Bear it all Off Road Duathlon 2011 Race Report

This race was originally supposed to be a triathlon on October 9.  Then it got below freezing and the swim was cancelled.  Then it rained a lot the day before the race and the race was postponed until October 30.  The race director was really nice about the whole postponement--he offered us the option to have a refund, to defer our entry to 2012, or to race on October 30.  I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I picked the third option.

This week came and I took my exam on Wednesday.  We also got over 6 inches of snow that day and I thought with all the snow melt the trails would be too muddy to race again.  I was sort of hoping there would be no race since I was now really out of shape on the bike. I actually got in better running shape the past few weeks, but unfortunately there was a lot of biking in this race. I was shocked to find out Saturday night that the race was still on and was regretting working out a little too much the past few days.  Oh well!

Race morning brought sunshine and chilly temperatures at first which quickly warmed up in the sun.  The new format was run 2.6 miles, mountain bike 22 miles, run 5.6 miles starting in a time trial format.  My # was 9 based on our swim seeded times, but with less participants, I was 3rd to start behind a pro male, and some other guy and Adam starting right behind me.

I started off the first run relaxed but at a good pace.  I've done a few duathlons, and I know how much the second run hurts if the first one is done too hard.  Right away Adam flew by me, then another guy, and another.  I could see all the guys passing and then trying to run together.  I just stayed relaxed and kept pace behind the guy I started behind.  I wasn't sure how many people were in the long course race (my race) and how many women were racing.  I had a feeling not to many but I had no clue.  Kind of a weird feeling.

I got through the first run feeling good and fumbled around in transition a little since I'm not used to wearing socks, gloves, headband, etc.

I started out the course a little tired from the run, I got to a super steep hill very soon and was not prepared for it so I dismounted midway and walked up and got passed by a couple guys there.  From there it was twisty and windy and up and down for awhile, and then the same guy that passed me a few minutes prior passed me again.  Huh? Did he take a wrong turn? After that guy passed me early on, the rest of the first lap was like a ride through the park by myself.  I was following the arrows, but there were times I wondered if I was on course because I was all alone.  It was kind of nice. I just relaxed and did my own thing and rode my own pace.

The course to begin with was not very technical and a couple sections were rerouted to road due to the mud/clay so it was really pretty technically easy, but there were no places to rest on the course.  The second loop went by faster because I had some people from the short course to pass.  Midway through the second lap, I was ready to be done.  I was wishing I had done the short course, and wondering if I was the only woman in my race or not.

Into T2, I took my time and talked to a couple spectating teammates, and then headed off for a run.  A guy starting his second loop was right behind me and I could hear him laboring to keep up.  I kept my pace and didn't worry about him.  He passed me halfway through and then seemed to slow after a short while, so I passed him again.  I could see what I thought was Adam up ahead, likely on his second lap.  I pushed the pace a little to drop the guy and to catch Adam before he did. As AI got closer to Adam he kept turning around.  Finally I yelled "stop turning around!"  If you want to tell a runner that you are feeling tired and weak and scared in a race, then turn around.  Otherwise, keep looking forward, looking back does nothing but show that you are an easy pass.  Anyway, I finally caught him, told him to come with me and kept moving. The guy did catch him, but Adam did out sprint him at the line and finish ahead of him in the overall, in case you are wondering.

I was feeling pretty good but I had another lap to go,  Towards the end of the first lap I saw a guy ahead of me and caught him a little ways into the second lap.  I remember seeing him behind me on the switchbacks coming up the climb on the second loop, but never got passed by him on the bike. How the heck did he get ahead of me then? I was a little confused and of course this is also when my glutes and hamstrings also got really confused and slowed down a little.

I tried to finish strong and was pretty sure I was first female and possibly only female to finish the long course.

So, I did finally win a race this year, and I suppose it counts because there was one other female in the race.

It was a fun race and turned out to be a nice day. I personally would make the bike shorter, and put it earlier in the year so that there is less chance of the swim getting cancelled.  And maybe have more volunteers out because even though it was well marked there were a lot of places where people could take wrong turns or cut the course.  It was a nice local race and had some nice awards for us.

3rd overall for Adam, 1st overall for me (just a little more competitive in the mens race)

Xterra USA 2011 Race Report

So I know this race was over 2 weeks ago, but I'm a busy woman :)

Swim+T1: 102/298, 23/90 women, 9/73 amateur women, 4/15 AG, 30:15

The morning was very chilly, but the water temperature was a great wetsuit temperature (around 67) in my opinion.  T1 and T2 were in 2 different places so we had to get up early to set everything up, but had some time to spare so I hung out in the car to stay warm.

With 35 minutes to go, I squeezed into my new wetsuit, using pam for the first time in 10 years as a triathlete.  I didn't notice a huge difference between pam and body glide except pam is a little grosser.  Anyway, I intended to a warm up swim, but ran out of time.

A little chilly before the start

I got in the water and waded in, then turned around and saw Lance Armstrong right in front of me wearing that new $1200 Tyr wetsuit.  I didn't say hi to him or tell him how excited we were to have him racing like other athletes were.  Not that I have anything against him and I think it's great that he was there having fun and racing, I just didn't want to bug him like everybody else.

I did line up in the row behind him and was relieved to hear that the pros had a 30 second head start (at least a few less bodies starting at once).  They started and I tried to squeeze myself into the front row.

And then we were off and it was the roughest swim in my recent memory.  I was wishing I had been in better swimming shape so that I wasn't in the middle of the pack so much, wishing I could get out faster so that I could get away from all the punching and kicking.  I'm usually pretty good with a little roughness.  I just don't like getting punched for an entire swim.

The swim to the first buoy was rough, I passed a pro female breast stroking early on.  I was amazed at the number of people breast stroking around the buoy.  I got passed some people there and hoped it would open up a bit and I could get into a rhythm.  Every time I thought I was getting into a rhythm, wham, I got a hit to the back, a punch to the face, or even a hit in my chest somehow.   It was not one of my better swims, but my goggles stayed on and only leaked a little in my left eye, so I took that as a victory.

I got out of the swim and saw a time of 28 something and though I swam bad but not that bad.  A bad swim for the shape I'm in would be a 25 or 26.  I tried to forget it and get out of my wetsuit and to transition.

Running up the hill to T1

In transition my wetsuit came off well, everything was going fast and then I went to get my bike of the rack and I couldn't.  I tugged again.  Nope.  What the heck?  I looked down and saw my quick release lever on my rear tire was wrapped around a cable from the bike next to me.  I tried to move my bike this way and that way and it wouldn't come lose.  Ahhh.  As I'm doing this I am seeing other people leaving transition and other people coming in and getting ready to go. I finally had to re rack the bike, move the other guys bike and mess around with the cable to finally get it to unhook.  So frustrating.

You can barely see me running out to start the bike

Bike+T2: 18.9 miles, 172/289, 38/89 women, 21/72 amateurs, 7/14 AG, 2:04:54

I like to start off the ride a little easy just to relax a little after the swim.  Apparently, no one else near me was doing the same thing.  People were flying past me the first couple minutes of the bike on the ride to the start of the climb.  I was passed by a girl in my ag who is a very good mountain biker.  She didn't pass me until half way through the bike in Beaver Creek, so I knew I had my work cut out for me on this bike.

The bike course is beautiful and in theory, it is the perfect course for me. It is not very technical and it is mostly climbing.  We climb from 4900 ft, up to 7300 ft with a little descending at the end and in the middle.  With T2 at just under 7000 ft.  I think earlier in the year--before May, I was in much better climbing and biking shape in general.  Then I realized my fitness didn't matter if I spent the whole race falling into the bushes, so I worked on just being comfortable riding my bike (still not 100% there either) and not so much on fitness.  Unfortunately for this course, I needed my early season fitness.

I rode at a comfortably hard pace up the first part of then climb.  It was a long ride and I didn't want to burn myself out.  I was getting passed a lot, which on a climb is weird for me.  My teammate Chris passed and I tried to stay with him for awhile.  I should have been able to stay with him, but my legs just didn't have it.  A little bit later, another girl in my AG passed.  And then another.  Both are very strong climbers and runners.  I had a short conversation with Meghan, the second girl and gave her some words of encouragement and tried  to keep her from disappearing too fast as she raced up the mountain.

From there it was a long grind up the hill.  I fell once, in the same place as the preride, on a steep, loose, left hand switch back.  I slid back down the trail and then got passed by a couple of my male teammates and saw my friend and teammate Kathy close behind me.  It was around 2/3 through the ride, so typically where she catches me in the longer races.  She has always stayed away on the run, so I knew if I wanted a shot of catching back up I had to dig a little deeper on the rest of the climb up Sardine Peak Trail.  The rest of the ride up the climb I talked to another girl in my age group a bit which passed the time.  

I didn't descend as well as I did in the preride, but I didn't fall and I wasn't holding people up (I don't think), so that's a plus.  After descending we had one small little climb to T2.  I did dismount to walk over a rocky spot and the guy behind me started screaming at me.  My response of course was a little snarky "relax--it's not like you're winning anything anyway".  I moved over and let him by on a very wide bridge and he elbowed me really hard.  What a jerk!  Even if what I said hit a little close to home, he shouldn't have been screaming at me in the first place. Anyway, I wanted to get his race number so I could report him, but could not see it from behind and went through transition faster so I didn't see it on the run either.

Anyway, I was very happy to be done with the bike.  I went as hard as I could for the shape that I am currently in and that's all that I can ask for.

Run: I've heard 10k, 6.1, 6.34, so somewhere north of 6 miles. 93/288, 22/89 women, 8/72 amateur women,  3/14 AG 49:24

The run starts out climbing and doesn't stop for almost a mile.  I felt surprisingly good to start and started passing people right away.  Adam was around 2/3 of the way up the hill waiting with the dogs and it was nice to see him.

Chugging up the hill

Still going

And a lot more left to go

Once I got to the top of the first long hill I saw one of my brothers friend's and old roommates out cheering along the course that I haven't seen in maybe 10 years.  I yelled out her name and guessed that her husband must be in the race.

I felt good for the first 2.5 miles or so.  As I started to catch my friend and teammate Kathy, my energy started to get really low and it seemed like no matter how hard I tried I was only making small progress on catching her.  Finally I caught her and passed another woman too.  Then we turned to the other long/steep hill of the course and I was hurting. I could hear them behind me and I was not pulling away as fast as I wanted to.  I tried to keep pushing as hard as I could and focusing forward.  I knew from here, it was mostly downhill, which is normally a strength for me.

Frito waiting for me to return to the finish

My 3 wonderful spectators waiting patiently for me

At this point, I think there were a lot of short course racers mixed in with us, because I was passing several women, and I knew there were not that many women ahead of me in my race.  It made it a little crowded when we got to the narrow descent.  When I preran the course, I was looking forward to bombing the decent like normal, but with the crowds and my quickly lowering energy, things were a little different.  I caught up to 2 women marked "30".  One I knew was in my race, the other I wasn't sure, but turned out to be in the short course.  I started my usual attempt to speed down the hill like normal, even though I felt like I was going to pass out (why didn't I have my 4th Gu on the bike?).  

Around this time I passed a guy in 40-44 and he said "I wish I was still 30".  Turns out this was my brothers friend and old roommate Bill but I didn't realize this until the next day when I saw the results and talked to him.  Kinda funny running past someone you haven't seen in 10 years in the middle of a triathlon.

I went to pass one on the "30" women and she took off like crazy down the hill.  I can't say that's ever happened to me in a triathlon. It was a good move and I wish I had been able to go with her. Most people just give up when you pass them.  I tried to get myself back together to chase and the other 30 year old who was in the short course race was cutting me off, accelerating, elbowing me every time I tried to pass her.  I wanted to ask, "are you even in my race???"  I kept trying to pass her, but was too low on energy to fight.  If I was in better shape and not so tired and hungry I don't think it would have been an issue and it bothers me that I let it slow me down.  I ran a moderate pace back to the finish and ran the last downhill in pretty hard.  It's a good thing too because Kathy had caught back up to me and was only 8 seconds behind.

Running crazy down the final downhill to the finish.  I don't normally run with my arms like that.

Immediately sitting down after the race

post race hand waving

Overall: 3:24:33, 6/14 age group, 15/72 amateur women, 32/89 women, 141/288. I'm happy with my race but see that there is a lot of room for improvement in all 3 disciplines.  I know that with more consistent training I can take 5-7 minutes easily out of my swim and run times.  But I will never be finishing on the podium until I take a huge chunk out of my bike time. That being said, I made the choice to "slack off" in my training the last couple months to focus on other priorities, so all things considered I'm very happy with how I did given my training.  I think 5th in my age group was within my reach, but 4th was pretty far away.  It was a beautiful venue for a race and probably my favorite race of the year.  I think Beaver Creek is still the most physically demanding race I have done, but this comes a close second.

Adam was a great support for the race and it wouldn't have been the same without him there.

Adam-the best spectator I could ask for!  Adam on his way to winning the 10K+ race on Sunday when I took my turn to spectate

Xterra USA Pre race

This is not a race report.  I'll write one here eventually, but we were there from Tuesday to Sunday so there's a lot to write about.

First off, it was a beautiful venue for a race.  We camped the first 2 days at Anderson cove campground which is right on the reservoir, then got a hotel in Ogden for the last so I'd be better rested (ie, not cranky) for the last few days leading up to the race. This worked out pretty well, but next year I think we'll just rent a condo for the whole time near the race site.

We got there Tuesday afternoon and set up camp.  I originally had intentions of riding the bike course Tuesday and Wednesday, but after riding in the car all day, I decided a short run would be fine.  We ran up and down the trail where the bike starts to climb and my legs felt pretty good.  The rest of the course scouting would be left for Wednesday.

Coopy relaxing at the campsite

 The next morning I got set to preride the course.  Adam dropped me off at the start of the climb up Wheeler Canyon and then planned to meet me at the finish at Snowbasin resort to do the run course.

The course climbs gradually for several miles before a descent and then another long steeper climb with a lot of switchbacks and then another descent to the finish.  The course wasn't marked yet so I went off of a vague description and map on the xterra website hoping that there would be trail heads, other people or course markings up to lead me.

Ready to ride...I made sure to read the bear sign first.

 The nice part of preriding is not just getting to know the course but actually getting to enjoy the surroundings. this was truly a beautiful trail and I felt lucky to be riding on it.  The trail climbed pretty constantly but gradually. I was happy to see that it wasn't too technical.

further up the trail, still beautiful, still climbing 

When I got to the first descent it was not too scary until I came upon this guy.

This is a moose on the trail...I didn't want to get any closer to get my picture.

 I waited for a minute or so, then he finally ran off when one of the race crews dirt bikes scared him.

After the decent the course began to climb again and I got to what was the new part of the trail which was a long steep climb with a lot of switchbacks. Making sharp turns on steep uphills appears to be my big new weakness on the mountain bike.I made a few than a really loose steep left hand one and I was down and sliding attached to my bike back down to where I started.  Ugh.  It doesn't help that at that point in the course you're already pretty tired.  That was my only switchback blunder, but it was a big one. I rode hard to the top wondering when it would end.  I was rewarded with this view.

Pineview Reservoir below is where the climbing began

After this is where I got a little lost.  I got to a fork in the trail. No sign, no markings, no nothing.  First I went straight/left, but then thought I should go right (wrong), and continued to climb and climb and climb until it turned into a hiker only trail and I concluded I was going the wrong way.  Then I started going the right was then turned off on a trail for Ogden overlook, which was another climb and also a wrong way.  Finally I got back on track and got back to the resort after 3 hours of riding and a lot of climbing.  A little more than I planned on.

 Adam and I and the 3 dogs set out to walk run the 6+ mile run course.  The run starts out with a steep hill running out of the resort up the mountain below the ski lift.  The next few miles are twisty and turny and rolling with another biggish hill around mile 4 and then a long downhill for the final mile.The run started out well, but Cooper is 8-10 years old and has never been a big fan of runs over 2 miles.

Mickey carrying water for the dogs

Somewhere between 1 and 2 miles...I think

So we ran and walked, coaxed Cooper along, took pictures, and pushed Cooper to run harder than he's ever run before.

I definitely didn't plan to do a 4 hour workout day 3 days out from the race, but it was good to see the course.  Next time I'll know where I'm going so I won't ride so much and maybe will split the run and ride into different days.

Napping with Frito after a hard day

Thursday was a day off for me while I supported Adam while he rode the bike course.

Friday was a short swim and run and then packet pickup and rest.  I didn't feel super nervous about the race. A little nervous, but going over the course help ease my nerves regarding the unknown.  

Xterra Lory 2011 Race Report

Saturday, I raced the Xterra Lory triathlon--my last triathlon before Xterra nationals in 4 weeks.  When I signed up for this race way back in December I didn't know what kind of mountain biker I would be so I signed up for the elite category.  Of course as the season unfolded I realized I am not the best mountain biker and have not been placing as high as I expected.  So, when I saw I was in the first wave and that pretty much all the women racing elite were actually pros and most of the other people in the first wave were fast guys, I moved to the second wave and raced age group.  Besides, I have yet to win my age group this year and with a lot of the heavy hitters in my age group not racing and this being a good course for me (non technical bike and long gradual climb on the run) I figured this was my shot.  So, onto the details of the race.

Swim: 1/2 mile or so, 9/101 women, 1/20 AG, 13:58

I didn't do much of a warm up.  I should but I used all of my time setting up, standing in the bathroom line, talking and then squeezing into my wetsuit.

Horsetooth Reservoir made for a beautiful swim venue

The 20+ minute wetsuit squeeze in

The reservoir was beautiful.  If the swim had been much longer I would have been warm, but I felt perfect in my long sleeved wetsuit for that distance.

The first wave went off and we waited and waited and it was finally our time to go.  I was lined up in front next to Paula since I knew she would be one of the faster female swimmers, since I was swimming close to her pace at the beginning of the season, and since she would also be one of the fastest overall amateurs.

For me, it's important to start the swim fast.  The first 50 meters or so were great, then I got pummeled a lot for 100 meters or so, then I guess I got dropped by some people and dropped some others.  No Paula in sight. Apparently she was way up front.  I was caught in the middle between what appeared to be the front pack and a back that was a ways behind me.  There was a guy swimming right next to me to the turn buoy, but I dropped him there.  I seemed to be slowly catching up to the pack, but could never quite do it.

It was still a good swim, I felt like I swam fairly straight and a good pace considering my lack of swimming.

At the swim exit Adam told me that I was third woman (in my wave).

After removing one wetsuit sleeve, I guess I needed my goggles off right away!

T1: 1:14, 5/101 women (fastest wetsuit wearer), 1/20 AG
I felt like transition took forever.  I saw Paula leaving as I got in and another woman leaving as I was getting ready to leave.  I could have been faster with the wetsuit--this has been the struggle all year with my aging wetsuit.

trying to hurry hurry hurry!

Bike: 12.2 miles, 17/100 women, 3/20 AG, 1:05:09

heading out on the bike

I headed out on the bike I was right behind another woman.  I worked hard to catch up to her and caught up to her just after we turned off the dirt road back onto single track.  I quickly got the nerve to pass her and was moving along pretty well for me for the first half of the first lap.Then I started getting caught by more and more guys from my wave, some who were nice some who were not.  Having people ride right on my wheel when I am not a terribly predictable rider makes me nervous and tends to make me ride slower,  I wish people would say that the want to pass and then try to do so or back off a bit instead of just riding right on my wheel.  One guy was even yelling at me.  Not productive.

Any way, the woman passed me back but no other women passed me which was a huge relief!  the second lap was me passing people from later waves that made me look like a good mountain biker, but I was patient, gave them there space and nicely alerted them that I wanted to pass.  It's just a race, no reason to be mean to people. I was very happy that the race ended with no falling and me only getting off my bike twice--both which I planned.  I felt pretty good about the bike until I saw the results and saw how much I need to improve.  I'm sure I lost seconds on every turn, every downhill, every sandy section.

Coming into transition, relived to be done and taking in a gu for some energy for the run.

T2: :44, 1/100 women, 1/20 AG I was not far from the woman that I left T1 behind and got through fast enough to head out of transition ahead of her.  I did manage to bang the back of my right leg on my bike pedal as I was running up the hill in transition. Adam thought I was telling him to shut up, but I think I might have been saying something else that starts with sh...

Run: 8k, 5/99 women, 1/20 AG,40:54

I took a gu at the end of the bike thinking there was an aid station right out of transition.  There wasn't.  I was in a hurry to drop the woman behind me anyway.  I was running a good pace but could sense that she was not falling off my pace.  I was relieved when I finally got to the aid station and could drink some water and dump water on my head.  I only had a sip of water and gu with not much water was probably not a good thing.

I ran the course last weekend when I prerode and I'm glad I did.  After the aid station the course begins climbing steadily for over 1.5 miles. There is no shade and it seems like it is never going to end.  I was mentally prepared for this and that helped a lot.

There were a lot of switchbacks which was good and bad.  It allowed me to see where the woman was behind me, but also allowed her to see me.  I was hoping to get out of her sight so she would "give up".  After a while up the climb I saw her walking and put on the gas a little and then never saw her again.

I started to slow a little towards the top of the climb and then saw a woman ahead of me on the rolling section towards the top.  At first I thought she was just some random person out for a run, then I realized she was in the race.   She must have been from the first wave, but just in case I made sure to pass quickly.

As the decent that I was so looking forward to began, I got a major side stitch.  Perhaps from having a gu with not much water or perhaps from not focusing on my breathing enough on the climb. It felt like the worst side stitch ever in my whole life..ever.  I tried to run fast downhill but every step was excruciating.  I tried to tell myself the faster I run the faster I'm done and the sooner the pain goes away, but with 2 miles to go it's hard to think like that.  I kept moving down the hill steadily although not as fast as normal.  I even passed a guy.  Once the decent flattened out a bit it was not better but not as bad.  I had less than a mile left and tried to push as hard as I could.  I could see some women up ahead of me and didn't know who they were and whether they were in my wave or not.  I ran hard and passed one of them with 300 meters or so to go.  I didn't catch the others but it turns out they were in the first wave and got a 7 or 8 minute head start.  

Sprinting to the finish

Jumping on the slip and slide at the finish...I only made it about half way down.  Clearly I am lacking proper technique.

I was so happy to be done with the race and happy with how I did.

Overall: I finished second in my wave and thought maybe, just maybe I won my age group.  I looked at the results and saw I was several minutes back from the age group win, and while I was faster than her on the swim and run, she beat me by over 11 minutes on the bike!  Ouch.  I was relieved to find out she is a pro mountain biker and beat a lot of the guys times in the race.  I ended up finishing in 2:01:57 for 7th overall female, 3rd amateur, 2nd 30-34 so I'm happy with it.  I still need to improve a lot on the bike and my fitness on the swim and run are lacking, but I have 4 weeks to nationals to take care of that, right?

Getting my coffee mug award

Xterra Indian Peaks 2011 Race Report

This weekend two years ago was when I first went on a date with Adam.  This weekend last year Adam and I drove 6 hours to Warren, PA for the Kinzua Country Tango Adventure race on Friday, raced Saturday and drove back, then put me on a plane Sunday morning to send me out for a full day interview for the job I currently have now.  I'm thinking this weekend will have a little less impact on my future.

Before I do the report, here's a bit of what's been going on the last few weeks and what my thoughts had been on this race.  Initially I wanted to do this race, then I was told it was really technical and decided no way, then finally decided to do it a few weeks ago.  Once I had signed up, there was no turning back--I won't waste an entry fee out of fear.

After Beaver Creek, I got a spot for the xterra world championships in Maui.  I knew I couldn't go ecause I have an exam the Wednesday after the race and it is just too expensive anyway.  But I didn't turn down the slot until my entry expired on Friday, you know, in case I won the lottery or something.  Hopefully it made someones day to get the spot.  I did get a spot to nationals which I can do, so that's something to look forward to.

Including the race 2 weeks ago, I have only run 3 times in the last 3 weeks.  I have biked and swam 8 times but only short ones.  I got a new saddle after breaking my old one in my crash in Montana. I was having pain in my right lower back after the crash and it got worse.  I finally went to the chiropractor this Friday.  So, I wasn't expecting much of the race.  I really just wanted a positive, no crash race.

To the actual race...

Swim:  1000m (I think it was short), 15:28, 18/61 females, 3/12 in my age group

I couldn't find my watch and so I raced without one which threw me off a bit.  It was a time trial start which I thought I would like but I didn't at all.  It turns out I like the excitement, pressure, etc of the group swim starts.  I'm not saying I like starting with 1000 people, but waves of 50-100 are good.  The seeded us by swim times and biking ability.  Apparently they used biking ability first and 50% of the field considered themselves elite or in the top 15% of mountain bikers.  Hmm.  I seeded my swim time right at 15:30 (I think) and in the middle of the pack for mountain bikers.  Shame on me for being honest, that put me as the # 155 starter.

With no sense of time, I didn't get in to warm up and with the crowds I didn't even swing my arms or anything.  I just stepped up to the mat, gave my number, asked if I could go, she said I could go so I got in and swam.

I discovered a few years ago that if I don't start out somewhat fast swimming, I just swim slow.  Guess what I did?  Yup, I started off nice, easy and relaxed.  Like I was off for a swim in the lake by myself.  After that I just felt slow and sluggish.  There were small little packs here and there, people to pass, but I just felt like I was floating along at a slow pace.

My left goggle started to leak after the first turn bouy which made for a fun sighting challenge.  Less people, all wearing blue and green caps and an eye full of water.  I was looking forward to getting out of the water.  Thankfully, it was over quick.  My time of 15:28 would be good if the course was actually 1000m, however, I   think it was a bit short.  People I normally swim near were swimming 1-1.5 mins+ faster than me, so I would have liked to be in that range.  It will come back with training, and the usual race atmosphere.

Run1:  4:48 13/61 women, 6/12 AG.  T1 was just under a half mile up the road from the swim.  I exited transition, ran up the road a little getting my wetsuit unzipped, then stopped at my shoes and took a bit more time than I would like removing my wetsuit.

I forgot to mention the giant chip.  We had these huge chips and they slip around on my ankle when I swam biked and ran and it was hard to get my wetsuit off over the chip.  This is the same kind of chip that I sliced my hand on during the swim at NJ state last year.

Anyway, I thought I was going to kill this run.  I threw my wetsuit over my shoulders, carried my cap and goggles and started to run up the hill.  Did I mention this race starts at 9000 ft of elevation?  I was huffing and puffing and walked a little up the hill, then hit my stride a little more on the flat and downhill, still wheezing like crazy.  I did not kill the run, it sort of killed me.

T1: :39, 2/61 women, 1/12 AG, with no wetsuit to remove, not too much to slow this down.

Bike: 24k, 1:36:20, 32/61 women, 8/12 in my AG.   Ouch!

I prerode one loop of the course and while there were a lot of rocks and steep rocky uphills, since there weren't any scary downhills, I was feeling ok about the ride.  Right out of transition we started to climbI started passing some people and felt a little bad that I might clog the trail when we got to the single rtrack.  Once we got up to the single track I was doing ok.  It didn't seem like there were people waiting behind me and I was even passing some people and staying off my breaks for the most part.

Mistake #1 was where I took my first gu.  I took it in where I thought was a good place, but wasn't finished in  time for a steep sharp rocky downhill turn.  For some reason I cant think and hold a partially eaten gu in my mouth, so I stopped, unclipped, finished my gu, put the gu wrapper in my pocket, then continued on with my race.  Smooth, I know.

Not too long after that I got to a steep climb. I was busy tooting my own horn about how well I was doing on the course and didn't think to shift into my small ring until the last second and then off goes my chain.  And for some reason I just couldn't get the chain back on as person after person rode past me.  Ahhhh!  Finally I got it back on and ran up the hill.  I had a couple hills on the first loop where I couldn't quite ride a part and then just couldn't get back on my bike.  I was getting so frustrated.  So I did a lot of walking/running with my bike. I ran another muddy, twisty rooty section, but the first loop ended with no crashes, so I felt good about the second loop since I would know it better now.

And I did do better.  I was moving faster, walking less, getting back on my bike faster, and I ate my second gu in a better place so it didn't interfere with my race.  Then I was riding up a steep hill and my rear tire started to slip and my bike started to go backwards.  I unclipped and then fell backwards, butt first onto what had to be the hardest rock in the world.  It doesn't count as a crash if I wasn't attached to the bike right?  Anyway, I sat there for a moment starting to cry.  A few guys passed and asked if I was ok.  I said, I think so threw some tears.  Another guy said he could tow me back on his bike.  Not sure how.  I got up, I started walking sniffling and saying ouch, ouch, ouch with every step.My first thought was that I broke my tailbone.  I'm still not sure whether or not I did.  I walked slowly up that part of the hill and then decided that biking would probably hurt less than walking.

I rode back (with a few walks up hills and through the muddy root section where I ran past someone who was trying to ride through it), got super hungry and had another gu, but made it back without incident.  For the last bit of the course my bike felt a little funny, but I kept riding.  As I came off the hill towards transition I noticed my rear tire was flat.  I rode it into transition thinking I had a pretty unlucky ride.

T2: :32 Tied 1/61 women, Tied 1/12 AG, I thought I moved slow through here, but I guess so did everyone else.

Run: 4.1 miles? (I heard so many different distances listed I have no idea what it really was), 35:42 11/61 women, 4/12 AG.
This was a really cool run course, I wish I could have enjoyed it more.  It was twisty turny, up and down steep rocky hills, on grassy trails, through the woods, past lakes.  I started of and my legs felt fresh and my legs felt quick.  I started off good passing people quickly.  I didn't notice the literal pain in my butt too much except a little on the down hills.  I figured the faster I ran those the less it would hurt.  Maybe a mile or so in, I had to really go to the bathroom.  I had been having issues in the morning and apparently they weren't over. Ugh.  I kept running, but I was starting to fell pretty horrible. I was walking up more of the hills with maybe over a mile or so to go I was alternating a slow jog and a walk. I was a little confused about where to go too, so that didn't help.  It felt so much longer than just over 4 miles.

Overall: 22/61 women, 7/12 AG  I obviously didn't have the best race, but this was a seriously tough field especially in my AG.  My age group was more competitive here than at Beaver Creek.  Even if I had an awesome race and was in peak shape, on this course, I don't think I would have placed top 3 in my age group, that's just how tough it was.  I'm not happy that I had such a tough day, but I am ok with the race.  I wanted another off road racing experience and I didn't want to crash and that is what I accomplished.  Now I need to get back into shape in all three sports and take my mountain biking skills to a new level in the next 7 weeks leading up to nationals.

Another note, for those of you who watched the first season of the bachelorette (it was on like 7 or 8 years ago), Ryan the "winner" was a Beaver Creek and this race, both times with camera crews.  He was near me in transition and another girl said oh, he must be a pro.  Nope he's just a reality tv star.  He did take it upon himself to take up 2 spots in a very full transition area.  I don't think any of the pros did that.  So I decided I wanted to beat him.  I guess I sort of did because he didn't finish the race.  He did beat me in beaver creek however.

Any finally, my only picture from the race--4 of the EPC girls post race.

More Montana and some changes

Our trip Montana was awhile ago, but it was much more than just the race so I wanted to write a little more.  

We got a new truck the week before and it was packed full for the trip.  We thought with more space we would have more room, but we just packed more.  It was a really long drive to Bozeman, longer than I realized.  The plan was to drive there and look for a campsite in the Gallatin national forest near the reservoir where the race would be.

Cooper threw up in the brand new car. We think Mickey was comforting him here.  Or just using him as a pillow.

Frito had his paws on the Jumbo marshmallows

Perhaps so he could reserve them for later use as a pillow?

Frito and Mickey have grown quite close

We got there around 5 pm and it seemed like everything was full.  And a lot more RV's than were were expecting. When we camp we don't want to be next to big RV's or even near people.  We want a little space.  That was not going to happen.  We explored all around the park, looking for an empty good spot.  We found one that was great...but there were people there.  A couple more that weren't great but as I got hungry and tired were looking ok.  But Adam didn't want to settle on a spot. We searched and searched and finally drove past a sign that said leaving designated camping area.   We drove past a spot that looked ok, just kind of close to some others.  We drove really far out and found a great spot but then thought it was maybe too remote so we went back to check out another that was covered with red ants.  We got back in the car and a few seconds later, a grizzly bear ran in front of our path.  That combined with fatigue and hunger sent us back to Bozeman and to a hotel.  A hotel was hard to come by to.  Apparently everyone was in Bozeman that Thursday night.

Friday and Saturday we got out and prerode the course.  It was such a beautiful place and very challenging mountain biking for me.  If I hadn't been so beaten up from my crashes in the race and first preride I would have loved to explore more of the park on foot and bike.

A nice part of the course...I think my camelback was driving me crazy and I was taking it off and making Adam ride with it.

Adam and I before we started the decent, and I sort of fell off the side of the mountain.

 Friday after biking Adam let Cooper and Mickey swim while Frito previewed some of the run course with me.

Adam threw Coopers soccer ball for him to fetch from the water.  He kept tapping it with his nose but couldn't quite get it.  He swam all the way out to the middle of the reservoir trying to get his ball until he finally got it.  Quite a long swim for Mr. C!

Coopy coming back from his marathon swim

The water was pretty cold, even for the dogs.

We were close to a 15 acre dog park that the dogs had fun exploring both days.

Mickey playing in the grass at the dog park

 Saturday we rode the course again, even better than the first time.

Yes I am wearing the same jersey...I was trying minimize what I packed

And then both swam in the lake.  I put my wetsuit on and was initially shocked by how cold it was.  Then Adam went in wearing only the swim skin.  I don't know how he didn't freeze.  That's when we found out it was wetsuits required and had to go rent him a wetsuit.

We had really good food when we were there.  Lots of good local restaurants. I guess being a college town helps.  Probably the best gluten free pizza I've had so far too.

Adam rented a mountain bike for the race and it was understandably muddy after mountain biking.  When he went to return it they charged him $10 because it was muddy. Really?  It's a mountain bike!  Is he just supposed to ride it around the street?  I thought that was ridiculous.

Over all it was a fun trip--it didn't turn out all all like we expected and we learned we really need to plan a lot better for our trips.

After this race and Beaver Creek I realized I need to make some changes in my training.  I need to do more biking and specifically mountain biking.  Mostly longer rides.  I seem to fatigue and then get more sloppy.  And when I am fatigued from the bike I don't run up to my potential.  I also need to work on my upper body and core strength since I seem to use it a lot more mountain biking.  I haven't been swimming much lately and getting back to what I was doing back in the spring will give me more of an advantage going into the bike.  I never thought I would say this but I need to get as much advantage as I can on the swim, so it takes longer for me to get passed (if at all) on the bike.

I have Xterra Indian Peaks coming up this weekend.  Mostly just a race to get a good workout in and more experience racing off road.

2011 Xterra Wild Horse Creek Race Report

Adam and I went up to Bozeman, MT for vacation and both raced Xterra Wild Horse Creek.  It was a beautiful setting and an amazing place to be.  It was a good place for me to challenge my mountain biking skills and enjoy some nice scenery while doing it.

Swim: 1200 yds, water temp in the high 50s, 19:10 (18:47 at water), 3/24 women, 1/7 AG

I swam the day before the race and was a little shocked by how cold it was.  Adam had looked up the water temperature online and it said 68, but he must not have been looking at the right think because it was take your breath away cold.  I made it through a few minutes of a practice swim, took a break and then did some more.  The race directors said it was high 50's and wetsuits required.  Yikes!

This swim was one of the roughest I have been in recently.  I got in with 5 minutes to the start and was shivering so much that I got out until the very last minute. Brrr!  Everyone started together, and within less than 100 yds we hit the turn buoy (which was a large clown).  So a lot of people went out really fast and it was complete chaos to the buoy, around the buoy, and just passed there.  Not long after I passed the buoy, I looked over and saw someone breast stroking.  I thought it was Adam, but thought there was no way he would have gone out so fast and to be ahead of me.  Turns out, he was in the top 10 around the first buoy, then later had to resort to breast stroke, so it probably was him.

There was only one other buoy and with the sun, I really couldn't see that well.  I tried to just stay with the group I was around and try to sight based on the mountains and shoreline to make sure I wasn't swimming too crooked. I made it to the end of the first lap with a small group of guys and tried to stick with them.

I'm not sure why they always have the loop swims with the run in the middle in Xterras.  It is nice that it breaks the swim up and allows spectators to see you, but some courses are just not set up for it.  In this case it is a little cruel to have people get out and run across sharp rocks on already painful ice cold feet.  It would makes sense to use the huge reservoir for one big lap or if they need two, just have us swim through it instead of getting out.

Cooper showing how to exit the water with enthusiasm

Anyway, so after running over the rocks my feet were in serious pain for most of the second loop of the bike. It felt like someone was poking my feet with needles or something.  The second loop was so much less crowded and went by much faster.  Still some contact, but not too bad.  If the swim hadn't been so cold I wish it would have been longer.  It was a beautiful reservoir and very pleasant to swim in.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with my swim.  I'm somewhat out of swim shape right now, and don't do to well in the super cold water swims so I'm very happy with my time and place considering all that.

T1:  1:31.7 2/24 women, 2/7 AG I was not moving very fast thanks to ice cold hands and being a little disoriented from the cold water.  The transition area was so short, I didn't even have my wetsuit sleeves all the way off when I got there.  I did for once get one of my wetsuit legs out really fast though!  Finally! In my hurry to get out, I forgot to put my gloves on which is not a good thing, especially on this course.

Bike: 16 miles--roots, rocks, climbing, descending, 1:53:48, 12/24 women, 4/7 AG

Adam and I prerode the course on Friday and Saturday.  The course started out with lots of roots and rocks and some steep up hills.  When I prerode, I moved slowly through there and had to dismount a few times, but felt like I was going to be okay going through there.

Out of transition I was shivering cold.  My hands and arms were shaking.  I started going over some of the roots and rocks and was doing ok, but hyperventilating and felling a bit panicked.  Coming from the cold water swim and being cold made it a lot harder for me to control my bike and to just feel confident.  I walked more sections than I had to in the preride, and before I knew it I was getting passed by several people including a couple girls from my age group, Adam, and my teammate Cary.

Resting through one of the scenic and easier sections in the tough first few miles.

I also was wearing regular sunglasses and couldn't see with the shade.  I should have worn clear or rose colored glasses.  When I got off to walk a section I took them off, then stumbled on a down hill and they went flying off onto the trail.I stopped and grabbed them while dodging passing competitors.  I was so relieved when I got to this beautiful field and I knew that the "hard part" was over for awhile as we had some smooth single track, then a ride along the dirt road to a 20 min or so 5 ft wide climb.

I was feeling good, warming up and passing people as I rode down the dirt road and up the climb.  This was a good climb for me, long and steady with out a lot of skill required.  We had to do this loop with the climb and a decent 2x.

Taking a break on the preride to enjoy the scenery

How many races have this kind of scenery?

I made it up to the top of the climb the first time in just over 20 mins.  There was a yellow lab at the top :) Then onto a few winding ups and downs before the decent.  In the preride on Friday, I fell on the decent on my left side and was still a little sore, but I didn't fall on Saturday so I was feeling ok. The first part went well.  I got passed and all but I was moving along and not riding my front break.  I think it was the second part of the decent I hit something weird and had my weight forward and almost flipped but somehow unclipped and caught it without falling hard.  The guy behind me was pretty amazed.  That definitely scared me though, and I think that is what must have caused my last gu to explode.

Towards the start of the decent

I made it down the decent and hoped they would tell us that we only had to do one loop.  I made it to the start of the second loop in under1:07, and around :36 minutes for the first loop, just over my goal of 35, and 1:05. My goal of a bike time under 1:45 was still insight.

I looked down and saw gu all over my bike and leg.  I should have had the gu then while there was still some left.  But I didn't.  I climbed well up the hill again, but was starting to run low on energy.  As I climbed I wondered if grizzley bears liked Gu.  I hoped not.  I had the tiny amount left (maybe 10 calories worth) as my stomach growled at me. I climbed pretty well and caught up to people that passed me on the downhill and was also passing people from the shorter race.  Oh how I wished I was in the shorter race.  I wish they gave points for the shorter races.

I made it up the climb faster this time around, made it down the first part of the decent okay.  I was passing people from the short race and I was shocked that I was descending faster and better than they were.  I'm not the worst descender in the world apparently!  I was coming up behind a girl from the short race and she stopped suddenly to let me buy which threw me off and forced me to dismount.  I don/t blame her, I'm sure Ive been that person many times.  I should have just run down the next short section of the hill, because I mounted, hit a rock, and went down. Ugh.

It took me a few seconds to get back on, then I rode for awhile and a few minutes later I fell really hard.  I don't remember what happened, just that I was flying through the air, landed on my hands, left side, and slid for awhile scraping my knees and left elbow. Everything hurt.  Especially my left wrist and shoulder.  I got up.  Nothing seemed to be broken.  I got back on my bike and my saddle was tilted way to the side, and was not safe to ride on. I could have stood up, but I am not good on downhills to begin with. So I ran, downhill with my bike in my mountain bike shoes the rest of the way down the hill.  Probably at least a half mile, maybe more.Once I got to the road I got back on my bike and rode just slightly off the saddle and tried to ride hard to the finish.  At some point during all this, I lost my sunglasses :(

T2: 42.3 3/24 Women, 2/7 AG, Not a good transition for me, I got there, there were bikes over my spot so I wasn't sure where to put my bike.  I finally moves a couple around to make space for mine, and then headed out to run.

Run: 6 miles, 50:58, rooty, rocky, short steep hills, twists and turns.  5/24 women, 2/7 AG

I was really looking forward to the run course.  It was my kind of course--lots of hills and roots and rocks and steep downhills.  This was almost an ideal course for me.  I started out flying.  I really should have taken a gu at the exit of T2, I regretted it later.   I was moving along well, passing people from both my race and the short race.  I was flying uphills and my legs felt good.

I ran across some muddy logs and down I went.  On my already bruised and scraped knees and hands.  I can't recall ever falling like that in a race.  I got up and limped along for awhile and got myself going again, but not with the same speed and enthusiasm as before.  I continued to try to work the downhills, but was not quite as aggressive after falling hard once.  I made it through the first loop in around 24 minutes.  Considering the course difficulty and the fall and the crashes on the bike, I was okay with that.

Second loop I was still passing a lot of people, and made slowly but successfully over the muddy logs, but was out of energy. I was really missing that 3rd gu I usually have on the bike.  I had no energy and felt like I couldn't move my arms, which is kind of important when running, especially hills.

The water that had been so cold a few hours ago, looked so refreshing.  The sweat and mud were starting to burn the cuts on my knees, hands and arms.  I just wanted to be done! I was so relieved when I finished.

My knees post race.

Overall: 3:06:10, 8/24 women, 3/7 AG  This definitely wasn't my best race, in any of the 3 disciplines.  Just another off road experience to learn from and to hopefully make me better in the future.  It was a beautiful course, probably the most beautiful course I have raced on.

More beautiful scenery from the race course

Me with my award