Xterra Crystal Cove

Another fun event put on by Trailrace.com...hard but beautiful course in the OC...Heather Fuhr showed up and had the third fastest time of all competitors...our own Beth Gerdes was second overall female...me, well this was a "character builder"...not a lot of miles going in plus a pre-race evening at the Belly Up made for dead legs today...still finished at 1:24 which is my PR for 15k (this being the first 15k I've done...LOL)!

Really well-supported event...kinda like a Tri Club race!

Now, no running for 3 weeks...yoga, pilates, healing...then 2008!

Mark

Iron mountain run

The view from the top of Iron Mountain

Mike and Zarah Lawson and I did Iron Mountain tonight. Perfect weather and view at the top. We're going to try to do this once or twice a month during the winter. Great training for Xterra!

Du Time

The club duathlons have started...the first was at Calaveras Hills in Carlsbad...I finished 5th! These are great fun and great winter training...

Ramona Ramble II

Ramona Ramble II went off today with a challenging ride from Poway, a run up Iron Mountain and a ride up to Dos Picos Park in Ramona for lunch...the ramble is a non-competitive event that gets you out to the country and on the trail for a day...the transition area at Iron Mountain is pictured.

Boot Camp

Very cool event put on as part of Fleet Week.

More serendipity...I was added at the last minute to BAE's Bravo 5-member team for the Marine Boot Camp Challenge. We had a great time...the Alpha team got second place in the corporate division.

5K course with hay bales, logs, water, tunnels and DIs in your face...where were the monkey bars, rope courses and nets?

TCSD was there in force and showed well. Cami won her division; Michelle was second in hers and Farah, Courtney and the rest of "Run DMC" was third in the 5 member female division. Where were the guys?

Nice post-race meal with the TCSD crowd; nice post-race fun with the a few of the BAE team at KarlFest.

Oooo-rahhh Marines!

Borrego Camp

Coming up soon...have to get back on the bike and get some miles in!

TCSD Borrego Camp
October 19-21
Palm Canyon Campground
Anza-Borrego State Park

Superfrog Relay

Got put on a relay team at the last minute...I'm glad I trained (a little) for the sand running! The day was epic...stormy/choppy for the swim, windy for the bike, clear and warm in the middle, then cool and rainy at the end of the run. My relay team consisted of a Navy officer for the swim, a disabled vet for the bike and me for the run. In some ways I had the easiest part.

The run started off well as I was warmed up and ready to go (I got there with the rest of the athletes at 6 a.m. and chilled in the car while my mates were slogging it out in the rain and wind!) Fred blazed into the transition, I attached the chip and was off. My friend and personal running "coach" Suzanne Tignor was 30 seconds behind me out of T2 as a solo competitor (BTW she came in 7th overall...impressive first half IM!) Suzy blazed by me like I was walking (although I think I was gaining on her at the end!)

My plan was to do the first 3 (of 5) loops at my long run workout pace (9:15), then see what I had left for loops 4 and 5. Lap 1 no problem with the sand. I went fast on loop 2 as the competitive juices started flowing. Lap 3 all good. Dialed it up a notch in lap 4 on the pavement and hardpack sand...started to fatigue in the soft stuff. I was hoping to break 2 hours but I needed to do laps 4 and 5 in 21 minutes and it just wasn't there today! Lap 5 was cool as we got horizontal rain from the last cloud in the sky...Andy Concors passed me on the soft sand but I had a kick that the individual competitors didn't have...sorry Andy!

Crowd support was great...TCSD was out in force...thanks for the encouragement guys! My team ended up winning our division...so we get a plaque!

I love this event...I'll be back for more...maybe as a individual competitor in the future!

(picture at right is of Fred Liebel and I accepting congratulations as winners of our division)