Today I completed my second Xterra race, the Southeast Championship Series in Richmond, VA. I did this race in 2007 and had a blast so I knew I'd be back this year. As with anything, a lot has changed since then and now. Not so much the race or the course or the weather -- but mostly me.
When I was headed to do this race in 2007 my wife Heather was 8 months pregnant with our child Madison. So heading into that race I knew I had to be on call 24x7 to be ready for a call home if necessary. I was also headed into my first ever Xterra, first ever moutain bike race and first ever river swim race. Certainly I had a lot on my mind. I didn't, however, have much on my mind in the way of performance expectations. I arrived in Richmond on Friday and rode most of the course at least once and did a swim clinic that detailed what to expect from the swim in the shallow James River. After successfully completing last year's race in 3 hours and 7 minutes I knew I loved Xterra and knew I had to get better at it. I promised myself I'd mountain bike more and get myself a new full suspension bike.
Heading into this year my thoughts were different. I was going to be away on Father's Day (family could not make it to the race) and I was on a new bike but I did not feel like I'd be in a position to improve my bike leg due to lack of mountain biking practice. I'd only ridden singletrack three times all year and one ride resulted in a nice wound that required eight ugly emergency room stitches. I was more confident in my swimming and running so I had high hopes for those disciplines. I also would not get time to pre-ride the bike course. Only a short swim beforehand would be possible. Furthermore, we were looking at a high of about 92 degrees for race day.
The night before the race I decided that I would not wear a watch for the race and just race for fun with a solid effort. After a good dinner with fish, a beer, and a glass of wine I went to bed looking for a good sleep and excited for a relatively late wakeup at 5:40AM the next morning.
Wakeup happened on schedule and all was well (except for the wrong number call I received at 4AM!) Upon arrival at transition on race morning I was able to set up my bike in a great spot near bike in/out. I set up my transition area deciding not to use my camelback but instead just a bottle of gatorade endurance and electrolyte caps on the bike. I also had two gels taped to the top tube. I headed for the swim start.
I was pretty calm during the time leading up to my wave start. There were four waves in my race and mine was third to start. The spread was only 2 minutes between waves. When the whistle sounded for my wave I started in the second row pretty near the center. This was a mistake. I should have known that I swim best and most relaxed when I have space. I found myself getting pummelled and quickly came out of my smooth stroke sighting and righting myself way too often. I swam like this for the first half of the race, noting that I was falling towards the middle to back 1/3 of my wave due to a poor stroke. Luckily the swim had a land crossing at half way. This allowed me to regain some composure for the second half of the swim. Upon re-entering the water I began to pass the slower yellow swim caps that started before me. At the same time some of the women with red caps began to crop up around me. I also need to mention that this "swim" is actually more like a water crawl at certain points. Racers find themselves crawling over rocks as they try to avoid a light current in the river. I have more scrapes and bruises from the swim than I do from the mountain bike, where I crashed a few times.
Back to the swim. By the time I approached the swim exit I suspect I was solidly in the last third of my wave. I did have a good exit and did swim into the finish very straight (current plays a factor). In fact, overall I think I swam very straight during the swim. It was just my stroke that was erratic.
I exited the water after running myself aground while still swimming (good) then put on my water shoes for the short run to T1. All went well on the run and through T1. Very smooth. I was now on the bike and out the gate.
I quickly got into a good groove on the bike with a low to moderate effort during the first third of the 18 mile bike leg. I did have one pretty strong crash as a rider in front of me crashed hard into another bike. I had to crash to avoid a complete disaster. No harm was done other than the rider who crashed getting very angry at the bikes who blocked the trail and caused him to crash. As we mounted up together and started going again I reminded him to calm down because its the beginning of the race. He thanked me.
The middle leg of the bike had me putting out a moderate to strong effort and climbing better than almost all the riders around me. When I could not climb I was able to run my bike uphill faster than anyone I saw. That was good and proved that my fitness is good. My downfall came in the many fast descents. I am just not experienced enough on the mountain bike anymore and I didn't know the trail very well. I am sure my time loss (to stronger riders) occurred primarily on downhills. I also probably had significantly more one foot and full dismounts than good riders. This cost me lots of time as well.
The final third of the bike leg had me noticing that I'd consumed a total of one gel, five electrolyte caps, and about 20 ounces of gatorade endurance so far. My legs and stomach were feeling very good as I approached what I was confident would be a strong, relatively fresh, run leg. As I approached the last mile I finished off another 12 ounces of gatorade and ate two more e-caps to prepare for a run in the heat. I entered T2 and again transitioned fairly smoothly. I made notice of quite a few bikes already racked as I headed out the gate.
Uh oh. Within two minutes of my run start I had a problem. My stomach felt like it had a gallon of fluid in it. I looked down to see that my stomach was poking out in a bizarre way beneath my rib cage. Now I know what they mean when they describe Ironman athletes with a "distended stomach". Basically, nothing was digesting so it was poking out in an unusual way. At that point I felt like the best option might be to try to throw up and relieve the pressure. Regardless I knew I had to start the run slowly until I figured out what I was going to do. I wanted to run strong because my legs felt good but that would have to wait if it was going to happen at all. I approached the first aid station and took two waters only. One sip in my mouth and the rest of two cups on my head. About that time I noticed that slowing down seemed to make everything OK. But every time I sped up I felt worse. I suspect I was only running about 8:15s which is way off my 10K time. So I kept a slow steady pace even letting a few runners pass me.
My strategy began to pay off. As I worked my way along patiently my stomach began to right itself. I stuck to sips of water with the majority of the cups going on my head. By half way in the run I was solidly picking up pace and passing back most of those who passed me. I never quite made it to the pace I would have liked but I did feel much better with every mile. That resulted in increased speed and confidence as I approached the finish. I had learned a valuable lesson about slowing down. Sometimes its the only way to overcome adversity.
I crossed the finish line at 2:49 and change. At the time I did not know it but this was an 18 minute improvement over my 2007 race. I had improved by 8 minutes in the swim, 8 minutes on the bike, and even 2 minutes on the run. My division placement was in the top 40% and I suspect my overall placement was marginally better than that. Overall I have to be pleased with this considering I'd rate my swim a "C+", my bike a "B", and my run a "C". I have certainly improved my fitness from 2007 and a full suspension bike was a big help. I can call it a successful day and I loved the fact that I never had to look at my watch...because I didn't have it on!
Regarding the stomach issue I attribute it to two things:
1) Lack of mountain bike conditioning. My training has been 85% moderate/high output at constant effort. Mountain bike racing is more like varying your effort from 70%-95% every 5 to 10 minutes. This is a big change in the way one's body reacts to carbo intake and heat management.
2) Pouring 12 ounces of gatorade and two e-caps down my throat with only 10 or 15 minutes to go on the bike. I have made my own "T2 nutrition intake error" before. I need to learn to shut down carbo intake at least 30min before T2 (if my effort is hard) then make it up at aid stations on the run.
Finally, congrats to my friend Missy Grant who was third woman overall in the shorter sport version of the race. She is crushing the Xterra Sport circuit as she continues to finish in the top females of that distance. I suspect she will be stepping up to the full Xterra distance pretty soon.
Xterra is awesome and a great distraction from pure triathlon. Every triathlete should do it!!!!
