XTERRA National Championships Race Report

The 2013 XTERRA National Championships in Ogden, UT took place on September 21^st at the Snow Basin Ski Resort and surrounding areas.  The course was challenging and well designed; from the swim at Pine View Lake through tough climbs to Sardine Peak to the ski slopes of the ski resort, there was a challenge at every turn.

Race Venue

 

I arrived in Ogden on Wednesday after an 11 hour drive from San Diego.  I prepared my gear for the next day bike course preview.  I debated whether to ride the whole course or just the upper half and opted to ride the entire course on Thursday morning followed by an easy run on the first mile of the run course.  I decided not to swim in the lake, however. 

 

Race Venue

The bike course highlights were a long, steep climb from about mile 2, a fast descent to the next portion of climbing on Sardine Peak, and a final fast and windy descent.  On my course preview, I brought a camera to snap some shots of the course since I wouldn’t be able to appreciate the surrounding scenery on race day.  The camera also slowed me down a bit as it forced me to stop frequently, which was a good thing.  I didn’t want to press too hard and get worn out.  I had a great ride and followed up with a two mile run—the first mile of the course was a grueling climb that I wanted to get a taste of before race day.

 

Wooded area on a descent

Stairs on which you had to be careful biking down

On Friday, the day before the race, I didn’t do anything physical—no riding, running, or swimming.  I debated riding the second half of the bike course, but since it was not too technical, I decided not to.  I registered for the race in downtown Ogden, and then walked to the Night of Champions Dinner where I met some friends.  I got back to the lodge around 8:30 and made final preparations for race day.

 

Bike trail on Sardine Peak with dangerous right turn

Atop Sardine Peak with view of Snow Basin

My alarm went off at 5:00 after a horrible night of sleep.  I just couldn’t fall asleep all night.  After a few cups of coffee and some oatmeal, I packed the car and headed to Pine View Lake to drop my bike of in the transition area.  Then I drove to the second transition area at the Snow Basin resort where I dropped off my running gear and rehearsed the bike to run transition a few times.  Then I boarded a bus and headed back to the lake for the swim start.

 

The race director said that the water temperature was 60 degrees, but it seemed more like 68 degrees.  I was pleasantly surprised not to be cold in the lake.  The pros started promptly at 9:00 and we followed about a minute later.  The swim was rough—lots and lots of bumping, grabbing, and kicking during a good part of the swim.  That’s not unusual when 300 competitors start at the same time.  I ran into a “No Wake” buoy during the first 200m dead on.  My teeth chattered, but I didn’t lose too much time.  The first turn buoy seemed to never come up!  The rising sun was in my eyes so I couldn’t get a good sighting on it.  At that first turn of the two lap swim, there was a lot of swimmer traffic that brought me to a standstill as we made our way around the buoy.  More grabbing, bumping, and contact.  After the start of the second lap, traffic started to thin a bit, which made the swim a little easier.  Again, that first buoy seemed so far away!  The course was substantially longer than 1500m, which didn’t bode well for me.  In fact, the swim course probably was no shorter than 2000m.  I exited the water and made it up to the transition area where I got my wetsuit off and cycling gear on.  It was a pretty good transition for me.

 

I got on my bike and kept a steady tempo along the first flat two mile stretch that brought us to the base of the first climb.  I wanted to keep a smooth fast pace during the first long climb while not blowing up my legs prematurely.  There were a lot of racers on the bike course and passing became a bit of a problem in some areas.  The ride was uneventful during the first big climb and descent as I said to myself “breathe” while going uphill and “focus” while descending.

 

First climb on the bike

At the base of Sardine Peak climb, another racer (#331) and I rode together at the same pace.  He and I rode together for the remainder of the bike course and even ran together for a good portion of the run.  My buddy Todd passed me near the top of Sardine Peak just as my chain unexplainably popped off.  I wasn’t even changing gears or going over rocks—it just popped off!  I got it back on the chain ring quickly and didn’t lose too much time.  I kept Todd and #331 in sight during the remainder of the bike course.

 

Sardine Peak

I made a good transition from bike to run and started the long incline up a ski slope.  I passed Todd immediately out of transition and we gave each other a handshake.  I had a good pace up the hill and felt miserable, as expected after the climb.  After the ascent, I had a good pace along some flat ground when I tripped over a rock and went down.  I got up quickly, but the unexpected rapid movements during the fall tweaked my exhausted quads.  I started to cramp a bit in my quads and was pleading that they go back to sleep.  I stumbled again, but didn’t fall.  I lost a lot of time during the second substantial climb; my quads were really starting to cramp.  I finally reached the high point of the run, but couldn’t get a good long stride on the way down.  With about one mile to go, I tripped and fell hard on some rocks, but popped up pretty quickly with some scraped-up knees.  I was a bit embarrassed in front of the spectators.  My quads actually started to recover during the last mile and I remember saying to myself, “I wish this run was longer.” 

Snow Basin Ski Resort and run course area

 

Hill climb on the  first mile of the run

 

Dirty race clothing after a few spills on the run

I finished 8^th in my Division, which is about where I expected to finish.  I would like to have swam and run better, so I feel that I could have finished with a better result—especially after the good training I had done to prepare. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My next race is the XTERRA World Championships in Maui on October 27^th.  I need to fix the quad cramping issue, so I’ve decided to add to my schedule weekly long road bike rides followed by an uphill run.  The next three weeks will include some tough training to prepare for an extremely difficult course—especially the run.  Right now, I’ve got more anxiety about the training than the race itself.

XTERRA friends John (left), me, and Todd (right)

Todd, Bryce, and me will meet again in Maui