2008 Preamble

Yes, there is a 2008! In fact it’s been going on full blast & leaving my blog in the dust! So much time has passed since my last post of the Xterra World Champs at the end of October 2007 that I’ve forgotten how to blog, almost.

As of the end of June I’ve already done 6 Xterra races: 3 Regional Championship Races (I call these BIG XTerra races) & 3 Points Series Races (called little Xterra races of course).

So the big question is: where to start? Easy: at the end & work my way back to the beginning of my season. My race reports will initially be ordered by the date I blog it & eventually I’ll reorder it according to race dates like in past seasons. I’ll be updating links & facts as I get blogging again. Enough, off to the races!

1st of 24: Xterra Tahoe City 08 - Tahoe City CA

(all photos courtesy of Big Blue Adventure & Gene Murrieta unless otherwise noted)

Follow this link to some outstanding race video by Big Blue & Damian Gonzalez. After the link, just scroll down to "XTERRA Tahoe City Race Video."

Overall 4th of 134 with a total time of 2:50.24.

I can't disagree with the fact that best result ever will be my first post of the 2008 season. Yes, this is my first, FIRST PLACE!!! This is a local race & all prior races this season were serving a podium peak performance for this race. From the beginning of this season I was bound & determined to redeem myself for my horrendous performace here last year (6th).

The big question of the week was: "Is the race going to be cancelled?" With over 800 small & large fires burning in California at the time & the typical west-to-east winds blowing so much smoke into the Tahoe basin that at times it was impossible to see much further than a mile. In the weeks leading up to the race I was getting calls & emails from fellow racers about the air quality at Lake Tahoe. In reality the air quality was changing every few hours from bad to worse & then would get better, which remained the cycle leading up to the race. After the Western States Endurance 100 Race was cancelled I begain looking for other Xterra races so as not to waste my peak form & be able to try for a top performance elsewhere. The morning prior to the race I was looking at the swim & the race director pulled up with his trailer we chatted about the air, which was good at the time so: race on. Later that day at registration the air was bad, but there was no mention of cancellation. Finally I came to some conclusions on fire smoke that were published in the Sierra Sun local newspaper along w/ some of my post-race thoughts (online news link)

(excerpt from Sierra Sun newspaper article by Emma Garrard)

RACE REPORT:

Disciplines Full/Long Xterra Race (maps & profiles)

Swim: 1200 meters
Bike: 22 miles
Run: 6 miles

Morning air conditions were less smokey than the day prior, so whew, race on. I was feeling calm while getting going in the morning, arriving at transition & warming up. There were no hitches other than finding out only cups of water would be handed out for aid during the bike. This was actually troublesome as, although this was a "little" Xterra, the race is full distance and in fact is as long or longer than most Championship races where full water bottles are handed out durning the bike race at key locations. Easy decision though: bring my own water bottle, which will be heavy to drag up the "granny gear" climb out of transition but well worth the hydration during the 22 mile mtb course.

THE SWIM (22.28 3rd): A very shallow start that goes out for quite a ways isn't necessarily bad for me as it modifies ones stroke to require more power & less technique than the typical deep water course.

(photo courtesy of Crosbie Ronning)

I found some fast feet & kept on them. It made me go harder than I wanted, but I think it's what I've needed as my swims to date had been slower than I expected. It's also quite rocky so I decided to swim as long as I could until my nose scraped the bottom before standing up.

Transition Run 1/2 mile takes about 5 minutes for me as I'm a bit wobbly right after the swim.

(above photo courtesy of Crosbie Ronning)

Transition (T1) from Swim to Bike: This was the worst part of my race. All but my first race this season have been so bloody hot that I have no practice taking off my wetsuit during a race. I wasn't patient enough to get it down low enough, so I ended up on my butt struggling with cold hands to get the legs off, finally off, but oops, forgot my hydration pack with most my race food in it when I took off on my bike. Definitly a grade "D" T1.

THE BIKE (1:38.33 1st): I love mountain biking, so much so that I don't realize the high intensity effort I'm putting out, which typically leaves me beat for the run. Not this time, for the most part, I forced myself to stay within my pace. This climb is really steep & rocky, & though the pic doesn't do it justice, it takes threshold to max effort to climb it correctly.

The bike turned out to be a pivotal part of my race. Other than the killer steep climb out of TI, the bike course is made for me with mostly power flats a few brief power climbs, so as I kept my pace I started reaching & then passed the overall winner of the tri. This was towards the end of the 1st of 2 laps. I was going harder as I passed & it flashed through my mind to watch out for the sharp gravel corner coming up. Too late, as soon as I thought about it, I was going down. While straightening my bars I was passed back. Got going pretty quickly & figured that was my one & only strike. I went back to MY pace.

(photo courtesy of Crosbie Ronning)

In reflection this little spill kept me from overdoing it on the bike, which, like in some other races this year would have "blown me up" on the run.

T2 Transition from Bike to Run went well. I saw my full hydration pack sitting there & wished I had time for a drink as I was thirsty & drained from very little replenishment during the bike.

THE RUN (49.22 5th): In general this run course is a long climb up from the lake, a short flattish loop on top, then a long downhill to the finish.

(photo courtesy of Crosbie Ronning)

Strategy for me: just keep running up the hill no matter what, go harder on the flats then run like I can downhill & keep increasing the turnover & speed. I spotted my nemesis, who has been coming in behind me at the last 2 Championship races by a minute or two, at the top of the run through the trees. He's a much better uphill runner than me, but after that I can hang on the flats & am faster downhill. After the race he said he also saw me flash through the trees at the top & then he never saw me again. Perfect. I just tried to increase my speed all the way through the finish line.

(buddy Phil keeping an eye on me while I got fixed up in the med tent. Photo courtesy of Crosbie Ronning)

(photo courtesy of Crosbie Ronning)

All in all I couldn't be happier with my performance. Aside from all the key training & scheduling Coach Cody put together for me, the key factor in being in my best condition for this race was Coach Cody encouraging me to do the East Championships at Richmond two weeks prior to the Tahoe City race. This is what pushed me over the top to my first victory! Yeah!!!