Xterra Indian Peaks - Race Report

Friday July 31, Dana and I headed up in the early afternoon to Fleet Feet Boulder to check in for the race. Afterwards we continued on to the Best Western Lodge at Nederland near Eldora Mountain Resort. This was a great little spot to stay, a nice log cabin with split beam ceilings and log walls, the works. It also has breakfast in the morning, a giant hot tub, and is 5 minutes from Eldora Mountain. After checking in we headed over to the race site to check out the sites and do a little riding. It was freezing cold and raining so we kept it quick.

For dinner we headed over to Kathmandu, an Indian and Nepalese restaurant within walking distance of the Lodge. There is also a Smokehouse restaurant recommended within walking distance, cool little town. Anyway I had chicken curry for dinner with some rice and na'an. It was very tasty. A lady stopped by to say hello and congratulate me on Ironman CDA (I was wearing my finisher's t-shirt). She had just finished Ironman Lake Placid on Sunday, with her nice Ironman jacket on. She was a little hobbled and told me the hills were killer. She also did CDA two other years and said Lake Placid was much harder. Her advice, if you think you did a lot of hill training and climbing on your bike go out and climb some more. Anyway great piece of advice for my next year of training all for simply wearing my t-shirt :) .

August 1, Race Day, My Birthday - The race didn't start till 9:30 which was very nice. I actually slept a half hour later than I do during the week. Unfortunately I slept poorly and woke up congested with a scratchy throat. I think it was the altitude (sleeping at 8200 feet) and the chill the day before. I had some whole wheat toast, a half bowl of cereal and a scrambled egg for breakfast. We headed over to the race about 8:15. Everything was very smooth to get bodymarked, timing chips, etc. My buddy Joe arrived at the same time with his girlfriend Beth and brother Carl. So we had a good little crowd for the race.

Swim - 1000 meters - 20:16. The race was a time trial start, a first for me, every 3 seconds based on your own projected finish. I said 20 minutes and was right on within 16 seconds. My throat and nose cleared up nicely in the freezing cold water. The swim was pretty uneventful but I did like the start, not commotion just get out and swim.

T 0.5 / Run 600+ meters - 6:46. This was also a first. We had to bring shoes down to the lake and peel our wetsuit, put on the shoes and run with our wetsuit, swim cap and goggles up the hill to transition.

T1 - 3:51 - still need to pull about 2 minutes off this spot especially since my wetsuit was already off. I had a Hammer gel, Heed and put on my helmet and bike shoes. Oh and some more sunscreen this time so I wouldn't end up fried like Beaver Creek.

Mountain Bike - 10 miles - 1:31:18 - The bike was an incredible challenge. First the swim was at 9300 feet so the bike and run both take place above that elevation. Colorado has had one of the wettest summers on record. The rain has rutted the mountains, leaving trails rocky, choppy and with the rain at Eldora the night before for this trail...very muddy. The trail was primarily rocky access roads and muddy single track. Around mile 3 the hike a bike began. It's about 800 meters of hill that is easier to climb with the bike than to ride. I did not see anyone ride it. After the hike a bike it was a lot of rolling and climbing. The muddy conditions made descents challenging and climbing a little slower. It was on one of the climbs I tipped over on a switch back. Then a little further along on a descent I got caught in a rut and went over the handlebars. Nothing broken or punctured so I jumped back on the bike and wrapped things up.

T2 - 1:54 - there's about 30 seconds available to improve here. Though if you check my race times I am focusing on the actual events in the near term for my improvement before I start nit picking about minutes and seconds. Just get faster in the big spots first...speed kills.

Trail Run - 42:48 - The run was pretty brutal. It was all up and down, up and down. I kept my pace the best I could and had to revert to hiking a couple of steep uphills and even some downhills, more like hopping down them. The whole race was well managed with lots of aid stations and people directing traffic. Trails were well marked and easy to figure out where to go.
The run wrapped up with a nice little flat reprieve into the finish.

Dana, Beth and Carl were all at the finish. It was great to cross that line on my birthday. It was the first time I felt like crap at the finish though. My chest was killing me and my lungs were burning. I think the altitude had taken its toll. After sitting for a few minutes I started to feel better. I enjoyed a taco from the Qdoba taco bar. Like I said very well managed race and just a fun experience. My buddy Joe bolted across the finish, about a minute ahead of me, after you factor in the staggered start while I was finishing my taco. It was a great day and I felt very fortunate to spend my birthday having so much fun.