stage one complete

to say i've been a touch apprehensive the past few days about starting this race would be an understatement. i've been nursing an injury the past few weeks which exploded on me this past wednesday. i didn't run a step the four days leading up to today and at times doubted if i'd even toe the starting line. i'm a pretty positive but the thought of abandoning this race after the past four months of training, the hundred's of miles, the suffering in the canyon, the biggies in the mountains...it may not have been pretty.

i was able to get into about 80% of my normal stride off the starting line and throughout the stage. it was a rolling 21 in the foothills of the mountains, lots of sand and deep loose gravel. we kept the climbs and steep descents at a comfortable pace and picked up the effort on the flatter sections just a bit. the stage didn't begin until 10 am so the heat and sun played a factor over the last few miles. i snapped at mike when he asked me to check the garmin...sorry partner. but we both ran strong, were recovering well and hungry for more action tomorrow.

we have a strong contingent of fellow runner's and support crew from flagstaff and it's been great to see familiar faces around to share in the adventure, run well and enjoy the experience!

rob

the link below is for the transrockies youtube video from today:

http://transrockies.com/transrockiesrun/news/

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we talked a lot on the drive out about the possibility of Rob not finishing this race, I was preparing myself for anything. He could barely warm up, we decided on a day by day strategy, I held my breath.
Finally, after a summer of waiting for it, the TransRockies run started.
The hundreds of people thinned out to a small pack of a few teams and Rob and I sat in the back, I looked at his face and knew his hip was bad. As the pack thinned out, down to just three teams around 5 miles, he looked better, we took the lead somewhere soon after and all I could think of was that my partner was one tough bastard.
The course was a rollercoaster up and down curving all around type thing, the heat was bad, I pounded fluids at the aid stations and hoped for the best under tat kind of sun. My legs felt powerful, my effort did not feel strained.
It wasn't that I felt amazing, it was that finally after some time away I was letting loose this side of me that had no place to come out. The adrenaline and fire just knew we were home, racing, chasing, competing, like I remember so well.
Glad to be here.
Let's hope the best for Rob's hip, and that we can hold off our competition. Right now we have a few minutes on second place but still such a long way to go.
Day One is down, time to recover and look ahead to tomorrow.

MIKE