Xterra Worlds 2011

[SimonC]

Good vibes being sent to ...
Super G
Guardian
Lion Man
Schleck

Rip it up in Maui !!!!!!

sc

[Andrew]

We all survived...but it wasn't easy...

I was proud of the showing of everyone who raced today. Got to see Little Lion Man a few times, and he actually played a HUGE role in helping me salvage a tough race. Saw Super G finish with a smile, and the Older Schleck make it through his first World Champs...I am sure he will be back for more (he is a bit of a masochist that way).

I was feeling about 90% riding to the start line, not super confident, but willing to take the day is it went, and not expecting a great result. I had promised Maddy I would be safe, and do everything in my power to finish this one, and had promised myself not to beat myself up if I wasn't racing well. In my mind, I had decided I was only racing the 7 other men who had lined up in Kona on October 8th, three of whom had been clearly in front of me before I collapsed.

The swim started REALLY fast, given that I had nudged up to Melanie McQuaid, who was really happy to see me, as she usually drafts off my feet, and so gave me the PERFECT start position beside her. To my left was Conrad Stolz, Eneko Llanos, Michi Weiss, and a few other Olympians. I was in good company. I actually had clean water for the first 200m, but decided I was clearly going at a pace beyond what was safe for me, and chose to opt out of the battle to the first buoy. I actually pushed Mel across to give her a better line before I bailed out of traffic and swam on my own the rest of the way. Backing off felt like the right thing to do, as I just didn't have enough strength in my arms to thrash hard enough to stay with the lead pack. By the time we hit the beach, I was mentally in "recreational" mode, and simply swam the rest of the swim at a pace that felt comfortable.

In T2, I took time to put on my socks, jogged out to start the bike, and realized that Mel, Simon Pulfrey, and Cal Zaryski were just up the road ahead of me, so I was about a minute slower than  I have been in the past compared to my "usual" position. I was satisfied, and settled into cruise mode. I was passed by dozens of riders. A few Pro women, some strong guys, and then about 2 dozen of their friends. It was a bit discouraging, btu not weighing on me too much. I witnessed a crash on the tarmac, which forced me off my bike, as I had to run outside some barriers, and sneak back on course once around the mayhem. Then I dropped my glove, and decided to go back for it, which just led to another large pack taking their spots ahead of me.

From then on, it was just a matter of taking on the role of a survivor, and being satisfied with the pace that I was able to maintain. I really felt like I was lollygagging, especially on the downhills, where I simply coasted safely until the next climb.

It was about this time that Little Lion Man caught me, gave me a really nice cheer, and told me I was "Killing IT!!!". And that turned my race around. It took me about three minutes to digest his words, and I was able to find another gear. I realized I was still at Worlds, had paced myself well, and was nearing the finish of the bike, with enough energy to finish strong, and still have something in the tank for the run. So, I nutted up, pedalled hard, and focused on trying to keep Lion Man in sight.

So, we came into T2 together, and I took a few moments to get in some water, and started off again at a pace I thought could carry home safely. I never pushed hard, but focused on being steady and consistent. And I am happy with the effort.

You can see from my bike time, that I gave away tons of time to the top riders in my age group. But I swam and ran in the top 10, and for that effort I am really happy.

The three guys who were ahead of me in Kona all beat me here, and two of them had remarkable races. The strength needed to recover from Kona and race well in Maui is phenomenal...so that is what I am looking to accomplish in 2013. Strength to race well, and recover in time for another shot at the Double. I have some unfinished business, and I have a better understanding now about what it will take to be excellent. And I have two years to make that happen. Hope we can bring a few more BPR athletes to this greta venue. The course is TOUGH, but not technical. The perfect venue for fit athletes looking to race a world class event.

Top Three Kona/Maui Double athletes
Pablo Ureta, Switzerland   9:18:34 + 2:46:51
Mark Geoghegan, Hawaii   9:23:38 + 2:50:17
Chad Jarrett, California    9:33:40 + 3:00:18

Me (The Guardian)                    DNF + 3:05:20
http://www.jtltiming.com/results/x-maui11.html

[GinnySellars]

Andrew's performance today is nothing short of amazing...if you saw his condition the last two weeks. For the first week after IM, he put on a brave face, but anytime he was not horizontal, his legs were elephant sized, and his blood pressure was nil. It looked like he put on 20 lbs...even his cheeks were chubby. Anyway, I am soooo proud of how he approached this event. He kept spirits high, kept his ego in check to control the effort early on, then ran like heck, knowing he was not in the running for a top spot, but just because he could.

[kiwichris]

Thanks for the really honest post Andrew - your strength of will just to toe the line knowing that your were not 100% is kudos enough! Sounds like you had a great swim, a smart bike, and dropped the little lion man like a bad habit on the run! (only joking Ian - you are a beast!!!).

I am sure that your resolve will let you reach your goal in 2013 - I look forward to sitting down and nutting through the plan to give you the support you need to make that double a success. On that note - WOW - those are some amazing athletes - 9:18 and then 2:48 for the double? Just phenomenal!

Ginny - I am glad to hear you had a great race too! You never stop smiling!!

Hope you and the rest of the crew have some great R&R time - look forward to catching up on your return.
Chris

[Peter O'Brien]

Way ta go Andrew!

Like Chris said, it was a very honest review, and it is great to see you already looking forward to 2013 .

Hopefully by time I'm back from Saskatchewan, you'll be recovered and ready to ride again .

Can't wait to read reports from the others!

[W Ellis]

I'm back to the drawing board! I'm not one for splits or time, all I know is that with 670 racers the swim is the MOST key element to my race. I hit the beach with about 1/2 the bikes gone out of transition. I had a fast t-1. I took off hard and - bang! a wall of dudes in their granny gear all over the jeep trail. I thought this would happen on the very small amount of single track but I wasn't mentally ready to deal with riding this slow up double track, so anytime I could see daylight I pinned it hard just to slam on the brakes and this went on for the whole bike race , my hr was  30 beats too low or 20 beats too high. It was killing me; the only good news for my bike ride was that I had lots of time to drink (5 bottles), and to make a long story short the run was the same,the first 4 km was great, I felt awesome but the downhill (which I love) was butt to butt again with lines of dudes 20 long.
 So what I think about that race I did yesterday is that I  could train 90% LESS and have the same outcome maybe even faster because I would not be on & off the gas 20 times on the bike. If I do this race again I would need to drastically change my prioritys in my training .I do like the xttera race ,it's hard & fast .

[GinnySellars]

Here's a note while I sit in Seatac airport, awaiting the last stretch home. Good God it's cold as we approach the 49th parallel!!

I could not have had more fun at Xterra Maui. I felt a wee bit guilty sneaking into this race not having qualified, so made sure I soaked it up. We were staying a 10 minute bike ride down the road in Napili bay and had a wonderful couple of weeks leading up. Training consisted of  swimming with fishies, riding the amazing road to Kahakuloa banana bread hut, and running through Kapalua resort. There was ZERO stress pre-race, and other than a tiny little buzz race morning, zero nerves. How refreshing!

The swim at Xterra is different because we start with the pros, and there are so many fewer athletes. With everyone spread out, I was only 5 rows back from the likes of Conrad and Mel. That made me giggle a little. My swim was weak. It wasn't the other athletes, or the chaos at the buoy. It was more about dealing with the chop. I just felt swamped the whole time, having trouble getting a breath. I had been swimming for 3 weeks in Hawaii in calm waters but also some big surf. I hadn't had any trouble with chop. The water was so incredibly clear than I could see sand the entire way around the course. I saw Warren's green and black jersey entering the water for the second lap, and thought...oh he's gonna be bummed...or maybe I'm a star today. Nope, he was bummed.

The ride was an absolute blast. The bike is straight up for a mile, then right into single track. It was super busy on that trail, but I was happy for a little breather after the steep climb. It was a little hard to stay focussed on 'racing' when it was so busy. I suppose a little mtn bike racing experience would help in learning how and when to pass...and how not to get kind of lazy. It's not like I was going easy, but there is a difference between that and racing. It was good when a girl shot past me and woke me out of my lazy dazy mode. I jumped on her wheel and followed her lead. This went pretty well until I couldn't get past a girl for awhile. She wouldn't move to the right at all, so I decided to blow through some branches, as I'd been doing on some of the corners anyway. It turned out there was a sawed off thick branch hidden in those soft leaves, and I got lifted off my bike and did a header into the ground. I also took the other woman down, although not badly. It was a pretty big thump, but not bike damage, and I was up again pretty quickly. Ooops. There were some steep rocky climbs. I found that I was better off going steady. Anytime I stood up to pound past someone I paid for it and went backwards for awhile. There were some screamer downhill roads or wide single track sections with sandy corners to skid around. I couldn't believe how fast I let myself go, just shedding speed before the corners. I was launching up and over the rollers, having an absolute blast. There were a couple of girls near me, and we changed lead a couple of times either to draft or to play on the descents.

I put on my shoes for the run, and was going into the course blind. I had not pre-run it, and all I knew is that it was straight up, then straight down. I felt pretty great trotting out of transition, cruised by a dozen people on the first climb. There were some fun windy single tack sections and even some shade and forest near the top. The climbs were so steep that most of us were walking a few steps, then barely trotting up. It got kind of funny as I was passing some people because my survival walk was faster than theirs. It felt like the senior's games! I made up a fair amount of time on the descent and passed a few more people, but my coordination and strength were gone before I reached the bottom. I started tripping a bit more, and had to really focus to stay upright. The rocky river bed and beach was more survival running, and I slugged it to the finish. Strangely, I loved it. It was also strange that I didn't care at all about my position or standing. I just knew I had a really fun race, tried as hard as I could, shared some fun and laughs with other participants, and wrapped up a fun holiday. As it turns out I was 8th place, and not really in contention. I did note though that next year I'll be 40...and my time would have placed me 3rd....not that I care at all

[PeterW]

Congrats to everyone who raced in Maui!

I could not think of a better way to finish off the summer race season than on the Hawaiian islands, in good company of the Balance Point Crew. I hope you all celebrated with good local brews!

Safe travels back to Canada. I am looking forward to seeing the whole team in November!

[IanC]

I finally have a couple minutes to put in my race report!

Lining up at the start line with almost 700 people was something else!  When the gun went off, it was one of the roughest swims I have ever been in.  I was pummeled left and right and just couldn't get away from it.  I ended up doing breastroke a few times just to regain my composure.

On the bike, my main focus was not to get too excited and go too hard.  I wanted to be able to save a bit for the run course as it featured a lot of climbing also.  I managed to pass a fair number of people on the bike and caught up to Andrew part way through the course and we ended up coming into T2 more or less together.

I walked a few of the steep uphills of the run in the belief that I would be faster on the flats and downhills.  This seemed to have worked as I passed most of the people that ran past me on the climbs.  It was a very tough run with a soft beach run and a climb to the finish line.  At the end, my legs were very wobbly for a good 15 minutes after the race was over.

The course was really tough, even if it wasn't very technical.  It was held in an amazing venue and was a great way to finish off a busy and long race season.  I felt like I had a good, solid race and don't think I could have gone any harder without blowing up before the finish line.  I ended up 142 overall and 16th in the 35-39 category. 

[GinnySellars]

Thanks for the report Ian.

I think it's neat that you went easier on the hills, then crushed on the flats and downs. That was basically the opposite of what I did. The same happened at a local race last weekend, where it was way easier for me to pass on the 'up', but I got crushed on the downhill. It's definitely a trained skill to descend fast.

The other thing is that is hard to figure out is how hard you can go so you make it all the way to the line without blowing up. I find that one of the hardest things in a short race...I keep asking myself, 'is this the best you can do?' Sometimes you have to go over a little before you get the slap down to realize that you could go harder....for exactly 30 seconds. I was glad to hear even a runner like you felt wobbly after all that downhill.

Remember that everyone in your category was top 3 in their own qualifying race, so to be 16th is a good showing.
Congratulations on being so strong all year, in every event you took on.

[kiwichris]

To second Ginny's words - Ian has been killing it all year. Dedication to structural training and some technique changes have really paved the way to a great year in EVERY event. Look forward to working towards World Champs next year in New Zealand!! Think you had a brutal swim in Maui - wait till you get in the water with a bunch of crazy kiwis and ozzies!!

Chris

[Andrew]

I totally forgot that Little Lion Man is representing Canada, BPR, Fresh Air, and his family in New Zealand at ITU Worlds in 2012! That is gonna be a serious showdown! Got some more work to do on the swim with Chris, and I am willing to come and hit you over the head with a kick board every few seconds if it will help you prepare.

[IanC]

Thanks Guys!  It seemed like a couple people were trying to crawl into my swimsuit with me during the swim!  I will have to get tighter speedos for New Zealand!  I am looking forward to becoming more of a tri-geek over the next year.

[GinnySellars]

Oh Ian... That's what happens when you are Dead Sexy. Just show them your wedding band!