Xterra Black Diamond, August 3rd 9:00am start
By Amy Hayes

1000m swim, 15 mi bike (2 loops), 4.25 mi run (2 loops)


I have to begin with my two pre rides of the bike course.

Tom, our friend Aaron and I drove down to pre ride the bike course in mid July and really enjoyed it. The map was quite difficult to read, and though we stopped to consult and question it at every intersection, we figured that we got most of the course right. It was nice and dry and it wasn't too bad. The first section was very technical (meaning lots of rocks, roots, switchbacks and obstacles), so I decided that I would just run that portion and then ride the rest of it. It took us a little over an hour to do one loop. So then, Tom and I decided to pre ride the course the day before the race. I had my new mountain bike at that point, was feeling more confident with my mountain biking skills and was ready to rock. Well, the rain during the week had transformed the nice, dry course into a slippery, treacherous tangle of rocks and roots. We also realized that we had missed a large chunk of the bike course during our initial pre ride - a very challenging, technical chunk of trails - oops. It took about an hour and 45 min. just to get through one loop of the course and we would have to do two loops during the race - not what I was expecting at all. Needless to say, I spent the evening trying to calm down and prepare for a 4+ hour race, instead of a 2-3 hour race.

Race Morning:

We woke up at 5am, ate a quick breakfast of toast, PB and a banana and headed down to Black Diamond. It took about 45 min to get there and we arrived with plenty of time to set up our transition area. There were only 158 participants, the transition area was pretty small and we could rack our bikes wherever we wanted (a little different than our average road tri). We set up our stuff and then met up with Carrie from the Cycling team and Susan from the Mountain Biking team. I took my bike out for a 10 min. warm up and to make sure it was running smoothly. Then, I grabbed my shoes and went to check out the run course for another 10 min. or so. Wow, what a beautiful trail! I tried to eat a little more before the start just to top off the tank, since we had eaten breakfast so early. Then we pulled on our wetsuits and headed for the lake.

Swim:

It was very cool and cloudy that morning and surprisingly the water was really nice - 68 degrees! I lost Tom and Aaron, but quickly found Susan and Carrie and the three of us waded into the water ready to go. We stayed toward the side and back of the group, but in hindsight I should have started closer to the front. I was surprised to have so many slower swimmers (lots of guys!) in front of me and had some difficulty trying to get around them. We swam about 500m to "Xterra Island", this dinky little island (maybe 10 feet across), had to get out of the water and run across the island before getting back in the water and heading back to shore. The volunteers had decorated the island with a hawaiian theme and even had a little fire going. Nice touch. :) Apparently, Tom got a little too close to the flames and was roasting on his swim back to shore. I got back in the water and headed to shore - this time I went way off course by following some guys (I should know better!) and lost time making my way back to the group. No milfoil, but we did have to navigate a field of lilypads. Lots of fun.

Bike:

I made my way out on the bike and decided to give the first technical section a try to gain as much time as I could. Once I made it into the woods, I realized that wasn't going to happen. I was just one in a long line of people that couldn't bike this stuff. We all ran with our bikes and the realization that there were other technically challenged bikers in the race really lifted my spirits. I rode more of the course than I did during both pre rides, and tried all sorts of things that had previously terrified me. I had taken a camelbak and a gu with me and had issues with both. I lost the gu somewhere - not a good idea to stick it under your tri shorts unless you're staying on your bike. Then, I accidentally pulled the mouthpiece off my camelbak and LUNA pink grapefruit spurted everywhere - all over me and my bike. I found the mouthpiece back on the trail and fixed it, but was worried about not having enough to drink for the rest of the ride. I fell a number of times, and always managed to find the sticker bushes. Nothing serious, just some bumps, bruises and scratches. I made it through one loop and was so happy to find volunteers with gu and water - they saved me. The second loop of the bike was pretty uneventful and I didn't see nearly as many people as I had during the first loop. I was also thrilled that Tom didn't lap me - he normally does and it's demoralizing. Overall, I paced myself on the bike and treated it more like a ride than a race - the goal was to avoid injury and mechanicals.

Run:

Tom and Aaron cheered me into transition for the run (yep, they were already done - even changed back into normal clothes) and I quickly took off. The run was a blast! The trails were beautiful, undulating singletrack and some of the nicest I have ever run. I averaged about 10 min. miles, slower than I was hoping for, but I really enjoyed myself. I finished strong and felt tired, but good.

S: 23 min B: 2 h 49 min R: 42 min Total: 3 hours 56 min. Yahoo! I made it in under 4 hours...barely.

Note: Susan [LUNA Chix MTB Team] passed me early on in the bike, and ended up 3rd in her age group - way to go Susan! :)

Carrie [LUNA Chix Cycling Team] had a few bad crashes and ended up going to the medical tent, so she wasn't able to finish the race - but she recovered and went on to place 3rd in a mountain bike race yesterday down by Crystal Mt.!

Great job ladies!

Amy