XTERRA

Vultures Knob went well yesterday but it was a very hard race. All the twists and turns and the hills and rocky downhills and general technical running made this one hard race but fun at the same time. I actually felt good in this race and had decent legs which always makes things better. It rained before the race and during for about the first 5k then it stopped. The trails weren't bad though but towards the end of the race near the pine forest it got a little greasy. I was with the lead group for about the first 4 or so miles and we were really moving and my heart rate was in the mid 170's and it would creep up a little higher on the hills, the downhills were nice and I was able to recover on them while keeping the pace up. I knew I couldn't keep that pace so I backed it off a little and a group of 4 came up shortly after and we stayed together for almost the remainder of the race. I went to the front with a mile to go and was pulling hard and another runner came by me and I tried to match his pace and by doing so we had gapped the other three and our group finished that way. Good racing with a hard last mile of the 9.5 mile course.

After we finished Nate and I changed from our wet muddy running stuff to clean dry bike clothes and rode the mountain bikes for about 1.5 hours. Good technical riding at the Knob as everyone that has ridden there knows. This was the first time I have ridden there since 1998 when we did the 24 hour race. I have to get out on the mountain bike more often now and get my tech skills back since I plan on doing a few mountain bike races this year.....I forgot how hard and fun mountain bike racing is.

Overall it was a good day. Nate was super fast and finished 2nd. overall and was rolling fast on the mountain bike as well, he's really dialed in right now and racing strong.
I was 2nd in the 40-49 age group and either 12th, 13th or 14th overall, it doesn't really matter though, I raced at my limit and couldn't have really given it any more. I had tired legs on the mountain bike though.............

Great race to all those that were there and to everyone that put it on, Thank You!