XTERRA Panther
Creek /End of the “Regular Season” – Race Report(5th
Overall/3rd AG)
Morristown, TN - July 28, 2013
800 Meter Swim/14 mile Mountain Bike/4.5 Mile Trail Run
This was my last of 5 Xterra Point Series Races in the 2013
Xterra American Triathlon Tour be before competing at the Xterra Nationals on September 21st in Snowbasin,
Utah & at the Xterra World Championship on October 27th in Maui,
Hawaii. However it was my first race
competing for aLL3Sports.com! In a
season that started with a broken collarbone from a Mountain Bike Wreck back in
January, I’ve managed to podium in my Age Group & finish in the Top 10
overall in my last 3 Straight Xterra Triathlons & one Olympic Distance Road
Triathlon. Since returning from my
injury at the end of March, I’ve also Qualified for Xterra Worlds, Xterra
Nationals, & Olympic Distance Nationals.
So despite my injury, I’ve already had my most successful of my 3
seasons of racing Triathlons & have achieved my primary goal of qualifying
for Xterra Worlds for the first time! Going into Panther Creek, I was 2nd
in the Southeast Region/9th Nationally in Xterra Point Series
Standings in my 40-44 Age Group. While
first Place & Regional Champion Title was out of reach, I needed to podium
and finish within one spot of the next runner up to hold on to the #2 spot.
Panther Creek, like most XPS races has a very grass roots
feel. It’s a smallish race in the middle
of nowhere/NE Tennessee at a beautiful State Park. Free camping & pre-race cookout the night before. It attracts
a mixture of locals, regular Xterra competitors from around the SE Region, and
handful of Xterra regulars that travel down from the Mid-West Region. It also has a special place in my heart because
I competed in my first multisport race there as part of a relay back in
2009. Back then, I thought that I was a
badass mountain biker(just because I was faster than my friends) only to be
humbled by the Triathletes there. The
bike leg nearly killed me & my bike split was barely middle of the pack vs.
the Athletes that did all 3 disciplines at that race! However, I was so impressed with the Athletes that did All3, that
it motivated me to do my first Triathlon the following year. Then I went back there in 2011 &
finished 2nd in my AG & 7th overall for my first ever
podium & earned a slot at Xterra Nationals! Last year at that race, I finished 4th overall &
was only 20 seconds off the runner up & w/in 2 minutes of the overall
winner for my highest overall finish to date!
So, I had really high expectations going the race this year!
While I certainly wasn’t trying to peak for this, I felt
really good going in! As with just
about every race this year, rain the night before made the trails slippery,
though not horribly muddy or as bad as some of the other races. My swim leg felt a little sloppy & I
never found a set of feet to draft off of, so it was basically a time
trial. However, I still managed to be
the 5th person out of the water. However, a sloppy T1 & fumbling with my gloves cost me
valuable time & a few spots as I headed into the trails on the Mountain
Bike leg.
I was able to get into a really good rhythm quickly on the
bike & was able to quickly pass a few of the folks that beat me out of
transition & also caught up to one more person a little later. After that, I was basically riding by myself
until very late in bike leg when a competitor started pushing up from
behind. I was matching his pace &
was doing some of my best riding of the day until loosing traction on a wet
root on a climb cause me to lose him.
Another rider started pushing up on me after that, but I was able to
stay just ahead of him going into T2 in 4th place overall.
A decent T2 had me running out together with the rider that
had followed me in & he ran right on my feet the entire run! I was feeling pretty good & was pushing
right at my “cmfy HARD” edge” on the run w/him staying on my feet. He was obviously just trying to pace me
& not pass. We talked a fair amount
& was telling him to expect someone to come flying past us sometime at
light speed. I knew that one of the
guys that had passed on the bike can cruise at sub 6 minute trail miles and had
flown by me in the Southeast Championship on the run. Sure enough, with about 1 mile to go, this guy passes us cruising
a 5:35 mile pace on the Trail! So now
me & this guy are competing for 5th place overall when he asks
me, “Hey, What Age Group Are You?” I
tell him, “40-44”. He goes “THANK
GOD!” (He was in the 35-39 AG), At
that point, I could smell the finish & knew that my pace was breaking
him. Once I saw the finish line about ¼ mile ahead, I took off on a
sprint & never looked back to finish 5th Overall, 3rd
in my AG.
Great Race & my 2nd best overall finish. However, it was the first race that I have
EVER done that I did not PR over the previous year. My swim was 1 minute faster than last year & my run was 11
seconds faster. However, my bike split
& overall time was slightly slower.
I will chalk some of that up to the slippery trails, but still was
slightly disappointed on what was otherwise a great race. If you would have asked me immediately after
the race how I thought I did, I would have responded that my swim sucked, bike
was Great! & run good. After
looking at the splits, Swim Great! Bike
not so good, & run pretty good. My greatly improved swim split may have been
aided by my new TYR Torque Elite Swimskin
from ALL3Sports.com! Also, post race
one of my friends pointed out that if my transitions were as fast as the
“Gazelle” that finished 4th,
that I would have beat him. Def. food
for thought as every second counts when trying to compete for a podium!
Panther Creek has wrapped up has be a very good &
consistent “Regular Season” for me.
Every race, but this last one, was faster than the year before and all
have been solid! Despite my early
season injury, my improvement has been slow, but steady. However, I have yet to have a “Breakout
Race”, like I have had in past seasons.
With the “Regular Season” over & a 50 day training block before
Nationals & Worlds at the end of September & October, I hope that I am
setting myself up for a Breakout Race one of the BIG ONES!
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