XTERRA Dueces Wild (May 31) - Relay w/Erik

Swim

This was my 2nd race with my new wetsuit so part of the goal was to make sure my freak out session in Rocky Point was salt water/ocean related and NOT wetsuit related. I also tested out the QRoo Wetsuit sleeves. My other goal for the swim was to get out of the water with Shari in view. This would help me with goal #2 (or 3?) which was to try and hold Shari off as long as I could on the run. This of course assumed that Erik was going to pass Zac (Shari’s relay partner) and gain me a headstart on the run.

Relays went off with the men, so this would be my first swim start that wasn’t a female wave. I got in the water which felt sort of chilly and was a little difficult to stick my face in at first but I just sucked it up and did it. It’s only 800m after all! I hung out to the side, standing on some rocks until we got started. Once the gun went off, I waited a couple seconds to avoid most of the fray before diving in. I settled into a rhythm pretty early and tried to stay to the right on the outside. The only problem with this idea is that I eventually “ran aground” and started to hit the rocks with my hands. I corrected and lined myself up for a straight shot to the turn. I could still see Shari every once in awhile (at least I think it was her…). I hit the buoy and made about the best turn ever, it was nice and clean with zero effort. After that I got back in my groove and headed for the turn that would take me into the finish. I was feeling pretty great as I rounded the last turn and tried to pick up my pace a little bit, feeling confident that I had past quite a few people and while I knew some of the women had passed me, I didn’t feel like there had been too many. I got out of the water and glanced at my watch to see something around 18:30 and I was pretty pleased. I ran up the hill (thankful I wasn’t getting on my bike) and got the timing chip onto Erik who took off. It was only then I realized that I beat Shari out of the water! Goal 1 accomplished. (Well technically since I was in front I guess I failed?).

Waiting

Shari and I hung out with a couple of the TTGs who were volunteering and got our wetsuits off and ready to run in relative leisure. It was kind of odd actually.

Run

I saw Erik coming in, maybe a little longer than I expected him to take for 15 miles, but I had no idea what the course was like. I grabbed the timing chip and jogged out. I had to try and remember to stay slow so I didn’t totally burn myself out! As I would find out later, Erik had given me about a 16 min head start over Shari and I hadn’t seen Elaine or Liane come in, so the plan was to keep moving and try to stay ahead of them for as long as I could. My intent was to try to run 1 mile and walk 1 min or so. The first part of the run wasn’t too bad, slightly downhill. I was doing great until I started hitting uphill and then the Eliminator. That was a definite walking area. Once I reached the top of that the trail leveled out and I was able to keep a fair pace, stopping at the aid stations. After I hit the turnaround I started looking for the rest of the Tri Girls to get a gauge on where I stood. I saw Shari shortly after the turnaround and it was my mission to hold her off. Finally I saw Elaine and Liane, said hi and kept trudging along. Shari finally passed me at about mile 3.5. I had hoped to keep her sort of in my sights, but she’s just too fast for me! I got to the downhill section before the lake crossing. Yes, this race has you run across the shallow part of the lake. It actually felt pretty good and I went slow, knowing that I was going to be walking the uphill after this.

This year they had decided to throw an additional “XTERRA-like’ obstacle into the course. Turns out they had us heading back the way we came out on the course but we made a quick left before the road which took us down a grassy hill and we had to cross basically a 2’ marsh and then go up a muddy hill! I thought I could jump across but I was a little short and it was a little muddy so I ended up getting wet there again, and then the hill was nearly impossible to get up without sliding so I was trying to find branches to hold on to. The run course has you come back by transition and then turn and run down by the lake before looping back the finish. It is really cruel punishment to see and hear the finish line and still be up to a mile from it. The very end has you running up a short flight of stairs to get back to the road to the finish. I walked up the stairs and headed out the road. Once I got on the road (read: where people could see me) I picked up the pace and headed to the finish. I finished the run in about 1:15, which is on target of my 15 min/mi pace estimate. Could I have gone faster? Probably, but overall it was a pretty good race. Erik and I ended up getting 5th with Shari and Zac beating us by a couple mins. Next year!

Tucson Tri (March 29,2009) Race Report

Ok, yes, I'm aware that this race was nearly 2 months ago. I'm slow, sue me. This is my 4th tri and I was using it as a warm up for Rocky Point which was 2 weeks later.

Pre-Race:

Got there early to drop off the TTG tent and setup my stuff. We had a TTG bike rack going until some clueless guy decided to invade our purple space. Watched the first couple waves go off and then headed to the dive pool to warm up.

Swim:

I got out of the warm up pool kind of early and froze my patooty off waiting to get in the pool. Finally they started letting us in when the lanes were clearing out. I discovered the warm up pool was much warmer than the competition pool. Swam a couple lengths to try and get warmed up again. Finally our wave started and naturally I went out a little too fast. I slowed down quickly and got comfortable. I had put an expected finish time of 19:00, but was hoping I could bring that down closer to 17:00. I finished in 18:32, got pulled out of the pool and headed off to T1.

T1:

Nothing too exciting. Jogged to my spot and got my bike stuff on. Paused for a minute to contemplate my windbreaker, started to pull it on, realized it would be too difficult and took off without it.

Bike:

Headed out with the goal of eating a CarbBoob block & drinking at every other corner. I'm terrible about hydrating (and eating) on the bike so I figured this would help at least a little bit. Thanks to being in swim wave 3, the bike course was actually fairly empty while I was out there. I had no real issues and took up a mountain biking style to get through Euclid. It wasn't quite as terrible as some people had made it out to be, but still bumpy. I suppose part of this was because there were so few people out there, I was able to manuever around the bike lane a bit more without worrying about people coming up behind me. Bike time was 47:55, just over my goal of 45 mins.

T2:

In and out, nothing to worry about at this point since I was dry and warm.

Run:

This is where I really wanted to see how things played out. I wanted to beat my Rocky Point time from last year (1:42:34) which had a shorter swim and bike. I also had finally figured out that I could run for more than 1:30 at a time. So my goal was to run 1 mile, walk 1 min. And walk the aid station of course. The first lap wasn't too bad except it was getting hot and since the mall is exposed - I was getting hot. I was very excited when I rounded the corner by Old Main and got a bit of shade. Saw lots of TriGirls out on the run (some who passed me....), which gave me some motivation to keep going. I hate walking in front of people who know me! The second loop seemed REALLY LONG! But I pressed on and managed to keep jogging for a mile at a time. I did take a little bit longer to walk on the last section before you turn left to the finish. Partly because I couldn't remember quite how far it was to the finish and lord knows you have run the finish. People can see you! Total time - 35:13 - Fastest 5k in a tri and 2nd fastest 5k overall

Overall:

Good race. It was great having all the purple out there. Especially in Tucson, lots of people recognize our purple jerseys and offer some encouragement.

MBAA #7 Flagstaff Frenzy (May 16)

This was race 7 of the MBAA series and was being held on the awesome trails in Flagstaff. I had gotten in from the Netherlands on Friday afternoon, Erik picked me up in Phoenix and we headed to Flagstaff that night.

We had gotten emails earlier in the week of some people who were not happy with the fact the MBAA race was going on and that the trail markings were being torn down, the trail remarked and things being used to block the trail. Even on race day, these events were still occurring and people got lost, took a wrong turn, etc due to these people.

My race was pretty uneventful, only 1 loop. I have issues with looped courses because I can only seem to focus on the crappy parts of the loop. This course started with some fun rolling sections but then turned to a fairly long, gradual climb that was rideable except when people in front of me got off. This was the part of the course where I was pleased I only had to do this once. We finally reached the top (and I caught my breath, I hate elevation) and made the turn on to a gas line road. It had 2 hills that I would liken to the bitches on the 24 HOP course. They sucked and I walked. Once I got to the top of the 2nd one, I was home free. This course was a blast. This is the part that I would be thrilled to do a 2nd time. It was fast, but not too fast, gradual downhill and swoopy. Nothing technically difficult, just a few little rocks to bump over. I actually felt like a mtn biker and I was having fun. Sadly this part was only a few miles long and was over much quicker than I would have liked. I rolled across the finish line in 1:18 which put me in 5th place in my AG. Sweet!

Pictures: MBAA #7 Flagstaff Frenzy