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.