Swim was a bit short, but the time included running 1/2 mi up a very steep dirt trail to T1.

Don't walk when going up the hill to T1

Took of the wetsuit before running up the hill, so transition was pretty easy. It was raining pretty hard, so I had gear in plastic bags. But I wasn't very careful about keeping my run shoes in the bag, and left them partly out after transition.

Make sure my run gear is in the plastic bag!

Well, this was my first time on a mountain bike since I was 10. And it showed! I took 2 endos over the handlebars, and had no idea how to go around turns without skidding out. It had rained for days leading up to the race, so the course was a MESS. Other riders whizzed by me on the downhills, because I had no idea how to descend. I passed some on the uphills, and blew past 4 people during the 1/2 mi of pavement. Hey, I'm a roadie. Had a great time, but man it was tough.

Um. Learn how to ride a mountain bike?

Found the very wet running shoes which I'd forgotten to cover. Uggh. Well, I was drenched anyway. But, I'd assumed I would change shirts for the run, and so had my number pinned to a run shirt. But, my bike shirt is warmer, and after the bike, when I was very wet and muddy, I didn't want to change. So I had to transfer the number (and safety pins) to my bike shirt.

Use a number belt so that I can change shirts whenever

My back was killing me after the bike, so running was tough. Down was ok, and flat was quick, but those two uphills were murder. Plus, it was so muddy that I was doing my best Gollum impression going up the last hill.

Work on hills

Shivered in the rain. Packed up gear and grabbed some cookies.


Well, for one, I hadn't been on a mountain bike in 20+ years, and had no idea what I was doing out there. Plus, the conditions were very tough - it had rained for days before the event, and was coming down pretty hard all day, so the bike course was quite squishy and muddy.


IT WAS A BLAST!!! Sure, it was tough, and I had no idea what I was doing, but I had a great time. I'm a distance guy (IM and half), but I can see why people love XTERRA races. This was tougher than any half-iron I've done, and yet I was laughing my whole way through it.