T-1 XTERRA world is about to take off

As I woke to a beautiful morning, today was the day to go cheer Steph on as she'd decided to enter the 5  km run despite having some knee issues of late.  As the gun went off I headed down the beech to wait for her and see how she would fair.  I wasn't suprised when I saw her sprinting to the finish good for a third place. Maher card showed second but computer glitch and all she was still on the podium which was awesome.  As for me, my pre race day workout involved a light run, swim and bike.  As the tribe was in the water for our light swim, we were greeted by Dolphins, a first for me of all my years in Maui.  That kind of experience always reminds me why I do these races.  The course appear to be drying but there is also rain in the forecast so there might be course modification in the works so we shall see.

Now there always a few reasons and dedication for races, this being the world championships, I have a few. First I'd like to dedicate this race to our military and emergency personnel, in the light of what happened in Ottawa this week, that's the least I can do.  Secondly I will be taped in pink, to honor all the cancer survivor and particularly my mother, who ultimately lost her fight.  Lastly, I want to dedicate this race to a good friend of mine, I shall call him RM as I know he'd probably wouldn't want me to do that.  You see RM is awaiting a kidney transplant due to a genetic desease which is causing his kidneys to fail.  RM is an XTERRA racer and if it wasn't for his condition, he would be here in Maui, as he qualified despite his kidney problem.  He's all set for a transplant early January as he got a live donor to donate one of his kidneys.  So buddy this one for you.  So there we are, the dye is cast, the chips will fall where they are supposed to be, after all this is Xterra.  Happy trails!

Carpe Diem