Xterra Southeast Championship

(OFF-ROAD : THAT IS)

 

June 8th, 2008 was the second race of the season and the championship race for our region. All the big names were there including Conrad "The Caveman" Stoltz. He is last years overall Hawaii winner. The distances were a 1 mile swim, 17 mile bike and 6.2 mile run. This is a longer race than most since it is a championship one. The day started out very humid and hot. The air temp was 94 and water temp 85. I had a good mile swim time of 38:50 even though my calves were cramping. My transition was very slow. No clue why. On the bike I took two endurolytes but failed to drink enough water. There were not many places to grab a drink so I began to dehydrate. This is where a camel back would have been great. I rode well and made the 3.5 mile climb look easy. Still not drinking! I passed many and only got passed 3 times. Joey, Corey and Todd were great at following and supporting me the whole way. What a help. Coming off the bike, I was still cramping. I took more endurolytes but still failed to drink. I was so behind on water that I was suffering greatly. I rode a 1:36 for the bike lap which is not too bad. On the run I was very hot and worn down. The first 2.5 miles I ran the down hills and walked the up hills. My legs were heavy and my body was trying to shut down. The last 3.5 miles I walked and began to black out. I was in a mess until Keri, a fellow racer befriended and walked with me to the finish line. She is awesome. The 6.2 mile run should have taken less than an hour but was 1 hour and 36 minutes instead. My goal was 3 hours and five minutes. I finished in 3 hours 54 minutes very disappointed but happy not to DNF. Immediately upon finishing I received two bags of IV fluid. Forty five of us visited the medical tent that day. I finished 7th out of 11 in my age group. I am now 5th in the US Points Series standing, 12 points out of 4th place which could qualify me for Nationals in Lake Tahoe.

 

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