Xterra West Championships

If I had to describe the Xterra West Championships in two words it would be hot and painful. I knew very well that my fitness is lacking, it is April afterall, and snowing as I write this. I got beat up at the start of the swim, goggles knocked off and a few mouthfuls of toxic water but after things settled down I was able to get in a groove and came out in 5th place. I know my legs are still waking from hibernation and considering this I was doing fine on the bike, only being passed by the speedy legs of Shonny and Renata. And then came my big spill. There was a slippery pipe we had to get over and I had no issues with this when I prerode the course but at race speed this proved disastrous for me. My rear wheel slid out and I went down hard. I caught my fall with my right hand and instantly knew something was wrong when I could barely grab the bars, shift or brake. Wherever it was possible I rode with one hand and was determined to finish...yes that is the crazy competitive athlete in me. I shed some tears while riding and let out a few screams of pain at times. My real freak out came when I took my gloves off as I was coming into transition and saw how swollen my wrist was. On the run I realized it was unlikely that I would catch anyone and I could not see anyone close behind so I put it on cruise and finished in 8th place. I immediately went to the med tent and of course started crying because the season just is getting going and I have never had a big injury.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out...Paul for lugging my bags and bike around, Mel for making my bed, Becky for giving me some wine "to make the pain go away" less than 30 minutes after I finished and for tying my suit so I could lounge by the pool, and Will for driving fast back to Boulder. Also, huge thanks to Doug who has stepped it up around the house to help me...he even cleaned the toilets!

Despite losing the ability to use my right hand (yes, I am right handed) I'm glad I went to Vegas since I had the chance to meet all my wonderful Melrad teammates, Shawn from Avia and Dan from Nathan. It was also great to see fellow racers and soak up some sun. Now, hopefully I can figure out how to keep training through this. On Tuesday the doctor could not tell for sure by looking at Xrays if the hook of hamate and pisiform bones are broken or not and wanted me to get a CT scan. These bones are apparently very difficult to see in Xrays. Hopefully, by next week I will have a more definitive answer and treatment plan.

First race of the year

For the past several weeks I've been battling an IT band issue that only hurts when I ride. After taking some time off the bike and getting some serious massage from the "king of massage", Jeff Staron, I needed to test my leg out before going to Xterra Vegas. We ventured to the Front Range Mountain Bike series race #2 in Arvada. Rain, mud and cold was the theme of the day, especially during my race. I had a good start and got to the singletrack in 3rd. I moved up to 2nd quickly and then somehow got what appeared to be a rusty bike spoke tangled in my cassette. After stopping to wrangle the rusty metal out I had dropped back to about 7th. I regained my spot in 2nd after another lap but was never able to catch 1st. For my first race and really my first real effort of the year I was quite pleased. I was not pleased with the rocks and mud flinging in my mouth and the rain smacking me in the face. I think the worst part of the day was that Doug had just cleaned my bike and I was able to ruin all his hard work in about 2 minutes, sorry babe.

Xterra Vegas is in 5 days! Am I ready? Sure, I'm ready to get some sun, have some fun and race as best I can this early in the year. No expectations or pressure for this one, that comes in July and October...

Cuteness

These pictures of my nephew made me smile. I love this lil guy, especially his bareback style on his rocking horse from Aunt Sara.

Moab Smiles

This picture about sums up our rides in Moab! Other than being caught in a blizzard riding on Thursday the weather was great and we got in some long, fun rides. The wind decided to kick up every night making for some less than ideal camping and sleeping conditions. I was convinced on two nights that the tent was going to blow away with both of us in it, luckily the trusty Marmot held up through it all. The best day by far was riding my favorite trail Porcupine Rim. We ran into Tom and Bobby from Boulder on the trail and rode with them. Thanks for letting me steal some of your pictures Tom and for making me realize that Doug is indeed a freak because he rides stuff that most people (including other males) think is insane. I was able to climb surprisingly well considering that I haven't spent much time focusing on climbing. Then there is the decent...so fun! On the long decent I just get into a rhythm and have some speed that carries me over ledges and through sections that would have made my cry three years ago when I started mountain biking. Doug often would look back and say, "did you ride that"? I think he was quite proud when I continued to say "yeah" and had a grin on my face the whole time.

The Jeep Safari was going on while we were there, which wasn't much of an issue on the trail since they go about 5 mph. Most of the Jeepers were super nice. I was offered hot chocolate or whiskey when were riding in the blizzard. Not sure why I didn't take either, surely it would have returned some feeling to my hands. The stuff the Jeeps do is quite impressive and fun to watch! The Audi tried to get in on the fun when Doug had to rally it over some rough sections to get us in and out of the campsite. Not quite as impressive as the Jeeps but pretty good for the low rider. Until next time Moab!

I can't believe in two weeks I will be heading to Vegas for my first Xterra of the year. I tend to be a late season performer but I'm excited to see how I stack up this early on and to see what I need to focus on in the next few months.