That’s a Wrap…

            My best memories of my Xterra days do not center around the race courses or the place I finished; instead, they revolve around my overall experience.  I have always said that in addition to the wonderful gift of allowing me to push my physical limits; the greatest gift I have received from my years of racing are the friendships I have made.  Those friendships have paved the way for six years of the most fun a girl can have, at least legally.  This past weekend was my last point series race in Fort Collins.  As I have watched the Xterra field grow over the years, it has experienced some growing pains.  Throw in a bad economy and the loss of Nissan in the mix and those pains were a little more severe.  There was a certain magic that you experienced as you walked through the “village” and watched the kids play and race beneath your feet.  People were smiling and shaking hands with each introduction.  The pros intermingled with first timers and were never too arrogant to wish you luck or share one of their “race secrets.”  Missing was the arrogance and the anxiety that was in the air at other triathlons.  That is what I loved, I felt welcomed, embraced, and part of the family.  I wanted to do my best, for myself.  As the roadie triathletes have learned more about our secret gem, they have begun to invade in masses.  I am always happy to share why we have so much fun and why Xterra is so hard; but yet, so fun at the same time. 

            One of Paul’s coworkers, Taylor, was one of these roadies.  He had raced as a junior elite road triathlete and wanted to dip his toes in the Xterra experience.  Paul tried to warn him.  I mean my husband can ride 100 Miles, fast, but when he speaks of racing Xterras, he describes it is “a whole new level of pain.”  Triathletes can be stubborn and steadfast in their resolve though; I have raced hard, how hard can it really be?  Taylor and I had preridden the course the weekend before the race.  He tagged along as I did hill repeats up the climbs, alternating between easy and hard gears.  He was right on my heels and make no assumptions, this kid is fit.  He is a fast swimmer and runner as well, so I knew he would be a threat on race day.  I was happy to be on the trail, because Paul had the boys were busy almost killing themselves at the jump park.  As I rode up, I noticed that my nine year old was hitting the big jumps.  He gets that skill from his Dad, as he cleared line after line with minimal effort.

 My husband just happens to work in a pretty competitive atmosphere in the outdoor industry.  Everyone runs, bikes, and races, so there is more then a little friendly competition on a daily basis.  Friday night I got to meet a number of Paul’s coworkers as we said farewell to one.  It did not take long for people to realize that both Taylor and I were racing on Sunday.  Do not get me wrong, I have beat my fair share of men, but poor Taylor was adamant that he was not going to be chicked, especially by an old lady like myself.

When my alarm sounded at 4:30 am on Sunday, the room filled with some rather colorful language as I was woken from a deep sleep.  I groggily got up, grabbed my race bag, and waited for Taylor’s car to appear in my driveway.   By 6 am we were entering enemy territory, both of us are CU grads, and in serious need of a nap.  I am always like Santa on race day; I gave an extra race number belt to a racer that had forgotten his, never saw that again, thanks Nathan!  I also made sure that Taylor had enough GU and encouraged him to try the Roctaine, thanks GU!  Then I grappled with the same decision I had struggled with my last couple of races, wetsuit or no wetsuit.  Although it was technically legal, a 74 degree water temperature made the decision easy, no wetsuit for me.  The wave starts had Taylor out of the water before I even got wet.  It was a quick 800 swim and I was out in front before the first 100 had passed.  I knew I was going slower then normal, but with swimming through other races coupled with attempting to sight with the sun blinding me, that was just how it was going to be.  It did not help that I had no men to pace off either. 

Now the fun begins the bike.  The course was fast, middle chain ring climbing followed by a quick descent and a flat section that can only be described as, go as fast as you can.  I have to say it was a strange day for me.  First, I had no idea where I was in the pack and I actually was doing the passing.  It was much more confident aspiring then getting passed every other second.  Only one woman passed me on the bike.  I expected more, but none ever showed up.  On to the run, I know what you are thinking, there goes that great race.  I just kept putting one foot in front of the other as I slowly climbed up the hill.  Around mile two, I began to be passed, but I just kept going.  Remember how I said how much fun my first memories of Xterra were, well as I crossed the finish line there was a water slide in front of me.  Everyone was eating, laughing, slipping, and sliding.  I ran into Taylor who looked toasted.  He looked at me and just said a few words, “Paul was right.  That was the hardest thing I have ever done.”  I just smiled and we walked over to look at our finish times.  I ended up 3^rd in my age group, out of 14.  Poor Taylor’s face glazed over as he realized I had beaten him by 10 seconds.  When I got home, Paul could not stop laughing as I begged him to take it easy on him.  Even with all of the heckling he endured at work that Monday, he is hooked and is looking forward to his next Xterra.  For him a new chapter begins and for me one closes.  Just Ogden stands between me and my Xterra farewell, see you there!

Becky

I raced the XTERRA Panther Creek Tri back on August 1st.  I know, I know.  That was 4 weeks ago.  After some pestering from a few of my buddies who wanted the low-down, I figured I would post it anyhow.  Plus, with going into my next race, I have been thinking a lot about Panther Creek, as any racer should.  What went right?  What went wrong?  What changes should I make to improve?  You get the idea.  So since it’s been on my mind lately, it does make it easier to throw it on paper.  Well, uh, not really paper, but again, you get the idea.

For the second year in a row, it was a wet course.  It was on and off raining in the area the 24 hours leading up to the race.  I wasn’t overly nervous about it, as I had a pretty good race there last year and it was muddy as all get-out. 

Fred and I had chatted a couple of times leading into the race and we hooked up on race morning to talk strategy among miscellaneous small talk.  It was still on-and-off misting as you could tell from the foggy camera lens in the picture below.

Like last year, the bike course was modified slightly to prevent the racers from going through a slick boulder and bridge section.  It’s a fun, fun section when it’s dry, but could be very, very sketchy when wet.  Here’s a dry picture of the section that was cutout.

After getting transition all laid out and things ready for the race, Fred, Dan, and I decided to head out on the course for a little quick pre-race warmup.  This also gave us an opportunity to check out the course and to see if my decision to go gloveless would work given the wet conditions. It was slick as expected with every wet root acting like a gremlin to throw your wheels out from under you.  The ESI Grips worked well, even wet and even without gloves.  I was pleasantly surprised as I knew that going gloveless could save me time in transition, especially if it continued to rain. Have you ever tried putting on wet gloves? 

On a second lap of the section we decided to pre-ride, I opted to push things just a little too hard.  Inevitably, I crashed.  Not only did I crash, but I did so twice.  The second time down, my decision to go without gloves bit me.  While hitting the dirt, I tried to catch myself and both of my hands scraped across sharp, pea-sized gravel.  The result were cuts and scrapes to both of my palms.  The pic below was from post-race while cleaning the wounds.  Can you imagine what they looked like bloody?

Getting back to transition, I grabbed my Bellwether Scout gloves from my transition bag and placed them in their appropriate spot.  There was no way I was going through that twice.  I headed down to the water for a warm-up swim.  During the swim, as soon as I took off, the first couple of strokes were painful.  I expected the cuts to sting, but that wasn’t the problem.  The real pain came from the fact that my right palm was not only cut, but bruised quite a bit.  Matter of fact, it had already begun to swell and discolor.  “This is not going to be fun on the bike,” I thought.  After my warmup swim and RIGHT before the race start, I ran back up to transition and swapped my Scout gloves for a pair of the Bellwether Supreme gloves.  I normally reserve these for road biking because I favor full-fingered gloves on the mountain bike.  My decision to use them was based up the fact that they have a padded palm.  They ended up being saviors on the bike course.

The swim consisted of a 400 meter course of which we would have to two laps.  On the first lap I attempted to keep a strong, fast pace to stay ahead of the main pack.  I knew I couldn’t keep up with Fred’s super-fast pace, so rather than blow up trying, I just kept him in sight and settled into my own pace.  I was in 6th place coming out of the water and couple of minutes behind Fred (pretty significant on such a short swim). 

My transition went super smooth and I entered the trail in 4th place.  I passed another racer very early in the bike which put me into 3rd.  I held 3rd place for a good portion of the first (of two) laps.  That’s when my friend Dan caught up to me.  “Abracadabra,’ he says as he passes me.  We stuck together into the second lap.  About a third of the way through, I crashed again on slick roots, hitting more sharp gravel, taking a huge chunk out of my tri suit and my arse with it.  I shook it off quickly and kept on trucking.  About the time I caught back up to Dan, I heard Ryan Oconner behind us and I informed Dan that we had a tail.  Ryan kept his pursuit and eventually passes me once the trail widened.  Shortly after his pass, I tried to pick up my pace in an effort to keep on his tail.  It wasn’t long before the conditions took over and I crashed, AGAIN.  Same side, same area, leaving more arse on trail.  This allowed both Dan and Ryan to get out of sight.  I continued my pursuit to both catch the guys in front and to ward off anyone trying to catch up.  As I was about to finish up the bike leg of the race, Bence Roemer catches up and takes a pass. 

Sore and beat up, I entered T2 and ditched the bike gear as quickly as possible.  It went pretty smooth and I went into the run in 6th place overall.

After about a mile or so of technical single-track, the run course opened up onto a gravel fire-road.  I could see Bence in the distance and tried my best to reel him in.  Once we entered into a lolly-pop loop section of the course, I wouldn’t see him again.  Matter of fact, I didn’t see or hear anyone for the rest of the run.  I spent it all alone till the end of the race. 

Since the conditions were quite muddy, I was a little concerned that the Avia Avi-Stoltz shoes would get clogged up and lose grip.  Only in the most extreme, greasy mud did this happen (which any shoe would have had trouble).  The rest of the time, they worked like champs.  I held 6th place overall and first in my age group.

Great race and good times!

Congrats to teammate Fred Smith for taking 1st place overall!!!

Full results:  http://www.xterraplanet.com/races/view_results.cfm?race_id=1088

Be a Warrior! 

Marcus

Man, I tell ya what, when I signed up for the Fool’s Gold 50 mile mtb race, I envisioned having a tough but good training day out in the mountains of north Georgia for about 4+ hours.  I had never done a 50 miler, but I knew I’d put enough training in this year that it wouldn’t be a problem.  The timing was good, it was after all of the qualifier races and right in the sweet spot for hard training leading up to the Nationals and World Championships.  It was close enough that I could get there and back in 24 hours and not leave my wife with Penelope, our 7 week old, for too long on her own.

            The last month has been a whirlwind to say the least.  I have no one to blame but myself really.  I am the one who put together my schedule, but it always appears much simpler on paper, then when you are sitting in the car for eight hours straight right after running your legs off.  Between my job, training and racing, and family, I have had about 20 minutes a night to myself, before I drift to sleep.  The last three weeks were filled to the brim with three states, three races, and thousands of miles in between.  In addition, one of my coworkers had a week off which translated into even more workload, stress, and hours for me.  Did I mention that the boys just started school last week?  No problem, Paul and I have been so busy we even messed that up; school started on Tuesday, not Wednesday.  All of this chaos has left me completely exhausted, mentally and physically and just reaffirms what I already know; I can not do it all.  It is time to take a break from racing and slow things down.  As much as my husband needs a fit wife, my boys need their Mom to be around for a couple more years. If I keep at this pace, I am liable to end up with a heart attack or a serious breakdown.  When Paul was home full time, it was not that hard, he did the cooking, cleaning, and making sure the boys were where they needed to be.  Since he has been at Pearl, the chaos has engulfed our lives and we are just holding on attempting to survive the day.      

            Back to the least three weeks, the weekend after we got back from South Dakota, I had a weekend’s reprieve from traveling.  I headed up to Eldora with three friends for Xterra Indian Peaks.  The drive left me in stitches as I listened to them all heckle me for 45 minutes.  I ran into a bunch of Xterra regulars and noticed how many new faces were in the crowd.  The race is a swim TT and you never really know how you are doing, because figuring that out would require some serious math.  When you are sucking air at more then a mile high, the last thing you want to do is compute start times.  The Bike was super fun and actual trail, versus the typical Xterra hill climbs.  The run was up and down and had a deep water section that made you feel like a kid playing in the woods.  I ended up ninth, but once again, the 35-39 was the biggest woman’s field by far.  Nationals should be interesting this year if the Colorado races are any indication of depth and speed. 

            The next weekend I was off to Nebraska.  Last year I had to do this race to secure a Nationals spot, but this year I had already received my invite.  I wavered on going, but had so much fun last year; I decided to give it another go.  I have to admit, about half way to Lincoln, I missed my family and almost turned around.  When I finally got to Lincoln it was around three and hot.  I suffered through a preride with two fellow Coloradans and when I got to my hotel, I noticed the heat warnings and the index, which was at 110.  Race morning gave us some reprieve until the run.  I opted out of a wetsuit once again deciding that it would be better to give up speed over comfort.  A new state found me once again fighting to get to the front of the line, but not for long.  I had a seven minute lead heading out onto the bike course.  I was all alone and felt great until we hit a long road section and I regretted being alone.  I knew if the women behind me were working together, I was toast.  I was right and as we reentered trail, I could see them.  I fought as hard as I could to keep my swim lead, but heading into T2, the EPC ladies had managed to catch me and I knew the run would leave me hanging on at best.  I left it all out on the bike course and as my legs attempted to run, but they trembled with every step.  It was almost like they were screaming at me with every step.  I was just stumbling from aid station to aid station, my body was in serious heat shock and dehydration began to take a grip on me.  I stumbled towards the finish delirious and disoriented.  I managed a fourth overall and only third in my age group, but once again, Colorado racers swept almost all of the categories.  It is funny,  although the numbers by my name have not reflected my efforts this year; I am pretty happy with how I have been doing.  The fields have been huge and fast and I am happy just to be able to be out there.  It has been a super fun, nonstressful year; at least as far as racing is concerned.  I headed back to colorful Colorado as soon as I was finished, hoping to be home in time to kiss my boys good night. 

            This week, I am back in Colorado gearing up for my last weekend of Xterra point series racing followed by my brother’s wedding.  I will be saying goodbye to summer with about 50 of my aunts, uncles, and cousins.  The Batizy clan is about to invade Colorado again and there is a turquoise dress hanging in my closet eager for me to slip it on.  Always a bridesmaid, right?  Paul is the smart one in our family and is escaping to South Dakota  just in time to spend our anniversary with his one true love, his mountain bike and 50 miles of trail.  I only have four weeks until Nationals and since time seems to be passing at the speed of light, I am certain it will be here before I know it, signifying the end of my Xterra days.  Not sure what am I supposed to do with myself after that, but I am sure I will figure it out.  Right now I am just attempting to keep up appearances pretending that I have it all together.  If you only knew…

See you Sunday, the race is Sunday, right?

Becky

This past weekend I took a break from the off-road scene to compete in the Lake Stevens Ironman 70.3. It is always a blast to go back to my racing roots and put some saddle time in on the road. Mountain biking is so much fun, but I love to push my body during those long consistent efforts that define road triathlons.

The weekend started on Friday when Jo drove up to Seattle while I was at work to pick up some rental wheels for the race. I used to ride  Zipp wheels when I raced at school and LOVE the sound and feel of riding them, especially the full disk. Some new bar tape too and I was ready to go.

After a quick ride and run in the morning on Saturday we drove up to the race hotel for the required race brief and to get my race packet. I was a little worried about not getting there early but then found out that the transition area was individually marked, and I later found out that it wasn’t just by number but they actually put my name right where I was supposed to go  That took a bit of stress out of the race knowing I didn’t have to fight the 1,499 other people doing the race for a spot in transition.  After I dropped my bike off Jo and I drove the bike course real quick to get an idea of what was in store.

The course is absolutely beautiful and after driving it I couldn’t wait for the race to start so I could get out on my bike on those roads. I have noticed recently that I get that way about races, a little nervous the week before but once I get to the race site I am so excited and can’t wait for it to start. I think this has helped me a lot because instead of dreading the start and worrying about how I will do I am excited to be there and can’t wait for it to start. Luckily I didn’t have to wait too long because the race kicked off at 0630 the next morning! Some blueberry pancakes that night and I was out to get some sleep.

It was a really cool feeling being in transition well before the sun came up that day. Some people brought headlamps –write that down for next time- so they could see their stuff.  I couldn’t help but laugh when thinking that since it was Sunday most people in the area probably wouldn’t be up for another 3-4 hours and all us crazy triathletes would have been out on the course for a long time by that point.

For my pre-race warm up I went for a run a little ways on one of the legs of the run course which followed the lake and was flat for a bit. Luckily as I was out there I came across a lone porta-potty with no line. Having seen the massive lines for the few that were near the race start I was pretty excited I didn’t have to deal with that wait. By this point things just felt good and I was even more excited to get started.

The race was broken down by all the different age groups and had 14 different waves going off every four minutes. I was in the 29 and under wave and there were more people in that wave than in most races that I have done! The male 25-29 age group alone had close to 100 people!! My Profile Design Goldcell was incredible in the water and even though it was really warm I was happy to have it on. A decent swim of 32 minutes set me up pretty good for the bike.

Photo courtesy of Brightroom.com

The first few miles of the bike I settled in, ate a Gu Roctane to get some fuel and tried to get into a good rhythm. I flew by a couple people early on which really helped boost my confidence. Up until the day before the race I was pretty nervous about the bike because I had just put my aero bars on a week before. My coach did a great job of helping me to come into form in perfect time for the race. I wish I had my Cycleops Powertap with me on the ride so I could have monitored my power and so I could have seen how fast I was going for parts of the race. From all the climbing I have been doing over the past month, first training for the Mountain Championships and then spending about 10 days in California between work and a pseudo vacation, I felt really confident on the climbs and had a ton of energy for the downhill sections. The Zipp Wheels lived up to the brands motto of Speed Weaponry. A solid 2:34 for the 56 mile bike put me in good position for the run.

Photo courtesy of Brightroom.com

Ever since I got my Avia Bolts I have been really excited about doing road triathlons. Those shoes kick butt!! They are so comfortable and extraordinarily light. My legs were a little tired coming off the bike but not too bad. I had to force myself only to think of the first few miles because thinking of running 13 after the bike seems like it would take forever. I tried to take the first half a little easier so I could negative split the second half. The run course was set up in a really fun way, a two lap course that came back to the start/finish area each lap, which meant running by that area a total of 5 times. There were a ton of people there cheering all the racers on which was really cool. Jo had bought an Ironman cowbell and before the race said she would be out there with it so any time I heard the cowbell I thought it was her which helped keep me motivated to keeping pushing. Even though it was getting pretty hot I was still able to run a 1:26 which gave me a total time of 4:36. Whatever my time was I felt like I had put together a good race and was stoked about it.

Photo courtesy of Brightroom.com

Photo courtesy of Brightroom.com

After the race and after some Gu Recovery Brew I went to check the results and found that my time was good enough for 2^nd in my age group which gave me a slot to go to Clearwater Florida for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in November. Considering it was my second race, 13^th amateur overall and 2^nd in my age group was really sweet. And to top it off Mel won the women’s race. Overall I think a good day for Melrad racing!

Top 4 Male 25-29

Mel Takes the Womens Race!

I still owe everyone a race report from the Mountain Championships so check back soon for that!

            Since I started racing six years ago, there are still five words that haunt my very existence, first out of the water.  Do not get me wrong, I am not downplaying my swimming prowess.  I agree 100% that my freakishly long arms and hands give me fish like speed in the water.  It is more that I have always had a love hate relationship with the water.  Right now, it is leaning more towards hate then love.  First, I swam because my Dad made me, not because I wanted to.  Even today swimming is more of a have to then want to.  For the record, I would not step a foot near a pool for eleven years.  When I became pregnant with my first son, they told me that swimming was a good idea and I responded that I would rather gain 50 pounds.  I hear people all the time tell me how much they love swimming, but how they are just no good at it.  Sorry, but I do not love it.  In fact, I dread it the night before as I pack my things.  I stare at the pool floor before I jump in, wondering if anyone will notice if I just turn around and go home.  My dislike of swimming is so strong, it is one of the reasons I am not going to race anymore.  I just can not stomach another year of chlorine. 

            So back to why I dread those five words.  For the last six years, no one ever comments on my biking or running, I am known as the girl who swims like a fish.  If I had a dollar for every time this conversation happened, “What’s your name?”  “Becky”  “Oh you are that crazy fast swimmer.”  Then comes the barrage of questions; how much do I swim, 45 minutes, 3 times a week, with masters, no by myself, college swimmer, no quit when I was thirteen, miler, no 200 and 100 fly, not possible, what???  Look up the race reports, even if it starts with first out of the water; it never says first across the finish line.  You have to be pretty strong mentally to hold it together as 100 people pass you on the bike, even when they do say nice swim and are very polite.  For once, just once, I do not want to be known as the girl who can swim fast, how about the superstar Mom instead? 

In high school, my nickname was Pez which is Spanish for fish.  Even though I quit swimming during my freshman year, I was always known as the girl with gills. 

It is a little ironic that after 20 years, I still can not escape that silly nickname.  My husband finds the whole thing very amusing.  He loves to watch people fight to line up behind me on the start line or watch them duke it out to follow my toes in the water.  He loves to go to different places and watch people stare in shock as I emerge out of the water before most, if not all of the men.  I have to say I do love it when I am next to some guy in transition who says, don’t worry; I will be long gone by the time you get here.  Joke’s on him when he gets out of the water and my bike is long gone.  Or when there is a mass start and one of the guys heckles me for getting in the front of the line.  Someone always comes to my defense by telling them that I will be done with my first lap, before they even get to the first buoy.  For me, I just hope my whole time in Xterra does not boil down to just those few five words, because although swimming is my strength; I have had to work so much harder on the bike and run.  For now, I am eager to hang up the goggles again and only frequent pools when it involves a drink and a tiny umbrella or a water slide.  Although the sport has been pretty darn good to me, I have had my fill.  I am ready to be known for all the great things I do out of the water.

Alright, it’s been a month, I know! I’m a little slow coughing out race reports these days.

I’ve been to Xterra Vashon a million times, I like the race and it’s close to home (well, in comparison to other Xterra point series races). This year, I had company since teammates Tim and Rob where racing and teammate Jo was cheer-leading!

The weeks leading to Vashon were definitely interesting. After Xterra Farragut (where I got sick during the race), I took an entire week off, then tried to ease back into regular training during the following weeks. Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly in tip top shape, but I was feeling healthier that I have been in a while.

Race morning was a little cool and overcast. Got set up in transition, warmed up, blah blah blah…
The swim started in 3 waves, with the gals being last 10 minutes after the start of the first wave. I did my best to avoid the jellyfishes and was out of the water in 12ish minutes. Transition was super fast, in 2 seconds I pealed off my super duper Profile Design Goldcell wetsuit.

The bike course is 3 loops and each loop starts with a steep switchback climb, it can get very congested especially on the first loop. Once at the top of the hill, things started rolling a bit, well sort of, my rear tire felt flat, I kept checking but it looked normal. I passed a bunch of guys, and then a woman passed me, I tried to stay on her wheel but couldn’t, either I had no legs, or something was wrong with my wheel or both. On the 2nd loop the photographer informed me I was the sixth women….uhmm… a few minutes later, one of the women I’ve been chasing dropped out with a flat (yeah - she was in my AG), and soon, I had my eyes on 4th. During the 3rd loop, I moved up to 4th, until I clipped a tree and crashed during the downhill, ouch!

Once back on the bike, I realized that I had some foliage stuck in my rear rotor & hub, the wheel was barely moving so I had to pull over, during which I was passed and dropped back to fifth…Finally, I hurried up back to transition, trying to stay close to the fourth place woman.

I rocked T2! 19 seconds! Moved up on spot in the process.
I took off as fast as I could hoping I could handle the run at a decent pace, but my lack of fitness was starting to show. I passed a few guys during the run and never saw any other women. Crossed the finish line in 2h12 and 4th overall/1st in AG…

After the race, I realized my rear wheel was barely moving… no wonder it felt “hard”.

some pictures:

making up time on the run in Calgary

I just did back-to-back half Ironmans, Ironman Calgary 70.3 and Ironman Boulder 70.3. Perhaps more impressive was the 2337 miles of driving it took to get to these races.

Part of the reason I signed up for Boulder last-minute (the day before the race) was I flatted in Calgary. So I was racing for the wrong reason — frustration.

Well that wasn’t all.

As a pro I had to pay $750 upfront to race Ironman events this year and because I’ve been so busy racing XTERRAs, I didn’t have an opportunity to race a 70.3 until August and probably won’t have another opportunity.

It’s still a lot of money for two races, but better than almost a G for one.

So off to Boulder I went after just getting back from Calgary, 900 miles each way solo with the hope of better luck on the bike.

…Even if my body was tired from the travel, racing and a few hard workouts I squeezed in between my travel days.

What I thought would be an easy post-race hike, turned into full-on mountaineering; what was supposed to be a fun shuttle ride with some Giant riders in Park City (What? Was I going to refuse showing them how I can get lost in my backyard?), turned into more riding/no shuttle and trying to keep up with Kelli Emmett for five hours was harder than either of the halfs I did, but worth it and hey, FREE!

I hadn’t investigated the cause of the flat in Calgary until the day before Boulder.

So I took it to a bike shop and had them do a thorough look at the tire, rim strip, etc and switch out the tube.

Also made sure the tire, which has very little clearance (like a millimeter) on my TT bike, was not rubbing against the frame.

The fact my legs were aching in the days leading up to the race wasn’t a great sign but to be expected and therefore my expectations were low — just don’t flat and don’t get passed by anyone on their Sunday ride or run during the race — that would be a little harder, especially in Boulder.

The swim ended up being a non-wetsuit swim for pros, optional for age-groupers.

I was pleased. I just prefer to swim without a wetsuit, plus it gives you 15 minutes more time prerace not having to get into it.

Pro women had their own wave, 3 minutes behind the pro men.

I always like this, I think women start off a little slower.

I was with the front pack until a goggle filled with water and had to stop to empty it, yes a rookie move.

The swim was one big 1.2-mile loop in the Boulder Rez. The fast swimmers lost me and I was swimming more-or-less solo.

The pace felt relatively easy and relaxed  considering we were at altitude.

The longer swim works out for me, I feel I go the same pace as the 1,500-meter XTERRA swims but can go for longer, rather than trying to swim faster for a shorter distance.

I came out of the water in 4th place around three minutes back.

Not a bad start.

Got on my bike and headed out of the road for a two-lap 56-mile around the rolling hinterlands of Boulder, some neighborhoods, parks, ranches and farmland.

I soon got passed by Angela Naeth and Uli Bromme.

Then two more.

Unfortunately, I got to witness the latter women drafting off of each other.

It’s pretty disappointing to see this in the pro race, age-group races it’s almost impossible not to because they’re so crowded. There was a motorcycle in between the two drafters and myself so I rode up beside the motorcycle and asked,

“Are you an official?’”

“Yes”

“Are you watching this?”

“Yup.”

I managed to pass the women again on the flat and assumed they would be spending sometime in the upcoming penalty tent–I don’t think this happened.

One of the hardest parts of a half is about 30 minutes into the bike, there’s not a whole lot to do and I look at my watch and think, “huh, I’ve got to do this for two more hours!”

Could I ever do a full Ironman without total boredom taking over?

As I approached the end of the first lap, I started to hear some chirping, which I assumed was birds singing their morning chorus, but it seemed to follow me–and get worse.

On the second lap we were passing age-groupers on their first lap. I wanted to see what was wrong with my bike and if my tire was rubbing.

It’s really hard to stop during a 70.3 because you’re going that much faster than an XTERRA, plus, with the steady stream of age groupers on the shoulder, it was almost impossible.

The chirp got worse.

Finally getting the best of me, I pulled over and looked over the bike, spun my back wheel around. It was rubbing but not too bad, and I didn’t want to make it worse by trying to fix it so I hopped back on the bike.

No more annoying whistle. Phew.

Oh, and I did get passed by someone out on his Sunday ride, but after all it was Boulder.

(An aside: Though some of Boulder’s all-stars sat out the race, they were definitely around. Tri-celeb sightings included Craig Alexander, who I saw on his morning run; Mirinda Carfrae on hers; Chrissie Wellington, who I almost bumped into as she strolled through and aid station backward on the run.)

After my tire stopped whistling, an ambulance passed and soon after I saw a racer getting lifted onto a stretcher.

A paramedic was signaling people to pull over and stop. So I did, only to have a handful of age-groupers fly by. I waited, but not sure why, and then kept going. At that point, I assumed I would have to pull over down the road to let the ambulance by, only to see what looked like a CareFlight helicopter overhead.

I still don’t know who this was, but it’s hard to continue racing after knowing someone was hurt. All of a sudden the race doesn’t seem that important, and having a minor bike problem trivial.

Soon the whistling came back and worse than ever.

I battled the urge to stop again and fix it, but, after all the morning’s events I wasn’t far from transition and simply wanted to dismount.

I headed into transition racked my bike and headed out on the run.

Two loops of 6.6 miles on dirt roads and wide dirt trails.

I could see Karen Melliar-Smith, out in front and started to gain on her. I passed her before the first aid station but she hung on and passed me at the end of the first lap. My legs felt heavy.

I handled my nutrition well during the race: Four GUs and a full bottle on the bike and another three GUs on the run along with a sip of water, Coke or Gatorate every aid station (four aid stations a lap.)

I cannot say enough good things about the aid stations at 70.3 races.

There’s always about 20 people at each one offering all kinds of goodies every mile or so. Water, Gatorade, gels, Coke, oranges, bananas, and the best cups of ice and sponges filled with cold water. XTERRA take note…

It felt so good to clean my face off with the sponges. The sun had come out and by 9:30 a.m. the Boulder temperatures were in the high 80s, I could feel it starting to burn my skin.

As I tried to pick up the pace second lap I seemed to be slowing down.

We were now running past a lot of people on their first lap but tried to keep Karen in sight as we weaved through other racers.

I finished in 8th place not far behind Karen.

Despite my mishaps this was my best finish and fastest time yet (approx. 4:38) in a half. Plus I think I won the non-aero helmet division.

Julie Dibens won the women’s race and Andy Potts won the men’s. In protest of the WTC 8 percent rule, Julie hung out in the finishing chute for a good five minutes (her lead) so the other women would get paid. The race was only paying to top 4 and they all had to be within 8 percent of the winner. Same thing happened last weekend in Ironman 70.3 Steelhead. I only wish to someday be so fast I can hang out at the finishline and still win.

Immediately after the finish, I skipped the Left Hand Brewing Co. tent curious to find out what the mysterious whistling was.

Turns out, my back wheel tire was rubbing on the frame so badly it could hardly move half a rotation.

Disbelief that I put in about a full Ironman’s worth of work into the bike, I took my bike to the source: the Zipp wheel booth. They told me my road tires were wide for a 23c and I should use a thinner tire, a very simple solution I should have known prior to both races.

Though I think the annoying whistling made me bike harder so I would get done sooner and I gave me a really good resistance ride in that will hopefully pay off down the road. But how much or if the tire slowed me down I really don’t know. I do know that the women’s field was strong as always.

I always seem to learn the hard way, and so, here is an amalgam of  lessons learned:

• Carry two CO2s, or a big air with you during races.

• Not all floor pumps have accurate pressure gauges. Use what you know.

• Always have an extra derailleur hanger with you (they’re different on every bike and can bend easily.)

• Make sure your spare tube is wrapped in something, and if you have an important race coming up, switch out the tube, if it’s been in your bag awhile chances are there’s a hole in it.

• Mud tires are skinny and knobby. Snow tires are wide and knobby.

• Bring extra valves for tubeless tires to races.

• Check your brake pads before a race and also bring extra.

• Maxxis road tires are wider than they say.

As for doing back to back halfs, it wasn’t that bad, unless you count all the road trip food in between.

I think I was a little tired on the run the second time around but could have been the altitude, the resistance bike training, or just not being fit enough for 13 miles.

Plus two halfs a week a part counts as a whole right?

Please.

All in all, the trip was worth it and the event was very well-organized.

A fast course at Boulder also, especially for being at altitude.

Big thanks to Sasha Peyman who got me in touch with the right people so I could get in the race and to teammate Sara Tarkington who let me, my boyfriend and dog stay at her place on a last minute’s notice.

As for Calgary, my solo road trip was great. Got to stay a few days in Bozeman, Montana with Harry Johnson, an old coach and XTERRA racer. Plus got to catch up with another Alaskan and high school friend Garrett Timmerman in Calgary, who was an amazing host.

Garrett, Emma and Cassie post race

All this road racing did make me appreciate XTERRA racing a little more, and after a few days rest I hope to get full swing into my XTERRA training in preparation for US Nationals in my backyard of Ogden Sept. 25.

This basically means lots and lots of uphill at altitude. I will bring my TT bike out once again for the Jordanelle Triathlon in two weeks and I may squeeze another XTERRA race in there somewhere…

Thanks for listening!

Emma Garrard

Swim Choppy

Bike Muddy

Run Fast

And some picture to go along with it:

Ironman is a primarily mental battle that tests your resolve to get to the finish line.  To be successful, you have to largely ignore what other competitors are doing, retreat into your own little box, and focus on what you personally need to do to maximize your performance.  XTERRA, on the other hand, is an almost purely physical game of pushing yourself at your red-line for as long as you can.  It is much more intense.  Rather than ignoring the other competitors, you have to feed off of them.  If someone is pulling away from you, you have to dig a little deeper and see if you can hang on.  You have to spy them through the woods to make sure you know where everyone is and how they are feeling.

So, I wouldn’t normally mix the two into the same season of racing, because the training for one type of race is all wrong for the other.  This year, however, my fiancee (now wife) was determined to complete her first Ironman before we got married.  It has long been one of her big life goals.  She coyly asked me if I would be willing to do it with her, and I couldn’t say no.

Wetsuits on... just before the race.

After the race... happy to be finished.

I am an XTERRA guy all the way.  I don’t relate much with the Ironman crowd with their M-Dot tattoos and endless banter about which aero wheel might shave a few seconds off their bike split.  So, one of my primary goals for this year has been to minimize the negative effects of a mid-season Ironman on my XTERRRA campaign.  The last Ironman I did took 6-8 weeks to fully recover from, and I knew that wouldn’t work this time.  The only thing I could think to do was to use the huge volume of Ironman training as a precursor to more specific XTERRA training.  By building an enormous base, I reasoned, I would be able to build speed on top of that later.

How’s it working?  So far, so good.  I eeked out a 4th place finish at the XTERRA Mountain Championship in Beaver Creek three weeks out from the Ironman with almost no training in between.  My body is very confused about the intervals and speed work I have been imposing on it lately, but hopefully it will respond in time for some good late season results.

XTERRA Mountain Championship at Beaver Creek