Rocky Mountain Endurance Series Starts this weekend

I hesitate to say that mountain biking season is upon us, as I believe mtb season is 12 months long, however, I guess the racing season is here. With several MORFers already displaying their midseason form, we're hitting the time of year where you'll see at least one MORF jersey at a local event every weekend, and some weeknights too. I'm planning on racing the Rocky Mountain Endurance Series this year, with five endurance mountain biking events this season. http://www.warriorscycling.com/home/home.php
I believe the races range from 60 to 100 miles, with the grand daddy being the Breck 100 in July. The first of this series is coming up this weekend down in Pueblo, CO, with 35 and 70 mile options. It's called the Voodoo Fire and the trails have been dubbed the Fruita of the east. If you're free this weekend, head down there. Should be a good early season test.

Xterra South Central Champs (the quick version)

MORF-er Debby got 2nd in her age group at Xterra South Centra Champsl today and qualified for Xterra Worlds today!

Xterra West Champs - Vegas

Big props to MORF's Josh Vaughn for a strong performance at Xterra's early season opener in Vegas yesterday. Josh has apparently been logging some quality training over the cold months. He's also been working his tail off to get all the other MORFers set-up with a new kit for 2011. Hard work has been much appreciated. Although the kit hasn't yet arrived, some early season form apparently has... and Josh made it into Xterra's photo coverage of Vegas:
2011 Xterra West Championship Photos

Looks like fun!

Is it Summer Yet?

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 Boulder 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.

2011 Race Schedule

The 2011 season is fast approaching. Below is a snapshot of races MORF will be competing.

March 27 Xterra REAL, Granite Bay, CA
April XTERRA West Championship
April Boulder-Roubaix Road Race
April Groove Subaru Spring Criterium
May Wheels of Thunder Circuit Race
May 14 XTERRA Moab
May 15 XTERRA Pacific
May 22 Summer Open, Boulder, CO
May 28 Pelican Fest, Boulder, CO
May 30 Boulder Bolder, Boulder, CO
June Loveland Lake to Lake, Loveland, CO
June City Park Criterium
June Winter Park Hill Climb
June Boulder Stroke & Stride Series
June XTERRA Pipestem Creek
June 19 5430 Sprint Tri, Boulder, CO
June Winter Park XC Super Loop, WP, CO
July Winter Park Valley Point-to-Point
July Winter Park Crankworx XC
July 10 5430 Boulder Peak Tri, Boulder, CO
July 17 Xterra Mountain Championship, Beaver Creek, CO
August 6 XTERRA Indian Peaks
August 7 Boulder 70.3, Boulder, CO
August XTERRA Bolt
August 20 Leadville 100 Run
August 27 XTERRA Lory
September Harvest Moon 70.3
September XTERRA National Championship, Ogden, UT
October XTERRA World Championship, Maui, HI

Updated website with some new sponsors!

In the year 2010 MORF put some fresh new equipment through the wringer called training and racing. It came out clean.

MORF Racing would like to announce its continued partnership with Tomac Mountain Bikes, Newton Running and Crank Brothers.
http://www.morfracing.com

Glad to affiliate.

2010 Season Opener

Xterra REAL was the first race of the season for MORF Racing. This was the third time I’ve raced here and it’s always a well organized event. Winter has been long, snowy and cold in Colorado and I’ve had too many days on my trainer. I really needed an early season race to get me back into Xterra mode!

I didn’t have much time to spend in California so I got a Saturday morning flight to Sacramento and got picked up at the airport by my friend Cliffy. We headed straight out to Granite Bay to pre-ride the course. It was the first time I had biked outside on trails in months. We also took a quick swim in the lake and much to my relief the water was not 45 degrees like it had been earlier in the week! In Denver it snowed a foot the week before the race, but in California it was warm, sunny and the weekend had great weather.

Sunday morning I headed out to the race site to set up my transition and warm up. Xterra races generally have a mass start, and I started near the front of the group and exited the water near the top 3 women. The 16 mile mountain bike had a great two lap course - the trails are very flowy, with only a few technical spots. I borrowed a bike from Cliffy that fit me great (thanks Cliff!, arrrrgh airline bike fees!) but the lack of biking I’ve done this winter showed as I got passed by several women on the bike. However, on the run I felt much stronger and very happy with my pace and my time. I ended up the 6th woman overall and 2nd in my age group. Overall it was great to get out and get an early season race in, and collect some Xterra points.

THANK YOU!!!! to Cliff and Janet for hosting me for the weekend!! Congrats to Cliff who won his age group!

The team will be participating in a few races coming up, including the Colfax Half, Battle at the Bear Mountain bike race, and then it’s tri season for real!