Xterra Real Mountain Bike Triathlon 2010

Raced in the Xterra Real Mountain Bike Triathlon on March 28 organized by Total Body Fitness. When I signed up, my brother was supposed to race it with me. He did not make it to the race. I understand, but I couldn't help but be a little disappointed

The course and weather were great. I saw a few wild turkeys during the race, had a lot of fun, and felt good the whole time.

Here are some photos from James Pratt's website: Swim , Bike, Run.

I was pleased with my swim. I got a good dolphin start and was able to draft off someone a lot of the way. I got passed by a few on the looong run to T1 and had an OK transition to the bike.

Long bike course this time, and I enjoyed it much more than last time. Spent most of the first bike lap getting passed. Ate one Gu halfway through each lap and drank one bottle of water.

My T2 seemed lightning quick. Felt really good through the run. Not fast, but the run was comfortable. Started easy and built through the run. Took a little water at each aid station. I tried to pick up the pace in the last third. Quads would start to cramp if I went too hard, but I went as hard as I could. I passed a couple people, which made me feel good. Then I got passed by three others in the last 1.5 miles - bummer.

2:20:03 total time
81st out of 169 finishers
12th of 20 in my age group.
11:03 swim split, 23rd swim rank (880 yards)
1:29:12 bike split, 80th bike rank (16 miles)
39:48 run split, 121st run rank (4 miles)

Granite Bay Triathlon

This Sunday, Gary, Gwen, and I participated in the Granite Bay Triathlon. They claim it was my idea, but my recollection is that it was Gary's suggestion. I'll chock it up to mass hysteria, created by our relay series win at Rancho Seco.


I am proud of Gary and Gwen. They posted respectable times, and stuck it out through a TOUGH run course. It's the same 5 mile run course as the Xterra race. It's 90% on dirt, and has a nasty climb about halfway, followed a steep descent. Anyway, they made it through in good spirits, and looked like they had fun.

As predicted, Gwen crushed the swim. She posted the 8th fastest swim time overall, and was the 2nd fastest woman in the swim.

Gary ran a very smart and steady race. He posted a very good swim time, and was consistent through the run and bike.

I did not have much of a strategy. I went just about as hard as I could right from the gun. I knew at some point I would have to pay for the effort. That time came at about 1.5 miles into the 5 mile run. I just couldn't run anymore. I was hot, my hamstrings were sore, and I could not get my legs to turnover anymore. I walked, a lot.

I came out the swim 7th in my age group, came off the bike in 8th in my age group, and fell to 15th by the end of the day. My swim and bike splits were good, but I've obviously got some work to do on the run.

Battle

I ended up racing the long course at Xterra Del Valle on Sunday. For me, it was more of a battle than a race.

The venue was very nice, and I snapped a few pictures with my cell phone during my warmup.

The lake:

Looking back at start/finish from the run course:

Run course:

This was the longest triathlon that I have entered since Crested Butte in 2005. The swim is listed as 0.74 miles (1300 m). We swam two (2) laps with a short beach run in between. I definitely like the longer swim. I was able to find a rhythm and stick with it for long while. My goggles came off when I dove in for the second lap, but I got them back on quickly. No big loss. I enjoyed the swim.

The bike course was tough. Some single track, mostly fire roads with very little shade. It was 16 miles with around 3,000 feet of climbing. I had no power left to climb after the first major set of climbs. I was still rolling pretty good on the flats and rollers, but when the trail pitched up, my pace dropped off significantly. There was a lot of room for improvement in the marking and marshaling of the bike course. In particular, two spots on the bike course were confusing, and quite easy to make a wrong turn and cut the course short. The worst spot was where you turned right on the first lap to do an "inner" second loop. The second time around you were supposed to turn left. The sign was down at this intersection. The course marshal was about 100 yards ahead of the turn. From his position he could not ensure that the riders made the correct turn, and he could not sign that the sign was down. Three people that I exited the water with and battled with the whole bike course, took the wrong turn and cut the bike course short. The rider behind me remarked that half of his team also took the wrong turn.

Another bad spot was near the end of the second lap where the course come down towards the transition area, only to make a sharp left and head back up for a short climb before descending back to transition. It was really disheartening to be within sight of the transition area, but have to turn away with less than 100 yards to go. There was a marshal here, about 20 yards away from the corner yelling at riders to turn left, but he did not catch everyone. The rider in
front of me ignored the marshal and went straight back to transition.



The 5.5 mile run course felt more like an adventure race. About a mile of the course was in a creek, with some spots thigh deep in water. Then it started uphill. The total climbing in the run was over 800 feet, and it was all in one climb. There were no breaks. I did as much hiking as I did running. It was brutal. It was a beautiful run course, but brutal.




Here are the numbers:

10 of 14 finishers in age group
82 of 99 finishers overall
25:40 swim time (42nd fastest)
2:16:33 bike time (76th fastest)
1:31:50 run time (86th fastest)
4:14:03 total

Next up: bike leg on the relay team at TBF Tri for Real.

Gwen and Gary - Are you ready?

Xterra Tri for Real Race Report

This is my detailed race report. Final splits are now posted.

I finished 122 out of 194 starters, and 18 out of 25 in my age group.

14:00 swim (52nd fastest) (0.5 mile) (1:35min/100 yd)
1:19:13 bike (118th fastest) (13 mile) (9.8 mph)
42:22 run (168th fastest) (4 mile) (10.59 min per mile)

2:15:35 total

Not spectacular numbers, but good enough for where I am at with my recovery and training.

Usually the swim is the easiest part for me. I typically can find my pace and settle into a groove fairly quickly. Not this time. I battled the entire time. I swallowed a lot of water from people kicking right next to me, and the water was very choppy. The wind must have been playing havoc with our sense of direction, because I got slammed into multiple times during the entire swim. I would just settle in to a pace and BAM, out of nowhere someone would body slam right into me. Unbelievable. I got so frustrated, that I ended up breaststroking a few times to calm myself down.

I entered T-1 with my toes and hands completely numb. 55 degree water tends to do that. My brother was leaving T-1 as I was getting my feet out of my wetsuit. I yelled some encouraging words, and continued getting ready for the bike.

My heart rate was spiked from my battles and frustration on the swim, so my first lap on the bike was less than stellar. My heart rate was pegged for the first lap. I finally settled down and a had a decent second lap.

T-2 went by quick and I was off on the run. I just cruised the run at my own pace. I knew there were a couple of hills near the halfway point, so I started off conservatively and held a constant pace the whole time. I cramped a little with 1.5 miles to go, but they were gone quickly. I was passed by 2 guys in may age group with a mile to go, but I could not keep up with them. They finished about a minute in front of me.

A very enjoyable race.

One Tri Down

Sunday was my first tri of 2009, but more importantly, the first one since my knee surgery in December of 2007.

Overall it went well. I finished a 0.5 mile swim, 13 mile mountain bike, and 4 mile run in 2 hours, 15 minutes, and some change.

No problems with the knee, and overall I am happy with my performance. I'll report more later. Essentially the swim was rough due to very choppy conditions, the bike was fine, and I felt very good on the run. I wasn't very fast, but I felt okay.

My brother crushed it and finished 19th overall (including 2 relays), and 5th in his age group. He got a nice plaque. I think it was his first hardware from a triathlon.

My charts are below, with Sundays approximate race times included.

Two Weeks

My first tri since my knee surgery is two weeks from today.

I am excited, but I cannot expect too much from myself. My knee is still not 100%, and my training is not where I would like it to be.

A lighter week again this week. No more lunch swims for a while. I'll have to start swimming in the morning.

Here are the graphs:

Semi-Rural Living

Living in a rural area makes for some picturesque road bike rides. Here are some pictures from this week's longish ride (22 miles, 2.25 hours):







And the updated training summary: