Training, Injuries, races, and Boston

Well after a killer winter of tarining my ass off I went and over did it a bit and have some inflamation in my knee then to top it all off I went over board in the gym and hurt my lower back...

So february was filled with doubt, angerm frustration, and ultimately lessons learned. Got into PT at http://www.rehabunited.com and am on a good path not 100% but close!

After missing the first 2 races of the season I was pumped to race the RacersNChasers winter series finally!

Sun was out my body was feeling good and my nerves were def saying "welcome back to racing" Robert was on his moto leading out the race and I hit the gas from the start and got the whole shot into the woods Race Start Vid

Once I had good position I sat up and let others take over the work at the front. I sat in 4th over the top of teh first climb and once back down I was in no mans land btween a lead group of 3 and the 5-6 rider deep chase pack... on the flat back to teh start/finish I was caught by the chase group... 2nd lap I knew hammering the climb wasn't gonna get me back up to the leaders as they were too far out now so I recruited another rider to try and break away from the chase group on the climb and work together to stay away. I worked and I took 4th overall and 2nd in 30-39. Was a really fun race and gave me a ton of confidence that I can hang with the leaders!

After the race was a nice little rest week with a "fitness test" up Mnt Soledad was feeling ok... and the numbers didn't lie the legs were better then last time. Beat my PR by 45sec!

From there it was straight to the redeye and off to Boston for the weekend, got in a gym spin friday and a uber fun COLD as hell ride with Joe Saturday

mid Ride Vid

Before going out at 4:30pm and staying out till 2:30am, closing down Brukowski's with a veggy meatball sub in hand!

Looking forward to some hard training coming up and more spring racing!

Welcome to 2010

Wow I have been slacking.....

Since the introduction of trainingpeaks to track my rides and twitter to post random thoughts, pics/vid this blog has been layed to the side....

Thought I'd try and do a monthly update still though.

Decmeber saw Base training ramp up big time 522 miles! Decemeber was my biggest month of 2009... wtf? historically decmeber and january I sit around and get fat... This year I lost about 10lbs from November to February... nice change :)

Ok the stats for 2009 were bigger and better then I could have ever hoped.

Total Miles 4,097
MTB miles 1,346
road miles 2,228
CX miles 126
Trainer miles 396

holy crap I did almost 400 miles on my freakin trainer! wow that was $80 well spent on that thing!

Month broke down as follows
Jan 111
Feb 237
Mar 325
Apr 324
May 381
Jun 283
Jul 338
Aug 499
Sep 340
Oct 341
Nov 388
Dec 522

Grand total of 381 hours on the bike in 2009 (thats avg'ing more then an hour a day all year :)


Gonna say that 2009 was bigger and better then I dreamed, started to get comfortable racing XC. Raced in 12 XC races and 1 Marathon race. Best result was 2nd in XC and I took 3rd in the Marathon. I plan on racing CAT 2 for 1 more season I'm really hoping to make the jump to CAT 1 after this year.

2010 Plans
Big XC spring Campaghn
Sage Bruch 2/28
Bonelli 3/13
RacersNChasers 3/20
Sea Otter 4/17
Idyllwild Classic 5/1

Then a big fun trip to Fruita/Moab in May

Final race of the spring 12hrs of Temecula 4Man team 6/12

A break over the summer to rest a bit and have some fun before real training begins again

Fall is for the tough stuff!!!
Socal Epic 50 10/2
12 hrs of Temecula SOLO 11/13


Its been a wet/cold winter here in Socal (well cold and wet for socal) but i've been pretty diligent about training. Save for a gym related injury and some knee issues (due to not stretching enough) I'm trucking along as I gear up for the first race of the season.

Pics and vid from Sage brush and all races.

http://rodderracing.com/ is up and running stay tuned there for race reports.

November

Twas a big month topped 3,500 miles more then I ever expected to do!

took 2nd in a sport XC race


Been doing some serious base miles december is expected to be no slower! wow will prob get close to 4,000 miles this year blowing my goal out of the water!

Rodder ride/ IF SS

had a fun ride with the rodder racing crew all 3 of us :)




also wrenched on the IF and dusted it off, built it back up as a SS pump track bike :) what is was ment for! and to think I races 24hr of MOAB on that bike last year.... I was nuts....

Kross-toberfest pics

I tried not to show the war face and didn't succeed 100% but it was better then my early races :)















This last shot is while I was still in the lead before I lost it in the barriers :)

Kross-tober fest

up early out the door by 6:40am for the 1:45 drive to Bonnelli for Kross-toberfest!

Got there about 8:30am, parked and headed to reg. got my number pinned it and got dressed.

I got in 2 full laps of the course before the juniors races started. Fast paved section to start then dive into the dirt the course was generally really wide and there was TONS of room to pass. Then 1 small run up with barriers, about 900 tight turns but it flowed so well!! couple quick steep ride ups and 1 highspeed barrier section.

I got in a really good warm up after taking 2 laps as a cruising pace, I hit the pavement and did about 20mins sprinting it out on a small hill for 20sec ea time around getting the HR up to LT.

We staged and there were no call ups for the 4s I got 2nd row. Whistle and we were off, I hit my pedal 1st try and came around teh guy in front of me, I was in the drops banging thru gears head down killing it! I down shifted as I entered the turn into the dirt... I was 1st by alot! a few bike lengths! The 1st 180 deg turn I expected to get pushed off my line but nobody was there I had started out with a MASSIVE sprint! around a few turns and I backed it off alill, up the first run up I was still in the lead but now people were on my wheel I fought for 1st for about 1/2 a lap then on an open fire road a guy came around me then almost took me out when pulling in fornt... ASShole he def didn't hold any like of line... so in the next turn I late braked he left the inside open so I stuffed it in the corner pushing him wide.... I stayed in 2nd till the barrier section where I lost 2 places... (2 other guys) my HR after the barriers was 192... I haven't seen that in a WHILE! after the barriers I was too slow to get back on the bike and 1 and 2 pulled away a bit and the guy I stuffed was on my wheel. I started to really feel my start and started to fade toward the end of lap 1.

We hit the pavement and I grabbed a wheel and sat on, the 2nd lap I held my spot well but again in the barriers I lost a couple places not in the dismount or remount but in the 300 yrds after the barriers as I woudl be so redlined running that once back on the bike I woudl try and push it but I had nothing for about 30sec till my HR came back down....

I could see the leaders ahead not far off top 5 were not far away! Lap3 I would almost catch the top group but lost them after the barriers again...

lap 4 I faded, and was caught by a small group of 3 I hung in there for a bit thinking ok I'm not going to catch the leaders but if I conserve I bit I can win a sprint on these guys. I was sitting 3rd wheel of the 4 with 3 turns left an uphill tight 180 I rode right on the guy in front and cut inside him on the right but a left was coming and I was going too fast and left the door open for him to pass back but I pulled it out... I was 2nd wheel in the 4 fast straigh I was in the drops tucked into the lead guy. the last turn was off the grass right off a curb. I saw an opening on the right indide but the leader shut me down. I had to grab a handfull of brake. The guy 3rd wheel took the outside a much better line! came around the 2 of us! I got in the drops and sprinted it out with him and lost the sprint by half a bike length :(

8th/25...

I learned alot! I need to work on my recovery after running sections (mainly hi speed dismounts), I have a descent start sprint but I need to work on gauging it a lill more as I didn't need that big a lead going into the dirt. Also I learned that when it comes to the last turn and you are sitting on why try and take the fast inside line... I was sitting on and had him in a sprint... if I went outside I could have started my sprint way earlier and def had 7th.... next time!


my HR monitor clicked off mid race but avg was at least 185bmp for 43mins....
http://tpks.ws/vy2J

Cross is here!

did a lill warm up for tomorrow stretched the legs



As I sit here and drink a Sam October fest and ponder my race tomorrow am that can only mean one thing Cross is here!!!