The filling

With the first race of the year done, here is a recap of what has happened over the last few winter months.  After a disappointing race at the XTERRA World Championship in Maui last October I needed a good break to get the head on straight and get away from things for a while.  I know I did not do a post race recap of Worlds, so here is a quick summary. 

With Snoble before the start

On Top of Razor Ridge

The swim was the high point, there was surf and I was in the thick of things out of the water.  I was two minutes down from the leader Javier Gomez but he was in a class by himself when it came to the rest of the field swimming.  On the bike I started well but faded hard and fast.  I am not sure what happened but everyone was blowing by me and I was not handling the bike as well as I would have liked.  The conditions were great for me with overcast and a cooling breeze but I was not able to take advantage and tumbled both down the leader board and literally on one of the descents on the bike.  On the run I was moving well I felt strong and kept the legs ticking over, there was something that was still a miss though as my run split did not reflect how I felt.  I ended up finishing in the high 20’s, and much further back than any previous Worlds.

On the beach 400yds to go.

That is all the past and it is only time to look forward, after a few weeks off I slowly began the process of getting back into the swing workouts not wanting to stress the body but just flush things out.  Plan was to continue working with James as we had a good relationship and felt that with a pre-season of training that he 100% over saw we would make some nice leaps in my fitness.  After trying to meet up for a month to get things going for 2013, James called it.  He was over worked with USAC, Performance Driven (his own coaching company) and another venture to be able to give me the attention I needed as an athlete competing at my level.  I have nothing but the utmost respect for James as this truly shows the character of who he is in looking out for what is best for his athletes.

Denver Zoo Lights

Colorado Springs in the wee morning hrs from Barr Trail. 

Of Monsters and Men (Not So Silent Night Concert)

It was then a quick search and after two quick interviews that I had a new coach, Derick Williamson with Durata Training.  James and others highly recommended him and was on a short list of coaches that I would approach as a new coach.  I have known Derick for about 8 years as he used to live in Manitou Springs and would see him on occasions when he was back in town for an event, always a great guy and some one that I respected.  In the two short months that we have been working together it has been awesome.  He is always on top of what is going on, dialing things in like I have not experienced in the past and I really feel that I have been able to make larger jumps quicker this year, we really feel that it is and exciting year to come.

NYE Flying Paper Lanterns

Night Crit Racing in the Dirty T

One of the things that has made working with Derick a bit easier is I have done a great winter training camp again in Tucson.   This wouldn’t be possible with out to equally key pieces of support, one is from Pro Cycling for allowing me to head south and train for a few months to prep for the season and let me come back to work.  The second is from Christine Jeffrey, she has graciously let me come back and stay for a few months in her spare bedroom, with out having that roof/kitchen/podium legs etc. it really wouldn’t be possible.  The last two months have been fantastic, with the great weather, roads, trails and swim groups I have put in a great base for the season, as the races are about to begin.

Common tag-a-longs from mountain biking in AZ

I am now back to my “summer training grounds” in Colorado Springs in preparation for the rest of the very busy year to come.  I will still be focused on the XTERRA series of race but I will be racing on the road about 50% of the year as well.  I am looking in to doing XTERRA France and pairing it with the ITU Cross Triathlon World Championship the following weekend in the Netherlands.  The road triathlons will be geared toward qualifying for the 5150 Hy-Vee Championship race.  I will do a few 70.3 races that have 5150 points along with a couple respective 5150 races.  I do hope to race in the Rev3 Triathlon series but I have to see how things play out in the early part of the year for Hy-Vee to really determine the races.  If you look at my schedule it is over booked and will change, the races are pretty well set through May but there are a lot of TBD after that.

Muir Woods.

Bri at base of Pinchot Tree. 

After Alcatraz, Bri and I spent a couple extra days around San Fran.  It was great to get to enjoy the city without the worries of any races.  We had a great hike around the Muir Woods and toured the Marin Headlands and Sausalito, also went to a yoga class from a former Colorado Springs teacher and toured Enduro's headquarters in Berkley.

The year is off an running and I look at trying to post a few shorter updates here and there so hopefully I will have a good reason for you to check back often.