I’m sitting here on this sunny Sunday afternoon, thinking back on the season I’ve had thus far. It amazes me the range of feeling I’ve had over the year. From the thrill of victory, to the despair of lying in a hospital bed in Richmond wondering how I’m going to get home, then back to the podium. All of this in one season.
One Saturday morning I saw a post from Melanie McQuaid, that she was organizing a triathlon team to do XTERRA and half Ironman events. Cool, my goal for the season was to win my age group in the Atlantic region in the XTERRA points series, I had also been considering doing a half IM, I already ride Specialized bikes and was planning to getting aone of the new Epics this year. So I sent my name in for consideration and accepted on the Mel Rad Racing.
The season started routinely enough, masters swimming, long runs in the cold. I did Ron Horn’s shiver by the river 5 K series, as well as his epic winter trails runs. Any trail race where the have beer stops can’t be all bad. Yup, the start of a typical season. On afternoon I went to the Chester County Running Store, owned by a friend and training partner, Don Morrison. After fitting me up with new road and trail shoes, I realize I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Don recommended a Pro Bar that he had just started to sell at the store, so I decided to give one a try. I bought a Whole Berry Blast and ate it on my way home. This was the best energy bar I’ve ever had, great texture and had flavorful. Boy was I glad to see when the Pro Bars arrived; these have become a regular part of my diet. I use them as a meal while traveling, an afternoon snack before a late day training session.
Early in the season I ussually do an early season off-road duathlon or two. I started with the Oddman Duathlon in Medford
Lakes New Jersey, which benefits YMCA Camp Ockanickon. This I an interesting low key event, where awards are given to 1st, 3rd and 5th places, thus the name Oddman. As with last year I came in first in the 1st in 50-54. This was good, starting off the season with a win. Next I did the Mid-Atlantic Events off-road duathlon at Hibineria Park. Mid-Atlantic Events is a joint effort by Don Morrison and Jack Conti. Between them they have participated in hundreds of Duathlons, Triathlons, Mt. Bike Races, XTERRAs, and Running Races. The off-road duathlon is kickoff race to a season which includes an XTERRA trail race series. They know what it takes to make a great race.
My first XTERRA of the season was supposed to be the King of the Hill, put on by Joe Patanella. For the past few years this was my first off-road triathlon of the season. But this year it was not to be. For reasons that are still somewhat unclear, the race was cancelled. I am hopeful that Joe can bring the race back next year. It’s always been a fun race. So I decided to do the XTERRA cup race in Pelham Alabama instead.
But before that I had an enduro XC mountain bike race in the plan. The MASS mountain bike series gets to ride the DuPont’s Granogue estate once a year and I wasn’t going to pass this up. I went there on race day, and like most races this year it was threatening to rain. Silly me, I decided to do the 4 hr enduro instead of the 2 lap sport race. As the race started so did the rain, and after the 1st lap a number of other riders decided just to call it a day. But I decided to 
preserver. The first lap was just under an hour the second lap was an hour and a half the third was close to 2 hours. The mud had gotten so thick I had to push the bike on some mucky downhill sections. In the end I managed to get 4th in the 45+ age group. One note here, the very next week my new Specialized Epic arrived at Bikesport in Trappe PA. The new suspension has a whole lot more mud clearance the previous one, but given how thick the mud was it probably won’t have made much difference. I’m just glad I didn’t muck up a brand new bike.
Next XTERRA cup Southeast in Pelham Alabama. I have heard nothing but good reports about this venue and was looking forward to giving this course a try. I’ve also heard how brutally hot Alabama can be, so off I went to Pelham figuring that I wasn’t going to need a wetsuit. I was there for the XTERRA and Don Morrison came down for the 21 k trail run. I arrived on Thursday night and stayed up till the wee hours putting together the bike. On Friday morning I went out to the race site and ran into Melanie as soon as I got there. She had just finished a pre-ride so I went off on my own. This was the first time I had a chance to ride my new Epic so I was looking forward to ride, but I didn’t want to overdo it so I aimed to keep my heart rate under 140. The bike felt good but I still had gotten a real chance really push the bike hard. On race day the Kahuna announced that it the race would be wetsuit legal. Oh well, I guess I get to use the TYR Sayonara speed suit. I didn’t even miss the wetsuit. Yeah, the water was kind of cool, but I felt like I was flying through the water. The Sayonara is a worthwhile addition to the triathlon equipment collection. I came out of the water 2nd in my age group. I maintained 2nd the bike even though this was the first time I had actually had a chance to push the bike hard. Yes, the Epic is for real. I managed to end up 3rd overall, even with calf cramps for a better part of the run. All in all the day was a success. I was hoping for similar success at Richmond.
In between Pelham and Richmond I again had the opportunity to do the Iron Hill XC mountain bike race, and yes it was raining again. Only this time I decided to race the Sport race instead of the enduro. I had never done the Iron Hill race before so racing on an unfamiliar course on the new Epic, with tires more suited to hardpack. The Epic was flawless; I couldn’t believe how well it climbed and how well I could keep up with the hard tail 29ers on a course that was to their advantage. Even the S Works Fast Track tires worked well; only in the real muddy sections did they slip at all. Next Richmond.
The season was going so well so far. What could go wrong now? The Friday before the XTERRA cup in Richmond I met up with Don down near the James River. We went over to Belle Island and rode the upper section of the island. Coming off that section there are a couple of little bumps to go over. So I decided to get a little air over the first bump, I wound up the bike and hit the jump with way too much speed. Things are a little cloudy after that, but the bike pitched forward and before I could react I was head first into the ground. I got up, could feel something not right in my left shoulder and swung my arm around. That crunching sound told me my weekend was done. I actually got back on the bike, rode off of the island then back to the XTERRA venue area. The first person I ran into was Cal Mickey who did a quick look at me and said, “you need to get to the hospital … NOW.” What I didn’t realize that my Lazer Genesis helmet was clearly damaged on the left side. In retrospect, that helmet saved my life. On arriving to the hospital I still thought it was just a clavicle break. After sitting in the Virginia Commonwealth University Hospital ER for what felt like an eternity I was sent for X-Ray to confirm what I thought. A little while later, the trauma team came in and surrounded me. 
They ordered a much more through set of images, his wasn’t good. Why is it when you are laying ther in pain, doctors poke you and ask if it hurts. As it turned out that besides a clavicle break I also had broken ribs and a punctured lung. The VCU ER has no phone service so by the time I was admitted it was late in the evening. I wanted to call Julie but before I got a chance I was asked if I wanted some pain medication. Within seconds of acknowledging they had injected into my IV and I was out.
This experience really shows what friends are all about. Don was there, he got me to hospital, visited me during my stay at VCU, he even fielded the phone call from Julie, asking why I hadn’t called earlier. On Sunday he was there to help me get home. Surprisingly, I was able to drive as long as I could do everything with my right hand. Luckily I-95 was slow most of the way from Richmond through Baltimore, so I didn’t have much to do except ride the brake most of the time. When traffic did clear up it wasn’t hard to drive. Even then Don followed me the whole way.
The next week was a blur, Monday to the doctor and hospital for another complete round of images, Tuesday to the orthopedic surgeon, Wednesday surgery. Thursday was the worst I felt over the whole ordeal. Julie’s support and patience during this was amazing, this was not easy for her either and she was there the whole time. Thank you.
For the next 8 weeks all I was able to ride the stationary bike. Luckily the Tour de France was on so there was at least a little entertainment during this. I received the Cycle Ops PT-300 and had it set up in front of the TV. I would use the race coverage as interval time and try to hold a constant power output then use the time between commercials as recovery periods. One day I was able to catch the XTERRA World Championship coverage from 2008, towards the end of the show I caught my 5 second of fame during the show.
At the July my follow-up with the orthopedic surgeon, he told me not to not over do it until the end of August, but otherwise I was ready to go. My interpretation don’t risk re-injury. I returned to training, did the TRIMAX Gifford Pinchot sprint triathlon two weeks later. It was still a little uncomfortable to run, but still managed to take age group 3rd. The following weekend I went up to French Creek to watch the XC race. This was the first time back on the mountain bike and didn’t know what to expect. I followed the Master II Sport race and found that I could still climb with them but was still somewhat tentative on the downhills.
Then following weekend I went to Charlottesville for last race in the region. I needed to finish as I hadn’t score any points in the Atlantic region yet. I went down to C’ville with my son, Kevin, who is doing his first Triathlon, so I wanted to make sure it would be a good experience for him. We arrived on Saturday afternoon to pick up the race packets and pre-ride part of the bike course. Unfortunately a fairly heavy rain started falling just as we arrived, so instead Kevin listened to an XTERRA clinic put on by Kate Lucas. It still didn’t stop raining so after while we left and checked into the hotel. Got some lunch, had a little nap, got ready for the race and had a good dinner.
On race day we arrived and as it turned out Heather and Fred were also there to race. We decided to get together after the race for a group picture. It never happened, oh well. Anyway, Kevin was in the 1st wave and I was back in the 5th wave. The Charlottesville swim is about 600 yards per loop so Kevin was stoked. He takes off with the leaders and is right with them at the first buoy. Kevin came out of the water in the 1st loop in 3rd; he eventually would finish the swim in 12th overall. I guess 11 years on a swim team really does make a difference.
Kevin went out on the bike and a couple of miles in he had a front flat. Unfortunately his bike was set-up with tubeless and he had never repaired this setup before. Eventually I caught up and stopped to help. We pulled the valve strip of and realized that there was no rim strip underneath. Another competitor helped us cut out the valve and we were able to get a tube in and the tire inflated. After that we discovered that the end cap of the quick release had fallen off, and we spent more time looking for it before we came to the conclusion it wasn’t going to be found. At this point I gave my front wheel to Kevin so he could go on and I started running back to the transition area with my bike. Before I got out of the woods I saw Kevin coming back down the trail. He turned the wrong direction coming out of the 1st section of woods and was re-riding the first section again. I got him back to the point where he should be and off he went. I left my bike at the water stop on the dam and ran the rest of the way back to transition. A search of car for a quick release yielded nothing and cost more time. I returned to the transition area to wait for someone to show up, 
eventually Fred shows up from the bike in 2nd place overall. XTERRA rules do allow assistance from fellow competitors, so Fred gave me his wheel and I follow him back to the dam (Man, he really can run), get my bike and continue on. So at this point I’m in last place so I go out to ride the course at my own pace just to see how I do. I’m still somewhat cautious on technical drops, but I feel strong on climbs. Near the end the rear tire starts getting soft, but I was able to get enough from the Genuine Innovations Big Air that I used on Kevin’s the flat repair to get me through. I’m not giving up so I do a fast transition and start the run.
I felt strong on the run, I really love the Avi Stoltz trail racing shoes. They are absolutely amazing on the rocks, roots and mud on the C’ville course I eventually caught up to Kevin who is starting to slow, so a stay with him and keep him going. He was able to pull it back together and once got back on the road and knew where the finish was, was able to pick it up and gave a good kick to the line. I am very impressed with him.
Two weeks later I decided try Schiff’s Scout XTERRA up in Long Island. On Saturday afternoon, after driving in the rain most of the way, I arrived at the race site only to realize I had forgotten to pack my Gu Roctane, Gu2O for the race and water bottles. I did a test ride, then asked the race director for directions to the local bike shop. Luckily I was able to find everything I needed so I was ready to race. The race went well and the results were reasonable considering I came in within 3 minutes of John Lindros and another local . I’ll take an age group 3rd after what I’ve been through this season.
Yesterday I did the Lancaster Family YMCA Triathlon, this local race has been around for 27 years now and always is a fun late season race. Again another rainy day but this wasn’t going to deter me. This was the first time I had a chance to the Profile Design Gold Cell wetsuit and it worked, I was out of the water 1st in the age group. Through most of the bike I stayed in the lead, until I was passed in the 2nd loop of the bike, but when the other rider started to slow on a hill. From that point on I put in really hard efforts on every climb hoping that it won’t ruin my legs for the run. When the run started I couldn’t feel my toes for the 1st half of the runbecause of the rain and cool conditions, but just kept pushing. When I finally could feel my feet the Avi Bolts felt quick and comfortable, at every turn around on the twice out and back course I could see my lead increasing. I ended up with an age group 1st in the race.
Its now Sunday evening and if you’ve made it to this point you’ll see this should have been a number of multiple entries instead of one long winded entry. Thanks for persevering. I would like to thank Melanie for asking me to join her team and all she’s done for us. I’d also like to thank Alexia for all of her organization over the year.
Now, its on to Ogden. Go Mel’s Rad Racing!