Decided to do something a little different to kick start my season a little
- been down in the dumps after pulling out of IMUSA. Well how about an
Xterra race? 1k swim , 30k mnt bike race, 10k run - Shouldn't be so hard
right? I can swim, I OWN a mnt bike (not that I ever ride it) and I ran
cross country in college - this thing will be hard but not unbearable. So
Tom, Mark and I head off to Keystone CO (elevation of 9,000 at the base) to
do Xterra CO. We got up there about 5pm Saturday and headed for the Expo.
Got all the administrative crap done and Mark and I (Tom was doing a relay
- swim and run only) rode up to ride "The Wild Thing" a gnarly little steep
descent full of of rocks, trees, roots, 3 foot drop offs, stairs, and
everything else unkind.

Well we climb up a few hundred feet and already I can feel the altitude.
Okay no biggie I'll get used to it right? Let's hope so. We start down the
WILD THING and about a hundred yards in Mark turn and says "You might want
to walk this section" Well, yeah... it was straight down around a corner
with about 1/2 foot clearance for my bike on both sides. Great...well it
was worse the more you moved down the trail. The whole time I was thinking,
"Heck, Tom can ride this frikken thing, I'll do the relay!" or " I love my
road bike, I hate this" Over and over down and down we went...........

After that experience, I was wondering why I actually entered this 'Event'.
Then I remembered why I entered my first triathlon, and then my first
Ironman. I like to challenge myself. Well I still thought I was a big
'IDIOT ' when Sunday morning rolled around. (Oh yeah - best part of Xterra?
You can sleep in because the race starts at 10am!)

So I set up transition, get to the start to test the 54 degree water and it
was cold. My wave goes off and I am getting hammered from both sides.
Eventually I find a groove 1/2 way through the first lap and I keep up a
solid pace. I come out of the water in good position, and head off on my
bike. As I start climbing up to 11,600 feet, I think I'll take it easy and
not kill myself. After all, the descent will be bone jarring and the run is
still a ways away too. So people start passing me and then they are passing
me by the dozens, (maybe I should ride this bike thing more often?)
eventually I tell myself I am in last place and no one else can pass me. I
get to the top and see two guys struggling ahead of me. WOW, someone slower
then me. I make my pass and head back down. Well that pass I just made?
That was short lived as these boys go flying by me on the downhill. Oh well.
There can't be anyone else behind me so I am set to just cruise the
downhill. BUT WAIT! I am wrong. Men, Women, Children, Deer, Bears, they all
go by me. How slow can these people actually swim? I guess they could ask
the same of me on a mountain bike right? Anyway, I survive the downhill,
with it's treacherous downhills, and I even survived the WILD THING (Okay I
walked it) and when I got to the run I realized something............
In all my haste not to crash on the bike leg (up and down), I forgot to
take my hands off the handlebars and reach down and grab my water bottle
now and again and drink some carbs. Yes, I bonked about a mile into the
run. Very long run after that. It was one of the longest and one of the
prettiest runs of my life. The run was flat with some interesting obstacles
(a foot wide bridge over a stream, and a pipe we had to cross for about
100 yds). The parting shot on the course was the water crossing. It was a
10 yard dash though some really cold, but shallow water. After that it was
100 yards to the finish. 3:25. Ned Overend winning time: 2:08 or something.
Okay I have done triathlons where Ned has beaten me by 15 minutes, but over
an hour? I really should ride that mountain bike more.........

I am glad it's over but next time I'll actually ride my mnt bike before
jumping into another XTERRA,. I hate to lose and getting humiliated is far
worse. Well on Sunday I did both. I'll be back at XTERRA and ready to run
down some of those mnt bikers next time.

Stats:
I finished 22nd age group out of 49
I had the 2nd fastest swim age group (by 3 seconds)
I had a horrible bike split and my run isn't worth mentioning. Let me say
that in both of my Ironman's my run pace was faster. Enough said. Like
Arnold., "I'll be back"

Train smart,
Mike