The weather in Reno hasn't allowed for a lot of outdoor training this winter so this race was my first mountain bike ride of the year. Most of my bike training has been done at IndoorPower or at home with Trainer Road. The weather was freezing driving over the pass but at least the temperature at Granite Bay was pretty nice. The water was another story.
I made the mistake of not getting into the water before the race started. I felt pretty bundled up with a full wetsuit, earplugs and a neoprene swim cap, but my face just wasn't ready to hit the water when the horn went off. I lined up behind Melanie McQuaid, Benjamin Hoffman and a few other pros. I don't know of too many other sports where any racer can toe the starting line next to national champions. The race started and I walked out about 15 yards from the beach since it is pretty shallow, delaying the inevitable. When I finally dove in, the cold water on my face was so cold that it took my breath away. I'd try to stick my head down and swim normally but I couldn't link more than a few strokes before I'd have to bring my head out. I felt silly but eventually just resigned to swimming with my head out of the water to the first buoy. When I finally got there I had started to get numb enough and the feeling of getting the wind knocked out of me had passed so I was able to swim the rest of the way with my head in the water and a normal 2 stroke breathing pattern. The swim was much shorter than 0.5 miles since the water was only 48 degrees. Having my Crocs lined up out of the finishing chute worked great for saving my numb feet on the run up to transition.
I've made the mistake before of overdressing for the bike just because the swim was cold so the only warm gear I used were gloves and neoprene shoe covers. My new Louis Garneau shoes went on quick but I seem to always struggle with gloves. It didn't take long to get muddy once I was out on the course. I really should come down more often and pre ride this course. I know I could be faster on it if I just knew it better. I quickly remembered why I do these races. The mountain biking is so much fun. It's like a roller coaster that you get to control. I mounted my new toy on the handlebars and filmed most of the ride. Check out the highlight video here. I thought it'd be cool to be able to sync a map with the video so you know what part of the course the video is from but I haven't found any software to do that yet.
This was a big disappointment for me. I've had issues with my left hamstring tightening up after I work out for a few months and have been stretching and seeing a chiropractor to work on it. But this was the first time it affected me in a race. Basically, the first mile went fine. I was starting to speed up and find a comfortable pace. But just after a mile, my lower back started to tighten up. My calves, hamstrings and lower back were all really tight. It didn't feel like cramping, just tightness that was so uncomfortable that it kept me from running up any hills. And this course has a few hills after the first flat mile. So I'd walk anything that wasn't completely flat or downhill. I got caught by a few racers that I had passed early and just watched as they pulled away. Finally after the last climb to the water tower, I ran down and my back started to loosen up. I don't know if it was because I was close to the finish or just that there were less hills, but I finally was able to run again and finished at a decent pace. You can see where I struggled on my Garmin file as my heart rate dropped when i wasn't able to run.
Race Results – Check out the other Renoites including Matt Balzar, Phillip Glenn, and Nathan Brown. They did awesome.
What's Next?
This race got me excited to race more XTERRA races this year. I'm signed up for the two at Tahoe and I hope to qualify for Nationals in Ogden again. I'd love to qualify for World's in Maui but i think that's a long shot for me this year. I'm doing Ice Breaker Tri with my triathlon class next weekend, Rock N River half marathon 2 weeks later, and the Reno Tahoe Odyssey with the Runny Bums in June. After that my race plans for the summer are all contingent on Evan as he's due at the end of May.
Reid
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