Another Small Victory

Race for the Valley at Indy Park was another small step in the right direction. Although I never mentioned it, I was a bit aprehensive about this race duew to the length and the fact that Indy is an ornery bitch of a trail. One that plays havok on healthy hamstrings, let alone mine. I ran smart, never pushed beyond my limitations and had a decent race. Ther hamstring actually felt better than it had in a long time. In fact I just got back from a nice and easy 30 minute recovery run. I havent been able to do that for 2-3 months now. I came home and got a nice stretch and recovery meal in me. I can say I havent felt this positive in a long time about things. I'm actually excited about my goals again, albeit altered a bit. Next up is the Farmdale Trail run on Oct 17. Eight miles of singletrack goodness at "the Farm". And the way things are going now, I may actually be prepared for it!

Double Spoiled by Rain

With the rain the last couple days, the double has been reduced to a single. The intense rain forced PAMBA to adjust the start times for todays races by two hours to allow them to hold the event. Even if I had a strong bike race, it would have been a challenge to get to the trail run on time. Since I have more invested in the CITRA series, I've decided to skip the mtb race and focus on the trail run at 2 p.m. Five miles on a slippery Indy will be challenge enough for me at this point. Todays goal...run smart and injury free, let the race come to me and finish strong. Then I have a few weeks to prepare for the CITRA finale, an 8 miler at Farmdale. I'm trying to keep my attention on finishing '09 as best I can, but it's been hard to not think about next year. I've been noting my strengths and weaknesses that I want to address over the winter and changes to training for next year to maintain over the course of the year. I'll discuss those here at a later date when I recap the season. For now, I need to keep my mind on today's race and prepare.

Warmer than avg. temps today around 80 and sunny at race time. I'm sure I'll be welcomed with sloppy conditions at Indy, however Indy dries the fastest of all the area trails so I wont be surprised if they are better than expected. Little less than 5 hours til race time. I'm gonna head to to Farmdale to see the beginning of the races and catch up with a few buddies then its off to take care of my own business. Tonight Tiffany and I will celebrate our 9 year mark together. It was actually on Thursday the 24th. I'm a very lucky guy to have her so no matter what happens today I have something to celebrate.

The Double and Some Future Plans

Ith the Du behind me and breathing some new life into me, I'm pretty stoked for the Farmdale MTB/Indy Trail run double on Sunday. Again, I know that my results wont be spectacular, but completing it will be noteworthy for me. From there it's continuing to heal and maybe even train for the Farmdale Trail Run on Oct. 18th. That will pretty much conclude my season. I will probablydo another race or two, but mostly I'll be planning for 2010. A new seed has been planted also...I plan on competing in the biking events and/or triathlon at the 2011 World Police and Fire Games in New York. At least one other guy from my department will be going out for Judo also. The schedule looks doable for us to get out and get our events done. Not sure about the tri. That will depend on how things go in 2010. 2010 prelim ideas include some tri/XTerra events, the CITRA series, and some MTB races. Maybe dabble in some endurance stuff too. One event I'd like to do is the tri at the Heart of America Police and Fire Games in Kansas. It would be a nice set up for the Worlds in 2011. But first, the double on Sunday. I hope to get out today and ride the mtb course then hope for no rain this weekend.

Success

I got everything and more out of the Wildlife race than expected. I was stronger on the bike, I ran smart (walking the hills so not to blow the hammy), and all of my other goals were accomplished. I walked away with new passion and a brighter (faster/stronger) future. Here's a couple pics (Thanks Nick!)


Bout half way through run...and suffering



Finally finished

It's A Go

Looks like I will be doing the WPP Du on Saturday. My hamstring is feeling ok a of now as well as my back. I'm going for a short ride tomorrow at Jubilee around the grassy prarie and a very short brick on Friday. Nothing I do right now is going to prepare me for the race, it's more of just a systems check at this point. How do I expect to do? I expect to finish and free my mind a bit. I expect it to reignite my fire and I expect to promote and be part of a race that I think will lead to better things in the future. That's all this race is about to me right now. That's really all on of my races are about right now. Next year is next year and I'll focus on those when the time comes. My remaining races are simply about jump starting my training for next year and put me in a good place when this season winds down.

Magic Fingers

Finally got in fo a massage on Thursday....wow! Jon came highly recommended to me from someone at work. He used to live in Phoenix where he worked on many of the Cardinals, Suns and Coyotes. He worked my ass over for over an hour and it was nice in a painful sort of way. I came home and slept through the evening with no pain in my back and my hamstring much better. I've decided to not race this weekend and start back in light next week, jst enough to be able to finish the dirt du at WPP next weekend. I've been super hydrating the last two days to help flush the toxins and crap and will dobike patrol nice and easy tomorrow for a few hours. Finally, light at the end of the tunnel.

New Race

I've been disapointed in the fact that we dont have any trail du's in the area. Some have popped up over the years, but none have ever really grabbed hold and stood the test of time and they were all before I was ever interested in them. Well, that has now changed. Wildlife Prairie state park is having one along with a tri in two weeks. It's extremely short notice, but I'm all in. The guy in charge of the park has big plans for the venue and its future and is wants to build it from nothing into our areas only XTerra event and he wants the transition to be fast. I'm actually going to assist in the development of the trails as far as laying them out. He has all the manpower, just needs some experienced opinions and eyes to make sure they are built to IMBA standards. The whole idea has drawn me back into the advocacy game a bit. The best part....about a ten minute drive from my house.

Massage appointment(s) this week and Comlara on Sunday. Hopefully then I'll be back to running a bit and can get myself as ready as possible for the du on the 19th. Then the 27th is my Farmdale MTB and Indy Park trail run. Got about 6 hrs of bike patrol in last night and felt ok. Hopefully I can sneak a couple short trail rides in at some point this week. Might even slide over to Comlara one morning.