XTERRA Iron Creek Race Report

If you're interested, here's a LONG report of the race I just did in South Dakota. If you want to skip the emotional details, scroll down to the paragraph labled "PRE-RACE". Pictures to follow!

I just raced one of the most fun races of my life; not only because it was an off-road triathlon with some of the most beautiful, fun, and challenging single track I’ve been on, but because I went into it with a better race attitude than I’ve had in a long time.
My first tri was in 2004. I trained very consistently for it out of fear of the unknown, and after accomplishing it with a relative amount of ease on top of excitement from the atmosphere and enjoyment from doing 3 sports in 1, I was hooked. I signed up for more and more races, but with each new race, I put more and more pressure on myself. The pressure started becoming a negative stressor, to the point where I didn’t look forward to races, and the training was no longer fun. My expectations exceeded my limits for the amount and style of training I was doing. Plus, I'm not competing to win, I'm not even sure why my expectations were what they were. My attitude changed a few weeks ago, when I saw a good friend of mine finish a triathlon while 7 months pregnant. She had been doing running races up to this point as well, and at each finish, her attitude was amazing. It was either, “did you see my time? Whew knew I could go that fast while carrying around a fetus?” or, “yeah, I ran pretty slow, but I had fun anyway. I’m pregnant; what can you expect?” I questioned why I was doing these races and why I was getting so stressed out about them. I realized that I love the atmosphere, the physical effort required, and the chance to find new personal limits. I was getting too focused on the outcome and not focusing on just racing a good race for me. That’s not to say I shouldn’t think about my place or use other people as my carrot to push harder, but when all I am thinking about is “I want to beat that person,” it can be disappointing if it doesn’t happen, even if I give my best performance.
SO… I went into the XTERRA Iron Creek off road triathlon in Spearfish, South Dakota (http://www.icort.com/) with a great attitude and had a great race. Enough with the emotional stuff; on to the race report…

PRE-RACE
Tom and I arrived at Iron Creek at noon on Friday, and were quick to get out onto the bike course to scope out the first and last portions. We didn’t want to do the full 22K course, because it’s quite hilly and we didn’t want to tire ourselves out too much. We got to ride the most technical parts of the course which really upped my confidence, because I rode nearly everything without many issues. After a dinner in Spearfish, we came back to our cozy cabin right on the race site and went to bed early. The next morning, I began getting my things together, and I realized I forgot my tri shorts. In old attitude mode, I would’ve been quite upset, but I just decided to wear the tighter running shorts I brought under the wetsuit for the swim, put bike shorts on over them in the bike, and strip back to the running shorts during the run. No harm, no foul. The excitement was building as the race neared.

SWIM
I donned my new wetsuit for the first time in a tri. I was excited to see how I’d feel during the swim. We were at 5,800 ft elevation and last year, without a wetsuit, I redlined the entire swim. I settled into a fairly comfortable pace for the 2-loop, 1000M swim just behind the lead pack. When I got out for the first loop, I was told I was the first female, so I just stretched out the 2nd loop and tried to stay relaxed. The wetsuit was awesome; I could rest my legs after the between-loop run, and it allowed me to get the time I wanted to get without pushing too hard. I came out of the water 6th (including 2 relay teams,) but spent a LONG time in transition and a few people passed me then. The wetsuit came off great, but sliding the bike shorts up wet legs took awhile, and I didn’t prep my hydration sack. The hose wasn’t routed properly, and as I was trying to adjust, I broke the mouthpiece. So in a split second decision (partly decided because there was another girl in transition and I wanted to be the first out on the bike,) I decided to go without the camelback, and just rely on my 2 water bottles. I was on the bike 17:58 into the race.

BIKE
What a FUN course! Starts out with ¾ mile gravel road, then into some grassy, bumpy single track. Then up a difficult switchback (which I had to dismount for,) over a cow fence (also dismounted,) then down a hairy, loose-rock, white-knuckle descent. I made it down the entire descent the day before, but fell fairly quickly during the race (there were more people around, and it was tough to choose my line,) and gave myself a huge bruise on my hip/butt; I still have a hard time sitting down. I managed to hop on my bike and into the traffic towards the bottom of the hill and made my way to the wide open jeep trail. This is where Tom caught me, and I kept him in my sights for awhile. Into a section of grassy, muddy then rutted single track, and up to the big long jeep trail ascent. I saw maybe 1 person on this section. I used all of my energy on this hill last year, and this year just kept the climb fairly light with a high cadence. (I also took a huge fall just before the ascent last year, which zapped my energy.) Into some fun flowing single track; then the water stop where I stopped to fill one bottle. The stop was nice, it renewed my energy for the final hilly section before the crazy final descent. At this point, my coworker Gregg passed me, saying, “did I mention how much fun I’m having?” It was his first tri ever, but he’s an avid mountain biker and adventure racer. I impressed myself on the descent, easily flowing over rutted roots, big rocks, and tight turns until the very bottom where I walked the last really difficult portion. Into some flowy, roller coaster-y river crossings, I relax into the bike finish and my eyes pop out at my time: 1h 34m, compared with last year’s time of 1h 47m.

RUN
I forget to take my bike shorts or gloves off in the transition (just barely remembered to take off the helmet; wouldn’t that have been a sight,) and 1 girl who passed me right at the end of the bike exits in front of me, running quite slowly. I overtake her immediately and I hear someone shout, “you two are in 4th and 5th place; go get ‘em!” The first portion of the run is about a 5 minute, lung-busting climb. I walk a small portion of it, and when I get to the top, I run the flat section at a good, comfortable pace. Last year at this time I was dead, and in many other triathlons, the run is where I start to get chills, I stop sweating, and my fingers swell. So this race marks my first racing using electrolyte pills. As the temp is cooler than normal, I don’t take any pills until ¼ way thru the run, at which time I take 2. I’m not sure if the weather or the pills were more responsible, but I never got my usual run symptoms. Awesome breakthrough for me! The run takes you around Iron Creek Lake, and then into a rocky, technical descent and another very steep ascent which nearly everyone walks. I even put my hands down for some of it; grab onto trees to hoist me up in other spots. The run is 2 loops, and at the end of the first loop, I’m passed by a girl while I take off my bike shorts and throw them at my bike as I start the second loop. I’m now in 5th with 4th right in front of me, and someone shouts that 3rd is 2:30 ahead. I continue, thinking if I keep pace I’ll finish in 5th. The lung-busting climb hit me hard the second time, and I walked a little more of it. But I recover immediately when I get to the top and I settle into a good pace again. Plus, I see my MOOTS jersey-wearing friend Gregg ahead and I set out to catch him. I ask if he’s still having fun and he says, “not quite…” I get to the lake and I see I’ve made up a ton of time on the 3rd place girl (who’s now in 4th.) She becomes my new carrot. I pick up my pace very slightly and continue gaining on her until I pass her in the technical uphill portion. I try not to indicate that I feel like I’m about to vomit as I pass her. I just hold her off through the technical and physical tough stuff and then I let it out to the finish, putting 23 seconds on her. Tom finished before me and when he saw me running to the finish; he wasn’t sure if I had completed 2 loops or 1. When I say “this is it,” he yells, “WHAT?! Awesome! Go honey!” I dropped 10 minutes on the 8k run from last year to this year, from 1h to 50m. 10 min/mile seems really slow, but the pro men were at 7:15 min/mile, to give some perspective of the difficulty of the course.

So I finished 4th overall for women in a 2:41:48, 24 minutes faster than my time the previous year. Regardless of my place, I was psyched at how I felt during the entire race, the improvements I made technically over the previous year, and at my newfound nutrition habits.

POST-RACE
Relaxing at the campfire with a beer and clamato juice (best drink ever,) we discussed past races, got excited about future races, and talked about what a cool atmosphere off-road tris bring to the mix. But I have some priorities to rearrange now that I’ve been accepted to MBA school in the fall, and it will take me 3+ years to finish while working full time. But, as long as I can keep this good attitude, I can hopefully continue racing and enjoying myself in a scaled-back manner.