2019 marked my second attempt to tackle the elements and to test my physical preparedness at the Xterra Lake Tahoe off-road triathlon.
This year I was in far poorer shape than even a year ago. This was partly because of the lack of training prior to, and after the stem cell injection into my right knee. However, I must admit that I could have trained a bit more had I been more motivated and active in the world of triathlon.
Nonetheless, this race was the highlight of my summer, as far as events go. Although I had to trek to Incline Village by myself and couldn't really share the fun with anyone, volunteering the night before and on race morning certainly made up for the lack of companionship.
Not only my body wasn't fully prepared for this race but my bike wasn't either. During the race, the chain got stuck several times between the cassette and the spokes. This cost me several minutes of the total biking time and caused me to become more and more frustrated.
I was able to rack my bike and get ready, probably a first for me, way before they closed down transition. A short warm-up swim before the race allowed me to get used to the water, and got me probably even more tired.
Once the race was on everything quickly came back to me. The many years of racing allowed me to not worry about anything anymore, and to remain cool before a race. I usually don't think about the race at all. I figure I'll manage it somehow whether I have a good or a bad race.
The swim, as I chose to do the sprint distance this time, was only one lap, or 750 meters. I was delighted to find myself in second place, although the guy just ahead of me kept pulling away. As my arms kept tiring the distance was growing. Another swimmer passed me just before the end of the swim so I ended up exiting in 3rd place out of the water.
There was a good 400-500 meter run back to transition and I started running in my slippers only to realize that it was far worse than barefoot. Off with the slippers and passed back to 2nd place before reaching T1.
While I wasn't fitter this year I was certainly wiser. Last year I rode the entire course the day before. That likely affected my race performance and took several minutes out of me. I raced from memory. It all came back to me, I more or less remembered every rock, turn, and obstacle on the course.
The chain was probably the only issue I had during the entire bike course but it likely cost me several minutes altogether.
For the most part it was the lack of running training and bad knees why I chose to do the sprint race this year. I started out very slow and never sped up. I kept the pace on medium and had my fingers crossed the entire time to avoid any issues with my calves, knees, and ankles.
Luckily, everything lined up for me just fine and I managed to jog 3.1 miles to the finish line without any hiccups.
I did win the sprint race, it sure felt good. However, I was disappointed that I wasn't able to race the full distance. Next year, though!