Thru Endurance We Conquer!

And once again, I did the trip a little differently then the rest of the tribe. There were a few driving across from Vegas to Waco and most of them went I-40 thru AZ and NM. Well, my sister lives in Phoenix and I figured that would be a good time to swing by and say hello. So I got to experience a completely different drive then my first leg of the trip, which lead to some different observations.  *A bill board advertising the "best health care for 100 miles" might be good copy in COS or Las Vegas. Not so much in Kingman, AZ...   *Yes, I have three trays for bikes on my car. Yes, I have two bikes in my car. Um, have you seen the wind recently? Amazing the looks you get from snowbirds with cheap bikes... *US 93 in AZ, the connector between I-40 and Phoenix, is a test of chicken... Two lane road, lots of cars, lots of RVs and trucks and just a few passing zones... *A scenic forest in AZ is very different then a scenic forest in any other state. I'm not ...

Usually the first race of the season is the benchmark of progress and how well training went over the winter. For me, it was a measure of how much I had lost over the last month. Xterra West Championships, at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson, was 30 days after my eye surgery and I was just happy to be there and be racing. I was under doctor's orders to "not race all out" - (like we ever listen to our doctors!) - so the goals I had set at the start of the year were thrown out the window, to be replaced by one simple goal - top ten. Up ahead of me, the new courses lent themselves to fast times and fierce competition. Melaine M came out on top with a time of 2:32:29, followed by Shonny V (2:35:50) and Christine J (2:37:02), Kelley C was fourth in 2:38:56 and Danelle K took fifth in 2:39:06.

Yes, I am still working on my race reports from the last two weeks. But until I get them finished, my traditional observations from the driver's seat. There's a few - this was a long trip and I put over 3500 miles on my car with the triangle between home, Vegas and Waco! The trip started in Colorado Springs, and unlike most of the COS racers, I headed south through New Mexico instead of dealing with the snow in the mountains. *US 160 has some issues while going east - that road is first part of I-25 S, then part of CO 239 N! Are we going south or north? *Snowbirds have migratory patterns like their feathered counterparts. There were more fancy RVs heading north then cars at times. *Raton Pass - the wildlife crossing sign on the north side of the pass is "Bear Crossing." On the south side, it's "Elk Crossing." I guess the bears don't cross the NM state line like the elk do. *Kodak Film? Just how old is that bill board along I-40 anyway? *Wal...

Sunny skies, low humidity and light winds greeted the field for the Xterra South Central Championships in Waco. There was fun and fast riding through the twisty trails of Cameron Park and plenty of close finishes on the run. In the end, Melanie came through first, followed closely by Shonny and Christine. Suzie had a great race to finish fourth and Emma rounded out the top five. I worked through some issues that had developed between Vegas and Waco and held on to a 7th place finish. Happy with my mental attitude during the race, even if the times were a little sub-par. As with last year, the people of Waco impressed with the awesome course and hospitality. I had a great time both before and during the race. Cameron Park is a fantastic place to ride and run. I hope the Xterra tribe makes Waco and Cameron park a long fixture on the circuit.

This time, I actually was able to follow the run course. All the turns were marked and the arrows hadn't yet been shredded. It's a pretty fun run course, starting out with the climb up Jacob's ladder. A great way to wake up the legs after the challenging bike course! Then we meander around the disc golf course, through Proctor Springs and Miss Nellies Pretty Place to join the bike course on the single track. It's a short and sweet descent on Root Canal, then onto the pavement for a short stretch before re-entering the woods. At that point, the run is classic twisting single track where keeping eyes on the trail is key. After a road crossing, there is more of the fun and flowing single track before popping out onto the power line trail. From there, it's a double track trail that merges into the bike course again for a little bike. There's some fresh cut single track with some pretty steep and tricky descents. Another long section of road leads to the final drop t...

After a long drive from Las Vegas, (no snow going south through Tucson and El Paso, but I did get to drive right through the wildfires burning in West Texas) I got into Waco late Tuesday night. Losing those two hours really cut into my drive time! But that made today much easier - unpacked my car and settled in for the next few days. I took advantage of the free time to go for a relaxed run and pre-ride of the course. I remembered that the run course was a little crazy in the beginning, so didn't even try. I just hopped on the single track near the house and started trying to follow the red arrows. It was easy in places, but in other areas all the red arrows had been torn down. So it's not like the course hasn't been marked, just the markings have all been moved or shredded. Finally, I hit a junction in the trail and couldn't figure out where to go next. So I just started running back on the bike course. I love running on the trails in Cameron Park - it's fun kind...

After three days of wind and cloudy skies, the temperature and the racing action heated up this morning at Lake Las Vegas. Melanie M turned in a commanding performance to take the win, followe by Shonny V, Chris J, Kathy C, and Danille K. I met my only goal for the race and held on to 10th place. It was far from pretty with a tentative swim, okay bike and pathetic run. But I will not complain any more about it - I could still be sitting on the couch or worse.. The season has started and can only get better. Next up, Waco!

Well, after both my husband and my coach texted me to get off the couch and get on the course, I headed down to Lake Las Vegas to get my pre-ride in. It was cool, cloudy and still windy, but an otherwise great day. The strong winds over the night had blown all the dust and such out of the air and the view of the strip from Lake Las Vegas was impressive. Add the clouds gathering around Mount Charleston, with the dusting of snow on the mountain and it was a good morning for a ride. The wind never died down, but the sun did come out. I parked at the transition area and headed up the road to the dirt. The added length of blacktop wasn't too bad. I got on course and started following the blue arrows, riding a nice steady pace. Right away, I noticed one of the first changes to the course. Not really paying attention, I was surprised by the arrows pointing straight instead of the right turn I was anticipating. The biggest change of the bike course is the elimination of the steep ugly hi...

That was a long drive this year! But I made pretty good time and rolled into Henderson about 2:00 on Thursday. Picked up my packet and decided to run instead of riding because of the wind. I did not want to deal with the 30mph sustained winds on the open trails out at Lake Las Vegas. Even the run course was pretty challenging with the winds.I didn't get to do the whole course as it wasn't completely marked yet and some of the makings had blown over. But getting out of the car and doing something was good. I liked the start of the new run course - instead of going straight up into the lunar landscape behind the resort area, it meanders in some of the washes to the west of the Lake. The new transition area is good - same transition that we used in Silverman last year. Nice and open, with plenty of room for everyone. And we get to ride our bikes up the "fourth" sister to get out of transition this time! The swim will be a deep water start - with an open line. I was ver...

After talking to a few other people with gluten intolerance issues, breakfast seems to be one of the harder meals deal with. Many of the meals we eat for breakfast are high in wheat and gluten content. Nick used to love eating pancakes and such, but always felt sluggish and slow after eating that kind of food. He loves eggs and potatoes, but I am not a huge fan of eggs and potatoes get boring day after day. So I started playing around with my pancake recipes and the gluten free flours. Here is one of Nick's favorite pancake recipes - it's quick and easy. There are two ways of cooking these - one will yield light, fluffy and airy pancakes but will take a little more time, the other is more traditional and very quick. Fluffy Pancakes Separate three eggs. Beat the whites until stiff and peaks form. Set aside Beat until pale *egg yolks *1/4 cup sugar Add to egg yolk mixture and beat until smooth *1 cup gluten free flour *1/4 tsp Xanthan gum (omit if you use wheat flour) ...

I like it when presents are easy! My mother has been slowly getting into mountain biking and is doing a few Xterras this year. Her skills are very rudimentary and she wanted to work on them. So for a late birthday present, Nick and I took her to CMSP to ride a few of the northern trails. She originally wanted to head down to Pueblo since the easy trails are much easier but with the wind we have been having lately - Pueblo did not sound like fun. So to CMSP we went. She's ridden Sundance and Talon, so we figured that Soaring Kestrel and such would be a good challenge. The trails were pretty busy with riders from all over, pre-riding for the MSC race next weekend. Can't understand why, it was a perfect day for riding. Sunny, warm and no wind up in the trees. Hope everyone else out riding had as much as fun as we did. Mom did really well, even rode over a few rocks!  Mom making her way around the rocks on Coyote Run - Nick waiting to spot her if needed   Third attemp...

Crazy busy already! And to think I was complaining about being bored and searching for usefull things to do for the last two weeks, to the point of making Nick empty out his office do I could paint! This week, I was cleared to go back to work, start working out with a little more intensity and time now seems to be a fleeting commodity. I really do need to work on my time management skills again so I can get everything done. It was a little stressful the first few days, but I was happy to get out of the house and start acting normal again. Swim - Finally got back in the water on Wednesday, three weeks after my last swim. It was a good thing that I had no intention to finish the workout - just getting in the water was good enough. The warm up and drills were enough. I did get a little further then I thought I would - it was pretty slow though. The vasa did help with my strength and maintain my endurance, but did nothing to help with the feel of the water. Today was much better then the...