XTERRA Racing

Saturday was the Buffalo Creek XTERRA race I competed in - it kicked my butt - and I'm glad I did it!

This particular race has been my favorite out of all the races I've done - it was my first tri (and race) ever 4 years ago and got me hooked. Then, I did the sprint, but as soon as I finished my thought was - I shoulda done the full course!

Headed in Friday evening - it always takes me most of the day getting my gear together for racing, camping, and getting the critters set for being pet sat.

The folks that put this race on are super nice. I know they don't know me, but you get to know them over the years. I have gotten to know the "ambassador" for this race, Rodger, and his SO Theresa (who's a kick-butt competitor and trainer).

This race has grown to nearly 600 competitors across all the events (full course, short course, and youth race). It doesn't "feel" that big though, and that's why I like it. You camp right by the lake, which is amazingly beautiful. You're up in the mountains. Everybody is super nice. Would be an awesome race to bring the pups to. And between camping and the lake is the start.

Going into it, I knew I wasn't really race prepared. This was a long course, and I'd not even gotten 10 runs in over the last 7 weeks. I'd done two 6-7 mile runs up at HT, one 6 mile flat run, and the rest were 3 miles or less. Typically I'm running 2-3 6 mile runs per week. Big difference!

The swimming has been interesting as well since I can't flex my right ankle. Hard to quantify how that affects my kick, but being that my kick is typically my strong point in the swim, surely doesn't help.

Set my alarm for 6am Sat morning - actually started getting up ~6:15am. Race didn't start till 9:30am for me. Plenty of time. I'd gotten my bike all ready the night before, and all my gear. Put on a new rear tire, since mine was getting bald. Also, Friday afternoon decided to put on my cage pedals. I've not ridden with cages in 4-5 years, but decided attempting to ride competitively for 20 miles on flats would be insane (no way I could even try to compete). I decided to trust my 16+ years of experience with the things - that it would come right back (and it did, they worked well).

I think the race coordinator's wife really likes Enya and John Denver because that's what we wake up to each year. The music gets progressively more up-beat after that. Some people weren't so excited that it started blaring at 6:30am, but I found the music calming, and I love it!

I don't know if I'll admit what *my* pre-race, get excited, music is :)

There was ample time in the morning to eat, get stuff over to transition, do a warm-up run, etc.

The lake (surprisingly) wasn't too cold. It was about 65 degrees - according to the race folks. Mornings in the mountains are obviously nippy, so the wetsuit was welcome none-the-less.

Stuff kicked off. The first 1/4 mile of the swim is always the worst for me. It's when I hyperventilate a little. You have a mass of swimmers heading out into the water, fighting the shallow, muddy start. The good part here is that there are so many bodies and bubbles, sighting the direction isn't really needed. Just follow the mass.

Eventually, people start spreading out. And me being a strong (but not fast) swimmer, I fall back to the rear. It's always hard to tell how many people are behind, but the majority are ahead.

The swim had 2 laps. Swim out, around two buoys mid-lake, and back to the start where you round two more buoys and get to run through the mud in the shallow. The hardest part for me is 1) planing out well in the water, getting good glide 2) not zig-zagging all over the place. I tend to wander a bit, generally drifting to the right.

On the way back from the first loop I was feeling better - definitely not in great swimming shape, but I could keep it up. 2nd lap, I rounded the buoys just as the gun fired for the short course racers. Back in a mob of swimmers. I decided this was really a good thing b/c out on my own I had the tendency to get a bit lax in my efforts. I kinda need the competition. Plus, these swimmers (most of them) were more my pace. Most were fast outa the gate, but I tended to catch and pass them. This made me feel kinda good.

Finished the swim, out onto the bike. The scariest part, by far, of the bike were the sections of gravel roads. 1 mile descent at the start with pot holes plenty big to swallow tires and sharp turns on lose gravel. I opted to take it easy on this part and not wipe out. This is where Derek, 2 years back, took a digger and was none too pleased.

After the descent, the climbing starts. There is a fair bit of climbing on this course. I've never looked at the course profile, but I think it's a decent mix of up and down. Total cross country style, faster paced, not too technical. Nice sections through the woods. The course follows National Forest trails (single and double track) most of the way. Get some awesome views of the snow-capped mountains.

I thought the trails would be really snowy and wet, but it was warm there and they were dry. Apparently low enough elevation.

Had a little mishap right at the start with my shoes and pedals. My quick pull laces on my Salomon running shoes nicely tangled in my pedals, so had to stop twice at the start of the rocky bits to fix that.

I loved the downhill sections, and did ok on the climbs. I definitely made use of the cage pedals - they were a big help.

At some point during one of the climbs, the view was really nice. I made a comment to another racer, and he said, "yeah, it's nice to have something good to look at when you're hurting!"

I did catch folks on the bike. Was passed by some, but not many.

The bike had sandy sections. Took one digger on a faster bend. My front tire started washing out. I hit a small burm of sand and went over, doing a nice shoulder roll. My right foot happily slid right out of the pedal cage (very happy about that). It was fast and didn't hurt (no scratches even), so I was immediately up and back on the bike.

The last 3 miles of the bike are a grueling climb back up towards the transition area (on the gravel roads once again). This is where I really started to hurt. My lower back hurt the worst. I had to stop 2-3 times for just a few seconds each to twist and stretch my back. Then continue.

Getting to the top I was definitely feeling spent and very ready to be off the bike.

Then running! Damn I'm tired. The run starts with a climb (of course). It's a nice run, mostly on trail. You climb to the top of a waterfall, down and around the lake. Most is in the woods. You can hear the announcers at the finish b/c the sound travels well across the lake. The last section you run along the beach. Very pretty.

The run was 5 miles long. Somewhere mid-way a guy passes me, we say some words briefly and he encourages me to lengthen my stride. I appreciated this advice and tried to take action, thinking this would be much easier if I *didn't* feel like I was going to keel over! The flat sections of the run felt ok. The inclines killed me. I *did* walk sections. Haven't done this for some time.

My ankle did well. I wasn't going very fast, so it was unlikely anything too bad would happen. I did take it easy coming down the stairs by the falls.

I was really happy to come to the finish! I did it! Woo hoo! It was not a stellar performance, by any means, but I felt good accomplishing it. It's been some time since I've pushed my body this hard. Reminding me what it felt like.

As soon as my timing chip was taken off, I walked over to the lake, took off my shoes and socks and number, and went in - no wetsuit. I swam happily in the water playing, swimming underwater and all for at least 15 minutes. It was great! And probably did my ankle well.

This is turning into a marathon story, but some following thoughts - I really liked the challenge of the race - motivates me to train harder. I also would like to get involved with the race setup or take-down. I really have an affection for these races and think it's good to be a bigger part of it. Do something for it - not just take away. So this is something I'm thinking about.

Saturday night was spent at my friends Aaron's and Jen's Colorado wedding party which was lots of fun, and I was happy to have gotten to go. Aaron has been a friend for a long time, working and biking and hiking and camping and he's now got an awesome wife Jen.

When I got home I was super wiped! Today was much more low key. Lots of critter play. Did get in a short bike up at HT.

That's the scoop! Pictures are up on flickr - the scenery was pretty.

Racing!

Getting ready to race Saturday and I'm starting to get excited. This will be my first race this year - an XTERRA off-road tri in Bailey, CO. It's been iffy whether or not I'd be able to compete due to my ankle, but I think I should be able to do it, being careful.

I head out Friday, mid-day. Camp overnight and the race starts Saturday morning at 9am (XTERRA race time!). It's a 1 mile swim (in cold mtn water), a 21 mile mtn bike ride on a fun cross country style course, followed by a 6 mile run up the side of a mtn, to the top of a waterfall, and back down to the lake where you run along the beach. Not a bad course.

Had a nice bike ride tonight with my friend Kevin - a good, fun ride. Explored a little jaunt of a trail up high on the mtn as the sun was heading down in the sky - very pretty.

Also saw a wild turkey and the tiniest little baby deer I've ever seen. It was only about a foot tall. I accidentally scared it, but it seemed like it didn't have a mama. So that made me sad. Cute, spry little thing.

Trail report

Kevin and I rode the Ginny trail Tuesday night and it's in great shape to ride now. Everything is green from the rain, the trail meanders through the burned forest and there are tons of purple an yellow flowers out, especially on top.

The view out the back side is super nice. So, if you're looking for a good trail to ride now, this would be a good one!

Bike mechanics

This evening got in a nice, shorter ride, and came to some conclusions on bike mechanics.

I've been trying to figure out why, with my flat pedals, I've been having such a tough time on the technical and/or steep ascents.

What I've determined is that do get up bigger obstacles or on steep climbs, I need to get my weight forwards to keep weight on the front tire and throw myself over bigger obstacles. Well, with the flat pedals, to provide drive, the forwards force needs to come from the rear with the pedals at least slightly angled downwards in the rear to prevent my feet from flying off forwards. Well, these two requirements (weight forwards for climbing, force back and down for pedaling) are kinda mutually exclusive, at least for my body and ankle flexibility. And so, b/c I now fear the ever present danger of pedal spikes implanting in my leg, I opt for weight back, which makes it quite nearly impossible to climb well. And, there is no way I can lift "up" on the pedals for additional drive.

I'm kind-of excited to figure this out - exactly what's been the difficulty.

I've yet to switch back to my normal pedals, mostly b/c I can tell that motion, for my ankle (I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing about it) is not yet healed. I may be forced to move back to cages. I've been reluctant b/c - A) they are klunky, B) the motion to step out of the pedals is very different from using clips (called clipless, go figure!).

Some pros to all this: I've gotten pretty good, in general, of having nothing holding my feet to the pedals. Also, I've moved to working on lots of service road climbs, since early on I couldn't handle the technical and need to suddenly step off. I've started learning the benefits of climbing roads in the fitness department, something I would rarely work on or focus on otherwise (simply b/c it's not "fun"). I'm hoping this will pay off in Bailey b/c that ride has lots of not-so-technical climbing, and it's a longer cross country race.

One more tidbit I'd thought about. Since the topic came up over the weekend on "chain suck" mtn biking, this was on my mind too (I really should move to mechanical engineering instead).

Chain suck (in my experience) typically happens when the chain is dirty and/or needs lube. The chain gets bound up in the derailleur, causing the pedal action to jam and come to a sudden stop.

Well, was thinking about this today, about exactly what is happening to cause this phenomenon.

I think this is what happens..

From going around the front cog, the chain is bent into an arc. There is a lot of force in the chain at this point causing this to occur. Well, as the chain leaves the cog, the links should unbend and travel straight towards the rear cogs. If, however, the chain is dirty or dry, this straightening does not happen immediately b/c the links aren't moving freely against each other. The links stay in the arced position for too long, traveling up on the cog and essentially the chain doubles back on itself, jamming in the derailleur. This is my theory. It's hard to watch this in action b/c it happens so fast.

End of bike tidbits!

Mexico Travels

Just got done chatting with my mom, who just returned from Mexico - she was there for a wedding. Something I have to say about my mom is that she's so adventurous and outgoing. She loves getting out and exploring new places and trying new things - most certainly where I got a lot of my drive to explore. Her car always has "gear" stashed for last minute trips to the lake or horse barn or heading out on a hike. Not so different from me, who quite nearly has a bike permanently mounted to my car in the summer. Why take it off if I'm going to ride nearly every day? :)

She had a great time down south - her first trip to Mexico. She loved the people there. Something else I found entertaining is her quick adoption of the language accent - for whatever reason, it comes quickly to me as well. Even when we have little to no previous exposure. Maybe it's our desire to connect with people. Anyway, we spoke a few Spanish words to each other, and I quickly heard it in her voice.

As a side note, ironically, I have the hardest, most terrible time with the German accent. I find this really funny. I tend to mutilate that language :) I kinda wonder if it's b/c I attempted to learn German in high school, where I was surrounded by English speaking students, and there was no need to adapt? I'm guessing this is pretty likely. :)

Something else that was cool - when I was home in WI for the wedding, got to chat with my dad. I don't get to visit with him nearly as often as I'd like, and I love talking with him one-on-one b/c that's when his best stories come out.

He's a very knowledgeable guy, and often knows things you'd never guess b/c he tends to not bring stuff up unless you're specifically talking to him on the subject. He's a quieter guy, speaks more in actions - I have a lot of my dad's characteristics as well.

Anyway, while I was back in WI got to tell him about my trip to South America. Was telling him about my experiences and commented on the wonderful German bakery there. He was like, yeah, I know. And then went on to tell me about his uncle who moved to Argentina. My dad never traveled south, but he knew a lot about the area, and ranchers, and land. Was cool. I think if he'd ever gone there, he would have fell in love with the place, and all the horseman, personal connections, and trades people had.

So, that was fun! I love getting little experiences with my dad. I always learn some cool stuff.

On the downside, WI (and the midwest in general) has experienced some major flooding as of late, so my mom, returning after 2am last night, came home to a basement filled with water.

Apparently houses are floating down the river in some areas. This has been a tough spring for many people I think. For my mom, thankfully her basement is mostly cement, but she had cardboard boxes filled with stuff that are now all water logged. Hopefully things won't be ruined.