Sponsors Lining Up!!!

RM Stoudt has committed to the title sponsorship of what will now be known as the RM Stoudt Off-Road Festival at Pipestem Dam June 24-26 2011!!!! Casey Stoudt and his crew are staunch supporters of community events and have held the Running of the Pink breast cancer awareness 5 and 10k for several years. Jason Holstad, a Stoudt employee and fellow mountain biker, backed our proposal from the beginning.
Also joining the fold as a Race Level Sponsor is Epic Sports from Bismarck!! Dennis Kemmesat, owner, has offered his support and sponsored this year's mountain bike race, the Epic Sports Epic. Dennis is no stranger to event administration as he has organized the Bismarck Triathlon for the last five years. We sat down in Bismarck yesterday over some Ruby Tuesday's, hashed out an agreement and swapped stories about organizing events and racing. Thanks Dennis!!

I have several appointments to meet with local merchants over the next few weeks. Keep checking the blog for features on these two businesses as well as news on new sponsors! Also, please support these businesses that support the events you love to do!!

2011 Event Format

Work has begun on the 2011 event. We're on the official XTERRA calendar, sponsorship presentations are ready to go and the race weekend events have been defined.
Friday kicks off the weekend with packet pick up, a gear expo and a clinic to be put on by an XTERRA pro. Saturday will be a huge day of events. The trail run starts the day around 8:30. This won't be your average trail run. The course includes 4 river crossings over the 8k!
The second event is the short course (sho-co) tri. It became apparent after last year we needed to offer an" entry level" type race. The Sho-Co is it. 500 meter swim, 5 mile mtb, and a 3 mile run are all attainable distances for a beginner triathlete. I'm excited to see the group of athletes that competes in that race.
Finally, the XTERRA Pipestem Creek race wraps up Saturday. A time limit will be incorporated to ensure athlete safety. At the 3 hour mark all competitors not through the bike leg will be pulled off the course. It got to be too long of a day for competitors and volunteers alike with some finishers well over 5 hours.
A third event taking place on Sunday is a "fondo"-type mtb race. Totall distance is around 35 miles and incorporates trails, gravel and off trail riding along with a course navigation element. That will be a great time to loosen up your legs after the big race day on Saturday. No times will be taken, just places and cool finisher t's.
I'm jacked about the new event weekend format! I hope to see you there!

2011 Event Format

Barefoot

I've been trying barefoot running recently and I think I'm hooked.
I'm kind of known for jumping into things full-bore without much forethought (see running with no socks in new shoes in the rain, also see bloody feet, or bonking hard on 3-4 hr rides because you brought only water and a banana, or any other number of epic adventures I have gotten myself into). I ran two weeks ago barefoot for the first time 3.5 miles on the run course of XTERRA Pipestem Creek and haven't really run since (other than race day). Well, today I did 5 miles barefoot and I haven't had that much fun running since I egged my 11th grade English teacher's car and got chased away by the police!!! (Sorry Ms. Reedy, but not really) Man, I felt like a tattooed savage sprinting through the forest chasing down my next meal!! It was as liberating as it gets. No weight on my feet making my legs ache, no weight on my feet hindering my every step, no weight on my feet keeping me from springing up every incline at full throttle, no weight on my feet keeping me from leaping over my dog Vince as he darted underfoot unexpectedly over and over again.
If you haven't tried barefoot running, you need to. Find a nice little park or a soft trail or ANYWHERE you feel comfortable running around with no shoes on and just TRY to run slow. You can't do it!! And the weird thing is I couldn't get myself tired. Remember when you were little (think 4-7 years old, shirtless, tan and chlorine dried hair from swim lessons that morning) and you could just run and run and run? Yeah, that's what it's like. I'm tempted to jump into another 1/2 marathon later this year after some callus building just to see what happens when you run 13 miles with no shoes on. Seriously, I think I would PR by 5+ minutes. If I do it though, I'd have to run with no shirt on and with full on leg, chest and back hair. Man-O-Lantern in full affect. I'd call it running Caveman (you've heard of going Commando, right? Same concept but different). I may even shave my beard into a creepy 70's handlebar stash. Bismarck 1/2 in September????
All I know is I may be able to justify a bike purchase in the next couple years with all the money I'm gonna save on running shoes. Frickin BONUS!!!

Results Are Posted

Hey everyone!! Results are accurate and posted at http://www.xterraplanet.com/races/view_results.cfm?race_id=1095.
I'm sifting through all the pics from all the people I had out there shooting and will have some posted soon. I'm travelling all week, so I can't get a lot done as soon as I'd like to. I just want to say thank you to all the participants and volunteers that helped make XTERRA Pipestem Creek a success in 2010. We're taking all the feedback we've received and incorporating it into making the 2011 race even better. Hope to see you there!!

Race Weekend Schedule

Friday June 25
Course open for pre-ride all day. I will be on-site as well performing course set up and finishing touches. Feel free to come ask me questions or just say "hi!" I'm the guy with tattoos and a pointy beard.
5pm-9pm Buffalo City Grille: Athlete social, packet pick-up, last chance registration and Q&A with Team Timex pro Erin Kummer

Saturday June 26
7am-8:40am Transition area open for athlete staging. Also last second packet pick up.
8:40am Mandatory participant meeting
9am Relay boat start
9:02am Women mass start
9:04am Men mass start
11am or so First finishers
11:30 Post Race Picnic starts
12:00 Dairy Queen Kids Duathlon .5 mile run, 2 mile bike, .5 mile run Free to all kids 14 and under. Helmets and bike required.
12:30 Awards/Door Prizes

The weather is the only factor not under our control. In the event of just rain the event will proceed on schedule. In the event of lightning, the start will be delayed until such time it is safe to race on Saturday.

I hope everyone sticks around for the food. We're grilling burgers, brauts and dogs and providing fruit and salads for your dining delight, all free for competitors and volunteers.

Forecast

Check out http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/58401?dp=windsdp for the 10 day forecast. It shows a chance of rain right now, but in ND on hot days weather builds throughout the day and then drops rain later in the afternoon. Rarely will you see thunderstorms in the morning. Even with rain the night before or during the race the course will be safe to ride due to the construction and natural make up of the trails. I'm fully confident in good weather the morning of the race.

10 Day Forecast

Hey, everyone!! I hope you are getting ready for race day. I just looked at the 10 day forecast and it looks like we'll be getting some rain the week of the race. I wanted to let everyone know that the Pipestem Trail can take a considerable amount of rain without becoming unsafe or even affecting ride-ability. We've ridden in some heavy rains out there with no problems on our Wednesday and Sunday group rides.
The next few weeks are busy ones with three races in North Dakota to close out June. Hope to see you on raceday!!!

Gladstone Inn and Suites

Athletes, make sure you're asking for the XTERRA block of rooms when making your reservations at the Gladstone Inn and Suites. You get a group rate and there are rooms blocked off for you at the hotel. The phone number is 701-252-0700 or book online at www.gladstoneinn.com.

This is supposed to be fun, remember????

Toward the end of last season (my first year of triathlon) I was training for a half Ironman distance race and was struggling to find time to fit in all the training. I felt an immense need to LOG MILES after reading article after article about these people who dedicate their lives to Ironman. Well, sorry Joe Friel, I'm no longer interested in that pursuit. Over the winter I used the Slowtwitch.com workout log and did a couple challenges and yes, it kept me motivated during the cold winter months running on a treadmill and biking on the trainer in my Chamber of Pain. Since I have been able to be outside, I have completely quit keeping a training log. That overwhelming feeling of "feeding the log" is GONE!! It would get so bad at times I couldn't even talk to my wife if I missed a scheduled workout for fear of snapping at her for getting in the way of my progress. That nagging voice in the back of my mind "There's someone out there working harder than you, you'll get beat, you'll embarass yourself" wouldn't let me enjoy doing what I absolutely had loved to do earlier in the year. I had crunched all the numbers, broke my training down into Zones by heart rate and perceived exertion, and researched every aspect of it to make sure I knew all the tricks. It was an obsession.
Well, I'm glad to say it was a temporary obsession. I realized that I LOVE running, I LOVE biking, and yeah swimming's ok too, but I put waaaaaaay too much pressure on myself. I dove headlong into the glamorous arena of competition and forgot it was the love of the three sports that got me there to begin with. Don't get me wrong, I'll be a triathlete probably the rest of my life and I'll still track my improvement and work hard, but I'm not going to let competing or some ridiculous sense of responsibility to a training log take all the fun out of it again.
Fun is one of the things that drew me to XTERRA and off-road triathlon. This just seems like so much damn FUN!! Forget about heart rate zones on a mountain bike, forget about perceived exertion on a trail run, just enjoy the trail! (well that, and you're probably in the Red Zone if the bike trail is any good)
That's the kind of spirit I'm trying to bring out with XTERRA Pipestem Creek. I hope it comes through during the two days you spend here in Jamestown this June with me.

Too Little Blogging

Sorry I haven't been posting much recently. It's just I live in North Dakota and the temperature has been over 50 for the last month which qualifies it as BEAUTIFUL. I do a considerable amount of training, house work, and just general fun stuff outdoors, so that leaves less time for posting.
Let's see, here's the scoop on race stuff:

Sign up early, prices go up 5/25
Bring your kids: free kids duathlon after the big kids are done
Paddlers welcome: Relay teams allowed to kayak/canoe rather than swim
$1k in prize money up for grabs
DJ on course cold kickin' it live!! (Beastie Boyz reference)
Athlete social and packet pick up the night before at Buffalo City Grille
Dad has agreed to bring four grills and cook for everyone the day of the race = FREE FOOD!!!
Free GU and Gatorade
Raffles for stuff like XTERRA shoes and XTERRA Gear gift cards
Oh yeah, I hear the course is frickin RAD!!!

Buffalo City Running Club Part 2

The first two weeks of running club have gone pretty well, considering I haven't really been promoting it other than just talking about it. No flyers, no web promotion, just word of mouth. I'm excited about the fact that new people have shown up to every group run except one. In total there have been 10 different people that have participated in a group run.
I've received a few emails about more people catching wind of the club and expressing an interest to join. That is awesome. The more the merrier.
My main goal with this club is to get Jamestown's running community connected and get new people involved in the sport. The weather in March isn't exactly conducive to getting new or fair weather runners outside or off the treadmill. But this week will be different. Mid 60s are forecasted for the week and if you can't get inspired to get outside after a long winter by temperatures in the 60s in North Dakota, there's something wrong with you.
Oh, and let me know what you think of the slogan (?) I have been putting on all the communications (emails, etc): Come Run With Us!! Kind of cheesy, but it just seems to work.

Defining "Fast"

Over the last two years, I've been a member of a few different training groups. Whether they be local or online or whatever, the discussion always comes up about what constitutes "fast." Fast running, fast biking, fast swimming, ANYTHING fast. There's the argument that the true definition of fast is the elite athlete's paces they happen to be holding at that time. Whether it's 4:48 per mile pace for a marathon (course record at Boston) or a 27 MPH average bike speed over a 113 mile stage of a pro bike race. The people that can achieve those speeds are the epitomy of fast, for sure, but does that define fast for me? I'd say it defines what you may REALLY REALLY LIKE to be able to do, but it isn't very realistic unless you happen to win the lottery and can dedicate your days to training under a coach or are already super talented.
I've always subscribed to the theory that fast is relative to the individual. For example, if you're a 12 minute miler that is just getting started on a structured training plan, fast for you is probably somewhere in the 9-10 minute mile range. Meaning if you can achieve that pace at the end of your plan, you're going "fast" compared to you're starting point. 6 flat pace just isn't realistic for that individual at that time. In order to remain motivated, that person should be focusing on defining their personal "fast" and really disregard other people's definition of the word. I'm not saying it isn't possible for a 12 minute miler to one day be a sub 5 minute miler. I would love to train with someone who demonstrates that level of commitment and planning. It would trully be an inspiration to witness that transformation!
Does this line of thinking mean you should only train with people who share your ability and never challenge yourself by joining a group with more talented/fit athletes? NO!! It simply describes what I think is a healthy and sustainable approach to training and goal setting for the average athlete. It is essential that you expose yourself to better and better competition as you improve for several reasons. It teaches you there is always someone "faster," it helps you expand your personal limits to points you never thought possible on your own, and it keeps your ego in check. That goes for not only beginners, but also for those who routinely pound on their local training circle. They should make it a point to hit a group ride/run with more talented athletes to avoid stagnating or becoming "that guy" in their regular group. Getting your ass handed to you every so often is healthy and helps you RE-define your own "fast."
Keep that in mind next time you are setting goals or comparing your performance to someone else's. You're "fast" based on your criteria, not what others impose on you.

Springtime, Mud and Snow

Every March we in the North are chomping at the bit to get outdoors to workout. Whether it's a run or a bike, that first outdoor workout is highly anticipated. One of the biggest problems with Spring workouts is what to do with all the mud, dirt and snow that accumulates on your running shoes, bike frame or drivetrain. I don't have the luxury of a mud room to deal with sloppy shoes or a hot water spiggot in my garage to hose down my bike after a workout. While I can deal with the mud and grime on shoes, I can't afford to leave that stuff on my bike without the risk of damage to components. My preferred method is taking the bike downstairs into my unfinished basement and washing it off with warm water from a bucket (I have drains down there). While requiring a couple trips upstairs for more water, this has proven to be the most effective way for me to keep my equipment in good condition.
We'll never quit riding or running in the conditions that cause the mud and dirt. It's too important, both physically and mentally, to get outdoors after a long winter on the trainer/treadmill. However, keep your equipment clean, no matter what or you'll be shelling out cash way too often replacing it.

Flood Avoided

The Corps of Engineers has just put a halt to emergency levy construction in Jamestown due to the Spring run off has been less than anticipated along with less than normal precipitation.

Don't worry about any reports you hear on the news about high water levels or high releases from the dams. This WILL NOT affect the race course or water quality in any way.

Registrations for the race are coming in pretty much daily now that the posters have dropped. I'm excited to see the total number of racers this year. I'm expecting a minimum of 100 participants.

Buffalo City Running Club

The first meeting/group run of the newest incarnation of the Buffalo City Running Club will be this Thursday March 18th at 7pm. We'll meet at the Buffalo City Grille. Come dressed to run outdoors. The first 15 to 20 minutes will be for filling out registration forms, discussing routes and a question and answer session for new runners (that might take place during the run). I have drawn up a 5.5 mile, 3 mile and 1 mile route. I also have a 10k route, a 9.5 mile route, and so on for longer runs.
I want to stress that ALL ABILITY LEVELS ARE WELCOME!!! In fact, I would rather have the ratio of new runners to veterans be 2-3:1. This group is meant to get people out running, no matter your ability or motivation or fitness level.
I am really excited about getting this started. This club is for YOU, the more of YOU that are there, the better this club will become. Let's get it started!!!!!!!

Come run with us!!

Off Road Kids Duathlon

In addition to the solo and relay races planned at XTERRA Pipestem Creek June 26th, we are putting on a free kids duathlon at 12:30. The race will consist of a 1/2 mile run, 2.5 mile bike, and a mile run. It is free for all kids 13 and under. Sign up will be on race day. Participants will be required to wear a helmet and furnish their own bike. Get your kids hooked on dirt EARLY!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Catalogs in March?

Remember as a kid when the Christmas catalog would show up in September or October and you'd spend the next two to three months absolutely drooling over the toy section? It wasn't that you believed you'd get what you wanted, but it sure was nice to look at all the new stuff that was available. Well, I received issues of two magazines I subscribe to, Bicycling and Triathlete, that both featured 2010 bike buyer's guides. Without even meaning to, I have easily spent an hour browsing each maagazine. I came to the same bike in both rags and just stared. This beauty is more than a bike, it's a work of art. The Storck Aero 2 is absolutely the most beautiful assemlage of carbon fiber and metal I have ever seen. Compatible only with Shimano's Di2 electronic shifters ($5k just for that), there are no unsightly cables and the bike is clean as clean can be. Check this beast out:

The pricetag on just the frame and fork is $9500, putting the total cost for this bike with Di2 shifters, a decent wheelset, aerobars and a crank at about $17k. That's more than any two of the cars I own added together. I guess I'll just stare at it until either I win the lottery or the 2011 buyer's guide comes out.

First Post

This is the blog for the upcoming XTERRA Pipestem Creek race in Jamestown, ND June 26, 2010 at the Pipestem Dam and Lake Project. This is the second year of the race, but first as part of the XTERRA America Tour.
I'll be posting details about race day here, like sponsor info, details on the free kids duathlon, athlete social details, etc up to the day of the race. After the race I'll have a few participant reviews, results, and race photos.

I hope to see you at the race!!