I am a National champion! again...

It went well... I won the overall! That was a whole lot of fun. From the beginning of the day, everything was cool about this race, from the venue to the award ceremony it was all a great experience. 

I took the first mile out in 4:39 and wanted to lead from the gun. I don't think i have done a multi sport event this short before. My coach and i knew the best strategic move was to light the fuze and just go. I thought of it as a fifty minute super high intensity workout and it worked.

I will add to this post later and more pics later. As for now i have my hometown triathlon race in 2 hours, against many of the same awesome athletes that raced either the sprint race yesterday or the standard race. 

So lets see what i can do today...

 I just arrived at thhope butonal Duathlon Championship in  St Paul. I also have have Heart of the Lakes triathlon tomorrow in Annandale. Let's hope for fast times and good memories. It's a two ap bike course each lap is 6 miles so we'll see how that goes. I hope there's not too much congestion and I heard theres alot of sharp corners should be fun! My  racer starts @ 11:45, later then usual. Here we go! Adios...

Afton 25k new course record!

 

To say Afton was a very hilly race would be a huge understatment! This course was a beast and requires. The ll you have to make it up these hills.  340 people showed up for the 25k and the weather was ideal. 

Not knowing the course at all and I didnt run to many trail miles for training i was ready for challenge. The gun went off and i was institantly in 3rd place for most of the race. 

I lost sight of those 2 lead guys after about 5 miles. Twisting and turning through the woods as fast as I could I was slowlt gaining on 2nd place. I came to a big donwhill where I could see the 2nd place guy (he also won the race the last years) from above on the trail. I caught and passed him around mile 11. 

As I passed him he said that the guy in 1st was only 40 seconds ahead, and that he was not very good on the uphills but he was really fast on the downhills. This was great news!

So I pushed onward and as i crested the next big hill i got a glimpse of him and that was all i needed. I could see victory right in front of me with every step that i took. We ran more downhill single track trails and then got to the bottom of the hills to a very rocky gravel bed trail, i was only a few seconds behind him. I glanced at my watch and as i did it beeped 14 miles and i was now right on the leaders heals. He hopped to the side of the trail and i said thanks and before i knew it I was leading the race with less then a mile to go. 

One last huge hill to go, then it flattened out on top to the finish line. I made a few surges and gaped my rival and ran as fast as i could up that last hill. I looked back about 3 times just to make sure i wasnt going to be suprised. Then i caught my breathe after that monster hill and took my hat off and waved like a lasso above my head as i crossed the finih line and the crowd went wild! 

What a run! And to win, wow it felt awesome. I beat the previous 4 time winner of the race, amd set a new course record! What a day, and i only run a few days a week and didnt trane on hills or trails much to prepare for this hilly monster dragon of a course. 

i loved the race and cant wait to do it again next year. Trail racing is really cool, it is like a really long cross country race with water stops. 

Afton Trail Race tomorrow

Happy 4th! Tomorrow I have the Afton Trail Race 25k. I am excited and love running trails. I think it goes way quicker then running on roads or streets. I like hills and took 2nd last year at the Birkie Half Marathon in Hayward, WI. And that was sseriously one ski hill after another. 

 And you really cant get any better weather then this cool summer we have had so far. 2 years ago it was 101 and last uear it was 90, no one is complaining this year!  I thought about carrying water with me tomorrow but  most likely wont. I shouldn't have to drink to much due tothe cool temos. I am hoping for good footing and not to much mud on the course. 

Wish me luck and lets see what happens!