2010 to 2011 Transition

Well I have been the absentee blogger as of late.  Both this blog and my food blog have suffered.  So now it is mid January and I will update both and re-commit to better blogging.  So where has the triathlon world left me.  Well I did run the Denver Marathon.  Note run not race, I was careless in my prep and over weight, about Ironman Lake Placid + 15 pounds.  Anyway I finished in 3:55, 23 minutes better than LP, at altitude and fat.

Next up was deciding my approach to 2011.  I thought about a coach and thought about staying self coached.  I decided to buy some of Joel Friel's canned plans that load into TrainingPeaks.  Great value as I have email access to his coaching staff and can reuse and move around the plans as I need.  This is really the balance I need, being a student of triathlon training and coaching.

Now next on my list, how to improve the bike.  I took the plunge and bought a Computrainer for the off-season.  This thing is incredible.  It's like having a bike lab in my basement.  I can get power, create ergometer workouts, ride Ironman courses in 3D or ride other courses with a pacer robot.  Very cool and gets me motivated.

Next up was fixing my swim-slacker issues.  I joined the local Tri-Masters swim group in my neighborhood rec center (If you know the Ranch you know neighborhood is a bit of a stretch, but our facilities are second to none, superb!)  Anyway tri-masters kicks my butt and is getting me motivated to swim.

Lastly trying to get some social benefits from triathlon, I decided to join the Bike Source Multisport in my 'hood. Again superb value.  I have not got to meet up yet, but it looks like from the calendar it picks up in March.  Until then if I am not skiing in my backyard of Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, Breckenridge or A-Basin, I will hit up the Sunday swim.

So that's it, I have made some commitments and moved the ball forward.  The A race for 2011 will be Ironman Wisconsin on September 11, 2011.  I will be raising money for Livestrong in memory of my Mom who died from cancer and remembering those who lost their lives having lived and worked at Ground Zero.  There is my motivation!

Happy Training!

Harvest Moon Half Ironman - Race Report

Well this is the first time I have ever raced a course again.  This was also my PR course, but battling a sinus infection for 2 weeks prior wasn't the best warmup.  This race recap is also way behind.  I am a burned out triathlete right now.  Fat and out of shape.  The purposeuarter of this race was to show my fitness with little work on my own, didnt happen.  Um yeah so on to shitsville.

I felt flat when I woke up but at least I found Scott at the starting line.  That didn't help, he wanted to go home, but if he goes home the field breathes, me nobody notices.  So I smiled at giving him inspiration (funny sport where i the high school quarterback gives brett favre inspiration) and told him go have at it (he finished 2nd in his age group).  He is one tough dude!

So Swimming felt good at 1:40 I thought I went faster.  People say the course was long.  I know we got it back the run,  So out on the bike they ran out of water and I got this apology (though given my splits, I don't think it was only 70 people with no water)


Hi Jason, I take full responsibility for running out of water at the aid station and feel terrible. I can't apologize enough to you and the 70 or so athletes in the same situation. There's no excuse at all and I can't apologize enough. I've been racing half Ironman's since 96' back in New England and can't imagine what it would be like out there to run out of liquids, for that I apologize. Our first year at Harvest Moon (2009) it was cold and we had 30% water bottles left over. When it was hot this year we upped last year's totals by 25%, but as you know it wasn't close to what we needed out there. For 2011, regardless of the weather, I PROMISE we'll have plenty of water out there with tons of extras. There's a list of tweaks we want to make for 2011, then there's a list that has "WATER" written on it in bright colors and big letters. I truly hope you had a good experience out there, despite the water issue, and hope to see you in 2011 at one of our events. If so please be sure to introduce yourself! 

Thank you,

Lance

Anyway, these guys work hard to deliver affordable races and I quit whining after my bike.  Yes I puked twice on the run.  I am out of shape and a fatty (Barbanzo loves to call us fatties)  But whatever I wanted to quit the whole race and I gutted out 1:50 on the run, not bad for a fatty.  5:46 Total time, which is my worst half IM in a while.  I ended up spending the next 2 weeks on antibiotics for a  major sinus infection.  Not fun times!


Happy Training!

Xterra Lory - Race Report

Ok so yeah pretty lazy writing this report.  It's been almost 2 weeks and I have a half Ironman tomorrow, so I figured I better write it.  This was a last minute race I signed up for before Ironman Lake Placid, just for fun.  It was only 5 weeks after Ironman so I didn't have high expectations.  The race was up in Fort Collins, often voted one of the best places to live in America.  We went up Saturday and checked into the Residence Inn.  Honestly, it reminded me of Highlands Ranch.  We went out for sushi very similar to restaurant by our house but a little worse.

I woke up at 5:45am and had my pre race breakfast of about 600 calories, carbs, protein.  I did not feel particularly great and this would be a prelude to my race and next two weeks.  Bad sinus infection has been the result.  We headed over to the race site to get checked in.

Swim half mile 16:09 (that's my watch time, long run up the beach and cleaning off the mud my net time was about 17:00).  The swim was a wave start and siting was very difficult as the sun was rising right in our eyes on the out and back.  Coming in was much easier.  I was satisfied with my swim since I didn't really work on it since Lake Placid.

T1 - 3:31 - kind of fumbled my way through this.

Mountain Bike 10.5 miles - 1 hour 10 minutes.

The mountain bike was challenging, with a solid 2 mile climb to start and then leading into rollers.  It was difficult to pass or allow people to pass.  I tried my best to get over when approached and tried to yell out when I needed to pass, but very different from a road tri.  Overall I was about 10 minutes slower than I hoped but I did my best and was feeling ok afterwards.

T2 - 2:17 - both transitions were relatively slow, I was definitely feeling sluggish

Trail Run 4.8 miles - 47:57

Per my heart rate monitor I ran this 1 second faster than my Ironman marathon pace with a heart rate 30 beats higher.  Something definitely felt off.  Granted it was the same 2 mile climb to start from the bike, but I struggled.

Overall I finished in the middle of the pack which is better than all my prior Xterra races.  I just don't train for that interval style effort.  I have a pretty good middle gear, but that high end zone 4 and 5 heart rate is just not really there.  I may try to work on this more over the winter.  We'll see.  Overall the race served it's point.  It was fun and got me out doing something.  That night I never slept.  My nose was completely clogged with no reprieve.  Sleeping with your mouth open in Colorado is awful completely dry out every 20 minutes and wake up to drink water.  So last night I slept 11.5 hours.  We'll see how I hold up for Harvest Moon Half Ironman tomorrow.

BTW - 9/11/2010 Never forget!

Happy Training!

Ironman Lake Placid - Race Report

Wow where to begin, my 2nd Ironman was a huge success in my humble opinion.  We left Colorado for upstate New York on Thursday and spent the next 15 hours getting there.  It took 2 days to get back so not a likely repeat race as long as I am living in Colorado, very difficult coordinating.  We stayed Thursday evening way up state in Star Lake at my family's place.  Friday we drove down to Lake Placid and got checked into the race.  We skipped the pre race dinner and instead went to a cookout that my friend Chad invited us to.  That was a great change of pace and helped me relax.  Chad and I knew each other through email and his blogging of all things tri.  He had a big crew for the cookout, some very super triathletes, probably at least 6 Kona qualifiers there.  Anyway it was fun.

Saturday was a day of resting with a brief swim in mirror lake, a brief bike and run then checked in my bike and transition bags.  Then it was back to our house in Upper Lake Saranac to rest.  I had some more chicken and pasta for dinner.  Always works pre-race.

Race Day - Awake at 3:45AM (that's 1:45AM for me in Colorado, another difficulty).  I did sleep ok though, about 5 hours.  Pre-race meal was 2 bananas, 2 hard boiled eggs and a sugary granola bar.  I also had my first coffee in 3 days.  That did its cleansing trick and I got a quick hot shower.  Then we were off for a 40 minute drive to Lake Placid.  We stayed further away but it was cheap, probably won't save money next Ironman and try to be super close.  We came in the back way, which is paramount to parking at Lake Placid.  Then Dana and I walked up to the transition area.  I put bottles where they needed to be and then made the long hike to the special needs bag drop.  I had about an hour to kill so I decided to stand in the bathroom line and go one more time if possible.  I saw Chad and his crew sitting on the grass and wished them all luck and then headed to the swim area.

6:50AM the Pros take off on the swim.

7:00AM Swim start, mass chaos, 3,000 people give or take.

Swim 2.4 miles - 1:25

I thought I'd get done around 1:15 but it took me extra time given all the friggin people.  It was ridiculous really.  It never opened up.  I got kicked right in the eye the first minute of the swim.  But the cable is pretty sweet on the out and back swim.  I definitely kept it for siting, which helped.  I got out of my first lap around 42 minutes and promptly went back in the water for round 2.

T1 - About 6 minutes - there is a decent run from the swim back to transition so this was a pretty solid T1 for me.

Bike 112 miles - 6 hours 36 minutes

6 and a half hours is a long time on the bike.  I took it easy the first lap and kept my heart rate right where it was supposed to be.  No ego battles with the people near me.  Let them work hard.  I'll see you later.  I knew most of my race came down to the bike and Lake Placid is a hilly course.  In particular mile 44 and 100 (it's a double loop) have about a 10 mile climb.  It sucks really.  The funny thing is keeping my heart rate down, I was flying the first 28 miles.  It's mostly downhill.  I was like damn I am smoking.  Then around mile 28 the temperature goes up about 10 degrees in this low lying field.  My Garmin said it was close to 80 degrees.  Then the gradual uphill begins, ugh.  Now I am in the heart of Ironman.  Once again I realize I am not as fast as I hoped on the bike but my heart rate is holding.

I finished Loop 1 in about 3:20 and saw my family screaming for me.  That helped.  Now it was time to let loose with whatever I had left in the tank.  I gave it all I had on lap 2.  I figured I passed 500 people, all those crazy folks who went out too hard.  After the race it turns out it was about 490 people.  Not too bad and one heckuva a good feeling.  I negative split with about a 3:16.  Very happy with that and now just need to run a marathon.

T2 - about 3.5 minutes...I did not waste any time and wanted to get this thing over with.

Run 26.2 miles - 4 hourse 18 minutes.

I figured this would be tough but dang that run course is just mean.  I had to crap at mile 1.5 but was happy to get that over with I thought my stomach was going to explode.  There's a good downhill coming out of town.  I saw my family again and they screamed and I managed to high five a bunch of them.  I took it nice and easy with little steps on the downhill.  This time the passing started right away.  I held a steady pace under 10 minute miles.  But man that hill coming back into town was a beast on the out and back.  I finished the first 13.1 miles in about 2 hours and 4 minutes.  Just 13.1 miles to go.  I held steady under 10 minutes or so but that 2nd half hurt my quads every step.  But I kept running and gave it every ounce of energy I had.  I took in aid at every station (coke, powerade, chicken broth, water).

A lot of people were walking.  There's an old line I read about the run course of Ironman being littered with fit dudes walking and talking about their great bike split.  I felt like I passed another 500 people.  Turns out it was about 425 people.  Another great feeling.  When you run uphill in town and other people are walking, the crowd goes bonkers and screams your name for putting out the effort to run.  That was just AWESOME, really kept me going.  My family was snapping pictures and screaming too.  So I made it up the big hill again and made the turnaround toward the finish.  The finishing shoot was going crazy, I was pumping my arm and screaming back at the crowd.  It was surreal, like walking on clouds.  And with that I am a multiple Ironman finisher in 12:30:02...1 hour 8 minutes better than my first.  Very satisfied putting all I had into that race.  It felt good to push hard one week after our little cat Maui passed away.  To top it off I raced for the Janus Charity Challenge and raised almost $4,000 for Autism Speaks.

YEAH BABY!!!

ONE HAPPY DUDE!!!

THE BEST CHEERING AND SUPPORTING CREW IN THE LAND!!!

HAPPY TRAINING!!!

Go Fast 24 Hours of Erock - Race Report

Well this was my first 2 person race.  It was also my first 24 hour race.  And most importantly it was my wife's first race ever.  Yes she jumped into the deep end of the pool for this one.  We arrived at the race site around 3PM for the 6:30PM start time after both having worked a half day, yes this looked to be a hot one at around 90 degrees.  We quickly went about setting up the tent and I realized I needed one thing for my bike so drove home (nice to race 20 minutes from home).  I got back quickly and we had about an hour to go.

So the race works like this.  Any number of people from 1 up to 8 can enter as a team.  Teams can be male/female/coed.  Dana and I would operate as a 2 person coed team.  Each person must complete at least one lap.  A lap is 8.3 miles or so with about 565 feet of climbing.  Dana and I decided to alternate at the start with me going first since the start has about a 500 yard run with your bike.

At 6:30 I was lined up and ready to go.  I took off on my first lap with the run and finished it in about 38 minutes.    Pretty close to on target.  Our initial goal was to get around 240 miles.  The thinking was optimally I could do 140 and Dana could do 100.  But 2 weeks after TTT was too close for my legs and it became apparent early that I would not meet my goal, but my second goal was to at least go over 100 miles on my mountain bike.  After my lap I started to eat and get ready for lap two.  Dana finished way faster than I expected in about 42 minutes.  I quickly ran over to start our 3rd lap.  We did another alternating lap each and then at midnight started doing doubles through the dark so the other could rest.  Mistake one was not trying out our lights before hand.  Dana had some trouble with hers.  My front brakes busted on my first lap at night.  I was able to fix them with zip ties.

The thing about a 24 hour race is you can't really rest when there are only 2 of you with no crew.  We were always prepping food or bottles or something.  Plus you are kind of jacked the whole time so it's hard to sleep.  Dana had some stomach issues in the middle night with cramps etc.  I did fall asleep waiting which was good.  Around 4:30AM while I was finishing a double I could see the sunlight beginning to peak over the horizon.  Pretty cool.  Dana got to watch the full sunrise while I tried to nap again.  The middle of the night was quite difficult to stay motivated but once the sun started pounding us I wished it was night again.

As the day wore on our spirits wilted in the sunlight.  Around 1:30PM we started to meltdown.  We recovered after taking a brief brake and sort of walking it off.  We committed to getting at least 12 laps each. So that was finished and we had 199.6 miles or something.  So I decided to do one more lap to put myself over 100 and us over 200.  I was struggling with some issues downtown, with all that sitting in hot, sweaty sandy bike shorts.  Anyway we finished with 25 total laps and 208 miles.  Dana did awesome.  I was very proud of and happy for her.  It was a heck of an experience.  The after party at the race was quite enjoyable too, with Wahoo Fish Tacos and Avery Beer Company.

We beat one 3 person coed team and 2 all male teams in the 2-3 person category and tied another.  There was only one other 2 person coed team who we ended up making friends with during the race.  They slugged out 29 laps.  Quite an endeavor.

Happy Training!

The American Triple T - Race Report

Holy Cow!  First response, but I will digress to give you my race experience.  I flew out Thursday to see my sister and her family.  I awoke at 5am to catch my Chicago flight and final flight to Columbus.

I arrived around 3:30 and called Chelsea to let her know I arrived.  I spent the evening with my sister and brother in law Joe and my nephew and niece, Spencer and Schaeffer.  Wow incredible!  Dana and I are looking at kids in a few months.  But Chels and Joe are really in the thick of it and it is awesome.  We dropped Schaeffer off for soccer, then saw Spencer get recognized for his all A's report card, smart little dude,.  Then we went to baseball practice for Spencer.  Reminds me of T2, switch out and get ready to roll.  Then we headed back and helped Schaeffer with her history test, I hope my New England Patriots analogy helped.  Family dinner at 8pm, wow I eat at 8 after training.

I woke up in the morning and everyone had to roll.  I loaded up the car and headed out for Portsmouth, OH.
1.75 hours with some wrong turns and a Wendy's chicken sandwich (same sandwich as before my 1st Ironman in Couer d'Alene so seemed appropriate) but I made it.  I headed over to pick up my race packet.  Then on to the Comfort Inn, Wheelersburg, OH.  Check in was no hassle.

I go up to unpack and check out my race packet.  Apparently a SINGLET is a race top.  There were no bottoms.  WTF!  Oh man sick to my stomach as my first race is now about and hour and a half away.  So singlet to my uber tri friends Scott and Barb means a top.  To me, my wife and Chris (former MSU wrestler turned triathlete) a singlet means a one piece uni (uni means you are good to go).  I brought no bike shorts.  The problem was when I packed, the race rules said MUST WEAR SINGLET AT ALL TIME OR YOU WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.  Ugh!!!

I wanted to go home but I tried to find bike shorts.  I called 2 sports stores but no love.  So then to Walmart Super Store.  This was backcountry.  I asked for bike shorts and the first dude looked at like me like I had 3 eyes.  Do we have bike shorts?  Um I don't know let's ask bobby?  Bobby we got bike shorts?  Um I don't know let's ask Billy. Wow.  So my panic says find shorts or race the first triathlon in running shorts which means no pad for on the bike, ouch.  The first race is so short this would be manageable. But for the weekend, I need to drive to Chilicothe or worse Columbus.   I had emailed my mental support Barb and she said hopefully there would be a race expo.   No race expo but there was a dude in a van with some stands set up.  Oh, jackpot I bought a pair of 50 dollar shorts, but that dude probably could have got close to 200, 100 easy.

 Race 1:  ready to roll, 250 yard swim, 5 mile bike ride and 1 mile run.  Before the race I met my friend Ben, who told me about this crazy weekend.  Swim was in this disgusting muddy water, given all the floods in southern Ohio recently.  The whole weekend was like this, swimming in a mud puddle and happy I had a recent Tetnus shot.  I finished race one in around 29 minutes.  I didn't bother with nutrition during the race, given the length.  Back to the hotel I decided to order pizza for take out.  I got enough for Saturday night as well.  Off to bed.  BLARING SIREN at 4am, well before my alarm, tornado warnings.  I went back to sleep.

Race 2, 1500 meter (1 mile) swim, bike 25.2 and run 6.5.  Before the race I recognize Joe, from Facebook who knows the aforementioned Chris from Chicago.  We chatted briefly, and he was still deciding whether to gut it out with his injured soldier (side note he did, and did well).  The weather was still cooler but starting to warm up.  I got out of the swim in around 31 minutes.  Hopped on my bike and begin to learn what the hills of the TTT were all about.  Wow, crazy long grinding hills.  My bike took about and a half, around 16 mph.  I've averaged 20mph for 2 different half Ironmans (56 miles) in Colorado if that hints at the grueling nature of these hills.  I was a little bummed but realized there was a lot to go.  Later my GPS would show close to 2,000 feet of climbing.  I hopped of the bike and begin my run on a rocky muddy trail through the woods, which was also, wait for, friggin hilly.  GPS showed this close to 1,500 feet.  I ran around an 8:15 per mile pace, so I felt pretty good, getting done in about 3 hours.  Fuel for this race was a mixture of Heed, Cran-Grape Juice, EFS Gel, and Hammer Gel.

I drove back to the hotel to prep and rest for race 3.  I had some coffee, some fruit and some Ultragen recovery drink.  Got my same fuels prepped and headed back to the race.

Race 3.  Same as race 2 but this will be bike, swim and run.  I am faster in my events but slower in transition.  Putting a wetsuit on after a bike is ridiculously hard even with plastic bags over your feet.  Swim was seriously scary, leg cramps left me sort of swimming with my legs forced straight to try and uncramp my hamstrings.  I make it out of the water and headed up to T2 to get ready to run.  I hammer the run at 8:04 pace and finish about 1 minute slower than Race 2.

Back at the hotel I finish my pizza, nicely microwaved.  I barely sleep the last night.  Oh well.  The alarm goes off at 4:45 (that's 2:45 to me being in Colorado).

Race 4, Half Ironman 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.2 mile run.  I've done 4 halves and 1 full.  So the half iron started out fine and I have reasonable expectations.  No way.   6,000 feet of climbing or there bouts.  Ironman California - 2800, Ironman 70.3 distance Harvest Moon - 2300 feet.  Oh my god, first race I thought about bailing.  Primarily because I thought I would miss my flight home.  So I decided I would miss my flight and finish the best I could.  I got out of the swim in about 36 minutes.  Transition is uneventful.  On the bike I realize I am missing a water bottle, ugh need to conserve and the temperature is rising.  It would get to be 85 degrees with 80% humidity.

First lap of the bike registers 28.5 miles so seems long (lots of distances this weekend seemed inaccurate).  It takes me over 1:50 this is not going well, the hills are killer and the downhills have switchbacks u-turn style that kill your speed.  2nd lap I get more water and fuel and have further fuel issues as the humidity builds and my other fuel bottle splits open.  Oh well, keep grinding.  About another 1:45 for lap 2, slow as my first FULL Ironman speed-wise.  I hop off for T2 and the run.  My legs are beat.  I start out the run and struggle on the hills.  First 3.25 miles I am pushing on my thighs to go up hills and hitting a 10 minute mile pace, wow I haven't run this slow in awhile.  Legs aren't working and I am wondering why I am doing this, it's so hot and muggy.  Finally I start to get some turnover and push myself.  I bring my average for the whole half marathon down to 9:14 pace and crack the 2 hour mark.  Not too bad, I'll hang my hat on the effort.  3 days, 4 tris, 140+ miles and 15,000+ feet of climbing.  My official time was 13:00:14.

The best part of TTT is the camaraderie.  You are in the same transition area all weekend based on your best half IM time.  So you see all your neighbors running back and forth during the races and setting up and breaking down their areas afterward.  Also the way the run course is set up I got to see my friends Ben and Joe multiple times through the weekend and exchange words of encouragement or fist bumps.  Very cool setup.

I rush through the finish and say bye to Joe and his crew as I now have to run and break down my bike and quickly pack.  I grab a shower and head for the 1:45 drive to the airport.  I arrive 30 minutes before departure.  Crap I figure I am stuck.  But Southwest late checks my bags not promising they will be on my flight and let's me board.  YEAH!  We get to Chicago for my transfer to Denver.  I grab a slice of pizza and inhale it then snag a sandwich for my backpack and go to board my last flight.  I quickly fall asleep.  Wake up eat my sandwich and we get back to Denver.  Happily all my bags and bike arrive.  You rock Southwest!  Great experience overall, crazy hard.

Happy Training!

Fruita Fat Tire Mountain Bike Festival

So the annual bash in Fruita took place April 29 through May 2.  Events like these have always been on the back burner for me.  Partially it's been confidence...am I really a mountain biker or similarly am I really a triathlete?  It's quite silly given the accepting, encouraging nature of both groups, but anxiety is illogical.  We often fear things and underestimate our abilities.  Bottom line my wife really wanted to go and since she is gracious enough to entertain my Ironman endeavors, I try to return the favor where ever possible.

We headed up for the 4 hour drive to Fruita, Thursday evening after work.  I received a Domino's email for 2 medium 2 toppings for 5.99 each.  So I tried the online ordering system, very slick Java implementation and easy to order for a 5:35 pickup time at 12 noon.  We ate the pizzas on the road, 2 thin crusts that were quite tasty.  Not our typical diet but very fulfilling for a drive.  The drive was peaceful and uneventful, though weather was expected around Vail Pass.  Thankfully our weather was sunny.

We arrived at my cousin Brad's just before 10pm, happily before we kept him up to late.  We chatted briefly and all got headed off to bed.  Brad offered us breakfast at 6 if we were willing to get up, but we smiled and said we'd go for sleep instead.  I slept like a rock and we woke up around 9:30am Friday.  Brad and his wife Brenda have a beautiful house that they designed and built with minimal assistance.  It is built like a fort, I never heard a sound the whole time we were there.  We sat at the counter and ate some fruit and a couple biscuits from Brad's early morning feast.  How cool is it that he cooks breakfast for anybody and everybody each and every morning?  I don't mean cereal and toast, I mean real American style, old school on the farm, breakfasts that will fuel Ironman training or long days of mountain biking.  His reputation is of the stellar, irrepressible host.  He is and so much more.  We felt welcome and comfortable every moment.

We chatted with Brad for a bit while we mapped the days plan.  He has the enviable luxury of working a real, paying job from home.  We got all our bike gear on and headed out with the bikes firmly mounted on the 4-runner.  Downtown Fruita is about 10 minutes from our abode.  We quickly found a close parking spot, thankful to be there for the first full day Friday.  It was unremarkably, uncrowded.  We headed over and it really appeared to be still setting up.  We decided to get some food.  Yes we just ate but not much.  We split a pulled pork sandwich, an italian sausage and a pulled pork platter.  Wow, this after pizza.  If this were fiction, I would be foreshadowing my liberal eating for the bulk of the weekend.

After eating we began to walk around.  Dana quickly determined that all bikes were free to try out.  She asked me if I wanted to partake and I quickly obliged.  This was a shock to both of us.  I am logistically inflexible for the most part.  I hate headaches.  Thank Brad's uncle, my Grandpa Don for that.  But I thought heck free, I am down let's try some fancy bikes.  I got a Titus Rockstar 29'er (big 29 inch wheels) and Dana got a Santa Cruz Blur.

We headed to the Kokapelli Trail for our first day out and rode Mary's Loop, Horse Thief, Steve's Cutoff and the short part of Steve's Loop.  The 29'er took a little getting used to and some oomph to get over the big wheel inertia.  Wow that thing rolled over stuff like a giant.  My chops are definitely better on a mountain bike than ever before.  I definitely don't lack confidence anymore.  It's amazing what an Ironman and a handful of half IMs can do for both your confidence and ability to endure.  Dana loved her Santa Cruz.

After we wrapped up our ride we went out to dinner with Brad and Brenda at Naggy McGees (yes Naggy not Maggy).  Awesome new restaurant in  Grand Junction.  Generous portion sizes, a little fusion with India (curry added to some traditional Irish dishes), and just right ambiance.  We shared our food and great conversation.  I learned my grandfather was in Time magazine in the 70s for figuring out away to crystallize steel to eliminate weak points (totally bastardized that but for me and the other laymen out there you get the idea).  Funny, he is so humble still in his 70s and living the American Dream.  After dinner we headed to a local brew pub that had some Dark Walnut Stout (I think if memory serves me).  Delicious.  After one of those it was time to head home, watch the Nuggets get eliminated and head to bed.

Saturday, I woke up at 8:30 with no alarm.  I headed downstairs and Brad was raring to go on the stove.  Omelettes and pancakes for the rise and shine day.  Incredible!  He could give Naggy a run for her money.  We got showered and headed over to the Festival.  This time we decided on aggressive downhill rides.  I got a Kona Stinky, 30 pounder I am guessing (that's heavy for the non-bikers out there).  Dana got a Pivot with similar aggressive build though it was not as heavy but had a lot of travel and no lockout.  We headed to area 18 to ride.  In general huge mistake on bike choice.  They were brutal on the uphill.  Most folks were getting rides to the top and then just downhilling it.  I have become a bit of a purist in that sense.  You need to ride up it to ride down it.  We gutted it out.  Dana took a doosy of a spill and her big gear snagged some ankle meat.  But we got back to the car and she found some antiseptic and said she could cleanup and continue.  STUD!  I love her!  So we grinded out some more essentially strength training workouts on these bikes.  I will say that I could not find anything big enough to jump off or ride over that my bike would notice.  Silky smooth.

After a solid day of riding we headed back to Brad's.  We grabbed some Guinness and Corona for the cookout he planned.  I decided to bang out a 7 mile run when we got back to stay on top of my training.  Brad grilled some perfect pork chops with a salad and baked beans.  My cleanest meal of the trip with unbreaded, nicely seasoned pork.  I did have a few chocolate chip cookies afterwards while we watched Old Guys.  Surprisingly funny movie, though I had a ton of endorphins with my long ride and run.  Early to bed again.

Sunday we woke up at 8:30 again.  Brad had us set to go with biscuits, eggs, gravy and bacon.  I tell you, maybe B and B for his retirement life???  I will have to suggest.  We decided today to ride our own bikes.  My wife says better the devil you know.  But we headed back to Kokapelli and headed out straight from Mary's Loop to the big part of Steve's Loop.  Wow spectacular scenery.  And our bikes were spot on.  I keep the shifting dialed in like butter.  That is the one thing a shop never gets right so I am happy to have basically a bike shop in my garage.

We enjoyed the ride and headed back to Brad and Brenda's to clean up.  We quickly showered, grabbed our stuff and made our way out of their hair.  A little trying time on the drive back, with a 20 car pileup near Vail Pass, but we were home within an hour of our projected time.  To summarize, we got it just under 10 hours of mountain biking.  I threw in an hour of running.  Brad and Brenda are awesome hosts!!!  Fruita is world class for mountain biking.  The opportunity to test ride bikes for free is unreal.  See you in 2011!

Happy Training!