XTERRA Tsali

In all honesty, I feel as though I haven't accomplished much this year.  I raced at New Orleans on March 30th and since then have done basically nothing but try and get healthy and feel normal again.  The accident with a car was a definite setback and one of much greater import than I realized at first.  It was a physical blow obviously, but it was also a mental blow.  My confidence has been lacking ever since the beginning of April when I was last in what I would consider "good" shape.

That's all talk, of course, as I am definitely in good shape NOW, but I haven't done any RACING to confirm that.  I love racing. Period. I wouldn't train if I didn't race.  Competition drives me and I imagine it drives many triathletes and athletes in general.  It's part of what makes sport so fun; that inherent desire to constantly improve and better oneself.  By this time last year (in 2013) I had already raced 5 times, including 2 half ironmans...

I have really grown to love and appreciate trail riding this year.  I had a mountain bike last year as well but I did not use it or embrace it quite as much as I have in 2014.  Luckily for me, there are triathlons that are off-road.  Yay! I would get to kill several birds with one stone (or for those that don't like analogies such as that, I would get to accomplish multiple goals at once)!

1) Have fun
2) Race something different
3) Work on skills in areas I am lacking
4) Make myself better
5) Race
6) Did I mention racing?

Mr Behme had suggested XTERRA Tsali a couple of months ago and in spite of some initial concern over my well-being with regard to trail running (I don't have a good history of running on trails; in fact I have almost no history of running on trails due to my fragile little baby ankles) I signed up along with Sebastian.

Sebastian was able to provide a great deal of advice and help as he has done XTERRA before (and done it very well, having won XTERRA Whitewater last year) and this was something completely new to me (and I think Behme as well).  Tsali is a humongous trail system about an hour west of Asheville and is one of the most popular trail riding spots in NC (and in the general region).  The trails are often described as "fast," "flowy" and "fun" so it sounded like a good one for me to do as my first off-road triathlon attempt.

I had designs on trying to win, as I knew my fitness was good.  I figured it would be my lack of experience and technical ability on the bike and/or run that slowed me down.  But the main competition I knew of would be Sebastian and I expected the big German to know my plan (swim hard and try and be out of sight for run and bike) and have something up his sleeve to counter that!

Packed up and ready to leave

The three of us drove up to Tsali on Saturday morning and got in one loop of the bike course (semi-technical flat for 15-20 minutes than a lot of climbing and some rollers, basically), a little jog and a brief swim in the lake.  It's great with XTERRA to be able to get a look at the bike course as going into the race blind would really slow you down.  It's not like road triathlons where you can just blaze away and know that nothing scary is going to happen (like rolling down a tree-lined slope into the lake 100 feet below you) if you take a bad line through a turn...

A great spot for dinner at the NOC

Nothing to see here, just two dudes sharing a bed

We woke up early Sunday morning and headed over to the race site, laying out our gear for the different transitions (swim to run, run to bike) of XTERRA Tsali. Everyone started gathering down at the lake where the swim start would be and the start proved to be very informal:

Announcer to group of athletes (some of whom were in water most of whom were waiting on the boat ramp): "Everybody ready?"

Raises air horn

"Goo!"

Pretty simple and quite different than road triathlon...

The race did not use timing chips so I'm not really sure whether the "transitions" were included, but the swim was supposed to be 750 (it was probably more like 600 meters), run was 4.5 and bike was 10.6.

Swim - 8:07 (1st)

I was lined up on the "right" and had a pretty straight shot to the first buoy.  The swim was a simple triangle and the first leg would be the longest.  I took it out fairly hard but tried to stay smooth as I wanted to be able to maintain the pace.  Someone over on the left was also going at a pretty quick clip and I knew Binny would be hot on my heels as he and I had been treading water together at the start.

The first buoy came pretty quickly and I made the left turn and took a glance over my shoulder to see that I had some nice separation from the chasers.  XTERRA athletes definitely, in general, seem to be weaker swimmers (compared to their bike and run legs) which is definitely a nice reprieve from racing pro road triathletes, who apparently have no weaknesses.

The second leg of the triangle was quick and at the turn I took another glance and saw that my gap had grown a bit so I made my way smoothly to the swim exit.  We had all set up a little transition area with towel, shoes, and run number (I also gave myself the option of socks for the run but ended up going without) laid in a chosen spot.

I exited the water and put on my shoes and grabbed my run number before heading onto the trail and the 1/2 mile climb straight up!

The swim exit and start of the run up the trail

Run - 29:30 (2nd)

I had seen two swimmers within about 50 yards of me as I exited the swim so I knew I needed to run smooth and fast to maintain my gap.  The climb up to the main trail was pretty difficult and in hindsight I almost wish I had walked it as by the time I reached the top and gotten onto the trail my calves were on fire!

The run and bike courses basically wind around the peninsula we were on so they would climb for a bit then descend down into a "cove" and then climb back out, so there were some opportunities to look behind and check for any chasers.  For quite  awhile I did not see any and I was happy about that.  I did not feel as though I was running particularly "fast" as I am pretty timid on trails.  Luckily, there were only a few parts of this run that would be considered "technical" to any degree (some may even argue that statement, but that is my view) but there was a LOT of climbing and descending.  I am only good at one of those!

About half-way through the run I saw someone across the "cove" coming towards me FAST.  It took him another couple of minutes but eventually he came up to me and passed me on a downhill like I was standing STILL.  I haven't been smoked on the run in a long time (unless you count any pro race) quite like Charlie (only knew the name post-race) smoked me. He was relatively quickly out of sight but I was hoping that he was a great trail-runner and that maybe I could make some time back up again on the bike.

As I was running the trail around and behind transition I could hear cheers as (I assume) Charlie got to his bike and made his way back out onto the trails.

I arrived at my bike, put on socks, helmet and mountain bike shoes and headed back out onto the trails.

Bike - 48:33 (6th, maybe?)



The first 10-15 minutes of this trail loop are pretty uneventful.  There is nothing very hard but you are going fast as I assume you are rolling downhill.  The vegetation, however, is pretty close (as in, your bars are wider than the leaves) and I regretted not putting on gloves within the first 5 minutes, if only just for protection against the slapping of leaves and such.

There are a couple of spots on this loop that are actually stunning.  Somewhere around 15-20 minutes in you come up on this big rock and you can see clear across the entire lake to your left (no trees blocking your view as the trail runs right along the edge) and it is truly gorgeous.  The mountain lake is clear, the air is clear and it is just so different than anything IN the city.

Setting up the bikes, transition 2 in the background

But quickly you must climb, and the next 20+ minutes of the course are basically spent climbing then descending a bit then climbing again back up higher.  Eventually we reached the last segment, which was a rolling fire road that was actually pretty fun.  I thought at various points, that I could hear bike-like sounds both ahead of me and behind me but I never saw anybody else the entire ride.  I knew the gaps were relatively small but in trails someone could be 10 seconds behind you and you'd never hear or see them.  Very, very different than road triathlons.  Makes it a bit scarier!

I came back to the loop behind and around transition and crossed the finish line, knowing I was in second.  I was a bit surprised to have been so roundly beaten up on the run (seriously, maybe I shouldn't be surprised but it's been a long time since I've been beaten so soundly on the run...I can't get over it! It was a great experience actually, ha!) and I chatted with the winner for a bit, who is from Guam.  Binny finished shortly thereafter and Behme arrived with nary a scar on him.  None of us crashed, and all of us had a good time.

I was, admittedly, a bit sad to come in 2nd.  I shouldn't be, given that it was my first off-road triathlon but nonetheless, the fact remains.  The athlete that came in first has actually been racing XTERRA as a pro this year (mostly overseas where he lives) so definitely a great amount of experience in those legs.

OA - 1:26:09 (2nd)

I have to say: XTERRA is a LOT of fun.  The atmosphere is VERY different than road triathlons.  At least, based on this one singular event I have done, anyway...  People generally seem to be a lot more laid back and the atmosphere is a LOT less tense.

Awards, appreciated by all and attended by...basically all. 

The awards given out were pretty great and it seemed like basically everybody "got" something (due in no small part to the relatively small number of racers at ~100).

From a physiological standpoint, this was definitely different than my road triathlon experience.  The swim was basically the same, but I am a lot faster relative to the competition than on the road (that part is nice).  The bike is basically 100% "on" or "off."  There is no "steady" output like on the roads.  The run is similar to the road but it is WAY more up and down.  The organizers are not trying - at all - to make the course more "manageable."  Their goal basically seems to make it suck as much as possible.  In a good way.  The technical aspect of trail running and riding is something that just takes experience.  My fitness is far ahead of my actual abilities, which is a refreshing change!

I was actually glad this was a swim to run to bike as I think that is "easier" than the traditional SBR.  Running out of the swim isn't really that bad, but I bet running trails after biking trails is pretty tough.  Heavy leg syndrome, anybody??

All in all, it was a great weekend.  We had a great time traveling and racing and it seemed like everybody that raced this weekend (Raleigh 70.3, Lake Hickory, Tomahawk) had a good race.  While I was a bit sad to not race Tomahawk again this year I had a good time missing out on it.  Let someone else have the glory every once in a while!

(he said, sarcastically)

Mental Sprintitude

Swam - some
Biked - some more
Ran - some more but less

Time - a decent bit

Over the past two weeks it seems like I've really let myself go.  No blogging, no video-making...no nothin'. But today that is changing.  I was reminded the other night by Jenny Leiser - pro triathlete - about what having an "elite" attitude can do to change your performances and this post itself (i.e. actually writing it) was galvanized by me losing the final sprint last night.

I love sprinting on my bicycle.  There is no denying that. The sheer max output of watts for 5-10s is beyond exhilarating.  I think part of the appeal also comes from "realizing" the end-game of a tactical plan.  Sitting in, sitting in, sitting in...UNLEASH. It's all about timing.  Knowing when your opponents are at their weakest, at their strongest, most vulnerable, etc.  It is unlike anything in triathlon, really.

Triathlete, on the front.

One thing that's unique - insofar as this conversation applies to yours truly anyway - is the mental approach to sprinting.  I would imagine that most cyclists of a triathlon bent think of sprinting as "unnecessary," "stupid," "painful," "sucky," etc.  They are not wrong, necessarily.  If you start going for county signs in your triathlon races you are asking for trouble later on in the race...  BUT, talk to any cyclist that is also a "sprinter" and you will find their mindset differs quite a bit.

Triathlete, on the front. 

I doubt any sprinter comes to the last 500m of a race thinking: "I am going to lose."  Or: "I cannot win."  In fact, I would be willing to bet it is the exact opposite. No matter WHAT, the thoughts running through their heads all center around a theme of: "I am going to win. Period." That type of attitude probably holds true for most sports, actually.  That feeling of confidence (not arrogance) that nobody can beat you at what you are about to do...

Too much laughing, not enough sprinting!

This post isn't so much about sprinting, but about that confidence when it comes to sprinting.  Why don't I apply that to all other facets of my life? More specifically, why do I not feel that way about competition in other realms? Triathlons especially.  Why do we (I) approach every workout or competition that way? Why do I feel resigned on race morning, when at the 1-2k to go signs in bike racing I start getting EXCITED...? Adrenaline starts coursing through the body and mental status and awareness goes on high alert!

Triathlete, on the front.

You can FEEL the tension in a bike pack with 5-10 minutes to go in a race.  It's palpable.  On race morning in triathlons there is a lot sad faces, tired faces...and only a little bit of excitement.  That is - in no small part - due to the fact that triathlons "start" at 5:30 in the morning (in terms of getting ready) whereas bike racers get to sleep in, lounge around, and race in the middle of the day.

The excitement is...palpable.

But what keeps us from having that CONFIDENCE with regard to all facets of our workouts.  Why do I feel the need to complain all the time and feel resigned about doing workouts? Why don't I get excited for all of them?? I am #blessed to be able to compete at exercising at the level I am, but that doesn't automatically make me love it.

Should it? Should I (we) love every workout? Love every race? Approach everything like nobody is going to be better than us?  The rational part of me realizes how ridiculous and impossible that is.  I am a smart guy, I cannot convince myself that I am the best at exercising.  Not to any degree.  But I CAN convince myself that I WILL out-sprint you.  Even if I don't always.  Why the disconnect?

What's up?

4.28 - 5.04
Swim - 16,500 yards
Bike - 181 miles
Run - 21.5 miles
Time - 16.3 hours

5.05 - 5.11
Swim - 6,500 yards
Bike - 279 miles
Run - 20.1 miles
Time - 18.99 hours

Store stop of champions

Let's see, what has happened these past two weeks? Well, a lot of the story can be told by embedding videos.  Less writing more watching.  Always a good deal, right?

Huntersville Sprint from James Haycraft on Vimeo.

IOS Sledge from James Haycraft on Vimeo.

A2 Wind Tunnel apparel + helmet testing from James Haycraft on Vimeo.

Morganton Loop 5-11-14 from James Haycraft on Vimeo.

Some things that happened that I didn't video about:

The CMS 10mi TT (number 2 of 6) was last Wednesday the 7th.  I had a fast time and placed well overall in spite of lower watts than I anticipated.



A group of us went up and enjoyed a spectacular ride in the mountains this past Sunday.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day.  I felt pretty good throughout and paced well enough to go as hard as I wanted to the last couple of climbs, namely Shulls Mill and the climb back up the BRP to Linn Cove.



Still no races on the schedule for a bit as I continue to heal fully.  My lower back is still having some issues and as a consequence (and very visible in the training numbers) my running and swimming have been inconsistent or consistently low.  I feel fit on the bike, but that's about it.

See you out there!

Bringing it back

S - 14,600 yards
B - 170.3 miles
R - 24.6 miles

Time - 15.63 hours

Coming back...slowly.  That's been the name of the game the past two weeks.  I feel pretty fit on the bike, but that's really about it.  Not swimming for 2.5 weeks had left my water game feeling pretty impotent.  Not running for 2.5 weeks is actually the longest I've gone without running in over 2 years I think.

So starting back has been a choppy process.  Late this past week I started feeling a lot better in the pool.  I have been signed up for Huntersville Sprint for a while but opted for doing a relay instead as I just didn't feel ready to race due to the time off caused by injuries from the accident.

Luckily I had two willing and ready people to join me for my relay attempt.  Jeremy Gregory would swim, I would bike, and Rossome Handy would take the reins on the run.  Jeremy had laid down a 4:48ish 500 yard time a couple of weeks prior to this but luckily he held back a bit so he could get out and run to T1 in an expeditious manner.  Him holding back means a 5:02.  Me holding back means...well...slower than that...

photo cred to Lackerman

I had a pretty good bike and managed to average decent watts (for me).  It has been promising finally seeing some real watts on the bike as for a couple of years I have been fairly disappointed in my output over the shorter distances.  After switching to shorter cranks and raising my front end (along with saddle) to achieve the same fit but open up my hip angle I can say I am completely satisfied with my current position.



Mr Ross Handy had a good run on the hilly course.  I think it was his first "open" 5k in quite a long time.  He negative split, which is always good, and came across the line with a W for the relay team.  We also had the overall fastest time, which is - of course - a goal of mine whenever I assemble a relay of such star-studded talent.

Huntersville Sprint from James Haycraft on Vimeo.

So far in life, teams in which I have participated are 3/3 in relay victories.  White Lake 2012, Belews 2014, Huntersville 2014.  No big deal. I am sure it is completely me.

Next weekend will bring another relay as I have chosen to NOT race Buck Hurley this year.  There are several reasons for that, but first and foremost is the fact that I am just not sure I am ready.  I lost 4-5 weeks of 100% training to the injuries resulting from the accident and I don't want to go to a race and not feel like I am ready to win.

So, Carolina International will hopefully be 4/4 relay victories.  Jeremy and I are partnering up for a sub 2:00 attempt on the longer course.  It's gonna take some doing!

An update

So ~10 days ago I was diagnosed with a fractured 5th sacral segment. I'm not exactly sure what that is, but I refuse to search that on the internet because I am sure I will be convinced I have cancer.  Internet diagnoses are scary, at best.  Unfortunately it took a week after the actual accident to figure out - for sure- what was wrong.  My doctor advised that I treat it "symptomatically," which basically means don't do stuff that hurts.  So I haven't been swimming much.  Flip turns are kind of a bear, although they are improving.  I have also not been running much.  The jarring motion seems to induce some discomfort although again, that is improving.

It's going to be a while until I feel like I am back at 100% so I am not sure when I am going to race again.  Well, race a triathlon.  I'll relay all day long. Riding my bike seems to provide little to no discomfort at all, surprisingly.  It's kind of ironic that the sport that got me in trouble in the first place (although NOT my fault, I might add) is the one thing I can do relatively discomfort-free.

I biked roughly 230 miles this past week.  I swam a hair under 10000 yards.  I ran about 12 miles or so.  All in all, it added up to somewhere around 16 hours.  Which isn't all that bad, considering.

I took some pictures.  Not earth-shattering pics, but it's unusual to see a lot of "activity" pics.  Unlike some athletes, I don't have a personal photographer following me around everywhere and documenting my everyday activities.  So I do what I can myself.

Lemme take a selfie

That is one sexy bicycle if I do say so myself

I made some more videos, which - if you're reading this - you've probably already seen.  It's kind of funny watching my "history" as you can tell when I learn a new thing I want to use it in the video.  I'm barely scratching the surface of what the video editing suite I purchased can do (and I didn't even get a "pro" one) but I really enjoy it.  To a certain extent, it's probably a lot more interesting to watch a video recap of a race than it is to read a blog about one, but I really just can't resist blogging.  Maybe I'll quit sales and become a race videographer for people.  That'd be pretty cool, any interest out there?

I'd obviously need to improve my skillz for that one to keep me in the black...

Belews International 2014 Relay from James Haycraft on Vimeo.

Lori vs Belews International 2014 from James Haycraft on Vimeo.

Strange denizens of the pool from James Haycraft on Vimeo.

Finally, my favorite: the compendium of pics and video clips of ICE Racing team members thus far in the year.  While this hasn't gotten many views, I think it is one of my best videos so far.  The music (contributed by Tim Ferguson) is a great choice as the beat has such a strong and predictable rhythm it makes it easy to compile and create an "effective" video.

ICE Racing 2014 from James Haycraft on Vimeo.

The week that was

There was a lot that happened this past week. Got back from a race. Did a group ride. Hit by a car. Wallowed in self-pity. Rode around in a speedo.

That's a fair summary.  I don't wanna go too into detail on the bike accident, but suffice to say that I escaped with more than I could have hoped for from a carbike interaction at ~25mph.



I am mostly ok, although my helmet was demolished and some peripherals on my bike were damaged beyond the ability to repair.  My body is mostly ok, though a week later I am dealing with an ass muscle that is providing some issues.  I have not been able to work our much since then.

But to be able to sit here and type this and be mostly ok is a blessing.  I do not believe it could have gone any better.

The ultimate moral of the story for this blog post is that if you don't wear a helmet when you ride a bike you are truly a moron. I feel sad for those you endanger, maybe not directly but certainly indirectly, by making that ridiculously stupid choice.

New Orleans 5150

Also known as "New Orleans Triathlon," the race this past weekend was a "5150" branded event put on Premier Events in - you guessed it - New Orleans, Louisiana.  My birthplace.  My family's home city.  The Big Easy.

Unfortunately, nothing about this race was easy.

But before I get into that, it's worth noting that the trip itself was great.  It was a welcome relief from what was an extremely stressful week.  Moving is never an easy process, and cramming a move into a race week into a busy work week was not my favorite.  So when Jenny and I hopped in the car on Friday morning for the 11 hour drive to New Orleans I was actually pretty excited to drive.

Jenny took it upon herself to create a video from said driving experiences and this video encapsulates it quite well....

We did the usual pre-race stuff that isn't worth writing about and race morning dawned bright and early.  As we set up our spots I couldn't help but feel unexcited about the race due to the weather conditions.  It was very, very windy and with the bike course as set up it would mean a difficult bike ride and a difficult swim.  Time would only tell, however, if that would prove correct.

I made a slight concession to the prospect of a cold(ish) start of the bike by wearing a Fusion 3/4 sleeved top in addition to my B70 1pc suit all under my wetsuit.  I had never tested this before so I hoped it would have no ill effects on...anything.

The water temperature was stated as being 62 degrees, which is pretty chilly, but luckily I have White Lake 2013 under my belt so now everything else seems like bathwater comparatively.  That being said, it was pretty chilly when we jumped in to line up for the start of the race.

Swim - 24:14

I have been swimming pretty well lately, so despite the very choppy and difficult conditions I was really hoping I would be able to stick with the back of the pack on the swim.  Knowing it was a small field, however (10 male pros), I was not going to have much help around me for drafting purposes.  The course at NOLA is basically an "N" shape, where the start/outbound leg goes out towards the breakwall of the harbor then cuts back to the opposite corner, then heads up along the dock line before turning right towards the stairs.

I sprinted from the gun and was "in the mix" for about 100 meters before falling off the back of the pack. My arms felt surprisingly dead and I had completely lost contact by the time I arrived at the first buoy.  The whole out bound leg was into a strong wind and chop so each sighting attempt was met with a mouthful of water and a spray into the face.  Coming back in towards the other corner was much easier but sighting was still difficult due to the number of "things" above the water line (boats, buoys, docks, pylons, buildings, trees, etc).  Luckily this section passed uneventfully but I could not see any pack throughout this section.  After the next turn it was back into the wind and swell for (thankfully) the last time but it was not made less difficult despite being in the latter stages of the swim.  In fact, this section was more difficult although perhaps it was mainly mental at this point.  I was passed by the lead trio of women (unfortunately Jenny was not among them which further depressed me) and followed them (although definitely not in their draft) in to the finish.  I made it up the stairs uneventfully but ran towards transition being pretty aghast at what I could only assume was a disastrous swim.

I had no watch or time clock to see upon exit so was making that assumption based on the way it "felt" and the fact that the women passed me, a group I assumed I had a 5 minute head start on (I would only find out later it was 3 minutes...not 5).  Blah.

Coming out WAYYY behind, thanks FinisherPix

T1 - 1:29

My transition was pretty decent; it was a fairly long run and I had no issues getting onto my bike.

Bike - 1:02:47

Ahh, the bike.  It was very windy, and with a mostly east/west oriented bike course and a strong NE wind I knew it would make for a tough bike ride.  The way "out" had one big climb up over an overpass, several "awkward" turns that weren't really turns, and about 1/2 bad pavement and 1/2 good pavement.

I don't feel bad embedding my Garmin file into this because it will tell you nothing about me as a cyclist.



Yes, I am happy that I was able to bike decently, but that is so far below what I am capable of I was a little embarassed.  Embarrassed isn't really the right word, but I am far fitter than that and I don't really know what to say.  It took me about 10 minutes to catch the lead women (who I, it turns out, only had a 3 minute head start on; not 5) and from there it was really just a struggle to stay involved in what I was doing.  My watts were quite low and I was really struggling mentally to deal with the strong cross-winds and headwind climbs (4 times up an overpass with a headwind).  The course, in spite of being in NOLA, actually "felt" quite hilly and was relatively difficult.  I never really saw the lead guys, who continued to put more time into me.

I finished lap 1 and was happy for a brief tailwind section before hitting the turnaround and heading back into the winds.  I came into T2 pretty upset with what I had been able to accomplish that day but figured I could salvage a half-way decent run and come away with a positive.

Not sure where this was, but guess what: out of aerobars!

T2 - 0:53

Not too bad, nothing went poorly

Run - 37:08

The run, like the bike, was a double out and back.  Halfway with the wind, halfway into the wind.  Consequently, my first several minutes were probably a little fast.  I did a good job of staying on a solid pace in spite of being so far back of the "race" that I was all by my lonesome.  Out to the turnaround was pretty nice and easy but I had to focus a bit more to maintain on the way back in and reached the turnaround to head out on my second loop.

Towards the end of the "out" section (we ran alongside the bike route here) I was passed by a lady on a road bike with clip ons who was about to head up the overpass when she suddenly crashed pretty hard.  There was nobody else around so I ran over to her and tried to help get her sorted.  She was a bit shaken up but was able to walk over to the side of the road and sit down on the grass and I got her bike out of the middle of the road.  It was the right thing to do and it didn't really affect my race other than give me a slower run time than I would've had otherwise.  I saw her on my way back in and she was sitting on the side talking with a police officer who had driven to her.

Nothing much to say here, I continued on to the finish line and crossed in one of my slower olympic distance times in recent memory but with a good learning experience and workout under my belt.

Looking pretty excited

OA - 2:06:34 (10th MPro, 11th OA)

This race reminded me a lot of NOLA 70.3 last year.  I had a decent race there and repeated that here but all in all it was a pretty lackluster performance.  In both cases, I think my fitness was far and away better than what I was able to showcase at the race itself.

It was great having someone to race with this year, however.  Jenny and I had a good time driving, hanging out with my parents and youngest brother (only one still in high school) and attempting to high-five each other along the run course.  Having my mom and dad there to cheer me on regardless of my performance is always great; even if I am not satisfied with my race they are proud of what I have been able to accomplish.

Basically, a fun trip.  It was definitely good to get away from Charlotte for a weekend.  My next race will be better, I am confident.