2013 The North Face Challenge

2013 TNF 13.1 - December 8th 2013  
Mill Valley, CA

December in Marin always has some tricks up its sleeve. A last minute winter storm warning in 2012 cause the race to be canceled. This year the race took place, but with flash 36 degree weather at the start. BURRR.

I had been looking forward to this one for a while. It's in my home town, and it's in one of the most beautiful & challenging places to run anywhere. It also caters to my strengths, or so i thought. The run is comprised of 3 hill climbs, each followed by a fun little descent. I had never done the first climb at anywhere near race pace, but I was pretty confident sitting near the top of the strava leaderboards on #2 & #3 from my preview run 2 weeks prior.

1) Miwok to Wolf Ridge - A casual 1.2 mile 10% grade climb

2) North Face Endurance hill 2 - A steep as hell 0.6 miles, followed by a more mellow 0.8 miles, averaging out to a 1.4 mile 10% grade climb

3) Marincello (Tennessee Valley to Bobcat) - a deceivingly long 1.4 mile 9% grade climb

Fastforward to raceday. As I mentioned before it was freezing...

1:42:11  |   16th Place OA / 3rd Place AG




2013 "The Kitten of Vallejo" CX


Cat B SS Men - 3:00PM
Lap1: 5:57
Lap2: 8:47
Lap3: 8:53
Lap4: 8:49
Lap5: 8:58
Lap6: 9:02
Lap7: 9:05
--------
Total: 59:34 ( 6/17 )

Click to see in Strava





2013 "Stafford Lake Wildcat" CX


Cat B SS Men - 3:00PM
Lap1: 8:09
Lap2: 8:47
Lap3: 8:41
Lap4: 8:51
Lap5: 8:52
Lap6: 8:41
--------
Total: 52:03 ( 7/28 )

Click to see in Strava


2013 Surf City CX #2




2013 "Lion of Fairfax of Los Altos" CX

Great Venue. Horrible race on my part. I do feel comfortable blaming it on the gearing though.

Click to see in Strava









2013 McLaren Short Track Challenge


2013 McLaren Short Track Challenge - September 7th 2013  
San Francisco, CA

A little back story to how I entered this race.  I haven't mountain biked in at least 20 years, but after watching the recap of Aaron Johnson's epic race across Colorado last month it definitely piqued my interest again.

After mentioning the idea to my parents, it just so happened that one of my friends dad's was trying to get rid of his 1996 Trek 9700 SHX.  After doing a little research online I found out that this was one of the first full carbon fiber mountain bikes ever made, and with some TLC and a bit of money, it could be built up into a unique and surprisingly capable lightweight 26er.

I spent about 3 weeks building it up, and it came out perfect.



After about 5 rides, Nate somehow convinced me I should race McLaren Short Track Challenge. Whats the worst that could happen right?



This was definitely the most un-prepared I have ever felt for a race. After doing the warm up lap I almost thought about bailing.  Most of the course was alright, but once we got to the "advanced" part of the course I almost shit my pants.  I was not expecting stairs, 10+% grade switchbacks w/ sharp 180 degree turns, or little bridges that were so narrow you would scrape your handlbebars going through them. Props to Nate & Ryan that claimed this was all "easy" and that I should calm down.

Once the race started things did get a bit easier though. I played follow the leader and stole other peoples lines through the technical stuff, and used my fitness to pass people on the non-technical parts.  I was gassed after two laps, but ended up finishing 15th out of 60, which was WAY better than I thought I was going to do.  To be honest at the end I just felt lucky I didn't kill myself on the stairs, and it was a bit of a wakeup call that I need to get in better shape for cylcocross season. I better stop skipping those Wednesday lunchtime rides @ Arastradero.

Congrats to Nate and Ryan for kicking ass, and to Alicia who got a podium finish in the women's beginner category.

Mens Sport 19-35 
Lap1: 14:16
Lap2: 13:41
Lap3: 14:36
Lap4: 14:19
--------
Total: 56:54 (15/60)

2013 Vineman 70.3

Vineman 70.3 – July 14th 2013 
Sonoma, CA
Swim: 33:54 ( 1:46 )
Bike: 2:29:22 ( 22.5 mph )
Run: 1:33:07 ( 7:07 per mile avg)
--------
Total: 4:41:13 ( 22nd AG / 110th OA )
Pre-Race: 

A little info about myself: I’m 32 years old, weigh 155 lbs, my FTPw is 260watts, and my VO2max is 69.2. The past two years I have finished vineman 70.3 in 4 hours and 41 minutes.  For 2013 my goals were a 30 min swim, a 2:30 bike, and a 1:30 run. Throw in ~ 5 minutes in transition and I was aiming for a 4:35 finish time.

5:30AM 3 Eggs, 3 pieces of bacon, toast and coffee.  ( 600 cal )
7:30AM Bannana + water
8:30AM Race Start

Swim (1.2mi):
I’m not a strong swimmer so usually I just try and survive the swim and try not to fall too far behind. This time was a little slower than usual but I managed to finish top 25% of my age-group.

Swim Total: 33:54

T1: 2:33

Bike (56mi):
I have been biking A LOT since this time last year. One because its fun, and two because I thought it would be a prime way to save some time and get closer to my 4:35 dream. For 2013 I wanted to try and hold a constant 215-225 watts over the race; A full 20 watts more than last year. Hopefully this should give me a nice bike split and leave enough gas left in the tank to run a 1:30 half marathon. 

Bike Nutrition:
 0-30min: H2O
30min: Honey Stinger Waffle (160 cal)
50min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks(66 cal)
1hr10min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks(66 cal)
1hr30min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks( 66 cal)
1hr50min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks( 66 cal)
 2hr10min: 2 Cliff Shot Blocks( 66 cal)
I drank 3x 22 oz bottles of water during the bike but I think this turned out to be too much water for the 63-67 degree weather because the last 2/3 of the bike course I really had to pee to the point where I was literally dreaming of the bathroom in the transition area, and every bump I went over on the bike was killing me. Yes this happened in 2011 too.

Bike Total: 2:29:22

T2: 2:17

Run (13.1mi):
There was no real strategy involved in the run other than i tried not to go out too fast, and i tried to keep it under 7 min miles for as long as i could. Going out slow helped because i had zero cramping during the run. The only discomfort was that i felt "tight" as the race went on, and around mile 10 my knees started hurting. The biggest hiccup I faced was that I stopped to visit the restroom at mile marker 1 and had to wait and entire 53 seconds for the guy to get out of there. 

Click to see run in Strava




Run Nutrition:
Mile 3: ½ Peach
Mile 6: ½ cup Gatorade
Mile 8: ½ cup Gatorade
Mile 11: ½ cup Gatorade
Misc: Drank ½ cup of water at every aid station & poured ½ cup of water on my head.

Run Total: 1:33:07

Race Total: 4:41:13

Lessons Learned. Apparently 4:41 is my magic number. 3 years in a row with the same time. The main difference was that i felt great during this one. I tried not to stress out too much before the race and i had wonderful support from the frechettes, my parents, and alicia. So both of those helped. I can also say that im in the best shape of my life. woohoo.  Next year if i actually go to masters swimming, and don't waste a minute in the john i should be able to reach my goal of 4:35. It wouldn't hurt to start earlier in the day either, but im not one for excuses. 



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