XTERRA Tahoe City Race Report

After nearly two months of not racing, I was excited about my second XTERRA race ever. I've been mountain biking a lot and was eager to improve on my performance at XTERRA Real in Folsom where I felt like I was in slow motion on the bike.
Summary: 3:06:13. 22/143 overall, 3rd in my age group.
Results
Pre race: I went to bed around midnight Friday night, staying up late packing for the race and cleaning the house since Megan was coming back Saturday. We got to Commons Beach about 7AM where I waited in line to check in while my sister and dad checked in for volunteering. I drank a Starbucks double shot on the drive up and had a Gatorade with a scoop of First Endurance PreRace mixed in about half an hour before the race. Checking in and setting up my transition took a little longer than expected, but I still was able to get in about a 10 minute warmup on the bike trainer in the parking lot. I wanted to warm up because the bike starts off with a 1.5-2 mile climb.
The Swim:
The water is low this year. At many tris, that just means a longer run up the beach or boat ramp. At Tahoe, though, this means that the first 100yds of water from the shore is 1 ft deep instead of 2 or 3 feet deep. They didn't announce the temperature but I would guess it was in the high 50s. I was comfortable in the water with my neoprene swim cap, ear plugs, and full wetsuit. We started about 150yds off shore where it just started to get deep enough to swim in. The long course did 2 loops and then headed in towards shore after rounding the 2nd buoy on the 2nd lap. I felt pretty good on the swim, although my lack of swim training the last 2 weeks surely didn't help. The last few hundred yards were tough because it was too shallow to swim normally but too rocky to be able to walk faster than you could swim. So I just modified my stroke to not go very deep an swam in until I was about 10 yds from the shore. I slipped on my Crocs and ran the nearly half mile which crosses a highway to transition. My transition was kinda slow, taking the time to put on socks and gloves. Next time I'm getting gloves that are easier to put on. Even though these ones don't have fingers or any straps, they still probably took me 20 seconds to put on.
The bike: I normally have nice GPS files to reference after the race as well as real time information about my HR and pace while I'm racing with my Forerunner 305. Since I lost it last Tuesday, I only had a watch for this race. Luckily someone wore their 305 on the bike course. This will definitely help anyone going up there to preride the course for next year. Just download it and have your GPS give you directions.
The first 1/3 mile was paved and pretty steep. Seems like a group of about 10 started the bike at the same time as me. I passed a few on that first climb which continued to 1.5 miles. I tried to keep a fast pace for the downhill section to the next climb where I felt I climbed pretty well. A guy that I had passed at the beginning caught me. I stayed with him for the rest of the first lap until we caught up with another rider. But then something happened and I started to slow down. I lost both of them and although the downhill section was OK, the rest of the second lap was terrible, getting passed by 2 or 3 people I had previously passed. After you finish the second lap there is a decent climb back to the junction where the run and the bike split. I had a bit of Perpetuem in T1 and 1 water bottle of watered down Gatorade on the bike so I think I had enough fuel and electrolytes. I guess I just went out too fast.
The run: I immediately noticed a tightness in my left gluteus as I started climbing up the hill. The run course was a lollipop with about 2 miles of climbing before a short flat section and then nearly all downhill to the beach at the finish line. I tripped on a root and nearly fell near the beginning of the dirt section. That is when I really felt that muscle in my butt tighten up. Not seeing anyone close enough to run down in front of me, I walked several of the steeper sections. Luckily the course was well marked because I didn't see a soul for the entire candy part of the lollipop (the loop at the top). Running downhill felt fine on my leg so I felt like I sped up quite a bit on the downhill. There is one last hill once you get back to the road that was definitely unwelcome. Running straight through the finish line and jumping into the lake is what kept my mind occupied for most of the run. And, man was that refreshing.
I didn't notice the smoke at all on the course but there was definitely a haze over the lake. You couldn't see across the lake when the race started. I hung out for a while on the beach while my sister and dad waited for all the racers to come in off of the bike. We left before they posted the results but I did win a 6 pack of Gu in the raffle. They had hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken sausage, watermelon, beer and soda for the finishers. I drank my recovery drink and the beer but couldn't get down more than a bite of the sausage.
My next race is Donner. I'd really like to have a fast bike and run at that race not only because of this race but because the last time I did Donner Lake Triathlon, I was disappointed in my bike and run legs. My bike time was OK, but left me destroyed for the run. 2006 time was 2:45:39. I'd like to be under 2:30 this year. 3 minutes off my swim, 5 off the bike and 8 off the run and I'm there.