Xterra Canada Recap

A little race recap of Xterra Canada Nationals, held in beautiful Canmore and the Nordic Centre – what a venue.  Especially with fresh snow glistening off the mountain peaks on race morning.

But lets start with the trip out with Shane MacNaughton and Ryan Leibel – it was so nice to have company in the car – most times I have made this trip solo.  The banter and chit chat about boys stuff was super enjoyable.  Got in Friday around 8, went for a short run and headed out for Mexican food.  Can’t recall the name of the resto, but the food was dam good.  Oh ya, it was Aroma.  So good!

Saturday was a short pre-ride on sleek trails, but was fun and just as I remembered it from August.  Picked up race packages and just hung out until supper.  Another great meal at Rocky Mountain Flatbread.  Oh boy the Ravioli stuffed with carrot was so good – so so good!  Picked up a 6 pack of brew and headed back to the room to pack for the race of the year (okay – not really – I wanted to go to Maui for Worlds with my good friends Jeff and Sarah and finally have some fellow SK Xterra Athletes in Maui).

Did not sleep great but it was enough.  Up at 6 and out the door for coffee by 6:45.  Set up T1 at Quarry Lake and off to the Nordic Centre to set up T2.  It was cool and overcast and as I mentioned there was snow on the higher peaks.  All morning I was trying to determine what to wear off the bike.  Hampering me was recollections of 2 years ago when I had to DNF in Whistler due to extreme cold and shivering on the bike – I DID not want to repeat this.  At a minimum arm warmers were in order and I seriously was considering my TriWay winter cycling jacket.  

Man that water was pretty cold getting in, but the gun went and I swam sans incident, but not real quick like.  It was more molasses like.  Off to the bike and I decided on jacket – may have been too much but I wanted to be sure and not have to DNF. 

Bike went well, super well.  No crashes or major time losses on course.  Just was a blast and I LOVE that course.  So fun and fast – finally it is fast.  I can remember riding it 5 years ago and be scared shitless! Off my bike more than on it.  My oh my how things have progressed.

On the run I started strong and ran a good first 5K, but after that it was focus focus focus or else.  Early in the second lap, I spotted someone in my AG and just steadily went by him and never saw him again.  By the middle of the second lap I knew I was going to have to crisis manage a cramping issue.  Luckily there was no one breathing down my neck nor could I see anyone in my AG.  I actually thought I must be on my way to winning the day, but alas, my AG winner was 15 minutes on up ahead.  Yup, 15 minutes ahead of me.  He was in another postal code.  Unbelievable, but true.

Finished up and was pretty much spent.  Glad there was no finish line sprint.

Finished up 44^th overall and second in my AG. Enough to get my Maui spot.  And as the results were posted, determined my good friends Jeff and Sarah also got spots to Maui.  Overall AG women’s winner Nadine Mueller also took a Maui spot – she is a former Saskatoon triathlete.  Also Cam McCarthy earned a spot and I maybe heading to Maui too.  Shane MacNaughton and Ryan Leibel also finished on the podium – all in all SK athletes represented supper well and had great races.  Fellow BPR athlete Ian Crosthwaite was 5^th overall and decided Maui was in his future as Ian and his wife Emma are headed to NZ for the ITU World Short Course Championship after Maui. 

Quite the day.  Finished it off with dinner with Saskatoon friends – most enjoyable.

Kudos to Luke Way for his coaching and to Kathleen for being an amazing GF and a huge supporter of me!

Buffalo Pound Xterra

First Xterra of 2012 is in the books. Overall i am happy with the result (8th OV in 2:53), for where my fitness is at, training to date and taking all considerations into account - fantastic result. I refuse to diminish the result because of ... insert excuse here! Plain and simple, i can do better and know that in consult with my coach - Luke Way, i will get to where i want to be.

Swim went better than i thought, especially in terms of feeling comfy in the water and not getting tired shoulders like i have in the past. Kept my stroke long and powerful and just need to swim more in my wetsuit to get faster.  Came out in about 17 minutes.

A quick T1 and onto the bike. Started out mid packish and just planned to ride at a good pace and catch whomever i could - i was going on perceived exertion as i forgot my HR strap and watch. No worries, just go to where it feels like i am working a little too hard.  Stayed steady and passed several guys i did not think i would.  However, there were a few guys i hoped i might see but never did - this meant i was not gaining and would need to out run them or hope for some help from the Gods - cramping, poor runs or just off on the run.

Into T2 and another quick transition and out on the run.  Kept my camelback on and thank goodness i did - i enjoyed having water whenever i wanted it.  Long climb to start felt like hell - again thankfully it was not too hot.  Just pushed my paced to where i felt i could hold it for 45 mins or so.  Figured i had 5-6 minutes on a couple of fast runners that i was hoping to hold off.  When one of them passed me on lap one i figured i had little chance of holding the other 2 off.  But, onto lap 2 and the K's passed and nobody was coming, i got hopeful.  In the last 2K, one guy goes by and i tired to hold his pace - he got about 25-40 metres ahead and i held that gap. I kept looking for the next pass, but not yet.  As we got to within 1K, i saw my gap to the next fast runner gaining on me and said, no way, i holding where i am! I actually closed the gap to the guy who just passed me.  I never got closer than 10 seconds, but held off for 8th place overall.

Super stoked i managed to pick up the pace at the end - could i have ran faster in places - likely, but at what cost???  I managed the end well and had a decent result.

I was the likely recipient of awesome support and cheering from many people, but especially my girlfriend - Kathleen, thanks sweetie - you are the best!

Time to recover and get ready for the hard work - getting more run fit, run intervals and just running faster.