to quickly fix it and jump back on with some passing riders. It was an out and back course, and knowing the leaders were just head I was pushing it pretty hard to catch them. As a result I made a huge mistake misjudging a 3 ft drop and endo'ed over the bars. Shaken up i got back up and kept riding. The only real damage from the crash was I lost my Flask of EFS that I knew would effect me later. I caught the leader at the turn around and rode with him for a few minutes. I was able to choose good lines up the steep ledgey climbs and was able to separate from him. I knew he was a good runner so tried to keep a nice tempo trying to find the fine line of pushing it as hard as I could without taking away from my run.

The run went well, it was a 2 lap course running up to and awesome waterfall and back down around Kens Lake. I was hurting pretty bad and was hoping Brad Zoller (2nd place) was feeling the same. I was able to push it has hard as i could up hill and coast on the down holding everyone off to take the win. It felt SO good to win, but felt even better to be done!!!! I finished with a time of 2 hrs 51 min. I was super excited to PR in my swim 25:29!! And have the fastest overall bike and run splits as well!!! I was happy with how I raced and how my fitness is coming along.