XTERRA Lake Tahoe Race Report

I raced the XTERRA Lake Tahoe in Incline Village, NV two days ago.  I am still sore.  Still a little disappointed in how I performed as well. 

I arrived in Nevada early Thursday afternoon and settled into a nice hotel in Carson City.  It was cheap and not too far from the race venue on the northern part of the lake.  I got some great sleep on Thursday evening and headed over to the race course on Friday for a pre-ride. 

My first impressions of the bike course: sandy and long climb, beautiful mid-section along the “Flume Trail”, and a not so easy descent.  I wore my heart rate monitor and noted that my heart rate was very high along parts of the trail, even though I was trying to take it easy.  At the summit of the climb, at over 8500 ft elevation, the trees stopped growing and a somewhat tricky descent began.  I had a few falls on the descent, but neither I nor the bike was damaged.  I knew that I’d be hurting on race day.

 

Race morning was perfect and the lake temperature was 68 deg.  The swim was two 750m laps in crystal clear water with a 100m lap in between.  I think it was the first swim where I felt very comfortable.  I had the 18^th fastest swim time on the day, which was pretty good for me.  That was one aspect of the race I was happy with, along with decent transitions in T1 and T2.

 

I pushed hard for the first 4.5 miles up a soft and sandy road that led to the start of the Flume Trail.  I wasn’t wearing a heart rate monitor, but I knew my heart was pounding.  I could recover on the Flume for a decent amount of time.  I also was concerned about being stuck behind someone prior to entering the Flume—a narrow path cut along the side of a mountain with hazardous steep drop-offs on the side.  There were a lot of impassable areas.  Luckily, I had no one in front or behind me, so I navigated the Flume safely without any slowdowns.  I recovered fairly well during the Flume and prepared for the second steep ascent of the race at mile 11.  I was pushing pretty hard and was feeling gassed by the time I reached mile 14.  Elevation may have had some role in my exhaustion, but my legs were screaming.  My Garmin showed 2750 ft elevation gain during the race, so there was a good bit of climbing.

Elevation profile of the bike course.  Steep & sandy climb from mile 2-5.  Flume trail is about mile 5-9.

 

The descent wasn’t one where I could recover substantially.  There were a lot of tricky areas which required some skills that I just don’t have.  So I fell a few times, my chain popped off, and lost a good amount of time trying to get off the mountain safely.  The final four miles of the course weren’t tricky, so I took a few chances and rode them fast—loose sand was the only foe, but I managed to stay upright.

At the highest point.  Trees don't even grow there!

 

A nice view toward the Reno suburbs from the summit

I had a pretty good bike to run transition and had a decent pace for the first mile.  Then I cramped in my quads.  Real bad cramps slowed my pace to a crawl.  I swallowed some Hammer Enduralites and ate a gel, but they didn’t go away.  I jumped off a rock and my quads just cramped more—what a stupid thing to do!  I could have easily run around the rocks, but I jumped nonetheless.  Then I tripped on a rock—I stubbed my big toe and went down hard.  My glasses fell off and I got covered in dirt.  Cramps were absolutely ripping me up from mile two to mile three so I swallowed several more Enduralites.  I didn’t have water, so I didn’t have anything to wash them down.  One of the capsules was stuck on the back of my throat and eventually partially dissolved.  So instead of having the pill dissolve in my stomach, it was still in a powder form in my throat.  I coughed and it went into my nasal cavity and almost made me vomit.  I got some water from the water station at the halfway point and tried to wash it down somewhat.  I was a mess!  Around mile 5, the cramps slowly started to disappear so I pushed my pace a little harder to the finish. 

So it was a bad race for me, even though I finished 9^th overall and 2^nd in my age group.  That’s okay though—it will certainly push me to work harder in preparation for Nationals in Ogden, UT next month.  I was humbled by that bike course—I’m still bruised and sore from it.  I thought my fitness was pretty good going into the race, but it obviously was not.  Time to step it up…

XTERRA Snow Valley Race Report

I’ve finally had a chance to sit down and write a race report for XTERRA Snow Valley, which I raced on July 29^th.  A few hours after the race, I headed to the airport for a 5 ½ hour cross-country flight to meet my extended family for a week-long vacation in the Outer Banks, NC.  Since then, I’ve been on a weight loss, cheap beer detox, sunburned skin repair, and fitness spree which have left me completely exhausted until today.  Vacations are great—but there’s a price to pay when you get home.

My son (the photographer) and I at the base of the mountain

 So here you go.  I’ll start by saying this was an awesome event!  I’ve done it before and it is a blast—very challenging and not too far from my home—at least for XTERRA races.  I arrived at the race site on Friday afternoon with my son/photographer so we could camp overnight 50m from the transition area.  It beats getting up so early to drive, plus I enjoy time with my boy.  It was raining when we arrived, but we got the tent up pretty quickly next to a ski lift and got our gear out of the downpour.  I got out on the course for a pre-ride as the rain settled while my son sat in the tent wondering what he’d gotten himself into.  After a lap of the course, my son joined me for a second lap and impressively, he made it the whole way without getting off his bike.

I woke up after a fair night sleep and got my gear ready in T2, a few steps away.  Then I made some decent coffee and started to pack the car while my son was still in his bag in the tent.  The race start was 9:00, so there was plenty of time to get things done.  One good thing about XTERRA is that the start times don’t need to be at sun up because there are no traffic concerns on the trails.  T1 was 2/3 of the way up the hill at a small lake, so I got on my bike and put it in a light gear for a decent climb to the start.

Getting ready to set up T1 up the hill.  I look beat up, but actually slept okay

The swim was 2 laps for a total of about 1,000m.  There was a mass start for a well spread out group, although there was a convergence after about 100m.  Lots of banging and bumping early on, but it didn’t have a major impact on me.  My focus was on breathing, as the altitude was about 7,200 feet and air was a little tougher to get.  I did okay on the swim—still far from where I would like to be.  Out of the water, I got on the bike and headed uphill.

 

Passing T2 after the first descent

The bike course was 2 ½ laps: since T1 was already half way up the mountain, we didn’t need to climb the mountain three full times.  I felt okay on the bike during the initial ascent to the top of the mountain and had a clean descent to T2, where we’d start two more laps of climbing 2mi then descending 2mi with some flat stuff every so often.  The descents were a bit dangerous since you could easily get out of your comfort zone with the downhill speeds.  I wasn’t going to win on the descent, so I stayed in my comfort zone and avoided crashing—it was tempting to try and catch my buddy Todd who was screaming past me on the final descent.  I think most of my time gains over other competitors during the bike portion were on the ascents.  I wound-up with the 5^th fastest bike split on the day, but more importantly, I was in good shape for the run. 

 

Going up the mountain on lap 2

Off the bike, I had an okay transition to the run.  The course consisted of two laps—each with four hills.  Since the race was on a ski slope, the hills were very steep and long.  Eight hills total, with the first being immediately after T2.  It was an exceptionally tough run where you had to red line a few times—especially on Mt Diablo, named after the dude who dresses as a devil on the hill and cheers competitors.  My thinking while going up the hills was to keep it steady and strong and recover on the downhills to prepare for the next one.   I didn’t know where I was placed during the race because there were a lot of competitors spread out throughout the course; there was a Sprint Race going at the same time, combined with the fact that it’s hard to keep track of other racers on a two lap course.  I crossed the line and saw Nielson Powless, the race winner, at the finish.  I didn’t realize until we chatted that I was the third racer to cross the line.

 

Going up Mt Diablo, which is incredibly steep

Going down Mt Diablo.  My buddy who passed me on the bike is coming up the hill.

Snow Valley podium.  That is a fast 17 year old who won!

 

In true XTERRA fashion, and due to a great race director, there was a great post-race meal and award ceremony.  The awards were all hand made by one of the competitors, so they are pretty unique.  After the awards, I drove two hours home, got my gear out of the car, showered, and then quickly headed for the airport.  I forgot my compression socks, which was a major mistake on my part—tough flight it was…

 

I had to shake the Race Directors hand--well done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I just signed up for XTERRA Nationals in Ogden, UT during September.  That race is my focus now as I enter the final phase of my competition year—championships.  The World Championships in Maui on October 27^th will be my final race of the season.