I have to admit the Xterra race start times adhere to my sleeping regime much better that of traditional Triathlons. I am usually getting up at around 5am and getting into transition area for 5:45am, as the first wave usually starts around 6:30am. Xterra races start at 8:30am, love it!
Even better was the race starting at the beach of the hotel. A little room service, roll out of bed and roll straight into transition area, fabulous. I set up my transition area and then rehearsed my 'ins & outs'. I always physically travel the route I will be taking in the race. I pretend that I am coming in off the swim and count rows or a landmark to make it easier to find my bike, and then physically run out the 'bike out'. Then I pretend that I am coming in off the bike and find my transition area again and close my eyes while I imagine racking my bike, switching shoes taking my helmet off and grabbing my race belt and visor and then head out the 'run out'. Physically doing this is a important part of me setting up in the morning.
I was all set and head down to the beach failing to think of sunscreen. Thank God for Mom's with kids in prams, you can ALWAYS count on them having sunscreen!
Wetsuit (thanks Kristine) was on and I was ready to roll. The water was kind of cold, but perfect with a wettie. The Pros were off first 'Go Josiah & Brad'. I was in the last wave, which is great when you are in the water and pass other colored caps. I felt comfortable and at ease in the water. I was relaxed and only sighted every 10-12 strokes and kept my head down otherwise. I have been working on my swim and I felt like it was paying off. My swim time was 29:31
Next up was the bike. I was feeling good, but about 3 miles in, I had this heavy almost sore feeling in my quads - luckily it went away. Most of the climbing was in the first 6 miles. The bike was much easier than I had in my head. I held back just a little as I always seem to hammer the bike and then sacrifice my run. As hard as it is to hold back, I felt great starting the run.
I did fall once on the 2nd lap and as I did this my bike seat did a 45 ยบ turn 'bugger'. This makes it a little tough to sit on... so I used my legs to twist it back to almost straight and just dealt with it for the rest of the race. I forgot about it till Brett rode it back to the car and said "what's the deal with your seat".
I rode well (1:46:07) although I hate looking at the bike splits knowing I didn't go flat out and always wonder if it was a good strategy. One interesting thing I learnt, always take water with you on the bike! I thought there was a water aid station in the first 4 miles and didn't bother taking any, I wouldn't drink it in the first 4 miles anyway so why lug it up the hills! Well, there was no water station where I thought there was and when I finally saw one it was at mile 8 and I was dying of thirst... they were handing out tiny paper cups of water!
This year although I am 34, I have to race in the 35 - 39 yr age group. You have to race the age you are on the last day of the year, I think this is BS. Along with having your race number plastered on your arms, you also have you age on your calf. When you race you can see what age group everyone is in. In my case, I could see a girl in front of me who was in my age group. I was thinking of the best time to pass her, just in case she wanted to counter the attack. I wasn't sure how much I had in me and I wanted to place as well as possible. I decided to just go as hard as I could and if she wanted to keep up I would deal with it. As it turned out the gap between us grew and I knew after 100 yards I was safe to the finish. My run time was 55:29. What surprised me was the fact that I ran 58:12 at Beaver Creek Xterra last year. But then I realized that the run leg at the Beav was 5.75 miles not 6.2, so I ran faster and it was longer! My final time was 3:11:07
I was thinking I would finish in under 3 hrs 30min, so I was thrilled with my time. I came 5th in my age and surprised myself. 3 of the top 5 were from Colorado. The region I am in is really competitive so I am keen to see if I can qualify not only for Nationals but I would love to earn a spot to Xterra Worlds in October... we'll see... There is a lot of hard work to be done but I think it could be done - or at least it's a challenge!
I rode well (1:46:07) although I hate looking at the bike splits knowing I didn't go flat out and always wonder if it was a good strategy. One interesting thing I learnt, always take water with you on the bike! I thought there was a water aid station in the first 4 miles and didn't bother taking any, I wouldn't drink it in the first 4 miles anyway so why lug it up the hills! Well, there was no water station where I thought there was and when I finally saw one it was at mile 8 and I was dying of thirst... they were handing out tiny paper cups of water!
This year although I am 34, I have to race in the 35 - 39 yr age group. You have to race the age you are on the last day of the year, I think this is BS. Along with having your race number plastered on your arms, you also have you age on your calf. When you race you can see what age group everyone is in. In my case, I could see a girl in front of me who was in my age group. I was thinking of the best time to pass her, just in case she wanted to counter the attack. I wasn't sure how much I had in me and I wanted to place as well as possible. I decided to just go as hard as I could and if she wanted to keep up I would deal with it. As it turned out the gap between us grew and I knew after 100 yards I was safe to the finish. My run time was 55:29. What surprised me was the fact that I ran 58:12 at Beaver Creek Xterra last year. But then I realized that the run leg at the Beav was 5.75 miles not 6.2, so I ran faster and it was longer! My final time was 3:11:07
I was thinking I would finish in under 3 hrs 30min, so I was thrilled with my time. I came 5th in my age and surprised myself. 3 of the top 5 were from Colorado. The region I am in is really competitive so I am keen to see if I can qualify not only for Nationals but I would love to earn a spot to Xterra Worlds in October... we'll see... There is a lot of hard work to be done but I think it could be done - or at least it's a challenge!
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