Xterra Race Report-Long Post-Get your Coffee

This past Sunday was another great day in the James River Park System. Xterra was in town and some of the best athletes in the world would gather on Brown's Island to compete in the Xterra East Coast Championship, part of an off-road triathlon series that takes place in cities all over the world. In addition to the pro athletes from all over the world, there were lots of local athletes competing to be the best in their age group. And then there was me. My goal was to finish in one piece without breaking my bike, without throwing up, and not in last place. I managed to accomplish that, although I did a few things that almost lead to 3 of those 4 things happening.

On race morning, the alarms went off at 4:30 AM. I never thought of myself as a morning person but for some reason, the excitement of the races always seem to help me pry myself out of bed at the unreasonably early hour. After I got out of bed, I loaded the car while making my toast. I had my usual toast with peanut butter, banana, and smoothie that I had made the night before. The smoothie contained almond milk, spinach, collards, kale, carrots, cucumber, pineapple, apple, pear, bananas, frozen berries, and ice. It was yummy, nutritious, and packed full of energy.

We left the house pretty early and got free street parking. We walked a few blocks down to the Island and although it was slightly before 6AM when we rolled onto the island, the transition area was already open. I had my pick of the bike racks. I decided to take the first non-pro rack and put myself on the very end closest to the bike out.

Here is a great picture of the empty transition zone.

Here is a great picture showing my bike racked all by itself. You can see me standing in the background with my back to the camera.

Here is my final transition setup with more people arriving and racking their bikes. You can see my bike shoes on the towel, my helmet with gloves, glasses, etc, my running shoes, race number and hat, and my green Camel Bak with about 2 plus liters of ice cold water in it as well as my transition bag.

Melissa took some great pictures. Here you can see my setup from a low angle which made for a really great picture I think.

After getting my transition area set up, I went over to get my body markings. They stamped our race numbers on our arms and our age group on the back of our calves. Melissa got some good pictures of the body marking. (See below).

Here I am waiting in line to get my timing chip. The timing chip wraps around the left ankle and allows precise timing. When a racer runs across a timing mat, the time and race number of the chip is recorded. After the swim we run across the timing mats into T1 which ends our swim time and starts our T1 time. Then when we leave T1 on our bikes, we run across another mat that records our time and number thus ending our T1 and starting our bike split. Similarly, when we run in to the transition area with our bikes, our time is recorded again for the end of the bike and beginning of T2. Then when we run out of T2, our run time starts, and finally when we cross the finish line, our final time is recorded.

Once I got my chip, I did the normal pre-race things. I checked and rechecked my transition area, swallowed some more Endurolytes, went to the bathroom several times and hung out to watch the pros rack their expensive bikes and setup their transition zones. Melissa got some good pictures of their setups too.

Notice the baby powder on the shoes. This will help the athlete get into the shoes more easily. Also notice there are no socks present as this athlete does it barefoot.

At Xterra Richmond, they have two races. They have the East Coast Championship which is the race I was doing and they had a shorter race they call the Sport race. The sport race started 30 minutes before the Championship race. I wanted to see the Sport racers take off in the water and get some warm ups in so I finally dragged myself away from transition after deciding my setup was as perfect as it ever would be.

The sport racers had two waves and below you can see from the picture the orange cap swimmers making their way to the first turn buoy. If you look carefully at the picture you will notice that many of the sport racers were being swept down stream of the first turn buoy which would mean they have to swim against the current to get back to the buoy and make a right turn to continue up stream.

After the sport racers took off, I made my way down to the water to get in and warm up some. I wanted to get a feel for the current so I could pick my lines. My plan was to not head straight for the buoy. Instead, I would angle myself more upstream and try to stay high above all the racers and then arc down at the last minute with the current and then go around the buoy. Below you can see some pictures of me warming up. Notice how I am aiming for the little island rather than the turn buoy. I am wearing a blue, white, and black Zoot tri suit with a white swim cap.

Here I am making my way into the water.

You can just make out my splashing out near the kayaks which are to the right of me.

Here I am still swimming out towards the tip of the Island.

I ended up swimming out to the tip of the island and then swimming back. It was not that much of a warmup but it got me breathing hard and got my heart rate up slightly. After that, there was only a little more waiting around before the start. Below are some pictures of all of the racers waiting to get started.

I managed a smile in this one.

Here are some pictures from the swim that someone posted on the Xterra Facebook Page.

I will tell you the story of this picture later.

Finally the race started with the first wave. The pros went first. Below you can see some of them with their blue caps. You can see one of them dolphin diving.

Next up were the yellow capped 39 and under men. They started 2 minutes after the pros. After they started, it was time for us white capped men to start. After another 2 minutes, we took off. The start was not too bad as I did not get beat up too much. I stayed very high upstream of the rest of the pack and pointed myself straight across so I would not get taken down below the buoy by the current. For most of the swim, I was mostly by myself as I tried to stay out of the pack. I might have ended up with more strokes but I used the knowledge of the course and the current to my advantage, I think, and ended up not using as much energy as I would have if I did not take advantage of the current and by swimming in areas where the current was not as strong.

The Xterra swim is interesting because there are places in the river where racers stand up and scramble over rocks and sandbars. In fact, there were lots of rocks. I had to be careful not to kick as I swam over some of the bigger rocks. Towards the end of the swim, I could feel my timing chip slip off. I had to fish around for it and luckily I felt it float up towards my shoulder. I put the chip back on and kept on moving. Overall, the swim went well considering the last time I swam the course in 2007, I did the short course and ended up with a longer time than this year when I did the longer, more difficult course. Here is a picture of what the course looked like.

I did not swim the whole time I was out there on the swim course. I was on my feet a few times and I had to stop and put my chip back on. Plus I got pretty tired a few times and had to rest for a few moments. Melissa got a good picture of me exiting the water for my long barefoot run back to transition. She also got some close up pictures of the "boat ramp" that we ran up before hitting the pavement for the run back to transition. It took me 2 minutes to run back to transition.

I think that dorky look on my face was me thinking about how I had just muttered to the announcer the correct pronunciation of my name. She called out my name which is nice but I don't know why some people always pronounce my last name wrong.

The next phase in the race for me was T1. I had to put all my stuff on. I wear a little hat/liner under my helmet to absorb sweat so that took an extra few seconds to put on. Plus I had to put my socks on since I decided not to go barefoot. That took me a little time as my feet were wet and covered in debris. And then there was my gloves, helmet, knee brace, etc. There was one thing I did very wrong in transition. Before I tell you, I am going to show you this picture and see if you can figure it out from the picture below.

Do you notice anything wrong with this picture? Why is my Camel Bak sitting there? Oops. I left transition without my Camel Bak with its 2+ liters of ice cold water. When I realized I had left it behind, I decided to go ahead and proceed forward without it. I had one water bottle filled with cold HEED and there would be a water stop at about mile 6 that I could take advantage of. After being on the trail for awhile, I realized that not only did I leave my main hydration behind but my Camel Bak also contained my extra inner tube, pump, patch kit, and tool kit. So that meant if I got a flat, I would likely be out of the race. Luckily, that did not happen.

The difficulty of the bike course downtown can vary depending on one's experience. Shonny Vanlandingham, a pro athlete from Durango, Colorado described the course as fast and flowy. On the other extreme, a road weenie I talked to said he tried out the course and thought it was just too dangerous and that he was scared for his life when he rode it. I am somewhere in between. I am relatively slow but I can ride most of the course and since I live in Richmond and have experience with the course, I am able to ride lots of the more difficult sections of the course.

Overall I would say I had a decent first lap. I had a Hammer Gel on the first part of the course before we got to the trails and I stayed on my bike for most of the first 10-mile loop. I passed a few people at the beginning but then after a couple of miles in, I started getting passed by stronger riders. I was polite when riders wanted to pass and I said encouraging things to them as they sped away from me on the trail. Sometimes I would pass people on some of the more difficult obstacles only to have them pass me again later. In fact, I leap frogged with a 50-year-old guy for good portion of the course.

It had not gotten too hot yet but I was getting worried that I simply did not have enough hydration and that this could really hurt me. There were times when I could tell I was thirsty but just tried to ignore it which pretty much goes against the rules of hydration. I just focused on getting across the Nickel Bridge which is where the water stop was located.

At the water stop, volunteers were giving out cups of water which is sort of weird when you are on a bike. As I approached the water stop, I was unsure if I was going to stop or just grab the cup like I would on the run. Being unsure on the mountain bike is not a good thing. I grabbed the cup and then fell over. I banged my knee and, perhaps what could have been much worse, my handle bar jabbed me in the neck. Another inch to the right and I think I would have been taking a trip to the hospital with a serious throat problem. After I fell, I got right up and said to the volunteer, "let's try that again." I then chugged two full cups of ice cold water and then took off on the bike.

By this time time, the sun was starting to cook things a little and I was really starting to worry about how thirsty I was. I was nursing my HEED sports drink and luckily I had been stocking my body up on Endurolyte capsules for the last 24 hours. I think that helped.

During my second lap of the bike course, the field was more spread out and I was by myself more. I rode at my own pace. I could not keep the water stop out of my mind. I was dying to get there and get more water. I knew that once I got to that point in the race, I would be pretty close to finishing the bike. I also knew that I could chug water from my Camel Bak while I changed my shoes in transition. I had new shoes that did not lend themselves to being slipped on so I would have to put them on the old fashioned way and lace them up. I needed the time to chug the water anyway.

And now another photo break. Here are some interesting pictures of the bike course. Most of these are from the Xterra Facebook page.

Pro Conrad Stoltz from South Africa hammering down into the creek.

Pro Shonny Vanlandingham going across what we call "sketchy bridge"

Sketchy Bridge has no sides and if you fall, you are dropping 10 feet into the shallow creek.

Conrad again. He is very popular. His nickname is "Caveman"

Shonny coming out of the tubes. Likely the only time she was off her bike.

More Shonny

More Conrad

After the second water stop, I was sort of by myself. I think some of the other riders behind me were taking their time at the water stop. This time around, since I was alone, I decided I would try to ride the portion of the course that I walked on the first lap. I had intended to ride it the first time but the guy in front of me pulled up short and said he could hardly ride it when it was dry much less, wet.

They call this part of the course, "The Stairway to Heaven." The course goes along a gravel access road and then climbs up a man-made wooden ramp that has a very short but steep section that is very difficult to ride because there is a 90 degree turn right before and after the steep part. On lap 1, I could hardly even walk up it because it was slick and my bike shoes are not really made for climbing up wet wood. This time through, I decided I would take it hard and fast like I do in training. I have ridden the entire way up many times and thought it would actually be easier to ride than walk. I got up my speed, hit the first ramp and then tried to make the 90 degree turn to the second, steeper ramp. Unfortunately, the wood was still very wet and my bike did not turn at all. I simply went down on my left side and slid into the side fencing and my front wheel slid underneath the railing. I popped up and checked out my front wheel. I was lucky. It all looked fine. And I was mostly fine too. A few cuts and abrasions are pretty normal for a race like this and so far, my right knee was the only noticeable abrasion I had. The blood dripping from it was starting to dry out by that point too.

After walking up the rest of the obstacle, I knew I only had about 3 more miles to go. I kept picturing my Camel Bak sitting there in transition waiting for me. I was pretty far back in the pack at this point and my plan was to sit on the ground while changing shoes and chug from my Camel Bak. I had another Hammer Gel knowing that I could wash it down soon with water.

While Melissa was waiting for me near the transition area, she took a few pictures. I mentioned the popularity of Conrad Stoltz. Check out this telling picture. Here is his bike all by itself in transition. At this point in the race, Conrad had lapped many of us-me included and was the first one back from the bike.

And here is another telling picture. Here is a picture of the transition zone taken while I was still out on the bike.

There are some empty holes there but you can see that a lot of racers had already finished the bike and were out on the run course.

When I got back to T2, I did like I had intended. I gulped water while taking off my bikes shoes, helmet, glasses, and gloves. The heat was taking its toll on me. At one point, I took off my bike shoes, put on one running shoe, and then almost put one of my bike shoes back on. Not good. I usually don't get like that. I knew I would have to make an effort to rehydrate as much as possible on the course. I also made another mistake. See if you can figure it out from this picture of me below. Melissa took this as I was just getting ready to run out of transition.

Notice anything wrong with this picture? I am not wearing my race number. This is the second triathlon in a row that this has happened. Although this time I was almost out of transition before a volunteer happened to notice. I booked back to my setup and got my number and then headed out again. The run starts out mostly exposed to the heat of the day but terrain is relatively tame at first. I was running comfortably hard and noticed that I was running a lot slower than I had when I ran the course the week before. Of course I expected that. This particular course is the same as the Scramble so I was very familiar with the course. Here are some pictures from the run course.

This part of the course they call "The Mayan Ruins." This camera angle does not do it justice as it is very steep and there are about 6 huge steps that you cannot see in this picture. This climb is a lung, heart, and quad buster.

Runners heading down to the Myan Ruins

Conrad cruising along

Another Pro making his way to the Mayan Ruins

While on the run course, I started chugging water at the water stops. Plus I even started taking some Gatorade too even though I had not had any in about a year. I needed the salt and sugar for sure. But after the second water stop, my stomach was feeling a bit full of gels, gatorade, and water and I was starting to feel a little queasy. At one point I stopped and walked for a few paces and had a nice burp which made me feel a lot better. The thought of more gatorade was making me queasy. I thought if I had another sip, I might just throw up. But I kept running and after a while started feeling better.

While running down the hottest part of the last 2 thirds of the course, I saw a volunteer spraying down racers with a hose as they went by. I embraced the cold water and asked him to hose down my back as I went by. I stopped for a second to let the water pour over me. It was so absolutely refreshing I actually put my arms above my head and let out a big WHOO HOO! Plus I was very close to the most fun part of the course. I love running along the rooty single track and across the dry way rocks onto Belle Island. Once I hit Belle Island and had some more gatorade and water, I knew I was in good shape. I was not going to throw up and I was going to finish strong. As I got closer to the finish, I kicked it up a notch and had a decent push across the finish line. I always seem to be able to do that. I guess I know that it will all be over soon. Melissa got a good picture of me crossing the finish line and some pictures of me afterwards.

My official chip time was 4:04 and change.

I had to sit for a bit afterwards

Wow. This was a long post with all the great pictures. My thanks to Melissa for supporting me, taking pictures, cheering for me, and sitting on Browns Island for so long. I had a great time racing although I was undertrained and slow. It did get hot and I was worried that I would throw up at one point. I had a few crashes but was lucky just to have some scrapes and no serious damage to me or my bike. Also I was not last! I was 164th out of 199.

On the other extreme, Conrad Stoltz and Shonny Vanlandingham won the race. Conrad finished in 2:20:21 and Shonny won in 2:37:58. Both of them hit their predicted bike splits on the nose. Here is a great photo of Shonny crossing the finish line. Keep in mind, she is 42 years old.

Jealous? I know I am.

So what is next for me? My summer racing plans may have changed. I will update you on that next time as well as some other developments in my quest for fitness. Also I will explain the guy in the gas mask next time too. Yes, he did the whole sport race while wearing a gas mask.