4th Place: Xterra Crested Butte CO-The 9,775 footer!

This race had some stiff competition. All the fast people want to race the highest elevation venue on the Xterra circuit. Top elevation of 9,775' was reached while summiting Strand Hill during the mtn bike (good thing I was on my Yeti). My division alone went off in the first wave with the realatively large pro field. This race along with Granite Bay have been my most satisfying.

Swim: started strong, drafted well during the middle half, then passed and took it on in strong. Felt some cramps trying to sneak in towards the end and while exiting the water, so I took it a bit slower into transition than my usual charge.

T1: Had a good transition for me. No real snags, could work on the heel of the bike shoes folding in.

Bike: The course was interesting in that there was a lot of road and fast dirt road (hardtail), but the off-road was brutal (suspension). There was a mile long rock-garden (more like a quarry); mostly uphill, which was all slicked up from the prior evening's dramatic lightning/hail storm. A lot of walking & found myself wishing for a $5,000 walking stick instead of the Yeti. Narrow single-track riding with a few surprises around corners, and a deep over-the-cranks water crossing (gotta ride it). A real local's course, but aren’t they all? I went with suspension and was glad.

T2: Good for me. However, I still tried to run out the bike exit.

Run: I’ve found the run is a matter of "guts" (thanks Jameson). I try to leave mine on the course.

Finish: A lot of hard work and finished just outside the top 3 "hardware," AGAIN!!!

Race Results
Division: 4th of 29
Overall Male: 17th of 104

Next Race: Xterra Crested Butte CO-Jul 30th

A doozy with an average course altitude of 9,300 feet! No, that's not a typo! 1K Swim, 24K Mtn bike, 9K Run & an Xterra licenced pro field for 2006. Not that I'm anywhere near pro-level, but the race is sold out and will be quite competitive. I'm finding I get motivated to "throw my hat in the ring" for these kind of races. It's a long journey, but I like to think, remember?
Race Details

5th Place: Donner Lake Road Tri-Truckee CA

OK I decided to do my first Road Tri the day before the race. I was like, "how can I not do a local tri?" Plus I wanted to see what "guts" I had versus the local talent, however, it would be a "C" race for sure. I just did Xterra Vashon last Sunday, & spent the first part of the week doing my annual training session in Bend OR (where I happened to bump in to Conrad Stoltz on several occasions: very motivating) with my coach. Of course, I had to do the International Distance & I didn't know what to expect.

First I had to get my road bike together. Where do I put the bike number? The registration lady says she tapes it to her seatpost to be aero, so that's what I did, and that's where the coolness of my bike ended. I saw some amazing bikes at the race. They looked like alien spacecraft. My bike is a basic "10 speed" with a granny-cheat-triple chainring, which came in handy during the steep, windy, climb up Old HWY 40.

The race started with a 1500m swim that was directly into the sun. I was really trusting my instincts/following blindly (literally) to the first buoy. When I got there I noticed I was having a good swim; definitly ahead of the main pack. About half way through it, my legs started cramping. Strange, because I don't kick much. I tried kicking the cramps away, which didn't work, so I had to back off for the final 1/3 of the swim. I was worried the whole way to shore and took it slow getting my legs coming out of the water; no cramps so let's get moving! I tried some new techniques in T1 that all went well except one, which cost me dearly. Trying to put bike shoes on with the straps strapped and the damn heel kept folding in. I had the slowest T1 in my division.

The bike was 40k, steep up from Donner Lake then more gradual fast downhill to Kingvale and back. At the turn around is where I seemed to be riding with a racer that, as it turned out, we went back & forth all the way to the race finish. I took it easy on the steep downhill back to the lake and was glad I decided to remove the aero bars (I had put them on Friday before the race and removed them the next day), which I didn't know how to comfortably use as I'd never used them. Case & point, my friend was going too fast and ended up in the hospital with a separated shoulder after hitting the guardrail & another went over the guardrail. It's steep and fast approaching T2, so the directors wisley demand each racer to stop & put a foot down so we don't all pile up at the hairpin transition entry. T2, not bad, but could be better.

The run, a long 11k (more like 7mi), all the way around Donner Lake. It's a mental challenge because looking around the whole lake I was wondering how I would be able to do it. I just ran & ran & ran. I was trying to catch my super fast swimming (2nd out of the water) & fast riding friend who's not a good runner. At that point I had no idea he had crashed hard on the bike. Well not only did I finish the run, but I had the 3rd fastest run time in my division!

I was very satisfied with my race except for transitions, where I figured out I lost my chance for a podium position. I'll work on it!

Swim 1500m 23.03, Bike 40k 1:20.14, Run 11k (more like 7mi) 47.25

Race Results
Division: 5th of 46
Overall: 32th of 411

5th Place: Xterra Vashon Island WA

Gorgeous venue! Well worth the 750mi (one-way) drive. I really prefer to drive unless it's going to take over 2 days because I can pile all my stuff into the truck and be ready for all the unknowns that seem to happen at races. Plus it was a beautiful drive and I have time to really think (about anything) without feeling like I'm wasting time. Yes, it is an island, so I had to take a ferry from Tacoma. Way cool. Vashon is a rain forest sancuary, which is surrounded from a distance by Seattle and Tacoma.

Oh yeah, it's a race, not a road trip. Saturday AM, pre-race day, I was going to do my little swim/run drill & save the ride for later when the course would be marked. As coincidence would have it, my buddy from home pulls up and says he raced here last year and would take me on a ride of the course. Cool, as I'd much rather get it all out of the way and go relax! We rode up to where last year's mtn bike started and there's a new house being built. We rode around for over an hour trying to find the trail, to no avail. It will be marked by 2-4p, but I don't want to wear out, so I swam and ran a bit & figured I'd just race the mtn bike course. I'm feeling good that evening and get the idea: "Why not pre-ride 1 loop of the course as part of my pre-race warmup?" It is only a 6mi loop and we'll race 2 loops. That was risky, but ended up working out perfectly!

The race went well for me, we swam in a harbor. I was out of the water well before most, decent transition and on to the mtn bike. I was really flying. The single track was all grown over so you had to be ready for the "rogue" log. There was such a log jam. A double whammy, which hits front & rear tires at the same time, right after a sharp hairpin turn. On the first lap that one really tested my core to keep it together and on the 2nd lap it took me down. Not bad, but I did get passed, which I later found out was by one in my division. T2 I racked my bike one rack off, but moved quickly to my correct position, this might have cost me 5s. The run was wierd in good way, it was a loop, and except for the brief uphill in the beginning, the whole thing felt downhill. This was great to have gravity on my side 'cause I'm not a runner. Really grown over, cool & lush. You just pop out of a thick forest to cross the finish, and there were only a few racers done so I knew I did well. Quick results showed I was 13th overall. That's great for me, so I knew I'd get 3rd or better in my division. Boy was I wrong about that: I got 5th in my division! I really wanted to sob at that point (but I couldn't). Apparently some good racers from Alaska came down & beat me. Oh well, it was very fun, I just felt like I earned a 3rd.

Race Details
Race Results
Division: 5th of 14
Overall: 12th of 73