Xterra Race Report

Rachel that is sickkkkkkk.  I wish a wasn't some woosy leg shaving Xterra wannabe.  You should put an EXPLICIT label on your title too before someone washes your mouth out with soap.  Do you speak to your mother that way?

Where to begin.. As cheesy as this is, I want to send out a huge thank you to my parents for loaning me the car/funds for this trip, my aunt for letting us crash at her house, Myles for putting up with us 3 ladies singing for 14 straight hours in the car, and of course Coach and everyone on the team who supported our efforts and wished us all the best.  It really pumped me up to know that so many people were back in Tucson thinking about us.  I also want to congratulate Amy on her first multi-sport race and commend Rachel for accompanying me on yet another XTERRA adventure :)

The drive to Tahoe was long and not without accidental detours.. My aunt Marcia was kind enough to let us crash at her place the first night and then took us to a beach where we could get a pre-race swim in the next day.  The temp was much like Havasu but the water was so much clearer.  It was absolutely beautiful!  Unfortunately, that was the first and only time our wesuits saw lake tahoe.  We then drove the rest of the way to Incline Village for packet pick-up and a short semi-preride.  We inhaled an awesome italian dinner, bought balloons, and then crashed at the hotel that Amy's generous parents paid for.

Race day.. woke up, sand the 'good morning' song, loaded up and peaced out.  I felt some combination of excitement and fear, like normal.  Set up transition, cheered when the announcer mentioned the Collegiate Finals, got body marked with real numbers! (none of that sharpie nonsense), and then my heart sank when they announced that the swim was cancelled.  I screamed 'DAMN IT!!' in the transition area and people looked at me like I was nuts.. It was my hope all along to start out strong in the swim and get out of the water early since most XTERRA athletes can't swim.  That was my minor advantage that I was banking on.

So instead, we did this stupid little run around the block back to transition.  Rachel and I ran together.  I beat Amy out of T1 and told her to catch me.  She did and then I started the horrendous 3 mi non-stop climb.  It just never ended.  I saw Amy twice and thought I could catch up to her but she just kept powering through.  so I hung out with this dude Paul and this gal from Canada and we leap-frogged the whole way up.  Then I felt like my race began,  Hugging the mountain and trying not to get caught up in the view of beautiful lake Tahoe off the cliff to my right, I powered through and passed at least 5 people.  I felt great, the trail curved around a smaller lake, passed a couple more people and I thought to myself that this was goign to be awesome unless there was another long uphill section.  Sure enought there was and it near killed me.  The terrain was beautiful and anything but technical but I was in my easiest gear and just could not power my way up.  I was on and off the bike for the next 4 mi or so and totally broke down at the top.  I was freezing and in the middle of a cloud, my body wouldn't listen, I couldn't think straight and my heart was slipping out of the race.  I pulled off to the side to try and collect myself, Canada passed me, asked if I was alright and then told me to get my 'Tucson butt moving!' I do and luckily the rest was down hill and switch backs through rockier terrain (something I'm pretty good at). I make it down but scrub some speed on the last 3 mi down hill (the same 3 that we had to climb in the beginning).  Recap: first 12 mi = awesome, last 7 mi.. not so much.  I can't feel my hands or feet as I dump my bike in T2.  However, I actually liked the run once I could feel my feet again but then asked for the time as I ran past an aid station and realized that I was going to finish in about an hour later than I had hoped for.. 4:06:42 (run 1 - 14:00, bike - 3:17:46, run 2 - 34:56).  I was a complete wreck but I finished and just like always, in about half an hour I was thinking about how awesome next year was going to be.  My hope is to PR by 45 min, just gotta stick some A mountain repeats in there and I'll be golden lol

Bottome line: all of you should race at least one off-road triathlon.  It's tough.  You'll find out what kind of athlete you are, what kind of person you are and you will look back and realize that not many people can tough it out for 4 hours of all-out physical/mental/emotional exertion.  This race truly humbled me but I can only get better and I have every intention of doing so.

Sick race report again Renee! You girls are bbb bad to the bone!

craaaaaazy awesome job everyone!  glad you all went out there, gave it your all and represented Tricats to the fullest.  

btw.. Amy Stabler has not had the chance to post her race report yet but i just thought you all should know that she did such an amazing job..

Amy placed 2nd!!!

i.e. a TriCat was on the podium at the inagural XTERRA Collegiate Finals!

HUGE congrats your three!!! Way to represent UA!!!
I really wish I could have been there. Tahoe is my favorite course on the planet and now you guys know why. Beautiful, tough, scary, and screaming all at the same time!
Well done!