Xterra Blackhawk

This race was not on my schedule. I was signed up for the Accenture Chicago Triathlon, but the Blackhawk race could determine the final standings in the North Central point series so I have to do this race instead.

Yaro Middaugh is right behind me in the standings so I'll be looking out for him this race. I don't know much about him, but I know he is the brother of Xterra pro Josiah, so if speed runs in the family, he must be fast.

How the point series works: you get points at each race based on how well you place. Your 3 best races are counted to determine your ranking.

Currently I'm in first place with 217 points. Yaro is right behind me and if he finishes in first at this race, he will pass me in the final standings. If he finishes second, we will be tied and it will go down to a tiebreaker. If I finish first at this race, then I will clinch the series and successfully defend the title I have held for the past 3 years.

As soon as I left for this trip, nothing was going right for me. During the drive there, the interstate got shut down due to flooding, so I was parked on the 80/94 at the IL/IN border for 3 hours before traffic was rerouted. This made a 3 1/2 hour trip into a 7 hour trip.

The morning of the race I noticed my front wheel was slowly leaking air. I had the same problem at the Torn Shirt race and it essentially ruined my race. I did not want to have that happen again so I went to work trying to fix it. After about an hour, I could not fix it to my satisfaction so I switched to my heavier back up wheel.

After that, I got on my bike to start my pre-race warm up. After less than 10 minutes of riding I get a stick jammed in my derailleur and it bends my hanger. I bend it back in place but the damage is done. The bike ghost shifts any time I apply pressure to the pedals and is unrideable. Luckily I travel to races with 2 bikes so I hurried back to my car to swap bikes.

I make it down to the beach in the middle of the pre-race meeting. Even though nothing went right so far, I still have my focus. At the gun I'm looking for Jim James and I go as hard as I can to stay on his feet. It's nice to be racing at sea level again. An effort like this last week in Utah would have destroyed me. I exit the water in 6th place.

I get on the bike a little worn out from the swim, but I see Bruce Pisarek right in front of me. He's a great mountain biker so I need to stay with him. He might be able to help me bridge the gap to the leaders. About 1 mile in I get another stick jammed in my derailleur on a steep uphill. Luckily no damage was done to my bike, but now Bruce is out of sight. I ride solo for about five miles until I catch Brad Myers, another excellent mountain biker. He says he's gassed, but when I pass him he is able to stay on my wheel. As long as we work together we might be able to reel in some of the leaders. With about 5 miles to go, two guys I never raced against come up behind us. One of the two guys passes us decisively and starts to break away. I can't stay with him, but fortunately Brad catches a second wind and bridges the gap to him and pulls me along. After that I sit in at the back of this group making sure I stay fed and hydrated all the way to T2.

Of the group of 4, I come out of T2 first. I'm currently in 5th place. I saw Bruce and Jim running out of transition as I went in. I don't know if Yaro is in front of me or behind me so I am going as fast as I can. About 1/4 mile into the run I'm passed by one guy like I'm standing still. 1 1/2 miles later I'm passed by another guy. I try to pick it up, but I'm at my limit. As I approach a water crossing I have my first crash of the day. Looking for the best line through the water, I don't notice a root and I go down hard on the shoulder I always seem to fall on (the left one). I get up angry and try to use this anger to help me run a little faster. After 4 miles of running alone I finally catch one of the guys that passed me earlier. He pulled up with a cramp and started stretching by the side of the trail. I put in a finishing kick thinking I could still catch someone. It didn't happen.

I finished 6th overall, and 3rd in my age group. Yaro finished 2nd in the AG and the guy who passed me 1/4 mile into the run (Scott Gall) came in first in the age group and 1st overall.

I had the 6th best swim, the seventh best bike and the fourth best run on the day. However the best bikers really out-rode me and the best runners really out-ran me. There is a lot of room for improvement for next year.

After the last race of the year in our region, the standings are:

Ted 217 pts.

Yaro 217 pts.

The way the tie breaker works, I win in the event of a tie. It looks like I should be the champion again provided Yaro or Scott Gall don't travel to Onteora NY and finish in first at the final Xterra point series race of the year.

So far this has been the hardest fought of all my titles and the level of competition is going way up in Xterra.

Mizuno Cross Country Series Race 4

Recent storms in the midwest really changed this course from 2 weeks ago. There was a 3 foot stream crossing where there was no water before, fallen trees and mud everywhere. This is what all cross country courses should be like. Slipping and sliding all over the course I posted my worst time of the series (21:10) and finished 11th. I might as well just throw away the shoes I raced in today. They are completely trashed. Some people came across the finish line completely covered in mud because they went down in the stream. The Muddy Buddy has nothing on this race. Except for the mosquitos, this was hands down the best race of the series.

Xterra Blackhawk

I skipped the Accenture Tri that i had already registered for so I could do this race. My lead in the Xterra point series depends on this race. If I win my age group, I clinch the series title. Race morning was a disaster. First I notice my tire wasn't holding air. Having flashbacks to the Torn Shirt race where I exited T1 and my tire was completely flat, I go to work to prevent this from happening again. After about an hour of messing around with the sealant trying to fix it, I give up and put my heavier back up tire on the bike. After that I got on the bike to go for a warm up ride. After about 10 minutes, a stick gets jammed in my rear derailleur and mangles my hanger. Now my bike ghost shifts constantly and is unrideable. I hurry back to my car to get my back up bike ready for the race. I maintained my focus and was able to go hard for the entire race. I had the 7th best swim, 7th best bike and 4th best run. I gave a good effort, but those stats are deceiving because the best biker in the race really outrode me and the best runner really outran me. Overall I finished 6th and 3rd in my age group. Not the result I had hoped for. After the last race in the region, I am tied for the series lead with Yaro Middaugh with 217 points each. I'll have to see how the tie breaker goes to see who is declared the regional champ.

Fleet Feet Inspiration from the Pros

Last week I was talking to Conrad Stoltz at Utah and he said he was coming to my hometown, Chicago, for the Accenture Triathlon. Knowing this guy can throw down at the dinner table I offered to take him out for a meal while he was in the city. He e-mailed me his phone number and said to get in touch with him when he gets in the city. I gave him a call and it was the wrong number. I called Brandon and our conversation went something like this: Ted: Brandon, the caveman's just like a woman. Brandon: Why's that? Ted: He gave me his phone number, but he gave me the wrong number. Brandon: Ha, Ha. You should be used to that by now. That's funny stuff. I caught up with Conrad at a Fleet Feet seminar featuring him, and Tri pros Jen Shoemaker and Andy Starykowicz. After the seminar Conrad and his home-stay Paul were heading to a party put on by the race sponsors. I gave them a ride to the Chicago Hilton and they let me tag along. It was a pretty nice party with a chef cooking pasta, a desert table, and an open bar. While I was there I met Triathlon legend Barb Lindquist. She's a really nice lady. I also met Tim McMahon, a guy who works for one of my sponsors, the Active Network. I told him thanks for everything Active has done for me. Afterward I drove Paul and Conrad home. Paul invited me upstairs to see his place. Wow, if all home stays are like this, this can motivate me to turn pro and get a home-stay instead of staying in the fleabag hotels i usually stay at. His place overlooks Millennium park, has a roof top garden, and a 25 yard pool. Sweet. Before I left I traded Conrad some of my Snickers Marathon bars for some of his Cliff products. I had a good time hanging out with Conrad and Paul. Overall, it was a pretty good day.

Xterra Utah Mountain Championship

I went out west to do the Mountain Championship in Ogden Utah. I never do well at the Mountain Championship, but i had a really good feeling about his years race. In all my years of doing Xterra, I never qualified for the World Championship, and I thought it was my time. I figured I could do well because my fitness level is really good this year, my last few races have been pretty good, and i focused on losing a lot of weight (163). It's funny how reality has a way of kicking you in the face sometimes. I went out there, got my butt kicked and came home with my tail between my legs. The race was kind of weird because it had 2 transitions separated by a 30 minute drive. Despite getting to the race 2 1/4 hours before the start, I nearly missed the starting gun. Without a good warm up, the swim went fairly well. I came out of the water about where I expected and looked forward to catching people on the bike. Once I got on the bike I started going backwards. It seemed like everyone was passing me. I was impressed by the climbing prowess of the competitors at this race. Pro women were passing me like i was standing still, and even age group women and dudes with 50's and 55's marked on their leg were passing me all day long. Today I just didn't have the legs to climb that mountain. With T1 at 4500 elevation and T2 at 7000 elevation, the course designers were able to create a course that was about 15 miles of climbing and 5 miles of descending. That's exactly what I didn't need today. After what seemed like endless climbing followed by a disproportionately short descent, I pulled into T2 and headed out on the run. It starts with a steep climb up the ski hill for about one mile, then it flattens out for another mile and you can finally get the legs moving fast. After that you slow down again and run a couple miles of false flats, followed by 1 mile straight downhill. I gave it all I had, hoping to catch at least one person in my age group. To make a bad day even worse, I was passed by one guy with about a mile and a half to go. I finally passed someone in my age group about 200 meters from the finish line but i didn't really feel like celebrating. I finished in 3:16, 69th overall and 8th in my age group. It's time to go back to the drawing board with my training plan. Since Nationals is similar to this course, I have to decide if I want to do it, or if I should skip that race and start focusing on the upcoming cyclocross season. This is a bikers course and I thought I was a pretty good biker. After this race it is pretty obvious that climbing is my weakness. I need to keep working on that power to weight ratio. Tomorrow I go back on the diet.

Ted goes to Utah

Our buddy Ted is heading West to stunning Ogden, UT to compete in the XTERRA Mountain Championships. I know he's been busting his ass (and kicking mine) over the last couple months in preparation. Rock the course and show them what us flat landers a capable of. Good Luck

Mizuno Cross Country Series Race #2

This weeks race was at LaBaugh woods. It's a pretty nice course with a 50/50 mix of grass and single track with plenty of obstacles to contend with such as mud, fallen trees, and a turtle. At the gun I moved into fifth position. The race was pretty uneventful and I held that spot the whole race. The toughest part of the course was about 1 1/2 miles in where the course was routed through the middle of a soccer field. I had to navigate around 20 soccer players running toward the ball. Luckily no one tackled me. I finished fifth overall (20:05), my best ever finish at one of these Tuesday night cross country races. I won a t shirt for my effort. This was a good prep for my race in Utah this Saturday and I'm feeling confident that I'll have a good race.

Mizuno Cross Country Series Race #1

Today Brandon and I did a midweek cross country race at Montrose Harbor. It was a hot day where you realy don't feel like running, much less racing. Luckily the race is only a 5K so I can suffer through it without dehydrating myself too badly. At the start line I can tell the field is stacked. It seems like everyone in this race was wearing xc flats. That's a sign of some serious runners. At the gun a bunch of skinny, little high school runners charge to the front. I knew I couldn't hold their pace so I settled into a group in about the top 30. About a half mile mile in Brandon passes me and proceeds to drop me on Cricket hill. The heat is killing me and his pace is too fast so I have to let him go. The next 2 miles I slowly reel in some runners who started too fast and are starting to fade. 1 mile to go and I bridge the gap to Brandon. Once I passed him, I didn't see anyone ahead that I could catch. Subconsciously I shut down and cruised in to the finish line about a minute off my PR on this course. Once again Brandon impressed me with his improvement. If he can stay with me on a 5K run, he's going to start cutting off huge chunks of time on his triathlon runs. It is just a matter of getting that endurance level up. Universal sole puts on a great race and I recommend it to anyone that lives in the Chicagoland area. The competition is pretty good, they have plenty of postrace pizza and refreshments and it only cost $10. The races are every Tuesday night in August. Ted: 20:16 Brandon: 20:46

DINO New Castle XTERRA

Located in France Park, DINO New Castle is the first of two DINO XTERRA races. A great .5 mile swim, followed by a marginally technical 11 mile mountain bike ride, and finished with a 4.1 mile run, New Castle is a great event with much varied terrain.



Setting up for transition, Ted and I arrived early and got some primo spots at opposing racks in the center of transition. We didn't see an advantage to one side or the other as you enter one end, exit the opposing side each time through.

With one of the top swims on the day, Ted exits the water at the head of the pack:



I came out less than 45 seconds behind Ted, mostly because I got off line. The swim is the only part of the day that I can usually keep Ted in sight!

With the 2nd fastest bike leg, Ted comes out of T2 with only a couple competitors ahead of him:



And on to the 2nd place overall finish (3rd best run), Ted wins his age group:



I came in at 24th overall, 4th in my age group:



Ted - 1:37:06 - 2nd overall, 1st AG
Brandon - 1:56:19 - 24th overall, 4th AG

Jubilee Jam MTB Race

Ted and I decided to make the trip down to the Peoria-area for one of PAMBA's (Peoria Area Mountain Biker Association) I-74 Series races.

Composed of four categories, First Timers, Novice, Sport, and Expert, I raced in both Novice and Sport while Ted just focused on Sport. Being much newer to mountain bike racing, I laid it on the line for the novice class, while deciding to ride sport to gain some trail time/experience, more race-day experience, and a good workout.



Novice Race-

Turns out, Novice was enough for me, or at least my bike. With a sprint start, I think I went into the trail in roughly 12th place. For the first 15 minutes or so, I spent time just trying to dodge all of the people crashing and slowing down the group.

Lap 1 - 21:05

Going into lap 2 I was feeling good. I was with riders who were much closer to my pace, though I think my engine was a bit better. I passed a few more guys and had my first chance to ride alone for a few minutes.

Lap 2 - 15:21

Final lap; feeling a little tired, but still pretty good. At the beginning of the final lap I decided to put some power down, hoping I could hold on. A race medic yelled to me I was in 5th place with roughly 2/3 of a lap to go, or about 3 miles. I passed 2 guys on the laps' only long-hard climb and put a little space between myself and them.

Lap 3 - 15:05

Final result - 4th. WHAT?! I thought I had third. Turns out the medic mis-counted. Oh well, 4th overall, 3rd in the male 20-29 category.



Sport Race-



I could feel some lactic acid still built up when lining up for this race. I knew I'd have to take it easy, and just have fun. At the start, Ted took off and hit the trail head in about 16th place, I would guess I was around 20th.



Surprisingly enough I kept Ted in sight for 12-14 minutes! At that point I was already at red line and only half-way through the first of 3 laps! I had to let up and he pulled away immediately.



Shortly after that, I dismounted for a long muddy climb, but couldn't get clipped back in. Thinking it was just built-up mud I stomped my left cleat into the pedal and, BAM! Clipped in! Problem? The crank arm was no longer attached to the bike, even though it was attached to my shoe! The crank arm bolt had come loose on me. I jumped off, did a bit of work to get the arm back on and rode about 3-4 more minutes until it fell off again.

Time to pack it in. I was dogged, and this was the perfect time for a mechanical (if there ever is one!). I walked about 20 minutes back to the start/lap/finish line and called it a day.

Ted ended up finishing 5th overall in the Sport category, good enough to upgrade to expert. That was really his only goal for the day.

All said and done, a good day at the races for us I think!

XTERRA Lock 4 Blast

Lock 4 is one of the original Xterra courses. Any course that has been around that long must be good. I wanted to do this race for a long time, and this year I finally got a chance to go down there.



I convinced Brandon to do this race also, so the drive down I - 65 to Tennesee wasn't too terrible. We stopped at Cracker Barrel, the team's unofficial retaurant, for dinner. I drove as long as I could through the night, then we slept in the car.



We got there a full day before the race, so we had plenty of time to do some course recon. We prerode three laps on the bike course and one lap on the run. The trails are fun with a little bit of everything from rocks, drop offs, power climbs, and fast, tight sections. We probably rode too much the day before the race, but if your going to a race 10 hours away, you might as well take advantage of all the fun stuff the place has to offer.



I had the typical prerace jitters because I knew if I wanted to have a shot at the regoinal point series title, I would have to win my age group at this race. Competing in a different region, I didn't know who the contenders were.



Race day the water was hot, sufficatingly hot. At the gun I saw Cheryl Stine and I tried to stay on her feet, but then some guy who looked like Brandon (yet he denies it) kept swimming into me and knocked me off her draft. So much for getting a good draft, but I probably couldn't hang with her anyway. She's fast.



Once out of the water i got on the bike and put it in the big ring. Right away I knew I didn't have my mojo on this particular day. The warm bathwater swim combined with the stifling southern heat took all my power away. Digging deep I passed some of the fast swimmers within the first mile or two of the bike and then settled in to a sustainable pace.



After no flats or crashes on a lonely bike ride, I headed out on the run. There were so many relay teams in this multi lap race I could not tell how many individual competitors were ahead of me.



Right out of transition I saw a guy in my age group flying out of T2. His pace was fast and I did all I could to stay on his heels. After about 2 miles I though I was about to blow when he started slowing down too. I took this opportunity to pass him and look strong while I did it just so he wouldn't try to challenge me. Once I got out of his sight I settled back in while trying to reel in anyone else ahead of me. I knew Omar Fraser and Jamie Whitmore were just ahead of me so I kept pressing the pace even though i was quite dehydrated by this point.



By the end I didn't move up any more spots overall and it turns out that guy I was chasing was on a relay team.



Overall I didn't do too great, but there were a lot of great competitors here. Competition will make me stronger later in the year.



I won my age group so that was all that really mattered. I accomplished step one of my three step plan to retain my regional point series title. Now I need to win my age group at New Castle and get on the podium at Utah. Not an easy task but this race gave me confidence that may training is coming along just fine.



Brandon had a break through race as well. He finished third in his age group for his first podium at an Xterra race. I knew he could do it and I'm glad I convinced him to come down to the race. His mountain biking is improving as he is getting used to riding his new Orbea. Now he has the confidence that he can compete on a higher level. Look out for him moving up the point series standings in the next month or two.

XTERRA Torn Shirt

Located just North of Ann Arbor, Michigan, XTERRA Torn Shirt is one of the longest standing XTERRA races in the series. A .5 mile swim, 15 mile mountain bike, and 6 mile trail run highlights the event. This race is known for it's 6 mile run on the aptly named Torn Shirt Trail, which is known as one of the toughest run courses in the mid-west.

Ted had a tough time holding air in his front wheel, flatting 3 times and nearly quitting before finally getting a tube to hold some air for him. Tim had a great bike and run leg leading him to a great finish. I got sick out on the course but pushed through to finish.

Results:

Tim - 2:18:36 - 11th overall, 2nd AG
Ted - 2:26:30 - 18th overall, 5th AG
Brandon - 2:45:35 - 58th overall, 10th AG

XTERRA Southeast Championship

Located in Pelham, Alabama, this was our first XTERRA Regional Championship Points Series Race. With roughly 200 racers in the full-distance event, this was our biggest field of competition.

Composed of a 1.5k swim in Double Oak Lake, 30k mountain bike on the red trail at Oak Mountain, 10k trail run, this was another hot and humid race. By far the roughest leg being the very hilly run, many races were slowed considerably coming to the end.

With a full array of professionals as well as numerous relay teams, the field was very full.

Results:

Ted - 2:35:06 - 38th overall, 7th AG
Tim - 2:44:19 - 57th overall, 6th AG
Brandon - 3:05:32 - 106th overall, 10th AG

XTERRA Last Stand

Ft. Custer, Michigan played host to our first race this early season. Located in South-western Michigan, the XTERRA Last Stand course is mostly flat with some great varying bike terrain.

Composed of some tight wooded single track, some open winding single track, a few fire roads, and Granny's Rock Garden, the bike course had a lot to throw at riders.

The run course had a lot of rolling terrain along with some heat and humidity thrown in for good measure. A loop, followed by an out-and-back kept the run interesting.

Results:

Ted - 1:36:35 - 8th overall, 2nd Age Group
Tim - 1:38:12 - 12th overall, 3rd Age Group
Brandon - 1:51:30 - 51st overall, 8th Age Group

Thank you to our new sponsors!

As 2007 begins the first formal season of our team, we would like to welcome in our sponsors:

Get a Grip Cycles

As our title sponsr this year, Jason, Matt, Kevin, Adam, and the rest of the crew at Get a Grip (GaG) have helped us not only obtain our equipment, but given us plenty of advice on service and set us up with some new training groups.

GaG is known nationally for their bike fitting services and excellent customer service. 2007 has brought a new location for them as well. Now, not only located on Irving Park Road, but also a new downtown Fit Studio on Fulton.

Orbea USA

Orbea is a Spanish bicycle company known for their top-of-the-line racing machines. Offering fantastic road and triathlon machines, Orbea also has a great line-up of off-road machines. Our team is mixed, Tim and Ted riding the all-carbon Alma HT and Brandon on the Scandium/Carbon Oiz ST.

SRAM

Providing our team with the best drivetrain products on the market. Crisp, reliable shifting is of the utmost importance when climbing and decending on the typical XTERRA course.

Rudy Project

Rudy is offering up our glasses and helmets. The glasses have fantastic photochromatic lenses, while the helmets not only keep our heads from getting cracked open, but promote cooling while riding as well.

Magura

Offering the industries lightest disc brake system, the Marta SL, Magura helps us scrub off speed on those descents when needed without weighting us down on the climbs.

Do the Rock MTB Race

Held in Rock Cut State Park in Rockford, Illinois, this was the first race of the young season. A group of roughly 70 races showed up for the Citizen class race, composeed of 10 miles of fireroad and single track racing.

Results:

Brandon - 43:24 - 9th overall, 2nd AG

Welcome!

For the 2007 XTERRA racing season, the Get a Grip - Off Road Endurance Sports Racing Team is starting, what we believe, to be the first ever blog following the trials and training of an Off Road Triathlon and Endurance Racing Team.

We come from various backgrounds with varying strengths:

Ted is our resident XTERRA expert with 8 seasons under his belt of XTERRA racing. He is competing for his 4th straight AG Points Series Championship this year, and is currently in first place.

Tim has the best run in our group, qualifying for the Boston Marathon last year. He routinely finishes our XTERRA races with a top 5 run leg, and is also participating in Ironman Wisconsin this year.

Brandon is the newest to the sport, and doing his best to learn quickly. Following the advice from Ted on the bike, and Tim for the run, he is gaining time on the competition quickly.