Xterra Tahoe City
Holy crap, that was something else. Between the Wildflower Long Course training I just finished and all the mountain bike racing I had been doing, I'd be able to handle the Xterra Tahoe City event without any issues. As usual, things didn't turn out that way.
The Swim - 1200 meters + 500 meter run to T1
The 58 degree water temperature wasn't too bad, but the lack of oxygen at 6200 was - I just couldn't get enough air in my lungs. The rock crawl getting into and out of the water was pretty heinous too. Despite being only 1200 meters, the swim was tough!
The Bike - 22 miles, 4000 feet of elevation
After winning my classes in two different mountain bike races just a week earlier, I was hoping to make up some ground in the bike leg. I'm not sure if it was the altitude or the level of the competition, but it just didn't happen - I didn't feel overly weak, but I didn't have much of anything for anyone.
The Run - 6 miles, 1000 feet of elevation
With no run profile posted on the website, the run course was far more challenging that I expected. It reminded me of the "hell hill" on Mile 4-5 of the Wildflower Long Course, except this one was about 2.5 miles long with 1000 feet of elevation - not to mention the summit of 7300 ft. My legs felt like lead, forcing me to walk most of the 2.5 mile, 1000 foot climb.
Eventually, my legs managed to loosen up as the ascent flattened out, allowing me to jog back to the finish.
Looking back
I totally underestimated the difficulty of this event, and my results showed it. I also underestimated the level of competition - these folks are strong! My overall rankings in each discipline were pretty dismal:
Swim = 126 of 138
Bike = 94 of 138
Run = 122 of 138
Overall = 111 of 138
As a comparison, my results on the Wildflower Long Course:
Swim = 1406 of 1741
Bike = 585 of 1741
Run = 1345 of 1741
Overall = 1060 of 1741
Another difference was the general build of each competitor. While the competitive triathletes I've met are generally slender, the top finishers at this event - both male and female - all had a fair amount of muscle on their frames. How they pushed that mass up all those hills, I'll never know.
One more difference was the social vibe after the race, although I'm not sure if it was due to the small field or mountain biking background of the competitors. Both my girlfriend and I met lots of friendly people after the race.
While the organization of the event left something to be desired (check in @ registration took a ridiculous amount of time), the course was fantastic, as were all the competitors. I'm looking forward to giving this another shot :)
The numbers
Swim = 0:35:37.7
Bike = 2:12:50.3
Run = 1:18:49.1
Total Time = 4:07:17.1
111 of 138 overall
22 of 24 in age group
x-posted to mrcrash and trigeeks
The Swim - 1200 meters + 500 meter run to T1
The 58 degree water temperature wasn't too bad, but the lack of oxygen at 6200 was - I just couldn't get enough air in my lungs. The rock crawl getting into and out of the water was pretty heinous too. Despite being only 1200 meters, the swim was tough!
The Bike - 22 miles, 4000 feet of elevation
After winning my classes in two different mountain bike races just a week earlier, I was hoping to make up some ground in the bike leg. I'm not sure if it was the altitude or the level of the competition, but it just didn't happen - I didn't feel overly weak, but I didn't have much of anything for anyone.
The Run - 6 miles, 1000 feet of elevation
With no run profile posted on the website, the run course was far more challenging that I expected. It reminded me of the "hell hill" on Mile 4-5 of the Wildflower Long Course, except this one was about 2.5 miles long with 1000 feet of elevation - not to mention the summit of 7300 ft. My legs felt like lead, forcing me to walk most of the 2.5 mile, 1000 foot climb.
Eventually, my legs managed to loosen up as the ascent flattened out, allowing me to jog back to the finish.
Looking back
I totally underestimated the difficulty of this event, and my results showed it. I also underestimated the level of competition - these folks are strong! My overall rankings in each discipline were pretty dismal:
Swim = 126 of 138
Bike = 94 of 138
Run = 122 of 138
Overall = 111 of 138
As a comparison, my results on the Wildflower Long Course:
Swim = 1406 of 1741
Bike = 585 of 1741
Run = 1345 of 1741
Overall = 1060 of 1741
Another difference was the general build of each competitor. While the competitive triathletes I've met are generally slender, the top finishers at this event - both male and female - all had a fair amount of muscle on their frames. How they pushed that mass up all those hills, I'll never know.
One more difference was the social vibe after the race, although I'm not sure if it was due to the small field or mountain biking background of the competitors. Both my girlfriend and I met lots of friendly people after the race.
While the organization of the event left something to be desired (check in @ registration took a ridiculous amount of time), the course was fantastic, as were all the competitors. I'm looking forward to giving this another shot :)
The numbers
Swim = 0:35:37.7
Bike = 2:12:50.3
Run = 1:18:49.1
Total Time = 4:07:17.1
111 of 138 overall
22 of 24 in age group
x-posted to mrcrash and trigeeks