Maui X-Terra race

Friday afternoon I picked Marianne up from work and we flew over to Maui for the X-terra championship. We stayed in a B&B in Kihea a few miles down the road from the race. We hadn't been to the south shore in almost 10 years and it's becoming crowded like everywere else. Slept in Saturday and went and registered.

A few things that jumped out at me walking around the host hotel was that in contrast to Ironman Hawaii, everyone seemed to be ripped, there were very few older competitors, and, my hardtail MTB is an ancient piece of crap. I told Marianne I may experience an asskicking this race.

I rode the practice course that afternoon and it blew my mind. The course is in a dusty, rocky, desert area on the side of Haleakala. Most of the downhill was so rough it was hard keeping the wheels on the ground long enough to make steering and braking inputs. Trying to make a decision on tire pressure was tough. To much, and you bounce off the trail like a super ball, too little and you'll break a tire or wheel. I went with extra hard tires and it seemed to pay off.

My race went off without a hitch. I really enjoyed the swim, lot's of steep climbing and run ups on the bike, Tried not to get discouraged when duel suspension uber riders came barreling by me on the downhill, and had a really steady run. I probably passed 100 people fixing tires and wheels on the course, so going slower and in control worked for me. As it was I still feel as though I doubled my MTB skills on that one ride. I was blasting though a few stretches that shocked me when I actually made it.

So I finished much better than I planned. 124 out of 500. 68th fastest run. Results are here

Fun stuff. Now focus turns to IM New Zealand in March.