X-Terra Temecula Race Report – Victor Rodriguez
The next event on the almanac was an X-Terra tri in Temecula, CA. AnrnX-Terra is simply a triathlon done on dirt. You swim, trade your TTrnbike for a mountain bike and switch from light running flats to heavy,rnclunky trail shoes. John had done an X-Terra last year in Big Bear, CA.rnI couldn’t participate due to a commitment to a mountain bike series inrnthe same town. I vowed to do the next available X-Terra after hearingrnfrom John how much fun it really was and much harder as well. Temecularncalled us and we headed to the sleepy SoCal town. rn
We arrivedrnon Saturday and enjoyed all of the seminars given by top pros such asrnConrad Stoltz, (5-time world champ) Melanie McQuaid, (Canadian andrnworld champ), Michellie Jones (3-time Ironman Hawaii champ), JosiahrnMiddaugh, Dan Holt and many more.
Afterwards, John and Irnrode the bike course. To my surprise, it was pretty easy, lots ofrnsmooth jeep roads, twisty but groomed single-track and some killer, 23%rnclimbs!!! Coming from a mtn bike background, John and I were lickingrnour chops as we are used to much harder technical trails such asrnCottonwood and Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City. John signed up for thernlong course and I penciled in for the short distance. The water was arncool 76 degrees, air temp at 78, no wetsuits allowed.
The longrncourse started at 8am, the short at 9am. Neither one of us had anyrntrouble with the swim and the bike but the run was to die for. I havernnever had to run on such terrain where I almost had to crawl on my handrnand knees to make ground. Some parts of the trail were an amazing 22%,rnyou couldn’t run, you had to walk!!! After the trail mercifully easedrnup to a mere 10%, I resumed my jogging pace just to encounter anotherrnmonster and resumed my walking pace. This went on for about 2 miles andrnthen the downhill greeted us. It was probably more difficult runningrndownhill; you pick up speed and crash. I saw several runners flyingrndownhill and not being able to slow down, resulting in a crash completernwith road rash and blistering your pride!!! The best way to clear thesernsteep trails is to take very short steps, this way you can control yourrnspeed and save your hamstrings from cramping up. The kicker camerntowards the end, a trail so steep that they had to build steps, yes,rnsteps for about 50 yards!!! I yelled at the guy behind me, "Hey, slowrndown, there is a stairway up ahead"……..A stairway? Heck, last yearrnwe slid down on our butts!!!…..
The temp climbed up to 96rndegrees by 11am, there were a few casualties out there, plenty of DNF’srnand the medical tent looked like a M*A*S*H unit…..Poor John had to dornthis trail twice….I tip my helmet to him. There is a differencernbetween a triathlon and an X-Terra.
Thinking about doing anrnX-Terra, how do you train? Most of us are used to riding road bikes onrnsmooth pavement and generally flat terrain. For an X-Terra, you need tornride your mtn bike, climb incredibly steep terrain, hone your downhillrnskills and spin like a hungry spider. Spinning becomes crucial as therntrail steepens, granny gears are must and I was not ashamed to use minernon a regular basis. I saw plenty of riders walking up such trails wherernJohn and I spun right up them.
Balance is another skillrnrequired for an X-Terra, imagine cruising at a mere 4mph, hopping overrnobstacles, keeping your weight distributed even over the top tube sornyour front wheel won’t come up and your rear wheel won’t lose traction,rna tricky situation so say the least.
The best way to train forrnthe run is to simply run off road and find some incredibly steep hills.rnAnother way is to run up the bleachers at your nearby high school or,rntake the stairway, a 50 story building would do the trick, do it twicernfor good measure. The Red Rock loop, if it was part of an X-Terra runrncourse, would be considered pancake-flat!!!
There you have it, want to do an X-Terra? Join us on Aug 3, Big Bear, CA…………..
Somernresults: Iron Girl, Lisa Job, top 20. Rage in the Sage, JohnrnHarrington, 6th, 45-49, Olympic; Victor Rodriguez, 1st, 50-54, Sprintrn– St. George, Kim Watson, 2nd, 45-49, Olympic; John, 4th, 45-49,rnSprint; Victor, 1st, 50-54, Olympic. In Temecula X-Terra, John, 16th,rn45-49, long course; Victor, 1st, 50-54, short course.
I wasn’t able to get every one of the club member’s results, please go to: http://www.bbsctri.com, and http://www.xterraplanet.com.rnIt’s been a pleasure communicating with you all again, I promise tornbring you more interesting stories and results from future events. Ifrnyou have a story of your own, results or anything of interest, pleaserndon’t hesitate to write me, I’ll be sure to include your piece on myrnnext report. Write me @: lancewins@hotmail.com. Take care and I’ll see you out there!!!…………Victor Rodriguezrn
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