XTERRA Lock 4 Blast

Lock 4 is one of the original Xterra courses. Any course that has been around that long must be good. I wanted to do this race for a long time, and this year I finally got a chance to go down there.



I convinced Brandon to do this race also, so the drive down I - 65 to Tennesee wasn't too terrible. We stopped at Cracker Barrel, the team's unofficial retaurant, for dinner. I drove as long as I could through the night, then we slept in the car.



We got there a full day before the race, so we had plenty of time to do some course recon. We prerode three laps on the bike course and one lap on the run. The trails are fun with a little bit of everything from rocks, drop offs, power climbs, and fast, tight sections. We probably rode too much the day before the race, but if your going to a race 10 hours away, you might as well take advantage of all the fun stuff the place has to offer.



I had the typical prerace jitters because I knew if I wanted to have a shot at the regoinal point series title, I would have to win my age group at this race. Competing in a different region, I didn't know who the contenders were.



Race day the water was hot, sufficatingly hot. At the gun I saw Cheryl Stine and I tried to stay on her feet, but then some guy who looked like Brandon (yet he denies it) kept swimming into me and knocked me off her draft. So much for getting a good draft, but I probably couldn't hang with her anyway. She's fast.



Once out of the water i got on the bike and put it in the big ring. Right away I knew I didn't have my mojo on this particular day. The warm bathwater swim combined with the stifling southern heat took all my power away. Digging deep I passed some of the fast swimmers within the first mile or two of the bike and then settled in to a sustainable pace.



After no flats or crashes on a lonely bike ride, I headed out on the run. There were so many relay teams in this multi lap race I could not tell how many individual competitors were ahead of me.



Right out of transition I saw a guy in my age group flying out of T2. His pace was fast and I did all I could to stay on his heels. After about 2 miles I though I was about to blow when he started slowing down too. I took this opportunity to pass him and look strong while I did it just so he wouldn't try to challenge me. Once I got out of his sight I settled back in while trying to reel in anyone else ahead of me. I knew Omar Fraser and Jamie Whitmore were just ahead of me so I kept pressing the pace even though i was quite dehydrated by this point.



By the end I didn't move up any more spots overall and it turns out that guy I was chasing was on a relay team.



Overall I didn't do too great, but there were a lot of great competitors here. Competition will make me stronger later in the year.



I won my age group so that was all that really mattered. I accomplished step one of my three step plan to retain my regional point series title. Now I need to win my age group at New Castle and get on the podium at Utah. Not an easy task but this race gave me confidence that may training is coming along just fine.



Brandon had a break through race as well. He finished third in his age group for his first podium at an Xterra race. I knew he could do it and I'm glad I convinced him to come down to the race. His mountain biking is improving as he is getting used to riding his new Orbea. Now he has the confidence that he can compete on a higher level. Look out for him moving up the point series standings in the next month or two.