Xterra Mountain Championship Report

The day before the race as I went to the Xterra Expo for registration I was lucky to got hooked up with SKINS. Check out their video at here. He hooked me up and gave me the skins pants and the long sleeve top. I wore them for the rest of the day and my legs felt light and strong when I hit the bed. I also was glad to have the skins the next day, since it was quite windy and chilly until the sun came up over Pineview Reservoir. The water temperature was border line and so I was hoping and praying that it would not be a wetsuit swim. That is because decent swimmers don’t get as much benefits wearing a wetsuit than average swimmers do. My prayers were heard, no wetsuit for the Pro’s but optional for the age-groupers. That was good news. But since it would be a mass start of 700 people, with amateurs in Wetty’s and Pro’s “naked” the chaos was quite intense. Good “naked” swimmers with moderate “Wetty” swimmers just don’t mix that well.
After the swim, a climb of 3000 ft was to be beaten. Unfortunately, I lost my energy drink bottle 10 min into the ride. I decided not to push all out to conserve my energy in order to be able to complete the bike and head out strong on the run. The bike was mostly single track with only one technical section. I came in 5th into the transition at Snowbasin reservoir at 6000 ft. As soon as I was heading out on the run course I made sure I get one flask of energy drink down. And this is not the first time that the hydration belt from Ultimate Direction saved my race. If I did not have had it, I would not have had any energy source for the entire run except a tiny cup of Amino Vital at a couple of aid stations. However I had suffered because of the lacking fueling on the bike. I held my 5th place until 10 minutes to the finish line. I felt my quads locking in and cramping. I was eager to get on the podium at this race, meaning being top 5. Bummer. However, I am still proud of being 6th place, placing right behind XTerra greats that have 5-6 years more experience then I do. Thumbs up! Great race, great people, great support! Life’s good!