Beast of the Southeast off-road triathlon

BEcause of that injury I managed to get in during a pre-ride I had to opt out from Saturday's fun. The pro's raced in a grueling 1200m? swim, 4 lap bike course (approx 17 miles) and 4 lap run course (5+ miles). They did all this starting at NOON! As much as I wanted to race with them I was sort of relieved that I had some time to recover and that I don't be racing in this heat on Sunday morning. It was pretty awesome seeing Dan Hugo dominate the field however Josiah Middaugh wasn't too dar behind and one or two more laps and he could've caught Dan. My race on Sunday was a shortened version of the pro race. only 3 laps on the bike and the run to make things a little more human for the average person. Like usual I set up transition in the last minute when everyone was already in the water. Some 20 or so lined up by the first buoy. Shortly after the start I found myself just behind the leader and slowly caught up to him and passed just as we started the second lap. My new De Soto wetsuit is either really fast or my swim workouts are finally lining up or both. I didn't stay in the first place too long as I sam off-course towards the last buoy. I knew there was something off so I stopped, even asked the guy behind me if we were swimming the right way. He said yea so I kept swimming only to hear him again after a few strokes yelling at me to stop and look where the rest of the field was swimming. Sure enough I managed to get a good 30" behind had to take a 90 turn to swim back on course. I ended up in the transition in 2nd place. Not even a mile into the bike I passed for 1st and maintained that position for the rest of the race. On the bike I gained a lot more confidence as I entered in the third lap. My split also dropped and I held off Josh Lewis who was coming up from a 4+ minute deficit in his relay team after the swim. On the run I ran just enough to keep the hammer down and run smoothly and more importantly without injuries. I had a fun two weeks in Alabama then in Tennessee. I wish I could have stayed for the XTERRA East Championships but I had to come back to work. The plan is to work(out) as hard as I can the next few months to reduce the gap between me and some of the pros. I know I have it in me I just need to dig it out. These past weeks made me sure that I am on the right path I just need to get in some more intensity and a more structured workout schedule. Thanks to my wife, Anna whose continuing support helps me get through the tougher days.

BEast of the Southeast Super Sprint

It was my very first time competing triathlons that I toed the start line with the professionals, the very best off-road triathletes of the world. I wasn't as scared as it sounds, in fact I was rather excited to see how I fare against them. I was rather afraid of the course itself and how my recent muscle strain will affect my race. I happened to fall during pre-riding the course just hours before the race and pulled my neck muscle bad enough to give me discomfort while turning my head or bending over. The water was very shallow so we had to line up quite far from the shore. The swim was fast and short. At around 200yards it ended before I could have picked up the pace. I am not sure if I wasn't the last out of the watet but I sure wasn't the last leaving T1. I quickly passed another athlete then another who happened to get stuck on a tree that went through his spokes. I rode in no man's land and got of the bike about 1000m behind the leaders. Ohh well.. I knew I wasn't going to be in contest with the best but I sure didn't want to take last either. I missed going through the finish line just before the T2 instead had to back track an go through tapes to find my way into the transition. I sprinted out and sprinted almost the entire 1.3 miles through the technical forest and caught Damien Gonzalez only about 500m to go. He hrld off good going downhill so I had to find some long-time-used gears to go past him. The race was rather quick for me and had hard time finding the rhythm (all- out speeds). When I am typing this I had to forfeit the pro race at noon on Saturday because I woke with the worst neck and shoulder pain I have ever had. I will have to call it a day and just watch the pros and amateurs doing the short course mtb race and hope that I will get better by tomorrow morning where I can compete in the amateur off-road tri at 9am. I am excited to race and see how I'll do on this quick but technical course. We shall see. 

XTERRA Southeast Championships trail run recap

Because the race a day ago didn't quite turn out the way I had hoped for I wanted to make up for it at the trail run. I figured if there was anyone to run with I will try to hang on and relax for the first loop then pull away if I had more left in the tank. As we lined up at the start line I noticed the winner of the Vegas half marathon winner, Roberto Mandji and the uber athlete Josiah Middaugh. I already knew it wasn't going to be an easy stroll. What I wasn't sure was how much the triathlon took out of Josiah. Well.. I received the answer rather quick. 5 of us stayed together for a good while then it was just Roberto, Josiah and me. We were started 10 minutes after the 10k mu run participants and quickly caught up to them. On the twisty- turny singletrack trails it was rather difficult to pass them. We managed to go the loop with only one hiccup when Roberto tackled a gal. Funny thing was as we both tried to help Roberto up then ran off inly to hear the gal shouting after us that " .. and don't worry about me, I'm OK, too". I felt bad for her. Though it happened so fast I didn't see her. We completed the first lap in just 7.5k only to question the actual distance we will cover by the end. It was at the start of the second loop when I dropped the band I was given, lost some fround on the guys and took me a while to recover. When I caught up we just reached the trails again and my feet strted hurting, too. I happened to run in my Pearl Izumi Iso Seek tri shoes with loose lacing.. What was I thinking? At every turn when I had to support myself my feet were sliding in the shoes, generated some friction and eventually created some nice blisters. I hit the wall sometime around 10k then just cruised to the finish as I had no one in front of me nor behind me. It's odd how you feel going fast in the trails but in reality you ain't. My 1:04:10 time over the 15k distance is no where near 4min/km pace. Unless my gps tricked me and/ doesn't measure properly under trees and when making sharp turns every 10 meters. The blisters were so bad I wasn't able to walk normally for days. They're getting better now but with only a few hours away from the BEast of the Southeast opening race still not 100% ready.

XTERRA Southeast Championships tri and trail run

We were on the road for 52 hours before arriving to Pelham, Alabama where the XTERRA Southeast Championships took place last week. Sure that 52 included two stops during which we visited a friends and another stay in a hotel along the road. I had not much time left to ride and get to know the course before the rain caught up to us. Saturday everything started OK. Sure it was rainy but I wasn't too worried as the whole bike course was under thick foliage of tall trees. My swim was exceptionally fast in the new De Soto Concept 5 wetsuits that I had not worn prior to this event. I was also passing a lot of age groupers and pros already on the bike course when I heard a pop from my rear tire and the air leaking out. It all happened at mile 8 of the 19 mile course so I immediately knew that was the end of my race as I had no tube to put in my tubeless set up and no co2 or even a tool with me. I was just behind the guy who eventually took 3rd overall amateur and I know I had the running legs this time as the bike course was rather twisty than grueling. Oh well, I figured. At least I will be fresh for the trail run on Sunday. Sure it wasn't that easy to digest at first but a few miles walk made me think the bright side of all the bad things.

New ride- 2013 Specialized Epic Comp Carbon 29er.

After close to a year contemplation I have decided to spend a lot on a new bike that will hopefully fly me faster on the trails, save my lower back and enable me to run faster. This, of course is a product of my wife's approval as I would have not spent that amount of money on a bike if: 1. It wasn't necessary to take my game to the next level, 2. Had the resources laying around, 3. Had my wife's approval, 4. well.. you can think of something. So the new bike is the pictured Specialized Epic Comp Carbon 29er. I have already fallen in love with it and can't wait to first race with it on a back-to-back weekend down in Alabama and Tennessee starting May 18. Big things are in the making! Thanks to Epic Sports for their continuing support!

Toughest XTERRA race I have done to date

XTERRA West Championships in Lake Las Vegas held it's fame for being one of the toughest races on the circuit. It wasn't much technical rather fast but with some steep and long hills and rocky and fast descends. The course was everything but what I was able to prepare for in the North Dakota winter. By the way, as I am typing this there's been about 16" of fresh snow fallen in the land of forever winter, Bismarck, North Dakota. I am glad that we are taking our time and stopped in Salt Lake City. I was able to get in some good biking above Draper, UT. So my swim was rather good. If it was really 1500m than my 23:45 time is the fastest so far. All the swim work in the pool is starting to pay off. Though I still wasn't as quick and my T1 was a catastrophy. It took me at least a good two minutes to peel off the wetsuit than putting my gloves, helmet, shoes etc on.. Everything seemed like slow motion to me. By the time I was on the bike another dozen must have passed me. I spent the entire first loop on the bike in and out of the saddle, passing everyone I saw in front of me. I burnt through most my energy within miles into the bike and just as I started the second loop I was already cramping up. I tried to maintain a good rhythm but was passed back by some who seemed to have saved more for later. At that point even to maintain a decent pace I had to dig deep into my energy reserves that I should have saved for the run. Transition was fine and I was off to run. It seemed as though the whole run but at least 4 miles was all uphill. It just never wanted to end. I usually thrive at this time and even now I kept passing it just wasn't as powerful as it should have been. The wind that was rather blustery and 90 degrees by 1 pm was just making everyone double check their goals they set in the morning. I certainly wasn't planning to just shuffle the run. I had a goal to post the fastest run split of the day. Unfortunately that time must come at another day, another race. Around the 4 mile mark just as we started going downhill I finally cramped up so bad that I had to stop, stretch and when I hoped to be able to go my hamstring seized up again. I just stood there, bent over, stretching my hammy. A good minute had gone by by the time I felt OK to give running a go again. It was all downhill from that point and I passed back two but had to settle for 28th position overall including many pros. I was never this tired but after finishing I noticed that many had similar troubles and some fared even worse. Though I got luckier and didn't fall, unlike the Caveman, I am bringing back some seriously sun burnt lower back, shoulders and legs. Don't they say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Own pictures to come as soon as we get back to the Dakotas.. And fight our way trough the snow that probably blocks our drive way.. Until then: RESULTS: http://www.jtltiming.com/results/x-veg.html Picture Gallery (courtesy of XTERRA) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151876430256110.1073741833.139989526109&type=1

Kaua'i Hiking

We were fortunate enough to take a good two weeks off of work and use that time in the paradise. At least that's what most of you think when Hawai'i comes up. Hawai'i, however, is only the white sand beaches, scorching heat, surfing and laid back lifestyle. I have been to the islands as many times as I visited my home country, Hungary, since 2005. I definitely spent there more time when added together. Oahu and Maui were visited mainly in the summers and early fall while we went to Kaua'i in early March. The islands are so different and not by location or climate-wise but by how the people live there. Oahu is that fast paced rat-race style except maybe the North Shore. Maui (though we have not gone towards Hana) is a lot more laid back and slower. Kaua'i is basically the island where time rather stopped at one point. True, there can be a lot of tourists there, too, but by far less than on the other two island. I have no way to compare it to the Big Island as I have yet to go there. We backpaked for 5 full days, drinking from the same waterfall that we also used for showering. Of course, not in the same time. We had an absolute blast during those days. After coming off the Kalalau Trail we were back in civilization and everything was back to "normal". And normal is something that you feel normal. I loved not doing a thing, though we hiked a lot while out on the Kalalau Beach. I loved just reading my books and go to sleep shortly after 7pm after which you could not see farther than your nose. The island itself is home to probably more stray chicken and rooster than human beings. Those creatures were everywhere. From the deepest jungles to the city hall.