felt ok in the swim, but made a mistake in positioning. Was way too far to the right of the buoy, and made the distance further and was congested on the way. Those the positioned directly behind the buoy were better off IMO.

Re-consider the starting position.

long run from the beach up the grassy hill to the bikes.

Nothing really. It's a a tough run from the beach up to the transition. Mushy sand and grass uphill. Getting on the camelbak and bike shoes takes time, hard to reduce that. I skipped the gloves this year.

very difficult this year. They added a lot more climbing (over 4500 ft total) and added at least 1 mile to the course from last year. Also added more single track. I tried to strategize by starting off slow on the hills, but wound up getting stuck behind slower people on the single track. Was not easy to pass people, especially when a whole line are walking up a hill and blocking the trail. Tried to make up time on the downhills but just not enough to get the time down. Was about 22 minutes slower than last year on the bike.

Train the hills more, and take more risks on passing.
This of course may lead to a crash, as one guy broke his leg and another separated his shoulder. Something to be said for surviving this bike course unscathed.

ok but had to tie my shoes. I opted for no speed laces, due to the fact they are less stable on the trails than tied laces. This slowed me a bit.

Not sure. Maybe nothing.

Same course basically as last year. 3 mile climb up to the lake and charge down, with a few more hills tossed in. Beach run at the end.

Did ok considering I had major cramps in my adductors about mile 4 and 5. Felt like I needed a nursing home instead of racing XTERRA LOL. But popped 3 salt tabs and prayed they'd subside. Struggled to finish the last 2 miles. Foot problems too. Ouch.

the usual walk around eat and drink.


poor swim position, weak hill performance on the bike, cramps and foot problems on the run.


very good race quality overall. XTERRA does a good job. Even though bike course was harder this year, it still is probably the most scenic course I've ever done. Extremely challenging.