Being “too tough” finally catches up with me at XTERRA Alabama.

XTERRA East Champs apparently started off pretty normal- except for wetsuits and big water drops falling from the sky.

The thunderstorms overnight made these exquisite trails (thanks to BUMP) quite slick. Almost like this:

But not quite.                                                                                                                                     Pic by Michal Cerveny

Although the slippery roots, wooden bridges and rocks caused quite a lot of this:

Pic by Michal Cerveny

I got mine during warm up. Needless to say- that particular tree is no longer there. Lots of war stories afterwards. Pic by Justin Poland

Fresh tires were key. Specialized Fast Track Control 2.2. If I had a 2.3 Ground Control for the front, I would have put it on.

Blood Rock is fun enough in dry conditions…

Had a nice, fast swim with the leaders, and was out on the trails first. I took the slippery stuff probably a bit too cautiously, but I figured its a long season, dont do anything stupid. But whenever the trail opened up and I poured on the power, my left hip started cramping. (Much like it did at Sea Otter- because of the stitches in the hand- which was slowly but surely causing an SI joint injury) I focused on keeping my cool and staying smooth and fast.      Pic by Justin Poland

Home made mud flap. Caveman style. 3 cable ties and an old piece of inner tube. Also had the Chinese takeaway plastic lid on the downtube to keep mud out of eyes.

I thought my hand had recovered well (in my opinion) since my crash in Vegas 5 weeks ago. “Once the hole is closed, I’m good to race, right?!” Apparently not- Racing Sea Otter a week after surgery and stitches still in-hole kins closed) (I raced Short Track and XC) and all the pre riding and all the bike testing I did back at Specialized really hurt the hand. There was a lot of pain inside- felt like a broken bone, but the Xrays were fine. I couldnt figure out what it was, and after 3 weeks a PT worked on the scar tissue, which was really sore and explained the pain. During the racing my L hip cramped a lot – from not being able to put my weight on the right hand. I didnt think much of it. Till now…

I felt good going out on the run- I was fresher off the bike than in the past (when we had dry conditions), and was eager to put my new run fitness to the test, but unfortunately I’ve been battling a bad calf injury the past week. I’ve raced and trained with various degrees of calf injuries from 2010-2012, but I was always able to pull off mostly wins, definately finish.

The week leading up, I did everything I could to take care of the injury- plenty of painful massage, hours of ice, anti inflammatories, heel lifts, kinesio tape, I even raced in training shoes, but at about 2k into the run the already tender muscle tightened and it just kept getting worse. I should have stopped right there and swam through the lake back to the finish, but I was hoping it would get better. And I needed time to think through the implications of not scoring points in the USA Series. So at about 4km I slowed to a jog (it didnt make the pain better) and a bit later started walking. Calling it quits. No point destroying the rest of the season by doing something catastrophic to my calf. It was a really tough descision to make- especially while being in the lead and knowing I needed the points to win my 11th USA Series title..

All the kinesio tape in the world couldnt put Humpty together again…

Qoute from XTERRA race report: Rest of race report HERE.

[Today Stoltz held the lead through the swim, mountain bike, and first half of the six-mile run before pulling with an injured calf.

“I had a big crash (at the XTERRA West Champs) five weeks ago and cut my hand quite badly and got five stitches and surgery.  One week after that I was doing mountain bike racing, and because I couldn’t put weight on the handlebar it made me compensate so the left hip started cramping up and caused the hip to get semi-injured, and that transferred to my calf muscle.  I’ve been struggling with the calf injury all week, and knew it was going to be touch and go if I was going to be able to run well.  I felt good on the run but the injury got worse and worse and worse and I knew I had to stop because if I kept running it was probably going to tear,” explained Stoltz.]

 It’s the first South East win for Middaugh – an 8-time XTERRA National Champ – as Conrad “the Caveman” Stoltz swept the last six races here in Shelby County.

Our lovely home stay Casey and Andrea Fannin…

who has the coolest mural on earth…

Copied from a LongBoard Lager beer carton. Obvious sentimantal favourite beer from Kona, Hawaii

Kahuna Dave got legless, ‘den was chillin’ wit’ Prinsess Hotstuff.

Good to have Emma Gerrard (now a mommy) back racing- click to read her insightful blog.

I did a couple appearance at Specialized dealers in the area- above and below Bike Link in Hoover, and also Bobs Bikes in Homewood. A special thanks to the guys at Bobs Bikes who did some free work on my bike. And area rep Will Hibberts.

Signed autographs and swapped riding stories with young and old. Everyone has a story…

No point being getting down on yourself.  Share a laugh with the others- like I said, everyone had a story.

David Christy Photography.