Even the most experienced triathletes can benefit from flip turns. Learning to manage and balance your body in different positions as well as incorporating other strokes into your weekly workouts can benefit as much as wearing your wet suit. Learning to flip turn also requires breath control and will enhance the aerobic component of your workouts. Since majority of your workouts, if not all, will be in the pool each wall is an opportunity to add more quality to your training.

There are some basic principles to remember when perfecting your flip turn.

1. Practice your somersault away from the wall.
Perfecting your somersault before you even make it to the wall will greatly improve your turn. Float face down in the water with both arms at your side, palms of your hands facing the bottom of the pool. Your eyes should be focused at the bottom with your head in line with your spine. You can kick slightly to keep your legs afloat. In one quick, powerful motion, engage your abdominals and roll your body into a tight ball: tuck your chin into your chest, bend at the waist, bring your knees towards your head and your heels to your glutes, while simultaneously bringing both arms from your side to over your head. During this motion, your arms should be softly bent at the elbow and you should feel the constant pressure of the water against your hands and forearms as you bring your arms over your head. This “pressure” is to help make sure you are moving the water and not just going through the motion. This arm motion is what propels your tightly rolled body into the turn.

Tip: To make your flip turn and somersault practice more enjoyable, be sure to exhale forcefully through your nose while you are turning, especially during the second half of the turn. This is where breath control comes into play. Without one powerful exhale that lasts the entire flip turn, you will likely get water straight up your nose – a feeling that is not pleasant and will likely discourage you from further practice.

2. Flipping at the wall.
Once you have perfected a few somersaults in the middle of the pool, you can bring your flips to the wall. Swim regular freestyle into the wall and when the wall is in sight, time it so that your last stroke brings both of your arms to your side by the time you are 1 to 1.5 feet away from the wall, equivalent to approximately one arm length distance. You may feel as if you are too close, but a common mistake when doing flip turns is flipping too far away from the wall. Flipping at this distance will give you optimum power off the wall. Once you are in position, go into your turn by following the steps described above.

Tip: Make sure your body is tightly tucked: your chin down, knees at your chest and heels to your glutes. This will ensure you do not hit your heels on the wall, which can occur when swimmers “open up” from their tuck too early, or while in a loose, messy somersault.

3. Making contact with your feet.
Once you have finished the somersault and are completely spun around, make contact with both your feet on the wall. Plant your feet about a foot underneath the surface of the water. Knowing when to feel for the wall with your feet will be a matter of timing and may take some practice to perfect. At this point, your arms should be above your head. Allow your hands to find each other and place one hand over the other.

4. Push off and kick.
With your feet firmly planted on the wall shoulder-width apart and your hands together, push off by extending your body until your arms are fully extended over your head in streamline position, and your legs are straight. The plane of your body should be parallel to the surface of the water and the bottom of the pool (you’re on your back). As you push off, roll into the position where your body is parallel with the water’s surface and you are face down in the water, leading the motion with your hips and shoulders. Once your feet leave the wall, start kicking to help your momentum, and start stroking again as you reach the surface again.

Tip: Stay in a tight streamline: arms extended over your head, hands together, one on top of the other while your biceps squeeze your ears to your head. Your head should be in line with your spine and your legs together long and extended, while you are pushing off the wall. The tighter your streamline, the further off the wall you will be able to go.

Perfecting your flip turn, like anything else, just takes constant practice. Try incorporating them into your workouts from the very first wall. Not only will you be working towards making them graceful and flawless, but you will also be getting a better aerobic workout by practicing breathing control. Your ability to maneuver your body through a flip turn also helps you gain added feel of the water. You can surely utilize these added skills to your races.

Natalie Bojko is an Senior Coach with Carmichael Training Systems, a USA Swimming certified coach, and a former swimmer for Ohio State University. For information on coaching, camps, and performance testing, visit www.trainright.com.

Before I get to the recipe I’ve been using for increasing my caloric intake, I wanted to let you know about a new indoor cycling DVD we’ve just released: “Amgen Tour of California: The Workout”. This new workout DVD was produced in partnership with AEG and the Amgen Tour of California and I lead you through a hard workout that’s set against exciting race footage from the 2010 ATOC! No more watching other people sweat on their trainers while you sweat on yours! It’s a very cool DVD, and due to the use of real race footage, we were only able to produce a limited quantity of these discs. Additionally, they are available exclusively from Trainright.com and AmgenTourofCalifornia.com.

You can check out a preview clip here: http://shopping.netsuite.com/trainright

Over the past few years I’ve gradually increased the amount of fruits and vegetables in my diet while reducing the amount of animal products. I haven’t cut out meat or dairy, I’ve just made a shift to more vegetable and less animal. So, as I noticed an increase in my appetite and need for calories, I went looking for a vegetable-based solution that would add calories and quality nutrients. I found it in a recipe from one of my older books, “Food for Fitness: Eat Right to Train Right”. The recipe is available at the following link: 

Black Bean Hummus
Traditionally made with garbanzo beans, hummus can also be made with black beans. Prepared either way, I’ve found hummus to be a great way to add some calories and nutrients to my diet. I was already eating plenty of vegetables (carrots, yellow and red bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.), now I just dip them in black bean hummus sometimes. The hummus adds a good source of protein and fiber , which helps make it more filling with fewer calories.

Ready in: approx. 5 minutes. Makes 8 servings.

1 clove garlic
1 (15 ounce) can black beans; drain and reserve liquid
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini                                           
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Directions
Mince garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Add black beans, 2 tablespoons reserved liquid, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, tahini, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper; process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Add additional seasoning and liquid to taste. Garnish with paprika.

Servings: 8         
Nutrition Information (per serving)
Carb/Protein/Fat Ratio (%): 62-20-18
Calories: 98
Carbohydrate (grams): 15
Protein (grams): 5
Fat (grams): 2
Fiber (grams): 5

Additional Links for upcoming Camps and Events
I’ll be coaching at the following training camps and riding the following events. If you’re interested in any of these camps, please call our Athlete Services department at 866-355-0645 or email AthleteServices@trainright.com.

Triathlon Performance Camp, July 21-23, in Asheville, NC (Training Camp)
Triple Bypass (East to West), July 9, in Evergreen, CO (Event)
High-Altitude Performance Camp, June 21-25, in Vail, CO (Training Camp)
King Ridge Gran Fondo Training Camps, August 25-27 and 28-30, in Santa Rosa, CA (Training/Recon Camp)

Sincerely,
Chris Carmichael
Founder, Head Coach
Carmichael Training Systems

Completing a 70.3 Ironman race should be a positive and encouraging experience, one that helps provide confidence in your abilities as a triathlete. As I mentioned in Part I of this article, during a pre-Ironman 70.3 you can learn a great deal about how your body responds to competition, and particularly how your current fitness level corresponds to your body’s response during competition. But with roughly two months between your 70.3 and your Ironman race, there’s still plenty of training and tapering to be done before the big day. Here’s what you want to accomplish:

Race recovery
The week following your 70.3 is very important, not for what you do but for what you don’t do. Some athletes get amped up from their half-distance performance and jump right back into training 48 hours after this race. That’s a mistake. You should take a week of active recovery, not only to recuperate from the intensity and duration of the race, but to consolidate the benefits of that long race-paced training session. I like to do a short ride or swim the day after a race, as a recovery activity, rather than take that day completely off. But I recommend taking 1-2 days completely off in the 4-5 days immediately following your 70.3. The remainder of the week, your activities should be at a low intensity. Not a moderate or endurance intensity, either. I mean low, slow, easy, etc.

In some cases, these recovery-paced sessions might be somewhat long. If you’re normally training 20 hours a week, you might still go out for a 3-hour ride during a recovery week, but the intensity needs to be low. If you’re training 12 hours a week for an Ironman, your longest recovery week ride might only be one hour. During your recovery week, you should also focus more of your activities on cycling and swimming. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t run, but since your primary goals are to recuperate and prepare to resume meaningful training, cutting down on the inevitable stress of running is a good idea.

One last training block
You can’t turn a huge ship on a dime, and at this point your fitness has momentum similar to an ocean liner. You can pour on the fuel and gather speed, lighten up on the throttle to save precious resources, and make course corrections, but you have to be realistic about what you can change about your fitness in the final 6 weeks leading up to your Ironman. You basically have time for one last hard training block before you begin your taper.

The primary goal of this final training block should be extending the amount of time you can sustain efforts at lactate threshold pace. Increasing pace at threshold and the amount of time you can sustain that pace are important, but at this point in your preparation you’ll get the biggest bang for your buck by focusing on increasing the time you can sustain threshold efforts. In the time you have left, if you focus solely on increasing pace at threshold, you won’t see a very significant increase. But if you focus on making those efforts longer, you’ll maintain your goal paces longer on race day, and there’s a good chance you’ll make your threshold and race paces a bit faster as well.

Your longest sessions
A lot of athletes look at their longest individual training sessions as a crucial milestone for Ironman preparation. Your longest run, ride, and swim are important, but you have to keep them in perspective and plan them appropriately.  Rather than focus on mileage for the run, for instance, I like to have athletes do a run that is 45-60 minutes shorter than their fastest open marathon time in the past two years. That means that if your fast marathon time (not in a triathlon, just a running race) is 3:15, then your long run in Ironman training should be about 2:30.

Some athletes and coaches will say that is too short for a longest pre-Ironman run, but for athletes who can run a 3:15 open marathon, this long run will most likely end up covering 19-20 miles. The benefit of the longest pre-Ironman run is part psychological and part physical, and from the physical side I’ve found that it’s better to focus on quality in shorter run workouts than to add more fatigue by adding a few more miles to a long pre-Ironman run. In fact, swimming is the only discipline of three in which I make sure athletes complete the full distance before an Ironman. For many athletes, even some experienced Ironman competitors, the swim is the most intimidating component of the race. As a result, I like to have athletes complete full-distance swims twice in the final 8 weeks leading up to an Ironman.

But going back to the run training, another scheduling component to consider is how you build to your longest run. About 6-7 weeks out from Ironman you might do a 17-mile run. But rather than doing 18-19 the next week, I like to cut this down to 12-14 miles, followed by the longest pre-Ironman run the following week (about 3-4 weeks out from the race). I find this alternating structure allows for greater training quality leading into the longest run. Your best Ironman performance isn’t just about endurance; you have the endurance to cover the distance by this point. You have to focus on quality, especially in threshold running workouts, so you are better prepared to handle the longer sessions.

In terms of your longest ride, the greatest challenge for many athletes is finding the time to go out and ride 100-112 miles about 3-5 weeks before an Ironman. If you can carve out the time for this ride, it’s a good idea. But understand that its benefit if more psychological than physical; if you can’t get this ride in, it doesn’t mean you’re going to have a terrible bike leg at Ironman.

One more thing about your longest individual training sessions: they shouldn’t necessarily be lumped into the same training week. It’s easy to build a massive training week by piling your longest run and ride and swim into one week. But that leads to a lot more stress than you want at this point in your training. You can put your longest ride and a full-distance swim in the same week, but generally I don’t put the longest run into the same week as either a full-distance swim or a full-distance ride.

Taper into your Ironman
Finally it’s time to taper and consolidate your fitness as race day approaches. The typical Ironman taper is about three weeks and involves a gradual decrease in training volume and workload. What’s important is to reduce workload by making your workouts shorter and making the periods of time at lactate threshold pace shorter, but not reducing the actual intensity of those periods. In other words, you should still be doing lactate threshold and challenging aerobic pace work, just less of it. You don’t want to take it too easy, because the goal is to insert enough intensity to keep all the fitness you have while enabling your body to recover and strip away the cumulative fatigue from your training program.

I recommend cutting deeper into your running and cycling time, and retaining some more of your swimming time, during your taper. Not only is swimming a non-weight bearing sport, but for most athletes it only represents about 25% of your total weekly training volume. Cutting this in half typically isn’t necessary, and can be detrimental.

Starting with a 70.3 triathlon, recovering from it, focusing on one last training block, and then tapering is a clear-cut and concise route into an Ironman race. Especially with athletes who are being pulled in many different directions, like most of us are with families and full-time jobs, this method eliminates a lot of the doubt and uncertainty that can wreak havoc with an Ironman athlete’s final preparations.

Lindsay Hyman is a Pro Coach with Carmichael Training Systems, Inc. In additional to competing herself, she coaches athletes from first timers to Ironman World Champions.  For further information on coaching, camps and triathlon performance testing, visit www.trainright.com.

Case in point: After 23 years, the Triple Bypass ride in Colorado is offering a new route this year. I’m really excited about it because I’ve always believed the reverse route of the traditional Triple Bypass is more difficult, more rewarding, and more convenient. The traditional 120-mile route starts in Evergreen and covers three major mountain passes [Squaw Pass (11,140 ft.), Loveland Pass (11,990 ft.), and Vail Pass (10,560 ft.)] before finishing in Avon, Colorado. With more than 10,000 feet of climbing and elevations above 11,000 feet, the ride is extremely challenging. But if you want to make reaching the finish line even more fun and an even greater accomplishment, do it in reverse (Triple Bypass East). Here’s why:

1. More riding before the climbs: In the traditional route, the climbing starts right away. Your legs are fresh, your belly’s full, and you’re completely hydrated. On the new route, you start with roughly 20 miles of gradually climbing roads as you go from Avon to the base of Vail Pass. Those 20 miles aren’t that difficult, but it means you’ll have more than an hour of riding in your legs before reaching the first major climb.
2. Climbs are stacked at the end of the ride: You have to dig deep to get over any of the three passes included in the Triple Bypass, but when you reach the foot of Squaw Pass on the West to East route – with perhaps 5 hours of riding already in your legs and with only this one mountain standing between you and the finish line – you really learn how deep you can go. Maybe you’ve climbed Squaw Pass a hundred times going toward Denver, but at the end of this Triple route it will seem like a climb you’ve never seen before.
3. Descend right to the finish: I love the Triple in either direction, but when it comes to the finish I’d take the West-to-East route every time. You come off Squaw Pass and dive right down to the finish line in Evergreen. The end of a ride is what sticks with you the longest, and with the West-to-East route that memory is of a hard climb followed by a rewarding and exhilarating descent down to the finish.
4. More choices after the finish: With the West-to-East route, you finish in Evergreen. Not only is there a huge variety of things to do in Evergreen, but it’s just outside of Denver and not that far off I-25. As much as riding the traditional Triple provides a great way to start a long weekend in the mountains, as an athlete with a family, it’s sometimes even nicer to ride out the mountains so you have an easier and faster trip home after the ride.

I’ve ridden the route in both directions, and I prefer the West-to-East route. If you want to take a look at it, with complete nutritional/mechanical support and the guidance of CTS Coaches, come to our Triple Bypass Recon/Training Camps. The first Triple Bypass Camp (June 5-8) covers the West-to-East Route and the second Triple Bypass Camp (June 8-11) covers the traditional route. An entry into the Triple Bypass Ride is includes with entry into either camp.

I’ve talked to thousands of cyclists before they’ve embarked on challenging journeys, and in addition to questions about training, nutrition, and pacing, the subject of safety always comes up. And it should, because with thousands of cyclists on the roads together, riding safely is everyone’s responsibility. Despite the importance of rider safety, most of the resources I’ve seen and read cover only the very basic ideas of complying with traffic laws, wearing a helmet, and making sure your bike is in good working order. That’s a good start, but riding safely also has a great deal to do with your skills, habits, and attitude on the bike.

Sign up for Free CTS Email Training Tips and Newsletters

To have a great time during your ride and arrive at the finish line safely, keep the following tips in mind:

1. Keep your head up: It is easy to get in the habit of looking directly at the back wheel of the person in front of you, but you need to look further forward so you can anticipate turns or slowing riders. This is especially important toward the end of a long ride, as you’ll tend to drop your gaze or lock in on the wheel in front of you as you get more tired.
2. Look before you move left or right: Just like in a car, it’s important to look left or right before you “change lanes”. A quick glance over your shoulder or even down under your arm will let you know if you have room to move, and a flick of the arm is a good idea to communicate your intention to riders behind you.
3. Use both brakes at the same time: Using both brakes at the same time spreads the force of braking across both wheels, which reduces the chances that either one will lock up and skid. It also means you have more power to stop more quickly. And if you have to stop abruptly, shift your weight back as you hit the brakes to put more weight over the rear wheel.
4. Keep your bike upright through sand, dirt, or water: If you encounter sand, dirt, or water, the safest route through it is a straight line. If you encounter these conditions in a turn, slow down before you reach the corner and keep your bike more upright instead of leaning into it like you would on dry, clean pavement.
5. Keep your upper body relaxed: The more rigid your upper body (shoulders, elbows, wrists), the less stable you are on the bike. You’ll find the steering skittish and harder to control, which typically makes you tighten up even more, and leads to even more problems. Bend your elbows, drop your shoulders, and maintain a firm but gentle grip on the handlebars. The bike will ride more smoothly and you’re steering will be less effected by small bumps in the road or from a rider next to you.
6. Communicate: Speak up when you’re overtaking riders. You don’t have to yell at them; a simple “How’s it going?” or “On your left.” will let them know you’re coming by. And try not to startle the person you’re passing, or they’re likely to swerve and may move into your path. If you’re the one being passed, stay on your line and ride predictably.
7. Don’t overlap wheels: Riding behind another cyclist is a great way to reduce wind resistance and save energy, but be careful to leave enough space so your front wheel doesn’t overlap the rear wheel of the person in front of you. If the rider ahead of you moves left or right, you don’t want them to rub your front wheel.
8. Keep eating and drinking: Most people think of eating and drinking in terms of performance on the bike, but it’s even more important for safety. When your blood sugar is low and/or you’re dehydrated, your reaction times are much slower and your ability to make decisions is diminished. Drink at least one bottle of fluid per hour and consume 100-200 calories of carbohydrate (1 Gu Gel or a serving of GU Chomps, or a bottle of sports drink for example) each hour in order to keep your energy levels up and stay alert.
9. Keep your hands near the brakes on downhills: Never mind the super-aerodynamic tucks you see Tour de France riders use on downhills. With a lot of riders on the roads with you, it’s important to keep your hands near your brakes when you’re going faster down a hill. Keep your eyes looking forward, too, because it takes more time to slow down from higher speeds if you have to hit the brakes.
10. Adjust your helmet correctly: Your helmet can save your life, but it has to be worn properly to do so. It should be snug to your head, but not uncomfortably tight. The straps should be adjusted so you can’t lift the helmet off your head when buckled, but again not overly tight. And the front of the helmet needs to protect your forehead, so the bottom edge of the front of the helmet should be about 1-2 inches above your eyebrows, not rotated back toward the top of your head. If you’re uncertain about the fit of your helmet, visit your local bike shop before your next ride.

Chris Carmichael is the Founder and Head Coach of Carmichael Training Systems, Inc. To find out about CTS coaching, camps, and performance testing services, visit www.trainright.com or come see us at our new training facility in California’s Santa Ynez Valley.

Round 2 in the Xterra Championship series landed us literally in the middle of Texas. The event was held in Cameron Park which is a beautiful 410 acre park right the middle of downtown Waco. Liz and I drove down from Colorado Springsin the trustyElement and covered just over 800 miles in 12 hours to make the trip to the race. Usually that drive is pretty boring but on the way down we were greeted with 60+ mph winds and driving right through the middle of wild fires that were taking place all over the state. Either way we were excited to get to take a road trip and meet up with my brother Sean, his wife Jenny, and there beautiful baby girl Eve.

Next we went to the local Mammoth site. Basically 30 some odd years ago some locals found bones from mammoths that lived tens of thousands of years ago. Back in 2009 the city of Waco and Baylor University had a building built around some of the bones to help preserve them. They have over 24 found mammoths at this site,which iscrazy. The most insane thing is how long their tusks are, they can grow to be 16 feet!

Headed down to the water and snapped a quick shot before jumping in with fellow Colorado Spring racers, CTS athlete Tracy Thelen and bike fit guru Branden Rakita.

Now time to tread some water before the start.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention. They start the race by shooting off a canon! How cool is that?

Please read Jim Schwerin’s letter below, take it to heart, and help get the word out.

Dear Mountain Biking Community,

Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates is sending you this message with deep concern for the future of mountain biking in Colorado Springs. 

Recently, an off-duty city park ranger was hiking in Garden of the Gods Park in a relatively undeveloped area near Rampart Range Road and came across several individuals hacking away at trying to build a “radical downhill” trail.  You know, the kind you might see at a ski area, with gap jumps, straight down the fall line, big rocks, etc.  These people had no authorization, had chopped down trees, moved boulders, and had generally made a real mess of things.  As most of you know, mountain biking in most of Garden of the Gods is specifically banned, so you probably couldn’t pick a worse place to build a renegade trail. 

To make matters worse, when this ranger  inquired as to what the “trail builders” were doing, they threatened to physically harm her.   So, the police were called, the “trail builders” disappeared, and now the entire mountain biking community is left to clean up the mess.

Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates has worked for almost 20 years to keep the Pikes Peak Region a mountain bike-friendly place.  Lately though, with more people, more riders and  better bikes, there’s been more and more off-trail riding.  You can see especially see this in places like Palmer Park and Ute Valley.  At the same time, the parks department has gotten more calls about “those damned bikers”.  The trend isn’t good.  We sure don’t want to end up like some other cities in Colorado where opening just one trail to bikes has been a long and fruitless quest **cough**cough**boulder**.

So, what can you do to help?

First, we’re going to help the parks department repair the damage that was done to Garden of the Gods.  Medicine Wheel would like to get a large crew of volunteers out to erase the trail that those guys tried to build.  We’ll have an announcement soon about the date.

Second, STAY ON DESIGNATED TRAILS!  Please let all your friends know that riding off trail isn’t “cool”.  If it keeps happening, it’s easy to imagine a future where biking gets banned in Palmer Park, Ute Valley, or a lot of the other riding spots we love so much.

Third, be a good neighbor.  Ride with a bell on your bike.  Try not to startle other trail users.  Smile, have a good time.  Say “Hello”.

Fourth, and this is the toughest, get involved!  MWTA is always looking for motivated people to help with our mission.  If you’d like to serve on the board (on whatever level you like), be a trail builder, develop a downhill park, or whatever other way you might be able to contribute,  then please let one of us know.

Thanks for taking a little time to think about the future and keeping the riding here great.  Now, get back out and ride.

We drove out to Vegas and it took about 12 hours. Unfortunately it was rainy and snowy the entire way through Utah. However, once we finally got to Nevada we were greeted with some sun on Friday and a nice view of the infamous Las Vegas strip.

Saturday woke up and picked up the packet and got a good pre-ride in of the course. Luckily we were able to dodge some of the hail that came down just after we got done riding. Then we hit up some frozen yogurt for some good recovery and pre-racing snake.

Sunday I woke up very excited and ready to go. We were treated to beautiful sunny skies. The water temperature was right up my alley as well with a nice refreshing 61 degrees. Perfect temperature to try out my new Aqua SpherePhantom wetsuit.

Swim:
The race started off in the usual Xterra fashion with the cannon start. Once we were off I settled into a nice groove and found some open water. But then before I knew it Seth Wealing and Branden Rakita were right next to me. They accelerated and I couldn’t match their speed. I then spent the next 1000 meters chasing their heels but didn’t quite have enough to keep up with those guys swimming like fish at this first race. Either way was content with coming out of the water in top 5. I was nervous that I would implode on my first race so this was a good place to be.

Bike:
Started off well on a nice pavement segment to get the legs turning which was needed after the chilly swim. Then we hit the dirt. I was with two other guys and we basically stayed on each other’s heels swapping positions throughout the entire bike course. The course was a blast very fast, loose, and constantly up and down. There was also a couple wash segments that we got to ride through which makes life interesting to say the least. Really uneventful on the bike except for some minor cramping, but felt strong. Got caught by Adam Wirth and Nico Lebrun in the last 3 miles and stuck with them in sight to T2.

Run:
Came off the bike in top 10 with a group of 4 of us hitting the run. Was ready to rock but my cramping calves said otherwise. Spent the next 1.5 miles trying to run hard without causing more cramping but got caught by a couple more guys. Once we hit the dirt I was in total survival mode. Quads cramping on uphill, hamstrings cramping on downhill. Felt like I was in slow motion in a dream where you are being chased by a dog and can’t out run it. Either way got to see a lot of the pro as the flew by me. All in all it was probably due to going too hard on the bike and not having enough intensity under my belt of the start of the season.

Either way I had a great time and safe race and trip which is the most important. I know what I need to work on moving forward and hopefully I can get some redemption on my next race, which is coming up this weekend on April 17th in Waco, TX. This is the South Central Xterra Championships. My lovely wife is joining me so no matter what happens the trip will be more fun with her along. To cap it off we may hit up Round Rock Doughnuts….YUM!

Huge thanks to Tracy Thelen, pictured below wide awake before start, for setting me up with a homestay. Major thank you goes out to the Mitchell’s who opened their home to me to the best hospitality I have ever seen without even meeting me prior to this weekend. I look forward to going back to Vega. Thanks again to everyone for a successful weekend and start to the race season.

The XTERRA race season is off to a good start with a win at the West Championship in Las Vegas today. I knew it would be tough to come out with a win this early in the season, but my winter preparation has been good. Las Vegas was under a bit of a cold spell which was great for the bike and run, but it was a cold morning and the water was colder. It was my first open water swim of the season and I was able to get on some good feet. Branden Rakita and Seth Wealing were off the front, but Conrad Stoltz was within a minute. I was dangling off the second group of swimmers with some of the contenders close by. My goal was to try to mark Conrad on the bike and catch him on the run. I didn’t anticipate Branden and Seth riding so well off the front for much of the bike. On the Felt Nine Team I seemed to be matching Conrad well on the climbs but I was losing some time on the downhills and technical sections. I guess it takes more than one time on the dirt for my mountain biking skills to come around. Heading out on the run I caught word that I was 1:40 down to Conrad with Branden and Seth close behind. I knew that a majority of the climbing on the run course was in the first half so I tried to hit the course running hard. I felt very strong on the climbs and I was eating into Conrad’s lead early. Around mile 4 was a tough climb and I looked up and saw Conrad hiking with his hands on his knees. I just tried to keep my rhythm and made the pass on the steepest part of the course. It was a good feeling to be able to push the run from start to finish and whenever I asked, my legs responded. Hats off to a tough men’s field that keeps getting deeper. Next week we head to Waco, Texas for the second championsip race. Last year Conrad won big with a wizardly performance on the bike course on the most technical trail on the circuit. I will have my work cut out but it should prove to be another exciting race.