Waco XTERRA

Last weekend, I competed in the XTERRA South Central Championship in Waco, Texas. It was tough to leave the family with a new baby girl only one week old. Her name is Larsen Stella Middaugh and so far she is showing a lot of potential. The race went well, but Conrad was on another level that day. The river swim set me back out of the water and although I had the second fastest bike, Conrad was faster and he started the run with an insurmountable lead. The bike course was like no other with over 300 tight turns and very short steep climbs. It was hard to keep momentum through turns and hard to find a rhythm. Nico and I started the run together and battled for the first two miles. I was able to open up a small gap on the Frenchman and I kept pressing hard for the fastest run split of the day. Next up will be the Teva Mountain Games Ultimate Mountain Challenge on June 5th and 6th. I will kayak and mountain bike on Saturday and trail run and road bike time trial on Sunday. Then it is off to Alabama and Virginia for back to back XTERRAs. Oh, and I finish the first semester of my Masters in Human Movement next week.

XTERRA West Championship, April 25th

Sunday's race in Las Vegas was tough but my fitness felt good. It was my first open water swim of the season which made things interesting. I have been swimming a little faster in the pool this winter, but not fast enought to latch on to the front group of fast swimmers. I ended up in no-man's land for most of the swim but I felt like I held my pace ok and exited the water without too much of a deficit.

The bike course in Vegas was very rocky and very loose. It was my first race on the Felt Nine Team and I was making up good time on all the climbs and after the first lap it was Conrad first and I was about 40 seconds back. Conrad was flying on the descents and rocky sections. Into the second lap I was again gaining time on each climb and I was within about 20 seconds when disaster struck. I flatted about half way through the second lap. I quickly found the leak and I was able to plug it with a Genuine Innovations kit and I refilled it with air. It seemed to be holding but I knew I was losing time to Conrad quickly. By the time I rode into T2 I was about 2:15 down.


My run legs felt pretty good once I hit the climbs and I was about 1:25 down after the first lap of the run. I thought I might still have a shot and I charged the second lap. I came up a little short on the day, finishing 39 seconds down from Conrad Stolz. I knew that my run could only improve from last season but I surprised myself by turning in the fastest run split of the day. Maybe it was the new AVIA shoes? The Americans (Coloradans) finished well on the day with Brian Smith in third and Seth Wealing in fourth. Nico Lebrun from France was in Fifth.

Snowshoe Championships

"The National Snowshoe Championship on Saturday, March 6th was one of the toughest snowshoe races I have ever done. The field was the deepest talent that I have seen at a snowshoe race and the pace was hot from the beginning. Scott Gall wasn't going to leave anything to chance and he pushed the pace from the very start. The two of us had a gap on a very strong second pack before the first mile. Scott kept the pressure through the first 3 miles and I moved into the lead but couldn't shake him. The snow was so soft that every step was a struggle. I kept working every part of the course and every change in terrain looking for an advantage. Finally I was able to put just a small gap during a long climb around mile 4. I attacked every climb over the second half of the course and a couple seconds here and a couple seconds there added up to just enough to secure the win.

I think of snowshoe racing as a pure test of fitness. There were several athletes in the race that were faster road runners than me but that's not the only factor in snowshoe racing. I think that is where my triathlon training and altitude training becomes an advantage. Anything that slows the race down benefits me and the hills and soft snow in New York were the perfect recipe. I had two knee surgeries in November and just started running a little in February. I was a little worried that the pace would be too fast for me right now but I was ok.

The real advantage though is when athletes come to race me at altitude. Sunday was the Jeremy Wright North American Snowshoe Championship which starts around 10,000 feet and goes up from there. After such a tough race in New York the day before and a long day/night of traveling I wasn't sure how I would respond. fortunately I felt more comfortable and 'at home' in the Beaver Creek race and was able to build a very big cushion of almost 2 minutes. After the National race in New York I think everything is going to feel a little easier for a while."

Winter Recap

Since my IT band surgery in November I have been able to gradually work back my fitness. One of the first activities I was able to do (other than push-ups) was skate skiing. The next thing was skinning up the mountain and skiing down (usually at night after Ingrid got home from work and the boys were asleep). Those two activies brought back my aerobic fitness pretty quickly and I was able to start swimming and biking in January. I tried a little snowshoeing at the end of January and it felt pretty good. Before I knew it I was back to winter racing and I was able to put together a little string of victories:

Jan 23rd, Leadville Mountain Bike Series, 1st

January 30th, Pedal Power Winter Triathlon, 1st

February 7th, Beaver Creek Snowshoe Race, 1st

February 20th, Vail Winter Uphill, 1st

February 20th, Pedal Power Winter Triathlon, 1st

March 6th, USSSA Snowshoe National Championship, 1st

March 7th, Jeremy Wright North American Snowshoe Championship, 1st

The highlight of my winter was my back to back snowshoe victories, the first in New York on March 6th and the following day in Beaver Creek. I took a chance and it was worth the trip. I surprised myself with how quickly things have come around, but I know there is more work to do to bring my mountain bike and run around for the XTERRA season. My first XTERRA will be on April 25th in Las Vegas.