Race Report - XTERRA Utah!

Okay. I only did the XTERRA short course. Work has been nuttier than squirrel poop so I've been missing all sorts of workouts since Vikingman. I've been tired, also. Instead of stressing about the workouts I was missing because of work and recovery I tried a new approach consisting of rest and flexibility to prepare for XTERRA. It worked out pretty well.

Except the swimming part.

The flexibility idea was borne of necessity. I've been trying to stretch frequently, at least every other day, to loosen my legs and avoid the knee problems from Vikingman. The rest part of the plan was mostly what I told myself I was doing because I was going into work early and couldn't get to the pool and missing lunchtime runs because of location shoots. Fortunately, I did just enough and don't think I lost much fitness.

Except the swimming part.

The nice thing about this race is the ability to register the day before. You know what the weather will be like. What the water temp will be. Things that might preclude one from entering an event, especially if it isn't a goal race. My original plan was to race the long course and get a little redemption from bailing in 2007. As the race got closer the unknown knee, lack of mountain bike training and a real lack of desire to beat myself for the extra time all played out. With 10 minutes to spare I entered the short course.

Another great thing about this race is the start time. 9:40 am. HOLLA! I was able to get up at my regular time. Poop at my regular time. Leave the house at my regular time. There was still plenty of time to stand around and chat while shoehorning my bike onto a rack. Yeah, it was crowded when I get there. See, I do things in reverse at this race. Rather than set up my t1 at the lake, then drive to Snowbasin to set up my T2 and then take a shuttle back to the lake, I drive to Snowbasin, park the truck, set up my T2 and then ride my bike down to the lake to set up T1. I'm a rebel ... and I get a nice warm up.

Again, I was surprisingly calm (for me) before the start. I was even trying to help other people get themselves in order. The pros started at 9, and the long course racers started at 9:20. I moved down about 9:30, wetsuit on, and got straight into the water. No hesitation. The water was about 65°, which is just right for wetsuit swimming.

I went to the far left, just to avoid some of the scrum. At the start, there were about 350-400 people in my wave, plus those still in the water from earlier waves so it was a little crowded. Instead of swimming a triangle, I swam more of a lazy circle. I just didn't want any part of the mess. Of course, it slowed my swim time. Or my lack of swimming was responsible. But my swim was a distant 19:42 (106th), well off my pace at Vikingman. But it was still good to do it and not freak out.

Transition was also pretty slow. I really need to work on them. I'm not sure where the time goes, but it is literally the quickest time that goes by in my life. It wasn't without it's drama either. while tightening up my right shoe the buckle on my Sidi broke. I chucked it into my bag and tucked the strap into my shoe and got out of there.

I have no idea how many people I passed on the bike, but it was a LOT. I know I got passed a few times and caught all of them but maybe 2. I had a really solid ride and felt really good still heading into T2. Really uneventful. 1:21.

T2 was much faster than T1. I was in and out under 2 minutes. This run sucks. It is up and up and a little break and up and up and then straight the hell down. And I ran the whole thing for a 22:53.

Overall I ended up 19th out of 308 and 4th AG. Total time 2.04.24. I'm pleased. I'm not sure what is going to happen next year. But LOTOJA might be on the horizon, and that will pretty much own my training time. But maybe the long course XTERRA. I'll have the endurance for it...