The 2006 Nissan Xterra World Championship Off-Road Triathlon, Makena Beach, Maui, Hawaii. It was my season goal to qualify for & finish this race. Ahh, finally!There are more detailed course descriptions in the "next race" post below this one & the race has also been captured for a CBS Spectacular feature that will air SATURDAY of Super Bowl Weekend, February 3rd 2007, at 10am Pacific time.
I quickly became aware how difficult it is just training for this race because I’m coming off my most important race: The National Championship at Tahoe. It seems like World’s is held a month after the end of the racing season and it’s difficult to keep the drive going especially as my training grounds get cold and dreary. That along with the fact that October is the pinnacle of my work load. But enough whining & on to the race.
I had a solid race from start to finish. No and, ifs or buts and no complaints or excuses. Total time 3:33.22.
Thank you coach Cherie!
Race Results:
Division: 9th of 81
Overall: 101th of 575
Ocean Swim 1500m (.93mi) - Time: 26.16 (pace 28.14 min per mi): Consisted of 2 x 750m laps with a 75m sandy beach run in between. There were over 575 entrants in this race and it was a mass swim start. All of us going at once through the shore break towards the first buoy. I decided to start off to the right a bit, in order to give myself a little space. This worked well for space, but I ended up swimming farther than if I had started directly in front of the 1st buoy.
There were times when people were all over me and I was all over people. I just tried to relax and sometimes I would dive down below them to get to a clear area. One time that technique did not work & I had to pop up right in the middle of a big school of pirahnas. Challenging. No cramping and a solid swim. I could have gone harder, but after the cramping last year that nearly took me out, and with the heat & humidity coming up on the mtn bike & run, I didn’t want to overdo it. I went about 90%. I came out of the water definitely ahead of the main pack and had a good transition (1.42) to the mtn bike.The pro winner, Hamish Carter, from New Zealand said, “That course wasn’t meant for human consumption. It’s honestly the hardest, meanest course ever. The rocks and the hills don’t go away. You get rid of them on the bike and you get stuck back up there on the run,” said Carter, referring to the more than 3,000 feet of climbing on the bike and run up the dormant Haleakala Volcano.
Mtn Bike 30.7k (19.1mi) - Time: 2:03.47 (pace 9.2 mph): Consisted of one loop up the dormant Haleakala Volcano on private land that is only open once a year for this race. The total elevation gain is 2,600’.
This is one tough bike ride. The weeks prior to the race were rainy and washed away all the sand and dirt, which only left lava rock and terrain masking grass. Very bumpy, loose, and fast & if you’re lucky it’s like riding on jaggedy marbles, go off one way or the other just a bit and it’s like riding on rough bowling balls. There is little control as you guide your bike over a course that leaves no room for error. My back tire was new when I started & nearly bald when I finished. I was lucky not to get any flats like so many other racers. People were walking their bikes with flat tubes draped over their shoulders, having gone trough all their spares. There was plenty of carnage too. Top contending women pros Jaimie Whitmore & Candy Angle had to be carted off the bike course having suffered bloody crashes resulting in a smashed knee and cracked ribs respectively. You get the idea. It was important to survive the bike to make it to the run stage. It was hot and humid and I sweat so much that the moisture dripping from my body literally soaked my bike shoes; they felt heavy & sloshy with the wetness. Besides one little slow speed tip-over, which was due to people walking their bikes
while I was still riding, I had a good safe ride. I got passed by a few on the uphill, but was able to pass them back on the crazy downhills. Again “solid” was the word so far in this race and my 95% bike effort, which was conservative enough to make sure I finished it, was the foundation for the run. I executed a satisfactory transition (1.40) to the run, not super fast, but I got my head together for the final assault!Third place pro, Seth Wealing, from Boulder CO proclaimed: “It was fun running through the people on the beach but that first sand section is ridiculous. There’s no line at all. The run is so bloody hard, it’s just a strong man’s run. You get off the bike and your legs are just shot and they shove you right up that hill and then to add insult to injury that beach is just unbelievable. I can see that this is the premier race and why it’s the World Championship.”
Trail & Beach Run 11.1k (6.9mi) - Time: 59.57 (pace 8.41 min per mi): Consisted of one loop. The longest uphill was about 2 miles and for once I didn’t notice the climb too much. I just kept my pace and kept concentrating on going hard and staying in the “pain zone.” There were some good downhill sections where I really let loose and got going fast. Passing and passing. At one point I got passed by one. I looked at the age-number on his leg and, of course, he was in my division. I instinctively said to myself, “I’m going to stay with him.” But it was not to be, he just flew by. I fell into my pace again and low and behold I was gaining on this guy, but I don’t think I was so much gaining as he was slowing. I came up along side for the pass & it seemed like he stepped on a rock & went off the course into the big lava and tall grass. He came back on trail but veered off course again. He kept doing this and was out of control. I was about 20 feet ahead of him when I heard another racer shouting at this guy to stop & take a rest. He was off balance & could not get it together. I call him the Mad Cow. Apparently this was not a rare occurrence in the race as volunteers were looking for several racers who got lost off course in a dehydrated, exhausted & confused state of mind. I was well within myself & I just kept on running. I was relying on using the 5 aid stations along the way to keep dehydration at bay. Unfortunately the volunteers were not fast enough at two of them to get me my 2 cups of water before I had run by. My final pass of a racer in my division was made in the Spooky Forest. A twisty, turny, logy section that is thankfully under a tree canopy. In all I passed 5 in my division during the run & none passed me for good.
The last couple miles of this race consist of the most extreme sections, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. There are a couple of rocky sections along the ocean that I have trouble walking on even when not racing. But for me, the ultimate is the deep, hot-sand beach run in the sun on Makena Beach. The sand is so hot it may turn to glass and so deep it feels like quicksand. You’re using all your energy to go what feels like nowhere! I just keep forging ahead, one foot in front of the other, sweating like crazy & eventually it ends.
About this time I heard the announcing far off in the distance at the finish line. I start going as fast as I’m able and blaze through the finish line. I ran 100%! I had nothing left and was smoked. I was escorted to the med tent for a cold towel wrap, 2 liter IV; I downed 3 electrolyte drinks & 3 waters. I looked & felt like a squeezed sponge. I finally left it all on the course & couldn’t be happier! What a race!There were some super performances by friends of mine. Most notably, Janice, who crushed her division by over 11 minutes @ 3:53. She is truly a World Champion. Another 1st place World Champ was Conrad @ 3:01. In my division, Ross placed 4th @ 3:21 & Jim (with cramping) placed 39th @ 4:06. James had a good race with a 7th @ 3:20. Elise did well with little training placing 13th @ 5:06, and Emma continues her superior showings with a 5th @ 3:56. Gene was 14th @ 6:02, what an animal. Way to go everybody, good job!
