It was a beautiful day for a 7-mile trail race.  It was a great, fast trail (Lake Norman as always) with a few "sleeper" hills that aren't terribly steep, but seem to go on forever.

I kept a decent pace and was doing very well.  With about a mile and half left, I had secured, I started to hatch a plan on taking over third.  The guy in third seemed to be running a fairly steady pace, but had slowed ever so slightly.  I figured I would hold back until the last 100 yards or so at which time I would pour it on.  By the time he would realize he was being passed, he wouldn't have the time ot the ability to catch up.

Once I had my plan all figured out, my left quad began to cramp.  I tried to run thru it but had to stop for 10-15 seconds to work it out.  By the time I resumed running, third place had a significant lead on me.  :-(

I finished 4th overall and 1st place in my age group at just a little over 42 minutes.

Results can be viewed at:http://www.sharksbite.com/apply1_files/STEAMER07.HTM.

Sorry I've neglected my blog.  After Xterra Southeast, I took some needed time off.  I'm sitting here gathering together my gear for the Summer Steamer 10k I'll be racing in tomorrow.  It's actually a 7 mile trail race.  It's supposed to be BEAUTIFUL weather tomorrow and I'm stoked.

I have a NEW SPONSOR!!!

Would like to send out a big welcome to Crank Brothers!

Some of you have asked about some of my gear and things I use in my offroad triathlons, well, here's two of them:

I personally use the Candy SL pedals:



http://www.crankbrothers.com/candy_sl.php

These pedals are AWESOME at shedding mud when your ride goes on the dirty side.  When doing Xterra triathlons, nothing beats them for their durability and mud shedding design.

Also, packed away in my seat bag is a multi-17 tool:



http://www.crankbrothers.com/multi17.php

When you want a to carry the maximum ability, in the lightest weight possible, reach for one of the Crank Brothers multi-tools.

If you haven't already, stop by and check out the awesome line of Crank Brothers pedals, cranks, tools & more!!!

-Marcus



www.SpeedyLizard.com