Gotta Start Somewhere

That's my ride!

XTERRA Vegas!

I headed down to Las Vegas last week for the opening of the Xterra Pro Series, XTERRA West Championships, located at Lake Las Vegas in Henderson. I was able to arrive a couple days early and get ready for the race on Sunday. It was hot. It has been getting really warm in Sacramento, but it is Hot in Vegas. I was able to get out for a pre-ride of the not so exciting course on Friday. This was only my 3rd time out on my new Liv/giant Obsess so I was happy to get some more time on it before the race!

Yep, that's what there is to see on the course. (Photo courtesy of Danelle :))

So, I have been on the fence this whole off-season as to whether or not I should take my pro license. I qualified but I kept going back on forth as to whether I should do it or not. There were a lot of factors going into my decision, and I finally decided a couple weeks ago that I just needed to be all in and go for it! What do I have to lose? Worst case, not much changes in my finishes, but most likely stepping up to the next level will push me harder while still keeping it fun! Decision made and paperwork sent to USAT, I still began to doubt slightly once I got there and was actually registering Pro! Yikes. To make matters worse, my neck was killing me all week! This was some of the worst it has ever been which did not help with the nerves going into my first Pro race.

So that's where I got to go

 Race morning came and amazingly my neck was feeling significantly better from the day before, thank goodness for Maia Ignatz helping me out a bit on Saturday. I could actually turn my head to the right which is really good since I generally breath to the right.  I went through the morning and was feeling pretty good, and then I went down to the water and that is when the nerves set in big time! Swimming is not my strong point so I suddenly felt I was going to get dropped right off. I got focused and calmed myself knowing that I had a plan and had been working on this swim in the pool. I thought about coach Joan's training and tips and had the plan and calmed my nerves.


Found this one. I don't look nervous or concerned about my neck at all ;)

Pro swim start

Gun went off and I started out well. I was focused on going fast and then getting on some feet. Feeling good, and then it began to happen....water....coming in the goggles. "Maybe I can do this all one eye" I thought briefly, and then the other started filling. Well, I know I cant' swim a 1500 open water blind. So that left no choice but to empty my goggles and re-seal. As I did so the rest of the field that I was ahead of surged over me and just like that I was off the back!  Ugh! Silly goggles, of course they were great during my warm-up. So, I tried to go hard but now I was off the back and had no feet or anyone to swim with the whole way. I could see the little group of pink caps not far ahead the whole time. Bummer! I was bummed because I have been working a lot on the swim and I do think I may have been able to have a much better swim than this as I did feel alright for the rest of the swim. As, I ran up to transition with one of the men, we came in and Brian, said "Well, someone had to be last right?" :) "Might as well be us." I replied. Gotta keep things upbeat :). Turns out we weren't actually last there were a couple more ladies out there.

Onto the bike, I was ready to get going and see if I could make up some ground. I could see the next female just ahead about 10 sec so I set my sights on catching her, but as I got going my legs just weren't coming around. I felt like I had no power and was just not in a good rhythm. I kept screwing everything up! As, I came around for lap 2 I was mixed in with the leading amateurs who started 45 mins after us and were just getting on the bike. I liked having the course all to ourselves the first lap but it probably helped me push a little more having people racing around me. Finally about halfway through the second lap I felt like my legs were coming a little but I still felt like I was lacking power and like my seat was too low even though I had checked and raised it the night before. Also, the wind had picked up by the second lap. So, along with that lack of push feeling I was also fighting a strong headwind on a lot of sections. 

I started the run and actually felt pretty strong, which is a new feeling for me. Another thing I have been working on this year. I was trying to tell myself that I could still catch people on the run but I am not sure I ever convinced myself. (Guess I may need to work on the mental part of this) The run course went out and then followed the bike course for about 4 miles. So, now I was running past the bikers going uphill and then getting blown by on the downhills, which was a little sketchy in sections were there was only one good route. I felt like my run was alright for me but I know that I could have run harder!

Turned out that I placed 10th and I was not last as I was thinking the whole time! It was a small pro field but I was still happy to have a top 10 (out of 12) ha ;) Both my swim and my run were vastly improved comparatively over last year!

I thought I had most of the mess-ups out of the way already before the big races but apparently not. Goggle misfortune: "SEAL!" (that's for you Elise and Steve).
Bike legs: Well, come to find when I got home, that my seat was in fact over an inch too low! Not sure how that happened since I did put it up the night before, I guess it slipped or something. Grr! It felt so much better at a local race last night being the right height! At least, that can explain some of the feeling.

One thing that does seem to be working really well, is my change in nutrition strategy! I have been loving the Osmo Women's line! The Pre-load was awesome to have for this heat. I had a bottle the night before and then a bottle in the morning before the race. I had almost 2 bottles of the active hydration on the bike and a flask that I started the run with. I have been trying to go with the Osmo motto of "food in the pocket, hydration in the bottle" too. It has been a little trial and error with what works but I am getting there. As one who has never done well with gu-type things anyway this has been good. I have often struggled with cramps on the run but have not had any! Also, my stomach felt soo much better post-race! I like that.

 All in all it was a good time in Vegas! While it was not the race I was hoping to have for my Pro debut, it was not the worst I could have had, and I learned some valuable lessons. Now, I have gotten that first one under my belt. Everyone always says that is the worst one. I was encouraged to know it could have been better and I also know some things to work on.  I am glad I decided to step up and just do it. Everyone has to start somewhere!

 

 

Figured I should have a pic in here somewhere.

Thanks to everyone's support and encouragement in this process. So, many of you have encouraged me to go ahead and take that step and so many of you had my back no matter what happens! I appreciate all of the support and encouragement so much!  

Also read this the day before. :)  "But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." Heb 10:39

Xterra REAL(ly WET)!

XTERRA season has come! It snuck in so quickly I barely knew what happened.  Saturday was my kickoff into Xterra season with the local race at Granite Bay. Xterra REAL put on by the ever great TBF Racing! We have been super dry here in Northern CA for most of the winter and have gotten very little rain to put us in severe drought conditions. This was NOT the case on Saturday. The forecast actually called for rain most of the night before so when we woke up and drove out to the race I really happy not to be setting up in the rain and I was hoping just maybe it would hold off just a little longer. No such luck, just about the time I got my wet suit on and headed down to the water it began.

The lake was cold but not nearly as cold as last year rain water is much better than runoff!  However, with the rain just starting up the wind picked up just enough to give us a little chop on the water and some waves. Despite taking in some water I felt like my swim went pretty well. I have been working a lot on the swim this off-season and am hoping the pool time will transfer over. I took coach Joan's advice on the my swim pacing and I think it went well! I was the 3rd female out of the water which is a big improvement over 13th from last year. It was hard to compare because the swim split also included our half mile run through the sand up to transition (I mentioned the drought, right!) As I came up to transition I could hear the announcer calling Kara Lapoint in ahead of me. I knew she wasn't too far up and this is about where I expected to be at this point. I also knew she has been riding that bike really well and I would have some work cut out in only 2 laps.

I got going on the 2-lap 16 mile bike course and it was still in pretty good shape. I tried to get into a good rhythm and get a little warmer on that first lap. At this point I knew Kara was about a minute up ahead of me. By the second lap in the pouring rain the bike was a mucky mess! I was hoping to get on my new Liv/giant bike for this race but once I started I was so glad that I wasn't able to get my new bike yet because by this time my bike sounded horrible! (Next race will be on Liv)! It almost felt as if it was working against me. However, I was still having fun splashing through the mud. Second lap was tough when we started spinning out in the mud! It is a gamble in these type of conditions to wear glasses or not. I went for the glasses. I would rather have some drips to see through than have mud in my eye, but I must say it was no problem! Bolle has done an awesome job making this hydrophobic treatment on the Bolt lenses, one swipe and I am usually good with no streaking! Love it!
Most of the bike I ended up feeling like I was in no man's land. I was riding solo. I think this made it a little hard for me to push that race, sometimes all alone I forget to RACE.
I did start to get a little chilly towards the end of the bike and I was ready to get running.

 

After dumping the water from my shoes before putting them on is transition I was off on the run. Hoping this would warm me up just a bit but also ready to get this thing finished.  I set off with a good pace. My run is the other main focus I have had so far this year. This has always been my weakest point in Xterra so this was a good test to see how things were going. I felt surprisingly good as I go out there and ran my first mile at a great pace! I kept pushing through the whole run and ran the sand and rocks and even the big climb up to the water tower at what felt to be much better than in the past. Turns out I ran the 3.8 mile course 3 mins faster than last year in the mud and rain. I am happy with that.

 

That finish line looked so great when I got there! Presented with a fresh lei, since the Maui tourism had come out with leis and hula dancers for the race, I was wishing it felt a little bit warmer :)  Once finished was when the cold really set in! This is a great race for us because Drew got to come out and race Xterra as well, only problem was he locked the car and didn't tell me where the keys were so I had no way of getting to the dry clothes!! BRR. Thanks to good people, friends, TBF staff and support out there I was able to get something dry while waiting and there was a little heater to try and get some heat!  Drew did come soon and I got some semi dry things to put on.

Yep, crazy. So wet and muddy but so much fun! Also happy to be to the finish!


 

Kara put in a smoking race and I never did see her. I ended up second place overall first in AG with Sian Turner rounding out top three to make that the second year the three of us took the top 3. Great fun racing with these girls out here!

 

A big thanks to all the TBF staff and volunteers who where out there all day. That had to be a lot colder and more miserable just standing there and supporting us yet they were all great! Also all the spectators that came and cheered on the whole time and endured that spectacle. I saw great people out there including 9-year-old Travis (great video on this course), soon-to-be Xterra superstar! Super thankful for our neighbors too. They took Ashlyn in for the morning, so that both Drew and I could race in the rain. I don't think she would have had quite as much fun as usual at the races since it was raining so much

Sian and I on the podium

Yay, a warm heater!
 



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Beginning 2014!

Everything sneaks up on me so fast and all of a sudden March is gone and I need to make updates! 

First of all this season brings some slight changes. I will again be riding for Folsom Bike but I am on their Elite Mountain Bike team! I am excited to be able to step up to this team for the season as a female on the team. Erin Gorrel has been so great in helping me out.  Along with this comes a new bike partner. I will be riding as a Liv/Giant ambassador this season as well!

This season has come up so quickly. I start of with some great MTB races with TBF racing right here at Granite Bay. I have enjoyed these and they are a great way to get warmed up for Mountain bike racing and build into my season. This year has been especially fun since we have had some more ladies coming down from Truckee adding a bit of depth to the field. I actually had someone else to race in the women's pro category!  It has been a lot of fun. I also threw an off-road duathlon in there to test out my off-season run focus. With those finishing up I moved right into my main racing season and my first two mountain bike races I had mechanical issues!  

Cool Mtb Race
Excited to get in a good race and toe the line with Teal Stetson-Lee. Started out well keeping in sight and then flat. Only about 10 min of racing I think I had a torn sidewall so there really wasn't a way I could get that one through the race.

Big Sandy
I was excited when I heard about this race it looked like a lot of fun and I thought it would be a good addition to my race schedule!  This used to be a classic point-to-point race but this year they decided to make the already long course even longer and add an extra 15 miles! This made the course a lollipop of 38 miles with over 6000 ft of elevation.
We made a weekend of it and headed down on Fri. stay in a cabin near the race venue with friends, Sian and Dennis and Julie Young. It was a fun time in the little cabin with 5 adults a 5-year-old and 4 dogs (3 of them huskies)! The problem was I got a little too moto on my crossfit style strength workout earlier in the week and was so sore I could hardly sit on Fri. So Sat while Drew got in a ride the girls and the dogs went and found the icy lake so that I could ice my legs! Just hoping they would not feel so bad in the race.
Sunday there was a record number of Pro/Expert women for the race (at 6!) which meant equal prize money! I started out strong and took the lead very quickly on the initial climb.

 Knowing it was going to be a long ride, I tried to set a conservative but strong pace. I found that I was quickly gaining a little ground on the rest of the field. I knew that there were a couple Primes for prize money out there one of them being the first 15 mile. As I got closer I put in just a little extra to maintain my lead for that. I was hoping though, that with my sore legs, I didn't burn too much too soon. Well, a couple miles after the 15-mile feed zone we started up the major climb of the course. Julie had caught me here and we were going together when I tried to get back in my pedal only to find I lost a bolt from my cleat and it was loose. I had to stop and tighten down before I lost the whole thing! During this I moved to 3rd. I rode the loop trying to make up ground. I came through the feed zone to head back the last 15 and I could see the 2nd female just ahead. I moved to catch her and reeled her fairly quickly. I was just about to make the move and get past when we had to dismount a short section and when I tried to get back on my cleat had twisted again! I made another quick fix but she got away, I think with fire under her knowing I was right there! At this point I knew I just needed to ride without coming out!  Ha! I did make quite a ways but alas, I had to come out eventually and this time I couldn't get back into my pedals. Cleat was twisted and I had tightened it so much to get it to hold that I couldn't loosen it to straighten. Also, I was just ready to be done. So, away I went for the final long climb unclipped. Made that a lot tougher than it should have been. I rode the last 3 miles with only my right foot clipped. I did make it though and maintained the final spot on the podium.
Not quite what I was hoping for but I did have fun out there nonetheless!  The race was a ton of fun, I love these grassroots races! Laid back and great people!

 

 

Next is first Xterra of the season but I think that gets its own post!  Stay tuned!