Started towards the back and swam to nearly the second buoy freestyle. Sighted well. Felt like I was swimming with a lot of new swimmers. Backstrokers swimming S's in front of me, over me, etc. Literally grabbed a few swimmers by the legs and pointed them in the right direction. Annoying but funny I guess. I swam great straight lines and had a handful of people swim right in front of me the wrong direction. Unfortunately, this kept me swimming a lot of freestyle to distance myself from these people and my shoulders got pretty sore! Popped out of the water right around 15:00 and in the middle of the pack. Obviously, the course was short and I would put it at about 750 yards.

Maybe start a little farther forward. My freestyle swimming is decent, just have to add breast stroke to relieve my aching shoulders.

Awful, awful, awful (ditto for T2). Realized coming out of the water that I'd forgotten to put my chip on. Wetsuit off easy but they wanted you to stuff all of your gear into a trash bag so they could transport it to T2 and break down T1. Thus I had to take time to "pack" before I could go. Between that and putting my shoes on in T1, throwing on a camel back, etc. I just felt like time was flying by. Put my gloves on as I was riding.

Allow more time before the race to get ready. I rushed myself here. I normally leave my shoes on the pedals, not sure how well this works for MTB. Lots of learning here.

First mile was relatively flat getting out of town and then a tough steep climb out of a parking lot. Jumped off the road and let the climbing begin, as in I got a little panicked because of the amount of climbing! I really had no idea how to pace myself here versus the risk of blowing up. I just settled into what felt like a hard "sprint" like effort and tried to cue off other riders. Didn't see a sniff of downhill until just over 4 miles and that was short lived. Then more climbing until about six miles. I kept my cadence high and was pretty much in the granny gear for all of it. Took a Gu @ 00:52 minutes in and sipped on my Cytomax. I was only passed once or twice climbing, which I was very proud of. Started the downhill and just tried not to die. I'm relatively comfortable with downhill speed but I'm no freak. Managed to hit a good sized rock hiding in the grass and fortunately didn't damage my bike or my head. No falls and powered through the trouble spots.

This is an experience thing here. Bought my Stumpjumper in the spring and have to divide time among it and my road bikes. Most of my rides have been around the tame trails of Highlands Ranch, with the exception of two rides at Lair of the Bear. Thank God for those as I wouldn't have had a chance at Beaver Creek. So keep riding, maybe swap out for some lighter components here and there, etc. Keep climbing, I like it!

Bleh. Went to put on my left shoe and found that my orthotic had bunched up when I put it in earlier. Had to take it out three times to get it right.

Check my shoes. This sucks as my T2 is normally amongst the fastest of the day.

Felt pretty good coming off the bike and saw a guy and girl ahead of me. Caught the guy quickly and then passed the girl around 0.75 miles. The first part of the singletrack wasn't bad and while it was definitely climbing, it was manageable. After the 1st aid station though the run became markedly steeper. I've never really trail run before but it quickly became apparent to me that certain sections lent itself to walking rather than running. So when I couldn' run faster than I could walk, I would power walk. Caught up with another guy and girl and we stayed together until the second aid station, which began the downhill. At this point, I let things go and tried to make up time. Skipped the aid station and hammered the run home. Passed another guy in my AG on the way down. Finished strong but could tell my quads were unhappy.

Not much. I think most people have to walk portions of these trails so I stopped worrying about that. Turns out I had the fourth fastest run of the day so I'm ok with it.

Jogged around the flat sidewalks for about a mile. Quads cramped up at first but then ok.


Experience and recent hip pain. First XTERRA! Limited mountain bike experience, limited trail running. Definitely different strategies versus road triathlon. Past week dealt with a sore glute and it didn't feel good until the day before.
Missed the podium again. Last year I would have been second and this year I would have been second in 40-44. Not sure aging up next year will help though ;)


XTERRA is amazing. Great laid back, friendly vibe. Not as serious as road tri but still very competitive. Got to see the top pros coming into T2 and the finish.
Big question is do I do the Sport race again next year to try to make the podium or do I go for the full distance. I was spent at the end of this race and can honestly say that XTERRA is so much tougher both physically and mentally than road triathlons.