race and had gotten some very favorable feedback. Racers came and
told me of the terrain that I would see the next day for the Xterra-
many of the trails were the same for the two courses.
The sun was shining and transition was set. Off to the water for the
pre-race briefing. Note to self, pre race briefings by guys who put
on adventure races, where the object of the game is to find your way
around, not be guided, are very important! Not to say I wasn't paying
attention but I think I missed a few key "tips".
The gun goes off and we are off to swim 1200 meters, a two lap course
with an ITU style get out and sprint for 100 yds after the first loop
swim! Nothing like a run mid swim to get your heart rate going :)
I think that Stefani was the first gal out of the water, no wonder she
and Erin are pals! I was right behind her and saw her on the bike
after she had taken a fall and "lost some of her oomph" :( The trails
were not technical per se, but very gravely aka slippery and there
were some serious hills! Now if it were an all uphill course, I would
be a champion! Too bad I need some lessons from my pro Mark before I
hit the trails again. Oh well, we will work on that later. The 17
mile bike course takes me 2.5 hours...yes you read correctly, almost
my split for a half ironman! Crazy terrain, but tons of fun and loved
the sunshine!
Onto the run, where we were in for a serious treat. Although I think
Jeri's sister, Xterra queen Barbara would debate the word "treat".
The course was marked with ties in trees which weren't that easy to
spot and there was about a half mile in a creek- which was AMAZING on
this hot day. Then we head straight up some hills and hit an aid
station where I hear tons of talk of lost soldiers, I myself had
stopped at one point not knowing where to go and saw no one to guide
me. But this is what Xterra is, an adventure in the woods. I picked
my pace up on the down hills and the flat heading to the finish and
was done is 3:44- wowza what a day!
I also finished 2nd in the 25-29 age group which was cool- i think
it's been the only race where I knew that I could make up ground on
the run and not the bike :) That being said, the bike was like
floating on air as I was riding Mark's team-issued swanky Magura
equipped Ellsworth Truth- what a bike!
Hailey
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