XTerra Lake Placid - TriathlonOlympic

Swim went better than expected. It was two loops of 750 meters and a short beach run to get to the second lap. I tried to draft as much as possible. With only 7 hours of swim training in the last 12 months I was just happy to get out of the water with a little juice left over.

I guess I would swim more throughout the year. Or at least swim more a few months before the race.

If you've ever raced in lake placid then you are aware of the 1/4 mile run you have to do from the water to the transition area. I brought shoes to change into for the run but ended up just grabbing them and running in bare feet. The gloves took a little time, but the rest went ok. I kept all my stuff in individual plastic bags as it was pouring all morning. That worked great.

Not too much.

One mile into the ride I hit a major dip in the trail and heard my seat creak and move a few inches down. a few minutes later it angled a few inches up. I knew what that meant and started praying that my seat post would hold up for the rest of the ride. For the next 10 miles (first loop) the seat kept shifting from down to up every time I hit a bump of shifted my position. At the end of the first loop I stopped and borrowed an allan wrench to tighten up all the moving parts. This helped for the next 4 miles until a major bump ripped the seat right off the post. I thought it was the end of my race! I couldn't believe I drove 6 hours to have it end like this. The trail was way too rough and long to ride it without a seat. As it was, my legs were way too tired from nursing the seat during the race.
Well, 20 seconds after the seat ripped off a "VERY" good Samaritan stopped and helped me Jerry rig the seat back on. It's a long explanation but the way we were able to get the seat on caused the front of the seat to be up a few inches, so the rest of the ride I was sliding off the seat.
Anyway, I got through the ride and was just happy that it was over. I think it was the hardest I've ever pushed on a bike in my life. I know I said that at the last Xterra because of the hill climbing, but this was worse!
All that said, I LOVE XTERRA RACING!

I guess I would ride more hills and work my legs in the off season. Plan better for an event.

I guess I was really slow at T2 because I was 66th overall and 10th in my age group. I was so spent on the bike that I didn't feel like I needed to rush out.

What can I say, I was spent. You start the run immediately going straight up hill. You then enter the shoe sucking mud section for roughly 100 yards. that part was fun as there was no way to completely avoid it. I was cramping in both of my hamstrings at the top of the hills. I also had to jump strangely over logs and rocks so I wouldn't cause a brutal hamstring cramp. I walk up a few of the hills but kind of go my second wind with 2.5 miles to go.

No much, I was pulling from an empty well.

Planning for a 2.5 hour race and entering into a 4.5 hour race. The ride and my seat took a lot out of me mentally and physically. Also the pouring rain and conditions made things tough.


Great venue but the rain killed the spirits.

Still going to do it next year!