XTERRA National Champs Race Report

Lake Tahoe, Nevada

October 5th, 2008
1st Amateur - National Champ

After a bit of a weather scare the day before, I was a little stressed and unsure about what to expect race morning. Giant swells in the water, cold temperatures and rain are not something I'm familiar to racing in but figured it would be a good experience and a great way to deal with the unexpected. Thankfully, the storm had moved out and I woke up to bright blue skies, a warm shining sun and water smoother than silk. The air temperature was a bit chilly, but we honestly could not have asked for better conditions.

The Swim - The waters of Lake Tahoe are pretty cold year round and do not get any warmer in October! Yes, it was cold and neoprene hoodies were a must. It was a clockwise 2 lap swim with nothing too exciting to report. It definitely wasn't the greatest of swims but not the worst either. On the first lap, I kept drifting to the left making the loop much larger than it should have been but the second lap I found some good feet to stay on and easily cruised into the beach.

T1 - I don't normally report on transitions because they're usually smooth sailing but this race happens to be a little different :) So I get out of the water and we have a 1/3 mile run to the transition area. I had set aside an old pair of flats to run in but after getting out of the water, I had no feeling in my hands or feet and getting the speed laces open wide enough to get my feet in was nearly impossible. After finally sitting down and dealing with that debacle, I was off running to my bike while stripping the top half of my wetsuit off. I get to my bike, rip off my shoes, and start pulling off the wetsuit. I get to the ankles and I'm seriously stuck. I, again, had to sit down and pull the suit off from around my feet. By now I'm in total panic mode as this never happens. I then started putting on my wool socks which became another challenge but knew if I skipped that step, I'd be one sad girl on the bike. I had planned on wearing a beanie and light jacket but because I was so worked up, I was already on fire and decided to ditch that idea. I began putting on my super warm gloves which became another difficult task as it's kind of hard to get thick gloves with wet hands that have no feeling in them. At this point, I've probably been in T1 for 5min and wasn't even finished! My goofball self forgot to put on her helmet and camelback before her gloves which made buckling those two items quite complicated...there goes another minute!!!
The Bike - After getting passed by about half the field in transition, I was pretty fired up and ready to lay it out on the bike. I immediately passed several girls and got into a good groove. As we started the climb up Tunnel Creek, I kept sticking to the plan of keeping a really low cadence in order to keep the heart rate down and it was working fabulously. I kept picking off my competition until I found myself ahead of several pros and in the lead of the amateur race. I kept focused and had a great decent despite crashing during the pre-ride and finshing in the pitch black. Turns out going really fast when you can see is a lot easier!!! I couldn't believe how great my legs felt, even after all that climbing. I'm usually one to blow up half way through or just not go hard enough and this bike was truly a breakthrough in finding that happy medium.

T2- I roll into transition and they announce me as the first amateur female and that I have a 10+minute lead which was super cool. I found my rack position, got the run shoes on, grabbed the race belt and hat and started to run towards the 'run out'. For some really strange reason, I thought I was running the wrong direction so I immediately stop and start running the opposite direction. I then hear everyone in the crowd screaming at me tell me I'm going the wrong way. I stopped, blurted out a 'not so nice word' (while laughing of course), and finally found myself going the right direction.

The Run - The only two words that describe this part of the race are slow and enjoyable. I knew I had a big enough lead to win the amateur race and that there was no reason to go hard as Maui is only a few weeks away, but I was still curious to see how I would have compared to the pro women if I really threw down. At any rate, that idea went out the door quickly and cruised the windy and fun course with a big smile the entire way.

The Finish - Crossing the finish line and hearing your name announced as National Champion is absolutely breathtaking. Giving a victory speech on stage in front of everyone is even more thrilling. Without the ongoing support from my family, friends and sponsors, this wouldn't even be a dream, so thank you. This win was not only a huge honor, but a big boost of confidence for the World Champs in Maui. All the hard work is finally paying off and I can't wait to see where it goes next :)