onionman 2010

wow, i had been looking forward to this race for a long time. i've raced it twice before and i'd say its probably my favorite race. the first year i had so much fun and then the 2nd year i had taken so much time off the first year that i was so so excited. so this year i was looking forward to seeing what progress i had made. >eric was headed out to spokane for the 24hr mtn bike race, so my mom came with me and the kids out to walla walla. we left right at 8am on saturday. the kids were amazed when we got to walla walla that it was so close! after the vegas trip they just assumed we would be in the car for ever. they wouldnt let us check into our hotel yet so we went out to the race course and drove the course. its so beautiful, but the sky was dark and it was very windy. we got back to the hotel, checked in, i changed my clothes and headed out on my bike to pick up my race packet. i wasn't gone long but did a little tour of walla walla and then came back to the hotel to take the kids swimming. we headed out to dinner at the strangest italian/chinese resturant. totally weird. the kids both slept with grandma and i had a bed to myself! i didn't sleep too well, but whatever.the alarm went off and i had my normal pb&j and then just layed in bed. at 730 i packed up the car and headed to the race site. yikes! i was late apparently and had to park up on the ridge. but really i had plenty of time. i carried my bike down the rocky hill which i had decided if this were an xterra they would make us run up it to get to T1. i set up my transition and ran into janet and kate. then we kind of just hung around, listened to the pre-race meeting, janet informed me that the water was indeed cold as balls and then we went down to experience it for real. and yes, it was cold as balls, rumor has it 55 degrees. i swam for about 3 minutes but that was plenty.
the swim:
this year they started the race in waves. women and teams went 3 minutes behind the men. 10 seconds before the race started the woman in front of me announced to everyone that this was her first ever race, so i wondered what she was doing in the front row of the swim. i have never been in a swim with so much contact. it was crazy. i got kicked in the face, i was swum over, i got hit in the head. but i managed to be ok. the swim was two loops and i was still pretty cold but doing ok about 1/2 way through the first lap. i was swimming well and my left arm wasn't hurting at all like it had been in the last few open water swims. there was a funny little current by the 2nd buoy that kind of carried you right to it and around it, it was a pleasant surprise and i was looking forward to it on lap 2. finally i was out on lap 2, still getting pummeled, still having crazy people swim right into me, still all kinds of chaos. around the 1st bouy the water got choppy and i swallowed a few gulps but i was doing ok. i kept coming up on feet and being afraid i was going to get kicked. eventually i noticed my left hand was going all wonky. i started to wonder if i had broken my finger and not realized it. i was just flailing around in the water with each stroke and i had not control over it. i decided to just let it do its own thing. finally i got to shore and was happy to have enough energy to run up the hill to T1.
T1 - DISASTER. what is up with T1 this year?? i got to my rack and noticed janet's bike was gone! i was so excited to see that she had a good swim! yay janet!!! my hands were so cold that i couldn't do anything. i could barely get my cap and goggles off my head. there was no way my ear plugs were coming out but i kept trying. i managed to get my helmet on, but my abs cramped when i bent to put on my socks and shoes, both of which were taking extra time due to the frozen hands. i tossed on my vest since i was so cold and then i struggled with the ear plugs again, wondering if it would be totally weird to ask a volunteer to pull them out for me. thankgoodness they eventually came out. i saw kate run into T1 as i was headed out.
The Bike!
i was pretty excited about the bike. i'm a stronger cyclist now and i have been doing a few really good workouts lately, and i've been feeling good, so i was psyched. i was working hard and passing people right away. i was in my aero bars and big ring and pedaling hard. about 15 minutes in i caught up with janet and gave her a cheer, and then stuck to my orders to suffer more, chat less. the course is all up hill on the way out, then you turn around and go downhill the way back. i was caught by one guy on the way out but passed a lot of people and was feeling really good. i got to the turn around and was looking forward to the downhill only to find the wind to be very strong, so even going downhill i had to work really hard the whole time. i was caught by a few men along the way back and then a woman in my age group. i could see her ahead of me a ways and was determined that if i could keep an eye on her i'd be able to catch her on the run. finally we turned off the main road and started the 1.5 miles back to transition. i was noticing that i was having a harder time staying comfortable and was fidgeting on my saddle. with about a mile left there are some up hill rollers and it all went bad. i had an immediate sharp pain all up in my business. i wasn't sure what it was but it hurt like a mothrafarker and with every pedal stroke sent a sharp pain down my leg. if i stood it wasn't as bad but my legs were thrashed from the first 24 miles and i couldn't stand for long, i was breathing hard and i had to fight hyper ventilating from the pain every time i stepped down. i slowed to a snails pace, fighting the urge to just stop. i'd say 10-15 people passed me in this last mile and i saw several from my age group go by. i just had a terrible feeling of helplessness. i had no idea what was going on but hoped i'd make it to t2 and be ok once i got there.
T2.
i rolled up to T2, dismounted and hobbled in. two volunteers came running asking me if i was ok. i wasn't but kept hobbling in, not sure what to do. still on the verge of hyper ventilating, i got my stuff together and hobbled out.
The Run
i stopped and tried to stretch. strangely, the girl that passed me on the bike that i thought i would catch on the run came running by, slowing to see if i was ok. not sure how i wound up in front of her but then just watched her run away. i hobbled for a bit. i tried running but the pain was shooting down my leg, the stretching wasn't doing anything, didn't seem to relate to anything, so i walked. i resolved to walking the entire run, assuming that even at that hobble pace, i might still be able to beat my maui run time. :) i watched as more and more people passed me, and more from my age group. i watched as the men's leaders ran back in, and was surprised that a few of them called out encouragement to me. i'd run 20 steps or so, and realize my messed up gait was tweaking my back so i'd walk again. at around the 2 mile mark, 25 minutes into my run i tried running again and just kept running. the pain wasn't getting better, but it wasn't getting worse. then i got to the 3 mile mark and began passing people again, no longer being passed. i got to the turn around and saw Janet! I was hoping she would catch up to me so we could run to the finish together. As i was catching more people again, i got a 2nd wind and just pushed through it. i wasn't going fast, but i was getting it done and the last mile i started to work really hard, there were two people i wanted to catch, and i managed to catch one of them. whew i was done.
i hobbled to the girls to get my chip cut off and the girl looked at me and told me i had lost my chip. i was just like WTF, you have GOT to be kidding me.
turns out my chip came off at some point in the run so all of my splits were recorded.
i know that my swim was about 2:30 faster this year, despite the super cold.
T1 was 40 seconds slower 100% attributable to those ear plugs. not sure what would have happened had i just ridden out with them, but i wasn't ready to try it.
bike was 3 minutes slower. this bums me out. some of this is the wind, which i am totally fine with since everyone had to deal with the wind, but i know i lost at least 3 minutes in that last mile.
t2 was 5 seconds slower - i had a pretty good t2 despite my ordeal, which makes me laugh.
the run was 13 minutes slower. ugh. not horrible since i walked those two miles, but i had figured i would be under 50 this year, i was very much not under 50. not even close.
eric called within minutes of me finishing and getting my clothes changed. i cried to him about it all and then was over it.

the onionman is still my favorite race.
i was so happy to have janet and kate there.
i didn't get hypothermia from the swim.
it was sunny and warm
i worked hard and felt good with my effort on the swim and most of the bike
i am happy for finishing
i'm happy that that wasn't my garmin lying on the side of the road
i suffered the whole race although it wasn't all the right kind of suffering.

after the race, kate, janet and i shared race stories while enjoying the BBQ, then i headed back up the rock hill to see this dirty truck that parked in front of mine.
i drove back to the hotel, relaxed a bit with the kids, then headed out to pioneer park. who knew there were peacocks in walla walla. the day was beautiful, and the kids had a ton of fun looking at the birds and running around the park. i continued to hobble around, and try to stretch but just kind of felt blah. when we woke up this morning, it was raining and dreary for the 5hr drive home, but we made it back safe and sound. on the drive i realized that the whole ordeal likely has to do with riding aero. i don't do it very much, heck, the bars are coming off the bike today if i have any say in it, although i've been doing it these last few weeks when i've been on my road bike. i don't think there is anything really bad going on since i feel ok today, not worse. granted i've been sitting on my arse all day, but if it was really bad i think it would be hurting more than it is. i'm keeping my fingers crossed and will lay low for the next few days, try to see the PT this week and hopefully be better in time for the xterra idaho in two weeks. good thing we haven't registered yet, but i am hoping to be good to go. if not, hopefully we can get out to the one in oregon the following week.

cold as balls

you thought i was going to say ice, but no, balls.

yesterday i met up with annie and her husband to do a track workout. annie is super fast. she just started doing stuff, but you look at her and she emits fastness, so i was excited when she said she would come do my track workout with me. first off, she has a key to a track, so we got to actually run on one instead of the dirt. the workout was 8x400 and 6x800. i, being not so smart thought the 400 splits for the 800s were only 5 seconds slower than those of the 400s so i was really worried, then everyone filled me in and pointed out on the little piece of paper i printed out with 100 meter splits that really indeed it was 15! whew! so much easier! annie ran the first 400 with me, but ran faster for each one after that. but we all met up each time for the rest lap between which was fun. same thing for the 800s but it started to rain really hard and the temp totally dropped and my hands froze to the point of them being very painful, so we only did 4 of the 6. i was still really happy since the 800s didn't seem too bad! then i came home and slept for 2 hrs.
today i learned that there is a fine line between being a totally bad ass and hard core and being not very smart. luckily, annie and janet both chose to join me in almost crossing that border into not smartness, and despite it being 46 degrees and sprinkling, we went for a swim in the lake. this is where the cold as balls comes into play. at first i thought that really it wasn't so bad, until i was walking to the car to get ready for the cold as balls bike ride and i noticed my hands were purple. janet and annie both swam longer than me, they are either more hard core or closer to the border. :) i'll vote for hard core and bad ass.
next was a 1:30 bike ride, and although i put on knee and arm warmers, a hat, two pairs of gloves and vest and rain coat, i was pretty cold. eventually i warmed up some because i was working SO HARD to keep up with annie, but then we totally got lost. i had printed out a map, plus two sets of step by step instructions. note to self: when writing out instructions, make sure you know your left from your right. we got back on track and were flying around then we headed up hill but annie got a flat. we stopped to fix it but in doing so realized we had been out for a long time, we were both frozen pretty much solid and we were never going to get the whole route in. so we called it short, but wound up with about 20 of the 24 miles we were originally planning. just not all on the roads we were planning. hopefully i'll get to ride with annie, because she is super fast. i asked her if she was working hard and she said not really. yikes! so i've got a lot of work to do! but we did agree that if we head out again, we will bring someone who knows where they are going.
quick 4 minute transition into some running shoes and off on a 20 minute jog. by now we were kind of warmed up, but still the temp outside was only 51.
the race this weekend is going to be interesting. i really hope it warms up. if the swim is cold that is fine but i am not looking forward to a cold swim to cold bike. ugh.
now i have to figure out how to fix my gimpy wrist. i've been just getting by with it, but friday night at the pool i was showing off for the kids and did a handstand in the water. aaaak, even under water i cannot support any weight on the wrist, it was so bad and continued to hurt for the rest of the night. woe is my wrist.

i guess i'll blog about something

i am sitting here and have nothing to do. i caught up on all my reading of other blogs, there are no updates on facebook and eric is playing some game on the tv. what's a me supposed to do?
so this past weekend i ran the cougar mountain 5 miler. i did that same race in 2006. lets just say i had a pr by like a 1/2 hr or something like that. it was a good race. i wasn't feeling the race in the morning, wasn't sure how hard i'd be able to push it since i was feeling pretty tired and eh. i wasn't nervous, just not sure how much pain i was willing to be in. i started out at a pretty controlled pace. usually i go all out at the beginning, totally die and then real it in and then kind of fade at the end. so since i was already not sure of what i was up to, i went out at this good pace. i was working hard, just not like crazy. at about the 2.5 mile mark i started to pick it up. i had passed a few people and was feeling good and thinking, lets see what i can do. granted i did have to walk a few steps of some of the hills but my hr stayed high and i ran as soon as i was able, even if just for a few steps and still going up hill. i also ran really hard on the downhills which is not something i have done in the past. looking back at my hr data, my hr didn't drop at all on the downhills despite there being a few pretty long ones. this is good i guess, since it means i was working hard! downhill! who knew! with 2 miles to go i was really pushing, then with 1 mile to go i felt like i was flying. once during the first half of the race i was running behind this girl and she had awesome legs. i kept looking at her calves and being like, damn, those are some awesome calves. i almost said something to her, but then thought i better suffer more and chat less. i should have found her after the race though and let her know. i also thought in that last mile when i was running really hard about how my coach was telling me how the track workouts are really hard but they make you fast. i was totally feeling the benefits of the track workouts at the end. i was pretty psyched! i came in 12th F overall, and either 1st or 2nd in my age group depending on how you wanna break out age groups. they don't break them out, so i guess its 12.
after the race i got on my bike and rode an easy hr and 1/2.
sunday we went to the lake to swim. i was not really looking forward to this at all. i was worried it was going to be cold as balls and totally grody, but the water temp was ok and i realized that after las vegas, i don't think any water can be as grody as that. we swam for 20 minutes during which my left arm was really starting to hurt. i need to figure out what is going on. its got to be my wetsuit since i have no problem in the pool. ok, let me clarify, i have no problem with my left arm in the pool. after the swim we jumped on the mt bikes for a hard mtn bike ride. i was so stoked. i was having fun and i felt like i was riding really well. eric put some new brakes on there and a new, narrower handle bar and the set up and trail conditions were outstanding! it was so fun.
this coming weekend i'm a little nervous about this crazy track workout i've got on saturday. hoping to run on an actual track! an hoping to get through as much of it as possible! yikes!
pawpi on the other hand is all better. her whiskers and face hair is slowly growing back in. she seems so much happier and the other cats seem so too, although someone has begun throwing up all over the place. but now we can sleep better, too, since pawpi is no longer spending the entire night licking the plastic cone or scratching at it.

track workouts are hard

last thursday i had a track workout. 8x800. i went to the HS near by and they were having some sore of nutty track meet. so i went to another HS and tried to get some boys to show me how to sneak into the track since it was locked but they didn't think that was a good idea, so i went to the dirt track. puddles.
i got through all 8 of the 800s and was happy that i did. i was dying and really had to work hard to get through those last 2. i was happy with my effort tho. i felt that workout for the next few days and even felt it when i was trying to get on my bike 2 days later.
so today my workout was 10x400s at 90 seconds. i thought maybe my coach did some mis calculating but i said, ok i'll see what this is about. i didn't stress about it because i am instead stressed out about the open water swim on sunday. mothrafarker, that is going to be cold. so i hired a baby sitter! i went to the HS track and what? another track meet! so i went right to the jr high dirt track again. i did a little warm up and then started. the first one went well! the next few were ok and by #5 i was thinking this is going well and yeah, maybe i can get these all done. they weren't all at 90 but close, and definitely faster than anything i had done before, but then on my recover after #5 i was like uhoh. things weren't happening. so i did #6, and #7 and then i was like well, i gotta do #8 but then i decided i better stop or i might wind up with an injury. i got in 2 easy laps and then called it. yikes. hoping everything is ok, i imagine i'll be quite sore so we will see.
the other thing about thursday was that sirus had a mother's day event at his preschool. i left work early so i could go. they sang a little song and i had to fight the tears because i knew if any came out it would turn into full on crying and sobbing. i was so proud of him. then the mom's sat at the table and the kids brought us cookies and strawberries and lemonade. sirus made me a note pad with a flower made from his hand print. and he gave me hug after hug, and happy mother's day after happy mother's day. he is adorable and i love him.
today i went to masters swimming. we did a lot of IM. i kept looking at the board saying what is UP with that? why do much IM, since when did Monday turn into IM Monday. and then someone let me know its wednesday. and then i totally hit my hand time and time again until my knuckles were bruised and swollen. so i stopped with the butterfly and just did the other strokes. now it looks like i've been fighting.

Xterra West Champs - a 3 part series - race day

Morning:
Good grief I slept horribly. Eric and I slept in separate beds but I blame my poor sleep on worrying all night that Eric was going to suffocate in the compression tights he was sleeping in. Alas, he did not. I had my normal PB&J at 5:30 and then we just sort of hung out. I was totally parched and drank a bottle of water (maybe 2?) but still felt dry. Being right at the race site made for a very relaxing but also sort of nerve-racking experience. Everything was already done, there wasn’t any driving or organizing to do. Just waiting. At 630 we took our bikes and everything down to transition. We got our bodies marked and luckily we lined up with the person who was not putting the 3s on upside down! Then back to the room to hang out some more. With about 40-30 minutes to go we headed back down.
Swim:
I got in the lake and did a short warm up. The water was cold but felt good. I had picked up some new ear plugs (unfortunaetly from wal-mart, some sketchy US Dive brand) and was happy that I did. Next thing ya know, we were all on the beach getting ready for the start. First the pros, then Eric’s wave and then mine. Cori and I wished each other luck and then we were off.
The swim started off pretty well, I was moving through the water, feeling like I was keeping up. I was pummeled a few times but nothing that threw me off or made me panic. I was drafting off a guy for quite a while but finally had to give up on him because I kept creeping up on him and getting kicked. I wasn’t ever able to find anyone else after that. The time passed pretty quickly but I did stop a few times to do some breast stroke and to look around. I felt pretty good about the swim.
After exiting the swim you had to run for like, almost forever. At least it was pavement and it was flat, but it was far. I had to pee so bad so I ran right to the porta potty, finished taking of my wetsuit and took a little break right there. I am so glad I did because apparently I really had to go. While I was in there I heard the announcer say that Shannon was coming in and then went on to talk about beautiful Las Vegas Colorado and how not too long ago there was an Xterra in Saipan Colorado. At least that is what I heard but maybe I was already starting to lose it?
T1 was terrible. Not just because of the potty break but also because every time I bent over my abs would cramp up. I’d have to stand and bend backwards to stretch them out. I got my socks and shoes on and then had to fiddle with my gloves. I would have just waited until I was out on the road for the gloves I think but I have that wrist brace I have been wearing because of my gimpy wrist and I really needed to make sure to get that on. While I was in there fiddling around, I heard the announcer say “oh take your time – a slower transition will make for a faster race overall.” Again, did he really say that? Finally I was out of T1.
Swim time, plus T1: 35 minutes and some seconds.
Bike:
I had been thinking a lot about this race and how I was going to come and race the bike portion like I would a mountain bike race, not worrying about the run or anything else. Yeah, that was until the pre-ride when I started to doubt riding abilities and got freaked out about the gravel. The gravel bummed me out but I was also disappointed in myself for being so worried about it all. I went up the hills quickly but was in my 22 for a lot of them. I probably should have tried my middle ring more but that 22 was so nice. I had to push my bike up some of the hills because they were so tough but did manage to hop right back on at the top without resting despite all the huffing and puffing. I got lapped by Conrad Stoltz right at the top of the canyon section I described earlier. And I chatted with the blind rider and his guide, both of whom I had chatted with out on the course in Maui. I was still working pretty hard and concentrating on my riding, and other than the pros lapping me, I wasn’t getting passed but I was passing people. There was one hill where someone lost an Eddy Merckx water bottle. For some reason, on both laps while passing that bottle Balls the cat and his giant cat balls popped into my head and I had a chuckle. The one thing I did learn although I had heard it before was “look where you want to go and not where you don’t want to go.” I felt this was super important on this course and once I actually did it a few times I started trusting it more and feeling better about the course. To give you an idea of how steep some of the bike portions were, my garmin stops if I am going too slow. My garmin said my bike time was 13 minutes faster than the results. That’s crazy talk right there!! I drank two big bottles of discontinued LUNA Sport Electrolyte Splash in pink grapefruit and had 3 Clif Shots.
Eventually the bike was done!
Later we found out that Kris had the fastest amateur bike time and 8th fastest overall – way to go Kris!
T2 was better than T1 but you had to dismount your bike and then run almost ½ way around transition before heading in.
Bike and T2 time: 2:03 and some seconds. I should have been faster.
Run:
Oh the run. A few steps out I realized I had forgotten my back up Clif Shot. Oh well, I had just taken one towards the end of the bike and there would be drinks available on the course (I hoped!) so I should be ok. I kept going. I ran out of transition and felt pretty good. I was parched though so I got water at the first stop but kept running. I didn’t get to do a pre-run so I wasn’t sure what the course would be like. It was ok, with one major big climb that I can remember. There is a part that you head out to a water stop and then back around. Then there is a big long fun descent and changes into a kind of single track section. That part was fun and it is where Shannon caught me on her 2nd lap. I also met up with a guy from Redmond who works at MS and we wound up chatting and running for the rest of the race together (his gf won my age group!). He had been cramping really badly but my combo of running and walking some of the hills helped him out. Then we headed to the turn around. One of the best parts of the run I thought was that Kahuna Dave was out at that main intersection directing runners. I thought that was pretty great. By the time we got to the far water stop I was really dehydrated and a bit later got some chills. They didn’t last for long but still were a warning that I was out running in the desert. Finally down to the last mile and ½ or so and my Redmond running buddy was off the front. I was running pretty well, feeling good, probably since it was at the end and downhill but at the same time I felt like I was going to throw up. There was a tiny 20 ft patch of thick, green grass and a hint of shade that we ran through right before making a tight turn and up, up, up onto a ridge. At the end there I saw Eric and then down the hill, around the corner and to the finish line. Fantastic!
Run time: 1:06 and some seconds
Overall time: 3:45, 11th in my age group
Eric came in 4th in his age group which was amazing, I am really proud of him! Cori came in 9th and took something like 40 minutes off of her time from last year. Shannon came in 4th in her 2nd ever Xterra and Kris came in 5th. Nice work!
And Shonny won! How awesome is that?

real quick

i'm too tired to put in the race report so that will come tomorrow or something but before i forget, it was my birthday the other week. i turned 36. all day i was dreading the day, it was awful. it wasn't until almost right before bed that i realized i was turning 36 and not turning 37. i felt better.
i did 8x800 on the track today and it totally kicked my arse. i am tired.

Xterra West Champs - a 3 part series - the day before

After such a busy friday night of cruising the strip with the kids, we woke up early again and packed everything back into the car. We drove out to NW Las Vegas, to Eric’s sister’s house. The kids were so excited to see their cousins. In the few minutes we were there, Sirus climbed up onto the top of one of the bunk beds and had gotten stuck. After a short visit, Eric and I said our good byes and left the kids there to spend a fun filled day!
We drove out to Loews at Lake Las Vegas, parked and picked up our registration. We were lucky in that they let us check into our room despite it being only like 10am or something. We changed into our swimming stuff and then met up with Cori from the SLC LUNA Chix team and Kris and Shannon from Spokane down by the pool. The lake water was cold and a little grody. But I quickly got used to it and off we went. They warned that you would be DQed if you swam out too far so we stayed in the cove like we were supposed to and did 2 loops. We swam for only about 20 minutes. I felt pretty good but my left arm and shoulder felt a little weak. I hadn’t been in a wetsuit in a long time, so there was probably some adjusting there, too. I forgot my ear plugs in WA, and although I felt fine while swimming, I was pretty dizzy when we got out. I had also realized that I wasn’t freaked out at all while swimming. I guessed it was because it’s a man made lake so anything scary in it would have had to have been put into it by people. When I told this to Eric, he said I should be even more scared then because all the scary stuff would ooze up from the mud at the bottom, having been buried for hundreds or even thousands of years. Nice.
We got changed into our biking gear and fiddled with the bikes in the parking lot. We stopped by the LUNA truck and tent to see Chris Mathis and get a photo.
Then we headed out. It was really hot by now, close to noon, I think and close to 140 degrees. No shade, lots of glare and lots of heat. I took it really easy on the pre-ride. There were some good hills and then there were some bad hills, like really long, super steep, un-ride-able hills that were even hard to push the bike up! Once on the top of one, you head down and then bam! There is another one! I’m not used to riding on the gravel like a lot of this course is, so I was slow, even on the down hills. There was one downhill section you could see as you climb up another section – I turned to Cori and asked if we had to go down it. And yes we did! I got off and walked down it. Feeling a little wimpy but I also know I have a hard time on that loose gravel and I didn’t want to crash before the race even started. The glare in some spots reminded me of the glare on snow - where all you see is white - no bumps, it was all washed out. At one point we rode down through this crazy canyon, where the gravel was deep and the canyon walls were high on either side. Kris was just riding along, one hand on the handle bars, taking videos while I was holding on for dear life trying not to crash! Leaving the canyon there was this crazy section that must have been a bit of a mud flat at some point since it was smooth but had cracked in all kinds of ways due to the heat. check out Conrad Stoltz's photo of it, it was so cool. Not much longer there was a section that I can’t even compare it to anything I’ve ridden on before. Maybe it was an old river bed? Kris managed to ride it but the rest of us had to get off and carry our bikes since the bumps were so big up and down and all over and non-stop. I wish I could explain it better because it was crazy. After that crazy part the rest of the bike course was pretty fun with a short section of sort of single track but always with the gravel cramping my style.
Later we headed back out to NW Las Vegas to pick up the kids and take them to my brother’s. When we got there, Sirus was riding a big bike all around a park, just round and round. He did crash once, it looked pretty bad, but he got right up and started riding again. Seamus was on a push scooter just scooting along, getting themselves all worn out. We headed over to Rick’s and then out to dinner. I hadn’t seen Rick (or Carissa or Hannah) since Disney World, so it was fun to catch up. Rick is a funny guy. After dinner we dropped the kids at their house and headed back down to Lake Las Vegas. (yes, each of these trips was about an hour each way).

Xterra West Champs - a 3 part series - Travel

Week leading up to the race:
April had been a crazy month. It was busy busy with a trip to SF for the LUNA Summit, a ton of big meetings and presentations at work, a cat who is sick and isn’t getting better and just all kinds of craziness non-stop. I crashed into a No Trespassing sign and did a number on my left thumb and my neck and followed that up with a fun mountain bike race at Soaring Eagle Park two days later. I went to the PT during the week which helped with my neck and my thumb started to get better so that was good. We had our LUNA Fest on Tuesday, so I was out late but I managed to get all my workouts in. Late Wednesday night I packed my stuff for the trip, went to work Thursday morning for a few hours and then we were off.
Travel days:
Thursday we headed out a little before noon. We had arranged for someone to check on the cats while we were out but Pawpi was in such bad shape that last minute we decided to board her at the vets. After dropping her off, we headed south. The car was packed full and the kids did a good job on that first day. We stopped at a few McDonald’s for them to play in the Playlands and we made it to Boise, ID that first day. We woke up early and got a move on.
I was surprised at how beautiful the Nevada desert is, but also surprised by how much snow there was, too! The worst of it was from Wells to Las Vegas, which was 4+ hrs with no cell reception and no ability to surf the internet. I was going crazy, the kids were getting antsy and Eric had done a lot of driving – 18+ over two days. Eventually we got to the Excalibur hotel, dragged all the bikes and suitcases up the room and headed out to explore. I was supposed to get in a 30 minute run but I was too tired and I felt it wasn’t fair to the kids, so we went in search of fun stuff for them. Our first stop was M&M World – one of my all time favorite places, and then we stopped at the Hard Rock Café for dinner. After we walked up the Bellagio to see the fountain show, all the while feeling like terrible parents and the guys on the sidewalk tried to hand us stripper cards while we were walking with our kids. The fountain show was set to Celine Dion’s song from Titanic and as soon as it started Eric changed his mind about how cool the show can be. But the kids loved it, oohing and awing the whole time. Sirus, up on Eric’s shoulders even said “when I hear this song, I just have to stop and listen to it.” He is a funny little guy. Back at the hotel, we watched the 4-D SpongeBob movie and played a few games before heading up to our room for the night.