I can’t say rolling into town at 6:30pm Friday night, spinning around the hotel streets for a half hour before dark, eating potato chips and bananas for dinner at 9pm because everything else is still packed away in the Subaru is the ideal pre-race preparation. But hey, a 6th place finish wasn’t much to be disappointed with considering our spontaneous travel plans and my current level of under fitness.
The swim was a bit rough due to the wind that picked up at the start of the race. I swam strong, though, and was able to stick with one of the front group coming in right at 22:00. The water temperature hovered in the upper 50′s this year which felt great even with my sleeveless Orca wetsuit. Considering one degree difference in water temperature is equivalent to seven degrees air temperature you can really notice the difference in the water. I remember two years ago the water temperature was 54 degrees and that was brutal!
The bike course was the same as previous years, but it was very windy! Danelle Kabush and Shonny Vanlandingham rode strong and passed me at the end of the first lap. I would liked to have stuck with them as best I could, but I held back a bit and rode a 1:37 split. I knew I didn’t have the endurance I usually have coming into the race. Due to the fact my 8 month old baby doesn’t take a bottle I hadn’t put in a ride over 2 1/2hrs. since my early months of pregnancy. I figured I’d probably blow up!
The trail run on the Vegas course is probably one of the most challenging courses with very steep rocky climbs. I was glad I held back on the bike in order to hold a consistent pace on the run. I’ve been dealing with some Plantar Fascitis tendonitis in my foot and have only run twice since mid-December. I still felt strong off the bike, but I did feel a bit heavy and my cadence felt slow. Although my run split of :57 was a little disappointing I couldn’t complain too much since I knew prior to the race that the run would be my weakpoint.
Coming in from the run for a 6th place finish was still decent. My goal was at least top 7. In all, it really was a perfectly paced race for me considering my current level of fitness coming into the race. Complete results can be found here. Thanks to XTERRA Ulimited for putting on a fun and extremely organized event!
Thanks to my sister and brother-in-law for watching our 3 year old. It made the long 10 hour drive much easier with only one kid in the car. Thanks to Trek for my Top Fuel 9.8. It was my first race on the bike and it rode so smoothly. Thanks to HoneyStinger as well. I never have a problem remembering to eat during my races because I actually look forward to pulling out my gels. I absolutely LOVE them!
The best part of the trip was spending the weekend with my husband and family. We carpooled with my sister from Durango and met up with my brother from Bakersfield, California. Another sister of mine from Spokane, Washington was able to fly down and spend the weekend, too. My husband and sister participated in the trail run on Sunday. They both did well and it was fun to spectate and cheer them on. It was an awesome road trip with a little racing, some nice cold beer, lots of potato chips, and HOT weather!
x





