XTERRA Camp Eagle Off-Road Triathlon - Triathlon

My plan for this swim was to swim at a comfortable but hard pace, try to draft instead of passing, and do lots of sighting to ensure I'm swimming straight. As soon as the gun went off my plan snapped into action. There was a lot of thrashing but I stayed calm and figured as long as I was on someones toes but still working hard I was in a good position. Even while drafting I would periodically sight to ensure I swimming straight. Swimming between the poles and the air bag was particularly rough as everyone squished together.

As I approached the first buoy I encountered my first real bottleneck and managed to get kicked in the goggles letting a little water in, but not enough that I had to do anything to let the water out. The second buoy was a little less crowded and once I rounded it could see two people that I could potentially draft off of so I hopped on the feet of the person closest to me. I continued to sight to make sure this person was swimming straight and they seemed to be doing a pretty good job. I think I managed to follow the same person all the way until we rounded the last buoy for the last time. At that point I swam straight for the exit essentially solo since I took the most direct route and others were not. As I was swimming solo I still felt like I was in a bit of a washing machine and realized that I was getting hit by chop from the heavy winds.

I'm actually very pleased with my swim performance and am not sure what I could have done better. Rounding the buoys was a little rough but some of that was because of crowding. It may be a good idea to line up at the start with a swimmer that I know is just a little faster than me and try to follow them.

Time was from exit of water to exit of transition. As you exit the water you immediately have to climb a large set of stairs. I walked those stairs while fumbling with my cap and goggles. I continued walking as I reached the top until I pulled my wetsuit top over my head then started to jog. Removal of my wetsuit bottoms was fast I and was able to put on my socks and boa shoes quickly.

I saw a couple of people pass me during this part and probably should work on moving quicker, though I was still pretty winded from the swim and stairs. The faster I can get to the transition area the better.

This ride was a disaster, but at least I had fun. I completed the first technical climb and passed two riders. Once at the top I had a rider pass me so I decided to stay on him since he was obviously a strong rider. Flowing through the trail at speed we hit a small rock garden which shot my rear wheel up and came down right on the corner of another rock. I cursed has I heard the air hissing out of my rear wheel. I quickly spotted the quarter inch sized hole in my tire and knew that my sealant wasn't going to save me so I quickly started putting in my one spare tube. I had a 16g C02 cartridge and made the stupid mistake of simply inflating until my tire felt nearly the same as my front tire (20psi). I did not think about the fact that I had just pinched a hole in my tire riding at 20psi, and that a tube will almost certainly not survive pinches where a tubeless tire might.

Off I went on my new tube thinking I might still have a chance. I passed a couple of the riders who had gone by while I was changing my tire when all of a sudden I heard the dreaded hiss from my rear tire. I don't even know what I hit but when I removed the tire to look at the tube I found two cuts from a pinch flat. I didn't have any more tubes but I had two glue-less patches which should have been enough to fix this. I put on the first patch then grabbed the second patch and the wax paper backing fluttered to the ground. Looking at the patch I realized the glue was dried up making the patch worthless. The remaining hole was too close to the valve to try tying a knot in the tube so I thought for a while as most of the riders passed me by. I remembered I had duct tape rapped around my CO2 cartridge so I attempted to use a piece as a patch. The tire actually actually inflated but I only made it about 100 yards before the duct tape patch failed.

I had about 2 miles until the course went right by the transition and my car where I knew I had another tube, so walked/ran my way through the creek bed and all the way back till I was near the parking lot and transition. I left my bike on the side of the course and ran and grabbed the spare tube and two more glue-less patches from my car. Put the new tube in and inflated to 30psi and continued on my way just wanting to finish the race as I knew I was in last place.

Much to my surprise as I hit the long jeep road climb, I saw off in the distance a rider walking his bike up the hill, once I caught up with him I found he had a flat front tire. I knew I was last at this point so I stopped and offered to help him since I thought I had some patches. As soon as I looked at my patches I realized they were both dried up so I gave him a piece of duct tape which also didn't work for him and continued on my way. I didn't see anyone else for the rest of the ride.

Camp eagle is too rocky for 20psi, I should have probably run 25psi in the rear. Front is probably OK. I also once installing a tube I should go max pressure of a 16g CO2. A second tube may be a good idea. Finally I should ensure that any patches I bring are still good and possibly have an old fashioned glue patch kit.

Bike shoes off, running shoes on, grab hat with number belt and go.

My transition is almost too smooth so I felt like I was forgetting something and stood around double checking my area before I left. Should practice transitions to make a fast transition feel natural.

With my awful bike ride behind me I simply wanted to set a good run time, so off I went. The beginning of the trail was overall very fast so I was able to start with a strong pace. Much to my surprise I encountered a runner at the back of the pack. I don't know if he remembered passing me earlier with bike troubles but I offered my encouragement as a flew by at what seemed like a blistering pace in comparison. Soon I encountered a second runner and offered similar encouragement and knew that maybe I could catch a few more before the run was over. When I got to the freshly cut trail I did my best to keep up the pace but the trail conditions made it difficult. The steep climb back to the aid station left me gasping for air and I had to resort to taking a few walking steps as I climbed but tried to push through. I passed another two runners on the climb but this time I was barely moving faster than they were. Once past the aid station for the second time I let my legs go as fast as they could down the steep jeep road and tried to keep the pace up all the way to the finish.

I don't think I can run any faster, but perhaps practicing some climbing would help.

Grabbed a Gatoraid and chugged it. Then queued up for a delicious hamburger.


Bad luck and poor planning on the bike. If I would not have had two flat tires I think I could have had a competitive race.


The Camp Eagle race is probably my favorite XTERRA that I have done. The Camp itself is awesome and it fun to hang out and enjoy the area. The course has everything from tech to climbing and can be a lot of fun when everything goes right. The camp provides the post race food which is nothing spectacular but really hits the spot after a hard race.