I was planning on posting this a week ago but work and life got the better of me. My XTERRA race season kicked off in the Uwharrie National Forest located in and around Troy, NC. Fellow Indy Fab teammate Mark Russell made this his opener as well. It was great to see Team Green out in full force.

The swim took place in a very frigid Badin Lake. Had my foresight been better I would have brought my wetsuit. The initial entry into the water nearly induced hypothermia. I'm quite sure I was the only one who didn't wear a wetsuit, which might be why I exited the lake in 39th place. There is also the fact that my swim still needs some major work. Being the optimist that I am I had no worries when getting out of the water as I knew I would have a good bike leg on my new IF (Thanks Kevin, Lloyd, Jon, Joe and everyone else in Somerville). Also, many thanks to Rob at Back Alley Bikes for building up my dream machine.

My transition was better than expected to the bike and I managed to get out and rolling in a relatively pain-free manner. The ride started out on a fire road filled with crater-sized potholes and then transitioned to single track. Having gears and 29" wheels made the climbs (tubeless tires helped as well - thanks Harlan and Kyle) very enjoyable. Most of my passing was done on the climbs while conversly I think I lost some time to those in front of me on the downhills. The course had been soaked the night before making the horse trails we were riding quite treacherous. Wet clay combined with horse crap don't make for the nicest riding surface. In spite of the less than optimal trail conditions I was able to move myself into the top ten heading out on the run leg.

I was intent on making this year's run more enjoyable than last year's. The fix was easy. All I had to do was put on a pair of socks. Last year's sockless race left my feet bloodied and very angry. I felt good from the start to the finish and managed to drop well over a minute off of my time from the previous year.

Having a respectable run helped me finish in 7th place overall and 1st in my age group. Mark finished in 10th and 1st in his age group as well. It was a good day for the IF team and we both hope to keep improving with each race.

All the best to everyone in the 2009 season!