XTERRA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Wow!!! What a year this has been.  I'm going to start this post with a thank you to my coach, sponsors and supporters.  Obviously I put in the time to get the results, but with their help I have been able to focus more on the training and I'm extremely grateful.  A special shout out to these two for supporting me in my endeavors throughout the years. 

The supportive parents

After Xterra Wild Ride, and all the points were in, I just barely won Regional Age Group Champion over James Ellis (less than 10 points).  Thank you for pushing me all year, James.  In my 10 years of racing I never tried for this - I didn't necessarily try for it this year, but gave it my all at every race and hoped that I would come out on top.

Doing well at Nationals was very important for me this year.  I have struggled in years past to keep it together physically and mentally by the time this race came around.  Luckily this year I not only was motivated, but my fitness seemed to be getting better each week following Beaver Creek.  I spent a lot of time on the course this year, and it definitely helped during the race.  Also my theory in years past was that a hardtail was sufficient for this course.  I think a light bike is ideal, but there are enough rocky sections, I was very please to have the Pivot Mach429SL.  As most people who read this will already know, we had some interesting weather leading up to the race.  Snow and cold temperatures were in effect until Thursday.  Luckily the trails were moon dust prior to this and clearly needed the moisture.  By race day conditions couldn't be better.  Here are a few photos of the course during my month of recon.




 

Somewhere On The Course

Scenic Shot from the Trail



Sweet Pano



Sweet Fall Foliage

THE RACE:

 

My parents were awesome and got a condo in Eden for the night before the race.  We dropped Scarlett off with the family, I did a quick swim to test out my new wetsuit thanks to TriSports, and then drove to Ogden for the Night of Champions dinner.  Got to sit with my friends Nicole, Lua and Beverly, and it was a delightful time.  After returning we celebrated my dad's birthday with some carrot cake and then went to sleep.

Took 3 people to put all those candles on

 

The condo location should have made race morning easy, and allowed for on time arrival, etc.  Steph and I were slow getting going and left the condo behind our ideal departure.  So, we got to transition, unloaded bikes/wetsuits, got body marking and then realized that we kind of took our time and had to rush to transition 2.  Made it on the last bus back to T1. 



Do we looked panicked to be on the last bus?

 

Swim:

We were late enough that we didn't get a proper warm up before the swim so I relied on adrenaline to get me going.  The cannon went off and I sprinted to get away from the mass of people I usually get caught in at this race.  By the 1st buoy I was in the top 10 and just worked to move up through the end of the first lap into the second.  I could see a handful of people a ways up and that was obviously eventual winner Cole Bunn, Matt Balzer and a few others.  I was fast enough for 21st overall/2nd age group/6th amateur.

 

Bike:

I was excited to get on the bike and see what kind of damage I could do.  I felt great up Wheeler and passed a couple age groupers and most of the pro women that I didn't pass in the swim.  After the first descent and climbing to the junction to Sardine I spotted Bryce Phinney.  I was surprised that I was actually closing on him.  I passed him and tried to open a gap but he caught me at the entrance to the woods on Sardine.  I attacked at nearly every switch back and would gap him, but he'd come right back.  I let him lead the descent since I knew the course well, and figured I could get a little rest if he couldn't push the pace.  He actually gapped me on the last climb towards transition, but as I entered T2 I noticed he was searching for his spot and I made an effort to get out of there ASAP.  I ended up 20th overall/2nd age group/4th amateur.

 



Leaving T1

Steph heading toward Wheeler

Run:

I paid for my efforts on the bike early in the run. I made it out ahead of Bryce, but I knew Merrick was lurking somewhere, too.  Unfortunately, they both caught me up the first climb.  Merrick bounded past me and I was able to hold pace with Bryce till the entrance to the single track.  Cramping quads slowed me here and I just tried to hold steady. I pushed as hard as I could and thought I had secured 6th overall amateur and 3rd age group, but Andrew Knutsen came by me inside the last 1.5 miles and although I increased my pace, he pulled away and got me by 40 seconds. On the run I was 49th overall/6th age group/29th amateur.




Approaching the finish

Analysis:
Missed both the age group and overall amateur podium.  That was tough to deal with.  On the bright side, I beat my best time on that course by nearly 20 minutes.  Being top 10 overall amateur isn't too bad and neither is top 25 overall (including pros).  I've had some incredible gains this year, and I am excited to carry this momentum into Xterra Worlds which will be my final race this season.




AFTER THE RACE:
Scarlett spent the day playing with her friend Liv, and climbing the obstacle course up at Snow Basin.  I like when the venues have kids activities because waiting around for me to finish isn't always the most amazing time.

The day after the race I flew to Sweden for a work conference with Saab Aerospace.  Steph flew over and we enjoyed a coupled days exploring Stockholm after work stuff subsided. Now I'm back home and back to work - training and job.