If I never see another ROCK again...

Xterra Trimax

Mifflenburg, PA - June 29,2008

We arrived mid-afternoon after a nice back-road drive to central PA. We had been out this route to Indiana, PA last year and knew the ride was nice. Half was there we ran into a crazy downpour, the kind that you can barely see when driving. In a short fifteen minutes, the rain was done. We made it to the hotel, and talked with Vince and Darlise (a neighbor from a few houses down.) We decided to meet at the race site for packet pick-up. Shawn and I went over early hoping to get a short swim in, but the water was cold and there were too many kids swimming at the park. Instead we walked a few miles of the course to see what we could see.  After picking up our packets we ran into someone we knew who told us the course was crazy and that he had walked 30% of it. We met this guy on the way back from Tahoe last year after he won his age group at nationals and was on to Worlds, I knew coming from him this was going to be a tough ride.

It was about then that I decided I was just there to ride and have fun. That evening we went to dinner with Vince and Darlise and then got some last minute stuff together and got a good night sleep. The morning came with sprinkles shooting out of the sky while we got the bikes back on the rack; we thought this would be our first race in the rain. But the rain never came full-on. We set up transition. Vince and I went out for a short warm-up run while Shawn went in the water. We met him back at transition and his teeth were shaking, he stated he made the decision that the wetsuit was needed. It was pretty humid, and our short run made us wet with sweat. It was a workout just to get the wetsuit on, but once we got in the water we realized why it was needed - it was cold. 

The swim went off as a sprint across the beach and it was a two lap course through some nice lake grass and crap. It kept getting stuck around my neck and through my fingers. Shortly through the first lap I was alone with one other guy. I rode his feet for the rest of the lap and then passed him on the second lap as he wandered wide. I came out of the water first; the guy was only two seconds behind and he congratulated me on a nice swim as we ran together up to transition.

The transition was tight and since I was first in I had plenty of room to get the wetsuit off, but by the time I was out the others were starting to crowd in. I had to carry my bike over people just to get out. The bike started with a few miles up hill, with two short but steep climbs. I sat back and paced them out, but made it up. Vince passed me just as we went in to the single track, then the rocks...oh the rocks. I have never seen so many. I attempted to ride them, and some were rideable. At the first unridable spot I had been riding for a while and a man behind me stated I was showing him some good lines, but I just couldn't take it any longer. From there out for the next few miles it was a walk - bike - walk. The rocks were insane. At one point while riding, I came up to a black, plastic storm pipe that looked as though if you hit it from the right angle you would go fine over it. But it was went and it took me right down, later on after the race, everyone in transition remembered this pipe and it sounded as though it took down most racers.

There was a point in the rock gardens that the race was no longer a race for me, I just wanted to survive and did not want a broken ankle. Shawn came by at some point and I probably made him worried because I expressed my concerns. Finally we got to some rideable terrain and a female came up behind me (many had passed already by this point) and she asked if I was Alicia. I said yes, and she introduced herself, Sue Anne, a name familiar from many races I have done. We stayed together for a few miles and even had a very long conversation on a very unridable long walking section, for both of us we were just out there for a ride and we enjoyed each others company. 

After a lot of back-jolting, neck jarring riding we ended up on a dirt packed fire road and it was up-up-up. A mile or so of up and up, and we climbed it, but there was a reward of the fastest down-hill ever. Apparently, this was not part of the course. Later on I was talking to Anne who is the xterra representative and she said they sent us all the wrong way, but once they determined it, they had to keep the race fair. At that point we were supposed to be back on single track in the woods. I kept waiting for us to re-enter. The course mileage was the same with our detour, but the single track was skipped at the end, and I was very thankful. 

So I come ripping into transition because we just had this beautiful downhill section and Anne is standing there telling us to dismount, so I did, but my shoe never came unclipped and I fell hard in front of everyone. Right onto my side on the gravel road, I told the crowd that one was for them and they cheered me back up and into transition.

I had plenty left for the run this time since a lot of the bike was a walk. I took off and tried to pace it out because I knew there was one big hill coming, and I mean straight up and had heard there was a second one as well. The race director warned me of the hard run ahead as I entered the single track. The first hill was tough but I made it and continued on, but then after a nice downhill section on road we came back into the woods at the base of a giant uphill rock garden. Yes, rocks everywhere, nothing you could do but climb. My heart rate was at max by the time I reached the top. At that point I passed Sue Anne who had a twisted ankle, that must have been really rough. I ran it in, fell once and felt my finger bend the wrong way. It seems fine, but my palm is pretty swollen. 

I am bruised up a bit more and sore in funny places, like the arches of my feet and my lower back from the rocks. It was a fun event, the race directors were full of enthusiasm, but overall the bike portion was not that fun because it was not really rideable. Darlise took some photos so I should be getting them later on this week and posting them. It was Vince's first xterra and he showed a lot of potential with an age-group placing and an overall 20th place...we tried to convince him that the rides were not all that technical and insane. Hope he will be out for more. Shawn did awesome after his few weeks out of it, and I was pleased to finish. I know I was 6th female and 3rd in my age-group. I passed one female on the run, but one passed me - she was flying. I will post the official results when they are available. 

Richmond Race Report - 6.15.08

After an early morning, 4:30 a.m., we arrived at the Richmond James River Xterra East Championship. This was the first year that we decided to do the full championship race. For the past two years we have done the sport race. Shawn and I went down last weekend to check out the bike course, and at that point I was a bit scared. Some of the technical sections were beyond my skills, but I decided to stick with the championship race and just hope for the best.

At the site there was no line for body marking so as I walked in with my bike I just dropped everything and got that over with first. In at transition there was plenty of room for the bikes and no assignments, this allowed Shawn and I to park our bikes right next to each other. This is always nice because if we need something from the other it is easy to get. Everything set up quickly and Shawn even remembered to bring down the pump for me because I had forgotten to add air to my tires at the car. I had noticed the day before on our short pre-ride that my tires were a bit squishy. Shawn and I were all set up and had time for a short warm-up swim. The water was very warm, and it was not even cool to stand out of the water when we were finished warm-up. The sport race went off and Fortmann took the lead in the swim, he arrived back at the shore a short time later and was announced first out of the water - First competitor all day and first to have his name announced! It was really cool. We then had time to jump back in for a short swim to Pee Island, where all the pros were gathered and it looked like they were standing there peeing one last time before the race started. We joined...

Photo: Pee Island

Shawn and Otmani took off in the second wave, right after the pros. Sara and I took off in the fourth wave four minutes after them. The first half of the swim was pretty uneventful, though I quickly had to start swimming through a lot of older men. Once we exited at Bell Island for the short run mid-swim (an Xterra tradition) I sprinted to try to pass as many of these men as possible out of the water, I was just frustrated trying to swim through them. Then the swim got stupid, which is all I can call it, plain stupid. We had to swim back around the other side of the island and there were huge rocks everywhere. You could not see them, swam right into them. I cut up my hands and feet and at times was merely crawling across rocks because there were only inches of water above them. Between this and the masses of bodies I was now in the middle of I was completely frustrated with the swim, not an easy one to get into any kind of rhythm. I was second female out of the water, and the first must have been just a few feet in front of me, but there was no seeing her with all of the green and yellow caps around me. The announcer yelled my name as I jumped out, I quickly found my shoes and had no problem getting up to transition. Second Photo: Rocks on the STUPID swim

I sat down in transition and got my gear together, it all felt pretty smooth and I was out on the bike course. My plan was to take it real easy on the first half of the bike and to allow any eager men to get by me, I didn't want the pressure of them riding up my ass on Forest Hill. This plan worked well, though I was sucking more wind than I should have been. I got through Bell Island, the first part of the single track, and had a few guys riding behind me. I was flustered, but they set the tone for the bike. Last year I had people yelling at me to get out of the way, this guy said he was not there to win any race and wanted to have fun. He yelled this at me while we soared down the hill on Bell Island. I did wonderfully, rode every last bit of it and felt good about it. He congratulated me as we exited. It was so nice to have a cheerful competitor with me for the first part of the race. I continued to not push it and made it into Forest Hill, again all of my fears went away and I had a fantastic technical ride. I made it up most hills, and had people congratulating me for the effort. I rode the roller coaster without hesitation and did not have to exit my bike on the steep switchback, I just pulled one foot out of the cleat and made it around. I was ecstatic. The rest of the ride was cake compared to what I had thought it would be, but again I was sucking wind and had these short cramps in my calf muscles throughout the last portion of the bike. I had taken three Gus with me, and ate them all at safe spots along the bike, I drank only water - this is what I have had best luck with for stomach cramping. But I do not think it was enough, I felt a hunger pang as we entered the swim and I even mentioned this to Shawn. Lessons learn thus far in the season 1. Smith Lake - Don't take a Gu at a portion on the bike where it will send you over the handlebars & 2. Richmond - Don't not take food because there is nowhere to take it safely - So what is the happy medium!??

Also, all throughout the ride I had thick snot running out of my nose...this sucked and it never ended, how much of this can come out of my body over the last two weeks? I was blowing snot rockets left and right, once in front of the camera, we will see if they choose to upload that photo!

I exited the ride portion and saw Roxie and Fortmann, I was very glad to see Fortmann in one piece and assumed his race went well, later he confirmed it had. I got into transition, sat down again and took the time to double knot my shoes, at Smith Lake each shoe came untied on the run, I was not going to let that happen again. I felt horrible and had no idea how I was going to make it through the run, so I started and I jogged. Slowly I caught the guy in front of me and he was very chatty, I had nothing in me and not extra for communication. I was drained and I still had at least five more miles to go. It was hot, but not as hot as years past. Soon we got to the rail ties, I climbed these with another woman, and literally I had to drag myself up using my arms, my legs were not responding. I had to stop at the top, I was dizzy and almost puked, the people up there gave me some encouraging words, but I couldn't listen. I think that is when Sara came up, but I am not sure everything was blurring. If it was I tried to run again, and I kept on. She came by and looked very peppy, I was glad for her - she had an amazing run. I continued through the course and actually did run most of it. I remember a set of steps that were like a ladder that you would see on the back of an RV. We had to climb these to get up from river rock to the land level. I asked the guy if he was serious, and he just looked at me and said there was water straight ahead. Next we went on to Bell Island, I thanked a woman for helping out, as I try to do for all of the volunteers when I pass them and she replied in thanks for supplying an event for her to come out to. I was surprised by her answer, but I guess everyone loves an outdoor adventure. Bell Island is somewhat a blur, I knew I was almost there and I kept on jogging, but have no idea how I did it.

I got to the finish line and it was only 3 hours 22 minutes, I did not see this because I can really only remember being thankful that I finished. A man walked up to me and said are you all right, all I could do was shake my head no. He walked me to the spray tent, and I was wobbling everywhere, he had to hold me up. I had no idea Shawn was there, I looked up and saw him in street clothes and it didn't even dawn on me that he wasn't supposed to be. The guy asked me if I needed an IV for the dehydration, I said no, I think the needle would have made me pass out. I am a wuss when it comes to needles. sat there for a few minutes, and I ended up somehow with three bottles of water and I don't think I actually drank any of them. I got up and went and sat over under another tent with the food with Shawn and Otmani and Fortmann, I am not sure if at that point I realized Shawn had not finished, but I think we talked about. I was all of the sudden freezing and still dizzy so I went back to the medical tent. They had me lie down and put my legs up. I felt really week and dizzy, finally the doctor came over and I suggested I get some food. He brought me some chocolate chip mini muffins, I downed the package in two seconds and within a few minutes I was back to reality. Across the tent he saw the reaction it had and brought me a second, they were amazing, the best muffins I had ever tasted. Only weird thing, and I noticed this at the other races is my mouth blisters at the roof when I eat after a race. I think it must have to do with the lack of salt left in my body. So after that I went over and got the free meal because I realized that was what I needed. I had been sick for the previous two weeks so I am sure that contributed. It was not hotter than any other day out there, I just had a culmination of things all coming together at once.

A day later and I am pretty whipped up, so happy about the bike portion I feel it was a successful day. I am sure it would have been better under different circumstances, but I went in with a modest goal of 3hrs30 minutes and I hit it. Unfortunately I passed on this awful summer sickness to Shawn and he had to drop after the bike. He had a rough day, but he is always so optimistic and positive. He is great to be around when you are feeling bad, even on his worst day he was very comforting.

Congrats to Fortmann, Sara and Otmani for an awesome outing in Richmond. Sometimes during the race I wonder why I am doing this, but these will be days we will remember for a long time to come.