Wednesday, May 09, 2018
Monday, April 16, 2018
Xterra Maui
This is a recollection of the race day:
The race started at 9am so there was no hurry to get to the race really early. The transition opened at 7am and I got there just before then. There were only about one hundred people there already so I was able to get a fairly good spot.
The Swim.
It certainly wasn't the hardest swim I've done but it was still challenging. The waves were rolling about 4 feet and crashing into the shallow beach quite regularly. Unlike other races I've done with bigger waves, there was a lot of movement in the water when they did. What I mean is that when a wave came in, the water flowed in for about 20 seconds onto the beach and then flowed out for about 20 seconds whereas other races I've done when a wave crashes on the beach it was in and out in 10 seconds.
I started near the center and back a few people mainly cuz I wanted to stay away from people. I knew I was a better swimmer than most but 30 seconds didn't make a difference to me in this race. There was really no problem getting through the surf and I got into a rhythm very quickly. As usual people were killing themselves in the beginning and tired out after the first turn buoy. I passed several people there and took it easy coming in. I made the turn on the beach for my second lap, while I was passed by a few people, I passed them back going out into the surf and then probably passed 20 more people heading out to the second turn-around. There was a time when I was bumping next to someone and I had enough energy to four-stroke a few times and get in front of them. It was then that I knew that I was probably going too easy and picked it up a bit. After the second turn-around the water seemed a bit rougher and the waves were probably nearer 5 feet by then. I surfed in on some of the waves and it was fun. When I got near the beach I was just waiting for a wave to crash over me. There were two times that I thought I was going to get tumbled but was in the right spot not to, then about 20 yards away from the beach I had a wave crash over me and tumbled me over a time or two. I really don't remember how many times I went over because I was patiently waiting to come up and get some air. I never panicked and came up after about 10 seconds, I was able to touch the bottom by then, cleared my goggles and swim in the rest of the way.
Transition was uneventful, I just ran up to my bike, put on my shoes, camelbak, helmet, glasses and gloves and I was on my way.
I started off easy on the bike, I rode it two days before and knew how hard it was. I stayed to the right with the other athletes that knew was was coming and gave anyone and everyone that wanted to go by a lot of room. I remember someone yelling for room behind me and then heard some crashing, I didn't look back but thought to myself how stupid they must have felt to crash on the asphalt within the first mile of the race.
The climbs were hard, I knew they would be. After the fact I looked at my Garmin 810 and counted 5 climbs that were 14 minutes or longer, two of which I had to walk my bike up the rest of the climb. They were really steep and I didn't want to compromise my run any more than I had. The downhills were not really that fast, not as steep and fast as Ogden but still rather bumpy, I had my suspension set up too stiff for them. I seem to be in the habit of setting up too stiff.
The bottom section was fun since it was more like riding the trails at home. Slightly tight and twisty like Maybury but with more traction from the softer ground.
I finished the bike, rolled into transition in pretty good shape. I was tired but not exhausted and knew it was going to be a tough run. I started off short-stepping and watching my heart rate to keep it below 150bpm. I know at that HR I'm running pretty hard and will blow up if I go much past it. I had to walk a few time to get my HR down, then after the last climb I knew I was in decent shape to finish the race. During the first half of the run I probably passed about 30 people some of which seemed quite dazed. At one point I asked a guy if he was OK, he nodded so I continued on.
A lady in a older Age Group passed me on the last decent, she was nice and was running for a podium so I made sure I got out of her way. She was nice and cheered me on. When I got to the bottom the mountain and it got flat again I had to cross the beach, it felt like a half mile but was probably only a quarter. I looked behind me for anyone but I was alone so I could relax a bit and run into the finish. In front of me there was a guy finishing with his kids so I waited up a bit and let him go through so I wouldn't mess up his picture. After the finish I found Karen who had sherpa'd for me, she congratulated me and took some more pictures.
Points about the race:
1. Know how to swim in big waves and surf.
2. The bike course is the hardest course I've ever done. Be prepared for steep hills, 5 sections of 15 min of hard climbing.
3. The run is hard and you have to have enough gas left in the tank for the first half, after that it's all downhill.
The race started at 9am so there was no hurry to get to the race really early. The transition opened at 7am and I got there just before then. There were only about one hundred people there already so I was able to get a fairly good spot.
The Swim.
It certainly wasn't the hardest swim I've done but it was still challenging. The waves were rolling about 4 feet and crashing into the shallow beach quite regularly. Unlike other races I've done with bigger waves, there was a lot of movement in the water when they did. What I mean is that when a wave came in, the water flowed in for about 20 seconds onto the beach and then flowed out for about 20 seconds whereas other races I've done when a wave crashes on the beach it was in and out in 10 seconds.
I started near the center and back a few people mainly cuz I wanted to stay away from people. I knew I was a better swimmer than most but 30 seconds didn't make a difference to me in this race. There was really no problem getting through the surf and I got into a rhythm very quickly. As usual people were killing themselves in the beginning and tired out after the first turn buoy. I passed several people there and took it easy coming in. I made the turn on the beach for my second lap, while I was passed by a few people, I passed them back going out into the surf and then probably passed 20 more people heading out to the second turn-around. There was a time when I was bumping next to someone and I had enough energy to four-stroke a few times and get in front of them. It was then that I knew that I was probably going too easy and picked it up a bit. After the second turn-around the water seemed a bit rougher and the waves were probably nearer 5 feet by then. I surfed in on some of the waves and it was fun. When I got near the beach I was just waiting for a wave to crash over me. There were two times that I thought I was going to get tumbled but was in the right spot not to, then about 20 yards away from the beach I had a wave crash over me and tumbled me over a time or two. I really don't remember how many times I went over because I was patiently waiting to come up and get some air. I never panicked and came up after about 10 seconds, I was able to touch the bottom by then, cleared my goggles and swim in the rest of the way.
Transition was uneventful, I just ran up to my bike, put on my shoes, camelbak, helmet, glasses and gloves and I was on my way.
I started off easy on the bike, I rode it two days before and knew how hard it was. I stayed to the right with the other athletes that knew was was coming and gave anyone and everyone that wanted to go by a lot of room. I remember someone yelling for room behind me and then heard some crashing, I didn't look back but thought to myself how stupid they must have felt to crash on the asphalt within the first mile of the race.
The climbs were hard, I knew they would be. After the fact I looked at my Garmin 810 and counted 5 climbs that were 14 minutes or longer, two of which I had to walk my bike up the rest of the climb. They were really steep and I didn't want to compromise my run any more than I had. The downhills were not really that fast, not as steep and fast as Ogden but still rather bumpy, I had my suspension set up too stiff for them. I seem to be in the habit of setting up too stiff.
The bottom section was fun since it was more like riding the trails at home. Slightly tight and twisty like Maybury but with more traction from the softer ground.
I finished the bike, rolled into transition in pretty good shape. I was tired but not exhausted and knew it was going to be a tough run. I started off short-stepping and watching my heart rate to keep it below 150bpm. I know at that HR I'm running pretty hard and will blow up if I go much past it. I had to walk a few time to get my HR down, then after the last climb I knew I was in decent shape to finish the race. During the first half of the run I probably passed about 30 people some of which seemed quite dazed. At one point I asked a guy if he was OK, he nodded so I continued on.
A lady in a older Age Group passed me on the last decent, she was nice and was running for a podium so I made sure I got out of her way. She was nice and cheered me on. When I got to the bottom the mountain and it got flat again I had to cross the beach, it felt like a half mile but was probably only a quarter. I looked behind me for anyone but I was alone so I could relax a bit and run into the finish. In front of me there was a guy finishing with his kids so I waited up a bit and let him go through so I wouldn't mess up his picture. After the finish I found Karen who had sherpa'd for me, she congratulated me and took some more pictures.
Points about the race:
1. Know how to swim in big waves and surf.
2. The bike course is the hardest course I've ever done. Be prepared for steep hills, 5 sections of 15 min of hard climbing.
3. The run is hard and you have to have enough gas left in the tank for the first half, after that it's all downhill.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
This is going to take some work but I know it will be a better bike for me
Missing a spacer for the front axle and the seat post binder nut.
Need (want) to replace shifters, and saddle. Seatpost has way too much setback for me and the stem is just a little too short. Will probably change the rear derailleur with a mid cage.
Will replace crank with my P2M.
I don't like the bars and I have replacements ready to go right now, not completely sure about that though. I will also have to re-cable the entire bike, it's not bad but isn't great either.
Frame sizing looks good, I may have to change the cap under the stem with a smaller one to get the bars low enough.
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