Just hanging out after setting up my transition areas which are in two different places. T1 is just next to the lake, thats where I'll transition from swim to bike, and T2 is up at Beaver Creek Resort on the mountain where the bike-to-run transiton will take place. Right now the people in front of me are the Sport (a shorter distance, about half of the full XTERRA distance) racers who are getting ready for their race which started 45 minutes before my race.
The swim start was broken up in waves, the pros went one minute before my wave which consisted of men 15 through 39 years old.
The water temperature was about 68 degrees which is close to non-wetsuit temperatures. It did feel a little warm in my wetsuit!
I pushed on the swim, but took it a bit easy to save energy for the bike and run because I knew that I'd need it! The swim went smoothly for me without any incidents.
T1- In all of the white garbage bags are the athletes' wetsuits, goggles, and caps which we had to stuff in those bags to be taken up to T2 at Beaver Creek by the race officials so that we could pick them up after the race.
Off on the bike, I was feeling good, the altitude wasn't bothering me very much and I knew it was going to be a good day!
15.5 miles later, I'm coming down from 9,500 feet back to Beaver Creek Resort at around 8,200 feet elevation.
Now the run. I just told myself that I'm going to enjoy this run no matter what! The run course consisted of a 600 foot climb from T2 then a long descent back to Beaver Creek, then another 600 foot climb before descending back to the finish! It was tough going, breathing was a little hard since there's 25% less oxygen than at sea level.
I'm running by Beaver Creek Resort at 8,200 feet elevation, where T2 and the finish are.
The finish at last! My total time was 2:43.49. The clock above me records the time when the pros started their swim one minute before my wave.
(photo taken by XTERRA)
Nico Lebrun of France pictured above in green won the men's race in 2:13:51. This is his second win at Beaver Creek in a row. He had just won the XTERRA France championship last Saturday too.
Shonny Vanlandingham of Durango, CO won the women's race in 2:31:58. This is her 3rd victory at Beaver Creek in a row!
Hannah Rae Finchamp (14) of California is one of the fastest young girls I've seen. She trooped it throughout today's race in 3 hours and 26 minutes! Hannah Rae races mostly in road triathlons as a youth elite throughout the nation, but also loves off-triathlon and is an ambassador for XTERRA to help bring more awareness and encourage more young people to participate in the sport.
Another friend of mine, Brittany Clawson, who goes to college in Hawaii, just started racing in triathlons one year ago and is already working towards qualifying for the XTERRA World Championship in Makena Maui! She has been in 3 of the same XTERRAs as me so far this season and is doing great.
It was a great day, great race, great volunteers and organization. I enjoyed seeing how my training has been helping me to get faster than even a few months ago. Racing just makes me more excited for training and for the benefits that it will reap. I'm already looking forward to my next race in 3 weeks in Boulder. It will be a half-ironman, 1.2 mile open water swim, 56 mile bike on road, and a 13.1 mile run. This will be the longest race I've ever done, so it will be interesting!
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