May 18th, 2008Temecula, CA
1st 20-24 AG
The bike was quite comical and very irritating as I just wanted to go harder. I'm pretty sure I got out of my small ring on one or two descents during the entire ride and spun up every hill almost going backwards. I'm also pretty sure I got passed by about 100 people on the first lap of course, however, most people blew up pretty badly and I ended up passing them back during the second lap, even going at the snail's pace my butt was moving. I will contribute the finishing of the bike segment entirely on one piece of equipment I almost chose not to bring with me...MY CAMELBACK! Yes, I raced with it, will do it again for every race, and loved every second of it...even if I did look like a giant goober. For midgets like myself, mountain bikes only have room for one bottle cage and in my case, you can hardly even get the bottle in and out unless you're stopped forcing me to carry them in my jersey pockets or use an alternative. I chose to use the camelback for the race since I knew the only way I would survive was staying hydrated. Being able to take sips every couple minutes was absolutely key...even if I did have a bike split almost 20min slower than I should have :)
I got my slot to Maui (Xterra World Champs) after pulling off a surprising age group win and had the opportunity to meet and hang out with some very cool people whom I will be spending lots of time traveling and racing with over the next year! Temecula, watch out, because this girl will be back...and with lots of vengeance!
1st 20-24 AG
I'll just start with the fact that it was a very interesting day! I had been battling a head cold all week and woke up the morning of the race with everything having shifted downward into the lungs and chest...yuck! I made the decision to go and do the race, but not actually 'race'. I had spent a lot of time and money to get all the way there and it would have really put me down if I hadn't at least tried to finish. I knew it was going to be a rough day as the temperature forecast was in the high 90s with lots of sun and NO SHADE anywhere on the course. As I coughed the entire way to the race venue, I kept telling myself that the only thing I wanted to do was cross the finish line, and with a smile!
I set up transition, coughed some more, put on a gallon of sunscreen and tried to relax as much as possible. I really wasn't all that nervous, almost more anxious to get it over so I could get back to being healthy. As the gun went off for the swim, I found a comfortable pace that got me from shore, around the buoys and back to shore. There were definitely a few backstrokes here and there to help alleviate the coughing, but could have gone way worse.
I set up transition, coughed some more, put on a gallon of sunscreen and tried to relax as much as possible. I really wasn't all that nervous, almost more anxious to get it over so I could get back to being healthy. As the gun went off for the swim, I found a comfortable pace that got me from shore, around the buoys and back to shore. There were definitely a few backstrokes here and there to help alleviate the coughing, but could have gone way worse.
The bike was quite comical and very irritating as I just wanted to go harder. I'm pretty sure I got out of my small ring on one or two descents during the entire ride and spun up every hill almost going backwards. I'm also pretty sure I got passed by about 100 people on the first lap of course, however, most people blew up pretty badly and I ended up passing them back during the second lap, even going at the snail's pace my butt was moving. I will contribute the finishing of the bike segment entirely on one piece of equipment I almost chose not to bring with me...MY CAMELBACK! Yes, I raced with it, will do it again for every race, and loved every second of it...even if I did look like a giant goober. For midgets like myself, mountain bikes only have room for one bottle cage and in my case, you can hardly even get the bottle in and out unless you're stopped forcing me to carry them in my jersey pockets or use an alternative. I chose to use the camelback for the race since I knew the only way I would survive was staying hydrated. Being able to take sips every couple minutes was absolutely key...even if I did have a bike split almost 20min slower than I should have :)
To the run...can we say hilly?!? There was without a doubt not one flat section on the entire course. It was either too steep going up to run, or too steep and technical going down to run. This is usually my favorite part of the race and the place where I make up the most time so I got really excited to start running people down. HOLD UP...with the 102 degree temps and the current condition of my lungs, that wasn't going to happen and I had to face the facts. So after running the first 10min straight up hill, I decided to notch it down and run/walk to keep from coughing up a storm. As I was stopped at an aid station, I overheard a girl saying how she just couldn't go any longer and was going to drop out. By this point, I had absolutely no voice left, but grabbed her arm and mumbled that WE were going to finish no matter what. With the raspy voice I could get out, I kept encouraging her that it didn't matter how fast or slow we went, we were just going to cross that finish line with giant smiles on our faces and it was going to be awesome. She was super excited and agreed to run/walk the rest of the way with me. We picked up a few others on the way who were definitely suffering and needed a little encouragement to get to the finish line as well. It felt amazing being out there for others instead of racing for myself. I've never experienced anything like that before and although deep down I wish I could have been out there kicking the crap out of the course and comparing myself to the highest competition, I wouldn't have changed this day for anything!
I got my slot to Maui (Xterra World Champs) after pulling off a surprising age group win and had the opportunity to meet and hang out with some very cool people whom I will be spending lots of time traveling and racing with over the next year! Temecula, watch out, because this girl will be back...and with lots of vengeance!
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