The Last Post

It is a Sunday evening here in Maui and my day is coming to an end. The final event is a luau with plenty of food and beer. I just got back from it. The day is catching up with me. My feet are tired and my legs feel like meat sticks in a slim jim case.

The race is in the bag but it barely didn't happen. 7 miles into the race at a blistering speed, I flatted in my rear tire on lava rock. So badly that the sealant didn't hold. I was able to restabilize with 15 lbs of pressure but it wounded me the rest of the race and I never made up the time. I lost valuable time and flatted on my front wheel again later in the race around mile 15. Was it my fault? Yes, in a way. Hopping patches of lava rock to pass was the cost but in retrospect how would I not be able to make up time otherwise. A friend I have raced against twice finished ahead of me again. I was sort of bummed over this when I realized that I was really quite close to her on the bike section. I just didn't realize that all those little things which ate up time, came back to bite me.

I concluded the day with a lot of forethought. What strikes me is the little things I missed. I missed the fast transition. I missed running fast because I just couldn't find my legs for two miles. And I missed catching my friend because of these things. I guess you can call it irony at it's finest. For me, this mean't finishing in 4 hours. I wanted 3 and a half hours. Some of this I blame on barely keeping the rear wheel together. Upon inspection of my tires, I lost count after 100 in terms of thorns which were embedded in the tires. Hawaii is a rugged place for this reason and it goes without saying that I would gladly choose to take up road riding if I lived here.

So will I do Hawaii again? Maybe someday but not anytime soon. My bike is all sorts of messed up from the lava rock and it was a costly venture to get here. As I prepare to become a homeowner, this type of thing doesn't abide well financially. But at least I did it and finished. Once was enough and there are a lot of places to explore in 2011. Will I do more Xterras in 2011? I honestly plan to race one but that is all. I have learned that to do well in Xterras, you need a different focus instead of the same training plan I used for long distance riding. I could not recover from that type of training in time for Maui. However, a little place known as Leadville resides in my mind and places a smile across my face as I cast my eyes to next year. Racing with a team again in 2011 will also help me address some issues with my style of riding in terms of nutrition and performing at a higher level. I really feel that I need that sort of thing again since in some ways I have hit a wall with my riding/racing ability. A year off was excellent coming from Colorado Singletrack. Now, I am ready to don a new jersey and fly under a new flag. Of course, a few weeks of boarding to clear my mind and I leave the subject for a later day.

This is the end in terms of this blog which has detailed my adventure leading up to the Xterra World Championship. Sad to see it end but it has been a great experience nonetheless. You can see a lot of the world by bicycle. 2010 has been a year which allowed me to log over 20,000 flight miles chasing a dream. A dream to be an Xterra World Champion finisher. It was a good ride.

From here, you can now follow my adventures in 2011 at "Life of a Leadman."

THE END

This is it.

This is it. The night before the Xterra World Championship. All is quiet on the island of Maui and folks are tending to their nightly rituals or are sound asleep in their bed. I am here, in the moment stuck amongst a wash of emotions surrounding this race. It has been 4 years since I started racing Xterras. They have become a big part of my life and played quite a role with shaping it. Xterras turned me from a borderline corporate post college alcoholic to a fit and hard working person who loves life. Not a bad tradeoff.

So here I sit on the verge sleep. I am restless. My mind is tired but my body is craving exertion. It has been more than 24 hours since I amped up my heart rate. In the course of one day I think my body is enjoying the absence too much. It will be a shock when we hit the water running in the morning. I want to finish the swim strong enough like at Lory. I really enjoyed that swim but this saltwater thing still throws me off a bit. Either way, I intend to suck in the moment and run things as hard as I can. Where I end up, no one knows.

Everything Kris was started a year ago when I had just gotten into this race. It is sad to see this chapter come to an end in some ways because it truly has been quite an adventure writing about my training and adventures. Though not as proactive on this matter as some, it turned out to be something I am proud of. If you get a chance, flip back through it sometime to see the many prior entries surrounding this blog.

I also want to take a moment and thank Van Dessel Cycles, Pearl Izumi, Maxxis, and Oakley. These were some integral sponsors for 2010. Even as I move into a new year, these companies will stay firmly in my heart regardless of whether or not they help me again or not. We made it this far and I couldn't have done it without them.

You know, a lot has changed since this blog was started but I made it. From racing, to life, love, and careers. It will no doubt change again. For now, this Colorado guy has some sleep to attend to. In this exotic world of palm trees and sand, I close my eyes and hope for safe passage tomorrow. I hope Vandy pulls through like it has so many times this year. At one point today while walking past it, I uttered "one more time old friend" just to keep good karma. Perhaps we can both pull out the strength and pull it just one more time. This has been a long road and a lot of training. Let's make it worth it.

It's Time

It is 1:00 AM in the morning and I have only three mere hours before I have to wake up and begin my journey to Maui in the early morning. I am excited, nervous, and confident all in the same swoop of meditated emotions.

Where you take it from here, no one knows. It was strange to note that tonight I went to the gym in Highlands Ranch to swim my last laps before I leave. It was 10:00 by the time I got there and 4-5 cars dotted the parking lot. I had the place to myself. Exactly 1 year ago, I vowed to try with all my might to get into the World Championship. I put my mind to it and here I am in the dead of night, typing these words after setting foot in the exact same gym where I concocted this crazy idea.

For now, I end this entry. Short and sweet but important. More to come.

Maui. The Conclusion of a Chapter In Life.

Maui is less than a week away and my nervous excitement is undeniably here. Concerns regarding the transport of Vandy, navigation on the island, and logistical challenges abound in my worried mind. I am for the most part ready physically. One thing I constantly struggled with this year was doing we

ll in two of the three disciplines. This past summer, my shortfall was the run section of a triathlon. I flew on the bike and surprisingly learned to swim correctly for the needed distance in the Xterra circuit. For what it's worth, I believe this will not happen at Maui. I have refined my technique and equally practiced the two disciplines I seem to tradeoff in terms of falling short. (Running and Swimming)

The bike section could be tricky but I doubt this honestly. Based on what it looks like in the videos, I foresee lots of double track in hot scorching sunshine. I can manage this effectively from my training in the burn sections of Buffalo Creek. The choppy lava rock should be manageable on the FS Vandy 29er and its' ubber strong Maxxis Crossmark tires which I love so much. Certain races like the Firecracker 50 or the Fat Tire 40 has taught me that the Vandy can make up for my lack of skills on the descents. It climbs great for a full suspension bike so no concerns there. My legs are diesel at the moment so the infamous "Ned's Hill" does not intimidate me. Not when I have had Mt. Falcon to train on these past few days. In fact, I am sort of looking forward to bagging a l

ot of placement on the climb come go time.

Tomorrow is my last long ride of the season. I am planning on riding at a race pace up Mt. Falcon, over to Lair of the Bear, Bear Creek Park in the morning. Should be an epic ride that will break down a lot of my muscles prior to a few days of recovery. I am tapering off the running and swimming as well.

My philosophy on Maui is pretty surreal. It is the World Championship and the highest level you can achieve in the world of offroad multisport racing. I don't intend to win since there are much more devoted people than myself, however I do intend to finish strong. It has been almost four years since my first Xterra in the frigid waters of Buffalo Creek. I have changed a lot and grown over this time with grad school, my career, and ambitions. Maui marks a pinnacle in terms of hard work to reach this point. When it is all done, I have this sort of calm satisfaction in terms of knowing that I am ready for whatever is next in life. Buying a house, expanding the competitiveness of Free Wheel Coffee, and attending to things I have put off these past few yea

rs are higher up on the priority list. It is time to grow up a bit. I am still going to keep my fitness. In 2011, I will return to the team ranks with Bach Builders, a well known ultra distance team consisting of World Champion 24 hour athletes and adventure racing veterans. It is a significant achievement and I hope to back up these words with a high level of performance. But that is another chapter for another time.

For now, it is a beautiful fall day here in Denver and I have an evening to myself to relax and attend to packing for Maui. More to come as Maui looms closer and closer. And if for anything else, I am glad to take my turn in Maui with the many other Coloradans who have made this journey. Let's bring it!