What this blog is about

Bicycle commuting, bicycle touring, bicycle racing; bicycle ADVENTURING.
To the grocery store, up a mountain, across the country or to the finish line--
it's all an adventure.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Xterra Portland


Just weeks previous to Xterra Portland, I raced my first Xterra (off-road triathlon) in Black Diamond, WA. I raced just to participate, finish, and investigate how the distance felt-- then I unexpectedly won my (albeit small) age group.

So at Xterra Portland, in a bigger field-- I was there to turn up the heat! Unfortunately, I really DID get heated up!



SWIM: I remembered the wetsuit this time! My swim split was a whole 6 minutes faster.

BIKE: Oh, my-- the transition zone always gives you a zap of adrenaline! I went busting out of there determined to NOT be overly courteous and complacent about passing. I just passed, passed, passed, passed, passed, --whoa, BREATHE--, passed, passed, passed.. then when I figured I had to be leading my age group, I yanked the reins. WhooAAAAA. Don't forget about the run, pal!

RUN: Turns out, as soon as I left the woods for the run-- KAplow!! 95 degrees. Oh my goodness. At Black Diamond, I hit the run feeling springy. After churning my legs up and down the faster and less technical mountain leg, I was not treated to this luxury. AND-- I was dehydrated to boot. I jogged, I shuffled, I took walking breaks, then for the second half of the run-- I took a big, continuous walking break. I knew that if I ran, I could put myself into REAL trouble. And my mom was there, so I thought it better to not end up in an ambulance. I flew a white flag of surrender. Get me to the finish!

Turns out, I developed enough buffer on the bike leg-- that I held onto 2nd in my age group! Hey, cool!

And now.. *cough*..

I'm going to Xterra US Nationals in Ogden, Utah.

Yeah, more on that to come. ;)
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