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