Saturday, August 20, 2011

Xterra Indian Peaks

Okay, I know that I am a little behind and this race report is a little overdue!
I raced Xterra Indian Peaks in Eldora on Aug 6! I have to say that this is one of my favorite Xterra courses! It is a time trial swim start which makes it feel so much nicer! It is hard to know where you stand the entire race but it is so much less hectic. This year the wind did not start whipping like last year either and that made for a wonderful swim around the little lake even though I found myself swimming really wide and probably a little further than I wanted. Upon exiting the swim you have to throw on some shoes and run quite a ways up to the transition area. This is not the reason this is my favorite course, but I do it to get to the next part.



I had a good transition and jumped on my bike, this is the second and biggest reason I love this course! Alot of fun fast single track! This bike course favors my skills a little better than most Xterra courses in the fact that it is mostly single track and there is a small technical downhill section. I was out there having fun on the bike and was able to burn through my two laps and find that I had caught one of the pro women that started ahead of me and I was able to put down the 3rd fastest bike split, fastest amateur! I threw on my Newtons and headed out on the run with another good transition. Unfortunately it didn't take too long for the pro to pass me again on the run. The run course is also very fun with great single track but that also means it is rough making me slightly weary with my still healing ankle. My running is just still not up to par after my early season injuries and the training lost. I was able to maintain a second place Age Group finish and 6th Overall despite losing 6 minutes to many people on the run.
Now I am trying to get that running pace going for Nationals!
My in-laws also made there way out to Colorado to visit for a little while and there showed up here and were waiting at the finish with big smiles alongside my mom and Drew! Of course, Ashlyn is always there with a big smile and hug too after cheering hard. I think she actually gets it now when I pass and I have been able to hear her sweet little voice, "Go, Mommy, go!" That's a great pick me up! It was a great day with some relaxing in the grass post race!

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Crankworx


Yes that is right, I won!
My season has been going well this year especially in the Epic Single Track Series but I still had yet to win the expert field overall. That was my goal heading into the Crankworx XC race. After Beaver Creek I had some mid season time off for recovery so my legs were feeling nice and fresh.
At the start the Pro women start ahead for this race so I quickly moved to front of the pack and was leading the pace up the first climb. At the road I wasn't sure how comfortable I was with setting the pace that was new to me. I had two girls pass on the lower part of Upper Elk climb and I just climbed my pace and regained the lead on the way down. For the most part I kept the lead the rest of the race until the final climb up Arapaho when the other girl passed me. I just hung with her through the climb because I knew I would put time on her as soon as we started down. I ended up putting 3 min on her in the final miles of single track! I was very happy to take a win here I was 9th overall so I still have room for improvement on those pro women!


Ashlyn got to bring her bike up to the race this time too. She went right over to the little pump track on her Strider and had a blast. This seemed to be when she started to really get it. Now she is loving her bike and wants to go all the time!