Xterra Nationals - at beautiful Lake Tahoe

I've had a hamstring/glute/adductor issue, and had not trained for 8 days leading up to this race. I have no expectations for this race, as I just wanted to experience it and finish and see how I handled the altitude (in the past I've gotten altitude sickness on several occasions).

Friday I woke up at 4:30am, was at the airport by 7, paid $210 to take my bike and bag - uh $215! what! I thought about not paying and staying home, but plunked down the credit card and went through the gate (turns out United airlines overcharged me according to their website, so now I have to fight with them for a refund). My first flight was delayed 2 hours, and I missed my connection from Chicago to Reno, and had to get a 2 stop flight through Denver to Reno. My luggage didn't make it and I arrived in Reno to rain and 40 degree weather. We drove to Tahoe, it was snowing when we went over the Mt Rose mountain pass! Day 1 was not so great.

It rained all night Friday night, woke Saturday morning to much of the same. And my luggage arrived! My bike box (only used 3 times so far) was damaged, and they had taken apart my box and not reassembled the packing correctly so I feared for damaged or bent components - damn airlines/TSA! Fortunately, upon re-assembly, the bike worked normally.

Saturday's expected high 40, rain and wind advisory. The xterra Nevada swim was cancelled and turned into a duathlon. That evening was the pre-race dinner, where I received my regional points winner jersey - yeah!

I awoke Sunday morning to stars! yeah! Clear skies in the forecast. It was 35 degrees as I set up transition. Wetsuit on and headed down to the 59 degree crystal clear water. The race started, and the water temp didn't feel that bad. Sun was bright and directly to the left, so I just breathed right so I could see. For not swimming for 9 days, I didn't feel too bad. Getting out after the first lap and running across the beach I felt a bit woozy and a bunch of guys passed me as I stumbled back into the water. Another uneventful lap (for me at least - I still can't figure out why people get so worked up on a swim and try to bash all over other people fighting for space instead of just relaxing and letting things spread out for a few seconds). Anyways, out of the water and I fumbled with cold hands and feet to put on shoes for the 1/4 mile run to t1. I'm always amazed how fast many people run to t1, I just manage to get there without passing out, and spend what seems like 10 minutes trying to get my wetsuit off, then camelback on, socks on, shoes on, gloves on, glasses on. The hands just don't work so well when they are cold! As I was sitting there in the sun I felt so warm, I opted for no additional clothes for the ride. Maybe a mistake?

Out onto the bike, the climb starts right away, in a half mile it turns into a sand road, and it goes on for 3 miles. And its steeper than the mile long climb at my local trail - the whole 3 miles. I was in the granniest of granny gears I had - for the entire climb! I gasped for air, and stopped twice just to breathe. I thought I was the only person who got off my bike in the race (come to find out there were others!) . Had to push bike a long way to spots where I could get on again and resume riding each time. I was soooo happy to reach the top. I really did not manage the climb or the altitude well. It was difficult to eat and drink, I tried to get some down, but it was cool and the stomach was not entirely happy. The flume trail section was next and as beautiful as any trail can be. You ride along the edge of the mountain overlooking the lake - 2000 feet up! You can't really look down, or you'll ride right off the edge and down for a thousand feet or so - I think - I never looked over long enough to find out. After you round Marlot lake, another climb which forced me to dismount again to breathe, then some more rollers and climbing - ARGH! One last dismount to breathe - this was really killing me! But then a very cool section of downhill singletrack with rocks everywhere, switchbacks for a few miles. I actually rode this pretty well considering I was in oxygen debt, and my legs and arms were screaming with fatigue. A few dabs, no crashes, and I may have gotten off the bike once in this stretch for some rocks I couldn't navigate. The descent down Tunnel Rd (which took 45 minutes to climb), took just a few minutes to descend. It was a chilly downhill, and my quads were burning so whenever I could sit for a couple seconds on a smooth section, I'd sit for a second,and then get back up off the saddle. Into t1 2.5 hours later! sooooooooo glad that was over.


Fortunately the run is flat, just snaking around the woods near the transition area. Again I had no idea what to expect, since I had not tried to run in the past 8 days. Not the best way to prepare for a race! The leg actually held up well, I think the lack of O2 slowed me down more than the legs or any small loss of fitness I might have had from the training hiatus. I managed a slow run the whole 10k, and was just happy to be finished. 7th out of 12 in my age group.ugh.


I felt sick after the race - very bad headache and a bit of nausea. 8 advil and 6 hours later and I felt more human again. I'm not sure I'll ever go back to this race since I just seem to get sick every time I go to altitude. Its not really a very plesant way to spend time, or money... but sometimes you change your mind. I've learned to never say never... and it really sucks to be defeated by a course.

Now its time for a break and hopefully the injuries can heal up!

Happy October! my favorite month of the year.