It has now been about 4 weeks(ed-thats when I started the write, man im a slacker) since crossing the finish line and about time to sum up the experience as I have now had time to let the feelings and settings and happenings of that weekend to sink in completely.
Got up early a bit nervous and mostly anxious. Had some Oatmeal, a gatorade and powergel, only carbs right now as I loaded up with protein and lots of carbs over the past few days I am just trying to squeeze in the last few now before the race.
As I setup my area in the transition space I see others put there shoes locked into the snowshoes prior so when in the transistion you can just slip the shoes on and run away, so I decided to do this as well.
In the pre-race meeting last years winner advised of tire pressure between 10-15 psi, now based on what the course maintenance supervisor said the course should be hard therefore I opted to go with a much higher psi, that turned out to be a mistake...
The race starts off downhill and I used this as an opportunity to get ahead of some off the riders who I knew would be stronger on the climbs than I would. It was crazy, people were sliding all over I saw a person go over the bars and I saw another chick go straight into a tree when the trail got off camber, man biking in snow was so much more challenging than I imagined, picture biking through deep sand except its cold and wet. Needless to say I posted a much slower time than I expected.
Next was the 5k snowshoe and it was actually a lot easier/faster than I anticipated, running through the woods in snowshoes ona beautiful day is fun by itself but mix in the competitive atmostphere and the backdrop of Snowbasin and I was having a blast.
By the time I got to the run my feet were soaked and since I didn't bring extra running shoes I was just going to have to deal with the 5k with soggy feet. The run covered some of the same track as the bike but then broke off into 2mi out and back. So remember how I said biking on hardpack was like deep sand, well the running was too and the fact that it was a little later and a little warmer the snow had gotten even softer. I never would have predicted that my snowshoe was going to be so much faster than my run but thats what happened.
Finally the ski mountaineering leg, I had been practicing taking my skins on and off while still locked in and it paid off. There was only one person in my view when I left the transition area and I was determined to catch him. Once I rounded the first corner I saw a few more competitors. I had no idea if there were in my age group or not but I was gonna catch 'em. I encountered one problem at the tope of the first and longest hike, my left hip flexor was in pain and each step seamed to hurt a little bit more. But once I got to the top and ripped the skins off and bolted down, I had gained on the next guy infront of me and the adrenaline from flying down the mtn alleviated some of the pain. On the 2nd hike I smoked the guy near me and it turned out he was in my age group. At the next transistion area I ripped the skins off again while still strapped in and passed another guy who also turned out to be in my AG and sped down through the gates. On the last climb there was 2 guys in front of me(they both turned out to be in the 30-39 AG) and I almost caught them on the climb, but one of the guys had cross counrty skis and I flew by him on the final down crossing the finish line at 3:58:36 and in 3rd place in my AG!
Worked, is probably the best word I can use to describe how i felt after the race, but due to proper fueling and preparation i did not run into the same problems I had at my first XTERRA almost 2 years ago. Now it's time to turn up the prep for Buff Creek!
