Xterra Black Diamond

At 7 pm the night before the race, I went to the local Rite Aid and picked up a digital thermometer. Luckily I didn't have a fever. I bet you can guess where this race report is going.

Saturday Morning: I woke up and could not breath through my nose at all, completely plugged. Yikes didn't look good. By the time I got to the raece site, my nose had slightly unclogged, but breathing still was a bit of a struggle. Got a late start and my warm up was cut short--a couple 100 meter swim starts. not good.

Xterra Black Diamond is a tricky swim start. There is a 15 yard break in the lilly pads or a 5 foot break on the left side. I got squeezed last year on the right, so I went left. Oops. I ate lilly pads big time. The turn around was a 15 yrd run on an island. "Wilson" Tom Hank's buddy on castaway was on the island. I felt like I had put a lot of effort into the swim and when I saw 9:50 for a 500 I knew it was going to be a long race day. On the way back, the ability not to breath slowed me down and decided to just work on skills. I was shooting for right at 18 minutes. Oh well...





Getting into T2, I slipped on a brand new pair of Gaerne MTB tri shoes. Pulling a totally rookie move, I had only used these for a 20 minute MTB ride before the race hoping the lockttight on the pedal cleats was enough to hold the cleat on. I must say, my first impression I was blown away. Not only are they super smooth to put on, comfortable, but man they were as stiff as some carbon soled MTB shoes I have tried. Stiff is awesome for power transfer. I can get over the absurd "white" MTB shoe for the fact that they use the uppers from their top end road TRI shoes. I like it! I actually would pick these for a ride over my pair of SIDI Domidators for MTB riding. Can't wait to practice with these sockless.

But equipment is only as good as its motor. And this motor had its air intake filter completly clogged. I tried to take off and put down a good MTB ride since this is a super technical bumpy course where good lines can make up minutes. But no, all I did was make myself tired and cause a couple guys who didn't want me to pass to fall over going too hard. Still can't get over why folks, when asked to pass, don't let you pass, instead push themselves into failure and crash. Oh well. By the second lap I was feeling really tired, but the legs felt fresh, just no O2 going to them. I focused on a clean 2nd lap and it felt more like a good MTB skills day rather than a race pace. Took it easier. Overall, I was only 3 mins down from last year, not

I made it a point to going through T2 as fast as possible. Boy did those new MTB TRI shoes make a difference. So easy to slip off and leave on the bike.

T2: Mike 36 seconds: Mike's Coach 37 seconds(hehe)...BUT...he also ran 14 minutes faster than I did, so that 1 second only made Mike feel good. I give props to Coach Jason:
Set Coaching

Run: I went out and settled into a really good rythm. I was quite suprised as I picked off 6 people and felt like I could still push it. But by the time I got to the water, the hills and roots took their toll and my HR went into the redline zone and had to slow down. Took a gel shot and never recovered. I guess you can only run a motor without proper air intake for soo long before it shuts down. I got passed by 2 folks near the finish line, but really didn't care, because at this point it was all about the finish line photo.

At Ironman Couer D'Alene I was to weak to pull off a cartwheel, but at Xterra Black Diamond, my motor died, but my muscles were barely phased and quite strong still.

I pulled off the carthweel finish. Note: Make sure you finish before your timing chip crosses, otherwise it won't count.

I somehow managed to pull off a 3rd place age group finish. The best part of the whole day was when they handed out Podium finisher glasses and the manufacture swapped Xterra Black Diamond's with Anglea and Teddy's wedding. That will make for a fun wedding :)...note the photo next door.



Post race: I made it home and slept.
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