Cyclocross Montana Style

This weekend was the Rolling Thunder cyclocross races in Montana. Kris and I have been racing a little over the past 3 weekends and I was a little nervous about racing. Last year I hadn't been training and did the race just because we were there for Kris to race so I was very humbles last year. I was hoping to change that this year. For me it all started with the call ups, I think the race world of Montana must like me, they called up Lisa Curry then Liz English. Then they ramble on about this great racer from Spokane that is always one to look out for. I thought they were calling up on of the other girls from Spokane, and there it was Shannon Holden, I was caught off guard and rolled up. I was giggling a bit and made a comment about how he must have a start list from 5 years ago. Lisa then proceeds to tell Liz how I lapped her when she came over to race. It was funny. Anyways I got a great start. I rode my own race and moved into 5 the early one and was king of in no mans land. With three to go I knew I had locked in 5th, I had more in me and no one too close. I was so stoked, I made podium!!! I was pretty excited. It got me stoked for the rest of the season. I have been working full time and with with three kids so training is limited. Racing into shape, not such a bad way to go. Sunday....I was tired, we got to bed late since I raced at 6:30 pm and Kris at 8 pm. It was late by the time we got to bed and didn't really eat right. So lacking calories for sure. I was a little nervous, I knew it was going to be tough. The curse was more technical today so I knew. I just needed to use my handling skills from Mtb and I would be fine. The race started and I had a great start. I tucked in right behind Lisa and tried to stay on her wheel. She pulled hard the first lap and pulled away a little...." I tend to pull up on the last few laps. Anyways. Jayne came around on the second lap and tried to pull away from me. My husband always tells me it is only 10 seconds of pain to get on, so I tried it. Everything I had for 10 seconds and I was on her wheel. I followed her until the decent she too the open line and I took the inside technical line and she went down and I went by. It was Sony the second lap but I attacked. Jayne is a power house, she is scary fast on the straights. My teammate Sara Johnson stuck to my wheel and we went for it. We rode out little hearts out and stayed upright (which was key). With two laps to go Jayne wasn't too far back, so Sara was really putting a move on. She can still out descend me so I knew I needed to just stay upright and hammer everything else. So I rode hard but conservative the last lap, I may have lost a little in the technical part, but managed to make up time on Lisa the last 2 laps and place 2nd. It was a great weekend of racing. Can't wait for next year.

Roslyn Rush MTB race

So at the beginning of the week I asked my husband if he would mind going to Roslyn, WA and letting me race. As you all know we both race Mountain bikes in the Open/Pro fields so many times we are flipping a coin for who gets to race. I have been working full time and just haven't been able to race much this year, so I resorted to begging him to let me race. He agreed and Saturday morning we packed up the 3 kiddos and headed out. We first made a stop in Wenatchee to see Kris's Dad and Step Mom, we camped in their back yard cause the kids had been begging to camp. It wasn't too bad, Oliver my 2 year old was so excited he couldn't settle down at all. It was after 9pm before they were asleep (they usually go to bed around 7:30-8:000. Adrienne stole my blankets so from 1:30 on I was chilled. We survived and even plan on camping again this next weekend. Once packed up we hit the road and drove to Roslyn. I was a little nervous, it had been awhile since I had raced and I really haven't put in any sort of intensity training so I didn't know what to expect. Roslyn is a very small mountain town, Dante's Peak was actually filmed there. I think that might be the only thing that it is known for. Anyways I signed myself up and got ready to race. I chose to ride the Ibis tranny cause I had heard there was quite a bit of climbing so I thought I might like it better. Well I hadn't changed anything out on it and by the time my husband offered to switch out cranks so I might have some climbing gears, it was 10 min to go time. There were only a few girls racing, but they were fast. So we got a good start, I knew I wanted to start out somewhat reserved because there were 3 laps and I didn't pre ride and had no idea of what I was getting into. I started a good pace, but the first mile was a steep one, it was all I could do to keep the gear going that I had. So I rode past the girls and lead it out. Natalie, who is a friend of mine from Spokane, stuck to my wheel. Once you get on top, it is just rolling, still a lot of tough little climbs. Then a sweet descent with sweeping fun singletrack that then turns into some sandy techy switchbacks. We were hauling, passing a few men along the way. It then has a second shorter loop to it that was rolling also, it was tough though, this section I was wishing I had my Mojo SLR or a 29er. It was rutted and bumping, there was a meadow that was just brutal. It was all I could do to try and keep some sort of speed through this section. I had let Natalie lead for a little on the second lap and she pulled away in this section. I didn't see her again that lap. I headed out for lap number 2 and my family was on the climb cheering me on. It was awesome, Noah running behind me, Adrienne screaming something I couldn't understand, and Oliver saying Go Mama!! Brought a smile to my heart and kept me pushing on. I wasn't sure how long the legs would last pushing such a hard gear, cause I really hadn't put in any sort of race intensity in over a month. I let my head get to me a little. We got towards the end of that lap and I saw the girl that was in 3rd, I gave myself a little pep talk. I knew I was going to be alright and needed to put a move on. So I hammered the next lap. I had no Idea where Natalie was, but I was going for it. I saw the family again in the woods excited to grab a bottle (it was hot). The kids were hot too and well they drank my feed. They were still an inspiration and I just kept climbing. It really hurt this time, there were a few pitches I wasn't sure I was going to make, but I did. My husband said something about Natalie and her husband Jeff, I had gotten the impression that Natalie had passed her husband, and I was a little shocked. That meant she was flying, so I really had no thought at that point I might catch her. So next mission was to minimize the damage, good thing I kept on it, because I came around a corner on the second half and saw her jersey. I was so excited... race is on!! I poured it on, she saw me coming on the next corner and well.... From then on I couldn't make an inch on her. So I was left with being 20-30 seconds behind. ( My last lap was over a minute faster than the other laps and I made up more than a minute on 1st) The funny thing about me is I can go the same pace for a long time, I would have made it one more lap and probably would have been able to pas her. I wished I had raced more in the past few months so I would have had that intensity. I was so happy though, I had forgotten how much I love to race and compete. It was an awesome course and I will be back next year.

Mt. Spokane on the Tranny

So over the past few months I have gotten pretty use to the awesomeness of the Ibis Mojo SLR. Such a sweet, smooth, fast bike. Well I love mine so much I made the decision to get Kris (hubby) one for a fathers day/birthday present. He was pretty excited. So he got it dialed in but the only problem is we only have 1 rear wheel with a through axel, so we have to share. So this week it was his turn, so I was riding the Ibis Tranny hard tail. I was a little leery to take it down treacherous trees so I made Kris switch out seat post and put the dropper post on. I had so much fun riding up Mt Spokane on that bike, it was so fast climbing. I felt amazing. We climbed to the top and I dropped the post and I was so amazed at how much fun I had on that hard tail descending. Anyone that knows Mt. Spokane knows how technical treacherous trees is and that the Downhillers shuttle just to ride it. So I was so pumped to ride it well without the travel of the Mojo SLR. Needless to say it was a beautiful day and we had a blast of a ride with good friends.

Enduro Time

I am finally managing to get a free moment to write about my first Enduro. We had decided to head to the middle of the state for XC and Enduo races at the Loup Loup Mountain near Twisp Washington. We had the kids and no sitter so we split the weekend. I had just gotten a dropper post and was really excited to ride and and Kris hadn't quit gotten his Mojo SLR dialed in. So he road XC and I the Enduro( and what fun it was). There wasn't much said about the Enduro prior to the race except it would be 35 miles long with 3 decents. Well final stats looks something like this. 43 total min of descending and 3hrs 20min of climbing. I was so excited to be riding and be on the Mojo SLR. We climbed to the first decent, which I had crashed pretty hard the prior week and was a little on the cautious side for the first decent. It was AWESOME!!! Some technical areas thrown in with a few sweet switch backs. They ran us 30 seconds apart, I was so stoked to not get passed by any guys. I wasn't totally use to the dropper post yet so I had some trouble figuring out where the lever was on my handle bar and getting the seat in the right spot. There were a few steep ups in which one I ended up running, because I was in the big ring with the seat down. All in all I had an alright run. Then we climbed for I think an hour, Erika and I actually thought we had missed something and were just off in the middle of nowhere. We finally came up on it, I let Erika go first this time. As much as I liked being chased, I love to chase other riders down. There wasn't much technical about this decent, just fast super fun single track. I worked hard to try and catch Erika. I was starting to feel a little better about descending and less worried about being thrown down again. The Mojo SLR was again AWESOME, I swear the faster you ride that bike, the smoother she rides. We climbed again for another hour, this time it was brutal. It was almost the same climb, but it was now mid day and sooooo hot. We got to the final decent. This was my favorite, just enough technical to be tricky but still fun. I launched the Mojo SLR through 2 creeks, I almost didn't make one of them. So happy for the dropper post or I would have been taking a bath. There was some tricky rock sections. I let Erika go behind me this time I was racing my little heart out. It was no longer a matter of looking ahead and wondering if something was ride able, but how fast can I get thru it. I am not a Downhiller by nature and I usually am not thinking that way. Well about half way down I lost my chain ( I have broken my chain 2 times in the past month or so)so I was a little worried about trying to ride it back on. So I stopped and got it back on, at that point I was sure Erika would come up on me. When she didn't I hopped back on the bike and all I remember thinking was.. Go, Go, Go, Go over and over in my head. It was fun, the best part about it was when we weren't being timed, we could all ride together, something that doesn't happen in a race. I managed a 2nd in the Open Pro Women so I was pretty happy with myself. I think there might be a few more in my future, however I need to get my hands on a Mojo HDR 650b. Thanks to Vanderkitten and Ibis!!!

Stottlemeyer 60 mile MTB Race- Back on my bike.

A few months ago we had asked Kris's mom to watch the kids so we could go and race the Stottlemeyer 60 miler. It is 60 miles of amazing singletrack on the Olympic Penninsula in Washington. Kris had raced last year and swore that I would love it. I had been training for the Boston Marathon and well have been more of a weekend warrior on my bike. The week prior we raced in a local race Beacon and Legs and I managed a 2nd place in the Open Pro Women Catagory, which I was excited about considering the intensity of the race. Besides that I hadn't done much for speed work so I had decided to give the 60 miler a try. I guess I kind of figured if we were driving all that way I might as well get my money and times worth of single track. I knew that my training was sub par for such a long race, I was expecting to be out there for upwards of 6 hours and my longest ride this year was 2 1/2 and longest run was 3 1/2hours. In my heart I wanted to do well.... I think we all do. I knew the facts though and was hoping to have a good time and come in under the 6 hour mark. There were 19 women in the open women catagory, and we were starting with the singlespeed and men 50+ catagory. It is a fire road slight downhill to start and then an almost 2 miles small climb out to the laps. I started off fairly good and had a good position going into the first lap, I wasn't really sure where I was among the women though. So I started my lap off and tried to settle in. It is amazing technical rooty, turny, fun singletrack. Right up my alley. I rode most of the first lap by myself, I was alright with this, I could just settle into my own pace. I had decided to ride the Ibis Mojo SLR, which was awsome. Such a smooth ride and light enough to feel fast climbing. By the end of the last lap a group had caught up to me with one other girl in it. It caught on the back of it since I didn't know the trails and followed for the rest of the lap. I was impressed with the other girl, she was riding smooth. turns out she had been training on the trails the prior few weekends, and knew them pretty well. That group got a little lead on me when I decided to get some nutrients on one of the small fire road connectors and they took off. I decided I had 3 more of these 13+ mile loops and I needed to settle in. So I just set a goal for myself of completeing the next lap within a few minutes of the first and then keeping that pace for the final 2 laps. The 30 milers had now started and we were passing a lot of them. They were the nicest racers ever, they would get over and let me by and then cheer for me after I passed them. It was awsome. I finished my second lap in 1hr 25, I was getting pretty tired by now, I was almost at the 3 hour mark. My arms were hurting and my legs were starting to feel tapped, I wasn't the smartest and probably should have stopped for more food, but I get into race mode and just eat whatever I have in my pockets (GU, Power gels, Clif blocks). About 10 minutes after I would take one I would feel better and my attitude would come around. About half way thru the 3rd lap I come up on the girl who had passed me prior. So I pass her and she hangs on my wheel, until we got to the feed station. She stopped for food and I never saw her again. I managed another 1hr 25 lap and was headed out for the last lap. I knew I was tired and there would be a 2 mile ride back to the finish after the lap was done. So I decided to set a goal of finishing by 5hrs 40mins. Well I wouldn't say I had an amazing last lap, but I stayed consistant and finished in 5hrs 35min. I had no idea where I had finished among the women racing, I was hoping I had done well. Kris had finish before me and was waiting for me to finish so we could start driving the 5 hours home. Once I got some fuel in me and changed we hit the road. I had decided to text my friend and ask her if she could check and see how I had done. She texted me back and told me I had won. I actually thought she was joking, but it was true. I had won. It was pretty exciting. Not only did I get to have fun and race 5 1/2 hours on amazing single track, I won doing it. I was a pretty happy girl! Kris managed a 7th place which was awsome.

Boston Marathon- A Love/Hate relationship with Marathoning

It took me awhile to write about the Boston Marathon 2013, I supose for obvious reasons. As most athletes know it takes a lot to prepare for a Marathon, and for Boston it requires preparing for 2 Marathons. By the time you are done training you have spent a year plus working on your goal. My Dad is an amazing runner, he is an inspiration to me and my sisters. One of his many dreams was to run Boston Marathon with each of his girls. My sisters had already done Boston with my Dad and now it was my turn. Boston is an amazing race and I was excited to train and qualify for it. So we decided 2013 was the year to complete this. It all started Fall of 2011 when we began training for the Carlsbad marathon. I did the Carlsbad Marathon in January of 2011, it was a pretty awsome race. I was suppose to do it with my Dad, but his heart decided to go into Atrial Fibrillation about 3 weeks prior. So he was out and planned on running just the first half with me if his A.fib would permit. Well it wasn't in the books for him so I was for the most part on my own. I managed to squeek out a 3:28 marathon which was my fastest by over 10 minutes. I was pretty excited because I didn't train the way I use to and I had a 8 month old. It didn't come without its consequences though I had IBS so bad that it took me out for the enitre day. So Nana had to take my place and hit Lego land with my kids and husband. The IBS was bad enough that I am quite honestly scared of Marathons for this reason. By July, my Dad finally got the right mix of medication to get his A. Fib under control and qualified at the Missoula Marathon. We were Beantown bound, and so excited. In January 2013 my training for the marathon picked up again. I didn't really make a plan for traiing, just to keep increasing my miles every weekend. So my Dad and I started on this journey again. There is just nothing to replace the time I got to spend training for Boston with him. The long runs and conversations, the freezing cold weather, the rainy days, and snowy runs too. It is something that is special that I don't think that many "kids" get to do when they are 36 years old. So I think it is pretty awesome. It was a rather bumpy road of training, many injuries along the way this time. It was frustrating to say the least. It seemed like I was just fighting off injuries (peroneal tendonitis, knee pain, hip issues, hot hamstring) and just trying to survive until the big day. I knew I had to keep my focus on my Dream, I just needed to finish Boston. I tried to tell myself to not expect a miracle or a PR for that matter. We would all love to see everything come into place on race day and have the race of our lives at a race like Boston, but it doesn't always happen that way. I had finally gotten the ankle pain/peroneal tendonitis manageable, when the last 20 miler before the race went downhill. I had a new hip pain that was really annoying that must have made me run funny because it set off my left hamstring. I tried to both ingnore and baby them until race day, but it wasn't looking like I was going to be racing injury free or pain free for that matter. It had finally come....race day Boston Marathon 2013. It was a little sureal to me, over a year of planning and it was race day. The crazy thing about this particular marathon is they bus 27,000 people out to Hopkington, MA and you run back to Boston. So we had to get on the subway at 5am to catch the bus out there. It is about an hour ride where you get to sit and listen to all these runners talk about their goals, achievements, theories on running fast, ect. It almost makes you more nervous. I wish I could say I was super positive and ready to race, but unfortunately I spent at least half the ride trying to figure out how I was going to ignore this nagging hip. Finally they dump you at the high school where there is an "Athlete Village" that you get to hang out at for the next 2-3 hours. It was crazy 27000 runners waiting for go time, lets just say the toilets were in full use. Once it is your waves turn to head to the start line, you dump your gear bag at a bus and start walking the 1 mile to the start line. We managed to borrow a black pen and write our names on our arms, there are 27,000 runners and probably even more spectators, so you want them to know your name when you go by so they will cheer for you. So we made sure to get marked up. At this point we are pretty psyched up. We get to the start line and I am in race mode, ready to get this going. They line you up according to your qualifying time, so theoretically we should have a great start. Well it took us almost 3 minutes to get to the start line and our first 2 miles were well over 8:30 pace, almost an entire minute per mile slower than what we had hoped for. We were a little frusterated about that, it was so crowded we were having to adjust pace and move around slower groups. Not exactly what you want for a marathon. (It stayed that way clear thru almost 20 miles) After we finished the 2nd mile were getting closer to our 7:30 pace and by mile 6 we were averaging 7:40's which means we had hauled to make up for the messy start. It wasn't at all what I had expected. It was both amazing and frustrating. The spectators were amazing, I think that spectators lined the entire 26.2 miles. I am not sure I ever saw an empty spot. I was completely impressed with Boston. About the time I was thinking this was going to be our day, we were going to run fast and we were going to PR.... my stomach went sour. I think it must have been mile 12 or something, not sure, but it came on quick and I was in the woods. We got right back on pace and well mile 16 I was in the bathroom again. This time we had to wait and it was frustrating, we had lost our few minutes we had for cush. We started back up running and Dad says "hang on a minute, something is up with my foot". It took a few steps but he got going again and we actually got back on pace. (You should have seen his foot that night....gross) We were doing great, a few set backs, but we were putting it out there. Dad was flying down the decents and I was hammering up the hills, we were a great match. Up until about mile 20.... I let my Dad go on a downhill and my hamstring came up bad when I went to catch him on the up. (I still think it had to do with me running funny from the hip issue.) Remember when I said we wrote our names on our arms, well with all the people cheering for Dan... I don't think he could hear me. So I wanted my Dad to go for it, I was excited for him. Go get the 3:20 marathon we came for, one of us ought to try!!!! So I let him go. The next 4 miles were the hardest mentally, my hammy hurt but wasn't pulled and well 2 more bathroom stops. I was letting my mind get me down, because I wasn't on pace. It wasn't until mile 24 and the Citgo sign (those that have done Boston know what I am talking about) that I thought to myself what am I doing???? This is Boston, you go for it, you will probably never come back. Don't let yourself down!! So I managed to muster up everything that was left and drop it down to 7:30 pace again. Painful...yes, but I figured that at this point if I pulled my hamstring I could just walk it in. I turned the last corner and gave it my all. I was so excited..... I was going to finish the Boston Marathon, 11 minutes slower than I wanted, but I was going to finish. I am pretty sure I gave it one last sprint and finished with a smile. That smile didn't last long and the excitment from finishing was cut short about 30 minutes later...... Once I finished, I just wanted to find my Dad. I am not a crowd person and well I just wanted to get out of the craziness. I thought my Dad was in front of me so I moved as quickly as I could, which was snail pace, toward the buses with our gear bags in them. I was really hoping to find my Dad there, I got there and he wasn't there so I put on my extra clothes and headed to the family meeting area. I don't race with a phone and neither does my Dad, we had planned on being together at the finish so we didn't see the point. Well since things don't always go as planned I had to ask to borrow a phone. I called my Mom to tell her Dad had finished in front of me and if he called I would meet him in the Family meeting area. She had told me he actually finished behind me by 2 minuets(oddly enough our time at the 40K was almost equal, must have been on opposite sides of the road). This concerned me a bit, I was hoping he was just waiting for me. I found out later as I was rushing thru the finish area, he was taking his time hoping to run into me as he thought I was behind him. It wasn't long after I got to this area that I hear 2 huge booms. In my heart I new it wasn't good, but I tried to think that maybe it was a cannon blasting, afterall it was Patriots day, or maybe two trains colliding. I new it was way to loud for either of those. I was about 2 or 3 blocks away and just around the corner so I didn't really know what was going on, but I was starting to freak out about where my Dad was. I called my Mom back with another borrowed phone, hoping he had called her, but he hadn't. I continued to wait in the meeting area for quite some time. I walked between the letters B and H, and spent a little time in the bathroom with my IBS. I finally got wind of what had happened and I knew I needed to get out of the area. So it took some convicing myself to leave without finding my Dad. As I started walking I was so busy having big talk with God, I had gone the wrong way. I was scared... scared for my Dad, scared for myself, for my husband,kids, and family at home, scared for the millions of people around me. All these toughts and feelings came rushing into my head, all after running 26.2 miles. It was a lot to take on. I asked God to keep me from panicing, to keep me and my Dad safe, to give me peace that no matter what happened next that it would be ok. I asked him for a way to contact my husband to let him know I was alright, by this time you could only text. I asked a couple when I got to Boston Commons if I could borrow their phone to call my husband, but it didn't work. She had just finished the marathon when the bombs went off, she was right there. Her husband came running out of the stands, across the finish line to make sure she was alright. I now knew what had happened, and I was more frightened. I walked as fast as I could to the subway station, it was closed. I saw the back of a man who I thought was my Dad and I started running to him, my heart lightened, when I saw him I started crying. It wasn't my Dad. The couple caught up with me and asked if I would like to use their land line at the hotel, they were staying about 2 blocks away. I took them up on the offer, I was shaking from being so cold and so upset. From there I was able to call my husband and family to let them know I was alright. It was another 1 1/2 hours before they heard from my Dad again and when Uncle Lars pick Dad up at the subway station in Belmont I was finally able to talk to him. I sobbed, I couldn't stop. I was so thankful, he was alright. It took them about 45minutes to get into Boston again to pick me up. When I finally was able to hug my Dad I couldn't let go, I couldn't stop crying. The 4 hours of not knowing was horrifying, not knowing if he was safe, or if I was safe, if more bombs were going to go off, and my personal worst fear....would I see my husband and kids agian. Even sitting here writing this down I can't seem to describe what it was really like, what I really felt. There was just too many emotions in the hours after. I can't imagine what it was like for my Dad becuase he had no idea when I finished or if I was ok until he was able to call home from the Belmont subway. I can't imagine what it was like for my husband, my mom, and my sisters who were stuck in Spokane watching the news not knowing what was going to happen. It was a horrible day, those that lost their lives, those that are forever scared, those that didn't get to finish, those that couldn't. We all had very different experiences that day, and we will all be forever changed by the events of the 2013 Boston Marathon. I now sit here and pray that God will not only help me though it but make me stronger because of it. I pray for those families that lost loved ones, those that were injured, and those of us who are emotionally traumatized. I will end with this.... I love my life, I love God and the life he has given me, I love my husband and kids, I love my family, I love my friends. As much as I love all of this, Gods love for me and you is above all. He gave his Son so that we may be forgiven for our sins. With all the evil in this world, in the end......God will Win. So even if the Marathon didn't go as planned and the evil that happened after, I love God and with that I still won.

Out of gas and in the fast lane

Out of gas and in the fast lane is probably the best description of my year thus far. Way to busy at work, not enough time with my kids and husband, too much laundry and cooking to be done, and well just sick way to much. So it has left me out of gas in the fast lane of life. I think this just came with me to the race this weekend, because it pretty much sums up my race. This past weekend was the start of the race season for Kris and I. It was bittersweet leaving the kids home to go and race. Usually we take them and Grandma with us, but there just isn't much in Echo, OR. So Kris and I got up early and headed out. As many of you know I am training for the Boston marathon in April and that has been my focus. I have been running more than mountain biking. I was pretty excited to get out and race on great single track and to see how my new Ibis Mojo raced. The race starts out with a neutral start which I tend to try and stay near the front and over to the side. As soon as we all hit the dirt the race was on and well I am not really sure legs understood this. I think most of the pack went right by me and well there wasn't a thing I could do about it. Some of it I blame on my endruance running legs that haven't used anything fast twitch in months and some of it on the sinus infection I had. None the less it was an awful start for me. Once I found my legs I had a heck of a time trying to pass people on the single track. The course winds around every where on the side hills and for the most part you couldn't tell where you were. I started trying to keep track and from what I could tell I was making up some serious ground about 1 1/2 hours in and I was finally feeling like I might be able to make up for my start. I was getting in the grove climbing and the Mojo was descending beautifully. I was in a great place mentally and physically. The course then comes back to the feed station where we hook in with the short course. We are going to be merging single track with racers of the short course. There were races wheel to wheel all the way up the hill. At this point I had to pretty much give up any hope of making up time or catching anyone. I decided I would just have fun and well I still manage to pass about 40 riders, but it didn't help place wise. I finished the race pretty far back, but was happy. I rode hard and got a great workout it. I had randomly decided to wear my heart rate monitor, which I never do, and well I was shoked when my average HR was 176 for 2:45 minutes and maxed at 189. I would say that was a good effort and that the sinus infection my have affected me more than I wanted it to. Needless to say I still love racing even when not at my finest. Kris on the otherhad had an awsome race. He pulled out a 4th place overall which may have been his best placing in a long while at such a big event. He said he had a great race and felt great racing, sounds like a great start to the season. Now I am back to putting on the running shoes and getting some miles in before April. Hopefully I can talk my Noah into running a few with me, Noah is 7 now and has and is an amazing runner. It is so awsome to have him be at an age he can do more with us. Adrienne is 4 yo and Oliver 20 months, they provide me with the weight training portion of my runs.