Xterra RVA Race Report

There are races, where everything goes smoothly and you are racing purely on instinct and everything is easy. For me, the Xterra East regional championships was not one of those races.

Since I started in triathlons 3 years ago, I have never been so focused on one race as I have for this one. I started training for it in November. I watched dozens of youtube clips of the mountain bike course. I was meticulous with my training, nutrition, and recovery. Coming in to this race I was brimming with confidence.

Crystie and I drove down Friday. On Saturday, Crystie and her dad ran the 10k trail run (on the same course that I ran) while I checked out the swim and bike course. I was apprehensive about the swim having heard about the current and rocks, logs, and sandbars that lurked just under the surface in some parts and it was a good thing I scoped things out before the actual race.

Waiting for the cannon. I'm on the right side.

After my pre-ride of the course, I really believed I could do well on it. The course has a lot of the same characteristics of the trails I typically ride in New England, which included short punchy climbs, rock gardens, and roots galore but still plenty of smooth singletrack where you can get a good flow going.

Washing machine. I'm on the right side again.

Race morning arrives, and I had everything prepped and ready to go. We headed out to the race site and I set up my transition area and threw my skinsuit on (hooray for non-wetsuit swims!) and headed to the start to watch the pro race. I made mental notes of any places that I could potentially stand up and run. Before I knew it, I was in the water waiting for the cannon to send us off. It seemed like an eternity. Finally, BOOM! and I am out in the river. It wasn't long before I was alone and rounding the first buoy towards an island where if I stayed just to left I could stand up and run for a bit to the next buoy. I felt fluid and smooth and in a flash I was past the second buoy and out in the middle of the water heading to Belle Isle where I would run along a short trail there before getting back into the river where the current was strongest. I made it half way and momentarily got confused and headed to the wrong buoy. The kayakers quickly told me where to go and I made the adjustment. However this still cost me a bit of time but I managed to get out of the water first.

Running back to transition.

I blew through transition so quickly I don't remember it. On the split sheet, I was out in 51 seconds probably the fastest T1, I've ever had. The beginning of the bike course involved a lot of road/pedestrian paths to the trail head so I made sure to hammer from the get go. It made no difference though as right before getting on the trails, the "super bikers" passed me. However, once on the trail I was feeling comfortable and quickly got into a rhythm.I finished the first lap of the bike in about 50 minutes and I felt like I was definitely in the mix on my age group.

On to the bike...

However, that's when things took a nasty turn. Somehow the clips on my shoes became loose and I couldn't clip back in. This was a major set back. Imagine trying to downhill ski without bindings. I couldn't put pressure on the pedals and had to baby my way through any rough sections of trail so I wouldn't get bucked off my bike. Despite this, I knew I had a huge smile on my face the whole time. The trails were just so fun. I to survive the second loop and rolled in to transition.

While I was putting on my running shoes, I noticed that I had a huge gash right above my ankle. It looked bad and I knew as soon as I saw it I would need stitches. However the thought of quitting never entered my mind. Despite everything seemingly going against me after the first bike loop, I was having a blast and was really enjoying the course. Tired and bloodied I headed out for the hot and exposed run course. I quickly moved through the pedestrian pathways and reached the famed "Mayan Ruins." There are two ways to scale them. There's a smooth path on one side, and then railroad ties on the other. Crystie told me to use the ties so I wouldn't slide all the way back down. I took her advice and made it to the top relatively quickly. The course then meandered through beautiful trails along a creek. At one point I came to a large boulder field that involved crossing the slick riverbed to an iron ladder that would spit me back onto the trail a mile or so from the finish. It was here that I then slipped on said slick boulders and also manged to get my picture included in Triathlete magazine.

Ouch

Other than a bruised bum and ego, the spill didn't hurt me that much and I slogged on to the finish in a time of 3:11 and 5th in my age group. I didn't have time to relish the finish at all before I headed to the medical tent and then an urgent care doctor to get my shin treated. Ultimately, I ended up with 8 stitches to cover my 6cm bone deep scratch. Wicked bummah.

After months of preparation, it was disappointing to have such a setback on the bike but at the same time I was happy. In spite of my clips not working, I really loved that course and had a lot of fun. Richmond is an awesome city and I definitely want to come back and conquer this race (and maybe redeem myself to the mounties who booed me because I had to run up "The Gauntlet" on the second lap). In addition, my 5th place AG finish earned me 69 points towards my point standings in the series and keeps me solidly in the running to qualify for the National Championships in Utah.

Celebrating and feeling alright!