It's been a week since the showdown on Maui and I'm finally home and caught up enough on life to write a little race report.
After a smooth but long travel day we arrived Thursday evening and went straight to bed. Friday and Saturday were race prep and lots of lounging around for me while Doug went exploring the entire island on his bike. Saturday my mom ran/walked the 5K and in the process ended up breaking her ankle. It is clear that I get my determination and toughness from my mother. I witnessed her finish the race and walk around on what I kept telling her was "just a sprained ankle" for 2 days until she went to the doctor and learned it was broken.
Sunday I was up early and ready to go! I got in a good swim warm up, which turned out not to help the cause as I had one of my worst swims yet. I did get a clean start with minimal boxing moves involved. On the first lap I ingested a big mouth full of saltwater and felt a bit ill the rest of the swim. The bike was dusty and more congested for me thanks to my less than stellar swim. I can't say much about the bike other than it was OK, not fast, not feeling horrible, just OK. I came off the bike safely and had no mechanicals (thanks to my awesome mechanic and better half). I was told that I came off the bike in 9th place and was feeling great. After passing 3 girls on the run I thought I was in 6th place and coming into the finish was within seconds of what I thought was 5th. Turns out I was chasing Lesley who was in 7th and I would have to settle for 8th place. I was very happy with my run! The few cross country races I did in the last month helped me get my run closer to where it should be. The women's field was amazingly fast and a huge congrats to Shonny on her victory! I went 4 minutes faster and was faster in ever discipline but only managed to be one place closer to the podium.
A huge thanks to all my sponsors who have helped me out this season, Specialized, GU, Genuine Innovations, USANA, CycleOps, Nathan, and Avia! I truly believe in all the products I use and I'm fortunate to have companies that have been willing to support my mission to be one of the best Xterra athletes out there.
After a few days of hiking, snorkeling and relaxing in Kauai it was back to reality and being reminded about what is really important in life. My dad had a weird issue with his thumb while we were in Maui and went to the doctor 3 times there but got no answers. When he got back to Denver he needed emergency surgery to remove a rapidly spreading infection in his thumb joint. While my athletic endeavors are an integral part of my life nothing means more to me than my wonderful parents. Heal up mago and pago!
