Xterra mountain champs

[W Ellis]

The mountain champs was an xterra race at very high altitude (8000 to 10,000 feet). Going into the race my only goal was to control my breathing in the swim ,I had a problem with that at Vernon xterra, and being 7000 ft higher then Ellison park I was a little worried about drowning . The swim was about 1700 m. My time was about the same as Vernon but it seemed a little smoother even with 500 people in the puddle. T 1 went good, I got on my bike and had to deal with 100 tri dudes that need 6 ft of trail to ride there bikes straight, so I was going very hard at the times I could pass, and very easy when I was stuck behind  a line of cyclists. I was feeling good going into T2 (9,500 ft) but NO, my body shut down within 800 of past T2 and I was forced to walk,hike,and got very little running in.  it was painful and very humiliating and I lost close to 30 spots on the run.
Looking back the # 1 big mistake was with my nutrition - I drank  1/2 a bottle of coke and that was all. I planned to consume 3 times that amount of calories, but dealing with the bike traffic made it difficult. (I paid the price on the run.) Or maybe it was just the elevation I had to use the elevator just to get to my room the day before ( 2 flights of stairs would have blown me up)

[Andrew]

I am bummed to hear that you had such trouble on the run, and wish there was an easy fix. The altitude is definitely a challenge, especially for those with larger muscle mass to support. Those races favour the locals and those with smaller frames who can support the effort with less respiratory challenge. Specific Spiro work can help if we had addressed it early enough, but challenging given the busy summer race schedule.

We will look forward to helping you prepare for Canmore and Whistler in the coming weeks...when are you stopping by for some open water swimming? Ginny and I are in the lake nearly every day. I need the extra miles so I can have a small head start over you and Little Lion Man on race day

[GinnySellars]

Great effort Warren. Sorry to hear the altitude killed your run. I remember that feeling from xterra in Ogden Utah.
So do you think you'll race with a camel back for Whistler so you can get more fuel in on the bike?