Pre Ride in Bama

Will and Mike Vine shot a little footage while riding the mountain bike course for the XTERRA Southeast Championship in Birmingham, AL.

XTERRA Southeast Cup Race Report - Erin

May 23, 2009

9th Pro Woman

Back in Bama Baby!!! I'm not sure I could have topped my day here from last year by taking the overall amateur title, but it felt good to be back on a familiar course and remembering all the good times from the previous year. After the extreme heat from 2008, we were so fortunate to have temps in the 70s with a touch of rain near the end :)

Swim - The pros were given a 30 second head start because we were not allowed to wear wetsuits and the age groupers were. I immediately got into the group with the lead women and felt very comfortable right away. About 400m in I took about 20 or so strokes without sighting because I felt like I was right in the draft but when I looked up, I had veered straight left. DANG! I tried as hard as I could to catch back up, but no luck. I swam the rest of the first and second laps solo. I came out 4th woman by less than a minute, but definitely worked harder than I should have and could have been right up there had I just looked up...next time!

Bike - Oh the bike! I love the bike part of the race and I love this course. I know the terrain wasn't my forte with lots of tight turns, roots, and power bursting sections, but it's still fun. I was actually kicking butt for the first 12 minutes or so until my hips completely locked up, AGAIN. My saddle didn't slip so it wasn't because of that, but whatever it was, I lost all power and ended up spinining the entire rest of the course. Was it because my saddle was set too far back after the debacle last week? Is it because I don't do enough short and hard intervals? Is it the transition from swimming to biking? Neal and I are investigating the problem and will soon have it all figured out. So needless to say, I got my booty handed to me on the bike. However, I did ride 'Blood Rock' like a champ :)

Run - The course here is very interesting. The first 2 miles or so are the same as the bike course and super fun. Once you pop out of that section, you hit a fire road for 30 seconds then jump right back into the woods where you go straight up and straight down until the finish. I'm really not kidding when I say straight up and down either. I didn't have too much pain in the knee during the first section so I just cruised, however, once I hit the technical hills, there was a lot of power hiking and hesitation while trotting down. Steep terrain is not my knee's friend right now. Like last year, I totally used a few trees to pull myself up and not fall on my butt coming down. My time was still slower than the other girls and my run fitness is non-existent, but it's not far off.

THE RACE - I'm happy and pleased nothing disastrous went down. My transitions were way faster than last race and I feel like my knee is getting better every week. I still have lots of training to get in and lots more racing to do before I'll be in top form, but it's getting there and I'm excited to test it out at each of my upcoming races.

Loading the Van

With some top notch organizational skills, it's easy to load over $40,000 worth of cycling equipment into the back of one mini van.

XTERRA Midwest Cup Race Video

XTERRA Midwest Cup Race Report - Will

Here it is. Short & sweet.

Water temperature great for wetsuit swim. Pretty cold once you got out, which made for numb feet on the bike. Super grippy and very tacky conditions on the bike course.

Would have made for a fast bike split, but my POS race bike (my old Santa Cruz), had problems the entire time. I broke my chain again. Grrrrrr :-(

The run was fast and flat with loads of curves, just like the bike course. I felt as though I had run fast, but was mistaken. I did run my way back up to 14th though.

I'm primed, pumped, and ready to redeem myself at the XTERRA Southeast Championship.

XTERRA Midwest Cup Race Report - Erin

May 17th, 2009

9th Pro Woman

Where to start? It was the first race of the season, my first race as a professional and first time running over 30min in a very, very long time! Considering those factors, I went into the race with absolutely no expectations.

The swim - No only was it a brisk morning (32 degrees), the water temp was only 61 degrees...brrrrr! No worries, the faster you go, the faster you'll warm up, right?!? Haha, that was my plan of action. The start went well and I was able to settle into a decent pace after getting around the madness of the first 200 meters. I always forget how intense the beginning of the swim is, geez! I didn't have the best of swims (5th woman), but was pleased that I didn't go off course and beat Will Kelsay out of the water. He'll claim in was in front of my at one point, but it was only during the run section between loops :)

I told myself that this race was all about smiles so that's what I attempted to do :)

The Bike - T1 was absolutely hilarious as I had not done one transition practice nor taken my wetsuit off yet this year and it took me absolutely forever to get my crap together. This is where Will got his revenge...man, he's fast getting out in and out of transition. At any rate, this was such a fun bike course and I was really excited to get out there. The first part of the bike was super fast in tight trees with absolutely no sunlight. It was still really chilly and my hands and feet immediately went numb. The 2 creek crossings per lap didn't help warm the feet up much either! I was really hoping to get a killer ride in and either walk or trot the run, but the harder I went on the bike, the more my hips kept cramping up and I couldn't apply any power whatsoever. After coming through the first lap slower than my practice lap the day prior and feeling way more exhausted, I was really frustrated. I figured it was because I was cold and my muscles weren't firing, but about 3 minutes into the second lap, my saddle completely slipped and the nose pointed straight up. It had obviously been slipping the whole time pushing me backwards which was why my hips kept tightening up. I spent the rest of the lap pushing it back down every time it would slip up...which was every couple minutes! As I mentioned earlier, this race was about smiles and I immediately let it go because it wasn't worth being upset.

At least I didn't hit the big mud pit on the left of this picture before a creek crossing, stuff my front tire and fly straight over my handle bars and submerge myself face first into the creek. Seth Wealing had a fall similar to the dude below but unfortunately it wasn't captured on camera!

The stories from the guys behind him are absolutely priceless though!

The Run - T2 was even more comical as my feet were beyond numb coming off the bike. I was lucky to have the bike to hold onto while running into transition, but once I racked my bike, I fell right over attempting to put on my shoes! I hobbled out on the course and miraculously ran/trotted the entire course. Quite slowly of course and definitely not pain free but I did it.

The finish - Yippee, I finally made it. Because I wasn't even certain I would finish, I was thrilled. Deep down, I felt a little bitter as I wished I was healthy, fit, fast and running without pain, but I know it will come soon enough and Worlds aren't until October. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better day and it was so nice to have the support of my parents, little brother and grandparents! Thanks everyone :)

XTERRA Midwest Cup Pre-ride Video

XTERRA Atlantic Cup Race Poster

This is the race poster that is all round the Richmond area advertising the XTERRA Atlantic Cup. Who is that dashing young lad in the white race suit coming out of the water?

Dispronunciation

Opps! Wasn't that ironical that even the title of this blogs is uncorrect. Check out the video that I was inspired to make while driving to the XTERRA Midwest Championship in Mighican last week.

Video Introduction

Meet the kids

Erin - She’s a 24 year old accountant by day and triathlete by heart. She grew up in Rochester Hills, MI/Strasbourg, France then moved to Boulder, CO in 2002 to attend the University of Colorado. Like most, she fell completely in love with the area and never left. After being a competitive golfer her whole life, she joined the CU Triathlon Team in 2005 and finally discovered her true passion. Under the guidance of several coaches and the support of the Timex Multisport Team, she has raced numerous road triathlons ranging from sprints to half Ironmans. However, after introduced to XTERRA in 2008, she has vowed to never leave the dirt. As a first year professional, she will be competing in the XTERRA America Cup Series as well as a few point series races throughout the country. She is looking forward to a season full of experience and getting ‘beat up on by the big girls’.

Will – He is a 27 year old professional triathlete and coach. Originally from Oregon City, OR he now calls Boulder, CO home. After graduating from the University of Colorado (where he first meet Erin) and figuring out that “working” was not for him, he decided to try out being a professional triathlete. So far so good. In 2007, he was named MR XTERRA for his “live more” attitude after traveling the country in a RV putting on triathlon clinics and racing XTERRA’s every weekend. Always looking for ways to further the sport and have fun, he got into coaching in 2004. Working with a local high school, he coaches cross country and track and field during the spring and fall. This year he will travel the country racing the XTERRA America Cup and with over 15 XTERR’s on the schedule it’s bound to be a doosey!

Here we go!

Welcome to our new site! Throughout the season we will be posting videos, race reports, training tips and anything you want to see on a weekly basis. We are very excited to help support our wonderful sponsors as they support us in our pursuit of being professional athletes. Enjoy the ride :)