Xterra East Championships - TriathlonOther


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Richmond, Virginia
United States
Xterra
85F / 29C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 24m
Overall Rank = 188/231
Age Group = Clydesdale
Age Group Rank = 16/17
Pre-race routine:

Warning, as per usual, my RR is like a novel.
We flew into Baltimore Thursday night. We stayed with my dad on Thursday and Friday night. Saw some friends, had Fathers Day dinner with my sister and her family Friday night.
Unpacked my bike, and put it together in Baltimore figuring if there is anything wrong, I could have it corrected by bikeshops I know. No problems.
Packet pickup on Saturday afternoon, only to find out that each of the distances had changed. The Swim went from 500M to 850M, the Bike went from 10miles to 12.5, the run went from 3.1M to 4.3?
Got my Transition bag together, realized that I forgot my salt tablets....my new best friends....this will come back to haunt me.
Filled my tires to a new slightly lower air pressure, Some air out of the front shock, some air into the back shock
Event warmup:

Eat un crustable, forget to carry extra GU to the swim start, get some local intel from the swim coordinator about the currents, listen to the Big Kahuna give his race instructions, wait for my wave to start.
Swim
  • 21m 50s
  • 850 meters
  • 02m 34s / 100 meters
Comments:

I was very confident about this swim, be it either 500M or 850M. There was a decent current that was very apparent as soon as the first wave got into the water, they were all drifting downstream. When it was my turn, I headed upstream to the tip of the island (about 30 feet from the turn bouy) and this gave me a good site point to keep me in the right vicinity of the turn. Turn upstream, and maybe I was drafting but I didn't know it, but I caught up to a giant pack of people at the next turn bouy. the next 2 legs, this girl and I kept beating on each other, until finally I decided to give it a really hard 10-12 pulls to get ahead. the current was really strong at the shore, becasue it was shallow so paying attention to your sighting was muy importante. made it out of the water, right around when I expected to, if not a little faster, with lots of gas still in the tank.
What would you do differently?:

wet my goggles before we started so they wouldn't fog up. Other than that, I cant think of much, since I know I came out of the water ahead of 20-30 people.
Transition 1
  • 06m
Comments:

Xterra doesn't use timing chips, so there was no transition times at all.
This transition includes a 1/4 mile run back to transition. so coming out of the water nice and calm, was now gone. I put a pair of shoes at the swim out, so I could put them on for the run back, but I was dizzy, so this was a slow undertaking. I was slow once I actually got to transition....but who really cares
What would you do differently?:

Maybe not fire up the grill and cook that steak. I could have been faster in transition, but I knew I had a good deal of race left.
Bike
  • 1h 40m
  • 12.5 miles
  • 7.50 mile/hr
Comments:

I loved this bike course. It was 90% singletrack, and more than 75% of the trails were new. I think someone was bored so when they built the trails they decided to make a climb every 500feet. mind you these weren't rollers, they were climbs, one after another. I didn't have my Garmin with me, but i'd guess there was 1500-2000ft of climbing, 50ft at a time.
I kept to my plan of pushing hard on the fire roads becasue it was free speed. the first 2 miles had the biggest climb of the day, and the biggest decent of the day. The most interesting part of the day was carrying the bike up 4 flights of stairs, over the train tracks, to get to the Buttermilk trails. Buttermilk is a tight technical portion of trails that are quite rideable, but slow becasue they are so technical. at this point I actually caught and passed someone! AFter Buttermilk, we crossed the river down a steep bridge. Sweet 30seconds of recover, at 25mph! the new sections of trails were gnarly to say the least. the last 4 miles were filled with tight switchbacks, both climbing and decending, lots of rock gardens, and root balls, and even a few logs to jump. I caught another group of people, who were really struggling, like me, but a little more. One of the girls in front of me lost her front wheel in a rock garden! My good Karma for the day was stopping to help her with her bike. she didn't have any idea what to do! i put her bike back together, got infront of them becasue they were menaces! and off I went to finish the ride. About the time I was coming back onto the island, my legs were starting to cramp. Remember no salt tablets=cramping
What would you do differently?:

climb better. remember salt tablets, be more agressive when in a group with people. Again, I rode faster than 5-6 people that I am sure of, becasue I either passed them, or caught them on the ride.
Transition 2
  • 03m
Comments:

Again, the T time is a guess. I was cramping as soon as I got off the bike,so I took my time again. I knew the run would not be pretty. grabbed a gel, and started the walk out.
What would you do differently?:

Salt tablets!
Run
  • 1h 04m
  • 4.3 miles
  • 14m 53s  min/mile
Comments:

I walked out of transition, to the water stop right next to it, drank my gatoraide, and water, and tried to run. managed about 100yds of running, and my toes curled up,and my calves were cramping badly. ok now the plan is walk as fast as i can without taking a long stride. I tried to run every now and again to see if it was better, but it never lasted. took more gatorade and water at mile 1, made sure I drank all of it, and it was up the flood wall. managed to run a little more before problems set in again,but it was progress. then comes the Mayan ruins. This is a set of steps, about 75ft tall, made out of railroad ties. They are not even, level, or consistent. Thank god there is a fence right next to it. I got about 1/2 way up,before I started to use the fence as a hand hold. the last person who caught me on the run got to the ruins just after me. right after the ruins is mile 2 water stop. gatoraide and water. tired running again,and it worked ok. still a little sketchy, but I could shuffle faster than i was walking. the rest of the way was shuffle, walk, shuffle, walk until I got to the finish and I ran!
What would you do differently?:

not cramp. I could have beaten 3-4 people if i could have run.
Post race
Warm down:

drink lots of gatorade, get free athletes barbeque, and dump old bay seasoning on both my chicken and greenbeans for the salt.
They announed me when I crossed the line because I was DFL. They even called me up to the stage at the awards presentation to give me a beer. I said no for now, but I'll take you up on that beer in Maui!
Once I had some fluids and salt in me, I felt fine.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

weight, and cramping

Event comments:

I doubted myself frequently during the race. But I kept remembering that Maui is not at all technical, and all about climbing, and having a set when you're decending. I didn't get to beat my time from last race here, but I have no doubt, with the same course as last time, I would have been an easy 30-40 minutes faster without the cramping.
Se La Vie.
I had a blast, so now its time to plan to knock some serious time off that race next year.




Last updated: 2007-01-16 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:21:50 | 850 meters | 02m 34s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/17
Overall: 0/231
Performance: Good
Suit:
Course: Picture an upside down crown. 150 yards straight out to the island, current on my right 150 yards upriver to the opposite side of the island 150 yards straight back to the shore, current on my left 180 degree turn 4x to bouys at the island, and at the shore, before heading back to the start.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 74F / 23C Current: Medium
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Good
Rounding: Average
T1
Time: 06:00
Performance: Below average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed:
Biking
01:40:00 | 12.5 miles | 7.50 mile/hr
Age Group: 13/17
Overall: 17/231
Performance: Below average
Wind:
Course: mostly singletrack, with some fireroads to get from section to section, and one short ride on pavement to get to the new really gnarly section. Picture the profile for Lake Placids' bike course. it wasn't that much climbing in feet, but it was climb decend, climb decend, rinse, repeat
Road: Rough Dry Cadence:
Turns: Average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 03:00
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Average
Racking bike Average
Shoe and helmet removal Below average
Running
01:04:00 | 04.3 miles | 14m 53s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/17
Overall: 0/231
Performance: Bad
Course: grass fields, over the 7th street bridge, up on on the flood wall, up and over the Mayan ruins, over the grass fields, thru a rock garden, over the lee bridge, down the trails, then turn around an head back to transition.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4