B'man 3rd at World Champs!

The XTERRA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS where held in Maui, HI Yesterday. In fantastic conditions (Sea level, mid 80 degrees weather) 550 competitiors took the start line on Makena Beach.
It was Brian's day as he exited the water in 113th and proceeded to pass 110 people to finish an AMAZING and career best 3rd place! En route he posted the fastest bike split of the day by 2 1/2 minutes, and 3rd fastest run split. Pretty FANTASTIC stuff.

As for me? I had a great swim and was having a great bike when I flatted my front wheel.... this turned into a disastrous comedy as I ended up re-flatting and changing my front tire 4 times.... throughout the bike, using donated tubes and a donated hand pump. the last change was with borrowed equipment from the sweeper of the course.... DFL for me at one stage. So I went on to finish the bike and the run with the dubious honor of being 290th overall and Last pro women. ( Someone has to be last right!) Oh well.... next year.. Check out http://www.insidetri.com/ and http://www.xterraplanet.com/ for race reports.
,
now its vacation time for a few days.... Mahalo

And we are off

I'm leaving the computer at home for some well needed rest and recovery.
Plus United's Baggage policy makes it a challenge to pack a bike and gear in the weight limit.
So armed with our Top Fuel full suspension bikes and various other triathlon goodies we are as ready as ever for the big event. Xterra World Championships.
Keep up to date w/ www.xterraplanet.com
then Just for fun visit the website of Melanie Mcquaid ( 3 x World champion) and add your smack talk to her website. She's giving away 12 cartons of limited edition Chocolate Mint GU to the most creative comments. ( mmm Chocolate mint perfect to pair with Snapps for the December ski tours!).

cheers
Jenny

1/2 and 1/2

Polypro long sleeve and tights, Windstopper Gloves, Jersey, Pants and vest. Wool hat and socks. I'm still not hot? Gunnison's weather isn't really playing the adapt to Maui game!

When we realised it wasn't getting any warmer we relocated.

The work really is done now so fingers crossed we'll stay healthy, travel smoothly, and see you from Maui.

Here's some info on how to access the web coverage of our biggest race this year.

Enjoy.

10/28 – XTERRA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP (Makena, Maui)

STREAMING LIVE: This year friends, family and fans that are not able to attend the XTERRA World Championship can watch the action unfold in real time on the internet at xterraplanet.com. The race coverage, with live streaming video and text updates, will begin just before the 9 a.m. Hawaii time swim start (12 noon PST, 3pm EST, 9pm in Europe, 5am in Sydney, Australia, 8am in New Zealand, 4pm in Brazil).

PRESS GUIDE: A PDF version of the XTERRA World Championship press guide, complete with a schedule of events, course description, global tour information, athlete profiles, facts, figures, and past results, is available for download at:
http://www.xterraplanet.com/news/press_media.cfm

XTERRA PRO PRESS CONFERENCE: A pro press conference moderated by “Kahuna Dave” Nicholas will be held at the Maui Prince Hotel on Thursday, October 25, at 4:00 p.m. Hawaii time and streamed live on the internet at xterraplanet.com

Pros invited include XTERRA World Champions Nicolas Lebrun (2005), Eneko Llanos (2003-04), Conrad Stoltz (2001-02), Melanie McQuaid (2003, ’05-06), Jamie Whitmore (2004), Candy Angle (2002), and challengers Olivier Marceau, Josiah Middaugh, Seth Wealing, Mike Vine, Sibylle Matter, Julie Dibens, and Jennifer Smith.

XTERRA BUSINESS PRESS CONFERENCE: Learn about new XTERRA business news and developments such as the inaugural XTERRA Winter World Championship, Breeder's Choice XTERRA K9 Challenge, XTERRA Gear's future plans with 20 Degrees North, and the XTERRA Trail Running World Championship with a special edited video presentation from the XTERRA Partners Conference at the Maui Prince Hotel.
The video will be available on demand at xterraplanet.com starting Friday, Oct. 26.

W run report

http://gunnisontimes.com/

Off and running

Photos by Erich Walter
A huge turnout of more than 150 runners participated in the 57th annual 'W' Mountain Run last Saturday. While no records were broken, plenty of fast times up the 2.8 mile course from the base to the summit of Tenderfoot (AKA 'W') Mountain were recorded. Here, men's winner Brian Smith, left, gets an early jump on the field.

Things you can count on....

Gunnison will get Cold.

Brian will out do my Superman. ( Or ...at least I will take a better timed picture ).

Gunnison will Snow.

Wheres Maui?

$98 later

Remind me not to supermarket shop after swimming. A quick stop for t- paper and yoghurt turned into a full blown 2 trips to unpack complete with sea bass ( on special - hope its good) and organic strawberry toaster pastries.
I have a funny story about the pastries as a year or so ago I bought them and packed some with Brian on a back country ski, the Guys gave him such a hard time about the (glorified pop tarts). I don't think I've bought them since but today in my post swim shaky haze.... here they are.
and thats it - I am officially done. Anne had scheduled a 15 min swim (to get moving) for me today and on paper it looked - too easy, but 25 mins into my swim I totally hit the wall and grovelled splashing around for 5 more minutes, I was so done that I had the shakes in the shower. Wimpy ( maybe, I'm going to act tough and blame the three races in the past 2 days), plus honestly the past 2 weeks have caught up and its TAPER time. Yahoo.

Enjoy.

GO JARI!

Holy Cow... Jari Kirkland http://teamcrestedbutte.com/is currently 2nd overall Solo in the Moab 24 hour race. Go Jari... check out the realtime results http://grannygear.com/index.shtml.
It looks like the womens battle has been epic between Jari and World Champion 24 hr Solo Rebecah Rusch. In the meantime the mens field has been blown apart by Chris Eatough with the early favorites moving right down the list and Jari has moved into 2nd overall in the Guys too. INCREDIBLY Awesome, Hope they give her both the womens and mens Prize too!

Cross training

In the space of today we have successfully managed to trash our house with discarded gear and clothing from one end to the other.
We got super lucky this weekend with a long running W mountain 5km uphill run this morning and 2 cyclocross races at the Western State College campus this afternoon and tomorrow.
The W run was started by the Western State basketball team in 1952 and has since been taken over by the College ski team as an annual fundraiser. This year 160 people lined up to participate in the event, which starts on a dirt road and runs up the famous (in town) W mountain. Its neat at the top as the view of town is amazing and this is one of the only times each year you are allowed access as the top is a geological dig site. Both Brian and I won the mens and womens and after the race I realised what an honor it was to have our names on Trophy amongst the 50 + year tradition.
Then it was home to (throw clothes all over the place and bring out the cross bikes for some afternoon racing fun. Brian was sporting a brand new trek X2 bike ( it is very sweet and really nice), I had pulled out my faithful cross bike. ( I'd meant to get it tuned up, and working beautifully) but you know what between swimming, biking and running it just hadn't happened so I pumped up the tires put some lube on the chain and measured my seat. Hopefully good to go. The cross races where part of two series which was great as they had a good turnout of people who had traveled to Gunnnison specifically for the racing. The first lap of the womens race was serious carnage - crazy- actually kinda scary as I had a girl crash in front of me, and another girl crash by riding into my back wheel - whoa chill out a bit! During lap 2 I picked my way through and into the front. Whew - where for the sake of being able to control my own lines I wanted to stay. I did. Capping off a good days training. It was really fun - I know why cross is taking off like crazy. Good times. ( the only bit I'm not so keen on is the getting on and off to run over stuff - shame about that small detail).
Brian's cat 1 mens event was was pretty fast and furious, he started in about 10th and then picked guys off to move up to 5th, mid race drizzle made the course slick and he crashed on a concrete pavement but got back up and finished 6th. His bike worked awesome and after the race while showing me his hip from the crash, he saw where he'd scratched the Carbon lever ( sore hip was put aside- oh no ( ha ha, thats the problem I guess with a bling bling bike)
enjoy
Jenny

Building to Maui

Heres a pre- race article from Xterra News. I think we are starting to get excited. Do you think there are enough men entered yet?

THE KAHUNA’S PRO RACE PREVIEW: Nobody on the planet has been to more XTERRA Championship events than the managing director of the XTERRA Global Tour – “Kahuna Dave” Nicholas. Having been to every World Championship race in Maui since creating the sport back in 1996, and having been onsite to see this years races unfold in Saipan, New Zealand, California, Italy, Alabama, Virginia, Denmark, Austria, Germany, UK, and the U.S. – the Kahuna is more than qualified to speculate on who might win it all this year. That doesn’t mean he’ll get it right, in fact, he’s hardly ever right (just 1 for 10 in picking winners over the last five years).
So, with a grain of salt (but with some tasty insight nonetheless) here are the Kahuna’s ’07 Maui prognostications:

It seems every year gets better. And I have to believe it does. The pro field is superb this year for both men and women; and the age group competitors are faster, stronger and more motivated than ever. So while I am excited, I face a real problem. Whenever I pick a winner it’s as big a curse to that athlete as being on the cover of Sports Illustrated. My record is 1 right for the last 5 years. But no matter, here’s how I see this fantastic upcoming event shaking out.
The women’s field is deep and will bring a great race. Three-time World Champ Melanie McQuaid has not had the season she wanted and she knows this is the BIG one that counts. Jamie Whitmore wrote last year after Maui that she had the “eye of the tiger” for 2007. Who can doubt her speed after winning 4 of 5 in the USA Championship Series? But there is more than the Melanie-Jamie shootout.
Julie Dibens (England) raced against a good women’s entry in Saipan and showed well. She stomped the field in the UK just a month ago and is rested and ready. Carina Wasle (Austria) had to work during the early part of the year and when she first appeared in Denmark did not have the spark of past years. But as she trained and raised her level of fitness she improved in Austria and won easily in Germany. This will be her third year in Maui and she says she knows what to expect.
Sibylle Matter has a 2d and a 3d at Maui the past two years and this year she is concentrating only on Maui. No Ironman double. Candy Angle has had an average year and surely wants redemption after last year’s bad crash. Anna Baylis-Scheiderbauer is a pro mountain biker who has triathlon history and won Denmark over Wasle and Matter. This is her kind of course. And speaking of mountain bikers we have many time mountain bike champ Shonny Vanlandingham and Dara Marks Marino, another NORBA gal, who has been consistently in the top 4 this year. Kiwi Jen Smith has been super fast this season finishing off the year with a stunning second at Tahoe and was 4th last year in her first attempt at Maui. Quiet and easy to overlook, Jen Smith is my dark horse.
You must look for Dibens and Matter to lead early. Julie is unbelievably fast in the water. Last year Matter came out about 2 minutes ahead of McQuaid and Julie is faster. Mel, Jamie, Carina and the others will have to chase these two on the volcano. The question is who will have the patience to stay within their limits and let their power and bike skills do the job?

For the men it seems to be the year of the Caveman. Other than a mechanical in Utah, he has gone undefeated all season starting in April in South Africa and finishing in September at Tahoe. For the US side folks, Seth Wealing has had an up and down season but is always fast, Mike Vine is having a strong year, winning in Brazil, and taking 2nd in the US Pro Series. Josiah Middaugh and Greg Krause love Maui and always have strong finishes there. Andrew Noble has not done well at Maui, but the “ageless wonder” is always at the sharp end of the field.
Olivier Marceau (Swiss) has gotten so close to the brass ring he is the sentimental favorite for sure. Always fast, always gracious, the man has talent and style to burn. While he has concentrated on qualifying for his 3rd Olympics, never look for Oli anywhere but close to the front or in the lead. 2005 Champ Nico Lebrun (France) is potent at Maui and won Austria and the UK to take the European Crown for the second time. The “Professor” knows how to race and how to finish strong. The wild card here is Olympic Silver medalist Bevan Docherty. We will never forget another Kiwi Hamish Carter showing up last year and winning in his first attempt. Bevan is equally skilled but is keeping quiet about his mountain bike skills. Marceau, when he found out Docherty was coming said “bloody Kiwi’s”. If Oli is concerned, everybody should be concerned.
Those are the clear options for the Global men, but young German Felix Schumann is getting faster every race and was just 9 seconds behind Lebrun in Wales. Ronny Dietz and Nico Pfitzenmaier are strong bikers and Maui demands power on the mountain. Both have been here before. The other Kiwi is Tim Wilding who won down under in the spring and has the talent to surprise. The unknown here must be Cedric Fleureton (France) who is an ITU World Cup winner and also surprised us all in Italy a few years ago beating Marceau. He won the French series this year and is ready to take on the best.
The age group field is equally strong with entries from 20 countries and 40 States fighting for that very precious World Champion jersey.
So now I have to make the choices; it seems to me that Conrad is simply too strong this year with the options of Olivier Marceau and Frenchman Cedric Fleureton. On the women’s side it just seems it is Jamie’s year and if she paces herself she can catch Dibens and McQuaid for her second title. OK, now you know and we can all laugh at the party Sunday night 28 October… I can’t wait.
MAUI PRO START LIST: The professionals competing in Maui are the best-of-the-best in not only the world of XTERRA, but also the mountain biking, triathlon, and adventure racing communities. More than 70 pros, including eight Olympians and former XTERRA World Champions Nicolas Lebrun (2005), Eneko Llanos (2003-04), Conrad Stoltz (2001-02) Michael Tobin (2000), Melanie McQuaid (2003 & 2005-06), Jamie Whitmore (2004), and Candy Angle (2002), will toe the start line on October 28. Below is the tentative start list by race number, determined by their finish position at last year’s XTERRA World Championship, then alphabetically. Tentative as of 10.10.07.
# (place at last year’s WC) - Name - Age, Hometown (2007 Championship Wins)
1 (2) - Olivier Marceau - 34, Cannes, France (Saipan/Italy)
2 (3) - Seth Wealing - 28, Boulder, Colorado (U.S. Mountain Champs)
3 (4) - Josiah Middaugh - 29, Vail, Colorado
4 (5) - Eneko Llanos - 30, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
5 (7) - Greg Krause - 30, Denver, Colorado
6 (8) - Nicolas Lebrun - 34, Digne-les-Bains, France (Austria/UK)
7 (9) - Ryan Ignatz - 29, Boulder, Colorado
8 (10) - Nico Pfitzenmaier - 36, Besigheim, Germany (Japan)
9 (12) - Andrew Noble - 42, Gold Coast, Australia
10 (13) - Hektor Llanos - 35, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
11 (14) - Jimmy Archer - 35, Boulder, Colorado
12 (15) - Sam Gardner - 32, Surrey, Great Britain
14 (16) - Dominic Gillen - 30, South Royalton, Vermont
15 (17) - Brian Smith - 31, Gunnison, Colorado
16 (19) - Lieuwe Boonstra - 31, Cape Town, South Africa
17 (24) - Brian Astell - 26, Gualala, California
18 (27) - Jeff Sanders - 36, Lahaina, Maui
19 (32) - Felix Schumann - 24, Germany
20 (35) - Chad Seymour - 25, Honolulu, Hawaii
21 (37) - Michael Tobin - 43, Boise, Idaho
22 (38) - Taro Shirato - Tokyo, Japan
23 (40) - Will Kelsay - 26, Boulder, Colorado
24 - Rom Akerson – 23, Tambor, Costa Rica (Costa Rica)
25 - Rodrigo Altafini – Itapira, Brazil
26 - Jordan Bryden – 20, Alberta, Canada
27 - Ryan DeCook – 26, Rochester, Michigan
28 - Mario De Elias – 23, Neuquen, Argentina
29 - Ronnie Dietz – 29, Chemnitz, Germany (Denmark)
30 - Bevan Docherty – 30, Taupo, New Zealand
31 - Cedric Fleureton – 33, France
32 - Kelly Guest – 30, Vancouver, BC, Canada
33 - David Henestrosa – 30, Manresa, Spain
34 - Brian Hughes – 30, Randolph, Massachusetts
35 - Jason Jablonski – 33, Wenatchee, Washington
36 - John Koenig – 37, Glenview, Illinois
37 - Jan Kubicek - 27, Chodov City, Czech Republic
38 - Chris Legh - 34, Melbourne, Australia
39 - Mark Leishman - 27, Palmerston North, New Zealand
40 - Alexandre Manzan – 33, Brazil
41 - Jim McConnell – 34, Oxford, United Kingdom
42 - Nat Ross – 37, Golden, Colorado
43 - Jorg Scheiderbauer – 30, Offenburg, Germany
44 - Klayten Smith – 33, Sydney, Australia
45 - Conrad Stoltz – 33, Stellenbosch, South Africa (SA, U.S. West, S’East, East, & USA)
46 - Jim Thijs – 27, Belgium
47 - Simon Thompson – 29, Canberra, Australia
48 - Mike Vine - 34, Victoria, B.C., Canada (Brazil)
49 - Cody Waite – 29, Denver, Colorado
50 - Luke Way – 25, Calgary, BC, Canada
51 - Michael Weiss – 26, Vienna, Austria
52 - Tim Wilding – 23, New Zealand (New Zealand)
53 - Sascha Wingenfeld, 20, Germany
54 - Yu Yumoto – 29, Tokyo, Japan

# (place at last year’s WC) - Name - Age, Hometown (2007 Championship Wins)
61 (1) - Melanie McQuaid - 34, Victoria, B.C., Canada (U.S. West Champs)
62 (3) - Sibylle Matter - 34, Bern, Switzerland
63 (4) - Jennifer Smith - 34, Westport, New Zealand
64 (7) - Michelle Lombardi - 38, Somerset West, South Africa (South Africa)
65 (9) - Shonny Vanlandingham - 38, Durango, Colorado
66 (11) - Carina Wasle - 21, Kundl, Austria (Germany)
67 (13) - Claudia Frank – 37, Rottach-Egern, Germany
68 (14) - Nicole Logan- 34, La Jolla, California
69 (18) - Amber Monforte - 29, Reno, Nevada
70 - Candy Angle - 38, Weymouth, Massachusetts (Brazil)
71 - Anna Baylis-Scheiderbauer – 30, Offenburg, Germany (Austria)
72 - Christina Begy – 37, Denver, Colorado
73 - Erika Csomor – 33, Budapest, Hungary
74 - Julie Dibens – 32, Salisbury, England (UK)
75 - Linda Gabor – 37, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
76 - Sonia Hill – 29, Upper Atiamuri, New Zealand
77 - Lisa Isom – 35, Vail, Colorado
78 - Kristy Lanier – 36, Marlinton, West Virginia
79 - Dara Marks Marino – 32, Flagstaff, Arizona
80 - Sara Tarkington – 26, Boulder, Colorado
81 - Jamie Whitmore - 31, Somerset, California (U.S. S’East, East, Mountain, USA, Japan)

a little time out

I am wasting a little time waiting for Brian to finish his run. So I've been surfing the net.
I visited http://www.daramarksmarino.com/ . She had linked a NPR http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15121685 program about Marion Jones and drugs in Sport. ( Click on the lsiten button) its about 20 minutes and a really good program.

I am jumping on the bandwagon here as like others I would like to think that most of the Women I MTB and Xterra race with are clean. I look at my competitors and see why they are better than me ( whether its power, technique, speed, efficency). Which means I can relate to their better performance rather than view it in a whole different league.

I would say however that more often than not in my experience if a performance seems too good to be true it usually is. Genevieve Jeanson for example, I am so glad she has come clean, and in the past I remember being amazed at Regina Jacobs running performance (and very saddened by her latter retirement amid Drug scandal), But unfortunately she was a classic case of to good to be true.

If you want to be inspired by real cyclists, check out the Granny Gear 24 hours of Moab racing this weekend. http://www.grannygear.com/ Its going to be a great battle in both the mens and womens solo racing. Jari Kirkland is racing in the womens event along with an Italian Woman. The mens event is a stacked field including Chris Eatough, Nat Ross and Ernesto. The http://www.trekmountain.typepad/ has a nice interview w/ Chris and links to Nat and Ernesto's Blogsites. Ernesto's site is great - this guy does his sport for love! (fairly certain there are no drugs there and seriously if anyone could truly justify them!).

Junk

Junk, Junk and ridiculous packaging! Brian's comment to unpacking his front derailleur.
C'mon people its a front derailleur For a bike, its going to get dirty in 5 minutes - just use a little bubble wrap or brown paper packing!
I wish this where an isolated incident but it is unfortunately a common theme throughout each and every day.
Complete JUNK is an even more apt description for practically every uneducated food choice in this country! And it drives me crazy! I am so bored with going to the store and prior to everything I buy reading the fine print to make sure it doesn't have 20 unidentifiable ingredients (JUNK), Corn syrup, corn oil, soybean oil or hydrogenated oil disguised as something else (JUNK), Hormones, GMO, chemicals or God forbid ridiculous packaging. There I officially ranted. I've been wanting to do this for a while.

what just happened?

Our friend Nick is in town this weekend so we all headed up to Crested Butte yesterday afternoon for a loop on Upper/Upper upper and Strand Hill. Brian was rocking the Rig for his first time and was raving.
We where riding down the trail when we see Brian on a seemingly smoothish section skidding sideways and stuffing himself into the hillside?! Wow. What just happened?
Nick re-enacts Brians 5 second path to Carnage.





























As you can see Bri is up and aok. Phew. But the bike?
It got carried out. Crazy. The tube tire was still full of air in the front. The rear was flat. Weird. Oh well, Nick rode the loop, I rode backwards and got the car, Brian practised his walking in tri shoes and we all had a post ride Bloody Mary anyway. (the Last steep in Crested Butte is renowned for its $5 salad in a glass BM's, being only the 2nd one I've ever tried I can't exactly offer my expert opinion, but I love olives and they came with 3, a piece of celery and a hot pepper.

cheers

Jen

Pictures and bikes

Our blog gives me full licence to post photos as though we where the only people at the 425 deep event last weekend. Most of these pictures where taken by Jeff Anderson and his pictures of 'other people' can be found on in his flickr library. www.flickr.com/photos/53274507@N00/ - 40k

Today I ran home through town and in the last 3 blocks I saw, first a guy on a Trek 69er single speed cross in front of me and then a kid on a Unicycle ride onto the street. I did a bit of a double take but it was real as I saw him again later in the day when I went for a spin. At the end of my ride I ran into a friend also on a Fisher Rig 29er single. Right on - Go Gunnison!

USA XTERRA National Championships

I always think you’ve packed well if you wear everything in your bag during the trip. At Lake Tahoe this past weekend I did!

We should have known it would snow! Choosing clothing and equipment became an interesting challenge at 36 degrees, soaking wet, in a hurry and planning on riding up a few thousand feet and around the cold side of the mountain before running 10km at the end.
I went with knee warmers under my wetsuit, pulled on a short sleeved jersey, a pair of woolie boolie socks and called it good. I was lucky I even had wool socks they where packed as an afterthought.

But it all worked out, as did my fitness and I came away with a 2nd Place in the 2007 US NATIONALS XTERRA Championships. This time I saw the front of the race for the first time ever… and I Liked it! It’s fun to lead and will be even more fun to win. Nice and motivating. The media enjoyed it too, it’s exciting to finally get in the Jamie and Melanie mix (between them they have won the past 24 North American championship events).

During this race I had the fastest bike split and 3rd fastest pro run split. My 2nd place moved me from a tie to a final 3rd overall in the US Xterra Series.
Brian had a great race here to crack the top Ten in the international 30 deep men’s field and finish in 8th Place! He put together a strong swim and solid bike and a typical fast run. His US nationals race finished him in 6th overall for the US series.

Next up we have a month of training leading up to the World Championships in Maui, HI on October 28th.

All these pics are courtesy of richcruse 2007.

US Nationals Media:
Race coverage: http://www.xterraplanet.com/races/race.cfm?race_id=537
Pictures:
http://web.mac.com/xterraphoto/Xterra/Tahoe_07.html
Inside Tri – Top story
http://www.insidetri.com/portal/news/news.asp?item=110924
Triathlete magazine article and picture of Jenny running w/ Jamie.
http://www.triathletemag.com/Departments/Race_Coverage/2007/Whitmore__Stoltz_win_XTERRA_USA_and_Pro_Series.htm

This event will be televised in an hour long CBS special, visit http://www.xterraplanet.com/ for scheduling info.

Thanks to Trek/VW and our sponsors for their ongoing support.


Ha... if you've gotton this far. here's your treat. Stylie Dara... bet the teeth are warm too! You know -the womens field is growing in strength and depth and its good for us all.

Post race we hit the party... it was fun and would have been even more fun if I hadn't have celebrated with Lisa Lieb by drinking in quick succession 2 dirty martinis. What was I thinking... I wasn't thinking. Much to Brian's amusement he found me sleeping in the Condo bathroom! Nice Jenny! How old are you again? well my shoe size is 9.5!