Pacific Crest

Pacific Crest is an amazingly beautiful race located in Sun River, Oregon. For a backdrop we have the Cascade Mountain Range, in particular we become like an ant on a hill when we are climbing up Mt. Bachelor on the bike. Second big race of the year for me and I was ready to wrestle with the demons that have haunted me since my last run in a race at Boise 70.3.

Race morning came and knowing that coach wanted me to turn the mind off and just race I tried my best to do such. This race had an elite wave which elite amatuers could join being how the prize purse was only 5 G's, therefore could not be a true professional wave. So I had the opportunity to race in my first "Elite" wave! Exciting!! Kevin Everett and Luke McKenzie decided they would stamp there status of being "Pro" in the swim and took off like missiles. I did my best to hang but was soon in no mans land off their feet, due time I will be there. Sighting on snow capped mountains how could one not be loving this swim? Out of the water and was eager to start the ride with my Blue Triad.

The bike course is amazing. Alpine lakes, rivers, snow covered peaks, smell of pine, and cool crisp mountain air. Climbing up towards the pass at Mt. Bachelor the snow is still piled 10 feet on the sides of the road. Creating the feeling of riding through a refrigerator. After two hours my body started warming up, I finally came around and began racing.


Back into T2 my legs began to come around and feel good, I hopped off the bike and thought to myself "man I am glad my running legs showed up today". Donning my T6's, I started the run in 6th place. I had one more spot to go before I got into the money, so I put my game face on and started to track down the contenders. Mile 2 and my first victim was caught and passed. The next 8 miles were lonely, there was no body to be seen, except the aid stations volunteers every mile or so who were great by the way, (water on the left, electrolytes on the right). At about mile 10 I saw some friends who said 4th place was only about a minute up the road. Shortly afterward I caught of glimpse of him, and by mile 11 he was caught and passed!! With two miles to go I put out my best effort and soaked in the high fives and cheers coming down the finishing chute.

4th place and I am happy to have ended the day on a high note. I ran like I can off the bike and believe the near future will show another step in the right direction towards obtaining my pro liscense.

Thanks to Tim, Mariah, and Abby for providing a place, and a fun filled trip. Boise was out in full force for the racing and cheering. Kevin ended up winning, and Trish Diem took 2nd overall for the women. Felt like a local race, even people I did not even know were cheering for me which was pretty cool, but kind of unusual since they knew my name and I had no idea who they were?

Thanks for checking in, Neil

Stepping Stone Boise 70.3 Race Report

Hoping my running legs come around!

The first big race of the year took place on June 11th. Boise 70.3 is a home race for me so anxious nerves and energy overwhelmed me the days leading into the race. First and foremost want to send a shout out to God for giving the ability to compete in endurance events, my family, friends, and coach Rebecca Preston with TeamTBB.

Doing my warm up I felt good on the bike and run. I was ready to see how the past 10 weeks training would pay off.


Swim- I felt ok, missed the first little pack in my wave so I was stuck swimming by myself the whole swim which next time I will really try to get on that first pack. The longer I got into the swim the better I felt, which may be do to the cold water. It was 52 degrees!!

Bike- Felt great the whole ride. Right from the get go my legs were ready to put on the gas! I had no idea how fast I was riding it is all off feel just like training no speed or watts. I built into the effort and really felt my strength kick in the second half.

Run- I started off just cruising, in my mind I tried to picture build set I do in training. Hit two miles at just under 6min pace which I felt pretty comfortable, really thought I could build into the run from there then I pulled up with a bit of a stich/cramp in my stomach. I had to walk/jog for a bit, finally coming good with the aid of some coke. I think it was a nutrition thing which I know that through racing more and getting use to how much fluids/calories to take in during the day we can get it figured out.

Overall I am happy with the race. Consistent with 5th best swim, 3rd best bike, and 4th best run, which I know I can run much faster! This is a stepping stone in the direction I want to go, but there is still a lot of work to go. With 2 and 1/2 months of training with Team TBB the results are huge, I am looking forward to putting in the work for the next year and then we can really see the benefits of the program!

Until next time, Cheers!!

Happy Mothers Day

Growing up my brothers and I would anticipate mothers day. Sounds funny I know but we would always go to the local nursery and buy my mom flowers. Not the kind you put on the table in a fancy vase, but flowers that my mom could plant in her garden. Tenderly placing each plant in a desired location to grow. Looking back now I see how much my mom appreciated that small act. Seeing my mom's delight in the small things, reminds me that she is the greatest mom one could ever ask for and although I did not go to the nursery for some perennials I know that my mom will be working in her garden, hopefully reminicing on the past. Here's to you mother, happy Mothers Day!!

Family Dinner

Nearly every friday my "Family" Rick, Meg, and myself get together for a little dinner action. Most of the time we work on the perfecting of our gourmet pizza. Thanks to Meg who by the way should have her culinary PhD because of her baked goods and meals, everything turns out tasting fantastic! Enjoy some of the photos.

Our creation

Great way to start the evening

Cheers!!

The Hosts with the Most!

And sometimes it's just boys night in!!

When the cats away the mice will play

Bon apetit!!

Mancation!

A week ago my good friend Rick and I went down to Boulder City for a little mancation. Now adays our man trips are few and far between, so we try to really take advantage of the time when the opportunity arrises. Even though this trip was all about taking care of training business we still had a share of fun. Here are some pics to describe the experience rather than words.

Beginning.......again!!!

Well it has been sometime since I have made a post. I didn't want to make it a whole year and since one of my new year resolutions was to start posting again I thought what time better then now to get started. I intend to make educational post involving my training and racing in pursuit of my athletic endeavors of becoming a professional triathlete. So heres to starting again.

Wildflower!!

Wildflower is a race unlike any race I have competed in before. I had a great time and know that someday in the near future I will have a breakthrough race there. However this year those dreams of stading up on the podium did not come true, which leaves me as an athlete even more hungry to go back and find where I can improve do achieve my dreams. The race: For some reason I did not feel mentally there, it was as if on race day I was just going through the motions, which in big races like this one needs to be operating on all cylinders and I was not. Getting ready in transition I was trying to get mentally prepared to do what I knew physically I am capable of. I had a descent warm up riding to transiton, and running a bit pre race, then it was time to head down to the swim, I hopped in the water and managed about 15 min of good swimming with some fast sprints in there. Knowing that the gun would be going off in a few minutes I got out of the water and visualized my plan of attack for the swim. Gun goes off and what a chaos it was, swimming with hundreds of others trying to get out to the first buoy as quickly as possible. Normally in the swim I try to tag onto the draft of someone in front of me however, on this day I just missed the opportunity and was hung between two groups. Out of the water in 23minutes, a bit off my time but up near the front of the pack, into T2 I passed a few people. Now onto the bike and within seconds the infamous Lynch Hill climb. Legs were not happy that right off the bat were being asked to hammer up a hill steeper than steep. Nonetheless we made it to the top passing a couple more dudes. Out onto the main section of the bike course I was finding my legs and trying to gain as much time as I could. Some friends yelled out I was in 13th at about mile 20 on the bike. Passed one more dude and then I was passed by another dude who seemed to be shot out of a rocket. Still in 13th heading off the bike and onto the run. This is where I shine and put a lot of hurt into my legs. The first 3k of the 10k run seemed to fly past and I was running just where I wanted to be right around 10.5 minutes for the first 3k. From about 4k to 7k there is a pretty good climb, this is where I was hoping to really hammer out a fast tempo to gain back some time from those ahead of me. However when I tried to go my legs had other plans and really wanted to just keep a steady pace. Usually I find that I can work the hills, however on this day they really worked me. Finally, my form came back during the last 3k of the race, unfortunately for me it was too late to gain a whole lot of time. Running the last 1k of the race is something I will not soon forget how the crowds seem to carry you into the finish. 1000's of people yelling and encouraging you to run fast keeps the mind positive no matter what the race outcome is. I am happy with my finish, and have been an athlete long enough to know that somedays we have it and somedays we dont. I believe that my greatest race is in the future, until then keep on keepin. Thanks for all who showed there support throughout this race and thanks as well for reading. Here is a link to check out some more of the Woodstock of Triathlon, Wildflower. http://www.tricalifornia.com/. Until next time, Neil.