XTERRA Southeast Championships – Alabama

Life would certainly be boring if everything always went to plan!!

Warning: long blog post ahead.

I flew back from Santa Cruz to Denver on Monday after my first race of the season (XTERRA in Santa Cruz) and spent Tuesday and Wednesday focused on recovery (which included a lovely anniversary dinner with my husband!). On Thursday it was time to head out again. I’d pretty much left my bags packed, minus a few cold weather items not generally needed in Alabama. And since I’ve decided that paying Fedex to ship my bike is a lot easier than lugging it to the airport and getting upset with the outrageous bike fees United charges me, my bike was already en route to meet me in Pelham, Alabama!

After a slight weather delay – there was snow and rain that morning in Colorado – I was on my way. I arrived in Birmingham, picked up my trusty Ford SUV with a crooked steering wheel (once I noticed this, I decided that if it hadn’t fallen off yet, it was probably ok to drive…the logic of one who does not want to drive back to the rental car agency), and headed to the bike shop in Pelham. Little did I know that I would soon become Cahaba Cycles number one fan!

The bike had arrived, so I picked up my big box and toted it to my nearby Homewood Suites hotel room (they have pseudo kitchens, so I can cook!). Once the bike was together, I headed off to Whole Foods Market to pick up the rations for the weekend. I have become a real homebody when traveling. I love to travel, but I have traveled (and do travel) a lot, and for me it has always been a time to escape, get work done, do my own thing. So that’s what I do – ok, one might call me stuck in my ways. I am almost 40, so you might have a point. But whatever you call it, it makes me happy, so I’ll stick with it!

Friday morning I was up early to pre ride the bike course before the real heat set in. The weather forecast called for higher and higher temperatures leading into race day (Sunday) at which point it sounded as if the 90s was expected. Ouch!

The bike course is really cool – it is in Oak Mountain State Park, which is beautiful, and is pretty much single track with a double track climb in the middle. The single track is winding and rolling. This is not my typical favorite type of racecourse, but I actually liked it. That didn’t mean I’d race fast on it, but it was a step in the right direction.

I did notice that my bike was a little clunky and I suspected that in my “professional” reassembly I had not quite gotten the head set tight. So after a quick swim in the warm water (such a nice change from Santa Cruz), I headed back to Cahaba Cycles. Sure enough, a loose headset. Chris, my new best friend at Cahaba Cycles, was kind enough to remind me that you need to tighten the top bolt before you tighten the side bolts. Hey, I’m not that much of a bike mechanic, obviously.

In the process of fixing my bike, I noticed a pretty major paint chip missing on the side. I reached up to touch it and got a nice piece of sharp carbon on my finger. Not a good sign. We had discovered what appeared to be a major crack in the frame. It looked like some kind of impact. I can’t remember crashing, but you never know with me. I’ve taken a few diggers in my life… Maybe I ran into a tree. Anyhow, we discussed this and I realized that even though it might hold through the race, it was probably stupid to ride a cracked carbon frame. Carbon = sharp.

PLAN B: With my new calm, Zen outlook on life, I asked (calmly, with no hint of panic) Chris if they happened to rent bikes. An hour later, I was on a bright green Air Niner (that has 29 inch wheels vs. the typical 26 inch wheels for those who aren’t into the latest mountain bike fads). It fit me well and I figured it was my best shot! And, heck, I’ve wanted to test-drive a 29er bike. Here was my golden opportunity!

Saturday morning I had an unplanned practice race day and was up at the crack of dawn to make it out to the trails before the marathon started (they hold running races the day before the XTERRA races). By 6:30 I was riding the bright green Air Niner on the trails. I rode it for 30 minutes, dubbed it “fun” and put it back in the car. Then a quick 20-minute run to test out my Achilles (good) and another short swim. All of this followed by a nice ice bath at the hotel.

I was as ready as I was going to be!

The rest of the day I spent at the bike shop (getting my carbon bike packed and shipped back out) and then at the coffee shop working. I was back home for dinner early and in bed by 8:00. I don’t think I was asleep quite that early thanks to the rousing game of basketball taking place outside my window, but at least I was horizontal!

RACE DAY

I was up at 4:40 – I don’t necessarily need that much time to get ready, but I like to start eating around 5:00 so I can digest (I’m a slow digester!). By 6:00 I was pretty much done with everything I could do in the hotel room but didn’t want to be ridiculously early to the race. So I held out until 6:20. Arriving around 6:40, I was still ridiculously early, but at least I had some company!

I took my time setting up my transition, getting body marked and making sure everything was in order. I then followed my new goal of warming up well and did 12 minutes on the bike, 10 on the run and then about 8 in the water. It is probably still not enough, but a lot more than I used to do and I plan to keep improving.

The swim went as most of my swims go – pretty slow (when I got out of the swim, I heard the announcer say “and there are still a few people left in the water”, which is always a blow to the ego). I need to focus on learning how to actually RACE the swim, something I struggle with.

There were still plenty of bikes racked so I felt a little better (not a ton, but enough). I transitioned, gulped down a gel (I was trying to fuel a lot more in this race to see if it helped, so my goal was 4 gels, ugh).

And then I was off on my green beast. Ok, I RARELY, if ever, say how much fun I had on the bike portion of the race. But I was smiling for a lot of this one. Those 29-inch wheels go over anything. I was riding pretty well (for me) and really feeling good and pushing hard. Typically this course would be relatively slow for me, and while it wasn’t super fast, it was faster than I expected. I didn’t have any major crashes. I did tip over once, but we won’t count that as it was immediately before a section they called “Blood Rock”, which I walked.

By the time I hauled back into transition, it was HOT and HUMID. But I felt great. I took off on the run and got my stride. My Achilles felt better than they have since early April and I felt like I was actually able to push on the run. I still don’t have my speed, but that will come. Feeling like I can actually run hard is the first step. It felt great until that big steep hill before mile 3. I will admit that I walked it, I didn’t have it in me to run. I just didn’t, that’s all I can say (I hate to walk in the run, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do). The heat was starting to sap my energy and I was starting to hurt. But I knew the remainder of the run was rollers, so I just focused on keeping the feet moving. Just when I was sure they had forgotten to put the Mile 4 marker in, and thinking I must be near Mile 5, there was the damn sign that unmistakably read “MILE 4”. That is always such a bummer. But I kept running and soon I was hauling in to the finish. I sure felt like I’d been moving well, but my time was slow for me (for the old me, about normal for the 2011 May vintage Cary).

Overall, I was really happy with the race. I ended up 2^nd again in my age group. I’m still way off the back in terms of time, but I feel like it is slowly coming back to me. I’ll get there!

So after a rocky start, it was a great race!  I’m looking forward to a couple weeks’ of training with no races!