XTERRA Fort Yargo Race Report

The first race of the season has come and gone...and done in perfect fashion might I add. Traveling to a low key race with great friends to stay and race with is such a great way to kick of the race season :)

After getting up at 3:30am to drive to Carole's place in Atlanta all the way from Nashville, this is what Bruce looked like...well actually, I think he was trying to hint that he would be sleeping there instead of the couch the night before the race...that didn't happen.

As we were driving to pre-ride the course, I thought it would be fun to let Bruce know how awful my voice really is by singing as loud as I could the entire way there and back! I think he was about ready to kill me. I thought it was really funny. We got back and headed to a sports bar to have dinner with Sharpie which was super fun. We then had some cookies and ice cream for dessert at home for a perfect pre-race fueling as we watched the Pistons get annihilated by Philly in game 3 of the playoffs. Don't want to talk about.


I will, however, talk about the race the next day which was super fun. Again, super chill environment in a beautiful setting. The swim, as always, had a few issues...started very strong and felt amazing the entire time. Couldn't bridge the gap to the first group, but wasn't all that far behind. After making the second turn and heading back to shore, I totally used the buys on shore to sight. Little did I know, there was actually another buoy in between the one I was at and the short to my right that I had to go around...grrrr. I didn't see it until I was parallel to it. As I took a breath on my right side, I saw it about 100 meters to the right...damn. Alright, not getting disqualified so I might a hard 90* turn to make my way around it and back to shore. After getting out of the water, I completely forgot that our new Blue Seventy wetsuits unzip from the bottom, so I spent a good minute or so trying to find the zipper from the top and freaking out that I had lost the string to get it off. Whoever witnessed that little panic attack had to be quite amused. I did finally get it off. Alright, on to the bike. Super fast and fun course. Everything was going well (taking it a little faster than I should, but doesn't everyone?) until I caught my handlebar on a tree and put my chainring through the back of my ankle. OUCH. No worries, just keep going, don't think about it and hammer...duhhh! After the bike, I started the run and felt like a freakin' gazelle! My legs were turning over like none other and I had to slow myself down because I didn't want to trip on the uneven terrain. It was going just great until my leg where I had put a giant metal piece through it earlier started getting really tight. About 2 miles from the finish my leg and foot went completely numb and I pretty much slowed to a screeching halt (or jog if you will). I finished the race and immediately put it up to try and get some feeling back. After 10-15min or so, it came back, but it had completely tightened up and I've been limping ever since. More to come on that as I'm meeting with my PT this afternoon to get it checked out since it only got worse overnight...

Okay, so more race news...despite the issues on the run, I was the first overall woman and after a killer race himself, Bruce finished 2nd overall behind Xterra Pro Craig Evans. It was definitely a good day for Team Timex :) We got some pretty cool prizes including a new Maxxis tire, a certificate for a seatpost or stem or our choice from Thomson, some new gloves and other random accessories!

Bicho looking very tall on the top of that podium :)

Overall male and female winners

After a rinse-off in the lake, I decided to take an earlier flight back home. Yeah, poor people next to me, I know. It was an easy trip back and a chill evening.