As usual I'm too lazy to write details in specific blocks, so you get it all here. :)

This was my first XTerra (off road) triathlon ever, and I had a blast; I'll try to do some more. It's too bad they're not as numerous as the road tris.

The race was held in Hanna Park, which has beautiful beaches, nice MTB trails (although rather short; more on this later), and running trails that parallel the bike trails. Nice and shady under the trees, lots of roots, sand, stumps, and windy single track.

We had basically perfect conditions for the swim. Calm water and clear skies. I had a nice swim and exited the water somewhere around mid pack. If you're really out to win one of these races, you'd have to come out of the water in the front to avoid the traffic jam on the bike. Not going to happen for me, but I did come out feeling fine, grabbed my water shoes for the run up to transition, and took off.

The bike: I think I've been on the mountain bike about four times so far this year. I have the legs, and no technique. That pretty much guarantees I'm going to run into things. I fulfilled this expectation by crashing into a tree early on. No major damage, and I kept on. The single track and number of people in the race makes for a traffic jam; you're stuck behind slower riders, eventually make a pass when you can, ride up to the next pack of slow people...repeat. It was a 3 loop course, so you did this a LOT.

I felt especially sorry for some of the slower women; they were pulling over to let people by, I guess because they didn't feel comfortable getting passed (and I saw some dangerous passes). Made for a slower ride for them, but I don't know how you'd fix it on that course, anyway.

I rode in my running shoes, and next time I'll be clipped in with proper MTB shoes. I kept flying off the pedals on root sections, and jammed the pedal into the inside of my right knee at one point. That, combined with the dirt from a couple of falls and some thorns from an opportunistic vine I snagged, gave me that authentic Xterra dirt warrior look and feel near the end. Oh yeah..I also landed hard on my seat early on and it collapsed to sit nose up, like a jaunty proctologist's aid.

I got off the bike ready to run. The run was a fun one, with shaded trails, some logs to hop over, and a few minor sandy patches. I believe it was short of the advertised 5k but I wasn't complaining. I came across the line for a total time of 2:15:xx, good for somewhere around 12th in my AG (M40-44).

Jumping in the ocean to clean up was heavenly, and then we stood around for an hour or so and cheered people across the line, while I admired the female physiques on display and waited to collect my stuff.

This was a definite departure from the road tris, with a whole different set of skills needed to bike well. I'll be back for more! My knee hurts today but I got all of the thorns out of my arm and I'm wearing my ugly green race shirt at work. :)