Dude, it's time to get dirty! First road tri over and done with. Now let's PARTAY!
Sunday marked my season opener for XTERRA. So being the intellectual that I am :) it would be S.M.A.R.T. to get one under my belt before vying for a Maui slot in Richmond June 9th at East Championships.
Saturday Al and made the short drive to Michigan excited for good weather and fast times on the course. Since we couldn't check into our hotel until late afternoon we made good use of our day by driving to the park doing a little recon of the transition area, dipped our tootsies in Eagle Lake (not cold by St. George standards) and unloaded our whips for a pre ride.
I totally wanted to upload some of the pre ride video Al took with the GoPro, but blogger is being douchey and won't allow it, so I have a few pics that will have to do.
Initial thoughts on the pre ride up until mile three, BORING. Both Al and I uttered the words "hammer fest" at the same time indicating the lack of hills, obstacles and twists and turns would mean the bike portion at least would be cranking and panting from start to finish. Glad we were wrong. We came up on a turn into the woods and the trail came alive....literally with mosquitos. Fuck, I'm pretty sure they snapped and snarled at us. Michigan, you have a mosquito problem! The trail did improve. There were log crossings, water crossings, bridges, climbs, sandy climbs, steep descents and plenty of flow and go!
By this point on the bike course most of the directional arrows were up. However, we learned a very valuable lesson, don't ride ahead of the marking crew, you'll get lost, and we did. Stopping wasn't an option either with the blood suckers flying about. Well the bike course was advertised as 12.5 miles, we ended up riding 16+ and race day I noted 14.5 miles on my Sigma. Well played XTERRA, well played, my kind of measuring!
Once we got back we opted for a quick 1 mile run and then it was time to pick up our packet, check in to our hotel in Battlecreek and find some good eats.
Pre race dinner was scrumptious. Ate at a little restaurant called Maia and I had the wild mushroom fettuccine. Not usually the one to indulge in dessert, but Al and I went a little nutz and ordered some sweet treats!
Race morning food deff not as good as the dinner the night before. Hotel breakfasts just don't do it for me.
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| Rockin' the W in a really bad selfie |
At the park Al and picked up our timing chips, racked our bikes. Unlike most XTERRA's the host club Elite Endeavors gives every participant a specific spot for racking your bike. So once I got my transition area set up to my liking Al and I went for a quick mile-ish run to warm up before slipping into something a bit more comfortable . . . oh that means putting our sweet ass custom Wattie Ink Blueseventy Helix wetsuits on.
Last Stand was a mass start so men women and children crashed into the waters of Eagle Lake and were off to the races. Simultaneously the duathletes ran down the beach and headed into the woods for a 2 mile loop before rejoining their triathlete buddies on the trail for a little bike ridin'.
I came out of the water at 12:16 (half mile swim @ a 1:23 per 100 avg.) Just a few seconds behind Al and at the same time as our good friend Ian. Running into transition I went straight to Filthy Whore (that's my bike's name, cause she likes to be dirty) helmet on, gloves on, shoes on, glasses on and ready to rock in 1:21!
1:05:14 later (13.34 mph and the same bike split as the overall female winner) I emerged from the depths of the tree line and made my way to T2. Bike racked, shoes on, hat and race belt in hand I bolted out of transition in 00:41 seconds. Knowing there was 1 girl for sure who passed me on the bike early on, I knew I had work to do. However, what I didn't find out until the first mile was there was one more gal ahead of me who just had an astounding 9:50 swim (4th fastest OA swim split). I didn't know how fast of a biker or runner she was so I couldn't really gauge whether or not I could catch her. But I was gonna try!
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| Al bringin home an AG win and 3rd OA |
I ripped through the first few miles clocking a 7 ish minute per mile pace. I got a few updates from racers and volunteers that I was in fact the third female and the other two were anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 minute ahead of me. Shit...run faster! I did make up quite a bit of ground but just not enough to get me that OA title. In the end I raced a 7:26 avg. mile for 4 miles and finished in 1:49:12, 2:15 behind the leader and 2 minutes behind numero deuce. My run was actually 9 seconds per mile slower than the OA female and 30 seconds per mile faster than number two. It was a close race on all accounts. I do have to give mad props to number two girl for racing like a beast for a 1 hour bike AS A 50 YEAR OLD. Damn mama!
So the Wades brought a couple pieces of hardware home to Illinois, both Al and I placed 3rd OA and 1st in our respective age groups. Pretty excited to have developed a bit of confidence going into Virginia. That is by far my A number 1 race.
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| My AG win and 3rd OA chickadee |
Totally stoked for the AG win but what is more pleasing is how well Filthy Whore responded for her maiden voyage. She is the best bike evah! Steel may be real but titanium is by far a gals best friend, fo sho!
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| Al took a gnarly fall and ended up with a hole in his knee |
I gotta tell ya, the XXI set up is the cats ass. I am just over the moon for it. With that, I gotta give many thanks to my ever devoted husband, moral support, psychologist (probably really need a legit shrink) and all around bike wrench extrordinaire for the build. I also gotta give a great big should out to wheel builder and friend Chad for the awesome job he did lacing those pretty white rims with just a touch of gold bling! A girlz gotta have a little jewelry!
Insert quick product review here: I rode with the Speedfil F2 during this race and gotta say, it worked out really well. Obviously technical sections aren't ideal for taking a swig of water, but you can't drink out of conventional bottle or Camelback when you're crawling over roots and baby heads (imbedded smooth rocks) either. The F2 fits nicely in the "up a level" bottle cage I already use given to me to demo by sponsor Tom Schopf of MyWedgie. Al used zip ties and a small length of velcro to afix the length of hose to the frame leading up to my handle bars. I tucked the mouth piece between my brake and shift lever on the right. I had enough hose to half to bend over slightly to take a drink. The bottle was a typical 16 oz water bottle with Speedfil's patented quick fill cap that keeps dirt and debris from craping up your water.
Lastly a big thank you again to all of my sponsors including Wattie Ink, Blueseventy, PowerBar, K-Swiss, 454 Tattoo, Speedfil, Kask, ism, Fuelbelt, Reynolds, Scott bikes, wedgie hydration systems, Geneva Running Outfitters, and North Central Cyclery.
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| Me, Al and our new friend Brad. Princess shot this pic |
Got to say, aside from the mosquitos, I dig Michigan. The trails didn't disappoint and Al and I had a great time with old friends, Ian and Amy and made some new friends, Heather, Brad and Princess!
Until we ride again!
Cheers,
SpecialK
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