Ist XTERRA!

March 28, 2010
Granite Bay, Folsom Lake

So, my first ever XTERRA off road triathlon is done. The summary, fun, but hard. Worried about driving time, I got up too early, around 4:30. Thinking it would be about a 2 hour drive, I didn’t realize that going down the hill the whole time made it closer to 1 1/2 hour drive. I didn’t know how big an event it would be, so I wanted to get to registration early to make sure I had plenty of time to register and set up my transition area. There were fewer than 200 racers, so registration was easy, since I was there 15 min. before registration opened, and over two hours before the race start! I filled in the time going over my transition, the start, and finish for all three legs of the race.

The Swim:

I was most worried about the swim since my last race the swim was very difficult. I had only put in a few workouts in the pool, but I solved my ear problems, and I felt smooth and comfortable in the pool. How would that translate to a mass start race in 55 degree water? Quite well, actually. I swam smoothly, didn’t use too much energy, only swam off course a little, and didn’t get run over or kicked by other racers. Mission accomplished!

The Bike

This race was almost a quadrathlon, since there was a long jog up the beach to transition. I lagged in transition, so I need to streamline my technique. Having raced essentially the same course as a stand alone MTB race in October, I though I would be a lot faster than I was. Since I have not ridden my MTB in months, I suppose I should have been prepared for feeling a little off. Then I went out so hard, that I stumbled on technical sections I should have cleaned. My lap times were almost the same, even though I felt like I was going much harder the first lap, but I rode smoother on the second lap. I kept thinking that I would make up time on the run, since I usually run well off the bike.

The Run

Very, very hard! After 90 min. of mountain biking, my legs were dead! I was forced to go much slower than usual. It was also a difficult course, with a few sections that required a walk, both uphill and down. By the time it was over, I was cooked!

Overall

13 min for a 1/2 mile swim
1h30 for 16 mi. MTB
38 min for a 3.5 mi. run
10 min. for transitions
Nutrition:
        During: 1 bottle HEED, one Hammer gel
        After: Another bottle HEED, gel and one packet SE

Recovered well with that and a Chipotle burrito.
But: didn’t continue recovery long enough considering poor sleep, so I either picked up a cold, or an allergy attack. or both. Bummer. Lesson learned, pay more attention to recovery of the immune system.