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5.02.09 XTERRA West Cup

Xterra Changed is format a bit this year and instead of just having 4 regional championship races they now have 8 cup races all over the country. The 2008 Xterra West Coast Championship in Temecula was my introduction to Xterra and boy was I in for a surprise. I had just come off of a pretty solid road race and thought that I would finish around the same time, maybe 15-20 minutes slower. Boy was I in for a surprise, race day was 100+ degrees and I ended up finishing in 4:18 and change. It was then I decided that I was going to focus on Xterra.

This year the race moved from Temecula to Lake Las Vegas just outside Henderson, NV. I was a little bummed because I would not be able to directly compare times from last year, but I quickly got over that as I was excited to compete against the top racers on the West Coast. So my wife Ryel and I packed up and headed out on the road, and as you can see we were very excited to get to the desert.

jumping…

…for joy!

The race was on Saturday and we arrived late on Thursday so we could get settled and I would have a chance to ride the course on Friday. We had a relaxing morning Friday and then headed up to the Loews Lake Las Vegas Resort where the race was being help. The hotel was beautif and while I was riding and running Ryel was able to site and overlook the lake while catching up on work, what a perfect way to spend the day.

The course was unlike anything I have ridden before, it was essentially a abandoned construction site so there were no plants, trees or any signs of life for that matter except for right on the edge of the water. It was also the first full distance race of the season with a 1500k swim, 30k bike and 10k run. I did one loop on the bike course and one loop on the run course and felt pretty good. I was ready for the tough parts and knew where I was going to need to push. Here is a map of the course (yellow is the swim, red is the bike, and green is the run) and as you can see, lots of dirt.

Did the usual pre-race dinner of macaroni grill and then it was off to bed. Race day was beautiful, clear skies and comfortable temps. We headed over to transition to get set up

The transition area

Me finish up my pre-race set up and breakfast

The Swim:

The swim was a point to point swim starting at the resort and ending at the transition area. There was a bit of wind by race time so they modified the swim just a bit so that we would not have to fight the current as much. The water temp was great and I got a really good warm up. The pros went out with a cannon start and I started shortly after in the first wave. the first few hundred yards of the swim were in a protected bay so there was no current at all but as soon as we got into the open water the current was evident, luckily it was moving the same direction we were, that is until the second buoy. At that point I was very glad that I get to do my open water swims in the ocean and am used to dealing with swells and how to swim through them. I was able to pass several people here as they were struggling through the current.

Coming out of the swim and into transition

The Bike:

Since I was able to ride the course the day before I knew the first few miles of the bike would be the toughest as most of the the 1000+ ft. of climbing were between mile 1 and 3. I planned to go out a bit slow so I could warm up and then go hard after the hills. This worked well for me as I was able to pass a few people and maintain a solid pace. My worry was that I was going to slow down the second lap but I was able to keep a strong pace throughout both laps and felt great going into transition.

Finishing up lap one

and the start of lap two

The Run

The run was similar to the bike in the fact that most of the 500ft. of climbing was in the first 1.5 miles. things were going great until the turnaround point and as I was going down the steep hill I just finished climbing, my right hamstring tightened up on me. I stretched quickly and pushed on. The second lap was a lot tougher as I was beat. I really need to improve this part of my race the most. Luckily the last mile is downhill and you can see the finish line and that was exactly the motivation I needed.

A couple of shots from the run

Its really hard to copare this race to temecula but I was definitely much faster with a finish time of 3:33:14. That was good enough for an 11th place finish in my age group. Not as good as I hoped but I am still very happy with my results. Having this race early in the season will only help me get stronger.

happy to finish

and congratulated by my wife!

Race Details:

11th in age group (of 20)

98th overall (of 197)

swim: 24:56

bike: 1:52:54

run: 1:11:56

finish time: 3:33:14

4.5.09 A Day of Firsts

The Renegade Off Road Triathlon marked the one year anniversary of my triathlon career as this was the first race I ever competed in. I completed last years .5 mile swim, 15 mile bike and 3mile run in 2:27:48 and was looking forward to beating that time and setting a new PR. This is the closest race to home, only about 30min away from me in San Dimas, and the only non-XTERRA race of the year but it will remain a fixture on my schedule as its is the first race I ever did. With the race being close to home I drove up on Saturday to pre-ride and run the course. It was a beautiful Southern California day with temps in the 70’s and not a cloud in the sky, a perfect day to ride. I remembered the course from last year and was excited to see how I felt with off-road specific training, hoping that the sections that I found difficult last year would not be so tough. The ride felt great and I did feel all the hills were not nearly as big as last year, definitely a good sign. The run starts out with a short steep climb and then some rolling hills to another longer climb around the mile mark. I took my time for the pre-run to try and plan my attack, the areas I knew I could push that would benefit me. I felt pretty good because even at a casual pace I beat my run time last year by 4min, all the training is paying off!

(Map of the bike loop and run course)

With the race being close to home it was nice to sleep in my bed and get a good nights sleep. I headed out Sunday morning feeling relaxed and ready to race. Sunday was just as beautiful as Saturday. I got to the race just in time to see the sun rise over the lake, nothing like a great sunrise to get me excited about a race! I set up my transition area and was getting into race mode when my good friends Josh, Angelica, Mark, Jessica, Steve and Jaqi all showed up. It was really funny to see them (the girls) all bundled up in blankets as I was walking around with my race suit on. I said my hellos and then headed down to the water to get my warm up in. Luckily the water was a lot warmer than Folsom Lake and this was a huge relief as I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about my face going numb. I got my couple hundred yards in and headed over to the start, time to race.

The Swim

This race was a bit different from XTERRA REAL as there were 3 waves for the start instead of one mass start. This gave me tons of room to get into the water and really I was able to swim all alone the entire time. I think I was still thinking about how rough the swim was the week before because I was a lot slower than I wanted to be in the water, but hey, that happens and I was confident I would be able to make up time on the bike.

(Me getting my wetsuit off coming out of the water and heading into transition)

The Bike

I knew from the ride yesterday that I was going to be a lot quicker on the bike and boy was that ever the case, I felt like I was flying through the course. I rode the first 3-4 mile going back and forth with another rider until he had a mechanical issue and then I was on my own the rest of loop one. I passed a few people early on and quickly settled into my own pace and felt great starting the second loop. I got passed by one guy on the second loop so I was still feeling confident that I was going to have a strong age group finish, probably around 5th or 6th just like Folsom. Oh the bike course was a great mix of single track and fire road that was nice and fast. the whole course rolled through the hills and had beautiful views of both the lake and mountains.

(Cruising through some single track)

The Run

Now I knew from last year that the run started with a big hill and wanted to pace myself. I left transition with another runner and he quickly over took me but I was not worried cause I was confident I would gain on him at the first hill. That is exactly what happened, as soon as we got to the top of the hill I surged past him and he didn’t have an answer! It felt great to make a tactical move like that so early in the run. I was again out on my own and was feeling good. Around mile 2 I started to hear foot steps and knew that someone was gaining on me. I to a peak around a corner and saw that it was the guy I had past on the first hill. I quickly picked up the pace not wanting to lose my position but with about a half mile left in the race he past me and I could keep up. I found out after the race that he was a 2:41 marathoner and that he was just getting stronger as the race went so I didn’t feel as bad.

(Coming down the home stretch)

Coming out of the woods towards the finish I could hear the announcer say to the runner in front of me, “congratulations top 10 finish!”. This totally caught me by surprise as I had no idea I was that far out front! I was so excited as I crossed the finish line and say my time 2:05:47. I crushed last years time by 22min and it felt great to know all the training was worth it. I cooled down and packed up my gear and headed back over to the results area to see where I finished overall. I had to do a triple take, I finished 10th overall and first in my age group. I was blown away!! We hung around for the awards and I got an awesome pint glass for winning my division and then we all headed out to a celebration lunch.

Results:

10th overall (108 racers)

1st in my division (11 racers)

Here are the final splits:

Swim: 15:59

Bike: 1:16:39

Run: 30:20

Finish Time: 2:05:47

The XTERRA West Cup is coming May 2nd and I will definitely be training hard the next few weeks to be ready.

3.29.09 Let the Season Begin!

Sunday the 29th marked the official start of my XTERRA season with XTERRA REAL, a .5 mile swim 13 mile mtn. bike and 4 mile run, at Folsom Lake,CA.Living in Southern California was a bit of a trek, a 8hr. drive up the 5fwy, so I left early Friday morning so that I could get settled and rest before the race. I got to my campground around 3 on Friday afternoon and I couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was in the mid-seventies and sunny, great race weather and I was starting to get excited!

On Saturday I pre-road and ran the course. I really wanted to know what I was getting into so there would be no surprises on race day. When I got to the transition area the super sprint race was going on so I hung around for a while to cheer on all the racers. Once the course cleared I hopped on my bike and headed out to do one loop on the 6.5 mile bike course. The trail was in great condition, really smooth and fast for the most part with a couple of rocky sections thrown in to keep me on my toes. I felt really good throughout the ride and it really boosted my confidence to know what was coming on race day. After the bike I transitioned into my run gear for the 4mile run. The run course was really fast with just a couple little hills and a small stretch of sand and helped me gauge where to go all out in the race. This was the first time I have pre-road a course and I can’t recommend it enough. It really put my mind at ease knowing what I was in for on race day and allowed me to better estimate my desired splits.

(Here is the course map for the bike and the run – bike in blue and run in red)

As luck would have it there was a Macaroni Grill nearby, which is my absolute favorite, so I had a nice big pasta dinner to carb-load for the race and then headed back to my campsites to get some sleep.

Sunday was just as gorgeous as Saturday and I was excited! The race start was scheduled for 8:30am and I wanted plenty of time to warm up and get set up so I arrived at transition around 7am. It was great to see all the racers milling around and there was just great energy as everyone was excited for first race of the season. My mom, dad and brother live a couple hours away and drove up for the race. Luckily they got there before the start so I was able to hang out with them a bi.

(Me and my “little” brother talking race strategy. His advice, go fast.)

About 15min prior to start I headed down to get a little warm up swim in. I jumped in the water a gasped, it was freezing!!! Turns out the water temp was 58, welcome to XTERRA. I did my usual 200 yard or so warm up and was feeling better about the water temp, that I could handle it and would warm up as the swim went on.

The Swim:

So I was totally wrong about being ready for the cold water. I got about 300 yards into the swim and was completely dis-oriented, everything was spinning and it felt like my face was frozen. I quickly took off my goggle and floated on my back for a few seconds to try and regain my balance and feeling in my face. I was a little panicked as this was not at all how I wanted the race to start, so I pushed the pain aside and tried to focus on the swim buoy and muscle forward. I didn’t start feeling “normal” until about the half way mark of the swim but really, I never got comfortable. I can’t tell you how glad when the swim was over and I could get on dry land and my bike.

The Bike:

First off I LOVE this picture! I can’t believe they caught my as I was doing a wheelie over a rut, so cool! Actually everything about the bike was cool. I immediately started making up the ground I lost in the swim as I was passing people left and right for the first mile. After that things started to settle and I just focused on riding my race. I really didn’t run into much traffic on the first lap of the bike but on the second loop I ran into a lot of traffic, luckily I was able to get through it with out too many issues. This bike course was so much fun, tons of tight single track and really fast, I couldn’t ask for a better combo!

The Run:

I have struggled with finding the right balance of bike pace to run pace and this race was no different. I felt great for the first couple of miles but at the bigger of the 2 hills I was starting to slow. My goal was to finish in the top 5 in my age group and at this point I had not seen anyone in my age group as I was holding a steady pace and really not gaining on anyone nor was anyone passing me. Shortly after the start of the bigger hill I was over taken by someone in my age group. I thought, “that guy probably just got 5th place” and then thought, “with the way I am running I am probably a lot further back than that.” I fought through the rest of the run and as I came out of the woods towards the finish line I got nailed with a brutal head wind so instead of putting on that extra burst of speed I fought the last 300 yards. As I neared the finish line I realized I was going to blow my goal time out of the water! I wanted a 2hr finish and ended up with a 1:53:48!!!

Funny thing is the one guy who passed me did end up getting 5th in my age group! I finished 6th, one off of my goal, which I now look at as a good thing as it has helped me increase my training intensity. So here’s the final break down:

43rd overall (192 racers)

6th in my age group (21 racers)

And here are the splits:

Swim: 0:14:21

Bike: 1:06:47

Run: 0:32:40

Finish time: 1:53:48

And Monday I was right back in the pool, getting ready, getting faster. Cause this is just the beginning.

2.1.09 Mission Gorge Trail Run

Last year I did the Wildflower Triathlon through Team In Training and in the course of the first few days I realized that triathlons were definitely for me. I quickly went from 1 triathlon to 4 including 2 off-road tri’s. Being a mountain biker I loved the off-road aspect and the challenges it added, I was hooked.

I have set a goal for myself this year to qualify for the XTERRA US Championship’s in Ogden Utah on September 27th. To do this I have set up a pretty strict training schedule as well as a ton of races. My Race schedule this year looks like this:

2.1.09 – Mission Gorge 15k Trail Run (San Diego, CA)

3.29.09 – XTERRA REAL (Folsom Lake, CA)

4.05.09 – Renegade Off Road Triathlon (San Dimas, CA)

5.02.09 – XTERRA West Cup (Lake Las Vegas, NV)

5.10.09 – XTERRA Del Valle (Livermore, CA)

5.31.09 – XTERRA Deuces Wild (Show Low, AZ)

6.14.09 – XTERRA Snow Valley (Snow Valley, CA)

6.27.06 – XTERRA Tahoe City (Tahoe City, CA)

8.29.09 XTERRA Lake Tahoe (Incline Village, NV)

An then if I qualify,

9.27.09 XTERRA US Championship (Ogden, UT)

To qualify I will need to score points in each race. Of all the races I score points my top three are counted and if I am in the top 9 in my age division (25-29) I will get a spot to the championship race.

So my training started in December and my first official race was Feb. 1, The XTERRA Mission Gorge 15k trail run in Mission Trails Regional Park outside of San Diego. Since I have been in my Base Training phase this event served more as a training motivation than anything else. It was an early season goal to keep my motivated to keep getting up at 6am even though it was (and still is) freezing in the morning. Here are a few pics from the event…

The course map. The red line and red elevation profile are the race I did.

When I got to the race I kept hearing about the “1000 stair” section of the trail. I thought to myself, it can’t be that bad. Well, see for yourself in the image below. The dark lin in the lower left is the trail and it ends at the top of the bluff. It was a 600ft. elevation gain in 1/2 a mile. And of course it was right in the middle of the trail at the 5 mile mark making it a mental battle as well as a physical one.

Here are some actions shots courtesy of www.byronwmoore.com

And the finish 1:31:21

And finally some awesome post race stretching shots from my beautiful wife and talented wedding photographer. (see more of her work at ryelj.com)