Xterra REAL: Race Report

After taking 2 weeks off to study for finals, I knew my performance at this race wasn't going to be stellar. Still, I knew my endurance and power were good, so I'd decided I was going to throw down what I had and see what happened.

Swim:

Cold, cold, cold. Race organizers said 54. Brrr... I managed to pick Trevor Glavin out of the crowd on the beach and figured I'd draft off him for as long as I could since he's faster than me (he'd go on to win the overall). The gun goes off and my high step/dolphin keeps me right next to him; he started swimming pretty early and I managed to keep up with him in the shallows. I started swimming and got on his feet, only to get dropped after a dozed strokes. Rats. After that I did my best to find someone to draft off, and made sure I didn't swim too crooked. Pretty lackluster for 1000 yards; out of the water in 17:40. Lousy.

T1-Bike:

The bach run took forever thanks to the lake being exceptionally low. Took 3 minutes just to get to T1 from the water. Once on the bike, I did my best to try and make up as many places as I could, but overshiftd in a technical section and spent 1-2 minutes yanking my chain out of my spokes. That plus the chain suck on both laps thanks to the 4-5 super-deep mud holes and my bike leg could have been better. Still, no nutrition problems and I had plenty of power and endurance. I just seem to be lacking some top-end speed right now.

T2-Run:

Smoked T2; at least that's something. I started the run feeling strong and feeling lasted the whole run leg. I ran every steep hill and managed to reel a few people in. The race director added about 1/2 mile to the run course and I still averaged 7 minute miles the whole way. Not bad for this point in the season, but I'd love to see what I can do here when I don't have to skip any training for exams. We may never know...

Wound up 9th in my AG and 45th overall. I think that's worse than last year. Bummer.

I'm not going into what was good or bad about the race since my training is the obvious reason for my poor performance. Really, I just have to put this behind me and focus on Arizona Xtreme on April 26th and then Xterra West on May 18th. I'm back in school after spring break, so I'm juggling classes and workouts again. Woo.

Pictures couresty of my brother, Steve. Thanks, man.