Pre-race:
I woke at 5am and looked out the window to find a full on downpour. It was coming down and temp was hovering right around 50. Perfect! Not really what I expected for a race in Arizona, but I didn't let it get to me. I mean it is an Xterra race and there's nothing wrong with a little mud.
I had a couple of cups of coffee, some oatmeal, and we were out the door.
heading out:
The sky heading out to the race:
The swim (1500 meters):
The swim is an in-water start so I found my line, got with a pack, and was ready to go. The gun went off a stayed with a pack for the first couple of hunderd meters until they started going swimming off course. I turned it around and proceeded to get beat down by a couple of guys. I mean full-on grabbed and dunked. It was like this guy was drowning and was clutching on to me for dear life. It broke me for a couple of seconds and it took me a couple 100 meters to really get back in a groove.
The swim went OK, but it felt slow.
Swim (1500m + t1): 22:06, 3rd AG, 12th OV
Bike(16+ miles):
The bike was pretty straight forward. Right out of T1 you head into a short climb that is unrideable and then onto a more significant climb. About a 1/4 wat into the climb I was caught my Cody Waite (2006 Xterra National Champ, now pro). I tried to stay on this wheel and follow his line but it wasn't happening. I stayed in touch with a group for most of the ride but couldn't quite sustain the power to stay with them. They would pull away, I would get it together, catch them and this is pretty much how the whole bike played out. The last 4 miles were on the road with a couple good climbs. I had a group of 4 guys, including Tom, to work with on the road and we hammered it out.
I am not very happy with my ride but I have to keep it in perspective considering most of my training so far this season was for the 70.3. The mountain bike in an Xterra race takes a different kind of fitness and strength than a 56 mile ride on the road.
Bike (16+ miles): 1:12:45, 3rd AG, 19th OV
Run (6miles):
Last year the run was only 4.5 miles so I was pretty stoked when I heard that they extended it by 1.5 miles this year. Right out of t2 it is straight uphill on some steep switchbacks. I was feeling really good and reeled in quite a few guys. I think I came into t2 in about 12th overall and ran my way up to 6th overall. The run felt really good and with not having done much speed work so far that's a good sign.
Run(6 miles): 34:52, 1st AG, 1st OV
Results:
2:09:43, 2nd AG, 6th OV
Overall not a bad day. Trevor killed it won our AG and finished 3rd overall and Tom also had a breakthrough race. He finished 3rd in his AG. More than anything the weekend was just a good time racing, training, and hanging out.
Another race... same story. I need to work on my swim and bike. Nothing new. Time to get back to training and another Xterra race next weekend.
I ran into a cactus somewhere on the run:
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6 comments:
Nice Job!
Good job Jameson.
Way to rip through the field. Ouch on the cactus
Nice race! Yep, we're exact opposites. I like cold races with a long swim and bike.
Great race, J_Dub! I am mad at myself for getting sick just days before the race, but it worked out in the end since I had not registered yet and was planning on a late registration, anyway.
Saw that you kicked major butt coming in 7th! YOU ROCK, man! Good luck in Temecula!
nice result.....you are just lucky I wasnt there :)
Jameson, you are the only person I will allow to speak like that, "Last year the run was only 4.5 miles so I was pretty stoked when I heard that they extended it by 1.5 miles" WTF. Non-Clydsdales bite me. lol
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