.: Canadian firsts and Mountains in the land of Mormon

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Canadian firsts and Mountains in the land of Mormon

I've finally slowed down with the travels and will remain local for a bit. Along the way I was able to get in a few races and conquer a few mountains that I've always wanted to conquer. One mountain particularly was Grouse Mountain. I raced here a few years ago. Tired from my European travels and a little flat from the long racing season I approached the race with a blunder of negative thoughts and so a negative finish (2nd).

Winning a Mountain Race on each of North Vancouvers' Peaks

My goal of winning a mountain race on each of the North Vancouver Mountains had alluded me once again the following year as I was not able to compete due to being sick from a parasite I attained while in Italy that year. This year the stories flipped and I was able to run a strong race. Although slower in time, I was happy because this year the trail was open to spectators so running fast times was out the window and it was all about competing instead...my kinda racing!

You can hear a little about the race in a radio interview here by the beautiful voice of radio host and voice over artist Nicole S. and Grind for kids Ambassador Philipp P.
http://vancouver.virginradio.ca/Blog/NicoleSacco/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10588639

After the Grind I had a tough week of packing up and shipping out. Still sore from the moving I decided to head out to Utah and compete in the Xterra Trail Run National Championships. Bad idea? Kinda, but it paid off. I was able to get 2nd after having a rough week and not to mention the high altitude. Being from sea level didn't help much once we started to hit 7,000 feet of elevation. The winner at this event Pat S. ran an awesome race, very smart to put Max K. and I under early as we both were a little tired from running the World Mountain Running Championships two weeks before in Poland. I was still able to run well under the previous course record by a few minutes, but still 2nd place. All in all I felt ok and I think with a little rest and a preparation period that the Xterra World Championships will be much different for me.

The previous record was 1:21 and I was 1:18! That puts the level of competition into perspective for the fight for victory this year up front. My teammate at the World Mountain Running Championships in 2010, 2011, and 2013 Max finished a few spots back. He had a rough day as he is dealing with an injury he suffered in Poland. Brave of him to battle it out with an ankle injury.