Whistler XTerra National Championships 2011

[IanC]

Over the labour day weekend, Andrew, Luke and myself lined up for the start of the race that would determine if you qualified for a spot at the World XTerra Championships in Maui in October.
We had arrived on the Friday in order to preride the course.  It was very worthwhile checking out the mountain bike course as it is fairly technical with lots of roots and logs and bridges to navigate.  Part of the course is on a trail called ‘River Runs Through It’.  Being able to preride that a couple times before race day was helpful.  A week of riding roots and bridges at BC Bike Race made this seem not as daunting as it would have been otherwise.
Race morning was chilly and the fog hanging over Alta Lake made for a Tolkien-esque scene as we set up our transition zone.  Several pros were there, such as Conrad Stoltz and Melanie McQuaid and were getting interviewed while us punters were setting up.  It was pretty cool!
The swim started right into the sun, and with all the splashing, I couldn’t see the small buoy marking the turn.  I was following some others and we ended up cutting the first corner by about 5 feet.  Ooops!  It didn’t really gain us anything and fortunately we didn’t get penalized.  I felt good on the swim and came out in 11th spot in 20:33.
The bike course was tough and long, but pretty fun.  I got passed by a few people, but tried to pace myself and not burn out.  I got a couple gels down my neck during the ride as I was feeling a little fatigued.  I rode pretty clean for the most part and ended up with the 21st fastest time at 1:45 for 30km.
I found the run course hard and long.  After the bike, it seemed to take my legs a few kms to wake up.  I was getting a bit of cramping in the quads and hamstrings for the first 15 mins and stopped a couple times to stretch.  Fortunately that went away.  The course was 12 km long and featured a lot of climbing, some of which I ended up walking as I didn’t have the energy to run.  I could feel myself fading in the last half hour of the run and the finish line couldn’t come fast enough.  The last few kms were straight downhill and really punished the legs.  My time was 1:01, which was the 19th fastest time.
My final time was 3:07:08.  This put me in 15th overall and 4th age grouper.  I won my 35-39 category, making me a National age group champion!  I am super stoked to have qualified for the World XTerra Championships in Maui in October.  Congratulations to Andrew for also qualifying.
The bike and especially the run portion were super tough and I could feel myself fading in the second half of the run.  Whether this is because of going hard in the swim and the bike, or because of lack of running miles in the legs and a tough course will have to be addressed with some good training miles in the coming weeks. 
Special Congratulations to the rest of the Kelowna crew that came out to cheer while battling massive hangovers.  The cheering was perhaps a little muted for the first hour, but they were there and even made it to the early start.  Proud of you guys!  Doing Whistler right!

[Andrew]

Whistler was such a great event for a number of reasons...

1) The challenging course gave a good indication of whether my MTB skills really have improved this year.
2) It gave me another chance to see the strength of crew members Luke and Little Lion Man in action.
3) It is always fun to line up against some of teh best athletes racing at Xterra from around the world, with a strong showing from the US pros, and world champions Stolz and McQuaid.
4) Whistler is always a fun place to visit.

My race went as well as I could have expected, though I was hoping for a bit better result given some focused work on my respiratory system and my running since Canmore, where I had suffered such a devastating and emotionally crushing race.

Even in teh few short weeks that I had to make some specific changes to my program, I was able to notice a significant improvement in my breathing. The lower altitude helped, as did the pre-medication with Ventolin, which showed a nearly 15% improvement in TVC compared to pre-ventolin testing on race morning. I did a 5 minute spiro warm-up also, which helped me prepare for the swim start.

I swam well, but kept it controlled, saw Lion Man and a few others cheat the first corner, but was able to get back on their feet, and stay there the rest of the way. Came out with a group that included Melanie McQuaid, Lion Man, Josiagh (eventual winner) and Mike Vine (second place overall). Significantly better "feeling" than in Canmore where I was ahead of Lion Man and Mike, and happy with the result, as the goal was to control respiratory situation.

Transition went well, but early in the climb, I felt uncoordinated and lost some time to riders who had settled in quickly, and rolled easily past me. Once I was under contrl, I was happy to keep some of the riders who had killed me in Canmore within sight, until the more technical sections of the course.

From there it really was a lonesome ride, and I wish I had a wheel to follow. Late in the race, a pro woman from Whistler caught me, and I was able to ride easily with her, following her lines and letting her set pace. I lost nearly 10 minutes to the amateur champions, and felt a little deflated starting the run.

Ginny's voice to keep going hard to the finish was ever prsent, and the Quail's screams of "punch your ticket" kept me going. In fact, I had friends spread throughout the course, and it was so great to have that boost of energy, when I really felt like I was fading.

I had flashes of brilliance on the run, and thought I would be able to stay strong to the end, but faded on the second loop on a really hard climb. I was able to stride out on the final descent whcih helped me stay positive, and I am beginning to prep for future races with teh knowledge that the respiratory and running training is paying off.

So, it is just a few weeks until Kona, and a couple more until Maui, which will be the culmination of a five year goal to race the Double, and shoot for glory by combining the best overall time for those two events. There will only be a few people completing the double, all of whom will have qualified for both events at Regional Races from around the world. The main competition will come from Europe, and the strong cyclists will be difficult to beat. So, here it goes...swim like crazy, ride hard, and run like the wind...I have been waiting for this for 5 years. It is almost time to put it all on the line! A little scared, really excited, and ready to go....soon.

[JasonK]

Super job guys!  Must be a great feeling heading to world championships.  Andrew, that is very impressive to qualify for Xterra and Ironman world championships.  Five years to accomplish a goal must be very rewarding. 

So, it is just a few weeks until Kona, and a couple more until Maui, which will be the culmination of a five year goal to race the Double, and shoot for glory by combining the best overall time for those two events.

Are you saying the double is an actually event or is this a personal goal?

Good luck to both of you!

[Andrew]

The "Double" is a recognized challenge put on by the folks at XTERRA to encourage some crazy people to stick around for two weeks, recovering from Ironman, just for the opportunity to abuse themselves on a different tropical island.

They actually award some great prizes to the top male/female pros and amateurs, including a free flight to Hawaii, just so those who win can abuse themselves all over again a year later;)

[kiwichris]

It has been amazing to see you work away towards your long term goal mate - it will be a blast to see you rip in Kona - and sure you will keep the Little Lion Man honest in Maui too.

Chris