XTERRA World Championship Race Report

October 26, 2008
Maui, Hawaii
1st Age Group - World Champion
3rd Amateur

After an amazing dinner and ceremony for all the nations the night before, I woke up race morning feeling refreshed and ready to have a great day. I absolutely love the fact that our races don't start until 9am so I can sleep in a bit and have time to get in a good hearty breakfast. However, when I'm out there in the middle of the day roasting in the sun I do sometimes wish we would have started a bit earlier!!! Can't have it all though :) Anyway, it was an amazing morning...calm waters, not a cloud in the sky and smiling people EVERYWHERE! I set up transition, went for a little warm up, slathered on the sunscreen then headed down to the water. Everything was going beyond smoothly and I was sooo excited to race!

The Swim - Gotta love the mass beach starts with over 500 people! We all make it to the first buoy together which makes for one giant disaster. I was lucky to not have lost my googles, but I did have someone grab my leg and pull me completely under. Yes, I did inhale about a gallon of salt water which was quite unpleasant for the duration of the swim! I was pretty certain things would get less rough after the first two buoys, but everyone seemed to be sticking together. It was nice having a good draft, but man did I get beat up. Ended up having a very solid swim time which made all the blows to the head well worth it...I think!

The Bike - Pre riding the course is not allowed in this race so I honestly had no idea what to expect. I only went with what I heard from others - hard, hot, loose & rocky, technical, do not go off the trail or you WILL get a flat...hmmm...that's not very encouraging! With a set of burly bombproof tires and a good attidude, I set out with confidence. I immediately passed the 3 amateurs who were ahead of me and was riding very strong up the first climb. At about 30min I started getting really hot and felt like I was overheating or melting for that matter. I took it down a knotch, popped a gel and dumped the bottle of water I had over my head. About 15min later I felt amazing and continued to hammer the super steep climbs and descend like an idiot! At about 90min into the ride (3/4 of the way) my lower back started to seize and I lost all power in my legs. It was not only super painful but more frustrating than anything. I knew I was working my back really hard with all the steep climbs and technical descents, but this had never happened before and I didn't understand why now. I ended up getting off my bike to stretch it and relieve some of the tension. During that time, I was passed by 3 girls who were all in the 15-19 age group. WHAT?!?! Are you serious? I instantly got back on the bike and tried to catch them. I was working so hard and going nowhere...I then got passed by 2 other girls who I had gone by within the first 10min of the bike. UGH! Was I really going that slow and losing that much time? At that point, I mentally lost it. I semi gave up. Why? I'm not really sure. That's very uncharacteristic of me and if there is one thing I will take from this race, this was it.

The Run - After a smooth transition, I headed out on the run somewhat emotional. I was pretty sure there was no way I would be able to catch the girls who passed me as my back was already tightening up again. I put my head down and tried really hard to just run as fast as I could without being upset with my poor attitude on the bike. It was really hot on the run and I wasn't feeling great which wasn't easy but I did manage to pass a few girls back. Running on loose lava rock and through deep sand was a true test at the end of that race and I pulled it together to finish with a respectable run split.

The finish - Holy crap was I excited to be done with that race. People weren't kidding when they said that was the toughest course on the XTERRA circuit...and I now know why! Sure, I was totally bummed out that I didn't get the overall amateur title by 2min to a girl I beat by over 12min at Nationals, but hey, I won my age group and couldn't be more thrilled about that! I'm a perfectionist and my biggest critic...as are most athletes, but as disappointed as I was...it's only going to fuel the fire to come back and kick the crap out of that course next year!

Thank you so much to everyone who supported me throughout this race and my debut into the XTERRA world. I could never have done it without you! I have found my passion in the sport and cannot wait to see where it takes me over the next years :)