Before my 2011 season starts... a look back on 2010:
MORF opened it’s season this weekend with fantastic performances at Xterra Las Vegas and the Mead-Roubaix race. However, I’m not racing for a few more weeks -- so I thought it’d be a great time to give a quick 2010 recap! The race reports I never got around to writing! I raced A TON last summer, at least for me -- almost every weekend found me packing, driving, and racing. Needless to say, I had a ton of fun, and raced fast!
I raced the Bo
ulder Stroke and Stride Series, the Boulder Tri Series, several XTERRAS, I filled in as a last minute replacement for an injured friend in a relay at the Firecracker 50, and I raced as much as I could at the Winter Park Series. I was super pleased by my performances -- this was my second season working with Jamie Whitmore and all of our hard work showed! I started the season with a 2nd place age group finish at Xterra REAL in Califonia, and then ran a 1:35:59 in the Colfax Half Marathon -- just meeting my goal time of 1:35! The weekly Stroke and Strides were great -- I found my run getting faster and faster, and I learned how to push myself during these races. I had a lot of fun racing each Thursday night and trying to run faster than I had the last week.
As I prepared for my first road tri in over a year, I was not sure how I would do going into the Boulder Sprint and I was ecstatic when I placed 2nd in my age group at both the Boulder Sprint and Boulder Peak. I had a long-time goal of breaking 5 hours in a 70.3, but leading up to the Boulder 70.3 I decided I really wanted to break 4:50 and podium. That lead to an initial disappointment in my 4:50:32 performance and 4th place finish -- but then I learned that 4th place was a podium! YAY! The girls who placed ahead of me were both great people and fast racers -- I raced against most of them at each of the Boulder Tri Series and we really pushed each other to do our best. It’s thanks to them that I was able to race so fast! I also couldn’t be too disappointed in my time because I had been focusing on XTERRA and mountain biking and hadn’t exactly been training for this distance. My longest ride on my tri bike that summer had been a 50 mile bike two weeks before the race. And, I achieved a 19 minute PR for this distance... So it was a finish of “YAY! .... but I could’ve...”. As I guess many races are.
I also competed at the XTERRA Mountain Championships at Beaver Creek, and for the first time podiumed at an XTERRA Regional Championship!! I was so pleased! I had some great competition this day, and was really pleased with the outcome!
After a heavy season of racing I was a little burnt out by the time XTERRA Nationals came along and did not feel as strong as I hoped going into the race, and I was not as excited by my 4th place finish.... I had really hoped to podium. But the competition was good, and my good friend and new-MORFer Debby placed 3rd with an incredibly strong bike, so I was happy with the overall outcome!
I have a new plan for next year with lots of fun racing but a bit more rest, so I can be as strong at the end of the season as I am the rest of the summer!
A BIG thanks to
Jamie Whitmore, who coached me last summer, to
Newton Running, whose shoes I have been running in for YEARS, to
Gu for their tasty and energy-providing nutrition,and to Dave at
Redstone Cyclery, who is super helpful and has a great shop in Lyons, CO.
