2009 USA Championships
29.09.2009
Well the 2009 USA Championships have come and gone. I really liked the new venue (new for champs anyway) at Snowbasin. The weather is better than Tahoe, the scenery is nearly as good, the race course much more to my liking and the overall travel and accommodation expense is less. Great combination. XTERRA did a great job putting on the event once again, and I was told the number of competitors was higher than ever.
The mens pro race was a tough one. The top ten men all brought their A-Games and no one had any mechanical issues, crashes, or bad days (except for maybe Brian Smith who just returned from a race in China a few days prior). Everyone raced to the best of their abilities and the best man won: Nico Lebrun. The guy is a climbing machine. I aspire to someday reach his abilites for sure.
CW pre-race and ready to rip
Final prep prior to the start
My race started out as good I could hope for. After the first lap of the two-lap swim, I was 45 seconds off the leader Seth Wealing. I had the best 750 meters of my racing career to date. Then on the second lap I seemed to fall apart and faded back as swimmers passed me up, first Josiah, then Nico, several amatuers and finally Melanie McQuaid, Leslie Paterson and Sara Tarkington in the final hundred meters. I came out of the water 3:30 down from leader Seth, and about 2 minutes off the chase group of Conrad, Josiah, Mike Vine and Nico. Still improvement from earlier in the year, but not as good as I had hoped for. I guess I need to work on that race-pace endurance still so I can hold that 750 speed for the whole 1500.
Getting ready to start (I’m done on the end in the green caps)
Off we go!
Up to transition catching teammate Sara Tarkington
Onto the bike and up to T2 I chased. I could see and hear the helicopter just ahead I knew I was still in the race. I motored solo, passing the swimmers that took advantage of me on my second lap swim, to try to bridge up to the chase group. I felt strong and confident. I caught Craig Evans early on. Beginning the “upper loop” above the lodge I caught Seth Wealing and dropped him on the steeper climb. The helicopter unfortunately was not getting any closer, and knew the leaders were riding away from me. I bombed the final descent into T2 in 6th pace and heard the leaders were now several minutes up and I was 1:45 from 5th, Branden Rakita.
Trying hard to catch the leaders on the bike
Knowing Seth would not be too far behind, and one of the best runners, I ran hard out of transition and set off to catch Branden for a top-five finish. I ran well. Seth caught me around mile 3 and I used him to pace off of for another mile. Then in the distance I could see Branden up the road. I pushed hard and began to close before the final downhill to the finish. It wasn’t enough however, as I crossed the line in 7th place, 26 seconds out of 6th and 2 minutes out of 5th.
Rounding the final bend into the finish
I gave it my all and felt good about my performance despite not meeting my goal of top 5. Everyone else had solid races as well so I am not disappointed. The points I collected for this race kept me in my 10th place overall for the 2009 season standings as well. With a couple more minutes out of my swim, a few on the bike and a couple more on the run and will be in the hunt for the overall win in 2010. That will be my motivator all winter.
Now it’s recovery time, before a final rebuild heading into the World Championships in four weeks time. If I can race this well in Maui, I think a a top-ten could be within reach, which would be a satisfying way to end my Junior Year on the XTERRA circuit in 2009.
Other EPC’ers to note include a 6th place overall for Sara Tarkington, Amateur overall winner Hairy Jason Michalak, and 40-44 AG winner Ed Oliver. The entire EPC squad represented all weekend long and made it a great trip!