I'll take you through some of the highlights.
I got absolutely worked in the cross country race I entered, which would have bothered me but then I remembered that I'm 31 and running a 4:55 opening mile is not a precursor for success anymore. I was near the front early on, but then I dropped like a rock for most of the rest of the race. Despite that, it was really fun to get out there and mix it up with a bunch of college kids. Amanda came and watched so my pride was hurt a little by not being upfront, but I was happy that I went out and gave it a shot.
My two race cyclocross season actually went pretty well. I'm not a very good bike rider, but I had an absolute blast at these races. The first one was at the Lake Lanier Olympic venue, where they held the rowing events for the 1996 Olympics. It rained for roughly 20 straight days beforehand so the race was a complete mudfest. This actually played to the strengths of my mountain bike and made it an absolute blast. I passed a few guys about half way through the first lap but after that I was kind of in no mans land. Since I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing, I have no idea if I did well or not but it was fun as hell.
Like I said, I was covered in mud. I don't really have goals for these races, I just want to try and ride the best I can. I think that's what makes it so fun. There's no pressure or anything. I'm just out there having fun and acting like the 12-year-old that I am on the inside. I even took a doughnut hand up on one lap coming out of the beach sand pit, which got a big cheer.
My one issue with this race was the organization. It was the first one of the year and there were a lot of race day registrations, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt when it took more than an hour to get registered. Unfortunately, when they got behind schedule they decided to trim the Cat 5 race from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. I thought that was kind of crappy. I appreciate that it was a difficult situation, but I didn't like that our race had to suffer to keep all the other races on time. If there's anything I learned running events at the end of track meets, the start time usually isn't as advertised. All in all that was a small gripe and probably not worth the 200 words I just wrote about it.
My second CX race was the Georgia State Championship, which drew a much larger field. I finished a bit further back (12th or 15th I think) but ended up battling it out with a few of the women, which was kind of fun. It was the day after we moved into the new house so it was fun to be able to get out and push myself after all of that stress and anxiety.
The course was different from the Lake Lanier one, no mud, and it was a much longer loop. I struggled through some of the tighter sections, especially after I got buried in the back of the pack at the start. I've found that riding a mountain bike is good for some sections but on the faster hard packed or even grass sections it doesn't work so well. I also need to remember to use the lock-out on my front shock next time. I think that probably would help. I'm a noob sorry.
Overall, I liked the course, it had a little bit of everything, fast sections, off camber stuff, a decent climb, tight twists and turns, and a few rail road ties for good measure. The best part was Amanda and my mom tagged along. Amanda comes to a lot of my races, but since most of them are trail races she doesn't get to see much of the action. Same goes for my mom. She probably hasn't seen me race since I graduated college, so that was cool to have her out there cheering me on and trying to get me to pedal faster. She even tried to act as a first responder when one of the women went down on the railroad ties.
I definitely think I'm going to invest in a CX bike in the coming months. I'm in the market for a new road bike, I like the versatility that they provide with the ability to fit wider tires. I'm a little hesitant about the limited gear range that they feature, but it's not like I'm entering road races or time trials. Even if I did use one for a Tri it would probably be better than my current road setup. I am also intrigued by the idea of gravel and dirt road races and I've always wanted to commute more. I literally have that exact conversation in my head every time I look at bikes online or in shops.
XTERRA Georgia
Harbins Park
The Harbins Park 10k went pretty well. I got dropped after a couple miles by Matt Johnson who went on to win, but I hung on for second place. He's 25 so I took the 100 points for the age group win, which is the goal during all these fall races.
Ft. Yargo 8 Miler
Winner, winner chicken dinner. I took the overall Yargo on a sloppy muddy course. It was pretty satisfying to get the W since Yargo was the site of one of my worst races last year. I was feeling really good through about four miles before I started to fall apart. It was bizarre, but I think it had to do with the humidity. I talked to a few other people that had similar experiences with feeling dead in the middle of the race. I rounded a corner and had no juice. My legs felt heavy, I was burning up, and my stomach felt off. It was like I had the flu for four miles. Super weird. I ended up being fine afterward, but the second half of the race was an adventure.
Battle at Big Creek 10+ Miler
Big Creek is never going to be one of my favorite races. The trails are cool but it's hillier than it looks, the weather is always weird and 10 miles is usually too far for me to be racing the first week of November, but it's an XTERRA race so I do it every year. This year the weather actually turned out to be pretty nice and Mitch Novy showed up so it was easily my favorite edition. I hung back at the beginning of the race but eventually caught Mitch and the other guy up front around a mile in. I rolled with Mitch for almost the entire first lap, distancing the guy that was in third (he ended up running the short race, so I basically escorted Mitch to the five mile win). I pulled away from Mitch a little bit at the end of the first lap and then just went into cruise control. I had built up a nice cushion from running with Mitch so I was able to cruise through the second lap comfortably. I still tried to push the more runnable sections but overall I stayed pretty mellow on the second lap. I ended up winning it in 1:07:40, but I was stoked to see that Stefano Rieppi took second overall. He runs almost all of the Dirty Spokes and XTERRA races and he's been breaking into the top 3 lately, so I was psyched to see him grab his first second-place finish.
Little Mulberry 10k
One of the greatest things about running is randomly popping a great race. It always seems to happen when I'm not expecting much or not feeling great. Then, out of no where you roll. That was Little Mulberry. I'd been kind of winding down, running but not running that much, no workouts, just kind of going through the motions. I showed up thinking I'd be able to run okay, but secretly hoping I'd have another cruise control situation, even if it wasn't for the win. I just wasn't feeling it. Amanda and I were leaving for Chattanooga for the bye week right after, I just gotten back from California. It didn't seem like recipe for success going in. Then I rolled. The race started like most, a few high school kids got shot out of a cannon and I was 10-15 yards back. As we got onto the cross country course, I started to pull the lead group back and by the mile I was neck and neck with the leader.
I strung things out on the long paved downhill then hit the next XC section hard. I was feeling it. I pressed the XC section then coasted down the next long hill before PRing on the equestrian trail climb. I've run this roughly half mile climb a hundred times and I've run it in better shape but things were just clicking on this day for some reason. Once I crested the climb I probably could have let off the gas but I kept this old refrain from college in my head the whole time, "racers race" and that keep me pushing. It's funny how something like that from Pete or Josh or Mark will pop into my head and I'll just keep repeating it over and over to get me through a race. I finished in 37:04, just under six-minute pace. That was exciting to get under six-minute pace for a trail race in November. I've run faster there, on a slightly different course, but the fact that I was sub six minutes, won, and PR'd on the big climb may have made this race my best of the year.
Victoria Bryant 10k
Remember all that stuff I was saying about how I didn't expect much and wasn't feeling it at Little Mulberry...well that showed up big time at this one. Victoria Bryant was my last race of 2015 and it showed. I had no juice for this one. I made the hour drive, went through the motions (still taking second so I'm not complaining) and then made the hour drive back before hopping on a plane for work. This course is a killer. It's all up and down and everything is short and steep. The whole thing just saps your energy. It's a grind and I just wasn't into it. I let the eventual leader get away from me and just never had the urgency to go try and chase him down. It was a little bit of a bummer to end 2015 like that but at the same time, I think mentally I needed a break and that came through in the race.
Obviously it was a pretty successful fall results wise. I'm leading the points by a wide margin, taking the full age group points for each race, so I'm sitting pretty with three races to go to win another XTERRA Georgia title.
Wrapping it Up
After Victoria Bryant I took a few days off to give my body a chance to recuperate. I slept in a bunch and at food that I probably shouldn't have. I didn't take any time completely off. I limited my running for two weeks. Took two days off then ran then took two days off kind of stuff. I also took advantage of the nice weather an got out on my mountain bike a couple times. I'll have a 2015 wrap up post in the next few days but I'm ready to turn the page. Work has been draining lately and I'm looking forward to getting a few more hours to myself as well as getting back to the off-season adventures that Amanda and I enjoy.
Like I said, I was covered in mud. I don't really have goals for these races, I just want to try and ride the best I can. I think that's what makes it so fun. There's no pressure or anything. I'm just out there having fun and acting like the 12-year-old that I am on the inside. I even took a doughnut hand up on one lap coming out of the beach sand pit, which got a big cheer.
My one issue with this race was the organization. It was the first one of the year and there were a lot of race day registrations, so I gave them the benefit of the doubt when it took more than an hour to get registered. Unfortunately, when they got behind schedule they decided to trim the Cat 5 race from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. I thought that was kind of crappy. I appreciate that it was a difficult situation, but I didn't like that our race had to suffer to keep all the other races on time. If there's anything I learned running events at the end of track meets, the start time usually isn't as advertised. All in all that was a small gripe and probably not worth the 200 words I just wrote about it.
My second CX race was the Georgia State Championship, which drew a much larger field. I finished a bit further back (12th or 15th I think) but ended up battling it out with a few of the women, which was kind of fun. It was the day after we moved into the new house so it was fun to be able to get out and push myself after all of that stress and anxiety.
The course was different from the Lake Lanier one, no mud, and it was a much longer loop. I struggled through some of the tighter sections, especially after I got buried in the back of the pack at the start. I've found that riding a mountain bike is good for some sections but on the faster hard packed or even grass sections it doesn't work so well. I also need to remember to use the lock-out on my front shock next time. I think that probably would help. I'm a noob sorry.
Overall, I liked the course, it had a little bit of everything, fast sections, off camber stuff, a decent climb, tight twists and turns, and a few rail road ties for good measure. The best part was Amanda and my mom tagged along. Amanda comes to a lot of my races, but since most of them are trail races she doesn't get to see much of the action. Same goes for my mom. She probably hasn't seen me race since I graduated college, so that was cool to have her out there cheering me on and trying to get me to pedal faster. She even tried to act as a first responder when one of the women went down on the railroad ties.
I definitely think I'm going to invest in a CX bike in the coming months. I'm in the market for a new road bike, I like the versatility that they provide with the ability to fit wider tires. I'm a little hesitant about the limited gear range that they feature, but it's not like I'm entering road races or time trials. Even if I did use one for a Tri it would probably be better than my current road setup. I am also intrigued by the idea of gravel and dirt road races and I've always wanted to commute more. I literally have that exact conversation in my head every time I look at bikes online or in shops.
XTERRA Georgia
Harbins Park
The Harbins Park 10k went pretty well. I got dropped after a couple miles by Matt Johnson who went on to win, but I hung on for second place. He's 25 so I took the 100 points for the age group win, which is the goal during all these fall races.
Ft. Yargo 8 Miler
Winner, winner chicken dinner. I took the overall Yargo on a sloppy muddy course. It was pretty satisfying to get the W since Yargo was the site of one of my worst races last year. I was feeling really good through about four miles before I started to fall apart. It was bizarre, but I think it had to do with the humidity. I talked to a few other people that had similar experiences with feeling dead in the middle of the race. I rounded a corner and had no juice. My legs felt heavy, I was burning up, and my stomach felt off. It was like I had the flu for four miles. Super weird. I ended up being fine afterward, but the second half of the race was an adventure.
Battle at Big Creek 10+ Miler
Big Creek is never going to be one of my favorite races. The trails are cool but it's hillier than it looks, the weather is always weird and 10 miles is usually too far for me to be racing the first week of November, but it's an XTERRA race so I do it every year. This year the weather actually turned out to be pretty nice and Mitch Novy showed up so it was easily my favorite edition. I hung back at the beginning of the race but eventually caught Mitch and the other guy up front around a mile in. I rolled with Mitch for almost the entire first lap, distancing the guy that was in third (he ended up running the short race, so I basically escorted Mitch to the five mile win). I pulled away from Mitch a little bit at the end of the first lap and then just went into cruise control. I had built up a nice cushion from running with Mitch so I was able to cruise through the second lap comfortably. I still tried to push the more runnable sections but overall I stayed pretty mellow on the second lap. I ended up winning it in 1:07:40, but I was stoked to see that Stefano Rieppi took second overall. He runs almost all of the Dirty Spokes and XTERRA races and he's been breaking into the top 3 lately, so I was psyched to see him grab his first second-place finish.
Little Mulberry 10k
One of the greatest things about running is randomly popping a great race. It always seems to happen when I'm not expecting much or not feeling great. Then, out of no where you roll. That was Little Mulberry. I'd been kind of winding down, running but not running that much, no workouts, just kind of going through the motions. I showed up thinking I'd be able to run okay, but secretly hoping I'd have another cruise control situation, even if it wasn't for the win. I just wasn't feeling it. Amanda and I were leaving for Chattanooga for the bye week right after, I just gotten back from California. It didn't seem like recipe for success going in. Then I rolled. The race started like most, a few high school kids got shot out of a cannon and I was 10-15 yards back. As we got onto the cross country course, I started to pull the lead group back and by the mile I was neck and neck with the leader.
I strung things out on the long paved downhill then hit the next XC section hard. I was feeling it. I pressed the XC section then coasted down the next long hill before PRing on the equestrian trail climb. I've run this roughly half mile climb a hundred times and I've run it in better shape but things were just clicking on this day for some reason. Once I crested the climb I probably could have let off the gas but I kept this old refrain from college in my head the whole time, "racers race" and that keep me pushing. It's funny how something like that from Pete or Josh or Mark will pop into my head and I'll just keep repeating it over and over to get me through a race. I finished in 37:04, just under six-minute pace. That was exciting to get under six-minute pace for a trail race in November. I've run faster there, on a slightly different course, but the fact that I was sub six minutes, won, and PR'd on the big climb may have made this race my best of the year.
Victoria Bryant 10k
Remember all that stuff I was saying about how I didn't expect much and wasn't feeling it at Little Mulberry...well that showed up big time at this one. Victoria Bryant was my last race of 2015 and it showed. I had no juice for this one. I made the hour drive, went through the motions (still taking second so I'm not complaining) and then made the hour drive back before hopping on a plane for work. This course is a killer. It's all up and down and everything is short and steep. The whole thing just saps your energy. It's a grind and I just wasn't into it. I let the eventual leader get away from me and just never had the urgency to go try and chase him down. It was a little bit of a bummer to end 2015 like that but at the same time, I think mentally I needed a break and that came through in the race.
Obviously it was a pretty successful fall results wise. I'm leading the points by a wide margin, taking the full age group points for each race, so I'm sitting pretty with three races to go to win another XTERRA Georgia title.
Wrapping it Up
After Victoria Bryant I took a few days off to give my body a chance to recuperate. I slept in a bunch and at food that I probably shouldn't have. I didn't take any time completely off. I limited my running for two weeks. Took two days off then ran then took two days off kind of stuff. I also took advantage of the nice weather an got out on my mountain bike a couple times. I'll have a 2015 wrap up post in the next few days but I'm ready to turn the page. Work has been draining lately and I'm looking forward to getting a few more hours to myself as well as getting back to the off-season adventures that Amanda and I enjoy.
